Dish Tailgater System Dropping Channels

[ededge3]

Struggling to keep my Dish Tailgater System from dropping channels. Purchased the RV To Go system in April and have put in at least 20 hrs of tech support and have received 3 receivers and 3 tailgater antennas (repaired/RMA'd original and sent a remanufactured replacement) which have all not resolved the problem of apparent low signal strength. I even had a Dish Tech to my trailer on site. He got the system working using his special tech tools and a standard Dish antenna. Any recommendations on how to make this system work? Also what portable satellite systems is everybody using?

[Kenc_AL]

Bill & Kate wrote:
You get what you pay for. Had the Tailgater, and while it was nice and compact and light, only pulled in a marginal signal, and if you couldn't "see" the southwest satellites, you were screwed. We finally bit the bullet, sold the Tailgater on eBay, and got the Windgard Pathway X2. A little bigger and heavier, but a much more robust unit with a larger antenna dish. Side by side, we got almost twice as strong a signal with the X2. Also can get the southeast satellites if you can't hit the southwest ones, and supports a second receiver if you want.

To share a personal experience. In February our church had a Super Bowl Party. My friend supplied a Tailgater and I supplied Pathway X2. We set them up side by side. We each had VIP211Z receivers both hitting Birmingham HD locals off the 129 sat. The Eastern sats were not an option due to building height and length of cable run where the TV's were set up. During the game a heavy rain came through the area. The Tailgater went to SD and a couple minutes later no signal staying off for about 30 minutes. The Pathway never lost its HD signal.

I know this is not a scientific survey but it tells me the larger dome on the Pathway works in rain. And you also have the option of hitting eastern or western sats which has come in handy on several occasions to get around trees.

[ededge3]

Thank you to all for the replies. Correct I have never been able to get Sat 129. I have chnaged cables and eliminated the trailer wiring to get stronger signal strength, with no success. I just spend over an hour on the phone with Control Antenna tech support, and another hour Sunday with Dish Tech Support. Everybody was very professional and pleasant. Sunday I could not get any signal on Sat 119. that is zero signal strength. I called Control Antenna to tell them replacement antenna was dead. Using the same set up with the Control Antenna tech on the line today we intitially got low strength and then all of a sudden got acceptable strength on Sat 119. Go figure. Not sure what changed, but hard to argue with Control Antenna. Some thing is intermittent, not sure what it is. Cables were flat and unstressed, connections were tight as usual, same unobstructed, clear view. I agree that I will likely need to search for Eastern arc satellites to get a stronger signal, which means the Winegard Proximity X2 is likely in my future. Stay tuned, going out on a trip next week, parked on the Atlantic Ocean. Let's see what happens. Thank you again for the helpful replies.

[GoPackGo]

kmbelt wrote:
I borrowed my parents tailgater on a trip to see if i wanted to purchase one myself. It didn't work worth a ****. If i direct cabled it, i was fine. If i ran it through my trailer Sat wiring, it would be flaky. It appears that my trailer wiring would need to be replaced if i went with the route of buying one.

I have a Winegard Pathway X2, and while I love it, I bet you would have the same problem if you had an X2.

All of these portable antennas pretty much need a direct connection to the receiver box. I've tried hooking mine up to my 'sat in' connection and it doesn't work very well. Any splitters or switches will disrupt the signal.

One solution is to install a new outside receptacle near the living room location and then running a short interior line from the backside of the receptacle to the receiver box. You could probably do the same if you have a bedroom TV, assuming the sat antenna has 2 cable outputs (which the X2 does).

[kmbelt]

I borrowed my parents tailgater on a trip to see if i wanted to purchase one myself. It didn't work worth a ****. If i direct cabled it, i was fine. If i ran it through my trailer Sat wiring, it would be flaky. It appears that my trailer wiring would need to be replaced if i went with the route of buying one.

[hawkpat]

Bill- I have a similar problem that has only recently arisen. Used our taigator for two seasons without a problem while connected to the satellite input in the convenience center. This season several channels would not come up or only come up in SD.

Hooked up through window direct to receiver and works flawlessly. So I took faceplate off convenience center and found the internal connection was a bit loose. Also checked faceplate in coach but it was tight. Thought the loose connection in CC would fix but it did not.

Hooked up again direct to receiver and works perfect again. Wife doesn't like to look at wire going through window.

What puzzles me is why did it work through convenience center for two years and now it won't? I have a 50 ft rg6 cord on tailgater. Would a shorter cable help?

[Bill_Satellite]

Where are you located? What receiver are you using? Are you running a coax cable directly from the Tailgator to the receiver or are you using some kind of a connection between the 2?

[Bill___Kate]

You get what you pay for. Had the Tailgater, and while it was nice and compact and light, only pulled in a marginal signal, and if you couldn't "see" the southwest satellites, you were screwed. We finally bit the bullet, sold the Tailgater on eBay, and got the Windgard Pathway X2. A little bigger and heavier, but a much more robust unit with a larger antenna dish. Side by side, we got almost twice as strong a signal with the X2. Also can get the southeast satellites if you can't hit the southwest ones, and supports a second receiver if you want.

[lryrob9301]

The biggest problem you have is your location. I would bet your reception problems are with the 129 sat which carries most of DISH's HD programming. Correct?? The 129 sat is at a very shallow elevation angle on Long Island, NY. You need an antenna that can access DISH's Eastern Arc satellites such as a Winegard Pathway X2.

[cameronpatentla]

We also have the Dish tailgator and vip211z receiver. The dish antenna is permanently mounted on top of our ERA 70x. It has generally worked fine, except there was a brief time when we could not get satellite lock or reception. Turns out that the HDMI cable from the receiver to the TV had just slightly jostled loose. Our general observation was that all was well, only after we seated the HDMI cable more firmly did we get our channels back. Best, Mike era70x.

[BB_TX]

Have you tried connecting the coax from the Tailgater directly to the receiver rather than going thru your RV's internal wiring? That could tell if it is an internal RV wiring problem. And I assume you have a vip211k or vip211z receiver.

We have been using a Tailgater and vip211k receiver for 6 years and has always worked great. I did but a high quality quad shielded coax cable to use in place of the one that came with the Tailgater, although even that one worked well.