Older Satellite/ TV equipment

[falconman]

Our new to us 05 motorhome came with a large Motosat (?) dish and Tracstar dome which I have no use for and would like to remove. Future plans are to install a Traveler dish. Do these old systems have any value or are they just dumpster fill?

[Bill_Satellite]

You might want to research the number of dealers of the RF Mogul unit vs. the number or Winegard dealers before making your choice. The short RF Mogul list is available on their website. I have had a Winegard Trav'ler on my coach for about 5 years and it has been great. Very solid on a windy day (strong winds), very dependable and less expensive than the comparable RF Mogul.

[Dirtbags77]

I have a Winegard Dome on my 2006 coach which has worked great wherever I go. The problem with these domes are they are not upgradable to what the new receivers require. If I use my old single Dish (311) Receiver it works fine. But when I take my Dual DVR Receiver with me I have to put out a portable dish that has a HD Dish so I can get a signal. My wife would be devastated if she could not have any Tv when we travel. I have no problem with just reading a good book or hiking. I remember when we first started camping and all we did then was sit around the fire and chew the fat. It is terrible to get old. Happy Camping.

[falconman]

Yeah, sorry I didn't post back about the D2 contoller, I had already removed it from the cabinet and stashed it away and didn't recall what it was. I was in contact with Mike at Fasttrack satellite and he confirmed that it is an internet dish and thier new Eagle controller won't work after all. He did make an offer to replace the dish with one of their new HD systems but I need to decide between that and the Traveler so a little more research is in order.. I would like to get these old systems off the roof at some point since they are of no value to me.

[Bill_Satellite]

There's the clue I asked for but never received! D2 controller! That is NOT a TV antenna but rather the MotoSAT Datastorm satellite internet system. There are folks in OR buying them and scraping them for parts but otherwise the only possible value would be a Hughes modem and then only if it's an HN7000 (not a DW7000).
Also, the RF Mogul controller will not work with that antenna but rather satellite TV antennas.

[falconman]

I got an email response from Mike at Fast Track Satellite who it seems is a distributor for RF Mogul, the former MotoSat people. They have developed a new satellite system for sat TV. You can get a complete system, sat dish and controller ($2000), or just a controller for the older dishes. The new controller, the Eagle RE-1, is designed to provide automatic sat tracking for either Dish or Direct in HD. Currently listed at $700, it is on two week back order. Now while the price is attractive, about half of a new Traveler, there doesn't seem to be any user feedback yet on how well the new system works. I will keep it in mind but right now I have to see if this dish I have will even raise or lower. It's an older D2 controller and I hope I dont need a computer to activate it for some simple testing.

[falconman]

Thanks for the information. I've e-mailed them to see if the new controller will work with the old dish to get Direct TVHD. Seems to be a cheaper option, if it works.

[Bill_Satellite]

falconman wrote:
Our new to us 05 motorhome came with a large Motosat (?) dish and Tracstar dome which I have no use for and would like to remove. Future plans are to install a Traveler dish. Do these old systems have any value or are they just dumpster fill?

If my large MotoSAT antenna you mean one of the satellite internet systems (Datastorm) then it might be worth asking around. I would recommend you join www.datastormusers.com and post the information for sale. The hardware inside the coach (if any was left) may be worth more than the equipment on the roof so take a look around.
If you can get a picture of the equipment I can tell you what you have.

[ShutterStuff]

I did purchased a used dome a couple years ago, but shipping was more than the cost of the dome due to being oversized. If you live in Western Washington, I would be willing to get the Motosat from you (I love to play with this stuff...). But as stated above, used electronics and shipping is a potential liability.

[h2guy]

The thought of gettiing something out of a no longer used item is always tempting, but, think about it.

Suppose there is a buyer for it, somewhere. You'd have to remove it, lower it to the ground, box/package/crate it up (With what?, pay to have it done?), find a shipper, transport it to the shipper, argue with buyer who pay shipping costs (and what all is included there), how to get payment from buyer, etc, etc. He bungles installation, sez you sold junk, or, item damaged in shipment, or lost.

I've just thrown stuff away in similar circumstances.

[Macktee]

The Dome is crap. But the Motosat is a good system, other than the company went out of business. But there are a ton of them out there and I would think they are worth something. New they were 2500.00. Macktee

[Clay_L]

I have seen a number of satellite dishes on tripods for sale for as little as $100 or so in the last couple of years as people move from satellite Internet to aircards/modems. I haven't seen any roof mounted pulls for sale.

I don't recall seeing any removed satellite TV domes for sale but there must be some out there. Maybe someone with an existing dome that wants a replacement or parts?