Satellite TV in Yosemite Valley?

[offroad_x]

Hi,

We are staying in Lower Pines campground in Yosemite in August. My wife wants me to install a satellite tv before we go.

I have searched for this without luck. Can the satellite tv work in the valley? Or do the trees/mountains block it? I have narrowed it down to DISH pay as you go, with a wally receiver and King tailgater.

Anyone have any experience with this?

[OutdoorPhotogra]

You can get AT&T near the visitor's center. I don't remember about Currie Village. It's getting better. I wouldn't get my hopes up on satelite TV but if you are going to buy it anyways, you can try.

[offroad_x]

Thank you GoPackGo for the recommendation. I checked out the pathfinder, and it has some good reviews. I think I will go that route.

Thanks RamWilderness for the site. I'll try that out, and see what it says.

Thanks Dutch_12078 and Jbrowland for the encouragement. Maybe it is possible. I'll bring some dvds just in case.

Thanks 2oldman and Ed_Gee for the input. We are frequent visitors to the park, and stayed in Upper Pines in Feb. We did have intermittent cell service, which was a surprise. It sometimes worked in our trailer, other times, it worked just walking around the campground. I suspect that a cell signal booster may have done the trick. But, I actually like not having cell service. 🙂

We did see a couple trailers with satellite dishes out. So, maybe.

Only 3 weeks left until our trip. I have some wires left to run (hdmi, coax), and I better order the sat equipment so I have time to try it out.

[Jbrowland]

I was just in North Pines a few weeks ago. Both camp hosts had tailgate style satellite dishes by their RV's. I'm not sure if they worked but they were deployed. All that said, we don't have a TV in our RV.

Regarding cell reception, we were told by a ranger last month that Yosemite NP had recently installed more cell towers near. Our recent reception was occasionally decent where the previous times it was always non-existent.

[Dutch_12078]

It seems to me that satellite reception in the Yosemite Valley would be contingent on your exact location in the valley. I haven't failed yet to find a usable hole in tree cover somewhere where I could get a shot towards at least one of the three sats on one of the two arcs, no matter where we've been. Again, location would make a big difference in being able get a signal or not. If you have a clear sky view due south at about 45 degrees elevation in the valley, your dish can hit the western arc sats.

[2oldman]

Ed_Gee wrote:
I would suspect that satellite TV reception will be impossible

I would also suspect zero phone service.

[Ed_Gee]

As a past frequent visitor to Yosemite, I would suspect that satellite TV reception will be impossible in the campgrounds. You are in a deep narrow valley with lots of trees and vertical mountain walls rising thousands of feet on both sides.

[GoPackGo]

One more thing. Winegard sells a nice height-adjustable tripod for the X2. It will raise the X2 about 1-2 ft off the ground, improving your chances of shooting over trees and cliffs. Each leg is independently adjustable for uneven ground. I use mine all the time because it keeps the X2 off the ground in rainstorms.

Best prices for all normally on Amazon, but CW also runs good sales on the X2.

And - no matter which you get, consider getting a lockable cable or chain. I have 50 ft of chain and 2 locks. I either lock it to my rig, a tree, etc.

[2oldman]

GoPackGo wrote:
I would also have a 'normal' 35/50 ft cable and also a 100 ft cord in case you really need to move your sat dish around.

A 100' cord doesn't work with my DTV SWM setup. Well, ok, it sorta works, but the receiver can't get tuner 2. When I saw that I moved the dish closer.

[RamCougar]

You can use DishPointer to get a basic idea. Still won't know until you are there and try. Enter your location and Dish 110,119,129. Try to get your location in the park as close as possible by moving the locater icon and put a check in Options "show obstacle" box. You can move the Obstacle icon out to get a distance and height measurement of the beam. Hope this helps.
DishPointer

[GoPackGo]

I don't know if you'll be able to do it BUT, I'd get the Winegard Pathfinder X2 instead of a Tailgator. You can only get the western sats with a Tailgator but the X2 can get the western OR the eastern sats - so you have more chances for success.

Full disclosure - I have an X2 and have been using it for 3 years now as a full timer. But never in a valley like Yosemite.

Also - If you have an Iphone, get the DISHFORMYRV app. I use it all the time. It uses the phone's camera to project the locations of the Dish satellites onto the sky (and trees and cliffs) when you hold your phone up and point it at the right place. It may just give you the edge you need.

I would also have a 'normal' 35/50 ft cable and also a 100 ft cord in case you really need to move your sat dish around. Some folks have stated that the 100 ft cord will work, although Winegard may not agree. They're cheap so I'd have one (Amazon is your friend).

[2oldman]

Google maps street view has driven the main road thru there. In looking toward the SE (toward Texas for DTV) it's a little hard to see, but I can't see big cliffs, just a lot of trees, which can work if you know what you're doing.

[offroad_x]

I agree with korbe, but I am not a big TV watcher. My wife loves to channel surf, so if it makes her happy, I'll install it.

As greenrvgreen said, after a long day of hiking, it's nice to watch a movie at night.

And, yes, 2oldman, I did not find anything about Yosemite Valley. I've been collecting info for a few months, and did not find anything here, or in other forums.

I am hoping someone has some experience with this.

Thanks for the replies!

[2oldman]

I didn't find a thing about satellite and that CG. And I watch TV no matter where I go. At night.

[greenrvgreen]

I'm sorry but that comment isn't fair. I love Ysoemite Valley, I'm a patron of the Park and when I go there I day hike the 30 mile loop around the east rim of the valley. And I would LOVE to have sat TV there.

Since I've never tried, I'm only speculating, but I would GUESS that the tree cover would be the problem there. There are some CGs quite near the granite walls, but there the bigger worry is that the walls periodically shed giant chunks of granite the size of a downtown building and kill people in the way, TV or not.