Looking to change out my old Winegard crank up roof mounted dish antenna for a newer automatic Dish antenna........I've been with Dish Network for 19 years and have no plans to change service........with that in mind......what is the current consensus on a roof mounted HD capable automatic dish?A couple of years ago, I probably would have opted for a Winegard Traveler but is it necessary to spend that kind of money these days when they also offer the Pathway X1 and the Carryout G2?..............Any other models that I should also consider?Is there any appreciable difference between the 3 models performance wise?Thanks for any insight and responses!

Continue to be really happy with the Trav'ler

DirecTV requires the Winegard Traveler type dish to get HD. Since you have Dish service, you can get Dish HD with a small 'dome' type antenna like the Winegard Roadtrip mission. It's a few to several hundred dollars cheaper than the Travler, and smaller and 'neater' also. Then again, it's a single feed horn type that automatically re-aims itself if you turn to a channel on a different satellite.... which means you can essentially only watch one TV program at a time. The Traveler would allow you to watch two or more TVs at the same time. If you don't want a permanent dish on your roof, one of those newer portable units would be sufficient. Personally, I like that I don't have to hook up coax, set a dish unit out on the ground, etc. to set up the TV system. I have a Roadtrip Mission and like it.

I have the TailGater for the Dish System and it works Great for me

The current state of the art portable dome for Dish is the Winegard Pathway X2. The capability of using either the three western arc or three eastern arc satellites adds more flexibility to your aiming options, but unfortunately, there is no permanent roof mount option for that model. For roof top mounts, as said previously, the RoadTrip Mission would be a good alternative, and it's available in either both stationary and in-motion models. It does have the typical dome limitations of course, also as previously mentioned.

I have no experience with a roof mounted satellite dish. However, having pushed my Tailgater for more than 2 years often in less than optimal conditions and getting less than optimal results with the Western arc sats, I went to the PathwayX2 two weeks back. Spent a week at my fav, less than optimal results state park. Pretty much same Western arc issues. But the magic of the Pathway's Eastern arc swing was super special and had 60 signal strength on all three sats which was totally unheard of using the Tailgater, even at the beach.

Which automatic sat dish for Dish Network service?

Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Oct 25, 2015
Dutch_12078 wrote:
To put the VIP211 with an external HD limitations in perspective, right now I'm recording one program on CBS, another program on NBC, and at the same time, watching a program that was recorded earlier today while we were out. It's certainly not as versatile as our Hopper, but it's not as inflexible as it might appear at first either. We left the Hopper set up at our cottage this time, so it could record programs we would have missed while underway. We can then view them using Dish Anywhere fed to our TV from a tablet via HDMI.

Unless you are also have your 211 connect to an over the air antenna you can't be doing all 3. There's only one tuner so only 1 satellite channel at a time.
Dutch_12078
Explorer II
Oct 25, 2015
To put the VIP211 with an external HD limitations in perspective, right now I'm recording one program on CBS, another program on NBC, and at the same time, watching a program that was recorded earlier today while we were out. It's certainly not as versatile as our Hopper, but it's not as inflexible as it might appear at first either. We left the Hopper set up at our cottage this time, so it could record programs we would have missed while underway. We can then view them using Dish Anywhere fed to our TV from a tablet via HDMI.
TechWriter
Explorer
Oct 25, 2015
webslave wrote:
. . . I'm getting ready to buy a dual tuner receiver (a 722) that will be able to record several channels at a time while I watch something else. .

The 722 only has 2 tuners, so you can record one program, not "several", while watching another program.
webslave
Explorer
Oct 25, 2015
I just got rid of my RoadTrip Mission InMotion antenna setup and had the Trav'ler 1000.2 Dish unit installed in its place. We don't have children (young) that travel with us, so, in motion was a waste and we both got tired of no HD (the InMotion could never find 129 for Dish HD). SD was fine, but, what pushed us over the edge was the grinding sound as it went from one sat to another depending on what channel we watched. If we went to bed and forgot to turn the darn thing off, it would periodically change from satellite to satellite "peaking" its position...for the entire night. The Trav'ler, once it finds all three satellites, goes to sleep. No further noise, the channel changes are instant and we get our HD channels with no problems. Signal strength is also more than twice that of what the little RoadTrip reflector could gather. Since the Trav'ler has the capability, I'm getting ready to buy a dual tuner receiver (a 722) that will be able to record several channels at a time while I watch something else. The 211Z as a DVR is a bit awkward and useful primarily if we aren't going to be "in" for the show. Fortunately, the park that we winter at has good cable, so, we can watch a program on the cable while the 211Z records another at the same time, but, we're still missing some of our programs because of time conflicts via Dish; the 722 with the dual tuner will eliminate most of those conflicts. I do, however, still have and use, when necessary, my "trusty" X2...best portable "automatic" antenna I've ever used.
Robocop
Explorer
Oct 21, 2015
Bill.Satellite wrote:
DVR and X2? As long as you understand you can only watch/record 1 satellite channel (the channel you are watching or a channel while you are away/asleep) then that combo is an excellent option.

Roger that. Thanks. I know it is not a standard DVR. Heck, if I really wanted to watch something that bad I would not be DVRing it were I in front of the TV! But it would be nice to grab a couple of programs from time to time.
TechWriter
Explorer
Oct 20, 2015
96Bounder30E wrote:
I don't want to take the hopper out of my house......my teenage kids stay at home and I wouldn't dare leave them TV'less!

My question was.........other than the 211 variant, is there a DVR equipped receiver that DISH will let me use in my RV with a Hopper / Joey ALSO on my account? (Hopper Joey stays at home)

Nope. But you could leave the 211 at home & take the Hopper on the road.
96Bounder30E
Explorer II
Oct 20, 2015
Bill.Satellite wrote:
96Bounder30E wrote:
Bill.Satellite,

Are there any current DVR options in the RV for a Dish user with a Hopper/ Joey in the sticks and bricks other than the provide your own external hard drive option?

When I had my Hopper system installed....at that time the only option was the additional 211?? variant for use in my RV.........has that changed?

Yep, the Trav'ler from Winegard. The only other option is a tripod mounted home antenna mounted on a tripod. Both work exactly the same, it's just a matter of how much work you want to do.
You can still use the 211 with a dome style antenna (with the expected limitations) in the RV or get the hardware you need to take the Hopper on the road.

Bill,

Thanks for the fast response.......I don't want to take the hopper out of my house......my teenage kids stay at home and I wouldn't dare leave them TV'less!

My question was.........other than the 211 variant, is there a DVR equipped receiver that DISH will let me use in my RV with a Hopper / Joey ALSO on my account? (Hopper Joey stays at home)

I would go the traveler route if I could add a real DVR equipped receiver to my account........such as a 722 or similar......
ljr
Nomad
Oct 20, 2015
96Bounder30E wrote:
ljr wrote:
I've had a hopper, Joey and Traveler for quite awhile.

Is your hopper and Joey in your house or RV?

RV

The western arc only factor means the Hopper feature don't always work in the East. I still carry a tripod for those cases.
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Oct 20, 2015
96Bounder30E wrote:
Bill.Satellite,

Are there any current DVR options in the RV for a Dish user with a Hopper/ Joey in the sticks and bricks other than the provide your own external hard drive option?

When I had my Hopper system installed....at that time the only option was the additional 211?? variant for use in my RV.........has that changed?

Yep, the Trav'ler from Winegard. The only other option is a tripod mounted home antenna mounted on a tripod. Both work exactly the same, it's just a matter of how much work you want to do.
You can still use the 211 with a dome style antenna (with the expected limitations) in the RV or get the hardware you need to take the Hopper on the road.
96Bounder30E
Explorer II
Oct 20, 2015
ljr wrote:
I've had a hopper, Joey and Traveler for quite awhile.

Is your hopper and Joey in your house or RV?