Tailgate setup - Dish or DirecTV?

[lakebum431]

I'm looking to add HD to my tailgate as well. In looking at the channel lineup, it seems that all of the HD feeds (except for ESPN) that I would need are on the 129 satellite. Do we need a 3LNB dish, or could we use a simple 1 LNB pointed at 129 hooked into an existing 722 and still get HD?

You don't have to have a 3LNB dish if there is nothing on the other satellites that you want. Just figure out which satellite positions you want to see and go from there. Don't forget about local channels though. Lots of good games on them. That being said, depending on where you are you can hook up a small antenna and pull in locals through the Dish receiver. For me the minor cost difference on the 1000.2 and the Dish 500 made it worth it to me to get the 1000.2 to make sure I was flexible if/when channels change positions.

For the OP I'd just buy your equipment and do a no contract setup for the season then cancel when you are done.

[Scherrman]

I use to bring a Dish set-up all the time to Iowa games. We were only using SDTV though. If I were to do it now, I would actually get a VuCube. It makes setting things up breeze. The only problem is that it's expensive. If you want to do it a little cheaper, I would buy a 1000.2 antenna kit, some kind of tripod, and bring your HD receiver from home. Once you master setting it up, you can make money helping others set theirs up when tailgating. I've made a few bucks and got some bloody mary's for helping some strangers.

[Symbol]

buy your own dish and get someone with an existing account to activate the receiver you OWN(I would say buy a 211k)during the season,it will only cost 5 bucks a month and it can be canceled, also you may use the receiver to aim your dish,personally I use the rceiver to make sure I am locked on the sat,then I use an analog meter to fine tune it

I would suggest you purchase this pack for your tailgate

SATELLITE FINDER KIT SATELITE SIGNAL DIGITAL METER SAT - eBay (item 160286711982 end time Aug-20-09 17:42:25 PDT)

the dish is a breeze to set up if you use a compass and get the alignment info here

Satellite Finder / Dish Pointing Calculator with Google Maps | DishPointer.com

[DodgerKing]

Just an FYI...When you post a question comparing one provider to another is a forum for one provider only, you will usually get more favorable results for the provider of that particular forum.

That being said. As a DirecTV sub if your interests is college sports, then their is not much difference between the two providers (Direct may have more games in HD). The setup for Dish will be easier than that of Direct. Dish maybe the way to go for you.

If you interests is Pro sports, then Direct is the way to go, hands down. Dish does not even come close to touching Dish in this realm.

With what you posted in your first post, it looks like Dish would be your best option.

[one wolf]

I want to thank everyone for the various very helpful responses.

Just an FYI...When you post a question comparing one provider to another is a forum for one provider only, you will usually get more favorable results for the provider of that particular forum.

Well of course - that's why I posted an identical thread in the DTV forum. No responses on that one which is interesting a little.

With what you posted in your first post, it looks like Dish would be your best option.

I am tending to agree. The biggest issue is that none of us have Dish agreements currently to tag one onto. Seems unusual I guess... maybe because we're in an urban area - cable generally rules.

Thanks again everyone.