1000.2 or 1000.4 lnb for my traveling Hopper RV setup?

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dkimmel

Active SatelliteGuys Member
Original poster
Apr 24, 2006
18
0
I live in the Pittsburgh, PA market and just recently switched to Dish Network. I plan on taking a Hopper with me camping. I need to purchase the dish, node, lnb, signal meter, etc. Is there a way to receive my locals while I am on the road from the Pittsburgh market? Will the purchase of a 1000.2 or 1000.4 lnb determine how far from my present location that I will still be able to get my locals, spot beam, etc.? Is one easier than the next to align? I know, a lot of questions but your help is appreciated for this newbie to Dish Network.
 
A couple of things you should know and consider, first 1000.2 and 1000.4 are types of a dish and they can be used to point at either arc. It's the lnb assemblies is what determines which arc you need to point the dish at. The 1000.2 is a bit easier to setup, but the 1000.4 has better fine tuning controls and can maximize your signal strength. Right now, Pittsburgh is on both arcs and is available anywhere in the Continental United States (CONUS) on the EA setup (but will probably change to spotbeam at some point) and is on spotbeam on WA. What I recommend for RV travelers is to pick the dish type they are comfortable to set up with a good signal meter and lnb assemblies for both arcs. This is a good idea if you should run into line of site issues, having both arcs available to you can minimize this happening.
 
I feel like I am going to be competent enough at setting up the dish. I had been doing a DirecTV 5-lnb dish for quite a while now. I had thought of purchasing a First Strike FS1 meter for a new Dish setup for the RV to make the dish pointing easier. Would you suggest that I go with the 1000.4 setup then using the FS1 meter? It doesn't seem like it should be too much of a hassle setting things up with that meter/dish combo? Thoughts? And again thanks for your input on this.

A couple of things you should know and consider, first 1000.2 and 1000.4 are types of a dish and they can be used to point at either arc. It's the lnb assemblies is what determines which arc you need to point the dish at. The 1000.2 is a bit easier to setup, but the 1000.4 has better fine tuning controls and can maximize your signal strength. Right now, Pittsburgh is on both arcs and is available anywhere in the Continental United States (CONUS) on the EA setup (but will probably change to spotbeam at some point) and is on spotbeam on WA. What I recommend for RV travelers is to pick the dish type they are comfortable to set up with a good signal meter and lnb assemblies for both arcs. This is a good idea if you should run into line of site issues, having both arcs available to you can minimize this happening.
 
I've been using the 1000.4 for a while and prefer it to the 1000.2 because I think the 1000.4 is easier to align and to set up. For example, you only need to remove 2 screws to take the LNB arm off. On a 1000.2 you have to remove 4 screws to take off the entire arm/aiming assembly.

I use an Accutrac III+ because it allows you to view the signal strength of all 3 sats simultaneously -- VERY handy for precision sat acquisition. I think the FS1 is a sat identifier while the Accutrac III+ does not. The Accutrac III+ appears to be out of production, but eBay has some left:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Acutrac-III...4370?pt=US_Signal_Finders&hash=item4aa9a21fc2

If you opt for the Accutrac, throw out the batteries that come with it and put in quality NiCads.


Also, if you haven't bought one already, a good tripod like these guys sell: http://www.tv4rv.com