Direct TV only for Tailgating HELP

[jwterry3]

I live in Charleston, SC. I will be tailgating in Columbia, SC most of the time with a few away games added in. My question is: What equipment do I need to get off eBay in order to get what we need at Tailgate? We will want the local and ESPN and such.

Since I will have my own equipment, do I have to sign a contract? How much will it be a month and what package do I get?

I will be running an lCD TV from a generator or inverter. I am assuming I will need a dish (mounted on the top of my Tahoe or a Tripod), a reciever with remote, and thats it right?????

 

[meStevo]

I'd just call DirecTV and see what they have to offer if anything. You're likely stuck getting into a contract, but you can suspend your services for extended periods. Ask them what options you have, wont hurt to call and talk to someone.

You can't start new service with existing equipment unless you were a previous sub I believe.

ESPN you'd need the most basic package, and locals should come along with that. Locals will likely dictate you'd need a 3-LNB dish, instead of the simpler Oval dish. A OTA antenna might be a better option for local channels to keep things simple.

Surely someone around here does this, but odds are they have D* at home too.

 

[boba]

I live in Charleston, SC. I will be tailgating in Columbia, SC most of the time with a few away games added in. My question is: What equipment do I need to get off eBay in order to get what we need at Tailgate? We will want the local and ESPN and such.

Since I will have my own equipment, do I have to sign a contract? How much will it be a month and what package do I get?

I will be running an lCD TV from a generator or inverter. I am assuming I will need a dish (mounted on the top of my Tahoe or a Tripod), a reciever with remote, and thats it right?????

You can't start a new account with used equipment. You will need to setup a new account with at least 1 basic leased receiver 12 month contract and to get ESPN Choice programming would be the minimum package at $49.99/Mo. Find a Sports bar near the stadium it will be easier and cheaper for only a few months viewing.

 

[doctor J]

Tailgating

TV at a college tailgate can be a great experience but it is not without substantial expense and a good bit of effort and equipment. It is best done as an extention of your home account and equipment . If you do not already have D* service it probably is too expensive.

The expertise required to aligne the dish is not great but goes up exponentially from 18" to 3lnb to 5 lnb dish. A good idea is to practice at home with your portable dish before you get to the game. I can't tell you how many people show up with a dish and a TV and have no clue how to tune the satellite signal. This is a good introducer setup :

Winegard 18" DIRECTV Dish Antenna RV Satellite Dish Kit

A good generator (than is quiet enough to not be intrusive in a crowd)(Honda or Yamaha 1000 watts) can cost $1000.00. Find someone with a dish that tailgates close to you and make plans for next year. I doubt you can pull this all together for opening weekend. JUST 4 weeks away.

 

[jwterry3]

If we have someone that tailgates with us that is a normal customer, then we can piggy back off of his service with used equipment. Right?

I already have the TV and generator.So I will need a standard reciever with remote and normal 18 inch oval or round dish to get ESPN using our buddies contract...right?

Thanks in advance

 

[meStevo]

No, since sharing service with others is illegal. That person could add a used piece of hardware to his service for a $20 access card fee (assuming the used equipment does not come with a usable card, it generally does not, and even when it does you almost always have to purchase a new one).

The person could activate and deactivate the receiver at will generally with no harm to their service level or contract status.

 

[iwc5893]

If we have someone that tailgates with us that is a normal customer, then we can piggy back off of his service with used equipment. Right?

I already have the TV and generator.So I will need a standard reciever with remote and normal 18 inch oval or round dish to get ESPN using our buddies contract...right?

Thanks in advance

Wrong. You need to activate the receiver to your account or on his account (causing him to pay an additional $4.99 per month) You must be an existing D* customer to take your used equipment on the road with you. The minimum package that you need to sign up for with D* to receive ESPN is the Choice package at ~$49.00 per month. If you want to go this route, call D* and tell them you want to sign up for an RV type account. D* will then provide you with all of the equipment you need, but you would be locked into a one year contract with them.

Now if you have a receiver that is activated to your account, then yes, you can connect your receiver to his dish to receive signal provided he is okay with that.

 

[doctor J]

Have your friend bring his receiver and all is well.
Any new(used, not activated) receivers will have to be added to his existing account at $4.99 per month with a 1 year committment.

Doctor j

 

[uscboy]

Go Cocks!

I've been tailgating for a few years with satellite TV at the Brice and the last few have been with HD. This year will be with the 5LNB Slimline dish, an OTA antenna until Columbia gets their locals in HD over satellite, an H20 receiver, and a 24" widescreen HD monitor.

We're powering all of our stuff off an inverter for the time being because like someone already pointed out if you get a generator, don't get a cheap one... don't be that person with the loud, stinky generator next to others.

Get a Honda eu1000i (or whatever the new model is that recently replaced it). Otherwise, just get a 400W+ inverter and 2 or 3 Group 27 deep cycle marine batteries. Don't use regular car batteries, they are damaged much worse when they're drained down unlike the deep cycle ones.

If you have a round 18" dish or one of the triple LNB oval dishes, then a chain link fence pole works perfectly. Combine that with an antenna mount tripod (got mine from Radio Shack) and it's easy to set up. If you get one of the new 5LNB dishes for the MPEG4 HD stuff, that requires a 2" outer diameter pole - hard to find locally, get one from the DirecTV guy like I did.

Good luck! Hope this is a great season!

 

[HouseBowlrz]

TV at a college tailgate can be a great experience but it is not without substantial expense and a good bit of effort and equipment. It is best done as an extention of your home account and equipment . If you do not already have D* service it probably is too expensive.

The expertise required to aligne the dish is not great but goes up exponentially from 18" to 3lnb to 5 lnb dish. A good idea is to practice at home with your portable dish before you get to the game. I can't tell you how many people show up with a dish and a TV and have no clue how to tune the satellite signal. This is a good introducer setup :

Winegard 18" DIRECTV Dish Antenna RV Satellite Dish Kit

A good generator (than is quiet enough to not be intrusive in a crowd)(Honda or Yamaha 1000 watts) can cost $1000.00. Find someone with a dish that tailgates close to you and make plans for next year. I doubt you can pull this all together for opening weekend. JUST 4 weeks away.

I purchased a portable dish for tailgating and bring one of my receivers (I'm currently a D* customer) and TV for tailgating. For power, I have an inverter that I plug into a power source (cigarette lighter connection) at the rear of my SUV.

Acquiring signal ... your provider should have a web site that tells you where to point the dish based on your zip code. With the (old style - purchased January 2000) RCA receiver, I use the satellite tuning option and just listen for the sound.


hope that helps ... :

 

[Sharpie]

I purchased a portable dish for tailgating and bring one of my receivers (I'm currently a D* customer) and TV for tailgating. For power, I have an inverter that I plug into a power source (cigarette lighter connection) at the rear of my SUV.

Acquiring signal ... your provider should have a web site that tells you where to point the dish based on your zip code. With the (old style - purchased January 2000) RCA receiver, I use the satellite tuning option and just listen for the sound.


hope that helps ... :

How long can you plug into the cigarette lighter without causing problems to the car battery

 

[Sharpie]

I need help setting up my Directv system for tailgating. I tried to do this Saturday but could not get anything to work right. I am using a 3 lnb dish and standard receiver. I set up the dish looking towards the southwest with an unobstructed view ( l looked up what elevation I needed and set the dish to that elevation). I am running a receiver and tv off of a power inverter. I hooked everything up, turned all units on and clicked on the correct input on the tv to see the Directv screen. The screen was the Directv logo with the message, "searching for satellite signal." I could not get off that screen. I pushed menu on both the remote and receiver but it would not do anything. All I could get was that same screen telling about "searching for a signal." I reset the receiver but still the blue signal screen appeared and I could not get the menu to pop up. What am I doing wrong? Thanks for the help

 

[iwc5893]

Most likely, you're not pointing at the correct satellite. You mentioned that you set the elevation per the receiver, but did you do the tilt and azimuth also? Please keep in mind that those settings only work if your mast is plumb.

If you don't have a signal meter, you must do the old method of sweeping the sky while having someone watch the TV and let you know when you finally get signal.

 

[boba]

Do you need the 3 LNB dish you are just making your tailgating more complex? During this week sit in your back yard and learn how to setup a satellite dish. It isn't a TV antenna that will give you a picture if you are close. You are aiming at a satellite about the size of a van 22,300 miles above the equater. You can't be close you have to be exactly on target.

 

[Sharpie]

Do you need the 3 LNB dish you are just making your tailgating more complex? During this week sit in your back yard and learn how to setup a satellite dish. It isn't a TV antenna that will give you a picture if you are close. You are aiming at a satellite about the size of a van 22,300 miles above the equater. You can't be close you have to be exactly on target.

shouldn't the menu screen still pop up? I had the tilt set also to where it should be. Basically, I didn't move any of the settings from when it was taken off my house. Damn, I didn't think it would be this difficult. Thanks for the info

 

[charper1]

By menu, if you mean the setup screens, then YES. If you are not getting anything I would dare to ask if you are always making sure to unplug the receiver from power before connecting and disconnecting the RG6 (coax), if not, you can harm the receiver. Are you getting the receiver to power up but its not displaying anything on-screen?

 

[Sharpie]

By menu, if you mean the setup screens, then YES. If you are not getting anything I would dare to ask if you are always making sure to unplug the receiver from power before connecting and disconnecting the RG6 (coax), if not, you can harm the receiver. Are you getting the receiver to power up but its not displaying anything on-screen?

receiver powers up but all I get is a blue screen with Directv logo and a message saying, "searching for signal." I never could get the menu screen to pop up when I tried the button on the remote and receiver. I am not 100% but I think I always hooked in the cable before powering up the unit. It was a buddies receiver so I thought that maybe the receiver was bad to start with. But, I tried my receiver which I know works and worked with the dish I am using and it too would not let me go to the menu screen.

 

[charper1]

Did you say you have or have not tried rebooting it back to the initial setup?

 

[Sharpie]

Did you say you have or have not tried rebooting it back to the initial setup?

Yea, after I couldn't get the menu option to work I did reboot the system and still encountered the same problem after boot up

 

[charper1]

hmmm not remote or button response doesn't sound good o me. I hesitate to offer anything else for fear of harming it more.