Motorhome Dish Network Choices

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skitime

Member
Original poster
Jan 8, 2006
8
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I have been using a Dish 4000 receiver in my motorhome for years. I have an in-motion satellite dish which only uses SAT 119. I also use the 4000 receiver in my home. I have been thinking of upgrading the 4000 receiver. I have a VIP622 already for my HDTV but thought a second HD receiver would be nice. I talked with Dish Network support on the phone and learned a few things that I was hoping you guys could clarify for me. First I was going to upgrade to a VIP211 then I figured I could just make it a VIP622 so I could use the DVR in the motorhome. The tech guy said the 211 would work in the motorhome but the 622 would not since it would only be connected to single satellite without errors or something about a Dish Pro Plus thing. I did not understand that. He said the 211 would work just fine. Then he said some older Dish DVR receivers would not have a DVR monthly charge. Which ones would that be? What would you guys recommend for the motorhome that would have DVR capability? The motorhome receiver would not have to have HD capability but that would be nice for future options.
 
1st, there is only about 4 HD channels on 110, the 1st 4 that dish added in their HD lineup. 2nd, the 622 is a dual tuner and legacy wouldn't work on your setup, if you could upgrade the lnb to dish pro dual on it, it would be fine.

I take 2 211's with us camping and have two HDTV's for the RV, when I am going to be at a spot for a while like a week, I will take my portable dish 500 and hit 119 and 129 instead of the normal 119 and 110, that way I get all the HD and 119 has most of the non HD we watch too.

The 622 has a hard drive and I am not sure what all the movement would do to it ?

If you go with a 211, you can keep your same setup, hit 110 and get a few HD channels and of course hook it in with your RV antenna and scan in any digital locals, that will give you some more HD possibilities. If your in the mood for just HD, you could crank the dish around and hit 129 or 61.5 and get the rest.

Or you could upgrade the LNB in your onboard dish to dish pro, then add a DP44 switch and bring a dish on a tripod with a dish pro lnb and do a combo thing, hit 129 or 61.5 with your onboard, hit 119 and 110 with a portable dish 500 or leave the skew alone and just hit 119 with it. Hook the portable dish input to a DP44 and the input from the onboard, then use a dish seperator on a cable to your dp44 and hook up that 622. You could also have OTA digitals from that too and record away. You could whip out the tripod on those longer stays.
 
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Since I have no HDTVs in the motorhome at this time HD in the motorhome is not a big problem. The capability of DVR in the motorhome would be great. Is there a older Dish DVR that would not occur DVR fees?
 
skitime,
The older 501 and 508 DVRs do not have the dvr fee.
(we just sold a 501 from the store for $80, so thay are not expensive.)

scc,
the original HD channels are on 110 , not 119
With a Dishpro Plus LNB, the motorhome with two dishes wouldn't need a 44 switch.
 
I also have a tripod dish so I could sometimes set up a two dish setup. So the 501 and 508s would work for my current setup.
 
Look for a 501 or 508 on Ebay, just ask for the R# and S# before you bid on it and call dish to make sure it has no balance and is not leased. Also make sure the seller has good history and mutiples.

They will work with legacy so you could record on 119 or 110 with your setup depending on what Satellite you want to hit. There is one on Ebay now that looks good .

Up in 20 hours http://cgi.ebay.com/Dish-508-PVR-Re...097516538QQcategoryZ32845QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Seller is even giving S & R #s and 100% positive feedback, go for it if you are looking for an SD DVR

It will work with your onboard so you don't have to get out the tripod unless you just want the extra stuff on 110.

If you don't mind the DVR fees, the 510 was a very reliable DVR and has more storage.
 
Like Sprit said that looks like a good deal. If you want make sure before you bid you can call dish and give those numbers to see if the receiver is for sure clear.
 
If by slow that it takes a long time to display a picture after a strong signal then I also found this with the 4000 model. I read in another thread that some are using a 622 in their motorhome. Could someone explain what I would need to do that?
 
I think I did that above ?

1st, there is only about 4 HD channels on 110, the 1st 4 that dish added in their HD lineup. 2nd, the 622 is a dual tuner and legacy wouldn't work on your setup unless you had a dual lnb, if you could upgrade the lnb to dish pro dual on it, it would be fine.

I take 2 211's with us camping and have two HDTV's for the RV, when I am going to be at a spot for a while like a week, I will take my portable dish 500 and hit 119 and 129 instead of the normal 119 and 110, that way I get all the HD and 119 has most of the non HD we watch too.

The 622 has a hard drive and I am not sure what all the movement would do to it ?

If you go with a 211, you can keep your same setup, hit 110 and get a few HD channels and of course hook it in with your RV antenna and scan in any digital locals, that will give you some more HD possibilities. If your in the mood for just HD, you could crank the dish around and hit 129 or 61.5 and get the rest.

Or you could upgrade the LNB in your onboard dish to dish pro, then add a DP44 switch and bring a dish on a tripod with a dish pro lnb and do a combo thing, hit 129 or 61.5 with your onboard, hit 119 and 110 with a portable dish 500 or leave the skew alone and just hit 119 with it. Hook the portable dish input to a DP44 and the input from the onboard, then use a dish seperator on a cable from your dp44 and hook up that 622. You could also have OTA digitals from that too and record away. You could whip out the tripod on those longer stays.

To get the 622 to work, you have to have a dual legacy lnb on your onboard, or you could point current single lnb onboard to 119 like usual and run a cable off a legacy dish tripod and hit 119, running both of these to the 622. You have to match each tuner with the legacy input or the 622 will not like it. Again, 119 from the onboard to the 622 and 119 from the tripod legacy to the 622, each tuner on the 622 must have the same Satellites available to it when using legacy or it gets really unhappy. Or upgrade the onboard to dish pro single and run to a DP44 and do the same on the tripod.

I would upgrade the lnb on the onboard to Dishpro single, then upgrade the tripod to a dish pro 500 dual and run these to a DP44 and then feed the 622 from the DP44 with a single cable and seperator. That way you could hit 129 or 61.5 with the onboard and 119 110 with the tripod 500.

Any reason why you want the 622 with no HDTV in the motorhome ? The 508 or any single tuner DVR would be a much easier solution and not require any modifications.
 
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sprintcarcrazy, wow that is some great info. Thanks. I can't upgrade the in-motion LBN since it is a low profile model that actually consists of an array of 4 small dishes the create the strength of one larger dish so I am stuck with it. The only reason I was considering using the 622 is because I already have one. I did not realize the 622 needed double feeds for each Satellite. I guess the thing to do is A. Get the 211 and use the dish I got and have the possibility of having HD at some point or B. Get a 501 or 508 and have the benefit of the DVR and forget HD in the motorhome.
 
Yes, I figured upgrading the onboard would be a problem, so your kinda stuck.

The 211's are nice, if you do go HDTV, then you can always crank that dish around and hit another satellite. I usually for the short trips just hit 119 and then use the RV OTA antenna and scan in digital locals. That gets CBS, NBC and ABC in HD most of the time.

The 500 can be a little hard to aim on the tripod, especially when trees are in the mix. Sounds like the tripod upgrade would be cheapest for you. You could pick up a 500 dual LNB pro for about $70 or so, maybe less on ebay.
 

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