We had a travel trailer and used one of our sd home receivers and a "shaky" tripod with a round dish for our d tv while camping. It was pretty easy to get locked on a good signal, except when we were in Maine where the sats were kinda low on the horizon. Now we have a fifth wheel and will be spending considerable time in it. It has a 40" tv. We'd like to get an hd/dvr to get the same service we get at home. Doesn't matter if we hook up the bedroom tv to the sat. How much more difficult is it to set the slimline dish up for hd vs the round dish for sd? On the slimline 5 lnb swm, would this enable us to bring in only one coax to the rv sat connection or would we have to install a new thru wall connection near the sat box? Directv can send us a sd/dvr for free and $5/month for the extra box or $100 up front and $5/month for the extra box. Don't mind too much spending the extra one time $100 for the hd/dvr if the setting up isn't too time consuming after going thru the learning curve. I've looked at "satellite tv for rv.com" and their package combo for the slimline looks ok. Would still have to purchase a slimline swm dish/lnb. Anything else needed for setup? Like a meter other than the one included in the tripod combo?
portable tripod and 5lnb swm
- Thread starter kokodog
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TV4RV.com
Two solutions: Winegard Trav'ler automatic roof mount -$1,500 or so. Works great until a tree is in the way. TV4RV.com HD Combo Kit - $145.00 + dish $50-$150 (from friendly installer, craig's list, ebay, or retail). Kit provides plumb mast with stable base and an accurate aiming system. Once you have mastered it, setup is a snap. Depending on what Sat your locals are on you'll only need an SL3 LNB. DNS only requires an SL3.
Two solutions: Winegard Trav'ler automatic roof mount -$1,500 or so. Works great until a tree is in the way. TV4RV.com HD Combo Kit - $145.00 + dish $50-$150 (from friendly installer, craig's list, ebay, or retail). Kit provides plumb mast with stable base and an accurate aiming system. Once you have mastered it, setup is a snap. Depending on what Sat your locals are on you'll only need an SL3 LNB. DNS only requires an SL3.
If you are setting the dish up yourself, the aiming part can be a bit tricky, but you should get the hang of it. You could go the easy (more expensive) route and get the equipment schneid mentioned.
IF you are GOOD at setting up the single LNB, you should get the hang of the Slimline pretty quickly.
Get yourself a stable Tripod, make sure it is Plumb and go from there.
IF you can nail the 101 Sat, the rest will fall into place.
Make minor tweaks with the dithering set up on the dish to fine tune.
Get yourself a stable Tripod, make sure it is Plumb and go from there.
IF you can nail the 101 Sat, the rest will fall into place.
Make minor tweaks with the dithering set up on the dish to fine tune.
If your just getting one box for the RV then an SL3 or SL5 (non swm) would work as well with just one line. You would just need a b-band for the back of the hr24.
Just giving you some more options. Might save ya a buck or 2 not to go swm.
Just giving you some more options. Might save ya a buck or 2 not to go swm.
Jimbo - you say "IF you can nail the 101 Sat, the rest will fall into place" but the new satellite meter (SatLink WS6906) I'm trying to became familiar with doesn't list DirecTV9s (at 101.1W) as a satellite it "knows." There's a listing for AMC4 (101.0W)Ku. Is this the same satellite as DirecTV9s? If not, is there another name for the DirecTV9s satellite?
Fancy meters are not needed if your mast is plumb and you have a dead-on shot at the 101. To get that use dishpointer.com to obtain the settings for your EXACT location and use a compass to set the Azimuth (magnetic bearing).
The HD Combo Kit from TV4RV makes this all easy with it's stable and level base and included sighting compass. If my TV4RV tripod is level and aimed with the included compass to the Dishpoiner Azimuth settings, my Slimline Elevation and Tilt/Skew preset, I will have good signal.
The HD Combo Kit from TV4RV makes this all easy with it's stable and level base and included sighting compass. If my TV4RV tripod is level and aimed with the included compass to the Dishpoiner Azimuth settings, my Slimline Elevation and Tilt/Skew preset, I will have good signal.
Unfortunately, MOST Sat meters do NOT tell you what sat your hitting.
As scneid mentioned, you really don't need a meter, just patience and a plumb mast, amd move slowly.
As scneid mentioned, you really don't need a meter, just patience and a plumb mast, amd move slowly.
I thought about that awhile back, but did not see spending $ 400+ to get a meter that tells you what Sat your on to be a wise investment unless I'm setting them up on a regular basis.
For camping, I would use the SL3, smaller LNB, easier to store. unless your locals are on 119.
If you want to get real experimental, modify a Phase 3 dish to take the SL3 LNB for a even more compact set-up. But can be a little more tricky to set-up. But the Phase 3 dish takes a smaller diameter pole, so most existing tripods will work.
If you want to get real experimental, modify a Phase 3 dish to take the SL3 LNB for a even more compact set-up. But can be a little more tricky to set-up. But the Phase 3 dish takes a smaller diameter pole, so most existing tripods will work.
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