Small dish satellites

[Greysquirrel]

Bought a small travel trailer and would like to use a dish and have a question? Are there any Satellites I can get using a small dish, 18-22 inches. I have no desire to get Dish or Direct TV or to carry a 30 in. dish. If there are some birds I could get with a small dish even if I have to subscribe to some system that I could use a FTA receiver or even buy one from the company would work for me.

 

[Semokid]

Bought a small travel trailer and would like to use a dish and have a question? Are there any Satellites I can get using a small dish, 18-22 inches. I have no desire to get Dish or Direct TV or to carry a 30 in. dish. If there are some birds I could get with a small dish even if I have to subscribe to some system that I could use a FTA receiver or even buy one from the company would work for me.

I know you said that you did not want to get Direct or Dish service but thats about you best way since you want to use a small dish
and not mess with a bigger one. Actually you are better off with Direct tv other than Dishnetwork because with Dn you have to at least use the Dish 500 with dual lnb's to receive both 110-119 and unless things are different now you used to be able to get both sats with an 18 inch dish with a single cicular lnb. Only have to worry about Azmuth and Elevation as apposed to both those and then skew as with the dish 500.
Used to have satellite in my semi and thats what i used was the 18 inch dish single lnb on Direct tv!

 

[turbosat]

If you could learn how to aim one of those smaller dishes quickly, there's quite a bit of channels they'll pick up on fta. I have rigged an old dishnetwork 22" dish with a linear lnbf (takes some fabrication ! ) and found I can get lots of channels with it, in good weather, but it takes a lot of patience to ever aim one. I'd say if you practiced aiming one, after you fabbed it with the right type lnbf, and had a good solid tripod mount you could find something to watch. I've had mine on 72W, 91W, and 103. In clear weather it did nicely, was good for Pentagon channel too.

 

[AcWxRadar]

Bought a small travel trailer and would like to use a dish and have a question? Are there any Satellites I can get using a small dish, 18-22 inches. I have no desire to get Dish or Direct TV or to carry a 30 in. dish. If there are some birds I could get with a small dish even if I have to subscribe to some system that I could use a FTA receiver or even buy one from the company would work for me.

GreySquirrel,

Sorry, but NO on this one.

DN or DirecTV (or Bell Express for Canada) are your only options with that small of a dish and that will require a subscription to their services. They do offer this for travelers if you want to press them for the information.

However, there is no rule that says you cannot set up a 75 cm or larger dish at your campsite. I understand that is against your grain regarding your maximum desired dish size to tote along, but this is going to be your only choice for any FTA signals.

You can obtain a good number of the Ku band FTA signals using a 75 cm (or ~30 inch dish).

Sorry that this is not a pleasing answer for you, but that is pretty much the way it is, you cannot get around the physics and electronics of this aspect.

RADAR

P.S. TurboSat's recommendation is true, but you are not going to like the labor and expense involved. Not during a camping or travel trip for fun. You might spend your whole leisure time trying to dial in a signal.
You won't be happy with it. Do it right one way or the other or don't bother with it at all. That is my honest recommendation.

 

[rv1pop]

IF -- IF --- IF you are going to be set up for 3 or more days at one site, then it might be ok to use a small dish to try to get something. The time involved is not worth it as acwxradar said. I have gone to a Primestar 75E which I set up on 97W. If I use a tripod or base mount 20- minutes is about max to lock in. I am trying a ladder mount on this trip and have not had good success. Over an hour to set up and then end up losing the lock to the rocking of the motor home.
A 22" dish never stayed locked in even on the tripod, a 30" was OK on a table or simular ridged base, the GEOsat was good on a base or a tripod but wanted to warp or bend a bit from constant unpacking, setting up; taking down and repacking. The SatAV wall mount (some call it a J-pole) on a 2 1/2 foot square piece of 1 1/4 inch flooring plywood worked very well for a base.

over 200,000 miles in two motorhomes and hundreds of setup and takedowns - learning from good and bad experiences.... THIS IS THE LAST TRIP WITH A LADDER OR ROOF MOUNT! I am screaming to myself.

If you can solidly hang the dish on your ladder or spare tire, the size of the dish is less of a problem to carry. -- ICE can be a problem on a winter drive, however.
POP

 

[Phottoman]

Many years ago, after I sold my six footer on the trailer that I towed all over the country, I went with DirecTV for a few years. It was more convenient that the six footer, but of course I wish now I hadn't sold it.

I attached my small dish to the back of my camper, on the opposite side of the door to the hinges, and it would take me no more that five minutes to set this up. Stronger signals, circular polarization, all made it easy to set up and just loosen one bolt to turn the dish to face back into the rig when I was ready to move.

As RVPop mentioned, hanging it on the rig it's self would be the ~ideal~ way to rig this, but you'll have to make some small adjustments if you travel several hundred miles at a time.

Carry a compass with you, once you get the dish set up AT HOME, look at where you are pointing AT THAT location. Then when you are traveling, you'll have an idea where to point your dish when you stop overnight or when you stay for a day or more.

One more thing, don't forget when you stop, make sure the dish can FACE in the direction you'll need for reception.

Hope this helps, and enjoy camping and dish reception on the road.

I forgot to mention, I had solar panels on the roof, an inverter and a battery dedicated to this operation, so for me, no power hookups were needed. I could stop ANYWHERE and have TV.

Photto

 

[rv1pop]

I will take some pictures tommorow of the set up here -- I am in Corpus Christi, TX, I have the Primestar 75E mounted on a short pipe fastened to the ladder on the rear of the 24 foot motorhome. As I said before. it is not a good place to mount. When aiming to the short side, it was easy. I did not think of aiming forward or to the long side. Standing on the ladder and adjusting the dish was way too dangerous! It took over 2 hours today before I got a lock. And this was the 4th day of trying.
My solar panels on this motorhome were broken in a bad windstorm and I have not replaced them, but I have large battery bank and a good inverter, with low power equipment so I can go about 9 hours of watching TV before the power goes out. About 45 minutes running the engine will fully charge them.
more later. POP

 

[Tron]

RV1pop, things have surely changed since I was traveling with my family in our motorhome. I shot video (using late '80s vintage equipment, which ate power) while we drove from the front battery, and the alternator wasn't powerful enough to keep the gear running if we were idling. If I would be shooting from a motorhome today, things would be so much easier! We did have the deep discharge battery in the back, and I should probably have run from it instead, but it was needed at night to power the lights, water pump, etc....