Which Dish for tailgating

[GoWulfpack919]

Dish Network customer on the way to DirecTV.


Currently I have a Dish 500 with my HD receiver. I'm going to be moving over to Direct shortly and want to keep my tailgating gear intact. A friend gave me an old Phase III (?) dish. Will that work?

If not, is there a specific one I will need? Can I get an 18" DirecTV dish with one LNB off of craigslist and point it at the HD satellite? Will that be compatible with whatever HD receiver Direct provides?

I don't want to buy a gigantic dish if I can get by with only looking at one HD satellite. (For example, I currently point my Dish 500 at 61.5 because all the HD stuff I want to see is there).

Thanks in advance

 

[freezy]

i would forgo hd for a portable. a single lnb 18" mounted to a 2' x 2' piece of plywood zeroes really fast sitting on the ground

also go with an older receiver that doesn't need to re-acquire channels every time the power goes out

or if money is no object, do you mean tailgate or bolt onto a class A rv?

 

[GoWulfpack919]

I would prefer HD since I have an HD TV. Can I not use a single LNB on an 18" dish to find the satellite with the HD. I ask not even knowing if Direct's satellites are configured as "all HD" or "all SD."

I have a tripod for Dish 500 at my tailgate and I focus on 61.5 which is an HD sat.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

Directv's HD channels are on the 99 and 103 satellites which are Ka-band (101, 110 and 119 are Ku-band), with the exception of a few Spanish-language HD channels on 119. Your best bet for tailgating would be a Slimline 3 dish. Some people have adapted a SL3 LNB assembly to a Phase 3 dish, but there would be less gain doing so.

 

[GoWulfpack919]

Thanks for the reply. So if I understand correctly, the Phase III's LNBs don't recognize the HD signal?

 

[charper1]

None of the new MPEG4 Ka-band; so for all reasonable purposes the answer is no.


http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=02&p=AU9-SL3&d=DIRECTV-AU9SL3-Three-LNB-KaKu-Slim-Line-Dish-Antenna-and-SL3-LNB-Combo-%28AU9SL3%29&c=DIRECTV%20Dishes&sku=Look into THIS dish.

 

[GoWulfpack919]

None of the new MPEG4 Ka-band; so for all reasonable purposes the answer is no.


DIRECTV AU9-SL3 Three LNB Ka/Ku Slim Line Dish Antenna and SL-3 LNB Combo (AU9-SL3) - DIRECTV Slim Line - AU9-SL3 -Look into THIS dish.

Thanks...looks like this is what I need for HD.

 

[Jimbo]

Thanks...looks like this is what I need for HD.

This will get you all three sats that D* uses as it's main support.
The 99 and 103 are where D* puts the HD, the 101 is where the core programming is.
Set up your tilt and elevation, mount the dish on your mast, make sure the mast is PLUMB, this way the sats are where they are suppose to be in the sky.

Find the 101, check the 99 and 103.
Use dithering to fine tune if necessary.

 

[GoWulfpack919]

Thanks. I've been tailgating with Dish for about 5 years now so I think I have that part licked. I was just curious which Dish would be best and it seems the above is the one.

 

[freezy]

heres a big question...what do you need to watch while you are tailgating, how long are you there? is ota good enough?

 

[Liquidforce88]

Yea the KA/KU dish is a far cry from being easy to point compared to a Dish500.

 

[charper1]

Never done a DISH500 but I have setup numerous HD DirecTV units from the PhaseIII all the way up; most in less than 1 hr with a compass and basic tools.

 

[GoWulfpack919]

As for tailgating, I usually spend several hours both before and after the games......so all the OTA and ESPN/FSN etc.

 

[schneid]

With an HD Combo Kit from TV4RV, setting up DirecTV HD is easy. You can be done in the time it takes the receiver to boot up. Do the first setup RIGHT at home and you will be set from then on. The key is an absolutely plumb mast and a dead-on shot to the 101. Do that and you will have good signals.

Go to www.tv4rv.com and read.

 

[GoWulfpack919]

Thanks. I actually bought my tripod from that site and I would recommend others looking for a tripod to do so as well.

 

[FED-UP-INSTALLER]

triple sat with ka/ku lnb