Which dish for weekend fishing camp?

[whitejeeptj]

I am new to Direct TV. I have the Genie with clients and two H24 receivers. I want to bring one of the H24's to the fishing camp for weekend football/other sports watching. I'll be bringing it back and forth from my house. I want to watch in HD at the fishing camp and be able to get my locals or at the least get ABC, CBS, NBC in order not to miss any college games while at the fishing camp. Do I need a SWM dish? Do I need a 3 LNB or a 5 LNB?
I did bring one of my H24's to the fishing camp and connected to my neighbors 18" round dish and after much menu hunting was able to get almost all the channels I get at home...........but was not able to watch the NBA finals because I could not get ABC. (It was only SD of course)

I do not have a meter to setup the HD dish, is this going to really be something hard to do? Home is area code 70555 and camp is area code 71429 if that helps???

Thanks, and I have been reading in here and learning.....I think?

 

[kodiackid]

you can use either a swm 5 or a ka/ku 5 lnb. I would recommend a swm 5. you should be able to get your local stations. yes it is hard to tune a HD dish without a meter, but it can be done with 2 people. 1 adjusting dish another watching the signal strength meter on the TV.

 

[Claude Greiner]

Just hook up the 18 inch Dish and be done with it. The slimline HD Dish is going to be more hassle than its worth setting up and taking down for a few extra HD channels for the few days your camping.

 

[kodiackid]

yep, 18" dish would be a lot easier, might not get your local's though

 

[raoul5788]

you can use either a swm 5 or a ka/ku 5 lnb. I would recommend a swm 5. you should be able to get your local stations. yes it is hard to tune a HD dish without a meter, but it can be done with 2 people. 1 adjusting dish another watching the signal strength meter on the TV.

to Satelliteguys kid!

 

[ejb1980]

Is OTA an option if you only want broadcast networks?

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[kodiackid]

to Satelliteguys kid!

 

[kodiackid]

Ty chip, I hope I can help out with some of my Directv Knowledge

 

[raoul5788]

I hope so, too!

 

[Jimbo]

Welcome to the Site kodiackid

Where abouts are you in Michigan ?

 

[Jimbo]

I am new to Direct TV. I have the Genie with clients and two H24 receivers. I want to bring one of the H24's to the fishing camp for weekend football/other sports watching. I'll be bringing it back and forth from my house. I want to watch in HD at the fishing camp and be able to get my locals or at the least get ABC, CBS, NBC in order not to miss any college games while at the fishing camp. Do I need a SWM dish? Do I need a 3 LNB or a 5 LNB?
I did bring one of my H24's to the fishing camp and connected to my neighbors 18" round dish and after much menu hunting was able to get almost all the channels I get at home...........but was not able to watch the NBA finals because I could not get ABC. (It was only SD of course)

I do not have a meter to setup the HD dish, is this going to really be something hard to do? Home is area code 70555 and camp is area code 71429 if that helps???

Thanks, and I have been reading in here and learning.....I think?

IF you need your channels in HD, you'll need the SWM/SL3/5 dish.

If HD isn't really a concern, the 18" dish would be fine.

As for your locals, that depends on how far you are from home, if your still in your spotbeam or not.

 

[kodiackid]

just south of Detroit. not too far from the BIG HOUSE. lol

Welcome to the Site kodiackid

Where abouts are you in Michigan ?

 

[Jimbo]

just south of Detroit. not too far from the BIG HOUSE. lol

Your probably closer to me than AA. if your South of Detroit.

 

[kodiackid]

Your probably closer to me than AA. if your South of Detroit.

I use to install in Toledo for skylink/directsat

 

[Jimbo]

I use to install in Toledo for skylink/directsat

Ahhh, maybe I know you then !

 

[whitejeeptj]

IF you need your channels in HD, you'll need the SWM/SL3/5 dish.

If HD isn't really a concern, the 18" dish would be fine.

As for your locals, that depends on how far you are from home, if your still in your spotbeam or not.

Well, I am only concerned with being able to receive the network channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX) mainly for viewing football games on the weekends. They do not have to be my local networks channels. To be more clear, I am not only concerned with the big networks I only say that because I received all the ESPN's I subscribe too. Is there something you guys know of that i may have done wrong when setting up my H24 off of the 18" round dish? Why could I not at least get ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX???? I got all other channels/networks..... I don't care where they are out of (does not have to be my locals).

 

[raoul5788]

If your local sd channels come from the 119 satellite, then you won't get any locals at all with the 18" dish since it can't get hd channels and it doesn't get the 119 satellite. In order to get sd locals you need a Phase III dish. To get hd locals, you need an sl3 or sl5.

 

[texasbrit]

Let's try to clear this up.
What is your home zip code?
What's the zip for your camp?

 

[raoul5788]

From the first post in the thread: Home is area code 70555 and camp is area code 71429.

 

[texasbrit]

OK, so in Lafayette DMA (zip 70555) the SD locals definitely come from the 119 satellite, so as posted your 18in dish does not see that satellite so you won't get any SD locals on that dish. To have a chance of SD locals, you would need the Phase III oval dish.
Then there's the spotbeam issue. Locals are delivered via spotbeams (think of them as flashlight beams pointing down at different cities). Unless you are in the spotbeam, you won't get locals at all, even with the correct dish. Your camp is 100+ miles away from home, and might not be in the spotbeam. the only way to really know is to try it, with the correct dish.
If you are not in the spotbeam, your options are very limited. You can't get locals from a different city (only locals from your home location are allowed), you can't get the national DirecTV channels for the four big networks (FCC rules). If you want the networks, you would have to get them OTA using an off-air antenna. But I did a check on TVfool using 71429 and you're probably not going to get the channels OTA either the signals are too weak..

If this seems unreasonable, I'll just remind you that DirecTV service is for a single location (your home, service address) and you are really not supposed to move a receiver anywhere else. Many people do take a receiver to their camp, or in their RV, and DirecTV turns a "blind eye" to this, but is not going to give you any help using a receiver outside the terms of service. And if you are using a receiver at the camp at the same time as someone is using one at home, that's definitely outside the terms of service.