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Old 01-17-2016, 05:35 PM   #1
Richard Noble
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sat set-up

I used an app on my phone that allowed me to find all the sats used by Directv (works for Dish also). Wife told me about it and I downloaded it with ease. I could line the phone up with the dish arm and move the arm in-line with what the cell phone showed. It is called Satellite Director and is at www.zekitez.com and, best of all, its free!
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Old 01-18-2016, 11:16 AM   #2
HANGAR
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I have a freebie that I downloaded for the App Store called "Dish Align". Works pretty well and lets you select the satellite you're looking for. If you're trying to set up standard definition DirecTV, tuning in the 101 satellite is an easy process. It gets a little tricky if your trying to set up HD as you need to tune the 99, 101, and 103 satellites. The 99 and 103 have a narrow band and are not as easy to dial-in as the 101. I'm using a Slimline dish with 13-tuner SWM LNB. I dial it in using the TV so I can see my signal strength. It would be a lot easier with a meter (like the SatLookLite), but I'm struggling with spending $300 for a meter that I would only occasionally use.
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Old 01-21-2016, 11:33 AM   #3
Richard Noble
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I do have a meter that I spent $300 on. I find it very hard to use. When a manual is thicker than the gadget I have a problem.
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Old 01-24-2016, 07:36 PM   #4
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Years ago, I used to drag around the Direct set up and always used it/ Had the meters, compass, and last year tried the cell phone app. That didn't work.

So, last summer I went out and bought the new Tailgate type dish that you just set on the ground, or your roof if you need to clear the trees, and point it South. It works every time on Direct. So far, very happy with it. No more problems in finding a satellite.
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Old 01-25-2016, 09:03 AM   #5
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Originally Posted by tgpilot View Post
Years ago, I used to drag around the Direct set up and always used it/ Had the meters, compass, and last year tried the cell phone app. That didn't work.

So, last summer I went out and bought the new Tailgate type dish that you just set on the ground, or your roof if you need to clear the trees, and point it South. It works every time on Direct. So far, very happy with it. No more problems in finding a satellite.

How much? where did you get it? do you have a model number etc?
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Old 01-25-2016, 10:08 AM   #6
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You can get it from Camping world, but they are about $75.00 higher. I got the Direct TV Kings Quest portable from a RV dealer for $422.00 in MT with no sales tax. If you look around, you can find them.

Just set it on the ground, aim it towards the South. I take my receiver from my bedroom when I go. That way it's always ready to go, you just have to go into the setting on the receiver each time and change they type of dish you use. Takes about a minute. You do have to have a receiver that is compatible with the dish though. Love it.
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Old 01-25-2016, 03:25 PM   #7
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I've owned a VuCube "VQ2000", which is an automatic satellite dish for many years. It works great and only takes a minute or so to lock onto the DirecTV satellite. BUT, it will NOT get you HD programming. To my knowledge, there is only one automatic dish that supports DirecTV HD, and that is the Winegard Trav'ler (SK-SWM3). I have two issues with this unit. 1) It's made to mount to the roof of your RV. If you're in a site that is blocked by trees, you're out of luck. I've always preferred the portable unit so you can layout 100' of coax and find that one spot that will give you a clear shot of the sky. 2) This Winegard unit costs around $1,500.00! I'm making the transition to HD since I have HD receivers at home and HD compatible TV's in the rig already. For under $100, I purchased a Slimline dish and 13-tuner SWM LNB. I already had a tripod, but those only cost about $40. With a little patience, I can now enjoy the same HD quality I watch at home in my trailer. I take my receivers from home with me as nobody is watching TV in the empty house (no extra payment to DirecTV needed.) We'll be watching the Superbowl on a 40" HDTV from our campsite this year alongside the Kern River.
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Old 01-25-2016, 05:13 PM   #8
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Although I am set up for HD, it wasn't something I needed for the RV, so I opted for the cheaper, simpler route for my dish needs. It works great and does what I need. I still get the programing, just not in HD.
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Old 01-26-2016, 05:26 PM   #9
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without hD I would probably poke my eyes out lol
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Old 01-26-2016, 09:22 PM   #10
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I have a winegard "carry out". Set it down with a view of the southern sky, hook up the 12V power cord and it does the rest. I too take an old Hughes std def receiver.
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Old 01-30-2016, 05:04 AM   #11
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Dome

Quote:
Originally Posted by tgpilot View Post
Although I am set up for HD, it wasn't something I needed for the RV, so I opted for the cheaper, simpler route for my dish needs. It works great and does what I need. I still get the programing, just not in HD.
Pretty much same here, SD was enough for us camping. Bought a used dome on ebay a number of years ago, installed it myself and it works awesome. Paid like $300, shipping with the insurance was $100, however was properly crated per original spec. We felt super lucky, at the time the dome was almost $1500 new. We do not use the sat box electronics that came with it, just a 12V circuit to a switch does the trick, takes about 4 mins to acquire, then turn the switch off and done.
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Old 01-30-2016, 11:07 PM   #12
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Good for you it's working out for you.
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