Another direct-tv? About power and dry camping...

dougw

Well-known member
Hi
so we just got our direct tv installed. We recieved an extra d12 standard reciever to take on weekend camping trips. I'm still trying to decide on an a portable antenna to take with us.

so now it's onto power options. I'm guessing any basic antenna will get its power from the rx as well as the rx will need its own 120 power. Upon experimenting with the d12 by unplugging it, it appears that it will need to download info from the satelite. So while dry camping this could be a pain that every time I want to watch tv i will have to start the genny and the reciever will have to download its thing.

are you sate users plugging into an inverter to keep the system active? The reciever is 25watts and off hand I'm not sure if that includes powering the antenna or not, then I would need to factor in the tv power as wll as to decide on how big of an inverter to get.


Thoughts? Is it worth doing an inverter then?...
pthanks
doug
 

danemayer

Well-known member
I think the basic round dishes that support standard definition signals are not powered. If you get a larger dish with SWM LNB, it will need a separate power inserter to power the LNB. I'm not sure how much current it draws.
 

wdk450

Well-known member
As far as I know, ANY LNB needs power (12-15 volts DC sent down the coax that also carries the AC video and signals) for amplification of the very weak satellite radio signal. Having to wait through the 5 minute boot-up process every time power is switched on is just the price you pay to get TV most anywhere. Even if you kept the power on, the dish LNB being disconnected for longer periods of time would probably trigger a receiver reboot.
I would run my Dish Satellite receiver/TV 4 hours a night on my pure sine wave inverter and 4 battery system 4 hours a night in Quartzsite with no problems.
 

Invizatu

Senior Road Warriors
Doug... I plug our dish tailgater and the T.V. into a $20 belkin 200 watt (modified sine) inverter and never have to worry about anything. I do run the generator occasionally to top off the battery, but it's usually when running the A/C or in the morning when using the microwave to make coffee. I am still running off the original group 24 series 12 volt battery that came with the trailer 3 years ago. I'll likely upgrade to 2 / six volt batteries this summer, we boondock alot.
 
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