Newbie Dish Network Info

CRLYHDS

Member
Some background info, we aren't full-timers and we have never had a satellite tv. We decided to go with Dish network because from the info we received, you can freeze your account when not using the satellite. It seemed to be more restrictive to freeze your account with Direct TV. This was a major issue for us since we will only use the satellite when traveling. We bought a manual Winegard dish from Camping World. The challenge with the dish we purchased and Direct TV, it will only receive 1 satellite transmission at one time. If you change the channel the dish has to be repositioned and the software has to be downloaded to your receiver. Dish network gave us a dish that will receive all the satellites. It requires a tripod. Bottom line, just one more thing to research before you buy, how many satellites will the dish receive? Just sharing my experience, so far we have received excellent customer support from Direct TV on the phone and the technician.
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
I have DirecTV and have never had to reposition the dish to get all the channels. You shouldn't have to do that. It's no different than getting a signal at your house. That's accomplished with a staionary dish also.
 

jgallego

Active Member
The Winegard Travler antenna will receive all three satelites without having to move. It also automatically locates the satelite after you activate it. It has worked great with my dishnetwork receivers.

Jaime
 

boatto5er

Founding VA Chap Ldr (Ret)
We use a regular old DirecTV dish I picked up for nothing. Mounted on a DeWalt tripod I got at Home Depot on clearance for $17.95.
 

cgunn

Well-known member
Hannah & Dan...
I have had Dish Network for a couple of years with no problems..
It does take two satellites to tango. Your dish will receive both.
sat 110 gets your locals plus a few and sat 119 gets everything else.
Your receiver will tell you what degree to point the dish when you go into
the setup screen and put in your zip code.
We are full-timers and when we move we call Dish and change the locals so we
can get the local news and weather etc.
I bought a satellite meter at Radio Shack for 25 bucks and it doesn't take me long at all
to get zeroed in at a new spot.
Good Luck to Ya.......
 

wdk450

Well-known member
We move our direct tv reciever from home to the trailer when we travel. I know just what wires to disconnect, and have all the wiring duplicated in the trailer. If your dish has 2 LMB's (bulb-like things) you pick up 2 satellites - Our dish has 3. Aiming the dish is a little bit of a challenge, but I use both a satellite finder meter, and wire up the bedroom TV to near the dish from the outlets in the storage compartment. I can use the bedroom satellite remote (RF signal) outside to go through the menus. I have found that making sure your coax connections are good (contact spray), an inline sattelite signal amplifier near the dish, and just concentrating on getting the 110 and 119 sattelites peaked (129 will be there if you have the other 2 peaked), are the big secrets that make setup easier.
If we are within about 250 miles of home, we get our local stations. I have found that even beyond the 250 mile limit, I still get the local sports cable station (Comcast SportsNet California). I was able to watch A's and Giants games up in Oregon last summer.
 
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