porthole
Retired
I don't know - yet. But, I will still have the portable in the rig for times when the fixed dish can't see.
Ventured into the satellite world and so far a bit disappointed
- Thread starter porthole
- Start date
I don't know - yet. But, I will still have the portable in the rig for times when the fixed dish can't see.
JohnDar
Prolifically Gabby Member
Yes, you are correct. Although I did consider it when we were exploring getting satellite TV for the rig. So, with the portable, I set it on its spot while we're here and put it in the basement when we go home. Just have to hope a fly isn't sitting on a certain tree branch when I'm hooking it back up and trying to lock on the signal.
porthole
Retired
Here is my "meter kit"
1) All the parts in a waterproof box
2) Meter, LNB coax jumper, compass, 1/2" wrench, charger, DTV SWM splitter, spare coax fittings, adapters antenna wingnuts
3) DTV Splitter, pre rigged with double males, double females and quick connects
4) Put together and ready to aim
5) The settings you need to manually input for DTV's 103 satellite. Apparently this info is not readily available. Thanks to Jerry T on the forum for figuring this out.
I use quick connects on just about everything that gets set up and taken down.
4th pic
Black coax from the trailer goes into the bottom of the splitter on the left side. This port should be red. This will power the antenna and the meter if the internal battery is dead.
Splitter with pre made adapters slips onto the right side meter port (left not used)
Top of splitter has a jumper to the LNB. This is just long enough to go through the arm and leave a bit to connect to the meter.
Meter strap was shortened to allow hanging on the antenna for aiming.
It took about 4 times as long to take and edit the pics and write this then it usually takes for me to aim the antenna.
I have had no issues using quick connects. When they start to feel a little less secure I'll just replace them. For me the convenience is worth the little extra cost.
Having someone kick-trip over the coax on the ground with quick connects reduces the aggravation.
***** In the 4th picture below, the meter is only connected to one port of the splitter. The red pass through port is connected to coax from the RV (power to the LNB).
In the picture it might appear both meter ports are connected to the splitter, that is not the case.
1) All the parts in a waterproof box
2) Meter, LNB coax jumper, compass, 1/2" wrench, charger, DTV SWM splitter, spare coax fittings, adapters antenna wingnuts
3) DTV Splitter, pre rigged with double males, double females and quick connects
4) Put together and ready to aim
5) The settings you need to manually input for DTV's 103 satellite. Apparently this info is not readily available. Thanks to Jerry T on the forum for figuring this out.
I use quick connects on just about everything that gets set up and taken down.
4th pic
Black coax from the trailer goes into the bottom of the splitter on the left side. This port should be red. This will power the antenna and the meter if the internal battery is dead.
Splitter with pre made adapters slips onto the right side meter port (left not used)
Top of splitter has a jumper to the LNB. This is just long enough to go through the arm and leave a bit to connect to the meter.
Meter strap was shortened to allow hanging on the antenna for aiming.
It took about 4 times as long to take and edit the pics and write this then it usually takes for me to aim the antenna.
I have had no issues using quick connects. When they start to feel a little less secure I'll just replace them. For me the convenience is worth the little extra cost.
Having someone kick-trip over the coax on the ground with quick connects reduces the aggravation.
***** In the 4th picture below, the meter is only connected to one port of the splitter. The red pass through port is connected to coax from the RV (power to the LNB).
In the picture it might appear both meter ports are connected to the splitter, that is not the case.
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Last edited:
porthole
Retired
Re: Ventured into the satellite world
Minor change. The Trav'ler antenna control box has a rather bright display, and ours was placed under the TV when it was installed.
I added a small shelf above the basement wall above my LevelUp control. Figured I am almost always using the LevelUp so having the antenna control there makes it simple to "level" then raise the antenna. Already have a AC outlet there for the DirecTV power inserter.
Minor change. The Trav'ler antenna control box has a rather bright display, and ours was placed under the TV when it was installed.
I added a small shelf above the basement wall above my LevelUp control. Figured I am almost always using the LevelUp so having the antenna control there makes it simple to "level" then raise the antenna. Already have a AC outlet there for the DirecTV power inserter.
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Last edited:
porthole
Retired
Had an interesting event this past week. My rooftop antenna searched in vain trying to find a signal. Finally parked it and got out the portable dish. We were in a heavily tree'd state park. I find a tiny hole in the canopy 200' away and set up to find a signal. After much searching I finally got a barely visible reading on the meter.
Out of 32 transponders on the signal strength display (DirecTV) I had 13 that were only in the mid 50's to mid 60's. The other 13 were all 0.
Surprisingly, we had every channel that we normally watch with no pixelation.
The location of the antenna was in an area that has some foot traffic, but the park host had no problem with it.
When the weekend warrior park host came in on Saturday he didn't like the location, so I moved it.
Actually found a spot much closer to the camper with a slightly bigger hole in the canopy. Much better signal according to the display. But we had no channels available - go figure.
Out of 32 transponders on the signal strength display (DirecTV) I had 13 that were only in the mid 50's to mid 60's. The other 13 were all 0.
Surprisingly, we had every channel that we normally watch with no pixelation.
The location of the antenna was in an area that has some foot traffic, but the park host had no problem with it.
When the weekend warrior park host came in on Saturday he didn't like the location, so I moved it.
Actually found a spot much closer to the camper with a slightly bigger hole in the canopy. Much better signal according to the display. But we had no channels available - go figure.
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lynndiwagoner
Well-known member
Porthole, that's the exact setup I use. Including staking down the tripod I can have a signal in about 10 minutes.
wdk450
Well-known member
John:
If you are having a problem with slight interference from trees, etc.,you might consider getting a new dish. I had been using mine on a tripod since 2009, and had it fallen over several times in winds (I use a 5 gallon water pail weight underneath the tripod) onto grass, and once recently onto asphalt and the utilities pedestal. (that left a small dent in the dish center). I was starting to have problems with my Dish HD signals. I ordered a new Dish 1000.2 antenna setup through E-Bay. My signal numbers for the 119 satellite, transponder 21, went from 41 with the old dish to 75 with the new dish.
BTW, when I am sure it is going to be pretty windy, I have 3 metal tent spikes I use to secure the feet of the tripod.
2psnapod2
Texas-South Chapter Leaders-Retired
Dewayne where do you get the low voltage needed from the RV if you hook both of the bottom spliitter connections to the meter. I also have the same meter and only connect one cable to the meter. The top of the splitter goes to the dish like you but I connect the other end of the through line on the splitter to my RV.
porthole
Retired
Using a DTV splitter, the red colored port is the power pass through port.
So, coax from RV to the red port on the bottom passes through to the top red port to the LNB.
I think the picture I posted might be a bit deceiving. The black coax coming out of the bottom is a jumper and is not connected to the meter. The second port on the meter is unused.
wdk450
Well-known member
My Dish network, 3 satellite HD, dual tuner (VIP 722) receiver uses one coax cable to the Dish 1000.2 antenna. It sends the 12 volts DC out the coax to the dish, so I could use a 9 Volt battery with my meter to power the dish antenna, but I just use the coax hookup. I have become pretty proficient at aiming (for the western arc satellites) with the elevation not changing significantly, and swinging the dish from a point far East of the actual aiming azimuth, noting the first signal peak ( the 110 degree satellite) then aligning the dish on the second signal peak (the 119 degree middle satellite). I can usually hear the receiver antenna aiming audio tones through the window, but don't rely entirely on the tones, as software can confuse things, and there are 10 - 15 second delays in changing the aiming are the audio tones responding. Some times I even have to reboot with the aiming already correct to get things to go.
porthole
Retired
The newest version on my meter the "SE" specs up to 20 volts. DTV HD has been out for awhile, you would think 1 or 2 extra volts would not be an issue anymore.
Jesstruckn/Jesstalkn
Well-known member
Re: Venturing into the satellite world trials and tribulations
Did it work ?
Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
Did it work ?
Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
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