Not sure if this is the right forum. First post here. But..... I want to make available Dish Network to my 5th wheel when we travel. Seems many, many ways to do this. Have Dish at home. When they changed us over to a Hopper with 2 Joey boxes for the other two TV locations, they left the two VIP 612 DVR boxes. As I want to begin this 5th wheel setup as low cost as possible and maybe go to a Traveler later, I was wondering if there is a way to use the two VIP 612 boxes with an external mounted antenna on a tripod - might have one of those laying around in the barn. Unfortunately, they seem to use phone connections for activation and all, plus, I was not sure how much the service might cost on a temporary basis. I've not yet called Dish about this because we were at first thinking of getting one of the small portable setups (Tailgater, Playmaker, Carryout, Pathway, etc) and two Wally boxes. Any response or suggestions would be appreciated.
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If your intent is to have those extra boxes as part of your existing account, you can't do that. DISH will not allow your 612s on a Hopper account. You can add up to 2 Wallys and if you purchase them outright you can have them turned on and off at will and pay just for the time you are using them on the road. Each one would be $7 a month and it would be prorated. I don't think they will activate 612s anymore so they are useless....
We spent half a year in one RV and the other half in another RV. Both RVs had Winegard Trav'ler dishes plus we carry a ground tripod. We moved the Hopper 3 and the Joeys between the two. We moved only the Hopper and the Joeys as we had SOLOs in each RV.
We would never mess around with a dome dish. With good tools the setup of the tripod is just a matter of minutes and having all the satellites available is so much better.
We would never mess around with a dome dish. With good tools the setup of the tripod is just a matter of minutes and having all the satellites available is so much better.
So what I think I'm hearing is that a good option will be get a couple of Wally boxes and have Dish do the activate and inactivate when needed. And to an antenna, get one of the Dish Network HD Hybrid 1000.2 RV Sat kits? I've got two sat connections in the convenience center of the 5th wheel. Does the 1000.2 have two antenna connections? Cannot see in any of the descriptions or pix.
Hello masterdrago. A 1000.2 dish antenna would have 2-3 connections, so it should be perfect for a two Wally setup. I did want to mention that with these antennas, you would have to aim it each time you move locations. A great resource to help find which angles are best is by visiting here: Portable Dish Pointing Angle Guide | MyDISH | DISH Customer Support. If you do think you will be moving more often, I would recommend a portable auto dish antenna instead, like the Tailgater. - Caleb S
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If you go with a portable auto dish, the Winegard Pathway X2 is a better choice since it receives the full eastern and western arcs and has a larger reflector than the Tailgater.
Since your trying to keep the cost down you might want to check out TV4RV for the best tripod kits..They have a kit that includes a carrying bag and few other items..I got one yrs ago and well worth the purchase..Stay away from the flimsy cheaper tripods..Your probably going to find out like I have that campers love to suck the money right out of your wallet..
The only use for ViP612s these days involves someone yelling "PULL!"
I gather the two RVs are fixed? You don't move them around? Then permanent mount dishes are the best choice, even if you pay someone to put them up and zero them in.
Sent from my iPad using the SatelliteGuys app!
I gather the two RVs are fixed? You don't move them around? Then permanent mount dishes are the best choice, even if you pay someone to put them up and zero them in.
Sent from my iPad using the SatelliteGuys app!
The link for the pointing guide is a good start. Thanks. I was thinking some kind of meter that I'm seeing since when looking at the antenna, I see no way to really know where it is looking - like a finder scope on a telescope helps me point it. We will only use this setup when we vacation in the 5r. Later, that use might increase a great deal, but for now just a few times/yr. Also, thanks for the TV4RV suggestion. I've seen some of the reviews on the low cost tripods and they are not good. The suggestion on use for the ViP612 is priceless. I wondered why Dish left them. We use old HDD & cell phones for target practice and now I've got something new to do a bore sighting! At some point in the future, we may have a Traveler like antenna installed but its limitations (cost & easily obstructed) have us, for now, going with the cheapest solution. I've looked at the Pathway X2 and had almost made the decision to pounce on one but I've read some comments on some RV forums that coax distance can be an issue plus that setup was going to run ~$650.
If you settle for the $300 Tailgater, you'll wish you had bought the $431 Pathway X2. Amazon product ASIN B00G1XB8RO
We're full time RV'ers and have been using a tripod mounted Dish 1000.4 dish with either a western or eastern arc triple LNB as needed for about the past 10 years. I currently use a free Winegard app to spot the tripod with the clearest sat view, getting the exact elevation and skew settings from Dishpointer.com. I use a ~$50 meter to dial in the dish, but I haven't seen one available for quite some time now. It typically takes me 15 minutes or less to set up the dish and dial it in. Our tripod is a modified roof mount tripod that cost under $50 including the hardware for the mods, and the dish has also been modified so no tools are needed to set it up except a small screwdriver if an LNB swap is needed.
Do you still have to have a Wally to get Distant Network Stations instead of locals? Traveling Full time, and have a Hopper3. Have to chat with support every time I move to get the service address changed. And can't setup timers in advance as the stations change each time I move. Just very annoying.
I have our locals recordings set to "Seek" instead of a fixed channel. The "Seek" feature finds the programs by name rather than channel. Dish was offering a DNS using the LA or San Francisco locals as I recall, but I don't see it listed anymore. If DNS is still available, which receiver you have won't matter.
I just rechecked the price of the X2 and a pair of Wally receivers. Now only ~$600. Can the X2 be used with 130ft of RG6?
We've set up an X2 for a customer with about a hundred feet of solid copper RG6 and it worked fine.
Based on JS's experience, I'd say give it a try with solid copper RG6 before investing in the more expensive and harder to handle RG11. The concerning issue is voltage drop more than signal level, so the fewer connections in the run the better.
Last time I checked they would only give DNS with Wally or the 211 receivers. Hoppers were not allowed. Not explanation why.
Yeah, that is odd. There are many RV'ers with Hopper's installed...
