RV use for a Dish dummy

[ericosmith]

I'll admit right up front that I'm not sure I know enough to even ask an intellegent question but I'm gonna try.

I'd like to be able to use get Dish in my RV. Not often, but maybe a half dozen weekends or long weekends per year, at least for now. I'm just looking for the best way to go about it.

What I do know is that right now I have a Dish 500, two cables coming into the house one feeding a 322 and one feeding a 625 receiver. I do have 2 old Dish 4000 receivers sitting down in the basement also. I do have locals but I believe that they, as well as virtually everything else I care about is on 119.

Having read a number of horror stories on here, I'm looking for suggestions on the best way to go about this. I'll pay $5 a month if I have to, but I don't know what else I need to do to keep Dish happy or how to get another receiver turned on that's not attached to my main Dish. I also am not sure what other hardware I'll need for the RV.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

 

[j2kirby7]

I just take an existing activated receiver from the house and put it in the rv. No extra charges unless you wish to sign up for Distant Networks. Alternatively, you could activate one of the old receivers, pay the $5, and just leave it in the rv. Hope this helps.

 

[dfergie]

Activate one of the old receivers in the house and keep hooked to phone or you might be subject to an audit... then take with you for the weekends...

 

[j2kirby7]

I should have added, I couldn't get my locals once I got very far from home. I'm not sure if I was having a problem with the receiver I was using or if it has something to do with leaving the zip code area. So I did sign up for the Distant Networks in place of the locals. Also, my programs are on 110 and 119 and the rv dish is equivalent to a Dish 300 so I need to change the dish between the two satellites depending on what I'm viewing.

 

[Anole]

100 ways to skin a cat

Hopefully, I've extracted just the important parts...

I'd like to be able to use get Dish in my RV.
Not often, but maybe a half dozen weekends or long weekends per year...

...right now I have a Dish 500, ... a 322 and ... a 625 receiver.
I do have 2 old Dish 4000 receivers sitting down in the basement also.
I do have locals but I believe that they, as well as virtually everything else I care about is on 119.

I also am not sure what other hardware I'll need for the RV.

What part of the problem are you unsure about?
I agree that taking one of your receivers from the house and putting it in the RV for the trip makes the most sense.
Are you agreeable to that?

I'm assuming the old 4000's are not active and you wouldn't want to use them in the RV.
If you do, you could probably activate one and take it with you for trips.
Part of the confusion would be how to get it to work at home, and frankly, that's not worth dealing with.

Let's assume you want to take the 322.
I would leave the 625 home to record your regular shows.
If so, then you have an antenna problem to deal with (but with only the one sat receiver in the camper it'll be easy).
I'd suggest a DishPro 500 setup, which is very inexpensive.

Mounting and wiring it is well covered by the included booklet, and plenty of info on this site.
You might want to take the dish off the mast when you actually drive.
There are other very expensive ($1000+) antenna solutions, but I'm not covering those.

The last part of the problem is learning how to aim your antenna.
Again, that's well covered on other sections of this forum.
Get a computer program or table listing aiming angles for various places.
Get a compass and a table showing local magnetic deviation (error).
Get a signal strength meter.
Carry tools for the antenna mounting bolts.
Learn to use the above.
Aligning is really not a big deal, if you can easily get to the antenna.

Okay, now what questions still remain?

 

[ken]

I know E* will not support the 4700 any longer because I wanted to re-activate mine a few months ago. What I don"t know is if they still support the 4000.

 

[Jordan420]

If you need to re3ceive network feeds apply for an RV waiver here

http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/programming/locals/rv_truck/

I would just use one of your existing receivers that is already active

A nice bonus is that you will be able to receive distant networks

 

[iceondsom]

The info in Anole's post is solid. I too would recommend using the 322 as opposed to trying to activate the 4000. Keep in mind that you will have to eat the $5/month fee when you take your 322 in the RV and it is not continuously connected to an active phone line. That's not a big deal though, at least not to me. But then again I don't get all fired up over a couple dollars like some people on this site.......

It is personal preference, but I use a simple tripod on the ground for setting up my dish while traveling. It is quick and easy. Finally, your receiver will calculate viewing angles for you based on zip codes that you enter on the Signal Strength Screen. Hope this info helps.

 

[ericosmith]

I think I'm getting there, thanks for all the advice. I do have a kid living at home that uses half the 322 while we're gone, but he could watch the 625 while we're gone so I could make that work.

As far as using the 322, am I going to get charged if I just unhook it for 2 or 3 days at a time? Am I going to get some kind of nag message if I do? Seems to me if I have to pay a monthly fee, I might as well have another receiver and not have to worry about hooking and unhooking. Then I'm back to whether I need to have it hooked to my home dish when not in the RV though.

As far as the dish itself is concerned, I had originally though about just buying a set up from Camping World that includes the dish and base or tripod. I'm not sure that this would be compatible with my 322 though. I'm not opposed to buying the 500 and rigging my own tripod, but I read someplace that it's much more difficult to aim the 500 than it is just the 119 Dish. Can I just aim a 500 without skewing it to pick up 119?

As far as the RV waiver is concerned, if I understand things correctly, I can still pick up my local locals (wow that sounds weird) without it as long as I'm not venturing too far from home. Is there any need to do it and pay the additional fee if I'm just going to be local?

Sorry to ask so many questions, but it just kills me to miss my Nascar when I'm camping

 

[j2kirby7]

I had my one and only (at the time) receiver with me on a 4 week coast-to-coast trip and never received any nag notices. I own my receivers though, maybe it's different if you're leasing. You can use a dual lnb (such as the 500) dish to point at only one satellite but it would be more weight to handle on the tripod and more cost initially. Setting the skew and pointing to two sats is not all that difficult when doing it at a fixed position, but a bit more tedious when trying to level the tripod and set the az and el in a campground.

 

[Anole]

I have read (here) that the dual tuner receivers nag you if you unhook the phone line.
If you pay the extra $5/month, they don't nag you.
See other threads for more info on the subject. (and try for yourself)

The reason I suggested taking one of your existing receivers with you and NOT having a whole spare receiver around, is the following...
For Dish to be happy with you having a 5th tuner, it has to hook up to the home LNB some way.
Since you didn't describe how your current LNB (and possible switch) are configured, it's quite possible that they have a limit of four tuners.
So, adding a fifth, could be a major problem, when all you really want is to take one receiver away occasionally.

What would be ideal, is if you had two 301/311 receivers instead of the 322.
But of course, you'd be paying the extra $5 for the second one, and you (probably) don't for the 2nd tuner of the 322.

So, call up Dish, and complain (if true) that you have a "Plug in the phone line" message on your display, and that the line is bad in the walls.
Tell them you'll pay the extra $5 and to fix the problem. They can do so on the spot.
Now, any time you want to pull out the 322 and take it with you, you're good to go.

Yes, you can aim the Dish 500 at just 119, if you like, and get it to work.
I haven't found it difficult to dial in the proper skew and get both birds, even when testing on a pole in the back yard.
Others will point out that you'll have the TV display handy when you are aiming and no other equipment is needed, but I insist on a $20 satellite tuning meter for quick setup.
I even have a proceedure using two meters for dialing in both birds at once, but the single meter gets the job done.
Try it, and after experimenting a few times, you will be good at it.
Last year, I helped a friend do a self-install at his house.
After his second or third attempt, he had a better set of signals than I had at my house!

If you insist, you could use a surplus DirecTV (or Dish) single LNB antenna.
Problem is, it'll most likely be legacy, not DishPro (which I assume you have at home), so the receiver will need some fiddling with the Switch Check feature, whenever you go mobile.


fine print:
To finish up, and I didn't want to have to say this, but just to put any future questions to rest...
Do NOT expect to use one of the 4000 receivers you have laying around.
Even if Dish would reactivate one, they're Legacy only, and won't play at all with what is undoubtedly DishPro or DishProPlus LNB and switch in the house!

 

[justlost]

As far as the dish itself is concerned, I had originally though about just buying a set up from Camping World that includes the dish and base or tripod. I'm not sure that this would be compatible with my 322 though. I'm not opposed to buying the 500 and rigging my own tripod, but I read someplace that it's much more difficult to aim the 500 than it is just the 119 Dish. Can I just aim a 500 without skewing it to pick up 119? :

That is what I did. I purchased their mounted crank up unit Catalog Item # 18567 on sale and it works great. Almost everything I watch on the road is on 119 but when needed I redirect to 110. It was easy to install on the roof and aiming instructiones are easy. I opted for this rather than the tripod or base units for the height and the zero concern of someone or something hitting it at a bad moment.

 

[navychop]

I have little trouble aiming my 500 on a tripod. I always get both 110 & 119. I think you'd have a hard time getting just 119. The dual LNB is assumed, of course.

 

[ericosmith]

Thanks

Thanks for all the great advice. I think I know enough to be dangerous now

 

[JohnL]

Thanks for all the great advice. I think I know enough to be dangerous now

I was just audited. I have 5 receivers.

The CSR that was doing the audit after getting all of the information on 4 receivers I told her I wouldn' t be able to provide the ID's and information on the 5th receiver as its in my RV.

At this point she got very abrasive and deactivated my 5th DVR receiver in my RV. She also told me this receiver purchased by me will NEVER ever be able to be added back to my account.

Been a sub for almost 9 years, always pay on time. I have Top 180 with Supers, 2 distant Cities (With an RV exemption) and HBO plus Starz.

Now it gets weird, if I want to use my RV receiver I will be required to purchase a completely different account and can't get an RV exemption as my current account has my RV exemption.

John