IMO you are better off setting up a regular dish than this expensive tailgater - it doesn't take but a few seconds to lock in on the sat and is a ton cheaper.
Tailgater reliability
- Thread starter Al Fischer
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A few seconds? That's not always the case. I use to set up a regular Dish for tailgater for years and sometimes it took a couple minutes, sometimes and hour and once in a while we never go it to work. I've seen enough people out there trying to do it on their own and struggle. That being said, I do believe just about anyone can do it but it's not fair to tell someone that they should able able to do it in a matter of minutes. You have to know what you're doing and it makes a huge difference having good equipment.
It would take me a few minutes to set up a 500 on a tripod, run the coax, and zero in to 110/119. Sometimes longer than others, but not bad
But that was years ago. Still have that tripod, dish 500 and DP LNB; be glad to give it away. Today, I'd need to have a larger tripod, larger dish, and have to zero in on 2 or 3 sats. More of a challenge and prob not worth it.
I'll worry about what solution to use if we ever take the RV out again. Options will change by then. Today, we use the RV in place and there's no LOS.
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But that was years ago. Still have that tripod, dish 500 and DP LNB; be glad to give it away. Today, I'd need to have a larger tripod, larger dish, and have to zero in on 2 or 3 sats. More of a challenge and prob not worth it.
I'll worry about what solution to use if we ever take the RV out again. Options will change by then. Today, we use the RV in place and there's no LOS.
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With the right tools, a big caveat, setting up a dish does only take a few minutes depending on the tripod setup and the tie down system. I use two 5 gallons buckets of water and it takes a few minutes to fill them.
It is no harder to aim a DPP 1000 than a DPP 500. If the Skew is set, once you hit 119 with either dish, you are done.
We started with a Winegard AS-2003, a old single LNBF automatic roof dish. Once we encountered the issues of a single LNBF, we started to use a ground tripod and we did for almost 6 years until we got a Winegard Trav'ler roof dish. We still carry the tripod for the times that trees are a a problem.
A good adjustable leg tripod and a good meter with cost almost $200, about half the cost of the Tailgater so I would recommend the ground tripod, not for cost, but the full triple LNBF functionality and the greater reception capabilities because of the larger dish surface.
As for the cost/reliability factor of the Tailgater. Comparing it to a consumer product where hundreds of thousands units are made, like a wash machine, just doesn't compare to the limited manufacturing of automatic RV dishes where the productions might, might, hit into the thousands. If the automatic satellite dish manufactures could count on hundreds of thousands of units, the cost factor would radically drop and the savings could be put into beefed up components.
It is no harder to aim a DPP 1000 than a DPP 500. If the Skew is set, once you hit 119 with either dish, you are done.
We started with a Winegard AS-2003, a old single LNBF automatic roof dish. Once we encountered the issues of a single LNBF, we started to use a ground tripod and we did for almost 6 years until we got a Winegard Trav'ler roof dish. We still carry the tripod for the times that trees are a a problem.
A good adjustable leg tripod and a good meter with cost almost $200, about half the cost of the Tailgater so I would recommend the ground tripod, not for cost, but the full triple LNBF functionality and the greater reception capabilities because of the larger dish surface.
As for the cost/reliability factor of the Tailgater. Comparing it to a consumer product where hundreds of thousands units are made, like a wash machine, just doesn't compare to the limited manufacturing of automatic RV dishes where the productions might, might, hit into the thousands. If the automatic satellite dish manufactures could count on hundreds of thousands of units, the cost factor would radically drop and the savings could be put into beefed up components.
IF King does get involved, you'll probably find that they would replace one of the defective boards vs locating the trouble ...
Now I have not had one apart, so I don't know how easily it is to replace the boards, but I would contact King and see about them sending you a board and replace it yourself IF they allow it, you said it's out of warranty so it shouldn't void that.
Keep in mind guys, this one says DISH on it, but most of them are set up to work DISH, Bell and D* SD, You change a setting inside to which provider your using ...
Now I have not had one apart, so I don't know how easily it is to replace the boards, but I would contact King and see about them sending you a board and replace it yourself IF they allow it, you said it's out of warranty so it shouldn't void that.
Keep in mind guys, this one says DISH on it, but most of them are set up to work DISH, Bell and D* SD, You change a setting inside to which provider your using ...
well I mean its not rocket science... the elevation shouldn't have to be really adjusted much if at all, just make sure pole/tripod is plum and then turn it right to left aiming south west - use smart phone to find bearing faster if you want and watch the screen on point dish and ya should get it in a few moments. Even if it took 20minutes each time that to me is far better than spending the money on something that may or may not work and be supported down the road with limited warranty - just crack open a beer and enjoy the few moments with buddies while they watch you aim a dish lol
I still think the Tailgater is pretty awesome especially for the price. I have had one since they first came out and haven't had any issues. It seems the customers we have the most problems with are the ones using it almost full time. They have it running almost all day everyday and I don't think it's built to handle that. I think it's more meant to be a temporary thing, like 4-6 hours a day. Mine gets used mostly during football season and some occasions during the summer.
I have looked inside of a lot of these and there really isn't that much to them. Lots of plastic parts.
