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Upgraded from 18" to 24". WOW!

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
No, not tires - talking about a satellite dish. ๐Ÿ™‚

Have been using an 18x21" dish on a folding tripod and have never been able to get more than around 50-55 percent signal strength on a good day. Been having trouble at many CGs getting an adequate signal and sometimes none (when their should be). Last weekend it got windy and just a few waving branches kept knocking the signal out. ๐Ÿ˜ž

Talked to a satellite guy on CL and described our issue and he says "have I got a dish for you". So I meet him in a mall parking lot and I pick up a new (used actually) 24x26" dish. Holy crapola, what an improvement! Testing at home I'm getting a 90 - 95 percent signal. Can't wait to try it out on our next outing. Only negative is it seems to be twitchy about getting the satellite aimed more accurately at the sat. Not sure why.

Highly recommended upgrade!
8 REPLIES 8

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
joebedford wrote:
It does matter what LNB you use depending on your provider. Probably less so if you're only shooting for 1 bird.


I believe where it matters is when you are using two or more satellites and then the spacing of the LNBs is important because the various sats are at different elevations and azimuth which would then make a dish specific to the sat. provider. With one LNB it's easier too because you don't need to worry about skew.

joebedford
Nomad II
Nomad II
I use a 70cm dish for Shaw (30"? maybe).

It does matter what LNB you use depending on your provider. Probably less so if you're only shooting for 1 bird.

When Bell put the new Nimiq 91 up, we switched to Shaw because of Bell's limited footprint.

I gave up on the RV's wiring. I ran 3 coaxes through the utilities entrance into the basement where I have 2 receivers, one of which is a PVR. They connect to an HDMI switch which is connected to the TVs - anything to anything.

I didn't bother connecting the receivers to the inverter because we never run sat. when dry camping, but the TVs are inverter powered.

jplante4
Explorer
Explorer
Moving to Tech Corner
Jerry & Jeanne
1996 Safari Sahara 3530 - 'White Tiger'
CAT 3126/Allison 6 speed/Magnum Chassis
2014 Equinox AWD / Blue Ox

myredracer
Explorer II
Explorer II
blofgren wrote:
Are you using Shaw Direct? We currently have Bell at home but are considering the switch so that we can use it in the RV without any issues.


Here's the story in a nutshell:

We have Telus sat. service which uses a Bell 82 or 91 satellite. We only use 82 which is the high def. sat. and our dish only has one eye that will catch either sat signal depending on the elevation and azimuth angles I aim for. Standard def. doesn't have many stations/shows on Bell that we care about so we only want sat. 82 which is a few degrees lower and to the left of 91.

We had an extra PVR in the house and just moved it into the trailer (we're allowed 6 max. in the house). As I've now learned, an LNB doesn't care which sat. service you are using so you don't need a dish specific to Shaw, Telus or other provider. The new dish I got is Ariza and have never heard of them. One thing to know is the Bell sat. has a signal foot print that cuts off at around 200-300 miles south of the border. Don't know about other sat. providers.

Conceptually, the principle of installing sat. TV in an RV is pretty simple - run co-ax from a dish to a receiver and cable (HDMI or component) from a receiver to a TV. Interestingly, the various RV manufacturers brag about their units being wired for sat. but they do not provide a spot for a receiver or a 120 volt recept. to plug one into. Luckily we had a vacant unused location above the kitchen cabinets which is perfect. I wired power off the MW recept. and ran an HDMI cable from the receiver to TV via the ceiling space. I could not find out how and where they ran co-ax from the exterior jack to wherever it goes and abandoned it and ran a new (high quality) co-ax from the jack up to the receiver.

Hope this helps and you can always PM me if you have any other questions.

blofgren
Explorer
Explorer
Are you using Shaw Direct? We currently have Bell at home but are considering the switch so that we can use it in the RV without any issues.
2013 Ram 3500 Megacab DRW Laramie 4x4, 6.7L Cummins, G56, 3.73, Maximum Steel, black lthr, B&W RVK3670 hitch, Retrax, Linex, and a bunch of options incl. cargo camera
2008 Corsair Excella Platinum 34.5 CKTS fifth wheel with winter package & disc brakes

Lwiddis
Explorer
Explorer
Just a few years ago I couldn't afford an 18 inch TV.
Winnebago 2101DS TT & 2022 Chevy Silverado 1500 LTZ Z71, WindyNation 300 watt solar-Lossigy 200 AH Lithium battery. Prefer boondocking, USFS, COE, BLM, NPS, TVA, state camps. Bicyclist. 14 yr. Army -11B40 then 11A - (MOS 1542 & 1560) IOBC & IOAC grad

westernrvparkow
Explorer
Explorer
It wasn't that many years ago that upgrading the actual television from 18" to 24" was a big deal. Televisions, satellite dishes and bank accounts are things where bigger is better.

Ivylog
Explorer III
Explorer III
Not surprising in B C. I use that size dish in GA so I rarely have rain fade.
This post is my opinion (free advice). It is not intended to influence anyone's judgment nor do I advocate anyone do what I propose.
Sold 04 Dynasty to our son after 14 great years.
Upgraded with a 08 HR Navigator 45โ€™...