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Satellite TV cubes.

rbpru
Explorer
Explorer
The DW and I were discussing those satellite receiver antenna cubes we see at the campgrounds.

Do you just take your home satellite receiver and plug it into the cube or do you need a special set up.

I sometimes see a dish on a tripod and was wondering about the advantages of one over the other.
Twenty six foot 2010 Dutchmen Lite pulled with a 2011 EcoBoost F-150 4x4.

Just right for Grandpa, Grandma and the dog.
13 REPLIES 13

MKirkland
Explorer
Explorer
rbpru, if you have Dish, what is the receiver number on the left front side?

rbpru
Explorer
Explorer
Thanks for the input. The DW and I are old school we do not have satellite HD at home and get our local channels from an over the air TV.

Our home satellite dish is the smaller version, it has only two horns, one for the upstairs and one for the downstairs receiver. We never upgraded to the larger three horn HD dish.

I seems like the easiest method for us would be to take the downstairs receiver and use it with a cube. That assumes our receiver is compatible.

Given the quality of the 17" flat screen Jensen HD TV that can with the TT, I am not to worried about picture quality ๐Ÿ™‚ ๐Ÿ™‚ but I do like to get the evening news.
Twenty six foot 2010 Dutchmen Lite pulled with a 2011 EcoBoost F-150 4x4.

Just right for Grandpa, Grandma and the dog.

MKirkland
Explorer
Explorer
When we switched from Direct TV to Dish, we got the single receiver that works with the Tailgater. We have the receiver set up for quick disconnect and connect from the house. In the trailer, we had a sat connect installed which is ready to go all the time. Everything is so easy, I can even do it! Did I say, we don't pay anything extra per month? We even take the tailgater/ receiver over to a friend's/son's house that don't get all the sports channels that we do.

Bobbo
Explorer II
Explorer II
When I cut the cord, I gave our Directv cube to my daughter and her husband. It was not compatible with their HD receivers, so they got a SWM8 switch and adapted. When camping, they have to settle for SD video, but, they are roughing it, you know. You may have to tweak it, but you can make it work.
Bobbo and Lin
2017 F-150 XLT 4x4 SuperCab w/Max Tow Package 3.5l EcoBoost V6
2017 Airstream Flying Cloud 23FB

Big_Katuna
Explorer II
Explorer II
No carry out gives you HD with Directv.

With DISH there are several which get you HD but not with a Hopper.
A 211 or a Wally.

DISH has says on an eastern arc and a western arc. Different places in the sky.

Only the Winegard Pathway X2 allows to pick either one which gives you more options when there are trees or mountains. $400.
My Kharma ran over my Dogma.

the_bear_II
Explorer
Explorer
I've used the Dish Tailgater cube for 4 years. It is great. We did have to purchase the cube and a compatible receiver to use it.

The cube works great. We do get a little more pixelation or video freeze then we do with the old sat dish antenna.

I put the cube on top of my RV next to the ladder and secure it with a cable lock. We get HD channels with it. We added an external drive to the SAT receiver box to record all the programs my DW needs.

I do carry a tripod and sat dish antenna just in case. I haven't used it since we got the cube.

bobndot
Explorer II
Explorer II
As said, you'll need to find an antenna cube compatible with the recvr you plan to use.
I like using the portable cube model because its difficult to shoot a roof-top model thru trees and I didn't want to poke holes in my roof .

My Dish Network (pad-lockable) portable cube "Tailgater" antenna is compatible with the 211K recvr, they work together as a package. I use the RV month to month package and pay monthly as i need it. There is no activation fee to re-start service .
My antenna uses only one single cable which incorporates the Sat signal as well as 12v power to spin the 'auto-finder' , other antenna's might use separate wires, double check on that if that would matter to you.

In general , a cube is about $300-350 the recvrs are about $100-150 .
If you boondock, you'll need an inverter to run the recvr. I think it uses a constant 22 watts on or off.


If you try a new SAT system in your TT and you're not getting a signal thru the trailers OEM SAT input coax port, don't panic, Some new trailers have a procedure regarding the antenna power booster button being turned off and removing a jumper coax cable etc., just so you know, its usually a simple thing to configure and can be found in the TT owners manual or owners forum.

afidel
Explorer II
Explorer II
With Dish you can just change your service address to get the locals for wherever you are. Most people find that using chat instead of the phone works better for this and there are templates out there that people use, just replace the address in the template with your current location.

http://www.2001mirada.com/using-our-home-dishnet-receiver-while-on-the-road/
2019 Dutchman Kodiak 293RLSL
2015 GMC 1500 Sierra 4x4 5.3 3.42 full bed
Equalizer 10k WDH

allen8106
Explorer
Explorer
I bought a used triple LNB DTV dish and 50' of duel cable off of Craigslist for $20. I made a three legged platform out of wood, then later uni-strut so I could level it. I then took a receiver from the house that wasn't being used since my daughter moved out. I got to where I could set it up and aim it in about 10-15 minutes.

The only issue I ever had was the local channels. Once you go beyond 250 miles from your local service area the local channels don't work anymore so we just used the over-the-air antennae on the 5er for local channels when we wanted them.
2010 Eagle Super Lite 315RLDS
2018 GMC Sierra 3500HD 6.6L Duramax

2010 Nights 45
2011 Nights 70
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2016 Nights 73
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2020 Nights 68

2oldman
Explorer
Explorer
rbpru wrote:
sometimes see a dish on a tripod and was wondering about the advantages of one over the other.
Cost. Aiming. Nobody steals a dish on a tripod.
"If I'm wearing long pants, I'm too far north" - 2oldman

Bumpyroad
Explorer
Explorer
donn0128 wrote:
Depending on whether you have service at home or not. Direct needs a large oval dish to receive HD programing. Dish can work with the portable cubes or a large free shanding dish.


my HD dish dish is not really much larger than the old two LNB one.
bumpy

donn0128
Explorer
Explorer
Depending on whether you have service at home or not. Direct needs a large oval dish to receive HD programing. Dish can work with the portable cubes or a large free shanding dish.

janstey58
Explorer
Explorer
Yes, you can either "borrow" a box from your house, if compatible with the cube, or purchase a receiver from the SATV companies or local retail such as CW. The cube will self setup for the most part, while the dish on a tripod needs more manual aiming.
Jeff and Kim
2015 Fleetwood Discovery 40E
Freightliner Chassis 380HP DP
2012 Ford Escape Limited Toad