Well, my husband stated that he wanted a portable dish for our Winnebago Sightseer for his birthday. I did a little reading, and ordered a Winneguard Portable Satellite Antenna and DISHpro 311 receiver from camping world, along with the compass and satellite finder recommended. We subscribe to Dish Network in our home, so from what I understand.....and please correct me if I'm wrong.....when we receive the receiver, I have to call Dish Network and give them the serial number from the receiver (and will pay $5.99 a month?)....then when we camp, put out the dish...hook the coax into the coach using the imput jack........and then???? PLEASE help us with DETAILED instructions on how to accomplish this??? I've read and read, and am still confused? Thank you! I find so much useful information on these forums. Can you hook more than one receiver to the dish?

We will need some more info on the coach; year, make & model. Do you know if it has a dedicated satellite input connection? Is there only one coax connection outside? Let us know so we can help.

I don't think it's going to be $5.99 per month. It will be treated as a separate location and you will have to have a separate subscription plan for it. Unless, of course, you don't tell them it's going in an RV and you are using it as an extra receiver in your home.

Several points that have already been made may need more information:

1. You have two options for the new receiver. You can add it to your existing account or establish a totally new account. It sounds like you are trying to the former, not the latter as the new account would be a lot more money. Many RVers, myself included, have the receiver in their "bedroom" at home. I just have to remember when I'm talking to them (I have DirecTV) that I need to say bedroom, not RV.
2. The outside outlet can either be a straight cable run, like ours, to the video component area or runs through some sort of an amplifer. Again, if it is the former, you are in luck. The step by step is:
1. Connect the dish to the outside connection. You'll need a cable that runs from the dish and has a connector on it to make that connection. I like at least 75 feet of cable because some CG sites are so wooded that you need to find a hole through the limbs to set the dish.
2. Connect the inside wire to the back of the receiver on "Satellite In." Hopefully, you know where that wire is. Mine was just lying in the compartment
3. Connect the "out to TV" from the back of the receiver either directly to the TV or, as in our case, to the back of a video distribution box. I put it on "aux 1". That allows me to switch the input from the satellite to a DVD player or the OTA "batwing" antenna. Our RV came with the distribution box but it would be easy enough to add one.

If it isn't a straight run cable, the fun begins. I suggest testing at home as described below to make sure your setup works. Then, when you connect it to the RV and it doesn't work, you'll know that it isn't a straight run.

Aiming the dish itself is the biggest problem when you first start. IMHO, Dish Network is a little more difficult because you have to align multiple satellites to get all your stations. Be aware, however, that local stations are "spot beamed" from the actual satellite to your surrounding area. When you travel with your RV outside that spot beam, you will loose access to your local channels. I know where my DirecTV spot beam map is and what it covers but cannot suggest where you would find similar information for Dish Network's local spot beams. I'd suggest setting up your tripod at home and practicing before you go camping. You can use your house mounted existing dish as a guide about how to point the tripod mounted one. The secrets to tripod dish alignment are:
1. Make sure that the shaft on the tripod is plumb (straight up and down as checked by a level). If you don't, when you move the azimuth adjustment, you will also be affecting the elevation adjustment.
2. Use your compass to start with the dish pointed pretty close to where the signal is supposed to be. Be careful - the metal in the dish can affect the compass. Then, make very small and slow movements to make the adjustments. I move mine a fraction of an inch, wait a few seconds and then move another faction of an inch. Less is more. People get in a hurry and then the alignment process takes twice to three times as long. Very slow is very good. Go a little bit on either side of where the compass tells you the direction should be until you find the satellite signal. Then, slowly adjust the elevation for the best signal. Sometimes, I'll fine tune each of the adjustments again after I'm locked on, trying to get a higher strenght signal

For testing purposes, I've put the receiver and a small TV set in the middle of my lawn, right next to the tripod. It looks weird to the neighbors but it is really easy to work with until you gain some confidence.

You can hook more than one receiver to the dish IF you have multiple LNBs and IF each output has a dedicated wire to between the receiver and the LNB. There are distribution setups but that is too complicated for where you are right now.

quote:

Originally posted by JoeT:
I don't think it's going to be $5.99 per month. It will be treated as a separate location and you will have to have a separate subscription plan for it. Unless, of course, you don't tell them it's going in an RV and you are using it as an extra receiver in your home.

I don't think this is right...You should be charged with just having another box on your acct. and be charged the $5.99/mo. At least that's what Direct does to me and that's what Dish does to my friend.

If you go to Dish Net Work it will tell you about the green dot money pak. I am on the road now and borrowing a computer so will have to wait until I can access my computer to explain how the pay as you go system works. I have found it useful and the least expensive method. No local channels and the connection down load is a minor hassel but it has worked everytime. Since I do not have cable at home this ssytem has allowed me to have RV satellite access. But it does take a dedicated receiver which can not be used otherwise. More later in a few days and also you can search in this forum for others who also use this system.


http://www.dishnetwork.com/content/our_products/prepaid...do_i_pay/index.shtml

quote:

Originally posted by cb5300:

quote:

Originally posted by JoeT:
I don't think it's going to be $5.99 per month. It will be treated as a separate location and you will have to have a separate subscription plan for it. Unless, of course, you don't tell them it's going in an RV and you are using it as an extra receiver in your home.

I don't think this is right...You should be charged with just having another box on your acct. and be charged the $5.99/mo. At least that's what Direct does to me and that's what Dish does to my friend.

If you add another receiver to your home account, the charge will be $5.99, but if you tell them you want a receiver in your motorhome, that will be another account. The same as another address.

Wow! So much useful information...and much needed! Thank you to all of you! Anyway, this project will be going in our 30' 2004 Winnebago Sightseer. There is a cable input on the outside, but there doesn't appear to be a box of any type near the TV. We put a DVD/VCR player in a year ago. I'm assuming we'll connect a cable from the "cable out" on the back of the receiver to the "in" jack on the back of the TV? In fact, do you think our TV is too old to receive the digital channels next year with the "bat wing" antenna? The idea of practicing in the lawn sounds like a good one!!! Our neighbors will REALLY wonder about us, won't they?

quote:

However, if we were to request Distant Network Service, then they would require a completely separate account and the fees to go with it.

This is the clarification that everyone needs to understand. You can have as many receivers as you like with both Dish or Direct as long that they are receiving the identical programming. You will get charged a mirror fee for each receiver, but that's all.
Now, should you want to have different programming on different receivers, you are going to need two accounts. The most common reason for wanting different programming is so you can receive DNS Networks in your RV and local Network programming at home. This you cannot do on the same account.

One beat up horse I'd say.
I have one account, two receivers. One at home, one in the Coach. At home we get AZ locals, in the coach we have DNS and locals if we are in AZ. Otherwise it's DNS, which is most of the time. The Receiver in the coach costs 5.99 a month on top of my bill plus DNS plus the DTV Plus fees, (for DVR service like Tivo)