Satellite dish tripod - Page 2

edatlanta · 11-21-2016, 05:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gman1372

Bluejay every time you post I find myself adding an item to my cart.😂

On another note. I'm looking into meters to locate satellites. Last night I relocated my dish to see if I could lock in without a meter. I used the compass on the iPhone for the degrees and the level on the iPhone for the asthmus. (Poor mans meter) I had taken screen shots of both before I moved the dish. I expected it to take quite a while. I got lucky first shot. Less than 3 minutes. Still going to look into a meter though.

I use the sat strength screen on the DirecTV receiver and a wireless baby monitor. Aim the camera at the TV screen and take the wireless remote out to the dish site. Works great and is a load cheaper than any good meter.

Gman1372 · 11-27-2016, 09:53 AM

Got my parts yesterday.

namusmc65 · 11-27-2016, 10:08 AM

Man, what we go through to get TV! I guess as you get older and watch more TV, it becomes more worthwhile. You younger guys still running all over the place may not watch that much TV. Different strokes for different folks. I also use the tripod purchased from TV4RV. Works fantastic. Also found a Bird Dog meter online for a little over $100 bucks that works great. Don't have to use the wife to line things up anymore. Should have thought of the baby monitor/cam. Could have save myself money but have not dealt with babies for years! LOL Have to have TV during football season!
Good satellite hunting to all!

edatlanta · 11-28-2016, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by namusmc65

Man, what we go through to get TV! I guess as you get older and watch more TV, it becomes more worthwhile. You younger guys still running all over the place may not watch that much TV. Different strokes for different folks. I also use the tripod purchased from TV4RV. Works fantastic. Also found a Bird Dog meter online for a little over $100 bucks that works great. Don't have to use the wife to line things up anymore. Should have thought of the baby monitor/cam. Could have save myself money but have not dealt with babies for years! LOL Have to have TV during football season!
Good satellite hunting to all!

I would not have thought of the baby monitor either except about the time I was needing one or a meter, my daughter was retiring her 2 baby monitors (twins that are now 8). The light just came on in my old grey matter and I took one home with me. The wireless remote needed a new battery which cost me $5.00. It still works great.

blujay40 · 11-28-2016, 06:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edatlanta

I use the sat strength screen on the DirecTV receiver and a wireless baby monitor. Aim the camera at the TV screen and take the wireless remote out to the dish site. Works great and is a load cheaper than any good meter.

This actually gave me an idea. I have played around before with an older smartphone (Note 3) that I have at home and used an app called Alfred which turned it into a remote camera via wifi.

When we setup next time, I'll pack the spare wifi access point I also have in the closet and give it a try. Might not be as elegant as a baby monitor but since I already have everything I need to set it up, it won't cost me a penny more to give it a try.

Thanks Ed!

Bassdogs · 11-28-2016, 08:50 AM

My wife says I paid more attention to sat tv setup than I did to raising our kids. The truth is I like to watch sports etc when rving so since getting our first TT about 10 years ago I have made it a priority of this objective. Just a few suggestions:

There are several sat tv tripods on the market and with a little effort all work fine. I got mine online and the kit came with the tripod and the Dish /LNB complete. The key to setting up a tripod is to get the post absolutely vertical. Not sort of vertical but absolutely vertical. This can be accomplished in a number of ways but use of a small 6" magnetic level that can be stuck and moved around the exposed post is needed. When you use the adjustments to center and move the post once the tripod is set up, I use thin shims under the legs to fine tune the whole thing. Finding a fairly level site to set up on is important. You do not need a 5 gal 40 lb bucket to anchor the tripod, a gallon of water will work fine and stand up to pretty much all winds.

I check on line before leaving home to get the dish settings [elevation, skew [Dish] and compass setting. I make these adjustments in advance and before mounting dish on the tripod post. After checking the level after mounting the dish, all that is left is to swing the dish toward the correct compass direction.

To dial in a signal I have several cheap [$10 or less] sat signal meters. They break so I always have a backup in my kit. Install it inline to a piece of coax coming from the dish and then to a coax going to the TT input port. Connect everything and turn on the receiver to send power to the signal meter. With the dish loose [but firmly on the post] slowly turn it until you get a bump on the signal meter. The instructions on the meter tell you how to max the signal. If you have everything set up correctly the actual tuning process is pretty straight forward. You get better with practice. If your settings are off or the post is not level, you will probably end up throwing the whole thing in the dumpster. If you're lucky a fellow RVer will see you struggling and come over to offer some help. Accept the help if you are a rookie.

Once you have a signal locked in and depending on the receiver you are using, you should be good to go. Final suggestion is try this at home a few times before heading out into the wild. And pick your campsite with an eye to the southern ski. You will almost never get a signal thru trees.

My tripod is in the box now as I converted to the Pathway 2X last year. The Pathway is a marvelous device and all of the above becomes unnecessary. The instructions for the Pathway say things like "point the device generally in a southern direction and generally in a level position". It does not need to be absolutely level or southernly just eyeball close. From there you are about 10 minutes away from watching Dish TV.

Enjoy.

Gman1372 · 11-28-2016, 11:16 AM

One thing I noticed is if you use your phone compass and get to close to the dish it goes haywire.

Bassdogs · 11-28-2016, 03:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edatlanta

I use the sat strength screen on the DirecTV receiver and a wireless baby monitor. Aim the camera at the TV screen and take the wireless remote out to the dish site. Works great and is a load cheaper than any good meter.

You don't need a "good" meter, as the cheap ones work fine. I have owned at least 5 different cheap meters over the years and have not have a problem with any of them, all from different resellers. The ones that have failed are because I tend to leave them connected inline after acquiring the signal so if the unit gets bumped it is easy to reset. I had one on the dish on the top of my houseboat fully exposed to the sun and rain and it worked fine for 2 1/2 seasons. Bummer there went another $5 down the tubes. Ordered 3 the last time and keep an extra on the boat, in the Rv and in my sat travel bag in case I'm helping a friend.

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