Satellite TV question

Tweedrvr

Been trying to hook up the TV in my T@B CS-S. We have Dish here at the house so I went online to Dish to see what they could do. Such a simple (seemed to me anyway) thing but ended in a production and I'm not a happy camper. Lol. I bought a receiver (a V211z) from Dish and it sounded like that was all I needed according to the ad. So I hook it up like it said and voila...nada! Why am I not surprised?!  Called Dish and they told me I needed a coaxial cable and directed me to an installer about 45 mi away. Called them and they said I also needed an antenna and gave me the name of a guy about 20 miles in the other direction. Called him and he said he would come out. WELL ! Today he came. The dish is bigger than I thought and on a tripod. I'm beginning to get a funny feeling now.  A very long story shortened. Ended up connecting the camper to the dish in the back yard and put the dish he brought in the garage unused. He said he couldn't connect the coaxial cable to the connector on the outside of the camper because of the splitter (camper has 2 TVs!!) So he put it through the window!!! Dah! Bill: $300! Cash/check. No credit cards!

So tomorrow I am going to take the dish back to him, pay him something LESS than $300, and only use Dish when it's parked in the yard. Why does something so seeming simple end up so screwed up? Lol. Does anybody know why I can't connect the satellite dish to the connector outside the camper? Wouldn't the splitter have the same issue in a campground? I'm certainly not an electronics expert after all.  I was a music teacher!!  Life shouldn't be so complicated! Thanks in advance! 

Trum@n

The problem is most likely with the splitter. Cable tv is a different frequency than satellite & while it will go through the cable for some reason it requires different signal splitters & I'm sure the t@b is set up for cable tv that's offered at some campgrounds. If you only had 1 tv it would probably work. Dish makes an antenna called the tailgater that is about a 2' cube that you just set on level ground & it sets itself up. Info is on the website. I've had one a few years for tailgating & it works great.

Tweedrvr

Thank you. Funny tho that neither business mentioned an alternative. Thought I might contact LG and see what they say. The dealer didn't know. 

Verna

Before I left for wintering in Arizona, I decided I needed a satellite to be able to watch my IU Hoosiers Men's Basketball games.  I researched, read, researched, looked online, read some more.  If you have more than one TV, you must have "home runs" of coax to the point of entry--one full coax going only to one TV.  Then, you can get a receiver for two TV's (or one for just one TV and move the receiver from coax to TV, depending on which one is being used). I chose the Tailgater, with DISH, using a receiver for one TV, since I only have one TV.  It is simple to use, as Trum@n said.  Point the handle to the North and it sets itself up.  Easy. 

So, you do need to separate the coax's from the splitter. Then if you want both TV's available all of the time, you will need to research to see if both of the coax's terminate at the receiver inside, or if they both need to go to the satellite.  I don't have the answer for that since I only have one TV.  

You also need to research the satellite dishes.  Depending on whether you want to pay for two TV's connected, or just one, you'll need to see which dish is appropriate for the number of TV's you want to work at the same time.

The number of TV's and the number of coax's do change the resistance in the coax and an extra TV will change how the satellite works, as in something won't work correctly.  So, figure out what you want, then buy the appropriate equipment.

For the record, the Tailgater was less expensive online at Camping World (slower shipping) by almost $100, but the receiver was less expensive than Camping World by maybe $10 or so.  Of course, this was in early December.

Trum@n

Here's the set up

BBchBum

there is a guy who purchased an Oliver who installed Dish in his rv.  You can find his blog at http://wincrasher.blogspot.com.  Look in the March 2015 entry for the   'Video Review of the Oliver Legacy Elite II' video. At approximately 30 min he shows his Dish Tailgater. Then at approximately 48 min he shows his dish TV receiver. Maybe you could message him on how he set it up to work. He also has a T@G so is familiar with LG products - not sure if that would be helpful or not. 

Tweedrvr

Thank you. I'll check it out.

Tweedrvr

You folks are wonderful. I'm learning so much with comments like yours to my posts and by reading other posts. This is my first camper. I grew up with tents and the same with my kids so all this is new to me. Thank you!

Nomad

In my travels I see a lot of Tailgaters - Seems to be the current favorite.

Tweedrvr

Took the satellite dish and tripod back to the dealer. Took up the whole back of my Subaru Forester with the back seats down. Like it was going to cart that around? NOT! Think we will just go with Netflix and DVDs. It's camping after all. Nature, campfires, s'mores and all that stuff! Lol

Nomad

Remember that Netfix is "streaming" so unless you can get a descent wifi connection in a campground - in seven months I've only had two but I boondock a lot - you'd need to stream over a cellphone data connection and that eats up your data plan real quick. Same with YouTube.

Verna

I will tell you that I was in the minority of teardrop campers this winter with my satellite TV. Most have DVD's, read, play board games, visit at the campfire with other campers, watch the stars....there's a lot of things to do other than watch TV.....unless my basketball game is on

Tweedrvr

Amazing how dependent we can get with electronics. I almost regret venturing into getting TV hookup to Dish. Should have left well enough alone. Isn't hindsight wonderful? Could have spent my money on better things. Oh well. Thank you for your comment. 

Verna

Tweedrvr said:

Amazing how dependent we can get with electronics. I almost regret venturing into getting TV hookup to Dish. Should have left well enough alone. Isn't hindsight wonderful? Could have spent my money on better things. Oh well. Thank you for your comment. 

Just remember that the only dumb question is the one not asked.

You're fine.  We love to help.  Now go have some fun camping!

Nomad

When I ordered my T@B, I had them leave out the whole media package. I hadn't watched TV on any kind of regular basis for years and not being a big sports fan I haven't missed it. When I hit a broadband connection I download a bunch of media (podcasts, etc) and am good to go for my needs. If I was a TV person though, I'd probably get the Tailgater. Looks like the easy way to go.

bgualtieri

We tried one of those Leaf antennas, and if you get reception, it will be local stations and most likely digital HD.

http://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Leaf-Amplified-Indoor-Antenna/dp/B00APPDX86

Again, it's just what you can pull over the air wherever you are, but it worked for us

Nomad

And as discussed earlier (or in a different thread), a "powered" antenna will get you better reception and range than non-powered.

Nomad

Patti - Don't get the 2016/17 reference but sense it's probably political but, what do you "think" might change?

Tweedrvr

It is what it is. I'm certainly NOT looking forward to all the political ads and negativity! So no tv might not be so bad! Lol. At least for now! 

Nomad

Satellite is costly because launching/maintaining is costly. And there's so much latency because of the distance it's not much good for two-way communications. As more frequencies get free'd up we'll probably see better cell and wireless coverage at higher speeds and less cost. Right now it's a little too costly to stream TV/YouTube. The standard 2gig data plan doesn't get you much. One month when I needed to do a lot online I went through 30gigs and it cost me $400+ and I didn't even stream movies.