Time to ditch our Winegard Trav'ler for a RF Mogul Eagle ?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an RV or an interest in RVing!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Y

YaddaYadda

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 17, 2011
Posts
107
Our 2011 SK3003 has arm and reflector problems.  It is SD and DirecTV wrote that in April 2019 it will be obsolete...everything will be HD. I will need a HD antenna.  So, in lieu of sending parts back to Winegard, I was considering a new RF Mogul.

Anyone have the RF Mogul ?  Or any thoughts on my approach ?

TIA




 
Yes, we have the RF Mogul "Eagle" which is roof mounted and automatic.  We replaced the old Motosat which also was a roof mount so everything was in place for the new one.  We like it.  Push a button to FIND the satellite and a few minutes later it displays how long it took to lock onto the signal.  Then when finished viewing push another button to STOW and it puts itself in the traveling position.  The box also has some other programming options but I think we only used it/them once when it was new.  It's definitely faster than the old Motosat.

I just remembered we did have it stop working once.  The dish didn't want to stow itself so Jerry did it manually until we could get to the factory.  It turned out to be an odd thing.  A pin inside the mechanism had slipped out of place which meant it couldn't align itself.  That's been our only issue and it was an easy fix.  We have HDTV through DirecTV and it goes to the correct satellite relatively quickly.  We would recommend it.  Pricey but worth it as far as we're concerned.

ArdraF
 
Just curious, but does anyone know if the Dish version of the RF Mogul is eastern arc capable? Most likely single satellite manually aimed like the Trav'ler?
 
We bought a new Mogul Eagle II....for DirecTV.  Had it installed by a pro, 4 hours of labor....lots of stuff inside to reconfigure.  $2788.00.
 
From the above Travl'r is way cheaper (I paid $1, 300) and they work very well. Ours is about six years old now and we've never had a problem.

Ernie
 
YaddaYadda said:
Our 2011 SK3003 has arm and reflector problems.  It is SD and DirecTV wrote that in April 2019 it will be obsolete...everything will be HD. I will need a HD antenna.  So, in lieu of sending parts back to Winegard, I was considering a new RF Mogul.

Anyone have the RF Mogul ?  Or any thoughts on my approach ?

TIA
Click to expand...
Our coach came with Travl?ler set up for Direct TV. We like Dish so I replaced the arm and reflector with a new arm and reflector for Dish for $400 in parts. If yours only needs an arm and reflector maybe that?s the way to go.
 
Had two Traavlers, both failed and cost me a thousand dollars each in repairs.  The RFMogul might cost a bit more up front, but at least they will ship parts for repair instead of insisting the owner spend hundreds of dollars in shipping charges to send it back.
 
I can see the reason for replacing rather than repairing, and the choice of a new Trav'ler vs RF Mogul is mostly a matter of your personal belief as to whether the expensive Mogul delivers enough extra value to be worth the price.  Neither addresses the upcoming SD-HD changeover, though.  As far as I know, there is no such thing as an HD dish - it's just an antenna and HD vs SD is handled by the receiver.  I haven't heard how Direct plans to offer the replacement HD service, and until they define it there is no wy to plan ahead.  You definitely will need a Direct HD-capable receiver (and all the currently available receivers are that), but it is not yet clear what satellite(s) you will need to receive for the service.  If it is going to be ka band instead of ku, or if an entirely different satellite is used, your existing antenna may not work. Further, all the new receivers use HDMI or component video/audio with digital signalling, so if your rig has coax only, some wiring enhancement will be needed.  You also need a tv with an ATSC (digital) tuner, in case you still have an old NTSC type. 
 
NY_Dutch said:
Just curious, but does anyone know if the Dish version of the RF Mogul is eastern arc capable? Most likely single satellite manually aimed like the Trav'ler?
Click to expand...
I don't think so. I've asked a couple of DISH RF Mogul users. When the failed to reply, I assumed the Mogul software didn't have the Travler Eastern Arc feature.
 
zulu said:
I don't think so. I've asked a couple of DISH RF Mogul users. When the failed to reply, I assumed the Mogul software didn't have the Travler Eastern Arc feature.
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks. I couldn't find any references to the Mogul and the eastern arc either...
 
Why don't you call RF Mogul and ask them?  I'd be surprised if they don't have the eastern arc.  We have DirecTV but it works in the eastern U.S.

ArdraF
 
I'm not planning on buying either one at this time, but I may call anyway out of curiosity. Continental location has nothing to do with which arc is used. Either Dish arc is viewable pretty much anywhere in the lower 48. The difference is which arc has certain locals for eastern locations, and from an aiming standpoint, which one has the better viewing access from a given location. I've used the eastern arc sats in AZ and the western arc sats in FL, NH, and other eastern states when that was the best aiming option. The eastern arc sats are at a much higher elevation in the east though, so that usually makes them the arc of choice in tight viewing locations. Where I am right now for instance, the center 72.7 sat on the eastern arc is at about 40 degrees, and the western arc center 119 sat is about 24 degrees.
 
ArdraF......how exactly did you stow the dish when it would not go down ?  Nothing in the manual.

Thanks
 
I guess Jerry just got up on the roof and worked it into place manually.  Actually Jerry just told me it had trouble going up initially (it's automatic roof-mounted).  When they worked on it at the factory the tech said they had never seen one of the pins dislodged before so it was a unique issue.  It's not something I'd really worry about.  I suspect most of the dishes can be manipulated manually (carefully of course) unless something is stuck in such a way that prevents it from raising or lowering.

ArdraF
 
I emailed Mogul today and asked this question.  The old Winegard had a fitting that a 3/8 socket and wrench could crank it down......
 
I have a Trav'ler set for Shaw direct. I was hoping to replace reflector and arm for dish tv. Winegard said I have to replace the entire system including the mount.
 
AdraF.....Mogul advised a way to stow dish via programming the inside receiver.  Also said that I could go on the roof and dismount the entire unit and lower onto the ground.

Do you think you could ask Jerry.......exactly....how he "worked it into place manually" please.  Might be handy to know.
 
It's a couple of years now and memory is hazy but Jerry says he thinks he unplugged the power to it so he wouldn't be fighting the motor.  Other than that I think we'd say he maneuvered it "very carefully" and "very slowly".  Sorry I can't be more specific.

I just re-read your question.  I'm not sure their solution would have worked in our case because a pin inside the motor mount for the dish had worked itself loose.  The Mogul guys said they had never seen that before.  Of course, we can't have anything "normal" go wrong, can we?!?  ::)

ArdraF
 
NY_Dutch said:
Just curious, but does anyone know if the Dish version of the RF Mogul is eastern arc capable? Most likely single satellite manually aimed like the Trav'ler?
Click to expand...

I know it's been a couple of months since this was asked, but NO. Western arc only.
https://rfmogul.com/eagle_dish_network.html
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Members online

Total: 964 (members: 29, guests: 935)

Forum statistics

Threads
131,925
Posts
1,387,583
Members
137,674
Latest member
SPK550
Back
Top Bottom