Dish Network, portable antenna, and roof top antenna

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ahobgood

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Joined
Jul 15, 2010
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I bought a DISH 211K receiver today for use with my roof top TracVision S2 antenna.

I also was given a 1000.2 portable antenna which I plan to use when the rooftop antenna is blocked by tree's.

I'm sure others use both roof top and portable.

My question is; rather than run the cable from the portable thru a window I'd like to have a permanent connection on the outside of the coach that runs to the receiver.

If anyone else has done this I'd appreciate knowing how you did it

Thanks,

Allan
 
We have both a rooftop automatic dish and we carry a portable for the same reason you do... although we have almost never used it.  Our coach, and many recent models come equipped with a hook up for an external sat dish.  Mine is located in the electrical bay next to the cable tv hook up.  If your 2003 unit doesn't have one, you could certainly add one but, as with adding any wiring in a coach it is a challenge but can be done.
 
Orick said:
adding any wiring in a coach it is a challenge but can be done.

Yup - I've done it and I usually spend more time figuring out how to run the wire than time spent running wire.  We are wired for an external dish and like Rick, rarely use it.  Careful vetting of campgrounds means we rarely deal with trees in the way.
 
rather than run the cable from the portable thru a window I'd like to have a permanent connection on the outside of the coach that runs to the receiver
When a Dish tech helped me wire our coach, we used the CATV input for both CATV & satellite ...with a "power-pass one side" diplexer at the input (one side for CATV and one side for Sat) and another "power-pass one side" diplexer behind the switch box in the overhead cabinets to break the signals out to the separate parts of the switch box. The satellite side requires the power-pass capability. There were a few rare times we were hooked up to the sat dish and catv at the same time, and they would work at the same time on different TV sets.  We haven't used our portable dish in a probably 3 years (and we are fulltimers). There were a few times over the past 4 months that we might have tried it, but we quit carrying it a year ago when we hadn't used it in a couple of years.

In order to change from using the rooftop to using the portable I would have to manually change the connections on the rear of the receiver from rooftop input to portable input ...and also run check dish procedure as they were different type LNBs.
 
In fact, we use our portable dish so rarely that it's currently on my hit list of things to leave behind when we pass by our storage unit next month.  As Paul points out, even when the wiring is there it's still a hassle to change the connections to the DVR/receiver.  I have to admit that since we converted to HD, the thought of hooking up the SD dish isn't very attractive so, like John, we pick campgrounds and sites with sat reception in mind.

Rick
 
I am one of the dissenting votes here. I carry a portable dish and use it regularly. I too did not want the hassle of changing cables every time I wanted to use the portable dish. So a $5 "A/B" switch from Radio Shack eliminated that issue. Now when I want to use the portable dish I push a button and plug in the outside cable.  The hot ticket for me was getting the portable dish from CW that the arm that holds the LB comes off for storage. I have been traveling with it for 4 years and wouldn't be without it.  I pick campgrounds for location and quality of surroundings. Satellite reception is a distant 3rd or 4th. 

I have been traveling the eastern seaboard for the last few months and heavily treed campgrounds are the norm. For me the portable dish was a must. 

Sarge
 
After thinking about SargeW's A-B switch I think I can do it with two A-B switches both of which cab be located in the front of the coach near the central switching system.

Since all I have in the outside electrical department is Cable In, that has to be switched (Cable or Port Sat Antenna).  Cable output will go where it goes now and the Port Sat Antenna output will go to another A-B switch which will switch from port sat antenna to rooftop antenna.

I'm wandering what kinds of losses and/or noise I'm going to create with two switches but it won't cost much to try it.

What do you think?

Allan
 
The big issue to me is if Winnie installed a splitter somewhere in the target coax.  If you have an F connector for a TV in an outside bay, chances are good it is off of one of the legs off a splitter.  Look at your coax wiring diagram to make certain you have a clean shot from the outside to the TV area.  IF no splitter, you should be okay - certainly worth a try.
 
John,

I looked at the wiring diagram.  My wiring diagram reading skill is next to zero, but I do have an outside connection for a TV in the outside entertainment center. 

And it would make sense that this output is from a splitter since there is no "entertainment center" selection on the Central Switching Center.

But, seems to me the splitter would be on the output side after the Central Switching Center and I'm only going to be fooling with the input side.

Anyway, like you say, it's worth a try.  And, since I won't do a permanent install until I test it, it won't be hard to put back together if it doesn't work.

Allan
 
ahobgood said:
But, seems to me the splitter would be on the output side after the Central Switching Center and I'm only going to be fooling with the input side.

I think on my coach, the splitter is on the coax leg to the bedroom TV, but it has been a while since I looked at my coax wiring diagrams.  At any rate - give it a try.
 
John Canfield said:
The big issue to me is if Winnie installed a splitter somewhere in the target coax. 

That's the $64 question for me.  I was always told that you can't put a splitter on a satellite cable because the satellite dish requires signal going both directions. So now Winne puts splitters in satellite feeds regularly. What gives?? 
 
I'll have all of this lashed together in the next week or so...I'll let you know.

Allan
 
Here is a curious part of my satellite install. I have not had satellite TV in my RV bedroom since we bought it. After talks with Winne customer service and Weinguard I determined that the dealer tech that put the satellite on the new rig didn't hook up both coax cables to the LNB (one for the front TV's and one for the bedroom TV).  Because I have separate cable feeds I have 2 satellite boxes. One in the front, and one in the bedroom. The advantage to that is that you can watch different channels in the front and in the bedroom. The disadvantage is that I pay an additional $5 a month for the extra receiver.  I also have to set up each one to receive signal when I get to a location.  The curious part is that the bedroom receiver will show 10 to 15 points less signal in the bedroom than in the living room. Eh??  Signal loss wouldn't be that high I would guess for the extra length of coax.....   
 
SargeW said:
The curious part is that the bedroom receiver will show 10 to 15 points less signal in the bedroom than in the living room. Eh??  Signal loss wouldn't be that high I would guess for the extra length of coax..... 

Marty - probably depends on the quality of the coax, the length of the coax, how many connectors, how well the F Connectors are installed on the coax, etc.  The LNB converts a very high satellite frequency to about 1 - 1.5Ghz.  A frequency this high is significantly more demanding that TV VHF frequencies.  The reason you can't have a splitter is primarily due to the need for the sat receiver to send a positive or negative voltage to the LNB to switch from even to odd transponders (or vice versa.)
 
My splitter is in a coax run designed for (typically) channel three or channel four and not satellite.
  Bingo!  You cannot have a normal splitter between the receiver and the dish, but from the receiver to the TV is not a problem. My '03 Winnebago has the outside TV set up to "mirror" what is selected on the bedroom TV, which to me means the signal is split off the coax running from the switch box to the bedroom -- I think many/most Winnies are set up this way.  That might mean problems if trying to run a receiver in the bedroom, depending on the type of splitter they used. A standard splitter won't do the job, but a power-passing splitter would. I would be surprised if they used the more expensive power-passing diplexer (splitter), but they may have.  I use a dual receiver up front that controls both TVs ...the rear TV uses the RF remote which means I can also use it outside when watching satellite on that TV.
 
To use your outside cable connection this is what Winegard recommends.
 
Note that this assumes your front TV is connected to the coax connector on the front of the wall plate, but Winnebago doesn't do that. The wire below labeled "to second TV" goes to a splitter that sends the signal to both the front and rear TV.

What Winegard calls a "power supply" below is the wall plate with the antenna booster switch and LED showing when the amplifier is on.

If you still want to be able to use the external cable in for both cable TV and the external dish just add an A/B switch to switch the incoming coax from the sat receiver sat input to the sat receiver TV input.

One thing not shown in the diagram is using the RCA type connections between the sat receiver and the TV. I connect them and get a better picture with no interference from any local channels. You have to select a "video in" with your TV menu instead of using channel 3 or 4. You can also use a HDMI cable if your receiver and TV support it.


If you have a video distribution box that will have to be taken into account.

Diagram here http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/ClayL/Winegardsathookup.jpg

This diagram shows how Winnebago often (usually?) wires their units.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/ClayL/WinnebagoTVwiringstock.jpg

Below is the diagram I used before I got HD. It uses a diplexer as suggested by afchap. My diplexer will not work with the HD signal. I think it interferes with the 22 Khz signal tone from the receiver.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v425/ClayL/WinnebagoTVwiringforroofdishandexte.jpg

 
Things are a little different with my rig. There are four TV's in the rig, the Buffet TV, the one over the dash, and a outside entertainment center. All three of those run off of the front Direct receiver and all will watch the same channel when operating on the satellite function on the selector box in the front overhead cabinets.  The bedroom TV is stand alone except for the coax cable that runs to the second output on the LNB.  Other than that the coax runs to a separate box in the bedroom, and the Direct receiver connects to that box.  Separate box, separate channels. 
 
SargeW said:
I am one of the dissenting votes here. I carry a portable dish and use it regularly. I too did not want the hassle of changing cables every time I wanted to use the portable dish. So a $5 "A/B" switch from Radio Shack eliminated that issue. Now when I want to use the portable dish I push a button and plug in the outside cable.  The hot ticket for me was getting the portable dish from CW that the arm that holds the LB comes off for storage. I have been traveling with it for 4 years and wouldn't be without it.  I pick campgrounds for location and quality of surroundings. Satellite reception is a distant 3rd or 4th. 

I have been traveling the eastern seaboard for the last few months and heavily treed campgrounds are the norm. For me the portable dish was a must. 

Sarge

Hey Sarge,
How's the leaf color coming along on the east coast?  We're in Fayetteville, Ar for a week or two and the oaks and maples are just starting to get a little color on the outer ends of the limbs.  The local news caster estimates about a week from now should have things at the peak of color.  Course one big dip in temperature and all the leaves will be gone in a couple of days.  One thing I liked about traveling southward from Maine once the leaves start changing a person can see color all the way to the Smokeys as each state is just a little later than its northern neighbor.  Hope you're enjoying your trip, I'm really envious.

Allen
 

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