Roof mounted vs. portable satellite dish?

[oldryder]

2005 Winnie Vectra with Dish Network and roof mounted antenna. Seems like always some satellites are blocked and occasionally in heavily wooded campground they all are. Is a portable antenna going to perform appreciably better or does it have the same difficulty even with more flexibility in placing it?

thx to anyone taking the time to offer advice.

mark in MN

 

[HueyPilotVN]

Why not get both.

I bought a Dish Sat antenna that mounts on a base plate on the roof that can be disconnected and placed on a tripod very easily.

 

[steveblonde]

Im no expert on satalite dishes etc, but we have been using out cell phones as a mobile hot spot to watch movies. If you have cell signal you can watch things like netflix or amazon. Sat dishes are yesterdays news in my opinion, with an unlimited cell plan we can watch all sorts of stuff

 

[Fastlane Tracks]

I agree, I have both roof mounted as well as a tailgater portable that I can set on the ground or small table connecting to the outside satellite connection with at least 75’ of cable and installed a incoming splitter to the satellite receiver.
Also I use an app on my phone to locate a clear line of sight for the portable satellite to get a signal. The app is called ( satellite pointer ) the app is free but you will want upgrade to pro, it will allow you to isolate the satellites your receiver will be searching for.

 

[NY_Dutch]

With hundreds of campsites behind us we have yet to land on one where I could not get sat signals with our portable dish using one or the other of the Dish satellite arcs. For the past few years, I've used an augmented reality app on my phone to locate the best satellite view.

 

[Isaac-1]

I am in the streaming video camp, this is 2021, and satellite TV is so 1999

 

[dabrooks]

I have Dish Network and use a Pathway II portable dish. The Pathway II can use either the Eastern or Western arcs. Using my phone and a satellite finder app I have only failed once trying to get service.

 

[Utclmjmpr]

I also have a tailgater,, and after years of fussing with a roof mount, I have found that a portable is much better .. I have been told that the tether should not exceed 50 foot in length,, but I have used up to 150 foot and found no problem.. It sure is easier to put the antenna in a good spot than the motorhome..>>>Dan

 

[John From Detroit]

ROOF mounted.. YOu park. push button, it works.. or not
(NOT if you are parked under a tree)

Portable.. You can use a SAT FINDER app on your phone like the winegard app to find a clear spot to set the antenna

Recommendation.. One of each and an A(bove) B(elow) switch.

 

[Old_Crow]

Sometimes I stream TV, but sometimes(like now)I'm parked for months in locations I have no cell service. In those cases it's nice to have Dish.
I have an old dome that came mounted on the RV already. I've switched it to use Dish, and have it hooked to the living room TV. I also have a Tailgater that is hooked to the rear TV. Sometimes(like now)the front dome is blocked by trees, but I can move the tailgater to get all the channels on the bedroom TV.

 

[NY_Dutch]

I am in the streaming video camp, this is 2021, and satellite TV is so 1999

I'm in the camp that says use what works in the locations we visit. Not all of them have good enough cell or park Internet service for streaming. We do stream regularly on overnight stops though instead of setting up the dish.

 

[Bobtop46]

I second HueyPilotVN. I have the Kingdom gray one that you can see in. When I'm at a site and the receiver indicates the satellites are blocked, I go up on the roof look inside the antenna and see where it is pointing then move it on the roof to where it has a clear line of site. I haven't had to move it off the roof yet. I have a 36ft class "A" and 25ft of extra cable with a connector on the end to add on if needed to move the dish toward the back of the RV.

 

[jymbee]

I also have a tailgater,, and after years of fussing with a roof mount, I have found that a portable is much better .. I have been told that the tether should not exceed 50 foot in length,, but I have used up to 150 foot and found no problem.. It sure is easier to put the antenna in a good spot than the motorhome..>>>Dan

Looking back at the last few of travels with our Pathway X2 Dish system, there were many sites-- at least half I'd say-- where a fixed, roof mount satellite would simply not work given the lack of a clear line of site to the sats.

As for the "not exceed 50 foot in length" caveat, like yourself I've gone out far past that. Up to 175 feet in one instance and it worked fine.

 

[Edd505]

ROOF mounted.. YOu park. push button, it works.. or not
(NOT if you are parked under a tree)

Portable.. You can use a SAT FINDER app on your phone like the winegard app to find a clear spot to set the antenna

Recommendation.. One of each and an A(bove) B(elow) switch.

Wrong I have a Tailgater and a Pathway II, both auto locate satellites, all I need is a view of the south sky just like the Winegard Travler. No south sky not satellites. Connect the cabling, plug in and you may have to tell it what state your in, sit back as it locals the sats.

 

[Great Horned Owl]

Streaming might be good for those who don't boondock in remote locations, but more often than not, In the places that I camp, there is no cell signal.

I have found that the best app for aiming a dish in wooded areas, in SAToolz. It uses the phone's camera, and superimposes red dots on the image, to show the satellite locations. You walk around until the red dot is on a pie4ce of sky, instead being on a bunch of leaves.

There is one version for Dish, and another for DirecTV.

Joel

 

[Larry N.]

I have found that the best app for aiming a dish in wooded areas, in SAToolz.

Apparently it's only available for iPhone, which leaves us Android folks (figuratively) out in the cold. Nice thought, though.

There are some satellite aids for Android but I've not explored them.

 

[NY_Dutch]

Winegard has a free AR app that works quite well for both satellite and OTA aiming.

Winegard – TV Signal Finder - Apps on Google Play

Find satellite TV and free HDTV signals using our TV Signal Finder app with AR.

play.google.com

 

[Great Horned Owl]

Apparently it's only available for iPhone, which leaves us Android folks (figuratively) out in the cold. Nice thought, though.

There are some satellite aids for Android but I've not explored them.

For Android / Dish
Android / DirecTV

Joel

 

[Larry N.]

Ahhh... thanks.

 

[NY_Dutch]

One thing to take note of when it comes to making a satellite antenna choice. None of the "dome" style automatic portable dishes work with the Dish multi-tuner Hopper series receivers, and none of them receive HD programming from DirecTV. That limits your choice on Dish to just one current model receiver, the Wally single tuner receiver. I'm not familiar enough with DTV receivers to say which ones work at all with the domes.