Newbie Using Dish Network in RV

We recently switched from Directv to Dish and what a hassle to set up my dish when we were at the coast compared to Directv! I have the 1000.2 dish and a Vip622 receiver. I never did get 129 and got zero help from tech support! They just said what I was doing was not legal as I took my Vip622 from home on the trip. My questions:

1. Is this illegal? They implied I needed to buy another receiver for the RV.

2. What is the best procedure to set up the dish? I have only used a compass after setting the dish per the receivers setting and then I move the dish around a bit until I find a signal. The tone from the receiver is very low in volume and the signal seems to be delayed so it is hard to know when I am on.

Slightly different question relating to the house - I have my old antennna that sat on top the directv dish, can I use this for local channels and use the built in splitter as I did before?

Thx,
Mike

We recently switched from Directv to Dish and what a hassle to set up my dish when we were at the coast compared to Directv! I have the 1000.2 dish and a Vip622 receiver. I never did get 129 and got zero help from tech support! They just said what I was doing was not legal as I took my Vip622 from home on the trip. My questions:

1. Is this illegal? They implied I needed to buy another receiver for the RV.

2. What is the best procedure to set up the dish? I have only used a compass after setting the dish per the receivers setting and then I move the dish around a bit until I find a signal. The tone from the receiver is very low in volume and the signal seems to be delayed so it is hard to know when I am on.

Slightly different question relating to the house - I have my old antennna that sat on top the directv dish, can I use this for local channels and use the built in splitter as I did before?

Thx,
Mike

You realize Dish does not offer DNS like Direct does?

Sorry, but what does DNS stand for? I assume this is not Domain Name Service.

Just checked the Directv site and now know what DNS is - Distant Network Service. I don't want or care about this as I can get more than enough local stations via my antenna than I would thru Dish most of the time.

Just thought you may want to know since being in an RV you may do doing a lot of traveling to places in which you may not be able to pick up locals over the air.

As far as taking your receiver with you, it do not believe it is illegal. How would anybody know if you are using the receiver that is supposed to be in your house or one that is supposed to be in an RV anyway, even if it is illegal?

Just out of curiosity, being a traveling person, I assume. Why did you switch providers?

I was a Directv customer for years and wanted a DVR and upgrades on my 10 year old receivers and they wanted me to buy all of it, so I after many calls and escalations I said bye!!

I was a Directv customer for years and wanted a DVR and upgrades on my 10 year old receivers and they wanted me to buy all of it, so I after many calls and escalations I said bye!!

Too bad. Sorry to hear that. I was able to receive free upgrades, even gave me a free HR20 after one call. I threatened to leave and that was all it took.

Anyway, good luck with Dish. I hope everything works out; I hope you are satisfied; and I hope set up will be easy once you figure it out.

Now, lets address your question.

Your contract with Dish specifies it is for use at your residence and in only one location, so you are in violation of your subscriber agreement with Dish when you use it elsewhere. Except that you can get an RV waiver from dish for one receiver to be used in an RV.

It is not recommended that that receiver be a DVR as they would be susceptible to problems accompaning the motion of the RV, i.e. crash the hard drive.

Also, it is extremely difficult to align the 1000.2 without a signal meter and is best left to those with experience.

Leave your 622 home and get either a 301 or a 211 for use in your RV.

I'll chime in here because I have a lot of experience with this.

I have taken my 622 on approximately twenty RV trips. If you handle it with care, there are no problems using it on the road. Disconnect the power when you move it or adjust cabling.

The advantage of taking the 622 with you on the road are HD, access to your recorded programs and the built-in OTA tuner. You don't have to connect the antenna to watch your DVR programs. This is quite handy when we roll into camp late and don't have time to point the antenna.

I agree, a signal meter is an absolute must for aligning the dish and using one, I successfully pointed the dish with my limited experience and a little patience. (good signal strength on 110, 119, 129) Now it's simply routine. Suggestions: get a sturdy tripod, weight it down or stake it to the ground. Make sure the mast is absolutely level. Get a clear path, free of obstructions, even if it means using 100ft of coax. The shorter the coax run, the better though, so I carry a few different lengths. I also have a mast fixed to the back of my RV that I use when I need to get up 12ft or so to clear trees. For pointing the dish, I use a digital compass that is very accurate (they're cheap at camping stores).

There are plenty of threads on how to align your dish and properly configure your LNB's, cabling, etc... Practice at home before you head out. It will save you a lot of headaches.

I'm sure there are better setups than this, but I'm unwilling to shell out $1000 or more for the convenience.

Good luck.

The shorter the coax run, the better though, so I carry a few different lengths. I also have a mast fixed to the back of my RV that I use when I need to get up 12ft or so to clear trees. For pointing the dish, I use a digital compass that is very accurate (they're cheap at camping stores).




Just curious, have you experimented with using a signal booster for your longer co-ax runs?

It hasn't been necessary to use a signal booster with the 100ft run. Use high quality coax and it won't be a problem. The only problem I have had with the long runs is risk of theft and kids tripping over the coax, which knocked my dish out of alignment. I generally try to place the dish as close to the RV as possible. If I do make a long run, I tie the coax off on a tree near the dish to give it some strain relief.

Just curious, have you experimented with using a signal booster for your longer co-ax runs?

DPP is plenty good up to 200 ft.

fred

I am troubleshooting some PQ issues that my parents were having at their lake cabin where the dish is ~ 150ft away from the house and was trying to eliminate a long co-ax run as one of the reasons why. Thanks.