[ProfLonghair]

I'll be in Toledo next week, and my family would like to watch the Browns - Steelers game. Their cable has NFLN, but did not spend the extra $ to carry the games themselves (much to our surprise on Thanksgiving). I have saved my only 2LNB dish, and have an older active receiver I can bring from my bedroom. Would I have any chance of doing a temp install at their house so we can avoid having to go to a bar to watch the game? My brother and is 7 month pregnant wife are flying in from CA that day, and are probably less inclined to go to a bar, as well as my 14 month old daughter, but we will if we have to. I don't have any exciting or fancy equipment, and don't want to shell out $$$ for a slingbox.

 

[bobnielsen]

It shouldn't be too hard. A compass and a protractor (for the elevation setting) should be used. The setup menu has a screen where you get a pulsed tone out of the TV speaker which changes frequency as the signal strength increases and I used that (I turned up the volume and opened a window so I could hear it) when originally installing a single LNB dish. I wouldn't recommend this method with a 5 LNB dish, since the setting is more critical.

 

[Mixer]

I wonder if just updating their cable would be a better solution just for the month of December.

A lot of peopel that have open ended agreements with D* are able to get HBO just for Sopranos and then cancel when they are off the air and then get it again when they come back.

Wonder if you could do that as well.

Bett than the money you will spend at the bar if it is possible.

 

[ProfLonghair]

Can't upgrade the cable. THey have Buckeye Express, which has NFLN but won't pay the extra for the games, and Adelphia in the area, which just got bought by Time Warner, which does not carry NFLN at all.

Any ideas on a cheaper alternative to Slingbox?

 

[mrbobbio]

He’s what I would do , since cost is an issue. (I’ve done this twice)

Materials
1 - used dual LNB dish purchased on ebay for $20.00 (including shipping)
1 – Five Gallon bucket from home depot (.99 cents some times they are on special)
1 3 to 4 ft piece of 2 inch PVC Pipe ($2.00)
1 – 50 lb bag of super quick setting cement
50 to 75 feet of RG6 cable

1. Use the bucket , cement , water and the pvc pipe to create a stand for the dish (make sure the pipe is fairly straight in the vertical position)
2. Mount the Dish on the pipe
3. Find a good south facing spot on the porch, yard, or drive way.
4. Align the dish using the tv inside or even better a portable DVD player attached to the receiver outside is ever better .
5. Run the cable inside or you can unhook the existing cable and hook into the existing cable drop on the outside of the house. If you go this round you may need a RG6 cable connector to connect the two cables ($1.00)
6. Watch the game and make sure no one bumps the dish.

 

[carl6]

Keep in mind, you may not get your local stations at the other location depending on how far you are from your home location. Most local stations are broadcast on spot beams, and they cover an area about 100 to 200 miles wide.

Other than that, you should have no problem with doing what you are considering, as long as there is a view to the southern sky available.

Carl

 

[Car1181]

He's what I would do , since cost is an issue. (I've done this twice)

Materials
1 - used dual LNB dish purchased on ebay for $20.00 (including shipping)
1 - Five Gallon bucket from home depot (.99 cents some times they are on special)
1 3 to 4 ft piece of 2 inch PVC Pipe ($2.00)
1 - 50 lb bag of super quick setting cement
50 to 75 feet of RG6 cable

1. Use the bucket , cement , water and the pvc pipe to create a stand for the dish (make sure the pipe is fairly straight in the vertical position)
2. Mount the Dish on the pipe
3. Find a good south facing spot on the porch, yard, or drive way.
4. Align the dish using the tv inside or even better a portable DVD player attached to the receiver outside is ever better .
5. Run the cable inside or you can unhook the existing cable and hook into the existing cable drop on the outside of the house. If you go this round you may need a RG6 cable connector to connect the two cables ($1.00)
6. Watch the game and make sure no one bumps the dish.

I did basically the same thing and it' simple and quick. The only difference was I used a 4X4 instead of PVC. I screwed the mast that comes with the dish into the 4X4 so I could adjust it afterward to keep it level. Either way it will work. Good luck and enjoy the game.

 

[ProfLonghair]

I'll have them prep the bucket, and post the results here. And, I don't plan on enjoying the game, I'm a Browns fan.

 

[Staszek]

SHould work not sure about the locals.

I do it all the time. I have a single LNB sitting in my basement and when I go to Giants games I set it up in the parrking lot with the receiver out of my bedroom so we can watch the earlier games while we tailgate.

 

[ProfLonghair]

The locals and other stations won't matter. They have cable there, we just won't get NFLN games. As long as the single LNB dish can get NFLN, we should be set.