1) I have had the A5 system installed on a Jeep Grand Cherokee for the past year now, and it's been working great. Tracking ability of the phased-array dish has been impeccable, and will even stayed locked while exiting a 270-degree cloverleaf at 55 mph. Signal loss in town is as expeceted, due to powerlines, trees, buildings, etc... but I've had few problems on the highway (overpasses and sitting in the shadow of an 18-wheeler not withstanding). Line of sight is key, but reacquisition of the signal is very fast. I have had no reliability issues with the unit thus far. The receiver is a basic Hughes receiver modified from 110 to 12V.daytoday said:
2) I actually found my unit on eBay for $1750 and installed the unit myself. Local dealers ranged from $2400-2600.
3) No discounts from D*, but interestingly enough, I was never forced into the DirecTV Mobile package. I called up and activated the receiver just like any other that I have, and I receive all of the 101 SAT channels, to include locals, for just the standard $4.99 additional receiver price. I know that the newer A7 system is being advertised as "with GPS", like its a good thing, but my suspicion is that it is really a security mod to now be able to enforce where you can/cannot receive your locals.
4) Again, I installed the system myself, but the quoted prices I received included about $200-400 for install. If you have ever installed a car stereo amplifier, you can install the Tracvision system. All you need is access to a reliable 12V switched power source, which your Yukon may already have if you have a power accessory plug in the rear cargo area. Running a direct line from the battery with a 12V relay switch is best (wiring instructions are provided). The rest of the install is running the coax to the satellite dish (it also provides power, just like a 3-lnb dish), and the A/V cables to your in-car setup. Mounting the dish is a two-person lifting job, but only requires a security torx bit (should be included, but mine was missing) to tighten down the mounts to your luggage rack.
5) Some 'extras' I've added, based on experience:
- a separate on/off switch for the power source so I can force the unit to go through setup/reacquire the channel guide without having to pull over and turn off the vehicle (if unit is turned off via the remote when the vehicle power is stopped, it will not acquire a new guide/programming data when you restart vehicle & power up... very inconvenient if you forget and already heading down the road. Home units are always powered on, even when turned off, so this isn't such an issue for them)
- a 12V-triggered audio switching device and noise filter/ground-loop isolaters, so that you don't have any alternator whine, and can hook up multiple audio inputs to your stereo input (iPod, XM, D*, DVD/Playstation for kids, etc).
