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At least in the pre-event test. I finally gave in and bought a slimline antenna today. I don't know if they all have multiswitches built in or what, but this one supports 4 receivers from the lnb output. That's cool, I might use all 4 at the tailgate. 2 for my RV and 2 for my friend next door. And his account has HD locals. But I digress.
Be thou not afraid of trying this. I really thought it would be painful. It was, but only because my driveway is not level. I mounted the dish to a 2' wide by 4' long piece of plywood, and will put a cinderblock on it to stabilize it at the tailgate site. My parking spot is flat level, and I have a few shims just in case. Once I got the pole level (and there's a built-in bubble on the pole) it was positively no issue at all to get all 5.
In my case, I did not have to go through the complicated peaking process, because I wasn't trying to get top-notch values. That can be a problem - you really need good 101 and 119 values. But I did not use a meter, I used an H21 that I got today.
Anyway, after getting it bolted in and all the pieces put together, I set the tilt to what the box said and the elevation as well. As with the 18" dish, I just swung the slimline around the pole until I got a 90+ 101 signal. This is as difficult as tying your shoes, maybe. I switched to 119, and was getting signals in the 80s right off. Since my signals at home are like that, I didn't worry. Signal on 110 was not good - in the 60s. 99 and 103 were practically nonexistent.
So I start all this fine tuning hocus pocus. I got 101 up to 94, and the 119 signal in the upper 80s low 90s. 99/103: 0 to 40. Not good. I got the dish from a local satellite store, and the guy there plainly thought I was too stupid to do this for tailgating - need a $400 meter to do it right, all kinds of stuff that I knew was not accurate based on instinct and what I have read here.
Then I checked the level of the pole and noticed it was out of whack - the bubble was half out of the center. So, starting from scratch, I picked up the plywood, shifted it around, and put some shims under it until the bubble was centered (again, on a slightly sloped driveway). Started over, swinging the pole around - 101 came in at 98-100. 119 at 98-100. 110 at 95+. All CONUS transponders on 99 and 103 at 90+. Just nailed it with no effort. Disassembled and put it back up again in under 2 minutes with same signals.
So the morals of this long story:
1) As many many others have said, getting the pole level is the key.
2) If you are remotely technically inclined and want to try HD in your RV or at your tailgate, this can be done and it's not an insurmountable deal. It can be made relatively easy.
3) My installer at home did not do a good job. I will be out there tomorrow peaking the dish, because I know full well I can get better signals than what I have (99/103 in the 70s).
Happy football season to all!
At least in the pre-event test. I finally gave in and bought a slimline antenna today. I don't know if they all have multiswitches built in or what, but this one supports 4 receivers from the lnb output. That's cool, I might use all 4 at the tailgate. 2 for my RV and 2 for my friend next door. And his account has HD locals. But I digress.
Be thou not afraid of trying this. I really thought it would be painful. It was, but only because my driveway is not level. I mounted the dish to a 2' wide by 4' long piece of plywood, and will put a cinderblock on it to stabilize it at the tailgate site. My parking spot is flat level, and I have a few shims just in case. Once I got the pole level (and there's a built-in bubble on the pole) it was positively no issue at all to get all 5.
In my case, I did not have to go through the complicated peaking process, because I wasn't trying to get top-notch values. That can be a problem - you really need good 101 and 119 values. But I did not use a meter, I used an H21 that I got today.
Anyway, after getting it bolted in and all the pieces put together, I set the tilt to what the box said and the elevation as well. As with the 18" dish, I just swung the slimline around the pole until I got a 90+ 101 signal. This is as difficult as tying your shoes, maybe. I switched to 119, and was getting signals in the 80s right off. Since my signals at home are like that, I didn't worry. Signal on 110 was not good - in the 60s. 99 and 103 were practically nonexistent.
So I start all this fine tuning hocus pocus. I got 101 up to 94, and the 119 signal in the upper 80s low 90s. 99/103: 0 to 40. Not good. I got the dish from a local satellite store, and the guy there plainly thought I was too stupid to do this for tailgating - need a $400 meter to do it right, all kinds of stuff that I knew was not accurate based on instinct and what I have read here.
Then I checked the level of the pole and noticed it was out of whack - the bubble was half out of the center. So, starting from scratch, I picked up the plywood, shifted it around, and put some shims under it until the bubble was centered (again, on a slightly sloped driveway). Started over, swinging the pole around - 101 came in at 98-100. 119 at 98-100. 110 at 95+. All CONUS transponders on 99 and 103 at 90+. Just nailed it with no effort. Disassembled and put it back up again in under 2 minutes with same signals.
So the morals of this long story:
1) As many many others have said, getting the pole level is the key.
2) If you are remotely technically inclined and want to try HD in your RV or at your tailgate, this can be done and it's not an insurmountable deal. It can be made relatively easy.
3) My installer at home did not do a good job. I will be out there tomorrow peaking the dish, because I know full well I can get better signals than what I have (99/103 in the 70s).
Happy football season to all!
