Finding The Bird

[ramblinboy]

Anyone care to share their experience with manually pointing your satellite tripod mounted dish?

I'd like to find and purchase a Sat-finder with audible signal if possible.

[Guest Wayne77590]

The "Birdog" satellite meter. You won't like the price though.

Now here is a story for you:

I was at a campground setting up my tripod with triple LNB dish attached. I had it set near the back of the MH. I tried, and tried, and tried (fill the page with "I tried to get the big picture) to pull in two of the three birds. I would have settle for two. Finding one was enough of a problem. I was using that little meter you can purchase at camping stores. Unfortunately it does not differentiate between satellites so i was constantly getting the wrong signal. After many more "I tried," I went into the MH, sat down and had a drink. By this time it was getting to be dusk, and I had set the tripod up on the spot next to me. Even though the CG was alternating spots I decided to move, just in case they got full and needed that spot. I went out, pulled up the stakes holding the tripod down, picked the whole thing up and moved it directly behind the MH. I re-staked it because I was not going to fool around any more that day with getting a signal, and I did not want to dismantle it at that time. I went inside, and guess what. I had all 3 satellites.

I no longer mess with tripods. If it's not automatic, I don't want it.

Good luck to you.

[ramblinboy]

Ha great story Wayne! The satellite Gods were with you . You've convinced me. We're going with an automatic system:

http://winegard.com/carryout/index.php

Thanks for more Family Motor Coach help from a great member!

Rb

[Guest Wayne77590]

Oh how great minds think alike.

There were a few more episodes where I could not get that darn portable on a tripod to acquire a signal, so one day in San Antonio, messing with it for a couple hours, I went into the MH, and told DW, "Let's go!" We went to a Camping World and I bought the Carryout. They had a special going so the purchase included the little tripod that goes with it. Highly recommended if you are not going to spent a couple hundred bucks more for the ladder mount. It's ridiculous what they charge for that mount.

Remember though that it is a single LNB and when you change channels it will automatically move the antenna to the correct satellite. One channel for two receivers, or both on the same channel, I don't know. I need to experiment I have never tried the second receiver option on it, but I have the cable and I'm planning on hooking up the extra output to the second input on the VIP-722 receiver. It will be interesting to see what is going to happen. So remember that if you want a dual LNB system you will have to go with one of the King Dome models for around $1200 and that is a permanent mount on the roof. (Hmmm! I guess you could make a portable mount for it and store it in the basement. I wonder if that has been done.) I just don't want to add 8 inches of height to my roof top. I have basement air, and the only thing that stick up out of my roof is the vent pipes and skylights. I figure they are what gives me the 12'4" height maximum I'm at right now. adding a 12" dome to the roof will put me at 12'8" or there about. Not bad, but I like my present height. One of these days though I'll probably break down and get a roof dome antenna.

Good luck.

[Guest BillAdams]

Wayne,

You seem to imply that the King Dome would work differently than your Carry-out and this is not the case. All dome antennas contain only one single dual LNB (dual refers to how many outputs, not how many LNB's). If you want an antenna that can "see" multiple satellites simultaneously then you would have to have an open-face antenna.

You should be quite happy with the Carry-out and a single Dish Network receiver. When you throw a DVR or a second receiver into the mix it can be a challenge if 2 people want to watch 2 different programs.

[Guest Wayne77590]

The words dual LNB are really quite misleading, to me. It typically refers to one single LNB with two outputs, but when you use the term triple LNB, or quad LNB, there are different meanings. I was not trying to implying anything, and the statement, "One channel for two receivers, or both on the same channel..." should sum it up. How funny and strange when a search on Dual LNB, Triple LNB, and Quad LNB, you will result in 3 different sets of pictures identifying what each is. A dual LNB will be depicted with one "head and two outputs," and a triple LNB will be depicted with 3 heads with an output for each head, and a quad LNB will show one head with 4 outputs. I just love the English language and meanings.

A Google search on any of the terms will yield all the different results. It used to be when you searched on the Internet you would get what you searched for. Now, the search engines give you what they "think" you searched for. (Last paragraph not particularly related to LNB's.)

[Guest BillAdams]

As long as a user understands that every dome on the market for RV's contains only 1 LNB and can only point to one satellite at a time it makes it easier to understand the differences between the way a dome can perform and the way an open face antenna can perform.

[ramblinboy]

Thanks for the heads-up on the LNB issue. I should be good with the single LNB - omni-type antenna vs the dish. There's really nothing worth watching anyway but news is always good to stay current. We do appreciate the advice gentlemen - thank you muchly!

[paulcarson]

I have found it much easier to use the single LNB. The triple always gives me fits. I am still using the tri-pod and dish setup. Works for me....Paul

[haroldhansen]

I have had the one, three, and now five LNB dish and always got frustrated trying to set it up. I bought the satellite finder (basically useless) and gave up on it. I bought a couple of different compasses and always spent time searching for the correct heading as they tended to be influenced by the metal dish. I bought an iphone and found it has a compass on it. I tried it and it works far better than any of my expensive compasses when next to the metal in the tripod.

My process is 1) verify the local area elevation setting and the "tilt" if using the 5 LNB dish and set them to the correct settings before beginning, 2) Level the tripod baseplate using the bubble level as it seems to be very accurate, 3) set the dish on the tripod and standing directly behind the dish point it using the iphone compass, 4) have the receiver set to the satellite strength screen using the "sound on" option. I have the wife view the screen and yell when the sound starts and have her "fine tune" it as I move it slightly to get the best signal. This process usually takes about 10 minutes total and I seem to be ablel to start within about 5 degrees of horizontal adjustment using the iphone. A slight movement either left or right finds the satellite quickly. If you have the elevation and "tilt" set before beginning there is usually very little adjustment to these needed.

I hope this helps as I finally can get set up quickly and all I need is the iphone compass app and the local settings for the satellite which most campgrounds provide or you can get online.

[RichFine]

First, no affiliation with the company, in fact I have yet to download the product.

DishPointer www.dishpointer.com has an app for the iphone that I'm getting for this season...showing where the satellites are as you pull in to the spot.

[JacknKay]

Ha great story Wayne! The satellite Gods were with you . You've convinced me. We're going with an automatic system:

http://winegard.com/carryout/index.php

Thanks for more Family Motor Coach help from a great member!

Rb

I like this solution. I spent a few hours last camping trip looking for the bird and gave up. Ended up watching cable instead. Some day I'll get his one.

Jack

[yellowboat]

I used a manual antenna for about 2 years. If I was lucky I could find a satellite in about 10 minutes but most of the time it would take me 20 to 40 minutes to find a satellite. I used a satellite finder and it helps but it finds not only the satellite your are looking for and also many other satellites that are up there, so you don't know if your are on the right satellite.

I have DirecTV so first, before aiming the antenna, I would put in the local zip code and my satellite receiver would give me the azimuth and elevation of the satellite. Next I would tune the receiver so that the TV displayed an audio and visual representation of the satellite signal strength. My wife would watch the signal, or if I could set up the antenna near a window, I would listen to the signal. This way when my satellite finder gave me a signal I could tell if it was the correct signal because the receiver would be also showing the signal.

Now I use a Winegard Carryout. It takes 2 or 3 minutes to find a signal. The Carryout has two LNB's and my DirecTV DVR needs two LNB's to watch and record TV shows.

Hope this helps. Safe travels.

JD

[Jefferson33]

In most bird feeders I'm aware of the seeds or other food is visible. There is often spilled seed on the ground as well. Birds are moving through the environment constantly looking for food; they will soon see food provided in a feeder. Once a few birds find it, others may be attracted by calls or activity. Also, birds are good at learning to recognize potential food sources. Once they become familiar with the shape of a conventional feeder, they are likely to investigate new ones that are put up within their home range.