Tailgator by Dish Network:

[gmar4718]

We have had no problems with our tailgater and it connecting every time we go to a new park. We use at home on Saturdays to get Pac 12 network so I think it keeps activated. I am assuming we will need to re-activate after winter

[Cooperhawk]

Where we were in Wisconsin there was very little TV that could be picked up by our antennae. Add to that the fact that there are several programs we like that are cable only. The Campground had Cable but after hooking it up the picture was snowy and almost unusable.

I see now that it's all in the number. The number listed in the Tailgater literature gets you Manilla, and the 888-309-370 gets you someone in the US. From now on that is the only number I will call.

[VestaDave]

Originally Posted by Davdeb1

Please try and explain this to me. Why would you call up dish, get aggravated, when you can just crank up the antenna and get the "local stations? I would hate to have to make a phone call every time I moved. I'm anticipating that response will be no reception, but short of that, the reception on OTA in my experience has been very good.

Not a bad question. You are incorrect in assuming a call to dish needs to be made every time you move. That is not the case. The only time you need to make a call is to activate your receiver after an extended period of non use. That's a one time call during your travel. Regarding local channels, you are correct it's probably just as easy to access them OTA if they are accessible. Make no mistake, Sat. Tv is a whole bunch better than cable provided at RV parks.

[Davdeb1]

Originally Posted by VestaDave

Not a bad question. You are incorrect in assuming a call to dish needs to be made every time you move. That is not the case. The only time you need to make a call is to activate your receiver after an extended period of non use. That's a one time call during your travel. Regarding local channels, you are correct it's probably just as easy to access them OTA if they are accessible. Make no mistake, Sat. Tv is a whole bunch better than cable provided at RV parks.

I agree about the cable and dish quality.
I bought the dish tailgater because I thought I would get better reception in places with trees. I quickly realized that you have to be able to move it completely away from trees. Usually, in a site with trees, you can't move it to an area with a "hole" in the trees where you can see southern sky.

The big advantage if the Tailgater is price and convenience. It automatically finds the satellites, and is only $450. The pay as you go feature is great also. If you want automatic Satellite seeking, a mounted dish will be by far, more expensive, and installation, I would imagine isn't cheap.

I'm fairly well satisfied with the Tailgater, but even sparse trees, heavy clouds, and fog, does adversly affect reception.

[VestaDave]

Originally Posted by Davdeb1

I agree about the cable and dish quality.
I bought the dish tailgater because I thought I would get better reception in places with trees. I quickly realized that you have to be able to move it completely away from trees. Usually, in a site with trees, you can't move it to an area with a "hole" in the trees where you can see southern sky.

The big advantage if the Tailgater is price and convenience. It automatically finds the satellites, and is only $450. The pay as you go feature is great also. If you want automatic Satellite seeking, a mounted dish will be by far, more expensive, and installation, I would imagine isn't cheap.

I'm fairly well satisfied with the Tailgater, but even sparse trees, heavy clouds, and fog, does adversly affect reception.

No question, it takes more than a little effort even though the tailgater is "automatic" to get reception. On our last trip to BC we were out for nearly a month and failed to get reception at only one location. I found that in some sites placing the tailgater on the tow car's roof helped by getting the beam angle above the trees. When it works, and that's most of the time, it's great.

[Mossy cat]

We just purchased a tailgater for $320 on eBay, Camping World was $350. Anyway, I hope we don't have these problems. My technical capabilities are lacking to say the least. Lol

[Statgeek]

I too have been completely frustrated with Dish tech service. They have a list to go through REGARDLESS of your problem.. beginning with "unplug it for 10s." No matter what, they insist on this... In my case they had me reinstall their software (switch) from a TV that couldn't toggle (move) the dish, which of course, replaced the switch that was properly installed with nothing. IMHO, even their "advanced" technical service folks know virtually nothing. All they do is walk you through their documented setup procedures. If you are already smart enough to do that successfully, you get no assistance beyond that. Sorry for your troubles. I'm still not successful in setting up my Dish...

[dunkonu23]

We've been with Dish for eight years. Call center doesn't matter--you still get the same list of questions. I haven't called since we got our Hopper's and Joey's, but I got folks in the USA. Looks like they may have outsourced some of the call activity, again.

Scott