Roof mount dish on 2012 sightseer

[ChileRick]

Looking at installing a DishNetwork system, wondering if the 2012's are per-wired for a roof mount dish, and what is a reasonable amount of hours to accomplish the install? It's at the dealer, as usual, so I can't look it up. They say 7 hours, but then everything there is 7 hours!

[jfran304]

Instead of installing a satellite dish on the roof just purchase the "Tailgater" and you will be able to move it so that you will have a clear shot at the satellites if you are parked in a wooded area. The Tailgater works as advertised, just connect it and place it where it has a clear shot at the satellite, program it for the area you are in and watch TV.

Also if you sell/trade your coach you can move the Tailgater to the new coach or sell it on Ebay.

I purchased ours from PPL Motor Homes and it was delivered to the front door within 4 days for $349.00.

I noticed on their website that they also sell refurbished Tailgater units for $269.00.

Tailgater Satellite Dish - Portable HDTV Antenna - PPL Motor Homes

Jon

[garykk]

If its anything like ours, it came prewired for a satellite dish. Our manual indicates its on the roof over the cab area, right above the middle of the seats. In fact I think I remember seeing a decal on the roof where it goes. There should be wiring in the overhead cabinet as well. 7 hours is a long time for a hole and connecting the wires.

[papaw.1]

x10 on the tailgator.We have one and couldn't be happier.It is really easy to set up and doesn't take 2 minutes.Good Luck

[ghutch]

There is a locator sticker on the roof. I saw mine just the other day. As for the dish on the roof, You might give some thought to using a dish on the ground at first. Then you can look at getting a roof mount. If you do get the roof mount, save the ground dish for use when you can not find a hole in the trees.

[Journey39n]

The tailgater is an excellent choice, you should have a connector in an outside compartment for easy hook-up.

There should be a pre-wire setup for a roof mount system as well. We had a Kingdome that worked pretty well, but only had a single element, to tune to one satellite at a time.

We replaced it with the Wingard Traveller with multi-elements, for all satellites at once. We have been very pleased with the setup.

Our dealer charged us 5 hours to remove the old dome, install the Traveller, remove all the old control wiring and such, and do a terrific job of installing the new controller in the front cabinet where the old had been.

I have heard some say they installed the whole thing in 2 hours, and expect an experienced guy could do that with a clean roof to work with.

I ended up selling the old dome and got more than my installation costs back, feel pretty good about the whole thing.

[bobmac]

I installed the Winegard Dish Traveler on the roof of my Journey. There is a sticker on the roof showing where the prewiring is located. In my case, there were 2 coaxs. If you install the Traveler, you need to get the power cable to the roof. There is a piece of wood molding across the front of the inside coach roof from side to side about 3+ feet back from the windshield. I understand that by removing this piece, access can be gained to the prewire from inside to facilitate getting the power cable to the roof. Unfortunately, I did it the hard way. You need a hole saw to drill a hole large enough to retrieve the coiled cabling inside.
From a time perspective, it takes about 2-3 hours to install and is very simple. Hardest part is getting the 45 lb traveler on the roof but its all downhill after that. You need caulking and likely a $10 tool to install the connectors on the RG6 coax. You should consider doing it yourself if you are handy and have a helper available.
I would strongly recommend the Traveler as it is completely automatic, provides connections for up to 3 boxes and will provide superior signal strength even during inclement weather.