Anyone have Sattelite T.V. in their house?

[Boar]

Gonna convert a 21' camper into a ice house just like my 17' an want to put in Sattilite T.V. in it. I've heard of people doing this an Pretty sure all I have to do is of course get a spare tv an I have a spare reciever so all I'd have to do is bring a current activated card from home. Oh yea I need a spare dish, So a spare tv an a spare dish, I have a spare reciever, mount the dish an hook it up to recevier then to tv then to deep cycle battery an insert activated card from home an I have happier kids an happier dad. This should work right? How long would a heavy deep cycle battery last on a reciever an tv, couple days? Info would be great, thanks boar

[Boar]

Oh yea I know I have to point it to the correct Longitude an Latitude. Boar

[natebuddy]

I have one in my house. You will need an access card that matches the receiver you have though. Atleast for mine which is direct tv. I tried to put a receiver in the house and take an access card from home ( so I wouldn't have to activate another receiver) but it will not work. So I leave a spare receiver in the house all year long and activate it for 3 -4 months out of the year. I use a generator though for power. I'm not sure how you are planning to mount your dish. If you mount it directly to the house you may have limitations in how far you can move it when you are alligning with the satelite. I had a spare dish at home whe we upgraded my home tVs to HD. So I bought a tripod off hsolist to put the dish on. Now when I'm at the lake, all I have to do is go to the setup screen and enter the zip code for the nearest town and it will come up with the degrees to aim it and the elevation. I can usually have it all setup in under 5 mins. I know my wife loves having it in the fish house.

[Boar]

well if I have to I can just bring a reciver my cabin which is activated. Thanks for the info. boar

[minndonn]

I have a DishTV spare 501 receiver which can also record shows. They charge me 5.00 mo for the receiver to be activated. I found you should have the receiver on and an active satelite connection to be sure the tuner has the latest software downloads or it will not work until it does. The tuner should help you align the dish.

[thirtysomething]

We use DirecTV on occasion in our wheel house. The early years were easier, recent times it seems to have gotten tougher to to get it tuned in so to speak. This year I ordered a kit from DTV that comes with a dish, and a tri-pod with a built in level. That makes it a lot easier. I'd recommend using an older receiver. I used one of their newer ones, and it takes to long to download and verify and such. The older ones area a lot easier. Good luck, if you have any problems, feel free to shoot me an email.

[eyebjim]

I just set up a sattelite TV in my wheel house this weekend. I used a 7 inch LCD TV (15watts) and the Direct TV box uses 25 watts so its only 40 watts to run on an inverter. I used it for 16 hours straight on one battery with a couple lights on. I have a portable dish for now but will be upgrading to a in roof crank up eventually. I just used the sat box from home. If you do not have an extra you can get one for a few bucks a month. Theres nothing like being a fish catching couch potatoe .

[LakeDocktor]

Typically, you have to pay upgrade fees to get another receiver. This most of the times means buying an addition receiver that will run you about $100. You can also get them off of hsolist or hsolist for very little. If you do this, get the receiver numbers and smartcard numbers or access card numbers from the unit before you purchase it. Call the provider and make sure that the unit is clear and doesn't have an outstanding balance because that balance will need to be paid before they will activate the receiver. As far as checking the zip code to set up the dish..... The settings are pretty much the same for all of Minnesota. Dish 500= Elevation 33-34, Skew 110 and Azimuth 202. Dish 300 (single LNB) same numbers but Skew at 0 due to only one satellite needed. Keep in mind, if you have a Dish 300, and have locals at home, the locals won't come in if the dish is pointed at the 119 satellite. There are also quite a few more things that need to be in play as far as equipment to get your unit to work. Keep your receivers simple and you shouldn't have a problem. Any questions, let me know, I'd be more than happy to help.

[Lunger]

So if a person had none of the equipment, and does not subscribe to any service what would it cost to get set up so one could use it say from Oct-March? I've had cable for years and dont know a thing about any of the sattelite or direct tv stuff.

Thanks

[eyebjim]

It would be better to switch from cable to sattelite if you want to get sattelite up and running for the fish house or camper. I don't know of any sattelite service that will give you service for a few months a year. I know directv is giving specials where they provide the box so you don't have to buy one. I have cable for internet and sattelite for TV so I can use it in the motor home and fish house.

[LakeDocktor]

Lunger where are you located? You can't have service for just a couple of months unless you purchase all the equipment. Both Dish Network and DirecTv have 24 month commitments now. With the commitment from Dish Network, you receive 3 months of free programming, free equipment (up to 4 rooms), free warranty, and a free DishMover if you decide to move. I would suggest switching from cable at your home, hooking up Dish Network and getting an extra receiver for your motor home and fish house. The extra receiver is only $5 a month vs. another $30-$100 account. You would need to learn how to use the satellite equipment for your motor home and fish house anyway, so why not just learn and practice at home?