BajaNomad

Sattelite tv

Steve&Debby - 11-27-2008 at 12:10 PM

We have a motorhome with a dish on the roof that I have to crank up and turn to find a signal,in the states it is not to bad to get tuned in,but in Baja it is a pain in the butt to get a signal. Last year when we were south of Ensanada I gave up trying to get a signal. We have dish network and dish told us we could get a signal. We are getting ready to leave for the Santispec ,Loreto area in december.Does anyone know of a system we can put on our motorhome that would be automatic and work in Baja ?

Got an extra 3k?

Dave - 11-27-2008 at 12:22 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Steve&;Debby
Does anyone know of a system we can put on our motorhome that would be automatic and work in Baja ?


When watching TV is really important: :rolleyes:

http://www.kvh.com/LandMobile/index.asp

losfrailes - 11-27-2008 at 12:43 PM

Hey, there is NO system, cost irrelevant, that will tune in TV!

Internet yes, but not for TV.

You need to find out where the satellite is located for the specific Lat-Lon you are in and then you also need a bigger dish than is necessary in the Ensenada area.

Check out Starchoice if you have a Canuck connection.

Yes, there is

Dave - 11-27-2008 at 01:23 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by losfrailes
Hey, there is NO system, cost irrelevant, that will tune in TV!


It's called GPS tracking. The high-dollar systems will lock signal while in motion.

Bajabus - 11-27-2008 at 01:36 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Dave
Quote:
Originally posted by losfrailes
Hey, there is NO system, cost irrelevant, that will tune in TV!


It's called GPS tracking. The high-dollar systems will lock signal while in motion.


those systems do not have enough reflector surface area, hence gain for reception in most of the south of the border areas.

you need dishes on the order of 1 to 1.2 meter and as big as 1.8 or 2.4 meter. Also the geometry prohibits multiple LNB's looking at multiple satellites all on the same dish. you will need a separate dish and LNb for each sat you want to see and then combiner switches to feed it all into your receiver.

BCSTech - 11-27-2008 at 01:44 PM

You should be able to get by with a 1 meter dish and a tripod stand for most of Baja. You'll need a compass, an elevation gauge, and one of those cheap satellite signal strength meters from Radio Shack. A good GPS might also help. You'll be looking for the 119 satellite. Here's a site where you can calculate the look angles:

http://www.arachnoid.com/satfinderonline/index.php

The first time you find the satellite manually, you'll be thrilled (especially after three hours of searching!). It gets easier each time you do it.

Steve&Debby - 11-28-2008 at 10:41 AM

Back in the days before dish network and direct tv I had a motor home with a dish that was as big as the top of the motorhome . This dish had electric motor drives to raise the dish and turn the dish. I had not ventured any further south than San Felipe or Ensanada and had no problem locateing the sattelite. That was back in the day before everything was scrambled, sometimes you would get some pretty wild stuff.

BCSTech - 11-28-2008 at 11:01 AM

Quote:
That was back in the day before everything was scrambled, sometimes you would get some pretty wild stuff.
No kidding! Remember the live news and sports back haul feeds where the reporter or color commentator was just standing there picking lint off his coat? Seemed fascinating at the time-would be totally boring now...

Sounds like you already know how to clean up the floor with that "Point the Dish" mop. :)