Portable Satellite Question

[Michael Kauffman]

[size=14][face=Arial]Again, all great advice.  I'm thinking of a combination of both Ed and Gil's suggestions.  I like the idea of the f-connector bulkhead fitting above the electrical compartment on the exterior drivers side.  Then running RJ6u coax up through the cowling compartment, windshield pillar, then to where the sat box will sit.  All I would have to do then is hook on the sat cable outside when I use it.

I was also thinking when we were near OTA signals, I could also hook coax from the RV antenna outlet to the sat box.

(if you are in an RV park with cable, can you run the cable TV feed through the RV and out to the ant side of the sat box too, by switching the little switch on the RV back to cable from ant boost?)

And ED, I looked for those fittings at West Marine online.  I couldn't find them.  Do you remember the part number or link?

Thanks again guy's, Mike[/face]
  [/size]

[Edward Buker]

Mike,

Page 89 of the E catalog. I think they were the 5/16ths version.

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10001&storeId=11151&partNumber=123851&cid=2011Annual

OTA to satellite box will work fine, but it is digital only channels in my case, with the 722. Cable channels will not be tuned with that receiver, strictly over the air.

Feed your tv with your OTA antenna/cable feed directly, so that the cable and OTA signals will work without that Sat system receiver, when you want it to using the antenna amp button.  Send a second OTA antenna feed to the satellite OTA receiver input, using a splitter or distribution amp.

When using the OTA sat tuner, you will view the OTA channel using the HDMI input on the TV. (It could also be component, s Video, direct video, if you do not have HDMI on your TV)

Later Ed

[Gil_Johnson]

Here's another weathertight pass trough clamp.  I like this one in that it doesn't require you to take off factory connectors.  Although this is not a big deal with F connectors.  This one is not as attractive as the one Ed referenced, but having used both in a marine environment, I believe this one does a better job at sealing.

Gil

[Gil_Johnson]

Okay, I just looked at the Carry Out system and can't understand why a diplexer will not work to aggregate the 2 ports on the carry out over a single coax to another diplexer inside the coach going to the two sat receivers.  What's not obvious is whether the sat receiver powers the two LNAs.  If so, the diplexer must pass the DC voltage.  BTW not all diplexers are created equal.  Check these out: http://www.prosatellitesupply.com/satellite_diplexers_and_splitters.htm  You will find one that passes DC on both ports.

Gil
08 Contessa

[Edward Buker]

Gil,

The LNB is powered from the coax. You can turn off the 12V  supply to the dish and you will still view the channel on the satellite you are parked on using the receiver. The main coax port carries the toggle information for the dish and I am not sure what kind of format or frequency that they use for that.

So there is the signal bandwidth, 12V to the LNB, and toggle and peaking information being exchanged, possibly more that I am not aware of. Not sure what the diplexor bottle neck is but maybe it just would not pass some of the other necessary information.

If you get a Carry Out, see if you can get a diplexor to work. My limited trial did not have success in getting it all to work over one coax.  I did not spend a lot of time and I'm not sure if the diplexor I had passed DC on both ports.

Later Ed

[Michael Kauffman]

[size=14][face=Arial]Thanks Ed for the link.  I'll explore it completely as soon as the sat set-up gets here (Sat).  And Gil, I didn't see a picture or link to the part you were recommending.  Thanks to both of you guy's for your input.  Mike[/face][/size]

[Dick Simonis]

This technical discussion is a bit beyond me (quite a bit actually) but I did find that the tech support at Winegard is quite knowledgeable, and helped me out when I was hooking my Carry Out to my 722.

Also, for what it's worth, when Beaver Coach did their magic to make my Carry Out work, they ran another coax from the water bay (where the original connector is located) an added a 12VDC plug.  In addition, Dan used two diplexers to get the rear TV working.  One diplexer was on the input, and another up in the overhead cabinets near the sat reciever.  No idea what they do, but he did say only one brand would work....something about the others not passing something.

This may not be very helpful, but it sure made ours work well.  I have not tried watching two different programs, but at least the rear duplicates the front, which is all I can ask for.

[Michael Kauffman]

[quote author=]The Dish IRD we have on the coach is a VIP211K.  This is nice unit and has a few nice features.  First, it allows OTC (over the air) reception of Digital HDTV signals and integrates them with the channel guide.  It also has a SD modulator (channel 3/4 selectable) so I can send all the HD channels over the existing coax to my basement TV and my rear stateroom (I didn't upgrade that one yet...)   One other nice thing that not too many know, but you can plug a external USB Hard Disk into the VIP211K and whala - it now becomes a DVR  No extra cost and no monthly fees!

Hope this helps.
Jim[/quote]

Hi Jim, what brand ext. hard drive did you use.  Evidently they all won't work.  And how did you get the signals to the stateroom?  Thanks Mike

[Michael Kauffman]

[size=14][face=Arial]Well I'm a Dish RV Sat user now (temp. through the window).  I went with the America 120 Plus @$34.99 a month plus the Sports Package (with NFL Redzone) for an extra $7.00.
Now for the fine print.  They want a one time $99 fee for HD programing.  They also want a one time $40 fee for adding that External Hard Drive that makes your receiver into a DVR.  Other that that it's $34.99 for 12 months and $49.99 after that.  AND you only pay for a month at a time.  No extra fee's for turning service on and off.

As far as installation, I'm putting my connections to the portable sat in my electrical bay.  It has a thru-deck fitting already so it's just a matter of making my portable connections there.  Looks like a piece of cake to route the coax up to the existing sat bay in the upper cabinets.  My rig never came with sat from the factory but it has a spot for it.

Thanks again for all of the advise everybody, Mike[/face][/size]

[JimCasazze]

Mike,
I do not know the answer to what drive I used, but can check on it for you.  May be a week or so, until I can over to the coach.  I have so many HDD's laying around.  I just popped one into a USB HDD case and plugged it in without really thinking about it.  Actually, this was a tip a local installer told me about.  Since I pay for DVR service at the house anyway, it made sense.  To be honest, other that seeing the IRD recognize the HDD properly, I didn't spend much time testing it out.

Regarding the signal to the rear of the coach, our PT had coax running to the rear and the basement already.  It also had a coax push button "swtich box" already installed that facilitated the switching of "VCR" "ANT" and "AUX" to the front or rear TV's.  I don't need this at all for the front HDTV anymore, since that is all HDMI switched from my Yamaha receiver, so I now relabled "front" to basement and can switch the signals to basement and rear TV using this existing switch.

I have a spitter for the OTA (digital off-air) that divides the incoming antenna to 1) the new HDTV and 2) the Satellite IRD.  The IRD has a coax output which is connected to the switch box as antenna in.  So when I want to watch Satellite or OTA in the rear or basement, I simply select it at the switch box and that signal is sent to the appropriate area.

To make things even more useable (complicated) I have a video modulator hooked to the front BluRay player as well.  This converts video/audio to RF.  This RF signal is connected to that same swtich box as "AUX" input.  So I can send the bluray signals to the rear or basement as well as the satellite and OTA signals.  One caveot however is that the quality is not HD quality at rear TV.  Only SD over the existing coax at this time.

This only works, because I still have the old Sony TV in the back.  Once, I upgrade it, then all this RF will need to be re-addressed.  I have seen a few HD over coax devices, but have not experimented with them as of yet.

Hope that helps
Jim