Justin,
The newer dome dish units are not as antiquated as some might think and are a good solution for many. They have the advantage of possibly being used as both a fixed and a portable unit at the same time, with a little thought, and they do a great job at handling Dish HD programming. The LNB amp/converters have gotten so effective that small dishes are becoming quite capable. Part of the reason is that they can be housed in small domes with steep slopes that shed water much better that would have diminished signals in the past. The larger traveler non domed series has several advantages and that would be my first choice if I had just a fixed roof unit. The signal strength in heavier rain is able to hold signal longer than the portables.
We tend to stay in campgrounds that have some shade from the trees and it can be for extended periods. We have a carry out that was adapted to go from a roof mount to a ground mount and we really like this option. While it is not perfect it is a good compromise for us.
One possibility to consider is a ladder mount shelf system with the ability to be released. In open campsites you would have it mounted at the roof level off the ladder to the side and if you end up staying in a site "shaded" from a clear satellite view it could go on the ground with an extended cable set that allows you to have a satellite view. This option also allows you to have the ability to bring the cable down the ladder with Velcro straps and then routed into the back of the motorhome and mount the receiver in the back bedroom. From there you need to move the HDMI signal to the living room set which is another problem to be solved. In my case I used two Cat 5 cables and routed them to the living room and used amplified Baluns to convert to and from the HDMI format.
I have posted some photos and info on the forum of these projects. This may be all Greek to you and everyone has different skills, priorities, and energy levels. This note is just to let you know that it is possible to have both a fixed and portable dish install, HD TV from Dish Network from a small domed dish, and full HDMI signals for your main TV but it is a significant project with some obstacles to overcome.
If you find that all of this is more than you want to deal with then I would find a skilled installer of RV dishes and get the unit roof mounted as close to the optimum wire routing location of the Dish 211 Receiver. They should be able to fish new cable through the roof to the receiver.
Later Ed
