Tailgater

[BikerBilly]

Hi All,
Has anybody tried the new automatic dish antenna from Dish network? It sounds like a hell of a deal, and they sold out today before I could get there at my local retailer.

[BikerBilly]

nobody home?
I got a tailgater and it is the simplest set up I ever heard of. Sit it on the ground, hookup one cable, tell the tv what state you're in, watch t.v. anybody want to buy a tripod and dish cheap?

[03heritagerider]

Looks like a nice set-up.

o Can you connect more than one TV?
o Does Dish Network provide additional receiver boxes?
o After purchasing the Tailgater, what are the service charges?

We currently have DirecTV. Before we travel, I have to call to subscribe to Distant Network Service (additional charge added to my regular bill) which gets us all the "cable" channels from any location. Then I have to add local service (another additional charge), which gets us ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS, etc. from New York and LA (regardless of our actual location). We've been told that to get the "actual" local channels via satellite, you must sign up for the service as a local resident (FCC rule), which requires a change of address. Using the broadcast antenna is the alternate.

Before we leave home, I have to disconnect our receiver boxes from the TVs in the house and connect them to the TVs in the motorhome. Then when we get to a location, get the tripod and dish out, connect the cables and find a signal.

It can be a pain setting up, especially when we are moving around a lot like last winter. Sometimes it meant setting up and breaking down every few days. At least this winter we'll be staying in one location for the entire season.

[BikerBilly]

I was already Dish so its just a $7.00 a month add on my bill. It only works with the vp11k receiver, thats also the receiver that will allow the pay by the month option, and no, that receiver won't work more than one tv.. You managed to get all the drawbacks covered in one question. They do offer a package deal with the receiver and dish that is still less than an automatic Carryout, and my coach is small enough that we can't really watch two different t.v.s at the same time without yelling at each other to "turn it down" anyway. With the switch box I can watch on either T.V., although changing channels from the bedroom requires getting up to line up with the receiver, just not at the same time. I think there is a different remote I can get to fix that, just haven't got there yet. :)

[03heritagerider]

Billy,

Well, your comments got me to thinking and got me to asking questions of DirecTV (my current provider).

A few years ago, I bought three DirecTV receiver boxes from a guy at a flea market. He told me all I had to do was call DirecTV and register the boxes and they would add them to my account, thereby allowing me to have service in the house or the coach. They were only $5.00 each, so even if it didn't work that way I wouldn't feel too bad about loosing $15.00.

I did what he said and, at that time, was told that I had to add the boxes to my current account and pay an additional $6.00 per month, per receiver box, whether I used them or not. I would then be carrying six receiver boxes on my account. We only travel about 3-4 months a year so I didn't want to pay around $150.00 for three additional receiver boxes for the 8 or 9 months I wasn't using them.

After your post about Dish's Tailgater service, I called DirecTV to ask if they had a similar service. Turns out they do. It's called SatGo ( http://www.directv.com/satgo ). It sounds like the same thing except it comes with an attached LCD TV. Unfortunately, like the Tailgater, it is limited to just that one TV and both are truly geared to the Tailgating crowd.

I then asked again about using those boxes I bought and if there was a way to only pay for the service when it was being used. Well, it turns out that since those additional receiver boxes are owned and not leased, I can have them added to my account and have the service to those boxes activated and de-activated at will.

Now, I can install the three purchased boxes in the coach permanently. I no longer have to disconnect the boxes in the house and install them in the coach when we travel and reverse the process when we get back. I'll bet that you can do the same with Dish Network.

Thanks for getting the ball rolling Billy.

I'm going to re-post this as a new thread in case there are others out there with the same issues.