I am wondering if any one here has installed one of these units (5 LNB) and are you happy? I did read where they were offering free installs at some of the shows and that some dealers would even offer these prices after the shows. Who are the dealers that will offer these deals? Any info appreciated.

Moisheh
2008 Monaco Dynasty
1988 Bluebird FC35

I don't have a 5 LNB model, but do have a 2 LNB model we have used fulltime for over 2 years. Ours works great. If I bought another rooftop dish, it would be a Motosat!! The guy I bought mine from, and who installed it, is out of FL I believe, but is a fulltimer himself.

I had a Dish 1000 MotoSat installed about a month and a half ago. It works fine except in the trees (as one would expect). I elected to go Dish 1000 because the Dish HD unit was an additional $600. The Dish 1000 has trouble on the far Northwest coast maintaining a reliable 129 satellite connection. The HD unit might do better.
My MotoSat installer made an interesting comment. He said for HD, most people are changing over to DishNet because it is easier.
The installation was definitely easier because my HD TV is located in a slide. The installer used the bedroom TV coax to run the signal from the MotoSat via diplexers back to the entertainment slide to a Dishnet VIP722 receiver. The VIP 722 furnishes the HD signal to the HD TV in the entertainment slide and downgrades the signal to send it through my Coax switchbox back to the bedroom TV over the same coax the MotoSat antenna is connected to. The Entertainment center Dishnet and the Bedroom Dishnet have separate controls and operate separately.
The MotoSat installer said this cannot be done with DirectTV.

I'll definately go with the motosat auto open air dish when I upgrade to HD. The more I look at the providers, the more I am liking Dish. Even though I am with Direct right now. I watched an installer do a Dish HD tripod install yesterday, and I was impressed with the ease of installation and the technology used. A very nice setup. Now I just have to check out the programming that is actually in HD, and see if it is acceptable.

on edit: I recently saw some detailed competitive evaluation info on the motosat vs. Weingard HD open air auto dishes. It totally changed my mind on which dish I would choose. I need to look at the 2 dishes more closely first, but at the moment I'm leaning strongly to the Weingard.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jack Mayer,

Jack,
Winegard over Motosat? That's a switch. Is the report available on the internet?
Dish makes sense vice Direct due to two fewer LNB's and several hundred dollars.
Any info is appreciated as the time for a decision on what antenna manufacturer and service provider is rapidly approaching.
Bill

quote:

Winegard over Motosat

I've had both, currently using a dual LNB Motosat MD500. I most likely would not buy a Winegard again, definitely would buy a Motosat.

Jack,

If you watched a professional installed set up a tripod, he almost certainly used a Birdog meter, about $400 new, not much less used.

Setting up a Dish 1000+ without that meter is a real pain, and not always successful. I am in the Northwest now, and have not been able to get the 129 satellite for awhile. My Vip722 is not very helpful in finding satellites. I usually just peak the 119, and hope for the best when I do a check switch.

Eventually, I will break down and get a Birdog.

The analysis I have is a feature by feature comparison between the motosat HD open air dish and the Winegard. With pictures. It is info provided to me by someone in the satellite industry and I'm not free to release it. But it is quite interesting. The reasons I was leaning toward the motosat are addressed and I am about 90% convinced I would go with a Winegard if I was to buy right now. I would be installing it myself. I have to say that normally I am not that big a fan of the winegard products.

As to the installation of the Dish 1000+ - yes the installer used a meter, but not a Birddog. It was one of the "lesser" meters. It took him a couple of times to find the hole in the trees. It is much more difficult with the "spread" of the sats over a greater set of degrees in the sky. I don't think I would have too much trouble with it. Certainly no more than the comparable DTV. I don't use the tripod much, anyway.

I particlularly like some of the features of the DVR/Receiver that Dish uses, as well as the single-line technology for entry into the rig and the modulation of the signals onto the standard RV cable lines for a second TV. The ability to add on a larger disk drive by simply plugging in a USB drive fits well with "free" movie channel trials. And just collecting movies for later viewing.

Plus, DTV will not give me squat...and everything from Dish is free, with better technology and easier installation. I just have to make sure that the channel lineup in HD is as good as the DTV lineup and has the stuff I want in it. Sports is not required - I never watch it, and HD sports would be a total waste for me.

Does DTV offer the option of an external hard drive for movie storage on their HD DVRs? That alone is reason enough to go with Dish for me. I have 700 GB of movies tucked away (750 maximum) and Trudy is up to a couple hundred gig on her box.

A nice meter makes getting aligned quite nice but it isn't impossible to do by hand on Dish. Well if your setup is dead level it isn't, a bit off level and it can be very frustrating. We had a nasty wind through here that tweaked our dish and I got it back into the original alignment with no big problem. I noticed that it wasn't really peaked on the original install and 15 minutes of fooling around got me the same signal on 119 and improved numbers for 110 and 129.

Yes, Stanley, you can add an external eSATA drive to a D* HR 20/21. Some folks are running 1.5 - 2 TB drives and RAIDs (more common are 500 or 750 GB drives). However, the DVR recongizes only one or the other -- if an external drive is present, the internal drive is not used.

/Jerry

I have had the Winegard 5 LNB dish for almost two months now. It has found the satellites in KY, IN, IL, OH & WV. so far.

It replaced a 1 LNB automatic Winegard dish that had worked good for several years.

The only thing I don't like about the Slimline dish is, there is no manual control on the control box like the older 1 LNB models. The dish won't lock on and stop searching unless it sees three satellites.

So if they are trees in the way and the 101 is the only one in the clear, it won't lock on and it will stow.

That has happened one time so far. But my Datastorm with manual control & BOW was able to get the 101 then but no Internet.

I would guess if you are fast enough and use the signal meter on the receiver. You could unplug the control box when you get a signal on the 101 in those cases.

Jack, Could you be a little more specific about why you are now leaning to Winegard. I have looked at the Motosat at the Escapade for 2 days now and it looks good. I really like the much larger mounting base as I a planning to put what I buy on a piece of plywood so I can miss the trees no matter where I am. Also, the Motosat looks much easier to secure so it doesn't walk off. They said they could provide an additional 70 foot extension for the control unit to give me 100 feet and it would be an additional $100.

There is more gear slop in the Motosat. The mounting plate, while being longer on the M, is not as wide. The M has plastic/vinyl covers on the mount - the W has metal. Manual stowing is far more difficult with the M, if it should prove necessary. The M drive system is not sealed and uses a greased chain drive that will attract dirt. The W is a completely sealed system - all electronics and drive gear is sealed in a waterproof metal housing. The M IDU uses flashing LEDs for status. The W has an LED display with messages. The antenna type on the W can be set from the display without looking up stuff in a manual. The M elevation pins are not plated and rust quickly.

Just some quickies.

I do like the large track the M has. It will definately make roof point loading less of an installation issue since it can span more roof area. However the M uses a center pivot point instead of the ring bearing on the outside edge that the W uses. There is more side-to-side flex in the M - when deployed - because of this. IMO, you can overcome the mounting "spanning" issue of the W pretty easily by mounting it on a secondary surface that spans the RV rafters, IF this is a mounting issue.

These are just some of the factors that are leading me to re-evaluate the Winegard. There are additionl small issues about installation that make the W a little more attractive - but that is only because I'm doing the installation myself. I still have not decided which I would buy - but my early dismissal of the Winegard is being reconsidered.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jack Mayer,

Hi Jack

the moto stat system on my new MH is set for DishI have DTV ) Moto Stat tech says I need a MHDTV LNB & ARM. the vendor her dosn't have one. I thought I would check here to see if anyone changes thier system I could pick up a used one. The new one is $180 plus shipping.

Thanks
Cookie from Escapade 2008 Gillette

quote:

Originally posted by Jack Mayer

Plus, DTV will not give me squat...and everything from Dish is free, with better technology and easier installation. I just have to make sure that the channel lineup in HD is as good as the DTV lineup and has the stuff I want in it. Sports is not required - I never watch it, and HD sports would be a total waste for me.

I am with a guy now that has the new M and it is lost (stuck on evel), wonder if it's the pins you were talking about. It has been at the coast for 6 months now, used very little. Was looking for answers is how I got here.

But, just wanted to make a comment on the above statement- This might be old news but here goes anyway.
DTV has a division that just handles cancelations. They will give you almost anything if you tell them your going to dish because of better deals. I call up every two months and threaten to cancel just to get my high monthly down. Just got $10.95/M off my bills for the next year. You really have to say your canceling to the goof ball you first get on the phone, They say OK, then switch you over. If they do not ask you why, you with the wrong person.

Not saying DTV is any better.

JMHO.