Excellent pictures, Flood. Thanks for the work you put into it.

 

thank you

the cables are zip tied to the side of the mast and run under the cab then i used the same hole that the wires for the power inverter used to get them inside. no drilling and no new holes..!

it takes about 7-10 min to set everything up when we park. i also have a tag i hang on the windshild to remind us it up so we don't drive off with it up. takes about 1 min to get it down

i can take everything off one truck and on another in about 1.5 hr's

btw the reason one plate is longer than the other is they didn't have two of the same size. after i mounted everything i cut the long one to the same size.

 

If you have been with them for awhile you probably won't get charged,I was with them for along time and use to watch movies and alot of stuff on their card,I had a service problem one night and a tech told me the only way to fix it was to change my card over and reset it,only problem is that I would be under the new billing method of charging for overages instead of just dropping someone who went over(if they checked).

Luckily I checked my bill about 10 days into the billing cycle and I found what my current charges were($1,400) and I immeadiatly stop using it and changed to sprint.

 

I checked out the VuCube yeaterday at Camping World,it is a pretty cool little unit,very portable.But it is not automatic you have to align it with the satelites manually,this is done on screen with the use of a remote control.Another problem is with a dual LNB reciever from Dish you have to switch back and forth between the satelites it will not lock onto both at the same time,this isn't a problem if you are not a channel surfer.

I use to carry my dish in the truck with me but I stopped because it became too cumbersome to store,with this unit I am considering putting it back in,the thing could actually sit on top of my hood,roof or on the ground beside the truck if it wouldn't get hit.I really wouldn't want to mount it because like this week I am using my dish while camping so thats where the portability comes in handy,a little pricey at $699 but......

 

I was talking to a guy at the Exit 48 Nice and Easy on I81 a few weeks back. Two things that I remember:

1. He didn't have a subscription. Instead he had one of those $200 recievers that gets the signal through the internet for free somehow. I guess that 's OK if you have an internet connection wherever you park.

2. He had a fancy schmanzy satellite positioning thingy but he doesn't use it because it's easier to wear a pair of headphones (plugged into the TV). He just moves the dish until he gets a clear audio signal.

 

I've been mounting my dish to a piece of pvc pipe mounted to the mirror on my Classic for about 2 years now and have never had any problems at all. Not even in New Mexico where the wind blows 40mph for 4 months solid. It can be a pain getting the dang thing pointed right though.

 

will i did find two things wrong with my install

first the head if the dish sticks out just a little to far hit it three different times parking (didn't break it) just pushed the dish around but still not good.


this is how i fixed it. i drilled out the 4 spot-welds that hold the arm to the dish. then used 2 long i bolts (i'll change them to cleves pins when we can get home to tractor supply)


now when we are moving i just take out one i bolt and the arm drops down i also used a garden knee pad (home depot $6) to pad the mast and the arm when it's down and a bungie to hold the arm to the mast.
it works great and it only adds about a minutel to the set up and take down time.



the other thing i found that i need to fix is this

this edge top and bottom are very VERY sharp and can be DANGEROUS when putting the mast up or down. i'l find something to cover them when we get home.

note to self need to replace superglue and butterflies in the first-aid kit

 

this web site makes it a snap to setup the dish i have it down to about 5min.
http://www.sadoun.com/Sat/Installati...Calculator.htm

 

I have been using my extra DirecTV dish and receiver with my travel trailer for a few years now. I just pay an extra 4.99 a month for the extra receiver. Now I am considering taking the dish and setting it up for the truck like some guy's have done. This way I get satellite while parked.

The other idea I have is a little more basic. If I just get one more DVR receiver like the one I already have and pay another 4.99 a month, I can swap them out. So I leave one back home with all the shows I want to record while I am gone. Then when I get home I switch that receiver for the one I have been watching. I know this works because I have done it when the dish got destroyed from snow.

I always watch recorded shows anyways so I can skip the commercials. Best part is I still get all the locals and everything else I have at home. The drawback is that I will not see anything on live TV, but this may be the easiest way to go for now.

 

I've been doing a good bit of studying on this subject lately, here is a brief synopsis on what I have found:

The two basic choices for TV in your truck are:

1) Satellite dish
2) Broadband air card

Both have their advantages/disadvantages.

1) Satellite Dish
Carrying a dish around, finding a place to store it, a way to mount it, and a not insignificant amount of time to align EACH time you stop has got to be a pain in the butt. If you can afford it, the VuCube is the way to go.

As far as satellite dish service, if you already have dish service at home then the easy solution is to add a receiver to your current plan and take it with you. If you don't already have service and don't want to pay the full subscription price, you can buy one of these Free-to-air satellite receivers. They are technically legal as their are several programming options that are presented free, just none you'd want to watch lol. If you are tech savvy and carry a laptop with you, and don't mind skirting the law, you can download the codes, or keys as they are called, that will unlock commercial satellite service like Dish Network and Direct TV. Every couple of months, though, you'll go through the process of finding the service re-scrambled and then have to wait a few days for some hacker to break the new set of keys and post them for you to re-program. I know a few people who are using this with good success. I don't endorse this though, as it is blatantly illegal and I don't think the cost of getting caught, tho it is unlikely, is worth the savings, nor do I think its right.

2) Broadband Air Cards
There have been a lot of new developments lately on these and some very significant changes coming soon.

First of all, only Alltel still offers an unlimited air card usage, and they were recently purchased by Verizon who is expected to close this loophole soon, although it also means coverage should improve. If you have had an air card long enough you may be grandfathered in under an unlimited plan and if so, lucky you. The service providers have found out that with the proliferation of streaming video choices (Hulu.com for instance) their bandwidth is insufficient for demand. I have a slingbox, and like the way it works, but have found that I can't watch much tv each month without bumping my limit.

Now for the good news, all of the major providers have 4th generation networks in the works (we are at 3G now). Sprint is ahead of the others but uses a different technology, Wi-Max, that is increasingly looking like betamax of the early 80's. Verizon is leading the way with LTE (long term evolution) that seems to be poised as the leading technology. Both technologies offer huge increases in download/upload speeds, in fact much faster than either wired DSL or Cable. Verizon promises access in at least a couple of major metro cities by the end of this year, 25-30 more metro areas in 2010, and complete nationwide coverage by 2012. Verizon now owns that portion of the spectrum that analog TV used to occupy, 700 Mhz. This frequency enables the signal to travel farther (meaning less towers) and better around/through obstacles.

The speed of this wireless technology could very well revolutionize all of our current communications. It will be fast enough to handle voice, internet, and HD television, all at the same time. It is also my understanding, based on a conversation with a Verizon tech, that the monthly usage limits will be a thing of the past. Unfortunately, it will be a while before we can take advantage of it.

Gotta go right now, I'll try to post some links later.