Portable satellite dish

[Golf Nut]

Hi,

We want to use a portable satellite dish when we're unable to use the one on the roof. We have a (fairly new to us) 2004 Horzion and haven't found an outside connection for the satellight cable. Only can find the connection for cable. Is there one that we might be overlooking? If not, how do those of you who have a portable dish connect it to your coach?

Hank

[emiddleb]

If yours is set up like our '04 Vectra, there is no bay sat input. The bay "cable" connection is routed through the a/v switchbox (Wineguard in yours?) while the roof sat antenna has it's own coax junction (in ours, in one of the front windshield cabinets by the tv.)

The trick is that the sat connection between the receiver and the dish usually doesn't play well with any splitters, boxes etc in the run because the receiver is sending 12v power to the dish to control the LNBs.

So the easiest (which I do) is to unplug the coax that is labelled "cable in" from the back of the Wineguard box and plug that directly into the back of your sat receiver in the "sat in" spot and run the video output to your TV. Then you probably can use the bay "cable" plug to connect to a portable sat dish.

This works for me, your wiring etc may be different. There are also some more exotic configurations such as using diplexers and A/B switches but would need more info on your specific system, Dish or DirecTV, SD or HD, etc. For example, I have our roof sat antenna and the bay "cable" coaxes run into an A/B switch, and the output of that goes to the sat receiver. That way I can switch between the roof sat antenna and the bay portable sat antenna connections without rewiring.

[FIRE UP]

Sir,
You're in the same boat as us, in more ways than one. You see, we have a semi-new to us, 2004 Itasca Horizon with the 330 CAT. We've actually had it for about 14-16 months.

Our "King Dome" has gone south for not only the winter but, permanently. So, I purchased a stand alone, tripod satellite dish that's about 3' high. I set it up in front of the motor home, at home where we park it, and ran the cable through the drivers window and right up to the Direct TV receiver just above the driver. It works flawlessly.

And, unless your rig was constructed differently than ours, you will not find a "satellite" connection on or in any compartment. The only connection you will find, and already have, is the cable connection.

Now, here's what I plan on trying. If you were to hook your dish to that cable connection and then, inside the coach, where that cable enters the mulit-switch box above the VCR/DVD player, remove that cable from there and put it in a switchable "A-B" switch on that cable. Now, on the out put side of that switch, send one cable to the input of your Satellite receiver and, on the other side of that switch, send that to the regular cable input.

Now, if you are traveling and, have and want cable, you hook up the cable from the park to that connection in that rear compartment and, switch your new "A-B" switch to the cable side. But, if you want to use your portable satellite dish, hook that to your cable connection in that compartment and, move the "A-B" switch to the satellite side and you will send your signal from your portable dish, through the A-B switch, to the receiver, and into the TV.

At least I think it will work that way. I figure someone with way more authority on this subject will chime in and either give it a thumbs up or, down. We'll see.
Scott

[cbeierl]

Looking at the upper left corner of page 2 of the Body, 12 Volt Wiring Installation diagram for the 2004 Horizon 36GD it looks like you have only phone and cable TV inputs.

On my 2005 Vectra (as can be seen on page 2 of my Body, 12 Volt Wiring Installation) they added a 'Portable Satellite' connection as well. Here's a pic of mine and you can see the connection in the upper right, in the middle between the phone and cable connections:

[FIRE UP]

Hey Chris,
That's not fair, I should have that portable satellite connection. I'm coming over and taking yours. Oh I forgot, you live a zillion miles from me. Lucky for you.
Scott

[John Hilley]

You can easily add a portable satellite connection to the electrical bay with two diplexers. i did it on my 2003 Adventurer. Just put one on the cable in the electrical bay and then remove the "Cable In" from the Video Switch and install the second on that cable. you will then need a short cable from the diplexer to the "Cable In" on the Video Switch.

Satellite Diplexer

[vsheetz]

on my 1995 safari trek the sat would not work over the cable connector - however in my 2002 pace arrow it works just fine. YMMV, mine did.

[Doggy Daddy]

I have a roof top satellite that is hooked to a Winegard switchbox. I placed an A/B Splitter between the switchbox and my Sat receiver. When I want to use the roof Sat I press the "A" Splitter button and when I want to use the portable remote Sat I press the "B" splitter button and hook up the coax to the remote sat to the cable connection plug I have in a side compartment. By running a coax cable from the Splitter "B" side to a side compartment, I do not have to run a coax cable out the side window.

[captgadget]

For years on my 2002 Brave I've carried a portable dish and connected it to the cable connector in the electrical box and when I wanted to watch tv I'd push the cable button on the switching box up front and I always had tv. Now I've got a more sophisticated system but I still use that connector for my satellite tv into my rv.

[grtharris]

Here's how to wire the diplexers. Best way no switches to mess with.