Has anyone had any experience with portable satellite TV equipment?
I bougth a setup and am trying to set it all up for my next trip.

Saw a bloke from Wa set one up at the Combo Waterhole to watch his favourite Wa afl team. HE had a sattelite finder the align the folding dish , and a top box and tv powered by a honda genny. after pointing the dish in the right direction , all he did was turn on the tv and boot up the top box, and bingo- Wa afl on nine WA.Pretty inpressive as Combo is a fair way south of nowhere, western Qld. He also got alot of other channels. I think it was the OPTUS sattelite. I hope this helps you, Bill

Bill,

The hardest part is to find the C1 satellite. A cheap compass will help. A small meter to assist is available for around $50.00. Once the satellite is found it is quite simple, but a bit difficult to explain! (If you know what I mean).
Surely the place you purchased the equipment will either demonstrate and or explain how it's done.
With practice it can easily be done in around 10 mins!
There are plenty of sites on the internet to assist, especially on these type of forums. Just use their search engines.

Hi ironman with our set up would have taken ages without an anglefinder once you have the angle right its just a matter of turning the dish

Thanks for all the comments everyone, it works very well.
The sat finder makes the set up much easier. The worst was to locate the satellite for the first time!
By way of interest, I have success with a STRONG SRT 4856x decoder, a portable dish and a small TV with DVD built in from JB Hi Fi. Its definately the way to go for good reception in remote areas and doesnt take much space at all. I have also run mine on a 12/240 inverter if there is no power.
The decoder will also accept a Selectv smartcard for pay TV but I have only used the freeview channels this far.
Previously I had a laptop and a USB TV stick with an external amplified antenna. Some places has some reception and others had non unless your antenna is very high. All the hassle prompted me to change to the Sat system.

Hi All, Sat. TV is one of the best things when your away from anywhere..The only thing that gets to me is the way the providers, GWN WIN CENTRAL 7 and IMPARJA. turn the service off every 6months.When you are on the road.. Then you have to ring up and ask to be turned on again..If you just happen to be out of phone range what then..the phone number is 1300 301681..Then follow the prompts..you have to have your card number with you to quote..its then turned on in 3min..so write the number down and leave your card in the sat rec. running..The strong sat box has a good line up thingo built in...Wouldnt be with out it..Even when we are home we have it running to watch the footy LIVE from intastate..Smile its all good..Bob n Bev

I just found this article about sat tv,thought it might be of interest.

-- Edited by BushbabyandGumnut on Wednesday 26th of January 2011 03:02:50 PM

-- Edited by BushbabyandGumnut on Wednesday 26th of January 2011 03:03:33 PM

This is the sat finder I use, in conjunction with a compass, setup take 3-4 mins, no need for power to do the setup, power comes from this unit, just one coax cable from the dish to this unit.
Do a search for Satellite Finder on eBay and you will find this for about $129 @ the current time.

thats a nice tidy looking unit Wombat, my pro meter cost $3500 a few years ago, it was my third meter. cheers blaze

Only a pro would need a unit like that, why was it your 3rd meter? do you eat them? Pro meter would be nice but when a sat dish setup is only $400-$500 why pay $3500 for a meter, I suppose if you have a use for a pro one then it is worth the money, but for the average sat dish/caravan setup I'll stick with my $129 one. lol

The company I contracted to get changing the goal post as far as info that they wanted to record as its not just a good sig strenth that gives a quality pic as you are most likely aware cheers blaze

Here's a pic of our setup

ha ha ha that really made me laugh, Wombat you seem a very knowledgable person, I need to know in simple terms is there any way you can get horseracing on TV when you are travelling, as our son is a jockey and would like to keep up with how he is going, thanks for any imput
Pauline

I would think the only way would be to get foxtel setup and maybe you would be able to do it that way, I know my son has C1 satallite and foxtel for when he is on the road, I'll send him an email and get back to you here. Foxtel do not like you taking their decoder out of the house, but if you don't tell them neither will I.

Reply from my son, hope this is of some help You need the Foxtel box the standard package of programs doesnt come with horse racing thats an upgrade but I dont know what it costs probably around an extra $20-30 a month (there are three different channels for the racing). You also need a dish, LNB, cable and a TV. If you get the standard Foxtel box you need to watch the actual race. You can get the upgraded (IQ) box with a hard drive to record and watch later this also needs a dual LNB to record.

Hi Pauline,

youcan get it on your computer via Big Pond horse racing.

http://horseracing.bigpondsport.com/

Don't know if this is what you are after?

Johnw

jandas fun has an easier way I think

Thanks for your replys, will be looking into it for when we start our new lifestyle on the road, hopefully around June or July, thanks again for your help
Pauline

wombat, I would like to be sitting there watching when you try to pack that one up in your suitcase.

Happywanderer wrote:

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wombat, I would like to be sitting there watching when you try to pack that one up in your suitcase.

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I get this feeling that you do not believe I have an ariel that big, well I do.