HOT Scoop on Winegard and Hughes SatelliteWhile attending the annual internet satellite rally at Augies RV Park in Gila Bend, Arizona, we were treated to some great news, and remember you heard it here first!
Ray Klett gave a presentation informing us that the Winegard Corporation has reached an agreement with Hughes Satellite not only to manufacture, sell and support the new “DirecStar” mobile automatic internet satellite system (more information here: http://www.direcstar.us/ ), but it has also agreed to work with Hughes Satellite to support non-motorized satellite mounts.
Why is this significant you ask? Because Hughes Satellite (who bought out Direcway last year) has never (until now) recognized the stand alone non-motorized satellite systems. Those tripods you see around campgrounds with the large parabolic dishes mounted on them were never officially authorized” by anyone.
Winegard recognizing the value of a partnership servicing this growing community of stand alone satellite users has diligently worked on a prototype tripod system.
This prototype is very strong and therefore durable. It is also very well engineered – hat tip to the engineering department – because this unit has very accurate satellite pointing capabilities.
It also has an excellent fold-out fold-up capability. Since this is a prototype they are still working on it and refining it, but they are off to a GREAT start! 
New users will now be required to go through training to setup their satellite units which, in my opinion, is a great idea! Hughes is developing the training program and should start training sometime in March 2007. Here is the prototype foot - those of us at the seminar thought that the legs should be telescopic and the feet should be able to be "steaked" to the ground. Stay tuned for more extiting breaking news here on your "Great RV Gear" Blog!
6 comments:
Hoo boy, does it come with a ladder to get the dish on it..LOL
Screw levelers...come on how long before they rust and gunk up being outdoors for extended periods of time.
No offense but it looks just like what engineers working in a nice room with hard level floors would come up with. It does not look very practical for “real life” use.
Just my two cents Max
I USED A MODIFIED TRIPOD FROM A BUILDERS LEVEL. THE FOUR LEVELING THUMB SCREWS ALLOW ME TO LEVEL THE DISH NO MATTER HOW UNLEVEL THE TRIPOD IS ON THE GROUND IT SITS ON.
I DID THE SAME THING WITH MY DIRECTV DISH.
IN ADDITION, I USE LARGE KNOBS ON THREADED RODS TO ADJUST THE THREE COORDINATES OF AZIMUTH, ELEVATION AND SKEW.
I CAN SET UP BOTH DISHES IN 30 MINUTES (UNLESS THERE ARE TREES IN THE WAY).
Come on guys. It's a prototype. If the designers got this far, they will work out the kinks. I hate screw-type levelers too.
Yes, feet don't look big enough to hold in soft, wet, dirt. Also would like to see way to secure the center post down with weight or steak into ground.
That said it's about time Hughes recognized that there is a large market for portable use of system.
Looking at this design and comparing to the Dustyfoot tripod makes one thing crystal clear: the Dustyfoot tripod was designed by RVers, while the Winegard tripod was not. There are so many things wrong with the design from the standpoint of mobile users like us that's it's hard to know where to begin to catalog the problems.
Yes, I know this is a prototype...but the designers are already so far down a blind alley that it's hard to imagine anything usable coming of this effort...unless you're camping indoors on hard, level floors! It appears to be a classic example of a device designed by engineers who are clueless about how it will actually be used. What a shame.
I have directv and on my portable dish tripod I mounted a small piece of aluminum angle on each side of each leg. One side of each leg I put a long (6") carriage bolt with a fender washer held by a nut, above this I put a lock nut on either side of the angle. On the other side of the leg I ran a long (8"0) lag screw to screw into the ground. I level with the fender washer side, and anchor with the lag screw side. At one site I used it for 10 Months in all sorts of weather with no problems at all. tinkercb
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