Can only tell you that a little bit of movement from wind should not be causing all these problems...I have a meter that helps me lock on manually, you should be able to hook up a meter directly to the dish, if single strength is good then you know dish is good and the problem is wiring inside....that's my guess....

suse1023,

I have a Pathway, don't use it all the time, only when I can't get a signal with the roof mounted Trav'ler.

I also ordered the tripod stand when I got the X2, it comes with a screw-in anchor with a bungee to secure the dish/tripod from moving. That keeps the X2 from moving, even in a pretty brisk wind.

When I use only the primary port I can choose which satellite arc [East or West] I want to use, when you use both the primary and secondary ports [2 receivers] the X2 chooses itself. This can be annoying if the locals are only on one arc. In Florida the X2 would only link to the Eastern arc and the locals are only on the Western arc.

Once I locked onto the sats I would only lose the signal in heavy rain, otherwise no problems.

The X2 costs ~$400-450, the tripod is about $75. Here is a link for the X2 on Amazon...www.amazon.com/Winegard-PA-6002-Pathway-Satellite-Antenna/dp/B00G1XB8RO

There is no monthly fee for the X2, there may or may not be monthly fees for the DISH receivers depending on whether you lease or purchase them. In my case I purchased the receivers so my only monthly fees are for the DISH service and that varies on what you subscribe to. Could be as low as $40/mo.

The PathwayX2 is only one of many different antenna options, the least expensive option is a carryout like you see on the side of a house, the most expensive option is typically not of the roof mounted antennas yo see on RV's.

If a meter does not do it, get the smartphone app "Dishpointer". It is called "DishPointer Augmented Reality" in iTunes and "DishPointer Pro" in the Android Play Store.

suse1023 wrote:

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so after much reading I finally bit the bullet and ordered the winegard portable satellite dome from dish tv.

it's been one problem after another since installation on Wednesday.

we lose the satellite signal at least every two hours, and it's down for another two to six hours after that.

we've moved it from place to place, run the cable from the back of the unit directly through a window to the dish vip 211z receiver, I unplug and replug, start from scratch over and over and over and no go.

I have spent well over 7 hours on the telephone with dish and winegard technicians and it's still working for maybe six hours max a day.

it is windy here, when I had it up on a table I could see it rocking slightly, so placed it back on the ground in case that was preventing it from latching onto the satellite.

the southern sky is not obstructed for the most part, though there are oil rigs nearby. the oil rigs don't move, and are a fretwork not solid.

 

I just don't know how to determine if there is something inherently wrong with the product or if it's local conditions.

any ideas?

 

thanks!

 

 

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Based on the symptoms you describe above, especially the part where it works and then it doesn't and the part where you are sure there are no obstructions, I'd suggest  a bad cable or bad center pin connection in the coax.  Is the center pin of the coax making good connection at each point?  Is the coax crimped going through a window so something like that.  If it works solid sometimes and then not and there are no obstructions, that sounds like a cable / connection problem.  Just a guess based on what you are describing.  But I must add "not blocked for the most part" doesn't mean the sky is not blocked.  When dealing with dish and the required multiple satellites widely spaced, "for the most part" may not be good enough.  My 2 cents.