We usually take our satellite dish with us on our long road trips. In some of the places we stop, there isn’t TV, cell phone, or anything, so having the satellite we can at least stay somewhat connected to the outside world.
Running the dish antenna cable has always been a problem, Like many, we initially solved the problem by using one of those ribbon type connectors and running the cable through a window and stringing the cable to the back of the satellite receiver, After our last trip, I decided I wasn’t going to do this anymore , I was going to add an external coax connector specifically for the satellite antenna.
I located my external connector in front of the wheel, mainly because it was easy to get at, the back side of the connector was protected, and routing the cable into the Mirada would be fairly easy. I routed the cable from the external connector up through the firewall. The cable then goes up inside the wall and into the cabinet that houses the Satellite receiver.
Hooking up the antenna is easy, just lift the cover on the outside connector, and plug the dish antenna cable into the connector.
Pointing the dish
I printed the Installation guide for the 1000.2 antenna, it has a lookup table that based on zip codes. I find the zip code for a nearby town or business, and use the pointing information for that zip code.
I then find a place that has a clear view of the southern sky, then level the mast. I replaced the nuts on the antenna with wingnuts, so adjusting the antenna elevation and slew only takes a moment. I then point the antenna in the correct magnetic heading using my compass. I use a squawk box to find the satellite, then tweak the dish using the signal strength meter on the receivers “Antenna Pointing” page. Thats it. total process takes about 15 minutes from start to finish