Death Valley Tailgatin' Squad

Southern College Football Tailgating!

Tailgating & Links...

Setting up satellite & TV

Items needed:

1.           TV

2.           Satellite receiver & dish

3.           Tripod (small tailgate tripod or 3 foot tripod from              RadioShack-see pix below, right)

4.           Marine Battery & Inverter OR Generator

5.           2 pieces of Coax cable (from dish to receiver AND   from receiver to TV)

6.            Compass (to point dish to satellite in space)

7.            7/16 wrench (to tighten the dish & tripod bolts)

Directions:

1. Place dish on tripod & “slightly” tighten bolts

2. Run coax from dish to receiver AND from receiver to TV

3. Hook inverter to battery & plug TV & receiver into inverter

4. Turn TV & Satellite on and go to dish pointing menu on satellite. After putting in the local zip code, it’ll tell you where to point the dish (azimuth & elevation). I also have some DirecTV dish pointing settings on my Calendar Page.

5. Use the compass to point the dish toward the correct azimuth (0 to 360). Keep moving the dish left to right (azimuth) & up & down (elevation) until you get a signal on the satellite’s signal meter. Usually a signal strength above 60% will be sufficient. Obviously, the closer to 100%, the better.

6. After getting desired signal strength, finish tightening down the bolts & enjoy.

 

Notes:

1.           Some schools or tailgating “facilities” do not allow              generators OR they allow the new “quiet” generators.              (Clemson changed their policy to allow “quiet”                        generators in 2009. I actually got a warning/cease &              desist order in 2007 for using a “quiet” generator.)

2. It is normally recommended NOT to use your car battery to power the TV & satellite receiver. This could leave you stranded in the parking lot unless you have some jumper cables OR one of the jump start boxes.

3. The “dish pointing” directions above may be slightly different for HD dishes, triple LNB dishes, oval dishes or DISH Network dishes.

4. The default message on the signal meter says “move dish 3 degrees”. This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re close to a signal.

Misc Links:

www.professionaltailgaters.com

www.tailgatingideas.com

www.tailgatershandbook.com

www.tailgating.com

www.tailgatelot.com

 

Shopping Links:

www.americantailgater.com

www.americasfanstore.com

www.footballfanatics.com

www.gamedaycustoms.com

www.mytailgate.com

www.tablegator.com

www.partyacargo.com

www.shadewagon.com

www.tailgatefuture.com

www.4tailgating.com

www.tailgatingsupplies.com

www.southerncookers.com

 

Camping Links:

www.koa.com

www.recreation.gov

 

Tailgating Tip:

#1 Always take 2 coolers. 1 for beverages & 1 for food. You don’t want that marinating meat to spill all over your canned/bottled beverages.  :)

#2 If you have a vehicle dedicated only to tailgating, make sure you pack it up & take it for drive several days before the 1st game. You wouldn’t want to get stranded heading to the game or forget to pack something!