Need help setting up TV at tailgate

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

I know people use generators to get power, but how do people get the signal for TVs at their tailgates to watch other games after our game is over?

I'm considering bringing one and setting it up for after the games. 

Anyone have experience with this?

Indiana Blue

September 13th, 2016 at 7:38 AM ^

and it works perfectly.  I have DISH at home and it costs $7 per month, and you can turn it on and off when you want for -0-.   I use an old 32" TV which sits in the back of my small SUV which is fine for the 8 of us that tailgate together (when 43" TV's go under $200 I'll upgrade).  You must use a power inverter generator, which is designed for use with electronics.  These can be $$$ ($700).  I got a Homelite 2100 from Home Depot on sale for $450.

It's so easy to use.  Throw the tailgater on top of the vehicle and turn everything on.  The Tailgater finds the satellites and runs 2 tests (this takes maybe 5 min.) and then I have access to all my DISH programming ALL in HD.  If you're serious, you can't do better than this.

Go Blue! 

Gabranto

September 18th, 2016 at 9:59 AM ^

Hey WD,

How did it go?

My buddies and I are planning on doing this for Penn State and wanted to get your advice.

I already have a generator, more worried about how the signal turned out.

wvubluelot

August 20th, 2019 at 4:43 PM ^

I haven't read all of the responses so this information may have been provided already.  Regarding a generator, you cannot beat a Honda eu2200 as they are very quiet and will run forever with limited maintenance.  For the tv signal itself, I would not use Slingbox or another similar type of service to achieve your HD goal as you will always be at the mercy of available bandwidth and areas around a large football event are always dicey at best.  If you already have satellite service, for the sake of continuity, I would purchase the same brand of dish for the tailgate as you will want to mimic the settings of your home dish and use them at the tailgate.  For my setup, I went to eBay and picked up the Directv tailgate package for around $100 which included a dish, LNB, coax, tripod, level, and control arm.  The MOST important things about getting an HD signal via satellite are unobstructed views of the southwestern sky and the mounting pole that the satellite sits on, HAS TO BE absolutely plumb.  So, purchase the starter pack off of eBay, then go to Home Depot and buy one of those large orange buckets.  Buy a bag of Quikrete concrete mix and mount the pole in the center of the bucket, ensuring that it is level.  If you do this, you have knocked out the most difficult part of the tailgate set up imo.  After that, it's simply installing everything and going through the on-screen setup that (in my case) Directv utilizes.  Regarding power, you can also go with an inverter that can be wired directly to your vehicle's battery.  This would require the occasional restart of your vehicle but is certainly a very cost-effective solution as most people don't want to purchase a generator that will only be used maybe once or twice a year for a tailgate.  If you do go this route, upgrade the wiring that comes with the inverter as anything you buy online ALWAYS skimps on the wiring gauge and runs on the hot side.  You will also need an inline fuse that goes between the unit and the positive terminal of your car battery somewhere in the range of 250-300 amps.  Anyway...this should get you started (if you're still interested) but I realize it is a lot of information to digest.  If you have any questions about my set up or anything in general, feel free to message me.  Good luck!