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!
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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!