Orby Satellite TV

UPDATE – March 1st, 2021 –  Sadly, we received a notice that Orby has shut down operations as of March 1st, 2021.  To bad, we really enjoyed the service.  They set up a deal with Dish,  so I’ll call them when we get back home.

We were Dish customers for almost 20 years but the programing price is just to high. I’ve been watching Orby for the last 12 months, so last fall, I decided to give it a try.  We originally ordered one receiver and the self install antenna kit. I installed this at home and after a week, we canceled our Dish and I ordered another receiver,  so I’d have two,  I also ordered another antenna kit that I would use with the RV.  We use these at home,  and when we travel, we take them with us in the RV.

Orby is making some special offers where you can purchase the receiver and antenna for $100.  They also have an RV page where you can get more info on everything.  ORBY RV PAGE

PROGRAMMING

We don’t watch sports, so the lower cost of Orby programming was perfect The main reason for their lower cost is they don’t have any of the expensive sports feeds.  PERFECT,  we don’t watch sports anyway. We subscribed to the Extra package ($50) and added Epic movies ($6).  Our monthly bill is exactly $56.

RECEIVER

We needed a separate receiver for each TV.  Not a problem, One receiver is connected to the front TV and the other to the rear TV.  I connect the receivers to the TVs via the HDMI connection.

I like the Orby receivers as the satellite and Over the Air (OTA) receivers are built into the same unit. both are integrated into the receiver as if they were one unit and interact with the remote control menu/guide screen.

One neat thing,  if we’re traveling and don’t hook up the satellite dish, the Orby receiver still works with the OTA antenna, i.e. When we stop for the night, I crank up the ole Wineguard batwing, turn on the TV and tell the Orby receiver to scan for new channels. It shows the guide as normal, but the satellite channels aren’t available..

CONNECTING THE RECEIVERS

Connecting the Orby receivers in the Southwind is almost identical to hooking them up at home.The Orby receivers supply power to the LNB feed horn that’s located on the dish antenna, so any combiners must provide the ability to pass the feed power from the receiver to the antenna.  This is all explained in the instructions and I had no problems hooking things up at home. The Orby install kit comes with a small OTA antenna and one combiner  I didn’t use the Orbys OTA antenna at home as I already had an OTA antenna on my tower and instead, connected this to the combiner.

The Orby connects to the TV (or a monitor) using the HDMI or a RCA video connectors.

In the RV I used the good ole Wineguard bat-wing antenna for the OTA signals.

HOWEVER,  I had one issue that took me a while to figure out, It seems that the Wineguard bat-wing antenna has a built in amplifier and gets its power from the little Wineguard box in the RV.  This power is sent down the coax and was interfering with the Orby power.  What I finally had to do was buy a combiner that would pass satellite power, but would block OTA power.

AIMING THE DISH

Review the installation guide SEE HERE

I use my squawk meter  box to get the rough aim, then use the V8 Finder Blue Tooth device to fine tune the aiming.

Orby aiming is a little easier than the DISH.  I preset the skew and elevation, leveled the tripod and inserted the antenna into the tripod. Skew and level isn’t as critical with the Orby as it was the Dish. but its still important to get them close.

I connect both the squawk meter and the V8 Finder. The Orby satellite is at 116.8. There is a very strong satellite at 117.  I use my squawk meter to find the 117 satellite, Once I’m aimed for peak signal, a very slight movement of the antenna to the left and I see the Orby satellite pop up on the V8 Finder.

I’m using the same tripod that I had for my DISH antenna. I had to make a minor modification to my tripod as the Orby antenna is a larger diameter mast than the DISH antenna mast.  When I assembled the antenna, I replaced all the adjustment hardware with wingnuts to make adjustments easier.