I am looking to add a satellite to my 38GK. Any suggestions on brand or mounted versus portable tailgater?

Pros and Cons to both Roof mounted and Portable. If you go Portable make sure you do your homework, many threads poping up tht folks aren't all that happy with some of the Portables. One model won't let you have more than 25' of coax, which to me doesn't make it that useful.
We've had the roof mounted Winegard DirecTV Slimline on all three units we've had and no problems. Granted if you're in heavy trees, forget, but we try to ask for a Satellite Friendly site. Some CGs will do their best while others will look a deer in the headlights.

Pros and Cons to both Roof mounted and Portable. If you go Portable make sure you do your homework, many threads poping up tht folks aren't all that happy with some of the Portables. One model won't let you have more than 25' of coax, which to me doesn't make it that useful.
We've had the roof mounted Winegard DirecTV Slimline on all three units we've had and no problems. Granted if you're in heavy trees, forget, but we try to ask for a Satellite Friendly site. Some CGs will do their best while others will look a deer in the headlights.

Ditto this one...

Plus, I would not like having to pick up the satellite every time I left camp...Then have to re-aim every time. And finally, there is the "walk-off" factor of having it on the ground...

Down side to either: PRICE. I prefer the digital antenna or having a bunch of DVD's to choose from (if I have to watch TV). I get it if I stay out in the boonies for a long time. But for news, there is also the internet.

What about going into town for a good movie and dinner? (DATE Night)?

I have the Direct tv winngaurd on the roof and it works great. As Michelle said if parked in heavy trees or mountains there are times you get nothing. I happen to have a winngaurd carry out that I had for a different rig and drag it along when travelling

Even with the cons of price and trees/mountains blocking the signal, we still prefer the convenience of the roof top Winegard. After a long drive, push the button and in 1 to 2 mins the telly works - definitely worth the money.

Like Michelle, we also request sat friendly sites and get a signal probably about 90% of the time, except when going through the Rockies when it's about 50/50.

Tried a portable dish once and immediately installed the roof top one.

Here is a pretty good article about the differences...It seems pretty accurate...

http://www.doityourselfrv.com/rv-satellite-tv-dish-services-options/#

We also have the Winegard on the roof and it works well for us. I have considered bringing along a portable dish for the few times the RV is in the trees but it's not worth the hassle of setting it up, we just watch recorded shows off the PVR or DVDs.
One thing I found with the Winegard, if you lose 110V power while the dish is up the unit isn't "smart" enough to know the dish is up. When you go to stow and push the button it will start from scratch to erect the dish and won't stow unless you push the button again. A very good reason to make an eyeball check to see if the dish is,in fact, down!

Right now we are using a winegard Pathway X2 portable... we only take it on the few trips that we do not get cable, like at the beach, or races.. I like it, BUT it is sometimes a pain in the arse to keep operating properly...

After a few calls to the rv specialist I will fine out tomorrow if I got all the kinks worked out

Yup another happy camper with a for roof top mounted Winegard Trav'ler.

We have enjoyed our Wingard SWM3 DirecTV roof mount sat system. As Shane mentioned there will be times that trees could block the signal. I did have the sat dish mounted towards the front of our RW which does help with the tree blocking issue. Although mounted on Wingard's optional steel mounting plate that is bolted to the RW's roof cross members we always "park" the dish for impending storms and in the evening prior to turning in. We treat the dish the same as our awnings in respect to preventing storm damage.

I also have the Winegard Trav'ler, and it works well!

Here are the only warnings I will give:
Do your research and decide if you want to go with DISH or DIRECTV because once its installed you cant easily switch service providers.

In my instance I have an HD system for dish, and I could change out some parts to pick up the DIRECTV signal but it would only receive SD broadcast, unless I purchase and replace the whole unit.

I frequently camp in tress....in fact we live in the Redwoods, Northern California. The roof mounted dish just doesn't make sense for us as I would frequently need a portable solution.

I tried the portable Dish tailgater for a while and didn't like its limitations. Though easy to setup, the downfalls are:
1. One program at a time, limitation of the small dish, Can't watch one and record another
2. Losing HD signal when traveling farther north, or rain....fog
3. One TV at a time (or limited to the second TV only on the same satellite
4. Power interruption when boon docking (switching from battery to generator) causes about a 20-30 minute interruption as the dish needs to go through the set up from the beginning

Since I have to travel with a dish anyway, I chose the dish, tripod, app on my phone to find the satellites and a professional grade meter. All in all, I can set the dish up generally in 5 minutes or less. There was a learning curve for sure, but it was a small price to pay for the flexibility.

Like others have said, if you generally are not in trees, the roof mount is not a bad way to go.

Ken

We have DirecTV at home so the choice was easy. They provided the extra remotes and power supplies cost free. When hitting the road we grab the three boxes on the way out of the door.

We have enjoyed our Wingard SWM3 DirecTV roof mount sat system. As Shane mentioned there will be times that trees could block the signal. I did have the sat dish mounted towards the front of our RW which does help with the tree blocking issue. Although mounted on Wingard's optional steel mounting plate that is bolted to the RW's roof cross members we always "park" the dish for impending storms and in the evening prior to turning in. We treat the dish the same as our awnings in respect to preventing storm damage.[/quote

Robert ours is up 24/7 threw our Santa Anna winds with gust that can hit 70mph and never had an issue.

 

I was thinking that my Wingard sat owners manual mentioned 50 MPH. I will pull the manual out and review the details. I lean towards the safe side as some of these local summer storms can easily hit 50-70 MPH for a short time. I even crank down the OTA antenna to protect it from debris.