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Old 09-07-2013, 08:37 AM   #21
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The $40 DVR upgrade still leaves you with just one tuner, so you can't watch anything other than what you are currently recording.
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Old 09-07-2013, 08:47 AM   #22
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We have DirecTV and bring our boxes from home. Started out with SD then switched to HD. HD requires a different dish so it can pick up all 3 satellites. The HD dish is larger, heavier and has a larger diameter mounting post, therefore we had to buy a new tripod to set the dish on. We use a SWM (Single Wire Multiswitch) to feed two different TV's and have an additional feed in the basement if we want to watch TV outside. I mounted my power inserter and SWM in the basement so when I'm setting up at the campsite, I connect my satellite cable from the dish to the satellite "in" on the rig and I'm ready to go.

Our experience has been that setting up SD is much easier since you're only hitting one satellite. The in-line signal meter seemed to work pretty good dialing that in. HD is a little more diificult. We have found it easier to bring the box and small tv with us outside and hook directly to the dish to get dialed in, then set up everything inside. We're still working on refining the process and experimenting with a phone app or two to help with hitting the satellites. On our last camping trip it took us about 20 minutes for set up.
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Old 09-07-2013, 09:00 AM   #23
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Papsmurf I see you are using the VuQube! I was thinking of getting one but it didn't have many reviews. The sat that is on my motorhome is only for Directv and I don't want that. I put a permenant sat on my last motorhome and could not use it because of trees or something most of the time.
Do you HD on this one? and how do you secure it to the roof?
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Old 09-07-2013, 09:01 AM   #24
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Michael, let me ask you some questions to see if we can narrow in on a recommendation.

Do I understand correctly that you are full-timing (so are ok with a contract for full-time SAT)?

Do yo want HDTV, or are you ok with Standard-Def?

How many TVs do you have in your rig and (more importantly) how many of those TVs need to be on different channels at the same time?

Do you want to have a true DVR that can record one or more shows while you watch something else?

The answers to these questions will determine what equipment you need.
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Old 09-07-2013, 09:09 AM   #25
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Originally Posted by nazrev87 View Post
...
In KC my regional sports channel is Fox Midwest, when I go to AZ will I still be able to get their regional sports channel, like Fox sports AZ?? Everyone here is giving great information and I really do appreciate it very much!
That's the nice thing about country-wide satellite service. They don't know or care where you are, except for what you tell them. You can change your service address anytime you want and you will get everything that is appropriate (and that you pay for ;-) ) at that location. No worries.
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Old 09-07-2013, 09:53 AM   #26
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I am not officially full time but in practicality I am. We would consider contract but for Rv service only no at our house.

We have to have HD

We have 2 TVs to watch different channels at same time.

Yes on true DVR functionality
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Old 09-07-2013, 11:57 AM   #27
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Originally Posted by nazrev87 View Post
I am not officially full time but in practicality I am. We would consider contract but for Rv service only no at our house.

We have to have HD

We have 2 TVs to watch different channels at same time.

Yes on true DVR functionality
That narrows it down a lot actually. It leaves out any of the lower-cost automatic systems (like Tailgater, Carryout, or VuQube) because they support a max of two tuners and even that has restrictions. There may be automatic systems in the $1400+ range, but I would never recommend those unless you are putting them on top of a motorhome to use while you're in-motion, and I'll assume you are not.

This means that you need to buy a dish and tripod to do your own alignment. Many of us do that.

The big remaining question then is Dish or DirecTV.
Dish has a pay-as-you-go option where you don't need a contract and can turn it off when you're not using it (months you're at home?). Pay-as-you-go costs more than the "intro" deals you get with a contract. If there will be times that you can turn it off in the RV, then you would need to do the math to see if one is cheaper than the other. If you're going with a contract, then we still have no advantage to Dish or Direct.

The programming is generally the same on both. There are some special channels that are only on Direct (Sprout comes to mind) so you might want to look to make sure anything you especially care about is available on whichever one you pick. That also goes for availability and cost of any Sports Packages you would want.

If you're still at a break-even as far as DirectTV and Dish, I would go with Dish just because it's easier (as stated by others) to point the dish when you are trying to get HD. I do it in about 5 minutes for Dish every time I go out.

Now let's talk equipment.
If you get Dish, you need to make sure the LNB is "Dish Pro PLUS" to support modern equipment.
If you get DirecTV, you need to make sure the LNB is "SWM" technology.
You can often get the dishes for free (or close to it) and need only to buy a tripod.

Receivers: I would really suggest that you get the Genie & Client for DirectTV, or the Hopper & Joey for Dish. For either of these, because they contain hard-drives, you have to take special precautions, such as putting them on your padded mattress, when you travel. Bouncing them along in a wood cabinet down the highway will damage them, and for that reason, the companies will recommend that you not use them in an RV (but I know there are people that do it on our forums). I don't think you'll find a company that will install them in your RV so its probably better to buy your own equipment. I can give some pointers if you get to that (and I have no financial interest in any of this).
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Old 09-07-2013, 12:13 PM   #28
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Thanks for all the info. You have given me a lot to think about. I guess I would purchase my equipment then call either dish or directv for program packages and cost. Since I set everything up myself how do I get the package I select started??
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Old 09-07-2013, 12:30 PM   #29
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You can find packages and cost information on their websites.

Once you have the equipment installed and "pointed", you just call them. They will set up your account and then will ask for the equipment ID and "authorize" the receivers. It's easy as that.
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Old 09-07-2013, 12:41 PM   #30
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Originally Posted by nazrev87 View Post
This may be a silly question, but with the DVR upgrade, will it allow you to watch one show while you record another even if they are on different sat?? In KC my regional sports channel is Fox Midwest, when I go to AZ will I still be able to get their regional sports channel, like Fox sports AZ?? Everyone here is giving great information and I really do appreciate it very much!
i'm going to say no sense it is only one receiver. best u can do is record one while watching another recorded show.
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Old 09-07-2013, 12:55 PM   #31
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Originally Posted by slide5r4fun View Post
We have DirecTV and bring our boxes from home. Started out with SD then switched to HD. HD requires a different dish so it can pick up all 3 satellites. The HD dish is larger, heavier and has a larger diameter mounting post, therefore we had to buy a new tripod to set the dish on. We use a SWM (Single Wire Multiswitch) to feed two different TV's and have an additional feed in the basement if we want to watch TV outside. I mounted my power inserter and SWM in the basement so when I'm setting up at the campsite, I connect my satellite cable from the dish to the satellite "in" on the rig and I'm ready to go.

Our experience has been that setting up SD is much easier since you're only hitting one satellite. The in-line signal meter seemed to work pretty good dialing that in. HD is a little more diificult. We have found it easier to bring the box and small tv with us outside and hook directly to the dish to get dialed in, then set up everything inside. We're still working on refining the process and experimenting with a phone app or two to help with hitting the satellites. On our last camping trip it took us about 20 minutes for set up.
We have the same setup. We moved up to the SWM HD system and bought a power inserter and SWM splitter. I got the tripod from George at tv4rv.com. Set up this spring was easy. I found that if you set the tilt at 90 degrees and got a strong signal on the 101 and 103 first and then adjusted the tilt for your current zip code, it was easier to adjust and get the strongest signal.

We just arrived at the Outer Banks and set things up. I searched for the satellite settings at: Dish Pointer

They give the elevation and azimuth settings but they no longer give the tilt. Today when I called Dtv to get the tilt setting, they said that it's now against their rules to take the boxes from the home and put them in the rv. He said it was an FCC policy, but that they have no way to police it. Reading between the lines it's against their policy, but they wink if you take it with you. He said to contact a local installer to get the tilt. I haven't found one yet.

If anyone has another site that gives the tilt info for a specific zip code or knows the tilt setting for the Outer Banks let me know. I set at 70 degrees and we're getting all the channels, but a more specific tilt setting should improve the signal strength.
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Old 09-08-2013, 03:50 PM   #32
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Originally Posted by bmg View Post
We have the same setup. We moved up to the SWM HD system and bought a power inserter and SWM splitter. I got the tripod from George at tv4rv.com. Set up this spring was easy. I found that if you set the tilt at 90 degrees and got a strong signal on the 101 and 103 first and then adjusted the tilt for your current zip code, it was easier to adjust and get the strongest signal.

We just arrived at the Outer Banks and set things up. I searched for the satellite settings at: Dish Pointer

They give the elevation and azimuth settings but they no longer give the tilt. Today when I called Dtv to get the tilt setting, they said that it's now against their rules to take the boxes from the home and put them in the rv. He said it was an FCC policy, but that they have no way to police it. Reading between the lines it's against their policy, but they wink if you take it with you. He said to contact a local installer to get the tilt. I haven't found one yet.

If anyone has another site that gives the tilt info for a specific zip code or knows the tilt setting for the Outer Banks let me know. I set at 70 degrees and we're getting all the channels, but a more specific tilt setting should improve the signal strength.
We got our tripod from tv4rv.com also. It was a little pricey but it is a quality unit. Thanks for the heads up on DTV changing their policy on tilt settings. The dishpointer.com site discussed here and on another active thread should make finding that info a snap.
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Old 11-16-2013, 01:22 PM   #33
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directv

i use a directv hd dish they are not hard to aim it takes me about 5 min you aline it the same way as the reg dish you do need at least one reg receiver (not a hd receiver) because the hd receivers no not have the beeper and signal strength i use the tripod they sell at camping world it is important that you level the tripod i use a zinwell 6x 8 multi swithch (part # ms6x8wb-z bought on ebay ) you use this at the dish you plug your leeds from the dish then you can hook up to 8 receivers to the out side of the multi switch i use two hd receivers inside and a reg receiver outside you should get the same local channel that you get at your house each receiver needs it own cable from the multi switch in my rockwood i hook one cable to the satellite one to the cable jacks on the side of the trailer i also pulled the cable connections out behind the tv in the living room took the splitter out going to the bedroom and put a but to but connection so the cable input coming from the input on the side of trailer goes straight to the bedroom put a hd receiver in the closet and use a directv RF remote these remotes do not need to see the receiver
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