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Old 09-12-2013, 04:24 PM   #1
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tv reception

HELLO--Is there a general accepted opinion on what is the best device for tv reception in an rv? I seen Dish or Direct receivers, and the round.ones. Wingards I assume. We have Dish at our home, don't know if that matters or not. We are a couple of years away from full timing it. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
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Old 09-12-2013, 04:31 PM   #2
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It's best to use the same service you have at home. That way you can just borrow one of your receivers from the house when you go camping. No additional fees. Tell me what receiver models you have at home and we can talk about the dish hardware you'll need to take.
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Old 09-12-2013, 05:54 PM   #3
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we have a wingard on our new camper. will that only pickup the local channels of the town we are in if we have good enough reception?
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Old 09-12-2013, 06:00 PM   #4
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HELLO--Is there a general accepted opinion on what is the best device for tv reception in an rv? I seen Dish or Direct receivers, and the round.ones. Wingards I assume. We have Dish at our home, don't know if that matters or not. We are a couple of years away from full timing it. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
Use the same service you have at home till you go full time.
Buy a second dish at a garage sale or auction somewhere and a tripod and just take a receiver from home.
You can get the fancy gadgets to help you set up the dish at the campground to get the reception. MAKE SURE you are using RG6 cable and not the "thin" stuff for normal cable. Only RG6 will carry the signal from your dish.
So you know, if you go more than a hundred miles or so from home, you won't get your local channels like you do at home. BTDT.
Hope that helps
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Old 09-12-2013, 06:06 PM   #5
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lol we live out in the country so we don't get jack anyway. I was just wonding if it would pick up other signals
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Old 09-12-2013, 06:09 PM   #6
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The bat wing will pick up pretty well usually.
Just make sure you turn your booster on or you won't get anything.
So you know, the booster will run your battery down QUICK if you are not plugged in.
Make sure you turn it off when your done watching if boon docking.
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Old 09-12-2013, 06:15 PM   #7
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the other day when we had camper plugged in turned it on and said low signal, we are pretty sure its just were live.
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Old 09-12-2013, 06:18 PM   #8
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Have to ask, did you try turning the antenna different directions?
Usually the wife sits at the tv and I turn it because ours is in the bedroom and gives me the "better, better, NO WORSE GO BACK" till we compromise and get the best reception.
My son gets annoyed because my trailer gets 8 channels at our house and he can only get 3 with rabbit ears at his apartment a couple of miles away.
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Old 09-12-2013, 06:56 PM   #9
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With a Jack antenna, or a ditital modified Windguard you should be able to pick up digital signals if you are in range.

The over-the-air broadcasts are not almost exclusively digital and you need the right equipment to pick it up. This link will help you find stations near you and the direction to point your antenna. An attenna signal monitor will help you zero in.

Satellite's are nice to.

The Digital TV Transition: Reception Maps
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Old 09-12-2013, 06:56 PM   #10
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We have 2 receivers--one is a vip722k hd duo dvr and the other is a vip211k hd solo. Is it ok to buy the actual dish from ebay, or do I need something special? Thanks everybody
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Old 09-12-2013, 07:06 PM   #11
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The dish you buy has to be compatible with your receiver.
Meaning, if you have an HD receiver, you have to have an HD dish.
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Old 09-12-2013, 07:10 PM   #12
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The dish you buy has to be compatible with your receiver.
Meaning, if you have an HD receiver, you have to have an HD dish.
Actually Mark it's only DirecTV that makes it difficult to get HD. Not a problem on Dish.
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Old 09-12-2013, 07:24 PM   #13
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We have 2 receivers--one is a vip722k hd duo dvr and the other is a vip211k hd solo. Is it ok to buy the actual dish from ebay, or do I need something special? Thanks everybody
You have two options then. If you want something automatic, you can buy the Tailgater. That will set you back about $350. It only works with the 211k and will let you receive only one channel (although you can pipe a SD version of that same channel to other TVs).

Your other alternative, as suggested, is to buy a dish and tripod. This will get you great flexibility for the future and will work with your 211k or the Duo receiver (or Hopper/Joey if you were to go that way in the future). You can probably buy a used setup on Craig's List or an installer might even give you a used one. If you go this route, make sure that the LNBs on the dish are Dish Pro PLUS. You will need to learn to point this yourself, and it's pretty easy. You will want to buy a Sat meter to help. I like this one: Triplett SatAlign.
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