Satellite for Dummies 101 - Page 2

bob caldwell · 09-07-2015, 12:03 PM

Have a King Flex, will work with all providers, is portable....bought a receiver to stay in trailer, pay 6. per month....receive local channels 250 miles away....used it coast to coast, also supports 2 receivers...(lets see...cooking shows or football). For 2nd tv, I take a box from home.

boowho · 09-07-2015, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mtnlvr

I like the Dish Trav'ler. The basic crank up antenna that came with my Solera is useless outside of a large city and I'm usually not traveling in the city. Spending the extra money for the roof mount was well worth it for me. After a long day of driving and then setting up in my space, I'm tired and don't want the hassle of setting up a tripod, compasses locating the satellite & locking it to prevent theft. I researched the various systems and felt this was the best & easiest way to go.

If you can afford it, the Trav'ler is the best there is, IMHO. Less rain fade and 3 LNBs make it THE hands down favorite, for me.

Boowho??

bob caldwell · 09-07-2015, 12:45 PM

Ant. depends on which provider you have.

jrlebaron · 09-11-2015, 08:18 AM

If you can have the dish mounted on the roof try to have it mounted on the frount. Usually there are no trees in the front making it easier to receive a signal. I'm not sure but I think dome dishes are not available for HD it's something to check out. Jim

JJvike · 09-12-2015, 09:10 AM

I have the Wineguard Trav'ler mounted to get Directv in HD. I wanted HD. If you don't care if it's HD or SD then go with the a cheaper roof mounted model. As far as programming, I'm a sports nut so nothing comes close to Direct and the amount of HD channels that feed that itch. I take my DVR from the house with us when we go, so I don't pay for an extra receiver. If I want local news or weather, I'll use the internet or connect to cable if the park offers it. You mentioned NASCAR, with some races now on NBC-SN, make sure you check the other providers to make sure you get that one. You need the Dish's "Top 200" to get it. Since 2 of my TV's are disabled or un-viewable going down the road, I didn't need the 'in motion" dish. Make a list of your 'must haves or wants' and go from there. I like to push a button and the dish does the work and I get to watch what I'm used to.

JJvike · 09-12-2015, 09:17 AM

Oh, and my antenna is mounted in the middle of the coach. My cable was in the middle but I've seen on here where some have the pre-run cable up front. Call Randy at FR and let him tell you where that cable is so they cut the hole in the right place.

edgewant · 09-12-2015, 10:52 AM

I have the Winegard Traveler for Dish HD. It does a great job as long as its sight path is unobstructed. Since we like Corp of Engineer campgrounds we often have difficulty getting all 3 satellites. As an "insurance policy" I recently purchased a King VQ4500 Tailgater portable dish. I use the existing cable hook-up in the power bay. I also installed a power pass splitter (one leg passes power) to split between cable and satellite and an AB switch to switch between the roof dish and the portable. I did some signal attenuation so I purchased a non-powered in-line signal amplifier. The set-up works great. Haven't really had a need to use the portable yet but have checked it out at home and while the signal level on satellite 129 isn't great it is good enough.

ENE · 09-12-2015, 11:09 AM

I have not RVed in about 10 years, but back then I would pull my direct receiver (box) out of my home entertainment system and put it in my trailer. The only thing I need was to purchase a small portable dish and tripod. I would also have a 100-200 ft of coax on a reel so I could place my dish/tripod in the best area for a clear line of sight to the sky.

nathantoensing · 09-12-2015, 01:12 PM

With DirecTV simply call customer service and give them your temporary "Service" address. There's a Billing address and a service address. Everywhere we've gone I call with the new service address then we get all the local channels immediately!

--Nathan
2016 38a

ENE · 09-12-2015, 02:23 PM

I don't understand the address location or zip. I didn't have to change anything on the home receiver when I was RVing. Just plug it in and it was like I was at home.
I know you can go in and change your zip code if you want, because I did that at home.
I would enter a east coast zip code that way I would receive all channels 3 hrs earlier.
So instead of waiting to watch prime time TV at 7 I could watch it at 4:00pm.

bob caldwell · 09-12-2015, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by earlbalentine

I don't understand the address location or zip. I didn't have to change anything on the home receiver when I was RVing. Just plug it in and it was like I was at home.
I know you can go in and change your zip code if you want, because I did that at home.
I would enter a east coast zip code that way I would receive all channels 3 hrs earlier.
So instead of waiting to watch prime time TV at 7 I could watch it at 4:00pm.

Dish or Direct.......With Direct, when I went to Nashville, I hooked up like always, and got a message with their trouble code, one that had never showed up before along with a phone number. So, I called.,because tracking that far east must of changed something on their end as I wasn't getting any reception...the controller for the Flex had loved on to SATs, they corrected the problem and it's worked fine since.

ENE · 09-12-2015, 02:42 PM

I believe the HD local antennas on RV's are mostly bi-drectional (360 degrees) so they can pick up channels in any direction.
If you buy a large directional antenna (4-5 footer) and point it towards the nears large city you should be able to pickup several channels. Th antenna could be portable mounted on a tripod as you would do with a satellite dish.
At home I get 36 channels in HD for free.

bob caldwell · 09-12-2015, 02:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by earlbalentine

I believe the HD local antennas on RV's are mostly bi-drectional (360 degrees) so they can pick up channels in any direction.
If you buy a large directional antenna (4-5 footer) and point it towards the nears large city you should be able to pickup several channels. Th antenna could be portable mounted on a tripod as you would do with a satellite dish.
At home I get 36 channels in HD for free.

My antenna also works just fine for locals anywhere....but locals on this Flex are only good far about 250 miles...locals from home area. There' a slim margin of portable set-ups for Direct that are reasonable...cost wise.

mtnlvr · 09-12-2015, 03:12 PM

When I travel to new locations with my Dish Trav'ler, if far enough away from previous location, I have called Dish with my location. Their techs have told me;" unplug your receiver for 10 seconds." This then let's them locate your reciever. Maybe because you were unplugged, then plugged in you got your service automatically.

bob caldwell · 09-12-2015, 03:40 PM

Dish's deal is a lot different than Direct...but, Direct also has the pay as you go thing....$6 per month, than have it turned off when not using....I, just leave mine on because I'd forget to call to reactivate. If I had Dish at home ,there would be different venues to work in. With Direct, you don't have to call for zip code change.

dan-nickie · 09-12-2015, 04:31 PM

There is a lot to know about satellite systems. I suggest that you google some information about them. There are some good websites that explains it all rather than get it in information piecemeal from this forum.

bob caldwell · 09-12-2015, 05:31 PM

Yeah, we're just common folk.

mtnlvr · 09-12-2015, 05:45 PM

That's for sure!,When I got my first RV last year I felt like I went back to school again with all the studying and learning the various systems, options and everything else about camping/ RVing.

tmmar · 09-12-2015, 06:05 PM

Bob,
Is that $6 a month if you have Direct at home and the RV is a second connection or can the RV be the only one on the service? Also, is there a reactivation fee every time you want to suspend and reactivate the service?

bob caldwell · 09-12-2015, 06:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmmar

Bob,
Is that $6 a month if you have Direct at home and the RV is a second connection or can the RV be the only one on the service? Also, is there a reactivation fee every time you want to suspend and reactivate the service?

No fee...Have had Direct at home for 10 years. What I did was buy a receiver off internet...made sure there wasn't anything owed ( if it was a leased unit and someone didn't pay the bill and sold the box,you'd be stuck for that, or stolen) It's an add-on...had to call Direct, give them the serial number.They looked up my account for my package,made a card up and sent to me. When I got it....I took box from house out to trailer(working box) to set up Flex and make sure I was locked on sat., switched boxes, called them and they activated it......got tired of mov'n receiver box back k and forth....so, on a long trip I still take one from house for outside TV.

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