tv questions

[Quincybear]

Do most campsites have cable for your tv? Also, can you get wifi access at alot of campsites? And what is the best portable satelite dish, I want to watch direct tv nfl sunday ticket on the road..can I take my direct tv from home on the road or to florida when I am staying there? Appreciate it

[siggyd]

Most campgrounds do NOT have good cable and No NFL games.
Yes you can take your receiver along and set up your own standard or HD
dish.

[MSHappyCampers]

Like Siggy says, a lot of campgrounds don't have cable hookups. It really depends on the "class" of campgrounds you will be visiting. I think most of the "upscale" campgrounds will have cable, but you'll pay for it!

I personally use DirectTV and never hook up to a cable system unless we are in trees that prevent me from getting satellite TV.

Again, yes, you can just take your Direct TV receiver from home and use it wherever you are. You will find that many times you will not receive the local channels like you did at home.

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

[jzick]

Most campgrounds we have stayed at (dozens and dozens) do not have cable. Most campgrounds we have been to do have wifi, but the quality, speed, and ability to connect generally ranges from fair to poor. If internet is important to you, I would suggest a cellular set up, either a separate connector or a hot spot from a smart phone.

Which dish is best for you may depend on whether you need HD or not and, if you are bringing receivers from home, whether they are compatible with the dish you have. There have been a lot of threads here recently about internet connectors and DTV. A search will probably give you hours of reading material.

[taylorgso]

Originally Posted by Quincybear

Do most campsites have cable for your tv? Also, can you get wifi access at alot of campsites? And what is the best portable satelite dish, I want to watch direct tv nfl sunday ticket on the road..can I take my direct tv from home on the road or to florida when I am staying there? Appreciate it

I have a Winegard Carryout Satellite Receiver mounted on the MH... it is removable. If I cannot get a good signal from the campsite space, I have 75' of coax and can place it where the signal is acceptable. Consequently, I never use park cable. I also have good OTA reception for local channels with Winegard Sensar Pro tuner and Wingman Digital antenna add-on. Keep in mind that with satellite, if you're more than 30-50 miles form your S&B home, you won't get your "local" channels over satellite. The OTA antenna will get local channels in the area in which you are camping! The Carryout can be used with either DirecTV or Dishnetwork. DirecTV will be Standard definition only - you can receive HD with Dishnetwork receiver, and Dish offers a month by month contract so you don't have any obligation for more than a month at a time. If you have DirecTV at home, all you need to do is take the receiver to the RV and plug everything in. Since you have Sunday ticket, that seems to be the best solution. There are satellite antennas available that will receive DirecTV in HD, but they are very pricey. Wifi is another question; many campgrounds now CLAIM to have wifi, but the connections always seem rather iffy. I carry an iPad along which connects to Verizon with a data plan, and can check email, forums, TV schedules, etc. with it... and that's fine as long as in an area with good cellular signal.

[GaryKD]

Hi Quincybear,
It is not possible to answer your question. CG cable TV and WIFI quality is all over the map. Consider determining the area you want to be in and ask for CG recommendations in that area.

[hamguy]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

Like Siggy says, a lot of campgrounds don't have cable hookups. It really depends on the "class" of campgrounds you will be visiting. I think most of the "upscale" campgrounds will have cable, but you'll pay for it!

I personally use DirectTV and never hook up to a cable system unless we are in trees that prevent me from getting satellite TV.

Again, yes, you can just take your Direct TV receiver from home and use it wherever you are. You will find that many times you will not receive the local channels like you did at home.

Good luck, happy trails, and God bless!

I have never had to pay for cable in 10 years and 1100+ campsites. That said, I have satellite and only rarely need cable.

[MSHappyCampers]

Originally Posted by hamguy

I have never had to pay for cable in 10 years and 1100+ campsites. That said, I have satellite and only rarely need cable.

When I said "you'll pay for it!" I was referring to the fact that to get it you usually have to stay in upscale campgrounds and pay their premium prices.

[monkey]

We have cable at home,,, don't like the way weather effects sattelitte service. So we haven't had any problems finding rv parks with cable. Sure they are out there, but we average maybe $35 a night for full hookups. Like said before, cable like wifi and everything else can be iffy.. but usually acceptable.

[RickO]

All good advice.

I guess my perception was that "most" private CGs offered cable, but I almost never use it so it was probably just a mis-perception on my part about how common it was.

We also almost never use park wifi... opting instead to use our cellular air card. Park wifi is notoriously poor and slow but if you don't have a big need for broadband you might find it to be acceptable.

The comment about losing local channels/network coverage from DirecTv means that you won't be able to pick up these channels via satellite at all once you travel a few hundred miles from your home address because these channels are spot beamed and you'll leave the beam's coverage area. Lot's of folks will rely on cable or OTA signals to pick up the networks when they travel, or you can work with DTV and get network feeds from LA or NYC for about $20/month.

Good luck.

Rick

[hamguy]

Originally Posted by MSHappyCampers

When I said "you'll pay for it!" I was referring to the fact that to get it you usually have to stay in upscale campgrounds and pay their premium prices.

I usually land in PassPort America CGs or other $20-35 buck places. Perhaps you don't have any of these inexpensive stops in your area. But as I have mentioned, I try to stay in places where I can get satellite reception. This is the best and least expensive options.

YMMV

[elbeau54]

I have used this a lot lately and am very happy with it.Any time it can find the signal and not stress out trying to find it im happy. Fyi alcohol has been involved in a lot of wasted time trying to find that tiny thing in space when you are not 100%.LOL