Winegard system.

[Matt D]

Very true.

-Matt

[swberry]

Originally Posted by Matt D

There is nothing to forget to fold down as there is on the Trav’ler.



-Matt

Yes it was quite odd watching the brand new Dutch Star travel east bound on I40 with the dish sticking up the other day.

Some kind of written checklist or at least a mental note routine before departure can help with remembering this. I use the "ABC's" of RV'ing before departure where A=awnings, B=black tank (tanks in general), C=communications (i.e. Antennae/Dish).

If you are new to the rooftop dish (as I am) do something (written checklist, mental checklist) to remember this. I also have incorporated a "walk around" after I get all disconnected and ready for departure. During this walk around I check alignment of slides, ride height, and underneath the coach.

[Ann n Gene]

When you are doing that walk around, step back to where you can observe the top of the coach. It IS possible for the dish to shut off without completely folding down, don't ask how I know but know I always look up there now!

[swberry]

Originally Posted by Ann n Gene

When you are doing that walk around, step back to where you can observe the top of the coach. It IS possible for the dish to shut off without completely folding down, don't ask how I know but know I always look up there now!

Excellent idea. Have one final look from top to bottom and all the way around.

[Tom n Sandra]

Matt I am not sure if I want dish or Direct TV as I have never used either before, we have always had cable. I don’t suppose there is an easy answer to which is better? Lol. We don’t watch a lot of tv, mostly news and movies, I have 1,000 movies in my iTunes library that I can stream and we have an At&t mobile hotspot with unlimited data. We are a long way from understanding how all this tech will or should work together. Any advice or knowledge would be very much appreciated.

[Matt D]

Tom, in your case I would probably just opt for the Trav’ler as you can convert it to Dish should you desire at some point in the future. As it sits, it will work with DirecTV out of the box. Either way, you certainly don’t need to become a subscriber to either. As Entegra supplies one antenna or the other, it would be prudent to choose one for future growth or resale.

We had DirecTV for decades, and only recently decided to cut the cord. We haven’t looked back since.

We’ve managed to find any of the sports we watch via streaming media. Like you, we are also somewhat movie heavy.

Ordinarily, the internet isn’t an issue. However, we tend to take lengthy treks to places with unreliable internet. In these cases, I simply play movies I’ve downloaded. You can use a lightning to HDMI adaptor and plug it in where the satellite box typically goes, and this sends the movie to any TV within the coach.

Additionally, it’s easy to build a WiFi network for peanuts and connect your SmarTVs to the network. Then you can figure out some sort of data storage setup and access media in that manner wirelessly.

In our coach we use a Mobley for internet, that supplies my Bott system with connectivity, and the Bott system then works as my onboard WiFi.

Should we be parked in a campground with decent internet (few and far between), I can redesignate the Bott system to connect via the CG. This is becoming more rare by the day as our Mobley works quite well and we haven’t noticed any throttling.

Also, Im lazy and tend to let things that work well continue to do so.

On top of this, we have a Roku we plug into the HDMI to all TVs and can stream media content very tidily.

One nice benefit to our setup is we have lost a couple of satellite boxes that used to get pretty hot. Our AV cabinets look quite empty with only a homemade WiFi and directional antenna and a Roku.

I hope this helps,

-Matt

[Tom n Sandra]

Thank You Matt!

[brobox]

Originally Posted by Tom n Sandra

Matt I am not sure if I want dish or Direct TV as I have never used either before, we have always had cable. I don’t suppose there is an easy answer to which is better? Lol. We don’t watch a lot of tv, mostly news and movies, I have 1,000 movies in my iTunes library that I can stream and we have an At&t mobile hotspot with unlimited data. We are a long way from understanding how all this tech will or should work together. Any advice or knowledge would be very much appreciated.

Tom, you just described an Apple TV for the MH. With the Over the Air Antenna, access to your iTune movies and unlimited data, Apple TV should do everything you want.

I did a lot of reading yesterday on "cutting the cable" and I could see a lot of it working in MH's without high $ subscriptions and equipment, Apple TV was one of them, Roku as described by Matt was another one as was Amazon Firestick which I used for the first time this summer, very impressive.

[stevedenesha]

Originally Posted by brobox

Tom, you just described an Apple TV for the MH. With the Over the Air Antenna, access to your iTune movies and unlimited data, Apple TV should do everything you want.

I did a lot of reading yesterday on "cutting the cable" and I could see a lot of it working in MH's without high $ subscriptions and equipment, Apple TV was one of them, Roku as described by Matt was another one as was Amazon Firestick which I used for the first time this summer, very impressive.

All the alternatives look great but really aren't feasible because you need to have at least 24MBS for your internet on the road for good reception (especially at the parks as they don't support it or even if they did, you would be using up all the parks bandwith - not too nice for the rest of the RVers at the park!)

[brobox]

Originally Posted by stevedenesha

All the alternatives look great but really aren't feasible because you need to have at least 24MBS for your internet on the road for good reception (especially at the parks as they don't support it or even if they did, you would be using up all the parks bandwith - not too nice for the rest of the RVers at the park!)

Tom said he had unlimited AT&T. Shouldn't affect other users at all. The AT&T Mobley I used didn't affect anybody else around me and worked perfect all summer using the Firestick.

No it will not work on park wifi, but that is becoming very antiquated anyhow. Just another way that it worked for me, others may vary. If something works for me, I will share it, if not, I won't.

[Victory Blue]

Originally Posted by stevedenesha

All the alternatives look great but really aren't feasible because you need to have at least 24MBS for your internet on the road for good reception (especially at the parks as they don't support it or even if they did, you would be using up all the parks bandwith - not too nice for the rest of the RVers at the park!)

What are you doing that needs 24 Mbps? I’ve found that anything in the 5-10 Mbps range streams pretty well. I’ve seen specs that say 25Mbps is needed for 4K.

[stevedenesha]

Originally Posted by Victory Blue

What are you doing that needs 24 Mbps? I’ve found that anything in the 5-10 Mbps range streams pretty well. I’ve seen specs that say 25Mbps is needed for 4K.

Any live HD sports, whether it be baseball, golf, football etc. Even at 15MPS you will get plenty of freeze-ups on any of the sports in HD.

[Tom n Sandra]

We have the At&t Unite Explore mobile hotspot with unlimited data. I have never used park Wifi. I am hoping we can access enough programming to cut the cord. :-)

[Matt D]

Steve, I’m not sure of our speed in the CG. However, a driveway test of our Mobley beat the socks off our household internet.

We watched College football and NASCAR when camping at a COE park in Waco a couple of weeks ago. Not exactly the best location, and we only saw a couple snags.

Overall, it works quite well.

Chuck, you can simply set things up and use the streaming media. The nice thing about a motorhome is that multiple TV sources are inherent to their design. You can decide it cutting the cord is for you, then cancel your service.

We took it in a couple of steps, not all at once.

-Matt