Alpine Coach Owners - How did you get your DirectTV set up?

[Audrey & John]

I have been trying to figure this out, and read several posts on escapees.

We're fulltimers now, and we never had satellite TV at the house, so this is all new to us.

DirectTV has a waiver that you can send in along with a copy of your vehicle registration, and this lets you receive the national "local" channels. This is important because otherwise you only see the local channels when you are within your residence area.

But in order to do that, it appears that you already have to have an account set up.

This can be done on line, so I guess we set up the account, and then send in the paperwork for getting the "DNS" qualification as they seem to call it.

I happen to be in my "local residence" area at this time, so in the meantime I could receive the local channels for a while. Until we get switched to the "DNS" service.

Anyone that has done this, perhaps you can provide some pointers or tell me if I'm on the right track.

Thanks!

Audrey

[Audrey & John]

I have been trying to figure this out, and read several posts on escapees.

We're fulltimers now, and we never had satellite TV at the house, so this is all new to us.

DirectTV has a waiver that you can send in along with a copy of your vehicle registration, and this lets you receive the national "local" channels. This is important because otherwise you only see the local channels when you are within your residence area.

But in order to do that, it appears that you already have to have an account set up.

This can be done on line, so I guess we set up the account, and then send in the paperwork for getting the "DNS" qualification as they seem to call it.

I happen to be in my "local residence" area at this time, so in the meantime I could receive the local channels for a while. Until we get switched to the "DNS" service.

Anyone that has done this, perhaps you can provide some pointers or tell me if I'm on the right track.

Thanks!

Audrey

[Audrey & John]

I really wanted this in the Alpine Coach forum because they have the same setup I do. Can I get this moved back? Please?

Audrey

Edited to add: thanks for linking it back.

[TXiceman]

Audrey, this is not sprcifically related to an Alpine coach, but is pretty general to RV's in general. It is better suited in a more general area. I can move it to one of them it you would like.

Ken

[Hitchhiker]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">I really wanted this in the Alpine Coach forum because they have the same setup I do. Can I get this moved back? Please? </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Audrey,

I placed a 'Shortcut' to this thread in the Alpine Coach forum for you; the main copy remains here. All the replies will be on the same thread that way.

[Jim A]

Audrey,

According to the Direct TV website, if you "mirror" your motorhome setup to your home account, which costs $5 more, you cannot get the waiver to get the network feeds while on the road. To get them on the road, you need to set up a separate account, which costs lots more.

For what its worth, we live in the LA area and have Directv mirrored to the coach, and I still got the LA stations even up in Washington!

Jim A
'04 Alpine Coach 36' MDDS

[Audrey & John]

Thanks for linking it back. Actually I was specifically asking Alpine owners as they have the same equipment that I do. This makes it much more specific then asking a general forum.

Audrey

[Audrey & John]

Hi Jim:

Actually I don't have a home account. I am a fulltimer. So mirroring won't be a problem from what I have read.

I will be mirroring the bedroom TV receiver to the main RV receiver.

Audrey

[Jim A]

The wiring in a 2006 is probably different than my 2004, but mine only has one coax coming from the dish. If I wanted to mirror the bedroom, I would likely have to run a second coax from the dish. I might do it anyway because I want to install a dual tuner Tivo. Hopefully your coach already has two coming in. I think you can split one coax, but both receivers have to be looking for the same satellite as I understand it. Usually not a problem, but....

Jim A
2004 36' MDDS

[John Neff]

Audrey & John
I do not have Direct TV in my home. I established an account for service for the motorhome using my home address and a phone number. I then completed the DNS form. I now receive the East and West coast feeds for the major networks. There is a fee for this service, but it is worth it.

[Audrey & John]

Hi John Neff:

That is exactly what I am thinking to do. I am currently located in Kerrville which is my "home base", so I guess I'll sign up on-line and give the local information as my service address and send in the DNS paperwork. This will give me local channels for a while, I suppose, until we move west of here (soon). At some point I should be able to receive the east and west coast feeds.

Jim A - I have two receivers connected to the same satellite. I don't think I need to worry about cabling although I admit I haven't tested the bedroom TV with its receiver yet. There is a three-way switch up front that switches the back TV between off-air, cable, and it's directTV receiver. Seems simple enough.

Audrey

[htg3]

Audry & John,
We have the DTV with the KingDome. We also have DTV at home, so on the road we get LA channels wherever we are. It's great to keep up with what's going on at home, but tough to get local news. We usually look for a local (antenna or cable) station wherever we are.
The only "minor" problem we have is if we are not on he road for a month or so, when we do go out, I have to call the DTV folks to have them reset the system. I'm told it has something to do with it not being connected to a telephone line and not being powered so that it can be "interogated" from time to time by the
mother ship.

[TerryM]

I just picked up my 06 34FDDS a few weeks ago. I'm trying to decide on how to set up the entertainment system also. I discovered a problem with the new HD Direct TV Receiver they use for the front monitor. If you are lucky enough to get parked under trees that block the KingDome satelite signal, you can't watch any TV up front at all. Seems that Air and cable also go through the HD Direct TV Receiver, but the receiver won't let you find them until after you have connected to Direct TV. So no satelite means no TV at all. At least you can watch air and Cable channels in the bedroom. Where I camp this is going to be a problem, so I'm trying to figure out what to do. It is nice to have the cable and air channels on the same remote guide as satelite, if you can park in a location that gets you satelite signal.

2006 34FDDS

[Ted III]

Audrey & John, I did exactly what you are thinking of doing with the direct TV except I do not get our local channels with it. I use the old crank up and get whatever local channels are in the area and it works quite well to the extent that we have used it. I believe if you get your local channels with your direct TV you will only get your home base ones and that maybe exactly what you want.(not sure of that, but it is a lttle cheaper.) The only problem I have is all the d*** remotes and who & what to push when. I understand there is a new remote out that you connect to your computer, feed all your units, including your surround sound info into it and any type of service you have (direct TV, ie). You then download all info into the remote and you are now truly done with confusion which interests me a lot. I believe a little hefty price, like a $100.00 but that is really cheap to me to eliminate what I can do with 3 remotes. Make certain you tell Direct TV that you are "mobile". Makes a difference

Ted