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Old 04-06-2011, 08:02 PM   #15
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Hi,

We have DirecTV in our motorhome with the Whole Home system (it's our full time home) but I can't address all your questions since we don't use the system when away from the parking space were we use the satellite TV. When there we have a 3LNB SWM dish on a building that we connect to.

What I can tell you is that once when we came back in and connected up to the satellite dish the Whole Home system would not work. The recorded shows were on the DVR in the front of the coach but they wouldn't show up on the rear receiver. I did some troubleshooting and found the small box the Internet cable is connected to was unplugged from the wall in the building. As soon as I plugged it in and rebooted the receivers the Whole House system started working. This would lead me to believe that you must have an Internet connection in order for the Whole House system to work. I think that's how the two receiver communicate in some way so it's not just so you can order pay-per-view. I 'think' the connection to the Internet could also be wireless but I haven't tried it. So as far as I know once we get our 3LNB SWM portable dish set up when we're away from our normal building mounted dish we will not have the Whole House system working.

With respect to wiring...we have the H24 DVR set up in the front of the coach connected to the dish through a splitter and connected to a 32" 1080P HDTV via HDMI. The other side of the splitter goes back to the bedroom on the standard coax that came installed in the motorhome. That's connected to an H24 (non DVR) receiver located in the bedroom and connected to a 1080P (24") HDTV via an HDMI cable. There's no problem getting HD in the bedroom, the receiver recognizes it over the coax just fine and sets the proper resolution.

On our system a single coax cable comes from the dish and connects to a power inserter (small black box). Then a single coax cable runs from the outlet on the power inserter to the 2-way splitter. One output of the splitter runs to the H24 DVR in the front of the motorhome, the second output of the splitter runs to the rear H24 via the motorhome's standard coax. It all works great.

I'm not sure what changes would need to be made if you don't have SWM (since it's all we've had) but you can get an HD signal over coax to the rear of the coach if you have it in the front and can split it.

Confusing I know but hope it helps.

Les
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Old 04-06-2011, 09:00 PM   #16
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Hi,


I'm not sure what changes would need to be made if you don't have SWM (since it's all we've had) but you can get an HD signal over coax to the rear of the coach if you have it in the front and can split it.

Confusing I know but hope it helps.

Les
Just a point of clarification... I think the "spliters" they use are actually multi switches. I don't believe regular coax splitters will work. Also, getting HD to the rear of the coach is usually only a problem if it's run through the video switch boxes which are common on many coaches but I don't think pass an HD signal. And, it does require that a receiver be located in the bedroom dedicated to that TV.

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Old 04-06-2011, 09:38 PM   #17
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We have been using the same Direct TV HD DVR box in our house and motor home / we move the box when we move from our house to the MH - for about 10 months now. I saw the ad that is in Motor home magazine every month for doing just that and I called and ordered it. We could not be happier. The Direct TV HD DVR and dish was installed in our house for free. It replaced cable. The Direct works better.

The people that sold us the service also sent us a free portable dish that we have never used. Still in the box. We ordered a MotoSat HD TV automatic sat for the top of our bus and it works great. Matches our MotoSat internet dish. I like the blue lights too BTW.

When I log on to our service on the Direct TV web site I notice our service is marked down as "mobile". The first time or two it took me a little bit of time to move the box, now it works great.

As said before you only need an internet connection if you want the on demand internet feature. If you want to an alternative way to have video on demand in your motor home is to just go to the web site and sign up for a movie on demand and Direct will deliver it to your box in the motor home. You can do that on a smart phone.
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Old 04-06-2011, 11:29 PM   #18
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Just for the record, Whole Home doesn't require a SWM system. DTV wants you to use SWM for their convenience because they want to use your existing coax for networking the receivers. You can do the same thing with your own network using the receivers ethernet port. DTV just wont support the network.

I have been using the ethernet network since Whole Home was in beta and it still works great. You may have to make several calls to find an agent that can/will turn it on for you.

The dish that you use doesn't affect the network in any way. All that you have to have is receivers and DVR's that support WH.

An internet connection is not necessary unless you want to access on demand programming.
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Old 04-07-2011, 11:03 AM   #19
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Care to enlighten us why it's not true? The OP is discussing receiving DirecTv HD signals. How can they be obtained without an HD dish?

Of course, OTA HD signals are available via the batwing but that's not the topic of the post.

rick
His statement was "Can't answer your question, but don't forget that if you want to watch HD, you have to have a HD antenna or antenna system."

The only implication from that is he is talking about OTA signals. OTA sigs, whether digital or analog are received just fine with the batwing. Same with a dish. The dish cares not one whit whether the signal is digital or analog although all sigs from the sats are digital AFAIK.
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Old 04-07-2011, 11:16 AM   #20
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I love it when someone makes a statement such as you have with not explanation. Unlike you, I'm open to admit that I can be wrong. Would you mind explaining how you can watch HD TV without a HD antenna? Maybe I can use your explanation in a future situation where my HD antenna system can't work.
I guess I am wrong. I submit to your superior technical expertise. Sorry. I believe my problem is in the terminology. What is an HD antenna?

BTW, you made a declarative statement without explanation also.
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Old 04-07-2011, 02:14 PM   #21
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I guess I am wrong. I submit to your superior technical expertise. Sorry. I believe my problem is in the terminology. What is an HD antenna?

BTW, you made a declarative statement without explanation also.
Rather than getting in a urinating contest, which was not my intention, all I was trying to say was that - to my limited knowledge - you have to have an antenna that is capable of receiving satellite signals, sending them to a HD receiver and then on to the TV. Without the capability to take signals and process them into HD somewhere, somehow, one cannot watch TV in a HD mode.

At this point I'm not sure if you're pulling my leg or not. However, I choose to think that you are serious and don't understand about a HD system. I'm not talking about the signal, rather the ability to process a signal and convert it from SD to HD. My old antenna system, a roof mounted AS-2003 would only allow me to watch SD, not HD.

While not an expert, I do like to watch HD over SD and what little knowledge I have on the topic I just imparted. If you know of another way to do it, I truly would be interested. FWIW, I have DirecTv.
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Old 04-07-2011, 02:36 PM   #22
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The one thing I have learned about whole home is that DirecTV doesn't want anyone to know how it is set up. When you talk to them all you ever can get is "we will come out and install it for you for $199.00.
I am currently at my daughter's house and she has whole home. I have written down her complete configuration and it seems I now know what I need.
I have the SWM system in my 5er and all I need for my two receivers is two DECA units, one filter and call DirecTV to turn it on.
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Old 04-08-2011, 09:37 AM   #23
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Rather than getting in a urinating contest, which was not my intention, all I was trying to say was that - to my limited knowledge - you have to have an antenna that is capable of receiving satellite signals, sending them to a HD receiver and then on to the TV. Without the capability to take signals and process them into HD somewhere, somehow, one cannot watch TV in a HD mode.

At this point I'm not sure if you're pulling my leg or not. However, I choose to think that you are serious and don't understand about a HD system. I'm not talking about the signal, rather the ability to process a signal and convert it from SD to HD. My old antenna system, a roof mounted AS-2003 would only allow me to watch SD, not HD.

While not an expert, I do like to watch HD over SD and what little knowledge I have on the topic I just imparted. If you know of another way to do it, I truly would be interested. FWIW, I have DirecTv.
WRT antennas, a signal is a signal is a signal. The box is the thing that takes the signal and converts it to something to watch. I am not used to having a dish referred to as an antenna even though in the strictest sense it is. That was my confusion. I, admittedly, do not know much about HD. But, it acts the same as any other signal when received.
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Old 04-08-2011, 06:31 PM   #24
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WRT antennas, a signal is a signal is a signal. The box is the thing that takes the signal and converts it to something to watch. I am not used to having a dish referred to as an antenna even though in the strictest sense it is. That was my confusion. I, admittedly, do not know much about HD. But, it acts the same as any other signal when received.
For Over-the-Air signals, there is no such thing as a HD antenna. There are antenna enhancers, which help pick up UHF signals on the batwing antenna (Winegard Wingman). But your original antenna on your RV should work fine picking up HD signals, as there is no difference in how HD signals are transmitted vs. the old analog signals.

Satellite signals is another issue. You do need an HD satellite dish for most applications, specifically when you are using DirecTV. This is due to the satellite being used to broadcast the HD signal, which for DirecTV is a different satellite than for the standard channels. Most dome antennas will not receive HD for DirecTV. Some will receive HD on Dish Network, but have to 'move' to see the HD satellite.

The issue is the satellite providers use several satellites to broadcast standard programming, local programming, and HD programming. Therefore the dish must 'see' several satellites at the same time. A round single LNB dish can only see 1 satellite at a time. HD satellite antennas see several satellites at the same time.

To receive satellite signals from all the satellites including HD at the same time, the best satellite antenna is the Winegard Travler series. Different dish for Dish vs. DirecTV.
Gets a little complicated when discussing satellite HD vs OTA HD.
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Old 04-09-2011, 07:01 AM   #25
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For Over-the-Air signals, there is no such thing as a HD antenna. There are antenna enhancers, which help pick up UHF signals on the batwing antenna (Winegard Wingman). But your original antenna on your RV should work fine picking up HD signals, as there is no difference in how HD signals are transmitted vs. the old analog signals.

Satellite signals is another issue. You do need an HD satellite dish for most applications, specifically when you are using DirecTV. This is due to the satellite being used to broadcast the HD signal, which for DirecTV is a different satellite than for the standard channels. Most dome antennas will not receive HD for DirecTV. Some will receive HD on Dish Network, but have to 'move' to see the HD satellite.

The issue is the satellite providers use several satellites to broadcast standard programming, local programming, and HD programming. Therefore the dish must 'see' several satellites at the same time. A round single LNB dish can only see 1 satellite at a time. HD satellite antennas see several satellites at the same time.

To receive satellite signals from all the satellites including HD at the same time, the best satellite antenna is the Winegard Travler series. Different dish for Dish vs. DirecTV.
Gets a little complicated when discussing satellite HD vs OTA HD.
Since we are on the topic, why don't we go to the next step and explain to those of us who don't understand how one acquires OTA HD. Since I have always had satellite reception I haven't had to worry about it. However, there may be times (in the trees, etc) where the satellite antenna won't work and I'd need an alternative. What would I have to do/buy to be able to receive OTA HD TV?
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Old 04-09-2011, 07:14 AM   #26
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Since we are on the topic, why don't we go to the next step and explain to those of us who don't understand how one acquires OTA HD. Since I have always had satellite reception I haven't had to worry about it. However, there may be times (in the trees, etc) where the satellite antenna won't work and I'd need an alternative. What would I have to do/buy to be able to receive OTA HD TV?
You probably already have that capability if you have a Bat-Wing antenna which is pretty much standard on most RVs.

That antenna will receive the OTA HD and SD digital signals just as it received the old SD analog signals.

The HD/digital signals can be harder to receive as some OTA stations reduced the transmitter power when going digital.

All OTA HD is digital, but not all OTA digital is HD.
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Old 04-09-2011, 08:44 AM   #27
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You probably already have that capability if you have a Bat-Wing antenna which is pretty much standard on most RVs.

That antenna will receive the OTA HD and SD digital signals just as it received the old SD analog signals.

The HD/digital signals can be harder to receive as some OTA stations reduced the transmitter power when going digital.

All OTA HD is digital, but not all OTA digital is HD.
Ok, but won't I need a converter of some sort or will the batwing by itself enable me to watch HD TV?
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Old 04-09-2011, 09:18 AM   #28
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Ok, but won't I need a converter of some sort or will the batwing by itself enable me to watch HD TV?
If you hane and HDMI TV then all you need is to set your tv to receive air. OTA.

You should be able to receive may channels.


But now if you have only the older type tv then you will need a converter box that will change it to HD.

We jusy change out our old tv's to HDMI LCD.

From that point. select air and just plug and play.
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