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Old 11-19-2013, 07:27 AM   #1
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Looking to upgrade my SAT system need opinions

Next year we will spend 3-4 months in MH and we want SAT TV simplified. My current system:
  • old style winegard crank up antenna, single LNB
  • VP211 receiver on Dish
  • Blueray
  • 2 HD TV's
I have Direct TV at the house but was unsuccessful trying to move a receiver to the MH. I think it would be easier to switch to DTV in MH.

What antenna setup would be good for DTV?
How hard is it to replace the roof antenna with something more automatic? I will do the work myself.
I think I prefer the antenna to be a roof top unit.

ALL OPINIONS WELCOME
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Old 11-19-2013, 07:38 AM   #2
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I just installed the Trav'ler. Really a no brainer. I took about 3 hours from start to finish. If you use the new Genie wireless, you will have HD to your second TV. Since they connect with HDMI you can still hook up the cable to the TV and have all your OFF Air and Cable available. The Bluray is more difficult for both TV's off of one player.

Good Luck!
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Old 11-19-2013, 08:24 AM   #3
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Get the SWM3 Trav'ler and use one of the receivers from your house. You'll need to make sure it's an SWM capable receiver, so it's possible you'll need to upgrade them.
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Old 11-19-2013, 09:04 AM   #4
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I installed the Winegard Travler 1000 on my MH and love it. One button and soon all 3 satellites are tuned in. Then Dish installed the Hopper and Joey system in the house and I had them install another Hoper and Joey in the MH. They did all the work and now I have HD TV in the front and in the bedroom in the MH. The system comes with Radio Frequency remotes that work with out pointing at the receiver. They work great while laying in bed. That is the best way to watch TV I have ever seen. I also got the Over the Air dongle to get locals when ever we are traveling, I had no idea how many channels are on over the air....

Dave
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Old 11-19-2013, 01:41 PM   #5
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We have a Trav'ler with a DirecTV HR44 Genie. The ability to record 5 channels at once completely eliminates recording conflicts. It can be used with the wireless C41 MiniGenie to provide additional TV's access to materials recorded on the Genie or any other channel you wish to watch.
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Old 11-19-2013, 03:57 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rockcrawler View Post
Next year we will spend 3-4 months in MH and we want SAT TV simplified.
Given the limited time (3-4 months), you might want to look at using a DISH Tailgater and Pay As You Go. This gives you HD for one TV and if you have a 211k (not a 211z), you can connect your other TV to the 211.

If you go with a rooftop Travler, it will cost significantly more, but gives you a much better system.

I've installed two Travlers and the toughest part is getting the thing up on the roof.
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Old 11-20-2013, 04:51 AM   #7
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Thanks for all the input!! It appears I should start shopping for a Traveler. Is there any model to look for ? Like 1000 or 2000, or just Traveler? I cant wait to simplify this.
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Old 11-20-2013, 05:24 AM   #8
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Originally Posted by Rockcrawler View Post
Thanks for all the input!! It appears I should start shopping for a Traveler. Is there any model to look for ? Like 1000 or 2000, or just Traveler? I cant wait to simplify this.
SK-1000 for Dish, SK-SWM3 for DirecTV.
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Old 11-20-2013, 06:40 AM   #9
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The previous owner had installed a Moto-Sat HD at the mid-ship point set up for Dish. We decided we would rather have Direct TV but couldn't get the parts to swap out the horn assembly. It was also not directly compatible with SWM receivers without additional hardware. For the most part the SWM-8 adapters work very well but in some cases they can interfere with satellite aiming. Moto-Sat went out of business last year. We opted to replace it all.

Back in May we had the Moto-Sat removed and the RV-Mogul RFM-4100 SWM system (Mobile Satellite Systems, Internet, SNG, VSAT, TV) installed and moved the satellite dish up to the front of the coach. We teamed that up with the DirecTV Genie (DIRECTV Genie - The Most Advanced Whole Home HD DVR)

Currently we have the Genie in the entertainment center and a client in the bedroom. From the Genie client we connect our main TV to it via an HDMI splitter that also feeds our headbanger up front and the outside TV. You get one RF remote with the Genie and 1 IR for each client but we opted to pay about $30 to upgrade the client remote to an RF which allows the client box to be in an enclosed cabinet.

We were happy with Dish when we had a S&B but they just didn't seem to want our business as an RV only customer. So far DircTV has been great to work with and we are in the process of applying for DNS service (https://support.directv.com/app/answ...tail/a_id/2626) (east or west coast feeds based on your account address time zone) so that we can set our recorder to save our favorite shows without dealing with local channel settings. I think that cost about $10 extra a month.

As for Genie we are also very happy with the equipment. 5 channels can be recorded or watched at the same time. The client uses much less power than a second receiver like we had with Dish. Now...I will tell you that the main receiver uses about 10A all the time. If you like to keep it running to record as much as we do that means 10A 24/7 so it will be an issue if you boondock a lot without sufficient solar power. However, I don't see much more power usage with the client box turned on. You can unplug the client box without affecting recordings. It does take a couple minutes for the client to sync up with the receiver after you power it up.

Also...DirecTV is very easy to change your "installation location" so you get the local channels. This is over and above the DNS. If you will be in a certain area for a few days or longer you call them up, change the installation location and shortly later you will be receiving those local channels. So, when we relocate to Alamo, TX for the winter we will call them and get all those channels on top of DNS. You can change your installation address as often as you like.

BTW...the owners of RF Mogul were the engineers at Moto-Sat. Moto-Sat HD was a great device but it appears the folks running the business side made some business plan errors. I hope RFM is around for a long time. The folks there are great to work with.
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Old 11-20-2013, 06:52 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by Rockcrawler View Post
Thanks for all the input!! It appears I should start shopping for a Traveler. Is there any model to look for ? Like 1000 or 2000, or just Traveler? I cant wait to simplify this.
The Trav'ler for Dish is the SK-1000
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Old 11-20-2013, 02:18 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rockcrawler View Post
Next year we will spend 3-4 months in MH and we want SAT TV simplified. My current system:
  • old style winegard crank up antenna, single LNB
  • VP211 receiver on Dish
  • Blueray
  • 2 HD TV's
I have Direct TV at the house but was unsuccessful trying to move a receiver to the MH. I think it would be easier to switch to DTV in MH.

What antenna setup would be good for DTV?
How hard is it to replace the roof antenna with something more automatic? I will do the work myself.
I think I prefer the antenna to be a roof top unit.

ALL OPINIONS WELCOME
A lot depends on whether you will have clear line-of-sight to the satellites while parked. If you do, then there are a lot of options which I suspect you will get replies here.

If you will be in tall tree country (or any tree that blocks you from the satellites you need to reach), then a portable antenna may be needed or as a backup. Most of the sites I go camping here in East Texas (piney woods), it would be just about impossible to get all 3 satellites (Dish) with a roof mounted anything. Even with my tripod setup, it is not always easy to get the 129 sat. as it is lower on the horizon than the others and it has almost all the HD channels we watch.

My setup was acquired from RV4TV.com. The tripod is aluminum engineer's grade with a custom top mount for the satellite dish. I also have the Western Arc (WA) Dish antenna which is a little larger than the old one and gets much better reception of the sats. and is easier to lock them in.

If you want more automation, then maybe a Dish Tailgater would be a good choice.

When you use the abbreviation DTV, I don't know if you mean Dish Network or Direct TV. You say you have Direct at home but a 211K for the MH. I'm not sure which way you really want to go with the MH.

I have a 211k and 2 VIP722's. I can take either the 211k or the 722. If I take the 722, I have to call to activate it as I only use it when camping. The hard drive just went out on it (I own this 722), so I took the 211k last week with an external hard drive attached. So that works too. You can't get HD on 2 TVs with either of these receivers. The primary TV will be HD and the other SD. The Hopper would do it but that is a completely different 'animal'.

Hope this helps.

John
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Old 11-20-2013, 02:40 PM   #12
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You can't get HD on 2 TVs with either of these receivers (211k and 722). The primary TV will be HD and the other SD. The Hopper would do it but that is a completely different 'animal'.
Hopper is a simpler solution to wire in an RV, but I can't imagine OP installing one for just 3-4 months use when he already has DISH receivers.
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Old 11-21-2013, 07:34 AM   #13
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If you are already using DirecTV at home, It is very very easy to take a receiver from home and use it in the motorhome, especially if you use the Travler antenna. You most likely won't even have the change any configuration in the recevier. (This is not a cast in stone rule. There are several different antenna configurations used by DirecTV for home installations, although 95% are the same.)

If you want HD the Travler is your only option for DirecTV.

If Standard Def is what you want, then the portable Carryout, or Answer antennas work great with DirecTV, but you will definitely have to make changes to the receiver config when you move from house to RV.

I'm almost always available to help guide you to the right product....

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Old 11-21-2013, 11:17 AM   #14
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If you want HD the Travler is your only option for DirecTV.
That's not true. Portable multi-LNB dishes can be used to acquire DirecTV HD (as well as DISH). But they're just not automatic.
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