Satellite Dome vs. Portable dish vs. Cable

[michguy]

We're green as grass newbies. We're buying a Diesel Pusher that does not have a Satellite TV System. We are not big TV watchers, but do like to watch occasionally. Do most Campgrounds have good Cable feeds available? I've seen the Portable Satellite dishes available for less than $200.00 vs. the Rooftop Domes for $700.00 and up. Are the Portables any good? Do I need to subscribe to something like Dish Network or the like?
Michguy

[UFO Pilot]

A majority of the RV Parks that we visit have cable, some very good service, some pretty bad. Our batwing antenna does a great job in urban areas. A crank up dish will give you satellite service and is probably the cheapest way if you want a permanent installation. I see people with a dish mounted on a tripod that get good reception also.

If you decide on a satellite service, you will have to subscribe and get a receiver. If you don't already have satellite at home I would check out the month to month service now offered by DISH.

[AFChap]

Portable dishes work pretty much as well of the automatic dishes. The difference is that you have to manually aim them, and stabilize/tie down the tripod so it won't fall over, etc. You do need to subscribe to Dish, DirectTV, etc for service.

When I got Dish Network for my motorhome they provided a dual-LNB portable dish at no charge. I believe DirectTV would provide a dish also. The vendor also had a very tall tripod, but I bought a short tripod from an RV dealer as it was easier to store/transport/stabilize in RV parks, etc.

We have a "dual" Dish receiver that provides output for two TVs. One is controlled with an IR remote (line of sight) and the other with an RF remote (goes through walls). This is the same receiver one of my sons has in his house. We do not subscribe to the "distant local feeds" option. If we want local channels/basic networks and are outside our home area we normally just use the roof top antenna, or we use the RV park CATV if they have it.

If you aren't big TV watchers, using the rooftop antenna should fill your needs. You need either a digital TV, or a digital converter box with the older analog TVs. In some locations you will have limited channel options, but unless you boondock in remote places you will likely always have at least a couple of channels. We added a "wingman" to our basic Winegard antenna which helps some in pulling in channels.

[Tha_Rooster]

It's mainly convenience unless your under trees, then you'll wish you had the cheaper tripod dish and a long wire.

[Izzyblueye]

Been using a remote tri-pod mounted dish for a long time. You can get them easily for $0.00 to $20.00 almost anywhere. Check with TV installers they usually have a bunch of them. I got mine at a garage sale for a buck.

[SpursMVP]

My experience was to use the portable tri-pod at first, but we later switched to the winegard portable that sits on the ground. Cost me $100. This version isn't as tall and doesn't tip over in the wind like the tripod rig.

Later upgraded to the roof mount manual system.



Good luck!

[Izzyblueye]

I understand what you are saying, but there is no way my tripod is going to tip over. It is tied to the Earth through a turnbuckle to a dog stake. Kids have ran into it in the past and never knocked it off target. Sure wish people would keep their kids on their lot or at least off mine.

[LindaH]

Quote:

Originally Posted by michguy Do most Campgrounds have good Cable feeds available?

I don't know about "most" RV parks, but we've been to many that don't have cable available (like where we spend the winters).

Of those that do have cable, our experience, for the most part, has been dismal...poor picture and limited channels available.

Besides these, one of the things I don't like about cable (which would also apply to over-the-air), is that when we arrive in a new place, I have to spend the first half hour or so going through all the channels and writing down which channels are which (the listing of cable TV stations in the RV park's brochure, should it exist, is very often not current). Even once I figure out which channels are which, because I don't have a TV guide, I don't know what comes on when. For example, we're big Jeopardy fans. Since Jeopardy is a syndicated show, it can appear at any time during the day on any of the major network stations.

All of the above is one of the reasons we have satellite TV (not to mention the fact that most of our camping is boondocking, so we don't have the choice of cable and/or over-the-air reception). With satellite TV, I know what comes on where and when, plus I have a TV Guide to show me what's coming up.

Having said all of that, since by your own admission, you aren't big TV watchers, you might give cable and over-the-air reception a try before spending any money on satellite TV.

Quote:

I've seen the Portable Satellite dishes available for less than $200.00 vs. the Rooftop Domes for $700.00 and up. Are the Portables any good? Do I need to subscribe to something like Dish Network or the like?

The portable dishes work just fine. There are two types of portables: the open faced dishes with either one LNB or multiple LNBs, and domes such as the Winegard Carryout and the VuQube.

Which dish/dome you get will, in great part, depend on which satellite service you decide to go with (and, yes, you will need a subscription either with Dish Network or DirecTV) and what type of service you want. For example, if you're interested in HD programming, then you can't get any type of dome with DirecTV.

If you decide to go with satellite TV, you might want to consider signing up with Dish Network's pay-as-you-go plan. This plan entails no long-term commitments...you simply pay month by month and don't pay for the months when you're not using it. You do need a special receiver, though...not just any receiver will work.

[tcopeland]

Direct TV does not work with a dome auto-sat system?

[deandec]

We use an in-motion dome with Direct TV. We do not receive HDTV from the dome.

When the Dome cannot see the Sat, I set up a portable dish on a low tripod. Height of the tripod is not a factor. (Search for homemade PVC tripods on the internet.)

We like the Satellite service because our TV guide and channel lineup travels wherever we go. Home local channels are received for about 350 miles from home.

We depend on the OTA antenna or the campground cable for local info.

Our mobile Sat service only costs $60 per year, because we have Sat service at home and use one of the receivers from home that is a $5 per month additional fee.

DW gets her soaps and we both get the news and sports events we like to watch. Once a year HBO even has a movie we might watch or we can buy a pay-per-view movie from Direct TV.

[wa8yxm]

Dome In-motion type, can see ONE satellite at a time however some of them can swich rapidely from bird to bird,, good for recording shows as you drive for later wtching.

Dome-Stationary or Rooftop DISH, Dishes are matched to the service you have so they can see 1-2-3 birds at a time, This allows you to use two (or more) receivers or one (or more DVR's or a combination of both to record and watch multiple shows at one time, More on DVR's in a bit. With a dome you can only do this if you subscribe to DirecTV (not DirecHDTV)

In all cases domes and roof mounted dishes (All roof mounts) suffer from "The evil signal eating tree" issue.. Park under on and there is NO SIGNAL (or in the shadow of the signal blocking building)

Ground mounted (tripod) dishes, again matched to the service so multiple receivers/dvr's not an issue. These can often be set up to 100' from the motor home / trailer and thus escape the shadow of the tree or building.

Domes works best with DirecTV (NOTE HD) No dome works with DirecHDTV at this time, Some domes will work with DISNETEORK both HD and standard but only with a single receiver.

DVR's Dish network's DVR allows you to record up to two shows at a time and to watch up to two shows at a time,, The shows can be watched LIVE or recorded, one on each of two TV's (Or you can record while watching but you can only Receive 2 at a time and you can only view 2 at a time per dvr.

DirecTV's also allows you to record two at a time but can only play one at a time. (They told me it could do two but they lied)

CABLE TV: only some parks offer it.

DVR #2; i now use a pair or stand alone DVR's.. The ones I use are no longer made but a TiVo series 3 or newer should do everything they do if not more.

[JimM68]

On air is mostly impossible. Modern UHF digital signals are highyl directional and don't travel very far. you have to know where to point the antenna, then go thru the 10 minute "channel setup" and then check and see if you have anything. Then turn the antenna 10 degrees and do it again...

Campground cable has always worked good for us, but no where near enough campgrounds have cable.

Our new rig has an auto-acquire dome, and I'll be looking into a subscription / reciever plan. We've always had cable in the stick house, so i know nothing about it.

[michguy]

Thanks to all of you. Great information. I think we'll start out with just our antenna and the cable hookups.

[LindaH]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tcopeland Direct TV does not work with a dome auto-sat system?

Not if you want HD programming with DirecTV. There is currently no dome available for RVs that is capable of receiving DirecTV's HD programming.

If all you are interested in is SD programming, then a dome will work just fine with DirecTV.