Satellite Question

[minnie fan]

My wife and I are new to RV'ing and I have a question regarding using a Direct TV dish. We got a new DVR for our home and have the box it replaced, which is still usable. If I buy a RV portable kit (dish/stand/cable/locator meter), can I just hook up the old box to the kit and have TV in the RV? I have heard that I can but would like to verify if that is correct. Thanks in advance.

[texnet]

You will need to contact Directv and have them activate the receiver. If you activate it as a 2nd receiver on your home account then the normal charge is about $5.00 per month.

[whodoc]

If you are still paying a $6.00 monthly fee for that box it will work.
Why not take your new DVR box so you can record also?
We did that and loved the option to record and watch recorded TV.
You also would be taking all your recorded shows from home with you
Mark

[LVJ58]

If your original receiver has the "smart" card in it and DTV hasn't deactivated it you should be able to use it. Normally there's a $5 monthly charge for the extra receiver.

We have an HD receiver in our house and a standard receiver in our coach and we pay the $5 monthly charge.

You can set it up and see if it works, if not call DTV and tell them you want to activate your old receiver for use.

Hopefully they will do it for you.

Good luck

[Bill M]

Yes you can, but Directv will need to know you're now running 2 receivers. They charge $5 more per month for the additional receiver.

Directv is friendly to RV'ers and often have specials where they will send you a free dish for the RV as long as you have an account for a home too.

Hope this helps,
Enjoy the RV

Bill

[historyljc]

minnie fan welcome to the forum. I've found the if Direct or Dish can make a few coins they can be very accomodating and helpful. We have two receivers in the house and one full time in the coach. The ones in the house are to hard to remove and install in the coach when we wish to go someplace in it. It's a lot easier and worthwhile to just pay the small monthly fee on the extra box.

[RV Wizard]

Be sure to not wire the satellite cable through the park cable input but directly to the receiver through a satellite input.

[wa8yxm]

One of the things they have not mentioned... And how much of a problem this will be I do not know.

Network Affilates (CBS, NBC, ABC, FOX, et-al) tend to be "Spot Beamed" (Think of a spot light shining on your house from outer space) If you camp outside the "Spot" you will be "In the dark" as far as these stations are concerned.

NOW.. Modern DirecTV recievers have a built in ATSC (Digital Over the Air TV) receiver so you MIGHT, and I stress MIGHT, be able to pick up your network shows locally.

The Cable/Sat stations like Halmark, TNT, TMC, Speed, and the like (Far too many to list) this won't be an issue.

Oh, the solution.. Scrap the home account (In 2 years) and get and RV account.. Same receivers, only now you qualify for Distant Network Service.

[minnie fan]

Thanks everyone for your inputs, very informative and helpful. When we got the new DVR we had a box that has a recorder. The company was supposed to send a box to return it but never did. We called them and they said to "scrap" it. NO-NO, knew we would be makeing this upcoming cross country trip and back and getting a mobile dish. SO, maybe they did not "kill" the old box, I will hook it up and see. Again, thanks to all for you insight.

[1stCougar]

To make the dvr work don't you need two lines coming from
your dish?

[minnie fan]

I'm not sure. I will look at our setup when I get home tonight. I work in communications on an Air Force Base so getting cable and connectors is not a problem if that is the case. We have a TV/Video section.

[hamguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by RV Wizard Be sure to not wire the satellite cable through the park cable input but directly to the receiver through a satellite input.

I recently tried to route the second LNB output from my KVH Tracker to the "AUX" input on the VCC. I spent hours trying to understand why it didn't work. I measured the ~13VDC control voltage at the aux input but no further.

Then I thought there was a DC blocking cap in the VCC box. I took the VCC box out and dropped the bottom cover. Wow, I have seen less circuitry in a Ham Xcvr.

So, that 'splained the fact that the control voltage wasn't getting to the dish.

My cure is to put an A-B switch in the line to route the coax from the rear TV to either the LNB feed or the TV2 output on the VCC.

[raceguy549]

Quote:

Originally Posted by larcougar To make the dvr work don't you need two lines coming from your dish?

You only need 2 inputs if you are trying to watch live tv on one channel and record from another channel at the same time. Otherwise, it works just fine. Hope this helps.

[hamguy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by raceguy549 You only need 2 inputs if you are trying to watch live tv on one channel and record from another channel at the same time. Otherwise, it works just fine. Hope this helps.

I use a standard DVD Recorder, not one from Dish or, in my case, Direct TV. I run one set of Red/White/Yellow cables from the Sat rcvr to the TV set and another set of R/W/Y to a RF Modulator and then to the DVD Recorder. The I must have the TV and set to what II want to record but in my style, that is ok. E.g., I like to record old movies to DVD and save them for later enjoyment.