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Old 04-07-2018, 09:06 AM   #1
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What is the best satellite dish for Class A

I’m thinking of adding a satellite dish to our motorhome. We have a 32’ Gulfstream and curious about what you may have and how well does it work for you. Not sure best route, in motion, if so what type and do they really work good? Portable dish, if so which is the best? I’d like to stay below $1,200.

As far as a provider goes which one is the best? At home we do not have a dish for viewing tv.

Any advice would be helpful.

Thank you in advance.
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Old 04-07-2018, 09:26 AM   #2
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Well best I guess is a matter of choice and everyone has different means and requirements. A few years ago I saw an article in one of the MH magazines that compared each brand. This would be good for you to read. Unfortunately I don't recall the issue or name of the publication, maybe someone else does. I my case I have a roof mounted dish with HD service and wired for two TV's. I can go to three TV's but I have no need for one more. The reason I decided to go with dish was the pay per month rather then a long contract. The other reason for the roof mounted was so I didn't have to be concerned about anyone disturbing a stand alone unit. Also while traveling when we stop to eat I can at the push of a button lock into a satellite and watch the news or what ever. While camping in Florida (snow birds) we had a couple of thunderstorms which knocked out the satellite TV for about 15 minutes. A friend of mine uses the same service and has his dish mounted on his ladder. His family only camps out on the weekends and so far everything is ok. I hope you find what you're looking for. I prefer the satellite dish over campground cable or over the air TV. Last with the dish mounted on my roof I do have to make sure I have a good line of site to the sky. Any trees or other structures will block the signal. So far this hasn't been too big a deal but you do need to consider it.
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Old 04-07-2018, 09:30 AM   #3
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Mine is a in motion dish Direct TV. Straight and level not to bad. Up and down plus left and right reception is bad. Not worth it to me. My handicap son doesn't like the in motion. Prefer to watch a DVD. About every 200 miles or so I have to call Direct TV to have them update your receiver. So we don't use the direct TV till we are going to be stationary for some time. I also loose my local channels once I leave the Southwest area. That's because you are getting a different satellite and it doesn't carry your local channels. I like it once we get where going. Hope this information helps.
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Old 04-07-2018, 09:36 AM   #4
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I like the RF Mogul open dish. Very quick acquisition and reliable, plus, if ever needed, you can get parts rather than having to send the unit in like Winegard requires on some repairs. However, it's not within the OP's budget.
I've had Direct at home for years and never had any real problems other than a couple receivers quit working. A call to their service and next day a new unit is delivered.
Am considering changing to Dish as they seem to welcome RV's and Direct doesn't
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Old 04-07-2018, 09:44 AM   #5
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There are trade offs with each type antenna and you also have to consider which service provider has the optimum package that suits your viewing needs and compatibility with available antennas.

Starting at the top of the cost list -
Traveler Style Antenna - Roof mounted, automatic satellite seeking antenna. Full compatibility with both Dish and Direct service providers. Will support multiple receivers on different channels. Stationary use only and will require a clear line of site to the satellites from where the coach is parked.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AXXEL5Y...=2294811330701

Roof Mounted Dome Antenna - Several manufactures. Auto satellite seeking, in motion models fully compatible with Dish, limitations with Direct TV. Possible channel limitations with multiple receivers. Will require a clear line of site to the satellites from where the coach is parked.
https://www.amazon.com/Winegard-RT20...W?ref=ast_p_ep

Portable Dome Antenna - Many similarities to the roof dome antenna. Can't be used while in motion but placement options when parked to find a clear line of site.
https://www.amazon.com/Winegard-PA-1...E?ref=ast_p_ep
https://www.amazon.com/KING-VQ2510-T...satellite+dish

Ground Mounted Repurposed Residential Antenna - Very inexpensive (couple of dollars at garage sales or re-stores). Fully compatible with service provider. Supports multiple receivers. Options regarding finding a clear line of site. Aiming to acquire multiple satellites is an art that some never master.
https://www.amazon.com/Dish-Network-...70_&dpSrc=srch

I never mastered the art of aiming and a lot of our outings are in wooded areas which limits a roof mount use. Have a portable dome that when not in use I store in the shower. Also have a roll of 100' of coax and power cable which gives me a lot of options to find a hole in the trees. Service is from Dish with a "Pay As You Go" account which ran $45 a month for basic service and a few extra movie channels the last time I had it turned on.
https://www.dish.com/
https://www.dish.com/programming/pac...pay-as-you-go/
https://www.directv.com/

Last owner installed a roof mount in motion antenna. Tried using it a few times while going down the road. Most of our travels are the east coast mid atlantic. Lots of trees and hills to block the line of site more often then when it was clear. Probably works great on the Great Plains.
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Old 04-07-2018, 09:59 AM   #6
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What is the best satellite dish for Class A

The best for reception and ease of use also hd signal for direct would be a the Winegard traveler or RF mogul ... least amount of “rain fade” the big problem is parking under a tree blocking the dish ( not much of a problem for us)
I’d forget the inmotions personally . No need to watch or record while moving and kids don’t watch tv they watch videos on the internet
All portables allow you to avoid trees by moving the dish but have only a single lnb seeing only 1 satellite at a time and both dish and direct use 3 .. when you change Channels the lnb May have to re aim blocking 2 or more independent tuners from operating independently
Also Direct won’t let you get HD picture with any of the single lnb portable dishes
The ideal situation is a fixed dish on the roof with a portable back up however
For your use case I’d get a portable on dish network and be well under 1200

A dish pathway x2 for $400 can see both the eastern 3 and western 3 satellites and move between them as needed nice if you travel in both east and west .
Dish is more RV friendly in my opinion , pay as you go option and a smooth ability to change locals via chat
Lots of options and opinions but all work ok for the most part good luck!
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Old 04-07-2018, 10:22 AM   #7
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I use a home dish antenna and tripod. Takes about 10 minutes to set up and aim.. These can be had for about $100..

When we head west for the winter (or other trips) we take our home receiver with us. Its bought and paid for, and no-ones at home to watch it anyway..

Using our home Dishnet VIP222 receiver while on the road – 1999 Southwind 35S

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Old 04-07-2018, 11:07 AM   #8
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My satellite TV is important to me, so I chose to go with the roof mounted Winegard Traveler and DirecTV. Like others have mentioned, it is auto-seeking and provides HD channels. It is also the most expensive on the market at $1,500-$2,000. I have had this system almost five years now and I am very pleased with it.
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Old 04-07-2018, 11:57 AM   #9
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I have had several, my first coach was a 32 foot Fleetwood and I could get into almost any camp sight. For that reason I chose the Dish King Dome, Tailgater. I put it on my roof and at times when I felt the area was safe from thieves, I put it on a table or self-made stand. It worked great, Dish has more HDTV channels than DT and slightly more user friendly as far as calling in and set up problems. One thing I learned the 2014 Fleetwood, I bought new had a nice audio system in place. Only one problem the router/switcher was a passive unit and couldn't pass a satellite signal through it. So when you put the 75ohm coax into the side of your RV, no signal. I did not want to run a cable in through a window, Not my style. So I pulled the router out and put a T connector in place. That permitted me to hook up on the outside 75ohm input and run the signal to the back of the router, hit the T connector and continued on the the TV w/o going through the passive router. Only problem, the front TV was the only tv that could see satellite. No problem for me, however an easy fix. So the Dish King Dome Tailgater is my choice for that application over DT.
Now fast forward to present time. I sold the Fleetwood and the dish went with it. Very happy camper to get the Dish. I went back in years to a 2004 Monaco Camelot DP with an old DT roof mounted, in motion dish and lots of 2004 A/V technology. Ha, including a VHS machine with no hours on it. I'll donate that to the TV museum. Don't know how old the DT is, but I just found out Dish and DT went through some tech changes in the past couple years and now I find out the in motion satellite on my roof can only see a DT non-HDTV signal for $70 a month and a 2 year, no way out contract. Rip off big time. So I am at the proverbial crossroad. Upgrade to a new roof mount by Dish satellite or buy another Tailgater by Dish, with a roof mount package. I know I don't want DT, simply don't like them. They need to improve customer service and add more HD channels before i consider them. Winegard customer service will give me a nice discount if I buy new, about $300 off for an in motion roof mount. Problem is $700 is not a bad price, but I know I will never use in motion for my family travel set up. Nobody likes riding down the road and watching tv. Makes them car sick, LOL. Thank God, it saves me money. So, I probably will go for another Tailgater by Dish. There are some new models out, and one model allows you can see the dish under the light colored plastic dome. Cool! Plus with the 38 foot coach I have now, I need some flexibility in parking and lining up to the bird at 110 degree azimuth in the southern sky. If I have a permanent mounted dish, I then have to screw around turning the coach, which is a pain in the neck. Also, with todays internet, it's completely possible to get away without a satellite (if you have access to good wifi). I realize not all sites have wifi, but a lot do and it's growing. If you're boonedocking, you're out of luck without a dish. I don't personally care, cause I would rather fish or sit around the campfire, plus there seems to be lots of RED Boxes around for movie rentals. In my house, I ditched Cable completely and went with all wifi tv, using DirecTVnow. Works great and costs a lot less. My wife watches all of her favorite shows on her Ipad through DirecTVnow, even in the coach using the Hotspot on her phone. So it can be done.
Feel free to PM me if anyone has any questions. I have quite a few years of experience dealing with satellites and AV set ups. I ran a satellite truck for network news and traveled many foreign countries setting up satellite travel packs. Plus I have been an audiophile since childhood, and sent all sorts of late 60's/70's stereo equipment back form Vietnam.
Good luck.
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Old 04-07-2018, 12:42 PM   #10
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Please keep in mind, ALL SD Direct tv dome antenna will be useless in 2 years

Direct tv is dropping SD because the satellites are running out of fuel and they won't be replaced. https://blog.solidsignal.com/news/en...nd-sd-service/
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Old 04-07-2018, 05:23 PM   #11
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Hard to say what you would want to have but here is what we have and it works quite well for us. We aren't big sports people mostly news and regular shows.

Our 2000 CC came with a motosat automatic roof mounted sat dish. It was programmed for Direct Tv and I switched it to Dish and we have dish. We don't have dish at home or dtv. Dish is pay as you go so we tried that. Ok the old motosat still works fine so we use that when traveling, nice feature. Now that is only sd which we don't care about. The sd also only gets so many channels and we miss many that are on the other satellite but get most. So, I bought a tailgator and have a switch which was already installed and a cable run to the front run compartment under drivers area. We use the tailgator when camping so we get full channels with the portable dish. Yes in some campgrounds I put it on roof so no one likes it more than I do. I feel this is the best of both worlds for the price.

We also can take the tailgator out from the coach if there are trees. I think I paid 349.00 for it and now they may be less. Not bad for an automatic dish that is basic. It does have two outputs so you can watch two separate channels at same time as long as you are on same satellite but, we don't have an issue with that.
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Old 04-07-2018, 05:57 PM   #12
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Like Funjnt, my 1999 CC also had an old dish the was not HD compatible. I also replaced it with the $349 gray Dish Tailgator, dual output & came with a free receiver. Got the roof mount kit that allows you to easily remove it and use it on the ground in case I am blocked by trees. It only costs $7 a month to add it to my home Dish service​. Added a portable hard drive to the receiver so I still have DVR to record my shows. So far, it works really well.
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Old 04-07-2018, 06:08 PM   #13
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Maybe DT should hire Musk to shoot up some Plutonium U238 to recharge them, LOL.
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Old 04-07-2018, 06:24 PM   #14
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I use Dish

Stationary Dish - Dish Network - King Tailgator - 2 receivers
Installed it myself - custom installation setup that took me a while but I have it the way I want it. All new solid copper wiring for power over coax

I spent $400 on all the equipment (2 receivers included)
Another $100 total for my custom setup and 10 hours of labor

Dish Network is pay as you go. Turn on/turn off (30 day increments). No contract.
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