Community Forums

Bdonn · 03-04-2014, 07:51 PM

I will be picking up my coach in June and will be at Camp Newmar for a week for the PDI. Any ideas on getting the satellite hooked up and what is the best - dish or direct. This will be my first coach so I'm a little confused with the process and many other things. This site has enlightened me greatly with its wealth of knowledge. Thanks for any insight.

KenNJ · 03-04-2014, 08:16 PM

Bdon,

Congrats on your new coach. We are doing the same as you and are scheduled for our PDI April 28th.

We decided to go with Dish because they offer a month to month plan vs Direct TV. Also with Dish you will need to purchase satellite converters vs Direct Tv who provide the equipment plus a annual contract. For us it was really the pay as you go plan that sold us but with Newmar coaches you can use either Dish or Direct TV with the Wineguard dish on the roof. It is a simple change of dip switches on the dish and you are set to program.

We are not full timers yet and when we camp we like the option of Satellite TV vs campground cable. Keep in mind their are many opinions like mine so it is really what you feel is best for your needs.

Good luck with your choice and again, congratulations on the new coach. We share your excitement!

millerj · 03-04-2014, 08:39 PM

I have Dish network which I believe may be a little cheaper than direct but you may want to choose based on the sports you like. I believe Direct may have a wider variety of sports channels but I am not positive. I have the satellite dome on the roof and one thing I don't like compared to my fifth wheel is that the bedroom tv has to watch the same satellite as the front master tv. I had the traveler dish on my fifth wheel that you raised when you stopped and stowed when traveling and you could watch any channel you wanted on either the living room or bedroom tv. I had one receiver that was also a dvr that you could watch recorded shows from either tv. In fact even though my coach is only one year old it's something I didn't understand when I purchased the motorhome and am now thinking about modifying some things. We don't watch tv while traveling so the in motion satellite doesn't mean that much to us. I plan on investigating what it will take to convert the dome to a Winegard Traveler.

My current DISH service costs $64.99 for Americas top 200 channels and then $7 each for two receivers and a dvr fee so the bill is $92 a month with tax. I installed two hard drives that I can record to on either of the TV's that I bought at Walmart for around $50 a piece. Dish charges one $7 dvr fee for these two hard drives. It allows you to record to the hard drives through the DISH menu just like it was a DISH dvr.

millerj · 03-04-2014, 08:49 PM

Bdonn

Another thing I should have mentioned which may be an issue with my particular dome is that it doesn't seem to take much rain to disrupt the service. I don't remember losing service with my Traveler in light rain.

The month to month service Ken pointed out is another big feature with rver's.

KenNJ · 03-04-2014, 08:53 PM

MillerJ,

Could not agree with you more. Actually I have been back and forth so much on this it is unreal. Plus I honestly have no idea yet what is what because I think wiring for the tv's differ from coach to coach. Not sure if my Ventana 4369 will have the same wiring setup as a dutchstar etc and I am still not sure which TV my outside Tv will share a converter with.

I will find out pretty soon though and who knows, maybe after a few months I will want to switch to Direct. We will see

Floridakamper · 03-05-2014, 05:59 AM

I've had Dish and Directv. To me it's a Chevy/Ford discussion. There are differences but the service is very similar. One thing to consider is reception of local stations. Once you get a couple of hundred miles from your billing/service address, you lose the major networks on satellite (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, etc.) . For RVers, Dish and Direct both have/had a service to get the major networks as additional programing for an additional charge of about $15 per month. Without going into all the details, Dish just lost the ability to provide that service. There are work arounds: Put up your batwing and if you are close enough to the over the air broadcast towers you can receive whatever local stations that are broadcasting. You can also call Dish every time you move out of the couple hundred mile local spot beam and change your "service" address to the campground your in (could be a pain). Direct is still offering the Distant Networks service.

jtovo · 03-05-2014, 06:32 AM

I read somewhere in this Forum where Dish stopped offering the travelers option, this is important in deciding the service, if you don't want the hassle of sitting on the phone for 20 min every time you stop somewhere trying to change the zip code on your programming you should go with DirecTV.

vsheetz · 03-05-2014, 07:43 AM

I use Dish. Started with pay as you go service. Then changed the sticks and bricks over to Dish as well. The receiver for the MH is then just $7/month additional.

harleyman134 · 03-05-2014, 08:40 AM

I don't know what kind of sat antenna they put on new motorhomes but on my older dome I can not get a HD signal thru Direct, I'm not familiar with DISH. If you have HD TV's and the proper wiring to get a HD signal to the TV I would definitely go with something that would give me a HD signal.

slabman · 03-05-2014, 08:48 AM

Miller, could you please provide more info on your HD setup? Make, model, setup parameters? Thanks.

millerj · 03-05-2014, 09:33 AM

We have a 2012 4324 Ventana that came with a Winegard Roadtrip Mission satellite dome antenna. We have front tv, a tv back by the refrigerator as well as the ones in the bedroom and outside. When I picked the unit up and told the dealer (North Trail in Fort Myers) we were on Dish Network they then installed two Dish VIP211k Dish receivers. One receiver is in the cabinet above the drivers seat and the other is in the cabinet above the bedroom tv. When watching satellite both front TV's and the outside tv have to watch the same satellite channel. The bedroom tv has to watch channels on whatever satellite the front tv is on.

I then installed two WD My Book hard drives that I bought at Walmart so I could record programs from either tv. When you install the hard drives you need to call Dish and they program the hard drive to work just like it was one of their dvr's. These were easy to install because I am no techno geek on this stuff.

As far as HD programing I have not done anything other than what came standard from the factory.

Tom-NC · 03-05-2014, 09:55 AM

HI,

It truly amazes me how some rvers need satellite while traveling. Sure some TV is needed to catch local weather or news but do you really need 250 channels while on the road?

Maybe you should take some time to smell the roses!

millerj · 03-05-2014, 10:54 AM

We spend at least four months in the winter in the motorhome and are not traveling but staying in one location.

"007" · 03-05-2014, 11:18 AM

Welcome to the forum & irv2.
Congratulaions on to be Newmar and welcome to the Newmar family.
Now if we new what coach it is we could give you more information on it but for now down below in my signature are three links that will have info on your new coach.
In QT's # 3 there is info on HMDI tv systems by PDR John that may help with any other questions.
Enjoy the forum.