Community Forums

R.Wold · 08-13-2021, 03:13 PM

I removed my Winegard Trav’ler system to make room for more solar and because I never used it. It was an expensive option and I’m wondering if people still use these units or if on-board TV is trending towards internet streaming. I can see maybe a market for the stuff for replacing/repairing damaged units, and for people already subscribing to Dish or DIRECTV, and I still see a lot of dish units pointed skyward in parks, but I never used it or the crank up TV antenna. I guess maybe if you are in an area with no cell service and want to watch TV?

iowaone · 08-13-2021, 03:16 PM

Still using it. See quite a few where there is clear sky. But many are using other means.

Spk64 · 08-13-2021, 03:18 PM

Ours has not been used in almost 2 years since we mainly stream now.
Keeping it in place just in case, we have a Dish Outdoors account so we can turn it back on if needed.

**Lt Dan** · 08-13-2021, 03:20 PM

Still use it and wouldn't be without it. We stay quite often in areas with no or minimal cell service and streaming would not work for us. Streaming is fine as long as you have adequate cell bandwidth because you can't depend (and shouldn't) on RV park WiFi. In areas where RV parks have to use satellite or cell provider internet there's no way they can provide enough to satisfy a park full of streamers.

R.Wold · 08-13-2021, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lt Dan

Still use it and wouldn't be without it. We stay quite often in areas with no or minimal cell service and streaming would not work for us. Streaming is fine as long as you have adequate cell bandwidth because you can't depend (and shouldn't) on RV park WiFi. In areas where RV parks have to use satellite or cell provider internet there's no way they can provide enough to satisfy a park full of streamers.

Right - I’ve rarely found campground wifi adequate for streaming. Hadn’t thought of that....

Spk64 · 08-13-2021, 04:26 PM

I gave up on Campground WiFi long ago. Barely adequate for browsing internet. Our old Mobley “unlimited” account supplies our needs well. OTA is also a fallback we use occasionally.

Dutch Star Don · 08-13-2021, 05:14 PM

We've had the Travler sat antenna on the last three coaches. I like watching TV late in the evening and having the sat is the only way to ensure I get the channels I want.

Many say they just stream everything, but that requires two things, either good internet from the campground, or your own internet, which requires good cell service. About 90% or better of the places we camp have crummy internet and and about 50% of the places we camp, have too weak a signal for our onboard internet to stream movies.

We also like to watch weekly shows, like Mountain Men, Blue Bloods, Alone, etc...It's nice to know when they'll be on and that we can record them while were out sightseeing or setting by the fire. Our DirecTV allows us to do this, especially handy is the ability to record. Just recorded the Olympics everyday while on a trip, after dinner, we sat outside with the grandkids and watched them.

chuckbear · 08-14-2021, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dutch Star Don

We've had the Travler sat antenna on the last three coaches. I like watching TV late in the evening and having the sat is the only way to ensure I get the channels I want.

Many say they just stream everything, but that requires two things, either good internet from the campground, or your own internet, which requires good cell service. About 90% or better of the places we camp have crummy internet and and about 50% of the places we camp, have too weak a signal for our onboard internet to stream movies.

We also like to watch weekly shows, like Mountain Men, Blue Bloods, Alone, etc...It's nice to know when they'll be on and that we can record them while were out sightseeing or setting by the fire. Our DirecTV allows us to do this, especially handy is the ability to record. Just recorded the Olympics everyday while on a trip, after dinner, we sat outside with the grandkids and watched them.

Same here. We have had ours for almost 5 years and would not consider going without it. Many times we don’t even have cell service let alone data service. Chuck

USMCRET · 08-15-2021, 05:01 AM

I opted to have one installed on my ‘21, but it hasn’t been used. If I could get a mulligan, I would forgo the option. We learned to stream and so far it has met all of our needs.

Solo2 · 08-15-2021, 06:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by R.Wold

I guess maybe if you are in an area with no cell service and want to watch TV?

And, you've answered the question as to why satellite service still has relevance to some RVers. Since June, we've been 6 weeks without any cell coverage (Verizon and/or ATT), no OTA stations available or reliable WIFI. This is common for us as we travel to avoid unpleasant summer and winter weather. So, what works for some will not be the best solution for others. It's great to have options and certainly beware of any advice that says otherwise.

TXiceman · 08-15-2021, 09:38 AM

We still use the Traveler and satellite. Streaming will not work for us as we keep finding these locations that have poor to limited cell service. I am not going to carry cell phones from 3 different services just to watch the sorry TV shows that are available.

Streaming will not work for everyone.

Ken

gatorb8 · 08-15-2021, 09:44 AM

Trav’ler is obsolete to me. Had one once and didn’t like the east vs west arc non compatibility. If I wanted two diff sat channels I would mount two tailgaters. Then if obstructed, I could move one or two to good sat sighting. Also, if one fails, the other will work. I’ve read when the Trav’ler fails, its a pain to get repaired. If a tailgater fails, either get the replacement insurance or get another one. They sell them everywhere. We downsized to a small C with one tv so one tailgater is good for us now. If I needed two tv’s, another tailgater would go on top!

BillJinOR · 09-02-2021, 11:14 AM

Had dish and travler and a portable and was happy but I have 2 unlimited sources of cellular hotspot devices and got the last 2 years haven’t used dish. Stream youtubetv. It “records” selections I want to watch later. The travler still works well and sits on the roof as a backup I haven’t needed. My DW holds zoom meetings daily as we drive across the country with 0 issues so as much as I didn’t think it would work it has. Obsolete ? No , but becoming so sooner than we might think.

docj · 09-02-2021, 11:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillJinOR

Had dish and was happy but I have 2 unlimited sources of cellular hotspot devices and got the last 2 years haven’t used dish. Stream youtubetv. It “records” selections I want to watch later. The travler still works well and sits on the roof as a backup I haven’t needed. My DW holds zoom meetings daily as we drive across the country with 0 issues so as much as I didn’t think it would work it has. Obsolete ? No , but becoming so sooner than we might think.

We're in exactly the same situation. We subscribe to several different streaming services (Netflix is only one of many available ones) and find that very little of what we watch would be on satellite TV even if we wanted to re-activate it.

We got our first DirecTV receiver in 1998; I'm not sure that there are any other 23-year-old technology products that we still use. VHS? 8-track tape? Even CD's are pretty much gone and DVDs won't be far behind them.