Sat Tv help!

[NewTrav1214]

Here's the situation. I learned the hard way that the $2500 antenna we got 2 years ago for Directv won't work with Dish. That said, in trying to make the switch from Directv to Dish, Directv tells me I must send them both receivers I have. Nevermind that I "bought" one thru Amazon before I ever signed on with Directv. They tell me you can't "own" any receiver and that they have had trouble with retailers not telling customers. Anyone have any information on that ?

Plus, I signed on with Dish at the house, was assured we could just plug the receiver in the RV and all would be fine... not so. and now.. well appears we either have to spend for new antenna or go back to Directv (who we really were not happy with in the first place).. would much prefer Dish, if for nothing else, you can "pay as you go" for the RV - would even set up a second account if needed!

...and Dish was less than truthful about the Distant Network issue too - said "just send us the form" and all will be well. Not so on that account either! ...

Any suggestions? ... I not very savvy and getting really frustrated.

[Don/Lou]

Statement about direct owning receivers is correct-no matter where you bought them
As to antenna -need more info on what you have to tell if it can be modified for Dish
Distant networks require a seperate acc or only set it up for rv and use receiver in house without their knowledge
Hope this helps

[sidewinder2]

The best set-up is to have the same service at your rv as you do at your home. This will allow you to add two receivers to your home account for your rv use. Do you have DirectTV or Dish service at home?

[HMXDave]

What kind of dish is it? The LNB (internal satelite signal recieving parts) for DN and Direct is the same, so chances are it can be programmed to find the DN birds. Then cancel Direct and use your DN unit from the house. You won't get your local channels if you are too far from home, but the rest will work fine.

[kjburns]

If your antenna is a dome, chances are that it is compatible with Dish.

[EDALLSAILS]

We tried DiretTV and it wouldn'twork with or dome. Now we have DishNetwork and it works fine. Not HD reception however. We have DishNetwork at home and they gave us a FREE receiver for the Motorcoach at no additional cost. beats uninstalling a unit from the house and adding it in the coach. Set up is a pain in the butt. Everytime we move we have to call dishNetwork and give them the address and Zip code. then they change the location and we get the local channels and reception. Now when headed back home we have to call agsain and tell them to rest all boxes to our home address and zip.

[wa8yxm]

One good post above: That was the one asking for more info on the antenna.

Sat TV 0.1 (Very sort form of 101)

Domes, Work with both DISH and DirecTV however will not work with DirecHDTV, Different domes work,, Differently, with DISH as well

Domes come in 2xmultiple flavors.. the 2, is "Single or Dual" a Dual dome has two outputs and thus can feed two receivers or both inputs of a DVR.. PROVIDED... both are looking to the same satellite.. With DISH that is normally 110, 119 or 12something.(127 I think w/o looking and last time I looked it locked up my computer)

The "Multiple" is: Some domes can switch between 110 and 119 under receiver control, some can switch between 110, 119 and 127, some can do, even more than that.

STILL, all receivers MUST be looking to the same bird.

If your DISH reciever is sometihng like a 311 (Single receiver) in fact most any #11, model then your DOME should work.. You may need to re-program it is all.. How to do that depends on the dome.. Last one I did, you pushed two or three buttons in sequence.. Mine it's one button, multiple times, Some you pop the cover and re-set switches, some you do it inside, but without the make and model of the dome. We don't know how to do it.

Finally,, Yes it is true that DISH nd DirecTV receivers normally use different methods of choosing ODD or EVEN transponders.. For this reason it would seem that a Dishnetwork receiver could not properly "Chat" with a DirecTV antenna....

However Echostar's (DishNetwork) programmers are way better than DirecTV's and have designed a receiver that can test the antenna, sending some 38 tests as I recall, and depending on how the antenna responds it configures.. So if you plug it into a DIRECTV antenna, it senses that and configures for it, IF you hook up a DISH 300, 500, 1000 Super dish, multiple dishes with switches, it figures it out and configures itself for the job. Very smart receiver.. That's about 10 menu pages on my other receiver and not even possible on the DirecTV job. I can not say enough nice things about Dish hardware.. This last statement however, applies ONLY to the hardware.

[NewTrav1214]

Thanks so much for all the info. I've learned alot over the last few days. In the end, here's what I found. Maybe it will help someone else.

We have a Wineguard Traveler series antenna on the Dutchstar. We had Directv for 2 years and hate their billing practices, but seems that it is standard for the industry. Meaning the "promotional" rate that no one ever gets.. you have to add for HD, add fro DVR, add for additional receiver, add for... well you get the picture.

The Traveler series is provider specific. You can switch out the heads to move from DIrectv to Dish for about $300. I'm told it's fairly easy to do, that is after you climb on top of your coach. The unit is a multi-sattelite, automatic seach set up that works great.

We were never able to get the Distant Networks figured out with either carrier, but given that we don't watch that much TV anyway and we can get them via the TV antenna if we really want them, not a huge deal.

In the end, we went back to Directv due to not wanting to go thru the hoops to switch over the Travler... We have two receivers, one in the motorhome and one in the house...

I've also decided that neither Directv or Dish have personnel who really have a clue when it comes to RV use, especially when you have a house account too - at least I couldn't find them. I will say that after two levels of discussion with Dish, they did agree to cancel the contract with no fees. This was based on the entire mess with misinformation about the RV.

Thanks to everyone who responded! Great resource for information.

[ljr]

Originally Posted by NewTrav1214

...and Dish was less than truthful about the Distant Network issue too - said "just send us the form" and all will be well. Not so on that account either! ...

Never believe anything Dish CSRs tell you until you get the same thing from 3 or 4 of them.

[Techie]

If you've had the receiver(s) for at least 2 years you may be able to avoid sending them the owned receiver (or both) by telling them that they are permanently installed/sold with a rig but that you can send them the authorization card(s). These are the small cards that are removabel and usually located near the reset button.

When we sold our last rig that was exactly the situation and they did not charge us for "keeping" the receiver. They sent us a ship back box for the receiver and we placed the card into the box and returned it...no problem or billing.

[wa8yxm]

The Traveler dish you have is a dish type not a dome, if the web search I di is correct. ... It will work with a Dish on one sat at a time 119 for DNS, 110 for some other shows.

The upgrad head should be under 100 bucks but you may need to replace the reflector as well, thta costs more.

[Chuck 1935]

Originally Posted by ljr

Never believe anything Dish CSRs tell you until you get the same thing from 3 or 4 of them.

ALWAYS ASK TO SPEAK TO SOMEONE IN THE USA. YOU HAVE A MUCH BETTER CHANCE OF GETTING IT FIXED.

[Chuck 1935]

One more thing. I know with DISH, if you don't use it, it will time out in about 30 days and you have to call in and have them re activate the box !!

[rvinsant]

I use dishpointer.com for aiming my dish, has everything you need to get a good signal.