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rblovett3's avatar
rblovett3
Explorer
Nov 01, 2013

Satellite for Motor Home

I am looking to buy a satellite system for my motorhome. Looking at portable or roof mounted. We have 2 TV's and want to watch different channels at the same time. Please advise.

30 Replies

  • Another issue with a roof mounted dish/dome, is that the system can become outdated. I found that out, when I bought our MH....the dish was built in 2001, and was out of date when I bought the rig about 6 years later. I don't have the money to replace the current dish, and I was stuck with the "box" that would work with that dish, so I was very limited in what I could get from DirecTV....and eventually just said the heck with it, we'll watch DVDs, and catch the news on the laptop or from over the air signals.

    In order for you to get two different signals, you will need two different cable boxes. Not much of an issue, though you'll be paying monthly for those, (another reason I decided to pass on the DirecTV)even when you are only using the system a couple of months each year. Lots of folks will bring the boxes from inside their homes, and then get a portable dish from e-bay, and that works great, but we have cable, not satellite.

    The debate over DirecTV and Dish Network is not one I want to get into.....though I like the DirecTV we have on the boat I work on.:)

    Good luck.
  • We have the Wineguard Traveler on th roof of the MH. We have dish.
    This is our second one and are very happy with it.
    We also have the Wineguard Carry out. Use tha when we are ithe trees.
    Can move around and no problems getting Locked on.
    Kept this Carryout after trading off a Fiver for the MH.
  • Buy and enclosed satellite dish if you put a roof mount, with 4 or 5 years my dish would not stay locked on to satellite if was in the least bit windy out, called manufacturer and was told "that's what happens, it needs rebuilt" after experiencing that and the fact that you have to choose campsites based on trees and other things in your line of sight for satellite reception I bought a tripod mount HD dish off amazon for $100 bucks or so and can set it up anywhere, fasten it down good and no problems. just my opinion.
  • I have the "Anser" by Winegard...wouldn't own another one...think I would go with a portable dual LNB...the Anser went thru one of those infamous Oklahoma thunder storms and after all the rain and dirt blowing..did not work again..sent it in and they sent me a new one...It is in the garage...good luck
  • Since we already had two DISH receivers at home (both 722's), we had a DISH Trav'ler automatic antenna installed and moved both receivers to the motor home. This allows each of us to have a dual receiver (just like at home) so that each of us can watch a live program while recording another...or watch a recorded program while recording two other live programs.

    Ron
  • Depends on your service, Dish or DirecTV. If I were to replace mine, I would get the Winegard Traveler. The "domes" are only a half dish inside and my experience is if the satellite is too low or high on the horizon, the dish won't pick it up. We've used the portable unit more this year than we have the roof....Dennis
  • We normally carry two different sat receivers (DVRs) so each TV can watch different channels and record different programs....thats for my DW if it was up to me we'd only have one receiver. These are the same receivers we use in our house.

    Normally I setup a dish antenna on a tripod outside the RV.

    Recently we added a Dish Tailgator (portable antenna)and the 311(I think that's right) receiver it's compatible with in addition I plugged in an external hard drive to the receiver to allow programs to be recorded. This worked very well for one TV. I'm not sure if it would support a second TV watching different channels. The Tailgator is great if it fits your needs. By the way, I'm beginning to see more and more of the Tailgator type being used by RVers along with the Winegard portable instead of the Rooftop mounted units.
  • Are you a current satellite customer?
    What is your budget?