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12 Replies
- Bill_SatelliteExplorer IIThanks. With that info we should be able to get you some easily understandable guidelines.
- TxGearheadExplorer IIIt's 5 hours away. I'll see if I can get that young salesman to climb up there and get me a better description.
- Bill_SatelliteExplorer II
TxGearhead wrote:
It was drinking from the proverbial fire hose looking over a used RV to possibly buy. I don't remember it being a dome. I think it had DirectTv written on it. I recall a small dish.
Sorry for being short with my previous reply CA Traveler. Navy ET school was about 50 years ago. I've been in refinery turbo machinery since.
I'll call DirectTv next week after I figure out for sure what is on top of the 5th roof.
Don't call DirecTV. They will not know what's on your roof either and they cannot help. If you can post a picture of what's on your roof we can help. If you can't post a picture then we need an accurate description of what you have up there and if you see any kind of a controller box inside the RV. If it's a dome it is highly unlikely that it will work in-motion as that would be a waste of money. It would be auto-tracking of the satellite only when parked. If it's an open faced antenna there are really only 2 options and if it's an auto tracker then it is likely a Winegard Trav'ler. - TxGearheadExplorer IIIt was drinking from the proverbial fire hose looking over a used RV to possibly buy. I don't remember it being a dome. I think it had DirectTv written on it. I recall a small dish.
Sorry for being short with my previous reply CA Traveler. Navy ET school was about 50 years ago. I've been in refinery turbo machinery since.
I'll call DirectTv next week after I figure out for sure what is on top of the 5th roof. - older_fossilExplorer
TxGearhead wrote:
I may have miss used the "tracking" term, but that's the way the dealer described it. I just climbed up the ladder and saw a little dish that said DirectTv, I think.
Did it look like a typical home style sat dish or was it a covered dome? All in-motion (tracking) dishes I am aware of are under domes. It is possible that the trailer has a Winegard Trav'Ler antenna.
Art - TxGearheadExplorer IIDang. My brain must already be full. I don't care about the details. If I have a dish on the roof I would like to use it if reasonably possible. If I have to do double backflips I will just use OTA.
I don't think I want to travel in the 5th wheel either. I may have miss used the "tracking" term, but that's the way the dealer described it. I just climbed up the ladder and saw a little dish that said DirectTv, I think. - CA_TravelerExplorer IIITxGearhead,
Consider that the dome has no value for the purchase. I'm amused that a trailer has a in motion sat dish. Almost everyone considers traveling in a trailer an undesirable safety option. I understand why a 2016 RV has a DTV SD dish - Most were clueless that 2 years earlier DTV announced the coming end of SD so for this and other reasons SD was a option.
Internet TV is not a viable option for us while traveling. Basically the bandwidth isn't available at a reasonable cost and likely never will be. 5G widespread in urban areas is years away. And rural? And at what cost? Space X - When and at what cost? Watch TV on a phone??? - No thanks.
Case in point we are at a nice CA CG in the Redwoods with no cell service. Past streamers abused the CG WiFi so now it's limited coupon based which has worked well for us and then you start purchasing GBs.
So we have a HR44 receiver DVR for home and RV that can record 5 channels at once and this works for us. - RoyBExplorer III used to do it all the time years past... Alot of Sat TV changes are in the wind now...
I ended up now just using my OTA BATWING Antenna for my travels... Seem to always get something just about every where we went...
We ended up cancelling all of our SAT TV at the house and now just have CABLE TV. Back then you had to have a SAT RECEIVER for each TV SET... Then you had to have separate SAT TV cable feed for each receiver... Getting four SAT TV Sets going here was just about the limit... You would get four port DISH feeds from the SAT DISH and run one to each of your rooms with SAT RCVRS to watch TV... Never had good luck using the multiplexers here etc....
Cable TV feeds are unlimited haha... Now you have a separate TV BOX which are very inexpensive but works well... We have seven running haha... Cable company needs these to keep people from stealing there service I think...
I think I have even heard now that DIRECTV has gone to the internet. You don't need the SAT DISH anymore... You used to see SAT DISH's at every house... Not so anymore... I still have my dish on the roof and there is still one SAT RCVR turned on here in my radio COMMS room... have no idea what is on it now... Guess I need to at least turn off the SAT RCVR haha... Everything here is WIRELESS over the internet now it seems... Then we have WIFI all over the house and in the back yard around the patio and firepit area... There is a hugh list of WIFI signals coming from all over the neighborhood here now... Probably over ten or so here I see on my list... They are all password protected by the owners... Its interesting looking at the WIFI names and figuring out which neighbor owns them haha... Our cable company also provides 100GB Internet speed which was unheard of in the day but now you need even more GB's to keep up... I can watch my TV signals from my CELLPHONE using the cable company TV ANYWHERE feature... Even works on trips but of course you run up a hugh GB usage doing it... My salvation is I was originally signed up with unlimited dated with my cell phone carrier and they are trying all kinds of tricks to take it away from you haha...
I'm sure your neighborhood is much the same...
Roy Ken - Bill_SatelliteExplorer IIThe receiver you have at home will make a big difference. First, until Jan. 2020 your receiver will work but you will NOT get any programming in HD but the SD is OK if you don't watch too much TV. You may also have to make modifications to the dome on the roof as, by default, it will not work with any receivers with a model # of H25 or higher. That means all Genie's will need the modification to a SWM8 kit. The kit is cheap and easy to install, just keep that in mind. After 2020 you likely will not be able to use a dome and get the full complement of DTV programming but you will get some. It will also then be in HD making the experience much better for whatever channels the end up broadcasting form the 101 satellite.
The ultimate, but expensive, option is to replace the dome with a Winegard Trav'ler or RF Mogul antenna (not my choice but it's out there). If you do that, you will be able to move the receiver(s) between home and RV and it will work exactly the same in the RV as it works in the house as it is a home antenna adapted to raise and lower automatically. - TxGearheadExplorer III'll post info in a week or so, assuming I buy it.
This doesn't sound like it will end well.
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