Directv HD antenna options????

Like2Travel wrote:

2oldman wrote:
I was just talking to someone in the CG who had one of those portable white dome things. I asked if he got HD, he said yes. Is he wrong?

I have also looked at those things and wondered if they would work for me. I discovered that they will not. The reason is DW and I have had a DVR at home for 10 years and are totally hooked on using a DVR to record and watch things later so as to skip commercials and junk. You cannot use a DVR with the Traveler. Inside that white box is a small dish that can 'look' at several Dish satellites but only one at a time. As I understand it, when you are changing channels inside of your RV, this may require the Traveler to turn to a different dish to lock in on a different satellite. On Directv with a DVR and an HD dish, you have the ability to record multiple channels at the same time even if those channels are on different satellites. This means that the DVR has to be able to be receiving signals from multiple satellites at the same time. If you are OK to watch TV without a DVR, I think most people would be happy with the Traveler.

If I have misstated what the Traveler can do, please let me know. The above is my understanding of them.

I think you may have your terms or names a bit confused. There is a product made by Winegard called the Trav'ler. This is a fully automatic roof mounted antenna and uses the exact same hardware you have at home so you can also use all of the exact same equipment you have at home in your RV.
It's possible that you meant something else but since you capitalize Traveler maybe someone just gave you very bad info.
The dome style antenna that you see on the roof or on the ground do have the limitations you describe "IF" you are a Dish Network customer. If you are a DirecTV customer you can use multiple receivers or a DVR but you cannot receive any of that programming in HD.
Let us know if you need any additional details.

A three LNB dish should be able to see three different satellites at the same time and support a DVR. If you have the one LNB version or the two LNB version - you might not be able to support a DVR.

You cannot use a DVR with the Traveler. Inside that white box is a small dish that can 'look' at several Dish satellites but only one at a time. As I understand it, when you are changing channels inside of your RV, this may require the Traveler to turn to a different dish to lock in on a different satellite. On Directv with a DVR and an HD dish, you have the ability to record multiple channels at the same time even if those channels are on different satellites. This means that the DVR has to be able to be receiving signals from multiple satellites at the same time. If you are OK to watch TV without a DVR, I think most people would be happy with the Traveler.

If I have misstated what the Traveler can do, please let me know. The above is my understanding of them.

The Trav'ler is exactly the same as the antenna you have at home. It can run multiple DVR receivers. Nothing needs to turn, because it's picking up all the necessary satellites at once. The only difference is that it collapses for travel and aims itself automatically when you setup.

The new Directv dishes are coming through with a square base (at least here in Las Vegas) and from what I understand from the installer, all we'll have to do is reattach everything and turn the base so the antenna faces south? OR, we can leave the antenna here and just contact Direct when we get to the next campground and they'll come out and put up a new antenna. Sounds like a bunch of trouble, if you ask me.

2oldman wrote:
I was just talking to someone in the CG who had one of those portable white dome things. I asked if he got HD, he said yes. Is he wrong?

I have also looked at those things and wondered if they would work for me. I discovered that they will not. The reason is DW and I have had a DVR at home for 10 years and are totally hooked on using a DVR to record and watch things later so as to skip commercials and junk. You cannot use a DVR with the Traveler. Inside that white box is a small dish that can 'look' at several Dish satellites but only one at a time. As I understand it, when you are changing channels inside of your RV, this may require the Traveler to turn to a different dish to lock in on a different satellite. On Directv with a DVR and an HD dish, you have the ability to record multiple channels at the same time even if those channels are on different satellites. This means that the DVR has to be able to be receiving signals from multiple satellites at the same time. If you are OK to watch TV without a DVR, I think most people would be happy with the Traveler.

If I have misstated what the Traveler can do, please let me know. The above is my understanding of them.

The Slimline 3 dish is not THAT big. It's hard to beat the tv4rv rig.

The big dish is not the only option. I have used this version for years. It is a modified DISH 1000.2 fitted with a SWM, SL3 horn. It mounts on a 1-5/8" post just like the 18" dish. I lose 10 points or so on the Ka (99/103) satellites but that has never bothered me.

It has worked all across the country, from Maine to Oregon.

Others have modified the old Phase III, Directv, dish in a similar manner but the signal loss is a little greater on the Ka's.

I got the tripod and I don't have any problem to set it up.Slimline dish that you need for HD directv.

If you have a Trav'ler, that antenna has a 2 piece base so you won't need to cut anything off. Just disconnect the cables, unscrew the 9 exposed screws and the entire unit will lift off leaving the base ring behind. Buy a new mounting ring and install on the new coach! Life is good.

Agree with the above. As someone else said when I was doing research for my antenna "you only throw up after the first screw you drill in". After I got through that everything was fine. I used 3/4's of a tube of rubber roof rttv around the base, a dollop on each screw head, and some around the plate where the cables go through into the cabin. One day if I take this off when I trade this rig in, I'm probably going to have to cut the thing off the roof. It's up there solid.

I wouldn't trade this setup for anything. Since it's inside the camper, it falls into the domain of DW. As soon as we stop, she hits the on button then moves onto to something else. A couple of minutes later the tv pops on and we're done. I've watched people spend 30 minutes tinkering with their tripod setup only to give up when they find out that there's too many trees around to get a signal. This thing has gotten a signal in places I never would have bothered setting up the tripod system in because of trees or buildings, but it doesn't hurt to try when all you gotta do is hit a button and walk off. Only once so far did we have to settle for less than we're paying for and that was heavy tree cover and the thing still picked up the non hd channels.

If my next rig doesn't come with one of these I'll be pulling this one off.