Satalite dishes

Which sat service, Dish or Direct? And which receiver model? The domes are only capable of receiving one satellite at a time, while the open dishes can receive multiple satellites at once. That's an important difference if you have multiple receivers or a receiver with multiple tuners and want to watch or record programs that are broadcast on more than one satellite at the same time. For Direct, the domes also limit you to standard definition (SD) only, with no high definition (HD) reception.

What Dutch said.
We had a dome and replaced it with a Trav'ler. The Trav'ler is a larger dish - we have had better luck getting reception through trees with the Trav'ler over the dome.
We have two receivers and both can access any of the satellites at any time. With the dome, the second receiver can only access whatever satellite the primary receiver tunes in. If the primary receiver changes to a different satellite, the secondary loses what ever they were watching.
With the Trav'ler, we can have a hopper and joey rather than just having the 211s. This allows us to DVR any show we want to watch later without having to worry about what satellite is tuned in.
With a Trav'ler there isn't a delay when changing channels on different satellites. This allows us to jump from one channel to another without pause. Of course, the Hopper allows us to view multiple channels at once - great when there are two sporting events on at once.

Dome:
DirecTV:
No HD programming but works with multiple receivers, DVR's or the Genie (with a bit of added hardware).
Dish:
Full HD available but restricted to viewing programming from 1 of their 3 satellites at a time. This can cause problems if you use multiple receivers or a DVR. Can never be used with a Hopper.
Both suffer from rain fade (loss of signal during storms) more often than an open face dish and can lose signal during heavy dews as well.
Open faced dish (Winegard Trav'ler most likely) has no restrictions and works exactly as Dish or DirecTV antennas mounted on a home work.

In addition, it's reported that domes are more prone to losing signals if there is rain, snow or heavy dew.

When we purchased this coach, it came equipped with a dome. One of my conditions for purchase was that they replace the dome with a Trav'ler. With the push of one button, the Trav'ler will raise up, locate and lock on to all three of the DISH satellites within a couple of minutes.

Ron

Thanks, clear now, big dish for me as soon as I shop the differences.

If you are a Camping World member, they sometimes have it on sale for a couple hundred less than their Internet sales price. Also, Amazon will have it for a little less than CW's internet sales price and if you're a Prime member, no shipping costs.

dahkota wrote:
What Dutch said.
We had a dome and replaced it with a Trav'ler. The Trav'ler is a larger dish - we have had better luck getting reception through trees with the Trav'ler over the dome.
We have two receivers and both can access any of the satellites at any time. With the dome, the second receiver can only access whatever satellite the primary receiver tunes in. If the primary receiver changes to a different satellite, the secondary loses what ever they were watching.
With the Trav'ler, we can have a hopper and joey rather than just having the 211s. This allows us to DVR any show we want to watch later without having to worry about what satellite is tuned in.
With a Trav'ler there isn't a delay when changing channels on different satellites. This allows us to jump from one channel to another without pause. Of course, the Hopper allows us to view multiple channels at once - great when there are two sporting events on at once.

http://www.winegard.com/pathway/pathway-x2

Reading above, does this mean that if I am watching on a single tv with the pathway x2, on say, Dish, will I be able to access all channels on my Dish subscription WITHOUT the x2 having to switch between satellites?

If the answer to that is "no", and if I want to switch from channel x (on say the western arc satellite) to channel y (on say the eastern arc satellite), this will likely take several minutes (for the x2 to recalibrate and find the new satellite). If that's the case, this product is useless, IMO.

Am I understanding the x2 correctly?

I'm not set on Dish or Direct, its just that most of the parks we frequent have crappy cable and would like to have better access and would like a dependable signal.

texasAUtiger wrote:

http://www.winegard.com/pathway/pathway-x2

Reading above, does this mean that if I am watching on a single tv with the pathway x2, on say, Dish, will I be able to access all channels on my Dish subscription WITHOUT the x2 having to switch between satellites?

If the answer to that is "no", and if I want to switch from channel x (on say the western arc satellite) to channel y (on say the eastern arc satellite), this will likely take several minutes (for the x2 to recalibrate and find the new satellite). If that's the case, this product is useless, IMO.

Am I understanding the x2 correctly?

We have also owned a Pathway X2. When changing to channels located on a different satellite, it will take about 30 seconds for the dish to move into position and lock onto the signal. Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes shorter. It never took several minutes unless we were under a lot of tree cover or there was a storm.

If I had to pick either a roof top dome or a pathway X2, having owned and used both, I would choose the pathway X2 hands down. The dish is larger and tuned in satellites quicker and with a stronger signal. We put our X2 right next to our dome and tested them against each other. The X2 always won. It was faster, had less rain fade, and was not nearly as loud.

On edit: Most channels are on one satellite. But some channels are on a different satellite. Changing satellites is dependent on what you watch.

Changing from western arc to eastern arc takes a bit longer - you have to reprogram the dish to look for the different arc. Typically, one would either tune in the eastern arc (3 satellites) or the western arc (3 satellites) not bounce between the different arcs.

dahkota wrote:

texasAUtiger wrote:

http://www.winegard.com/pathway/pathway-x2

Reading above, does this mean that if I am watching on a single tv with the pathway x2, on say, Dish, will I be able to access all channels on my Dish subscription WITHOUT the x2 having to switch between satellites?

If the answer to that is "no", and if I want to switch from channel x (on say the western arc satellite) to channel y (on say the eastern arc satellite), this will likely take several minutes (for the x2 to recalibrate and find the new satellite). If that's the case, this product is useless, IMO.

Am I understanding the x2 correctly?

We have also owned a Pathway X2. When changing to channels located on a different satellite, it will take about 30 seconds for the dish to move into position and lock onto the signal. Sometimes it takes longer, sometimes shorter. It never took several minutes unless we were under a lot of tree cover or there was a storm.

If I had to pick either a roof top dome or a pathway X2, having owned and used both, I would choose the pathway X2 hands down. The dish is larger and tuned in satellites quicker and with a stronger signal. We put our X2 right next to our dome and tested them against each other. The X2 always won. It was faster, had less rain fade, and was not nearly as loud.

On edit: Most channels are on one satellite. But some channels are on a different satellite. Changing satellites is dependent on what you watch.

Changing from western arc to eastern arc takes a bit longer - you have to reprogram the dish to look for the different arc. Typically, one would either tune in the eastern arc (3 satellites) or the western arc (3 satellites) not bounce between the different arcs.

Thank you! This is very helpful information.

Do you have an opinion on roof mounting it vs just carrying it out while camping? I guess I'd be worried about securing it if left on the ground, so no one stole it.