satellite tv

I bought an extra Directv splitter, power supply, and RG-6 cable. So I only have to move the boxes to the rv. Just plug in and go.

I have my dish mounted on a homemade 2 piece plywood base that I made years ago. I use water jugs that I fill at the campground to keep the dish steady in foul weather.

We switch our Directv account to Phoenix locals in the winter and back to Washington in the summer. Directv allows two switches per year with no push back.

We were in Arizona for the winter when I decided to go HD in the trailer. Directv came to the park and installed the Slimline SWM and HDDVR, along with a HDRec.

I also find my Slimline dish very easy to align. The mount has scales built into it. Set the TV to sat meter and just swing it on 101 and then fine tune on 103. Last time in Arizona I set it up and pointed to were I thought it was in the years before, AND was spot on!!! Ha! Ha! That will not happen that often.

Chris

BTPO1 wrote:
When I had Direct installed at my home they gave me an extra dish and 50 foot of cable to use on the MH. I did have to buy the tripod for the dish though. I just take a box from the home with me as most on here do. JMO

Same here. Only issue is that if you get more than 250 miles from home you can't get your local channels.

I built my own stand out of wood then later I built one out of steel.

Takes me about 10 minutes to aim the dish and go through the satellite setup on the receiver.

Carl n Susan wrote:
I suspect the majority of new DirecTV installs in a home utilize HD with a SWM system. Taking a receiver from home and trying to connect to the Carryout type devices is more and more a problem. The receiver only does SWM and the portable Carryout is a non-SWM, non-HD antenna.

But a SL3 dish mounted on a tripod from tv4rv.com is *VERY* easy to setup. I can have it set up, aimed (use dishpointer.com to find the required coordinates), and functioning in under 10 minutes. This way you get HD just like at home and don't have to worry about trees blocking your roof top mounted antenna.

All I can tell they sell are overpriced tripods, no dishes or packages.

I suspect the majority of new DirecTV installs in a home utilize HD with a SWM system. Taking a receiver from home and trying to connect to the Carryout type devices is more and more a problem. The receiver only does SWM and the portable Carryout is a non-SWM, non-HD antenna.

But a SL3 dish mounted on a tripod from tv4rv.com is *VERY* easy to setup. I can have it set up, aimed (use dishpointer.com to find the required coordinates), and functioning in under 10 minutes. This way you get HD just like at home and don't have to worry about trees blocking your roof top mounted antenna.

Thanks everyone for your input! Lots of help....thanks again!

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*Technology Corner* forum (here) will have lots of useful info.

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When we got DirecTV at home I got another slimline dish setup and a bunch of cable off Craigslist. I made a base from PVC tubing and take one of our receivers from home when we travel. I use a compass and an inclinometer (both cheap) to aim it. It takes me maybe ten minutes to get it pointed. We've traveled all over the west and never not been able to get it set up. One of the online satellite locators will give you the coordinates...use the compass & inclinometer to get it close then just nudge it a bit to get it right on. I use the signal strength screens on the receiver, the cheapie little buzz boxes don't seem to work that well for HD. Depending on your receiver/dish combo you might also need an inline power supply...about $10 off eBay. We get all the same stuff as at home except the local channels if we go very far, all in HD. No need to spend hundreds of $ on it.

I had DirecTv do a complete installation in my travel trailer. They ran all of the wiring to give me four places to watch TV. All I had to provide was the tripod, which I bought from www.tv4rv.com. This is the tripod setup I bought. I can get satellite reception at just about every campground I have been to -- trees or not. I have a 100' length of coaxial cable which allows me to put my dish wherever I want. Last weekend, the campground management told me I could not get satellite from my site. I showed them how to do it.

Bruce

simsfmly wrote:
We have used DirecTV for years with a portable dish and tripod. If you only want/need SD, then Camping World has a bunch of them. We generally see that VuQube out on the road.
If you want HD, then you're going to have to go with a Slimline Dish and a Tripod. We've been very happy with TV4RV.com. We had all kinds of installers tell us that Dish is a better way to go for HD, that DirecTV was tough to aim, etc. In my experience couldn't have been further from the truth. Easier to set up my slimline vs. the oval.
Dishpointer.com is outstanding and has a great app if you have a smartphone.
Best of luck to you!

This is dead on. It is simple to do. You can't go wrong with a setup from www.tv4rv.com. Those who say it is difficult to do just don't know how to do it right.

Bruce