I’m curious if, in addition to a mounted satellite on top of your rig, you also have a portable unit for use when your mounted antenna can’t get a signal when obstructed by trees, etc. ? As somewhat of a newbie, not sure going to the expense is a common solution, and wanted to inquire...

We had in motion sat on our first MH. Never again. It was spotty at best and as you figured out, requires line of sight. Friends of ours have a portable one that seems to work ok. My issue is that it's cumbersome. We cut the cord a while ago and find that with a firestick and mobile hotspot we get what we want and have less issues than we ever did with the Sat. Nothing to set up, drag around, position, no wires and cheaper than DTV or dish. The only caveat is that you will probably want an unlimited data plan. Something that a few carriers are finally coming around to offer with reasonable prices. That said, if you really like and want DTV or Dish then carryout portable units seem to work pretty good from the experience of our friends - better than the fixed units anyway.

we have an automatic rooftop dish (Winegard Trav’ler) which is very convenient as long as there is a clear shot of the southern sky. we selected DISH network primarily for their pay-as-you-go pricing and their ViP722k dual TV receiver/DVR. we’re very happy with our choices. i had always planned to purchase a portable automatic dish for use when we were parked with no clear view of the sky. my research turned out to be incomplete as i discovered that not all receivers are compatible with all antennas. the ViP722k is a residential model and incompatible with all portable automatic antennas. it will work with a manual antenna but i’m not interested in those...too much hassle. if/when our receiver gives up the ghost i’ll be smarter choosing a new one.

I bought a used Winegard Carryout and few years ago and couldn't get it to work. I'd been troubleshooting it with Winegard at an RV park and had just about come to the conclusion it needed repair before it would be able to receive a signal. My neighbor came over and mentioned he had one just like it and never could get it to work either and said he'd just about give it away. I jumped at the offer and paid him what he wanted for it. As soon as I flipped the switches setting it to find the Dish satellites, it worked great! I sent the other one back to Winegard and they replaced a couple of chips on the board to fix it. The cost was reasonable as I was expecting to pay for a whole new board. After I got it I figured on selling one of them but decided two would come in handy. I mounted one on the roof and kept the other one portable to use when trees blocked the permanently mounted one on the roof. I'm happy I did. Most of the time the rooftop dish works great but if I can't get a signal, I pull the other one out and using an app on my phone, locate an opening in the trees where it will work. I wouldn't have been able to do that if I hadn't bought them used. I still don't have as much in the two used ones I'd have had in one new one.

I have used a roof mounted satellite TV antenna for 19 years. I don't carry a portable as I have only been blocked by trees a hand full of times during that time span. I live in my RV full time and travel A LOT! You simply need to make a choice about what's important, TV or shade. Just tell the campground operator you want a site with a clear view of the Southern Sky. They have been asked this so many times they know which site will work and which will not. On those few days without satellite there is almost always something available with a Batwing antenna used for OTA TV. Some of the smaller or omni-directional OTA TV antennas will not perform nearly as well. Luckily, I also have a DTV DVR receiver so I can always watch some of the dozens and dozens of programs and movies I have previously recorded.

We have a RF Mogul RV roof top dish and the DTV HR44 DVR receiver which stores recorded shows that are always available. We also watch minimum live shows instead watch recorded shows skipping the ads. This also means we can watch 2x 1 hr shows is 1 hr.But we're considering purchasing a portable dish and tripod. If so, it will be the heavy-duty tripod and dish that folds up which helps with storage. The TV4RV is the best equipment I've found which included suggestions from this board and the most expensive. The heavy-duty combo tripod is $170. The dish and LNB is $195. Plus, S&H. Yes, you can buy other equipment and spend less.I tested how long the coax could be using my home setup and coax from my 18" round dish days. DTV says 150' limit for SWM. With 300' I had 2 signal dropouts in a month. The 300' was made up of 7 sections of coax without the high frequency connectors and barrel connectors needed for the much higher frequency bandwidth required by SWM. Also, this test was in the Phoenix area which has higher satellite signal strength than say Seattle. But I'm confident that 200' if not more would work at my daughters in Seattle.Also add the cost of coax to the above, say $30 for 100’ of 3 GHz coax which would be adequate length for most CG sites. I’d probably want 2x 100’ plus 50’.

Alternative satellite option? | Good Sam Community

way2roll
Navigator II
Mar 04, 2025
I guess it really depends on the criticality of what Tv shows you have to watch. Personally, despite having great wifi and streaming services I usually never bother. If I really want to watch something late I use OTA. Usually, I find old westerns or Andy Griffith re-runs. Severance and White Lotus can wait.
juiced_vette
Explorer
Mar 04, 2025
Okay, let's bring this 6 year old thread current. From my experience, I used satellite on my boat (didn't own an RV yet). I used Bell, Dish Network and DirecTV. All worked well but were VERY expensive over the years. Fast forward to 2023 when I got Starlink. Haven't looked back. There are places we go (boat) that don't have cell service. There always seem to be Starlink service. The big plus is that unlike Satellite where you need one receiver per TV, you can connect multiple devices and there isn't a problem. On the boat, I have 4 TV's and probably at least 4 phones, tablet, laptop. Not an issue.

Moving ahead to the TV, I'll simply add a TV (it's only a 23a) and call it even. I'll probably go Starlink but perhaps for my limited use of it, may stick with cell service for now.

In conclusion, Starlink. Satellite isn't great any longer. Same price per month and you get WAY more. Get an IPTV box and stream whatever you want.
calmlyseemingly
Explorer
Feb 28, 2025
Why watch movies from satellite and not from a 3rd party?
- calmlyseemingly
  Explorer
  Mar 04, 2025
  I agree with what you said, maybe it's old, I'm also looking for something similar to watch movies like Netflix, HDO, HDO Box....
  - way2roll
    Navigator II
    Mar 04, 2025
    Just get an unlimited cellular service with wifi and steam whatever you want.
- valhalla360
  Navigator
  Feb 28, 2025
  What 3rd party?
  10yrs ago, satillite generally meant Dish or Direct TV. Today, it usually means Starlink with an internet streaming service.
  Of course, this is a 6yr old thread, so....
oldave
Explorer
Nov 04, 2019
We use our roof top in motion dome all the time , traveling or parked .
Now I don't park in the trees if I want satellite and the RV parks
often ask if I have satellite .
If they don't ask I tell them , there is seldom a problem and on that
pare occasion I have a dish on a tripod that I can set up if we want it

We will be sad to see in motion cease if in fact that happens but I
don't think that will actually comes about .
No doubt some changes will happen soon which will most likely be the
end of SD ( standard definition ) reception requiring at least up graded
receivers .
BTW I'm speaking Direct TV here .
Big_Katuna
Explorer II
Nov 03, 2019
DISH has two sets of sats; the eastern arc is in the southeast southern sky any higher up and western arc is in the southwest sky.

With an augmented reality sat location app on a smart phone you can “see” the sats and move around until one of the sets of sats is clear.

I set my Pathway up there. I almost always can get sats. It just takes a small hole.

I agree rooftop sat dishes are nearly useless. I haven’t used mine in years.
obiwancanoli
Explorer
Nov 03, 2019
down home wrote:
Big Katuna wrote:
I have a dome on my RV I don’t even bother to connect anymore.

We camp Fl state parks often and they are mostly heavily treed.

I use a Winegard Pathway X2. It lets you select eastern or western arc which gives you options when here are trees. DISH is more RV friendly than Dtv IMHO.

We have dome also and its in motion. We have found over a decade that trees block the signal. Is there some new tech?

Yup... chainsaws
down_home
Explorer II
Nov 03, 2019
Big Katuna wrote:
I have a dome on my RV I don’t even bother to connect anymore.

We camp Fl state parks often and they are mostly heavily treed.

I use a Winegard Pathway X2. It lets you select eastern or western arc which gives you options when here are trees. DISH is more RV friendly than Dtv IMHO.

We have dome also and its in motion. We have found over a decade that trees block the signal. Is there some new tech?
Big_Katuna
Explorer II
Nov 01, 2019
Another vote for a Winegard Pathway X2 and a DISH Wally. Hook it up and you’re done.
Bill_Satellite
Explorer II
Nov 01, 2019
bigred1cav wrote:
where may i find a service to change my direct tv sat rec to dish? does diah perform the task when system is purchased

You cannot use a DTV receiver with the DISH service. Period.
You will need new receivers from DISH and a new antenna capable of receiving the signal from the DISH satellites. DISH uses 2 sets of satellites so you might need 2 different LNB setups for an open face antenna or an automatic dome antenna capable of changing between the 2 sets.
jplante4
Explorer II
Nov 01, 2019
I have a Pathway X2 and frankly, half the time it ends up on the roof to get the extra angle. It does get both arcs and that's a plus, however, there are places where you cannot get the arc that the local stations transmit on. This happen to us in Rapid City SD.

If you don't already have a WiFi solution, consider ToGo

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