Forum Discussion

bhildreth's avatar
bhildreth
Explorer
Dec 17, 2013

Satellite TV antennas

I've only used broadcast TV in my travel trailer. Now, I'm buying a new Tiffin Allegro and looking into satellite TV. The auto dome that Tiffin provides apparently can be programed to receive Direct TV or Dish, but HD only on Dish. I'm thinking of going with Dish HD. It seems to be easier. I've seen Direct TV and it's a good signal. Is the Dish signal as good?

I see in catalogs several different portable antennas when camping in the trees. Do they work well? Any brands superior? There is some price difference.
  • Depends on what you want to watch. Compare packages before you make a decision
  • We have Direct TV at our house. We use a conventional receiver from the house in the MH.
    We bought a Winegard Carry Out portable. We did this because we camp in areas that may have obstructions. With the portable dish we can move it to get a clear shot at the southern sky.
    We have had good luck with the Carry Out. Only problem is operator error by not following the instructions for connecting.
  • Forget the dome and have a Winegard Trav'ler installed. You can have either a Directv dish or Dish model installed and you will get HD without any problem. You can have a Joey/Hopper system or use the Genie system from Direct - either way, you will have HD, an HD DVR, and all the comforts of home. You can have as many tuners as you have TVs if you so desire. Can't do that with a dome.

    If you are having your coach built, Tiffin will pre-wire for the Trav'ler for a $250 +/-. BTW, the DISH version installed should be around $1500, the Directv version a little more.
  • wa8yxm's avatar
    wa8yxm
    Explorer III
    Domes have only one LNB, it can be single or dual output but it is one LNB.

    IF you have a SINGLE Dishentwork receiver, HD or not, the proper dome will work with it (NOTE PROPER DOME, not all do). But if you have multiple receivers you need 2 or 3 domes (3 max) and if you have more than 3 receivers a digital equipment switch to connect the receiver to the sat it needs to see.

    With DirecTV, all domes save the tailgater work just fine, DUAL output LNB's will feed 2 or more (With switch) recievers. BUT NO DOME works with DirecHDTV. They use a different size antenna. (Different frequency band) and no dome currently made receives it.