Best satellite option for full timing

[luvdoggiez]

Hi there everyone,

DW and I live full time in our RV. We have a home base in Sacramento area, but we travel frequently, and sometimes we want to watch TV when we are staying at a camp ground. We've found that DirecTv and Uverse DVR's don't work when we are on the road. For DirecTv, I found that setting up the tripod Satellite dish a pain to set up when we are on the road. The dome on our 2003 Allegro bus no longer functions. We are able to watch OTA when we are at Campgrounds, but sometimes we stay places that don't have any OTA service and no cable.

We had DISH years ago when we lived in a house, but had not tried them yet.

We'd welcome your thoughts on what equipment configuration and subscription has worked the best for you when being on the road.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this subject.

Safe Travels

Eric and Carol

[Bill_Satellite]

Dutch_12078 wrote:

Bill.Satellite wrote:
DISH uses 2 sets of 3 satellites. One set located in the far East and one set in the far west. A dome will work with DISH and if you ensure you select the correct dome you can change some settings in the dome (ladder and roof work required) to change between the 2 sets.

Bill, you haven't been keeping up I guess... The Winegard Pathway X2 does not require any changes at the dish to switch arcs, just a menu selection.

As I am sure you are aware, I was not talking specifically about the Pathway X2 but domes in general. Enjoy this unnecessary stab though.

[valhalla360]

TechWriter wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Gave up on Satellite a couple years back.

Sounds like you had a pre-Gen 5 sat setup.

valhalla360 wrote:
We need cellular data anyway, so it's a pretty small cost to upgrade to unlimited compared to committing to a long term satellite contract.

If there's no cell service, then there's no limited or unlimited.

Just finished camping in the mountains near Yosemite, nada cell service. Streamed Game of Thrones finale on my Gen 5. Raining, heavy overcast, next site camper parked in front of my dish. Worked like a charm.

I was skeptical of sat service until I needed it.

Not sure which generation we had...no issues setting it up. Just for the cost, it didn't make sense when cell works at least as well.

If you had read my last post, sure, you can find remote areas without cell service but far more common is a nicely wooded site where cell works fine but we couldn't get a clear view of the sky.

[Dutch_12078]

Bill.Satellite wrote:
DISH uses 2 sets of 3 satellites. One set located in the far East and one set in the far west. A dome will work with DISH and if you ensure you select the correct dome you can change some settings in the dome (ladder and roof work required) to change between the 2 sets.

Bill, you haven't been keeping up I guess... The Winegard Pathway X2 does not require any changes at the dish to switch arcs, just a menu selection.

[DarkSkySeeker]

trb46 wrote:
...when we’re out we use Dish with the King Tailgater with the 211Z receiver. We use the basic Dish for RV package...

Me too.

[TechWriter]

valhalla360 wrote:
Gave up on Satellite a couple years back.

Sounds like you had a pre-Gen 5 sat setup.

valhalla360 wrote:
We need cellular data anyway, so it's a pretty small cost to upgrade to unlimited compared to committing to a long term satellite contract.

If there's no cell service, then there's no limited or unlimited.

Just finished camping in the mountains near Yosemite, nada cell service. Streamed Game of Thrones finale on my Gen 5. Raining, heavy overcast, next site camper parked in front of my dish. Worked like a charm.

I was skeptical of sat service until I needed it.

[2oldman]

Setting up a DTV dish on a tripod was only a pain the first 10 times.

[valhalla360]

TechWriter wrote:

valhalla360 wrote:
Unlimited cellular internet.

Like OP we full time. Even with our unlimited AT&T, Verizon, and HughesNET Gen 5 sat Internet, I wouldn't want to give up DISH.

Cellular ain't everywhere -- in 3 of our last 11 South West campgrounds it was sat Internet only.

We use it full time and while it's not everywhere it's in the vast majority of places...by the way, can't get satellite everywhere either. If the site doesn't have a clear shot to the right part of the sky, guess what, no TV. On the whole, we had blocked satellite more than we had no cell signal.

Gave up on Satellite a couple years back.

PS: We need cellular data anyway, so it's a pretty small cost to upgrade to unlimited compared to committing to a long term satellite contract.

[TechWriter]

valhalla360 wrote:
Unlimited cellular internet.

Like OP we full time. Even with our unlimited AT&T, Verizon, and HughesNET Gen 5 sat Internet, I wouldn't want to give up DISH.

Cellular ain't everywhere -- in 3 of our last 11 South West campgrounds it was sat Internet only.

[Second_Chance]

TechWriter wrote:
For "some time" TV watching, I'd recommend a Pathway X2 with a Wally receiver. You can turn a Wally into a limited DVR by connecting it to a hard drive.

For more TV options as a full timer, I'd suggest a Winegard DISH Travler rooftop automatic dish with a Hopper 3 DVR.

There are several programming options from DISH. Depends on your needs.

This is good advice - unless you are going to spend time in both the east and the west. The Trav'ler is a Western (or at least single) arc antenna, only. It will, however, pick up all three satellites on an arc at one time (it's a 3 LNB antenna). The Pathway X2 will pick up either the eastern or western Dish Network satellite arcs - but just one satellite at a time (single LNB antenna). We have been quite happy for four years with a Wally (preceded by its 211Z predecessor) with a hard drive for DVR use and a Pathway X2 antenna. The new Dish phone app makes it very easy to change our location to pick up HD locals via satellite (for recording, too!).

Rob

PS: if you use the search function on the forum, you will find dozens of threads on this topic.

[Bill_Satellite]

luvdoggiez wrote:
Hi there everyone,

DW and I live full time in our RV. We have a home base in Sacramento area, but we travel frequently, and sometimes we want to watch TV when we are staying at a camp ground. We've found that DirecTv and Uverse DVR's don't work when we are on the road. For DirecTv, I found that setting up the tripod Satellite dish a pain to set up when we are on the road. The dome on our 2003 Allegro bus no longer functions. We are able to watch OTA when we are at Campgrounds, but sometimes we stay places that don't have any OTA service and no cable.

We had DISH years ago when we lived in a house, but had not tried them yet.

We'd welcome your thoughts on what equipment configuration and subscription has worked the best for you when being on the road.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts on this subject.

Safe Travels

Eric and Carol

"The Best" is will generate many discussions similar to the Ford / Chevy debate.
For me, the best satellite TV setup is DirecTV and a Winegard Trav'ler on your roof. Sure it's expensive but it's THE BEST option for satellite TV reception. With this ANY DTV receiver will work in your RV including the Genie and client combination. DirecTV also uses only 3 centrally located satellites over TX so reception coast to coast is excellent. DISH uses 2 sets of 3 satellites. One set located in the far East and one set in the far west. A dome will work with DISH and if you ensure you select the correct dome you can change some settings in the dome (ladder and roof work required) to change between the 2 sets.
You could also sign up for DTV's DNS and receive the LA channels everywhere you travel in the US without concern over changing locations again and again. DISH has this option as well, just adding to the discussion that you may not be aware of.
I travel coast to coast on a regular basis and have only been without service due to trees a hand full of times in the last 19 years.
Others will disagree. That's OK but you will have to do a lot of reading (or re-read this post) to find what's "Best"!

[wa8yxm]

Personally I use over the air broadcast. The old Winegard Sensar IV.

Dish is best for RV use.

[valhalla360]

Unlimited cellular internet.

We did the satellite but with so much online content, we finally gave up on satellite.

Unless you demand high def, cellular works very well within the limits of the available technology/data plans.

[DFord]

Yeah, my favorite is Dish Network. Now that Direct is owned by AT&T who is notorious for the death of their customer service across the board, you'll be pleasantly surprised to speak with someone you can understand when calling for help at Dish. I've been with Dish since I abandoned my 8 ft dish. I haven't been pleased with all the changes I've seen but for the last couple of years, I haven't had to deal with anyone with an oriental dialect that from the conversations I've had, never used the system they're trying to give advice about. Over the winter as we traveled, I'd call to "update" my local channels. The "spot" beams that carry the local channels cover a wide area. When I got into Arizona, I gave them an address in Phoenix even though I was in Tucson at the time and started watching Phoenix channels for weather, news and the major network programming. I was able to watch those channels till we moved to California later on. Then I gave them an RV park address in Los Angeles even though we never made it past Palm Springs. I did that because the Palm Springs area has few channels than Los Angeles. They gave me the impression that at some point, I'd be able to switch locals using an app on my phone. If I was a full timer, I could do that now but because I've got a permanent home address, that's not an option for me.

I'd also recommend an automatic dish. Because I live in the Midwest where many RV parks have nice shade trees that also block the fixed antenna on the roof, I have a second portable antenna that comes in handy when the rooftop one is blocked.

I use the Vip211z receiver with an external harddrive for DVR recording. The 211 also has a built-in OTA digital tuner to receive local channels and even record them. I found it on Ebay and Craig's list for $30. There's a one time charge of $40 to enable the DVR function which I was told is good for any receiver I buy in the future. The 211 has both an HDMI port and an analog (channel 3/4) port that allows us to connect it easily to the 2nd TV in the rear of our MH.

I bought a newer Wally receiver that has a RF remote (the 211's remote is IF) that allows controlling the receiver through walls. The Wally's only output is one HDMI port. That prevented my put my plan of replacing the my 211 with the Wally dead in its tracks. Another missing component of the Wally is the OTA tuner - it must be purchased separately if you want to view/record local channels. It costs about a 1/3 of the original cost of the Wally. I'm not sure the Wally is worth it and other than the RF remote, it isn't as nice a receiver as the Vip211z.

Our programming package (America's Top 200) cost is $82.99 and locals are $12. A second receiver is $7 bringing our bill just shy of $102 a month. I'm figuring on dropping the local channels and using an OTA antenna to receive then soon.

[trb46]

We don’t full time, but when we’re out we use Dish with the King Tailgater with the 211Z receiver. We use the basic Dish for RV package with the extra news package. Works fine for us.