New Travel Trailer, help me understand my satellite options

[95jersey]

First time camper, bought an 18' travel trailer. Have absolutely no clue what my options are for satellite TV. Google just brings up a million things that are very confusing with options from $50 - thousands.

I want cheap and small unit for minimal use with affordable plans. Any help or direction would be greatly appreciated

[bbaker2001]

Thanks for the great post so helpful

[ventrman]

The Dish Tailgeter works great.

[Bill_Satellite]

Try this:
https://www.mydish.com/upgrades/english-packages/welcome-pack

[bbaker2001]

I called dish about the welcome package, and they did not know about it. I would like that package. do you have a number where you got it

[95jersey]

I bought an HDTV antenna last night to try it out and amazingly I get 50 channels in my area. I am sure remote camp sites will be different, but this is a good start.

[Bill_Satellite]

95jersey wrote:
Yeah, these are trips to parks, race tracks and such without cable hookups (primitive camping). Maybe 1 weekend per month in spring through fall.

It sounds like you might be able to receive local OTA Network TV (plus a bunch of sub channels) if this is just weekend stuff. That's FREE! and you trailer is already setup for this. You might need a better OTA antenna if it is not a Winegard Sensar (Batwing) but even that will depend upon where you travel. Between an OTA antenna and a DVR with movies or shows you like should get you through most any weekend adventure unless you have specific satellite TV (Cable TV) channels you simply could not live without.
Dish does have a pay-as-you-go (PAYG) plan but you need to purchase the receiver (around $100) plus an antenna to receive the signal ($100 for a manual and about $500 for an automatic). The service is around $40 for 30 day but you turn it on and off as necessary. That's likely the biggest pain is having to have the service activated over and over again so you might just sign up for 3 months to cover the Summer travels and be done with it.

[gvisnic]

We have the Dish pay as you go plan. Dish has a plan they do not advertise. It is the "Welcome" package. You get local channels plus 40 other channels for $19.99 per mo. that is what we use. You have to ask for it

[pennysmom09]

We have DirectTV in our home so we can have it while wintering in Florida. We have a portable dish and stand, plus the meter to help find the signal. W e weigh it down with gallon jugs of water. Otherwise we would prefer Xfinity cable at home, but had to compromise so we weren't at the mercy of CG cable or limited OTA reception when traveling. We have done the latter, and it is workable but to us, annoying.

[greenrvgreen]

If you don't have sat at home already, then there is no cheap sat solution. Best (IMO) is DishForMyRV, as said. I have the Tailgater carryout (not cheap) and I find that not having to aim the dish does wonders for my blood pressure. Tailgater works very well on 100-ft of coax, which helps you get around trees.

[95jersey]

Yeah, these are trips to parks, race tracks and such without cable hookups (primitive camping). Maybe 1 weekend per month in spring through fall.

[Bill_Satellite]

Sounds like you don't need service 12 months per year (you likely need yearly service if you plan to use the service even 1 day out of each month) and if that's true you will need to be a Dish customer who offers a pay-as-you-go plan.
If you can use satellite TV at home then either provider can install service at your home and you can move a receiver between the home and the RV as necessary. All you would need then is a portable antenna compatible with your service.
Give us some more information about your requirements and usage and we should be able to fill in a lot more blanks.

[BB_TX]

Dishformyrv has a monthly pay as you go plan. You pay for the months you use it. And don't pay for months you don't use it. The least expensive plan I believe is about $50/month. Plans with more channels are available for extra dollars. Just be sure you do not sign up for auto pay or they will charge your credit card every month.

Our travel has been limited due to family reasons the last 2 yrs. Last year I only used it (and paid for it) two different months. This year only one month so far. If the RV park has cable I often do not even set up the satellite unless we are going to stay there more than 2 nights.

And with Dish if you are outside your home viewing area, you can call Dish, tell them where you are, tell them you want to change your service address (not your billing address), and in a few minutes you will have local major network stations from the nearest major city.

[kellertx5er]

For DirecTV: 18" round dish on homemade 2x4 base, standard definition receiver, coax cable as needed, compass, level. Optional is satellite signal meter.

Not very sexy, but very affordable.

[2oldman]

Youtube - sat tv for rvers.