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Live Television In An RV; points to ponder

May 05, 2016, 04:29:38 pm

Felt it might be helpful to share IMHO a well written easy to understand article from advisor.com.  Particularly useful information for our members who may be planning to install, and/or even those considering upgrades/replacement  to  their current RV TV systems.

How To Receive Live Television In An RV | ADVISOR.com

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Re: Live Television In An RV; points to ponder

Reply #1 – May 05, 2016, 06:07:36 pm

We have a mobile account with DirecTV.  We have no problem with them changing our service address to where ever we are and then we get the local channels.  It has been reported that the local spot channels are an approximately 50 mile radius. This varies greatly. We were getting Tucson local TV north of Phoenix and Phoenix west to Parker and North to the Grand Canyon.

If you set up your account as a mobile account this change is easy.  Just a phone call. If it is a fixed account they think you are moving.  When we are home we just change the service address to there. Moving the receiver from the coach to the house is easy.  Power, Antenna, HDMI.  And you can suspend service for periods of time.  We were going to do that but it cost about $100 to set up service in the house so "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" or "Fixer Upper" whenever we want.

A good OTA setup is good for 40-50 miles.  Any more is tough. Usually less depending on terrain and weather. When we were in the SE USA, OTA TV was almost always available.

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Re: Live Television In An RV; points to ponder

Reply #2 – May 08, 2016, 09:26:53 am

We are in Two Harbors, MN about 200 miles North of St. Paul. Without changing our sevice location (Hastings, 230 miles away) we are still getting Twin Cirites local channels on DirecTV.  I think the 100 mile diameter for local channel spot beams is much, much bigger.

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Re: Live Television In An RV; points to ponder

Reply #3 – May 08, 2016, 10:08:23 am

Spot beams vary in size and shape. The one for N Platte Nebraska is huge.
In addition to our Dish Tailgater, I have a Roku HDMI stick on each TV. I find more entertainment with it than with either Dish, or OTA.

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Re: Live Television In An RV; points to ponder

Reply #4 – May 08, 2016, 10:20:47 am

We have a Roku and an Amazon Firestick too.  They work well but consume data.  Lots of opportunities.

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