Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: Satellite antennas (Read 974 times) previous topic - next topic

Satellite antennas

Ok, getting ready to change out our TVs and the Satellite antenna. I know many of you have already done this, so I have some questions for you. What brand did you end up getting, why, Dish network or Direct and are you still happy with your choice?
 Thanks for your input in advance. Richard Bark
Richard & Betty Bark & Keiko our Golden Doodle
2003 U320T 3820 PBDS
Build # 6215
MC # 16926
2016 Chevrolet Colorado 4X4 diesel

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #1 –
I went with Dish based on their RV Program. I had to buy my own DVR but I am on a month to month, no contract, and I can stop the service with a phone call and pick it back up two months later. Also, I can get the local channels no matter where we are just by calling them and giving them a local address. I have changed my locals three time in one week as we were traveling without a problem.

I was with Directv for 10 years but they did not want to accommodate my RVing needs.
The selected media item is not currently available.Kent Speers
Locust Grove, OK
1993 U300 SSE 40' (Restored at FOT 2009) Build 4323
720 watts Solar
6V92TA DDEC Silver Engine
2014 Subaru Outback

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #2 –
Also went with Dish Network. I bought my own HD receivers off ebay. My neighbor had a Cube (single cable, goes on picnic table, etc.) for $120 but have to manually push the remote button for the third HD satellite when needed. I have a regular HD dish with the triple LNBs but don't watch it that much to spend time setting it up. With the Cube, I had to go with the receiver without DVR built in but can just connect a hard drive. Be sure to go on satellite or rv forums and research the best model for your application. I ran both HDMI and VGA cables in the belly so I could put the flat screen on the wall. Nasty job feeding both cables back from the old TV location up front. New HD satellite receivers have HDMI out on the back.

So why two cables? You can VGA analog out from laptops, etc. Some HDTVs look great with VGA in, others don't. Looking at a 32" Norcent 720P right now as my monitor. I have a tower (VGA out) and laptop (HDMI out) plugged into it with the image about the same for both inputs.
Pierce and Gaylie Stewart
'93 U300/36 WTBI
Detroit 6V-92TA Jake
1140 watts on the roof
SBFD (ret)

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #3 –
Our 1997 has a 46" TV securely mounted to the aluminum Foretravel front frameworks using a standard wall mount. We like our DirecTV HD DVR. And our Winegard open HD DirecTV SK-3005 satellite antenna works great in wind and rain, and even 500 miles north of the Canadian border. We did all the installs of TV, DVR & antenna ourselves in campgrounds.

DirecTV network channels are not broadcast nationwide, except for NYC & LA. For $20 additional a month we are grandfathered to receive East & West network NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX & PBS channels from NYC & LA. New subscribers get the same network channels for the same $20 from only NYC or LA based upon where you claim as your service address. Claiming NYC or LA as your service address may allow you to receive these same channels for the price of locals.
We have subscribed to DirecTV for over 10 years and find their online systems to be quite good and phone customer service is usually pretty good. DirecTV also has a direct phone line for special services including RVs. With a good Internet connection we can also download free movies and programs to our DVR. Connection to a land-phone-line is never needed.

We love our DirecTV and our Winegard.

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Barry & Cindy –
With a good Internet connection we can also download free movies and programs to our DVR.
Barry... we have the same setup and enjoy our DirecTV, HD-DVR, and Winegard, too.  However, I'm not familiar with downloading free movies to the DVR (we have the HR-24 model) with good campground internet/wifi.  Could you elaborate on this feature?  Thanks!
The selected media item is not currently available.Pat Hatfield
2000 U295 3600 #5666 WTFE (sold 1/7/20)
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee
previously: 2003 U295 3610 #6228 (sold 5/29/14)
previously:  2009 Honda CRV (sold 6/9/14)

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #5 –
Dish Network all the way for me mainly because I had it at my home base and I could just transfer the HD DVR Receiver to the coach when I was leaving on a trip.  The Winegard TRAV'LER SK-1000 Automatic Lock-on DISH Network 1000 open HD satellite antenna is great.  Very fast lock-on and has a better signal strength and less "lost signals" than inclosed dish's.  HDMI to the 32" LCD TV.

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #6 –
Thanks everybody for the input. We're leaning towards the wine guard system but still stuck on which service to choose. Dish or direct.
Richard & Betty Bark & Keiko our Golden Doodle
2003 U320T 3820 PBDS
Build # 6215
MC # 16926
2016 Chevrolet Colorado 4X4 diesel

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #7 –
Since 2003 we've had three different RV's each with a 0.74meter wide oval dish Datastorm unit on top.

LNB's are attached to the Datastorm's arm for DirecTV. The Datastorm controller locks the DirecTV's LNBs on the DirecTV satellite at 101 (we could not get a HD DVR in the cabinet). The modern Datastorm controller finds ANY satellite and then moves directly to the satellite it needs to lock on to get DirecTV 101 (which is 89W in my case).

The larger 0.74m dish appears to give us a stable connection and even has allowed us to get DirecTV shooting thru trees. Getting DirecTV this time of the year is critical to get the Tour de France, to keep she who must be obeyed happy.

You can see the DirecTV LNB arm clearly on the 6th photo from the bottom of this page:

( Kathleen & Paul Smith's RV Travelblog )
When needed, a free admin utility app from DatastormUsers.com allows me to manually adjust the dish position from a laptop.

I'm not saying, "Get a Datastorm to get TV," only that if your RV happens to have a Datastorm it can do more than Internet (I sold two RV's with a Datastorm on them and they didn't add a dime to the selling price).


best, paul
1999 U320 40' 1200 watts on roof. 12cf AC/DC Cold plate fridge/freezer. VMS 240 CL Honda Element

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #8 –
Pat asked about downloading to our DirecTV DVR. . .

Our HR24-500 receiver has an Ethernet port on the back, which I connect to our router so the DVR has Internet access. I only make this wired connection when we have fast wifi and we are not paying for Mb usage.

Without a router, I assume the cable can be connected to a computer that has Internet access. Windows Internet Connect Sharing (ICS) may be able to give the DVR access to the computer's Internet. ICS can also be used to share the Internet connection on one computer with another computer.

DVR System Setup - Network Setup will configure the DVR to connect to the Internet.
DVR channel 1,000 is the main screen to tell the DVR what to download to its hard drive. DirecTV calls it Video On Demand (VOD). "Browse by Channel" shows VOD offerings by channel.

Hope this helps get you started.
Barry & Cindy

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Barry & Cindy –
Pat asked about downloading to our DirecTV DVR
Barry & Cindy, thanks VERY much for the detailed explanation.  I will tuck it away for our next location (starting July 31) which hopefully will have better internet.  We LOVE the Virgin, UT area where we are now, but the campground wifi can be spotty and there is ZERO Verizon wireless (neither voice nor broadband) here - have to drive 3 miles east to get past the (albeit very pretty) mesa that's blocking the signal.  Thanks again!  ^.^d
The selected media item is not currently available.Pat Hatfield
2000 U295 3600 #5666 WTFE (sold 1/7/20)
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee
previously: 2003 U295 3610 #6228 (sold 5/29/14)
previously:  2009 Honda CRV (sold 6/9/14)

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #10 –
Quote from: Patricia –
Quote from: Barry & Cindy –
Pat asked about downloading to our DirecTV DVR
Barry & Cindy, thanks VERY much for the detailed explanation.  I will tuck it away for our next location (starting July 31) which hopefully will have better internet.  We LOVE the Virgin, UT area where we are now, but the campground wifi can be spotty and there is ZERO Verizon wireless (neither voice nor broadband) here - have to drive 3 miles east to get past the (albeit very pretty) mesa that's blocking the signal.  Thanks again!  ^.^d

Pat, just a thought to ponder. We use AT&T as our primary cellular phone provider but we know there are areas where AT&T doesn't work so we have a Verizon, Pay as You Go, phone as a backup. We bought a one year service when we bought the phone but used only $5.00 of the $105 cost. In the future we will "pay as we go" buying only the minimum service as we need it. By having the Verizon phone as a backup, we have yet to find a place where neither service works. We do the same with the MiFi except Verizon is our primary and AT&T is the back up. If we need to use AT&T, we just add tethering for that month or however long we will be in that spot.

As you see from my post on Cellular Modems, I am looking to see if anyone has found a better setup for the internet. Our system has worked well but my contract with Verizon is up in September and I'm wondering if I can get a better value elsewhere.
The selected media item is not currently available.Kent Speers
Locust Grove, OK
1993 U300 SSE 40' (Restored at FOT 2009) Build 4323
720 watts Solar
6V92TA DDEC Silver Engine
2014 Subaru Outback

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #11 –
Quote from: Kent Speers –
Pat, just a thought to ponder. We use AT&T as our primary cellular phone provider but we know there are areas where AT&T doesn't work so we have a Verizon, Pay as You Go, phone as a backup.... By having the Verizon phone as a backup, we have yet to find a place where neither service works.
Kent, I've often thought about an AT&T back-up (we like Verizon as our primary) - in fact, they have the "GoPhone" plan (Get Started -  Wireless from AT&T) which can be monthly, daily, or by the minute - and minutes roll over if you add money to your balance before it expires in either 30 or 90 days.

However, in the Virgin, UT campground where we are staying for the month of July, there is no Verizon or AT&T!  The campground does provide a phone and a jack on the pedestal for free local, 800-, and incoming calls.  And their wifi is good enough for Google-phone.  So we're covered here.

With regard to our set-up and your other post on cellular modems, see my post from back in April:  UPGRADED TO VERIZON VL600 AIRCARD

Oops... we've inadvertently hijacked Richard's thread (sorry about that!).  :o  And now, back to your regularly scheduled programming....  :))
The selected media item is not currently available.Pat Hatfield
2000 U295 3600 #5666 WTFE (sold 1/7/20)
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee
previously: 2003 U295 3610 #6228 (sold 5/29/14)
previously:  2009 Honda CRV (sold 6/9/14)

Re: Satellite antennas

Reply #12 –
That's all right, very informative if I knew what you were talking about :))
Richard & Betty Bark & Keiko our Golden Doodle
2003 U320T 3820 PBDS
Build # 6215
MC # 16926
2016 Chevrolet Colorado 4X4 diesel