What Satellite system to buy

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What Satellite system to buy

January 24, 2017, 05:20:35 pm

Hello
I want to install a satellite system to watch TV. Could someone tell me what seems to be the best one.
Thank You
Rick Maddox
509-939-0740
rlmlimited@comcast.net

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #1 – January 24, 2017, 05:55:13 pm

Quote from: ricker – January 24, 2017, 05:20:35 pm

Hello
I want to install a satellite system to watch TV. Could someone tell me what seems to be the best one.
Thank You
Rick Maddox
509-939-0740
rlmlimited@comcast.net

Several choices here. If you like Dish programming, the Tailgater works well, cheap and easy to store and setup. Any table will do and does not have to be level.

To us, the programming is not worth the cost so we have a FTA satellite (Free to Air). It costs nothing but does not get the premium channels, just the news and a few other stations. PBS is one.

Most of the time, we stream off of a MiFi card or use OTA antenna. MiFi can get the whole world of movies, news, etc. with a Kodi box or Kodi installed on a computer/tablet etc.

This model works very well but needs a Logitech keyboard with trackpad to get the most out of it. Amazon.com: SUPVIN 2GB/16GB EM95X Android 6.0 TV box 4K Amlogic S905X Quad...

Pierce

As an Amazon Associate Foretravel Owners' Forum earns from qualifying purchases.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #2 – January 24, 2017, 09:00:53 pm

This is a what is your favorite color question. Lots of opinions. In the end it will come down to what do you want to watch, where do you want to watch it and how much do you want to spend.

You can do a high end Winegard Trav'ler for DirecTV or DIsh. Our DirecTV Trav'ler dish gets all three high def satelites when it can see them (most of the time). We can stream Amazon or almost anything else we want over our Verizon MiFi device as well. This burns up data quickly but data may be cheaper then buying the direcTV dish, equipment and monthly programming.

We have been thinking about getting an AT&T iPhone 7 (free) and a minimum data plan as a backup to Verizon. This also gets us a $15 credit on our DirecTV bill. You can add DirecTV Now to your phone account and get all of the DirecTV programming (at some package level, I am not sure of which one) for $35 a month, includes data that you use to stream it, it is month to month, on and off as you need it and last time I checked if you pay three months in advance you get a free AppleTV.

But streaming depends on a good enough cell signal. Satellite depends on a decent southern sky view without too many trees.

And you need an alternative to tv when it doesn't work (even when it does). Go for a walk, read a book, talk to your best friend, bring some good DVDs.

Check every possibility to find a good fit for you.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #3 – January 30, 2017, 10:07:26 am

We have the Travler and a Dish Hopper. That combination works well for us.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #4 – January 30, 2017, 10:36:11 am

Quote from: Johnstons – January 30, 2017, 10:07:26 am

We have the Travler and a Dish Hopper. That combination works well for us.

Do you use only the "western arc" satellites, or have you found a workaround in order to use the "eastern arc" satellites?

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #5 – January 30, 2017, 01:18:46 pm

We fooled around with the existing King Dome & Winegard system when we bought the coach, numerous techs & phone calls, no luck. Bought a DISH Tailgator & reciever for around $400.00 Dish has a"America's Top 200" deal for around $75.00 mo. It could be other outlets have the same deal, but DISH lets us cancel service when it's not needed. There are cheaper options, but we like the Top 200 for obscure t.v. that the DW likes. plus, I HAVE MY NASCAR!

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #6 – January 31, 2017, 08:47:21 am

We have the Dish 211Z receiver and Winegard Pathway X2 dish. $452.84 plus tax and shipping. Plan cost $50/mt.
It can receive both the Eastern and Western arc and fully automatic. Per Winegard, the best carryout system they offer.

We have been very happy with the package, other then the service from Dish techs. The Winegard tech service is outstanding.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #7 – January 31, 2017, 09:21:38 am

Have Direct TV at home so just put receiver in motorhome when travel or u can just activate receiver as needed. AT&T cell phone and Direct TV Como.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #8 – January 31, 2017, 09:48:50 am

Quote from: Dick & Sue – January 31, 2017, 08:47:21 am

We have the Dish 211Z receiver and Winegard Pathway X2 dish. $452.84 plus tax and shipping. Plan cost $50/mt.

On the plan cost of $50 per month...is this the "pay as you go" or a long-term subscription? If you "turn on" plan when traveling, and "turn off" when at home, is it a certain amount per day, or per week, or per month or what?

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #9 – January 31, 2017, 10:59:31 am

We need to replace our original unit. I'm afraid that we could invest a couple of thousand into a system that might be overcome by technology. I can see a day when someone will ask: "Are you still using a satellite?" How long will it be before we are pulling everything we need through a laptop or tablet? It wasn't that long ago that we had to get movies at the local video store (something our kids will be telling their children about).

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #10 – January 31, 2017, 11:14:06 am

Until the price of data comes down, we won't be streaming HD movies through our Verizon 4G connection. We haven't yet succumbed to the lure of portable satellite, but the Winegard package mentioned by Dick & Sue looks tempting. For now, we make do by recording current TV shows and series off our rooftop OTA antenna at home (no cable), transferring to DVD's, and watching them on the road. Plus, we have never failed to get at least a few local TV stations with our crank-up antenna on the coach. That. plus a selection of store-bought movies and older series on DVD gets us by.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #11 – January 31, 2017, 11:18:21 am

Quote from: Chuck & Jeannie – January 31, 2017, 09:48:50 am

On the plan cost of $50 per month...is this the "pay as you go" or a long-term subscription? If you "turn on" plan when traveling, and "turn off" when at home, is it a certain amount per day, or per week, or per month or what?

Our experience with DISH has been great, them knowing we're travelers. What they prefer (for no cost) is to "hold" the service for a longer time (4-6 months). We tried the "daily, weekly" method and got a charge for re-install when we got to a new site, which is business. We keep ours activated when changing sites and call them for a new area code. For HD, DISH only supports the 211Z and one other receiver these days. We had heard horror stories about the Tailgator in trees, etc., but have not had problems, except in storms, where the smaller size is not as strong as the tripod mount, which we still carry, just in case. It will cost around $80.00 to have a tech come out to align a tripod, but worth it if staying for a while.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #12 – January 31, 2017, 01:50:08 pm

Chuck,
From a week ago...

We have been thinking about getting an AT&T iPhone 7 (free) and a minimum data plan as a backup to Verizon. This also gets us a $15 credit on our DirecTV bill. You can add DirecTV Now to your phone account and get all of the DirecTV programming (at some package level, I am not sure of which one) for $35 a month, includes data that you use to stream it, it is month to month, on and off as you need it and last time I checked if you pay three months in advance you get a free AppleTV.

No dish, almost no hardware (you might need something to cast it to your big screen) and on or off any time, no contract (other than the phone)

If you add up the hardware costs and the monthly Dish or DirecTV charges you could buy a lot of data for the months you travel. It is just another way to think about it. Or just ride our new cool bikes!

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #13 – January 31, 2017, 07:51:50 pm

We have DTV at home, added another receiver for the coach and installed a Winegard Traveler dish when the Tracstar dish died. We activate it as needed.

Regarding the comment about streaming...Verizon is methodically eliminating the grandfathered unlimited data plans. We have one and know it is just a matter of time.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #14 – January 31, 2017, 08:02:43 pm

When we moved in to the coach full time, A friend was selling his 1 year old Dish Trav'ler for $600.00. He was switching to Direct. So we jumped on it and paid another friend $100.00 to install it. We used our Hopper 2 and Joey from the house. Everything works great just like at the house. I highly recommend the Wingard Trav'ler

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #15 – January 31, 2017, 09:19:12 pm

From Jeff and Sandy...
"Regarding the comment about streaming...Verizon is methodically eliminating the grandfathered unlimited data plans. We have one and know it is just a matter of time."

Oh would be nice to have unlimited data and maybe someday that will be how it is for everyone. But if you spend $1600 on a sat dish and $400 to get it installed and buy the hardware and then pay $80 or $90 a month for the service the in 20 months you are spending $190 a month. For six months a year of travel you have $190 each month to buy data for more than three years. You can go from 8 GB to 60 GB a month for that $$,

Just another way of looking at it.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #16 – January 31, 2017, 09:35:02 pm

Quote from: Roger & Susan in Home2 – January 31, 2017, 09:19:12 pm

But if you spend $1600 on a sat dish and $400 to get it installed and buy the hardware and then pay $80 or $90 a month for the service...

The deal Dick & Sue mentioned is considerably less expensive than that:
"We have the Dish 211Z receiver and Winegard Pathway X2 dish. $452.84 plus tax and shipping. Plan cost $50/month."

Even better: no shipping charge if purchased from Amazon Prime! ^.^d

Amazon.com: Winegard PA6002R Pathway X2 Bundle Satellite TV Antenna:...

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Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #17 – January 31, 2017, 11:16:47 pm

Those portable dishes are nice, you can move them around to get a sat. The Trav'ler gets three HD satellites at the same time. I don't have to get it out, put it away, find a space for storing it. Obviously there are different choices and no one choce fits everyone. You can stream most everything on DirecTV for $35 a month from AT&T including data.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #18 – February 01, 2017, 09:16:28 am

The deal Dick & Sue mentioned is considerably less expensive than that:
"We have the Dish 211Z receiver and Winegard Pathway X2 dish. $452.84 plus tax and shipping. Plan cost $50/month."

Even better: no shipping charge if purchased from Amazon

Update..... We had a close lighting strike Jan 24 @4:05 am.
The end result was the Winegard dish took a hit, along with our Sony 32 and DVD player, and some cabling. Every thing hook via HDMI cable was damaged.
The good news was that Progressive Insurance came through and payed for every thing, including labor for my time to trouble shoot and reinstall everything.

The bad news was Amazon Prime FedX overnight delivery only took 4 days and another Dish package arrived yesterday via UPS. That box looked like it was dropped kicked all the way here.

The rv next to us lost 3 tvs and their sat dish receiver. We left that morning, so we don't know what other damage they had.
The next coach over, a 42' Monaco, took a "direct" hit. Took out all the electronics, gen and eng will not start and the 4 slides were locked out. I suspect that will be towed or flatbed up to the main land as are in the Florida Keys.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #19 – February 01, 2017, 09:46:11 am

Quote from: Dick & Sue – February 01, 2017, 09:16:28 am

Update..... We had a close lighting strike Jan 24 @4:05 am.

Wow, that sounds like a real hassle, particularly for the Monaco. But, the great news is that it also sounds like nobody was hurt? Phew!

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #20 – February 01, 2017, 09:56:29 am

There were 3 bikers in a tent and 2 were hit. EMS was called, but we haven't heard anything else.
We were at the local hardware picking up some screws to mount the new Samsung 32 LED ( boy what a great picture) . They said that there were a few other people picking up things that were also hit that night.

It was quite a light show as the storm came in from the gulf.

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #21 – February 01, 2017, 10:08:54 am

Quote from: Dick & Sue – February 01, 2017, 09:56:29 am

There were 3 bikers in a tent and 2 were hit. EMS was called, but we haven't heard anything else.
We were at the local hardware picking up some screws to mount the new Samsung 32 LED ( boy what a great picture) . They said that there were a few other people picking up things that were also hit that night.

It was quite a light show as the storm came in from the gulf.

Glad you weren't injured!

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #22 – February 01, 2017, 10:11:49 am

Sorry to hear of your lightening incident, but happy you two were not injured, and all property damage was covered by insurance.

Perhaps points out another advantage to a portable dish? If you took a direct lightening hit to a permanent roof mounted dish, it would be more complicated/time consuming to replace. With carry-out model, toss the old one, order new one, wait for Fedex (and hope for gentle handling).

We've never seen or been anywhere near a serious lightening strike - would like to keep it that way!

Re: What Satellite system to buy

Reply #23 – February 01, 2017, 10:24:46 am

The strike does get your attention.
We have sailed for many years on the great lakes. We have seen our share of lighting up close and personal.

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