Questions about satellite tv

[Danny Bell]

Gentlemen,

Could you please walk me through the process of having satellite tv in our Airstream.

Question #1)
I spoke with the gal at Camping World and she recommended a "tailgate", automatic, portable dish. With Goodsam discount it runs $350. The "box" or modem is about $100. We want to go with a portable unit, not a permanent roof mount. The "auto" type seems to make sense for azimuth adjustment.
We are "DISH" customers for our house. Dish gets $7.00 a month for the service in our trailer. With the above info, am I on the right track ?

#2)
If you stay at an RV park that has cable, does one need a "box" to be able to have tv or do you simply hook the cable to your tv, and you are good to go ?

Thanks guys,
Dan

[ghaynes755]

Danny I have the Pathway X1 setup which includes the box. Much cheaper on Amazon. I think it is $549. It's Winegards latest unit and works flawlessly. Also bought the stand. If you use iPhone a great little app to help you see that you have a clear shot to the three DISH satellites is SatFinder Pro.

Setup after powering on is about 5 minutes or so. You can also get network stations but you are restricted to stations that are 'beaming' into the area where you are located. It is simple to change. Power up, change the zip code in the setup screen to your actual location and call DISH to have them change your location. They will need a full street, city, zip and will then send a signal to your system to change to the local stations that serve the are where you are located. Example my home base is Denver. In Kansas City I was unable to receive the Denver stations. Called DISH and they switched me to Kansas City stations based on the address of the RV park where I was located. Bit of a PITA since it doesn't always 'take' the first time.

If you do the DISH deal you will likely need an HDMI splitter if you don't want to plug and unplug the HDMI cable from the BluRay player and the Sat Receiver.

The cable at the parks does not need a box. Plug it in and run through the auto channel setup on the TV.

[KJRitchie]

If an when we ever get to travel extensively with our AS I might opt for a satellite tailgate system. Our viewing habits now are such that we record every show we watch so we can skip through the darn commercials. We find it very difficult to watch live TV except for a news program. Does anyone use a Dish or Directv with the DVR HD option? Not having the ability to record is a no go for satellite for us.

Kelvin

[HowieE]

Dish should supply you with a additional receiver or you can just take the one from the house.

A lot depends on the age of the TV in the trailer, how many inputs it has, and whether you have a trailer mounted over the air antenna.. If you have a newer tv that scans for channels when hooked up.

Dish and nothing else I would bring a cable from inside to a connection on the outside of the trailer. That cable fed to a simple A/B box with one output going directly to the tv and used with campground cable and the other going to the Dish receiver. Dish in turn feeding a second input on the tv.

If you are going to want additional inputs, DVD player, ect you will want a selection box with each item feeding the selection box and that in turn feeding the tv.

I use a free standing dish and fine I can often aim it faster that the automatic units.

[RVDreamer]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

If an when we ever get to travel extensively with our AS I might opt for a satellite tailgate system. Our viewing habits now are such that we record every show we watch so we can skip through the darn commercials. We find it very difficult to watch live TV except for a news program. Does anyone use a Dish or Directv with the DVR HD option? Not having the ability to record is a no go for satellite for us.

Kelvin

With Directv, if you get a Winegard Trav'ler antenna, it uses an standard SWM LNB which supplies 5 HD feeds to the receiver. If you have a Genie type receiver you can record up to 5 programs simultaneously. You also can record up to 200 hours of HD programming.

[mistermcfrug]

Originally Posted by KJRitchie

If an when we ever get to travel extensively with our AS I might opt for a satellite tailgate system. Our viewing habits now are such that we record every show we watch so we can skip through the darn commercials. We find it very difficult to watch live TV except for a news program. Does anyone use a Dish or Directv with the DVR HD option? Not having the ability to record is a no go for satellite for us.

Kelvin

I was interested in one of those tailgate units until I discovered that you have to use a Dish 211 receiver, which is not a DVR. It may not even have HD. My wife and I are like you, there is no way we'd ever watch programs real time with a billion ads. For us, it's use a DVR or no go.

So we use our DVR from home in our trailer. I learned to set up a portable dish. It ain't easy, but it ain't impossible to learn either. In this way, we have both HD and a DVR capability. Also, with that DVR we always try to build up a supply of programs before we hit the road. In this way, I don't even hook up the dish at every stop. Sometimes we just watch already recorded programs. I also record many hours of various music stations so I can play those and not need the dish set up.

[mojo]

The Dish 211 receiver can be leased from Dish for $7 month and used in the home and taken out and placed in the trailer when traveling so there is no "RV account". You can add a separate hard drive and turn it into a DVR and record all your favorite stuff ahead of time to watch when traveling.

I installed a separate coax connector on the outside of the trailer to connect directly to the receiver and then use HDMI cable to the TV. This way there is no switching jumpers or A/B switches and I can connect cable and satellite to the trailer at the same time. I can then switch from antennae TV to cable TV to Dish TV with the remote. The Tailgater is the least expensive automatic antennae available.