Satellite vs. off air TV

[Lumatic]

I am undecidedly ignorant about satellite vs. off air TV reception while Airstreaming. I have satellite service at home.

Would manually orienting a satellite dish be too time intensive for short stays?

Is there a manual unit that roof mounts?

What about manual combo off air and satellite units? Any such animal? Can I have my cake and eat it too?

I have only mentioned the manual units because the little I have seen about the automatic ones is they are very pricey?

[RUSSELL]

Yes you are right most automatic units are very costly. Most camp grounds we sty in have cable tv. Why not just buy a long coax cable for 20 dollars and be done with it. Of course if you are in the boon docks even the Satalite TV will not work.
Normal set up with a manual unit schould take about 10 minutes since you can buy a signal meter that will tell you signal strenght.For short stay in camp grounds use the cable.
Regards from Russell in sunny and warm Tucson Az.

[HowieE]

If you camp around trees you do not want a roof top system.
The older receavers are much easier to use to aim the antenna. For some reason the newer ones are not user friendly. Satellite will work any place you can see the southern sky where as off air will only work within about 50 miles of town.

I have wired for both. Just turn thr amplifyer on for off air or turn it off and tune to channel 3 for satellite

The 2 systems are completely different so I doubt there will ever be a combination.

[adonh]

Check out the automatic satellite systems below:

King Dome Satellite Systems on Sale

Don

[guy99]

Originally Posted by Lumatic

...
Is there a manual unit that roof mounts?

Winegard® Crank-up Satellite Dish - Camping World


Here's a manual roof top dish. I haven't used one but a friend who has an automatic dome mounted dish had one on a prior rig and says he wish he had one again instead of his automatic unit.

[dwightdi]

I have heard that the old batwing antennas work very well for the new digital high definition signals that are mandated for next year. You will likely end up buying a flat screen for your Airstream next year. I have used satellite on the road a number of years and you definitely do not want a roof mount if you camp in state parks or other treed areas. Winguard has a nice portable antenna unit sold thru Camper World which allows you to place the antenna anywhere you can see the southern sky. Another concern is using the pay for view features. They will not work unless you have a land line phone line available. For short stays have fun sightseeing and forget the tv. If you are using commercial campsites cable for $1.00 + per night is cheap entertainment and it will take a long time to pay off the equipment expense for automatic satellite.

[halimer]

You may want to check on the VuCube satelite receiver.
Vu Qube Portable Satellite TV Antenna - Camping World