TV

[Bethers]

Me, the person who can go a couple years with no tv, is thinking about getting a dish - probably one of the small portable ones - if I were to do it, which is better - DISH or DirectTV for an rver without a home service? Not sure I'll do it - price will be important to me - but ... well, I sit still so much when workamping, sometimes I simply want to veg out to nothingness on tv lol

And for those of you with the small portable units, why do you like/dislike what you have? Would you buy the same or different if doing it now?

[Azusateach]

Well! I love having TV when we go away, especially in the evenings. Campfires are wonderful, but if it's rainy outside, there's nothing like curling up with a fun TV show, or watching football if it's too wet to be out & about.

I have a Winegard Carry-out and LOVE it, but they're pricey. I know that Karen was selling one that was for Dish, so you might want to talk with her. I would NEVER use a dish, unless it had the ability to automatically search for and lock on to the satellites. Had one for a year and it about drove me crazy. All I have to do with the Carry-out is plug it in, make sure I don't have anything obstructing me to the south, and let it whir away until it finds what wants. Works like a charm!

Beth, I don't know what sways folks one way or another. I have Direct, because that's what I have at home & I can bring receivers from home with me at no extra charge. I understand that there's a difference between the number of satellites each carrier uses (or something like that), making it easier for one of them. But honestly, I don't know.

There are several threads on RV.net, and you might cruise over there to see what they have to say, IF you can stand all of the testosterone. But they do provide some good advice & information every now and then.

[snowball]

I have Direct for one reason we understood that it is more rv friendly... when I have some one set me up they are glad that it is Direct as it is easier
to find the right area...I wish I had a unit that would find the satellites it's self...on the other had Dish is cheaper...although you being a new person would get it
way cheaper than I can that have been with them for a great many years..which irritates me to no end.. so have I helped??? I'll bet the answer is NO
I don't know what I would do without it as it is noise sometimes I have no idea what is going on as at the same time I'm on the computer...
good luck in making those major choices
sheila
Oh I remember one of the reasons for getting Direct and I maybe wrong but our understanding was Direct you can get local and Dish you can't

[Acadianmom]

My motorhome had a King Dome on it when I bought it. I just take a receiver from the house. It works good if there aren't trees in the way. I also have a VuQube that we take to the lake. The one I have will get Direct or Dish. The manual tells how to select the one you want. It looks just like the Tailgater which is only for Dish I think. Like Laura, I wouldn't have anything that wasn't automatic. I had an old dish that we tried a few times and I was ready to throw it in the lake. One time we would get a signal right away and other times we never could get it to work. About the time we would get it working a wind would come up and blow the dish over. I never have been able to get the VuQube to work through the outside cable connection so I have to run the cable through a window. That is a pain. I never have tried to get anyone to get it to work through the cable connection but there might be a way to do that.

We fell out with Dish years ago so have Directv. It's not cheap and if it wasn't for the channels Harold wants I would have a basic package. They have figured out how to make you take the most expensive package.

Martha

[chalet05]

Beth, I also have the Winegard Carryout. Only thing I don't like is the connection and cord for the 12 volt power - hard to get the plug out when you have finished hooking up and thin wires. Mine broke and was pricey to replace. Read about several who wired it different which LeRoy did for me this summer with a good old fashion electrical plug.

The Carryout works with either Direct or Dish. The Tailgator is Dish only.

I have Directv and pay $75 a month for very basic programming and nationwide RV coverage. That means all my networks come from Los Angeles. Since you are stationary much of the time, you could probably just change your address eliminating the nationwide fee - somewhere around $16 a month.

[asirimarco]

We originally had Dish - drove us nuts - so now have Direct TV.

[JudyJB]

I also recommend an automatic carryout. For one thing, the manual kind are a royal pain--meaning you have to look up the direction and then height of which way to point it. Also, often both carriers use more than one satellite, so you might have to change things when you went to another channel, particularly with Dish. I would have bought an automatic carryout, but did not have a bin underneath big enough to store it. Having it on the roof is nice, but it is sometimes hard to find a spot where you can get the right angle if there are trees nearby. Easier out west then in the east by a bunch, however. I discovered this little app a while ago and now use it all the time: http://www.dishpointer.com/

Also, do make sure you have it set up so you don't have to run wires through a window! That would drive me nuts.

I chose DISH because they do not make you sign a contract; it is month-to-month and I can cancel or switch to DIRECT at any time. I can get local channels with Dish, but I do have to make a call to give them a new physical address. They are polite and helpful no matter how often I do this. Most of the time, you get locals from a big city nearby and if you are moving around in that area, you don't have to switch. DISH is known for being easy to deal with, and they are, from my experience, other than they cancelled one of my favorite channels this year (OVATION). DIRECT TV has a bad reputation, but obviously several people on this forum have not had problems.

I thought I could go without satellite TV, but 7 months was enough. TV keeps me company and reduces my feelings of being alone, etc. Yes, I get hooked on certain things, but when I was without it, I really missed getting live news and some favorite shows, especially on weekends, like the PBS specials. I would not give it up now.

[mitch5252]

..
Here's another vote for DirecTV. I have it at home and just keep a spare receiver in the in the trailer.

Used to have a round you-have-to-point dish - UGH! HATED HATED HATED that. Most times, getting a signal was next to impossible. I have the Winegard Carryout now (good for either Dish or Directv) and I love it. It can be moved around to find an opening in the trees. But sometimes, deep in the forest, it's not going to work.

There is an app called SatToolz For DirecTV and it shows you just where in the sky DirecTV's satellites are. Love it, too because it allows you to fine tune the placement of your antenna. I do not know if it's available for either Dish or a non-iOS phone.

[Cudedog]

Beth:

This will not at all answer your questions (did I ever let that stop me?) , but here goes anyway.

The first question you should ask yourself is not "Dish or Directv" but rather "Am I willing to pay $40.00 per month just to watch commercials?" That's right. Read on.

I originally had Dish, then a few years later switched to DirecTv, which I liked better than Dish. A few years after that, I "cut the cord" (cancelled DirecTv) and went to 100% streaming my television watching over the internet using a $99.00 Roku box (not a subscription - you pay for the device just once):

http://www.roku.com.

The Roku is dead easy to set up, in about five or ten minutes you are streaming.

However, I do realize that you full-timers can't get the bandwidth one needs to stream television from most (all?) campground WiFi.

I cut the cord about 5 years ago now, and don't miss that $80.00 per month at all. Another bonus of streaming television, is that there is more on there, in greater variety, that is commercial-free, than one can possibly watch.

One of the main contributing factors to my cord cutting decision is the fact (at that time, 5 years ago - much worse now) that for every one hour of tv watching there is only about 1/2 hour of actual programming, and about 1/2 hour of commercials.

Trust me on this: just for fun (yes, I have an odd idea of "fun") for several weeks I sat in front of my tv with a pen, a pad of paper, and a watch - I timed the programming and commercial breaks on random channels. Everywhere I went, the ratio was basically the same.

So, in effect, one is paying $40 a month for actual programming, and $40 a month to watch commercials.

Let me state this another way: Anyone subscribing to Directv is paying Directv a mind-numbing $40 per month for the privilege of just watching commercials.

Taking the long view: $480 per year just to watch commercials!!!. I can take a real nice trip in my van for that kind of dough.

The math did it for me: I was done with satellite tv. No regrets, never looked back.

Anne

[Azusateach]

Beth, I also have the Winegard Carryout. Only thing I don't like is the connection and cord for the 12 volt power - hard to get the plug out when you have finished hooking up and thin wires. Mine broke and was pricey to replace. Read about several who wired it different which LeRoy did for me this summer with a good old fashion electrical plug.

How hard is that to do? I've got an older (4 years) Carryout, and have had to replace the 12-volt cord. Now I just keep it attached and pray that nothing goes wrong. I'd LOVE to have it re-wired.

Laura

[Bethers]

It's not the commercials or the monthly cost as much as the initial cost - have other things that are more important.

As to Roku, I know several who use it - but when workamping, if they saw me streaming like that, they'd cut off my wifi - and I don't blame them. It's the streaming like that that slows the internet down in parks for everyone. To do it using my internet would mean upping my gigs so much to not be cost effective at all.

I had tv, a few channels over last summer, and now the same here - but here most of them are fuzzy and not coming in well - and I don't have a couple I want - I wanted to watch The Voice - and while I should have that channel, it's not coming in well enough. They didn't promise me the tv/cable, so I can't complain ... When in travel mode, I don't miss tv ... my two summers working in AK, didn't miss tv. But now it's something I'd like to have - so, need to bite the bullet. I might wait to see one of the Direct TV systems that finds things automatically goes on sale. (pretty much have decided on them as the monthly cost is less)

Next question - I have two tv's - would never need to use both at once - how hard is it to move the receiver (or do I HAVE to purchase two receivers?)??

[Azusateach]

Next question - I have two tv's - would never need to use both at once - how hard is it to move the receiver (or do I HAVE to purchase two receivers?)??

Beth, depending on how the inputs to your rig are set up, it might not be too hard. The receiver is VERY easy to move -- it's how the rig is wired that can be tricky.

We have 2 TVs also, and we made sure before taking possession of the rig that we were correctly wired for 2 TVs. That meant having another coaxial input placed on the outside of the rig.

The only way to know if it's going to be easy or a big PITA is to try it out. But you're handy, so give it a try.

Laura

[chalet05]

Beth, I also have the Winegard Carryout. Only thing I don't like is the connection and cord for the 12 volt power - hard to get the plug out when you have finished hooking up and thin wires. Mine broke and was pricey to replace. Read about several who wired it different which LeRoy did for me this summer with a good old fashion electrical plug.

How hard is that to do? I've got an older (4 years) Carryout, and have had to replace the 12-volt cord. Now I just keep it attached and pray that nothing goes wrong. I'd LOVE to have it re-wired.

Laura

Laura, I used to leave mine plugged in as well, but it eventually broke.

I don't think it is that hard - if you know what you are doing! Unfortunately, I wasn't watching when he did it. Basically it is like regular wiring connections. L used an extension cord for part and an plug in off some tossed appliance. The plug in was wired into the Carryout leaving a short cord. The plug into part was wired to the 12 volt cable. You might could Google or go to RV.net to find out more. If I can remember, I'll ask L for more info as to wire matching if you need more info.

[chalet05]

Beth, I also have the Winegard Carryout. Only thing I don't like is the connection and cord for the 12 volt power - hard to get the plug out when you have finished hooking up and thin wires. Mine broke and was pricey to replace. Read about several who wired it different which LeRoy did for me this summer with a good old fashion electrical plug.

How hard is that to do? I've got an older (4 years) Carryout, and have had to replace the 12-volt cord. Now I just keep it attached and pray that nothing goes wrong. I'd LOVE to have it re-wired.

Laura

Laura, I used to leave mine plugged in as well, but it eventually broke.

I don't think it is that hard - if you know what you are doing! Unfortunately, I wasn't watching when he did it. Basically it is like regular wiring connections. L used an extension cord for part and an plug in off some tossed appliance. The plug in was wired into the Carryout leaving a short cord. The plug into part was wired to the 12 volt cable. You might could Google or go to RV.net to find out more. If I can remember, I'll ask L for more info as to wire matching if you need more info.

[JudyJB]

I have three TVs--yes I know that is overkill, but that is how my RV came. Since I can watch only one TV at a time, I have only one receiver. If I turn on all three TVs (one in bedroom, one in hall for bunks, and one in living area) all three will have the same program. This is only a problem when my grandkids stay with me--we all have to watch the same thing. However, in a small space, I cannot imagine more than one TV going anyway. I have seriously thought about removing the hall TV and giving myself some more grocery storage, but the kids do like it, so I have left it.

My receiver is located near my larger TV in the overhead bunk area, on one side, by the satellite box that I can turn off and on. The only awkward thing about one receiver is that I have to point the changer down the hall and to the overhead cab area when I watch TV in bed.

I agree that there are too many commercials, but I cannot do any streaming in campgrounds either with my Verizon data or in campgrounds, for the reasons you mention, Beth.