So, you’ve been tooling around North America for about over a decade in your trusty RV. You keep it in good condition and you think you can probably get another ten years out of it. That sounds like a plan. At a time when luxury RVs cost as much as a small house, it makes sense to keep them for a long while. Especially since they depreciate like cars.
Back in the late ’00s you put in an expensive “in-motion” satellite system. Something like the one above, that tracks satellites while the RV’s moving. They weren’t cheap back then. Heck, they aren’t cheap now. (That’s right, I said “heck.”) It’s served you well but lately you’ve been hearing about changes to DIRECTV.
You might have heard that DIRECTV is finally retiring the satellite at its 119 satellite location. This is a long-overdue move that won’t affect most people in homes and businesses. But, as part of this move and other housekeeping moves by DIRECTV, they’re finally starting to turn off standard-definition local channels across the country. If you’re an RV satellite TV user, you can always check this list to get an up-to-date view of what cities no longer have standard definition local channels.
Since this change was first announced way back in 2016, there’s been a lot of misinformation. Some folks believed that it meant DIRECTV was also completely retiring all the satellites at the 101 location too. (That’s not true at all.) Others believed it meant an end to all standard definition programming, period. (That’s not true either). This change is well-underway, so it’s time to look at the options you have at this point.
I’d say this is a bad choice. If you use the system at all and it’s already paid for, you’re simply paying for the TV service and that’s not a whole lot. I think it’s worth it considering all the value you can get out of it. It’s especially valuable if you live in the New York or Los Angeles area because as you know you can get your local channels pretty much everywhere. Just walking away from satellite is a bad idea. After all, you still get all the national channels, and you wouldn’t be able to get local channels anywhere but your local area anyway.
While DIRECTV systems don’t support HD programming with their older dishes, DISH systems do. This has to do with the technology that’s used for reception and that’s the subject of another article. Bottom line though you can usually use an older system with DISH. You’ll still have to get all new receivers obviously. DISH’s system might give you all the channels you want and it might not. The best part of this choice is that Solid Signal is both a DIRECTV and DISH dealer and if you call use at 888-233-7563 you can talk to a rep who can explain the options to you and let you know if switching is a good fit for you.
To me, this is the most sensible option. Let me say it again, your national channels are not going away. Maybe sometime in the future that may change but there’s no plan for that now. In fact, retiring SD local channels will mean more capacity for HD channels on the 101 satellite. Right now there are a handful of HD channels on that satellite and it’s possible that up to 32 more could be added in the future. So, instead of thinking of this as losing locals, think of it as gaining HD channels.
Because, remember, if you’re outside your local area you’re not getting locals over satellite anyway unless your home city is New York City or Los Angeles. Any other city’s locals will fade out somewhere about 75 miles or so from that major city center. So as a traveler you may not really be missing anything anyway.
This kind of goes back to Choice 1 where I said you could simply get rid of the dish or stop using it. You can get unlimited plans from AT&T that will let you stream all you want. Then simply use the free DIRECTV app for your phone. It’s available at your app store or play store. With it, you can watch local channels if you’re in-market even if you can’t get them over satellite. Add an Apple TV box or Chromecast (depending on what kind of phone you have) and you can send that content up to any modern TV as well.
If you’re out-of-market you probably will not get any locals at all but there are people who report that sometimes they actually get locals from the city they’re in. I wouldn’t bank on that but if it does work it’s nice to have.
Since the digital television transition of 2009, it’s been impossible to use a TV antenna while you’re going more than about 15 miles per hour. But, with the next generation of television signals, that’s changed. If you have an old TV antenna on your RV — and a lot of folks do — just connect it to this converter box then to your TV. You’ll need to scan for channels in every city you go to, and not every city has NEXTGEN TV locals, but about 75% do at this point. Look for the NEXTGEN TV icon next to the guide when you use that converter box and you’ll be able to watch live antenna TV in your RV!
No matter what you choose, there’s only one place to go to get the best advice on RV upgrades. No one does more RV activations than Solid Signal, and we have experts who can help you make the best possible decision. Yeah I know I’ve mentioned the number before but here it is one more time: 888-233-7563. If you’re reading this after hours, fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you.
The post Old RV with a satellite dish. What are your options? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
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Back in the late ’00s you put in an expensive “in-motion” satellite system. Something like the one above, that tracks satellites while the RV’s moving. They weren’t cheap back then. Heck, they aren’t cheap now. (That’s right, I said “heck.”) It’s served you well but lately you’ve been hearing about changes to DIRECTV.
I hear a change a’comin
You might have heard that DIRECTV is finally retiring the satellite at its 119 satellite location. This is a long-overdue move that won’t affect most people in homes and businesses. But, as part of this move and other housekeeping moves by DIRECTV, they’re finally starting to turn off standard-definition local channels across the country. If you’re an RV satellite TV user, you can always check this list to get an up-to-date view of what cities no longer have standard definition local channels.
Since this change was first announced way back in 2016, there’s been a lot of misinformation. Some folks believed that it meant DIRECTV was also completely retiring all the satellites at the 101 location too. (That’s not true at all.) Others believed it meant an end to all standard definition programming, period. (That’s not true either). This change is well-underway, so it’s time to look at the options you have at this point.
Choice 1: Retire the dish
I’d say this is a bad choice. If you use the system at all and it’s already paid for, you’re simply paying for the TV service and that’s not a whole lot. I think it’s worth it considering all the value you can get out of it. It’s especially valuable if you live in the New York or Los Angeles area because as you know you can get your local channels pretty much everywhere. Just walking away from satellite is a bad idea. After all, you still get all the national channels, and you wouldn’t be able to get local channels anywhere but your local area anyway.
Choice 2: Change service
While DIRECTV systems don’t support HD programming with their older dishes, DISH systems do. This has to do with the technology that’s used for reception and that’s the subject of another article. Bottom line though you can usually use an older system with DISH. You’ll still have to get all new receivers obviously. DISH’s system might give you all the channels you want and it might not. The best part of this choice is that Solid Signal is both a DIRECTV and DISH dealer and if you call use at 888-233-7563 you can talk to a rep who can explain the options to you and let you know if switching is a good fit for you.
Choice 3: Do nothing
To me, this is the most sensible option. Let me say it again, your national channels are not going away. Maybe sometime in the future that may change but there’s no plan for that now. In fact, retiring SD local channels will mean more capacity for HD channels on the 101 satellite. Right now there are a handful of HD channels on that satellite and it’s possible that up to 32 more could be added in the future. So, instead of thinking of this as losing locals, think of it as gaining HD channels.
Because, remember, if you’re outside your local area you’re not getting locals over satellite anyway unless your home city is New York City or Los Angeles. Any other city’s locals will fade out somewhere about 75 miles or so from that major city center. So as a traveler you may not really be missing anything anyway.
Choice 4: DIRECTV App
This kind of goes back to Choice 1 where I said you could simply get rid of the dish or stop using it. You can get unlimited plans from AT&T that will let you stream all you want. Then simply use the free DIRECTV app for your phone. It’s available at your app store or play store. With it, you can watch local channels if you’re in-market even if you can’t get them over satellite. Add an Apple TV box or Chromecast (depending on what kind of phone you have) and you can send that content up to any modern TV as well.
If you’re out-of-market you probably will not get any locals at all but there are people who report that sometimes they actually get locals from the city they’re in. I wouldn’t bank on that but if it does work it’s nice to have.
Choice 5: TV antenna and ATSC 3.0 converter box
Since the digital television transition of 2009, it’s been impossible to use a TV antenna while you’re going more than about 15 miles per hour. But, with the next generation of television signals, that’s changed. If you have an old TV antenna on your RV — and a lot of folks do — just connect it to this converter box then to your TV. You’ll need to scan for channels in every city you go to, and not every city has NEXTGEN TV locals, but about 75% do at this point. Look for the NEXTGEN TV icon next to the guide when you use that converter box and you’ll be able to watch live antenna TV in your RV!
No matter what you choose, there’s only one place to go to get the best advice on RV upgrades. No one does more RV activations than Solid Signal, and we have experts who can help you make the best possible decision. Yeah I know I’ve mentioned the number before but here it is one more time: 888-233-7563. If you’re reading this after hours, fill out the form below and we’ll get back to you.
The post Old RV with a satellite dish. What are your options? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
