RV looking for new satellite service and equip advice

[Captain George]

I am now living in my RV, sold the home.
I would like satellite tv service and possible internet.
My dilemma is Dish or Direct?
What is good but economical equipment.
I found a used Tailgater but I'm hesident to purchase it not knowing if it will work on both networks.
Any recommendations, opinions and help will be appreciated
Thanks in advance

 

[raoul5788]

to Satelliteguys Captain George!

I have no experience with RV equipment, but I'm sure someone that does will post soon enough.

 

[Captain George]

Thanks. At least I know it's being read

 

[dfergie]

Welcome to SatelliteGuys!, the Tailgater will only work with Dish & the 211k receiver, the good thing about it is, you can use an External Hard Drive & use it as a Dvr...

 

[BobStokesbary]

Since you are posting on a DirecTV forum, can I assume you have a preference for DirecTV? Or are you posting on both Dish and DirecTV forums?

Same as if you were in your stick house, the first question you have to answer is which service provides the programming you want to see? That is the main question.

Then it matters which kind of RV you have. If you have a motorhome you may be interested in an in-motion system. If you have a trailer or fiver, in-motion is basically off the table.

Then you sort of have to come to grips with whether or not HD is important to you. Part of this decision will be driven by the type of TVs you have in your RV.

What kind of wiring exists in your RV? Or, equally important, what make, model and year is your RV? (If it is older like mine-- 2003 Beaver Patriot -- all the wiring is R59 which is really not up to snuff for some of today's technology.) So, an answer to this question will help too.


Now that you have these decisions in-hand you can start to think about equipment. If you want in-motion HD you better like the Dish offerings. Because, at the current time (and foreseeable future) in-motion HD for DirecTV is not in the cards.

Anyway. Before we get into equipment options, can you answer the first four questions for us? That will point to a provider, equipment options and other issues to consider in your quest.

Hope this helps.

 

[Jimbo]

To expand on Bob's post, but not to sway your choice any ...

Dish products are easier and cheaper generally to find for this type of thing ...

Q. Are you wanting a set up that mounts permanantly to your roof or one you can take out and place in a spot on your site where you don't have to worry about trees and LOS ?
As in Portable.

You'll want to decide on if HD is what you want or if SD is fine ... personally, I won't settle for SD when camping.
Reason I'm asking is because the majority of the portable units will do SDS for both DISH and Directv, however, because D* uses KA as well as KU bands for thier service now, in order to get the majority of the HD signals, a dish that handles both for D* is harder to find ....
Fwiw, YES, there is one and it sets up automatically once you hook up the cables and set it in a good area, however, it generally costs about $1600.

Now ME, if I was doing this FULL time like you are, Yes, I would swing for it, but being a person that gets out camping on the weekend, it's out of my price range.

Fwiw, I've been waiting for them to come down in price, but so far no luck.

But there are a bunch that will do HD for DISH because they only use one, unlike D*.

 

[dfergie]

I usually use my DIRECTV setup for camping, it's easier for me, but Rv use is usually Dish easier... if that makes sense.

 

[Jimbo]

I usually use my DIRECTV setup for camping, it's easier for me, but Rv use is usually Dish easier... if that makes sense.

The reason I mentioned that is that DISH has multiple portable units out there, the Tailgater, the Carry Out and others that do DISH fine, but only SD for D*, IF your looking for D* to do these, the info will say it does D* and most do, but you have to look at the fine print to see what Sats it sees, if it doesn't see the 99 and 103, it's not gonna do HD. Most will say they do D* and sees the 101, 110 and 119, these see SD only.

 

[Captain George]

I have 2 5th wheel campers. One in Florida and one in Louisiana. I also have a Silver Eagle coach.
I wanting to move the unit between all 3.
All 3 units are over 15 years old.
HD would be nice but not if I have to spend big bucks.
My wife is partial to Direct but that is negotiable depending on price, contract and incentive offers.
I have an opportunity to purchase a Tailgator and also a Wynguard but I'm holding off to gather information and opinions in order to make an informed purchase.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you all

 

[BobStokesbary]

Captain George,

Oh wow. You have an interesting setup. I can see why you are in a quandary. Plus, given the two options that you mention, it sounds like you really don't want to go through the exercise of setting up a dish on a tripod every time you move. I have to admit that I am seeing more and more of these portable dishes in use today all over the country. The portable dish could easily be setup for any of your rigs depending on where you are at the time.

Given the age of your rigs and the TVs in them, it looks like SD is the way to go for the time being. That is really inconsistent with DirecTV's new policy of "HD only" for new installs. Yes, you can make a D12 work with some of the "portable dishes". But, the portable dishes all seem to be compatible with Dish's technology for both SD and HD.

I also did some looking around at Dish alternatives and have to back off here. I don't know their technologies. Camping World has a receiver that can be made into a DVR with and external drive (as noted by dfergie), but there is a $40 activation charge for that. And the new Dish 211K receiver does not have an rf (75 ohm coax output) on it so you have to use an rf modulator on it (about $10 at Home Depot or Target). So, thee are some issues with this alternative.

But, it looks like you have a clearer path with Dish technology than with DirecTV's technology given the uniqueness of your situation and the type of "dish" you want to use. Since we are occasional RVers, not full-timers like you, and have DirecTV at home, it makes sense for us to take a receiver along with us on trips. But, for your setup this just does not seem to make sense.

Oh. And, as for the internet, look at cell service that gives you the best coverage for where you are probably going to spend most of your time. T-Mobile seems to have some of the most competitive rates, but if they don't have coverage where you plan to be it is not a deal. Given your three Rvs you do not even want to consider a satellite solution to this one.

Bob

 

[dfergie]

Many full-timers get a mifi box for internet use ...
Also consider the Winegard Pathway X2:
http://www.satelliteguys.us/xen/thr...hway-x2-first-look.324923/page-2#post-3420537

 

[Captain George]

Thanks for your input. The wife and I now have to ponder our options taking into count your much appreciate input.
I thank you for taking the time to respond to my posts. Muchly appreciated.
George & Tee

 

[Jimbo]

I have 2 5th wheel campers. One in Florida and one in Louisiana. I also have a Silver Eagle coach.
I wanting to move the unit between all 3.
All 3 units are over 15 years old.
HD would be nice but not if I have to spend big bucks.
My wife is partial to Direct but that is negotiable depending on price, contract and incentive offers.
I have an opportunity to purchase a Tailgator and also a Wynguard but I'm holding off to gather information and opinions in order to make an informed purchase.
Any help is appreciated. Thank you all

Which Wineguard unit ?