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Old 12-28-2018, 09:11 PM   #1
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directtv satellite

Buying our first motorhome,intent 26,what kind of satellite do i need? I have directv at home,looking to buy another receiver for our account and take with us,been looking at all the satellite options,cost and what do you have that works well,thanks for the input
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Old 12-29-2018, 05:55 AM   #2
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I've got the Winegard G2 with auto set. Just pull in to our spot or wherever we stop, hit auto level, once leveled turn on satellite power button and within a few minutes done. You can connect 2 receivers but the only down side is which ever one is on the main (gets all channels) the second receiver will only get channels that for the satellite the main is pointed at, and if I'm in the bedroom watching the game and my wife changes the channel in the living room it may kick off my game. If you don't mind spending a bit more money opt for a satellite that will allow you to run each receiver independently.
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Old 12-29-2018, 08:57 AM   #3
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We have Dish and a Wineguard Traveler. Dish has a special account for RVers that lets you subscribe month to month. Also the Traveler gives you HD TV and will service two separate receivers. You do not have to have Dish in your home to do this.
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Old 01-02-2019, 06:58 AM   #4
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If you get the Winegard Trav'ler for Direct TV you can just take the receiver from your house with you.



We have Dish Network and a Trav'ler and that is what we do, take the house receiver with us. Dish is also very easy to change local stations when you travel.
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Old 01-02-2019, 07:02 AM   #5
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Since you already have DirecTV it makes sense to just get a receiver for the RV. Initially you might just take your home receiver with you. DirecTV is making changes this year which might simplify your choice of antenna. Sometime this spring it appears that HD channels will probably start working with the carry-out and in-motion domes. If this is true then the more expensive Winegard Trav'ler antenna may not be needed for most of the channels. Most of the DirecTV boxes now use the SWM connection and most carry-outs don't have that but it is quite simple to convert and allows multiple receivers with just one coax from the outside to the equipment in your RV.
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Old 01-02-2019, 09:01 AM   #6
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This is FWIW....in 2011 I purchased the Winegard Carryout ( looks like a small igloo and my wife calls it R2D2) because I had Directv at home - still do - the unit supports 2 recievers and has worked flawlessly for me since I purchased it...one caveat - it needs a clear view of the southern sky. I bring 2 receivers from home every time we camp, one for inside the MH and one for the TV I have outside. Reception is a simple matter, assuming you don't care about having local channels, you just set up the dish hookup the power cord and assuming the sky you'll have tv in approximately 5 minutes. IF you want local channels you will need to call Directv and request a service location change, they will want a local address and zip code then you will have local channels. I always get the locals because the wife wants to see Dancing with the Stars and Greys Anatomy.

As to what directv is going to do this year I am not certain, and with all due respect I don't think anyone really is. In your position I would do careful research into what Directv is going to do and be confident you know before you invest in a Carryout. Until then you can use a standard dish of the type most folks have at home....you'll just need to get spun up on aiming it accurately....many folks use that type of dish.
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Old 01-02-2019, 01:54 PM   #7
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I've gotta make this decision pretty soon also. I have a Dish Hopper at home, inappropriate for taking from the house, so the Dish Wally (RV receiver) is likely what I'll opt for. It's an additional $7 onto my existing home service for the same channels if I buy the Wally receiver. The biggest decision is the antenna. I've aimed the manual type before, however when I retire into half time RVing next year, I don't want to be aiming it so many times, so an auto-aiming Dish Playmaker unit will likely be my solution. The Playmaker can be used as carry out, or permanent mount on top of the RV. When I visited CampingWorld to look at permanent mount systems on the top of my RV, the salesman, who has been RVing for 30yrs, was pretty passionate about the virtues of having a carry out unit to insure visibility into the southern sky for reception. I may look into having both, so I can have my cake and eat it too...Hah! I don't plan needing TV while driving for the wife, so the cheaper non tracking Playmaker type for the top of my RV is all I would need, used when stationary. If I buy a Wally (the receiver) and Playmaker antenna together in a bundle, it's $350. They also offer a 1TB drive upgrade to record programs for $99, which is nice to have. The kit to mount the antenna on top of the RV is $65. So many choices, but I have always loved DishNetwork for their guide interface, and support to download programs to my iPad. Hopefully the Wally has a similar interface that's easy to navigate. I also like the Dish BlueTooth audio support for wireless headphones, essential when the wife wants to sleep while I watch TV.
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Old 01-02-2019, 10:26 PM   #8
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John,


Our preowned Sunstar came with a Winegard RoadTrip in-motion which turned out to be defective (long story). I found a NIB new In Motion model on Ebay and installed it, along with a Wally. We have a Dish Hopper at home.


You can add your own external drive to the Wally to make it a 1 channel DVR. Apparently, you can also plug that drive into your Hopper and transfer recordings so you can watch stuff recorded at home on the Wally. The Wally and Hopper have to be on the same account for the encryption to work. I haven't tried that yet.



A couple of caveats... You will lose your local channels on the Wally when you leave your local market. Within the confines of your Dish contract, you can call from where you are staying and they will authorize you for those local channels.


But, (and its a BIG BUT), your Hopper also will lose the local channels at home. Every Dish receiver on the same account must be authorized for the same local channels, even if they are in 2 different markets.


AND, you apparently can't stray too far from home and still get any locals. We are in San Luis Obispo CA and could call and get locals in Banning, CA, but once we got to Mesa AZ, they wouldn't authorize us for those locals.
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Old 01-03-2019, 12:23 AM   #9
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SLO, thanks for the tips, good to know.

I think we would rather see our LA channels all the time anyway, so local channels where we are at shouldn't be a problem (I may be wrong). Good to know my limits (as Clint would say). I think the first HDD I'll buy from Dish, since $99 isn't much for a 1TB drive. I think it needs to be a USB3 interface, but unsure. It would also need to be housed in a case for protection. Once I see the DISH HDD they provide I'll know what to use going forward. I think the Dish Hopper USB3.0 interface cannot power the drive. Seems I recall the drive needs an external power adapter, I think. I assume the Wally is the same, but I'll find out. I can get a 3TB USB 3.0 HDD for the same $99 in a case from Amazon, but the power method is the question to confirm.
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Old 01-03-2019, 05:51 AM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SLOweather View Post
John,


Our preowned Sunstar came with a Winegard RoadTrip in-motion which turned out to be defective (long story). I found a NIB new In Motion model on Ebay and installed it, along with a Wally. We have a Dish Hopper at home.


You can add your own external drive to the Wally to make it a 1 channel DVR. Apparently, you can also plug that drive into your Hopper and transfer recordings so you can watch stuff recorded at home on the Wally. The Wally and Hopper have to be on the same account for the encryption to work. I haven't tried that yet.



A couple of caveats... You will lose your local channels on the Wally when you leave your local market. Within the confines of your Dish contract, you can call from where you are staying and they will authorize you for those local channels.


But, (and its a BIG BUT), your Hopper also will lose the local channels at home. Every Dish receiver on the same account must be authorized for the same local channels, even if they are in 2 different markets.


AND, you apparently can't stray too far from home and still get any locals. We are in San Luis Obispo CA and could call and get locals in Banning, CA, but once we got to Mesa AZ, they wouldn't authorize us for those locals.


It is true that you can't stray to far from home and still get the local channels provided to your home address.

However it is not because Dish won't authorize it. Local channels are provided by a spot beam which is limited in the area it covers. Move out of the area covered by the spot beam and you loose the signal.

I am guessing that the local channels Dish supplies for San Luis Obispo come from Fresno/Bakersfield. If that is correct then here is a link to the coverage for those local channels: https://www.satelliteguys.us/thelist...CIEL2_SB32.jpg

Also note that there is no need to call Dish and change your address every time you move. You only need to change your service address when you move out of the spot beam coverage. Here is the link to the website which shows the spot beam coverage for all the local channels nation wide: https://www.satelliteguys.us/thelist...orkmarkets&sub
In some cases the spot beams are huge. For example Denver, CO covers just about the entire state of CO. Portland, OR covers from about 90 miles into northern CA, up to the edge of Vancouver, BC, and to within 80-90 miles of Spokane, WA. We have traveled and explored OR & WA and also CO for an entire summer w/o needing to change local channels.
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Old 01-04-2019, 12:09 AM   #11
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Originally Posted by al1florida View Post
Also note that there is no need to call Dish and change your address every time you move. You only need to change your service address when you move out of the spot beam coverage. Here is the link to the website which shows the spot beam coverage for all the local channels nation wide: https://www.satelliteguys.us/thelist...orkmarkets&sub
In some cases the spot beams are huge.
This is interesting, thanks for that link. Very useful for planning purposes.

Are you saying I have to call DishNetwork each time I want need to change the spot beam, or is there a way to do that in the Wally with no phone call?

Can I received any spot beam from anywhere in the lower 48, or do I actually need to be in Colorado to get the Denver locals with spotbeam 30? We were hoping we could tune into LA (spotbeam 33) locals from any of the 11 western states. Maybe that's not possible, it sounds.
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Old 01-04-2019, 05:59 AM   #12
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This is interesting, thanks for that link. Very useful for planning purposes.

Are you saying I have to call DishNetwork each time I want need to change the spot beam, or is there a way to do that in the Wally with no phone call?

Can I received any spot beam from anywhere in the lower 48, or do I actually need to be in Colorado to get the Denver locals with spotbeam 30? We were hoping we could tune into LA (spotbeam 33) locals from any of the 11 western states. Maybe that's not possible, it sounds.
To change the spot beam you have to give Dish a new service address, i.e. the physical address where the satellite dish will be physically installed.

Three ways to do this:

1) go to mydish.com, contact and start a chat session. That is the way I always change my service address. I have this canned text stored on my laptop that I cut and paste into the chat session: We are in a RV and have changed our location. Please change my service address and my local channels to: 3640 Some Street, Site #34C, Any Town, TX 99999. It does need to be a valid address. I go the campgroundreviews.com and select a RV Park in the city I want the spot beam for and use that address. Very seldom is it the address where we are actually staying at. Usually we are in publicly operated campgrounds or boondocking.

2) call Dish customer service and tell the CSR the same info you would in a chat session.
3) There is a smart phone app available to something called an "Outdoor Account". Very specific rules about how to get an Outdoor Account, which I don't know enough about to provide good info. If you need info about this do a search in this and other forums or start a new topic with that question.
About the spotbeam. The satellite beams the local channel signal to a certain spot on the ground. That's why it is called a "spotbeam". If you are out of the area you won't get the signal. What coverage area you see, in the link I gave, is where you can get the signal.

An exception MAY be LA and NYC. There is something called Distant Networks that is or was common on Direct TV that provided the LA and NYC local channels nation wide.
I don't know if this is available for Dish or not. If this is an interest to you, then start a new topic with that question and someone may have an answer.
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Old 01-06-2019, 05:32 PM   #13
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We use a King Quest Pro portable dish (dome). I have the old style receivers in the house, so I take the bedroom receiver to the RV. Using the King Quest is easy! Just place in level ground with the handle pointing North. When you turn it on it will locate the satellites automatically. A few settings have to be changed on the receiver, but it's no big deal! As long as we have a clear view of the Southern Sky, we have satellite!
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Old 01-07-2019, 12:29 AM   #14
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Go with the Travler for your antenna , better signal receives all the satellites at once so you don't hear the dish turn when you change channels. Only way for HD if you have Direct tV
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Old 01-07-2019, 06:32 AM   #15
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Originally Posted by BROAD ST View Post
Buying our first motorhome,intent 26,what kind of satellite do i need? I have directv at home,looking to buy another receiver for our account and take with us,been looking at all the satellite options,cost and what do you have that works well,thanks for the input
I have two Direct TV receivers in my motorhome and my TV’s work independently of each other.
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Old 01-07-2019, 07:22 AM   #16
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Sat TV

It is my understanding, which others may know more, that DirecTV will make you get another account just for your RV, when AT&T bought it they were cracking down on RV and Cabin use of your house account.
You may want to call and ask a question of how does this work if I do this? and hear what they say.
I have Direct TV but I don’t change the service area because that screws up the service at home, and the kids wine!
I also got DishNetwork, it was cheaper to get their service than change out the wineguard antenna.
It’s HD and month to month, easy to change on the computer, and I get locals through them. It’s also easier to use when I’m in route to a destination and parked in a truck stop or Walmart.
I got a Wineguard traveler portable antenna for Direct TV (not HD), it also works for DishNetwork. It sits on the ground so I only use it at RV parks.
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Old 01-08-2019, 10:15 AM   #17
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Dish

I switched to the Winegard Traveler on our last RV and had one put on our current one. They are not cheap, but after a push of the button, I usually have the signal by the time I have fixed my AB. We have Dish and are very happy with it. With their app you can do most function except changing locals which does require a call. According to the people at Dish, this will happen in the future.

Last summer we spent 2 months in AK and BC. There are no locals while in BC until you get close to AK and then you get the AK locals. AK has 2 locals depending on where you are, Anchorage or Fairbanks. Overall reception was very good on the trip, although when in Dawson City and Chicken, you are so far North that the dish looks like it is almost horizontal when it locks on the birds.
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Old 01-08-2019, 05:00 PM   #18
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I switched to the Winegard Traveler on our last RV and had one put on our current one. They are not cheap, but after a push of the button, I usually have the signal by the time I have fixed my AB. We have Dish and are very happy with it. With their app you can do most function except changing locals which does require a call. According to the people at Dish, this will happen in the future.

Last summer we spent 2 months in AK and BC. There are no locals while in BC until you get close to AK and then you get the AK locals. AK has 2 locals depending on where you are, Anchorage or Fairbanks. Overall reception was very good on the trip, although when in Dawson City and Chicken, you are so far North that the dish looks like it is almost horizontal when it locks on the birds.
We, also, had good service in AK in 2016 with the Traveler.

Actually there are 3 local channel service in AK. Juneau is the third. We switched our locals to Juneau when coming down the Cassiar Hwy.

NOTE: If you have a portable or dome dish you won't be able to receive a strong enough signal in AK to be useful. The diameter of the dish is just too small.
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Old 01-16-2019, 08:49 PM   #19
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Let me add my experience from this week. I had a appt with DTV to upgrade my equipment at home to the new Genie system wtih one wireless console and 2 mini boxes. I have a Winegard Carryout antenna and take a box from home, works fine. The tech that came out told me that I can't do it with the new system, it requires connection to the new tower for the remote boxes to work. We wound up keeping all my old boxes, a new main box with my DVR and I can still take one of the old boxes with me as before. I asked before I ordered my new stuff and they said it would work. Wrong, the people on the phone don't know anything about the technical end.
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Old 01-17-2019, 08:47 AM   #20
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Let me add my experience from this week. I had a appt with DTV to upgrade my equipment at home to the new Genie system wtih one wireless console and 2 mini boxes. I have a Winegard Carryout antenna and take a box from home, works fine. The tech that came out told me that I can't do it with the new system, it requires connection to the new tower for the remote boxes to work. We wound up keeping all my old boxes, a new main box with my DVR and I can still take one of the old boxes with me as before. I asked before I ordered my new stuff and they said it would work. Wrong, the people on the phone don't know anything about the technical end.

I can sometimes be slow on the uptake so let me see if I understand; you can't use the Genie in the RV because the Genie receiver boxes won't work without a Genie "master" .....so effectively you are using your old system in the RV and the new Genie stuff at home. What antenna do you use for the RV.



Also, BIG question here.....did you get any info from the tech av bout what DTV plans to do in 2020?
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