Need new satellite dish and your input

[boulderado]

We managed to fry our Winegard automatic satellite dish last week (ice and snow) and are now looking for a replacement. We are thinking about one of the following three options:

1) A crank-up manual Winegard ($300)

2) A dome-type stationary Winegard ($1,000)

3) A Winegard Trav'ler ($1,500)

I know there are other brands, but our local Campingworld is close and convenient to us so I prefer to buy something they sell. We don't really need anything fancy such as HD and in-motion, but would like to make sure whatever we buy isn't going to be obsolete in a year or two.

Your input is welcome. Thanks.

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[boulderado]

We managed to fry our Winegard automatic satellite dish last week (ice and snow) and are now looking for a replacement. We are thinking about one of the following three options:

1) A crank-up manual Winegard ($300)

2) A dome-type stationary Winegard ($1,000)

3) A Winegard Trav'ler ($1,500)

I know there are other brands, but our local Campingworld is close and convenient to us so I prefer to buy something they sell. We don't really need anything fancy such as HD and in-motion, but would like to make sure whatever we buy isn't going to be obsolete in a year or two.

Your input is welcome. Thanks.

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[Pusherman]

I suggest you do some research in the Technology section of the forum. With all the change to DTV and HDTV, and which satellite system uses what satellites, the antenna design becomes more of an issue. For example, a single LNB dish will limit what programming you can receive. And even though you're not interested in HDTV today, a new set may be the simplest solution to receiving DTV. Then your satellite choice becomes linked to this decision. Lots to consider.

[John_Canfield]

We have the Motosat Freedom for the bedroom TV and it works extremely well - I'm very pleased with our choice.

If you don't want/need an in-motion dish, I would stick with an open dish - the larger the dish diameter the better in marginal signal areas. One huge advantage of the Motosat Executive is you can buy it with a 24" dish instead of the standard 18" dish, or can upgrade it later.

Don has a really good suggestion - do more research to make an informed buying decision.

[Scooter]

We have the KingDome small stationary dish. OK most of the time, but in a rain...forget it.

Fog, drizzle or early morning condensation will also compromise our signal.

I have read that a dish without a dome is better.

[rvten]

No to a Dome. We have one. It came with the MH. Wish we did not have it. Liked our old Winegard Auto-matic dish we had much better.

[majfrizz]

i went ahead and took the big plunge and ordered the new Winegard Traveler Slimline for Direct. There is a back order right now at the factory, so should have it in about 4 weeks.

[boulderado]

Since there seem to be a lot of changes to the satellite dish world we decided to go with a manual crank Winegard dish for now ($300 @ CW). That way we can wait and see what develops in the next few years and maybe go with something more auto-magic in the future.

Thanks for your input.

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[Dick Brown]

boulderado,

I just got the new Winegard trav'ler (Dish network model) installed by Camping world last week. We decided to get the Wingard product after having poor performance from the 12" king dome unit that came with the RV. Everytime it even looked like rain we lost signal.I would definetly stay away from dome units unless you want a tracking unit. We decided to get the dish network version because camping world said the direct tv slimline version is not ready for production yet. I probably will by the slimline version as soon as it comes out. I got to have my nfl sunday ticket.
Anyway so far I have no complaints about the Winegard trav'ler. The installer showed us how sturdy the unit was built. He said there is very little slop in the gears so high winds should not be a problem.