Best Satellite Antenna

[sip]

I am not too happy with Dish network's equipment overall but generally, I have found them to be the better of the crappy choices. They also let me easily turn my RV service on-and-off, as needed, since we don't use the RV TV that much and I don't want to keep paying year-round.

Having said that ...

For me, watching TV on the go was important so I went with a Winegard T4 (in-motion) on the roof and an Winegard PL7000R Playmaker (portable) as backup for when the roof is blocked by trees.

It's generally a MAJOR pain in the arse to get these things to lock and work nicely .. it also takes a long time sometimes to acquire the lock and then may even take days to get the Guide downloaded from Dish. But when it does lock, it works great ... even while driving. It of course cuts out if there are trees or mountains in your satellite line-of-sight and also when going under overpasses (for a sec or so). So you have to be understanding, super patient, and really try to understand the technology you are dealing with ... it's not as smooth and seamless as a home setup (which still Dish sucks at a lot of times!) But at the same time, it is pretty cool to get full HD content while cruising in the middle of nowhere USA.

Oh and what I hate is local channels .. if I leave the cone they have around our home zone, I can't get any locals .. not even the locals of whatever area I am in. That SUCKS ... at least with Dish, they tie to the zip code of the billing address and you get nothing if you venture out too far. The whole thing is simply not designed with mobility in mind.

I can't wait for satellite internet (bring it on elon musk!) ... I'd love to be able to stream and ditch all these outdated techs.

[Dennis Ulrich]

Correct, Direct TV is only stand. def.; Dish is high def.

[AndyT1183]

Originally Posted by sflcurt

We are new RV owners. Just purchased a 2022 Thor Tellaro, Class B coach. We are looking to add on a satellite antenna to get TV programing when not in an RV park (is that called "boondocking"??)

Does Direct TV offer such equipment? All I can find online is Dish and a variety of oddball antennas?

Any recommendations of what type of equipment would be best would be greatly appreciated.

Dish is the best, with Wineguard X2 antenna

[The Gritz Carlton]

If you subscribe to local channels with the Dish system, just call the CS number when you get to your next location and give them that address...within 5 minutes you get local channels where you are. I've had zero issues and CS has been 5 star so far.

[sip]

Originally Posted by The Gritz Carlton

If you subscribe to local channels with the Dish system, just call the CS number when you get to your next location and give them that address...within 5 minutes you get local channels where you are. I've had zero issues and CS has been 5 star so far.

Will have to try .. but does that then screw up the locals at home? I don't want the dvr at home to stop recording or get messed up. It's so confusing.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by sip

Will have to try .. but does that then screw up the locals at home? I don't want the dvr at home to stop recording or get messed up. It's so confusing.

The FCC requires that each account have only one service address. If you have a home account and a different mobile account, you can change one without effecting the other. That is the way Dish works. With DirecTV it is much more complicated, as ATT says the service address and the billing address must be the same unless you have a mobile account. ATT DirecTV customer service only works with fixed home accounts. You have to contact a level 2 mobile tech to separate the two addresses, and even then there is usually some confusion.

[DaveBiles]

I have a portable Dish, for Direct TV. Got too expensive.
At home we switch to streaming via Roku.
Swapped to the TV's in the Thor for TCL 4K smart TV's.
We have an unlimited plan on our cell phones.
I set the cell phone up as a Hot Spot, connect to the TV as Wi-Fi and get all my streaming chanels just fine.

Dave

[MLP]

For Direct TV the Winegard Direct TV Trav'ler RV Satellite system ( which is out of stock even at Winegard ) is the only way to get HD for Direct TV. I have it and a portable which is SD and the tripod for the few times a tree blocks the clear path to the southern sky. You do have to have a receiver in your rig. When switching from the roof mount and vise versa, you have to change the setting in the receiver for the dish you are using.

https://winegard.com/industry/recrea...ine-hd-travler

https://www.amazon.com/Winegard-GM-9...7926218&sr=8-6

https://www.amazon.com/Winegard-TR-1...02DPTQX2&psc=1

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by MLP

For Direct TV the Winegard Direct TV Trav'ler RV Satellite system ( which is out of stock even at Winegard ) is the only way to get HD for Direct TV. I have it and a portable which is SD and the tripod for the few times a tree blocks the clear path to the southern sky. You do have to have a receiver in your rig. When switching from the roof mount and vise versa, you have to change the setting in the receiver for the dish you are using.

Not quite. There are portable Slimline reflectors with your choice of SWM LNBs that are mounted on tripods that can receive all DirecTV channels in the Ku, Ka and RB frequencies for around $150 including 200 ft of coax. Ebay and Solid Signal have several versions. These are portable and are aligned manually. You do require a signal strength meter to do the fine alignment.
I use the Sat Finder application on my cell phone to find a suitable place and approximate pointing direction. My Satlooklite signal meter powers the LNB, so no need to turn on the receiver or run the coax, yet. The meter will only lock-on to the specified satellite. It takes about 20 minutes to assemble the broken-down antenna, find a location and setup and align the antenna. Finally is the antenna is not within 30 ft of the coach, I have to use one or more of the five different coax extensions I also carry. Back in the coach, I turn on the receiver and wait about 5 minutes for the receiver check the antenna communications and download the program guide and the season passes. Really, it is a lot less complicated than setting up a 3 inch sewer hose for gravity drain, IMHO. I use my home's genie 2 as the receiver and my wireless clients in the coach. All the required power supplies are hard wired in the coach. The genie 2 is paired with my Pepwave Max Mini so the Internet is available for the enhanced search and on demand functions.

[MLP]

Originally Posted by Beau388

Not quite. There are portable Slimline reflectors with your choice of SWM LNBs that are mounted on tripods that can receive all DirecTV channels in the Ku, Ka and RB frequencies for around $150 including 200 ft of coax. Ebay and Solid Signal have several versions. These are portable and are aligned manually. You do require a signal strength meter to do the fine alignment.
I use the Sat Finder application on my cell phone to find a suitable place and approximate pointing direction. My Satlooklite signal meter powers the LNB, so no need to turn on the receiver or run the coax, yet. The meter will only lock-on to the specified satellite. It takes about 20 minutes to assemble the broken-down antenna, find a location and setup and align the antenna. Finally is the antenna is not within 30 ft of the coach, I have to use one or more of the five different coax extensions I also carry. Back in the coach, I turn on the receiver and wait about 5 minutes for the receiver check the antenna communications and download the program guide and the season passes. Really, it is a lot less complicated than setting up a 3 inch sewer hose for gravity drain, IMHO. I use my home's genie 2 as the receiver and my wireless clients in the coach. All the required power supplies are hard wired in the coach. The genie 2 is paired with my Pepwave Max Mini so the Internet is available for the enhanced search and on demand functions.

I actually have that setup at home in storage. I used it when I had a fifth wheel. It takes up a lot more storage space and without good satellite meter, I used a Bull Dog, you are going to have fun setting up. It is very fast with the meter. Yes there are people that can set them up closely enough to use the signal meter inside the receiver to pin point the max signal strength, but it takes time and is a pain. I could set up and nail the satellite in less than five minuets with the meter. A good meter is not cheep. I made my dish mount out of PVC pipe that broke down and was stored in a smallish plastic box. The antenna was four inches off the ground and was only tipped over twice with 55 mph gusts.

May class A came with both the antennas and is far easier to set up. I do not have as much storage space in the Class A as I had in the fifth wheel.

[Beau388]

Originally Posted by MLP

I actually have that setup at home in storage. I used it when I had a fifth wheel. It takes up a lot more storage space and without good satellite meter, I used a Bull Dog, you are going to have fun setting up. It is very fast with the meter. Yes there are people that can set them up closely enough to use the signal meter inside the receiver to pin point the max signal strength, but it takes time and is a pain. I could set up and nail the satellite in less than five minuets with the meter. A good meter is not cheep. I made my dish mount out of PVC pipe that broke down and was stored in a smallish plastic box. The antenna was four inches off the ground and was only tipped over twice with 55 mph gusts.

May class A came with both the antennas and is far easier to set up. I do not have as much storage space in the Class A as I had in the fifth wheel.

Yep, BirdDogs are over $800 retail or about $500 if you can find a used one. Most meters or sat finders can not power DirecTV's modern SWM LNBs, as they require 30 volts DC as opposed to the old 18 or 24 volt SWM LNBs. A good meter needs to receive and calculate the error rate of received Ka and RB frequencies if you going to get good alignment for 4K frequencies.
We prefer to setup under the trees when available, so a roof mounted dish wouldn't work for us.

[MLP]

I never had a problem with power for the LNB. I used the antenna RF cable with a DC pass splitter. The DC pass output went to the antenna and the DC Block output went to the BirdDog. Yes I purchased my meter used on EBAY for less than two hundred dollars.