Satellite TV

I know we're supposed to be enjoying nature while camping in our TrailManor's but last Saturday it was cold and rainy and we felt like watching a baseball game on the TV.
We were in a campground out in the country and our antenna only picked up two channels; Country & Western or all Religion all the time but no baseball.
The campground did not have cable to hook up to so we discovered books.
However, it made us long for Satellite TV, we think, so we could pick up that ball game, but can't find much about it on the Internet other than DirecTV seems to furnish it.
Does anyone have Satellite TV for their TrailManor? If so, please let me know some particulars like what equipment did you buy, how mounted, what programming do you subscribe to, etc.
Thanks in advance.
Dick_B & Anne

[Happytrails]

Well, I'm not running sat in mine, but do know a little about the subject having worked 2 years at a "Circuit City". The direct TV works just like it does for your home, ya just order it, and give the numbers off the back of your reciever to match your card that comes with it.......now the mobile part.......I'm STILL kicking myself.....I knew I would, when I passed up getting the sat dish setup made for trailers......weighted base ya just put up there on top of your trailer, or on the ground, aim at the right place in the sky, and ya got Direct TV!......at the closeout price of DIRT CHEAP at the time! But then again, I didn't have a trailer, so no use for one.......But they're out there. I think that would be your best bet as you could just run the cable under the flaps, and NO, "installation" of a dish.....just put it where ya want it anytime, anywhere......no need to find the campsite and aim your camper just right to bring in the signal to clear trees and all. No need to drill holes, or anything.......My 2c worth!    8)

[Happytrails]

P.S.......My dad has Sat in his Bluebird.....his is perm mounted, but he usually has hookups and all that....his spins around on a perm mounted base, but can dry camp with it. I'll have to ask him what he does....he does have banks of batteries and a huge 4cyl generator for power...............

We carry our DISH unit whereever we go.  Oconee state Park in SC is the only location we couldn't picked up dish programming and the trees were just too thick.  We found our extra dish at the flea market for $5.00 including the (excuse the "technical" language) knobby thing that picks up the signal.  I have seen the "knobby things"  for $5-15 bucks at the flea market.

My husband took an old camera tripod and made a satelitte holder.  He slides the dish onto the tripod and attaches a brick to the bottom for stability.  We run the cable under the flap and (drum roll please) we have cable.  We can be set up, including cable in about 30 minutes.  Just know the zip code where you are camping so you can set your dish.

Thanks for the input thus far.
Am I missing something? No one has mentioned paying someone for the privilege of receiving signals from their satellite! Surely this can't be free or is this like radio; the signal is in the air so why not use it?
Dick_B

Dick,

It's going to run you about $30 per month, unless you opt for premium movie channels.  However, if you have Direct TV in your home (I assume you do not) you can take the receiver from your home with you and get off only paying for an additional satellite dish, a tripod mount and a little coaxial cable.

Happy Trails............George

[cardsfan39]

Dick,

I also have Dish at home and use my extra receiver to take camping.  My brother in Florida who has a diesel pusher says you can rent satallite TV by the day.  He is set up with Direct TV and says he calls them up and gets turned on whenever he reaches his destination and calls to have the service removed before he starts home.

I bought my extra dish off Ebay for about $20 but I imagine you could find both the receivers and dishes at garage sales since lots of people have switched back to cable with all  the competition between the two.

I opted to install a through-the-wall recepticle for the cable.  The recepticle only costs a few bucks and does not interfere with closing the shell.  I installed it next to the TV cabinet in my 30-23 so it is convenient to hook up.  This will also work for cable TV if the campground has a hookup.

To Cardsfan39,

I contacted DirecTV and they replied that they do not have a daily rental program. Is there anyway to have your brother give more details on the program he has such as the phone number he calls to `turn on' the service and the person he talks to?

I have emailed DishTV to see if they have the rental program and haven't heard back as yet.

Dick_B

Used to be, at least, that the DirectTV wanted to be connected to a phone line or it'd shut down.   Something about verifying your subscription.  DISH wanted a phone line connection but keeps working if it is never plugged in.

Is this still true?

[Happytrails]

Yeah, I had forgotten about that. Direct TV does have your receiver dial into them once a month, not to verify your subscription, but to report back to them what pay per view movies you've watched so they may bill you for em.....Dunno about dish network.

Happytrails.....

I have the DISH, and if you use the remote control to order PPV, it needs to be wired to the phone line to place the order for the PPV and get subscription info.

But I've never used PPV on my DISH, so I have never attached either receiver to the phone line.

Still, every day I hear both of my receivers dial-out units "click" and try to connect somewhere.

I strongly suspect both DISH and DirecTV try to upload your viewing history.

Only DISH doesn't make it mandatory...   Just a guess, though.   Now I don't know what'll happen if the two companies merge as they are attempting.

[Happytrails]

Yup, and it will click every day till it makes contact, then quiet for another month.............

Perhaps to wrap up this post I bit the bullet and signed on to DirecTV on a monthly basis. However, the contract requires a 12 month commitment but that can be over more than a one-year time period.
I bought the Dish from Camping World along with a Buoy that I fill with water to keep the Dish steady, a Satellite Finder, and an RCA receiver from Best Buy. The Received has two inputs; one for Satellite and the other for the RV antenna. If you do the same, be sure that Best Buy understands, and so designates, that this is on a monthly basis. The vast majority of their sales is for one-year commitments for home use and they usually don't understand anything else.
Hooked it all up last week, found the satellite, called DirecTV for activation, and enjoyed an incredible picture for the rest of the week at the campgrounds.
One potential problem is that I can't get the typical network channels like you would get if you were home, eg. ABC, NBC & CBS; apparently due to some legal issue with the Feds.
Monthly cost is $31.99 for the smallest package with no premium channels except Starz free for three months.

DirecTV will send you a waiver form in which you promise to use the receiver only in your Travel Trailer. This will allow you to purchase a network package. However, I did not do this because they will not let you have a sports package (for some unknown reason) if you have the network package. Alternatively you can pay double the monthly amount for your two "houses". Dave

[Sinclue]

As it was explained to me, the Sports Packages are "regional" and probably vary in cost (although the DirectTV rep wouln't exactly say so).  Since they can't pin you down to a region if you are in a travel trailer they don't offer Sports packages.  However, they assurred me that they were always changing and upgrading their service so I should sign up today...... ;D

Well the package I want is NFL which is obviously not regional. The story I got was that the sports packages "need a full time phone hook up". Why, I don't know.