Satellite TV .....pros/cons? Tired of tv infomercials!!

[VA-Apraisr]

Removed the crankup antenna years ago and moved to modern digital antenna and just installed a 360 degree digital one. All I seem to get are the shopping channels or PBS unless I'm in a real city and get some of the local channels. I'm usually on the beach or in the rural country and want to have reliable TV most of the time. Anyone using a satellite system, and if so, comments on ease of use, reliability and finally cost-per-month for the service. Thanks in advance.

[Big_Katuna]

Another aspect to throttling on “Unlimited” plans: I have a senior unlimited plan under Verizon. Yet sometimes I get throttled. I called V to ask why. The answer was that I wasn’t throttled due to maxxing out my plan, I was throttled so that higher tier plans didn’t slow down during peak traffic on the tower.

He suggested waiting. Sure enough, a few minutes after 5:00 I got my speed back. That’s when I bought an ATT hotspot puck and plan.

[pnichols]

valhalla360 wrote:
Used to do the satellite thing.

We already had to have cell phone with unlimited plan, so internet based TV + some local channels with the antenna works out easier and better.

About the only thing we struggle with is college football (and presumably other live sporting events)

It seems like those so-called unlimited cell phone plans may be unlimited on amount of data ... but they're not unlimited on how long their download speed will last before speed-throttling sets in.

When this throttling happens, you're pretty much limited on any serious video streaming after that ... just net-surfing, emails, and texting once the speed-throttling limit starts. For instance, we watch a lot of broadband streaming material at our residence and our amount of data used each month can easily be 3-5 hundred megabytes or more at our full purchased speed - no throttling up to a 1 Terabyte of data per month, which we've never reached.

Not that we'd ever need a Terabyte of cell phone based data per month on RV trips for streaming, but something like 300 megabytes per month at broadband speeds sure would be nice during our trips.

What we'd like in our RV is broadband Internet access via a large network (like Verizon, for instance) that's unlimited on data, does NOT THROTTLE at any reasonable level, and costs around $45 per month - just like home.

[VA-Apraisr]

Haha, yes Rob! Just the only channels I get in rural areas seems to be Home Shopping Channels like HSN, QVC, etc. I think I'll try the Sling or Hulu options and see how that goes for awhile. As long as I have cell service, I'm assuming these TV apps will work using my BluRay player. I'm going to check with my internet/cable/phone provider to make sure what is needed and that my unlimited time isn't an issue. Thanks all for the comments!

[Second_Chance]

We have used Dish Network (an RV/outdoor account) for TV since going full-time five years ago. It works very well for us. You realize, don't you, that you get the same commercials on satellite TV that you do on OTA broadcasts?

Rob

[bobndot]

Dish Network Tailgater for RV

Direct tv does not or did not offer a monthly pay as you go service, so we went with Dish.
If you get any system, practice with it at home before you go so you know how it performs.

Use the Dishpointer site to view any campsite ahead of time. It will give you a good idea of reception possibilities. My 211k use 110 and 119 sats. Just place the curser on the any campsite in the park to see where the best reception might be. It tells you distance needed for trees to clearly view the sats you need.

https://www.dishpointer.com/


You need a clear view of the southwest sky. Sometimes it happens, sometimes the dense tall trees don't allow it. The two state parks that we regularly frequent do not offer reception so we only activate our system when we long term vacation somewhere else.
You can pay a 'one time activation fee' of $40 or so for DVR service. You just need to add a hard drive to the 211K receiver.

The 211k recvr has a constant 110v power draw even when its off. Just being plugged in on standby draws 22watts, fully running is approx. 50w. If you boondock, you have to run it off an inverter of some kind which also uses some 12v power to operate.
It takes about 10 mns to boot it up when you first turn it on and after you turn the recvr off and unplug it. If you leave it on standby 24 hrs while boondocking then it will eat up too much 12v power off a standard battery bank in a class C, you have to turn it on/off.
The Tailgater antenna uses a single coax wire that supplies a sat signal as well as 12v power. The antenna needs 12v power to change the direction between multiple satellites that the system uses. The antenna spins within its plastic housing . I have used 100 ft of coax to find a clear sat view with no problems for reception.


If you ever boondock, then you have to run a small 150w plug in inverter. I use a Samlex PSW Samlex 150w PSW Inverter

It has a low voltage alarm built in to the inverter, just in case you have a heart condition.
While camping , the alarm sounded when the antenna motor was spinning to locate a satellite as I attempted to change channels.
I did not know this and it scared the @#%& out of me and my sleeping family when the 9000 decibel alarm sounded at midnite when I changed channels after watching tv for 2 hours. My DW jumped up and screamed at me and my dog attacked me with her Fox Hound howl. I now hook it up to a separate AGM battery that I carry just for that inverter and 211k. I don't know which was worse, the alarm or the two of them ganging up on me. They work as a pair. :B

rvnet thread on sat tv

[valhalla360]

Used to do the satellite thing.

We already had to have cell phone with unlimited plan, so internet based TV + some local channels with the antenna works out easier and better.

About the only thing we struggle with is college football (and presumably other live sporting events)

[Big_Katuna]

Your old crank up directional antenna is a few times better than the Omni direction al ones they put out today.

My recommendation for a sat system would be a Winegard Pathway X2 auto align carryout dome. Buy a 211z or Wally off Amazon. This is for DISH. Then you can buy a month at a time or do a contract. You can add USB hard drive for a basic DVR function to avoid commercials.

[K_Charles]

I don't know what a modern digital antenna is but the 40 year old antenna on my house still works with our flat screen TVs. The crank up antenna on our MH gets many stations almost every where.