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satellite tv for rv

OkeeDon

New member
Well, the installers just delivered the extra receiver for my Dish Network TV system. This is really cool. I'm going to have 120 channel satellite tv reception anywhere in the country, in my RV, for only $5 per month.

Here's how it works. We signed up for Dish Network and selected the Top 120 plan, with local channels, for 2 TVs.. That comes to $42.99 per month. Then, I selected the DVR (tivo type stuff) option for 2 TVs. That adds $5.00 per month. The receiver must be hooked to a phone line or they charge you an additional $5 per month. Both TVs have DVR, or the tuners can be combined to record 2 programs while watching a third on one TV. Dish handles each pair of TVs with one receiver. The receiver has 2 tuners, dvr for each, an infrared remote for use in the same room as the receiver, and a uhf radio remote for use anywhere else in the house. You can actually have more than 2 TVs hooked to the TV2 tuner, but they all have to watch the same programming. That's no problem in our house, where there's only the 2 of us.

Additional receivers are $5 per month each. But, if you want another dual receiver, it must be hooked to a phone line like the primary dual receiver we have. However, they have a single receiver which also costs a basic $5 per month, but does NOT have to be hooked to a phone line. It can be anywhere in the nation, and once activated, it will receive the same programming as our primary home unit. This is the receiver I will take with me in the RV. Of course, it has to be hooked to a dish antenna. So, temporarily, I bought a Dish Network antenna for $50. I already owned a satellite antenna tripod that is used to place the antenna on the ground around the RV. The fellow who sold me the dish (the first installer who clued me in on this), also included about 60' of the "good stuff" feed-in cable.

Once we get our new RV, I plan to have an automatic dish installed on the roof. It will be the stationary kind that does NOT work while moving down the road, but it will automatically find and acquire the satellite wherever we are. It can also be upgraded to the system that DOES track the satellite while moving, but I won't pay the extra $800. We don't need it. I can't watch while driving, and Betsy would rather see the scenery than watch TV. If she absolutely had to watch TV, she can throw in a DVD and watch a movie. Stationary satellite reception is fine.

I'll still keep the portable dish and tripod, in case we get stuck in a campground where we have to park under a tree, and the rooftop antenna is blocked.

The cool part of this is that I will now have satellite TV out in the middle of my property in Okeechobee while the house is being built. I already have a wireless setup that reaches my daughter's DSL service, so I have high-speed internet out there, and the cell phone is what I normally use for phone service. Modern technology is really something. Just a few years ago, none of this would have been possible when basically sitting in the middle of an empty field.
 

Doc

Bottoms Up
Staff member
GOLD Site Supporter
Very Cool Don! It is amazing.

Can you get DVR setup for the mobile unit?

I have Direct TV and have DVR for one of the two receivers. It sure makes TV watching different. Now tha t we've had it 8 months or so, I would not want to be without it.
 

OkeeDon

New member
I haven't checked what's available in the single receiver mode, I know I can get DVR and HDTV, but I don't know if either requires a phone line hookup. I can always skip the phone line by paying a higher fee.

But, the extra receiver is $5/month. To make it DVR is another $5. To skip the phone line (if one is required) is another $5. I forget what HDTV adds, but it's between $5 and $10 per month. All of a sudden it's costing real money. If and when we do more than weekend trips in the RV, I may spring for it. But right now, what I have is snowy and grainy pics from the rooftop antenna, and network channels only. I'm grateful enough just to know I'm going to get CSpan and a clear picture.
 
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