# Best Direct TV receiver for Travel Trailer



## ctbay (Nov 13, 2012)

So I am a new Direct TV user. Have all H25 receivers. Appears that it will be most difficult to set up for my travel trailer. What would you guys recommend? Should I get a D12 and a dish? I had Dishnetwork for 14 years and switched. Now I don't know what to do for the Travel Trailer. 

Any suggestions would be appreciated.


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## Kevin F (May 9, 2010)

D12 for sure if HD is not a top priority.


Kevin


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## ctbay (Nov 13, 2012)

HD is not a priority. So if I just get a D12 receiver and a single lnb dish then I will get all my programming like at home except the HD channels. Hate to sound like a dummy but I I am not even sure if I have HD service. I know that I have H25 receivers and I tried to hook up one of those today on an old dish. Got message 771A which I found out was not detecting swm. The dish was an 18 x20 oval with 3lnbs and have multidish written on it. I assume that what it was capable of was only to run 3 receivers. Anyway, I was always able to get a signal with Dishnetwork so I thought the Directv would be as simple but not the case. Would have the single lnb only bring in Sat 101?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

Sure, be sure you'll get right sat for that.


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## ctbay (Nov 13, 2012)

What do you mean, right sat??? So the D12 standard def receiver and a round dish with single lnb will bring in sat. 101? The other sat are 99 and 103 I beleive and those are the ones that have the hd channels right?


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## P Smith (Jul 25, 2002)

right about 99/103
I mean you could get 110 or other sat during aiming ...


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## jimmie57 (Jun 26, 2010)

ctbay said:


> HD is not a priority. *So if I just get a D12 receiver and a single lnb dish then I will get all my programming like at home except the HD channels.* Hate to sound like a dummy but I I am not even sure if I have HD service. I know that I have H25 receivers and I tried to hook up one of those today on an old dish. Got message 771A which I found out was not detecting swm. The dish was an 18 x20 oval with 3lnbs and have multidish written on it. I assume that what it was capable of was only to run 3 receivers. Anyway, I was always able to get a signal with Dishnetwork so I thought the Directv would be as simple but not the case. Would have the single lnb only bring in Sat 101?


Not exactly.
You will not get the local channels. To get local channels requires a change of address to the new location. If you are moving a lot in the RV then you would not get any locals.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

With regard to local channels, there are a couple of options to consider. One would be to get a separate RV account for your travel trailer. If you are going to be doing a lot of traveling, that may be worth consideration, and would allow you to get either the east or west coast DNS (distant network service) - major network stations.

Another option would be to use an HD receiver and pair an AM21 OTA receiver with it. That way you could always get the nearby local stations using OTA rather than satellite. This would require you to set up a slimline dish though, which is more difficult than the 18" round dish.


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## ctbay (Nov 13, 2012)

You guys are so far over my head! I guess in time I will learn directv like I knew Dishnetwork. 
With the old style single lnb and a d12 receiver I should be able to get all programing with the exception of the locals. That would put me trying to aim the dish at 101 sat. I am familiar with the 110 sat on dish. With the directv dish would the receiver show programming for 110? How hard is it to aim the dish for 101? I thought the directv sat were only 99 101 and 103. 
Like I said I am really new at this since I've had dish for the past 12 years or so. I really don't care about the hd or the locals. I only camp 5 or 6 times a year for a few days and I am only 10 miles or so from home.


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## smitbret (Mar 27, 2011)

ctbay said:


> HD is not a priority. So if I just get a D12 receiver and a single lnb dish then I will get all my programming like at home except the HD channels. Hate to sound like a dummy but I I am not even sure if I have HD service. I know that I have H25 receivers and I tried to hook up one of those today on an old dish. Got message 771A which I found out was not detecting swm. The dish was an 18 x20 oval with 3lnbs and have multidish written on it. I assume that what it was capable of was only to run 3 receivers. Anyway, I was always able to get a signal with Dishnetwork so I thought the Directv would be as simple but not the case. Would have the single lnb only bring in Sat 101?


The 3LNB that you are working with is NOT an HD dish. It is used to pick up 101,110 & 119. Many SD locals are carried on the 119 instead of the 101, as well as some public access type channels. There is no programming on the 110. That dish would be fine with the D12 as long as you are comfortable setting up a multi-sat dish. A round 18" is just so much easier, though. The HD dishes (99,101,103) will have SlimLine written across the front.

Someone said get an HD IRD and an AM21 to recieve locals OTA. However, the D12 already has the off-air tuner built into it so the AM21 is unnecessary.

Just get a D12 and some rabbit ears. I'd try the 3LNB 18x20 that you alraedy have and if that gives you trouble, pick up an 18" round. You should be good to go with that.


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## ctbay (Nov 13, 2012)

I'm looking for ease of setup so I will try and pickup a single lnb 18 round. Should be able to find that on ebay or craigslist. As far as the receiver right now I have 4 H25's. When I originally put in direct I told them I did not want hd service and only wanted SD receivers however what I got is the H25's. I told them I wanted to be able to carry one with me camping which they had no problem with but with the H25's it is going to be a lot of trouble to set up. I called directv yesterday and the lady tried to instruct me on how to go into setup and change the dish to the type I have but it didn't work. All I ever got was the 771A error message. 
Looks like my best bet would be to pickup a d12 receiver and go camping!!!


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

smitbret said:


> The 3LNB that you are working with is NOT an HD dish. It is used to pick up 101,110 & 119. Many SD locals are carried on the 119 instead of the 101, as well as some public access type channels. There is no programming on the 110. That dish would be fine with the D12 as long as you are comfortable setting up a multi-sat dish. A round 18" is just so much easier, though. The HD dishes (99,101,103) will have SlimLine written across the front.
> 
> Someone said get an HD IRD and an AM21 to recieve locals OTA. *However, the D12 already has the off-air tuner built into it so the AM21 is unnecessary. *
> 
> Just get a D12 and some rabbit ears. I'd try the 3LNB 18x20 that you alraedy have and if that gives you trouble, pick up an 18" round. You should be good to go with that.


the comment in *bold* type is completely wrong. The D12 does not have an OTA tuner, it has a RF pass-through


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

ctbay said:


> You guys are so far over my head! I guess in time I will learn directv like I knew Dishnetwork.
> *With the old style single lnb and a d12 receiver I should be able to get all programing* with the exception of the locals. That would put me trying to aim the dish at 101 sat. I am familiar with the 110 sat on dish. With the directv dish would the receiver show programming for 110? *How hard is it to aim the dish for 101?* I thought the directv sat were only 99 101 and 103.
> Like I said I am really new at this since I've had dish for the past 12 years or so. I really don't care about the hd or the locals. I only camp 5 or 6 times a year for a few days and I am only 10 miles or so from home.


Ten miles from home you will get your locals, no problem (maybe, see below).

The only satellite you need to worry about with a D12 receiver is the 101, all SD programming comes from that satellite. You can receive that using the 18" round dish. BUT - there is one possible gotcha. What is your zip code, or the name of the town you are in? Some local channels do not come on the 101, so it is still possible you might not get your local channels via satellite. Your comment about only wanting SD but getting H25 receivers suggests you might be in one of those markets.

If you can set up a tv with rabbit ears at your camping location and get local stations, that could also solve your local station problem (and still use satellite for all the other channels). That may very well be possible as close as you are to your home.

As to aiming the dish, start out at your house, in your yard or driveway where you can practice. You can get aiming information at www.dishpointer.com Once you are comfortable with it, it is very easy and easily repeated.


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## Jacob Braun (Oct 6, 2011)

carl6 said:


> Ten miles from home you will get your locals, no problem.
> 
> The only satellite you need to worry about with a D12 receiver is the 101, all SD programming comes from that satellite. You can receive that using the 18" round dish.
> 
> As to aiming the dish, start out at your house, in your yard or driveway where you can practice. You can get aiming information at www.dishpointer.com Once you are comfortable with it, it is very easy and easily repeated.


A D12 with an 18" round is going to be easiest and most cost effective. If you want to sometimes use it at home on your home install that will have HD at home (but not on the road) you can use an H24 (H25s and higher need the SWM setup...so they will not work with the 18" round).

TL;DR
A D12 or H24 (or H23/22/21/20) with an 18" round dish is your best bet. I'd recommend the D12 or H24 because those are quite small.


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## smitbret (Mar 27, 2011)

peds48 said:


> the comment in *bold* type is completely wrong. The D12 does not have an OTA tuner, it has a RF pass-through


So what does <Off Air In> mean, then? I could hook an antenna to a converter box and run it through the D12 using the same input on my tv?


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

smitbret said:


> So what does <Off Air In> mean, then? I could hook an antenna to a converter box and run it through the D12 using the same input on my tv?


The Off Air Input is useful when your receiver is connected to the TV tuner (as opposed to directly to line level inputs -- the preferred method).

Like a VCR, when the D12 is off, it will pass through the antenna signal (again, only if you're connected to the TV's tuner) so the TV tuner can tune available local channels. No current DIRECTV receiver or DVR has a built-in OTA tuner.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

ctbay said:


> I called directv yesterday and the lady tried to instruct me on how to go into setup and change the dish to the type I have but it didn't work.


Apparently the lady didn't know that the H25 is SWiM-only and that it won't work without a SWiM dish or a SWiM switch connected to a legacy dish.


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## smitbret (Mar 27, 2011)

harsh said:


> The Off Air Input is useful when your receiver is connected to the TV tuner (as opposed to directly to line level inputs -- the preferred method).
> 
> Like a VCR, when the D12 is off, it will pass through the antenna signal (again, only if you're connected to the TV's tuner) so the TV tuner can tune available local channels. *No current DIRECTV receiver or DVR has a built-in OTA tuner*.


The HR20 does have an off-air tuner. I have had that setup this way.


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

Note that if you use the Ph III dish (101, 110, and 119) for this, you need to use the alignment parameters for that dish which essentially centers on the 110 satellite. The single LNB round dish would be the easiest to setup as the skew setting isn't needed.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

smitbret said:


> The HR20 does have an off-air tuner.


The HR20 is not a current model.


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## moghedien (Dec 3, 2007)

smitbret said:


> So what does <Off Air In> mean, then? I could hook an antenna to a converter box and run it through the D12 using the same input on my tv?


It doesn't mean that there is an OTA tuner in the D12. This is a holdover from the days when:
---(1) TVs that only had a single coax input. 
---(2) Directv didn't offer locals in many markets.

The coax passthru allowed people to get locals and Directv channels without having to switch out the coax or installing an A-B switch. I had this setup on a D10 in the pre-SWM days, but I don't think it would work on a SWM system...


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## makaiguy (Sep 24, 2007)

smitbret said:


> So what does <Off Air In> mean, then? I could hook an antenna to a converter box and run it through the D12 using the same input on my tv?


Many older low-end tv's have only a single antenna/cable input. Early basic D* boxes included a built-in RF modulator to output your satellite programming to channel 3 or 4 so that you could view it on such tvs. When not watching satellite programming, you could switch the box to just pass any cable or antenna signal you connected to the "Off Air In" jack through to the tv.


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## carl6 (Nov 16, 2005)

makaiguy said:


> Many older low-end tv's have only a single antenna/cable input. Early basic D* boxes included a built-in RF modulator to output your satellite programming to channel 3 or 4 so that you could view it on such tvs. *When not watching satellite programming, you could switch the box to just pass any cable or antenna signal you connected to the "Off Air In" jack through to the tv*.


Correct, except the box automatically did that switching. When the sat receiver was on, the signal to the TV was the modulated output of the sat receiver. When the sat receiver was off, the signal to the TV was whatever was connected to the off-air input. That input was just passed directly through to the TV.


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