# TV in my RV - Tips needed!



## airedale (Aug 8, 2007)

Hi All,

My wife and I are about to purchase our first RV and the one thing I have always wanted to have is DirecTV while in the great outdoors! :grin:

I know there are devices from Winegard that will just automatically track and set everything up for me. The problem is that my wife isn't too keen on spending ~ $1500 for that kind of a setup.

That being said, I think I am going down the tripod route. Are there suggestions to what I should be looking for. Any specific brands that are good for the tripod?

Also, I have an H24 box that I am thinking would be a good one to bring along. What kind of dish do I need to bring along? I would like to bring the smallest possible and still receive my HD channels. Does the H24 require SWM? I know I needed it for my Whole Home DVR setup. Since I'll be on the road, I just wasn't sure if the SWM was required or not.


----------



## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

airedale said:


> Hi All,
> 
> My wife and I are about to purchase our first RV and the one thing I have always wanted to have is DirecTV while in the great outdoors! :grin:
> 
> ...


While I have not RV'ed, I've helped people with their units. Some of my experiences:

I like SWiM in an RV. One cable can route through out the RV. If you have an RV with two (or more) rooms, often they come wired for more than one TV but only if you use a SWiM.

If you travel a LOT with your RV you might want to spend the $1,500. If you park longer or go less often, tripods work very well. And can give you some more flexibility in how/where you park. A tripod can find a hole in tree canopy that you can't park at. 

The good thing is you can start with tripod and switch to Winegard if you change your mind.

There are some good tools to help you get line of site quickly. Smart phone apps can really help.

Cheers,
Tom


----------



## EdJ (Jan 9, 2007)

A VuQube makes it a lot easier to set up for Satellite in a RV. This link is to Amazon, but I am sure there are other sites with more info about the product. I do not have one, but have read some very favorable reports about them. You will have to confirm that it will work with your receiver hardware just to be sure.


----------



## barryb (Aug 27, 2007)

We all need to start somewhere. I like Toms idea the best. I would just find a dish somewhere, make a pole mount and take things from there.

If you find the need [as I have] to just push a button to lock into a signal, then you know what to to.

I went with Motosat years ago. Two motorhomes ago in fact. Same dish, new house on wheels. If I ever feel the need to get a new dish I will stick with Motosat.


----------



## eclipsetrb (Jan 19, 2005)

A tripod or a bucket with cement works great, tripod being the lighter option. I have been a park ranger in parks with RV sites and the best thing you can do is if you have a Iphone or Android phone is to pick up an app that uses the internal gps and gyros along with the camera on the phone to show u where in the sky to point the dish (sorry forgot the name). As long as your wife or whoever doesn't care about not having tv while driving this tends to be a much cheaper option.


----------



## barryb (Aug 27, 2007)

iPhone: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/dishpointer-ar-pro/id321914743?mt=8


----------



## airedale (Aug 8, 2007)

Guys,

Thanks for the great replies. I decided to first start with the Dish and tripod because as you guys said it is a good place to start. First, I have a lot of respect for installers now, and 2nd, I now understand the feelings around getting an HD dish aligned is a real pain in the butt!

I am starting up a setup thread in the DirecTV General discussion to ask about some setup issues I had, but thanks for the advice, it has worked out well so far. Hopefully next time I won't have to spend almost 2 hours messing with it.


----------



## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

airedale said:



> Guys,
> 
> Thanks for the great replies. I decided to first start with the Dish and tripod because as you guys said it is a good place to start. First, I have a lot of respect for installers now, and 2nd, I now understand the feelings around getting an HD dish aligned is a real pain in the butt!
> 
> I am starting up a setup thread in the DirecTV General discussion to ask about some setup issues I had, but thanks for the advice, it has worked out well so far. Hopefully next time I won't have to spend almost 2 hours messing with it.


Once you get the hang of it, especially now that we have some great gps and smartphone tools, it gets easier. And now that the base is set, it should only take minor adjustments at each new location.

Cheers,
Tom


----------



## JohnQ (Nov 11, 2007)

Started out with a tripod, 18" round, and a signal meter in our truck camper. Worked out pretty well and got very good at eyeballing the dish with an empty papertowel roll (approximating 30-34 degrees). Then we got a motorhome that had a very old Datron external antenna. Never could get that one working. Gave up on it and shopped FleaBay and got/install a King-Dome 9702. Works very well. When I am setting up the rest of the motorhome systems/connections (Water, Power, Sewer), I still drag out the old reliable papertowel and eyeball the aim just in case of trees. A lot of folks are upgrading their motorhomes to HD Satellite antenna's nowadays so FleaBay shopping is getting better and better for the DirecTv SD antenna's, especially the In-Motion models. One note for on the road, especially outside of your local Spot Beam, and that would be Over The Air (OTA) crank up Batwing antenna's. King Controls (King-Dome) now makes a OTA amplified directional antenna called Jack. It comes in two flavors, one is a stand alone that replaces the winegard batwing crankup entirely, is directional and has a built in signal strength meter. The other one is a Batwing Replacement Head. It retains the Winegard crankup mechanism and replaces the big batwing. That's the one I installed, and I also installed a signal meter also available from King Controls. Once I figured out I only needed the original Winegard Power Booster, it works extremely well pulling in local HD Stations with Picture/Sound quality rivaling Satellite TV Broadcasts. Just make sure your TV's in the motorhome are HD capable or have the converter boxes. IRV2.com & RV.Net websites have very good forums (like here) for the electronics subjects.


----------



## PokerJoker (Apr 12, 2008)

EdJ said:


> A VuQube makes it a lot easier to set up for Satellite in a RV. This link is to Amazon, but I am sure there are other sites with more info about the product. I do not have one, but have read some very favorable reports about them. You will have to confirm that it will work with your receiver hardware just to be sure.


The main issue with the VuQube when used with DirecTV is - NO HD. It will receive SD channels only. And like all such devices, it can only see one satellite at a time.


----------

