beasleyrl
Well-known member
Duane -
We've used both Directv and Dish on our rig. Both have advantages/disadvantages. When we upgraded to dish, the primary driver was HD capability with my auto dish on the roof (Directv required a replacement for HD) and ability to not pay for service when we aren't using it. There are several packages but it sounds like you have the "basic" package. We have the Dish 120 which has a few more. You can also pay some one time fees to include additional HD channels for life. I believe it was about $100 to add that which is something we did. With 2 receivers, my total bill is about $60 per month when we need it. You can also pay a $40 one time fee and add an external hard drive to your receivers which makes them a DVR. The family loves that capability.
Be careful with signal strength. When you compare it, you have to compare like model receivers as Dish changed the way it is displayed several generations back. You also have to compare based upon the same satellite. When we're running off our small roof dish, 40-50 is about normal. I believe that is the 110/119/129 satellites. When I'm using my external dish (using 61.5/72), we can get 60+ if I work the alignment. Which dish to use? When we are doing a weekend trip, we usually operate off the roof. The downside to this is 1 receiver controls where the dish is pointed. I've wired mine so I can easily change it from the main room to the master BR at night with ease. If we are going someplace for a longer period, I usually setup a larger external dish (I actually bought east and west LNB's so if a tree blocks 1 direction, I can usually get a signal from the other). That way both receivers function independently.
One other thing to think about... When you're at locations for a longer period (or when I can say "switch it for a month"), you can call Dish and have them change the locals to your current "service address". That takes dealing with the over the air antenna out of the loop. I typically do this for a week trip then leave it for the rest of the month. The only downside is that when you go back home, you won't have your locals until you switch it back.
Yes, we have the same issue with setup in that the guide has to redownload every time we start up the rig. It takes a few minutes (okay 5-10), but it hasn't been a big deal for us.
We've used both Directv and Dish on our rig. Both have advantages/disadvantages. When we upgraded to dish, the primary driver was HD capability with my auto dish on the roof (Directv required a replacement for HD) and ability to not pay for service when we aren't using it. There are several packages but it sounds like you have the "basic" package. We have the Dish 120 which has a few more. You can also pay some one time fees to include additional HD channels for life. I believe it was about $100 to add that which is something we did. With 2 receivers, my total bill is about $60 per month when we need it. You can also pay a $40 one time fee and add an external hard drive to your receivers which makes them a DVR. The family loves that capability.
Be careful with signal strength. When you compare it, you have to compare like model receivers as Dish changed the way it is displayed several generations back. You also have to compare based upon the same satellite. When we're running off our small roof dish, 40-50 is about normal. I believe that is the 110/119/129 satellites. When I'm using my external dish (using 61.5/72), we can get 60+ if I work the alignment. Which dish to use? When we are doing a weekend trip, we usually operate off the roof. The downside to this is 1 receiver controls where the dish is pointed. I've wired mine so I can easily change it from the main room to the master BR at night with ease. If we are going someplace for a longer period, I usually setup a larger external dish (I actually bought east and west LNB's so if a tree blocks 1 direction, I can usually get a signal from the other). That way both receivers function independently.
One other thing to think about... When you're at locations for a longer period (or when I can say "switch it for a month"), you can call Dish and have them change the locals to your current "service address". That takes dealing with the over the air antenna out of the loop. I typically do this for a week trip then leave it for the rest of the month. The only downside is that when you go back home, you won't have your locals until you switch it back.
Yes, we have the same issue with setup in that the guide has to redownload every time we start up the rig. It takes a few minutes (okay 5-10), but it hasn't been a big deal for us.
