What's the latest best way to get DirectTV

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Bruce Patterson said:
Now I'm really confused.  What is DNS?  Websites use DNS servers to resolve the domain name with the IP address, right? 
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DNS = Distant Network Service. Pay option via DirecTV for either NY, East Coast or LA, West Coast major network feeds via your satellite service. Includes PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW located between channel 388 and 399.
Bruce Patterson said:
"2. For a RV they will sell you a distant network plan at a cost per station you have to certify the antenna is permanently mounted to the rv."

Is that what you are talking about, Distant Network Plan?  And what is this about notifying them everytime you move 100 miles?  I'm moving all over the country on a moment's notice. 
When I had DirecTV back in ancient history, I had an east coast local feed and a west coast local feed.  I never had to change anything.  I could get all the stuff like Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, which we watch, and stuff like that.
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Not exactly...You must apply for DNS stating that your account is a mobile plan using an online form. No requirement that antenna be permanently mounted to anything. You will get either East or West coast feed, not both.
Bruce Patterson said:
I'm gonna go to the AT&T store and talk with them today about DTV.  Supposedly if you have DTV you get it bundled with your phone bill and get unlimited data and streaming video on your phone.  My internet is also on ATT with a mobile hotspot.

But when I go to Brazil, I reduce my data to the minimum while I am there, and I would want to turn the DTV off too.  Last time I was there 5 months and had no income due to being laid off.  I'd hate to be paying for DTV in that situation. 

Now I'm considering Dish as a possibility too because of the no contract thing. I think they can probably sign me up at Camping World.  They sell antennas for both.  I bought the King tripod from them to use with the over the air antenna I am going to return today.  I really like that tripod, it folds up and goes in a sack.  I think I could use it for a mounted dish as well as the dome antenna it was made for.  The dome antenna costs a lot more money and only serves two TVs, but the dish will handle three or more TVs, so even though I have to set it up every time, it is both cheaper and better, right?
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Do not expect much help at the AT&T store. With joint AT&T DirecTV billing you get a $10.00 savings. With an RV account you can suspend it up to two times a year...so they say. Which should entail no charges while suspended. With DirecTV dome antennas you can not receive HD programming; only SD.
No experience with Dish network or offerings.
Bruce Patterson said:
Now I'm considering Dish as a possibility too because of the no contract thing. I think they can probably sign me up at Camping World.  They sell antennas for both.  I bought the King tripod from them to use with the over the air antenna I am going to return today.  I really like that tripod, it folds up and goes in a sack.  I think I could use it for a mounted dish as well as the dome antenna it was made for.  The dome antenna costs a lot more money and only serves two TVs, but the dish will handle three or more TVs, so even though I have to set it up every time, it is both cheaper and better, right?

I think the King antenna handles two TVs but costs over $500. I'm seeing the dish and LNA for under $100 on some sites.

And if DirecTV won't let me buy all my own equipment and get service without a contract, I'll consider Dish as an alternative.
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Portable setups are an economical solution that with practice can be setup for use in about 10 to 15 minutes and you can more readily avoid trees.
You may purchase DirecTV equipment but when registered with them for service, they treat like leased property (the card).
 
BobNSam said:
DNS = Distant Network Service. Pay option via DirecTV for either NY, East Coast or LA, West Coast major network feeds via your satellite service. Includes PBS, ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, CW located between channel 388 and 399.Not exactly...You must apply for DNS stating that your account is a mobile plan using an online form. No requirement that antenna be permanently mounted to anything. You will get either East or West coast feed, not both.Do not expect much help at the AT&T store. With joint AT&T DirecTV billing you get a $10.00 savings. With an RV account you can suspend it up to two times a year...so they say. Which should entail no charges while suspended. With DirecTV dome antennas you can not receive HD programming; only SD.
No experience with Dish network or offerings.Portable setups are an economical solution that with practice can be setup for use in about 10 to 15 minutes and you can more readily avoid trees.
You may purchase DirecTV equipment but when registered with them for service, they treat like leased property (the card).
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:))
Thanks that's a better explanation than mine. :)
I would go to dish but they don't offer channels that DW has to have.
 
Bruce Patterson said:
The splitter is built into the RV.  I have a 5th wheel that is wired for three TVs directly from the manufacturer.
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Hmmm, not so sure that is what you really need. The "every day" type of  built-in splitter will mean that every TV will have the same channel on it. With a satellite system, should you wish to watch different channels on each TV, you need 3 set top boxes or a box that can handle for than one TV. The splitter shown by BobnSam spits the signal from a single dish to the various set top boxes, unlike the built-in ones in your trailer. The built-in one is likely sufficient for a cable setup but not for satellite.

I only know of one box from Dish that could do that for 2 TV's but it has been long discontinued. (Channel selection is made by the box, not the TV.)
 
BobNSam said:
For multiple TVs you will also need a RF splitter such this.
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splitter in RV is normally didicated to OTA and park TV inputs to your TVs and not routed to yourDirecTV receiver. It also does not have a DC pass path for the antenna power supply.
 
BobNSam said:
splitter in RV is normally didicated to OTA and park TV inputs to your TVs and not routed to yourDirecTV receiver. It also does not have a DC pass path for the antenna power supply.
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I have no idea what OTA is.  But I have two hookups, one for park cable and one for satellite. It's a 2016 RV pre-wired for satellite. I have no capability of routing new cables to the TVs.  If I have to do that, I'm sunk.  I would have to rip the RV apart, and I can't even get access to the back of the main TV in the living room.

When I had cable TV hooked up, the installer disconnected the TV coax from the wall outlet and connected to the cable box.  In the two bedrooms he was able to connect HDMI to the TVs, but in the living room he couldn't access it, so he put the cable box in series with the TV coaxial input.
 
Alfa38User said:
Hmmm, not so sure that is what you really need. The "every day" type of  built-in splitter will mean that every TV will have the same channel on it. With a satellite system, should you wish to watch different channels on each TV, you need 3 set top boxes or a box that can handle for than one TV. The splitter shown by BobnSam spits the signal from a single dish to the various set top boxes, unlike the built-in ones in your trailer. The built-in one is likely sufficient for a cable setup but not for satellite.

I only know of one box from Dish that could do that for 2 TV's but it has been long discontinued. (Channel selection is made by the box, not the TV.)
Click to expand...

That's not the way my RV is wired.  A receiver goes between the wall outlet and the TV in each location.  Each TV can be on different channels.  I have two hookups, one for Park Cable, and one for Satellite.  I really don't think I need an additional splitter.  If I do, I'm sunk because I'm not going to rip the RV apart and rewire it.
 
OK, try it and find out but.... (By the way (BTW)... set top box = receiver I referred to in my note above...)

But the problem lies in feeding the satellite signal to each of the 3 receivers with the signal from that one little dish.  That is what the RF splitter  BobandSam was showing you does. You cannot just simply split that wire between the 3 receiver inputs using a normal splitters. I would be very surprised if the type he showed was installed as I believe they are very specific to either Dish or Direct systems. You should not need to rip the RV apart but it will take some study to figure out how to wire everything together with what is actually installed in your RV.

DW= Dear Wife, SWMBO= She Who Must Be Obeyed, same thing in many cases :-\

OTA is "Over The Air", the good old antenna system. You may also have a "box of many buttons" or BOMB, AKA a signal source selection box, with which you can select either a satellite, cable or antenna input for each TV. Also, you will likely have a small power supply that is used in conjunction with the antenna, if you have one, and it is turned On for "antenna" and Off for cable.
 
OTA is "Over-The-Air" or antenna.
Most prewired coaches route the satellite connection to "Some place inside" where you hook up your satellite equipment including antenna power supply, splitter and receiver equipment. Receiver hooks up to a TV or TVS if you have HDMI splitter and HDMI Wiring to other coach TVs. Other option is preempt (move) antenna coax from another TV to the satellite splitter and put another receiver at that location. If you need to do this you will have to reconnect to original if you want to watch OTA stuff. Some people use RF switches to move back an forth.
So connections would be antenna to coach connection to sat pwr supply to splitter to sat receiver to TV for one TV. Additional TVS from splitter to receiver to TV.
No need to feel screwed...most of us have "been there, got the tshirt".
Stay strong and good luck!

Oh Stu said all this
 
Here is what I have done, started with Direct TV as that is what I have at home,  Standard definition only I did not want to pay for an HD antenna and manually tune it, yes I know you can get an automatic but $1500 is out of the question for me. I got tired of setting the antenna up and pointing it I know it is no big deal but sometimes it was. I switched to Dish Network, got a Tailgater and pay monthly, no you do not need a mounted antenna to do month to month. I only use 1 TV in the FW.
 
Bruce Patterson said:
I have no idea what OTA is.  But I have two hookups, one for park cable and one for satellite. It's a 2016 RV pre-wired for satellite. I have no capability of routing new cables to the TVs.  If I have to do that, I'm sunk.  I would have to rip the RV apart, and I can't even get access to the back of the main TV in the living room.

When I had cable TV hooked up, the installer disconnected the TV coax from the wall outlet and connected to the cable box.  In the two bedrooms he was able to connect HDMI to the TVs, but in the living room he couldn't access it, so he put the cable box in series with the TV coaxial input.
Click to expand...

Bruce
OTA is "Over The Air"... which you receive with an antenna like the Winegard "batwing" OTA antenna:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b298/professor95/Wingmandirection.jpg

Although I have a Kingdome on my coach and I pay DirecTV  for programing, (and for DNS), I get local channels nearly everywhere OTA.
 
OTA = Over-the-Air or what we used to call Through-the-Air.  Those are the local channels you sometimes get via your old crank-up TV antenna like we used to have in the days before satellite and cable TV.  In our motorhome we get OTA, satellite, and cable TV channels.  We've had DirecTV for years.  The old round dish antennas work with Standard Definition satellite channels, but if you want High Definition TV those are on different satellite channels and you have to upgrade to a larger oval dish that can skew to different angles in the sky in order to point to the appropriate satellite.  It's been an evolving process that changes because the channel providers like DirecTV and Dish sometimes change what channels are on a satellite.

We started many years ago with a round dish we put on the ground or a picnic table.  Eventually we upgraded to a Motosat roof-mounted dish that was automated.  About the time Motosat disappeared our dish started having problems.  Our latest upgrade was to the RF Mogul roof-mounted automatic dish for DirecTV's high definition channels.  They have a different one for Dish for its different skewing.  The beauty of this one is that you press Find to find the correct satellite or you press Stow to make the dish go down.  There are other things in the box but those are the two most important functions.  When you press Find the dish rises, turns in a circular motion, and then starts angling or skewing to find the correct place in the sky.

Regarding the local channels I said earlier that you can "sometimes" get them OTA (depending on your location), via cable TV, or via satellite if you sign up for them.  If local channels are received via satellite they're in a "spot beam" which is a narrow area in which you can see them.  When you move out of the spot beam, which can cover a couple of hundred miles (for example from Salt Lake City to Phoenix or Las Vegas to Yuma), you lose the local channels you see via satellite.  You also can sign up for the Distant Network Channels which are the major networks in New York (east coast) and Los Angeles (west coast).  The Mississippi River is roughly the dividing line between the east/west channels.  When you go from one half of the country to the other, you have to talk to the provider so they know you have changed Locations (not your billing address).

I haven't kept up with the complexities of ordering channels from either DirecTV or Dish, but a lot of it has been determined by court cases.  For example when we first got DirecTV many years ago we got L.A., San Francisco and San Diego on the west coast and N.Y., Washington, and I think Atlanta on the east coast.  One morning we watched our channels and that night they were all gone!  In order to get them back we had to have a notarized paper stating that this set was on an RV and was mobile.  That was a scramble because we were at Rocky Mountain National Park and had to find a notary and mail the paperwork.  That hassle was caused when a law suit was settled that had to do with a concept called "equal access" which then allowed RVers to have satellite TV.  Back then you weren't allowed to have satellite if you had cable.  In other words, there was no competition!  A few years ago there was another event that caused the providers to split access between the east and west coasts.

I hope this helps clarify some of the answers you've gotten to your questions and not muddied things further!

ArdraF
 
ArdraF said:
The Mississippi River is roughly the dividing line between the east/west channels.  When you go from one half of the country to the other, you have to talk to the provider so they know you have changed Locations (not your billing address).
ArdraF
Click to expand...
Great history lesson.
One minor thing...I don't think dividing line for E/W is ole muddy. I think it approximates Central an Mountain time zones. I am over 400 miles west of Mississippi and get East coast feeds.
 
mel s said:
Bruce
OTA is "Over The Air"... which you receive with an antenna like the Winegard "batwing" OTA antenna:
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b298/professor95/Wingmandirection.jpg

Although I have a Kingdome on my coach and I pay DirecTV  for programing, (and for DNS), I get local channels nearly everywhere OTA.
Click to expand...

My OTA antenna has never worked.  I took delivery of my trailer in January 2016, I have tried many times to make it work with no luck.  The RV park we are in now has an OTA antenna on a 50' tower but only connected to six sites.  I was in one of those for a month, but they kicked me out for using too much water.  Now I am in a site with NO TV, so I went and bought an OTA antenna at Best Buy, but no dice. Doesn't work. 

Took it back.  Went to AT&T, they sold me DirecTV Now which works streaming, but I got home and they didn't include an HTMI cable so I can't use it. 

Pfffffffffffffffffffffft!
 
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