Satellite TV

Which is better Dish or Direct TV?

Are they removable so I can use it at my Home?

I have DISH at home and the DISH tailgate package for the RV.  I am happy with both.  The initial setup for the Tailgate package (with Wally receiver) took a little longer than I planed; and then I learned later that I needed an external hard drive to enable pause and record functions.  Each time we camp it takes about 10 minutes to lock onto the satellite and download the guide.  After that is it like being at home. 

Depends?  Are you technically ignorant or reasonably compentent?
Do you like sports?

Dish allows you to use one of the portable automatic domes.  Because of thst dish gets the nod from most.
Direct has better sports packages.  Direct offers channels Dish does not habe.
Direct needs an open face dish, either a ground based which you would need to learn to aim.  Or a automatic roof top dish.
Both can be taken from your home to use when traveling.  I did this for years with no problem.  Once you go beyond the local spot beam you will loose local channels for either.  A simple call to the sat provider they can move you locals to where you are.  Dish wins here for better, easier move.
Direct is owned by ATT with all their horrible customer support to go along with it.    We have had Direct for probsbly 20 years, and honestly if I could get some channels on Dish we would swap in a heart beat.
No matter which you choose, once your setup at home, go shopping and duplicate what you got at home in the RV.  Places like Solid Signal can sell you all the parts you will need to setup your RV.

In most respects I see it as a toss up between Dish and Direct, so factors like what channels you get for what price, whether you have some equipment already, etc. may control. We have DirecTV at home, and one receiver from home we take with us in the RV, where we have the Winegard Trav'ler. There was a time we had the Dish pay-as-you-go plan, using a Winegard Carryout portable dome. On Dish you can get HD with a dome, while you can't do that on DirecTV.

So weigh the facts to see what works in your favor.

We have Direct tv for the house, THEY SUCK BA#LS, "programing is not available at this time check back later" message on a regular bases. Also when we try to restart a program already in progress and rewind to the beginning, no sound most of the time. The list goes on, going back to cable now. Can't imagined the portable would be better service,,,gregg 

Broke Boater said:

We have Direct tv for the house, THEY SUCK BA#LS, "programing is not available at this time check back later" message on a regular bases. Also when we try to restart a program already in progress and rewind to the beginning, no sound most of the time. The list goes on, going back to cable now. Can't imagined the portable would be better service,,,gregg

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Hmmm... We don't have those problems. It's a generally good experience, both at home and everywhere we've been across the country. The only time we normally see a programming not available indication is after we've power cycled or reset the box. It's a better experience, generally speaking, than Comcast cable was when we switched. Of course if snow has covered the dish, reception suffers, but a broom cures that.

Larry, if your dish is where you can reach it, I've found a 55gal trash bag is helpful during winter weather.  We get a lot of ice in northern Arkansas and it can be hard to remove from the dish.  Put the trash bag over the dish and when it builds up enough to interfere all you have to do is walk out and shake the bag.  The ice shatters and falls off.  Beats trying to chip it off without tearing up the dish.

We have two Dish Hopper w/Sling receivers, one that we leave at our upstate NY family cottage, and one that's installed in our motorhome. The cottage has a permanent open face multi-satellite dish, and we use a portable tripod mounted open face multi-satellite dish on the road. I can typically set up the portable dish in less than 15 minutes at new locations. Both of our Dish receivers have three tuners plus an OTA tuner, can record up to 4 channels at a time, and using the Dish "Primetime Anytime" feature, only one tuner is used to record all the big four networks at the same time. On the road, we can also access the cottage receiver using the DishAnywhere app on our phones, PC's, and the FireTVsticks on our TV's. That allows us to stream programs we've recorded there while we were under way or if we run out of local tuners. As we travel, we can change the local stations to where we are with the MyDish app on our phones with no phone calls or chat sessions needed. There are specific requirements for the account type and equipment to use that feature though. I should note that the current dome style automatic antennas are single satellite at a time units, and cannot be used with the Dish Hopper receivers. Dish does make the "Wally" single tuner receiver that does work with the automatic domes, and can be upgraded to a DVR with the addition of an external USB hard drive. Overall, I think Dish is much more RV friendly than Direct, but there are differences in the available programming that can also be a factor in choosing which service you want.

I have two analog DVR's that are networked and control Digital adapters (treat 'em like Satellite receivers... One even uses DISH NETWORK codes).. More TV from the Winegard Sensar than I can possibly watch... Why do people pay for what is FREE????

(I will admit I pay 25/year for an electronic TV-Guide.. A computer massages the data and serves it up to the DVR's so they know when to record what channel).

Old_Crow said:

Larry, if your dish is where you can reach it, I've found a 55gal trash bag is helpful during winter weather.  We get a lot of ice in northern Arkansas and it can be hard to remove from the dish.  Put the trash bag over the dish and when it builds up enough to interfere all you have to do is walk out and shake the bag.  The ice shatters and falls off.  Beats trying to chip it off without tearing up the dish.

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Thanks, Wally -- neat idea. But here we rarely see ice, mostly snow which is easy to brush off.

Why do people pay for what is FREE?

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Can you tell me how to get RFD (my main channel) and Hallmark and Food channels (DW's favorites) free? Legally?

John From Detroit said:

Why do people pay for what is FREE????

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Like Larry, we regularly watch many programs on channels that are not available OTA, plus we are frequently in areas with poor or no OTA coverage that our low height Sensar/Wingman/SensarPro combination cannot reliably receive. As more free or low cost streaming becomes available, we are looking into cutting back, but then we're dependent on reliable cell data service for streaming. I think Elon Musk's LEO satellite Internet service will be a game changer, but until then...

Since the thread is Sat TV.. Came acrose an item. it's beta but I know at least one beta tester and he said it worked well

SatCom article about a new flat panel antenna

He got his from SatCom.. His is mounted like a license plate on the front of his RV. (And at LP level) but he said it worked well.. No reason SatCom can't make 'em flat and roof mount That I can see.

We've had DirecTV for many years and are very happy with it.  We don't have the issues Broke Boater has.  Perhaps there's something wrong with the setup?  We recently got a new DirecTV antenna for the house.  The old one was about 20 years old and the new one is more compatible with our much newer Mogul Eagle dish mounted on the motorhome.  Before, when we moved between the house and the motorhome, there was some reprogramming to do which was sometimes irritating.  With more compatible dishes, we should have only one thing to change in our setup so it will be much easier now.

There have been a lot of technological improvements in satellite TV so you do need to upgrade parts occasionally.  An example is the change from standard to HD and what type of dish each required.  The channels you could see on one satellite two years ago may have been moved to another satellite and that affects what you have available.

In the Dish vs DirecTV decision, you have to determine what programs you want to watch and whether you want them in HD or something else.  Then you can decide on what hardware will work to achieve getting that package of channels.

By the way, the only item you need to move back and forth is the "box" that helps you find the channels.  The antennas are stationary.

ArdraF

Is anyone  going to bother to say just how much these tv services cost each  month?

I'm interested.

We are at $90 a month for our DISH package and another $7 a month for the Wally receiver.  We have a few extra packages in that bundle.

I have a local cable guy that would talk me into switching between DISH and Direct every 2 years to take advantage of new customer pricing.  Going forward I am sticking with DISH since we now have the RV.

The prices vary, depending on what offers are available at the time and which package you choose. DirecTV has packages starting at $35/month, but there are other charges, such as per TV, HD, fees, etc. Dish TV has packages, too, apparently starting at $69/month, also with other fees.

Either one could go well over $100/mo with fees, etc.

Larry's right.  It varies a lot.  In fact, when our antenna was changed we were looking at the costs and they said we had a third receiver.  Where???  We discovered it was in the motorhome bedroom and we hadn't used it in years so we gave it back to them and reduced our bill.

Ardr

The Dish "Flex Pack" is $37.99/mo plus equipment/DVR fees that vary with the equipment used. The Flex Pack has a variety of add-ons that let you customize it with your favorites. Dish also allows you to drop the local channel coverage if you have good over-the-air reception using an optional USB over-the-air adapter. That saves $12/mo on most of the packages, and the local listings still show up in the program guide for channel selections and recordings. Dish is the only satellite service that offers a no contract pay as you go plan for part-time RV'ers if you don't need the service at home. You simply don't make the next month's payment, and the service stops at the end of the cycle until you want to restart it.

NY_Dutch said:

As we travel, we can change the local stations to where we are with the MyDish app on our phones with no phone calls or chat sessions needed. There are specific requirements for the account type and equipment to use that feature though.

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Thanks to the input received here back when we were searching for a satellite provider we ended up getting the Winegard Pathway X2 for Dish service. Also got an external HD given DVR functionality was essential. Overall pretty satisfied with the system although being able to record only one channel at a time, and not being able to watch any other live TV while a recording is in progress, is a bit frustrating at times. However the Pathway does support a 2nd receiver. I think we'll probably pass this setup this along to a family member before the next long term trip and move up to a Hopper 3.

You mention being able to access local network channels as you travel and to this point that's been one of the issues we've been having. The MyDish app says the new locals have been added but they never appear-- even after waiting a few hours and checking back. Have to call support and they push some kind of magic button then they appear.

We've had a number of issues getting everything set up and working (some user error others network) and for most part I have to say the Dish support has been quite good. After one time consuming, frustrating "glitch" they have us one month of one of the movie channels for free. Of course not much worth watching there, but...