satellite dome or dish antenna

I do not have an RV at this time. I will be ordering a new motorhome very soon. Question is should I order the option for a Winegard Roadtrip dome or have the manufacturer wire for a dish, if that's a choice, or have the dealer do the work? And is the TRAV'LER? SK-1000 DISH 1000 a good choice for the dish, if the dish is better? I do not want to go for the expense of a MOTOSAT.  The easy way is go for the dome. Probably will go with Dish Network. Apparently the manufacturer only installs domes.
Any response is welcome.
thank you

If you plan to be in areas with a lot of rain or fog, domes are less than satisfactory.  They produce pixellation which can really mess up your enjoyment of watching TV.  You also might have to climb up onto a wet roof to dry off the dome.  When we ordered our current motorhome they put on a dome in error and said they'd change it out if we didn't like it.  We ditched it after about two weeks.

We have a regular wind-up antenna to get local TV stations in the area where you're camped, as well as a satellite dish.  You don't have to get the fancy automatic Motosat antenna, although you would find it very nice as you move from place-to-place.  You just push a button and it finds the appropriate satellite(s).  Otherwise, you'll spend a lot of time figuring out how to aim the dish so it can find your satellites (been there, done that).  Whether automatic or manual, many of us prefer MotoSat - they're very RV oriented because the owners are RVers and understand our special issues.  By the way, we also prefer DirecTV over Dish.

ArdraF

I've read these reports/claims of problems with the dome antennae here for years. But I can count on one hand, maybe a couple or three fingers, the number of times we've lost signal due to rain or dew.

I received a call just a couple of days ago from a friend and neighbor who was about to buy a Motosat dish because they'd been told the same myth. I told them to buy a dome.

The biggest disadvantage to a dome is the inability to receive multiple satellites simultaneously, important if you want HD and have a multi-tuner DVR.  Also, due to the smaller size antenna, it will lose signal sooner than a dish in heavy rain.

Tom,

This definitely is NOT a myth!  We were in southern CA along the coast.  Jerry was up on the wet roof every morning to wipe off that darned dome.  And every morning I held my breath until I knew he safely back on the ground.  The pixelation caused by raindrop attenuation was also really annoying.  We would never have another dome!

Also, you can't have them with high definition TV.

ArdraF

We previously had an SD dish at the house, installed by my other half. Subsequently changed to a HD dish installed "professionally". In both cases, we've had loss of signal due to rain many, many, many more times than with the dome in the coach.

This might be (due to) our home location; The storms always come come in from the south and, since the dish points generally in that direction, it gets blasted during the storms. I suppose that, if you RV in an area where the rain/storms come in from the north, a dish might be OK 

Sorry Ardra, it's a myth. See my last post. I've never had to get on the roof of the coach to wipe the dome.

Sounds like a project for the Myth Busters

I already busted the myth with many years of factual data from dishes on two houses and 5+ years on our coach  ;D

Ardra's two weeks doesn't qualify as a good experiment 

Unless the antennas were in the same location under the exact same conditions, it's not a valid test.  Did you have a dome antenna on your house at the same time?

No, but we have one on the boat berthed behind the house 

Here's an interesting one ....

At QZ several years ago, I bought Jerry & Ardra's old Motosat dish, thinking I might install it on the boat. But I couldn't bring myself to install that "thing" on our boat, and it sat in our garage until I made a trip to the recycle facility a few months ago. That's when I ditched the Motosat 

Tom,

Because of your boat has a Dome and your house has a Dish you can run a good experiment.  The next time a storm comes in tune in the same TV station using both the boat's dome and the house's dish and see which one pixelates first and the most.  I'll bet the dish does better even though it's an older/small round 18" dish as opposed to the larger 21" oval HDTV dishes used today. 

JerryF

[quote author=JerArdra]....even though it's an older/small round 18" dish as opposed to the larger 21" oval HDTV dishes used today. [/quote]

Jerry, we currently have a newer oval dish (multi LNB/HD) on the house. As I said in my earlier message, the one in the photo that Chris installed was the older, smaller dish. Both the new dish and the old one lose/lost signal quite often in bad weather. That's why I can't understand all the reports that a dish is superior to a dome in the rain.

I'm not sure I want to be going back and forth between the house and the boat in a storm.

While you're on the subject, is there a difference in the reception of the Dome and the Dish in Canada and Alaska?  We've been contemplating taking our receiver with us up there this summer.

Larry,

You'll lose TV reception in Canada as you move north regardless of antenna.  Neither the dome nor standard 18" dish will work in Alaska, even if you can see the satellite, which you won't most of the time.

Thanks Ned.  I'd suspected such, and now I know the answer.

A lot of us started with various manual mounts (tripods and such) when the smaller dishes for TV were introduced. The crank up roof mounts that required manual positioning were next, and that is what I used for many years on three different RV types.

Probably 4 years ago I installed a King Dome semi-auto roof mount, and other than HD that I would like next, I am a very happy camper. After cranking up and pointing the dish for so long, it was quite an improvement. My last one was in a Class C with the crank over the dinette -- so I had to bend, lean, and twist to get the sucker positioned. I didn't have jacks on those RVs so it was never perfectly level, which causes the TV screen numbers to always be slightly off.  That in turn sometimes caused multi elev tries and azimuth scans to find the bird.

Now with my semi auto King Dome, it is all done via a remote. I "do" first push a button to get the elevation, then, using the rigs direction as 12:00 o'clock - push the azimuth buttons until I find the bird. In 4 years, have never had to change the elevation and make a second sweep with the azimuth.

Rain fade is not a problem. And I really like that wind is "never" a problem anymore. As to rain fade, I purchased a can of Dome Magic to spray the dome - and it works just fine for me. They advertise that it will last up to a year and that has held true in my case, if applied properly (cleaning the dome plus multiple coats). Also, the remote allows me to maximize the signal strength, so have never had the problem of rain causing the signal to lessen to the point of no picture. W/sat signal, if you have "any" signal, you have a good picture. Quality does not lessen with a weaker signal.

I guess I don't understand the statements here about not being able to get HD with a Dome.  Both King Dome and Wineguard advertise HD w/both Dish and DirecTV.  Am I missing something there? I hope to go HD and redo my TV and front cabinets - and would hate to have to go back to a sail (oops, I mean dish) on my roof.

Oh gosh Bob, you're going to add to the myth busting 

Bob,

You are right on the money except the dome cannot get multiple satellites so my wife cannot watch a program on another satellite unless we get 2 domes whereas the dish has 2 LNBs for each satellite so multiple receivers can be used.  The newer dish and receivers allow multiple users with less equipment than my old dish.