Newbee to USA daft questions

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loddy

Well-known member
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Posts
167
Location
Clevedon UK
Good morning folks
                          I am several hours ahead of you in the UK so get up sleepy heads.

In a few months my Partner and me are coming to the States hopefully to buy a RV and do a Tour (at least a year) I have a good contact at Lazydays FL and that's where the tour will start, I have owned a couple of RVs in the UK so I am not new to RVing.

The couple of question I have are, using the standard winguard thing on the roof is television signals widespread across the States or would I need a satellite dish/system to keep up with news and weather ?.

Second one concerns a towed vehicle, are you allowed to drive around with the A bar still attached and held in the vertical position, and are you allowed to put a small boat/dingy on the roof of the car?, I intend to purchase a Jeep Cherokee as I know they are towable 4 down.

Regards  loddy
 
Most modern tow bars today fold down flat and out of view, yes a small boat or canoe can be carried on the top of your towed.>>>Dan :)
 
The Winegard antenna (Batwing) signal will depend on location. Sometimes it gets great local channels and sometimes all it picks up is the public broadcast stations (PBS)  Buying the Winegard Wingman (http://www.campingworld.com/shopping/item/winegard-wingman/44021) will help somewhat. We are semi new to satellite in the motorhome but as I recall you will get most of the stations available on regular cable TV (Depends on what package you subscribe to on the satellite provider).

We use a Blue Ox tow bar ( http://www.blue-ox-towbars.com/?gclid=CKL65LDrjKcCFQO8KgodZl3Wfg) and it stays on the coaches hitch folded up nicely (when not in use) and covered with its own storage bag.  Blue Ox also has  a base plate for the tow vehicle I think the A frame is kinda an older system and I don't recall seeing many tow vehicles with the A frame still attached. Blue Ox is not the only tow bar and I am sure others will help with information on the available towing systems.

Last year we were in a campground (cant remember the location) and the coach next to me had a Jeep  (Wrangler)with a Rack on it that they used to haul their kayaks on. I have also seen people put the kayaks on the roof racks.

Bye the bye......  When in the U.S. remember to drive on the correct (right) side of the road...............................
 
There are a lot of places you might like to go where over the air TV isn't available.  If you want television everywhere, you'll need a satellite system.

I would recommend a towbar that stays on the motorhome.  That way there is very little showing on the towed vehicle, just a couple of attachment points.  Some places will ticket you for driving with an a-frame towbar that obstructs your vision.  But there are towed mounted bars that do fold down, but the motorhome mounted tow bar is generally preferred.
 
We've generally had good luck with tv reception via the roof antenna, but it really depends on where you go. In regions with mountains & valleys, or in places far from cities, reception may be difficult. On the other hand, campsites with trees are death on satellite signals, so there are drawbacks there as well. We use both antenna and satellite, as conditions warrant.

You already got good advice on towbars and boats on the roof, so I won't add anything there.
 
I wouldn't worry too much about over the air TV reception.  If you're in an area of bad or no reception, private campgrounds will usually have a cable TV feed available.  These are mostly in the mountainous West, where distance or terrain block the signal.

Most satellite TV contracts require the up-front purchase of equipment or at least a one year commitment with the equipment cost pro-rated during the life of the contract.  So the total cost is not cheap.  And you have to put up, aim and take down the satellite dish every time you stop.  Not the best situation if you're moving every day or two.
 
      I tow a small Toyota sedan with a fixed A-frame tow bar.  When unhooked the a-frame is folded and secured in the up position.  I have never been stopped,  Not to say I might but in 8 years not yet.  I also sometimes put my 9 foot boat on top of the car.  Makes for an interesting sight.
 
We are semi new to satellite in the motorhome but as I recall you will get most of the stations available on regular cable TV (Depends on what package you subscribe to on the satellite provider).

Codgerbill, this is just a bit confusing.  Cable TV requires one kind of setup and Satellite TV requires another.  Both provide similar channels to view.  The difference is in presentation, with satellite (in my opinion) having far superior onscreen guides to find shows at times you want to watch.  We only use cable when there's no other choice, such as the aforementioned trees in a campground.  Also, in our experience most campgrounds do not provide cable hookups.  The Winegard antenna provides local channels when you can get it and we like that for local weather.  Also, we added a Wingman to the Winegard which helps pull in weaker signals.

We currently have a Roadmaster towbar attached to the motorhome.  Previously we had Roadmasters that fold down on the toad.  Either works, but not having it on the toad means unsuspecting pedestrians won't walk into a towbar that hangs out over the sidewalk.  Both Roadmaster and Blue Ox are good brands.

ArdraF
 
Thanks for that Guys

so you can carry a boat, A frames are collapsible ( unlike UK ones that have to be removed and stored ) but television can be patchy, I don't really want to go the satellite route because we intend to ship the RV home after our tour and we hope to visit out of the way places ( boondocking is I think what you call it ), the Satellite definitely wont work in the UK ( nor the TVs ) maybe a cheap dish and receiver, would I have to pay to receive using that sort of system ?

Loddy
 
Arda,
My reference to satellite and cable was referring to the basic packages. Both give you a bunch of cable TV oriented programs (History channel, Discovery, etc) and if you want network stuff that's an extra cost. I have comcast cable at home and had a portable satellite on my former coach. I cant say that the programming guides on either one is superior to the other, but maybe that's just me  :).

Loddy,
From what you say I guess just the batwing antenna with a wingman attachment will fit your needs. As has been stated you may find some areas where  the reception is extremely poor. It is also true that some campgrounds offer cable TV, but I have found a lot that do not (such as northern Indiana for example). You can check for amenities on particular campgrounds with a website such as this http://www.rvparkreviews.com/search.php.  I am also wondering what you will do with the TV once your tour of the US is complete as you indicate it will not work in Europe.
 
codgerbill
thanks for the input, when we ship the RV home Lazydays have said they will buy the old TVs ( not much but better than bining them in the UK ) and of course the RV has to be modified to 230 volt for the UK. I shall look at the wingman it sounds the best route, thanks again

Regards Loddy
 
Try the antenna for awhile - you can always add satellite later, either an onboard dome or a tripod mount dish set up outside. For any satellite service, you still require a subscription to the satellite tv service,  regardless of what type of dish you use. Figure around $60/month, depending on your choice of channels.

The Wingman add-on works on many Winegard antennas, but not all. I don't have a Winegard antenna at all (mine is a Braun), but it does a mostly fine job.
 
Something that other Brits have asked about is a free to air service, which is delivered via satellite and uses a special receiver. It does not require a service fee or, in some cases, may be provided free in conjunction with a minimal (low cost $$) service plan. I don't hear/read much about it here, but FTA receivers are readily available on store shelves in the UK.

Maybe someone who uses FTA in North America will comment.
 
Also, you do realize you can only stay in the States for a total of 6 months at a time?  If you go into Canada you can then come back into the States and start all over on the length of stay.

Marsha~
 
[quote author=Marsha/CA]Also, you do realize you can only stay in the States for a total of 6 months at a time?[/quote]

For clarification, that's only with a visa. Traveling from the UK under the visa waiver program you're allowed to stay for up to 3 months. In any event, visa or not, the actual allowed length of stay will be determined by the agent at the point of entry.

As Marsha says, you can cross into Canada for a short visit and re-enter the US to restart the clock. Although this has been done by many Brits, we've heard of isolated cases where folks were refused re-entry, but this might have been in cases where folks tried to get two re-starts in succession.
 
Thanks Tom
Yes I understand the Visa requirements, we have an interview with the London Embassy next month, yes in the UK we have freesat which is totally free and then BSB charge for the decent channels.

Regards Loddy
 
You posted that you were planning a year trip, most of the satellite plans require a  year contract so it seams like it would end about the time you were going home.
 

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