In motion satellite dishes

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billiebob

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Joined
Oct 12, 2011
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9
We are looking to purchase an in motion satellite dome and wanted to know if one brand performs better than another. We were looking at the KingDome...as well as the Wyngard. Also...are they very difficult or complicated to install or is it safer to have it installed by a RV dealer? 
 
Do you have a particular need for in-motion TV? I ask because the better sat receivers including HD are not designed to be used in motion. We have had several friends who have had in-motion systems that seem to require more maintenance and about all they ever did with them was listen to music on the road.

If Sue gets the urge to watch TV while resting we have an ample supply of recorded programs on our DVRs.
 
Good point Jeff...I will run that by my husband! So if we decide to NOT go with the inmotion..can you recommend a good unit which requires little maintenance ( hopefully!) and can be installed by ourselves?
 
Most in motion companies have stopped producing the systems due to law suits and new legislation that is in effect to ban them.
Some places still have them and some places don't.
I m not certain if they'll get them back in stock but http://www.12volt-travel.com/ had them a few months ago, they still have auto aiming satellite TV dishes.
 
In-motion systems require an enclosed dome type unit, but if you don't have the in-motion requirement, you have a choice of dome or open dish. Both are available with fully automatic aiming, so that's not a decision point.

Open face dishes perform better in rain/dew/snow, while domes have the advantage of not needing to be stowed away when you break camp. But "stowing" an automatic dish means remembering to push a button, so that's not a big deal either.
 
Hi,

I installed a Winegard Travel'r (Dish HD) in approx 4 hrs including the time to run the cables from the rear of the unit to above the windshield.
The cost was $1,300 plus the channel (from Home Depot or Lowes) and it worked from the first time I pressed the switch.
Its still working perfectly two years and 30,000 miles later. Highly recommended!
Hope this helps,
Ernie

PS XM handles the music when we're moving.

PPS Most of the in-motion units won't RX HD.
 
Most in motion companies have stopped producing the systems due to law suits and new legislation that is in effect to ban them

News to me too. I can't find any info on the web that mentions an attempt to ban and KVH, Kingdome and Winegard all have in-motion systems for sale. Would like to hear more about this.
 
AverageBOB said:
Most in motion companies have stopped producing the systems due to law suits and new legislation that is in effect to ban them.

This is simply incorrect.  The in-motion domes are still being produced and installed by every dome manufacturer in the business.  Winegard, King Dome, Trac-Star and KVH are all still strongly in the in-motion dome business.  More and more tour bus companies are installing these system to satisfy customer demand and some SUV's owners are having them installed to keep the back set occupants entertained.
In the RV world there are still a lot of owners who prefer the in-motion option for many reasons, however more and more RVers are moving to the open face automatic antenna for the added convenience with multiple satellites as well as the ability to receive the DirecTV HDTV programming.
 
billiebob said:
We are looking to purchase an in motion satellite dome and wanted to know if one brand performs better than another. We were looking at the KingDome...as well as the Wyngard. Also...are they very difficult or complicated to install or is it safer to have it installed by a RV dealer?

The Winegard in-motion system is very easy to install and requires just a 12V wire and coax cable be run from the roof inside where it is connected to 12V power and an on/off switch.  Everything is supplies except the caulk and some coax F-connectors.  The Trac-Star and Trac-King can be even easier with only the coax needed to be run but I like the way the Winegard performs.  The in-motion units (all dome units) are unable to receive the DirecTV HDTV signals so if this is a desire then you should choose an open faced antenna such as the Winegard Trav'ler.  If you are a Dish Network customer you can still have issues with a dome if you want to use a DVR in the coach.  Since a dome can only point toward 1 satellite at a time and the service is provided by 3 satellites you will not be able to watch 1 channel while recording another if they are on different satellites.
The in-motion units are also the units likely to have the most issues simply due to the fact that the motors are always running if the coach is moving.  In order to track those little motors have to work like crazy!
 
AverageBOB said:
Most in motion companies have stopped producing the systems due to law suits and new legislation that is in effect to ban them.
Some places still have them and some places don't.
I m not certain if they'll get them back in stock but http://www.12volt-travel.com/ had them a few months ago, they still have auto aiming satellite TV dishes.
While we went with a used Roadtrip unit (not needing an in motion unit in the 5ver!) while looking to upgrade, found many in motion units on the market, actually if I remember right, our local CW store had a couple of current units for sale. 
 
Alaskansnowbirds said:
Could you please supply us with a reference about this ban.

Thanks

I stand corrected, the manufacturer of OUR unit stopped producing them.
My mistake I apologize.
 
We are happy with the KVH Tracvision R6ST ,we installed on our coach this last summer. Of course we have not had it very long, so far no problems.

It came with all the hardware to install and other than having to make a few trips on top of the coach the whole process took under an hour.

One cable was all we had to connect to the dome.
 
Our coach came with an in motion satellite receiver (dome).  We turned it on and tried it (the in motion feature) in 2007 so DW could see some of the US Womens Golf Open.  It worked.  We've not used it since as DW is totally focused on backseat driving whenever we are in motion!

We do use the auto seek feature every time we set up (except where there is suitable cable) and occasionally when we stop for lunch.
 
We had an In motion (Kingdom) on our rig when we purchased it.  Since we don't ever watch TV going down the road and we both like to watch different things sometimes...we had it removed and had a Traveler by Winegard installed.  Love it!  Easy as pie to work, and when he wants to watch sports in the front room...I can go into my bedroom and watch a good movie!  We would not have been able to do this with the dome.  Just something to consider....Mikie
 
4ducksrus said:
"I can go into my bedroom and watch a good movie!  We would not have been able to do this with the dome"

The used dome that we installed this winter has two separate connections, while we only use one of them, it's very easy to just take another box out of the house and plug it in.  Am I missing something or mis-reading your post?
 
You can watch different channels on different tvs with a dome - you just have to have multiple tuners. Either separate satellite receivers or  single receiver with multiple tuners (Dish has some like that). The dome must have  multiple coax feeds to support more than one receiver, but most of them do these days.  Not sure why they told you to replace your dome...
 
When we bought our coach new we thought the in motion sat was sexy!

Did not take us long to find out it was pretty useless and aggravating.  Useless because we travel a lot in mountains and in cities.  And even on the straitaways, when you turn, the sat has to reacquire.  And it is potentially dangerous because of distractions.  After the first 2 weeks we never used that feature ever again.  We could have initially saved about $500 if we had been smarter.

Smoky
 

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