Sattellite Recievers

[Ericbsc]

Time for either an antenna, or satellite for the bus. what works best. We have dish network at home. Do the in motion systems work well?

[Melbo]

I didn't have good luck with dish and an in motion king dome

so now I have Direct in the bus and Dish at home

I think the problem was the multiple sats that dish uses.

Melbo

[luvrbus]

If you want the ugly things on top of your bus the in motion or any dome have problems with weather.
For the difference in price I would go with a automatic stationary using only when parked.
I never saw a in motion work great here in the West they are always hunting a signal driving down the highways and if you want one for HDTV they are big bucks 


good luck

[jmblake]

I just installed a wingaurd automatic stationary unit about 2 months ago with the dish receiver from the house, we live in pa and just went to Disney in Florida and had no problems finding the satelite's along the way. A good friend of mine has a in-motion and say es all it does is search for signals, For the way we travel we had no reason to get the in-motion one. Just my experience so far. Jason

[Dreamscape]

Give Bob a call, he might still have it. It's a great price and unit too.

http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?topic=14193.0

We have an older in motion Tracvision LM, works great when parked, haven't tried it in motion yet. We bought it used from my buddy Sonnie Gray as he went with one from Dish, ours is DirecTv. The dome does mess up the signal when it rains, not bad but a PITA sometimes. I've heard of people who have used RainX on it or just a fresh coat of non metallic paint. I'm waiting for wamer weather to do ours.

We have plenty of warts on the roof, so it kinda blends in.

If I was going to do it over, I'd go with a portable setup. Plant the tripod in the ground, aim it and you're good to go. It's also the cheapest.

Paul

[James77MCI8]

I do not have an in motion. I have a direct TV antenna mounted on a tripod. I take a receiver from the house when we are taveling. When we reach our destination I take the tripod mounted dish out and aim it and sit back and enjoy the show. With this set up I do not have to pay for and additional subscription and/or receiver or fees.

[ruthi]

Hi, we have in motion. If you travel a lot, then that is the way to go. If not, one that automatically finds the signal at site works good. We had trouble with our in motion last time out, so, instead of being without tv, we took the in motion off, and put a portable one on that finds the signal. Hooked right up to the same bolts, and works great. It looks a little funny, cause it is a lot smaller, but works good.

[Melbo]

James

I would expect you to have both dish and direct

Both in motion and stationary

Both roof mount and a tripod for the ground

and Both digital and analog tvs

Just my observation

Melbo

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Hi Guy's,

Here is KVH's latest kit for reciving HD in your RV with Direct TV.
http://www.kvh.com/pdf/HDTV_LM_Bro_11.05.pdf

I still think KVH's A-7  5" high unit is King... Just my opinion!

Happy New Year
Nick-

[James77MCI8]

Hey Melbo...you are talking about my concept bus . I will add that to the specs. ...LOL

[paul102a3]

My bus came with an older in motion KVH system which worked when stationary but could not lock onto the satellites when on the road. I replaced the unit with a new version (the old one had a cracked dome and had let water in) prior to our fall trip.

Some observations over a 5 week, 4000 mile trip are; picks up signals while on the road but very frustrating to watch anything. Every overhead sign, bridge, low hanging branches blocks the signal so the picture and sound had intermittent drop outs. Driving Eastbound on interstates, the in motion is almost useless (the trees lining the side of the interstate block the signal). Westbound lanes are better unless there are trees in the median. Traveling North and South the signal is much better and is mostly usable.

The other big problem we had was 60% of the campgrounds we visited were heavily wooded and the satellite was useless. While we were in Lake George, NY, we switched campgrounds twice and moved locations to try and get a signal with no luck.

If I were to do it over, I would not worry about the in motion part and get a portable unit so I could use it in the parks.

Paul

[john9861]

Eric,
      I need to jump on board to get some input on regular tv antennas. Thinking that we might not use satelite while out & about visiting various campgrounds, etc. this year what about the wind up manual or automated local station antennas. Can someone give advice on these types like the Wineguard with batwing for picking up the hd signals? Is it also common for campgrounds to have cable? 

[Dreamscape]

We also have a Winegard, Sensar with Batwing. It does very well picking up locals. We watch it more than the Sat! Go figure!



Paul

[cody]

We've also got the batwing antenna that we used up to this past summer, we added direct tv to jamies house and then got an extra reciever for 5 bucks a month, while the guy was here installing everything i asked him if he would sell me an extra HD dish cause we were haveing him set up the direct HD at the time so he said sure and dug out an HD dish, oval with the multiple LNB's, I went to goodwill and bought a wineguard roof tripod for a regular antenna and a 2 ft lenght of pipe from lowes and i was in business.  The tryout on it all was at BK's rally, some guys with direct tv showed me how to aim the dish the first time and from then it got really easy, so for 5 bucks a month additional we have direct tv in the bus, I paid 50 bucks for the extra HD dish and 10 bucks for the tripod.

[luvrbus]

John9861 and Eric if you want a good TV antenna buy yourself a Glomex marine omni unit it cost a little more but well worth the price difference between it and a Winegard Bat Wing brand and no cranking up and down and turning to find a station.
And tree limbs and power lines are hell on a bat wing don't ask how I know that LOL
I have had my Glomex for years and love it if you can get any kind of signal turn the adjustable amplifier up and it will bring the picture in crystal clear

good luck