I have been reading post about both here and comments on the web concerning both about service. The more I read the more confused I am. I presently have cable at the house and I have been considering switching to satellite so I can have at home and take with me on the road. I have talked with the Dish rv customer service,got number from one of the post on this site, and they were very helpful and told me about the Tailgater which seems the way to go.
Overall,which is the best and is satellite the headache I have read about?
Thanks for any help.
“Perhaps travel cannot prevent bigotry, but by demonstrating that all peoples cry, laugh, eat, worry, and die, it can introduce the idea that if we try and understand each other, we may even become friends.”
Maya Angelou
The site next to mine has a tailgater and it looked impressive. Just drop it on the ground pointed somewhere near south west, attach the cable and watch tv.
It is small, light, and auto aims. I think it sure beats having to aim a dish each time.
Ron & Charlotte
WD8CBT since 1976
28' Prowler & 05 Ram QC LB
I started with nothing and I still have most of it left
I never fail, I just succeed in finding out what doesn't work
We have Dish, so I can only talk about that. We originally went with Dish at home years ago, because they had the channels we wanted and allowed 4 receivers, Direct only allowed 3 receivers at the time.
The only headache we had with the satellite tv in our mh was the dome on our roof. We could never get all 3 satellites because of trees, so we couldn't get all our channels.
We recently got the Dish Tailgater, and now we get all 3 satellites, one at a time. When we change to a channel that's on a different satellite, it changes seamlessly.
You may want to ask about your local channels when you talk to Dish, or Direct, whoever you decide to go with. We only get our local channels within a certain area from home. We'd have to call Dish if we want to get locals in the area we're in now.
My roughly 20 years of personal experience with Dish has been favorable, overall. My limited experience with Direct has been the opposite. Speaking just for myself, I cannot believe anything their customer service reps say.
I have three DVRs and take one with me along with a dish and tripod. We also took our system back and forth between home and summer home in the 90s. Setting up was a snap. No more. Particularly due to HD signals and local channels, I'm not having much success (not to mention getting the signal through the RV's wiring and into a television set). So we will probably get that tailgator soon as the $ is available (the only drawback to retirement that I've found).
Whichever route you go, a simple solution to feeding the signal into the RV is to bypass the built-in system and run the cable through a slide or up through the floor and into a tv.
Good luck!
I do see more Direct dishes than Dish in RV parks, but from my experience I would guess that may have something to do with Direct's misleading pricing. Again, my experience.
'11 Eagle 320RLDS
Equalizer WDH
'02 Ford F350 dually, unchipped 7.3 PSD, PacBrake,
6.0 cooler, Ford AIS and Isspro trans. gauge
Replaced old AirLift airbags
Have DISH and am very happy! We have a VuCube 2000, which is a version of the Tailgater. IMO, a carryout dish is THE way to go. I never have to worry about being parked where a fixed dome has a blocked view. I get DISH HD with no problems.
Paul & Sandra
New Bedford, MA
2003 Monaco Executive M43 DS2
Had both services and currently with DirecTV. Both have pretty much the same channels although there may be more sport channel options on DirecTV if that matters. With a minor modification to our in wall cable splitter, we can easily get over the air reception, cable TV (provided at some RV parks), and Satellite to both flatpanels within our rig from the single exterior coax input. We just use a spare receiver from our home and a homemade sat stand and can easily be up and running in 5 minutes or so. Takes a little longer if you have to shoot through some trees, but with a little practice, you'll get the hang of it if that's the way you choose to go. Even when cable is provided where we are staying, we still set-up our satellite since we have all the premium channels under our plan.
We have had Dish at home for many years and been very satisfied with it. And last year I added Dish to the rv thru dishformyrv.com. It was only $6/month to add it to my home account.
When we travel, if we are still within our home spot beam we get all our home local channels. If we are outside our home spot beam, I call Dish and get them to reprogram me for the nearest local network channels. Takes about 5 minutes on the phone and another 5 for the change. Either way, we still get all the other Dish channels.
I bought a separate receiver as I did not want to have to move one of my home receivers back and forth.
Can't comment on the tailgater. I bought a basic tripod dish as we only use it a couple times per year when the park we are at does not have cable.
Offline
.JPG)
