Caryl - We didn't have a clue as to how "on the road" satellite service worked prior to installing the roof top dome. What I know now is that you can buy two types, one like ours that can only be used when parked or stopped, and another that constantly tracks the satellite while in motion. It costs more and we didn't think we'd be watching TV while driving down the road....... Anyway, when we get to where we will be staying I simply switch on the dome, receiver and TV and the dish inside the dome begins doing its thing. It makes all sorts of "whirling/grinding" noises while it's locating and locking onto an available satellite. It will display a message on the screen telling you what it's doing and when it finishes the picture just pops on and you're set to go. One thing I forgot to mention is that you can only receive your local channels up to certain distance away from home base and then you lose them and will only get the other non local types. If we want local channels while we are out of range, we have to call Direct and have them switch us over to another satellite to get those local network channels. When we leave that particular local area and move on to the next spot, we call them and do the old switcharoo again.. And when we get back within the limiting range of our own local channels, you guessed it, another phone call. It's a PITA to do this but we are not big TV users on the road so consequently we don't make a lot of phone calls to Direct while on the road. Plus the fact we do also have cable we can hook up and as a last resort the dreaded rooftop over the air antenna Check a few different types of different systems and choose the one you feel will be suit your needs is what I suggest from here. Hope this has been helpful to yo and that you enjoy whatever it is you end up installing. Let us know what you end up and how it works out for you.................. Regards, Bankshot
We've found that changing our locals as we move around is really pretty painless with Dish. I use their online chat support system, and after signing in with our account info and connecting with a rep, I just paste in a prewritten script asking to change our service location, NOT our billing address. Having everything pre-entered in a text file avoids mistakes, and saves time. I save the text file with all the places we regularly visit already entered, along with a template for new entries. I rarely spend more than 5 minutes online making the change, and have changed locations as often as daily, and one time, made the change twice in one day. Dish has never complained about the frequent changes, and there is no charge.
Just as an added point I happen to prefer Dish myself over Direct and have DIsh in my home. But because my "co pilot" was in charge of this project she chose Direct and that's how it be. I was told to like it or lump it and so far, no lumps...............
thanks again for all the helpful impute, we very much appreciate it. As I said the customer service at Dish was not very helpful. As it turns out the info from the first 4 Dish reps. was incorrect.. On the positive side, the customer service from Winegard was very helpful. We did go with the Winegard GM-2000 Carryout G2 Automatic Portable Satellite and purchased a Dish HD Receiver (ViP 211z). We feel the simplified Automatic Satellite was worth the extra $$$$ for us. I will follow up later as to how well the system works for us. Thanks again & Happy Camping!!!!
I bought this Winegard PL-7000R Satellite for my RV. That's a good product. This satellite device is constructed using high-grade materials. The military-grade aluminum alloy reflector is far superior and sturdier than the previous satellite we had. Also, it has a sleek, portable, and lightweight design and UV resistant dome antenna that has an automatic signal acquisition.
The Winegard Pathway X2 is a better choice albeit a slightly larger one. The X2 receives the full eastern arc satellite set as well as the full western arc set for more aiming opportunities on heavily treed sites. The Playmaker mentioned above only receives one eastern arc sat, meaning you still need a view of two western arc sats to get full programming coverage.
It was easy-peasy in terms of installation. In fact, it will take you around half an hour to hook it up, update the software, and activate the receiver. The pay-as-you-go service plan feature fits my budget, and I don’t need to pay every month anymore.
