Can Direct TV Home Set-up be used in RV ??

[bncinwv]

Fellow MOCer's,
We currently have DirectTV at home with four receivers. Is it as simple as setting up a dish with the RV (understand about azimuth and elevation) and using a reciever from the house in the RV to get the DirectTV coverage, or is there something else I am missing. Do you have to have separate subscription packages for home and RV, or can we just use as we wish when we are camping?? Your feedback as always is appreciated.
Bingo

[ols1932]

I think it's a yes/no answer. Yes you can use your house receiver in your RV but technically it's illegal (according to DirecTV). Many are doing it. We have a waiver for our RV since we don't have a stick house.

Orv

[bsmeaton]

Bingo - I did it for years. We have Dishnetwork, but should be the same. Typically the portable dishes only receive one satellite at a time, so you have limited channels unless you feel like going out and moving the dish to the other satellite.

I actually had a dedicated receiver for the Monty. It was easier than disconnecting and reconnecting from the house; however, everytime we went to use it, it was so far out of date I had to call in to get the software rebooted. This time we will use one of the HD units from the house, at least until I decide it's a pain once again.

No more finding azimuth and elevation for me, just push the on button :

[Parrothead]

Bingo
We do it all the time. Take both receivers from the stick house and put them in the Monty. I haven't seen the DirecTV police so I guess we are okay.
Happy trails....................

[ols1932]

quote:Originally posted by Parrothead

Bingo
We do it all the time. Take both receivers from the stick house and put them in the Monty. I haven't seen the DirecTV police so I guess we are okay.
Happy trails....................

You're right. It's okay, I guess. All I know is what DirecTV told me when I initially signed up. At the time I didn't have a stick house (still don't) so it didn't bother me much. I just don't recommend to people that they should do it. Don't want the cyberspace people to come down on me (much like the weight police).

Orv

[bncinwv]

Thanks everyone, it just seems right that since we are away from the house, we should not have to pay extra. Most CG's I am okay with the cable offereings, but there may come a time. Speaking of time, I really wish tomorrow would get here (THE BIG DAY IS AT HAND!!). Plan on loading Monty up, and getting her ready for maiden voyage next week.

[msmoonsatx]

I have Direct TV with 3 receivers in the house and one in the trailer. I pay 4.99 for each receiver. When I set up Direct TV, I told them right off the bat that one of the receivers was going to be in the trailer. Nothing was said. The only problem is picking up local channels. I get them at home and did not want to pay extra to get them when traveling.

[Dave e Victoria]

Mark,
I think you are exactly correct. Direct and Dish get upset if you use one account to service multiple stick house sites but RV's are OK. The real reason for the RV waiver is to allow you to recieve the super stations. These are stations in Atlanta, Chicago, Denver and LA that carry network TV (ABC,CBS,NBC) for people who are outside of local TV coverage. I was also told, but cannot verify, that if you have the waiver and are in a location that is not your home billing location you can ask to get local channels over teh Satellite just like the locals. So for instance, if your home is Arizona and you usually get Phoenix local service but are camped in Missouris you can ask to temporarily get the St. Louis local offerings. Mind you, the local chanels are transmitted on a narrow coverage spot beam so you have to be within some distance like 150 miles of teh center of the spot to pickup the locals. Outside of that and you need the superstations.
Hope that makes sense.
Dave

[Okie Guy]

When we pull into the campground it looks like a media center with a dish on a stick in front of the first row of trailers. I thought it was ok to use the dish from home.

[tom41]

Bingo, I have had Dish Network in my RV since 1998 till 3 days ago. Dish Service man installed it in my rv. At that time i had no stick house , only a fiscal address for my mail and ect. Dish people knew i had it in my rv, and didnt care as long as they got their money. I had to call them a few times when I needed to know something to repair. I had a problem the last couple weeks with some of their equipment, and I felt the service of Dish Network wasnt up to par . at the very end a supervisor i spoke to was very nice, and wanted to replace ahe LNB and the reciever free of charge and adjust my bill $70.00 for non use of their service. But for me it was to little to late. I went to a Direct Service dealer, told them I was a full timer, no stick house, only a mailing service. They sdaid "no problem" it was proffesionally installed with 2 recievers (digital) dish, 65ft of cable, and they wwere very nice. called Direct and ativated the system told them I am in an RV , no stick house, their answer.."no problem" they said when i mive to call in the zip code of where I will be to change the local channels, and I didnt want the west east locals, just the area I would be in. Just hope that part works like they say. I e-mailed Direct about something, and in less then 2 hrs they returned a reply and was very helpful. Lotta difference from my experience with dish lately. I will say Dish didnt used to be that way , but in the past year or so I havent been happy with them. Just hope Direct continues to be as good as they are now. Look in your march Trailer Life if you take it and you will see an ad for Direct tv they even give you free every thing you need for your rv!!

[Lije Baley]

We've got two HD Tivos at home and an SD (standard definition) Tivo in the Montana. All are on our home account. The only problem arises when we travel outside the range of our spot beam. Our local (Sacramento) stations are delivered via a signal that covers most of California, Oregon and Nevada. If we travel further east, we'll still get all the national channels Directv provides, but not our local stations, which means no network (Fox, NBC, CBS, ABC, Warner) stations.
The separate RV subscription is useful if your travels take you outside the area covered by the spotbeam that provides your "local" stations. If most of your travels are within 400 miles of home, you can easily take a receiver from home, mount a dish on a tripod and enjoy all the programming you normally receive.

This link will give you an idea of the area your local spot beam covers http://www.scottandmichelle.net/scott/dtv.html#map

[Bill Hill]

We've had DirecTV for a couple of years now. Had it in the stick house til we sold it in Nov '06. Our extra receivers are in storage with the rest of our belongings till the new stick house is ready in Oct/Nov '07. We have one receiver in Monty hooked up to the main TV. DirecTV knows what we're doing and is fine with it. As far as getting the local stations wherever your are, you just call their service number and tell them the zip code for your present location, and you'll get them. We've been real happy with DirecTV over our previous cable company.

[rldriver]

Two things I would like to add to this thread.
One is that when we had the Dish DVR 522 installed in our stick house we had to have it connected to the telephone 24/7 or they would charge us another $5.00 per month. So if I moved it into the Monty our cost would increase.

And secondly I was told if you travel around the country you can call Dish and have them change your zip code so you can pick up the local stations in the area you are in. Dish Network now uses only Spot beams that have a range of about 300 to 400 miles and can't send out regional or national signals any more. You can get this service but have to pay extra now, I think from another company. So if you travel a few hundred miles away from home you will loose some channels.

[Bill DeMeulle]

We are very lucky with DirecTV with all of the Local channels (Los Angeles) and also the Eastern Feed with ABC,NBC,CBS & Fox. We get them at home and in the Montana where ever we travel. I can watch Jay Leno at 6:PM Pacific time. Life is good!

Bill

[bsmeaton]

Again we are just part timers - but when I travel beyond 400 miles away from home, I don't want to know whats going on back home through the local channels . I'll find out when I get home.

[richfaa]

Dish,.DirectTv, tc, They just want you to buy additional receivers and service for your RV. With Direct TV you do not need to be hooked to a phone line to get Movie channels or anything else as you can do it on line or by phone and they can do anything else by satellite. We have been traveling with direct tv for several years..no problem.You can get local channels wherewever you are by changing the zip code..On Direct tv you can do that on line.If you do not do that all of your programing will be in the time zone of your zip code.In our case Ohio 44039 but we were in Az..3 hours difference.

[WildBigBill]

We use direct tv from home all the time, they never said that it would be a problem. Must register to get local stations, but would probably get charged for the convenience.

[gkbutler]

Just had Directv installed today. Did everything online. When I called to set up the installation, I told the operator I was in an RV park and was told no problem. When the technican came out today, I asked about moving and was told that all I needed to do was call in the zip code. so far so good.

[noneck]

Yup, same here...been on DirecTV for years....pull one from stick house when RVing. Constantly, getting calls from cable company sales people trying to push the TV/Internet/Phone 1yr contract and I respond with "can I use this in my RV?" This has ended every sales pitch as I'm usually laughing saying that would be one really long coax cable.

[WildBigBill]

Tried calling Direct TV to change ZIP Code but still couldn't get the local stations? Think it might be because I use a single head dish? The local signal was good but not received? I also had to change back to my home ZIP to get the Sabres Hockey game!