More satellite questions: HD vs. SD - Montana Owners Club

mobil · 10-16-2010, 05:25 PM

After losing all of our "stuff" in a fire, we're in the process of replacing everything. We have DirecTv at our house and used one of the sd receivers when we traveled. We had a round dish, portable tripod, and cheap compass that was pretty easy to get a good signal with. Moving up to a fifth wheel with 40" tv, we're thinking maybe HD/dvr since we're replacing everything anyway. How much more difficult is it to line up the slimline dish for hd vs. the round sd dish? Is the hd resolution and setting it up worth it on a 40" tv?

exav8tr · 10-16-2010, 06:28 PM

We have the DirecTV HD DVR with a Winegard Traveler Antenna. I went to this antenna to alleviate some stress. The HD DVR slimline dish, in my mind, is very difficult to set up as you are looking for more than one sat. Don't get me wrong, Many people do it and do it all the time. I do carry a portable dish for times I am under the trees and my dish won't find the sats. I do use the sat finder but it is still difficult for me, maybe because I don't have to set the portable up very often. I usually look for sites that are in the open for this reason. There is a device called a "Birddog" which is very expensive. If I had to set the portable up all the time I would have one. It is very easy to use.

On the question of difference between HD and SD, HD beats SD hands down, plus with the DVR you get to record and watch when you want. You do need two cables or use the Winegard single wire setup. We only have a 32 inch and it is a HD LCD 720p. I can really tell the difference between HD and SD. Some say there is not much difference between the 720 and 1080p in a TV 32 inch and smaller. I'll let you be the judge about this. Since you are going new why not treat yourself to the best????

BTW, we ran a single cable to the bedroom and installed the HD receiver (not DVR), in there so we would not have any conflicts. We installed a 22 inch HD LCD in there also. Everything works great.....

With the Traveler setup, you push one button and it raises and locks onto the sats automatically and in less than 10 minutes you're watching the game....I highly recommend it, especially if you do a lot of travelling as I do. Setting up the portable Slimline can be a royal pain......

Jolu · 10-17-2010, 03:47 AM

I have to agree that the roof mounted Winegard Traveler is the easiest way to go. Easy to use and less hassle setting up. It is much more costly. About $1400 DIY. More if you have it installed.

I have had both and do prefer the Traveler. I do not even carry the tripod mounted dish anymore. Haven't had the problem of under the trees problem but only once. In that case I could also not have put up the tripod mounted dish.

Setting up a tripod mounted Slimline 5 LNB dish is not difficult at all with a little practice. Anyone can make a simple dish pointer for about $15 and can assist in setting up the dish in a short time. I have used this pointer to set the tripod up without even using a meter to peak the signal and this was with the 5 LNB HD dish. This is why I can tell you with a little practice setting up the tripod mounted dish is not all that difficult.

Here is the pointer anyone can make without spending a lot of money on more advanced gadgets. Pointer

The surveyor type tripod is the best way to go for a tripod if you are using the larger HD dishes. It is much easier to get plumb.

Joe

mobil · 10-17-2010, 02:53 PM

Thanks to both of you. The Traveler sounds like a pretty sweet setup, but I think I'll try Jolu's tripod method and save a few (quite a few) bucks. Looks like we'll pick up our fifth wheel next week. It'll take a while to get everything the way we want it as it's archery season here in Ohio and we're anxious to get back in the woods again. We may get out a couple days this week before heading to Mich next week to pick up our Monty.

Jim Jarvis · 10-17-2010, 10:58 PM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by Jolu

I have to agree that the roof mounted Winegard Traveler is the easiest way to go. Easy to use and less hassle setting up. It is much more costly. About $1400 DIY. More if you have it installed.

I have had both and do prefer the Traveler. I do not even carry the tripod mounted dish anymore. Haven't had the problem of under the trees problem but only once. In that case I could also not have put up the tripod mounted dish.

Setting up a tripod mounted Slimline 5 LNB dish is not difficult at all with a little practice. Anyone can make a simple dish pointer for about $15 and can assist in setting up the dish in a short time. I have used this pointer to set the tripod up without even using a meter to peak the signal and this was with the 5 LNB HD dish. This is why I can tell you with a little practice setting up the tripod mounted dish is not all that difficult.

Here is the pointer anyone can make without spending a lot of money on more advanced gadgets. Pointer

The surveyor type tripod is the best way to go for a tripod if you are using the larger HD dishes. It is much easier to get plumb.

Joe

Joe, where did you get your tripod?

Jolu · 10-18-2010, 05:18 AM

Jim, I bought my tripod through these people. Tripod They have updated their mast since I bought mine. The mast is taller and more user friendly for the larger dishes.

Their Mast can be used with other brand tripods also.

Joe

ols1932 · 10-18-2010, 11:42 AM

HD gives a much clearer picture than SD. However, for what it's worth, I talked to a DirecTV Sales/Installer and he advised me not to go to HD in our situation of full time traveling. He said it's not worth the money to go to all HD equipment which includes the proper antenna. He also said that unless you have a "huge" HD TV (48" and up), you won't notice much difference in picture at all.

For my money, I think I'll go with DirecTV suggestion.

Orv

Jolu · 10-18-2010, 12:14 PM

Orv, I can certainly see a difference with a third 19" LCD tv I use at the dining room table and sometimes move it around if I don't want to run the 32" tv off the inverter. The difference between the standard definition and HD is quite noticeable.
Now with CRT tvs there might not be that much difference. It is interesting to hear that from a Directv Sales/Installer. I like the best quality pic I think I can get. If you know someone with HD and a smaller tv under the 48" mentioned, it would be interesting to check it out. Our 32" Samsung in the Monty the difference between Standard and HD is evident also.
To go the HD route it does cost more with the dish,subscriptions,and tvs. I don't know if one can buy a tv that is not HD compatible anymore.
Joe

Jim Jarvis · 10-18-2010, 12:43 PM

Thanks very much Joe.

Jdrobone · 10-18-2010, 01:23 PM

Of course the HD looks better. Of course a 3-LNB dish that looks at 3 different sats is harder to set up, what with manipulating azimuths, elevations, and skews. You get what you pay for its up to you if you consider the investment in time/money worth it. Sometimes I get aggravated setting up my HD Dishnetwork system, but, hey, that's my choice - I like the DVR and the ability to skip commercials. I really would love one of those automatic systems, but,that takes us back to that choice of time/money deal.
Just my opinion.
Jerry

7.3Ford · 10-18-2010, 02:44 PM

Dish Network you can get HD free for life now, just have to sign up for two years.

For RV I use VIP-211K HD (1 tuner) Receiver and 320GB USB Disk Drive which makes it a DVR (without having to pay $7.00 a month DVR Fee). I use a Winegard Carryout Automatic Portable Satellite TV Antenna which only has one LNB. If you have a multiple LNB dish you can use VIP-222K HD (2 tuner) Receiver and USB hard drive to make it a DVR. There is a on time fee to use the USB hard drive of $39.99. Works great, I use with a 32 SD TV when not on the road, and there is a difference.

Also if you are looking at the Carryout, it only supports SD on Direct, but supports both SD and HD on Disk Network and Bell TV.

kylec2 · 10-18-2010, 04:28 PM

One of the complications in aligning the DirecTV 5 LNB antenna (the standard antenna for HD) is that if you align on the default satellite 101 you can get three different peak signals, but only one of those is the right one. The trick is to align on satellite 110; you get only one peak and if you max it out the other four satellite signals (99, 101, 103 & 119) will be good as well.

mobil · 10-19-2010, 04:06 AM

Would the SignalCat SC2021 Satellite Finder (from tv4rv.com) display tell you which satellite you're getting the signal from to know if your signal is from #110? Or would you need another type device? Like I said, we never had much of a problem getting a good signal in sd from DirecTv. Never needed anything more than the signal meter built into the sat receiver and the volume turned up on the tv. I realize hd is a different animal. Looks like the hd tripod combo and signalcat from "tv4rv" may be the way to go for us as we don't really want the Winegard Traveler (tho this would be the easiest solution). And if I'm reading right, the 5lnb SWM on the slimline dish would enable us to run only one coax into the fiver.

Jolu · 10-20-2010, 04:39 AM

mobil,
I don't think the SC2021 Satellite Finder will identify the satellite you are on as well as the AccutracPro22 will not identify the satellite. It allows you to peak the signal of the satellite you are aimed at. You can peak the wrong satellite with either meters.

There has not been a problem for me aligning on the wrong satellite as long as the mast was plumb, I was pointing close to the 101 satellite, the elevation was set and the skew was set in the general area of where it should be. All the other satellites were aligned for me using the 101 as the main satellite I aligned to.
This is where a satellite pointer can assist in finding the azimuth you should be aiming at. If you do not make your own pointer there are others out there on the market. Some folks only use a compass to point the dish. You can also use a pointer to align to the 110 satellite also as long as you know the azimuth to aim at for your location. Free Aligning Programs for azimuth, elevation and skew are available on the web to download to your computer which you can readily bring up without using the receiver.

The only time I have had a problem setting up was when there was a problem with the the coax from the dish to the utility bay connection or the coax or fitting from the utility bay to the receiver. This happen usually to my abuse of the coax when connecting and connecting the dish setup. This is something to be aware of, coax and connection failure.

You really need to not get to hung up on 101 or 110 at this point. 101 has been the practice to align to and the others will follow suite.

Most of this is just my experience aligning up the Slimline 5LNB dish.

Joe

Clemson1881 · 10-20-2010, 09:22 AM

I would not advise anyone to take advice from Directv on using HD in RVs. When I asked them for a slimline dish to use a tri-pod they did everything they could to discourage me. They said the dish was too complicated to set up for non-professionals and I would get little benefit from HD on a 40 inch screen. When I insisted I had to literally tell them I was cancelling service to get them to cough up a slimline dish. The slimline is is just as easy to point as the small dishes. You just have to make fine adjustments to tune in the two additional sats. More times than not fine adjustments are not even necessary. And the picture difference is HUGE. If you care about HD get it!!!!!! I met a fellow camper In Pigeon Forge this year and Directv had fed him the same bull they tried to feed me. I think Directv is paranoid circulating extra dishes will lead to folks sharing a bill, so they discourage folks getting them.

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