Full Time TV - Montana Owners Club

H. John Kohl · 11-01-2005, 10:31 PM

Ann and I will be full time in 15 months. I like to plan ahead so I have some questions for those that have been there.
Each post will have a different question so the content should stay on track.
What do you use for TV signals?
RV TV antenna
Satellite Dish
Satellite Dish with Internet (internet question on another post)
Cable at parks
If anything other than RV antenna how big is it? Where is it mounted? Where is it stored for transport? What is its weight.
Thanks

Glenn and Lorraine · 11-02-2005, 12:16 AM

The parks cable where available or the Monty's antenna.

ols1932 · 11-02-2005, 01:13 AM

We use DirecTV. The dish is mounted on a 2 ft 2X6 and I nail it to the ground with tent peg nails. Works wonderfully. Weight is about 10 pounds and I carry it in the back seat of the truck when traveling. We also use local TV in some cases where we want to see what the local weather is like.

sgtpp214 · 11-02-2005, 01:22 AM

Campground cable or Mony TV antenna. Watch news in early morning and maybe weather channel if cable hooked up otherwise our philosopy is if we wanted to watch TV it would be cheaper to stay home. We are building up a DVD library for bad weather.

jrgwdenner · 11-02-2005, 01:29 AM

We have enjoyed our DirecTV connection since getting it in the spring. We also use it at our stick house. Glen has gotten past the frustration of putting it up so it's no big deal anymore. We have a 75' cable so that we can get the dish out of the trees when necessary. It's on a tripod and we've learned the hard way that it's important to secure it. Now we use tent stakes. The tripod and dish lay on the bed when we travel. We bought the dish and tripod on Ebay, by the way.

Charlie · 11-02-2005, 02:34 AM

We use Dish Network. On the road the Houston locals (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox and others) are not available when we out of range of what Dish (and Direct) call spot beaming of the locals which is about 300 miles from the Houston area. To pick up these stations we use the trailer antenna. The dish is about 10 pounds and I set it up on a tri-pod, takes about 10 minutes with a good compass and satellite finder available at CW or Radio Shack. As far as carrying it, we're not full-timers so it is stored in the basement of the trailer. We did make an extended trip a few years back and needed the space so the dish rode in the back of the truck between the tool box and hitch.

Setting up a Dish Network dish is a little more involved than one from Direct TV as you have to set three angles for Dish rather than two for Direct. There has been some discussion here on the forum about the newer Dish receivers and the need for two co-ax's for them to work and the Monty not being wired to accept them. I have no experience with the satellite dish and internet systems as when we are on the road the internet is not important to me.

As far as cable at parks, they usually charge a fee to hook up to cable. Since I have the dish I do not pay the additional fee for park cable and set up the dish.

drifus · 11-02-2005, 02:36 AM

I agree with most, I am going to be at my current location for at least a year so I went with Cable (TV/Internet) but we also carry 300 DVD, yes 300. Stop by and borrow one. I have only Widescreen, director cuts/special editions or unrated versions of movies. Might as well have the best. If we become more mobile (contracts ending sooner) I would look into a SAT system and a DVR.

Parrothead · 11-02-2005, 06:44 AM

We have DirecTV. Use it in stick house as well as Monty. Since we are not full timing yet we check the campgrounds we are going to and if they have cable, we don't usually take DirecTV although we are learning some CG cable is not very good. Back seat of truck (we have a crew cab). We have 2 receivers so can have it in LR and BR. It is on a small tripod we weight down with a cement building block. However we liked Fire truckers Wife's way of weighting her DirecWay. It was a weight for barbells. Wouldn't take up much room.
Happy trails......................

vickster · 11-02-2005, 09:03 AM

The campground cable when available or the Monty antenna. This has worked for us, however, we are not big TV watchers.

patodonn · 11-02-2005, 02:42 PM

Direct TV if we are in one location for a few days. Otherwise, whatever cable service the CG provides (most are free or a couple of $$ at most).

For the Direct TV, we use a tripod, about 4-5 ft high, and an Accu Dish type leveling device. (www.Accu-dish.com). We "anchor" the tripod with a 2gal water pail (full of water,obviously), and, if in a high wind area, stake it down as well.

We carry two lengths of cable, and can connect them, if necesary for a really long cable length. The tripod is carried up front, in the compartment under the overhang. The actual dish, cables and leveling device are carried in the rear compartment. Takes a bit of maneuvering, but you can get the antenna into the compartment OK.

Gotta have...a "satellite finder" Radio shack for about $30-$40. Also, there are "quick disconnects" (Radio Shack..$3 or $4 for two) available which make the cable installation and tear down a LOT easier, especially when hooking it to the Monty's connector.

Direct TV has a special catagory for RVers. Got to do some paperwork for it. You can get both East and West Coast feeds of the major channels (which we do) for around $8/month. Real handy for watching programs if there is a time conflict on two major channels. Also, recently subscribed to the local area service here. We found that we can move that feature around as we move around...sort of a luxury, but nice to have. Just takes a phone call to change it. Replaces the Monty rooftop antenna use and the minor inconvenience to switch to it for local news or weather.

Lots of info available via a Forum Search...give it a try..

Montana_4791 · 11-03-2005, 01:42 AM

We have used Dish for 9 years with NO problems!!! We have one that sits right on the ground and only need two directions, rather than the three needed with a tripod. We have been in many campgrounds where if it was on the roof of the unit, we couldn't get out. That is the main reason we love ours, we carry 75' of cable and can get out wherever we are at. A finder is a "must"....so easy to use!! We "check out" local if it is available. We also get the east coast major networks. It can be set up for the time zone you are billed. Ours is midwest and we are now in AZ, so they come on an hour earlier, but sometimes that is a plus!!

w4nfr · 11-03-2005, 02:48 AM

Quote:

quote:Originally posted by H. John Kohl

Ann and I will be full time in 15 months. I like to plan ahead so I have some questions for those that have been there.
Each post will have a different question so the content should stay on track.
What do you use for TV signals?
RV TV antenna
Satellite Dish
Satellite Dish with Internet (internet question on another post)
Cable at parks
If anything other than RV antenna how big is it? Where is it mounted? Where is it stored for transport? What is its weight.
Thanks

We use a King Dome on top of our 3575RL Big Sky for the satellite antenna. It is a dual feed horn, so my wife can watch her DishNetwork and TV in the Bedroom up front and I can watch my tv (seperate programs) in the rear LR. I use to carry a stand alone sat dish on a tripod, but found that I did not use it and I stay away from wooded parks.

Gypsy · 11-03-2005, 03:33 AM

I use Dish Network with a Dish 500. Most of the time I mount it on a suction cup mount stuck to the side of the Monty (see another thread on this with photo - from the Great Lakes rally). I carry a tripod for those times when I need to dodge trees. I can usually tune in both the 110 and 119 satellites pretty quickly if there are no obstructions. Lately, however, I've received the 129 satellite on the 110 LNB. After literally hours on the phone with Dish technicians, we've been unable to figure out how to avoid that situation. For the networks, I subscribe to the Chicago stations for an additional $5.99 per month. When I can't get the 110 satellite, I switch to the Los Angeles networks because they come in on 119. Although the Dish 500 has two LNBs, I only need to connect one to get all the stations. I can connect the second one to my bedroom TV - had to install an additional cable connection for that. The receiver in my entertainment center is a DVR, so I can record programs and skip commercials. The dish rides in the back of my truck while traveling, and the suction cup mount rides in the basement. Weight is negligible. I use the Monty's antenna to get local weather, news, etc. I recently added a cable connection for those times when cable TV is included in campground fees and/or nothing can be received through the antenna, but I haven't tested it out yet.

Lstierw · 11-12-2005, 06:40 AM

We have the kingdome with Direct TV and it works great as long as we have a clear view. Have thought about getting the portable dish from Direct TV also for times when we can't get reception from the Kingdome.

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