Directv HD dish replacement.

b646488 · 02-13-2019, 01:36 PM

I understand that in April Directv will not be available in SD. Only HD will be available. Right now I have SD and to enable HD I will need to buy a $2000 HD dish. Anyone have a cheaper resolution to this problem?

namusmc65 · 02-13-2019, 01:42 PM

You can get a portable dish and set it up outside. They can be had for near about nothing. I take one wherever I go and have been for years. If you are talking about an automatic rooftop unit, yes, expensive.

b646488 · 02-13-2019, 01:59 PM

I have one on the roof and a carry out. They are both SD not HD. HD carry out or roof top for directv are very expensive. Is your carry out HD?

Big1 · 02-14-2019, 12:27 AM

I went and check on one today the whole setup will cost about $450.

Les7h · 02-14-2019, 02:34 PM

Dish Network is much more RV friendly with the Dish outdoor package and we watch “ local network “ channels ( typically less than 50 miles away ) for news and weather based on our current Zip code - we are not limited to East Coast or West Coast feeds Les

edatlanta · 02-17-2019, 06:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Les7h

Dish Network is much more RV friendly with the Dish outdoor package and we watch “ local network “ channels ( typically less than 50 miles away ) for news and weather based on our current Zip code - we are not limited to East Coast or West Coast feeds Les

How does Dish handle networks when you are out of your local zip code? I am a long time DirecTV customer and their DNS service is great for me since I like network channels, but care less about local channels. New York or L.A. is fine with me. I just set my favorite programs and when I set up my dish at my new location and my programs record automatically. I know Dish had a DNS type system a number of years ago, but that went away as I recall.

Thanks for your reply.

namusmc65 · 02-17-2019, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b646488

I have one on the roof and a carry out. They are both SD not HD. HD carry out or roof top for directv are very expensive. Is your carry out HD?

Not sure who you were replying to but my set up is the oblong dish that receives HD signal. My set up is totally free. I just got an abandoned dish from a friend who had switched and take a receiver from the house when we go camping. Just takes a few minutes to get set up and we have hd tv.

edatlanta · 02-17-2019, 06:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b646488

I understand that in April Directv will not be available in SD. Only HD will be available. Right now I have SD and to enable HD I will need to buy a $2000 HD dish. Anyone have a cheaper resolution to this problem?

An HD Slimline dish is what I have and I would suggest you keep your eyes open for someone moving and see if they have a Slimline dish. DirecTV says when you move to leave the dish and take your receiver with you. Just ask the person moving and they will probably let you take the dish for nothing. You could also keep your eyes open for a DirecTV truck and ask the driver if he has a removed one. He might give it to you also.

For a tripod I recommend a heavy duty model from www.tv4rv.com. I have been using their tripod for 9 years now full time. The only problem I ever had with the tripod was one time it got hit by a neighbor's fastup tent that lifted off in a thunderstorm and cracked a couple of the components. I ordered them from the same place I ordered the tripod initially and was back in service in a couple of days.

For aiming the dish don't get an expensive meter. I use the signal strength meter built into the DirecTV receiver and a wireless baby monitor. Aim the camera at the TV screen and take the wireless receiver out to the dish. Aiming is done in literally less than 5 minutes. After the first few times you can do it almost in your sleep.

I don't use the half of a concrete block anymore. I use a 5 gallon bucket that I fill with water as a tripod anchor after the tripod is set and aimed. Lighter to carry around.

blujay40 · 02-17-2019, 07:01 AM

Although SD is indeed ending at DirecTV, the satellite that broadcasts those SD signals via mpeg2 is NOT going away. And the unofficial opinion of many is that DirecTV is going to start converting those mpeg2 transponders to begin transmitting HD instead of SD.

Currently, all HD broadcasts are transmitted using an mpeg4 compression scheme and SD was broadcast via an mpeg2 compression scheme. The LNB's used in the carryout dishes for DirecTV can only process mpeg2 and since DirecTV only offered SD service via mpeg2 in the past, that is why you couldn't get HD. With the changes announced, it appears DirecTV is going to offer a set package of HD channels via mpeg2 so the current carryouts and mobile dishes won't just stop working. What that package of channels will look like or when it will actually occur is still unannounced.

So in simple terms, the domed dishes now in use for SD reception will not automatically become paper weights and just might (no official announcement has been made but neither have they discounted this widely held belief either) start being able to receive the new HD/mpeg2 signals and with the correct receivers on the other end, you will finally be able to get HD from DirecTV with the carryouts instead of just SD.

So if it were me, was happy with DirecTV currently, I would probably sit pat on what I had until it didn't work any longer then make the changes. You might just be able to keep your current setup and then get HD. Jumping now might just end up being an expensive and unnecessary move.

With that said, as others have mentioned, Dish is much more RV friendly is the main reason you see more Dish users in parks than DirecTV.

blujay40 · 02-17-2019, 07:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by edatlanta

How does Dish handle networks when you are out of your local zip code? I am a long time DirecTV customer and their DNS service is great for me since I like network channels, but care less about local channels. New York or L.A. is fine with me. I just set my favorite programs and when I set up my dish at my new location and my programs record automatically. I know Dish had a DNS type system a number of years ago, but that went away as I recall.

Thanks for your reply.

It's my understanding that Dish doesn't do DNS any longer but rather allows local station changes at your discretion. For those that take a receiver assigned to a residential account out of their homes and use them temporarily in their RV's, you have to call or use their chat function on their website to get the change implemented for your current location. However, if your Dish account is designated as a "Dish Outdoors" account (ie: pay as you go), you can do it via their smartphone app and no call is necessary. The app uses the zip you enter as well as GPS coordinates on your phone to verify your location.

So with DNS service, and the fact you have recordings setup, you probably would not like the way Dish does theirs since the local/network station channel numbers would change at each location vs. a set it and forget it with DirecTV DNS. I also suggest you do nothing to your account that will renew your 2 year commitment. I have seen posts from others that they lost their DNS during the renewal process (being moved from the old DirecTV system to the ATT system) and went thru hell getting it back, if at all. Maybe ATT has finally figured out how to reinstate it in the new system but I have yet to see any positive posts saying that.

edatlanta · 02-18-2019, 05:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blujay40

It's my understanding that Dish doesn't do DNS any longer but rather allows local station changes at your discretion. For those that take a receiver assigned to a residential account out of their homes and use them temporarily in their RV's, you have to call or use their chat function on their website to get the change implemented for your current location. However, if your Dish account is designated as a "Dish Outdoors" account (ie: pay as you go), you can do it via their smartphone app and no call is necessary. The app uses the zip you enter as well as GPS coordinates on your phone to verify your location.

So with DNS service, and the fact you have recordings setup, you probably would not like the way Dish does theirs since the local/network station channel numbers would change at each location vs. a set it and forget it with DirecTV DNS. I also suggest you do nothing to your account that will renew your 2 year commitment. I have seen posts from others that they lost their DNS during the renewal process (being moved from the old DirecTV system to the ATT system) and went thru hell getting it back, if at all. Maybe ATT has finally figured out how to reinstate it in the new system but I have yet to see any positive posts saying that.

I am happy with my Direct RV account, but I always like to have a Plan B especially since AT&T is involved. Time will tell and hopefully for the better.

namusmc65 · 02-18-2019, 08:39 AM

Is anyone out there using the Direct TV genie and mini's at home that take this system with them on the road??? I currently have this system at home but I take a stand alone system on the road. I am wondering if I can pull the Genie and mini from home along with the power inverter and direct tv wifi and use this system while on the road. I would not have access to internet but shouldn't I still be able to receive Direct tv programming over the satellite for two receivers??? thanks for your response.

Bassdogs · 02-18-2019, 09:23 AM

The same basic issue came about when systems went from SD to HD several years ago. You had to go thru upgrades to HD receivers and in most cases different dish antenna outside. Dish auto portable units were HD capable while up to now Direct auto equipment were limited to SD. This composition has been going on for some time and for different reasons. The issue that few are talking about yet is the new ultra HD superHD that is available for high end TV's. You can't utilize these high resolution tvs on a Dish system, so the saga will continue. TV technology seems to out pace the distribution technology of Satalite and cable systems.

I converted all my Dish equipment to HD some time ago. That required new stuff at home, on my houseboat, and in the TT. Amazingly the dish tech who came to install the home stuff left me with enough HD outside HD stuff for my other applications. I just had to buy a couple new HD receivers. The new HD4K or what ever they are up to today will require new stuff again but for now I'm good because very little of the current channels are broadcast in the new higher definition. I don't try to stay up with the changes as they seem to come along every few months.

blujay40 · 02-18-2019, 09:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by namusmc65

Is anyone out there using the Direct TV genie and mini's at home that take this system with them on the road??? I currently have this system at home but I take a stand alone system on the road. I am wondering if I can pull the Genie and mini from home along with the power inverter and direct tv wifi and use this system while on the road. I would not have access to internet but shouldn't I still be able to receive Direct tv programming over the satellite for two receivers??? thanks for your response.

Yep, I do and I know at least a few others do in our seasonal park because I can detect their wireless video bridges on my wifi scanner.

With the older Genie 1's (HR44/54) you need to make sure you are using a SWM LNB with your RV dish. Either a Slimline on a pole/tripod or a roof top Travl'er will work. If you want to use a carryout, just know that requires a SWM8 module as well to be installed since the carryouts for DirecTV are not SWM compatible. Also, with the carryouts, you can only use 2 tuners of the Genie at once where with the Slimline or Travl'er, you can use all 5.

I take my HR44 Genie, the wireless video bridge and a C41k wireless mini and use it in the RV. I also had to install a "green label" power passing DirecTV approved splitter just inside the external coax hookups on my Eagle to ensure the power from the inserter reaches the LNB on the dish. When at our seasonal site, I still use a slimline dish on a pole mount but also have used it with a Slimline dish on a tripod as well. But on the road, it uses our rooftop Travl'er dish. I simply have to swap coax connections to the above mentioned splitter to switch between the two.

If you have the newer Genie 2 setup, then you also need to make sure you use a reverse band LNB with your portable dish setup. I know some have figured out how to use the rooftop Travl'er to use the new Genie 2 but unless something has changed recently in the manufacturer's setups, it's not a supported setup and your on your own if you have issues. So the tripod or pole mounted Slimline dish with a reverse band LNB is the best "plug and play" solution for the Genie 2.

Love using the wireless mini on my bedroom TV. I bought 2 Keblok mounts, one for the bedroom and one for outside and the wireless mini allows me to move the bedroom TV back and forth as needed and not having to worry about using the RV's coax wiring at all for the mini.

namusmc65 · 02-18-2019, 09:46 AM

Thanks BlueJay. I have the HR44 Genie and the mini genie. I use the large oblong swm dish setup so think I should be good. I have seen on one of these forums that the genie provides the power to the swim but I have a spare power inserter that I plan on taking along just in case as well as the wireless bridge. Hope to try it out on our next trip in a couple weeks.

blujay40 · 02-18-2019, 10:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by namusmc65

Thanks BlueJay. I have the HR44 Genie and the mini genie. I use the large oblong swm dish setup so think I should be good. I have seen on one of these forums that the genie provides the power to the swim but I have a spare power inserter that I plan on taking along just in case as well as the wireless bridge. Hope to try it out on our next trip in a couple weeks.

The HR44 does NOT power the LNB but the HR54 and HS17 (Genie2) do. So you will definitely need the PI.

javan · 03-02-2019, 02:05 PM

You can buy the DirecTV HD dish at Amazon for $110.
https://smile.amazon.com/DIRECTV-Com...-1-spons&psc=1

Tripod at Amazon $35.

This setup is what we have used for four years, and it is easy to setup after you have done it a couple of times.

Av8tor · 03-02-2019, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by namusmc65

Is anyone out there using the Direct TV genie and mini's at home that take this system with them on the road??? I currently have this system at home but I take a stand alone system on the road. I am wondering if I can pull the Genie and mini from home along with the power inverter and direct tv wifi and use this system while on the road. I would not have access to internet but shouldn't I still be able to receive Direct tv programming over the satellite for two receivers??? thanks for your response.

I called Direct and told them we were moving into the RV. They sent out a techie who moved everything from the house into the coach and set it all up for us, no charge. The Genie and two minis for the three TVs. Works great. I have the Travelr antenna mounted on top of the coach. We don't move them back into the house when at home, just use Cox cable for that, but having watched everything the Tech did to move all of it, it doesn't appear difficult.

rularoch · 03-02-2019, 06:23 PM

Precisely the reason we switched to Dish this winter in anticpation of the upcoming camping season. Can get a portable satellite with Wally receiver for about $300. Also happy with the Dish in our home.

SloPoke · 03-02-2019, 07:03 PM

We were faced with the same thing.. Had Direct TV in the house and Seneca on the same account. We purchased a HD Direct receiver that worked with our Winegard auto-dish on the roof. The Dish on the roof will not support Direct HD once they shut down the Standard definition satellite this spring - so we switched to Dish.

We called Dish asking for what they offered, and they were ready to save us some money! We went from 4 HD Tv's in the house + our SD Tv's in the motorhome with more channels and saved almost $40/month. We now have DVR on every TV, Dish on all of our computers, phones and tablets and can set our DVR from anywhere.

We did purchase a Wally receiver for our Seneca, have a Joey in each room and a Hopper in our TV Room. We switched without buying another RV auto satellite dish on the roof, gained DVR feature on ALL tv's, got more channels, and saved money each month too. - better than Geico!

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