| Author | Message | ||
| David & Lorna Schinske (Davidschinske) (67.240.155.60)
Rating: |
Just met a cousin who has bought one of those sticks-&-staples jobbies. We got talking about his Sat. Dish. (has on on his RV & at home) He said that if the sky is very overcast or it's raining he has no reception. Also in spring & fall reception is bad. Is this right? I thought they had fixed that. Would like to hear from people with dishes to see how theirs is doing. If we have to go with a bigger dish (ie Alaska size) then I think I would rather go with a KU-band dish. We currently run a C-band dish at home. Is anybody running KU-band out there? We live and will mostly stay in the Southeast area. Lorna Schinske Currently Franklin, NC) | ||
| FAST FRED (65.58.227.173) Rating: N/A |
The small dish does not like HEAVY rain or attempting to look thru trees (or anything else) If its mounted on a movable post and can be moved for a clear view of the SW sky , you will get great reception , except in the middle of a heavy thunderstorm. Works for us! FAST FRED | ||
| Ace (24.28.44.126) Rating: N/A |
We have in the past had the same problem FF talks about on our dish at home, but I was told that if I put a baggy over the white plastic piece on the end of the dish that picks up the signal and secure it with a rubber band, that all hard rains would not interfere with the picture. So far it has held true! Don't know why it works but it does!  Ace | ||
| Jojo Colina (Du1jec) (209.75.20.72)
Rating: N/A |
C Band requires larger dishes due to the lower output power of the C-band birds and their generally larger distribution footprint. KU band DBS birds however are designed for direct broadcast use and have a higher output power and a more focused distribution footprint. I have travelled extensively with a datron automatic sat dish and have never lost reception due to rain or clouds. Trees in the way are another issue. The DBS satellites and your DTV receiver are digital and can withstand lower signal levels and still get enough data to decode video. In fact, with signal levels that will give you only sparklies on analog c-band you can get perfect video on dbs or even digital C-band broadcasts. If you have the sort of problems you have described then there are probable issues with the installation of your satellite system, moisture in your feedlines, satellite orientation or other issues which must be corrected. Jojo | ||
| Jojo Colina (Du1jec) (209.75.20.72)
Rating: N/A |
The baggy works because a lot of LNBF's (The actual antenna. More accurately Low Noise Block amplifier with integrated Feedhorn) develop cracks over time in their moisture cover and this is where the baggy helps. Jojo | ||
| Tom Hamrick (Tomhamrick) (167.83.101.23)
Rating: N/A |
We have the RCA DirecTv system. If a heavy cloud is SouthWest of my antenna the screen will sometimes freeze for a few seconds, or maybe even lose signal for a few minutes. I am not talking about normal rain clouds, but a black thunderstorm cloud. If the cloud is overhead and I am getting the rain it works great. I live in the foothills of North Carolina. Tom Hamrick Eagle 10S | ||
| CoryDaneRTSIIIL (4.17.253.119) Rating: N/A |
I agree, I have the DirectTV system, it is great, I use it on vacation in the RV and will in the bus. Yes it does not like heavy rain, I would like to know more about the bag idea, does the baggie cover the LNB and the dish? I know the plastic garbage bags are invisible to the signal. I thought the problem was getting the signal through the clouds, so what about this baggie thingy? - I do highly recommend the satalite dish, I hatted cable, they suck. BUT I also recommend highly having an antenna on the motor home too, it works during a storm and will give you storm reports when the dish is seeking signal. I cant see one of those big dishes, where do you have room on the roof for one? The problem with the small dish is not that bad and the reception us usually the best!!! You can use the Omni tv antenna for your stereo too as well as a rendudancy for reception. - cd | ||
| Tom Connolly (148.78.247.10)
Rating: N/A |
To put things in perspective: the total cumulative National average for Rain Fade Outage on a 18" DBS Satellite dish that was professionally aligned is just under 2 hours a year! Now add or subtract these variables, If you are using your dish in central Florida Where it really rains you may see 3 -4 hours of outage a year and it will likely occur during the 3 month rainy season. If you are using your dish in the desert you likely won't have a rain fade issue. The reason for rain fade is that the moisture in the atmosphere (clouds) causes the (short) high freq radio waves to be bent or redirected as they pass through the clouds moisture, this increases with water density, as a result much of the signal that is beaming to your dish is never reaching it. Increasing the dish size helps very little, I run side by side 18", 24" & 1.2m test dish's at my shop and the rain fade occurs within 1 min from 18" to 1.2M. Understand that this means that you only gain a few less minutes of outage on a reflector that is 5 times larger. Your local TV studio and Cable provider are using 30 foot dish's 400 times bigger than an 18" dish and they have outages too! The Baggie has ZERO effect on a non damaged LNBF, However as Snow load is as destructive as rain and a Dish Cover may help the snow fall of as would a good car polish. To add in the last of the important variables you should understand the basics of DBS satellite operation, the DBS system is digital, the TV picture is made up from bits of computer information, and the reception shows no degradation until there is an insufficient amount of data to decode a signal, on most DBS receivers this occurs at just under 65% signal, as reported by the receivers point dish signal meter, Poor alignment / Rain / Snow and other obstructions reduce the signal hitting the dish. If your dish was aligned on a clear day to a perfect picture but at 75% signal and you had a 20% loss from rain or obstruction you would be under threshold and loose your picture, If I was parked next door to you with my dish set to 99% signal on a clear day with the same 20% loss I would be at 79% and well over threshold still watching TV! Many other significantly more technical issues affect the signal quality and I have left them out of this plain English, basic layman's explanation so as not to unnecessarily confuse the readers. The bottom line in my opinion is this! 18" DBS satellite systems are The Gods Gift to the RVer and probably the least expensive, most reliable & most enjoyable purchase you will make! Pick a Dish Network or a DirecTv (soon to be "DirecTv by Dish Network") system on the basis of channel package, functionality and pricing that best fits your needs, and then use your Dish proudly knowing that you have the best audio / video delivery system that money can buy! Tom tomconnolly@dishtv.net | ||
| Ace (24.28.44.126) Rating: N/A |
The baggy does NOT cover the whole dish! Just the end piece (amplifier)! Sandwich bag size should work! I can see it now... everyone's rooftop has a yard and leaf bag blowing in the breeze! LOL Ace | ||
| Phil (204.89.170.126) Rating: N/A |
I have had both Direct TV and Dish Network. I went to Direct TV mainly due to the sat position in the sky. In the northeast the elevation to the sat with Dish Network is too low in the sky and I had more problems with clearing trees from many sites. With Direct TV the elevation is about 10 (?) degrees higher and has allowed me to get reception from many more parking areas. As far as rain, I sometimes lose the signal for a few minutes just before a hard rain coming from the southwest but rarely when it is actually raining!!! Great weather predictor! Most of the time when I do lose the signal it is due to the aim of the dish having changed (wind can move my roof mounted manual dish slightly) If the signal strength is in the 90s I have very little problem. Of course, the signal loss always occurs at the worst possible time (last two laps of a close Winston Cup Race ) | ||
| Tom Hamrick (Tomhamrick) (167.83.101.23)
Rating: N/A |
I have found that ours usually goes out in the middle of a pay-per-view movie! :-) | ||
| CoryDaneRTSIIIL (4.17.253.161) Rating: N/A |
Ok, here is a bag story for the direct tv dish. - Someone I know lived in an apartment and bought the Direct TV dish. they hurridly installed every thing in about an hour, dish protruding proudly on a pipe off the deck rails. about three weeks later, the managers sent for him, they told him he must remove the dish from the balcony or move out, PERIOD. - They took the dish down but within a week he was back on the air. He found an old Weber grill, and mounted the dish inside with the cover hanging half over the back side. Then the entire grill/dish was covered with a garbage bag and the cable discretely routed inside. Looked just like a new grill covered until the next pig roast, LOL. Management never bothered them again. Yeah, the baggie is a good idea alright. LOL ROF LOL - cd | ||
| FAST FRED (63.215.232.135) Rating: N/A |
There is even a kit to have the dish look like an umbrella thru a patio table for deed restricted places. | ||
| JackInKC (24.94.180.233) Rating: N/A |
I heard that one of the vendors (direct TV or Dish network) will let you have an extra receiver for FREE if you tell them that it is going in an RV. Has anyone else heard this? The theory is that you will not be using both of them at the same time. Does anyone use the same subscription for both home and coach? Thanks. | ||
| Jim Ashworth (Jimnh) (172.132.45.127)
Rating: N/A |
DirectTV will let you have the second one for $5.00 per month. Until recently, it had to be connected to the same phone line continuously. I have also heard the statistic that about 1/2 of the DirectTV receivers are operating with pirated cards that allow all channels with no payment to DirectTV. How are they going to maintain that billion dollar satellite or launch a new one if that is happening? We might just lose satellite tv if people continue to steal services. In NH if you get caught with one of those cards it can mean up to a $5000 fine and jail time when convicted. DirectTV took out a full page ad in the local newspaper to tell everybody they are looking for the thieves. Jim | ||
| Ace (24.28.44.126) Rating: N/A |
Hmm John Turner in Webster Florida owns a fleet of Eagle and Prevost tour busses that has satellites in every one and he has illegal cards but he seems to be able to get away with it! But now that I think about it... most crooks do! Ace | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (66.190.119.82)
Rating: N/A |
I have Direct TV in both my home and in my bus. There is a very small nominal charge to have the extra receiver. I typically remove the receiver from the bus, when I am not travelling and use it in the bedroom. This is legal. I have heard that Direct TV has gotten so good at catching the pirated software and that they change their codes so often that an illegial card will operate no more than a few days before it goes belly up. I do not see how someone operating a fleet of busses could keep up with the almost daily recoding of the cards that would be required. I met a guy in Florida a couple of years ago who was trying to make a living recoding cards, but he gave up and returned to Argentina. He just could not keep up with the revisions that Direct TV was making on a weekly basis. I believe that it is almost daily now and is a very simple process for them to send out a new code to legimate cards. Richard | ||
| Tom Connolly (148.78.247.10)
Rating: N/A |
In most cases the cost of receiving illegal satellite reception is higher than legally paying for programming, but there will always be those that want to say they are not paying for satellite programming, instead they are paying more for that risk! Even our neighbors to the north where hacking cards is a way of life are looking for ways to pay for programming through a US address. Tom C | ||
| David & Lorna Schinske (Davidschinske) (67.240.59.192)
Rating: N/A |
Excuse me..but what's this about 'cards'. I would hate to have to keep up with something that I have to keep inputing. I don't always go home on a regular basis (I've been in NC 3 weeks so far this time) and my mail is piling up. I'm not forwarding because we've rebuilt the mailbox to hold a months worth of mail. I have e-mailed Skyvision (place we get C-band stuff from as needed) and they have told me that we would probably want the 24" KU-dish for the Direct TV/Dish stuff. At this point I'm more interested in getting more info on the 12vdc air conditioner I've run across than chasing down TV reception. Lorna Schinske | ||
| Richard Bowyer (Drivingmisslazy) (66.190.119.82)
Rating: N/A |
Lorna, As long as you sign up for Direct TV, you get a card for your receiver that allows you to view the programs/channels that you have subscribed to. You never have to do anything else with the card. The cards being discussed are bootleg or pirate cards that some people are re-programming to be able to get every channel, including all pay per view channels, at no cost. This is ILLEGAL and I believe a federal offense. Direct TV sends out signals fairly often to not only prevent the utilization of these cards, but also with messages that only the illegal card receives advising the person to call a certain number. If you call that number Direct TV knows you are using an illegal card and can notify the FBI, I think. DO NOT FALL VICTIM TO SOME SCAM THAT OFFERS YOU FREE DIRECT TV! Regarding the 12 volt A/C. I have never heard of anything running directly from 12 volts. It would take hundreds of amps of 12 volts to directly operate an A/C unit. The general procedure is to supply the 12 volts to a bank of batteries, which act as a buffer, and then operate an inverter from the 12-volt supply. The inverter converts the 12 volts DC to 120 volts AC to operate the A/C’s and any other ac appliance. Richard | ||
| David & Lorna Schinske (Davidschinske) (206.148.180.174)
Rating: N/A |
Richard, I have found 12 & 24 VDC rooftop air conditioners from www.thermoking.com that we are going to look into if we are ever home more than sat & sun. According to the website there are several models. One has a center or side duct. This company makes air/heat systems for commercial passenger buses and also refer units for semi-trucks. It is something I will check into as the BUTs are high and we figure with a well insulated bus we may get by on running the air off of 4 - 8 extra batteries & the bus alternator. But got to talk the the Thermo-King people first. There is one here in Chattanooga and one near us when we are in NC (Greenville, SC I think). When I find out more I will definatly let others know about it. | ||
| Tom Connolly (148.78.247.10)
Rating: N/A |
Lorna, Maybe your looking at a the ThermoKing split roof top unit and not a package AC unit? That would be the only thing I've seen in 12v/24v, the compressor is automotive style and runs off the engine the roof top unit is the condensing coil and some 12v/24v fans, the evaporator is usually an under dash style. Configurations are available in both AC and Refrigeration and widely used in the trucking industry as after market ad on's. I would have to agree that there aren't enough 12v battery amps available to run any sufficiently sized ac unit longer than a few minutes to an hour, unless you want to carry half the Sam's Club inventory with you! ?? Tom C |
