Direct TV Distant Network Services

desi arnaz · April 05, 2012, 04:33:34 AM

If I go 20 feet out of my zip code the locals shut off,damn thing has a built in gps....

garhawk · April 05, 2012, 05:36:05 AM

Hi Nick,

Select Trailers here locally has a Winegard 'batwing' type antenna in stock for $159. I went by yesterday to examine the unit and to determine if it is an installation worthy of my limited skills. I understand that the price is in the high range but, they are local, nice people and, it is in stock - no shopping cart required and the shipping is already paid.

Thanks for the lead you published on the antenna you use for local network stations. The price is certainly attractive. How would you rate the unit against the Winegard?

Nick Badame Refrig/ACC · April 05, 2012, 03:12:49 PM

Hi Gary,

I'm not sure if the wineguard is an HD antenna or not. It might be..

You would have much better reception with an HD capable antenna.

Also, unidirectional is also a good thing.

Nick-

FloridaCliff · April 05, 2012, 03:27:24 PM

Quote from: Nick Badame Refrig. Co. on April 05, 2012, 03:12:49 PM
I'm not sure if the wineguard is an HD antenna or not. It might be..
You would have much better reception with an HD capable antenna.

Guys,

All "HD" Off Air (local channels) signals are in the UHF band, so any older antenna that was designed for VHF/UHF will bring in your digitals and so will just a regular UHF antenna.

The "HD ready" is only marketing hype to separate you and your cash.

Cliff

mikelcan · April 05, 2012, 06:57:27 PM

Quote from: FloridaCliff on April 05, 2012, 03:27:24 PM
Guys,

All "HD" Off Air (local channels) signals are in the UHF band, so any older antenna that was designed for VHF/UHF will bring in your digitals and so will just a regular UHF antenna.

The "HD ready" is only marketing hype to separate you and your cash.

Cliff

Small correction - there are still tv stations that use the "high" VHF channels 7 - 13 for digital broadcast. The FCC moved all of the "low" vhf channels 2- 6 into UHF frequencies. So you still need a VHF/UHF antenna (which Cliff stated) to recieve all the channels. You will also need a digital tuner. Most satelitte receivers are capable of that but there are some older receivers out there that are not. A plus side is many stations broadcast extra channels along side the main channel giving more options for off the air tv.

Another good antenna for busses or rvs is the Jack TV antenna.

Mike

Dreamscape · April 05, 2012, 09:18:41 PM

We have had DirecTv in our coach full-timing for a little over three years. Have an in motion Tracvision LM that is older than dirt, but it works! Also have DNS, but with our billing zip code (TX), it is for the East Coast feed. I haven't checked or changed our billing address to see if we could get the West Coast. It works out for us because if we want to see anything on the regular networks, we get a three hour head start!

For getting locals while we travel, we deploy our Winegard Sensar with Wingman. Have had it for about three years and have found it to work flawlessly.

Maybe one day we'll upgrade if our current system grenades on us!

white-eagle · April 06, 2012, 05:17:02 AM

Quote from: garhawk on April 05, 2012, 05:36:05 AM
Hi Nick,

Select Trailers here locally has a Winegard 'batwing' type antenna in stock for $159. I went by yesterday to examine the unit and to determine if it is an installation worthy of my limited skills. I understand that the price is in the high range but, they are local, nice people and, it is in stock - no shopping cart required and the shipping is already paid.

Thanks for the lead you published on the antenna you use for local network stations. The price is certainly attractive. How would you rate the unit against the Winegard?

The batwing will work fine. but for that much, talk to them about the automatic batwing. goes up and down by electric. no hole through the ceiling with a crank required. just a small wire to the control box, 12v, you push to turn on, push to raise, push button to turn either direction. much easier than the crank up. i think mine was $259 from solid signal.
we get stations almost every where we've been from Florida to Ohio and even in the mountains of CO. Amplifier is built into it.

We use an extra room directv receiver for the other channels on directv.

FloridaCliff · April 06, 2012, 04:35:41 PM

Quote from: mikelcan on April 05, 2012, 06:57:27 PM
Quote from: FloridaCliff on April 05, 2012, 03:27:24 PM
Guys,

All "HD" Off Air (local channels) signals are in the UHF band, so any older antenna that was designed for VHF/UHF will bring in your digitals and so will just a regular UHF antenna.

The "HD ready" is only marketing hype to separate you and your cash.

Cliff

Small correction - there are still tv stations that use the "high" VHF channels 7 - 13 for digital broadcast. The FCC moved all of the "low" vhf channels 2- 6 into UHF frequencies. So you still need a VHF/UHF antenna (which Cliff stated) to recieve all the channels. You will also need a digital tuner. Most satelitte receivers are capable of that but there are some older receivers out there that are not. A plus side is many stations broadcast extra channels along side the main channel giving more options for off the air tv.

Another good antenna for busses or rvs is the Jack TV antenna.

Mike

Mike ,

Thanks for pointing out about the CH7-13, I had overlooked that.....

Most new or recently purchased TV's have the digital tuner built in, so you could use the video/audio inputs for your sat receiver and the RF input for your antenna.

Cliff

jjrbus · April 06, 2012, 05:27:31 PM

I have not had Direct in years. Been using Dish for some time. When ever I have a problem I call and play along with the broken English person, ( iI do not get nasty with them, they are just trying to eat) after a bit of dialog to make it look legit, I tell the Service Rep it is becoming too much of a problem, I don't really watch that much TV and I want to cancel my service. I am quickly transferred to a retention expert. This will be a person in the US who speaks perfect English and has the authority and knowledge to get things done! I doubt that Direct is any different. Last time they knocked $15 a month off my bill for a year to compensate me for the problems. HTH JIm

ruthi · April 10, 2012, 06:41:16 AM

We have direct in the house and bus. We have separate receivers just for the bus. They think they are all for the house. Years ago, we were able to get east coast and west coast feeds for the house, because we were too far away from locals, and could not get them even with an atenna. So, we just put a couple of receivers in the bus, and we were set. I called them about a yr ago, cause I wanted to downgrade our service to a cheaper pkg. I was told if I do, that I will lose our east and west coast feeds because now locals are avail. So, I told them I wanted to keep them because we occasionally,

use one in the rv when we travel and want to watch locals. They said I would need to apply for a rv permit to receive east coast only. I asked would I be guaranteed to get it, and they said no. So then she said that they were going to have to disconnect my distant service, because it was not legal for us to have it. I told her, NO, if you do, I will change my service provider. We argued for a while, and she finally said she was wiping her hands clean for now, and we would prob. in the end lose it. Well, that was quiet a while ago, and we still have it. It does suck though that we cant change our pkg we get, or we will lose our dns. Yall know how we work, and i would not like it if we didnt get the networks. So, we will just keep silent, keep what we have for as long as we can.
It is ridiculous that as much as we pay for tv, we cant get what we want. We dont have locals at home, cause if we did, again, we would lose our dns. Geeze!

akroyaleagle · April 10, 2012, 01:53:42 PM

We have had DTV for 16 years. We have been through all the frustrations mentioned here and some more. It only cost about $10 per month to activate my owned receiver in the coach. I could activate and deactivate as I wished.

Recently, I had another run-in with DTV and had everything disconnected.

I went to Walmart and bought a flexible plastic batwing antenna for $15 and it receives excellent digital TV. I use it exclusively. I went back and bought 2 more. One for the bdrm and one for our camping trailer. Everywhere I have used it, it works perfectly! I suppose if I used in a larger metro area, it would receive even more.

I'm very happy with it and don't care now if I ever use the satellite again. Seems a waste of a new automatic Kingdome, but it's fine until I cool down in a few years and reconsider (or forget) my dealings with Direct TV.

jjrbus · April 10, 2012, 07:40:46 PM

Kudos to you Joe, one of these days I need to do it! JIm

garhawk · April 12, 2012, 06:23:30 AM

After digesting all the advice, I ordered the power operated Sensar from Winegard. The price was $249 plus shipping. It seemed to me that the $100 difference between the power operated and the manual crank made for an easy choice. Plus, there is only one hole to punch in the roof.

My decision to go with an additional antenna for the locals was not that I objected to Direct's $15 per month charge for the Distant Network Service (well, guess I did object but, would have gone along with the charge). The killer charge was $68.99 plus taxes per month for a seperate account for the bus. I already pay that same amount for the house and an additional $6 per month for the receiver box in the bus.

It is my understanding that some folks only pay the $15 per month for DNS. It seems to me that: 1) Direct TV doesn't have any consistency in training their service personel and/or, 2) there is a certain amount of scam artistry included.

At any rate, the stone has been thrown and the Winegard should be here in a couple days. I'll let you know how it works out.

belfert · April 12, 2012, 10:58:38 AM

Congress wrote new legislation in 1999 that affects Satellite TV. DNS was grandfathered for those who already had it, but only until 2004. There is an exemption for RVs with permanently attached satellite dishes only. I am guessing that the Satellite companies could get in trouble with the FCC if they added DNS to an account that is attached to a fixed dwelling.

If your location can get local TV via an antenna you need to get a waiver from the local TV stations in order to get DNS.