Dish or Direct Sat TV?

[JohnEd]

I search for this topic and found some outdated posts but nothing current.  A revisit is in order?

I am having thoughts about switching from Dish.  I have it in the house and have no complaints or anything to compare it to, soooo.  I want to put the system in my RV for travel and, of course, I don't want to pay for two feeds or an arm and a leg, either one. Is one cheaper?


In some of the old posts it talks about the direct sys having sats that are at a higher elevation and easier to acquire.  That was 2007 info and I suspect things might have changed in two or three years.  Who has the easies and most reliable sat feeds in the west?

Some posts from old say that Dish must be hooked up to a phone line and for 4 years I haven't done so.  Do either really need to have a periodic hookup to a landline?

Service was a big issue and Direct seemed to have the best service,,,,then.....but what about today?

Any other topic you might think worth considering?

Thank you,

John

[WEC4104]

Both Dish and DirectTV each have multiple satellites in orbit over the continental U.S. (CONUS).  They are all in geostationary orbit (at the same height) over the equator.  They are spaced out at different longitudes to give coverage to as many customers as possible.   The satellite that appears highest is the one who's orbit location most closely matches the customer's longitude on the ground. So neither Dish nor DirectTV have higher-in-the-sky satellites, it all depends on where you are located in the U.S.  Over the past 2 years, Dish has also added and shuffled several satellites that handle the east coast coverage area.

In my opinion, both Dish and DirectTV are very similar in their packages and costs.  DirectTV seems to have a bit of an edge for the extreme sports fans. I haven't checked in a while, but it used to be you could get the NFL Game Day package on Direct TV, but not Dish.

Another factor to consider is the type of hardware you will be using to receive the signal. If you are planning to manually set up the dish once you reach your destination, either package should be okay. BUT if you are planning to use an in-motion satellite tracker you need to look closely at the signal band you want to use.  Most in-motion trackers only support the "Ku band".   Dish uses only the Ku Band, so that is fine.   However, DirectTV uses both KU and Ka band.  Many in-motion systems can't handle Ka band, and DirectTV is moving more and more in that direction.   

[PP]

Hi John, I just recently did some studying on this subject because I like staying up to date on my options. This is what I learned and I think since we're not that far apart here, it should apply to you also. Basic Dish after all promos have run their course is $39.99/mo with locals. Basic Direct after all promos is $54.99 with locals after all promos have run their course. Right now you can get Direct basic for $29.99/mo with a 1 year commitment. When aiming your dish, the Direct is much lower on the horizon. I believe 37 degrees vs 43 with Dish. If you are in an area with trees this makes a huge difference. I have seen first hand a Dish signal coming in clear when Direct couldn't clear the trees. I have opted to stay with Dish for this reason and also because I don't want to open up my dome and retoggle the dip switches and start all over. In short, my opinion FWIW is that Dish is the lesser of the 2 evils available. You can always just carry your reciever with you when on the road and plug it into a dome on the roof or a portable on the ground when parked. My 2centavos, Good luck, Will

[robertglines1]

I pay $5 a month for a extra dish receiver in bus not hooked to phone line.have called for support on occasion no problem on road.

[ruthi]

We have had direct, ever since their existence. It seems Direct is always a little ahead of Dish, as far as new stuff. I dont know what Dish charges for extra receivers, but Direct is only 5 dollars per month.

[Dreamscape]

John,

If you have Dish, stay with it. Just move your receivers into the coach and make a phone call, you may or may not have to do that. If your contract is about up it's your call. I have had DirecTV for several years in a stick and brick, this past year in the Eagle. No problems at all that couldn't be fixed with a phone call, moma's happy so you know what that means.

Paul

[Nick Badame Refrig/ACC]

Oh No.... Not this topic again!!

It's kinda like being Democrat or Republican...Lol

I'm a Direct Republicrat

Nick-

[JohnEd]

I have had Dish for 6 years or so and I have no complaints.  It is cheaper by a tad and I have all the equipment and I will be putting it in the coach when I go on the road so I guess I will stand pat.  I also own my DVR till it craps out.

Thank you all, I feel better about this now.

John

[cody]

We have direct tv and I got an extra reciever for the bus and bought an extra dish for 50 bucks from the installer, I had a chance to try it out for the first time at BK's rally, it wasn't that hard to aim, with some pointers from the other guys we got it aimed and locked in quickly, the next time it went a lot faster lol, I got a wineguard house tripod and used that so I could move the dish around if needed. works great but it does cost 5 bucks a month extra for the extra reciever.

[Van]

5 years ago,we had Direct,we bought our own boxes 1 Hughes HD,and two RCA standard boxes. That being said I still have the boxes, would they be out dated or can they still be used today to receive service? thanks as this question has always been on my mind. We only need 1 box now,and if they can still be used today,that would leave us with two extra if any one needs them. thanks

[Melbo]

Van

If you bought the receivers and they were associated with your account then you should have no problem --- However if you got them from someone else it can get complicated. I have had to buy a new card to reactivate a receiver -- I have Dish at the fixed position locations and Direct in the bus -- so Nick I go both ways and have no preference about which is better -- It's kind of like whatever you get used to. Politics is a COMPLETELY different matter LOL so I won' t comment on that.

Melbo

[Dreamscape]

Van, I have an RCA receiver that is at least 10 years old, work just fine. One new DVR in the bedroom, free from DirecTv. It's the card that is important, of course if you want HD, you'll have to get the new style receiver. I let them supply the receivers, if something goes wrong they send a new one at no charge.

Paul

[Van]

Thanks Paul, so I take it that the high def box is a no-go and the standard box is good to go, shame about not being able to use the HD box though as it was a bit pricey at the time.

[JohnEd]

Van,

What Paul said.....sorry I am late.

You can't benefit from the hi def unless you have the TV that,can handle it.  I got a 32 inch that will do High Def AND will handle the vid from my laptop in 1080.  I am not so rich that I can afford that stuff for the RV alone and that big screen unbolts easily and gets put back in my living room when I am home.  My laptop is my Blue Ray player, also.

I think that 3D is on the horizon so all the TVs will have to be replaced to handle that, most certainly....and the boxes.  Just to darken your day (and mine)

John

[Cary and Don]

We investigated changing from Directv to Dish when we installed our new in-motion dome.  Dish can get hi-def with the dome and Directv can't. The manual had some information about "toggling" between satellites for Dish.  I called customer service for the dome and he told me that this was true because Dish had their programing spread over a number of satellites as apposed to Directv that had almost all of their programing, excluding Hi-Def, on 101.  This only really becomes a problem if you have a receiver that has two inputs.  The dome will receive one satellite at a time.  So you can't watch something off one satellite and record something off another. We decided to keep the Directv for that reason.

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