As many of you know, Jo and I have now moved into our Mobile Suites with the sale of the house.  We had scheduled to have Direct TV to come and hook us back up to satellite TV.  When they arrived, the installer said that their dish would not fit on the tripod that we had purchased.  (It being less than 2 inches in diameter on the mast.)

So, now we need to research a simple, NON-HI DEF satellite antenna that is compatible with Direct TV.  We have looked at and "sort of" liked the Vu-Cube Model 1000 at $599 while researching online.  That model comes with a remote control for adjusting the "internals" to lock onto a satellite signal.

Have any of you had experience with that model of Vu-Cube enough to advise us on how well it works with Direct TV, how well it operates with the remote control, and have there been any problems with them.

Not that we are really interested in getting the next model up (Model 2000 at $799), but it is automatic.  Would that one be substantially superior to the Model 1000?

Direct TV showed up with a flat plate to go on the ground that the satellite mast and bracket would attach to and it would take 8 cinder blocks to hold down the flat plate.  That is why we have elected to look at a more mobile system of antenna.

What do you experts and non-experts think about the Vu-Cube systems?  Also, does anyone have an idea of what power requirements would be needed to operate a Vu-Cube?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

Terry

Now for some follow-up questions.  With our change from home to RV, we are also getting a DVR.  Are there any issues with being able to watch one show and record another with a satellite system antenna such as the Vu Cube?  Would there be a better system for the Direct TV systems?

Thanks again.

Terry

Terry,

We have the VuCube.  You can not record one channel and watch another at the same time . You can not watch two different TV's.

You need to purchase a different dish.  Bill's answer is one solution and he is very knowledgable about it.

With all the wires and hookups in our MS, I called in "the wiring guy" in town, had him come hook everything up and explain it all to me how it works.

Thanks, All.

I just went out to the compartment where the water, phone, and other inputs are located.  There are connections for Sat #1, Sat #2, and Cable.  So, I am presuming that the Mobile Suites may be capable of accepting two different cables.  The only thing with that compartment is that it doesn't have a 12V power source.  There is a 120V electrical outlet there.

That said, does the Carryout have the capability of having two different cables as Bill mentioned?  I did like the idea of not having to have a separate 12V power line such as the Vu Qube.  Does the Carryout operate off of a direct 12V outlet (such as cigarette lighter type outlet) or does it operate from a 12V adapter plugged into a 120V outlet?

Terry

Wingard makes a nice NON-HD fully automatic antenna which can feed two receivers including a dual channel record Direct TV DVR.  The Winegard TRAV'LER DIRECTV Triple LNB antenna; a roof mounted fully automatic antenna.  In a full-time environment I would consider this more expensive but much more convenient, IMO, fully automatic system.

However, if you only want SD, I can say for sure that with a little practice the “$30” 18” dish can be set up in no time and it can feed either two receivers or a dual channel record DVR.  IMO, the other “mid-line products, such as the “Cube” cost too much for the trouble of running the cable and setting them up outside each time, including the potential of someone “taking” the somewhat expensive cube when you might be gone.

Bill

While that's true, you really would not want to waste your money on a non-HD Trav'ler when you could pay a few extra bucks to get a dish that will work now for non-HD and later for full HD.

As to your connections, you will need to see where those cables go inside.  Many trailer manufacturers run only one cable to the front and one to the back which allows one single receiver to be used in 2 different locations but will not allow one DVR to be used in either location.

For non-HD only the Carryout is a great option as it completely eliminates the issues involved with trying to point an antenna manually.  If you only move a few times per year or every 1-2 months then the time involved in setting up a manual antenna is well worth the savings.  If you travel more than that you will be miles ahead with an auto-pointing system.

Bill, I actually agree with you.  I’d purchase the 5 satellite Ka/Ku so you can get HD later.  The 3 LNB Ku is too close in cost to the SK-3005 SD/HD automatic system.  But Terry specifically said didn’t want and HD, so I obliged.  But in the same thought, I think the Cube is too expensive for a 1 satellite finder dish you have to run cables to and deal with. As you commented, most rigs don’t have two cables to an outside connector, so you have to deal with that issue – like running one, or two, through a window.  I’ve just never had a problem finding one satellite in about 2 minutes and for the cost difference between a Cube and a “$30” antenna I just wanted to make that comment and option.

Now, if someone is trying to find a satellite without a meter physically at the antenna, that’s a lot harder.  But if you do this often with a meter at the dish, it’s a snap as you know.  So, just offering options.

Safe travels

Bill

I am ALL about options, Gentlemen.  We are in a position where we will likely be in one place here in OKC for a few years yet, with an occasional trip or vacation.  I would have let them set up their "package" dish, but I still wanted the option to travel with whatever we get.

I am not against the cheaper satellite dish on a tripod.  We aren't "massive" TV watchers, I don't watch sports, we don't get premium movie channels, and thus we deal with mostly standard definition.

Both of you make good points, and if I were a big watcher, the rooftop system would be the way to go.  Who knows, it may get to that yet someday.  But for now, our money needs to go to pay off our debts so we can travel in a few years.

Winegard has a dish with tripod and meter and stuff for about $150.  I'm not exactly sure where to find one yet as we've just started looking at this since we didn't like the option available when the Direct TV guy got here.  Is the meter and tripod really worth the extra bucks?

Terry

My backup external sat dish is the 18" oval and it does everything except HD. I bought mine for $25 at a satellite store, they were used dishes from their customers. I hate setting it up, but when my roof mounted Slimline Traveler is blocked by trees it's nice to have the option to setup the portable. Unless you know how to wire up your receivers to the dish I would stay away from the new SWM dishes. They are a bear to align since you can't use the old meters to "find" the sat, and the one wire between the dish and inside the coach could make inside wiring a real disaster. My guess is your external plugs for sat #1 and sat #2 are setup to feed the front and rear TV. If that's the case then the 18" oval should be a snap to hook up.

Note that with DirecTV you must run a cable from each receiver to the sat dish.  If the receiver is also a DVR then that reciever will require 2 cables be run to the sat dish.  So if you put a DVR in the front of your rig and plain jane receiver in the bedroom you will need 3 cables run to the sat dish.  The 18" oval can accept 4 cables so that will work.  The problem will be getting 2 cables to the DVR, you can't split the cable.  The SWM setup can handle 8 connections, but you may have an issue getting a cable to the non-DVR receiver in a different room. 

The SWM setup uses 1 wire between the sat dish and inside your rig.  That one cable then goes to a special splitter to break out the 8 channels.  But because it's inside your rig you have to figure out how to run the cables to the receivers.

There's no reason that you could not still have them setup their package with the non-penetrating roof mount (that's what it really is) since it's free if you are going to be there for an extended period.  You could then buy something that you could travel with.  As mentioned above the least expensive option is to see if that same DTV dealer has a used single LNB 18" antenna.  This will not get you HD but it will give you the complete DTV programming package in SD (may not get your Networks either depending upon location but you can use your roof mounted Batwing for that).

You could also purchase the Winegard MP1 which runs about $150 and this is a portable single LNB unit in a hard case for travel and setups up without requiring a tripod saving lots of space and weight.