Hi Everyone. Well, after 15 years the RV-Dreams Community Forum is coming to an end. Since it began in August 2005, we've had 58 Million page views, 124,000 posts, and we've spent about $15,000 to keep this valuable resource for RVers free and open. But since we are now off the road and have settled down for the next chapter of our lives, we are taking the Forum down effective June 30, 2021. It has been a tough decision, but it is now time.
We want to thank all of our members for their participation and input over the years, and we want to especially thank those that have acted as Moderators for us during our amazing journey living and traveling in our RV and growing the RV-Dreams Family. We will be forever proud to have been founders of this Forum and to have been supported by such a wonderful community. Thank you all!!
We don't watch much TV and thus far have been able to get along just fine with either using the campground WiFi or our "grandfathered" unlimited data on a cell phone with unlimited data to stream shows / movies via Hulu, Amazon Prime or a day or 5 later from the major networks for shows that are online after the original airdate. Most of the time it's just not that critical to watch a show "live". We can also usually pick up a few local channels using the "wingman" on our TV antenna so we know if there's a bad strom heading our way, a lesson learned the hard way after being caught last summer in the flooding in Colorado.
Occasionally we want to watch something live that we can't pick up on a local channel, such as tonight when the Seattle Seahawks (10-1, GO HAWKS) are pounding the New Orleans Saints on Monday night football. We don't want a huge monthly bill and we don't want a lot of upfront investment for something we might use a few hours a month.
Reading through several threads it seems a Dish tailgator and a monthly, "pay as you go" plan might be the best option. Any other suggestions? At this rate we might, just maybe, want to be able to watch a few NFL playoff games live
-- Edited by NWescapee on Tuesday 3rd of December 2013 08:55:25 AM
We are using the Tailgator with Dish and it seems to be a good fit for us. This past summer we were in a site for 3 months that had enough trees we couldn't get a signal. We just called Dish and they put our account on "Pause". When we moved we unpaused and gave them the new zip code so we can access local channels. As long as the handle points north, and there is an opening pointed south the unit seems to work fine. I think out plan is around $75 a month when we use it.
there is something to be said about watching the playoffs with friends or total strangers you just met that have the same goal......watch the Sea Hawks kick butt! You could just drive to a local establishment and watch the game.....May see some real characters too.
Before satellite we used a winegard batwing amplified antenna. Between it, the cable supplied by some of the RV parks and a supply of movies on video tape we were able to stay entertained.
If there was a show/sports event we just had to watch ("Who Shot JR") we would find a bar/diner in town to watch the show or take our 12v portable TV and find a signal. I can remember sitting in the truck on a cliff above Blythe just to watch "Dallas" to find out who shot JR watching... using our 10 inch black & white TV plugged into the cigarette lighter.
After so many years of TV this way it was amazing the first time we were out in the middle of the desert, 60 miles from the nearest town and watched the Rose Parade on New Years day when we first got our Dish Network satellite system.
This year we bought a tailgater system. It worked well, very easy to setup, light weight and with the external hard drive (powered by external power source) my DW was able to record the shows she likes to watch while watching other shows.
I haven't tried the pay as you go yet since we were set in place for 4 months. I do need to call them and shut off the service for a few months.
That being said...I'm beginning to find that with WiFi, internet service and a smart box/TV or the iPad I can watch thousands of shows or movies for free. For about $10 per month with Hulu, Netflix or one of the other services I can get recent TV shows, sporting events and movies. I predict as wireless internet gets better, with more coverage area...satellite TV will be a thing of the past like laser discs or 8 track tapes.
-- Edited by The Bear II on Tuesday 3rd of December 2013 10:14:24 AM
__________________
"Small House, Big Yard "
"May the FOREST be with you" Alfa See-Ya 5'er and 2007 Kodiak C4500 Monroe
Bear - I hope you are right, that over time it becomes a thing of the past. However, the major networks are not always willing to stream TV live, ESPN last night was not streaming the game live, we also found the same thing for the Macy's Day Parade on Thanksgiving day, that day the network was streaming the game, but not the parade. So, we're trying to figure out a cost effective alternative for the small amount of TV we do want to watch.
Unless the cellular system can handle WAY more usage I don't think satellite tv will go away anytime soon. We're on a 20GB/month Millenicom plan and use about 12GB. This is without streaming. The problem with streaming is it's too easy to go over your limit.
Now if you have an unlimited plan and it works for you, better keep it.
. We don't want a huge monthly bill and we don't want a lot of upfront investment for something we might use a few hours a month.
