Satellite Dish (1 Viewer)

[scek]

We are thinking of fitting a satellite dish to our motorhome, but need a couple questions answering first.

1) I was thinking of fitting it in place of our external roof mounted TV aerial - using the same hole in the roof etc. But then we thought we might need freeview tv if we can't get a satellite signal. Has anyone else removed the TV aerial and has just a sat dish?
2) Crank up V Auto. I know there is a big difference in the cost, so we were thinking of going for a crank up. Is the extra cost of an automatic really worth it?


Cheers
Steve

 

[magicsurfbus]

We had a Maxview crank up 66cm dish installed earlier this year and it does what it's supposed to do from Yorkshire to the southernmost part of France. It takes a little bit of fiddling to get the signal right, but the little Silva compass is a good starting point for working out the rough direction to point the dish in, provided you stand well away from large metallic objects like Motorhomes. If your Sat Receiver box puts a signal strength/quality display on the screen (Maxview does) then it's just a few minutes of tweaking the direction and elevation from inside the van until it's sorted. Obviously intervening buildings won't help things but it's surprising what you can still pick up through trees.

Just make sure the device is properly sealed onto your roof as it involves the drilling of a hole right through - you might also try to avoid siting it where water pools on the roof. We had no choice due to the way we load other items onto the roof rack.

Personally I can't see much point in the added expense of an automatic, plus I don't like to make my MH any taller than it already is, but if I was wealthier I probably wouldn't think about it too much.

 

[Jaws]

66cm Oyster automatic for me.. would def NOT dump the aerial as too many times we have had to park right behind cliffs, blocks of flats and tree banks

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[micky drip]

We had a crank up fitted at a dealer, I didnt fancy drilling myself. We use it with our home Sky box which has signal strength meter built in. It takes seconds to set up. Before parking up I check Tom Tom for south which gives a good starting point.
Keep the original ariel for the odd occasion when satellite lets you down.