Dish or Dome, which would you recommend? (1 Viewer)

[Teasy2007]

We have to decide between our KVH dome and a Maxview dish. Which would you have and why? We have only had the dome on our previous motorhome and wondered how a dish performed in wind or bad weather.

Is reception as good?

Any help and advice appreciated.

Ginny

 

[Bailey58]

There was a thread on dishes in windy weather recently, someone will find it hopefully. The consensus was to put it down in windy weather, you'd hate to see the dish and part of your roof on the floor in the morning.

I had a dish on the last van and it was a worry in high winds, now with a dome which is no problem. Both need a clear line of sight to the satellite and heavy rain can affect reception. Only drawback with the dome is that it puts my van over 3 metres so possibly costing more on ferries/tolls, I'm still researching that one.

 

[Scout]

I have the maxview Vuqube, a stand alone dome (well really a cube) which I iether put on the roof or stand on the ground.

benifites:
can be moved about to get line of sight

much cheaper than a fixed unit

no holes in roof

drawbacks:

has to be conected by cable each time to input port on side of van

not as quick to set up as a fixed unit, but still quick

could be stolen ( Ive had it two years and still got it)

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[Teasy2007]

I have just checked and it is not a Maxview dish it is a Mobilsat MSP-S, I have not heard of these before.

Ginny

 

[JeanLuc]

We have had a dome (Camos 40) for about four years and are very happy with its performance. No need to store it in any windy conditions (and we've been out in some howlers). Also, because there are no edges and brackets, it does not catch twigs and branches if you have to pass under low-hanging vegetation (but obviously the dome cover could get scratched if you were not careful). But you probably know al this already.

The general advice regarding dishes seems to be 'stow it when it gets windy'.

Regarding performance, the only issue is coverage under the new footprint of the Astra 2 sats carrying UK FTA channels. However, one could argue that this makes a dome an even more logical choice. The fall-off of the footprint is now more severe so, unless you go for a really big dish (85cm or above), the added benefit over the dome is unlikely to be that marked. This of course all depends on whether you want to receive English language FTA channels in southern France or Spain. Even there, some recent reports have suggested that a 1+ metre dish is not performing so well now.

 

[Teasy2007]

We have had a dome (Camos 40) for about four years and are very happy with its performance. No need to store it in any windy conditions (and we've been out in some howlers). Also, because there are no edges and brackets, it does not catch twigs and branches if you have to pass under low-hanging vegetation (but obviously the dome cover could get scratched if you were not careful). But you probably know al this already.

The general advice regarding dishes seems to be 'stow it when it gets windy'.

Regarding performance, the only issue is coverage under the new footprint of the Astra 2 sats carrying UK FTA channels. However, one could argue that this makes a dome an even more logical choice. The fall-off of the footprint is now more severe so, unless you go for a really big dish (85cm or above), the added benefit over the dome is unlikely to be that marked. This of course all depends on whether you want to receive English language FTA channels in southern France or Spain. Even there, some recent reports have suggested that a 1+ metre dish is not performing so well now.

We have also been very happy with our Dome, and it picked up UK TV in France, no problem at all on our way home from Spain a couple of weeks ago.

The only problem is the dealer would rather leave our dome on our old motorhome rather than transferring it and wants to replace it with the Mobilsat Dish.

We cant decide which is the best thing to do.

Ginny

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[eddie]

Hi Have your KVH swapped over to your new van.

With the footprint changes, the range benefits between dish and dome have been redefined.

strong winds, and storms (lightening) leave you sitting in the van with no satellite TV (when most of us want to snuggle down watch a film with a glass of wine)
as you'll have to close the dish to avoid damaging it or being ripped off the roof damaging the van as well

 

[slimbob]

after having a kvh dome for 2 years now .
I would hand on heart say just go for a digital free view aeriel much cheaper and more reliable.
our dome has been nothing but a problem .
I know others say that the dome is very good this is not what I have found and I am only saying as I have found mine to be
and would never waste my money on another

 

[Bailey58]

after having a kvh dome for 2 years now .
I would hand on heart say just go for a digital free view aeriel much cheaper and more reliable.
our dome has been nothing but a problem .
I know others say that the dome is very good this is not what I have found and I am only saying as I have found mine to be
and would never waste my money on another

Care to elaborate, it may give others some insight on which way to go?

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[slimbob]

within 2 weeks after it was fitted the lnb think that what its called was found to be a problem .
it has never worked for more than 2 weeks on the trot
it keeps going off track not only due to the satellites being moved
each time it costs 40 pounds to sort out last bill we had for it was 280 pounds so now its just a lump on the roof that does not work .
as I say just what I have found with mine .

 

[canopus]

I did hear a whisper from within the trade that some of the UK supplied dome manufacturers were ceasing production due to the revised footprint coverage of the Astra 2 satellite and the limitations of using said domes with the revised footprint. :Sad:

It was said that an 85cm parabolic dish e.g. Oyster, may in future struggle to receive UK TV in the middle of France, and that dome satellites may only work within the UK itself. However, if you're fluent in Arabic you will always be able to pick up on of their stations wherever you are in the world using whatever system

Should you wish to view UK TV in the south of Spain, you will in future need a dish as big as Jodrel Bank

 

[eddie]

I can't imagine the changes making a manufacturer think about giving up. Not everyone can spend months abroad, and for working folk like me, I get a few weeks holiday a year.

I understand that if your spending months abroad at a time, that TV is a different matter.

Also about 50% of our customers have no interest or intention of going abroad.

CA Clase have just launched their Sat-Fi UK dome, which is a smaller dome, priced at just under a £1000 aimed only at the UK market.

I have a KVH R4 Twin on my motorhome, linked to a HD Sky box and with the recent changes I can get my Sky subscription content a lot further into Spain and Italy that I could before so not everything is bad, for subscribers it's improved.

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[Sheddy]

I can't imagine the changes making a manufacturer think about giving up. Not everyone can spend months abroad, and for working folk like me, I get a few weeks holiday a year.

I understand that if your spending months abroad at a time, that TV is a different matter.

Also about 50% of our customers have no interest or intention of going abroad.

CA Clase have just launched their Sat-Fi UK dome, which is a smaller dome, priced at just under a £1000 aimed only at the UK market.

I have a KVH R4 Twin on my motorhome, linked to a HD Sky box and with the recent changes I can get my[HI] Sky subscription content a lot further into Spain and Italy[/HI] that I could before so not everything is bad, for subscribers it's improved.

Currently near Pisa Italy, using a Camos+ twin lnb crankup and getting all our Sky channels+ (ITV2,3&4 Ch5 Hd,+ more along with the C4 set through the Irish Tansponder, we lost the majority of the BBC and ITV channels in the south of France south of Grenoble. The Camos has not really caused us any problems in strong wind it has a relatively low wind resistance in comparison with a dish. :thumb:

 

[Teasy2007]

I did hear a whisper from within the trade that some of the UK supplied dome manufacturers were ceasing production due to the revised footprint coverage of the Astra 2 satellite and the limitations of using said domes with the revised footprint. :Sad:

It was said that an 85cm parabolic dish e.g. Oyster, may in future struggle to receive UK TV in the middle of France, and that dome satellites may only work within the UK itself. However, if you're fluent in Arabic you will always be able to pick up on of their stations wherever you are in the world using whatever system

Should you wish to view UK TV in the south of Spain, you will in future need a dish as big as Jodrel Bank

We watched sky TV in La Manga on a 1.1 dish, we could get Itv in Almafra and BBC in Santa Suzanna. The Dome worked well receiving all channels in France. We came home 2weeks ago so all after the footprint change.

Ginny

 

[chrissyvine]

No problems watching all programmes near Angouleme in France with Oyster system. Must admit have to lower dish in windy weather. While in Spain and Portugal lost all BBC/ITV back in February but still got Sky news and several other channels including Pick and True movies so not all lost.

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