Satellite dish

[Browngard]

Hi recently bought new motorhome. Burstner. It has normal areail. I looked at portable sat dish are they worth buying. If so what do you recommend

 

[pappajohn]

You need a decent amount of space for storing a dish plus a ground (tripod) mounted dish is too vulnerable to getting knocked over, stolen or, like mine did, being tampered with.
Someone covered the face of the LNB with tinfoil so no signal.
You would be better with a decent unlimited Internet package for your phone and something like a Firestick to receive TV via WiFi.

 

[Conal]

We had a large dish on ours when we bought it. I could not get it to work so asked the sellers to remove it, which they did. I have trawled this site to seek advice on whether or not to replace it. The advice is a resounding no….. but, as we may be limited to the UK for a while, the advice may now be different?

 

[Figaro]

I think streaming tv is the future but you do need a decent mobile phone signal.

 

[Speve]

We use our sat dish most of the time even though streaming is the in thing, we are sticking to what we have as streaming in EU will be a high drain on data especially with providers putting a 20%-25% fair usage policy. So sticking with sat dish.

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[AndyPK]

Shame that you are so far away…….I’ve just dropped the price of this to free……..

Manhattan SX Freesat receiver, Zone 2 mini-dish

Manhattan SX Freesat receiver (12v/240v), Zone 2 mini-dish, fixings and tripod, quad LNB - all new and never used. I was going to use as a portable sat. system in the ‘van but have decided to upgrade streaming facilities instead! FREE! collection only...

www.motorhomefun.co.uk

 

[jongood]

I really think it depends how much TV you want to watch and where.

Our dish packed up just before our last trip so we stuck a kindle in. consequently we were able to watch the euros and the F1 in english in Spain and Portugal. I don't think I could have managed this even with our 90cm dish. We didnt struggle with signal anywhere and on one particular occasion I wouldnt have used the dish because of gusty wind.

We both have the sky package which banks your unused data so we had about 150GB to go at and used only about 35gb, we were away for just over 6 weeks, obviously longer term I would get a local sim.

IMO as the satelite footprint gets ever smaller then the point of the satelite when you're not in the UK becomes progressively less. I'm seriously thinking of removing the dish and fitting an ariel just to supplement UK use.

 

[uzsnowdrop]

Our PVC had a dome/dish fitted, looked like a Royal Navy boat radar thing, got rid of it asap and just use an Avtex tv and a very small cheap arial that has given us perfect freeview in the UK.
Nice to have for a bit of News and rainy day entertainment, but definitely dont want to sit in the van watching tv all day. Streaming seems to be the way ahead , technology is moving so fast seems best to just invest in a firestick for now.

 

[62272]

We have an oyster V (85 cm) auto screw (fully automatic seeking) roof mounted satellite system. Since the change of the Astra 2 (the main UK satellite) coverage area (reduced) we struggle to get Astra 2 as you venture about mid-way down France. You can lock on to other satellites, but english speaking channels will be limited.

We find that most continental pitches are surrounded by trees (or mountains!) and block out Astra 2 anyway. When used in the UK, anything more than a light breeze interferes with the signal, and have found the aerial provides a much more stable connection.

We mainly use the aerial (power boosted) which came fitted with the MOHO when in the UK, and the signal is generally very good. On sites that struggle with TV signals, they generally have a free cable (coax) service to your electric/service point (although we generally just watch a DVD if there is no good 4g signal). On the continent the 4g network is exceptional (in my experience), I use up to about 40 GB, if downloading content, but streaming would be about 25 GB (within the UK fair useage allowance) in a month.

I would concur with the previous comments we generally just stream abroad (cannot think of any site we go to abroad that we have not had a high speed 4g service on Vodafone), and in the UK, if lucky we use 4g, if not the aerial/DVD.

 

[Richard n Ann]

We just set the tv up and put this on the roof...

Always pulls in plenty channels great metal build quality and only 10 quid

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[Ninjabob]

I have an Oyster 3 Autoscrew and find it to be an excellent bit of kit. We have E&P so the van is always stable so this helps. I have both built in Freesat on my TV and an Icecrypt Box so have the choice of two directions to point the dish. The problem with streaming is it requires a tethered phone/router with a decent signal to be reliable. I have stayed in several places in the UK where a 4g signal has not been possible let alone a phone signal . Brexit has brought back restrictions on roaming in the EU with a lot of operators restricting roaming data use to 25gb or even less. Going over that figure can result in punitive charges. I would not necessarily be installing a dish at this point but I certainly would not be removing a working one.

 

[Wh05apk]

We just set the tv up and put this on the roof...

View attachment 524657

Always pulls in plenty channels great metal build quality and only 10 quid

Thats what we have as a back up for UK use when it is too windy for the dish, I was sceptical at first, but find its works surprisingly well, best £10 we ever spent.

 

[62272]

I have an Oyster 3 Autoscrew and find it to be an excellent bit of kit. We have E&P so the van is always stable so this helps. I have both built in Freesat on my TV and an Icecrypt Box so have the choice of two directions to point the dish. The problem with streaming is it requires a tethered phone/router with a decent signal to be reliable. I have stayed in several places in the UK where a 4g signal has not been possible let alone a phone signal . Brexit has brought back restrictions on roaming in the EU with a lot of operators restricting roaming data use to 25gb or even less. Going over that figure can result in punitive charges. I would not necessarily be installing a dish at this point but I certainly would not be removing a working one.

Ive got an icebox (freezer) but not heard of an icecrypt Box… what does that do?

 

[DJT]

Our PVC had a dome/dish fitted, looked like a Royal Navy boat radar thing, got rid of it asap and just use an Avtex tv and a very small cheap arial that has given us perfect freeview in the UK.
Nice to have for a bit of News and rainy day entertainment, but definitely dont want to sit in the van watching tv all day. Streaming seems to be the way ahead , technology is moving so fast seems best to just invest in a firestick for now.

Deleted

 

[DJT]

We just set the tv up and put this on the roof...

View attachment 524657

Always pulls in plenty channels great metal build quality and only 10 quid

How the hell do you get a signal with a cardboard box??
DJT

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[uzsnowdrop]

We just set the tv up and put this on the roof...

View attachment 524657

Always pulls in plenty channels great metal build quality and only 10 quid

Thats it! Was just looking for a photo of one, we have it, its like a secret weapon… bloody fabulous, we just thread it out of skylight, plonk it on roof, brilliant reception, best purchase ever

 

[62272]

Ive got an icebox (freezer) but not heard of an icecrypt Box… what does that do?

Satellite Systems for Motorhomes & Caravans - Motorhome Supplies UK ¦ Jackson Satellite Systems ¦ TVs ¦ Levelling Systems

Buying a satellite system for your motorhome or caravan is a big investment and that's why we offer you unparalleled levels of service and advice at Jacksons...

www.jacksonsuk.com

for those who are interested

 

[Neil S]

streaming is unreliable , to many out of the way places where the signal is either weak or non existent making watching live TV impossible .
Satellite always works , if you can see south or West you'll get a picture either via Astra 2 or Intelsat 901

 

[Neil S]

Ive got an icebox (freezer) but not heard of an icecrypt Box… what does that do?

Icecrypt satellite receivers allows you watch the mainstream channels via Intelsat 901 satellite over most of Europe including Spain and Portugal with an 80cm dish

 

[tonyidle]

I have an Oyster 3 Autoscrew and find it to be an excellent bit of kit. We have E&P so the van is always stable so this helps. I have both built in Freesat on my TV and an Icecrypt Box so have the choice of two directions to point the dish. The problem with streaming is it requires a tethered phone/router with a decent signal to be reliable. I have stayed in several places in the UK where a 4g signal has not been possible let alone a phone signal . Brexit has brought back restrictions on roaming in the EU with a lot of operators restricting roaming data use to 25gb or even less. Going over that figure can result in punitive charges. I would not necessarily be installing a dish at this point but I certainly would not be removing a working one.

We watch almost no TV and when we do watch it's just the odd specific program. I have an Oyster system which is fuss free and of course never requires re-tuning. Press the button, pull TV from hidey-hole & switch on and it's working. When finished push button, hide TV, finished. The van came with the Oyster so no purchase decision but I wouldn't be without it now.

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[pandas]

I really think it depends how much TV you want to watch and where.

Our dish packed up just before our last trip so we stuck a kindle in. consequently we were able to watch the euros and the F1 in english in Spain and Portugal. I don't think I could have managed this even with our 90cm dish. We didnt struggle with signal anywhere and on one particular occasion I wouldnt have used the dish because of gusty wind.

We both have the sky package which banks your unused data so we had about 150GB to go at and used only about 35gb, we were away for just over 6 weeks, obviously longer term I would get a local sim.

IMO as the satelite footprint gets ever smaller then the point of the satelite when you're not in the UK becomes progressively less. I'm seriously thinking of removing the dish and fitting an ariel just to supplement UK use.

I thought a good comment related to UK usage as fair usage applies to data in Europe and would be an issue for some.
However disappointed as in the New Forest simply wanted to stream some golf which is not on my Astra and cannot as the signal strength is too weak. Had the same issue in Norfolk. Very frustrating so how some rely totally on streaming technology I don’t quite understand. Thank goodness we had another Oyster dish fitted. However I would add for a signal we are either relying on an iPhone (11), or a mifi so haven’t a sexy Signal booster but would need convincing that would solve the issue.