F423208 Report post Posted November 17, 2013 I terminated my 13-year subscription to Direct TV because the national office requires a minimum of 6 month's active service per year. We only travel in the RV 3 to 4 1/2 months per year. DirecTV requires we pay a minimum subscription price of $50.month for the balance of 3 to 1 1/2 months we do not travel. We have cable TV at home, so the Direct TV equipment stays in the RV. Has anyone found a solution to this problem other than being $50/month for unused service? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RangerSmith Report post Posted November 18, 2013 Dish has a pay as you go service which is month to month. Pay for one then shut off in 30 days. Go online and pay next time you are going out and it gets turned back on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted November 18, 2013 Ranger has it right. Dish pay as you go (PAYG) service allows you to sign up for as much or as little as you like (30 day min.). You have to buy the receiver(s) but otherwise you just pay for the services you want and pick the time period. When that time period expires you don't have to do anything, the service just ends unless you request that it be extended. Sounds like a perfect option for your needs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bobbyks Report post Posted November 18, 2013 I have the same problem with Direct TV which I only have in my MH. I cancel for 6 months during my off season travel, would like the Dish where you pay as go but was told my Winegard Roadtrip Minimax would have to be reworked in order to receive with Dish's receivers. Anyone got a take on this? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted November 18, 2013 Your antenna does not need to be "re-worked". To change a Winegard dome from DirecTV to Dish you just remove the dome and flip a couple of dip switches. Takes a couple of minutes and you can do it yourself. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RTinVa Report post Posted December 13, 2013 Your antenna does not need to be "re-worked". To change a Winegard dome from DirecTV to Dish you just remove the dome and flip a couple of dip switches. Takes a couple of minutes and you can do it yourself. Can you provide any pictures of the dip switches to flip and additional details on how to do this? I believe my 14 FW Expedition 38B has the Winegard and will eventually consider a system to accommodate "on the go" satellite TV for when the grandchildren are traveling with us. Currently we are part timers but once I retire in Feb 2016 I plan on being on the road a great deal. Thank you for all your information and advice as I am not electrinically savy at all. If you think it would be better to hire someone to assist me in setting everything up where would I go for a service like that? Thanks again in advance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted December 13, 2013 When you remove the dome of your Winegard antenna you will see a silver electronics box. There is a label on top that shows you which switches to set for which service and you will find the tiny dip switches on the side of that box. The DirecTV setting is switch 8 down and all others up. For Dish you change that to 4, 7, 8 down. You can check with the local RV parks as they usually know who the local RV friendly installers are. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
RTinVa Report post Posted December 15, 2013 Found very helpful information in the manual today. Here are a few pages from my model which is a stationary satellite unit. It is set up for Direct TV. If I go with Dish Network that you can start and stop service and not pay for months it is parked I will open the dome and throw the appropriate switches. Hope this helps others as much as it did me. Reading in the winter will save me frustration when back on the road! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted December 15, 2013 If you are a DirecTV customer then the dip switches would be set all up with 8 down. Dish 4,7,8 down. If you do not have an owners manual you can find the information here: http://www.winegard.com/minimax/index.php There is also an Eastern Arc option as well as hybrid mode depending upon your location and your needs. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
born2travel Report post Posted December 15, 2013 Also, with DISH get "snowbird" status and when you get at a stopping point a phone call will get the local channels changed to your new area. Sometimes you have to get a human that understands RV living. I have only had to do that twice in all the times I have called them. The only problem I have ever had was when my receivers wasn't putting the signal out to the TV. I was told they had to send a technician out. I asked why and was told so they could aim my dish. I asked if they missed the part about my having an automatic dish. She said she had no clue as to what I meant. I asked for another customer service rep and the problem was fixed in about 5 minutes. The second customer service rep said they would "educate" the first rep about RVs, automatic dishes & how to force an update. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mesbennett10@yahoo.com Report post Posted January 10, 2014 I am new to this forum and have been full time for 2 year ..first in a Rialta and now in an Airstream...Now I have a TV and want Dish network but I am told that I have to have a "home" set up first. Would the pay as you go work for a full timer...Do I have to use "my Home" language to get service?? (IE hide that it is an RV?) Also I was told that if I had a receiver such as the RT400T (on the roof/not stationary) I would have to pay extra to get HD. Any thoughts or advice?? thanks...guess I will have to figure out how to add a picture. maryb Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted January 10, 2014 You can get all the stuff you would get during a home installation in your RV and you can get it all free. If you cannot find an RV friendly installer through one of the local RV parks, you can call Winegard at 866-609-9374 and they will send you all of the necessary equipment and setup your mobile account. There is no extra charge for HD (unless you do the pay as you go) when you sign a contract. The Winegard RT4000T will work just fine and I would recommend you get a VIP211k (or z) for best operation with that antenna. You will either need to make all the necessary connections yourself or, again, find a local RV friendly installer (or neighbor) familiar with setting up a dome and running the necessary Check Switch routine. Let me know if you need additional info. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
born2travel Report post Posted January 10, 2014 I am new to this forum and have been full time for 2 year ..first in a Rialta and now in an Airstream...Now I have a TV and want Dish network but I am told that I have to have a "home" set up first. Would the pay as you go work for a full timer...Do I have to use "my Home" language to get service?? (IE hide that it is an RV?) Also I was told that if I had a receiver such as the RT400T (on the roof/not stationary) I would have to pay extra to get HD. Any thoughts or advice?? thanks...guess I will have to figure out how to add a picture. maryb They wanted a "home" address when I activated my receiver but did not require a home system setup. If you got that information from Dish network I'd call back and get someone who can help with an RV activation. If you got it from someone else I suspect they have no first hand knowledge. The ViP211k is a fairly inexpensive receiver and has served us well on the road and was HD ready. To record you attach a external hard drive to the receiver. There was a one time fee for the recording setup. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hermanmullins Report post Posted January 10, 2014 Question, do I remember that either Dish or Direct had a plan for RVers where they can receive either the East coast or West coast major new works any where you are? Herman Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted January 10, 2014 Yes, that service is available for both Dish or DirecTV customers. For DirecTV you get programming from EITHER NY or LA (based upon the time zone where the account is setup) and with Dish you can select NY or San Fran. (or both) but only in SD and through a separate company called All American Direct. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jlandon13399 Report post Posted January 12, 2014 Bill Adams, I have DirecTV at home. I understand you can bring your home box to your motorhome and hook it up to your dome and receive all but your local stations when you are out of your area. True....not true????? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
BillAdams Report post Posted January 12, 2014 True! If you connect to a dome style antenna you will not get any of the programming in HD but otherwise you will get all of that programming in SD and it all comes off one satellite making setup and operation very easy. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wess34758 Report post Posted May 27, 2014 We are new to RV living, we use Dish pay as you go, and keep the local home stations for the news. Make sure you have a good over the air antenna for bad weather. If we get a bad storm we lose the satellite. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rlbarkleyii Report post Posted August 13, 2015 There is another option for those of us that are currently equipt with Direct TV (DTV) satellite dishes on our coaches. You do not have to pay for DTV in your coach and at home too. If you have your MH receiver move to your account with your home system, you will only have to pay "ONE programming package and a mere $6.00 for the receiver in your MH. Yo are allowed to have more than one receiver in a account, but you only pay for ONE programming package per account, shared among them. It took me almost a year of brow beating DTV to find this out, but i got lucky, I'm trying to pass this info on! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HarleyDriven Report post Posted August 17, 2015 I terminated my 13-year subscription to Direct TV because the national office requires a minimum of 6 month's active service per year. We only travel in the RV 3 to 4 1/2 months per year. DirecTV requires we pay a minimum subscription price of $50.month for the balance of 3 to 1 1/2 months we do not travel. We have cable TV at home, so the Direct TV equipment stays in the RV. Has anyone found a solution to this problem other than being $50/month for unused service? I guess after reading all this I don't get the problem, we just take receiver out of house an use it in MH, wherever we are, we don't get local channels , but fire up the digital ant. an those are all in HD anyway. Having said that how many places are you going to take a class A that doesn't have cable as part of there service... just saying. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
femurfxr Report post Posted January 9, 2016 Mobile service with directv: "You may suspend your residential account or Mobile Vehicle account up to 4 times per calendar year. Each suspend request must be for a minimum of 30 days and can not exceed 6 months." Quote from email from directv regarding mobile account 1/09/16. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cmarq Report post Posted January 9, 2016 I have the min max and have been with dish about 6 years with no problems. We have home service and in the spring I put one receiver in MH you do have to reprogram the receiver to use in MH. We have been happy with both Dish and Winegard customer service. Just a FYI my neighbor purchased the new Winegard G2 carry out, We could not get a signal at all a call to Winegard and we learned they do not recommend it for Connecticut and parts of the east coast It cannot receive the eastern arc satellite. He had to switch to the Pathway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
wildebill308 Report post Posted January 10, 2016 I guess after reading all this I don't get the problem, we just take receiver out of house an use it in MH, wherever we are, we don't get local channels , but fire up the digital ant. an those are all in HD anyway. Having said that how many places are you going to take a class A that doesn't have cable as part of there service... just saying. Welcome to the forum. I was in several parks this summer that didn't offer cable or it wasn't working. Bill Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
