Best Portable TV Receiver

[Gene___Ila]

We've been using a portable tripod and dish for 14 plus years for our TV reception. I'm thinking it's about time to get a system that's easier and quicker to set up and not as bulky to store when traveling. I would appreciate any input from the forum as to experience and recommendations as to best choices.

[Big_Katuna]

I use a Winegard Pathway II caryout auto dome.

It only works for DISH and it does HD.

It "sees" eastern or western arc which can be great when there are lots of trees.

DISH uses three sats and while the Pathway only sees one sat at a time, if you select a channel that is on a different sat, it will change and change so fast you wont notice.

The limitation is that the second sat box can only watch channels on the sat that the first box is on.

This has never been an issue for us.

Buy one or two Wallys and leave them in your rv.

I am very happy with ours.

[Super_Dave]

I’d like to ride the coat tail of the OP as I’m in the same position. I have DirectTV at home and bring the house receiver with us. It would be nice to have a system in the trailer that stays in the trailer.

[Bill_Satellite]

Gene & Ila wrote:
We've been using a portable tripod and dish for 14 plus years for our TV reception. I'm thinking it's about time to get a system that's easier and quicker to set up and not as bulky to store when traveling. I would appreciate any input from the forum as to experience and recommendations as to best choices.

We need more info. What provider do you have now and are you using this at home as well? Are you happy with the service? Do you travel full time or only a few months per year Exactly what equipment are you using now?

[Dutch_12078]

rk911 wrote:

...
AFAIK the Trav'Ler (rooftop and portable models) are the only automatic, HD capable antennas for DISH and maybe DirecTV but I could be wrong on that.

Check out RF Mogul

[wa8yxm]

Well there are some "Automatic" portable antennas for Sat-TV but all, without exception, have issues

All the Dome and Cube type portables are single Sat devices. They can see one satellite at a time. For DirecTV that is 101W For DirecHDTV that is.. Sorry folks that service needs two more birds those antennas can not even see.

For dish it is one of 3 or six. but only one at a time, if you have multi-channel capability (More than one receriver or a DVR) not joy there either as if one channel wants say 110 and the other 119, That takes a dish.

AUTOMATIC dish antennas DO exist, but they are not designed for portable use.

Still. you could make a portable mount and make them portable but .. Well. I do not recommend, big, bulky and heavy.

NOW. on an open site, the automatic roof mounts work great. But on a wooded site, parked under the evil signal eating tree.. No joy.

[Joep1]

I am like you. Been using a tailgater and a 211k. Has worked well it wanted something that would work for 2 TVs . I decided on the Winegard pathway 2. You can watch different shows on different TVs as long as you are on the same satellite.

I just ordered the pathway 2 , two Wally receivers and a tripod for this satellite.

Check out the different vendors and prices to see if this will fit your needs.

I already have Dish and will just add them to my service.

[jplante4]

Moved from General RVing

[MDKMDK]

Was looking into "Dish for My RV" and they offer this model. It's a portable, but can be mounted on the roof as well. I'm not sure how easy it is to move it between portable and fixed mode, but it might give you some flexibility when deciding on a campsite.
Winegard Pathway X1

[rk911]

we have a rooftop Trav'Ler on the DISH Network and love it.

pros are ease of setup and automatic lock onto the satellites. one button does it all. while I'm setting up camp I power up the Trav'ler and by the time I'm done it's up and locked onto the 3-western arc satellites. same with when we break camp. I power off the Trav'Ler and before I'm done the antenna is down and stored.

cons are the inability to move the antenna if trees or other obstacles are in the way. we deal with this by carefully choosing the parks we stay in...looking at them on Google Earth and talking with campground management in advance.

AFAIK the Trav'Ler (rooftop and portable models) are the only automatic, HD capable antennas for DISH and maybe DirecTV but I could be wrong on that. I didn't need to do a lot of research as I did not want to fool with a portable antenna/tripod even one that was automatic. didn't want to lose storage space either.

good luck.

[STBRetired]

Budget?
DirecTV or Dish?
SD or HD?

[2oldman]

There are many, but you'll pay for it.