Winegard dome and H24

[moisheh]

Is there anyone here using a Direct dome with an HD receiver. I know everything will be in SD but are you able to get most channels?
Thanks

[moisheh]

Thanks again for all the info.

[RAS43]

I am using an H24 receiver with an 18" Wingard round antenna and am still getting all of the channels I want to watch. SD is fine for us.

[LouLawrence]

The old receivers still work. You cannot get an old receiver reactivated but if you have an activated D12 (or similar) SD receiver, they still work. That said, there is no reason to deal with an old receiver when a new HD receiver will work just fine receiving the SD signal from DTV.
Folks like to complicate the simplest issues but the OP wants to use an HD receiver with a dome and receive the available SD programming. For that, it's all good! I don't have a dome and will never go back to a dome after installing a Winegard Trav'ler but that has nothing to do with the OP's question.

[moisheh]

Winegard used to have a document that explained everything. The old sd rcvrs. do not work anymore.

[CA_Traveler]

Last summer DTV was still transmitting SD on 101 as I checked. But I haven't kept up with the situation.

I wouldn't recommend SD unless the equipment if "free" plus SD is not availble in some areas, and years ago that list was growing. But you have the equipment...

So great question - Is DTV SD still available on non SWIM dishes and receivers?

[moisheh]

Bob. We have 2 motorhomes. The Dynasty has the Traveler and it has been flawless
Our Classic Bluebird had an obsolete dome and I bought a newer unit on Craigslist. We don't use the Bird very often and I had a SD rcvr. Worked fine. But those rcvr no longer work . I have a H24 and that is why I asked about service. Thanks for the info

[CA_Traveler]

wa8yxm wrote:
Is there even a dome that can get Direc HDTV?
I know they can Dish but Direct uses a different radio band and LAST I CHECKED (important phrase) there were no domes that received that band. (Things may have changed. so "Have they" is the question).

I haven't checked. But if the OP opts for SD only there may be new or used domes available. But given what has transpired with DTV I would only recommend a "free" dome.

[CA_Traveler]

My RV had a standard sized dual LNB dome and worked just fine with the HR20 receiver and later the HR24. While you can do as desired there is more to the story to be aware of. DTV may someday discontinue SD, stated such in the past but SD is still available on 101. However, starting about 2013 various new areas did not receive SD, only HD, customers had HD receivers with SD output. Since that time DTV has focused on HD, SWIM (single coax) and even WiFi for extra TVs.

Based on this a dome and SD may not be the best choice since you may not get some local channels, and be aware of dome availability and repair. I was in central OR when I could not get the SD local channels and I wanted the 2014 Winter Olympics. The dome and its lower quality coax were replaced with a RF Mogul dish with higher quality coax which allows 8 channel recording with SWIM. The HR24 supported SWIM with 2 channel recording. Later I upgraded to the HR44 receiver which is significantly faster and has 5 channel capabilities. And should I want to upgrade to 4K the dish is fully capable.

The RF Mogul dish has several great features. First it’s field serviceable where Wingard requires you to ship the entire dish to them. The controller with the electronics is inside out of the weather. The GPS quickly determines your location and pre sets the skew and elevation. It almost always acquires the satellites on the first azimuth rotation and then optimizes all 3 for the satellites.

When I installed the RF Mogul DTV upgraded my home dish to SWIM. We have always had a single receiver that is moved between home and RV. All recordings are retained, and as soon as the RV dish is up it records any pre-selected programs.

Several times I gave serious consideration to a portable dish but have opted to be more selective to parking relative to trees. Besides aren’t we suppose to be camping and outdoors?

[moisheh]

Loulaurence.
Thank you for that info

[LouLawrence]

The OP is fully aware that no HD is available, he is only asking about receiving SD channels with a dome and an HD receiver. No problem there. wa8yxm, the answer is yes, there is a dome that will receive DirecTV HD. However, it's way too large to be used on the roof or stored inside an RV. Boaters use it and it has a 24" reflector inside. It's also very expensive!

[wa8yxm]

Is there even a dome that can get Direc HDTV?
I know they can Dish but Direct uses a different radio band and LAST I CHECKED (important phrase) there were no domes that received that band. (Things may have changed. so "Have they" is the question).

[LouLawrence]

You can still get all the channels that have been available via a dome for years. Nothing has changed. You still can't get HD and you can't get any of the HD only channels. There are many locals which are no longer available on 101 but nearly all the rest of the standard cable channels remain available.