Replacement TV's

[cbr046]

2 hours ago, FishAR said:

They have an electric ota antenna strapped to their ladder going way above the motorhome . . . I say electric because it has a red light on it that stays on all the time, I don't know what it does.

FAA Regulation!  🤣

Or maybe so they can find their motorhome late at night . . . . (I don't buy that either)

- bob

Edited November 25, 2023 by cbr046

[Larry Laursen]

20 hours ago, cbr046 said:

They don't throttle your speed back after a XX GB during the month? 

I have Verizon with no data cap also, but after 15GB Samuel Morse has a faster fist. 

- bob

I also have the Verizon home internet router. There is no throttling on it and is unlimited data.  I have used for streaming the last 2 years with good results.

[cbr046]

Ahhh, from @amphi_sc's original quote I thought he was talking about a hotspot.  We don't have enough signal for a Verizon wireless router at our sticks & bricks so they won't let us have the wireless router.  For cell phones we have a wired internet based network extender that gives us a local inside the home cell signal.  Not much good on the road!

- b

[amphi_sc]

For years I traveled all across the country coast to coast with the old Verizon LTE router.  It had the capability for 3 Ethernet cables and two phone lines.  I have not traveled with this one yet but some members in one of my chapters have.  I think they have only been moving around Texas and Oklahoma so far.

[LarryD]

On 11/24/2023 at 12:32 PM, waterskier_1 said:

I'd like to know what you mean by "... all I really want is TV".  Do you mean just Over the Air (OTA) TV, like you would get with an antenna, when within range of the TV station?  If so, you likely have a good start to one of the best OTA antennas on your roof already - the Winegard Sensor (aka "Batwing") directional antenna.  With the advent of HDTV, many of the old TV stations on VHF changed to UHF.  Winegard makes an add on for the Sensor antenna that enhances the UHF signal band.  With that addition, you have one of the best RV OTA antennas.  There are some that are Omni-directional, so you don't need to aim (rotate) the antenna, but they don't provide as much signal strength in fringe areas.  

Now if by TV, you are meaning satellite based (Dish Network or Direct TV), you will likely have to replace the  InMotion antenna (dish) and receiver, along with purchasing a subscription for their service.  If you already have one of these services at your home, you can likely take the receiver and use the same subscription, or add the coach as an additional receiver, but you will still need to replace the InMotion dish with one that works for Dish Network or Direct TV.

The third option is "streaming".  This refers to using the internet, and either a smart TV or some other device like Roku, Amazon Fire, etc. to connect the TV to the internet.  Then you may need to subscribe to a "streaming service" which provides the channels you can watch.  There are many of these subscription services, at varying cost available (Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Paramount Plus, etc.).  All this require a good internet connection.  And a fast one if you want to watch HDTV quality.  These use considerable amounts of data.  So, you will also need to purchase some sort of internet service, which can be satellite based (Starlink) or MiFi/WiFi from a cellular provider (hot spot), or even you home or RV Park WiFi system, although the later isn't really designed for streaming, more for email, and you may be banned from it if you consume large quantities of data streaming.

Once you have made a decision on which (or which combinations - I have all three) of "TV" you are considering, we might be able to provide better guidance.

  -Rick N.

We recently cancelled out satellite subscription and are doing a combination of over the air and netflix, Prime etc. using Wifi.  Good to know I can make existing off air antenna work.  Thanks 

 

[Martinvz]

I just re-installed the front tv for various reasons. One was to get rid of the hardware (left over from the old crt tv that was removed several years ago). The mounting bracket and tv was reused, so a low cost project. It started with wanting to cut the headbanger to size but getting the box out turned out to be not possible. The end result gives us a bit more storage space and a better mounting of the tv bracket (a MorRyde locking bracket). 

The bedroom tv was replaced by the dealer with a flat screen tv when we purchased the coach but the cabinet was left with the crt box and not functional space. 2 years ago I reinstalled the tv and now the cabinet houses our printer and other IT items. The picture of the custom mounting plate is not complete. It is screwed to the back of the door, see the last 2 photos.
 

We use Roku on both TVs in the coach. 

[Guest Ray Davis]

On 11/24/2023 at 8:12 AM, jacwjames said:

I have heard good things about the T-Mobile box but not sure it work well where we live, we are in a pretty dead zone. 

It's been a few yrs back but Verizon let me try their wireless box.  We live in a weak area too & it wouldn't work, but my ATT Mobley works pretty good here.

[Guest Ray Davis]

14 hours ago, FishAR said:

I didn't think anyone liked their tv more than I do, but apparently the people in the Tiffin behind me do.

They have an electric ota antenna strapped to their ladder going way above the motorhome with coax running across the roof to some access point. I say electric because it has a red light on it that stays on all the time, I don't know what it does.

Then they also have a direct tv setup on the ground held down by concrete blocks.

It might be something like this at walmart.  I bought one for an outbuilding and it's amplified, remote control rotor, and it's pretty powerful.  It has that red light too.

I think I paid $45.   It's sort of rinky dinky but works well.

[FishAR]

8 hours ago, Ray Davis said:

It might be something like this at walmart.  I bought one for an outbuilding and it's amplified, remote control rotor, and it's pretty powerful.  It has that red light too.

I think I paid $45.   It's sort of rinky dinky but works well.

Looks just like that.

[dl_racing427]

On 11/24/2023 at 11:42 PM, amphi_sc said:

Hello Bob, 

I'm 2/3 of the way thru the current billing cycle and used 56.74 GB of data so far on that line ... and the above screenshots showing 212.8 Mbps down was current test today.  I conclude what ever throttling is happening isn't affecting me much.  YMMV

Generally, they don't throttle unless the site is experiencing high data volume.
Once you've used a certain amount of data, you get de-prioritized, and whenever data is at a premium, you slow down.

[waterskier_1]

A couple of suggestions.  It sounds like you do not have the optional TV that drops out of the ceiling.  My previous Dynasty did not either.  I built a support similar to what other have suggested, but I did not cut the box down.  Mine was over the driver's seat, so it wasn't in the way for normal traffic when parked.  But I found the TV to be too far off center, so I added an articulating mount that allowed me to swing the TV closer to the center of the coach.  That helped a lot.  But I got a stiff neck looking up at the TV.  I was in a short (32') coach, so I wasn't more than 10 feet away.  I devised a system using drawer slides that allowed the TV to slide down to a normal position when parked and slide up, lock it in place, then move the articulating arm so the TV was back over the old (hole) which became a book and DVD shelf.  Just something to consider and improve upon.

  -Rick N.