when did you have your first sat dish for the caravan / motor home

[joanie]

reading some of the threads on here  about the combined knowledge of members regarding  sat dishes, it got me wondering when you had your first one.  We had our first one in  2008, the dish , connectors , cable , finder and LNB were bought from B&Q  as it was a set up for the house and my son bought us the tripod, online .   When on site , using it for the first time, a chap opposite said that an old fella a few caravans up helped him, so we knocked on his door and he also helped us, which we were thankful for. My OH was always buying bits and pieces to improve things  and a few years later bought a complete caravan kit at a caravan show, that lasted a few years until the tripod failed us, it broke. We now have a Maxview twin LNB, which we've had about 5 years now and  still going strong, it is so easy to use, we did look at the roof dishes, but  were glad we stayed with the tripod type,

[Jaydug]

I've never had one.   I don't use one.   When I'm in the van, I use a hard drive + a screen

[joanie]

15 minutes ago, Jaydug said:

I've never had one.   I don't use one.   When I'm in the van, I use a hard drive + a screen

so the question really doesn't apply to you at all .

[WispMan]

We started caravanning in 2006 and started using a dish around 2008. Like you we watched and talked to people. 

Our main advice was from the website satellite for caravan which was a persknal website with so much info. Unfortunately no more now. 

[oldhandtaylor]

It was when Aldi brought out a Satellite kit for £50 & I thought go on then I'll take a punt, many years later I now have the Maxview Vuqube 2 fitted which has taken all my stress away about trying to find that blasted satellite 

[JanandJay]

3 minutes ago, oldhandtaylor said:

It was when Aldi brought out a Satellite kit for £50 & I thought go on then I'll take a punt, many years later I now have the Maxview Vuqube 2 fitted which has taken all my stress away about trying to find that blasted satellite 

We bought the Aldi one. Went on holiday 3 weeks later it was taken back to  the store. Didn't work. 
Never bothered with another one

 

[ascsbe]

We used one at Nimes about 25 years ago. People looked at us bewildered. No sat finders or apps so sometimes took ages but always got there in the end. 

Now moved onto apps to find satellite and skyq for the TV. 

Takes just a few minutes now. 

Edited October 17, 2020 by ascsbe

[Dave Capiro owner]

I wouldn’t have one on my house so blowed if I’d have one on my caravan.

 

each to their own and all that but I don’t see the point, One more thing to add to your payload, can’t you do without all those TV channels even when you’re on holiday?

[ascsbe]

No. Cannot do without the channels.!!!! 

 

[joanie]

I think the sat dish became popular for a couple of reasons , one being that the TV signals were changing from analog to digital so you couldn't always get a signal and the other is that some caravan sites are or were in remote places and again you couldn't get a signal. Now of course a lot of sites have  the TV connection on the pitch. We have a humax box so we can record programmes, always handy for a wet day and a lot of folk take their Sky with them, so I think that they will still be part of the equipment for some time yet

[Manty]

I too like some of the channels. Sport and the news. Why do some people think we should all  live as they do? The op asked when did campers get their sat dishes  not when did you not get a disk! lol

[joanie]

45 minutes ago, ascsbe said:

We used one at Nimes about 25 years ago. People looked at us bewildered. No sat finders or apps so sometimes took ages but always got there in the end. 

Now moved onto apps to find satellite and skyq for the TV. 

Takes just a few minutes now. 

you were really one of the early birds,  yes , even with the early sat finders, it would take  an age to find.  I wonder if there were any earlier than you

[David P]

Also purchased the Aldi kit in a box, 2006 We now use a Comag portable Easy find Sat receiver 12vdc/240vac, a Maplins foldable dish/tripod with Easy find LNB , also a 90cm dish for when we can get back down to the South of France. 

[JTQ]

 

 

1 hour ago, Dave Capiro owner said:

I wouldn’t have one on my house so blowed if I’d have one on my caravan.

 

each to their own and all that but I don’t see the point, One more thing to add to your payload, can’t you do without all those TV channels even when you’re on holiday?

 

Well, most often when we are away in the van we are not "on holiday", it is "living".

 

We don't need a satellite dish at home most of the time, but I do use the van's gear to get Germany TV which as a terrestrial signal is not available here in Hampshire.

 

The point, of course, is that given the dish can see the satellite, then we can see the desired programme on the TV and or record what we want; not something  guaranteed with a terrestrial set up in the rural areas we van in, even limiting ourselves to UK channels and when in the UK.

 

As said each to their own, but IMO understanding why others might want something different ought not to be too challenging, but it seems it is every time taking a TV gets mentioned.

 

To answer the OP, I really can't recall but I have this feeling it pre dated getting our 2002 van, and the current dish aquired sometime around 2008, with initally a Comag decoder and on aquiring an Avtex TV using its inbuilt decoder.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 17, 2020 by JTQ

[Vin Blanc]

As I recall, my first trip with a sat dish would have been back in 2007.

 

I can remember setting up on a site in France just near the newly opened autoroute viaduct across the Tarn gorge.  The A75 near Millau.

 

Using my then newly acquired Satellite Signal Finder I was able to aim the dish accurately and pull in all available English channels using my Humax Freesat recorder.

 

Not long after this, the Astra 2 footprint was drastically reduced and a much larger dish required.

 

Vin Blanc

[Babstreefern]

When we camped/caravaned abroad, we never brought a tv.  As far as we were concerned, a holiday is everything, eg, no tv, no computers, etc.  Our holidays were for exercise and outside enjoyment and speaking and meeting with people.  For most of the year, we have tv, computers, etc, but never on holiday.  However, now the kids have gone, and only now caravanning in the UK, and it was just me and hubby, and now just me, I do use the tv.  My hubby had the job of putting it all up, the tv, satellite (on a tripod).  I did bring the stuff with me on my first time out on my own at the end of July, but I thought all the wiring was in the pocket of the satellite dish's cover, but it wasn't, so couldn't use it.  But my next job whilst close to lockdown again, will be setting it all up whilst sat in the conservatory, to see how it works, and I don't look daft trying to connect it all up on site

[ancell]

Probably 10 years ago.

5 years ago got a self  seeking lnb and matching box.

Now got the SF 500 set to Astra 28.2 £35-ebay 40cm dish £26 -Satgear tripod £20 - sky quad lnb £16 - plus dual cable coupled to Humax twin tuner.

Had an unsatisfactory season this year with digital terrestial tv using Humax 4000T triple tuner so it looks like satellite tv is going to be our first choice next season.

Why is it almost always raining when I am setting up the dish?

I consider tv reception like 3-4G reception its an almost a must have.

[SilverSurfer]

Hmm, I think 2003, sky mini dish a paperback size box from mapplins , mounted on a pole clamp to the jockey wheel , haven't bothered for a couple of years,  use the van aerial 

Edited November 30, 2020 by SilverSurfer

[Ern]

2003. First winter in Spain. Bought a 110cm dish and a heavy patio stand. Bought a second hand Sky box and another mini sky box and a £8 sat finder, some cable and bits. Picked up a few tips on the web. Went to Spain and learned from other campers. We had good/fairly good TV along South coast of Spain and Portugal for several years and gradually bought better bits and pieces. Gave up TV when Mrs Ern started talking to me and we bought a pack of cards and left the dish at home. Still got the cards.

[gtepete]

Remember early dishes were huge....

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by gtepete

[YorkshireLhasa]

Still deciding if I want to bother.  Will be getting a decent system for 4G.  Having the internet is my priority.  I can always watch a movie using laptop and projector screen.  I do find that being disabled I watch TV far more than I ever did, although a good book will always be my thing.

[joanie]

13 hours ago, YorkshireLhasa said:

Still deciding if I want to bother.  Will be getting a decent system for 4G.  Having the internet is my priority.  I can always watch a movie using laptop and projector screen.  I do find that being disabled I watch TV far more than I ever did, although a good book will always be my thing.

if you have a modern caravan aerial on the roof  that should be okay , you will pick up most channels. The problem comes when you are on some sites where the signal is poor, Freshwater East is one that comes to mind, even though a lot of sites have an aerial hook up on the bollard , Freshwater is still poor . Another reason that we use the sat dish is that we have a Humax box and are able to record programmes, plus we also have some films and programmes on the box that we have recorded at home. 

Edited December 1, 2020 by joanie

[madasmad]

I had a portable automatic dish that I got from RoadPro when we first started caravanning in 2008 but it wasn't very good and never really worked properly. However RoadPro were go enough to exchange it for a dome system fitted to my caravan in 2009 which was great except when you pitched near tress or an obstruction. We now use a VuCube so we can move anywhere to get line of sight.

[daveat92]

Probably bought mine 2-3 yrs ago, but don't bother with it unless going to a site that says it has poor transmitter reception.

[JTQ]

If not already pointed out, once you set your satellite system up for you home channel, say BBC one West, then that comes up wherever you are in sight of the satellite, Scotland or Dordogne.

Plus the local BBC  or ITV channel there , or anywhere can also be accessed.

 

Maybe of little value for those on vacation, but for the retired, who possibly are extending  normal "living" whilst away in the van, it is good to keep in touch with things local to our homes.