Tech- Tune up your TV antenna
June 11, 2008 by Chris Bryant · 17 Comments
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In my last post on television- TV in your RV, I pointed out that the standard Winegard “Sensar” (a.k.a. “Batwing”) antenna works very well for the new digital tv signals (and, by extension, works well for the digital HD signals).
But… what to do when you cannot get the stations that your neighbor can, or when the antenna gets a bit stuborn while cranking it up, down, or turning it.
Luckily, troubleshooting these antennas is pretty easy, and along with some regular maintenance, the Sensar will give years of top notch viewing enjoyment.
Let’s take a look at the basic of maintenance and repair for antenna and coax cable….
Tech- TV in your RV….
May 21, 2008 by Chris Bryant · 2 Comments
A bit of a departure for me this week- the many, many changes coming down the pike on how you watch television in your RV.
New technologies are changing the way you watch, whether you get your signal from an OTA (Over The Air) antenna or a Satellite dish, and whether you want to watch High Definition (HD) or Standard Definition (SD) (trust me though- if, like me, you enjoy watching TV, once you see a “High Def” model you will be spoiled)
We’ll start with the transition to OTA Digital TV- Mark Polk gave a
great primer in his post Analog vs Digital TV - I’ll just add a few points….
Analog vs Digital TV
April 24, 2008 by Mark Polk · 22 Comments
I’m sure you have all heard that in 2009 all analog television signal transmission will cease. This applies not only to viewing television in your home, but in your RV too (I hear there will be a grace period but I’m not sure for how long). All analog TVs will require some type of receiver to convert digital, over the air signals, to analog signals that older TVs can display. With a receiver, you can still use your analog TV to receive digital signals, so there is no need to buy another TV! So what is the easiest way to deal with this problem in our RV’s?
Here’s how things currently work in your RV. Between your analog television set, TV antenna and a built in NTSC tuner you are able to pick up free off air programming like ABC, NBC and CBS channels. Analog television has been the standard broadcast technology since TV’s have been around. Analog technology uses magnetic waves to transmit and display the picture and sound you are seeing and hearing. When you are spending the night in a rural type area analog reception is poor, resulting in the poor color, snowy and static picture you see.
Universal RF10 Remote Control
April 9, 2008 by Roy Scribner · 8 Comments
Since outfitting our RV with satellite TV capability (see “Satellite TV on the Cheap” parts 1 and 2), I was presented with a challenge on how to operate the satellite receiver-box from our bedroom, where our second TV is located. Because we primarily dry-camp, the use of a single satellite receiver to feed both TV’s is more efficient than adding a second box, not to mention cheaper! The downside is that both TV’s will display the same channel, but this was not a problem for us since we would only be watching the bedroom TV at night, after the kids are in bed. Having to get out of bed to change channels on the satellite receiver was not going to work, however!
Satellite TV on the Cheap – Part 2
March 5, 2008 by Roy Scribner · 29 Comments
Last week I talked about the $49 “Disaster Readiness Kit” (DRK) that I purchased through my account on DirecTV.com. I am happy to report that the system is very complete, the tripod is very solid, and it can be setup quicker than my camp kitchen! It comes with 50-feet of RG-6 Cable, allowing the dish to be positioned anywhere around the RV that has a clear view of the southern sky. The tripod itself is very sturdy and solid, but not at all heavy, and includes long spikes that can be driven into the soil to secure it. The dish is a dual-LNB model, which means that it has two cable connections coming off of it that you can tap into, for use with two separate satellite receivers. The two satellite receivers could be in the form of two separate TV’s, or a single TV with a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). Two independent signals allow the DVR to record one channel while you watch another. My setup is rather simple, as I am just using one of the LNB connections to feed one satellite TV receiver which, in turn, outputs to two different TV’s. Under this scenario, both TV’s are limited to displaying the same channel, but that works fine for us since the kids will be asleep whenever we are watching the second TV in our bedroom.
Satellite TV on the Cheap?
February 27, 2008 by Roy Scribner · 42 Comments
We are not big TV watchers when we are camping, but I have to admit that I have always been a bit enamored with the idea of having 100 channels of viewing pleasure in the middle of nowhere. Sure, I have looked (and dreamed!) at all of the latest auto-tracking rooftop receivers, but the thought of dropping $3,000 dollars on a luxury item did not seem prudent and besides, unless we are camping at the beach our rooftop is almost always shrouded in forest canopy – something that is not very conducive to locking onto a satellite. Then one day, fate reared its ugly head! I was on the DirecTV website ordering another receiver for our home system, when I stumbled across something in their product listing called a “Disaster Readiness Kit” for $49. Low-and-behold, a Disaster Readiness Kit appears to include just about everything an RV’er on a budget needs in order to add satellite TV. And did I mention that it was $49?
A week later, the package was delivered to our door. Yes, it really is called a Disaster Readiness Kit and yes, it even comes with a wrench and screwdriver! I plan on picking up a few more items for the installation, including a mount for the RV ladder and a signal-strength meter. I’ll go over those items, along with the installation, in next week’s article – wish me luck!
Happy camping!
