Satellite Dishes

[madkoka]

Are they still relevant in this day and age of Streaming, question is do I need one??

 

[Larrynwin]

When visiting different areas I find a strong signal for browsing/streaming is patchy and unreliable whereas watching tv via my Sat dome never fails.
I use EE and 3 sims.

 

[Vansflyer]

Are they still relevant in this day and age of Streaming, question is do I need one??

Since Brexit yes, if you spend anytime over in the EU. Roaming charges can be expensive now and may need a VPN to watch UK Tv whilst abroad on a data feed. Pop a dish up of a suitable size and watch as much Tv, listen to UK radio as much as you want without fear of a big bill landing. Also V handy in the wilds of the UK where normal Tv / phone signal can still be iffy to say the least. It is a very individual thing this and all of our needs are different...

 

[ChrisL]

I use both, I get a slightly better picture from the satellite dish but there are times when the dish can't get a lock because of trees and ofcourse I have to stream for Netflix and other streaming services.

 

[stewartwebr]

It is a yes for us, with the reintroduction of roaming charges in Europe and still patchy coverage in some places we visit we still use a dish. It is more convenient and guaranteed signal wins it for us. However, if I were in the satellite dish business I would be getting nervous, a bit of a Kodak moment on the horizon I suspect.

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[dunnah01]

I wouldn't fit a new one but if there's one fitted already then defo worth having if going over the water

 

[Figaro]

^^^ what they said, great for when there's no 4g and my oyster picked up UK tv down to the south of France and Italian Lakes

 

[BikerGraham]

With the cello tv’s having a built in satellite tuner is it worth getting one of those portable sat dishes ?

 

[Figaro]

With the cello tv’s having a built in satellite tuner is it worth getting one of those portable sat dishes ?

I'd say so if you can set it up easily, never done it so I don't know how difficult it is
Probably lots for sale second hand on FB Market Place from the netflix generation

 

[ChrisL]

With the cello tv’s having a built in satellite tuner is it worth getting one of those portable sat dishes ?

You would need a dish pointer app and a signal meter, you connect the meter in-between the dish and the tv and use the app to find the bearing elevation and slew. Once you've done it a few times it's not very difficult, best to peg the dish tripod down or you would need to re do it every time the dish gets a knock or is blown over by the wind.

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[Lenny HB]

Our recent 6 week trip never put the dish up, streamed all the time.

 

[Manic]

With the cello tv’s having a built in satellite tuner is it worth getting one of those portable sat dishes ?

The portable dishes are easy to setup with dish align app and the tv probably has a signal strength meter built in , my Humax has.

 

[VXman]

Never watch live TV at home so not going to start on holiday.

There are cheap SIM deals to be had if you look around.

Mostly not had an issue with 4G reception. On the odd occasions we do we will watch something downloaded or read a book.

People who have sat dishes/TV will say yes you need one.

Those that don't will say no you don't. That's the way things are on forums.

 

[Bessy765]

Currently on an aire in France we are in a valley so sat no good so streaming, been away 82 days 5 of which we have been unable to get sat signal. 9 days no data signal only one night lost both. So six of one half a dozen of another. Using Popit £25 100 gb a month.

 

[ChrisL]

the tv probably has a signal strength meter built in , my Humax has.

That's okay if you can see your tv from wherever you're setting up the dish, otherwise you need someone watching the tv and shouting instructions, it's a lot easier with a meter right by the dish, believe me

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[Vansflyer]

Triax do a range of dishes with fold up feed arms (TD64 for example) that make storage and set up a lot easier. Leave out the plastic clips at the hinge and the weight of the LNB keeps the feedarm in place. I wouldn't do that on a house fit but it is good enough for travelling. A Tv with a sat receiver inbuilt, a simple cheap tripod & dish, a compass and a signal strength meter is all you need and obviously a good length of cable.
In days gone by we sold hundreds of stand alone systems to Moho and wobble box users, 10 mins instruction during pick up was normally enough for people to get the idea on how you do it. I don't trust the Dish finder app I have on my phone, sometimes it is wildly out for some reason so I always used a trusty old school compass.
It doesn't want have to be an expensive auto seeking dish for it to work, just a bit of time and patience to learn the alignment skills.
FWIW Most sat receivers / TV tuners signal bars don't respond quick enough for dish alignment so using a meter is less likely to end in divorce / murder / poisoning etc

 

[Ditcha]

All the data hungry funsters seem to be going full circle, they are all taking sat dishes off only to replace with another dish with the same inherent problems you have with the one they argue is redundant

 

[Carpmart]

All the data hungry funsters seem to be going full circle, they are all taking sat dishes off only to replace with another dish with the same inherent problems you have with the one they argue is redundant

I would argue sat dishes are redundant, hence why Sky are moving quickly away from them. I would also suggest they are heavy and archaic and take up too much valuable roof space on a Motorhome..

Starlink is more of an antenna than a dish

 

[Ditcha]

I would argue sat dishes are redundant, hence why Sky are moving quickly away from them. I would also suggest they are heavy and archaic and take up too much valuable roof space on a Motorhome..

Starlink is more of an antenna than a dish

I always thought starlink had to have sight of view to receive a signal much like a sat dish were as a antenna doesn't I might be wrong?

 

[Carpmart]

I always thought starlink had to have sight of view to receive a signal much like a sat dish were as a antenna doesn't might be wrong?

Probably semantics Dave..

Starlink does have to have clear sky sight, so you’re correct.

Looking at Starlink bumph it is made up of loads of ‘tiny antenna’ (their words) in the flat face… so who knows!

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[Vansflyer]

I would argue sat dishes are redundant, hence why Sky are moving quickly away from them. I would also suggest they are heavy and archaic and take up too much valuable roof space on a Motorhome..

Starlink is more of an antenna than a dish

Sky are a long way away from making dishes redundant, they would like all their subscribers to stream the services offered but not everyone has the broadband capacity available to them for a reliable service. Lots of this country still has broadband provided on twisted copper cable.
A fold up dish and tripod weighs less than 2kg max, a roof mounted auto one weighs about 13KG, not that heavy an addition in the scheme of a vehicle, our wine cellar is probably heavier than that at times
Starlink is a great system but comes at a significant on going cost of use. If you can justify the cost of it then go for it but I would rather pay that kind of money on site fees and diesel tbh.

 

[Abacist]

If anyone wants a portable sat dish, tripod etc I have one in the garage from caravan days and previous Motorhome which didn’t have a rooftop one. Happy to sell!

 

[andyman]

We are on a 17 day tour of Ireland. Data signal has been limited on the west coast, the fold up sat dish has been out a few times.
We have no fixed tv aerial on the van, and we're nit sure what way to go, satellite or data stream.
This trip has made my mind up that Sat dish is the way to go. Maxview crank up is around £550, with folks paying £25 a month for data after 4 years the costs the same. Can't see satellite TV going of air that quick.

 

[Ditcha]

We are on a 17 day tour of Ireland. Data signal has been limited on the west coast, the fold up sat dish has been out a few times.
We have no fixed tv aerial on the van, and we're nit sure what way to go, satellite or data stream.
This trip has made my mind up that Sat dish is the way to go. Maxview crank up is around £550, with folks paying £25 a month for data after 4 years the costs the same. Can't see satellite TV going of air that quick.

The more options you have the better there still is no one fix all solution they all have a draw back of some sort.

 

[Carpmart]

I’ve also got a large Oyster sat dish that’s available if anyone wants it? Free to a full Fun subscriber.

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[varaizian]

^^^ what they said, great for when there's no 4g and my oyster picked up UK tv down to the south of France and Italian Lakes

Using an 80cm dish and a Sky Javelin box I don't get a satellite signal much further south than Bordeaux nowadays. Is your experience recent or before the footprint was shrunk down?

 

[Ditcha]

I’ve also got a large Oyster sat dish that’s available if anyone wants it? Free to a full Fun subscriber.

Nobody wants them now your better off scrapping it or you could use it to make a tracking solar panel or even mount your starlink antenna on it

 

[MisterB]

I’ve also got a large Oyster sat dish that’s available if anyone wants it? Free to a full Fun subscriber.

I'd be interested please

 

[Vansflyer]

Using an 80cm dish and a Sky Javelin box I don't get a satellite signal much further south than Bordeaux nowadays. Is your experience recent or before the footprint was shrunk down?

You will get Sky News, CNN etc and a lot of other Sky services all over Europe but the BBC and ITV etc do drop off South of Bordeaux ish as that is as far as the footprint goes. To get the BBC etc further south you need a different receiver for the Satback service on Intelsat @27.5W

 

[Verteuil Man]

Are they still relevant in this day and age of Streaming, question is do I need one??

Yes. We were at Marbury Country Park at the weekend and at Sycamore Farm, Chelford two weeks before. Both areas have very little if any data signal. Marbury has a lot of trees and very poor antenna signal for Freeview. A lot of ares off the beaten track are the same. Wales! Well what can one say.