[Archived]

I would like more knowledgible people to get engaged in a discussion of TV options. I never cared enough to even understand completely how all our home TV and sound systems work so talking about choices for the coach is outside of my job description.

The issue gets confusing because the lines are all beginning to blur. We used to have 3 or 4 options. Local antenna, Cable hookup in the campground, or a VHS. Then along came the big satellite dish and that morphed into a smaller in-motion dish. We still had the local antenna and the campground cable, but the VHS became a VHS and a DVD and then a DVD or Blue something (Blue Ray?). Anyway the local antenna then became an over the air digital and instead of just spinning the dial, we now download the local over the air HDTV.

Just as I am getting a grasp of doing all of that on the Crestron (still haven’t played a DVD or Blue something or figured out how to get the cable TV to work) I find out a “Sling box” can play your home TV stations on the TV via your computer.

While that concept is attempting to filter into my brain yesterday the web guru for this site starts showing us a menu of ways to get more movies and TV shows on our TVs in the bus with names like Hula or Hulu, Netscape, Amazon, all of which appear to need a network connection.

Am I the only one who hasn’t a clue about how to best get the TV we want and how to make it function through our Crestron? Is there anyone who can explain our choices in the simplest of terms that even I can understand? My cell phone has no voice mail, no camera, no GPS and it is a flip phone with a rotary dial, just to give you a clue as to my level of technical understanding.

[Bill]

Hi Jon, since Olivia is a 2005 chassis and technology, I have started to go away from the Crestron route because it would require some reprogramming for the new 2011/2012 components I have added to the systems, replacing old TV’s etc.

With 2012 technology, you can have a TV and / or DVD or Blue-Ray player with built-in “Apps”. Depending upon the brand, you can have apps like Google TV, Amazon Video, Hulu video, Netflix video etc., all of which provide the opportunity to “stream” a movie direct from the Internet. Needless to say, this requires an active Internet connection but those can be had for short money these days. Certainly, less than a DirecTV sat dish etc.

An Internet enabled TV or player will give you many more options. You can watch or read-up on the news. You can view your digital photos and you can shop on eBay or Amazon. Just to mention a few.

As for watching TV channels, also that is possible.

An Internet enabled LCD or LED TV of around 40 inches can be purchased for about $500-$750

A DVD player can be purchased for about $1250

In my opinion, the better deal is buying the DVD player because, with the constantly evolving technology, it is a lot cheaper to buy the latest DVD player, than replacing the TV.

This is my philosophy. Thus, I bought the DVD players to enhance my 37 inch LCD TV in the bedroom and the 46 inch TV upfront.

I did remove the outside “entertainment center” aka the TV and stereo because we strongly believe that people who keep their TV’s running outside in the campground should be tarred and feathered and then keel-hauled.

:-). :-). 🙂

For all of this, you do not really need Crestron because each Internet enabled TV or DVD player can be operated independently via the remote control. In my opinion, that is faster and easier than using the Crestron.

As mentioned above, for all of the above, you do need the Internet. This can be accomplished in a few different ways. The more basic solutions would be using a wireless router and or a so called hotspot. The cost of those is in the $50 to $250 range.

You will also have to subscribe to our friends at AT&T, Verizon etc.- the typical monthly cost is about $50-$75 for typically 5GB of data. That is quite a lot. Unless, you download and watch movies every day, 5 gig is a lot of data.

Of course, most of the above deals with the Internet and not just watching TV. If watching TV is all you want, then you have the option of a dish. Either mounted and hard-wired on the roof or a portable dish? These will provide lots of channels and entertainment and, what some people will find very important, a Sat dish will also work, whe Internet is not available.

Personally, I much rather have the Internet or app enabled option since it gives me much more than just watching TV.

Well, this is a starter and, I am sure, that other people will weigh-in with their opinions.

Cheers,

Ronald

PS: JON, HOW MUCH DO YOU WANT FOR YOUR ROTARY DIAL FLIP-PHONE????!!??

[Archived]

One of the great things about road trips is the ability to get away from television, most of the time, we don’t even bother to hook up when in a campground.

As far as new technology Jon, I just ask my grand kid how to do it. They are miles ahead of me in this area of life.

BCO

[Doug]

In my opinion 5 gig is not enough data to seriously consider using the Internet to stream video content. We use Verizon 4g home fusion at our home base and we are routinely pulling in excess of 30 a month and we don’t stream feature length videos etc. if you intend to download and view HD content you can burn thru well more than a gig a day.

Just my 2 cents worth

Bill

[Archived]

Hi Bill, your 05 cents has been noted. … 🙂

I was more thinking about general Internet usage because we do rarely watch TV, ourselves.

Another thing worth mentioning is, that most campgrounds provide free cable TV. So all one has to do is to hook-up the coax cable and watch many channels, courtesy of the campground.

Another thing worth mentioning, too, is, that many campgrounds provide free Wi-Fi. Thus, you have Internet, too.

I have found out that some campgrounds do have poor Wi-Fi reception but this can be overcome with a Wi-Fi antenna.

The cost of which is about $750 – Mine is about 10 inches tall by about 1-2 inches wide and comes with a 10 feet long cord and a USB connector.

They work amazingly well. After I bought one, I tested it at home, where my own WiFi network is the only one within about 1/2 mile radius. Without the antenna, I saw just one network, mine. With the antenna, inside the house, I saw 2-3 other networks and going outside, the reception jumped and I counted close to 10 other networks.

I have since gone out and bought a commercial grade WiFi antenna, the kind you can use on a boat etc.

The cost was about $3000 – I have also sort of built my own antenna tower, i.e. using an extendable flag pole for which I build a contraption allowing me to attach the pole to the outside of the coach using rubber cups. I can raise my antenna to about 20 feet height. This is well above the roofline of our coaches and provides a mostly clear all-around reception radius. With this set-up, even weak signals can be useful.

Cheers,

Ronald

[Edward & Sandy]

I was just looking into building a raiseable tower for the coach. Where did you get the suction cups that you used? I was thinking about using automotive “dent puller” types but they are kinda pricy for this application.

[Archived]

Ck Wilson system wireless boost cell and wifi. had in last three coaches. wireless-small 12 inch outside antenna with egg shape inside repeater requires 35 ft seperation. Check at Wilson Electronics Hint: don’t say for RV (cost more) I put in for home office. The non directional inside antenna works best. no limit on number of phones or computers used at one time. Bob

[Archived]

I bought mine on eBay. Two for $15.99 – Look for item 221128434388

They come in red but a spray can of gray primer and a spray can of glossy black will take care of that.

eBay provided also the telescopic flagpole @ $45.44 with free S/H. Look for item # 160897573434

About the flagpole. You may be able to buy one for a little less. I bought this one because of the diameter of the pipes, which start out at 2-1/2 inches. The more diameter, the less the pole will swing in the wind.

Home Depot provided a 3 feet long PVC pipe, which fits the flag pole like a glove. The off-white pipe is now black, thanks to the primer and black paint.

Finally, Home Depot also provided 2 plastic pipe hangers. These are just large enough to allow me to attach my WiFi antenna.

I modified the hangers slightly by drilling holes into them, which allows me to attach them to the top of the flag pole, where the flag would be attached to the 2 swivels. I am using the same swivel holes with a combination bolt and thumb screw to attach the pipe hangers. Again, some primer and paint and the off-white hangers are now black.

I am talking a lot of black, simply due to the fact, that our coach is black. This way, everything, except, the pole and antenna, blend in, when my tower is attached to the coach.

Needless to say, you can select from a wide range of other colors to match your own exterior.

Cheers,

Ronald

[Jim/Chris]

I do happen to have this installed in our coach, too. I installed the booster to improve on my cell phone reception in marginal areas. However, I can not see any improvement over the reception without this booster. Perhaps, I have been travelling in areas where the reception is good, anyways.

For the money and for improving Internet reception, a good WiFi antenna is the easiest, fastest and cheapest solution. IMHO.