Southbound Canadian Snowbirds. NO Bell!

[Alistair Camelford]

To my fellow Canucks who have used their Bell ExPressVu satellite service (albeit against Ma Bell's wishes)in their annual southbound migration to Florida...fuggedaboudit!!!
After ten years of using the service I pay for at home- at my Trillium site in the south, I find that Bell has leased a different satellite and its beam does not go much below the 49th parallel. No warning...justa a big red bar on the normally green signal graph.
I am told by my service provider who installed the set up at home that the only Canadian source for tv will be by Shaw (formerly Star Choice).
So. standing at the dumpster at Koreshan State Park will be my old 18" bell dish.
To buy a "pay as you go" rig from Camping World will set me back about $400 plus monthly subscription fees...so I bought a cheapie DVD rig from Best Buy and will use the Red Box for my entertainment in the Keys. Up here in Fort Myers I get my HD live off air, but near Key West I will only get the occasional Cuban broadcast.
Thank goodness for Scrabble, E books, and the guitar!!!
Hope this "heads up" reaches those taking their tv and dish with them on their next trip south.
Cheers...Alistair & Inge in The Road Toad heading to the Keys

[Rene]

There is life after BellExpressVu LOL! I turned my dish off at home 5 years ago and use the internet only. Muuuch better.

[Doug Mager]

Since we only use 'organized' campgrounds we have opt for a laptop with which I have loaded a T V program. Get to the c/ground, set up and get the WiFi fired up OR local T V channels on cable, and away we go.....

[Alf S.]

Hi: Alistair Camelford...My buddy Rog. down in Ft.Myers Beach discovered the same thing..."NO SIGNAL". A friend is taking a Shaw system down so Rog. can get some Can. News/Weather.
How was Koreshen St. Pk. We'd like to stay there next Jan. Retirement looms!!!
Alf S. North shore of Lake Erie

[Alistair Camelford]

Alf..Koreshan is a gem...just came from a campers breakfast today, and am doing my second "campers concert" at the campfire circle tonite.

Doug, no cable or wifi at state parks in FL...and laptop usage is mediocre and expensive...$20 for half a gig / month on Virgin (now Sprint) on pay as you go.

I access my local paper for daily news on the net. I have NOA for weather updates...and a kazillion tunes on my ipod playing thru the Trill's speakers.

We had no tv in the Keys for our first 8 years...and we will be just fine without it for the next two months...I just wanted to let Bell users know that the service was not available.

Its getting cooler now- about 75 F...and we have to get the kayaks in the Estero River for a run...post at y'all later
Alistair

[Michael Pupeza]

I found that out back in Nov after spending a few hours trying to 'find' the bird from Cocoa Beach, FL with my 24" dish. I went to the Internet and found that Bell had changed to one that had coverage only about 100 miles south of the border.
The worse news is that Shaw will also be changing to a similar footprint soon, if not already.
Nothing stays the same.
Mike!