Unbelievable RV Antenna

[Mike-N-Laurie]

Some people are not happy unless they have all the channels. But I'm happy to have ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, THIS movie channel, BOUNCE movie channel, CW, ME TV, The Family channel, LIVE WE, HEARTLAND, WDSC News Channel, CW18, WDRQ 27, GET TV Movie channel, WDRB 65 PLUS cartoons for the kids and for the Spanish community and the religious community. IMO plenty to watch and worth every penny to set it up. It's better than paying for Satellite! I'm not sure when Conrad did his last channel scan but more and more HD Digital channels are being added often!

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by Night Sailor

I tested a high gain antenna at my house and got 67 channels. If you remove the home shopping channels , foreign language channels and duplicates, you end up with the three big networks, a Hogans Hero 's channel, and a old black and white movie channel--the same as we we saw in the late 60's. It hardly seems worthwhile for broadcast TV any more with Netflix and Redbox.

I'm all for turning back the clock. My kid (10 years old) thinks it is a treat to watch Gilligan's Island, but only if she gets her homework done.

[Bob Miller]

Hmmmmm...

For Netflix you have to have Wi-Fi access, (not easy to find or stream on in most campgrounds) and for Redbox, you have to drive to the box, pay money, and then return to the box when done.

I would have thought that the east coast would have done better, especially with PBS channels. Out of the 80+ I get here, there are 4 PBS channels, Those, and other available sub channels, all for free, make it worth the effort.

But I don't think we get any shopping channels on broadcast TV.

[Mike-N-Laurie]

10-4 on the homework!!

[Mike-N-Laurie]

There are now multiple shopping channels on broadcast tv like HSN, also PBS, ION, My65 and many more..

[Mike-N-Laurie]

Today is a volunteer day for me. Every year I climb the fire tower for the US Forest Service fire watch. I will be carrying up the tower in a shoulder bag the antenna and the 22" TV to make the day go by faster. It will be cool to see how many TV channels I get after I make the 10 minute climb to the top of the tower...

[Night Sailor]

Originally Posted by Mike-N-Laurie

Some people are not happy unless they have all the channels. But I'm happy to have ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, THIS movie channel, BOUNCE movie channel, CW, ME TV, The Family channel, LIVE WE, HEARTLAND, WDSC News Channel, CW18, WDRQ 27, GET TV Movie channel, WDRB 65 PLUS cartoons for the kids and for the Spanish community and the religious community. IMO plenty to watch and worth every penny to set it up. It's better than paying for Satellite! I'm not sure when Conrad did his last channel scan but more and more HD Digital channels are being added often!

I am located between Hartford and NY City...about 1/3 the distance from New York.

I scanned the channels 3 weeks ago.

I found 5 useable video channels out of 67. There were a few music channels. If you speak Spanish you have a few more.

Not many were in 1080 perhaps 5, a few were 720 and 90% were standard (low) definition.

If I can find my detailed notes I'll publish a complete channel listing with network, resolution, and description of content.

[Mike-N-Laurie]

Lets think about this a little.

Conrad, You would watch ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and maybe one more. Out of the 60 plus channels I scanned, I will watch 10-12. If my kids were little they would watch 3 or 4 more. So we could realistically watch 15 channels out of 63. Most people that pay $100 a month to the cable company or satellite get 200 channels. But how many do they watch? I cut my cable 5 years ago and have been watching digital HD TV since. The $6000 that I saved was enough to buy the travel trailer setting in the carport and it's as nice as most 2012 models out there. I gave up HBO, CNN, ESPN and a couple others but now I would rather be camping with my wife than watching HBO. If I want to watch a move which isn't often I have a jail broken G-Box MX2 that will stream from the internet any move you could ever want to watch even the movies still playing in the theaters for free. I'm still very happy with the Clearstream 2V and now that I put it in perspective, I am enjoying my Scamp 13' that I paid for with the savings of cuttting my cable 5 years ago!

[Timber Wolf]

Originally Posted by Mike-N-Laurie

I cut my cable 5 years ago and have been watching digital HD TV since.

It has been well over two years since I dumped the $75 a month cable bill. I bought a digital antenna, cables and splitter to feed two TVs. I did poke a hole though the
Wall from the Family room to the Bedroom for the cable. I figure for what I am saving I can patch a couple of small holes in the drywall when I sell the house. The antenna & cable were less than I was paying for ONE month’s cable service. I get two CBS channels, three PBS channels, three ABC channels, two NBC channels, and three Fox channels. I generally watch three or four of them and get all the TV I want. For a treat we go to the cheap movie theatre locally for $3 movies, $2 on Tuesdays. Last week I even sprang for a 75 cent game of air hockey with my 10 year old daughter, and hurt my back. I scout pawn shops and garage sales for $1 DVD movies I want to watch/own. Figure 30 months so far for me at $75 a month saving equals $2,250. I can buy a lot of DVDs for the road.

[Bob Miller]

Originally Posted by Night Sailor

I am located between Hartford and NY City...about 1/3 the distance from New York.

I scanned the channels 3 weeks ago.

I found 5 useable video channels out of 67. There were a few music channels. If you speak Spanish you have a few more.

Not many were in 1080 perhaps 5, a few were 720 and 90% were standard (low) definition.

If I can find my detailed notes I'll publish a complete channel listing with network, resolution, and description of content.

Oh Dear

How did we ever survive those "Good Old Daze" we often hear about. What with only 4 VHF and 1 UHF channel, and resolution at about 128, it's surprising that civilization itself survived the 50's & 60's at all...... LOLOLOL

Keep in mind that the majority of us on the site (Yes a WAG) are well past the age cohorts that advertisers and television programmers want to target, hence there is minimal programming of interest to us.

Why? Because we have learned to stop throwing money at everything we see "As Advertised on TV" and elect to think before buying. In short, we are seen as the cheapskates of the marketplace, and are blind to most advertising. (Well, maybe except for those great catheter ads at 4am? YUK....)

At least in SoCal, the going price for DVD's at Swap Meets has dropped to $1, cheaper that Red Box, and I can watch it again in a month when I have forgotten (along with a few other things) that I watched italready.

Personally, I can scan the hundreds of channels I have on U-Verse at home and sometimes find noting of interest at the moment.....

[SimplyLesa]

I'm all for saving money. .. I have not had tv in many years. ..I think that I would enjoy an occasional movie or program. A gf in Canada has a tiny USB tv reciever thing that she uses with her computer or (how kewl is this) her tablet. The gizmo even has a cable connection to use when you have access. BTW my current RV Park has FREE cable. She attaches it to an antenna when boondocking. Sure wish I knew what to call it so I could find one. My tablet though older, works great for watching movies - and storage is so easy when using USB thumb drives or SD cards.

Simply my 2 cents

(Somehow I thought this related to the antenna thread)

Has anyone used the window mounted flat panel antenna that I see being sold at RV supply stores?

[TomK]

We have between 300 and 400 cable channels at home, but 90% of our viewing is on a handful of them. Most of the shows we watch are on Discovery, A&E, NatGeo, History and Fox News. Unfortunately the antenna were discussing here won't help with those. I don't think it will matter. I really can't see us watching very much TV, unless stuck inside for inclement weather or avoiding mosquito hordes. The antenna will be better than nothing in those situations. If we find we miss it bad enough, we can always get a satellite service and bring a portable antenna. I see there are now small TV's (both 12v and 110 AC) with built in DVD players. We can always bring some DVD's along. It's all about options.

Tom

[Mike-N-Laurie]

Sears has a small 110 volt TV with a built in rechargeable 12 volt battery. It also has a DVD player and it will plug into a 12 volt outlet. The only thing is the screen is only about 9 inches. I was thinking about picking one up but will have to wait on a larger screen model. My wife's laptop does a good job if we want to watch a video but it could use a little help with the audio like small speakers..

[Mike-N-Laurie]

Tom as I mentioned earlier I will post pictures next week with everything set up. I see you have a new 13' Scamp on order. I'm not sure if you have owned a travel trailer before but the best investment for your new trailer when it arrives is a dehumidifier. Here in Florida it's very humid and if you leave one closed up it will get musty smelling and it may mold inside. Pick up a small 30 pint dehumidifier and set it on 50-60% humidity and it will smell like new for years. Do not set it to low as no humidity is just as bad, it will dry it out too much.

[Nut501]

Originally Posted by Mike-N-Laurie

Tom as I mentioned earlier I will post pictures next week with everything set up. I see you have a new 13' Scamp on order. I'm not sure if you have owned a travel trailer before but the best investment for your new trailer when it arrives is a dehumidifier. Here in Florida it's very humid and if you leave one closed up it will get musty smelling and it may mold inside. Pick up a small 30 pint dehumidifier and set it on 50-60% humidity and it will smell like new for years. Do not set it to low as no humidity is just as bad, it will dry it out too much.

Mike,
I really like your idea of getting a small dehumidifier! I keep reading about the condensation problems folks are having with trailers. This would sure solve the problems with moisture issues!!!! My question, is there a way that you can connect the dehumidifier to drain into the gray water tank? This way it could run longer. Any suggestions?

[TomK]

Mike,
Yes the laptop is another option. What a country! I have a small amplified speaker. This one: Amazon.com : Altec Lansing iM227 Orbit MP3 Speaker : MP3 Players & Accessories
It sounds great but not stereo. It packs well and takes AA batts available anywhere. They seem to last a long time. There are many speakers like this. Some are wireless, some rechargeable, but this one works fine with all of our radios, iPhones, laptops etc. Price is right too.

Our daughter and SIL just moved from MI's Upper Peninsula to the St Pete. We will probably be wintering down there in our Scamp. We were down there a couple months ago and really had a good time. We found some nice State Park campgrounds, but you can only stay for 2 wks at a time. MacDill might be an option, but I heard it stays full that time of year. (Jan-Mar). We are going to have to find somewhere more permanent. We'd like something more rustic, but saw plenty that looked more like a mobile home park. We have reservations for the Scamp Camp near Sebring in Feb. and really looking fwd to that. Thx for the de-humidifier tip.

This is our first trailer. We pick it up on 4 Aug!

Tom

[Mike-N-Laurie]

Carl, If you have a shower you can hook a hose and drain it to the shower or put it on the counter and drian it to the sink. In the small Scamp it takes a week to fill the bucket so I just check it every week. But if your going to be away and cant check it buy a hose and drain it to your tank..

[Mike-N-Laurie]

Tom

Last year we parked here for 6 months but it's a way from St Pete.
You can also watch the youtube videos just search Highland Park Fish
Camp Deland FL. We will be setting up at HP for the 4th.

Highland Park Fish Camp Where Fishing Is A Tradition - Home

[TomK]

Looks like a nice camp. We love canoeing and fishing. I bookmarked it and will check it out in depth soon. Have fun on the 4th! We love canoeing and fishing.

[Glenn Baglo]

[QUOTE=Night Sailor;467649] 90% were standard (low) definition.

I thought Canada and the U.S. mandated a switch to digital for all broadcasters some two or three years ago.