Are the satellite domes all they're cracked up to be?

I've always wondered...

We've never had much time for watching telly on our camping trips, but one thing I have noticed is more and more MH's seem to be fitted with the satellite domes on the roof...

We have a little briefcase Maplin camping satellite kit with a 39cm dish. We've used it the odd time for longer stays just to keep an eye on the weather or keep the kids entertained on really wet days, but truth be told its just another "on offer" gizmo I couldn't resist for €40. :whistle: It only takes minutes to set up and tune-in using the little black box thingy that goes between the dish and receiver so I dont really see the burning need for automatic tuning when the time to manually set up a dish is not unreasonable?

What really sparked my attention was one time, I was sitting outside my tent watching a chap climb up the roof of his MH and remove the fibreglass (or plastic) dome from his satellite dome and was fussing with the internals. What caught my eye was how tiny the dish was?

I've had a few different dishes on the house over the last few years and I came to the realisation the size DOES matter with dishes...

Our 39cm dish works grand unless rain comes on hard but that little dish in the dome appeared to be smaller than our maplin 39cm jobbie?

So. Are the automatic Satt domes all they're cracked up to be?

Or are they Gizmo's YOU couldn't resist...

In my folks camper theres a 50cm flat panel satt dish in one of the lockers... I must take it out and see if its still working...

We had a dish on a tripod before buying a dome. We wanted to see if we would get the use out of it before committing to the extra expense.

I must say the tripod version worked very well but we found we used it more in the winter months when the night were longer. Unfortunately this is the time the weather is worse and I got fed up getting soaked while setting it. The dish inside the dome is quite small but I think they equate it to a an equivalent larger size somehow.

The tripod/freestanding versions could not be used if you are on an Aire.

The self seeking dome is great and has worked well as far as the south of France but as baguette says a much bigger dish would improve the range. This isn't a problem for us as we rarely switch the TV on during the summer trips but is handy if you have a favourite radio station from home which you simply can't do without. LOL

My son has one of those, we used it at the Battery bar Cookstown, he got as many channels as I did with the Status 530! it does Saorview then? mpeg4 compatible?

LOL.