# Tv While Camping



## Cuban Camper (May 29, 2009)

Hey Fellow Outbackers, Would love to hear how you deal with watching TV while camping. Some campgrounds we go to have Cable, which some of the time is not good at all. I was thinking of getting a satellite dish, but then wondered what i could do with my iPAD connected to my TV, or maybe some neat APP i could get that would let me watch TV while camping. Having WIFI and 3G, i would imagine i could figure something out, without having to pay for satellite.

Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated.

Thanks for the help.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Depending on which iPad you have, you can connect directly from iPad to the TV. Then stream content to the TV.

Stuff like....Netflix, HBO to Go, Personal Video's, Hulu, Vudu, Amazon's Prime.....and the list goes on and on.

Personally, we removed the TV from our Outback the week we brought it home and it has been in the closet since. I see it as we are camping and spending family time together. We can watch TV at home as a family....I don't have campfires and smores at home.


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## duggy (Mar 17, 2010)

Other than a rainy day, our TV is rarely on. We never use the antenna, and while we have a satellite dish we can bring, it hasn't been with us in two seasons. If we do use our TV, we watch DVD's. Sometimes we watch one just before we fall asleep, or as already mentioned, as a rainy day activity.


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## joeymac (Aug 19, 2010)

Cuban Camper said:


> Hey Fellow Outbackers, Would love to hear how you deal with watching TV while camping. Some campgrounds we go to have Cable, which some of the time is not good at all. I was thinking of getting a satellite dish, but then wondered what i could do with my iPAD connected to my TV, or maybe some neat APP i could get that would let me watch TV while camping. Having WIFI and 3G, i would imagine i could figure something out, without having to pay for satellite.
> 
> Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated.
> 
> Thanks for the help.


We have a DTV dish we keep in the camper and I will pull it out for longer trips 4 days or more. We rarely watch TV during the day. Most of the time we are out exploring or swimming !We might watch 30-45 mins in the morning and another hour or so at night. With three kids, it helps Mom and Dad enjoy some downtime at night. 
I got the dish for free and the tripod cost $25 on Ebay, and we just take a receiver out of the house before we leave. So no real extra expense, just a little effort to find the signal when we get there.
Oh, forgot to mention that most places we camp I have found that cell phone signals are hard to get, so the I-Pad 3G connection would be useless for us.


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## raynardo (Jun 8, 2007)

Cuban Camper said:


> Hey Fellow Outbackers, Would love to hear how you deal with watching TV while camping. Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated.


After having our Obi for six years, we finally decided it was time to put a satellite dish on the roof. We settled on DirecTV and a Winegard TRAV'LER SK-3005 DIRECTV Slimline satellite dish.

Sure, it was an expensive set-up, and we even added a solar system so we could power the system without using our generator. But it's great being able to view our favorite movies in HD either inside or outside our trailer wherever we are.

Since we spend a significant part of our time traveling in our trailer (months at a time) we felt the expense was justifiable. I'm of the belief that I can (and probably should) die just as the last dollar I've got runs out.


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## luckylynn (Jan 9, 2007)

Cuban Camper said:


> Hey Fellow Outbackers, Would love to hear how you deal with watching TV while camping. Some campgrounds we go to have Cable, which some of the time is not good at all. I was thinking of getting a satellite dish, but then wondered what i could do with my iPAD connected to my TV, or maybe some neat APP i could get that would let me watch TV while camping. Having WIFI and 3G, i would imagine i could figure something out, without having to pay for satellite.
> 
> Any suggestions or ideas would be appreciated.
> 
> Thanks for the help.


We have TV but do not watch it very often.Sometimes we will watch a DVD(keep some in the camper all the time)before going to bed.When our teenage GD goes with us she will watch a movie or a little TV after dinner & her shower before going to her tent for bed. Grandsons are always to busy being boys(7 & 11)to worry about TV when camping.DH & like the idea of having it because we have been camping and had to spend lots of time inside due to cold and or rain.

Most campgrounds we go to do not have cable hook up but we still get ok reception if we want to use it that way ,mostly we watch DVD or listen to music.

just some ideas of what we do ...hope it is of help to you. Like most we go camping to get away,relax,and visit under the stars. When our 3DD's were growing up we had TV(6inch black/white,ran on 12volt)that we used much the same way we do TV and Ipads today when camping.Nice to have for a few minutes of relax time before bed or when you cann't be outside the whole time.


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

we found a remedy to fill the kids desire to watch tv and our desire for family time .............

Take Family video's







Our kids have had a blast watching video's of themselves as babies and growing up......

TV in our camper is generally limited to morning weather and evening DVD for my younger ones to fall asleep to........... Unless the Flyers are on ......... Hockey makes the TV even camping


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## Randy A (May 28, 2012)

TV is one of those things I enjoy ---- camping or not. I like a good movie or several regular programs. So far, we've been able to get reception for at least several channels, but have a blu-ray in the camper as well and we stock several movies. But, I don't have to have TV, so I couldn't justify the cost of a satellite system.

If you're thinking of streaming thru 3G, make sure you have unlimited data or you'll eat up your monthly allotment pretty quickly. We were camping recently with a good WiFi connection and Netflix came in fairly well.


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## pep_ (Apr 27, 2012)

x2 here. I bought some dvd's of old tv series like WKRP, Three's Company, Mork and Mindy etc and we just throw one of them in the odd time it is a bit too wet to be outside. I have not even tried the antenna on our outback yet to see if it goes up or if it is any good. If we ever get to the point of camping long term I might consider a satellite but not just for weekends, long weekends and the odd week trip. We do have music on a lot. I rigged up a semi permanent spot for a sat radio atenna so we can listen to music on the outdoor speakers.



duggy said:


> Other than a rainy day, our TV is rarely on. We never use the antenna, and while we have a satellite dish we can bring, it hasn't been with us in two seasons. If we do use our TV, we watch DVD's. Sometimes we watch one just before we fall asleep, or as already mentioned, as a rainy day activity.


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## clarkely (Sep 15, 2008)

Friends use a Sling box and sling the signal over an air card wherever they are........... bonus is you get programming from your area = your sports


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## Cuban Camper (May 29, 2009)

Thanks everyone for the ideas. I hear ya, its the DW who loves the TV. I will check into the Sling Box, as it sounds like that would work.

Much Appreciated


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## thefulminator (Aug 8, 2007)

TV is nice to have in my opinion. We don't let the boys watch TV during the day but when we are trying to wind them down at night we play one of the planet earth DVDs. We keep the whole set in the trailer all the time. The only TV we actually watch is the news. I would like to know if the world blew up even if it is while we are camping.


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## Lmbevard (Mar 18, 2006)

We have used the antenna but digital OTA TV is hit or miss sometimes. We bought a used VCR at Goodwill for $3.38 and VCR tapes for 38c each for something to watch and have even used the Laptop to watch DVD's with. If you were at a campground that provided free WiFi you could use most game systems, smartphones, etc to hook up to Hulu or Netflix, but if you try using 3G it doesn't take much to go over your limit quickly. As far as Dish, you can get a complete system for the camper for $200 and use your card from the house to watch with. We have a 26" LCD-HD TV in the living room area that works really well for us and have used a 23" in the bedroom before. Have seen some 23" with built in DVD for around $200 in the store that would work well. Personally I would try using just the OTA signal and at your favorite camping spots and seeing what you would get before starting to add anything else.


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