SHENANGO VALLEY

The sun is warming the surrounding river, which laps playfully across children’s feet. Burgers on the grill and watermelon slices on the table are filling the air with picnic scents. All around the campsite, people are introducing themselves to neighbors or lounging in the shade on lawn chairs with citronella candles burning in full force.

But not everyone at the campground is enjoying the scenic beauty and camaraderie.

Some are watching TV.

As the warmer weather beckons people outdoors and campers load up RVs for weekends of "roughing it," more and more people are finding they just cannot live without seeing that night’s baseball game or episode of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire."

Dick and Alice Shelenbergers’ 37-foot RV is surrounded by overflowing flowerpots, a tall tomato plant and a silver satellite dish on a tripod at its post on the Shenango River Dam campground.

The RV has all the amenities of home, including a washer and dryer, a microwave and great television reception. The satellite dish is an important aspect to staying happy as full-time campers, Mrs. Shelenberger said.

The Shelenbergers, from Meadville, have lived in their RV for more than a year and have been at the Shenango River Dam campground since the end of April.

"I’ll tell you, we’ve had so much rain, I don’t know what we’d do without our dish," said Mrs. Shelenberger, but adding they get some strange looks from other campers.

Krystal Lucas, Shenango River Dam park ranger, said about 15 to 20 percent of the site’s RV campers have dishes and most of them are retirees like the Shelenbergers.

"We see a lot of it because at our campground we have a lot of motor homes and the owners watch a lot of TV," Ms. Lucas said with a laugh. "Our campground isn’t very high-impact."

Ken Robison, owner of Robison’s Satellite Systems, New Castle, said RV satellite dishes are not extremely popular but he has sold a few portable units to campers. He’s also installed a few onto RVs themselves.

Installing a satellite dish on an RV roof costs about $250, Robison said, adding the dish must be able to fold down and lie flat when traveling. When campers want to watch television, the dish is cranked out.

Most people prefer portable dishes, Robison said. These dishes are put on a tripod outside a parked RV and run about $50 to $75, he said.

Shelenberger said it costs less to have cable television set up in one’s home.

Customers can buy a satellite system in their home and take the receptor with them while traveling.

This is the type of system the Tim Jablon of Transfer will use next time he goes camping.

"It’ll take me probably 15 minutes at most (to set it up)," he said.

Jablon recently got a portable satellite dish to bring with him when camping with his wife Sherri.

The Jablons’ 35-foot motor home is already decked out with two televisions and VCRs, but Jablon said it just wasn’t enough.

"Usually when you go camping, you don’t get regular television reception because you’re too low," Jablon said. RVs are lower than most houses and television antennae only stretch a couple of feet higher, he added.

"If you have a dish, you can get the same reception you can get at home," Jablon said.

But Donald Smith of Greenville said television shouldn’t be a priority when enjoying the great outdoors.

"It’s definitely not roughing it," said Smith, sitting on a lounge chair in front of his RV at the campground.

"At most of your campgrounds you can get pretty good reception," he added.

But Jablon said his satellite system will make camping more enjoyable by giving him the option of watching television if it rains or to find out about local events.

"If a family wants to rough it, if a fellow wants to get away, you can always turn it off," Jablon said. "(But) there’s time when you want the news; you want the weather; you want to know what’s going on."

Jablon, who is president of Wheatland Steel Processing, said the dishes could make camping more accessible to businessmen in the future.

Jablon said demands at work often keep him from traveling and he looks forward to the day satellite dishes provide Internet access, allowing him to work from the campground.

"It might let people get away more because the satellite can beam down information you need," Jablon said.

Although the satellite-dish owners may not spend as much time swimming, boating or hiking as other campers, Ms. Lucas said the rangers haven’t heard any complaints.

"I figure if that’s the way they want to camp, go ahead," Ms. Lucas said. "Some people just don’t want to rough it."