Antenna TV on boats - the latest?

[Dr. D]

Could I make my iPad a WiFi hotspot and connect the Tablo TV directly to it? I am having trouble finding a 12 V router that is reasonably priced.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

Could I make my iPad a WiFi hotspot and connect the Tablo TV directly to it? I am having trouble finding a 12 V router that is reasonably priced.

I know this is going to sound a little crazy. You might not like it. But for this reason and many many many others, it’s actually better to run everything off of AC on the boat. Yes. I know. Controversial opinion.

Pure sine inverter on all the time is a godsend these days.

after you set that up you don’t need any more specialized equipment or worrying about wiring things in or anything. Everything just works. No more expensive, difficult to find niche 12v things. Plug and go.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by derfy

The purpose of this thread is for those of us who choose not to pay a lot of money every month for an internet connection. I don't want to get into Starlink vs Broadcast TV. Believe me when I say I know what you can get on the Internet. I have a 300 Mbps connection right this minute at home. I also know what is available on Broadcast TV. I am interested a technical recommendation for receiving ATSC.

In that case I recommend the Wineguard Rayzar

https://winegard.com/rayzar-hdtv-antenna/

Yes, I owned and tested one.

[derfy]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

In that case I recommend the Wineguard Rayzar

https://winegard.com/rayzar-hdtv-antenna/

Yes, I owned and tested one.

Thanks for the suggestion, but I have already the antenna on my mast, a Glomex. Works fine.

What I need is the box at the other end of the antenna cable, that lets me stream video to my tablet via wifi. This TabloTV and the Silicon Dust HDHomeRun are like what I need, but they both need a router to complete the connection to the tablet.

I have ditched my broken TV and will not buy another one. But I will always have tablets and a PC on the boat, and they are fine for me for watching video.

[shimari]

I'd take a look at the Yacht devices YDWG-02 then

https://www.yachtd.com/products/wifi_gateway.html

It's very small and will act as an access point and stream your NMEA data to your tablet/phone.

[derfy]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

Could I make my iPad a WiFi hotspot and connect the Tablo TV directly to it? I am having trouble finding a 12 V router that is reasonably priced.

It could work if the tablet has a hotspot function. My tablets do not have the hotspot function, because they have no cellular capability. This TabloTV also wants an Internet connection, it seems, for downloading info about local channels and tv guide stuff, all of which is a good thing.

I use my cell phone as a router by turning on the hotspot. Works for file transfers between tablets and the PC, all of which are wifi connected to the phone. Works fine for streaming youtube, etc, to a tablet, but you'll burn thru 15 GB of monthly data pretty fast with streaming video.

The cellphone hotspot works amazingly well if you limit it to only one or two attached devices, turn off Bluetooth, and don't try running any apps. Disconnect any wifi device not in use.

It's a cheap moto e6, cost me $125 direct from motorola. Great little 4G boat phone. I have a couple of them so I can have one with a local SIM card - much much cheaper than roaming when cruising the islands. The moto e even works as a local router when the cellular connection is lost by just leaving the hotspot turned on. I move gpx files and pics between devices this way.

[derfy]

Originally Posted by shimari

I'd take a look at the Yacht devices YDWG-02 then

https://www.yachtd.com/products/wifi_gateway.html

It's very small and will act as an access point and stream your NMEA data to your tablet/phone.

Yes, these are cool devices. But, the main thing I want is antenna tv video. I can see everything on NMEA2K/Seatalk with my Raymarine Axiom.

[4arch]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

I am having trouble finding a 12 V router that is reasonably priced.

Almost all consumer wi-fi routers from Netgear, TP-Link, etc. are 12v. Some are 9v but plenty are 12v. You just have to cut the AC adapter off and wire them directly to a 12v source.

[derfy]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I know this is going to sound a little crazy. You might not like it. But for this reason and many many many others, it’s actually better to run everything off of AC on the boat. Yes. I know. Controversial opinion.

Pure sine inverter on all the time is a godsend these days.

after you set that up you don’t need any more specialized equipment or worrying about wiring things in or anything. Everything just works. No more expensive, difficult to find niche 12v things. Plug and go.

It's very reasonable, but with my 2022-vintage Xantrex inverter, I see 25 watts of continuous power (2 amps) when running the inverter. If I try using the low power load-sense mode, the inverter shuts off with small loads like a router, or switches on and off looking for loads. Neither work well for a router. Using my cellphone as a router is much lower power.

[svmobert]

Shoot me an email at ahoy@sea-tech.com.. I have a couple Linksys routers that I can unload cheap which will run on 12V. I also have some of the YachtD devices here and we can discuss the NMEA part if you are looking to solve that as well.

-Richard

Originally Posted by Dr. D

Could I make my iPad a WiFi hotspot and connect the Tablo TV directly to it? I am having trouble finding a 12 V router that is reasonably priced.

[ohgary]

Originally Posted by Dr. D

I am having trouble finding a 12 V router that is reasonably priced.

check out GLinet routers, They have a number of USB C powered routers that can be powered by 12v. They come with a lot of options. vpn, ad blocking etc.
https://www.gl-inet.com/
They also support using a phone as a hotspot, routing to a local WIFI..
When searching look for travel routers. thats more of what you wan than a home router type device.

[ranger58sb]

Originally Posted by derfy

Q2: Am I the only one that would want it?

FWIW, we found it easiest to just buy a new smart TV. Big-ish screen, many streaming apps already installed, you can install a streaming app if it's not there already. Much easier/clearer for us to actually watch TV on a 40" (in our case) screen than it would be on a 10" tablet or whatever.

New Samsung TV also includes Samsung TV+ streaming TV, 300 channels or so I think...

Before that, we could mirror from small device to larger screen, but it was a PITA.

And now we can watch TV and use our other devices for something else simultaneously.

-Chris

[derfy]

Originally Posted by ranger58sb

FWIW, we found it easiest to just buy a new smart TV. Big-ish screen, many streaming apps already installed, you can install a streaming app if it's not there already. Much easier/clearer for us to actually watch TV on a 40" (in our case) screen than it would be on a 10" tablet or whatever.

New Samsung TV also includes Samsung TV+ streaming TV, 300 channels or so I think...

Before that, we could mirror from small device to larger screen, but it was a PITA.

And now we can watch TV and use our other devices for something else simultaneously.

-Chris

Well, to each his own. Enjoy that big screen.

By contrast, I don't need a TV (large or small, smart or dumb). It just takes up space, uses power, can't be used from anyplace on the boat. I don't need sat TV or Starlink Internet. Very few of those 300 channels have anything I need to see, and good luck finding them when I have time to watch. 4G cellular 10-15 GB /mo is plenty fine for web, youtube, whatsapp and zoom calls, facebook and google photos, etc. In the Bahamas, SIM cards with 50-100 GB were (used to be) very cheap. Marinas and bars still have free wifi (good places to update software and nav charts). Cruising is expensive enough - fixing stuff that breaks, dockage, fuel, insurance, fees, maintenance, ... I just like free TV to watch local news and a few games. I guess I am a dinosaur Luddite.

[derfy]

Originally Posted by ohgary

check out GLinet routers, They have a number of USB C powered routers that can be powered by 12v. They come with a lot of options. vpn, ad blocking etc.
https://www.gl-inet.com/
They also support using a phone as a hotspot, routing to a local WIFI..
When searching look for travel routers. thats more of what you wan than a home router type device.

I like these. I am looking at this one. $129 on their on-line store.

https://www.gl-inet.com/products/gl-axt1800/#specs.

Looks like to use 4G WAN, you use your cell phone in tethered mode with a USB cable. That's not a terrible solution - fairly clean. I have to keep my cell phone plugged into a USB anyway just to keep it charged up. Then you have a nice wideband wifi router for the boat with 4G wan. I like it.

So then I need a TabloTV box like this for $110 ...

https://www.tablotv.com/product/

And I have a digital ATSC TV receiver available on Wifi, useable by any wifi device (tablet, PC, phone). If I have cellular service, my cheap cell phone provides the WAN connectivity.

I like it. Thanks to all.

[rdempsey]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

When you have Internet (Starlink) you have lots of tv choices: Roku, Youtube TV etc. I don’t wat h tv anymore, it’s too annoying.

I have Starlink, but it draws 4-5 amps, so I'll use antenna when I can.