Directv with Follow Along

[waterworldly]

Does anyone have any firsthand experience with using this combo in the Gulf or Caribbean? Thanks!

[AnchorageGuy]

If you are talking about the Follow Me they work great in anchorages where there is no wind on the beam or sloppy waves. They are one dimension tracking and will only rotate. DirecTV in the Caribbean is a different animal than Direct in the US. You need a different receiver and subscription. We generally loose most channels south of Georgetown Bahamas and the north coast of Cuba. No luck at all in Mexico. You will have to subscribe to the South American sats.

[Latitude9.5]

I've used/owned the aztrax, which is similar to the follow me tv, I now have a KVH C3, which is a night and day difference.

Biggest complaints with the 1D systems is, one we live on the ball and weekends there are some pretty good wakes, they constantly lose signal to the point you might as well not bother trying to watch tv. also, the aztrax holds a constant bearing, however from my experience the dish being exposed it was constantly moving the dish just enough to have to move it a degree or two, the kvh locks onto the signal and thats it, flip it on, yer done.

That said they are better then nothing, but with the cost of the follow me compared to the kvh c3 you don't save enough to make it worth it. When i bought the aztrax the cheapest kvh system was going to cost me 5k, however the new c3 was in and working for $1600 (aztrax was 1200)

[Alan Wheeler]

In have just ordered this toy to play with. KVH is around NZ$9K here and the Track-it will cost me about NZ$2K including the dish and box etc.
Marine Satellite TV Tracking
I hope it works.

[Latitude9.5]

Follow-me-tv is now Track-it-tv.

Like I said I'm sure you'll be happy with it if you have nothing but rabbit ears right now. How much is the c3 in NZ?

[Alan Wheeler]

How much is the c3 in NZ?

What's a c3 ?????

[David M]

C3

[Alan Wheeler]

I re-read your post. I see, it is a KVH. Don't know the models, but I do know they cheapest starts at about $8K and they all go up from there. The cheapest mobile home one starts at $2.5K. It doesn't track.

[Latitude9.5]

lol, yea like i said when i bought the aztrax i was in the same "boat" here in the us, the cheapest system was $4500 and I had to buy a control box and everything else with it. West Marine just started carrying the new cheaper model (c3) which is much less expensive.

You'll be happy with the follow me tv, if we didn't live at a mooring field that gets nonstop wake traffic on the weekend I would still be using a 1d system.

[Lancerbye]

I bought a KVH C3 from West Marine in Vancouver, B.C. Canada last summer for $1800 (CAD) and change. You can then get the service provider of your choice. I use Dish Network. I could also use DirectTV or Bellexpressvu. One can change the LNB(simple job) and get the european providers. The C3 is a low profile enclosed tracking Satellite receiving antenna. We use it while undersail or motoring. The admiral is much appreciative. That, a 20 in. LCD screen, a clothes washer dryer unit, a built in vacuum cleaner system plus a whole lot of other stuff and I can do no wrong. LOL

[cal40john]

How much current does the c3 and the Track-it use. The Track-it claims 0.5 amps. I realize if you're stable it will use less.

John

[Latitude9.5]

Less than 2.5amps.

[waterworldly]

I was on a friends motorboat in Fort Lauderdale last weekend. He had Trac Vision piped into all his chartplotters and flatscreens, perfect reception even when tooling along. Link: TracVision Marine Satellite TV