TV on a cruising boat

[sarafina]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Also a word of thanks for all the experienced sailors who suggested keeping connected to the shore. I guess you are all trying to show how smart you are. Sorry if you think TV on a boat is not your cup of tea, but to me you just seem like jerks.

Guess this is an example of some guys with lots of posts trying to make folks feel welcome.

Er, sorry you feel attacked, the silliness was just that; joking around. SOme of those 'jerks' are the experienced sailors, but they do tease occasionally ; -)

[Dulcesuenos]

Not sure the usefulness of this but when we are in an area with cell service we can watch tv thru our phones connected to our led tv via a micro hdmi. Cable.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by sarafina

Er, sorry you feel attacked, the silliness was just that; joking around. SOme of those 'jerks' are the experienced sailors, but they do tease occasionally ; -)

I started sailing on my Dad's Abaco schooner in 1954 in Miami. I raced well enough to win one design trophies in high school. I went to the Olympic board sailing trials a couple of times.

I just never thought about TV on a boat I would be owing in the Bahamas till I was walking the docks in Marathon and saw waiting for the survey to arrive a day after the boat was hauled and saw some TV dishes on the boats there.

Not sure if this qualifies for being an experienced sailor, but I do claim to be experienced on the internet and what you seem to describe as teasing in many settings is called decreasing the signal to noise ratio.

This is one reason I am more of a fan of SA than CF. If anyone there suggested a five hundred mile cable going from one country to another as a solution they would never live it down.

Also the first post was prefaced with a disclaimer about not wanting a discussion about if TV should be on a boat, rather the best way to put it on a boat.

Sorry to say it may be a better idea to walk docks than put up with teasing at CF. Kinda sad in a way that some folks have nothing better to do with their time than tease, but I guess that is the reason Al Gore invented the ignore button.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Dulcesuenos

Not sure the usefulness of this but when we are in an area with cell service we can watch tv thru our phones connected to our led tv via a micro hdmi. Cable.

Last time I was in Mexico cell service was not all that great, but I was not near major ports. I was getting much better internet service there. One of the guys in my dive party was from Finland and he was getting socked with expensive roaming charges. Not sure how Verizon service is there. But if I am on the West Coast of Andros I would bet dish TV would be the only option.

[AnchorageGuy]

Tom, We have been using the Track-it system for about ten years or more. It works fine at anchor, not under way. It only does two dimensional tracking. We have used it at anchor in 30 knot winds and it tracks just fine as long as the boat is not rolling. As for satellite in the Bahamas. Once you get to Georgetown you will loose about half the channels. South of there and pretty much all of them are gone unless you have at least a 4 foot dish. North of Georgetown, most will come back. You will not be able to receive any locals unless you subscribe to the New York locals which are on the major sats. You will need a New York address for those. There is no over the air antennas that will get you Florida stations beyond Bimini and that's pretty iffy. Hope this helps. Chuck

[Mr B]

I would assume it would be very expensive to have tv on board away from the coast,

I had TV on board but never tried it out, Just wasnt interested in it, So didnt find out if it even worked,

[waterworldly]

I have used a Sea-Tel dome with 3 directv receivers as far south as the Turks and Caicos, a full run and I can order movies by computer that show on all receivers. I have no complaints at all.

[motion30]

I have direct tv with a kvh trac vision it is the smallest m1 unit , cost me $2000 with the 12v box . It works great at anchor and underway when not to rough . Was in bimini last month it worked fine

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Waterwayguy

Tom, We have been using the Track-it system for about ten years or more. It works fine at anchor, not under way. It only does two dimensional tracking. We have used it at anchor in 30 knot winds and it tracks just fine as long as the boat is not rolling. As for satellite in the Bahamas. Once you get to Georgetown you will loose about half the channels. South of there and pretty much all of them are gone unless you have at least a 4 foot dish. North of Georgetown, most will come back. You will not be able to receive any locals unless you subscribe to the New York locals which are on the major sats. You will need a New York address for those. There is no over the air antennas that will get you Florida stations beyond Bimini and that's pretty iffy. Hope this helps. Chuck

This is mostly what I was hearing on the docks. Working in a 30kn wind sounds nice. I was told you could get Miami channels, and one lady was saying the weather girl at one Miami station always kept her buttissmo in front of where the Bahamas were on the weather map.

I have used one on my RV and never had much trouble with losing stations, but that was in the US. Guess I will be spending a lot of time North of Georgetown.

Thanks for the informative response.

[tomfl]

Thanks for the informative responses. One of the big attractions for me was that it seems like you would be able to get reliable weather conditions as well as entertainment. I am not sure what other options to get current weather cost, but this does seem like something I would consider. Any one have experience with where the weather channel drops out as you go South. I seem to remember seeing at on Mexican TV, but not sure.

[AnchorageGuy]

Tom, You can't compare what you saw in Mexico to what you will receive in the Bahamas from US providers like DirecTV or Dish. You were probably watching SkyMexico which is a totally different satellite set up, receivers, etc. Chuck

[SVNeko]

Wow, lighten up, Francis.

[avb3]

I guess I just don't get the idea of TV on a boat. I mean, I don't watch TV at home except the very occasional DVD (2 x a year maybe), so why would I want one on a boat.

Why would anyone want TV, when there is so much else to do if cruising? Oh well, different strokes for different folks, I guess.

[smj]

Originally Posted by avb3

I guess I just don't get the idea of TV on a boat. I mean, I don't watch TV at home except the very occasional DVD (2 x a year maybe), so why would I want one on a boat.

Why would anyone want TV, when there is so much else to do if cruising? Oh well, different strokes for different folks, I guess.

Tv is a form of entertainment and for those of us that don't like to party at night it's the evenings relaxation. There's not a lot to do anchored of a small deserted Bahamian island at night. Let's face it, you can't see paradise at night. Why do you think most cruisers go to bed at nightfall? Have you cruised much?

[MysticGringo]

I'm not really interested in watching tv... I hate being "controlled" by when "they" schedule the shows if watch. So I'm more interested in using data (cell or wifi) to stream Netflix or Hulu. Would that be a solution for you?

I haven't owned a tv in years... but I have a pico style projector that works with my phone, so I can watch movies anywhere. What I'd like to do is play a movie on my sail on a downwind overnight passage... that'd be cool.