occasional satellite TV

[kurts55]

Hi. My name is Kurt and I have a 1997 Carver 440 aft cabin. This is the first time I've used the forum so if I'm in the wrong place or doing something I shouldn't be doing please let me know.

I'm wondering if anyone has tried using a dish network tailgater antennae on their boat. I just want occasional TV and don't really know where to start. Any comments on the topic would be appreciated.

Thanks,
KS

[a64pilot]

Welcome Kurt.
It would work at the dock as you could put it on the dock, and maybe if in very calm water if you had two anchors or something to prevent movement?
A lot of people think TV is the spawn of the Devil or something, but I have become used to having it and put a KVH TV5 on my boat, works exceptionally well so far, even sailing in some pretty heavy seas. Receiver requires AC power though, I don't think a DC powered one exists.

You can record programs on the receiver at home and take the receiver to the boat and play recorded programs

[kurts55]

Thanks much for the input. We would probably only use TV at the dock anyway. I don't really want to spend a ton of money right now so maybe this would indeed be an economical option.

Thanks again.

[a64pilot]

I have a neighbor that just put a house dish on the dock, they are plentiful as when people's subscription ends, they only want the receivers back, the dish and LNB stays.
You don't even need to buy a tailgater that way, just get an unused dish

[Time2Go]

Not really a boat answer but I work part time for the
Big Apple Circus. The first thing the folks that travel with
the circus do after parking their caravans is to pull out their
Dish antennas which are mounted on 2'x2' squares of plywood
point them south ( don't exactly know how they get the correct
direction or azimuth) reel out the cable to the inside receivers and
their in business. Don't see why this wouldn't work
With a boat at a dock.
Cheers
Neil

[a64pilot]

You can buy a solution for not much money too.
I feel real sure you don't have to buy another receiver, I did for less than $100 and I think it's another $3 a month on my bill to add a receiver

http://www.amazon.com/Directv-Inch-S...lite+tv+aiming

[marlinmike]

Enjoy the boat and get rid of all the crap like Sat TV, read a book, good for the soul!

[River Cruiser]

I used a Winegard tailgater it worked great at the dock as long as it had a clear shot towards the satellite. I went to a track me system and it will follow the satellite while cruising or at anchor. Here is a picture of it mounted on the bow with a Directv dish.





Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[valhalla360]

We started with a pipe clamped to the dingy davits to mount a standard 18" dish. Works fine in a marina.

We did break down and pick up a "find me" tracker which mounted to the same pipe but tracks left and right as you swing at anchor. They call it a 90% solution as most people don't anchor where the up and down tracking would be needed. Works well.

If you accept the non-HD channels, it's easy to aim. The box will give you the direction and unless you cover hundreds of miles, the elevation is usually close enough. I usually just look for the direction the other dishes mounted on the docks are pointed and match them. Takes 5-10min to set up.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by marlinmike

Enjoy the boat and get rid of all the crap like Sat TV, read a book, good for the soul!

My soul is in good shape as I typically read a book while watching TV.

If 3hrs of watching the sun set is your idea of a good evening (every evening) more power to you. We usually go look at it for 5-10mn and then need something more stimulating.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Kurt.

[marlinmike]

LOL, ok I get it, actually witness this same phenomenon at our local marina, many an hour is spend adjusting that Dish to get the proper signal, add in connector issues etc and you have some good entertainment. And I also understand the smart phone world, see people all the time sitting in a restaurant and after a few minutes of nothing to stimulate them, well let's thumb through some Facebook updates. I get it, just don't agree with it and to be honest this was a little bit of an experiment, as you stated you had a Carver, in my large marina, 100% of the Carvers and Silvetons, have some form of Sat. TV connected. Good luck and be well!

Originally Posted by valhalla360

My soul is in good shape as I typically read a book while watching TV.

If 3hrs of watching the sun set is your idea of a good evening (every evening) more power to you. We usually go look at it for 5-10mn and then need something more stimulating.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by marlinmike

LOL, ok I get it, actually witness this same phenomenon at our local marina, many an hour is spend adjusting that Dish to get the proper signal, add in connector issues etc and you have some good entertainment. And I also understand the smart phone world, see people all the time sitting in a restaurant and after a few minutes of nothing to stimulate them, well let's thumb through some Facebook updates. I get it, just don't agree with it and to be honest this was a little bit of an experiment, as you stated you had a Carver, in my large marina, 100% of the Carvers and Silvetons, have some form of Sat. TV connected. Good luck and be well!

After the first time or two, if it's taking you hours to set up, you are doing something wrong.

If we come into a new marina it's 5-10minutes. If we are just out for a day sail and come back to the same slip...zero time.

Don't have facebook by the way but nothing wrong with staying mentally engaged as long as you aren't ignoring those you are with.

[SVRapture40]

I realize this is an old thread.. but I have an update for it that I wish had been here when I was working through TV at anchor. First, Dish is by far the best solution for a provider in my opinion. If you want to know why I feel that way, send me a PM and I will share. Second, a Winegard Roadtrip T4 antenna works GREAT on a boat. The reason why I want to get this out there is because you can save serious money (less than half $2700 vs $1300) over KVH and it works.



Here's the thing - if you contact Winegard they will tell you that it is not recommended for boats. That is because in its default configuration it is setup to find the satellites and then go to sleep until you change the channel. That obviously will not work at anchor. But if you change the switch settings you can disable the sleep mode and then it works fine. We bought one this spring figuring we would risk $1300 in an attempt to save more than half the price. After using this antenna while cruising the Puget Sound, exclusively at anchor, I can say without hesitation that we had absolutely zero problems. We had one 24 hour period at anchor with 25 - 35 knots with gusts to 40 (yeah, we were SWINGING!) and had no problems, not a single blip.



So if you are a purist and believes TV has no place on a boat, good on ya. But if you are looking for a little occasional evening TV before bed, you can do it relatively cheap with Dish and the Roadtrip T4.



One thing to note - not sure if this will work offshore in a rolly anchorage (yeah, we've spent a few of those - you can have it!). We do not have swell in the Puget Sound. So if you cruise in a relatively calm area, you should have no problems at all.