Track It Tv

Not sure if this is the right place to post, but wanted to get some feedback on Track It Tv installs instead of a dome. I have a Track it tv unit and would love to install but cannot seem to find a suitable location on my Carver. Seems to stick out like a sore thumb. Any of you ever installed one on a trawler or cruiser? If so, any pictures of the mounted unit? We will only use it on anchor in protected coves.

Can't help on the best location for your vessel, but if you are going to install a Trac-It-TV antenna install is in a location where you can work on it. You need to fiddle with the adjustment after moving north and south any distance (perhaps 50 to 60 miles). Also watch out for (on your boat) the possibility that further north or south ? the antennas angle to the satellite could be obstructed by your canvas covering over the upper helm. At certain points on the east coast of the United States the satellites are closer to the horizon.

I have a '98 355 Carver and I can see your dilemma. Only two places I can think of. One; on a mast on top of the sun deck, but that would look like hell. Another possibility, temporarily on the fore deck between the rails.

With the dome units coming down in price, it may just be simpler and better to go that route and mount it on the arch.

Thanks for the tips guys. I have been watching the prices on the domes and keeping an eye on ebay. Would make it a little easier if someone bought my track it system from me. I will keep re-listing it if I cant come up with a way to mount it.

I had heard good things about the Tailgater. DISH Tailgater Satellite Antenna - King Controls VQ2500 - Satellite Antennas - Camping World

I have ordered one and will be testing it on the AICW this fall.

Wish they made one for Directv.

Only challenge is that the tailgater does not appear to support in motion. We normally dont put out a stern anchor so it eliminates any system that will not support in motion. Maybe I am reading that wrong.


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timjet said:

Wish they made one for Directv.

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KING Flex Portable Satellite Antenna - King Controls VQ2100 - Satellite Antennas - Camping World they do just more $$$

I have no experience with this yet

I owned a track-it and it fit nicely on my Mainship. There is no logical place on my 38 foot Present. It did its job and, yeah, ya gotta fiddle with it occasionally but for the$ it is ok. I sold mine off and will see my next move....gotta have my default program, new or rerun NCIS. Now that Cote de Pablo (Ziva) has left the show I wanted her to know I was available. No ans from my EMails....do not understand.

The tailgater looks good if you just go from marina to marina.

Btw not only are there diagnostic tools on the tv from satellite but for about $20 you can get a simple meter through Amazon among others.

Capecodder said:

I had heard good things about the Tailgater. DISH Tailgater Satellite Antenna - King Controls VQ2500 - Satellite Antennas - Camping World

I have ordered one and will be testing it on the AICW this fall.

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Our neighbors have one. At the marina, they put it on the dock box to keep the signal. Please let us know. If it works, in the usually calm waters of the AICW, it's a cheap way for sat TV for sure.

Mule said:

I owned a track-it and it fit nicely on my Mainship. There is no logical place on my 38 foot Present. It did its job and, yeah, ya gotta fiddle with it occasionally but for the$ it is ok. I sold mine off and will see my next move....gotta have my default program, new or rerun NCIS. Now that Cote de Pablo (Ziva) has left the show I wanted her to know I was available. No ans from my EMails....do not understand.

.

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Come to the Eastern Caribbean, NCIS and SVU reruns make up much of the non-governmental programming.

Capecodder said:

KING Flex Portable Satellite Antenna - King Controls VQ2100 - Satellite Antennas - Camping World they do just more $$$

I have no experience with this yet

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It looks like it works with DirecTV, but does not track.

For a few bucs you can get a direcTV dish antenna and mount it to a piling or make a stand so it sits on the boat or dock. At a previous marina they allowed us to mount it to the piling and it worked well. I think the DirecTV installer gave us the dish antenna when he was installing one at the house.

The tailgater and King units seem to be an expensive option if you want what I described above in a neat and smaller package.

We use the King Flex from CampersWorld, works great, easy to use just set it where there is a unobstructed view to the South West. It powers thru the co-axil cable so no separate power cable to run, has built in theft protection alarm if the co-axil cable is disconnected, we however run a steel cable and lock thru the handle. It usually find the Direct TV satellite in minutes, by the time we are tied up the we have tv. It is a unit for stationary use only.
Prior to this we had used a dish mounted on a heavy base plate but it was a real pain adjusting it to find the satellite signal, if you value your sanity do the King Flex.
Bill

The Tailgater (and the Flex, same item for more universal use) is for solid ground only. Even at a marina if you put it on the boat or a bouncy floating dock it can drift in and out if it rocks at all as it tries to re-level itself. A full sized dish mounted on a Track-it is a bit more forgiving in this regard, and the big thing you pay extra for is it tracks while the boat swings and turns.

I used to be in the sat TV business, and was when we first bought the Hatteras. I too tried the Track-it route first and couldn't find a place where it wouldn't either get in the way, be obstructed at certain angles, or look really funky. They were extremely nice and helpful people to deal with and took my return of the unit with no issues (this was 7 years ago). What I probably should have got was one of the big KVH C3's but allowed myself to get talked into their at the time new, small dome units, an M2 which mounted very nicely on the arch. The downside it was nonHD , which we really didn't care about at the time,and Direct Tv only (we really would have preferred DISH and still do) and billed as an "anchor or dock" unit. We have almost zero occasion to want to watch TV while underway, but the thing worked perfectly fine while putting down a calm ICW; we liked the included satellite radio stations and I did watch some of a football game and some horse races . If you have a similar usage profile, you might be able to find one of these on e-Bay or a marine surplus store cheap.

I bought the one Mule had after much thought I mounted it towards the bow to the starboard rail. It's temporary now but so far I have no problems with it and it works great. Mounted low like that I've been waked while anchored by a small tow and never lost the signal.

A quick update for Larry "Our neighbors have one. At the marina, they put it on the dock box to keep the signal. Please let us know. If it works, in the usually calm waters of the AICW, it's a cheap way for sat TV for sure."

Using the tailgater just set on the deck of my Trawler in so far in three different slips (have not tried it on the hook yet) with wakes, lots of wind and rain the tailgater has had perfect reception. With the one known issue one of three saterlites 129 has a weak signal in the North East and in one marina sounded by large sport fishing boats I did not pick it up. I went from having 4 or 5 weak terrestrial channels to more than I want to scan.

Update, of the the tailgater. I did not watch as much TV as I thought I would on my trip from New England to Florida. After Boat chores and dinner, enjoying the quiet of nature won out. But on the rainy chilly days the tailgater did not let me down. As I singlehanded most of the trip watching TV on the move was not on my list of needs. Tied to a dock in some pretty bumpy marinas the dish worked fine. On the hook when the tide or wind was from a constant direction " it worked fine" if you plan on finishing the movie before the tide changes . It takes about five or ten minutes to set up. Find a spot with clear southern view run the wire and auto program the box. But if you have moved to a new "TV Market" around 300 to 400 miles needed to call Dish with new Zip code this took at least 15 minutes, the company service was good and i could understand the instructions. I also used a Radio Shack flat TV antenna if I only wanted to watch the six o'clock news.