DirecTV - hate to say it, I need news

I am new to partial liveaboard.. I have 42 GB moored at Point Roberts as my Vancouver Condo..

The marina does not have cable ( how un-american) .. so I'm looking at a DirecTV system for boats.. I need news, football , presidential debates..

Does anyone have experience with these systems, particularly in this area??

thanks
Drew
@Westerly
42 GB 556

The direct TV will need an antenna that follows the Sat , if you are going to leave the slip.

A dish screwed to the piling is fine for the houseboater , but at anchor or in another slip finding the Sat can be a pain.

At anchor a system that just tracks the sat round the horizon , but not in elevation (underway requirement) costs about $900 for the antenna.

If you just cruise M>M the RV folks sell a $35.00 meter to help you find the Sat by hand.

Cruising we use XM radio and its great , but for liveaboard the TV is better.

I loved my DirecTV aboard. Mounted it on a Track It TV system and works great. http://www.track-it-tv.com/

We have direct TV.* The dish is mounted on a 3ft X 3 ft peice of plywood, so I can move it around.**The standard dish does have a resonable wide band, so we do not loose signal vrey often.* If that does no work then spring for a Follow me or*Track it.** If we are not watching TV then we have*a music channel.* Would not leave the dock with out it.

**

*

"Would not leave the dock with out it."

4 hours a year not tied up is not a huge CRISIS.

FF, maybe compared to a broken nail or a lost pink bunny slipper it's not a HUGE crisis, but it's still up there. lol

LOL... try being out those 4 hours with young grandkids and no TV. Let me tell you, it IS a crisis!

yes un american.. hmmm because vancouver is canadian??

sloboat wrote:
Check out Dish versus Direct system. No contract and you can activate/deactivate at your option. Popular with RV crowd. Be sure to use the Walmart Green Dot card versus the Dish system card as the latter uses the whole amount on the card in one whack when activated. Check out*www.satelliteguys.us for*forums on each system.*

-- Edited by sloboat at 17:34, 2008-10-11

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*Not sure what "Dish" you are refering to but we have Dish now and have for a couple of years and they want a two year contract. Same as DirecTV. You can't activate/deactivate, but you can suspend the service for a period of time paying a smaller monthy fee. But be careful since this may extend your contract time. We have had both Dish and DirecTV on board for almost ten years and we use the Track-It system which used to be Follow-Me. It works fine at the dock and at anchor. If you want TV under way you will need one of the more expensive systems like KVH or Intellion. Check the programming offers from each to find the package that gives you what you want. Local channels will only work for your billing address area with both providers. The "cards" are becoming a thing of the past and most new receivers are cardless. There is only one card for each provider and it is the same no matter what is printed on it. The provider activates or deactivates the receiver, whether card or cardless, by sending down data packets specific to that card and receiver combination. Chuck


-- Edited by Capn Chuck on Friday 5th of August 2011 01:35:07 PM

KMA wrote:
LOL... try being out those 4 hours with young grandkids and no TV. Let me tell you, it IS a crisis!

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*Spent 9 days on a 42' boat with 4 grand kids, no TV (did have some DVDs).* They played games, rode the dinghy, swam, snorkeled, and toured on the stops.* If they got bored, I couldn't tell it.* We were many nights at anchor.

LOL... try being out those 4 hours with young grandkids and no TV. Let me tell you, it IS a crisis!


Leave a tape of "Debi does Dallas " in the VCR and you wont be bothered by them for hours!

While I don't have a Trawler I hope to own one eventually. In my Mainship 40SB I installed a KVH M3 about 5 years ago when they 1st came out. What I like about the system is it is all 12VDC. My flat screen TVs are also 12VDC so we don't need to run the inverter, generator or dock power to watch premium TV. The unit also tracks so when we are cruising along guests can watch TV. Direct TV service is expensive if you get the full blown package. In addition for over the air TV I use a Glomex V9125 antenna system and it like the KVH works very well. Depending on your billing zip code I believe that is the way Direct determins local programming as well over the network. If I ever sell this boat the KVH M3 will not be part of the sale unless the new owner wants to pay close to my replacement costs. The system is very easy to control the remote is RF not IR. The only problems I have ever had is during heavy rain you can lose the signal.

Bill

Wireless One 40 Mainship Sedan Bridge

I am reporting after installing the kvh m1dx system with direct tv It works great even while under way The only thing I miss is the local channels which I lost as soon as I moved from my home area

How much does the service programming cost and is it more or less than on ground?

scitch8 wrote:
How much does the service programming cost and is it more or less than on ground?

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*The price of the programming is the same and the cost depends on which programming options you choose. Chuck

Just to let you know the Pink Bunny slippers are still keeping my pedicure toes warm, *Had a manicure and pedicure last week, and I have not broken a nail in months.*
*
This summer was wet and cold so when the grandchildren came the usual out door activities were limited, so having the dish TV, red box movies, Net flicks, Nooks, personal DVD players, person 3-M players keep them entertained.*
*

We now can down load Net Flick moves from the Verizon internet connection.* The note pad computer is also a wifi hot spot for the TV.* In a couple of years dish TV may be obsolete as you can do every thing from the cell phone/pad/hot spot. *

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-- Edited by Phil Fill on Friday 9th of December 2011 10:45:56 AM


-- Edited by Phil Fill on Friday 9th of December 2011 11:14:35 AM

If you have direct tv at home its 6bucks a months* If you have a buddy who has direct tv* it cost 6bucks a month

Phil Fill wrote:*

We now can down load Net Flick moves from the Verizon internet connection.* The note pad computer is also a wifi hot spot for the TV.* In a couple of years dish TV may be obsolete as you can do every thing from the cell phone/pad/hot spot.

*

*
*

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We have been hearing this since the first days of the internet. It ain't happened yet and my guess is that it won't until some new technology surfaces. At that point the new technology will be controlled by the satellite companies. Chuck

"try being out those 4 hours with young grandkids and no TV."

Have any of them been able to learn to READ yet?

I understand the need to stay informed , but are pictures a help?

XM radio has many news and TV information channels Bloomberg , Fox and even the left wing stuff.

No big deal,12v designed work underway .

We use a transmitting amplifier (12V) and can use any radio anywhere on board ,

Drew, I*want to sell my nearly new*Track-Me-TV system. These "satellite trackers"*use a digital electronic compass*to lock onto the satellite. They work great. New, they sell for $900 plus shipping. I will sell mine for $700 (including the*18" dish,*DirecTV receiver*and*remote control). Contact me if you're interested -- my boat is located in Anacortes, WA. (nwboater@whidbey.net)