KVH TV, Intellian

[tiltrider1]

I am not allowed to comment on someone else’s for sale post so I have created my own thread.

Most of us know that Starlink basically made our TV antennas worthless over night. Certainly made them worth less than the start up kit cost of approximately $700.

I had over $4,000 invested in my Intellian, I could actually get HDTV through Dish for $100 a month. Dish HDTV is 720p. It stopped being HDTV north of desolation sound but standard TV worked to Alaska.

With starlink I get 4K TV and it works all the way to Alaska, plus I have two way communication.

So if some one really wants to spend too much money for less there are a whole lot of us looking to dump some once very expensive TV antennas.

 

[READY]

To add some counter perspective on the tracking antennas.

I bought an Intellian used, pretty cheap. I already use DishTV at home. So I pay $7/month for the receiver for the boat. I pay $35/month extra on my cell phone bill for Verizon home internet (on the boat).

I don't have a need for Starlink so for me there is some value in the tracking antenna. Probably some day I will add Starlink but for now this solution works for me.

So my point is that while expecting to recoup multiple thousands $$ is not realistic, there may still be buyers like me willing to pay $500+.

One interesting thing I discovered on my recent trip to Ensenada: My DishTV worked perfectly for the entire trip in 4-6 ft seas. While in Ensenada I continued to get all my local networks from my home (Las Vegas).

 

[SeaDogAK]

To add some counter perspective on the tracking antennas.

I bought an Intellian used, pretty cheap. I already use DishTV at home. So I pay $7/month for the receiver for the boat. I pay $35/month extra on my cell phone bill for Verizon home internet (on the boat).

I don't have a need for Starlink so for me there is some value in the tracking antenna. Probably some day I will add Starlink but for now this solution works for me.

So my point is that while expecting to recoup multiple thousands $$ is not realistic, there may still be buyers like me willing to pay $500+.

One interesting thing I discovered on my recent trip to Ensenada: My DishTV worked perfectly for the entire trip in 4-6 ft seas. While in Ensenada I continued to get all my local networks from my home (Las Vegas).

I think the question is whether you want internet or just TV. If you are boating in a place where you always have cell service, and can get a good data plan, you can use that for data. Maybe in that case a satellite TV antenna makes sense. But if you’re out of cell coverage, like in SE Alaska for instance, I don’t think anything beats Starlink.

 

[READY]

Yes 100% agree that for reliable "anywhere" internet Starlink is the right path. If I were working from the boat or even frequently outside of LTE/5G coverage Starlink would be the way to go.

One other factor for me is we also use our RV so for another $7/month we have a DishTV unit there as well.

Final factor is a "happy spouse" consideration. My wife likes the ease of a more traditional TV channel interface with DishTV vs streaming. I must admit I prefer that too but am more willing to use steaming and gain the benefits that provides.

 

[tpbrady]

We have DirecTV at home and when on the boat, we use Starlink to stream DirecTV in SE Alaska using the DirecTV app on a Firestick or IPad. We don’t get quite the same channel selection, but it fills the square

 

[tiltrider1]

If you never leave US cell coverage than using a Verizon or T-Mobile hot spot for TV and internet is still cheaper than Using Dish/DirectTV (some exceptions for those who already have it at home)

A traditional TV experience can be had by Streaming YouTube TV or Hulu.

I agree there is a market for used satellite TV antennas in the $200-$500 dollar range. It is a small market and I suspect its time is very limited.

I realize some people still watch standard definition TV. Most of us have gotten used to 4K streaming quality and can’t go back to the 720p quality being used by Dish and Direct.

Finally, DirectTV announced that they were pulling HDTV off of single satellite use which meant all dishes below 7 series would only be able to get Standard definition. I don’t know if this has finally happened or not.

 

[Mambo42]

When I bought my boat there was a Tracvision antenna installed on it. I basically never used it, since I immediately switched to Starlink.
Then the antenna was in the way of the solar panels, so took it off. Tried to sell it, but nowadays nobody is interested in old school TV reception. Then I heard that some people think it is cool to have a dome on their boat, so I am offering the antenna now for the price of a dummy dome (around 200 euro in Europe). Still nobody is interested.

I fear that, in the end, this Tracvision will end up on the garbage belt, pretty useless to keep paying storage cost for it.