satellite tv antennae on boat?

[Lollygag1]

If you just want to watch satellite TV from the dock then consider a Tailgater. Relatviely low cost and easy to use and move. Plus you dont have to mount it just set it up, target the sat and you have TV

 

[Simi 60]

Don't need to buy an expensive "smart" TV.
Plenty of $50 boxes can be added to dumb TVs to make them smart and a $10 wireless keyboard trackpad combo used.
Multiple USB ports for connecting your own hard drive media collections.

 

[tdomenech]

I have an Trackvision M3 that I purchased used many years ago. Since I had Direct TV at home, I just put two additional units on the boat......however, I dropped Direct TV at home and started streaming (UTube TV is 50.00/month with no contract....can drop any time. I also have Glomax over the air antenna on the boat and have had for years...that was the only way to get high def...cause M3 (direct tv was not). Disconnected M3...now streaming or using over air antenna. Nice thing is that I get my local channels....something I did NOT get with Direct tv. Of course, I didn't need an internet connection with M3 but I'm happy. MOST of the time I have a connection.

 

[MOJO]

hi all,

we have used our dishtv dish antennae mounted on a dock piling for 10 years. we have changed marinas and can no longer mount the dish on dock/piling. we used tv over wifi this winter and i'm not totally satisfied.

my question: has anyone used a "normal" dish on the boat at the dock? if so, how did you mount? did you lose signal a lot?

If you use the older Dish 500 antenna as long as there's not a lot of motion in your slip you can likely mount the dish to a post on your boat and get a decent signal 90% of the time. That's because Dish Network with the smaller dish has an error tolerance of about +/- 4%. Generally you can get your lines tight enough to keep the boat within this envelope. Maybe tighten up the lines when you want to watch TV then loosen them back up if necessary.

Buy a piece of appropriate diameter pvc pipe, clamp it to a stanchion with hose clamps, mount and align the dish and give it a try. Either brace it well or keep it down low to minimize the lever arm effect of the dish on the mounting, especially when the wind blows. As long as the dish can see the southern sky, height doesn't matter (and elevation doesn't change with the tide).

 

[Duetto]

hi all,

a few of you suggested the tailgaiter (or winegard's equivalent). i looked at them and had a lengthy discussion with a tech. the thing i worry about is that mounted on our foredeck, if it looses the signal it will not self re-acquire. this means a complete new acquisition cycle.

what i don't know, and why i asked the question here, is in a well protected marina how often would the signal be lost? i have a friend who has used his "old gray dish" sitting on his flybridge floor for years with no problem. but that's a sample size of one.

 

[Woodland Hills]

Don't need to buy an expensive "smart" TV.
Plenty of $50 boxes can be added to dumb TVs to make them smart and a $10 wireless keyboard trackpad combo used.
Multiple USB ports for connecting your own hard drive media collections.

I kept wearing out the HDMI sockets from adding and removing devices. We didn’t like all the wires and stuff on the floor and counter while watching TV, having it all internal to the TV cleaned things up a lot. We only had 1 of 4 HDMI receptacles functioning when we junked the dumb TV for a new Samsung, as an unexpected bonus, the new Samsung looks much better than the old Samsung when viewed from an angle.

 

[83GB]

one thing we think is critical is a DVR.... whether using OTA or streaming live or satellite dish.... I would not have any system that did not have DVR capabilities...

 

[MOJO]

hi all,
i have a friend who has used his "old gray dish" sitting on his flybridge floor for years with no problem. but that's a sample size of one.

I've been dealing with marine satellite TV for 20+ years. Per my previous post, presuming the dish is properly aligned with the satellite (and it's not one of the large HD dishes), this will work as long as there's not too much boat movement. If your only use is at the dock you may not need a tracking system. On the other hand, if you want to watch TV at anchor, etc., or if there's surge or other significant movement in your marina than you do need tracking.

 

[Simi 60]

I kept wearing out the HDMI sockets from adding and removing devices. We didn’t like all the wires and stuff on the floor and counter while watching TV, having it all internal to the TV cleaned things up a lot. .

We haven't pulled our device out of its hdmi socket once in 4 years of use, why would you?
It is discretely hidden behind the TV out of sight with a strip of Velcro so no cables visible.

 

[83GB]

I had a discussion with an owner of a Dish Tailgater satellite dish (about $350). They said it worked ok at anchor but ONLY if they deployed a stern anchor (as well as the bow anchor) to keep them in one orientation. Tailgaters are designed for land-based stationary use. When setting them up, they will scan and find the satellite but will NOT reacquire the satellite if they are moved laterally. The Winegard in motion dishes (about $1300) are designed to constantly track. KVH dishes are much more expensive.... I have wondered if the KVH dishes tract much faster to keep satellite connectivity than a winegard.. That is, if you are in rolley seas will the KVH work better.

 

[Ruffryder]

This is what we use for our cabin,
Dish tailgater will work as long as she's not moving.

 

[HiDHo]

Do you receive HD channels ?

 

[sailr1]

Follow me TV

hi all,

we have used our dishtv dish antennae mounted on a dock piling for 10 years. we have changed marinas and can no longer mount the dish on dock/piling. we used tv over wifi this winter and i'm not totally satisfied.

my question: has anyone used a "normal" dish on the boat at the dock? if so, how did you mount? did you lose signal a lot?

I have used Directv service on my 49 Defever mounted on Follow me Tv mount which automatically locks on the Directv satellites no matter where I am or at anchor and swinging. I have had it since 2004. No failure from New England to the Keys and the Bahamas!

 

[FoxtrotCharlie]

Bought a 39" 'smart' Roku TV from WM for about $180. Use our Ipad Pro as a hot spot and we can stream from just about everywhere - well, along the Tenn Tom and TN River, where there are some very dead OTA spots. NewsNow is a neat app on the TV - can get the latest newscast from any station in America, at any time. Watch your local news station from anywhere. And 'This Old House' channel full time

 

[markpierce]

What TV?!! One reason to boat is to appreciate the natural environment without the temptations of modern civilization's distractions.

 

[HiDHo]

The tv habit is hard to break. I justify tv on our boat as a safety item because up to date weather and forecast information can definitely effect your cruising plans.

 

[markpierce]

Radio, radio.

 

[Ruffryder]

Do you receive HD channels ?

Yes we do.
We're moored in Bremerton, we use Xfinity account hot spot connected to 2 Roku TV's and kids Xbox one.
Cell network hotspot is used when cruising mainly in the islands.

 

[Gaylord Ballard]

I use a King Tailgator. The whole outfit was less than $500. I am tied up at the dock most of the time. I mounted mine on the radar mast. I tapped onto a friends service and it costs me $7 a month. Works well. Occasionally on a wind shift I have to reboot it but reception is superb and the equipment is too.

 

[FF]

Right now I would not spend much as ATT seems ready to close sat TV in favor of 5G style TV.

No install cost and at $50 month , a deal compared to sat.''

I guess it would eventually be sold with Wi FI and phone .

 

[catalinajack]

Yes, ATT (Direct TV) is going away but there is another Sat TV player that is not, Dish TV. The problem with streaming, well, one must have cell service which, although very much widely available, is not universal nor will it ever be. There are long stretches of the Illinois River and the Tennesee-Tombigbee that do not have cell service. Grafton Illinois at the confluence of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers is notorious for lack of service. There may be other cruising areas that are deserts as well so streaming is no panacea for many boaters. Plus, streaming services (Hulu, YouTube TV), last I checked do not offer locals or even national feeds of network TV, nor do they offer the wide array of other channels in which many folks are interested. And, no, over-the-air is not an option in many places. As with so much in our boating world, much is compromise. I do agree that investing in equipment to acquire Direct TV service would not be a good choice as the equipment is not interchangeable with Dish TV without spending a lot more money.

Right now I would not spend much as ATT seems ready to close sat TV in favor of 5G style TV.

No install cost and at $50 month , a deal compared to sat.''

I guess it would eventually be sold with Wi FI and phone .

 

[Monk36]

Dish

We have a tv1 from track vision

https://www.track-it-tv.com/how-it-works

Full service in HD I’d about 90 a month with some movie channels

We love it and turn off service if not using boat for trips

Dish was about 2k? But the tv1 likely won’t work in Bahamas

Or- use a smart TV and link to your local cable company via smart tv it HDMI cable from laptop
That’s free if you have most cable services

Just an idea