Dish TV-gctid361505

[dddd666]

I had a question from the Admiral today. She wanted to know how we could get better TV when we are up in Desolation Sound. Currently we have a marine antenna that gives us very weak signals. We supplement this by watching some shows over the internet using a Telus air card. I assume that the only way to improve the TV signal is to use a satellite dish which would be mounted on a gyroscopic platform. Am I correct in assuming that this is the best (only? way to get decent TV reception in a remote area? If so, do any of you use such a system? How happy are you with it? What do you consider the best product? If it matters, we spend our winters in the states so we could acquire a US system if that turns out to be less expensive or has more options. Our boat is a 3988 so mounting something shouldn't present too much of a problem.

As always, TIA for all of your help.

-Don.

[Guest]

How far away are you from the signal?

[Guest]

I got one of these when the signals went digital. I get even the weakest signal within 60 miles now. Modern art, but it works.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Antennas...&skuId=9119642

[Uncle_Bob]

Roton on Granville Island sell these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTRmn8edsXs My bet is streaming TV over the internet will replace sat dishes for those who boat where there is a mobile signal. You might need a cell signal booster and Roton sell them too.

[mmichellich]

dddd666 wrote:
I had a question from the Admiral today. She wanted to know how we could get better TV when we are up in Desolation Sound. Currently we have a marine antenna that gives us very weak signals. We supplement this by watching some shows over the internet using a Telus air card. I assume that the only way to improve the TV signal is to use a satellite dish which would be mounted on a gyroscopic platform. Am I correct in assuming that this is the best (only? way to get decent TV reception in a remote area? If so, do any of you use such a system? How happy are you with it? What do you consider the best product? If it matters, we spend our winters in the states so we could acquire a US system if that turns out to be less expensive or has more options. Our boat is a 3988 so mounting something shouldn't present too much of a problem.

As always, TIA for all of your help.

-Don.

I have used Dish Network on our 47 almost since we purchased it new in 1996. Have seen many changes since then. We use one of our home Dish receivers on the boat. In the early days we only had Dish when we were tied to a dock that was anchored with piling and no swinging using a home 18 inchmetal dish antenna. Back then there wasn't an inexpensive solution for anchored boats or boats tied to anchored docks that swung. I later used an azimuth tracker antenna and it worked well with a 12 inch plastic dish (with proper LNB equivalent to an 18 inch metal home dish) as far North as Desolation Sound, but would not work past Blind Channel. This worked most of the time at anchor if moving slowly or tied to docks that moved with tides and winds. Later I purchased a metal 24 inch antenna that extended our good Dish coverage to the Broughtons. A couple of years ago, I wanted something better so I purchased a marine King Controls MOTION TRACKING antenna, that works well past the Broughtons. There is one issue tho, since Dish upgraded their satellite 119 last year, there is good and bad news. Now the 119 signals are a lot stronger for all but the spot transponders that transmit the Seattle local networks, which are now only good to about Desolation Sound, mostly. All other channels are a lot stronger. with the new satellite and of course a lot more HD channels. I have another receiver from my motorhome I use that gets what are called distant networks (New York and LA local network channels) and these are not transmitted on the spot beams but are on the CONUS beams so they are still strong in the Broughtons.

If you are Canadian, you should be able to get equivalent service from one of the two Canadian satellite companies and get the Vancouver local network channels. You will need either an azimuth tracker, an RV motion tracker or better a marine motion tracker antenna.

Lots of boaters use an RV MOTION TRACKING antenna such as those sold by camping world such as the Wingard Mini Max IN MOTION antenna selling on sale now for $1259.99. This price is less than half the price of the cheaper marine antennas but has the same internal antenna, LNA. Mount it so it doesn't get too much salt water and it should be good to go.

The one really good thing about Dish Network is that the HD signals are the same frequency as normal signals so the same antenna can get most all of the HD signals, unlike the Direct TV HD signals which are different for most HD channels and one antenna will not do the job. Dish Network does require a receiver capable of HD and an HD TV.

One word of caution, Dish Network has a neat package that includes a neat cube portable antenna and receiver for tail gating or whatever. That antenna will work well while tied to a dock with piling but not at anchor or at a dock that moves with the tide and current that is anchored. The good thing about this set up, is that the service can easily be turned on and off and you only pay for the days you use.

One thing to remember is that at anchor or dock you will have to see the southern sky at an elevation no lower than 30 degrees from the water, which may make the decision on which side of a bay to anchor in. We have always found a place to anchor that met those needs but needed some planning.

Hope this helps, if not contact me via private message and I can answer more questions.

We were one of the first Dish Network customers so we have seen it all.

[mmichellich]

Saintjon wrote:
I got one of these when the signals went digital. I get even the weakest signal within 60 miles now. Modern art, but it works.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Antennas...&skuId=9119642

In Desolation Sound, with the best over the air antenna, you might be able to get one or two channels from Campbell River if you were anchored somewhere where you did not have to look through a granite wall or mountain. Don't know the conversion rate to digital over the air in places like Campbell River, BC.

[Guest]

mmichellich wrote:
In Desolation Sound, with the best over the air antenna, you might be able to get one or two channels from Campbell River if you were anchored somewhere where you did not have to look through a granite wall or mountain. Don't know the conversion rate to digital over the air in places like Campbell River, BC.

Didgital is line of site. A tree can screw up the signal. Thanks congress lol.

[ksanders]

I'd go with a KVH satellite system. Its not cheap but their stuff works.

I have the KVH V3 satellite internet and voice system. I'll let you kn ow if there are any dead spots on our trip to Alaska starting in 34 days.

[Jeffw]

+1 on previous posts. I've been a Dish Network customer at my home since August 1997, and I've used home receivers in 2 RV's and 4 boats since 1999. In 2001, we drove the RV to Alaska via Calgary, and had service the entire trip, even in Fairbanks. An in-motion dome is the only way to go for a boat, we had a KVH C3 that worked well, and soon I'll be installing the Winegard previously mentioned. Local channels are for your home area, and they are spot-beamed. For instance, Arizona locals are Phoenix network stations, and the spot beam covers the entire state, plus about 50 miles overlap. I get these as far north as Cedar City, Utah.

[Guest]

I also have an Admiral that is addicted to TV. Where we are at the eastern end of Lake Erie, there are lots of signal options. I am from an area over 1000 miles away and was not fully aware of that before we went. Because of that uncertainty, I planned in advance. I bought a terabyte drive and a half a terabyte passport drive and had my nerd buddies load them with whatever they had on their own computers. I ended up with 30,000 songs and dozens of movies and a number of TV series plus I had a whole box of old VHS tapes from a neighbour. This stuff proved popular with the Admiral and was a little more bearable for me because it skipped all the commercials.

After a whole summer of this, my advice is a bit different. If you need the TV for something work related go ahead and spend the big dollars on equipment and monthly fees. If however you want something that satisfies the need for visual and binds the Admiral with quality social time, prerecorded is the way to go.A mix of the two, as local signals are available, also works well.

We did this for four months with the ability to time the shared evening entertainment to start after dinner with refilled cocktails and I must say it was good for both of us.

[Foster]

+1 to pre-recorded. On land we are Tivo addicts, we never watch anything in real time. (I even record NAPCAR to watch without all the commercials)

It's just as easy to do the same afloat. The small size and high capacity of the new terabyte drives makes it easy to take "days and days and days" worth of music / movies with us.

Our marina has cable TV, so the summer 2012 plan is to take a Tivo down and let it record shows there (giving to more current broadcast stuff) and then use the Tivo to pull the movies onto the TV from the mini server.

That will also give us Netflix and Amazon downloads using the MiFi (just longer to do)

Backup plan is the 100's of books that currently sit on both sets of Nooks.

We don't lack for enterainment

[cosmo777]

You might want to look at Intellian as an option. Its as good as or even better than KVH and much less costly.

I have the Intellian I2, which is an in-motion unit for under $2K, and its been great. A simple plug-n-play installation.

Can't say enough about the Tech support. He called me back on a holiday weekend to solve an issue I had.

If you have DirecTV or Dish Network at home, then taking a receiver to the boat is the way to go.

That wasn't an option for me, so I have Comcast at the house, and DirecTV at the boat.

DirecTV is the only one that offers a mobile RV account that lets you turn on and shut off your service as many times as you want.

As long as you own all your equipment, there's no contractual commitment, etc.

So for a weekend trip, it costs me about $2/day and I'm not paying for service when I'm not on the boat.

Dish Network doesn't offer this, so you're paying the monthly rate.

[mmichellich]

bobsyiruncle wrote:
I also have an Admiral that is addicted to TV. Where we are at the eastern end of Lake Erie, there are lots of signal options. I am from an area over 1000 miles away and was not fully aware of that before we went. Because of that uncertainty, I planned in advance. I bought a terabyte drive and a half a terabyte passport drive and had my nerd buddies load them with whatever they had on their own computers. I ended up with 30,000 songs and dozens of movies and a number of TV series plus I had a whole box of old VHS tapes from a neighbour. This stuff proved popular with the Admiral and was a little more bearable for me because it skipped all the commercials.

After a whole summer of this, my advice is a bit different. If you need the TV for something work related go ahead and spend the big dollars on equipment and monthly fees. If however you want something that satisfies the need for visual and binds the Admiral with quality social time, prerecorded is the way to go.A mix of the two, as local signals are available, also works well.

We did this for four months with the ability to time the shared evening entertainment to start after dinner with refilled cocktails and I must say it was good for both of us.

A lot of us are addicted to watching certain sports live. Some are following a particular TV series. Some of us want the latest news. We go for two month trips and not having live TV is not an option other than leaving wife at home.

[mmichellich]

cosmo777 wrote:
You might want to look at Intellian as an option. Its as good as or even better than KVH and much less costly.

I have the Intellian I2, which is an in-motion unit for under $2K, and its been great. A simple plug-n-play installation.

Can't say enough about the Tech support. He called me back on a holiday weekend to solve an issue I had.

If you have DirecTV or Dish Network at home, then taking a receiver to the boat is the way to go.

That wasn't an option for me, so I have Comcast at the house, and DirecTV at the boat.

DirecTV is the only one that offers a mobile RV account that lets you turn on and shut off your service as many times as you want.

As long as you own all your equipment, there's no contractual commitment, etc.

So for a weekend trip, it costs me about $2/day and I'm not paying for service when I'm not on the boat.

Dish Network doesn't offer this, so you're paying the monthly rate.

Dish offers a similar RV account you only pay for time used.

[cosmo777]

mmichellich wrote:
Dish offers a similar RV account you only pay for time used.

That's good to know. Wonder if that's something recent?

I wasn't able to crack that nut with Dish when I called and asked about it.