GL: Direct TV

[Skipper Bob]

Tom,

I can tell you from more than eight years experience that Direct TV is 
great on boats. We used ours all along the East Coast, the Bahamas and 
the complete Great Circle Loop.

The biggest difficulty is setting the antenna. We always did ours 
manually and usually it took less than 60 seconds. The reason for this 
is that two directions are critical. Elevation and azimuth. Elevation is 
the most difficult to set and the most critical. Fortunately it changes 
very little as you move up and down the coast because your elevation to 
the satellite changes very little from New York to Florida. However, it 
does change and requires an occasional adjustment.

Our satellite dish was hard mounted to the roof of our pilot house and a 
typical set up went like this. Tie the boat up so that it does not swing 
a lot. The satellite system will forgive some movement of the boat, but 
too much and you will loose your signal if your boat swings in the slip. 
Never had a problem alongside a dock or wall. Take out my hand held 
compass and aim it in the direction the TV tells me the satellite is 
(say 225 degrees). Then turn the satellite dish in that approximate 
direction and wait a few seconds. My wife usually had the TV on and 
would tell me the signal strength reading. Usually I have to move it 
back and forth a bit, but not much.

Sometimes when setting my dish up I cheated. I bought a Satellite Finder 
from Camping World (now $39.99 - their part 14067). This little field 
strength meter goes in the satellite cable and gives an indication of 
how strong the signal is. It responds faster than the TV and you can 
adjust the dish left and right and up and down for the maximum signal. 
In normal operation you remove the meter and hook the dish directly to 
your TV. Normally I only used the meter about once a month to maximize 
my elevation signal strength.

I can tell you from experience once you get the hang of it you can 
adjust your antenna in less than 60 seconds as you move day to day. We 
did not get reception at anchorage because of the boats movement. If you 
really want to watch TV while at anchor, I recommend a device called 
"follow me TV" (www.follow-me-tv.com). However, this device does not 
correct for elevation and you will have to make that adjustment manually 
when you first set up the dish and then periodically as you move north 
and south.

With Direct TV we were able to watch the weather channel and never moved 
in bad weather or when strong storms were forecast. Of course that is 
why I convinced my wife we had to have Direct TV. The fact that I was 
able to get the football games, playoffs and even the Super Bowl while 
in the Bahamas never entered my mind.

Note this from my book, Cruising Comfortably on a Budget: "One warning 
about satellite TV. Due to a fluke in US law, Direct TV (cable provider) 
cannot sell you service if you are going to receive the signal outside 
the US. This law is obviously ignored by US, Canadian, and Bahamian 
residents alike, since the 18 satellite TV is the most popular TV in 
the Bahamas. That not withstanding, do not tell DSS when signing up for 
the service that you are going outside the US. Tell them it is a 
portable unit and will be used primarily in the area of your homeport. 
Be sure you tell them it will never be hooked up to a phone. That way 
they dont know where the unit is. This will not affect reception and 
you should get a strong clear signal anywhere in the US, Canada, or 
Bahamas. "

Bob

Skipper Bob Publications
Http://SkipperBob.home.att.net