Satelite TV

[PaulRainbow]

4G SIM only contract (monthly or annually) with a decent data allowance, that cuts off when you hit the allowance limit, rather than racking up additional costs. Don't use Virgin, they charge £2 a day if you go over and the bandwidth is pitiful, i suspect they cap it when you go over. I'm using Three and it works very well.

Tether the phone to a laptop and watch the iPlayers, You need to get around the IP issue, several suggestions here for that.

Or, download what you want using uTorrent, Goggle will explain that one.

It's also possible to stream the phone to a smart TV via wifi, but i have no experience of that,i'm sure Mr Google will know though.

IMO, setting up satellite TV is a waste of time.

 

[ghostlymoron]

It depends how long you're away. Programming are accessible on iPlayer for a limited time. Usually month I think.

ST599 is spot on. Each satelite has a coverage 'footprint'. I used to use Satelite on my boat in the UK and it was a doddle to set up with the right meter (I was a radio engineer/aerial rigger in a previous life so had a slight advantage). However outside the UK you need a bigger dish for the additional gain required which then gives you a narrower bandwidgth which is more difficult to set up. On the current boat (and in the UK) I use 4G with an Open VPN client (which means I can use it anywhere in the world if I use a UK POP) but the data can be quite heavy. The average movie, as an example, uses over 5Gb. No easy answer. I suspect iPlayer when you get back to the UK is a sensible option and DVD's/media servers on the boat?

 

[ex-Gladys]

It's also possible to stream the phone to a smart TV via wifi, but i have no experience of that,i'm sure Mr Google will know though.

IMO, setting up satellite TV is a waste of time.

+1. with the right phone and the right TV - so that kicks out iPhones unless you have Apple TV... I watched a three hour Webcast a few months ago, and had my phone receiving the cast, and screen casting it to Samsung TV at home. HD quality and unbelievable...

I also hired a broads cruiser once which had a fully functioning Sat TV set up with the "radome" antenna jobby and the box of tricks to work it and connect to TV, it was very noisy and a complete PITA, although it functioned well. Set up costs when I looked at them would have been £4-5k

 

[st599]

I also hired a broads cruiser once which had a fully functioning Sat TV set up with the "radome" antenna jobby and the box of tricks to work it and connect to TV, it was very noisy and a complete PITA, although it functioned well. Set up costs when I looked at them would have been £4-5k

The Radome for UK sat TV in the South of France would be about 5 foot across and would cost significantly more than £5k as the pointing on a large dish is more critical. You could use the sort of steerable dish that News trucks use - but don't expect change out of £20k.

 

[ip485]

I have a Tracvision which automatically tracks the satellite(s) and works perfectly well at sea until it becomes pretty rough. Of course the dish constantly tracks the satellite but I guess can only cope with so much, at which point the digital signal breaks down every so often. It works superbly but of course at a price. I receive all Sky channels and can record and even use the Red button!

At one time this would have worked fine in the deep south of France when the Astra and Hotbird satellites had a less focused footprint, but since that has changed of course that is why you need much larger dishes the further south you go. They are available of course, but price aside (which becomes very significant) unless you yacht is in the 80 foot plus category the dome will become out of proportion with the vessel. There are of course some other satellites in the south and indeed variously around the world that provide some viewing.

In short the weaker the signal footprint the bigger the dish, and that is true whether self tracking or not - unfortuantely there is no substiutue for size as the laws of physics are currently written.

 

[Sandmartin]

I have made tentative steps. A satelite dish from aldi (£39.95), plus trypod (£5.99) and a freeview decode box ebay (£29.95), An allignmet thingy (£9.99) plus leads, connections and, of course, pages of incomprehensable printed out advice from the internet about alignment. Back out to the boat in September to test it all, wish me luck.

 

[DownWest]

To make it easier to line up I put two equal length sticks forming a horizontal V off the back of the dish, then stood behind with a handbearing compass lining up the apex of the V with the centre of the dish. If done from the front, put a marker line down the centre and line it up with the LMB on a back bearing. If your post is vertical, most dishes have angle measurments on the mounting for the vertical angle. Do not use the face of the dish, as most are offset types, with the signal coming in at a higher angle and reflecting down to the LMB.
The above got me a signal in five minutes and I didn't need to use the 'finder' gizmo to improve it.

 

[Aeolus]

I have made tentative steps. A satelite dish from aldi (£39.95), plus trypod (£5.99) and a freeview decode box ebay (£29.95), An allignmet thingy (£9.99) plus leads, connections and, of course, pages of incomprehensable printed out advice from the internet about alignment. Back out to the boat in September to test it all, wish me luck.

I hope you meant to say a Freesat box, rather than a Freeview box. Freeview is a terrestrial digital broadcast for which you would need an aerial rather than a dish.

 

[Forty_Two]

I have made tentative steps. A satelite dish from aldi (£39.95), plus trypod (£5.99) and a freeview decode box ebay (£29.95), An allignmet thingy (£9.99) plus leads, connections and, of course, pages of incomprehensable printed out advice from the internet about alignment. Back out to the boat in September to test it all, wish me luck.

What size dish have you bought?