TracVision G4

[Fire99]

Evening all (in my best panto Policeman accent)..

My boat has a KVH Tracvision G4 system installed, that hasn't worked since getting the boat, but to be honest I've not investigated why yet. I'm pretty handy with electrics, electronics and Computer related issues (my previous line of work) so I'm sure I can get it going if I put the effort in.
However, I'm not up to speed on these specific systems or their relevance in the current age. Clearly my system is around 20 years old and things have moved on, but is anyone still using this setup or is it now completely obsolete? If it's to be resigned to the archives, are there any worthwhile updated units to fill the pace of the G4?

All comments gratefully received..

 

[Hurricane]

The big issue with satellite TV is where you are located.
Especially if you are trying to receive UK TV in (say) the Med.
I have a 60mm Raymarine (Intellian) dish and there really only is Sky TV available (mainly only Sky News) - in our part of the Med anyway.
And these days, with 4G and 5G available where I CAN get good TV, our boat' satellite has taken a back seat.
In fact, I haven't used our Sat system for a couple of years now and concentrated on setting up the best 4G systems that I can get.
Things like Android TV (and Apple TV - if you must) and Smart TVs etc are definitely better than "flogging the old dead horse" of Sat TV.
Shame, I loved the technology of receiving signals from 25,000 miles away.

 

[Fire99]

The big issue with satellite TV is where you are located.
Especially if you are trying to receive UK TV in (say) the Med.
I have a 60mm Raymarine (Intellian) dish and there really only is Sky TV available (mainly only Sky News) - in our part of the Med anyway.
And these days, with 4G and 5G available where I CAN get good TV, our boat' satellite has taken a back seat.
In fact, I haven't used our Sat system for a couple of years now and concentrated on setting up the best 4G systems that I can get.
Things like Android TV (and Apple TV - if you must) and Smart TVs etc are definitely better than "flogging the old dead horse" of Sat TV.
Shame, I loved the technology of receiving signals from 25,000 miles away.

I currently use Android TV / Smart TV's from a 4G system that provides a cazillion channels etc but part of me would like to get the old sat system running though I'm sure the results won't warrant all the chunky hardware I have to provide it..

 

[Hurricane]

I currently use Android TV / Smart TV's from a 4G system that provides a cazillion channels etc but part of me would like to get the old sat system running though I'm sure the results won't warrant all the chunky hardware I have to provide it..

Yep - I have an Android TV (Meecool box) but, recently I switched to using a Firestick.
Not a fan of the Amazon Firestick menu so I changed it.
Both these systems can have NordVPN installed to provide UK TV when outside the UK.
Currently though, I am finding the Firestick not particularly reliable.
I also have my ships PC integrated into all the onboard TVs and that is a lot more reliable than the Firestick.
If someone was considering just one, then the Firestick would be the best "bang for buck".

 

[Fire99]

Yep - I have an Android TV (Meecool box) but, recently I switched to using a Firestick.
Not a fan of the Amazon Firestick menu so I changed it.
Both these systems can have NordVPN installed to provide UK TV when outside the UK.
Currently though, I am finding the Firestick not particularly reliable.
I also have my ships PC integrated into all the onboard TVs and that is a lot more reliable than the Firestick.
If someone was considering just one, then the Firestick would be the best "bang for buck".

I'm currently in UK waters so I'm quite spoilt on the TV front. One TV is a 'Smart' TV so that has more channels than I can count and the other TV has a Roku stick which again I think I could spend an entire night just scrolling through channels and not actually watching anything, but maybe it's my age-group but there's still something appealing about the old-school satellite setup. Maybe it's the mystery of days gone by stumbling on some bizarre tv station from another country..

 

[jointventureII]

Presumably the satellite library and the unit's software hasn't been updated for a while.

This is not that hard to do but you'll need to connect a computer with the downloaded file (usually xml) to update it. The more modern units do it all via a wireless connection but this will need a cable.

The KVH website it pretty good at explaining all of this too

 

[Fire99]

Presumably the satellite library and the unit's software hasn't been updated for a while.

This is not that hard to do but you'll need to connect a computer with the downloaded file (usually xml) to update it. The more modern units do it all via a wireless connection but this will need a cable.

The KVH website it pretty good at explaining all of this too

Ahh thanks for that. I've done these kinds of things in the past so that shouldn't be too painful.
Obviously once i've got the unit functioning. That'll be the first little project to dabble with.

 

[Hurricane]

I've always thought that KVH made it more complicated than is necessary.
The Intellian system (that Raymarine re-badge) can all be set up manually from the controller.
IIRC
The satellite dish itself only needs a set of parameters for each satellite/constellation in orbit.
In reality, that only one - Astra 2 for UK channels
For each satellite/constellation (eg. Astra 2) you need to enter the following:-
Its Longitude (Astra 2 - 28.2 degrees East)
And then four tracking frequencies.
Tracking frequency are split into two - High Band and Low Band
And then Vertical and Horizontal
Each frequency has a Network ID to scan for (Astra is 0002)
On the Intellian system, you can set it to "lock on" using Signal Strength or if it manages to decode.

Using a website like LyngSat - looking at the footprints for each frequency, you choose a a strong signal for it to lock on to.

All that sounds a lot to set up but it is really quite simple and doesn't need to be done that often especially if you pick transponders that don't change very often.

The only other satellites that are any use to us in Europe is the Astra 1 Constellation at 19 degrees East and Eutalsat at 13 degrees West.
Apart from the odd channel, not much interest for UK on either of those though.

Virtually all Astra 2's UK's channels of interest are accurately focused on the UK so aren't available to us in the Med.
There is a the Eurobeam which "floodlights" the whole of Europe but only a few UK channels (Sky News etc) are "patched" onto that beam.

All in all, it is now a waste of time having a satellite system if you are from the UK and keep your boat in the Med.

 

[Fire99]

I've always thought that KVH made it more complicated than is necessary.
The Intellian system (that Raymarine re-badge) can all be set up manually from the controller.
IIRC
The satellite dish itself only needs a set of parameters for each satellite/constellation in orbit.
In reality, that only one - Astra 2 for UK channels
For each satellite/constellation (eg. Astra 2) you need to enter the following:-
Its Longitude (Astra 2 - 28.2 degrees East)
And then four tracking frequencies.
Tracking frequency are split into two - High Band and Low Band
And then Vertical and Horizontal
Each frequency has a Network ID to scan for (Astra is 0002)
On the Intellian system, you can set it to "lock on" using Signal Strength or if it manages to decode.

Using a website like LyngSat - looking at the footprints for each frequency, you choose a a strong signal for it to lock on to.

All that sounds a lot to set up but it is really quite simple and doesn't need to be done that often especially if you pick transponders that don't change very often.

The only other satellites that are any use to us in Europe is the Astra 1 Constellation at 19 degrees East and Eutalsat at 13 degrees West.
Apart from the odd channel, not much interest for UK on either of those though.

Virtually all Astra 2's UK's channels of interest are accurately focused on the UK so aren't available to us in the Med.
There is a the Eurobeam which "floodlights" the whole of Europe but only a few UK channels (Sky News etc) are "patched" onto that beam.

All in all, it is now a waste of time having a satellite system if you are from the UK and keep your boat in the Med.

Yeah it sounds like Satellite options in the Med are a bit limited to say the least. I like the tech though with Internet TV being mostly pretty painless these days, it's hard to justify too much effort with these old systems.. But they have their charm..