BSJ2
Well-Known Member
anyone got any experience of fitting tracvision or similar. easy to fit? did you buy in uk or import from the states? any problems to look out for? all help welcome. thanks
tracvision
- Thread starter BSJ2
- Start date
Nick_H
Well-Known Member
Do you mean Sat TV, as I think Tracvision do other stuff like broadband, sat phone etc. I fitted the new Raymarine unit, to be honest 'cos it was cheapest (£3,500 from JG Tech).
There is basically three elements to the system, unless you want to get complicated and supply lots of different cabins. You have the dish, which is protected by a fibreglass dome, the controller box which tells it where to point, and the receiver which decodes the signals from the dish and sends them to your TV. A receiver is not normally included in the package, 'cos most people will use a Sky box.
Like most things electrical on a boat the hard bit is working out how to route the cables from one place to another, in my case from the radar arch to the TV cabinet. The actual connections themselves could not be easier, just a power supply to the controller, a combined power/data cable between the controller and the dish, and a co-ax from the dish to the receiver.
Installing the dish is just a matter of finding a suitable flat surface and drilling four holes to put bolts through.
With regard to performance, usability etc. I can obviously only comment on the Raymarine unit. If you only want to get Sky, which is on Astra 2, then its very easy to set up, you just turn it all on and off it goes. However I tried to set up to switch between satellites as well and found it very complicated. I then tried to switch back to just Sky and had lost most of the channels. I ran the diagnostics which indicated a fault with the LNB so I sent it back to Raymarine. They returned it saying it was a setting error, and the fault shown on the diagnostics is a known software bug!
In use it has a constant slight clunking sound, as it moves the dish in steps to track the satellite as the boat moves. Most of the time you don't notice this, but you will sat in the cockpit on a calm evening. No great problem though 'cos if you're sat in the cockpit you don't need the TV on.
The other significant problem I've had is to do with voltage. The sales blurb and manual say it works between 10.8 and 15V. When I first set it up it kept losing picture when the battery charger stopped charging, although I was still measuring 11.8V at the controller. I phoned Raymarine tech support and they said, "Oh no, the 10.8V is at the dish, which means you need to supply min 12V to the controller", which is crap in my opinion cos the controller is where the installer connects to their equipment. It may well be OK if I take a direct supply from the battery with big cables, but all the other 12v stuff on the boat works fine, and the Sat TV does not have a big current draw. Unless the other manufacturers systems are the same, then I would not reccomend buying the Raymarine unit for this reason only. For the time being I'm using a transformer from 240V, as the TV is not 12V anyway.
The picture is good, though not as good as Sky at home. It doesn't absolutely guarantee a picture, as it can be affected by yacht masts or tree cover, but we get a good signal the vast majority of the time.
If you only want the normal free channels you can get a Sky box with a free-to-view card, with no subscription. However if you are already paying for all the Sky premium channels at home you can't transfer the card, you have to pay the full subscription again, which is immoral. There is a way round this but its bloody complicated, pm me if you want details
There is basically three elements to the system, unless you want to get complicated and supply lots of different cabins. You have the dish, which is protected by a fibreglass dome, the controller box which tells it where to point, and the receiver which decodes the signals from the dish and sends them to your TV. A receiver is not normally included in the package, 'cos most people will use a Sky box.
Like most things electrical on a boat the hard bit is working out how to route the cables from one place to another, in my case from the radar arch to the TV cabinet. The actual connections themselves could not be easier, just a power supply to the controller, a combined power/data cable between the controller and the dish, and a co-ax from the dish to the receiver.
Installing the dish is just a matter of finding a suitable flat surface and drilling four holes to put bolts through.
With regard to performance, usability etc. I can obviously only comment on the Raymarine unit. If you only want to get Sky, which is on Astra 2, then its very easy to set up, you just turn it all on and off it goes. However I tried to set up to switch between satellites as well and found it very complicated. I then tried to switch back to just Sky and had lost most of the channels. I ran the diagnostics which indicated a fault with the LNB so I sent it back to Raymarine. They returned it saying it was a setting error, and the fault shown on the diagnostics is a known software bug!
In use it has a constant slight clunking sound, as it moves the dish in steps to track the satellite as the boat moves. Most of the time you don't notice this, but you will sat in the cockpit on a calm evening. No great problem though 'cos if you're sat in the cockpit you don't need the TV on.
The other significant problem I've had is to do with voltage. The sales blurb and manual say it works between 10.8 and 15V. When I first set it up it kept losing picture when the battery charger stopped charging, although I was still measuring 11.8V at the controller. I phoned Raymarine tech support and they said, "Oh no, the 10.8V is at the dish, which means you need to supply min 12V to the controller", which is crap in my opinion cos the controller is where the installer connects to their equipment. It may well be OK if I take a direct supply from the battery with big cables, but all the other 12v stuff on the boat works fine, and the Sat TV does not have a big current draw. Unless the other manufacturers systems are the same, then I would not reccomend buying the Raymarine unit for this reason only. For the time being I'm using a transformer from 240V, as the TV is not 12V anyway.
The picture is good, though not as good as Sky at home. It doesn't absolutely guarantee a picture, as it can be affected by yacht masts or tree cover, but we get a good signal the vast majority of the time.
If you only want the normal free channels you can get a Sky box with a free-to-view card, with no subscription. However if you are already paying for all the Sky premium channels at home you can't transfer the card, you have to pay the full subscription again, which is immoral. There is a way round this but its bloody complicated, pm me if you want details
Hurricane
Well-Known Member
Very interesting, Nick
I've been using a system similar to the ideas in the latest MBM that landed on my doorstep yesterday.
Exactly the same dish as well.
I've always wondered if it was worth the extra expence of a fully automatic system.
Your point about using the system from the shore supply only sums up the reality for me.
It would be nice but the option of putting a dish out only when it is needed works well and I dont think I can justify any further expence. Especially when I only use it for the occasional weather forecast and news etc and then only when we are snuggly tied up in a Marina.
As the article in MBM said, it worked well for us in St Malo earlier this year - in fact better than at home.
Thanks very much for your comments - a system like yours will go somewhere on my wish list but not at the top.
PS
SWMBO also likes to keep up with East Enders but that's another story.
I've been using a system similar to the ideas in the latest MBM that landed on my doorstep yesterday.
Exactly the same dish as well.
I've always wondered if it was worth the extra expence of a fully automatic system.
Your point about using the system from the shore supply only sums up the reality for me.
It would be nice but the option of putting a dish out only when it is needed works well and I dont think I can justify any further expence. Especially when I only use it for the occasional weather forecast and news etc and then only when we are snuggly tied up in a Marina.
As the article in MBM said, it worked well for us in St Malo earlier this year - in fact better than at home.
Thanks very much for your comments - a system like yours will go somewhere on my wish list but not at the top.
PS
SWMBO also likes to keep up with East Enders but that's another story.
Nick_H
Well-Known Member
We bought it because of having the little'un on board, I had envisaged been stuck on the boat most evenings and thought if I provided Big Brother on tap than I could go off and tinker with the boat rather tham have to sit and talk to SWMBO /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif
As it happens he's been as good as gold and we've eaten out most evenings, so it hasn't been used much.
We do use it at anchor, our genny is unbelievably quiet so I can run it in the evening without disturbing anyone
As it happens he's been as good as gold and we've eaten out most evenings, so it hasn't been used much.
We do use it at anchor, our genny is unbelievably quiet so I can run it in the evening without disturbing anyone
aviator
Well-Known Member
I have the Raymarine also and it is fine. I have had no probs working on just 12v and make use of the Pace decoder also being 12v as is one of the TVs.
Only problem was one day where the weather was complete crap and with a marina with lots of masts in the way. Then the signal dropped out a lot.
Only significant difference between the systems would be if Tracvision did a 60cm dish. The Raymarine is 45cm.
Even sitting on a swinging berth in Alderney for the World Cup it tracked without any probs. Great!!
Regarding the Sky Free card this is now not necessary for a lot of channels which are Free To Air, including Sky News
Richard
Only problem was one day where the weather was complete crap and with a marina with lots of masts in the way. Then the signal dropped out a lot.
Only significant difference between the systems would be if Tracvision did a 60cm dish. The Raymarine is 45cm.
Even sitting on a swinging berth in Alderney for the World Cup it tracked without any probs. Great!!
Regarding the Sky Free card this is now not necessary for a lot of channels which are Free To Air, including Sky News
Richard
