Maplin Portable "Suitcase" Satellite TV Receiver on Offer.

[AndyM]

Pretty low (she says trying to remember what it read last time she checked)... only about 1A or just over, on top of the usual TV Amperage, if I remember rightly.

 

No more of a battery drain than our existing 12v Freeview box - sounds like a definate purchase (if I can get planning permision from my better half).

 

Many thanks, Andy.

[Keeping Up]

No more of a battery drain than our existing 12v Freeview box - sounds like a definate purchase (if I can get planning permision from my better half).

 

Many thanks, Andy.

See Bullfrog's post above (#43). The manual says 30 watts (ie 2.5 amps)

[alan_fincher]

See Bullfrog's post above (#43). The manual says 30 watts (ie 2.5 amps)

 

Yes they say 30 watts maximum.

 

However, I'm fairly certain I measured it, and it's closer to 1 amp, I think.

[RobinR]

This has been discussed frequently - search on "suitcase"!

 

The sucker works ok on a smooth painted surface but not if anti slip coating has been applied. Maybe leave a flat square for dish mounting?

 

On a smooth surface, one is ok two - better and if curved, three impossible however, ensure sufficient water - e.g. a cup and sponge - to ensure good adhesion!

 

Locate along the centre line of the roof to minimise the effects of movement.

 

If using the suckers, once aligned and providing the roof line is near level, alignment is relatively easy.

 

Use the tone feature for alignment - turn the TV volume well up and listen.

 

For Astra 2 the dish - for the Comag Sat in a Suitcase as supplied by Maplin - is virtually vertical

 

Set the TV to BBC 1 London for initial alignment because the nearest high-power satellite uses the same frequency/polarity and the set will recognise it but with no picture. Lower the dish slightly and rotate towards the East a little for Astra 2

 

This http://www.canalworld.net/forums/index.php...&hl=sundial may be helpful with alignment

 

I purchased a 2 meter length of GOOD satellite feeder (coaxial cable), 2 F connectors and a back-to-back F connector to keep the supplied length as an extension. This has enabled me to mount the dish almost at the stern of the boat and avoid a tree trunk between the normal position and the satellite - the boat not movable due to other boats.

[twocvbloke]

I bought one of these kits for £69.99 a few years back from Lidl (back when it was only Lidl selling them) and I thought the kit was the bees knees, the box that came with it was cr@p (Comag PortyII) but the dish is superb, I still have the dish and LNB, but the box I got sick of so I sold it after I got a Silvercrest SL-65, again from Lidl, and together they work great, unfortunately as I replaced the box, I lost the dual power option (The PortyII Had both 12v AND 240v options!!!), but I do believe that the Silvercrest SL-65/12 has this facility...

 

The one problem I had with the dish is that the G-clamp snapped in half when I tried to use it to glue something together, and to this day, it's still in 2 pieces awaiting repair!!! But the sucker clamp works fine on smooth surfaces, I found that if you wipe the suckers with a soapy sponge, it stays in place much longer, but be careful of the black stuff leeching into paintwork, which leaves you with 3 brownish-black rings on your shiny paintwork...

 

Also, the cable supplied was cheap 5h1t3, so I used my existing satellite cable (I'm a bit of a satellite nut!!!) on the dish and it was fine, I still have the original cable, untouched, I doubt I'll ever use it as it is less than TV aerial specs!!!

 

Would I ever sell it? Would I heck!!! It's great, much better than a sky minidish anyday, then again, any dish is better than a sky minidish!!! But, with the advent of Freesat, you don't have to use a sky box the get the FTA channels and a decent EPG, seeing how the generic FTA boxes (like the Silvercrest/comag ones) only get a now/next type EPG...

 

But anyway, I have seen a few of the "Porty" dishes up, aswell as sky Zone1 dishes, when out and about on the canal towpath, so I know they're popular...

[Cinimod]

Saw a great way to mount your dish the other day... a block of wood about 35 to 45cm cubed - so nice and heavy, then screw the mounting device into that - then you have a dish that can be easily moved to anywhere, and is not going to blow away...

[Bullfrog]

......... a block of wood about 35 to 45cm cubed - so nice and heavy.......

 

and what, pray, do you do with that when your under way?

[BlueStringPudding]

and what, pray, do you do with that when your under way?

 

Put it down on the deck and trip over it, of course!

 

 

I like to leave mine, G-clamp still attached, wedged between the steps from the stern deck into the rearmost cabin. Makes descending the stairs all the more exciting.

[Bullfrog]

I like to leave mine, G-clamp still attached,

 

Ours lives behind the tele when we're on the move.