Digital TV - Satellite or Aerial?

[davem399]

Firstly, apologies if this is repeating a previous topic.

 

Myself and the other co-owners of our boat are about to upgrade the TV kit. We have decided that with the switch over to digital being phased in over the next few years, we need to get ourselves into the digital age. (and our existing analogue kit is very poorly)

 

One of the main areas we are having trouble deciding upon is the method of receiving the signal. As we understand it, the 2 obvious options are either satellite or digital aerial.

 

Any views on the pros and cons of either method would be most gratefully received, especially if you have already been through this process.

 

Dave

[Gary Peacock]

Firstly, apologies if this is repeating a previous topic.

 

Myself and the other co-owners of our boat are about to upgrade the TV kit. We have decided that with the switch over to digital being phased in over the next few years, we need to get ourselves into the digital age. (and our existing analogue kit is very poorly)

 

One of the main areas we are having trouble deciding upon is the method of receiving the signal. As we understand it, the 2 obvious options are either satellite or digital aerial.

 

Any views on the pros and cons of either method would be most gratefully received, especially if you have already been through this process.

 

Dave

 

If you have line of sight to the Satellite you will always get a good picture terrestrial digital TV is much the same normal TV you might or might not get a picture and digital means a stuttering unwatchable picture not just a fuzzy one.

 

The downside of satellite is that you need to point the dish unless you want a flash automatic system. (Expensive!)

 

You can see the kind of kit available HERE

[DaveR]

Gary,

 

Isn't there a problem with a dish with regard to the list / trim of the boat. Maybe not such a problem on a wide beam but I have had complaints from OCM when I sit down on the sofa the way the boat rocks and then takes a list. OK I need to loose a few kilos but if there are two on the sofa then the list can be quite a bit (5+ degrees), enough to take out the alignment.

 

Regards

 

Dave R

[steveh]

Gary,

 

Isn't there a problem with a dish with regard to the list / trim of the boat. Maybe not such a problem on a wide beam but I have had complaints from OCM when I sit down on the sofa the way the boat rocks and then takes a list. OK I need to loose a few kilos but if there are two on the sofa then the list can be quite a bit (5+ degrees), enough to take out the alignment.

 

Regards

 

Dave R

 

 

Hi Dave

 

we have experienced problems similar to this with a smaller dish. I found a replaced our current dish with a 450mm wide one now we have no problems

 

Regards

 

Steve

Edited April 14, 2007 by steveh

[Ian and Di]

Hi Dave,

 

We had sky do a regular installation on our boat, which admittedly we havent got around to moving yet. The installer put one dish on the mooring with a fixed permanent line of sight, he put another on a pole at the back of the boat so we could point in in the right direction if we decide to cruise.

 

The upside is that it works really well, although only after I reinstalled the cables, as the guy who did it had no idea of how to deal with the tidal mooring.

 

The downside is that we would not be able to watch and cruise together as I think you can with the flasher satfinder kits.

 

Ian

[Big Steve]

Having spent hours trying to align a dish on my house I've been put off even attempting to do it on a boat. But Steveh implies is not much of a problem. I'd appreciate any comments on the difficulties, especially re fat gits and listing (as it will definitely be a problem on my boat! )

[NB Phoenix]

I have just bought a Omnimax aerial which I use with a USB DVB card on my laptop to receive freeview TV. I’m very pleased with the aerial, which is just as well cause they are a bit costly, but it seems to drag in the signal.

 

It includes an adjustable booster so you can reduce the strength in areas of strong signals.

[steveh]

Having spent hours trying to align a dish on my house I've been put off even attempting to do it on a boat. But Steveh implies is not much of a problem. I'd appreciate any comments on the difficulties, especially re fat gits and listing (as it will definitely be a problem on my boat! )

 

 

Hi Big Steve

 

I use 3 things to align the dish, simple sat compass cost £5.00 including postage, sat signal finder and set top box itself. I moor up, fix the dish to my magnetic mount and roughly place it on the roof. Get out my trusty compass and stand well back for the boat (magnetic interference) then point the dish in the rough direction making sure that there are no trees or building in the way. Then using the sat finder signal meter I position the dish more accurately. Then using the satellite set top box signal strength meter the better half shouts so I can fine tune the dish direction. This usually takes about 3 mins at the most 5. Another tip use the sun, as it sets point the dish 90 deg anti-clockwise from the sun.

 

Hope this helps

[Audi Fan]

Having spent hours trying to align a dish on my house I've been put off even attempting to do it on a boat. But Steveh implies is not much of a problem. I'd appreciate any comments on the difficulties, especially re fat gits and listing (as it will definitely be a problem on my boat! )

Aligning a dish on land can be a right pain in the arse,

Sometimes i find it in seconds other times it can take 30 mins to get all the channels

I don't like the idea of trying to set up a pole or tripod mounted dish in the rain

 

I do like the idea of the omnimax 'crank up' dish,

you can crank it up and align it from inside the boat using the ceiling mounted controls

 

Which means i should be able to do it by myself

 

http://www.towsure.com/product/14006

[Khayamanzi]

I have a Kerston setup from Roadpro which I believe is the most popular for narrowboats. It works fine and no list causes a loss of signal whatsoever, even a loose mooring rope and a fast passing boat causes no problem at all. It does take a while to start with in setting up and will cause frustration if not patient but as you do it more often it gets quicker and quicker to do. Now down to 2-5 minutes although I have sometimes got lucky almost immediately after pointing it in the general direction! A very good bit of kit in my mind. I also have freeview in the back cabin and use a standard aerial on a pole for this.It's a good 'double system' and almost always guarantees a signal of some kind in digital form.

[whammy]

Dave, go for the satellite option and in particular the kerstan dish as mentioned above, we have cruised the country and find with a little thought you can allways find a mooring with view of the satellite at 28.2 e for sky telly. Depending on your receiver you can be up and running for under £200. We have found freeview a bit hit and miss but we only have a multi directional aerial on the roof, to get good freeview you would have to have aerial strapped to a pole etc, dont be put off by having to align the dish as stated above it takes minutes.

 

[Big Steve]

Must admit I was trying to do it on my own with no signal strength meter, but it did take ages. Perhaps the more modern kit has a wider beamwidth or something? I always thought the angle of dangle was critical too, but apparently not.

[Nic]

DTT is relatively easy on a nb. I just find a decent analogue system and then plug the box in and if necessary do a rescan. However we had a lot of signal problems until we got longer poles.

 

Was thinking of getting the cheap Lidl system (mainly so I can catch next seasons WW and L&Q) which looks quite good but just depends on how much practice I get aligning the dish.

[Andy Woods]

Think I might indulge in one of the Lidl systems myself, they're only £60 and run off 12v too. Anybody already using one ?

Andy.

[NB Willawaw]

Dont know about the Lidl, but have a cheap Maplin system as a back-up and seems to work well.

There are quite a few posts on this topic elsewhere on here if you do a search.

[Nic]

The Lidl and the MAplin one are the same (I think the name basge is different), but I've read elsewhere its the same chipset).

 

When the Lidl ones went on sale last year they sold out almost straight away (very popular with caravan owners!!)

[Big John]

I have a Kerston setup from Roadpro

Ditto!

 

Can anyone provide guidance as to how much tree/leaf interference is permissible?

 

WBW

 

John

[Yamanx]

Think I might indulge in one of the Lidl systems myself, they're only £60 and run off 12v too. Anybody already using one ?

Andy.

 

I'm using one, well similar bought it from Maplin. Very pleased with it.

 

Aligning the satellite is really dead easy. Even easier than standing outside trying to get a half decent picture on an ordinary aerial.

 

Switch it to beeper, roughly pick out south west as a starting point, then just sweep slowly until the beepers tone changes, sometime I get the wrong satellite (Polish or something) but from there its only a slight movement. Takes a couple of minutes. The movement of the boat makes no difference, its quite amazing the amount of movement it will allow.

 

Straight out the box. Near perfect picture every time, within a couple of minutes of mooring.

 

Only downsides are no channel 4 or 5. You get all the BBC & ITV channels, plus a few hundred other channels from all over the world. Film Four is pretty handy. And there must be line of sight for the dish, so in amoungst heavy tree cover or in a deep cutting you may not find the satellite.

 

For £49 highly recommended

[PaulW]

Ditto!

 

Can anyone provide guidance as to how much tree/leaf interference is permissible?

 

WBW

 

John

 

 

Genrally satellite signals need to be accurately tuned in by pointing the dish pretty much exactly at the staellitie, i.e. at the correct angle. To get a satisfactory image you must use a sat finder as without it you could pick up a reflected image. Satellite signals (as terrestrial) suffer from reflection off bulding etc and the dish may actually pick up two signals, one slightly delayed as it has come from a reflection. This can cause a picture which appears ok at first but then breaks up if it rains or gets cloudy.

 

I am amazed that some narrowboat users have them working succefully. I would question if the dish is on the boat or shore. However if they work then that's a good point.

 

As regard trees, again the signals suffer as would a terrestrial signal, however due to the higher frequency they will suffer more. generally I would say any foliage will stop the signal. Finally, and again for frequency reasons, the satellite will suffer if the signal is weakend (due to foliage say) if it rains heavy. This is due to the greater absorption of the signal by water droplets.

 

A system was mentioned a few posts up which I have no knowledge of. It may be that the dish concerned on this system is not as focussed as the standard mini dish, or parabola. Hence it is easier to tune in. The downside will be you need to have a decent line of sight to the staellite in this case.

 

best of luck

 

Paul

Hope this helps

[Bullfrog]

"I am amazed that some narrowboat users have them working succesfully." No Paul - Yamanx's post is exactly right. Dead easy to use as long as no obvious line of sight obstruction like tall trees, buildings etc. Try searching the lots of other threads on this subject - like this one in the equipment section - Maplin "Satellite Suitcase", Free to Air Satellite TV System for 12/240 volts. originally started by Alan Fincher

Edited May 1, 2007 by Bullfrog

[Gary Peacock]

We sell a lot of systems especially the ones with the Kerstan mini dish and nobody seems to moan about them on narrowboats.

[Purple Fairie]

We have the cheapest digibox that we could find (about £30) and the most basic of aerials, and we have 113 channels of, mostly, cr*p! But the picture's great!

[Grasshopper]

We have the cheapest digibox that we could find (about £30) and the most basic of aerials, and we have 113 channels of, mostly, cr*p! But the picture's great!

 

Yes - odd isn't it? More channels but somehow less that you actually want to watch.................

[Martyn Hicks]

Hi...

 

I've been fitting satellite TV on to boats now for a couple of years- Martyn (travel sat)..

 

As part of my service I will supply all equipment needed and come to your boat where ever in the country get it set up and working and more importantly spend some time with you in showing you how to it for yourself, its not rocket science but it will help if you know what sign's your looking for..

 

If you have bought or got your own equipment once again I'll come and have a look for you get it working and advise so you know what to do next time..

 

Cheers for now

 

Martyn (travel sat) 07914 401 036

[cyclic]

Think I might indulge in one of the Lidl systems myself, they're only £60 and run off 12v too. Anybody already using one ?

Andy.

 

I bought one the other day. Tried it out at the Marina with NO previous experience of Sat TV

 

If you haven't used one before it will pay you to read the posts on here re. setting up and bearings. The manual is a bit sparse though, understandable, but I found that I was looking for a Satellite at more or less due South (at the books suggestion) which was about 30 degrees away from the required one.

 

I also mounted the dish on the side of the boat, looking away, not in line with it, and the signal was affected by the rocking when I moved around. Again, read posts on here re. the siting of the dish

 

Anyway, even though I didn't get the right satellite, the picture from Sirius was very good, if you like Russian TV.

I've brought it home to try again.

 

The tuner unit is made by Comag, which is the same as the Maplin one

 

Lidl does offer a "Return if not satisfied" for 28 days, so you can't lose much if it doesn't suit you., and the usual disclaimer applies. I have no connection or allegiance to Lidl.

 

I just found on the Maxview site, their version of the same kit (but without the tuner) AND a video showing how to set it up.

On the same site in the Home page "How to" guides, are comprehensive set up guides for dummies. That included me.

 

Hope that helps

Edited May 11, 2007 by cyclic