Marine Satellite TV Systems

Installing a satellite system on your boat need not be a headache once you have all the information you need to decide on the euipment that will do the job. Unlike fixed land based satellite systems boats present two main problems for satellite reception, it is not a stable platform and boats move location.  To get around these problems the marine installation requires a more specialised tracking system in which to keep the receiving dish pointing directly at the satellites and a feed from the boats GPS so that the tracking system knows the position of the boat. The tracking system also detects the required satellite by receiving the signal and fine tuning the final dish geometry from this. Hence, you are not just paying for a standard LNB, dish and mounting bracket but a motorised tracking dish and a sophisticated tracking control unit, so the price tag is fairly high starting at around £2,999.00 installed entry levell system.

So you have decided to go ahead and get satellite tv for your boat, well you will need to go through the following steps and in some cases seek advice from us on which system you will need:-

• What type of boat have you got? This will govern the fixing, positioning of the satdome, maximum size and any additional mounting requirements. Power boats usually require a dual scanstrut bracket to mount the radar and satdome on the other hand sail boats may require a scanstrut post on the stern of the vessel.
• Do you require the system to work while underway? If you only intend to use your tv in port or at anchor then you can get away with using a lower spec system.
• What is your intended operating area? This is possibly a difficult question for the hardened cruiser as satellites cover different areas of the earth and are not universal to the whole of the planet.  If you can imagine,  a sattilite can transmit it's signal towards the earth from space much like a beam of light from a torch. The beam will only light up the UK and some of Europe for example, any thing within the iluminated area will receive a reasonbly good signal but anything on the edge of the area the signal will degrade quite rapidly. So, we now have an idea of how satellite's transmit their signals to earth, these beams are called "footprints" . As you travel around the globe you can receive different satellites, therefore you will not be able to receive SKY broadcasts in the middle of the mediterranean sea as they were primarily aimed at UK residents only.  So in a fringe reception area then a larger satdome and a more advanced tracking system would be required for the cruising vessel.
• Finally you will need a satellite receiving box, this could be your old Sky box from home or a Freesat box.

Any doubts then seek our advice on tekassist