Article by Capt. Steve Katz
Satellite TV on-board
Do you want to watch Sunday football and go fishing offshore at the same time?
Have you ever noticed that large dome on the topside of big sportfish and pleasure boats? Ever wonder what’s under that dome? Well, inside is a movable, parabolic antenna often referred to as a dish. This antenna is designed to send and receive signals from a moving boat to a satellite orbiting the earth 23,000 miles overhead. While boating on the open water, a marine Satellite TV system is a great way to keep the guests and crew entertained.
Many larger boats have more than one satellite dome on the topside. Often one dome is for Satellite TV reception and the other dome is for voice and data communication. The antennas look similar, but function differently with the main difference being that the voice/data satellite antenna needs to also transmit data from the boat to the orbiting satellite. These voice/data antenna systems are more expensive than a Satellite TV system due to the hardware required to both send and receive data signals to a satellite 23,000 miles away. Modern voice/data satellite antenna systems can be used for phone calls and also internet data. This allows you to be connected and “on-line” while away from land, just about anywhere in the world. While there are certainly some hand-held satellite phones and other small satellite devices that can send and receive data, these larger parabolic antenna systems have the ability to do it at speeds similar to land-based systems.
Satellite TV antenna systems or television receive-only systems (TVRO) are simply less expensive than voice/data antennas since they only need to receive a signal. There are currently two manufacturers that offer products for the pleasure boat market, KVH and Intellian. These companies make antenna systems that are capable of tracking and receiving signals from almost any worldwide satellite TV provider, with the correct equipment of course. KVH and Intellian both offer pleasure boat satellite TV antenna systems starting around $2,000.
The antenna’s job is to find, identify and track the signal broadcast by the satellite. Seems simple enough? Well remember that these broadcast satellites are 23,000 miles away, in an orbit crowded with a lot of satellites using only a few hundred watts of transmitting power and the boat is bobbing and moving on the water all the time.
How does the antenna do its job? Inside the antenna is a parabolic dish that is movable on two or three axis. This dish needs to point directly at the satellite to receive and focus the distant signal into its antenna and signal processing electronics. The first thing the antenna needs to know is where your boat is located. This can be manually entered into the antennas control system or often the antenna has a built-in GPS so it knows where it is. The second thing the antenna needs to know is what satellite you want to track and this depends on what service you have.
Even with DISH and DIRECTV there are a lot of satellites and combination of satellites you may need to track. Once the antenna system knows where you are and what satellites you want, it can then calculate where in the sky it should point to find that satellite. Once it finds a signal, the antenna’s electronics monitor and measure the signal and constantly move the antenna’s parabolic dish to maintain a strong signal. Once a signal is received, the electronics confirm it is pointing at the correct satellite in orbit and tries to keep the antenna pointed correctly while you use your boat.
Why haven’t we talked about DISH and DIRECTV yet? Up to this point it doesn’t really matter. The antenna can track almost any TV broadcast. The antenna doesn’t care if you want DISH or DIRECTV, that is up to you. While DISH and DIRECTV are both satellite TV providers offering coverage in the USA, they operate with different satellites and have different ways to broadcasting their programing. When deciding on a residential installation with DISH or DIRECTV, it is usually the viewers preference or a special promotional offer that is the deciding factor. When it comes to marine satellite TV, often the choice of DISH or DIRECTV is decided based upon the locations where you operate your boat and the budget for your antenna hardware.
We could dedicate a whole article about DISH versus DIRECTV, though most inland and coastal US boaters select DIRECTV due to the ability to receive standard programing by tracking only one satellite. This makes for a reliable and easy system to set-up and maintain. If you need to track multiple satellites as required by some DISH and DIRECTV services for high definition or additional programing, the antenna system gets more complex and expensive. While both DISH and DIRECTV are reliable, they often make changes that require KVH and Intellian to catch-up with their own modifications for compatibility.
Overall, modern satellite TV antenna systems remain a reliable way to stay connected while at sea
Captain Steve Katz is the owner of Steve’s Marine Service and holds NMEA, AMEI and NMEA2000 certificates along with ABYC Master Technician certification and factory training from many manufacturers. To reach Steve, call 410-231-3191.
