Direct TV to Boat while at dock

C

Chitimacha

New Member
Oct 4, 2013
43
Louisiana
Boat Info
1995 440 DA
Engines
Twin Cummins 6BTA M2 315 HP
Hello All


I just built a floating dock for my 440 Sundancer at my home. I want to hook up the Direct TV from my home to the boat. Do I just run the cable from the sattelite to the boat and install a cable box or do I need to add anything else. I greatly appreciate the help
 
I had DISH TV at the dock by purchasing another dish, mounting it on a fixed piling, and taking one of my receivers from the house to the boat. But my boat was not docked at my property. (I did not tell DISH).
 
You can tell DirecTV. It took a while, but they now understand that boats have televisions.

Yes, you can run a cable from the dish to a receiver on the boat. Note that your boat coax is likely to be RG59, and SeaRay isn't known for meticulous coax installations. I recommend only using the boat coax network for pushing SD signals. (downstream of an SD receiver) You can get an RF remote, which will give you flexibility of where you put the receiver.
 
I'm assuming you are putting the DirectTV receiver on the boat.

If you boat has a Glomex or other antenna amplifier connected to the shore cable connection, you may have to remove or bypass it as they block the DC power between the cable box and the dish antenna. If you are just using a second output from the dish antenna, you might be ok. RollerCoastr is right about the RG59. My boat did have RG6 cable ran throughout, but the yellow marinco dock side cable is RG59 and is inadequate for cable (and it is really not very good for over the air TV either.) I'm still looking for yellow RG6 to match the shore power cords.
 
as an alternative with the DirecTV app you can watch live TV and also watch anything you have recorded on the DVR on your smartphone, tablet, or computer.....while on the boat you could stream the show to a TV using something like Google Chromecast or you can have direct connection to a TV via a HDMI cable......

might be worth a try instead of running all that cable or having to get a second satellite dish and receiver.....this would use data if you don't have wi-fi at the boat so that might be a concern if you have limits on your data pan.......the quality of the picture may not be as good as with a hard wired feed from DirecTV.....

cliff
 
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If your home WIFI is strong at the dock, buy a Slingbox and you can control your Directv or cable box from your boat or anywhere in the world for that matter. It streams in full HD.
 
Captain Allen said:
I had DISH TV at the dock by purchasing another dish, mounting it on a fixed piling, and taking one of my receivers from the house to the boat. But my boat was not docked at my property. (I did not tell DISH).
Click to expand...

+1

This is exactly what we and others at our marina do!
 
1st choice would be Slingbox as well.

2nd would be to buy an antenna online (<$100) and get another box for the home and move it to the boat. Several similar setups at my last three marinas.

I don't know which sat company has it, but one has a travelling plan. turn it on and off as you need it. May or not meet your needs .
 
Yes I was going to tee off my dish at home and take one of my receivers from inside out to the boat but like the others said the cable might not be right on the boat
 
Yes I was going to tee off my dish at home and take one of my receivers from inside out to the boat but like the others said the cable might not be right on the boat
Click to expand...

I think you'll need to take the feed off of the active splitter that's in the house if it's like mine (I have multiple receivers) and each one has a port coming off of that device which is powered. It itself is fed by the dish and provides power out to the LNB. Maybe I misunderstand where you're going to tap in to feed the the receiver.
 
To clarify the cabling issue: RG59 and sloppy connections are a concern when you want to feed the receiver a signal from your dish or feed the TV's an HD signal from the receiver.

That's why I mentioned the RF remote. My solution for satellite TV when the boat was inside was to run a long RG6 cable from a dish outside to an SD receiver in the transom locker or under the cockpit seats. Then I just took the coax output from the receiver to the boat's "shore" cable input, which is what the original coax installation was designed for. All the TV's had to watch the same channel, but I could change channels from anywhere in the boat even when the receiver was in the cockpit.

It gets complicated, but not necessarily impossible if you want HD.

Your current receivers will show you signal strength. You can check what it is now at the house, then run a cable to the boat and check if it's acceptable after hitting an RG59 segment. RG59 isn't a deal killer, it's just the weak link (literally). You might get lucky and get enough signal.
 
ENstig8or said:
If your home WIFI is strong at the dock, buy a Slingbox and you can control your Directv or cable box from your boat or anywhere in the world for that matter. It streams in full HD.
Click to expand...

You got it...I have a rogue antenna with a wireless router and sling box at home...I have wireless from miles away, wireless on the boat and watch anything I want. Helps that I work for a Cable company and get everything for free too....:smt043
 
I installed a DirecTV dish at my slip and it drew a few chuckles at first. I ran a new RG6 cable from that I snaked under the cover of my arch (closet to the pole where I mounted the dish) and basically snaked it through the same channels from the engine bay into the cabin. It was a bit of work (two hours), but I knew there was a splitter for the existing antenna and I didn't want alter the existing wiring or setup. I put a DVR in my forward area and it works like a charm. I decided to use a DVR because we can watch recorded movies while we're staying out overnight and anchored. Now, three others are tapped off my satellite setup and have DirecTV in their boats. I use the dish that has four feeds off the LNB and does not require power. It is one for one, as in one cable feeds one tuner on the box. I didn't to rely on a powered splitter setup.
 
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