tracvision c3

>I'm always reluctant to post responses on some of the stuff used on bigger boats and longer cruises because of these kinds of statements... <

Bigger than what? Our present boat is a Gibson 50 that displaces 22 tons, when fueled and loaded, and we often stay on it for a week at a time. Does that qualify as "bigger"?

We have a sat. dish, of course, but rarely use it. If we want to watch movies, we play a DVD or download a movie from iTunes. I use this MacBook to "stay connected". My point is that none of this has anything to do with boating or being on the water. We may as well be at home.

We are buying a second boat...a Sundowner 290 in a few days, and were discussing how to equip it when we came to the subject of TV's. I'll think we'll just put a UHF/VHf marine antenna on the thing and be done with it.
 
Well then... I guess you are the expert on how to cruise on a boat. I apologize.

I was just trying to answer the original question here on Club Sea Ray where a person who owns a Sea Ray was asking about a sat dish for his Sea Ray. Given that I also own a Sea Ray and have a sat dish and am upgrading the Audio/Video on the boat, I thought I might be qualified to answer the question.

What brings a person who owns a 50 foot houseboat to Club Sea Ray?
 
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I've seen some houseboats on the river that displace 22t, but only if you include the weight of the occupants.

I also watched on houseboat owner fix a slight list by pouring concrete into the bilge. Man, those guys are clever.
 
>>What brings a person who owns a 50 foot houseboat to Club Sea Ray?<<

We also have a sailboat....a MacGregor 26X. I guess there is a natural antipathy between "blow boaters" and "stinkpots", and I apologize if it showed. Sailers tend to be minimalists, and I suppose all the techie "stuff" runs counter to our culture.

Now that we are retired, we have the opportunity to do some more extensive cruising and were looking for a boat that will provide better fuel economy. At 1/2 MPG, it isn't practical to go very far in the houseboat. We were looking for a small trawler, but came across a pristine '98 290 at an irresistable price.

I figure we'll try it this year and see how it works out.
 
Slamjammer said:
Bigger than what? Our present boat is a Gibson 50 that displaces 22 tons, when fueled and loaded, and we often stay on it for a week at a time. Does that qualify as "bigger"?
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Never was on a houseboat and don't know much about them. Do have a question if you'd be so good as to answer it. How do you stay in the barcalounger and keep if from sliding around when falling off 6' seas while cruising long distances?

Best regards,
Frank C.
 
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Four Suns said:
So the problem is going to be the sat dishes that will all need to be replaced (which they are currently doing on terrestrial installs) and that fancy $5K dish on the hardtop is going in the trash.
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If I can interrupt the houseboat/McGregor debate for a minute...
Gary- when will my $5,000 dish (I actually only paid $3,500 for it, but who's counting) become obsolete? That's gonna suck. I have an M-3 and I can live without HD.
 
Dish is putting HD on Ku band. If you want to get HD, you can switch from DirectTV to DishTV and keep the same satellite dish and LNB. You just need a different converter box.

Best regards,
Frank C
 
fc3 said:
Dish is putting HD on Ku band. If you want to get HD, you can switch from DirectTV to DishTV and keep the same satellite dish and LNB. You just need a different converter box.
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what if I don't want HD?
If my dish will become obsolete, when will that happen?
 
As long as someone is transmitting on the Ku band, your dish and LNB will be useable to receive programming in either SD or HD. It's the band that's important.

Best regards,
Frank
 
As Frank said, it's all about the band a particular vendor is using. DirecTV has made announcements that they are moving everything over to Ka band and so when they shut down their Ku band operations, your sat dish will not work with DirecTV. I'm not sure about Dish as I don't follow them. One of the problems that any vendor is going to have is the data pipe is just not big enough on a Ku band bird to put a lot of HD channels on it... Hence the Ka band stuff.

It's not really worth the effort to type this but... I don't agree that sail boaters are minimalists.. I've been on several newer sail boats and the amenities are pretty much the same as a loaded up power boat. It's just an attitude thing for some reason as shown by the posts here. I put all my kids in a week long sailing school in Annapolis last year and there wasn't a day that the instructors didn't talk schmak about powerboaters during the classroom work.

I like technology and I like it on my boat... and I use my boat as much as anyone else and enjoy it as much as anyone without the technology...
 
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WAG: When the satellites die. Look up their launch dates and expected operational duration and you'll probably have your answer.
 
>>How do you stay in the barcalounger and keep if from sliding around when falling off 6' seas while cruising long distances?<<

You're kidding, right? I sometimes fall out of the Laz-E-Boy when we are in port ;>)

Seriously, there are several different types of houseboats, with hulls designed for different purposes. Some are built on pontoons, and are intended for inland lakes and waterways. Others have "cruising hulls", much like any other boat, and can be used for coastal cruising. Some of them can generally handle 3'-4' seas, but personally I would avoid the situation.

Ours is classified as a "coastal cruiser" and will zip along at 20kts, but sucks up lots of fuel and throws one helluva wave. At hull speed (10-11kts) it isn't so bad. We are on an inland lake, where high seas really isn't an issue.
 
Gary,
Whats the dish replacment ? Yes u are now the spokesperson. I have read nada on this ... I guess thats the down side to automatic bill payment.

CRAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Im not touching the other subject that came up... As long as people are boating who givesa flying heck what gadgets they have ? Just enjoy boating. So now TV's and Bow thrusters are in the same who needs em catagory ?? WTF .... lol
 
festivus44 said:
What a strange coincidence... I just received and e-mail from KVH on this topic which contained a link to this FAQ document: http://www.kvh.com/pdf/SOS3_AnalogtoDigital_2.08.pdf

Can any of the experts help to cut through this crap?
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Yes, it's says "Nevermind." You don't have to do anything. The only thing that is changing is over-the-air broadcasts. The old analog channels are going away and new digital ones are coming on-line. If you get your local TV from satellite, they have been converted to digital by the satellite company before they send them to you. If you use the piece-of-crap antenna on top of your boat, next year it won't work without a converter box. I don't think any 480DB owners are going to qualify for the $40 coupon.

Best regards,
Frank
 
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