 What
is the advantage of Satellite TV for my boat?
Many
people I speak to say, "We don't watch TV on our boat, we
enjoy not having it !!!!". My reply is "Well, you don't
watch TV on your boat, as you can't ". They then tend to
agree it would be nice to watch the news, the weather or
sport sometimes.
Two types of television are available for boats standard
Terrestrial and Satellite.
Terrestrial is
designed for land based television, where an antenna is not
moving and is aligned with the broadcast transmitter. Boats
are always moving so an Antenna cannot be perfectly aligned
to the transmitter, and also boats are at sea level
surrounded by hilly areas and cliffs. Have a look at houses
on the water, many have antennas up to 20 to 30m above their
roof to get a signal. This can only be done on a yacht by
placing the antenna at the top of the mast, but this is
still not successful, as when the yachts rocks or moves the
antenna swings many metres at a time. Terrestrial Television
is not designed or suitable for boats.
Satellite is
transmitted thousands of kilometres to earth from a gyro
stationary Satellite located close to the equator.
Australia's TV Satellites are located above New Guinea,
33,000km in the sky. Ocean TV Marine Satellite Antennas are
designed to be used on boats to track these TV Satellites
and will the aid of gyro stabilisation, will lock onto the
Satellite whether the boat is rocking, turning, swinging on
a mooring, or travelling at speed. As long as the antenna
is not blocked by cliff or mountain, which is very rare, a
perfect digital TV picture will be received.
Therefore the advantage of satellite television is the
choice of either Pay or FTA TV, high quality HD Digital
Signal no matter where you are located on the water within
the Satellites shadow. For example in Sydney, Terrestrial
TV reception is poor in Sydney Harbour and non existent in
Broken Bay, Pittwater and Hawkesbury River, a Ocean TV
Antenna will give you access to hundreds of Pay TV Stations,
or perfect Digital FTA TV.
Many customers find they use their boat more often when they
have access to quality Television, with the ability to watch
News, Movies and Sport were and when they want to. |
What
Size Antenna do I need?
Size of
Antenna depends on three things:
1. Where your vessel is located.
2. Where you intend to spend your time cruising.
3. Whether you wish to watch Pay/Subscription TV, Free to
Air TV, or both.
Below is a map of areas that can be expected for Pay TV for
OCEAN TV Antennas.
 |
Dish Size Required |
|
Ocean O32 HD |
Yellow - 3 Axis
Stabilisation |
|
Ocean O37HD |
Yellow -
2 Axis Stabilisation |
|
Ocean O45HD |
Red -
3 Axis Stabilisation |
|
Ocean O60HD |
Purple - 3 Axis
Stabilisation |
|
Ocean O900HD-W |
Blue - 4 Axis
Stabilisation |
|
The Map at left gives a general idea of the areas
each size Ocean TV Antenna will operate with a
Pay/Subscription Satellite Receiver on Optus D3
Satellite.
Free to Air Television on the Optus Satellite C3 has
a smaller coverage area. Please contact Ocean TV
for FTA coverage areas.
These areas are for reference only
and not guaranteed, satellite TV is subject to a
number of conditions out of our control, including
climatic weather conditions. |
* Map provided by oceantv.com.au |
I
just want Free to Air TV, I live in Sydney and travel to the
Gold Coast once a year, what do I need?
In the past
we would have suggested the minimum size
of 37cm, but as the Ocean TV O45HD is now priced below the
37cm antennas on the market, and offers many advanced
features. You will
require a FTA Satellite Receiver Box or Pay TV Receiver. |
Will
weather conditions effect Satellite TV?
Yes, all
Satellite TV will be effected by poor weather conditions,
mainly by very heavy cloud and heavy rain (Rain Fade).
The larger the antenna the less weather will effect, that is
why we recommend the Ocean TV O45D. The
Optus C1 and D3 Satellites are located over 33,000km up in
the sky over New Guinea, and even Satellite Dishes installed
on houses, (65cm and 85cm) will lose reception in heavy
rain.
Of course it depends on the size of the Satellite TV Antenna
(the bigger the antenna the less drop out during rain), and
also whether you are watching Pay TV or Free to Air TV. FTA
will drop out sooner then Pay TV as it uses the older and
less powerful Optus C1 Satellite. Pay TV will rarely drop
out.
But in saying this, the actual Satellite TV antenna will
keep tracking all the time, it is more a function of the
type of Satellite Receiver used (Pay or FTA) and which
satellite is being used at the time. |
I
do most of the work on my boat, can I install a Ocean TV
Antenna myself?
Yes of
course. Ocean TV Antennas have been designed to "Plug n
Play". There is no need to connect a laptop computer, or
work your way through complicated menus to set up the
system. It is this simple:
1. Connect the supplied Antenna Cable from the Ocean TV
Antenna to the Control Box.
2. Connect the control box to 12/24vdc or use a AC 12/24vdc
Adapter
3. Connect the control box to a Satellite Receiver box with
the supplied Cable.
4. Connect the Satellite Receiver Box to a Television.
5. Switch on the Control Box and Satellite Receiver Box, and
within 20 seconds the antenna will be tracking the correct
satellite for Australia.
6. The Satellite Receiver Box will now scan for channels and
install them automatically for the area you are registered
in.
Of course the hardest part of the install is normally the
running of the cables, suppliers like Ocean TV can supply
names of professional approved Installers if required, who
will have the experience with running cables and installing
Ocean TV Antennas. |
Can
I watch a different channel on each TV in my Boat?
Yes of
course, but you will need a separate Satellite Receiver Box
for each television you have on board. On Ocean TV the
Satellite Receiver Box can be either FTA or Pay TV. Many
customers will install a Pay TV Receiver in the main Cabin,
and then FTA Receivers on the other TV's.
There are many choices a customer has when installing the
Satellite TV System, some are below
1. One Satellite TV Receiver (Pay or FTA) repeated to all
TV's in the boat, but only one channel can be watched at a
time.
2. Separate Satellite Receivers (Pay or FTA) for each TV,
different channels can be watched on each TV.
3. Pay TV Receiver in Main Cabin repeated to each TV in
Boat, then a FTA Receiver for each TV. Allows Pay TV to be
viewed on each TV, only one channel at a time, but each TV
also has access to FTA Channels which can be different at
each TV. |
How
high do I need to install my Satellite TV Antenna?
Height
is not a problem with Satellite TV, many antennas have been
installed on a lower deck area. The Ocean TV Antenna needs
to be placed in clear view of the sky, any obstructions may
block the antenna when the boat moves. We suggest if you
have any doubt, first try the antenna in the desired
location before actually installing it. Sometimes moving
the antenna a few centimetres can make a big difference,
and the obstruction will be cleared
If you have any doubts about where to fit the antenna see
our links pages for businesses that can help, For example,
hundreds of Ocean TV Antennas have been installed, and
chances are a successful installation has already been done
on boat the same or very similar to yours. Ocean TV will
advise the ideal location an antenna on your vessel, and
possibly have a photo of an antenna installed on a similar
boat. |
Does
the Ocean TV Antenna use much power?
All Ocean TV antennas are designed especially for ultra low power
usage, teh Ocean Tv O45HD only uses it uses 15wattss on 12vdc, or
under 1.5 amps, the otherr models use less than 3amps. We have many successful
installs on yachts, catamarans, houseboats and small power
boats that do not have a genset. Combined with the modern
12v LED Televisions, it is possible to have perfect
Satellite Television if of course the power is managed. |
What
does Auto-Skew of the LNB mean?
All Ocean TV Antennas feature an inbuilt 24 channel GPS and Auto-Skew LNB.
The LNB (Low Noise Block) is the
device on the front of a satellite dish that receives the
very low level microwave signal from the satellite,
amplifies it, changes the signals to a lower frequency band
and sends them down the cable to the indoor receiver. As
antenna on the vessel moves further east or west, the angle
from which it receives the signal from the satellite gets
skewed. The inbuilt GPS plots the location of the antenna,
and send the information to the Ocean TV Satellite
Database. From this database the Antenna automatically
calculates how much it needs to turn the LNB to allow for
the changing angle to the Satellite. This allows the
antenna to be finely tuned continually while the vessel is
moving. |
Can
I use my boats existing cabling for Ocean TV?
Some cabling can be used, but
generally we recommend replacing all cabling. As Ocean TV
Antennas can have both HD TV and SD Digital TV Satellite
Receivers connected, we recommend the use of HDMI Cables for
connection of the Satellite TV Receivers to Televisions, to
give optimum results.
The old Antenna cable that is already in the boat running
from your existing Terrestrial Antenna should also be
replaced Ocean TV Antennas use the newer RG6 Coaxial Cable
that is Quad Shielded, and also has more copper in the
cable. The shielding will be more resistant to other
devices in teh boat , and the extra copper will have less
voltage drop.
Sometimes the existing AV Cables can be used if the TV is an
older non HDMI equipped TV, or can be used to connect the
Satellite Receiver to the on board Stereo System. |
Will
an Ocean TV Antenna receive Internet or Satellite Phone?
No, Ocean TV Antennas are designed for
the KU Satellite Band, which is for Satellite TV. Satellite
Internet and Satellite Phones, use a different type of
Satellite Antenna. |
|
