vic008 17 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Is it worth having? Remember in the past the reception was diabolical at anchor. Has it improved at all? Any recommendations? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Island Time 1,239 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 You can have it if you want to spend the $. Cheap antennas from a few hundy, to the flash satellite tracking antennas that work anywhere, all the time. Remember that NZ and other countries are getting rid of terrestrial broadcasts - it's all going digital. So old/cheap antennas may work now, or in some places/countries, but they will eventually stop. Sorry I have not really kept up with this - The TV was the first thing I removed from Island Time when I bought her! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
tuffyluffy 76 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 We've got a TV on board but dont use the TV function. Its mostly hooked up to the laptop and used for playing movies and as a big screen chart plotter. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Beccara 25 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Ditto, Apple TV is a nice light power usage box you can plug in and get on demand stuff like netflix and what ever you have downloaded. You can get decent broadband in alot of places now with the RBI 4g, About 80gb of data for $60-90/mth for those spending alot of time on the boat Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,591 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 As above - we watch movies. (Same as at home) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ScottiE 174 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 yeh I'm with you KM I say its worth not having! But I guess its a bit different if you're a live aboard. My wife is hoping that I'll get reaquainted with her when the boat goes back in! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 as above have recently been mucking around with a spare 19', 12v lcd flat screen on board at the mooring even with the sky tower dishes only being a few km away the reception is terrible with just a set of rabbit ears seems every time the boat rolls in swell or wake, reception is momentarily lost.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 erice, rabbit ears are far too directional and they have very poor gain. You need an Omni Directional TV antennae. Go see KM for one. He actually sells VHF and TV antennaes as well as chain and rope. But these old system arials will only work with digital terrestrial systems. Not all of the country has it. Auckland does, but I have no idea about CHCH. You can step up a grade and go for a sat dish. If you are in a berth, you can set one up on the pole. But if you want to view on a swing mooring or anchor, then you need to be able to have the dish that will follow the Sat as the boat moves. These used to be stupid expensive, but have come down to just the area of just really expensive. I can remember looking at one about 10yrs ago and the price was $25K. You can now buy them for around $4.5K. These ones track horizontally and vertically and lock onto the signal and follow that. But if they should lose the signal briefly, they can take a bit of effort to get it back again.The type I have tracks horizontal only. It uses a magnetic compass to maintain direction. It cost us $1700 back when the flash ones were down to $23K. They also have disadvantages and while it works for us, it would be too frustrating for many. When it gets a little ruff, you often lose the signal. We watch the news and maybe a couple of favorite programs in the evening. But that is only when it is the two of us and have run out of things to chat about. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
wheels 543 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Oh and speaking off getting internet on the Boat. What a rip off it is to buy Data for a T-stick if you only want it for 1 or 2 months. You can only buy 5 or 6 gig, depending on who you go with and it was $90 odd dollars. Also depending on who you go with, you have a limited time and you lose the data you have if you have not bought it. So watching TV via the net is just not possible. Plus I found the speed in some places, as bad as the old dial up speeds Quote Link to post Share on other sites
erice 732 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 hmmm... back to shortwave radio without pictures then Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,591 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 We spent a lot of time listening to RNZ Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Chewing Gum 17 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Oh and speaking off getting internet on the Boat. What a rip off it is to buy Data for a T-stick if you only want it for 1 or 2 months. You can only buy 5 or 6 gig, depending on who you go with and it was $90 odd dollars. Also depending on who you go with, you have a limited time and you lose the data you have if you have not bought it. So watching TV via the net is just not possible. Plus I found the speed in some places, as bad as the old dial up speeds Yep got to agree Wheels - tstick data cost sucks Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Battleship 100 Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Have had various TV setups over the years but ended up reverting to the trusty laptop, as long as they have decent speakers or can Bluetooth to the stereo it's all we need for those rainy days and don't suck much power. I have 5gb of data on my phone plan and have 4g in most of the places we go so have been watching a lot of netflix over the holidays. Just have to make sure your turn down the quality as HD sucks a lot of data and the low quality still looks very good. DVD's are a good backup for out of the way places. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Black Panther 1,591 Posted January 21, 2016 Share Posted January 21, 2016 yep Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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