Satellite Television Moving Full Speed Ahead

As electronic technology advances, life at sea improves. And marine satellite television is no exception. New satellite and antenna technology now lets all boaters enjoy their favorite television shows. And that’s because marine TV satellite dishes are less expensive, smaller and weigh less than ever before. Add to that expanded satellite ocean coverage and in-motion satellite reception technology, your new satellite TV is not only guaranteed to work reliably at port, but even when your travelling full speed ahead at 30 knots.

At the heart of these new TV systems are ultra small antennas, the latest satellite communications technology and ultra precision, high acceleration linear motors. Now at around 12 inches in diameter and under 10 pounds, today’s antennas can be swept quickly and accurately to lock on to a signal wherever it might be. Equipped with dynamic beam tilting and wide range search capabilities, these antennas scan the skies and respond to every movement of your boat, giving your televisions uninterrupted and crystal clear high definition reception.

The new satellite systems also let every one on your boat have their own television and watch their favorite programs. And that’s because of multiple LNB (low noise block) devices. These devices, besides downconverting high frequency satellite signals to intermediate frequencies (IF), permit reception of signals from different satellites. So if one satellite doesn’t have your channel, you can switch to another satellite, often automatically. This gives you the power not to just have one television, but several. And they all can be tuned to different channels.

However, don’t expect everything from satellite television. To get the most from your satellite television, you need to know about global satellite technology, antenna and receiver specifications.

First off, although ultra small antennas will give you reception on inland waterways and near the coastlines, as you venture further out to sea, your television signal will diminish quickly. How fast the signal fades has nothing to do with your system, it has to do with television satellites. And that’s the good news. Television satellite companies are adding more satellites as satellite technology advances, increasing coverage and range. And that means look forward to a future when large antennas for cross-ocean travel will not be needed.

However, until that time, only count on small antennas to reliably receive television signals when there in the television satellites high power beam’s range.

To find out where those high power signal regions are you will need to know about EIPR contours, also known as Equivalent Isotropically Radiated Power contours. Maps of EIPR contours, which are similar to topographical and depth contour maps, will show you the regions of highest signal power, lowest power and all the signal power regions in between.

With these maps and the EIPR rating of your antenna you can find out where your antenna and TV will work best, may work and where you will probably have no reception at all. To use the maps look at the EIPR dBW rating on the map and then the EIPR dBW rating on your antenna. If your antenna is rated at or below the rating for the contour region, you will more than likely have great reception. If not, expect interrupted television communications.

The EIPR ratings inland and near the shoreline are usually rated at around 50 dBW (decibel Watts). Which is about the rating the smallest in-motion antenna systems are specified at. Offshore, about 200 miles, the signal EIPR drops off considerably. Far out in the ocean, or near the arctic, EIPR levels can be as low as 30 dBW. And this means, that you will need a much bigger antenna then 12 inches