Television Antennas on Board; gearhead responses needed

Chuckbear · Feb 3, 2009

Phil, First of all I have installed dozens of antennas in sail and power boats including my own. For reception of the new digital signals you don't need anything fancy. it just needs to be able to receive UHF signals and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. What you install and where depends a lot on where your TV signals are coming from. If you are within a few miles if the source, rabbit ears will work. But if like most of us you will need a antenna that you can get as high as possible. A couple of options are available. First a antenna like the Boatenna that can be raised on a halyard and lowered when you don't need it, like when under way. The second is a more permanent install of one of the many omnidirectional antennas sold at Worst Marine or one of the others. You would want to get it as high as possible so that means probably mounting it on the mast or at least a pole on the stern, etc. You will then need to run coax from the antenna to the TV below. I would recommend that a permanent installation utilize one of the antennas that has a signal booster that is 12 volt powered for the signals on the fringe areas.

Ed Schenck · Feb 3, 2009

Personally have had very little success with various attempts. But like you mostly the internal type with amplifiers. However a Lake Erie dockmate had the yard install one of those "flying saucer" types at the top of the mast(60'+) and with the amplifier got excellent reception of both VHF and UHF channels. Those stations were about fifty miles away from the marina. Will he now have to add a convertor box?

Chuckbear · Feb 3, 2009

Phil, You may not need an amplifier, If the digital signals come in fine now you will still be good once the change takes place. If however there are a few stations you are not getting then you will. The converter box is only needed if the TV is analog and not the new digital tuner. We are picking up stations that are 70 miles away with the antenna only 20 feet off the water but it does have a signal amplifier.

Brice B · Feb 3, 2009

I recently got rid of the rabbit ears - best thing I've done for the quality of pictures. I replaced it with a little flying saucer type from Glomex. Picked it up on e-bay for around $50. It has an external amplifier, so there's no powered equipment topside. I put the dish above my stern pole mounted radar. I can dial in a lot more stations down here in San Diego and beyond. No more pixelization that comes with weak digital signals.

By the way, the antenna is an older model that is pre-dates the digital era and does just fine with a digital receiver. I pick up more stations than a buddy a few slips down with a sea watch antenna mounted higher on the mast. I'm happy with the Glomex.

Cheers,
Brice

Chuckbear · Feb 3, 2009

Phil, There is no reason you can not permanently mount the Boatenna, I have done it. You will need to run the coax down the inside of the mast and to the interior of the boat. Just be sure the installation is solid because there is a lot of movement at the top of the mast while sailing or motoring in any seas. Chuck

Chuckbear · Feb 3, 2009

Phil, The Boatenna is a passive antenna and I suspect those that complain are expecting too much. It does what it is designed to do fine but it does not compare to a higher tech antenna with a signal amplifier. In addition, most just string it up in the rigging and with it swinging in the breeze the signal will drift.

Capn Dave · Feb 3, 2009

The amp is not needed

You will be getting a digital signal not analog. If your antenna picks it up you will get a picture. The amps really don't do that much. That said, A 24" bicycle wheel will work just as well if not better than an antenna costing 50 to 150 dollars. KISS is a great thing. It is actually better than for VHF than UHF signals, and omni directional. The new digital signals are in the UHF band, the bicycle wheel still will surprise you. If you don't have an old bicycle wheel laying around just about any 24" diameter piece of metal will work. If you tear one of the expensive antennas apart all they are, is a thin strip of copper on the outside edge of the flying saucer, with a little amp. in the middle.
If you would like directions to make one let me know, and I will post them

Fair Winds
Dave

ITMaster · Feb 3, 2009

I have a Shakespeare Seawatch 2025 TV Antenna with adjustable amplification for best picture quality. (This is a Glomax with a different name, same item with different stickers) I can increase the gain to a full +20dB where the stations are weak, or attenuate -10dB where the signals are strong. A convenient knob on the included control panel makes adjustments to the antenna easy. I mounted this on top the mast and ran coax down to the boat and inside the cabin. I have it running on 12 Volts. Out in the open it works fantastic with analog signals, soon to be obsolete. In heavy wooded areas, say better than 50 miles or so from a station, it gets kinda ghosty.

Recently, I picked up the Artec T3-AP Pro you cite here Phil and set it up with 12 Volts. In fact I have two of them, one for the salon TV and one for the TV in our cabin. Both are 12 Volt, both have DVD players.

My marina is in a hole with hills that run up out of the ravines and the marsh areas up a good 50 to 100 feet variable and with mature trees that are 100 feet tall, if not more. So I sit down in this hole and with analog, with the gain and the antenna sitting close to 60 feet off the water, I would get with snow and static 6 to sometimes 8 or so channels. Now, with my digital set up, I now get CBS, NBC, ABC, WHRO the public broadcasting channels (3 of them), FOX, ION, and 3 or 4 more stations. They come in like a cable feed, crystal clear. When I get out in the open, it gets better.

I would say you are right on target with your game plan. When I first did my set up, I had worked with a RCA power booster set of rabbit ears. We would get on the hook, I would open up a screen and rig this antenna up outside on top the cabin and if the wind picked up, I had to get it inside, or if it rained, well, you can get the idea. It quickly became a pain and the reception was at the least, crap. So, going with the antenna on top the mast was a no brainer and a remarkable improvement. As I have moved up and down the Chesapeake Bay, I have always had really good reception from the Norfolk area up to say Deltaville and then I would get channels out of Richmond and hold them up to the Potomac and start getting stuff out of Maryland and DC and hold that on up the rest of the way. So far, with the digital, I see it as only better.

I have the boat wired so it is really easy for me to flip a switch if I want to use a marina with shore hook up, I just screw their coax cable into the back of the boat with my TV and phone hook ups and run the autotune feature on the TV setup menu. Put your antenna on top the mast and you won't go wrong.

Tom

PS go to the Fed site and sign up for the coupons. My Artecs cost about 8 to 10 bucks shipping fees and the Fed coupon program paid the $40 cost of the converter. It has remote control with power meter and other programmable features that you will like.

ITMaster · Feb 3, 2009

In our area, I found a site on the internet that I can go to, and enter my GPS west and northerly coordinates. There is a display with the distance in miles, and the magnetic heading to the transmitter sites for all the TV stations in the area.

I think that those of us that do not have cable subscriptions and or direct TV dishes or other more sophisticated means of television viewing, will find the digital transmissions to be a substantial improvement long overdue.

It will definitely be basic service however.

Boomvang · Oct 23, 2010

Masthead Antenna

Chuckbear said:
Phil, There is no reason you can not permanently mount the Boatenna, I have done it. You will need to run the coax down the inside of the mast and to the interior of the boat. Just be sure the installation is solid because there is a lot of movement at the top of the mast while sailing or motoring in any seas. Chuck

Chuckbear,

I have a 34 ODay and would like to mount a Seawatch 14" TV antenna on the mast head. I am wondering how difficult it was to fish the coax down the inside of the mast. Can you do it from a bosons chair? I have a windex, radio antenna and an anomometer currently on the masthead. Is there room for the TV antenna? Did you mount yours directly on top of the mast head or did you use some sort of a side mount? Thanks.

Charlie

Chuckbear · Oct 23, 2010

Charlie, We did a side mount and drilled the hole so it would feed into the wire chase that ran down the front of the inside of the mast. In our case, there was plenty of room but it depends on how many wires you have and how big the chase is. But if it is not full, spray the entire coil of coax down with silicone spray and it should feed down from the top just by pushing it in. I have also fed an electrical snake from the bottom to the top, attached the coax with electrical tape and pulled it through. With the VHF antenna and wind speed, there was no room at the top for the tv antenna. It does not have to be at the masthead, but the higher you get it the better you will pull in channels. I would also recommend you get one with the signal booster if you will be in fringe areas for receptions. It can easily be done from your bosun's chair, that is how we did ours. Hope this helps and good luck. Chuck

Boomvang · Oct 24, 2010

Thanks!! That's great information. Which Antenna did you get?

Charlie