18. March 2009 by admin.

Yachts have you seen this? It sure looks like the same Slimline ™ 5-LNB Dish that I have on land - it was required for me to receive the satellites (particularly the HD Satellites which for DirecTV are all switching to being only on their Ka Band Satellites.) It looks like a 3-axis tracking mechanism was made to steer this dish for the purpose of letting you get all of DirecTV at sea including the HD programming in one dish, in other words one Radome or Big White Dome. It’s not small so it may not go on some of the smaller vessels that couldn’t take 1-Meter + domes in the past. Also I’ve seen some discussion elsewhere that it may not work in all areas - particularly if you are in the fringe area of a satellite footprint. It’s  harder to get a clear view of 5 satellites than it is to just get 1 or 2. There may be issues with blockage zone where a mast or other part of the vessel could obstruct the view of the antenna. Anyway it does open up the possibility for more yachts to get HD + other channels on DirecTV at the same time without having to take up too much of critical arch or other superstructure area where dish antennas are installed. You could remove a previous TV dome in an area where this one would fit, and there yah go.

It looks like Cobham PLC and Seatel have worked together to produce this…

http://www.cobham.com/about-cobham/avionics-and-surveillance/about-us/satcom/concord/products/tv-at-sea/model-dtv04-hd-antenna.aspx

Model DTV04 HD Antenna

The first 3-Axis marine stabilized antenna system that is compatible with DIRECTV’s Ka-Band satellites.  The Model DTV04 HD is also the only marine stabilized antenna system that can deliver 3 Ku-Band satellites (101W, 110 W, and 119W) and two Ka-Band satellites (99W and 103W) simultaneously with one antenna system.  There is no need to have a second antenna system for Ka-Band reception.

The Model DTV04 HD features high performance stabilization and satellite tracking using a 3-axis closed loop stabilization system, providing quality performance in the roughest seas.  The Model DTV04 HD has a compact, attractive all-white radome, DVB (Digital Video Broadcasting) signal identification, and Sea Tel’s proprietary antenna control with fast-track signal lock software.

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Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net

http://www.internetforyachts.net

http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

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18. March 2009 by admin.

* I have the following in March, 2009 from Ben and Hayls Cole - two experience crew that will be on the lookout for positions in yachting by the end of the month. I know Ben personally and recommend him as level-headed, knowledgeable, and works great with people. I had done work onboard Maximus II in Fort Lauderdale and have done other remote consulting where Ben was involved and/or on the phone getting things done… when I was helping with Internet/Computer/Communications Systems. Please have a look at his email below and visit their web site and have a look at their resumes. Thanks!

From: Ben Cole
Date: Mon, 09 Mar 2009 16:50:08 -0400
To:
Subject: <no subject>

Resume available online @
www.BenandHayley.com

—

Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net

+1 954 683 3426

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18. March 2009 by admin.

Just like the old saying that “two wrongs don’t make a right” - Two Anti-Viruses Don’t Make a Right either!

I’ve been on two job sites in the past 30 days or so where someone had installed an ISP (Internet Service Provider) supplied Application Suite (software) that provides Anti-Virus and such protection, along with another commercial (free or pay) Anti-Virus software. In both cases it messed up the computer severely. Causing inability to boot or inability to use the system even if it gets to the Windows Desktop part of the boot up sequence.

So unless you really know what you’re doing … be very careful of installing multiple protection softwares from multiple authors or vendors onto your computer. Many recent anti-virus softwares are adding additonal functionality such as Anti-Spyware and Anti-Worm, and even Firewall protection to their software installations.

The way I described it here the other day was … You’ve now got 2 softwares that want to protect the “Core” of the Computer - The Core of the Operating System. In my thinking you’ve then got two softwares that can fight over the “core” of the OS of the computer. And I don’t know if this is a good description of what happens, but, what if they BOTH WIN? And YOU LOSE.

You would think that each software would report some kind of violation of priveledged “space” or priveledged parts of the Operating System. You would think that each software would pop up some kind of dialog box asking you to decide to allow the other software acess to “the core” of the Operating System. But it seems like they may not. They may just lock in a death grip on the core and cause bad things to happen such as Rebooting right after reaching the desktop or the system refusing to let you do anything at all.

So if you’ve got an ISP provided Anti-Virus Software or such Protection Suite … you might want to uninstall it before you download something else to battle that virus (or root kit, or trojan horse) infection that you think you have on your computer. Once you’ve uninstalled one software, and rebooted, then you will likely be safe to install another software and do battle with the beast (or beasts.)

—

Alan Spicer Telecom / Alan Spicer Marine Telecom

http://www.marinetelecom.net

http://www.internetforyachts.net

http://www.wifiyacht.net

+1 954 683 3426

Posted in General Computer onboard Sail and Motor Yachts | No Comments »