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The receiver you see above you is KVH's M10 marine receiver. Take a good look at it, and if it doesn't look familiar to you, thank your lucky stars. If it does, it's time to say goodbye.

The story of the M10

Satellite television for mobile and marine was pretty new in 2005 when this receiver was created. In many ways, it was still the "wild wild west" of mobile satellite. Different companies were trying new things, figuring out what worked and what didn't.

Then, as now, most satellite systems used a separate antenna control unit that did the work of controlling the dish. This is the way that practically every mobile satellite antenna has worked since. (The exceptions, like KING's satellite systems, have the antenna control hardware built into them.) People didn't like extra boxes in 2005 any more than they like them today.

So, KVH, maker of the M1 and M3 satellite systems in those days, had an idea. At the time it might have seemed too costly or difficult to engineer an antenna control unit into the dish itself. So, they did the next best thing: they engineered it into the receiver.

At the time, it wasn't a bad idea.

Until 2003, only two years before the launch of this box, there were several different manufacturers selling DIRECTV equipment. RCA, Hughes, Sony, Philips, and others all had their take on the satellite receiver, with different menus and different features. This changed when DIRECTV's D10 receiver hit the streets. It was still made by those same manufacturers, but it was branded as a DIRECTV box. All models had the same menus and setup. Customers loved it.

This meant that KVH was a bit of an outlier when they released the M10 receiver. It was based on the DIRECTV D10 technology, but had extra hardware for controlling the satellite antenna. KVH was right — people didn't necessarily want that extra control unit, and the receiver was successful. One might say, too successful.

Fast forward almost 20 years, and, well…

The M10 wasn't a bad piece of hardware, and it was pretty reliable. But the industry went a different direction, and soon KVH fell in line with other manufacturers and used a separate antenna control unit. This let people choose a DVR, HD receiver, or anything they wanted. You could even piggyback a different receiver onto the M1 or M3, as long as you kept that M10 receiver as an antenna control unit.

Things slowly began to get a little more difficult, though. Obviously, stocks of M10s began to dry up. Without the M10, the M1 and M3 dishes wouldn't work. And yet, they weren't being made any more.

Adding a second layer of stress to this whole thing was the fact that DIRECTV started phasing out MPEG-2 programming around 2016. That meant that there were fewer and fewer channels that the MPEG-2-only M10 could receive. By the dawn of the 2020s, if you had a working M10 and M1/M3 combo, it was looking pretty bleak.

The answer to all of this…

The answer, sadly, is to move onto another product. It's time to retire those M1 and M3 systems. If you want to use your satellite system only while parked, there are excellent products from KING that will do it for a fraction of what you paid in 2005. Even Winegard's Roadtrip T4 is a great value, a lot less than the cost of a satellite system 15 years ago and it works while you're moving.

Anything you get today will be compatible with the latest generation of DIRECTV receivers like the H24. The H24 receives today's broadcasts and is compatible with new satellite technologies to come. It's been around for a while, but that's because it just… plain… works.

Time to upgrade. Here's how you do it

If you're ready to upgrade your satellite TV system on your boat or RV, don't call DIRECTV. They don't know anything about mobile satellite. Call the experts. Signal Connect does more mobile and marine activations than anyone else in the world. We're here for you and we'll explain your options. We'll help you feel comfortable saying goodbye to your M10 receiver. We'll help you find a new favorite receiver, and it will cost less than you expect.

Call us now at 888-233-7563. If it's after hours, just fill out the form below. We'll get right back to you.


The post Does this receiver look familiar? Time to forget all about it appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.

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