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Stuart Sweet
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge
· posted in The Solid Signal Blog
DIRECTV and DISH are the most popular providers of marine satellite TV in the U.S. As a marine electronics installer, do you know which one is best for your clients?

DIRECTV or DISH? One of your clients might ask you which is best for their marine satellite TV installation. If you want to provide total and complete service to your clients, you'd better be able to recommend the right satellite TV provider to your customers. When it comes to marine satellite systems, there are subtle differences between DIRECTV and DISH Network. Understanding these differences is the key to recommending the right satellite TV installation for each client.

The Marine Satellite Experts


To help marine electronics installers, I've brought in some of the experts from Signal Connect, the division of our company that specializes in satellite TV sales and activation. During their many years serving the maritime industry, Signal Connect has built a solid base in Florida's yachting industry. Our clients also include one of the country's biggest tug and tanker fleets and many of the largest yachts. When it comes to knowing which service to recommend for marine satellite installations, it doesn't get any better than this.

Our experts say that DIRECTV and DISH each have its own unique strengths. Understanding these strengths – and your customer's satellite TV needs – is key to recommending the right marine satellite TV provider. The following is a list of DIRECTV and DISH's unique selling points. Ask your clients some questions to get the best idea of what they need, then use this list to see which service is best for them. Cross reference the knowledge you gain from your client with the points and this list and you'll have a customer who's pleased with their choice in marine satellite TV.

When it comes to a satellite TV for boats comparison, here are the strengths of DIRECTV and DISH:

  • Sports/DIRECTV: If you have who loves sports, then DIRECTV is the solution. Why? Because DIRECTV is the only provider with NFL Sunday Ticket viewing package. It's also the only provider with packages that give you every baseball, hockey, and basketball game. For installations such as these, we recommend any KVH HD7 or Intellian S6HD satellite dome and any DIRECTV receivers including the H24, H25, and Genie equipment.
  • Mexico to Costa Rica/DISH: Does your client frequently travel from Mexico to Costa Rica? If so, they need to know that DISH network's U.S. footprint covers more of the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico than DIRECTV. While this programming is technically intended for use inside U.S. jurisdiction, it can be received in these international waters. You'll get reception through most of this area, while DIRECTV's signal barely reaches past the coast. For installations such as these, we recommend any KVH HD7 or Intellian S6HD satellite dome, and Wally receivers.
  • Oil Rigs/DIRECTV: If you're installing satellite TV on an oil rig, then DIRECTV is the way to go. The satellite provider offers an account for oil rigs that includes any vessels that transport oil. This account allows the purchase of local channels on the east and west coasts, which is huge with people who work on these vessels. DIRECTV also has a special department designed to handle oil rig accounts. For installations such as these, we recommend any KVH HD7 or Intellian S6HD satellite dome and any DIRECTV receivers including the H24, H25, and Genie equipment.
  • Equipment Options/DISH: DISH has HD programming spread across three satellites that all use the same technology. This means your client can purchase a less expensive dish, point at a single satellite, and receive a subset of the available HD programming. DIRECTV uses a different technology for two of its three satellites. This technology is incompatible with other worldwide satellite services, so your client will need a bigger, more expensive dish if they choose DIRECTV as their provider. These installations typically require any KVH HD7 or Intellian S6HD satellite dome, and the Wally receiver.
  • No Contract/Both: Do you have customers who don't like contracts? Both satellite TV providers have options that don't involve signing agreements. DIRECTV offers its satellite service without any contract. This means your client can cancel at any time or suspend their satellite TV account when they're not using the boat. DISH Network's Flex Plan allows people to pay for their satellite TV services as they go. Either of these options are great for anyone who's not comfortable with contracts.

Satellite TV for Boats Comparison


Now, when your clients ask which satellite TV provider they should use, you'll be able to give them a recommendation with confidence. Signal Connect can get your marine satellite TV accounts activated quickly, easily, and at no cost to you. Just call 888-233-7563 or fill out the form below to learn more about how Signal Connect helps marine electronics installers.


The post Marine Satellite TV: DIRECTV or DISH appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.

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0 Replies · 233 views
Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne


Get it?


An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
68657 Replies · 2680157 views
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sdfntx
I Care About Detroit - Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
dishstaller
I Wanna Talk About Me - Toby Keith
Bobby
98.6 - Keith
harshness
I'm Easy - Keith Carridine
gms49ers
It's Easy - Boston
R
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
Lately my eight year old Dell laptop has been shutting off even when I have a full battery. I have had to keep it plugged up all the time to keep this from happening. Any idea what is causing this? I replaced the battery about three years ago.
2 Replies · 37 views
arlo
A recalibration might be needed. Even if it shows full, the individual cells may have become unbalaced. And the BMS chip in the battery reports false information to the pc.
Try this. Start it up in the bios/uefi and leave it there until the battery dies and it shuts off.
It might just keep running longer than in Windows. Or run for a short while and shut off.
If it's the first case. Probably just needs a balancing. If the latter, the pack might just be dead.
Not throwing stones but perhaps just a cheaply constructed battery with substandard cells. Could be.

Patience. Keep restarting it in bios/uefi until it won't fire up anymore.
Then plug the charger in and let it complete a full charge. And see what happens. If it's better.
Do the same thing one more time. Run it until it dies dead-dead. Then just let it charge, pc shut off.
When charged, it might be better. It might not be.

There are bench jigs that read the actual BMS and override it to let a tech manually monitor and charge the separate packs. They can also reset any "time bombs" in it that cause an otherwise good pack to show bad.
Maybe Santa will be good to me some year.

You might just need a new battery. Maybe the PC power management chip is going. A Dell common thing.
Leaving a laptop plugged in with a full battery is known to reduce the life. Asus for one recommends that you don't leave the charger plugged in all of the time even when shut down. And setting Windows to charge the battery to 85% instead of 100% increases life.
That's all I got.
dishstaller
That's all I got.
That was quite enough....I definitely learned something from your post. Thanks
TRG
TRG
Pub Member / Supporter
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
5 Replies · 276 views
b4pjoe
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
If you can't get into the router to reserve an IP address just don't use DHCP on the device that needs connected and assign it to a specific IP address in the network settings.
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HipKat
I set up a music server for my brother a few years ago. It's basically a small headless computer but it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
They are not. Your best bet is to set up a third-party router, attached to the Starlink for your server, that you can get into, like a Linksys, etc
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Foxbat
…it needs to have a DHCP IP address reserved for it in the router settings. This was easy to do in his DSL router. He's switching to Starlink now and I was wondering if these setting are easily accessible in the Starlink router. I'm pretty sure he will be getting the latest V5 router.
The Starlink V5 Install Kit I just got comes with the Mini Router. It is pretty limited in what it can do. For example, it can provide only one IP subnet at a time, no Guest Network, but it does support the pass-thru to a third-party Router. You can also split the Wi-Fi into separate 5 GHz & 2.4 GHz SSIDs to help some IoT devices that don't support 5 GHz bands to work.

The larger Starlink Router that still comes with the V4 Kit does support a Guest Network with separate IPv4 Subnet, but it's $120 from Starlink. And it still won't do DHCP Reservations.
harshness
If you can restrict the DHCP address space to assign addresses to one end of the subnet (i.e. x.x.x.50+), you can manually assign the IP address on pretty much any operating system. This is a default behavior on several popular routers. As the Router Mini only supports 235 devices, I expect that's already done.

Another option is to use a router that supports PoE to power the antenna. This article discusses that option (under PoE Power heading):

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Foxbat
Now that I've had the v5 kit with the Mini Router, it's not as bad as I first thought. Yes, no DHCP reservations, but you can set up multiple SSIDs that have separate IPv4 subnets, and like the big brother, you can select from 192.168.x.0/24 or 10.x.0.0/16 (where "x" is 1-4).

You can also split a subnet and have different SSIDs for the 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz channels to handle some IoT devices. I haven't discovered what subnet the 2nd NIC on the router assigns, I'm guessing it's the first subnet.
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
2 Replies · 45 views
dishstaller
Sorry for posting the wrong link. Just corrected it.
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Terrible tragedy. You would think that they would have safe guards in place that would prevent something like this from happening. I guess if you are going to ride in a passenger train it might be best to get a car near the rear.

2 Replies · 49 views
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Reactions: Jimbo
Jimbo
Terrible tragedy. You would think that they would have safe guards in place that would prevent something like this from happening. I guess if you are going to ride in a passenger train it might be best to get a car near the rear.

They will have to look at the switching sections to determine WHY 2 trains were on the same track ... at the same time.
dishstaller
Thought this article might be of interest to some of you who might travel via train.