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Enter a key word to search for posts:Problems you don’t have in a house!
Posted on: Wednesday January 16, 2019 at: 5:33 pm
There are few problems that can’t easily be overcome on a boat, but this is one of them.
Dish in an elevated position
This is our satellite TV dish. The observant amongst you may notice that it isn’t actually a dish. It is flat, consists of a serious of “phased receptors” and is very clever. When we switch it on, it elevates, hunts around for the satellite automatically and positions itself for best reception, assuming there aren’t any trees or buildings in the way. It can also find other satellites, which is great if you fancy swotting up on your Spanish, Portugese, Polish or various other languages.
Lowered dish
This is the unit in switched off mode. We chose this one as it is the lowest profile of all the units we have seen, meaning it is less likely to get caught on a bridge. Neat huh?
The problem is that the satellite is roughly 23,000 miles away, which means the dish has to be pretty accurate. Even a few degrees out means it won’t work. If the unit is pointing along the axis of the boat (to the bow or to the stern), things are fine as when the boat rocks, it merely rotates around the axis of the signal. However, if it is pointing side on, then the slightest movement tilts the dish off the signal completely resulting in loss of the picture. We have become quite adept at finding the best position to sit inside in such circumstances, and move around the boat carefully, as narrowboats rock very easily. (The rocking motion is one of the best things about living aboard.)
However, we do get to enjoy views like this one from the bow this evening:
Sunset in Calcutt Marina (click for a larger version)
MAGICAL wonderful reflections which is one up on beach sunsets,..xxxxx