TV on board

[Vasco]

CaptainRic,

I notice a few cruisers now have follow me TV or a KVH unit but most sailing cruisers read and either have XM Radio(for N. America) or rely on SW radio. A lot of people trade DVD's now. Myself, I read and listen to the radio. Once you get away what happens in the world really doesn't matter too much.

[Alan Wheeler]

Yep I agree. I always reckon, if the world blows up, someone will surely let you know

I also agree. When out, I would much prefer to read some good fiction and choose my immediate reality. Some tunes to set the general atmosphere, and I am set. On the hook for a few days, I do enjoy dropping into the mindlessness that watching TV creates when I am just too burnt out to read or do much of anything.

[CaptainK]

And don't forget the booze Kai.:cubalibre

That one is most definately highly listed on my shopping for provisions list!!

Not to mention bringing the guitar along as well for entertainment?

[coot]

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

Only problem with omni antennae, you can get omni in the horizontal plain only. And it picks up reflections off hills surounding you.

In the US, we use horizontally polarized antennas for broadcast TV, so the polarization of the halo is a desired feature.

I live near an airport, and I get powerful reflections off the airplanes sometimes. It's a typical boat tradeoff. An omni-directional antenna doesn't work so well, but a directional antenna doesn't work at all if you can't keep it pointed at the transmitter. You can use an active pointing mechanism (like follow-me tv), but it is expensive.

[Alan Wheeler]

Because NZ is a land of many hills and mountains, we have to have signals beamed into all directions. So the result is many more frequencies being used for one channel. So we employ both horizontal and verticle plains for transmision here.
The other problem is, because we often are anchored for a night right under a hillside, reflections can be so strong as to rate reception utterly impossible. Where I sail, I can only get one Radio station and that is AM.
So we take plenty of DVD's out with us.

So do any others have this issue. When you are hooked up for the night and you have no outside communication at all. Do you tend to lose track of time and feel it is later than it is and wander off to bed early??? We have it happen every now and then. We relax and read and after awhile think, oh well time for bed. We didn't look at the time. In Bed I usually read a little more and then role over to sleep. As I did, I took a look at my watch. It was only 8.00PM. Boy did we feel like a couple of nana's.

[CaptainRic]

When I was cruising, as I said with nothing but an AM/FM radio, I was amazed that yeah, usually about 9 PM I was ready for bed even if the sun had just gone down. On land now, I am a nightowl usually up until midnite. I think half of it was the lack of TV and the other half that the boat started getting so hot 8AM or so that I couldn't sleep in! Wait until I have my Satellite TV, AC, and genset. I'll revert to my teenage days and arise at the crack of noon!

[Vasco]

And it's very true. Most of us are in bed by then. Read two pages (or the same page twice), book falls on your head, time for lights out!

[Doghouse]

For those of you who bring a computer on board, they do sell TV cards. Including PCMCIA cards for the lap tops. That way if you ever feel you must watch tv, you can. It is a lot cheeper than having a TV, and yes the screen size is smaller, but you are also saving electrons that way.

[waynemonastra]

Since I have moved aboard and im still hooked up to shore power, i just have been using a small b/w tv that i use when im not working ( either at wk or on the boat).

I will be getting my self a portable dvd player that plugs into a cig lighter on the boat and use that when im not using the tv. to me the idea of the boat is to sail and enjoy the sights of our great country, and not watch tv,if i wanted to do that i wouldnt have bought the boat. but i do have the tv for the nights when the family are on the boat and it not very pleasant out side. but to me reading and and just enjoying the time on the boat with the family is entertainment enough, besides theres other pleasures on a boat one can partake in in the evenings

i will be reading with interest

wayne

[Steve Rust]

The mindlessness that tv creates is about right Kai. Take a walk on the beach, go fishing, read a book, make love, chat with the locals, go sightseeing, take a nap in a hammock, even work on the boat. All things that would be on my list of things to do when cruising. TV would not even make the list. How many times do you have to watch reruns of I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, or some stupid Tom Cruise movie? Live life instead of being a passive spectator. Improve your life and throw the &!@#ing thing over the side.

[CaptainRic]

Originally Posted by Steve Rust

The mindlessness that tv creates is about right Kai. Take a walk on the beach, go fishing, read a book, make love, chat with the locals, go sightseeing, take a nap in a hammock, even work on the boat. All things that would be on my list of things to do when cruising. TV would not even make the list. How many times do you have to watch reruns of I Love Lucy, Seinfeld, or some stupid Tom Cruise movie? Live life instead of being a passive spectator. Improve your life and throw the &!@#ing thing over the side.

I just want to watch the Gators game every Saturday in the fall!

I would think the weather channel might be worthwhile too.

[exranger]

Here's an idea. It's something I have been working on, and someone else here scratched the surface of it already. use a computer, get a TV card. I add this: At my house, I download Tv shows, etc (if you know what i mean) using limewire or whatever, then either burn them to DVD or CD, or transfer the files to a portable hard drive i keep (an old 80 gig drive, very cheap or even free from someone who had upgraded, and an external HD case), then hook that up to my on-board computer. It's good enough to keep a good 100 hours or so of moderate Tv watching if Icannot get a signal from the TV card. My kids like watching cartoons, etc

Steve, I agree there are MUCH better ways to spend your time. THere are times that a little TV fits the bill. I do not sleep much. WHen everything within reach of the anchorage is shut down. You just aren't up to reading. Even the Energizer Bunny needs a rest from some of the other onboard options. TV is what is left. I am sure there are people out there that would just not have a TV on the boat, but I am not one of them. Different strokes I suppose. Stranded on a desert island, it would make the top 10 of things I would miss.

[Curtis]

One of the pleasant surprises of cruising with my kids over the past several years has been their adaptation to life aboard without TV. Instead they read, play cards, or, god forbid, actually talk to one another and their parents.

We do have an XM radio receiver that has some fun old radio dramas as well as fairly good sports coverage.

It is interesting that we are usually "lights out" by 9:30 or so....