Northerner
Free Member
We’ve just returned from Spain and France and I thought that I’d give a report on my KVH TracVision R4 satellite dome. I previously had a Camos 40cm but, whilst being very good, it did look like a huge carbuncle on the top of the ‘van. The TrakVision is a slightly smaller dish and it’s much more attractive being lower and slightly wider.
Other advantages that I like about the TrakVision are: No separate control box where you have to manually change the satellite; automatic satellite selection if the programme can’t be located on Astra 2 and it will switch to another satellite as long as that channel is available on it.
Speed of operation is very impressive; we can park up on a services or lay-by and simply switch on and within seconds we’re watching TV courtesy of the dome and my Maxview 12v digibox.
I chose a dome over a dish because I want it to work in any conditions, such as high wind. I also believe that, as a dome system has a totally enclosed satellite dish, it may be less susceptible to problems caused by exposure to the elements.
I fully accept that the footprint will be smaller than most dishes but the only essential programmes for me are the news channels. It’s nice to have the usual terrestrial channels as well, mainly because I can also watch my local news programmes, but I can live without them as long as I’ve got BBC News, Sky News and CNN.
We sailed to Santander and then drove to Salamanca where the only programmes available were the three news channels and a few free ‘cable type’ programmes such as True Movies, Movies for Men etc.
Down on the south coast of Spain, west of Gibraltar, we again received the news channels perfectly and this continued until we were just north of Barcelona when we started to pick up all the regular programmes. Our next stop was in Carcassonne, where again, we received all the usual free Astra 2 channels and this continued of course as we drove north to the Dordogne and then to Caen.
So to sum up, if you’re not bothered about soaps and news is your main interest the TrakVision will work perfectly in the southernmost part of Spain. In France it should receive all the other Astra 2 channels without any problem.
What is most impressive is the ease of operation. If it can’t receive the news programmes on Astra 2 it simply switches satellite and picks them up on Astra 1 or presumably Hotbird, which is the three that I have programmed in.
If there is no signal it’s simply because there is no line of sight to a satellite so I read a book, or this time I viewed my box set of the entire five series of ‘The Wire’ which my daughter bought me for Christmas. This is one of the finest programmes of its type ever made and I can really recommend it. Better even than ‘The Sopranos’ which is made by the same company, HBO.
Other advantages that I like about the TrakVision are: No separate control box where you have to manually change the satellite; automatic satellite selection if the programme can’t be located on Astra 2 and it will switch to another satellite as long as that channel is available on it.
Speed of operation is very impressive; we can park up on a services or lay-by and simply switch on and within seconds we’re watching TV courtesy of the dome and my Maxview 12v digibox.
I chose a dome over a dish because I want it to work in any conditions, such as high wind. I also believe that, as a dome system has a totally enclosed satellite dish, it may be less susceptible to problems caused by exposure to the elements.
I fully accept that the footprint will be smaller than most dishes but the only essential programmes for me are the news channels. It’s nice to have the usual terrestrial channels as well, mainly because I can also watch my local news programmes, but I can live without them as long as I’ve got BBC News, Sky News and CNN.
We sailed to Santander and then drove to Salamanca where the only programmes available were the three news channels and a few free ‘cable type’ programmes such as True Movies, Movies for Men etc.
Down on the south coast of Spain, west of Gibraltar, we again received the news channels perfectly and this continued until we were just north of Barcelona when we started to pick up all the regular programmes. Our next stop was in Carcassonne, where again, we received all the usual free Astra 2 channels and this continued of course as we drove north to the Dordogne and then to Caen.
So to sum up, if you’re not bothered about soaps and news is your main interest the TrakVision will work perfectly in the southernmost part of Spain. In France it should receive all the other Astra 2 channels without any problem.
What is most impressive is the ease of operation. If it can’t receive the news programmes on Astra 2 it simply switches satellite and picks them up on Astra 1 or presumably Hotbird, which is the three that I have programmed in.
If there is no signal it’s simply because there is no line of sight to a satellite so I read a book, or this time I viewed my box set of the entire five series of ‘The Wire’ which my daughter bought me for Christmas. This is one of the finest programmes of its type ever made and I can really recommend it. Better even than ‘The Sopranos’ which is made by the same company, HBO.
