| Author | Message | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Registered Member Username: Buswarrior Post Number: 1930 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 174.89.174.57  Rating: N/A |
What works and what doesn't? Stationary, mobile, manual automatic, for television and/or internet. Dish sizes and contortions? Datastorm? Viewcube? The KVH line? etc????? For the purposes of this thread, regard the qualifier for performance as someone who depends on the connection for their income. What says those with far north experience or connections? happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| FAST FRED (Fast_fred)
Registered Member Username: Fast_fred Post Number: 1322 Registered: 10-2006 Posted From: 99.184.130.120  Rating: N/A |
What says those with far north experience or connections? ITS COLD , and when its warm the mosquitos are 1/4 pounders , the BIG flys full sized WOPPERS! FF | ||
| Bill Gerrie (Bill_gerrie)
Registered Member Username: Bill_gerrie Post Number: 383 Registered: 3-2006 Posted From: 166.90.247.59  Rating: N/A |
Buswarrior We have used a roof mounted MotoSat automatic 24" dish for several years and have TV coverage everywhere. North or south. We have always used a local wireless connection for the internet. Many coffee shops offer free connection now. Unfortunately most are unsecure sites. Bill | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Registered Member Username: Buswarrior Post Number: 1932 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 174.91.146.183 Rating: N/A |
HAHA, yup, you got it FF! Trouble is, I didn't pay any attention to satellite issues when I was up there! happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| Sean Welsh (Sean)
Registered Member Username: Sean Post Number: 1190 Registered: 1-2003 Posted From: 67.142.130.37  Rating: N/A |
For decent Internet that far north, you will need a 1-meter dish. That said, there are plenty of Internet birds with coverage up there. However, you will not find a single bird that covers from there all the way down to, say, central Mexico. If your travel plans range that far, make sure you have an ISP/VAR that lets you change birds a couple times each year. TV is a different matter, because under international law, a single vendor may not intentionally beam into multiple countries. I note that Star-Choice seems to play fast and loose with this rule, but technically they are only licensed to beam to Canada. The US signal footprint is "spillover." If your intent is to receive TV north of 60° in Canada, either provider (Star-Choice or Bell) will work, but you may need a larger reflector to get a good signal. If you want to get either DirecTV or Dish, the US providers, north of 60° in Canada, I don't think you will be able to do it without a 3-4 meter reflector. Of course, you must be Canadian to order Star-Choice or Bell, and you must be "American" to order DirecTV or Dish. FWIW. -Sean http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com | ||
| Gary Werschler (Gary)
Registered Member Username: Gary Post Number: 17 Registered: 1-2001 Posted From: 96.50.226.114 Rating: N/A |
I can get Direct TV in British Columbia at least 150 miles north of the border with my TracStar SV 360. Gary | ||
| Sean Welsh (Sean)
Registered Member Username: Sean Post Number: 1192 Registered: 1-2003 Posted From: 67.142.130.23 Rating: N/A |
Gary, You do realize the border is at just 49° and that 150 miles north of that is barely 51°, right? He is asking about north of 60°, which is some 760 miles north of the border -- trust me, DirecTV does NOT work there. FWIW. -Sean http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com | ||
| Bruce Henderson (Oonrahnjay)
Registered Member Username: Oonrahnjay Post Number: 602 Registered: 8-2004 Posted From: 70.60.102.61  Rating: N/A |
I spent a couple of winters in Timmins -- so my question would be "what dish works in Arizona and on the south coast of Texas in the winter"! | ||
| joe padberg (Joemc7ab)
Registered Member Username: Joemc7ab Post Number: 448 Registered: 6-2004 Posted From: 66.38.159.33 Rating: N/A |
Bruce One of my brothers spends time in Palm Springs and he takes his Star Choice receiver with him and it works well.Donot know if it will work on the Texas coast. | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Registered Member Username: Buswarrior Post Number: 1933 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 174.89.174.235 Rating: N/A |
Thank you! Internet access much the same? There's some mighty long stretches of loneliness up there, no wireless services, even the static on the radio is quiet... Amongst a host of other challenges in the transportation business, it is becoming increasingly more difficult to recruit and retain employees to work where good internet access is unavailable or complicated to achieve. "My Blackberry won't work out there?!!?" is one of the newer phrases heard by recruiters now. They simply quit, if they even hire-on in the first place. Reliable automatic internet access, as well as some television, it is hoped, will go a long way to help with this. Thanks for any further suggestions! happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| Sean Welsh (Sean)
Registered Member Username: Sean Post Number: 1193 Registered: 1-2003 Posted From: 67.142.130.20 Rating: N/A |
Again, there are birds that can provide Internet access there, but I expect you will need at least a 1m reflector to get decent service. If you give me a specific location, I can tell you which birds provide a signal there at least for HughesNet, which is the provider I use. However, there are Canada-specific providers who have better coverage in most of that latitude. -Sean http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Registered Member Username: Buswarrior Post Number: 1934 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 174.91.145.20 Rating: N/A |
In general terms, northern Alberta, northern British Columbia, Yellowknife across to Whitehorse, up to Fairbanks AK is the target area. Same latitudes that a busnut would contemplate for an Alaska highway northern adventure, trucks have to deliver the goods. Thanks Sean! happy coaching! buswarrior | ||
| Sean Welsh (Sean)
Registered Member Username: Sean Post Number: 1202 Registered: 1-2003 Posted From: 67.142.130.13 Rating: N/A |
That's going to be Galaxy-16 or Galaxy-3C, at least on HughesNet. You will need at least a 1.2m dish and a 2-watt BUC, but a 2.4m dish will get you better coverage further north. Also note the look angles will be very, very low, so trees to the south will be an issue, or possibly Quonset huts. Of course, not many trees north of 60 anyway... After you pass Coldfoot on the Dalton, I don't think you'll get on line even with a 2.4m reflector. The Brooks Range will cast a long shadow anyway. TV is another matter, since it's much less picky. I would bet you can get Star Choice past the Arctic Circle with a big enough antenna... -Sean http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com | ||
| Sean Welsh (Sean)
Registered Member Username: Sean Post Number: 1203 Registered: 1-2003 Posted From: 67.142.130.13 Rating: N/A |
Sorry, should have added that none of the "dome" or cube style antennas is large enough, for either Internet or TV. There are automatic 2.4m systems on the market -- think "TV satellite truck" -- but be prepared to spend north of US$30,000 (pardon the pun). -Sean http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com | ||
| Buswarrior (Buswarrior)
Registered Member Username: Buswarrior Post Number: 1935 Registered: 12-2000 Posted From: 174.89.177.216 Rating: N/A |
Thank you! happy coaching! buswarrior |