Go to my Chesapeake Bay Nautical Net web site and click on the "Link of the Week." Jim Weidner, K2JXW (Extra) CEO & President/Editor Weidner & Sons Publishing www.waterw.com/~weidner --------- Capt. m/v "Sandy Claws" Chesapeake & Delaware Bay Nautical News Net www.waterw.com/~weidner/boating.htm Ham Radio Marine Mobile Nautical Net www.waterw.com/~weidner/ham.htm -----Original Message----- From: Paul Kruse <plkruse@iu.net> To: trawler-world-list@samurai.com <trawler-world-list@samurai.com> Date: Sunday, April 11, 1999 7:27 AM Subject: RE: Satellite TV onboard (mobile/stationary) >This thread has me a bit confused. Are we talking about taking a basic home >dish unit and putting it onto a boat? If so, it would seem that the system >would only work when you were solidly tied up to a dock in calm water. >After all, these home units need to be pointed directly at the satellite, >since they are not able to track one from a moving platform. > >Or perhaps we are talking about a gimbal stabilized dish that is able to >track from a moving platform, like a boat at sea? I know that these things >exist, because the salesmen have tried hard to sell them to me for use at >work. About five or six years ago, the Astronaut Office made noises that >they might like to have TV inside of the CTV. That is the "Crew Transport >Vehicle," for you non-shuttle fans. It is used to transport the crew from >the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF), to where they take them for their post >flight medical checks. It is sort of a mobile medical facility, about sixty >feet by about sixteen feet, and able to jack up and down to mate with the >Shuttle, an airplane, or the second floor office where they get off loaded >for their medical checks. It takes up most of two lanes of the road, and >travels at about 45 mph under police escort; and is too high to fit under >many bridges and overpasses. It has a 300 hp drive motor, and a 60 kW >generator which is often stretched to its limit; both two stroke DDC's. >This thing is essentially a highly customized RV, slightly larger than a >railroad box car. > >(BTW, the CTV drive engine is a classic example of sizing an engine for its >duty cycle. It is only good for about 1200 hours, since they run the piss >out of it when they have it on the road. A larger engine would last much >longer. It is also on its third engine in eight years. Clearly, the people >who designed it did not expect it to be driving significant distances down >the road. Rather, it was designed to shuttle passengers from an airliner to >the gate at an airport. We could make this engine last longer by driving a >bit slower, but then speed is of the essence when delivering the astronauts >for their post light medical work. Just as a point of comparison, if this >engine was installed into the typical recreational trawler, I would expect >it to be a 20-30 thousand hour engine. Yes, I know that I've digressed from >the subject of this thread, but I thought some folks might be interested in >it, and it does sort of relate to trawlers.) > >At any rate, the Astronaut Office said that it would be very nice to get >NASA Select, which is NASA's very own cable channel, while waiting for the >shuttle to land. I think that they also had a couple of other mission >related feeds that they were interested in getting. They found someone who >sold these stabilized dishes for moving platforms, and sent him my way. The >bottom line is that no one came up with the budget to buy it, so we did not >get it. One of the things that I will like most about Doulos is that she >will not have a TV on her, except for certain video monitors that are >related to catching fish; but I was curious if anyone has used any of these >stabilized dishes. If so, how well do they work? > > > >+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > :: >Paul and Cindy Kruse :: KJV Joh 14:27 Peace I leave with you, >165 South Kenneth Court :: my peace I give unto you: >Merritt Island, FL 32952 :: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. >E-mail: plkruse@iu.net :: Let not your heart be troubled, >407-453-6206 :: neither let it be afraid. > :: >+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ > >