Hack37.Receive Satellite TV While Driving

Hack 37. Receive Satellite TV While Driving

While RVs have been tuning in satellite TV while parked for years, recent technologies allow you to tune in while your vehicle is in motion.

Years ago, millions of rural dwellers envied their urban cable-ready friends who were able to get dozens of cable TV channels at a low cost. However, with the advent of digital satellite television, people who lived in remote places were able to get comparable service to cableprovided they could see the southern sky. It didn't take long for RV owners to jump on this opportunity and equip their vehicles with satellite dishes.

At first, these dishes needed to be manually aimed whenever the RV parked up for a while. Then, signal-finding kits were developed that provided audio feedback to speed up the process of aiming the antenna. Finally, motorized automatic signal finders hit the market.

However, each of these solutions still required a large, 18" dish to be pointed at the sky, which had to be folded down when the vehicle was in motion. Fast forward to now to see a new solution that works not only for RVs, but for everyday vehicles with big, flat roofs, such as Hummers and SUVs. A roof-mounted digital satellite receiver integrates a spinning array of tiny, half-dollar-sized antennas into a package that is only 5" inches tall.

Made by KVH Industries (http://www.kvh.com), this device is expensive at a little over $2,000but not overpriced considering what it does. Combine the ability to receive digital satellite at any time, while driving or not, with the PVR software available to modern computers, and you can have the novelty of watching your favorite shows in your car whenever you want to view themand the real hack here is that KVH has built an antenna to pick up signals that were never designed for mobile reception. (For more information on setting up PVR features on your PC, see "Put a Video Jukebox in Your Car Theater" [Hack #70].)

DirecTV has dozens of audio-only channels similar in format to XM and Sirius, so in addition to rear-seat entertainment, you can use this as another option for satellite radio. Furthermore, if you already have DirecTV, adding the mobile package is very cheapessentially just the $10 cost of adding another receiver.

It's worth noting that the DirecTV channel package for in-car use is a bit restrictedyou can't watch HBO, for instance. However, if you get the RV or trucker package, the full coast-to-coast mobile package with all the channels is available. You have to designate what type of vehicle you're installing the system in when you subscribe, but with the size of SUVs these days, I think you could make a case for getting the RV or trucker package if you really feel you need all the channels.