www.iFourWinns.com

Does anyone know where the TV antenna is on my 248? I do not have a radar arch to mount an antenna but looking for ideas on how to improve this signal.

_________________
Walter

2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4

Before you put much effort into it see what others near you are getting, reception-wise. TV is notoriously bad on boats. Even close to shore or in marinas the picture is often quite horrible. And this with having an antenna on the arch. So see what others are getting in your area before wasting too much of your time.

For us it's better to just use the DVD player and netflix movies.

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

Thanks Bill.

Kinda the answer I was expecting and in some weird way hoping for too!

Walter

_________________
Walter

2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4

Sad, but true. Our antenna was never hooked up properly. It got no stations at all. When I finally tracked down the troubles I managed to get TWO stations clearly and a few others with major static. This in a major market. I spoke with several other powerboaters in my marina and heard the same results. A few sailors, with their higher antenna, had better luck but still not great. I'm sure there are all sorts of technical reasons (reflections, ground plane, etc) but the end result is the same... poor reception.

I shudder to think about how OTA (over the air) HDTV is going to work on it.

_________________
-Bill Kearney, 2005 348 Vista

I'll let you know how OTA HD works.. I have my amplified HD antenna and I am waiting for my $40.00 coupon checks from the gubment.

_________________
Brett DiMichele

IMPOSSIBLE!!!! impossible to get anything on the TV, we payed 165 euros for the antenna GEONAV TV3A, the mountain with TV relays is only 10 miles directly on the lake from our marina and in the marina we can catch something like 5 channels with extremely poor quality.
100 meters outside the harbour you can get more than 20 channles with good quality, but this was the same before buying the antenna.

DVD solution is still the best one. But you can also do something different.... without any tv set.....

_________________
2006-288 Vista
"Drogue One" - a starboard story -
2 x Volvo Penta D3 - 160 HP

previous boats:
2001 -FW 268 Vista
1998 FW 258 Vista
2003 Saver 690 Cabin Sport

I asked about the same on my 288 Vista. FW said it is a passive antenna between the deck and headliner in the cabin. I'm going to guess they use the same in the 248 without an arch.

_________________
Jvalich
http://www.badcock.com

'04 FW 288 Vista "Mental Floss"

I replaced my original battery charger on my 2001 V298 a year ago. While the TV was bad before with either cable or OTA, I thought that was normal as most have said. The new charger is a higher quality Charles battery charger and 30A on all banks, not 30 total as in original. I noticed when I turned off the charger the TV cleared up quite a bit. The problem was RF interference from the charger. I replaced both shore cable and antenna cable with RG-6Q, which is the thicker core copper with quad shielding. This took two days of removing old cable (which is tie wrapped with other wiring and water tubing) and snaking and re-tie wrapping.

Now I get much clearer cable and antenna reception. Our TV is AC only so use mainly docked.

It is an easy test to see if you have any interference from your battery charger or any other AC loads (e.g. refrigerator). Just watch the TV and turn off the battery charger. Some marinas have dirty AC power too. I checked this by using our generator instead of shore power.

I also replaced the OEM Shakespeare crappy antenna with an amplified Glomex. Pulled in more channels and more clear, but still no where near what you get at home.

My motivation for doing all this is keeping my son entertained so the wife and I can chill in the cockpit.

Good Luck,

Joe

In comparison to you guys I'm doing okay with my TV reception. I get about fifteen stations, five of which are about the same quality as my home reception was with a roof aerial before I had cable, which is not bad at all. Reception on the other ten or so stations consists of rolling ghosted images that fade in and out. All other channels are pure snow. I'm on the Delaware river, between Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The fact that I'm so close to Philadelphia probably accounts for my higher than average boating TV reception.

_________________

Insane Desire - My 2000 328 Vista...and my state of mind

Hi, I got my digital tuner and antenaes installed last week by my dealer. Reception is perfect on all free to air chanels, very happy indeed as it doesnt seem to make any diference whether Im on the Marina or anchor or battery/genset/or shorepower.

_________________
2008 V288 with twin 5 litre Seacores
http://www.galwayhouse.com.au

Kinkster

Can you share the model information of what they installed?

_________________
Walter

2003 248 Vista - VP 5.0 GXi
2009 Toyota Tundra SR5 5.7L 4x4

Hi Captwalt, the unit is an
Ocean Talk, Superdigi
Mobile TV Mob5-T1800
Hope this helps
Robbi

_________________
2008 V288 with twin 5 litre Seacores
http://www.galwayhouse.com.au