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First Look at the DirecTV SAT-GO
cblount writes "DBSTalk's Earl Bonovich got his hands on one of the first portable DIRECTV receivers. The DIRECTV Sat-Go incorporates a TV, DIRECTV Receiver and DIRECTV Antenna into one conveniently portable design for camping, tailgating, RVing, sitting by the dock or even watching at home."
I hate nature as much as the next guy, but . . . camping? Really?! What's the point, if you're going to sit around watching satellite television?
Now you'll never have to miss American Idol again......I guess everything has it's downside.
....camping, tailgating, RVing, sitting by the dock or even watching at home...
I thought I was lazy. If you tailgate with a TV than you probably don't enjoy going camping anyway.
Unless, of course, you have HBO or something.
DirecTV's product page has a picture that strikes me as depressing and conflicting; two happy kids, running towards the sea on a beautiful day with a nerf football ready to play catch, a beautiful "wife", all dragging dad in tow who just can't part with his boob tube. Put the gadget down and play with your kids, dude! And how are you going to see that LCD in the bright sun anyway? Just the same, I signed up. I'm thinking one of these would be great to have when I'm on the road..
I used to wonder how they could have enough bandwidth to serve wireless Internet from satellite to the whole country and likewise how they could provide local channels to so many different cities. I found out that the satellites can make separate broadcasts on the same frequencies to different parts of the country. I guess the parabolic antenna on the satellite has multiple feed points near each other near the focus of the antenna arranged in such a way that each one only broadcasts or receives for each major area. For a portable system like this you might have to get special service so it would work across the country if you were traveling.
If I could pirate DirecTV. Tell me how!
;)
C'mon guys, information wants to be free, especially "adult" information
When I go camping (usually 2 or 3 weeks a year), I don't take anything electronic except a cellphone, but even that stays turned off and in the backpack.
I'm a bit of a luddite and not really a nerd (I don't code, don't like sci-fi, not a gadget nut, etc.) so I guess I just don't understand but if you are going to camp, then camp, otherwise just stay at home. Seriously..
Gone!
Does it come with a super-long straw, so that the same people who need the idiot box 24/7 can also have access to some kind of carbonated high fructose corn syrup beverage 24/7, also? You know, you can get thirsty doing all of that heavy duty television-watching...
I don't respond to AC's.
I love to camp, but I also love to jack it. This lets me enjoy the best of both worlds. Spend a nice day hiking, cook dinner by the fire, and then lay back and spank it to the spice or playboy channel.
I would say that this pictures isn't so much "awkward" as it is "depressing". This happy, shiny, bright picture with people smiling is a lot more depressing than any dystopian sci-fi movies/books I've ever seen/read. Ugh.
I don't respond to AC's.
Some of us are in a bit of a "Green Acres" type situation. This would definitely help me convince my wife to go camping more often.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
One of the reviewers claims the thing takes up to 70W.
Didn't say if that max is atypical, or what the average would be.
I don't view anything over 20W as "portable".
And anything over 25W is REPREHENSIBLE in a TV Receiver. Those Comcast Cable boxes use 35W ON or OFF which is probably more juice than your new refrigerator is using. How many Coal power plants in the US are dedicated exclusively to keeping the little red lights on the ComCast box lit up?
So this is supposed to be a better solution for campers and RV's than the standard DirectTV they are already carrying around. But it doesn't sound like the dish aim procedure is easy- you can get automated systems that work while you are driving. This one wont work unless you are stationary.
My DirectTV Tivo uses 29W ON or OFF, day or night, so thats about $70/year in electricity. But that is a fair sight less than the 70W claimed for this unit! I don't understand why making it portable would double the power consumption.
This device has an LCD screen attached...
Think about truck drivers. They already often have the entire normal size dish and have to manually adjust and rotate it whenever they stop. Something like this might be ideal for them since most of all modern trucks have TVs installed these days.
I'm a bit of a luddite and not really a nerd (I don't code, don't like sci-fi, not a gadget nut, etc.)
What the heck are you doing on slashdot? You sound like my father in law- who has yet to allow his second wife to have internet in the house because he's heard all these news reports about how computers cause viruses.....
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
I don't understand why making it portable would double the power consumption.
Your TIVO doesn't have a built in screen, is my guess- backlight on that LCD could double the power consumption.
SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
I'm in an RV for a month. Father invited me on a road trip, one month, all expenses paid, and so I quit my job and set off.
We've got a laptop, wifi, satellite and DVD. Fun stuff.
He sprung for the tracking satellite thing although I haven't tested it out. What's NICE about satellite on the road is I can watch the Iran/UK drama while being in BFE (Kansas, 50 miles from a cell signal).
Camping? No. Maybe for others but not me. I like to go backpacking (Colorado Rockies this weekend) but when the lights go out, it'd be nice to pop open my iPhone sized satellite unit. Why not? Being connected is GREAT. Having it run your life is lame.
I connect when I can, upload photos and then email my friends. Good stuff.
This is the future. Personally I figure we'll all eventually get our own bandwidth and stream whatever we want, updating the feed via cell phone.
I come here for the science news and to keep up with tech. I'm a chemist.
Gone!
Cars are pretty portable, dude ;)
find / -name "*.sig" | xargs rm
What I don't understand is how someone who takes an ultralight aluminum and nylon backpack, a compass, butane lighter, food from a grocery store, high tech material sleeping bag, nylon tent, and all of the other comforts of civilization that are incredibly common, can be so condescending towards people who take a tv or laptop with them. It basically boils down to 'my shade of gray is better than your shade of gray.'
When the "I camp for REAL." crowd starts wrapping an animal skin around their waist and starts walking, THEN they can be taken seriously. Until then, they are just pompous ass hypocrites that are just pretending to camp.
Strikes me that with WIMAX and other streaming video technologies on the horizon DirecTV may be launching this about three years too late.
Three Squirrels
The flat-panel antenna is much lower gain than a standard Sat Dish (I don't have the figures to prove this, but it seems pretty self-explanatory), so I'm assuming the receiver has to use a lot more gain to get the signal to an acceptable level for processing. This could account for at least some of the additional power consumption. How much? I couldn't tell ya.
Appended to the end of comments you post. 120 chars.
Is whether or not this thing is the same crap hardware, with the same flaky drivers, as DTV's piece of shit set-top DVR's.
Who else has had a DR-15 slowly nbuild up lag to any input (from the remote or the face buttons) and eventually stop altogether over about 3 months time? How about 4 of them in a year?
Newsflash: Different people do things outdoors differently than you.
I love spending time away from the city, in various national parks, beaches, etc. I'll hike all day, cook my food outside, but once it's dark, and there's only so much more sitting around the fire to be done, I like to sleep indoors and I enjoy relaxing with television. I'm not an RV kinda guy, but that's what motels are for. Just because you want to cut yourself off entirely from the world doesn't mean everyone does.
I'm a bit of a luddite and not really a nerd (I don't code, don't like sci-fi, not a gadget nut, etc.) Seriously..
You win the prize for posting in the most inappropriate place ever.
I mean, that's great for you and all... but... seriously.
Both XM and Sirius have hinted at beefing capacity and using a VC1 type of codec to deliver a select set of on the go TV Channels for the automotive industry.
I wonder how long before DirectTV has a automotive package that can yank omni-directional service on the go...
Ah, but the best part about it to me is that it's actually *not* a bright sunny day. Because the ad agency stuck with the standard formula for outdoor shots, it's taken during "magic hour". Notice the long shadows and warm color balance. Which means this ridiculous family is tromping off to the beach about 30 minutes before it gets dark.
And come on, what else are you gonna do at a dark beach with your kids besides cuddle up around the warming glow of the TV? Ok, don't answer that.
This would go over huge with the southern football tailgating crowd. Walking by tailgating spots towards a SEC stadium you see numerous folks with dishes mounted on posts and a gas powered generator for the reciever and TV. This way they see the early (or late) game before they head into the stadium.
Getting rid of the generator and not lugging around an old tv would make their picnic a bit easier.
To some folks I know, the main drawback would be having a 17" screen is "too small"
So is it or isn't it the life for you?
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
This may work as a cheaper more portable option for storm chasers like me who like to have the weather channel on the go
That which is seen is temporary, that which is unseen is eternal, therefore, focus on the unseen things.
When I go camping (usually 2 or 3 weeks a year), I don't take anything electronic except a cellphone, but even that stays turned off and in the backpack.
... so what's your point? Other people do camping differently than you and I.
OK
I know some Visiting Nurses who have RV's and camp for 2-3 months at any given site before they pack up and head for another state where they're needed.
Different requirements, different tools, different solutions. It's all good.
My God, it's Full of Source!
OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
...it is really going to suck, climbing up on the damn roof every time I want to watch a football game.
If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)
This is great for tail gating.
Stay outside the stadium, grilling beef and watching the game.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
For a lot of folks - and not all of them seniors - the RV or the boat is where you live, it is where you work. Mobile Internet Satellite. Magellan Ground Control
Then there are the purists who would claim that line-of-sight to a tower is not really camping.
Winegard has sold an auto-pointing RV satellite antenna for *years*. Google up info on the Winegard LP-1000, it's the latest and greatest (although larger versions have been about much longer). This news is so old I expect the next post here to be about how C is the new programming successor to COBOL.
Oh, and the LP-1000 doesn't need some lame-ass compass. *snicker*
A satellite uplink at consumer prices would be great to drop in a suitcase in the trunk -- email, voip, news, etc. under adverse conditions (disaster / teotwawki), as long as you have a genny or an inverter. Some end-to-end crypto and you are good to go!
flip down the door on the front right of your R-15.. What does it say there next to MFG: ?
:) Partition magic will see it as "Bad" and a few other low-level programs have had issues with it. As far as a standard drive for storage though it does the job admirably. :) Waaaaaay more useful than the idiot box storage device it was origionally packaged in ;)
:) :) :)
If you're in luck, it says either 300 or 500. If it says 100, it's probably the reason why. I haven't worked for DirecTV since before Xmas 2007 (I didn't watch tv for 5 years before that and I don't now) but at that time.... the units labeled 100 were from a new mfg company and there were no software patches for it (for some strange reason) Directv didn't even have it listed as part of their hardware lineup for months.
(from memory)
Menu
Settings
Setup
reset
reset everything
- - -
You don't have to touch anything. If you have a crappy 100 model, it'll probably take up to 20 seconds before it resets and goes to the startup splash screen. The 500's usually rebooted in just a few seconds. Keep in mind that I haven't used this equipment in a few months. I quit because 50% of my day was beginning to be taken up with CSR 'created' issues instead of CSR's 'solving' issues. That's a whole 'nother ball of wax)
You'll have to go through the setup on the box. Make sure you know your zipcode and the type of dish you're hooked up to. Also make sure you don't have any "Digital Splitter" devices installed as they always always always mess up after time. The R15 requires 2 completely seperate cables from the dish for complete functionality.
By the way... you can use linux to format the harddrive in them and gain a 160G drive.
If that doesn't work, do a full format. I highly recommend both. I used to maintain a webpage about all this crap.
Unplug the unit.
Plug the unit back in.
(You're going to press buttons in a second here ON THE FRONT OF THE UNIT ITSELF!!!!! Not the remote)
It'll say "Your directv receiver is starting up" and then it will say "Almost there, a few more seconds please"
(I may remember the words incorrectly, it's been a few months so bear with me please)
AS SOON AS THE SCREEN GOES BLACK after the 'few more seconds' screen Hold the 'Record' and the 'Down-Arrow' key. (It's the bottom button of the 4 buttons around the blue light ring on the front of the box)
Keep holding those buttons in until the box says it's loading program data.
Oh yeah.. and if you have an HR20 Make sure you're using a POWERED MULTISWITCH. They're expensive. Call directv and INSIST that it be installed if you have a box with HOT spots where the cable enters the receiver. A powered multiswitch takes the strain off of your box and stabalizes your signal quality.
The KVH TracVision 7 antenna for DirecTV reception is much more advanced. The device mentioned in the article has to be aimed at the satellite by hand. The TracVision units aim automatically. Two axes of mechanical positioning, plus a phased array antenna, are used. Rate gyros, a GPS receiver, and an excessive amount of computer power aim the thing. They even use slip rings, so that if you make too many turns in the same direction, you don't lose signal while the antenna cable unwinds. Only 5" thick, so there's no giant dome on top of the car. Rugged enough to go through a car wash.
Yes, now at last, full TV reception for Hummers, larger SUVs, and motor homes, even while moving. For about $3000.
This unit has a new and obnoxious form of DRM. If you subscribe to feeds of "local channels" via DirecTV, you can only get them within the "local area". GPS data and a database of boundaries enforces this. Go outside the "service area", and the signal turns off.
This is an impressive piece of technology. It seems wasted, given that all it does is let people watch broadcast television.
Where I live (a very very tight rental market), the landlords typically won't let you install a dish on their buildings (nor can you rent in this city with a dog or if you smoke, but that's a whole 'nother post). Anyway, what used to kill me about this problem is I have been missing NFL Sunday Ticket. I may just get this and go watch the game in the park. Or at least stick this thing out on the fire escape on Sunday mornings when my landlord isn't looking.
When I go camping (usually 2 or 3 weeks a year), I don't take anything electronic except a cellphone, but even that stays turned off and in the backpack.
I leave the cell phone home. It's out of range most of the places I hike in the Cascades. I take a GPS. When I exit the woods onto a road, sometimes it's hard to tell if the car is parked a mile up or down the road. It's out of sight, but which way? Setting a waypoint where you parked the car is a good idea. Remember, deep in the woods the signal is often totaly blocked by trees. Save your batteries and turn it on only in clearings.
The truth shall set you free!
Low-profile phased array antennas like this have been used for a while for in-motion satellite internet/telephone/television and for remote uplinks.
This is the cheap version. It is not electronicaly steered. You have to manualy point it. It has no tracking. This is useless for in-motion use.
The truth shall set you free!
Or at least stick this thing out on the fire escape on Sunday mornings when my landlord isn't looking.
;-) A small satelite dish can be hidden in a garden tool bin out near the garden. You've seen the small garden coffin to hide your garden hose, rakes, etc. in many places. Lock it to keep your tools (Dish) safe. The poly plastic doesn't bother the reception. Most landlords don't mind if you do a little gardening.
Find a window with a Southern view. Nobody said the dish has to be outdoors. It just needs to have an un-obscured view of the sky. Set it on the floor in front of the window and enjoy. I have had occasions to do hidden antennas in the past. I have hidden a fringe reception UHF Yagi, FM, Shortwave longwire, and CB antennas from view with good results. Some satelite dishes can be hidden just fine in urban decor. In a gated community a dish in a recycle bin works fine. Lock the top so the neighbors don't add to the contents and bolt it in place next to the house. A 4 bay UHF bow tie antenna in a recycle bin works fine for fringe area digital TV reception.
The truth shall set you free!
Is anyone else having that reaction?
Why not just hang a USB-based satellite antenna off a laptop? They're doing it for HDTV, why not this?
I predict utter failure for this. Years from now it'll figure in a PCWorld article listing the 100 worst tech products ever.
668: Neighbour of the Beast
Sorry but your fridge is using 100-200W and only if you have a tiny apartment fridge with freezer on top.
Your executive edition subzero side by side it taking 1-2Kw when running. and typically costs 2-3$ a day to run at current midwest electrical prices..
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Bigger than a Zune. No built-in DVR. Lame.
Sent from my iPhone
"their standard dishes" do have an "issue": They need to be AIMED.
BWilde
According to the Telecommunications Act of 1996 from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), it is illegal for them to prohibit you from putting up a dish. Search for "47cfr1.4000" for the regulation. Unless they provide a common antenna for you to use; then you are allowed to put up a dish- as long as you don't do permanent damage (ie drilling holes). I have seen dishes mounted on plywood and cinderblocks on a balcony, or a post sticking out of a big flowerpot with a dish on it.
...if you like. It's OK with me.
Sure are sensitive, ain't ya?
"how they could have enough bandwidth to serve wireless Internet from satellite to the whole country"
Time division multiplexing. I have one of these.
There's an astounding amount of bandwidth there. Study up! Google!
"likewise how they could provide local channels to so many different cities"
Same signal to each subscriber... duh. I also have one of these.
...what is also the big feature on thios unit: An antenna (formerly "dish") that DOESN'T NEED AIMING!!!!!
This could be used for mobile purposes (RVers) w/ a std DirecTV receiver. Probably in the works now.
70W is the rated max and it has an internal battery. Batteries can use a lot of current if you want to charge them.
I love people who have numbers at their fingertips!
f rig.search_products_submit
Happily your numbers are out-of-date. Not too out of date, either. But substantially!
The EPA's Energy-Star cerification program and the improving regulations have been astoundinly successful, each year for the last 5 or so.
As you can tell here
http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?fuseaction=re
you can get a nice mid-size side-by-side Fridgidaire that consumes only 45W.
Skimp a little and get the best in class and you are down at 35W.
What we need are regulations for other appliances. I just measured my TV and found that it uses 24W OFF. (Thank you Infocus.) That is WAY WAY too much to keep an IR receiver active... (267W ON is a lot to but at least it is doing something for me!)
Insightful! As is the LCD comment. Would be lovely to know the steady-state power consumption.
I have looked into this extensively and unfortunately: a) I don't have a southern view b) The law only applies to areas the renter controls - not the side of a building or on the roof (and no I don't have a balcony, just a fire escape)