Sounds like a Bobsprit review of his entertainment system (home theater).

At least he would be jelious of your set up.



"jeff" wrote in message ...
The summer is almost over and rather than giving a travelogue I thought
I'd give some thoughts on what gear worked and what didn't. First,
though, a micro-travelogue: In late June we went with daughter, cats, and
dog from Boston to the Vineyard, and hung out around there for several
weeks. Then, daughter went to camp and the rest of us went to Maine,
where as everyone knows by now it rained. A Lot. About a foot while we
were there! Back to Boston, picked up daughter and cousins and headed to
Wellfleet on the Cape, and we'll go home in a few days via P'town.

Now the reviews, mostly electronics since I've replace a lot of that this
year:

Big thumbs up to Loki, our PDQ 36 catamaran, which once again has carried
us in safety, security, speed, and the lap of luxury for another year.
Thumbs down to Wilbur who has insisted we would have capsized by now!

Thumbs up for the Harkin furler and winches, etc. which have worked
flawlessly. And also the new Lewmar OneTouch winch handle which is
pleasure to use.

Thumbs way up for our Delta anchor which always set quickly and held
securely, especially when the T'storm hit with 40+ kt winds! Thumbs down
for the CQR that failed the Tartan next to us, forcing them to circle the
anchorage while the storm blew out!

Thumbs up to our Garmin 545 GPS which has made navigating almost too easy.
However, Thumbs Down to same for dropping the satellites repeatedly in the
middle of the above mentioned T'storm, proving once again than when you
need it the most, you can't count on it.

Thumbs up to the new alternator belt, a Gates Green Stripe HD (similar to
the XL series) which shows no sign of wear after a summer. Thumbs down to
Torreson Marine, who after I politely queried them as to why the last set
of belts they sent me were shredding in less than an hour declined to
respond.

Thumbs up to my LL Bean Goretex rain jacket, which I thought was an
indulgence but earned it's keep during the incessant rain. Likewise the
Blackberry which could provide instant weather radar except in odd dead
zones in Maine.

Thumbs up to the EnGenius 362 EXT USB WiFi with 7 dB antenna (about $65
from Keenan Systems) which has been able to connect up with the 'net
almost wherever we are. Thumbs down for not providing a native Linux
driver. (And I suppose a thumbs up to those who neglect to turn on
security on their routers!)

Thumbs up on digital TV which gave us crystal clear reception on our new
$200 HD TV, particularly nice for the Olympics! Thumbs down for the cheap
stations which still have minimal signal (Portland was iffy in Freeport!)
and those that haven't converted yet.

And thumbs up to the new Sony receiver with iPod connection and control. I
don't understand why people pay more for "marine" radios. Thumbs down to
the Windows version of Apple iTunes which really sucks!

Thumbs up to the LED's I've partially re-equipped Loki with. Anchor and
reading lights now draw a tenth of what they used to, almost negligible
compared to the fridge. Thumbs down to the high cost - we'll finish the
job next year!

Thumbs down to the high price of fuel, but thumbs up to the great fuel
efficiency of the catamaran - about a gallon an hour at 7.5 knots - which
meant it wasn't too painful at all. In fact, this year we were able to a
get a mooring everywhere we wanted, even places that normally booked long
in advance, so maybe this isn't so bad.

Thumbs up to the CPP bottom paint I put on 16 months ago - we got some
slime, but were still able to sail at 8.5 knots. Detractors said going
down from Micron Extra (twice the price!) would have a big penalty but it
doesn't seem to be that bad.

Enough for now -
Jeff, aboard Loki, Wellfleet Harbor

Mike wrote:
Sounds like a Bobsprit review of his entertainment system (home theater).

At least he would be jelious of your set up.


I doubt he's jealous. My total cost for the AM/FM and HDTV upgrades was
under $400, and the TV will go back to our house in a few weeks.
Bobsprit spends more than that for speaker wire. Actually I mentioned
it here because I'm sure there are some people who are wondering how the
change to digital TV will affect a boat TV. The answer is it will be
nice if you have a good signal, but even within 20 miles of a city, we
would fall back to analog (which won't be there come Feb) a lot.
Hopefully, enough broadcasters will get powerful enough transmitters so
that it will work.

"jeff" wrote in message ...
Mike wrote:
Sounds like a Bobsprit review of his entertainment system (home theater).

At least he would be jelious of your set up.


I doubt he's jealous. My total cost for the AM/FM and HDTV upgrades was
under $400, and the TV will go back to our house in a few weeks. Bobsprit
spends more than that for speaker wire. Actually I mentioned it here
because I'm sure there are some people who are wondering how the change to
digital TV will affect a boat TV. The answer is it will be nice if you
have a good signal, but even within 20 miles of a city, we would fall back
to analog (which won't be there come Feb) a lot. Hopefully, enough
broadcasters will get powerful enough transmitters so that it will work.


What kind of antenna are you using for the HDTV?

The tv antennas are sometimes directional in the azimuth so it may be they
don't want to transmit tv out over the ocean.

Bobsprit will never see his tv signal fade and it's not because of his
equipment.

Mike wrote:
"jeff" wrote in message ...
Mike wrote:
Sounds like a Bobsprit review of his entertainment system (home theater).

At least he would be jelious of your set up.


I doubt he's jealous. My total cost for the AM/FM and HDTV upgrades was
under $400, and the TV will go back to our house in a few weeks. Bobsprit
spends more than that for speaker wire. Actually I mentioned it here
because I'm sure there are some people who are wondering how the change to
digital TV will affect a boat TV. The answer is it will be nice if you
have a good signal, but even within 20 miles of a city, we would fall back
to analog (which won't be there come Feb) a lot. Hopefully, enough
broadcasters will get powerful enough transmitters so that it will work.


What kind of antenna are you using for the HDTV?

The tv antennas are sometimes directional in the azimuth so it may be they
don't want to transmit tv out over the ocean.


The antenna is the 21" Shakespeare (or is a Winnegard? same item, I
think) omnidirectional powered disk that I mounted on the mast 9 years
ago. I can get 3 of the Boston stations here in Wellfleet, which is
about 60 miles from the city, maybe 70 from the transmitters. Portland
however was pretty wimpy because Freeport is boonies from there - I
would think they'd want to go to Brunswick and Bath which is the same
direction. Most of the Providence stations didn't even have DTV last
month!


Bobsprit will never see his tv signal fade and it's not because of his
equipment.

He doesn't even have to unplug the cable!

On Sun, 24 Aug 2008 17:13:10 -0400, jeff wrote:

nice if you have a good signal, but even within 20 miles of a city, we
would fall back to analog (which won't be there come Feb) a lot.

Its funny but the most distant of the local stations, thirty to forty
miles, has a miserable picture on analog, and is perfect with digital.

Casady

On Mon, 25 Aug 2008 19:10:33 GMT, (Richard
Casady) wrote:

nice if you have a good signal, but even within 20 miles of a city, we
would fall back to analog (which won't be there come Feb) a lot.

Its funny but the most distant of the local stations, thirty to forty
miles, has a miserable picture on analog, and is perfect with digital.

With digital it's pretty much all or nothing, no middle ground.