Randy, to answer your questions I will start with the Tracvision. Yes it is
completely hassle free. I have DirectTV at my home so I have one receiver
that is dedicated to the boat during the spring,summer,fall and comes home
to the guest bedroom in the winter. The Tracvision comes already setup for
DirectTV so once it was installed all I had to do was install my receiver. I
turn on the power to the Tracvision, receiver and TV. Inital setup takes
about 2 minutes to find the satellite, once it does so it locks on and once
locked on there are no interruptions in service. This is an in motion system
so once it begins tracking I can then drive the boat without loss of signal.
If I power the unit down then move the boat then power it back up it has to
search for the satellite again but within 2 minutes I am watching TV again.
Although it was expensive it is worth every penny.I debated between
Tracvision and Sea-tel for several weeks but finally decided on the
Tracvision based on their reputation. The boat came with a 9 inch DC powered
TV which didn't do the tracvision any justice so I took it out and installed
a 13" flat panel Sharp Aquos LCD TV. The picture is phenomenal. As for the
stereo it came equipped with all Clarion Marine AM/FM CD player, 6-disc CD
changer and 4 6.5" speakers. I used to work at a car audio shop in my early
20's and ever since then I have been installing high end stereo equipment in
my vehicles and my boat wasn't going to be any exception to that rule. Since
it already had quality Clarion equipment to start I built on that by adding
2 more Clarion 6.5" speakers in the cockpit to make a total of 4. I powered
them with a 80x4 USCoustic amp and added a 10" self amplified Bazooka tube
subwoofer under the port aft bench seat and a helm mounted remote. I added
the Delphi SkyFi XM radio reciever. I wanted a system that I could hear
clearly while hanging around outside the boat whether it be on the dock or
in the water. I chose Garmin GPS because my 1st boat had one already
installed on it so I bought the chip for the Chesapeake Bay. Since I already
had the chip when I bought my new boat i stayed with Garmin, plus I am very
familiar with to use them.I bought a Garmin 3006C color charplotter and
flush mounted in the dash. In my area storms can come out of no where and
before you can react to the dark sky it is generally too late. I got caught
in several bad storms this past summer and it wasn't fun. I don't want to go
through that again so I added the XM satelltie weather receiver to the 3006C
so I can constantly keep track of the weather around me by way of the real
time weather radar. It overlays the weather radar on top of the chart so you
constantly know where you are in relation to the weather around you. I only
got to tinker with this system for a couple of days before I had the boat
winterized but am looking forward to taking advantage of all this system has
to offer next summer.
"Brass Monkey" wrote in message
...

Thanks for redirecting, Scott.

Tell us more about why you picked the electronics you did, what the
decisionmaking process was, and how you integrated it.

What TV do you have, and sound system to take advantage of the XM,
etc...

Is the Tracvision completely hassle free?
Thanks!
Randy

Scott Gardner Wrote:
OK I will start by introducing myself. My name is Scott and I have a
2003
MAXUM 3300 SE. I purchased this boat new at the end of the 2003 season
and
had it splashed for the very 1st time in April 2004. It has twin 5.7L
Merc.
350's rated at 250 HP each with Bravo 3 drives.It had every available
option
except a generator and the navigation electronics, which is fine for
me
because Maxum uses Raymarine equipment and I prefer Garmin. So i had
the
generator installed and added a Tracvision 4 in motion satellite
tracking
system and a Garmin 3006C color chartplotter with the GDL-30 XM
satellite
weather receiver.This thing is awesome. I can see live weather radar on
my
chartplotter in real time and get up to the minute weather forecasts. I
love
my boat and how I equipped it. I cruise on the Potomac River and
Chesapeake
Bay. How about everyone else? Where do you boat and what kind of boat
do you
have? I am new to this group but hope I will fit in. Scott.
"JimH" wrote in message
...-

"Scott Gardner" wrote in message
news:C%[email protected]
This is a boat newsgroup not politics, so can we keep the discussion
to
boats only please?

-

Lets go. You start.

-


--
Brass Monkey

Sweet. Sounds like a great setup. Now all I need is the boat and I'll have something to pour the money into!!!!

Will definitely consider your equipment suggestions.

-Randy