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What Are All the Sat Domes for?

Discussion in 'General Yachting Discussion' started by lwrandall, May 17, 2009.

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  1. lwrandall, May 17, 2009
    #1
    lwrandall

    lwrandall senior member

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    This question has been nagging at me for sometime now. Never remembered to ask anyone. I have seen some yachts with 4-6 sat domes. One yacht, Cakewalk, has this huge dome installed over the pilot house. What are all these used for? I get one for Comms, one for Video, one for internet. But after that I am lost. Kind of an elementary question, just never got around to asking anybody.
  2. K1W1, May 17, 2009
    #2
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    They are used for VSAT, Satcom and TV.

    Sometimes there are two for each TV Satellite the client wants to watch for seamless service.

    On one boat I was on we had 9 Domes with 6 Domes just for TV so the Owner could watch 3 Satellites at the same time and have no service interruption as the boat swung around.

    Sometimes there are also 2 for VSAT depending upon where the boat cruises and what the clients bandwidth requirements are.
  3. JWY, May 17, 2009
    #3
    JWY

    JWY Senior Member

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    I've seen dummy domes, used for aesthetic balance.

    Judy
  4. lwrandall, May 17, 2009
    #4
    lwrandall

    lwrandall senior member

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    Wow, I thought I was a video fanatic.
  5. K1W1, May 18, 2009
    #5
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Here is a Picture of the "Pumpkin Farm on the Roof"

    Attached Files:

  6. lwrandall, May 18, 2009
    #6
    lwrandall

    lwrandall senior member

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    WOW, K1W1, also looks like mushrooms growing under a tree. I thought one of the purposes of boating/yachting was to get away from life on shore. With all of these domes why even leave shore:confused: .
  7. Jorge Lang, May 18, 2009
    #7
    Jorge Lang

    Jorge Lang Senior Member

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    Which brings up another interesting question. With the luxury life on board these yachts, why waste time watching television? Surely if you are chartering at over 150K a week, you could find something better to do.
  8. Loren Schweizer, May 18, 2009
    #8
    Loren Schweizer

    Loren Schweizer YF Associate Writer

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    You wouldn't suppose all this has anything to do with 'dome envy', do you?

    "Oh, that one, dear boy, is for Muffy so she can watch the Animal Channel."
  9. Flubber, May 17, 2010
    #9
    Flubber

    Flubber New Member

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    Surely half of those will be blocked by the others???
  10. K1W1, May 17, 2010
    #10
    K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

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    Hi,

    That is the whole point of doubling up the domes.

    Even when you only have 1 Satcom dome you will find headings where the mast is in the way unless it is ontop and then a cable wrap can catch you out.

    The boat in the photo had 6 TV Domes, they tracked 3 Satellites with two domes for each one , the one with the strongest signal was the one used to supply the system.
  11. Yacht News, May 18, 2010
    #11
    Yacht News

    Yacht News YF News Editor

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    Thanks for the explanation K!W!, I always wanted to know about this...