New KVH domes give satellite HDTV a boost at sea
updated 04:10 pm EDT, Thu March 22, 2007
KVH TracVision M5 and M7
KVH opened the Palm Beach Boat Show today with a pair of new satellite HDTV receivers for boats. The 18-inch M5 and 24-inch M7 bring a new, optimized antenna dubbed RingFire to bear when out at sea. Because of their specially-tuned dishes and low-noise converters, the domes catch up to a 30 percent stronger signal than anything the company has released to date -- and often beat much larger receivers, KVH points out. The net effect is to let boat passengers watch TV even on the fringes of coverage or in harsh weather.
Either model can link to a matching TracPhone dome for making satellite phone calls and receives TV from satellite operators across all the Americas and Europe. Prices aren't listed but should climb above the $2,995 mark set by the TracVision M3 released last month.
