Satellite Television for Motorhomes

Written June 2005 - updated 2008

Satellite television in a motorhome - is it an unnecessary luxury or an absolute must-have? In this article I will explain many things about mobile satellite television but as for the question of its necessity; I will leave that to you to decide.

There are two basic forms of sat TV available in Australia: Subscription based (eg FoxTel and AuStar) and so called free-to-air television. In this article we will be dealing with the "Optus Aurora" free-to-air offerings, however much of this discussion applies equally to the various subscription services offered by FoxTel and AuStar.

Optus Aurora was launched to provide free-to-air television to remote communities and Australians that live outside of the areas covered by normal broadcast television. It is carried by a satellite called Optus C1 and provides coverage to almost 100% of mainland Australia.

 

Equipment

You could just buy a package from one of the many companies who are currently putting this gear together - these range in price from about $650 to over $6000. While it is definitely worth shopping around for a package deal, if you elect to do-it-yourself, here is a list of the parts you need.

 

The smart card

The Optus Aurora service, strictly speaking, is not truly free-to-air. It is encrypted and you will need a smart card to allow you to view the 15 or so channels it provides. The smart card can be obtained from Optus by providing proof of residence outside a standard television broadcast area (motorhomers are not officially catered for so you will need an address somewhere in the outback). The card is coded with your state and will not receive broadcasts intended for other states - it costs about $100 and there are no on-going charges. Alternately, you could try to find someone with the equipment and knowledge to produce a fully open card allowing you to receive broadcasts destined for all states (these are often referred to as 'Goldies'). It is worth mentioning that Goldies have a limited life. Optus have already started broadcasting using a new encryption protocol (that has now been broken too) - they are also broadcasting using the old encryption protocol until they can replace all of the cards and decoders out there. Once this happens, the gold cards will be useless.

 

The dish

A 65cm dish seems to be large enough - we have used our 65cm dish all over the country travelled thus far- (see our travel map) and have never had trouble getting good signal. Our dish is mounted in the lid of a galvanized box, the lid raises to adjust the dish angle and the entire box is mounted on an aluminum turntable on the roof of the motorhome. We have a 20m coax cable on our dish to allow us to locate the dish away from the motorhome if for example trees are a problem. A 65cm dish (and LNB) will set you back about $150.

 

The decoder

Almost any decoder will receive the Optus Aurora service. We use a Topfield TF3200IR, this is a very basic decoder but works very well and costs less than $250. I have see goo quality Strong brand decoders selling on eBay for as little as $80.

 

The Sat Finder

This little device is attached to the dish during alignment; it provides feedback as to how close you are to pointing at the satellite. A reasonable satellite finder will cost you between $12 and $45. You will also need a compass to help align the dish.

 

 

 

What can you watch?

With the equipment discussed above (i.e. a 'goldie'card) you will receive:

• ABC for each state except Tasmania (shifted programs to allow for time zone differences)
• SBS for each state except Tasmania
• WIN WA (similar programming to the Nine Network)
• GWN WA
• Imparja (programming from both 7 and Ten networks)
• Seven Central
• Plus some indigenous and some religious programming

If you are applying for a genuine Optus smart card, be sure to ask what channels you are entitled to receive.

 

Conclusion

If you are prepared to do a little engineering work and shop around, you can put together a very basic mobile satellite TV system for less than $450. Alignment of the dish takes about 3 minutes using a compass and the sat finder. Most decoders require 240 volts so you will need an inverter or generator to run it and obviously you will need a TV or monitor with AV-IN ports to watch the programming.
We have had our system for over a year now and while we only use it once or twice each week, it is great to have - if only to watch the weather forecast to find out if you will be fishing or sleeping-in tomorrow.

If you would like more information, feel free to ask (see contact details)

 

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