Satellite communications technology provider, Cobham Satcom has introduced a new antenna to improve cruise ships and mega yachts’ program choice and quality.
Cobham claimed to have unveiled the most advanced maritime satellite TV antenna to date.
Designed primarily for use on cruise ships and mega yachts, the 3.7 m Sea Tel 370s TV is a solution designed to expand on board access to the highest quality programming worldwide, while significantly reducing lifetime technical costs.
Sea Tel 370s TV leverages the latest generation Sea Tel Integrated Marine Electronics (IMA) platform, which is already proven within the world’s most flexible and powerful marine VSAT antenna systems, Cobham claimed.
New technology helps unlock several advantages for cruise and yacht charter companies by automating the manual processes that have until now been needed to make some of the most popular television channels available globally at sea.
The TVRO antenna features automatic C-band switching between circular and linear polarisation, ensuring uninterrupted viewing and continuous availability of live television, such as ESPN, which is one of the most popular cruise ship channels, especially when major sporting tournaments are due.
The system’s automatic switching alleviates the ship operator of having to undergo the costly and time-consuming work previously required when an engineer had to board the ship and manually convert antennas between circular and linear polarisation when entering a new region served by incompatible satellites.
Further enhancements come from new technology that mitigates the recent phenomenon of 5G interference with satellite TV on board, when getting closer to land.
Cobham said that it had applied its decades of radio frequency engineering expertise to ensure that the Sea Tel 370s TV provides the best viewing experience under extreme atmospheric conditions, as well as 5G signal interference.
In addition, a feed upgrade will be offered, which will be compatible with many of the existing Sea Tel 2.4 m and 3.7 m TVRO antennas already operating on cruise ships and mega yachts globally.
The ability to upgrade these existing systems to the new circular/linear 5G filtered feed will save the customer considerable capital and operational expenditure.
Henrik Fyhn, Vice President & Product Line Director, Maritime, Cobham Satcom, said: “While the ability to deliver high quality television on board is a key factor in guest satisfaction scores in the cruise sector, removing the need for regular engineer visits to manually modify an antenna for ships traversing between incompatible satellite regions, can deliver at least six figure savings over the lifetime of a vessel.”
This is Cobham Satcom’s second new TVRO launch in as many months, as the company also released its all-new SAILOR XTR TVRO antennas in May this year.
Consisting of 1 m and 1.2 m antenna systems, the focus is on a smaller onboard footprint, while offering first class global programming and interference free reception for improved viewing on a wide range of vessel types.
