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V Sat

Discussion in 'Electronics' started by oceaneer, Aug 22, 2008.

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  1. oceaneer

    oceaneer Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2008
    Messages:
    55
    Location:
    Victoria BC
    So the time has come to finally throw the old sat b terminal overboard, and purchase a new V sat unit.

    I have had experience with the Stratos system and found it ok but not great.
    Any one out there have a system that they are truly happy with?
    We are looking at Radio Holland (RHconncet), Stratos, Visiva, and Linkscape from Florida. All 1meter + dishes as were are a 165 footer

    The Linkscape is quite expensive but the interface looks fool proof.. they are the only one not using the seatell 4006 platform, they use a Navisystem dome.. This makes me slightly nervous as i have no experience with Navisystem.. they are a Italian company..

    So any one out there can shed some light?
    We will be at sea for the next week so i wont be able to reply

    Thanks
    Oceaneer
  2. Flubber

    Flubber New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2008
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    Location:
    South West, UK
  3. K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2005
    Messages:
    7,388
    Location:
    My Office
    Hi,

    Welcome to YF Flubber.

    I hope you are not trying to promote your own business here with your first post.

    Oceaneer you could also look at CAPROCK as a service provider they have a good reputation and seem to deliver the bandwidth they promise.

    The SEATEL 4006 Dome is not a bad unit. I would steer clear of any unknown manufactured units. ORBIT are also good but their tech support/spares is non existent which is a downer as the units themselves are very good when working
  4. oceaneer

    oceaneer Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2008
    Messages:
    55
    Location:
    Victoria BC
    Hi Kiwi
    Are you running caprock??

    Thanks oceaneer
  5. K1W1

    K1W1 Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 30, 2005
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    Location:
    My Office
    Hi,

    I am not currently running CAPROCK.

    It was my preferred choice for a new build but I was pipped at the post by a personal relationship between someone further up the tree than me and another provider.
  6. Flubber

    Flubber New Member

    Joined:
    Jul 4, 2008
    Messages:
    7
    Location:
    South West, UK
    Hi K1W1, Sorry about the post but no it's not my company, just another supplier to try. Always pays to have options.
  7. 200M

    200M New Member

    Joined:
    Aug 27, 2008
    Messages:
    1
    Location:
    Ft Laurderdale
    General Vsat Info

    One thing to keep in mind when purchasing a new Stabilized VSAT system, is that most companies are using the same equipment. By this I mean for the ODU(outdoor unit) they using Seatel, orbits, KVH…. And for the IDU (indoor unit) they are using I-direct, Hughes Net, Comtech…
    When these companies package this together and sell as a whole they will brand it with a special term that makes you think it is there unique equipment, but its not. What is unique about each company is there prices for air time, service, and global coverage.
    Prices you will have to shop around, but for the satellite service(airtime/coverage) you will find that all of the companies you have mentioned lease their air time from a variety of satellite providers(SES Americom, INTEL SAT are two of the big dogs) so you can take that out of the equation. No one company has a larger “coverage” than the other. I do believe that caprock has more active satellite service contracts than any other company.
    Now for Tech Service you can rest assure that Caprock or Stratos is a better way to go, this is due to amount of active techs on hand (thanks to the Oil and Gas industry). Radio Holland is a newbie in the vsat game, and they are contracting all of there service out to 3rd party. Also Stratos and Caprock have their own Network operation center that is manned 24/7 for support, Radio Holland has NOC but again this is through a 3rd party.

    Stratos is being bought by INMARSAT next year, and they will be the first VSAT company to actual own and operate their own satellites. This means they will have much better support and possibly cheaper air time.
    The Cheapest way to buy this, is to use a small company (independent contractor) for the sell, install, and maintenance of the equipment, but still purchase the equipment through your choice of providers Caprock, Stratos, radio Holland, nssl, …..This ensures good customer support for the present and into the future, also this is like having your own personal liaison into the communications industry rather than a sells man trying to get into your wallet.
    The best thing, If you own your equipment (ODU-4006 and IDU-I-direct) you can use it on anyone of the network providers listed(small technical changes will have to be made).

    Hope this helps…
    200M
  8. Layton

    Layton New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 6, 2006
    Messages:
    3
    Location:
    Residing Antibes, France & Southampton England.
    Hi All

    I can confirm the majority of Large V-sat systems used by the top name Airtime providers are indeed Sea Tel units and almost all of the Airtime providers all use the same modems within their below deck installations.
    Having worked within the marine industry for over 12years including time served at Sea Tel, and Yes I now own my own business. I have tried and tested a wide variety of V-sat systems. We tend to use a small selection of Airtime providers some known some not and promote these to our customers depending on our customers requirements, as the size of a V-sat antenna reflector ranges from a small 26” to whopping 144” the Sea Tel 4006 is a 40” reflector designed 2006 = 4006!
    I would use Sea Tel due to their global support network.

    Layton
  9. oceaneer

    oceaneer Member

    Joined:
    Jan 6, 2008
    Messages:
    55
    Location:
    Victoria BC
    Hi All thanks for the info...
    It really is a jungle out there with V sat!

    Thanks
    oceaneer