Last year KVH shook up the world of marine satellite TV with its unusually small M3 (see my column “TV on a 25-Footer?” November 2006). Even some big boats liked the idea of simple, solid performance in a subtle 14-inch dome, and the competition didn’t wait long to respond. SeaTel’s Coastal 14 ($4,395), for instance, offers the same dome size but builds
in the converter needed for DirecTV’s high-definition (HD) service and a GPS for fast satellite acquisition. While KVH’s M3 system included a purpose-built 12-volt DirecTV receiver, the Coastal 14 takes a more traditional, and flexible, approach, supporting a user-supplied DirecTV, Dish, or ExpressVu receiver, though only one.
SeaTel
(925) 798-7979
This article originally appeared in the August 2007 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
