BGAN News
BGAN + Track It TV® On-The-Water Test - April
30, 2007
Follow Me Company was loaned a BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network)
HNS 9201 terminal/antenna for a week. We tested its Internet access performance
mounted on our Track It TV® unit while underway on
a small 28' trimaran sailboat. BGAN worked beautifully
with Track It TV®.
Above: Vigorous turning to test tracking
Right: Closer view of mounting platform for HNS 9201 |
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Our mounting platform was a simple piece of plywood (see right photo above). We secured
the 5.5 lb. HNS 9201 with two screws and a couple of wire ties through holes in the
plywood. A standard 1-1/4" PVC coupling was fastened to the bottom of the plywood
with 4 brass "L" straps and screws found at a local hardware store. With a little
grease the coupling slipped easily and snugly over the Track It TV®
rotating shaft. Our notebook PC was connected to the HNS 9201 via either an
RJ45 LAN cable or wireless Wi-Fi. The right photo shows a wireless
connection (the black wire is for power, the other is a safety line).
For our testing we zig-zagged continuously, and often sharply, to simulate a very rough
anchorage (see left photo above). We also sought out several very large power boat wakes that
rocked our trimaran violently at least 10° and required us to hang on! Through all of
this we used our notebook PC to continuously surf the web or perform "ping" tests to a variety
of web sites. The result? We literally couldn't "shake off" our Internet connections, or even
noticeably degrade them! The Web performance was very usable, and appeared to fully meet the
broadband Internet performance specs given by BGAN. The testing was an outstanding success.
A satellite TV dish mounted on Track It TV® under similar
conditions would not have fared nearly as well, particularly in powerboat wakes. It would have
lost the TV picture many times because of the requirement to stay well within an approximately
6° diameter "circle of reception" both vertically and horizontally. In contrast, the
BGAN HNS 9201 terminal/antenna has a very much larger "circle of reception", with a diameter
that is, conservatively, at least four times larger than for a satellite TV dish.
This estimate is based on both
on-the-water testing and static land tests varying either horizontal azimuth
or vertical
elevation up to +/- 15° with no BGAN Internet signal degradation. Based on our testing we
can recommend the BGAN system to our customers without reservation.
See Can I Use BGAN Satellite Internet Access
With Track It TV®? for additional links and information
regarding BGAN.