Another streaming to TV question

H

Hydraulicjump

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C-30 CB
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Necky Looksha VII, Liquidlogic Remix, Jackson 4Fun
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La Barka (2015)
Yet another inquiry on using our tv's.

Right now, in our dock at Pier 39 in San Francisco, I have enough signal on my iPhone (and a cheap data plan) that I can stream shows onto my laptop or iPad using my iPhone as a hotspot. But in preparation for McCovey Cove Season at AT&T Park (if only the Giants had solved their pitching problems....), I would like to project games onto the TV for my guests to watch while we grill brats and wait for a home run ball to come over the right field fence.

My wife has vetoed a satellite dish for now, so I am exploring ways to move the signal from the phone, computer or iPad to the TV. One idea was an Amazon fire stick or Apple TV controller plugged into the TV (run off the inverter) linked to the phone. Anyone else had success with this? The marina wifi is too sketchy to use and no good to me in the Cove.

Thanks. I know this topic has come up many times, but I was hoping for a refresh on it to see what others have done.

Jeff
 
I vote Apple TV. It's easy to use and you can still use your phone while watching it on the Apple TV device. Also check out the new service by DIRECTV called DIRECTV now. It's like 30 a month and it uses no data on att phones.
Www.directv.com

Those apple adaptors work well but they tie up the phone and I think the resolution suffers if I remember correctly.
 
Yes, I also have an Apple TV on board as another option. I typically use the cable adaptor when not connected to shore power to avoid the need for using the inverter. Also the hotspot hop to the Apple TV can sometimes be problematic. I find the cable is more reliable. Note that if you are streaming through the hotspot on your phone it is pretty much tied up anyway. On the other hand, using the Apple TV allows the use of a remote which can be handy.

BTW, another non-inverter option if you have the adaptor, an IPhone, and an iPad is to connect the iPad to the TV via the adaptor/cable and hotspot the iPad to your phone for the data. The Direct TV Now (or other favorite App) can then run on the iPad and you can keep your phone in your pocket. Of course if you have the cell data version of the iPad and a plan you can skip the hotspot altogether. Essentially, with the adaptor the iPad can act like a battery powered Apple TV!

I agree with Bobby however that the Apple TV is the most elegant an functional solution if you don't mind using the inverter when not on shore power.

Curt
 
I am in Canada, so data is generally much more expensive, but you may want to be careful what type of broadcast you are streaming. I have generally found using my phone as my wifi connection that you have to be careful and know what you are streaming. I streamed a live sports show and an hour or two used up most of my plan - several Gigabytes, but a full movie on netflix used up only 3 to 400 Megabytes.
 
Thanks all. I happen to have both apple TV and an Amazon firestick sitting around at home, so will pull both and report back.

As for streaming, I happen to have a bizarre old grandfathered family plan that they keep trying to compel me to get rid of. But I could watch multiple ballgames in a month and not bump up against my limit, so I have kept it.
 
Partial update. The Firestick is too long to fit into the HDMI port on the back of our little TVs. There is a bump out at the bottom of the TV that makes it too narrow to fit. So you need to have a male-female HDMI cable ($9 on Amazon). You need it anyways because the 120v outlet is too far away (in most boats), making it hard to plug the Firestick in.

Once set up, it worked like a dream with my iPhone as a hotspot. I was even able to watch the Warriors dismantle those poor souls from Portland last night. The Firestick does a great job of buffering.

But I still have to figure out how to stream a Giants game. Due to restrictions, it is harder than you think if you are in the area.

Finally, I notice that a VGA cable comes out of the back of the TV (this is the TV over the table) and disappears into the cabling mess. Anyone know where it goes? I can't see anything on the Fusion stereo that would suggest it can work with it. And there isn't one on that other TV in the stateroom.

Jeff
 
That vga cable may connect the TV to your chart plotter. It makes it easier for your passengers to see what's on the plotter screen.
 
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