400 CHANNELS; Here's the dish on in-car satellite TV.(News)(Brief Article)

Byline: MARK VAUGHN

Need even more video options in your car? A company called KVH is offering an automotive satellite television system that mounts between the roof rails of your big sport/ute. Delphi goes one better with a satellite TV receiver stuffed nearly flat into the roof. A prototype (the system is still in development) we tested in a Cadillac Escalade added an inch to the headliner of the big SUV.

Delphi's satellite receiver (above) is like a big flat rectangle under a Plexiglas sheet. The rectangle spins like a record to keep an eye directly on the geo-synchronously orbiting satellite over the equator. A proprietary system allows the receiver to adjust azimuth without having to tilt. Our driver did donuts to demonstrate how well the receiver kept the signal. The problem is, if the line of sight is ever interrupted by trees or buildings or great blue herons, you lose the signal.

We cruised Malibu watching Nickelodeon cartoons from the ...