When KVH Industries started making electronic compasses in 1982, having satellite television in a car or boat was science fiction. But soon the company, and the world, would see things differently.

Today, although KVH still sells compasses, its main products are mobile satellite systems that allow customers to use the phone, receive faxes, watch live television and surf the Internet on their boats and in their cars.

“What we’ve seen is, people want to stay connected to their world,” said Chris Watson, a spokesman for KVH. “People also want to watch live TV, have access to a phone, and they want to have access to the Internet – whether it’s for getting e-mail, browsing for tourist attractions, instant messaging with friends or streaming audio and video.”

Customers now want “the same services they have at home when they are on the go,” Watson said. “We’re providing that connection to live mobile media.”

For the Middletown-based company, filling that niche has paid off.

“We have more experience doing this than any other company out there,” said Watson.

“We have sold more than 100,000 mobile satellite systems. There’s nobody else who comes close to that.”

The switch from selling compasses to selling mobile satellite systems began in 1993, when KVH started developing antennas for another company.

“We were able to take the sensor technology that you use in the digital compasses and apply it to other applications,” Watson said. “We used [that technology] on antennas that can go on boats and RVs.”

That ensor technology allows the antennas to point more accurately even when the boat or vehicle is in motion.

“The satellites we’re pointing at are 22,000 miles above the earth, and we need to be able to point our antennas to within one degree of those satellites even when the boat is moving,” Watson said. “Over the years what happened is our antennas have gotten more and more advanced, so you can put them on boats that are encountering rougher seas or are going faster. That same technology is used for RVs and cars. It’s been a logical progression.”

In 1996, the company decided to market its own antennas for satellite television, called TracVision, and for phones, fax machines and the Internet, called TracPhone. TracVision can receive a signal up to 200 miles offshore and is available for boats, RVs and automobiles. TracPhone, which can receive a signal anywhere in the world, is available for boats and RVs. For Internet service in automobiles, and more affordable service on boats and RVs, the company also has TracNet, which uses integrated Wi-Fi and can work up to 20 miles offshore.

TracVision received a boost in 1995, when DIRECTV put out 18-inch dishes.

“Before that, if you wanted satellite TV, you needed a dish the size of a wading pool, and it was only really used on cruise ships and military boats,” Watson said. “But the DIRECTV home dish is only 18 inches across. Once DIRECTV came along it became practical to have direct TV with a smaller dish on smaller boats.” And in order to function, the dish needs help staying connected to the satellite orbiting the earth, which is where KVH comes in. And now, with 14.5-inch dishes, that market has once again grown.

“In the marine market, prior to the 14-inch, we had people with 40 foot boats and over,” he said. “The new systems can go on 25-foot boats, so it’s expanding that audience again.” But nothing has widened KVH’s customer base more than having its technology in RVs and automobiles.

“The potential audience for our products has gone up. There are around 250,000 boats in the U.S. that are between 25 and 40 feet and another 50,000 that are 40 feet and up,” he said. “But in the RV market there are millions of RVs, and then in the automotive industries there are millions being equipped with video. In excess of three to four million SUVs and minivans have video equipment, and they estimate that by 2011, 20 million will have video screens in them and 3 million will have satellite TV.”