The Solid Signal Blog

This list was updated on May 7, 2024 After a delay of several years, DIRECTV is actively removing standard definition local channels from service. They’re doing it to make the most of the capacity they have at their 101 satellite location. With fewer SD channels, this opens up capacity for HD national channels. Since the 101 satellite is more resistant to rain fade, that means more channels that perform more of the time. They’re also doing it so that they can better serve larger accounts like airlines whose systems only work on the 101 satellite. Is this a problem? When most people think of standard definition, they think of big boxy tube TVs that they brought to the dump years ago. Since 2009, the US has used a digital standard for...

You probably don’t need me to tell you that Starlink for Marine is here. It’s changing the boating experience. But, it’s not always a 100% replacement for satellite TV. There are a lot of reasons you might want to keep your existing satellite TV service rather than simply replacing it with Starlink. But you probably already made that decision before you found this article through Googling. So let’s get straight to the meat and potatoes, shall we? Starlink uses the same frequency ranges as DIRECTV Satellite In the US, all consumer satellite communication takes place within two frequency ranges. The Ku band of 12-18GHz is used most commonly, but the Ka band of 26-40GHz is also getting more common because there’s a lot more unused...

After 15 years, there’s finally a solution that lets you watch real over-the-air television in your RV without tying up your internet connection. Listen to The Solid Signal Podcast to learn more, and then shop for the item you need here. When you want excellent customer service, call us at 888-233-7563. Listen to the podcast your way! Just choose one of the following: Option 1: Click on the image above to stream the podcast in your browser. If you use the YouTube player above, be sure to subscribe to get future videos delivered to you! Option 2: The Solid Signal Podcast is available on several podcast aggregators. Search for us, or tap on the links below on your mobile device. If you want us to add another aggregator leave a comment...

The world of marine satellite TV is an interesting one. Even though most equipment used on boats is the same as what’s used on land, often times the installations are very different. Marine installations combine the challenges of a large commercial building with the challenges of fitting everything you need into a tiny space. It’s meant that marine installs are often a little behind in technology, and some of the challenges we saw in the 2010s in commercial installs are just coming to the marine world. How marine installs are different The biggest difference between a marine satellite TV install and a traditional commercial install is obviously the satellite dish itself. Boats and even oil rigs need satellite antennas that auto-aim...

For whatever reason, I find myself spending a lot of time on reddit. I avoided the site for years because it can be a pretty rude place if you’re guilty of some minor crime like not reading a 500 page wiki from top to bottom or if you post a picture of yourself for any reason. But, you take it for what it is, and if you can stay away from a lot of the really despicable places, it can be pretty entertaining. One of the things I occasionally find myself looking it is the way other companies treat their customers. I don’t want to get sued so I’m not going to name names. But I will tell you that some of the largest sellers in the world have whole subreddits full of people complaining about the service they got. You have to be aware that...

Our tech support department recently got a question from a customer who was very worried about the DATBOSS LR MIX antenna they’d bought from us. They asked us, If you take a look at this photo, you can see what they mean: If you look closely, you’ll see that the top and bottom braces of this antenna connect straight to the mast. This is fairly unique to the Televes LR series of antennas, and it’s needed because the antenna is simply so big and relatively heavy. But is that a problem? Quick answer: no. Here’s why Believe it or not, the only part of that giant antenna that’s attached to the antenna cable is the bit of metal protruding from the orange plastic. Here’s a photo – I colored the actual receiving element blue to make it...

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I know I have talked about the skin effect several times on this blog and yet I never did a whole article about it. It’s time to fix that. But before I even start, I have to cut through some confusion. There are two uses of the term “skin effect” and I’m only going to talk about one of them. The skin effect and AC cables The term “skin effect” is used when wiring homes for alternating current. It describes AC’s tendency to move away from the core of the wire toward the outside. This increases the effective resistance of the wire, and can lead to problems if you don’t account for it in your wiring. However, that’s not what we’re talking about here. The very same term, “skin effect,” is used in the world of RF wiring and it has a...

The biggest change in DISH’s technology happened with the rollout of the Hopper 3 several years ago. DISH rolled out a new LNB series called “Hybrid” to make it easy for the 16-tuner Hopper 3 to get what it needs. Traditionally DISH technology used one wire per recording tuner, and that tech was flexible enough to handle the 5 tuners required by the older Hopper DVRs. However, the need for 16 tuners in 1 box changed everything. Hybrid LNBs take care of the problem and also make it easier for Hopper to distribute programming to the Joeys. Hybrid LNBs are a little different in the way they work, but different isn’t necessarily bad. Making this simple The only DISH product that flat out completely needs the Hybrid system is the Hopper 3...

You might have heard of “hardlines.” If you have it’s very likely to be from an action movie, believe it or not. You’ll see a sequence like this: and you’ll think to yourself, “Hardlines? What’s that?” Even if you’re a hardcore home theater geek you could be forgiven for not having heard of hardline cable. In fact, it’s something that mostly exists in action movies. It’s sort of like how every time you see someone get off their cell phone in a movie, you hear a touch-tone as they hang up. Phones don’t do that anymore except in the movies. And that’s the point. Hardlines don’t exist anymore, except in the movies and a few other places. When copper was king Until the 1990s most signals were transferred from place to place using...

There’s been a lot of interest lately in retro gaming. I don’t know if it’s just because people are getting older and gaming was part of their youth. Hard to know why, but it seems like you’re hearing about retro gaming from a lot of different places. Several legitimate manufacturers are putting out licensed consoles that play old games. Some, like the recently released “Atari 2600+,” look like the old consoles they emulate. The difference is that they have modern connections and work with today’s TVs. There are also quite a few consoles and handhelds available from online stores that fall into a different category. These devices boast 10,000 games or more from a dozen or so different systems, and can generally be found for under $100...

Friends, I had this space reserved for my review of Rebel Moon Part 2. But, for the life of me, I can’t bring myself to watch it. The reviews have been scathing, although they imply that part 2 is still better than part 1. I’ll say that’s a pretty low bar since part 1 really seemed like a Star Wars fan film with a huge budget. If you haven’t seen it, I’d say you shouldn’t. I have honestly been kinder to part 1 than most critics. I mostly say I was bored by it, while others actively disliked it. The role of the film critic In generations past, critics themselves were stars. Whether you preferred the erudite Pauline Kael or the populist Roger Ebert, film critics were the late-70s version of influencers. Treated to early screenings, they...

The medical sector is growing faster than practically any other industry, and it’s not expected to stop. There are more seniors now than at any time in history, and that puts a lot of strain on understaffed doctors’ offices. And of course, we all remember how quickly some sort of new “bug” can come out of the blue. There’s no question that the demand for quality medical treatment is growing faster than the industry can keep up. What does that mean to the average person? Unfortunately it means longer waits in the waiting room, for one. It means longer waits throughout the process. And let’s be honest here… it means unhappy patients. No one wants to be in a doctor’s office, and when we go to one it’s generally because we’re already...

Do you remember the first time you heard the word “meme?” The word itself comes from some serious research in the 1970s. In the book The Selfish Gene, author Richard Dawkins used the term to describe a fundamental building block of philosophy and culture that transferred from person to person. The idea of a meme became a meme in and of itself in the 1990s when the science of “memetics” was proposed to explain how ideas transferred from person to person. Why did some ideas take root? Were some ideas inherently more interesting? How was society affected by them? These were serious questions. And then came Hampsterdance. Wikipedia says the Hampster Dance web site was created in 1998 and started to take off in 1999. It was nothing but a...

Controlling the TV volume is something basic that every remote should be able to do. The folks at DIRECTV agree, and that’s why their remotes have always had that capability. It’s something that is generally set up when you get the receiver, but if you have a new remote or a new TV, you might need to do it again. It’s easy, and this tutorial is going to take you through the steps. All DIRECTV boxes will prompt you on screen to program the remote if the volume control isn’t programmed. If that happens, just follow the instructions you see on screen. Note: You might have to reset the remote first If you are changing TVs or sound equipment, you might need to unpair or reset the remote before programming it. It’s best to try programming...