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What’s the best preamp for an FM antenna?

Solid Signal loves to cater to enthusiasts. There are plenty of places for “mainstream” people to find parts for their “mainstream” hobbies. The fun of working with Solid Signal is that I get to interact with people who love really esoteric things. Take, for example, FM lovers. Most of us listen to FM radio in our cars, maybe. More and more people are streaming in their cars and I could go on a whole rant about why that is. (Not the point here.) There are some folks though, who really dig FM radio. They want FM radios in every room, and they put up roof-mounted antennas to help them get the best reception. And I completely support them! You should absolutely find a hobby that really makes you happy and then dive into it. If you’re an...
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Create Your First QR Code: A Step-by-Step Guide for Beginners

For a moment, let’s be honest. Have you ever thought about how to create one of those square barcode things that everyone seems to be using in shopping, navigating and so on? You know, the ones where you can scan them with your phone to quickly get contact details, websites, and a tonne of other goodies? Yes, the thing is a QR Code. Well, get ready to have your mind blown, because it’s much simpler than you may think to create your QR code. So, let’s get started and see how useful QR codes may be for your personal and professional needs! What is a QR Code? A QR code (quick response code) is a form of barcode, but more advanced than the ones we see on product labels in stores. Instead of just a few numbers, a QR code can hold a...
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Lost DIRECTV local channels on your boat? Here’s what to do

The other day I talked to a boat owner who was just getting everything ready for the summer. That’s pretty common this time of year, of course. As the snow melts, folks take the boat out of drydock and get ready for another year of marine fun. Except in this case, it didn’t seem like things were going smoothly for the boat’s on-board satellite TV system. Wait, satellite TV? Boats still have those things? It’s pretty popular to say that satellite TV is on its way out, and with recent changes in satellite internet, you might be thinking that satellite TV is a thing of the past. The funny thing is, though, reality isn’t like that. Satellite internet is great for the things you do most of the time with internet, like emails, social media...
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Problems with 3rd party lenses and Blackmagic Design Cameras? Finally– a solution

If you read this blog or watch our YouTube videos, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of Blackmagic Design cameras. Blackmagic cameras aren’t the least expensive option out there, but they bring real studio-level quality and control down to a level where regular folks can afford it. This is digital camera tech that would have cost over $100,000 just a generation ago and today it’s within everyone’s reach. Blackmagic cameras come in a lot of different shapes and sizes, and they continue to evolve to get better and less expensive. I personally use a Blackmagic Design Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro. It’s perfect for my needs, if a bit of overkill for the kind of video that I produce. With it, I get ultimate control over what I want to shoot and...
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STREAMING SATURDAY: MLB on streaming is sort of… meh

It’s April, friends. To me that means one thing: baseball. It’s my favorite major league sport and I get excited every year when it comes up. Last year the world of baseball changed drastically with the coming of the pitch clock. I’m one of the few people who didn’t like this “innovation” because I think it ruins the leisurely pace of the game. It also means more commercials per hour, which takes me out of the flow. With so many commercials, I decided to try streaming. I figured that some of the “gameday” feeds would just show the field while the commercials were going on. And you know what, I didn’t care for the streaming experience. What’s with the video quality? A decade ago, I was impressed that MLB.TV could give you an HD feed...
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Which is better for you, an HR54 Genie or HS17 Genie 2?

When it comes to DIRECTV upgrades, you have a choice. You can choose the sleek DIRECTV HR54 Genie or the monolith-looking HS17 Genie 2. These two options are both great, but you’ll have to decide which one to get when you upgrade. Unfortunately you can’t have both. Before even starting: do you have a second location? There are certain cases where you are allowed to have a second location on your DIRECTV account. This can be a boat, RV, or seasonal home. The key is that you can’t use DIRECTV service at both locations at the same time. If you have a second location, you must choose the HR54. If you have a Genie 2, you won’t be able to add receivers to your account, only client boxes. The client boxes will only work with the Genie, so...
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THROWBACK THURSDAY: When Atari didn’t go away

Back in 2013, I wrote a story about Atari filing for bankruptcy. It wasn’t really the “original” Atari. That company dissolved back in the 1980s, and was bought by a series of holding companies. But the intellectual property rights kept following and eventually Atari, the bankrupt one, was a French holding company with several subsidiaries including three named Atari. Atari came out of bankruptcy and has been experiencing a bit of a renaissance in the last few years thanks to the interest in retro gaming. They’ve licensed their name to several companies, and those companies have created updated versions of several products. You can now find reproduction Atari 2600s and Atari 400s as well as a USB version of their iconic joystick. There...
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Who can you call if you have problems with the satellite TV system on your boat?

When we hear from our customers, the most common thing they say, right at the start, is “This thing almost never gives me troubles, but…” It’s true. Satellite TV systems for boats are incredibly reliable. When you consider the combination of sensitive electronics and sea air, add in the huge number of motors and gears and whatnot to keep the thing working while the boat is moving, it’s pretty amazing how well they work. Year after year, satellite TV systems keep doing what they should do. It’s just that one rare time they don’t, and you’re stuck looking for someone to talk to. Before you call… A lot of common satellite TV issues can be fixed quickly without any technical knowledge or even a phone call. Here are three things you can...
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FUN FRIDAY: Computer Addicts in 1983

Anglophiles will tell you that the BBC has a history of being, well, a bit stuffy. But occasionally, they’ll laugh at themselves. When they do, it’s usually hilarious to the rest of us. A perfect example, and probably a subject of a future Fun Friday, is “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” a sketch comedy show that was so far ahead of its time in the early 1970s that it’s still hilarious today. The BBC Archive The BBC has their own YouTube channel. They probably have several of them, but I came across this one while I was looking for something else. It’s called The BBC Archive, but it’s not really a great representation of the work the BBC have done in the last almost 100 years. It’s more a place where you can watch videos that started...
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What is the right signal level for a headend system?

The internet has a lot of information but I was surprised that the answer to this isn’t already online. The best search result I found was a scanned PDF from about 25 years ago. So let’s dive in. First, the basics. What is a headend? “Headend” describes a television system that’s like a small cable TV system in a commercial building. There are a bunch of antenna tuners, cable boxes, or satellite receivers all in one place. Each one of them is tuned to a different channel. The signals from each box go into modulators, which are specialized pieces of equipment designed to put each signal on its own TV channel. (Maybe you had a modulator for your 90s-era video game system that put its output on channel 3. Does that sound familiar? When...
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What can you do if your RV park has no Wi-Fi?

Summer’s fast approaching and that means road trips! It’s time to get out there and see the sights. If you’re like millions of other Americans, you got into the RV craze a few years ago. You realized that it’s a lot nicer to be on the road without worrying about overpriced hotels and weird food choices. Sure, exploring the local culture is a big part of travel, but there are some parts of local culture that are definitely worth skipping. You’ve probably also realized that RV parks are a destination by themselves. When you’re driving, there are a lot of ways you can spend the night but RV parks offer a safe alternative. They give you the ability to fill up and empty out those tanks in your RV, and meet other people like yourself who...
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Does your business video system need a matrix switch?

See if this sounds familiar. You have a bunch of satellite or cable receivers in one location. Whenever you need to change the channel, you have to cover all the receiver but one with aluminum foil or unplug them. If you want to show the same content on multiple TVs, you end up changing a bunch of receivers or pulling wires around. Does that sound like the story at your business? If so, you should consider a matrix switch. What is a matrix switch? A matrix switch (also called a matrix switcher) is a device that lets you intelligently control what input goes to what output. You could have 16 receivers and 16 TVs, for example. A matrix switch will let you send the output from any receiver to any TV. Many matrix switches also give you...
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THROWBACK THURSDAY: When we stopped selling FRS/GMRS radios

You wouldn’t think walkie talkies would cause such controversy. But, back in 2019 they sure did. One of our biggest selling daily deals at that time was a handheld radio that promised to work for FRS and GMRS broadcasting. These two forms of broadcasting are very similar except for the amount of broadcast power they use. Both use a similar range of frequencies, so it’s very easy to make radios that work with both. Except that here in 2024, it’s illegal to have radios that do both. Here’s why. It helps to have friends in the business Resident guru Phil Karras informed us of an FCC rule change which I went into in detail in this 2019 article. The real issue is that GMRS use requires a license, while FRS didn’t. If you bought one of...
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What is IPTV distribution?

If you’re familar at all with the term “IPTV” it’s in the context of connecting to, ahem, out-of-the-way streaming video sources. Most people who use IPTV devices at all do so in order to stream content that you wouldn’t find on your average streaming stick. That doesn’t automatically mean pirated video or stuff of “questionable moral value.” It sometimes means foreign language programs or private feeds designed for within companies. But yeah, sometimes it does mean that other thing. IPTV in the corporate world Not all IPTV is bad. IPTV simply stands for internet protocol television, and it means video streamed using network cables instead of coax cables. There are legitimate reasons to use IPTV solutions out there, and they outnumber...
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The Sonora SWM-D3 is discontinued. What should you use to diplex DIRECTV signals?

The item above is (or was) Sonora Design’s SWM-D3 diplexer. This type of diplexer was created in the early 2010s for commercial installations in apartment buildings. However, hobbyists sometimes used it to combine over-the-air antenna signals and satellite signals so they didn’t have to drill so many holes into the house. The SWM-D3 is discontinued and Holland, the owner of Sonora Design, doesn’t offer a direct replacement. Why would such an important part no longer be available? It’s simple: Diplexers don’t work with DIRECTV systems and haven’t worked with DIRECTV systems in over 15 years. There are a few exceptions, but they only apply to apartment complexes and commercial installations. Let’s unpack that: diplexing doesn’t work...
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