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Live TV without local channels? Why?

A lot of folks are tired of spending too much for cable. The average cable bill is now well over $100 per month, and that’s too much for some people. Hey, if you’re the sort of person who gets a lot of value out of TV, if you watch a lot of sports or premium programs, that’s great. I’m that kind of person too. You’re going to pay a lot for that kind of TV if you want it. I’m that kind of person, but I also appreciate a good value. I see people cutting their bills in half. I see some of them cutting even further. If you wanted to, you could cut your bill down to zero and still get a lot of content. Is that the right choice for you? What’s the best value for your money? Often times the best value for you is going to be a live streaming...
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How can you update your DIRECTV Gemini?

I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to updating software and hardware. I admit it. I don’t always update my gear the very day that new software comes out, but I do that most of the time. To me, there’s something very satisfying about making sure everything has the latest and greatest software. I have a feeling that some of my readers out there are that way too, because people ask me if it’s possible to manually update the apps on a Gemini, or even update the Gemini itself. After all, we see updates to streaming apps on our phones, and we’re even aware when Android itself gets major updates. For those of you who feel the itch to update…I have some news for you. Most of your Gemini can’t be manually updated. The DIRECTV part of the...
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Ken Reid and A.L. Katz & Gil Adler

This week Ken welcomes the incredible co-hosts of the amazing How NOT to Make a Movie podcast, writer-producers A.L. Katz and Gil Adler. Ken, Alan and Gil discuss good rooms, Bordello of Blood, when Alan and Gil first met, moving from New York to LA, 1985, Rhonda Shear, The Groundlings, Basic Training, how a good producer sacrifices to get nudity on screen, Freddy’s Nightmares, Rubik’s Cubes of writing problems, anthology horror TV, non-Union shows, Ken’s love of Steven King’s Dance Macabre, the connection of comedy and horror, it’s not TV it’s HBO, Tales from the Crypt, why season 3 was supposed to be the end of Tales from the Crypt, Tobe Hooper, problem solving, worms, working with Brian DePalma, Dylan Dog, cutting on 35mm film, EC...
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Would you buy a “mini/retro” DIRECTV box?

There’s a weird trend out there which I’ve recently become aware of. There are companies out there making miniature versions of old computers that actually run the old computer software. They do it with emulation, I guess, and supposedly it’s a pretty popular thing. If you ever had an Atari 2600 in your youth (and if you’re over 50, who didn’t) then you can find a replica that works the same but it’s smaller. It’s a weird thing considering how primitive the software for these things was and how far we’ve come. But hey, nostalgia is a funny thing. Party like it’s 1994 2024 is the 30th anniversary of the launch of DIRECTV. I’m not aware of the company doing anything special, though. The 25th anniversary, back in 2019, was during the...
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Podcast #575: DIRECTV is TAKING AWAY local channels? Why? WHY WHY!!

If you’ve recently lost access to standard definition local channels on DIRECTV, you’re probably not too happy. Listen to this week’s podcast and you might understand the process a little bit. Plus, call Signal Connect at 888-233-7563 to find out innovative ways to keep local channels on satellite. 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 below...
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Introducing “The Signal Series”

Believe it or not, The Solid Signal Blog has been educating people about technology for 17 years. Our Solid Signal YouTube Channel is in its 13th year. In that time, well over ten million people have learned more about the world around them thanks to Solid Signal. We believe that education is important, and we hope you do too. We also hope that if you get introduced to us as tech experts, you might buy something. Yeah, it’s true, that’s why we do it. We’re taking a new leap today with the introduction of “The Signal Series.” In The Signal Series, members of our Signal Connect team give you long-form tutorials on the topics they know best. You’ll get to know Signal Connect, where our top minds are available to help you with custom...
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How can one cable provide power in one direction and signal in the other?

What you see above you is DIRECTV’s PI-29Z power inserter. It’s used to power DIRECTV dishes. The idea is that you put it inline between your dish and your receivers and it sends the necessary power up to the line to the dish. DIRECTV’s dishes need a minimum 21 volts of power minimum to run, and most DIRECTV boxes can’t provide it. (The HR54 and Genie 2 are an exception.) Did you ever wonder how one cable can carry a fairly decent amount of voltage and also carry a satellite TV signal? I mean, especially since the power goes one way and most of the signals go the other way. Let’s dive in. A little side note before I begin DIRECTV uses the term “power inserter.” A lot of other manufacturers, like Winegard and Televes, use the term...
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What is the OTARD rule?

Hopefully, this has never happened to you. You want to upgrade your home entertainment system. Maybe you want a satellite dish. Maybe you want an antenna and you’re pretty far from the city center. Either way, you have to put something on the roof. As you make your plans, your landlord or HOA says, “Not so fast, bud.” Maybe your landlord says you can’t drill holes in the moldings. Maybe the HOA says antennas are ugly. You agreed to certain things when you moved in, and you have to abide by those rules. I agree, you do. Except when there’s a federal rule that supersedes it. The OTARD rule The OTARD rule is a nickname for edition 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 1.4000, concerning over-the-air reception devices. That rule...
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Black screen problems with your DIRECTV H26K? Here’s the easy solution

Last year, DIRECTV released the H26K Commercial Receiver. It’s not only the first receiver specifically designed for commercial use, it’s also the company’s first new receiver of any kind in a decade. It’s stuffed with the features business customers want, like real buttons on the front panel, maximum energy efficiency, and of course it does the fancy stuff like 4K and Dolby Audio. Because it’s designed from the ground up for commercial use, it’s easier to network and it’s easier to control things like the screen saver and power saver modes. Those two have been a problem in the past for users of the H24 and H25 series. However, some installers are finding that when they put in an H26K to replace an existing H25, the receiver will work...
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BONUS Podcast: Ken Reid and Evan Dorkin

This week Ken welcomes artist, writer and comic book legend Evan Dorkin to the show. Ken and Evan discuss living the dream, low bars, being disgusted by your own personal failings, Spring Break, hating Florida, how nobody actually grows up in Staten Island, being an artist, 80s punk, never leaving your home, being Jewish in an Italian neighborhood, Ska, Bim Skala Bim, accents, being too hung over to see your name in the credits of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, kids getting their shoes stolen at punk gigs, Kevin Shields ordering food, The Cars, Suicide, Milk and Cheese, Space Ghost, music on TV, pre-MTV days, Rockworld, the legend of Steranko, meeting girls, the introduction of surrealism to America, big egos, John Romita, Jack Kirby...
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It’s been about a year since I ranted about passwords soooooooo….

Yep, I looked it up. The last time I ranted about passwords was this article back in 2023. In the meantime there have been some pretty high profile data breaches, including some that may have affected readers of this blog. Yet here we are and there’s still no really good answer to dealing with the problem we have with passwords. The best answer so far still isn’t that good It’s become pretty common now for big tech companies to give you the option to automatically create strong passwords and then save them for you. Then you can use biometrics like Apple’s Face ID to store them all behind a wall. This doesn’t help much if the password manager itself is hacked, and that did happen not long ago. But at least it makes it easy for you to...
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Why are cell towers so thick when other broadcast towers are so skinny?

The picture above is a typical cell tower. It’s very wide at the base. Sometimes they are a bit narrower but still very thick, similar to this one: That’s still pretty thick compared to some broadcast towers which are extremely thin. Here’s a typical example of a broadcast tower: That tower is so thin it needs to be held up by guy wires. Sometimes you’ll see cellular equipment on a tower like that, but it’s rare. Most often cell towers are fairly thick affairs. So why? It’s actually a pretty simple answer. Cell towers have more stuff on them. A typical cell tower will have transmitting and receiving equipment for more than one carrier, and in order to make the most of their investment, a tower owner will put multiple antennas up...
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Does the KING WiFiMax require a subscription?

It’s travel time, friends, and for a lot of us, that means time spent in RV parks. The RV life has never been more popular than it is today. RVs are a great way to travel the country and save money on hotels and plane tickets. With an RV you get all the comforts of home wherever you go. All the comforts, that is, except… Do you have an internet problem in your RV? Sometimes it’s hard to get internet within your RV. The way RVs are built– fiberglass shells over metal cages, with hardwoods and tons of wiring inside– does a great job of blocking all sorts of signals. Cell signals can get cut to almost nothing, and if you’re in an RV park with Wi-Fi, you might not be able to get it inside the RV. But then, you know all that. You’ve come...
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STREAMING SATURDAY: How do I know what app that’s on?

Just a couple of days ago I was talking to a friend who told me a little about what was going on at home. They said their spouse did a lot of streaming but could never remember what app anything was on. It’s been a while since I wrote about this problem, and I thought it was time to bring it up again. Are you better off now than you were 4 years ago? Four years ago there were more streaming apps than there are now. Some have gone away. Some have merged with other apps. But the world of streaming is shrinking, and that should make it easy to remember where things are. Yet, it doesn’t. Luckily things are a little bit better. If you have an Apple TV it aggregates most of your apps into one list so you can see what you were watching...
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