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Black screen on your Gemini Air? Here’s what to do

DIRECTV’s Gemini Air is a major hit. No bigger than a streaming stick, it brings real DIRECTV content as well as pretty much every streaming app into one package that comes with a real, comfortable remote that has the buttons people expect. If you’re coming from cable, it’s the perfect choice for you. Most people who get a Gemini Air use it with no problem. But, there are a few people out there with 4K televisions who report that they get a black screen with no way to recover from it without rebooting. There’s a simple way to get past this problem permanently by making a change to the way Gemini Air displays video. The real issue is HDMI, not Gemini People love the HDMI cable. It’s easy to connect and disconnect, and with one cable...
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What’s the solution for long satellite runs on a boat?

Look closely… there’s something a little different about this SWM-30 multiswitch. It’s the reddish-orange weather boots. This is the only multiswitch you’ll find that has them. I’ll admit it makes it look a little like a toy gun with an orange tip, but there’ is something special here. The SWM-30HP multiswitch This is the SWM-30HP. It’s visually identical to the normal SWM-30, except for those weather boots. The visual difference may be minor but the inside difference… ooh la la. The SWM-30HP has an output level of about -5dBm, compared to the regular SWM-30’s -26dBm. That means it has about 100 times the signal power of a traditional SWM, and that means potentially 200-300 more feet of run length depending on how it’s configured...
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FUN FRIDAY: The Fermi Paradox

Did you make it all the way through 3 Body Problem on Netflix? Like most so-called “hard sci-fi” it doesn’t hold up to rigorous scientific analysis. One of the problems with science, especially when you’re talking about space travel, is that real science as we understand it today makes long-distance space travel either impossible or impossibly lengthy. So there’s always some sort of “shim” that’s required to let us talk to other civilizations or have them travel to Earth. But, one thing that is brought up in episode 1 is “The Fermi Paradox.” That’s a real thing, and it’s one of those things which really does raise a good question. Wikipedia describes it as well as anyone else, so I’ll rip off their condensed explanation: As Fermi...
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Can you have 4K over-the-air without ATSC 3.0? Really?

Folks know that I have a lot of respect for Tyler, “The Antenna Man.” I’ve called him out when I thought he was wrong, but he’s hardly ever wrong. So I was pretty curious when he broke the story of one low-power TV station that was actually doing 4K broadcasts without using the ATSC 3.0 standard. Here’s the video Tyler produced: I was very interested in this and I set out to figure out how this could be true, knowing what I know about broadcasting law. One basic fact about broadcast law Here’s something that I thought was inviolable fact: Any TV broadcasts, in fact any broadcasts in the radio and TV bands, must be able to be decoded by every TV and radio sold today. While that’s essentially still true, there are three things that I...
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2024 EDITION: Here’s how you activate your free DIRECTV MLB.TV subscription

As I write this on March 28, 2024, activation may not work for everyone yet. If it doesn’t, try again in a day or so. Today is opening day for MLB, so keep trying. One of the cool things about getting MLB Extra Innings from DIRECTV is that you also get the MLB.TV streaming package for free. It’s a benefit that can save you hundreds of dollars and gives you access to your home games when you’re on the road, whether you’re on a smart TV or any of hundreds of devices. The system isn’t perfect, though. You have to manually activate and link your subscription, usually every year. You also need logins at two different sites. To make things worse, the help page that tells you how to activate this benefit is hard to find. If you’re lucky you...
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THROWBACK THURSDAY: when people might have been cutting the cord

Today, cord-cutting is a given. We know it’s happening, and we know it’s happening fast. It’s become a big part of our lives today and everyone I know has been thinking hard about how much money they spend on TV. $1200 a year for basic cable’s a hard pill to swallow. We understand at Solid Signal and that’s why we have a huge selection of TV antennas and supplies to help you cut that price down. It wasn’t always so obvious Back in 2012, the term “cord cutting” was pretty new. It was so new that some people didn’t even believe in it. In fact, I wrote an article back in 2012 that questioned if it was even “a thing.” Back then, the biggest argument against the wave of cord-cutting was DIRECTV’s uninterrupted year-over-year growth, a...
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What kind of cord-cutter are you?

The world of cord-cutting has many different types. Some want to save money, some want ultimate choice, and some just want “something different.” If you’re thinking of cutting the cord, have you thought about where you fit in? What is cord-cutting? The term “cord-cutting” or “cutting the cord” has been around for about a decade. It rose up because cable TV prices, once reasonable, became outrageous in the late 2000s just as the economy tanked. There were some good reasons why. Cable and satellite TV started in the 20th century as a way for people to get their local channels. Cable was big in fringe suburbs where putting up a big antenna was hard or impossible. The first cable systems had barely any national channels, because barely...
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MLB Extra Innings Free Preview going on NOW!

It’s baseball time again! The official start of the regular season is here and with it, DIRECTV is offering a free preview of MLB Extra Innings. You’ll get every out-of-market game, free, for an entire week. The preview is available now and is on until April 4. If you’ve missed baseball, this is your chance to get in on all the action. A lot of people really fell in love with baseball last year after changes to the pitching clock, and it’s finally time to indulge your love of the sport. The regular season is back I’m one of those people who just doesn’t get the same fix from pre-season play. There’s no tension, it feels like it’s just a bunch of people playing rather than a real competition. I’m looking forward to the real showdowns...
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Can you put a satellite dish on your SUV?

There was a time when I, like you, would have laughed at the idea of a “connected car.” I spent the better part of a decade driving hours each day and it was my time to enjoy peace and quiet. Back then, I had a cell phone but not an unlimited plan; it was for emergencies and not much else. Those days are long gone. Now we need laws to tell us to pay more attention to the road than to our devices. Most new cars are absolutely awash with screens, and a good number of them come with cellular data systems onboard that can function as built-in hotspots. Gone, gone, gone are the days of sitting in the back seat playing “punch buggy” or “I spy.” (Yeah, I’m dating myself.) These days, if you’re not driving you’re playing with your phone in...
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Ken Reid and Irene Bremis

February 12-18, 1977 This week Ken welcomes comedian, co-host of the Woo Woo Podcast, and woman behind the new stand up comedy special, “Sweetie”, Irene Bremis. Ken and Irene discuss growing up in Boston, racism, being Greek, living in New York, having a braided perm, getting picked on at school, trying to pass a Puerto Rican, Kojak, strong family ties, not smoking, good parking spaces, lollipops, how handsome Ken is, when everyone smoked, Kraft Singles, kissing grits, ventriloquism, meeting Carol Burnett, Ken big upping Irene, being a Trekkie, Leather Tuscadero, Happy Days, strong women leads in television shows in the 1970s, Valerie Harper, being fired from your own show, cruel producers, loving horror movies, Don’t Go to Sleep...
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You should never put a hard bend in coax cable and here’s why

Coaxial cable is one of the coolest inventions that we take for granted. When we think of wires and cables (if we think of them at all) we tend to think of them in terms of a signal wire and a ground wire. But a coaxial cable is really just a signal wire with shielding around it. It’s incredibly compact and flexible for the kind of signals it carries. Older signal cables which carried a range of frequencies used to be much thicker and more rigid, but there’s one reason the coaxial cable is so much better. The dielectric The dielectric is the part labeled “C” in this photo I shamelessly stole from Wikipedia. The purpose of this plastic or foam part of the cable is to insulate the center part from the outer braid. This allows the...
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How do you connect a SWM-30 to a Reverse Band dish?

If you’re a commercial DIRECTV customer, you probably know all about DIRECTV’s commercial options. However, if you’re a home user and want to upgrade your system beyond the basics, you might not be aware of what’s out there. If you go beyond just a plain-jane Genie install, you’ll probably need a multiswitch. If you want to be completely futureproof, you’ll want the right dish. So how do you do it all? This is going to take some explaining. If you want 4K in your home, you are going to need special hardware. DIRECTV’s Reverse Band 3 LNB is a replacement for the front of your dish. It lets your dish get those extra frequencies it needs for 4K. For most homeowners, it’s all you need. The Reverse Band 3 LNB looks at AT&T’s three primary...
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Podcast #571: Meet Rob Young, Enterprise Team Lead

Rob Young is a star at Signal Connect and he’s here to talk about the tech he loves and the projects he can help with. Call Rob at 248-896-8595. 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. Amazon iTunes Overcast TuneIn Spreaker Player.fm Spotify Option 3: Download the podcast in MP3 format. Option 4: Paste the following link into your...
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How can a cell booster designed 6 years ago work with 5G?

5G cellular started coming into our lives in 2020 and 2021, with most phones that support it hitting the market in 2022. For most folks, nationwide 5G has meant better speeds and lower latency, even while driving. But, someone asked a question the other day about our Drive Sleek cell phone signal booster. It’s marketed as a 4G/LTE booster, but they wanted to know if it would also work for 5G. The answer is yes, but then they asked… I had to admit that I did this video six years ago: So it seems that, in the words of Ricky Ricardo, I had some ‘splain to do. Here’s a little bit about 5G cellular 5G cellular isn’t just a modification of older standards. It’s a complete top-to-bottom recreation of how cell service works. Older cell...
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Let’s face it – sports are better on satellite

I watch a lot of sports. I bet you do too. Baseball’s my game, and thanks to the MLB Extra Innings package, there’s about to be a lot of it. I know I could stream it to my phone, but in general I don’t. I find that satellite TV is perfect for sports, and that’s one of the big reasons I push people who like sports to satellite. Let me lay out the case and see if you agree with me. Big screen vs. small screen Look, here’s the disclaimer: I’m not 25 years old. I do understand that 25-year-olds with perfect eyesight love watching TV on their phones. When I was 25 I probably would have as well, if it were possible. I find that it’s a lot more comfortable to watch TV on a big screen that’s several feet away than stare at a small screen for...
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