The Solid Signal Blog

A customer asked me this the other day and I’ve been meaning to write about it. He asked, Never say never but… In order to understand why a round dish isn’t likely, you have to understand why people use big oval dishes today. Today’s oval-shaped dishes point at multiple satellite locations at once. Traditionally, DISH used three locations, while DIRECTV used five, as you see above. Today, DIRECTV uses three locations and DISH uses two. If the providers wanted to, they could make smaller dishes, although not totally round ones. In the picture above, think how much smaller that dish would be if it only had to pull in the three rightmost signals. In order to get to a truly round dish though, you’d need to cut down to one location...

Back in 2014 I told you about the “E-Label” act. You might remember that cell phones were once littered with all sorts of icons that no one understood. In fact, I even did an article about that, way back when. Those icons are gone now because the “E-Label” act was put into place. So let’s take a step back and talk about whether it was worth it. All those icons All those icons on the back of consumer electronics were once there for a reason. The law said that every device needed to show that it was approved by the FCC, it needed to show if it contained harmful materials, and so on. If the device was going to be used outside the US it needed even more icons to show that the European Community had tested it separately. I think the issue...

There are three HD receivers available at Solid Signal right now: The H24, H25, and H26K. It seems rather odd that you would have a choice, so let’s take a look at the pros and cons of both. First, let’s take a trip down memory lane. There were plenty of receivers before the H24, although most of them won’t work with today’s DIRECTV systems. 2003-2006: Missteps and early steps DIRECTV was on the forefront of the HD revolution, way back when. Before there was even anything to watch in HD, DIRECTV had a receiver for it. Check out the now-legendary Sony SAT-HD300: This monstrous beast was the height of 2003 technology. It was bigger than any DIRECTV product made today, but its sleek silver exterior made it stand out no matter what...

The most powerful cellular booster you can get for home or small office use gives you an amazing 72dB of boost. That means the signal coming out of the booster is, no kidding, 10,000,000 times more powerful than the signal coming in. That’s really impressive. The most powerful cell booster for RVs measures out at 50dB. That’s still 100,000 times more power than you would have gotten before but hey, that’s nowhere near what you can get at home. That doesn’t seem fair. Most people use their phones in their cars. Yet, somehow you can’t get the most powerful booster in your car. It’s all about the rules… 50dB is the maximum amount of boost for a large vehicle. The rules are clear and they come straight from the government. Smaller...

Sometimes, during a lull in a TV show, I’ll take a look at the remote and its buttons. I bet you do this too. I guess it just depends on how boring the show it. Most of the buttons seem to make a lot of sense, although there are two at the bottom that seem a bit out of place. The dash button The dash and enter buttons sit there without a lot of explanation as to what they do. The ENTER button will be the subject of another article, at another time. The dash button has had several purposes over the years and it’s still useful today. Over-the-air channels At one time DIRECTV receivers had the ability to put over-the-air channels in the guide. This technology disappeared several years ago but there are rumors it’s coming back at some...

Summertime’s here and it’s time to go out on the open road. RVing has never been more popular thanks to people changing their travel habits in the last half-decade or so. RVs aren’t cheap, but they are reliable so a lot of folks are opting for older models that still have a lot of life left in them. When you get your RV, it usually comes with all the custom stuff that the previous owner put in, and with that in mind, here are the top 5 RV upgrades for this year if you have an older RV. Upgrade #5: GOTSPOT internet hotspot We can all be honest here, right? If you’re a remote employee, you might be thinking of working from the RV. Why not? If you work from the RV you’ll want a separate hotspot. Tethering plans on most carriers aren’t...

February 2-9, 2002 This week Ken welcomes the comedian behind the YouTube Special “Frontin” Rob Haze to the show. Ken and Rob discuss his experiences in the comedy scene, his love for the Bernie Mac Show, and the impact of the mockumentary format on sitcoms. He also highlights underrated shows from the 2001-2002 season and shares an interesting story about Disney’s encounter with Dr. Dre. The conversation covers various topics, including the Boston comedy scene, the influence of African American actors, and the crossover between music and comedy on shows like All That. In this part of the conversation, Ken Reid and Rob Haze discuss the counter programming during the Super Bowl, including True Hollywood Stories and My Girl 2. They...

So the other day, one of our support reps came to me with this question. My first answer was “no.” My second answer was “Well you really shouldn’t.” The truth is somewhere in the middle, but the most important thing you need to know is that a DIRECTV Genie is really the wrong choice for a device like the KING One Pro. Let’s talk about the KING One Pro for a minute If you have an RV or go camping, you’ve probably seen these gumdrop-shaped devices. They will self-aim if you put them on a level surface and so it’s easy to watch TV from anywhere. Some of them even work while you’re moving, but they tend to be a little more expensive. The KING One Pro is one of the best options if you’re looking for portable satellite television. It’s...

So the boat’s out of drydock for the summer and you’re looking at a few upgrades. You love that thing but it’s not cheap to operate. So, you’re looking to try to get the most bang for your buck as you upgrade your entertainment system. But it’s hard to know what’s out there. Let’s take a look at the most common options so you can decide if they are best for you. Satellite TV upgrades It was really common in the 2000s to put satellite dishes on boats. The trend slowed a little during the recession but it’s back with a vengeance now. Unless you go deep into international waters, you can get satellite TV while you’re on the water pretty much anywhere. The real benefit of a satellite TV system is that you get a lot of live entertainment...

So, you’ve been tooling around North America for about over a decade in your trusty RV. You keep it in good condition and you think you can probably get another ten years out of it. That sounds like a plan. At a time when luxury RVs cost as much as a small house, it makes sense to keep them for a long while. Especially since they depreciate like cars. Back in the late ’00s you put in an expensive “in-motion” satellite system. Something like the one above, that tracks satellites while the RV’s moving. They weren’t cheap back then. Heck, they aren’t cheap now. (That’s right, I said “heck.”) It’s served you well but lately you’ve been hearing about changes to DIRECTV. I hear a change a’comin You might have heard that DIRECTV is...

Many RV owners choose to install their own DIRECTV systems themselves. There’s nothing wrong with this; if you know what you’re doing, a do-it-yourself installation can be a great way to save time and money. The downside is that it’s very easy for DIYers to make a mistake or forget an important part of the process. That said, Solid Signal isn’t here to discourage you from installing DIRECTV in your RV. We’d rather share these tips to help you avoid the three most common causes of DIRECTV connection issues in an RV. Whether you’re installing DIRECTV or already using it, this advice will help you continue to enjoy DIRECTV in your RV. Fixing DIRECTV Connection Issues Signal Connect, a division of Solid Signal, helps RV owners get DIRECTV...

Every so often I get a question from a customer that makes me think: why isn’t there a blog article about this? Here’s another one of those cases. A customer of ours was setting up their KING One Pro for the first time and asked if they needed a B-Band converter. The easy answer is “no,” but it’s a great opportunity to explain why that answer is what it is. What is a B-Band converter? In the early days of DIRECTV’s high-definition service, the company realized that the then-current receivers wouldn’t get signals from the then-new satellite dishes. They simply wouldn’t be looking at the frequencies where those signals are. So, they came up with a solution: the B-Band converter. This simple device took the signals used for DIRECTV’s 99...

If you’ve been enjoying life on the water for a long time, you know it’s important to have “a friend in the business.” You need someone who really knows the nuts and bolts, someone who can get to the bottom of every problem. You need an expert. In fact you probably need more than one. You’ll need to “know a guy” for every aspect of your marine life. You’ll need an “engine guy.” You’ll need a “marine electronics guy.” You’ll probably need half a dozen “guys” (and some of those “guys” may be female) just to feel like you’re ready to travel safely. Your “entertainment guy” Not every moment on the water is going to be spent admiring the sunsets. Not every moment will be spent trimming the sail. There is going to be downtime. Of course...

Ah, the world of commercial television distribution. There’s no better place, I’d say, to find obscure terminology. But hey, that’s what I do. I explain it all to my friends all over the internet. Maybe one of you gets inspired to actually take up a career in commercial audiovisual installation. That would be a payoff for me, to be sure. How is commercial TV distribution different from home TV distribution? At home, if you want TV in every room, you probably call the cable or satellite company. If you’re a DIYer, you run coaxial cable and a few splitters and you’re all set. Commercial TV distribution is a different animal. Getting a TV signal from place to place in a large office building is a bit harder. It’s even harder if you’re...

Thanks to satellite guru “Doctor J” for this suggestion! I’ve talked about HDMI control several times on this blog, including last month when I did a whole tutorial about it. HDMI Control, also known as HDMI-CEC, Anynet+, and a bunch of other manufacturer-specific names, is a technology which lets you use a single remote to control more than one component. The device (for example a DIRECTV Gemini for Satellite) sends a control signal over the HDMI cable which, ideally, powers up devices like a TV or audio/video receiver, switches inputs, and then lets you watch. It’s even possible to send volume control signals over HDMI so that the remote doesn’t need to control other devices. Most of the time it works as promised. But, as I tell you...