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The ABC’s of Antennas, part 4

When you get to the back part of the alphabet, it’s hard to decide which terms to feature! There are so many to choose from… here are some that might help you in your quest to learn all about antennas. QAM QAM is a technology used by cable boxes, not by antennas. It’s a way to get more stuff into a smaller frequency range. It’s also practically impossible for regular folks to understand completely. When setting up your antenna you generally have a choice of scanning for channels using “Air” or “Cable.” What they really mean is “ATSC” or “QAM.” RADIO WAVES All TV transmissions use radio waves. Wi-Fi, cell phones, RF remotes, Bluetooth, all of it uses radio waves. They’re more important than you thought. Radio waves are part of what...
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Can one antenna feed a whole building?

If you live in a large apartment building, can you share antennas? Whether it’s a satellite dish or a TV antenna, the basic technology is the same. Not only is it possible for everyone in an apartment to share an antenna, it’s actually pretty easy if you know how. This is an important message for building owners who don’t like to see a lot of stuff on the roof, and for renters who can’t put equipment up for themselves. Using one antenna for everyone can be done one of two ways. The simplest is a series of amplifiers and long cables that delivers the same signal to every apartment. With the old-style broadcast system in place in this country before 2009 this was difficult but not impossible. With digital broadcasting (now used for both...
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Coaxial Cable Attenuation Calculator now at The Solid Signal Blog

Friends, if you’re like me you probably get asked a lot how much loss there will be on a cable. OK, I admit, most people don’t get asked that a lot. But I do. For well over a decade, I have been using a calculator I found at net-comber.com. Today I went to use it and I found that the domain no longer existed. The calculator there was the best one I’d found on the web and this concerned me. I decided to do something about it. The Internet Archive to the Rescue I’ve talked before about The Internet Archive, a growing free repository of old web pages, software, and media. I’m not sure of the legal ramifications of having it, but I’ve found that it’s indispensable for finding old media that’s no longer hosted anywhere else. Luckily, I had...
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Can you add an antenna to your DIRECTV Gemini?

If you’re looking for proof that DIRECTV still rules the world of pay television, look no further than its new hardware this year. Other providers are sitting pat with the same old devices, but DIRECTV has a pair of new boxes that offer functions that DIRECTV users have been wanting for a long time. Both of them are called Gemini, and you are probably aware of them since you found this article. But, for the uninitiated, here’s a quick rundown: Gemini for Satellite DIRECTV takes its award-winning Genie clients to the next level with this Gemini for Satellite. Start with everything you love about Genie – small, quiet boxes that do everything a large DVR can do. Then, add voice commands and the ability to run tens of thousands of...
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Ken Reid, Sovereign Syre and Ela Darling

January 3-9, 1987 This week Ken welcomes adult entertainers, entrepreneurs, and incredibly smart hosts of the fantastic must listen “Ill Repute” podcast, Sovereign Syre and Ela Darling. Ken, Sovereign and Ela discuss time zones, mountain, Central time, the weirdness of January TV, when VHS rentals first eclipsed theatrical ticket sales, how the Adult industry innovates all entertainment technology, the incredible strangeness of the streaming business model, the movie “The Girl on the Bridge”, French films, corporate structure, not knowing what you own as a company, Ela’s experience as a Librarian, why Libraries are punk rock, piracy, growing up poor, The ALA Library Bill of Rights, scammers, Merv Griffin, J.Z. Knight, sleazy talk...
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The ABC’s of Antennas, part 3

LADDER When going up on the roof to install an antenna, use a sturdy ladder and have a friend stand by and steady it if possible. Don’t rely on a cheap ladder that isn’t rated for your actual weight. This isn’t the time to lie about those cookies you have been sneaking… if you’re a 230-pounder don’t pretend you’re at 195 just to get a cheaper ladder. MEGAHERTZ Megahertz is a measure of frequency, but it’s often used in antennas to know where to find a particular broadcast. A simple way to think of Megahertz is as an address. Every TV signal broadcasts on a different frequency so that they don’t cause problems with each other. For example channel 22 is at 518 megahertz (MHz) while channel 23 is at 524 megahertz. A TV antenna is...
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Hotel Managers — let us take care of you so you can take care of your guests!

Winter can be a tough time for hotel managers. If your property is somewhere that people actually go for the winter, it’s great. But, for many hotels, winter is the slow time. There’s less travel and it’s hard to know what to do about that. It may seem like the last time of year you’d want to spend money, but that’s where you have to think differently. This is the time of year when you can make big changes to your infrastructure. It’s time to beef up your internet and entertainment options. The great news here is that there are ways to do it with very little upfront cost and winter’s the perfect time to make these changes. We call it “Hospitality for Hospitality.” It’s a pretty simple idea, really. We take care of you so you can take...
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The ABC’s of Antennas, part 2

There’s so much to talk about with antennas! The more you learn, the more you realize there is to learn! Today we continue our series with a few more entertaining nibbles of knowledge. GAIN Gain is a fairly technical concept but it boils down to the amount of signal that you get when you use an antenna compared to using nothing. Some signals are strong enough that they will come in with nothing more than a coat hanger, but others need a lot more gain to give you a good picture. HIGH DEFINITION “High Definition” refers to any TV broadcast with a vertical resolution of between 720 and 1080 pixels. It’s the standard for TV broadcasting today. There is no such thing as a “high definition” antenna. All antennas can pick up HD signals...
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How to Choose the Best Flashlight

Buying a flashlight isn’t a simple task these days. From Cree to Lumens, LED lights, and more, there’s a lot you must know in order to choose the best flashlight. Flashlights have come a long way from the inexpensive plastic devices from a couple decades ago. Today’s flashlights are super bright, durable, and have multiple light settings. If you need a flashlight but aren’t a flashlight expert, the terminology that surrounds these devices might seem a little intimidating. As your source for the best flashlights and flashlight accessories, we’ve explained some of the most popular flashlight-related terms. Hopefully, this will help you find the best tactical flashlight, best LED flashlight, or brightest flashlight you need at home or in...
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The ABC’s of Antennas, part 1

Antennas are more of an art than a science. There’s a lot that goes into getting that TV picture just right, but for the antenna hobbyist there’s nothing like seeing that crystal clear picture once everything is all set up. Here are six of the things you need to know: AIMING Aiming means that your antenna needs to be pointed toward the broadcast towers. If you have a traditional antenna like the one above, the end on the right should be pointed toward the towers. BOWTIE UHF antennas like this one often put the antenna into the shape of a bowtie to maximize reception. CARRIER WAVE A carrier wave is the most basic broadcast. If it is smooth like this, then it has no picture and sound information added to it. DIPOLE A dipole...
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Looking to learn? Check out “Cables 101!”

A long time ago, a very smart man said to me, “90% of the problems in any setup are the cable.” That may have been an exaggeration, but I can’t tell you how many times he was right. Usually it was a bad connection, the wrong cable for the job, or some really weird unexpected mismatch that turned out to be the issue. Putting in the right cable fixed things up very quickly. Learn everything you need If you want to learn all about cables, the terms you need, and the difference between them, check out our series, “Cables 101.” As part of building our new web platform, I organized all these tutorials into a helpful group. With all of these articles, you can learn what kind of cable is best, what the key terms are, and even how to make...
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WINTER 2024 Edition: Do you need a Slimline-5 dish?

Solid Signal is one of the few places where you can still find a Slimline-5 LNB like the one you see above. The LNB hasn’t been made in years, and there’s a good reason for it: most folks don’t need one. Do you? Answer these questions and find out! Do you need standard definition local channels? DIRECTV stopped activating standard definition receivers back in 2017 or so. However, those receivers are exceptionally well built and there are still many of them left in service. If you have a DIRECTV model D12 or earlier, or any receiver whose model number starts with a D, that’s a standard-definition receiver. You can generally find the model number on a green sticker on the bottom of the receiver. If that model number starts with an H...
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Get a Vehicle Cell Booster for Your Family Trip

When you’re heading out for a family road trip this summer, what do you think are essential items to bring along? Is a cell phone signal booster on that list? If not, it should be. Family trips mean kids in the backseat. Today’s youngsters won’t be satisfied singing “100 Bottles of Beer on the Wall” until you arrive at your destination. (As the parent behind the wheel, you should be thankful for this!) If you want to keep the kids quiet and happy on the trip, make sure that your cell phone connection stays solid for the duration of the trip. The only way to do this is having a vehicle cell booster. A cell phone signal booster in your car puts an end to dropped calls, missed texts, and slow or interrupted data. This will keep text- and...
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STREAMING SATURDAY: Bookie

Friends, you might want to sit down. You might want to make sure you’re steady. Because two things are about to happen that might just rock your world if you’re a regular reader of this series. First, I’m going to say something good about the Max app. Second, I’m going to say something good about a scripted comedy made in this decade. That’s right, it’s possible hell has frozen over. Certainly, you can read a lot of articles about what happened to the app formerly known as HBO Max in the past year. Cutting half the letters off its name and just calling it “Max” seems to have been extremely on-the-nose, since it seems like about half the content has been cut out of it. It’s gone from being a location known for its prestige programming...
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