The Solid Signal Blog

It’s funny, but most folks don’t talk too much about computer viruses and other sorts of malware. At least, they don’t talk about it as much as they used to in the past. I remember when it seemed like computer viruses lurked around every corner. Most of us had overly-intrusive products like Norton 360 that slowed our computers down by quite a bit. We put up with it because we were all afraid that a rogue web site would destroy all our data. In recent years, you don’t hear as much of that talk. It’s true that the systems put in place by companies like Microsoft and Google do manage to protect you fairly well. Google has malware scanning built into the browser, and the same protection applies if you use Microsoft Edge as well. If you...

According to DIRECTV’s Insider online magazine, there will be a 4K feed of the Super Bowl airing on channel 105 in 4K. It’s not clear at this point if this will be a genuine 4K feed or an upsampled 1080p feed as we have seen in prior years. The game goes from Fox to CBS every other year, and in the past it’s been Fox that’s given us the pseudo-4K coverage. While I admit that it still looked great, I think we all have to say that 4K is 4K and everything else is not. It’s possible that one of the reasons this isn’t being promoted as heavily is that this will be another upscaled broadcast. If so, that would truly be a shame. The game is being played at one of the league’s newest stadiums. You absolutely know that they have 4K production...

A long time ago, I was like all of you. I shopped at Solid Signal for satellite parts. I really didn’t even look at other parts of the web site. It wasn’t until I was up for a job with the company that I even began to realize that we sold things like antennas, commercial equipment, and tools. That was over 12 years ago, and Solid Signal has only grown bigger since then! Today it’s not just about what you can buy at the Solid Signal web site. There’s so much more to know about Signal Group’s offerings. Take a look! Marine and RV communications In the last decade, we’ve become the leading satellite activation specialist in the world when it comes to mobile and marine. We partner with brands like KVH, Intellian, KING, and Winegard to...

This week we go back to the advertising of the early 1980s. The 1980s were a special time in advertising because it was the end of one era and the beginning of another. On the one had you had more and more magazines being printed in color, because of improvements in technology and cost control. On the other hand had this increasing awareness of what people thought computers “should” look like, which was way way beyond what they could actually do. The answer was to hire painters for these beautiful photorealistic versions of computer parts, screens, and interfaces. If you look at the box art from 1980s video cartridges, you’ll see what I mean. The actual screens may have been nothing but colored blocks, but the artwork on the box was...

Take a look at the antenna above you. It mounts on any vertical surface on your roof, at least that’s its intended use. It’s this one in fact. It’s one of thousands of outdoor cellular antennas we offer at Solid Signal. In fact, when you look at all the cellular antennas, TV antennas, satellite dishes (those are also antennas) and other forms of antennas, you’d have to figure that we are the world’s largest antenna retailer. So you’d also figure we have the inside scoop on what you can, and can’t do with an antenna. An antenna is an antenna A person I recently met is fond of saying, “An antenna is an antenna.” He’s right. You don’t have to use a specific antenna as it’s intended if you don’t want to. You can use indoor antennas...

I hate to say it, but local broadcasting is on the ropes. 2023 ended up being a negative year for local broadcasters for several reasons. Long channel blackouts on DIRECTV, DISH, and others impacted their revenue. ATSC 3.0 was dealt a big blow when LG decided to stop supporting it. And of course, the writers’ and actors’ strikes impacted network affiliates as the fall TV season more or less didn’t happen (unless you were a fan of reality TV and game shows.) And now, it would seem that there’s a push among pay TV companies to make local channels optional. DISH already allows some subscribers to opt out of local channels. They’re able to do this because, unlike DIRECTV, they continue to offer an over-the-air antenna adapter for their...

Whether you have a Genie DVR or are still using an older DVR, there’s an easy way to look at your guide to find the programs you want to see. It’s true, with hundreds of channels to choose from it’s easy to get confused. Of course you could set up a favorites list but that takes time. Also, you still may have a few hundred favorite channels and it could take a while to look through all of them to find something to watch. Luckily there’s a solution. Press the GUIDE button twice on your DIRECTV remote. It doesn’t matter if it’s the old-style white one or the sleek Genie Remote. It even works on a Gemini, and this tip even works with universal remotes and smartphone remotes. That’s what makes it so powerful. You’ll see a screen like...

If you want to measure DIRECTV signals, you have essentially one choice: DIRECTV’s own Advanced Installation Meter. But it’s expensive, out of reach for most people. Unless you plan on using it 50 times a year, you probably won’t want to buy one. You’ll be tempted to buy a signal finder like this one but then when you ask our Solid Signal staff, they’ll tell you it won’t work on DIRECTV dishes. But why? Two answers: Ka broadcasting and SWM technology DIRECTV uses two systems that are different from any other satellite broadcaster in the world. One of them is so proprietary that other companies can’t even figure out how to use it. And that’s the reason other meters won’t work. At one time, Solid Signal offered a meter called the...

Yeah, when Sega ruled the roost. If you’ve been following our CES coverage you’ve seen how things look today, but think back three decades… things were a little different then. This was half a dozen years before DVDs, back when cartridge games were the biggest thing out there. This was the year Windows 3.0 came out. Take a look for yourself You’ll have a lot of fun with this Flickr set showing one person’s impressions of that year’s Consumer Electronics Show. This seems to have been largely scanned from some sort of print publication… remember folks in 1990 we were 3-5 years away from widespread internet access, 10 years away from affordable digital cameras and almost 20 years away from ubiquitous cameraphones. That’s what makes this...

It has become popular in recent years to put logos and stickers on TV antennas so that you can tell which side is up. This also helps the manufacturer advertise a little bit, although the advertising value is probably pretty minimal. So, what happens when you mount the antenna upside down? With most antennas, it doesn’t matter. Most TV antennas look the same whether they are right side up or upside down. Traditional yagi and log periodic antennas like our HD8200XL look almost identical from both top and bottom: If you look closely you’ll see there’s a horizontal brace that appears above the antenna in this picture. However, I’ve seen this antenna installed upside down and it hasn’t made a bit of difference. Look a little closer...

“There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.” —Robert A. Heinlein That simple axiom, often abbreviated TANSTAAFL, is pretty central to the way that all RF devices work. No matter if it’s an antenna, satellite, cell booster, or something else, you can’t get something from nothing. It may seem like you’re plucking a signal out of thin air, but a TV station spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on electricity so you could. In order to pay for that, the TV station has to sell commercials. No matter what you do, someone pays for it somewhere down the line. So, it might surprise you that a part like this line amplifier doesn’t need to be plugged in. It improves signal strength, but you know it can’t do that without power because, TANSTAAFL...

I have to admit, dear readers, that DIRECTV equipment is extraordinarily well-built. In fact, it’s built better than I really expected. If I had any idea how long DIRECTV boxes would last, I would probably not have gotten rid of the dozen or so boxes I had during the late 2000s and early 2010s. Those boxes went to other people who were glad to have them, and it’s possible they’re still being used today. Why can’t you just use all DIRECTV boxes ever made? What you see above is one of the very first DIRECTV receivers, the RCA DRD102. I wasn’t able to find its dimensions in a quick search, but I remember it being about the size of a large pizza box. It’s a museum piece now. You can’t use it at all on DIRECTV’s current satellite system...

2024 marks 30 years since the launch of the DIRECTV satellite service. Our podcaster shares his own memories of those early days and offers hope for the future. Listen, shop at Solid Signal - Signal Solutions including HDTV Antennas, DIRECTV and DISH Network satellite equipment and home entertainment supplies and accessories, or call 888-233-7563 for the best service. 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...

In this very special BONUS episode here is the complete audio of Ken’s chat with Dave Foley and Kevin McDonald of The Kids in the Hall. This was recorded LIVE last month at North East Comic Con in Boxboro MA. If you were a patron you would have gotten a video of this as well! Enjoy and Happy Holidays! I’m Ken Reid, a stand up comedian from Boston, MA and a life long television fan. I’ve been twice nominated as the Best Stand up in Boston and I have been featured on Comedy Central, NPR, Nerdist, and MSN. I own every issue of TV Guide. Each week a guest chooses an issue at random, picks their viewing choices from that week and the show is our discussion of the tough viewing choices of our past. We get into stories about growing...

There’s no denying the popularity of Starlink. Regardless of what you think of its most visible proponent, Elon Musk, you just have to accept it. It’s a success. It’s bringing high-speed internet to places that didn’t have good options before. Don’t get me wrong… satellite internet has been around for a generation. But Starlink’s different. Using the same idea as cell phone towers, but orbiting much lower than satellites usually do, it can deliver an experience much more like land-based internet. That’s great news, whether you’re in the wilds of Wyoming or cruising the high seas 50 miles off shore. Get Starlink, but know what you’re paying for In 2023, SpaceX rolled out Starlink for Marine. Getting internet on a moving vessel’s a...