The Solid Signal Blog

These days, the biggest problem with being a Star Trek fan seems to be that there’s too much of it. Thousands of hours of past programming are available on line as well as over a dozen films. There isn’t enough time to take it all in, especially if you add the content that’s been flying toward us at warp speed the last several years. That flow of content may dry up in the next year as some shows come to a conclusion and the twin strikes mean other shows won’t start promptly. But that’s a problem for another day. It wasn’t like that a generation ago Flash back, if you will, to 1998. A quarter-century ago, Star Trek was on the rocks. The only Trek show on TV was the poorly-reviewed (though occasionally brilliant Voyager. The best hope...

Let’s say for a moment that you live in beautiful Ottawa, Ontario. It’s the fourth largest city in Canada and a beautiful tourist destination. Well, at least if you visit during the summer months. There’s one problem with Ottawa, though: you can’t get DIRECTV service there. Well, you can, but you can’t. Let’s explain. The technical side of things We know that it’s very possible to pick up DIRECTV service in Canada. DIRECTV has focused its satellite signal fairly precisely, but there’s still enough overlap that almost every Canadian citizen has a clear view of the satellites. Take a look at this map: Every person living within the yellow line has a fair chance of getting DIRECTV service and as you can see, that includes people in...

Folks, here’s something I was forced to consider. I’ve been answering this question, almost this exact question, for over 35 years. I was recently reminded of a time when someone asked me all the way back in the 1980s if it was possible to send your cable TV to the second floor wirelessly. Sadly, it wasn’t possible then. In truth, it’s really not possible now, at least on a boat. There are some solutions today that work in specific cases, but chances are marine isn’t one of those cases. Why wireless transmission doesn’t work The first thing you need to know is that obviously it’s possible to send large volumes of data wirelessly. You do it all the time with Wi-Fi. But it’s not possible to do it with TV. It’s almost like the powers...

This year sure has flown by, hasn’t it? This is the first year in a long time when practically everyone feels good about being out and about. There may be some health concerns in the months to come, but that’s a problem for tomorrow, right? Today the weather is pretty good, and maybe you might have an extra person or two around the house this weekend. Why not take a crack at some of those outdoor tasks you’ve been putting off all summer? I’m not talking about cleaning the barbecue Although, let’s be honest. The barbecue probably does need cleaning. But that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about inspecting all your outdoor cables for corrosion, checking the aim on your antenna, seeing if your cellular booster antenna is up...

Heinrich Hertz is not a name most people know. Even though most folks know terms like “kilohertz” and “megahertz” because of computers and radios, most don’t give any thought to why those words are what they are. Most scientific measures used today are named for people instrumental in the history of electricity and physics, yet we rarely think about those communications pioneers. Articles like this one aim to change that. Who was Heinrich Hertz? This appears to be the only photo that still exists of Heinrich Hertz. From the little we know, he was born in the area now known as Germany in 1857. He came from a wealthy family, which was more or less a prerequisite for being a scientist in those days. Hertz gained advanced degrees in...

In many ways, 2012 doesn’t seem so far removed from our experiences today. And in other ways, it seems like generations ago. So much has changed about the way that we get entertainment from our devices. I mean, consider that in 2012 many people didn’t have cellular data plans that let them stream video. Fewer people still had any sort of streaming device or smart TV. That’s why in 2012 the whole world was going nuts for on-screen apps. Today things have settled down and essentially most people use a TV for some sort of TV-watching activity (in other words, not for checking webcams, learning software versions or getting information about home security.) Today we’ll use our phones for that sort of thing. DIRECTV had rolled out an apps...

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing how people live, from algorithms that provide the best route to destinations to intelligent software that tracks energy consumption and gives tips on managing it. AI is a powerful tool that will only become more useful and intuitive as time passes. How can AI help telecom companies provide better service? Can it really anticipate and prevent network issues? Predictive Maintenance AI is revolutionizing how telecommunications providers approach maintenance. Through fault prediction, AI can analyze vast network data to spot patterns and anomalies that suggest impending hardware failures. This allows for timely intervention before outages occur. Additionally, AI models can predict the life span...

There’s a restaurant a couple of miles away from me. I’m not going to tell you its name because I don’t want to get it in trouble. I will tell you that if you’d looked at it, you’d think it was a factory, ’nuff said. Behind the host stand there’s a large A/V rack. It looks like it hasn’t been changed much since the restaurant opened in the mid-’00s. There’s a stack of H21 receivers there. H21, you say? You might not even remember the H21. It looked like this: You can’t tell from the picture but it’s about 15 inches wide. We used to call that “home theater width.” In other words, it’s a pretty big piece of equipment. Not that it’s a bad piece of equipment, but if you have one at this point it’s pretty old. They stopped making them in...

January 23-29, 1993 This week Ken welcomes original Real World reality TV star, true story teller and country music man Jon Brennan to the show. Ken and Jon discuss fancy studio equipment, The Real World LA, being 18, the origin of Road Rules, not going back and watching old video of yourself, calling Irene Mom, people in their 20s feeling like old people, the death of Andre the Giant, WWF, watching The Real World while you’re ON the Real World, MTV removing your television, the origins of “true stor-ay”, Jon’s new single True Story, when WWF went R Rated, loving NWA wresting, Rick Flair, Sting, Dusty Roads, meeting celebrity fans of The Real World, Garth Brooks, The Miz, Will Smith, Amy Grant, when Christians go pop, men’s jeans...

Winter is just around the corner. Hasn’t this year gone by quickly? Well, at least it has for me. It seems like it was just a moment ago that the first buds of spring were coming and now it’s already after Labor Day. With the summer now officially over, that means for a lot of people it’s time to get the boat ready for storage. This yearly ritual is more than just cleaning and hosing off, it’s important that you take a good honest look at all your marine electronics and make sure that when you get ready to go back in the water next spring, you won’t find any little surprises. In the past I’d have been telling you to make sure that your entertainment stuff was in order, that your satellite dome was clean and in good condition, and that...

Recent wins for Apple, DIRECTV, and Spectrum have us thinking that this is a great time for the consumer electronics industry and for the consumer in general. Listen in and learn more, then call us at 888-233-7563! 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 Google Podcasts Overcast TuneIn Spreaker Player.fm Spotify Option 3...

With the issues of climate change and global warming becoming more and more prevalent, it only makes sense that we start considering ways to reduce our carbon footprint. One way to do that is by building an eco-friendly and smart home. Not only will it help cut back on your energy bills, but it will also lessen your environmental impact. If you’re building or remodeling your existing home to fit these requirements, here are a few things that you should keep in mind, presented below by Solid Signal. Insulate Properly To Conserve Energy Insulation is one of the most important things to consider if you want to build an eco-friendly and energy-efficient home. Proper insulation will help keep the heat in during winter and out during...

By now you’re aware of the DIRECTV Gemini. The little box has raised a lot of excitement among the DIRECTV faithful. It’s the first truly new design from DIRECTV in a very long time — almost a generation — and the first new consumer hardware of any kind for DIRECTV satellite since 2015. Folks love the small size, Bluetooth voice-enabled remote, and the ability to run pretty much any app you want on the same box you use for DIRECTV satellite. But, there’s still a little bit of confusion as to how many Geminis the average home will need. I can understand why the confusion is there, but it’s easy to clear up. The answer: you’ll need one Gemini for every TV. Consider the Gemini as a replacement for the Genie client boxes you have at...

The post DIRECTV’s best receiver yet? appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog. Continue reading...

OK, cards on the table. A lot of people pay too much to watch TV. If you subscribe to pay television, you’ll find it’s a great value but your bill is still probably over $100. Even if you stream, a subscription to the five most popular services will also get you close to that $100 mark. Television, and radio before it, started out a hundred years ago as free entertainment. What happened? Getting back to the way things ought to be More and more people are finding that putting up a TV antenna suits their style. With a one-time purchase, you can watch dozens of channels. Add another one-time purchase like the AirTV Anywhere and you can record that content, pause live TV, and even stream it to all your devices no matter where you are. Pay...