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NICE AND EASY: Can you put a preamp in the attic?

Let’s say you wanted to put a pre-amp in your attic. Or, for that matter, any piece of electronic equipment. In most cases, that’s not a problem. But, before you start, there are some things to consider. Do you even need a preamplifier? TV signals in the US are digital. That’s important to know, because digital signals respond to amplification differently than analog ones. Where an analog signal can be fairly strong or fairly weak, a digital signal is made of ones and zeros. Of course, it’s on an analog carrier because in the real world there’s no such thing as a truly digital source. But that’s not the point here. The point is that digital signal doesn’t benefit from amplication unless the signal level and the noise level are very...
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Improving Employee Satisfaction: The Hidden Benefit of Cell Signal Boosters

Reprinted with permission from the weBoost blog. As businesses navigate the ever-evolving digital landscape, the concept of the workplace has shifted drastically. Today, office boundaries are not confined to a single location. Rather, the modern workplace is anywhere and everywhere, fueled by advancements in technology and digital communication. Amidst this continuing evolution, one component is often overlooked. Reliable cell signal is emerging as a game-changer in improving overall employee satisfaction and productivity, particularly for small and medium-sized businesses. And to ensure reliable cell signal, many businesses will require a cell signal booster. But before we delve into that, let’s talk about employee satisfaction and...
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Is your business ready for the fall?

Here’s a funny thing, friends. More people live in the southern part of the country than ever before. Not only that, there’s more stuff available to do year round, more places to go, than ever before. Yet, there’s something about our culture that causes us to take trips in the summer and get back to business in the fall. It’s not just kids being out of school. Unless you sell ice cream or operate an amusement park, you probably see a drop in income in the summer, followed by a bounce back in September. Well, it’s almost September again and it’s time to ask yourself if you’re ready. There are a lot of things you’ll need to do. You’ll need to increase staffing, stock up on inventory, all of that. But, hey. You’ve arrived at The Solid...
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Why can’t you send HD to your television on channel 3?

It seems I write articles about this subject a lot. Perhaps more than I should. But it’s a question that keeps coming up. Our customers, especially those in the RV community, want to be able to watch multiple TVs using the same satellite receiver or streaming box for multiple TVs. Generally the question comes up because the RV itself is prewired with coaxial cable, and people want to use it. Can it be done? Well you can… but it takes one of these zVPro modulators or something similar to do it, and they’re awfully expensive for home use. Not only that, someone who uses this device will probably find that a lot of content is blacked out due to copy protection. This used to be something people did all the time, so the question is, what...
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STREAMING SATURDAY: DIRECTV App is more valuable than ever

I know I say it every week, but it’s been a pretty lean summer when it comes to streaming content. After years of seeing direct-to-streaming releases, we’re seeing movies spending time in theaters. That’s a great thing in general, but it’s created sort of a vacuum in the streaming world as we return to the cadence we had back in the pre-2020 days. Add to that a writers’ and actors’ strike which will affect production for the next 18 months, and it’s looking like it’s going to be harder and harder to find content to stream. I was trying to pick something to stream when I found a secret weapon. The Zaslav factor You can read this blog or plenty of others if you want to know how David Zaslav, head of Warner Bros. Discovery, has gutted...
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Does the DIRECTV H26K need to be connected to the internet?

It’s been a long time since DIRECTV had a truly new receiver to offer the commercial community. The drought is officially over with the new DIRECTV H26K Commercial Receiver. It’s coming at the perfect time to let businesses upgrade to true 4K and retain their existing setups. The H26K has a bunch of commercial-specific features designed to make it work even better in a business environment than the H44-COM, the current receiver for business accounts. Take a look at this short list. H44 also has some of these, but the ones in bold are completely new. RF Remote Control Uses standard DIRECTV IP Control Codes External Power Supply for increased reliability Genie-like menu system Receives 4K Broadcasts without the need for a vestigial...
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FUN FRIDAY: A history of browser icons

I know it’s an incredibly geeky thing. But I actually get kind of nostalgic when I see older user interfaces. There’s something incredibly cool, I think, about the Windows 3.0/3.1 interface. This is the one I’m talking about: Keep in mind that the designers of this UI had only 640×480 to work with. That’s less resolution than there is in a single icon on your phone. Yet, they not only managed to convey all the information you needed, they even gave a 3D effect to the buttons. For someone who didn’t know what was clickable and what wasn’t, this was incredibly important. By the mid-2000s we start to see icons becoming really important designs. The first icons for Macintosh are still works of art, because they’re so clear with so...
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What’s the difference between a DIRECTV H26 and a DIRECTV H26K?

DIRECTV’s latest and greatest receiver for commercial customer is here. This is huge news. It’s the first time DIRECTV has ever done a receiver purely for the commercial market and it’s packed with the features that customers have been asking for. If you want to know more, check out our Hands-On Review. Is there more confusion, though? The proper name of the receiver is the DIRECTV H26K Commercial Receiver. There will be those people who call it the H26, and that’s all right. What you need to know is that whether you call it H26, H26K, H26K-COM, or anything even close to that, it’s the same box. I wouldn’t blame people for being confused. After all, DIRECTV has a client box called the C61. Then, there’s the 4K version, which is...
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Convert Your Bar’s Facebook Followers into Customers

All these people like my bar on Facebook, but I don’t have that many customers! As a bar owner, do you find yourself saying this? If so, you need to read this post. We share some tough love with you: many people who “like” your bar’s Facebook page are friends, family members who think they’re “doing you a favor.” Now here’s the good news: There are things you can do to get these and other followers to become customers in your bar. Signal Connect talked with a group of bar owners to bring you these tips for converting Facebook followers into customers at your bar. Become a “Thought Leader” Among Bars Have you ever heard the term “thought leader?” Its most basic definition is “someone whose views on a subject are accepted as...
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What is the difference between an app and a channel?

Is Pluto an app? Or is it a channel? What about Max? And if Max isn’t a channel, why not? This is the essence of a conversation I was having with one of my coworkers the other day. I really hadn’t thought about the question this way, and after that conversation, I decided I just might have to. The 2000s definition Let’s pretend for a moment that it’s, say, 2009. You have a brand-new smartphone, a tasty new streaming box, and a trusty satellite TV subscription. Back then, the distinction between “app” and “channel” was a little clearer. A “channel” was easy to define. It was a single source of live programming coming in over the air or through pay television. An “app” was also pretty easy to define. It was something that ran on a...
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BONUS: Ken Reid and Taffeta Darling

March 4-11, 1995 This week Ken welcomes Twitch Streamer, Auction curator, and one of the world’s greatest cosplayers Taffeta Darling. Ken and Taffeta discuss Texas, Dallas, the burbs, Austin, Robocop, I Like to Singa, TV Theme Songs, tattoos, video games that look like actual cartoons, Cuphead, Kids TV, violence on TV, how superheroes are good for kids, Gargoyles, Claire Danes turning down Schindler’s List, My So-Called dialog, whatevers, X-Men the Animated Series, Batman, The Tick, Slim Goodbody, Body Worlds, being easily traumatized, obsession with the macabre, local kids shows, Wishbone, Cowboys of Moo Mesa, comics art, Heritage Auctions, getting used to Frazetta, The Wizard, Kurt Russell, Abe Lincoln’s blood, the entire set of...
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Someone INVENTED it: Emoticon

You might use this 100 times a day, depending on your age: You probably type it as a colon followed by a parenthesis, like this: : ) That may not have been part of your “vocabulary” 25 years ago but chances are, it is now. In fact, you’ve probably been exposed to all manner of “emoticons” starting with the humble smiley. Still, they all entered your consciousness in the last decade or two, and you probably think that’s when they were invented. Sure, some of the more complex ones like the kitty face >^o,o^< are pretty new, but take a look at this poem that dates back to 1648… Tumble me down, and I will sit Upon my ruins, (smiling yet: ) Tear me to tatters, yet I’ll be Patient in my necessity. Laugh at my scraps of clothes, and shun...
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THROWBACK THURSDAY: Party like it’s 1999

When the song 1999 hit the world in 1982, it had a very different feeling. 1999 was still years away and Prince thought it would be the end of the world. If you grew up in the mid-20th century, you tended to think of 1999 as this distant time when we would have jetpacks and robot maids and all that stuff. Of course, the real world of 1999 was just a little different. Today when we “party like it’s 1999” we mean retro — a little Britney Spears, a little Back Street Boys, that sort of thing. That’s not what the song meant, forty years ago. A quarter century? 1999 was almost a quarter-century ago. That fact alone is a little chilling, right? I mean, it couldn’t possibly be that long ago. But, when you look at the facts, the world was an...
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SOUND OFF: If you could pay for lifetime satellite service, would you?

It’s an interesting question, right? Now, I’m sure there would be a lot of variables to consider, but if you could pay once and get lifetime satellite service, would you do it? Reaching the limits of the subscription model Let’s look back 50 years to 1973. If you wanted TV, chances are you got it from an antenna. You bought the antenna, with nothing more to pay after that. If you wanted to listen to music, you bought a record or an 8-track. You legitimately owned that music, you could play it as many times as you wanted with nothing more to pay. Want to play a game? To the extent that video games existed, they were a fixed purchase. Buy a Pong or Odyssey system and it was yours forever. Back then, the only things you paid for monthly...
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Will there even BE a fall TV season this year?

As we get closer to the traditional start of the broadcast TV season, some folks are beginning to worry. The last several years, we’ve seen new shows debut close to the first day of fall. That’s about a month away. Most of the production for those shows takes place in July and August, in some cases earlier. Those oh-so-popular medical and cop shows take time to do. It’s all the special effects. So here we are in late August, far too late to do anything for an October debut. There won’t be… nothing. That’s about all we’re sure of The major broadcast networks are busy pivoting away from their original plans for scripted programming. I suspect that in about a month, you’ll be inundated with reality competition shows. This kind of...
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