Use your smartphone to check for line of sight issues
If you plan to install your own dish, you need to know that you’ll have a clear line of sight before you start. Luckily you have a tool that will help you, and it’s already in…
Read More2014
EDITORIAL: Why TV’s latest trend is flopping HARD
A To Z, Manhattan Love Story, Marry Me, Selfie … Broadcast TV seemed fairly awash in romantic comedies just a few weeks ago and each one promised adorable, slightly nerdy but good-looking young people in urban environments,…
DIRECTV Beats everyone else to 4K – and only we have the facts
DIRECTV put out a press release confirming that On Demand Content will be available today for select Samsung 4K televisions. We didn’t comment, because like you, we wanted the facts. What does this mean? What televisions will work?…
THE STRAIGHT DOPE: Which satellite service is better for RVs?
OK, let’s get it out in the open: Solid Signal, the folks who keep the lights on at this blog, are both DIRECTV and DISH dealers. So we’re not going to tell you that either provider…
Quick reminder — don’t forget to ground!
In much of the country, this is the last chance you’ll get to climb up on that roof for several months (at least safely.) That means you have one more chance to make sure your dish…
NICE AND EASY: What DIRECTV remotes work with what receivers?
There sure have been a lot of DIRECTV receivers since the service started in 1994. If you’re looking for a remote, however, you’ll want to know that the remote you choose will work with the receiver…
What do all the reset options mean on a DIRECTV receiver?
It’s pretty rare when a DIRECTV receiver acts up… but when it does you have four options for resetting it. How do you know which one to use? Option 1: The Red Button This is the…
What’s the right DIRECTV dish to choose for tailgating?
Football season is in full swing and you know you’ve been itching to do a little bit of tailgating. Maybe you have some experience with setting up a satellite dish and want to take it on…
Can a flat antenna really get better reception lying down?
Sometimes… yes. When we tested the generation 1 HD-BLADE last year, we found quite surprisingly that it did some of its best work lying down. In fact, it did pretty darn well with a cat sitting…
WARNING: Do not try to get a better deal by saying “cancel service”
You’ve probably heard this tip… supposedly you can get better deals by calling DIRECTV and saying “cancel service” at the first prompt. Yes, it’s true, this used to work quite well. However, a few years ago…
EDITORIAL: Phonepocalypse
What you see above was Apple’s first mobile device, the Newton. It didn’t work very well and didn’t sell very well either but it was the basis of a whole generation of “personal digital assistants” that…
Building the city of the future
You read that right, Qatar is planning on building a multi-billion dollar city to host the 2022 World Cup. The city, Lusail, is set to be complete by 2020 which is a very short time…
Can an Alkaline Battery Be Recharged?
I’ve heard about this for years and always assumed that since the chemistry was not designed for recharging, any claim that this could be done was just so much hot air. A few months ago…
EDITORIAL: I hate microUSB
Despite the fact that I am an Apple user, I find myself overrun with microUSB cables and devices. It’s the go-to charging cable for just about everything in my life with the exception of those Apple…
The future of batteries
It’s no secret battery life is one of the limiting factors in smartphones and other hand-held devices. The current standard, lithium-ion, batteries have been in use for 25 years now and their lifespan is limited….