In a hotel? Don’t steal that remote!
So the story goes like this. You’re in a nice hotel and they have “the DIRECTV Residential Experience.” You see a remote on the nightstand just like the one you have at home. You turn on…
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Get to know the satellite dish types for DIRECTV
If you’re going to delve deep into the world of DIRECTV, you need to know everything.That’s why we’ve compiled this list of satellite dish types for DIRECTV receivers. Most of these dish types won’t ever…
SWM 101: How can you use SWM to watch programs in other rooms?
One of the most compelling features of the modern home entertainment system is the ability to watch a program recorded in another room. It can be watched from another receiver, or in some cases watched from…
SWM 101: How does a SWM16 work?
DIRECTV SWM Technology lets you use a single wire to every receiver or DVR regardless of the number of recording tuners. It also lets you use inexpensive splitters along the way instead of having to run…
SWM 101: How does SWM work?
So, you’re having trouble wrapping your head around it. DIRECTV’s SWM system allows one wire to each receiver no matter how many tuners. It’s different from the old system where you needed one wire for each…
Use a digital camera to diagnose remote problems
We’ve all been there. We don’t know what’s going on with the remote. Something isn’t working, and we try new batteries but we’re just not sure where the problem is. You want to know if…
What do the symbols on the back of the phone mean?
So you’re stuck at the airport and your phone is dead. You’re so bored you turn the phone over to see what’s on the back of it. It’s not terribly interesting and depending on the light…
How long should you expect an antenna rotator to last?
Here’s a case where they really don’t make them like they used to. When I was young we had an antenna rotator that cost about $100 – the equivalent of about $650 today. I don’t know…
What is a “skinny TV bundle?”
It seems like it’s all the rage. All of a sudden every pay TV company is talking about a “skinny” bundle. Even DIRECTV Chair Mike White referenced the term in a recent conference call. Verizon’s gone…
FROM THE FRONT LINES: Add cable TV to a DIRECTV system?
Can you use one cable for both cable internet and DIRECTV at the same time? In general, no. DIRECTV’s networking signals tend to occupy the same space that is used by many cable TV systems….
What is HDMI-ARC and is it for you?
What’s the best way to get the sound on your home theatre working? That used to be a pretty easy question to answer, back when the humble RCA cable was the height of modern technology. Now,…
Why is DIRECTV using big power bricks now?
If you’ve been using a newer DIRECTV receiver like the H25, you’ve noticed that DIRECTV has started using big “power bricks” instead of simple power cords. It’s kind of silly that the power supply for the tiny C41…
Should you buy a new A/V receiver with Dolby Atmos?
Bragging rights. Come on, you know we love ’em. According to my research, a lot of you folks reading this blog are guys, and guys love bragging rights. We want the cars that go faster, the…
ATSC 3.0 is coming and you should not care
Yes, I’m a little cynical. The Advanced Television Standards Committee, the people who designed the HDTV standards we use today, have gotten a lot closer to release version 3.0 of the ATSC standard. There are some…
DIRECTV removes YouTube icon from most HD receivers
Well, we knew it was coming. It was about two weeks ago that we told you of a change to YouTube that would essentially break it for older smart devices. That unfortunately includes DIRECTV DVRs, since they were…