What is Reverse DBS (RDBS or Reverse Band)?
Put a note in your calendars, you heard it here first. Years from now when everyone is talking about RDBS, you’ll be able to say, “Oh yes, I do remember back in early 2014 when I…
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EDITORIAL: Maybe I don’t want a Smart TV
Longtime readers of The Solid Signal Blog will see that over time, my thinking about Smart TVs has evolved. I was a big fan of the technology in 2011, even investing my own money to get a…
Protect your connections from the weather with STUF
We know that there are all sorts of installs. Some have the luxury of having everything in an air-conditioned and moisture-controlled room. Others have to survive the harshest elements. A weather boot can help control corrosion…
TIP: Set your satellite dish type for DIRECTV
If you’ve recently replaced your dish, you might need to check or change the satellite dish type. (Here’s a quick tutorial on how to check your satellite setup.) These are the proper dish types for the different…
Turn an unused DECA into an ethernet port!
If you’ve been around DIRECTV for a while, you may have some unused wiring in your home, and a few unused parts. The good news is that it’s possible to turn that unused stuff into an…
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Broadcasting is magic
Fact. The received power from a satellite is measured in millionths of a watt. Even after amplification and processing by your satellite dish, the signal is usually about -35dBm, which is .000000316 watts. A nightlight is…
EDITORIAL: Curved TV is a flash in the pan
Anyone who’s anyone at this year’s International Consumer Electronics Show showed a curved TV. There were big ones, small ones… more curves that an (insert inappropriate comment here.) But as our blog team walked the room,…
FOOD FOR THOUGHT: Your smartphone screen is impossible
Consider for a moment, your smartphone’s screen. First of all it has a resolution of, let’s say, 1920×1080. That’s maybe about 260 pixels per square inch. That means in a space of about 3″ x 4″,…
CES2014: Here’s the wrapup
Well, the blog team are back in our cozy chairs with suitcases unpacked and hangovers finished, and it’s time to look back on the stuff we really liked and disliked about this year’s International CES. This…
CES2014: Here’s why we were actually there.
While we’re glad the blog team got to travel on the company dime but there’s another reason that our Solid Signal team traveled to CES: Business. There’s a lot of business that goes on at the International CES…
CES2014: Best Booth in the Show
No we don’t have any fancy award ceremony, but the first ever Solid Signal Blog award for best booth of the show goes to…. Samsung. In fairness, we must of course disclose that Solid Signal is a DISH…
CES2014: Super Joey Wins Editor’s Choice
We’ll have our pick for best booth in about two hours, but yesterday Reviewed.com gave its CES 2014 Editors’ Choice award to Super Joey, the new accessory for Hopper that gives it two additional tuners. We were impressed by Super…
CES2014: They probably wished they’d gotten the smaller booth
There’s an art to choosing your booth at CES. Too small and your customers can’t get to you. On the other hand, here are some examples of companies that probably should have rethought their positions. It…
CES2014: Where’s DIRECTV?
There’s been too many questions to ignore this topic. DISH is making a bigger-than-ever splash at the International Consumer Electronics Show, but DIRECTV hasn’t had a public presence since 2007. Starting in 2008 they have occupied…
CES2014: DISH Booth Tour
The good news is that we got a little better bandwidth and can show you some pictures from DISH’s booth at the 2014 International Consumer Electronics Show. The DISH booth was hopping (pun intended) and one…