What is GLONASS?
Quick answer: It’s the Russian GPS. There’s an interesting history to it that makes it even more interesting. The global positioning system (GPS) was developed by the US Military, so troops on the ground would know…
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Hidden tips for your Genie Mini Client
Here’s the stuff they won’t tell you. You can get a lot of information about your Genie Mini Client by pressing and holding {INFO} on the white remote. There’s a lot more info to be…
It’s finally warming up… time to go out and do some inspections
It seems like every winter gets a little weirder. For folks up north, it looked like an exceedingly dry winter until the most recent snowpocalypse covered us all in the white stuff and caused major havoc….
Does anyone “timeshift” anymore?
Tonight we’re gonna watch TV like it’s 1999. Literally. Back in 1999, two new products hit the market. At the time no one could decide whether to call them “personal video recorders” or “digital video…
Is laminated aluminum better for antennas?
If you want an antenna to last a lifetime, you want it to be solidly made. Our Televes antennas are designed to the highest standards of quality and should last you decades if they’re properly mounted…
Is there a “wrong way” to hook up a band stop filter?
If you don’t know what a band stop filter is, you’re missing out. This little device has a ton of different uses. It’s designed for DIRECTV systems, to block the connected home signal from getting to receivers that…
Problems with your DIGIAIR-PRO-ATSC? Upgrade the firmware
Our Solid Signal DigiAir-Pro-ATSC is a great, full featured antenna meter that not only shows signal strength but also several different measurements that are more important like bit error rate and signal to noise ratio. These…
Time to retire that old HR34 Genie
Are you still staring at one of these in your living room? DIRECTV’s HR34 Genie DVR was the top of the heap in 2012, and I raved about it back then. Things change, and if the…
Should you be excited about NFL games streaming over the internet?
You’ve seen ads promising to let you stream NFL games. Are they even worth considering? Last year, Twitter began streaming NFL games. The social media giant reports that an estimate 3.5 million people used its…
TIP: Dolby on any DIRECTV receiver
Of course you want the best sound, right? With DIRECTV receivers you generally have a lot of choice on how to get the sound out. You can pass it through the HDMI cable, or you can…
Why can’t you put your dish on top of the TV?
Well you could, but you’d have to put the TV on the roof. The point is, you can’t have a dish inside the house. Back when the TV in this picture was considered “high tech,” we…
NICE AND EASY: Can you use a Wally receiver with an older dish?
DISH’s latest standalone receiver is the Wally. It’s designed to work within a Hopper 3 or higher system and therefore it works with the new hybrid pro LNBs. However, it “should” also work with non-hybrid LNBs including…
If you’re not watching DIRECTV in your hotel, why not?
Of course you watch TV in your hotel room. First of all, hotels are notorious for slow internet service, so streaming is out of the question. Second, there’s not a lot to do in your average…
Virtual vs. Real Channels
With the change to DTV we ended up with “Virtual” Channels what are these? The “real” channels are the channels the TV stations are using to transmit on. Back before HDTV, the channel number told us…
Simple Dipole and Bow Tie Antennas
Let’s go over a few things about dipole antennas that I have picked up while being an amateur radio operator. I will start with what is known and go from there. I will then apply…