The Solid Signal Blog

Our offices are closed today so our 100% US-based staff can enjoy some time with their families. Of course, you can still order online, but since none of the major carriers are shipping today, nothing is going to ship until tomorrow. Remember the reason Memorial Day is more than a day at the beach. It’s a time to remember the heroes who fought Fascism, Nazism, and every single other “ism” that threatened our way of life. It’s a reminder that a lot of those people didn’t come home. Today we take a moment from our busy lives to remember them. There’s probably a parade in your town square, and before you light up the grill you might stop and watch it. Memorial Day is one of those days where we can be somber and happy at the same time...

In today’s globalized business landscape, collaboration often extends beyond traditional office walls. Companies increasingly leverage outsourced software development to access a wider talent pool and benefit from cost efficiencies. However, this geographically dispersed approach hinges on reliable communication infrastructure. This is where satellite signal solutions emerge as a game-changer, particularly for businesses operating in remote locations or areas with limited traditional network access. The Rise of Outsourced Software Development The software development landscape has witnessed a significant shift towards outsourcing. Businesses are recognizing the advantages of tapping into a global pool of skilled developers. This model...

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Every so often, I rant about the problems with passwords. (Don’t believe me? Here’s the proof.) Passwords are a real problem because they go against human nature. If they’re complex enough to be unhackable, they’re not simple enough to be memorized. If you have enough complexity and don’t reuse passwords, there’s no hope you’ll ever remember which password goes with which account. The latest solution being floated is the idea of a passkey. This idea isn’t new, but for some reason they stopped calling it “authenticator apps” and started calling it “passkeys.” But, it’s the same idea. You put an app on your phone and instead of you logging in with a password, a web site sends a message to your phone. You can approve or deny the login at...

Life on the water isn’t just about the water. Of course you go out there for the beauty, the privacy, the experience. Is that really all? Truth is that if you have a larger boat you go out there because it’s a luxury. Luxury is all about having what you want, when you want. It’s about not leaving anything on the table. But then you don’t need me to tell you that. You’ve outfitted your yacht with the best of everything. You bring the best food with you. You’ve created as much comfort as you can. You even use the best steering wheel. And, when it comes to marine technology, you want the best as well. This means satellite television, TV antenna, cellular signal boosters, and the kind of marine electronics that make you feel safe in any...

Free TV when you’re out on the open road. That’s basically freedom piled on top of freedom right there, and that’s the American way! No wonder so many people get over-the-air antennas mounted to their RVs. Are you one of them, or are you thinking about mounting your antenna to your RV? It’s a tough question to answer, thanks to the government If you had an RV prior to 2009, you might remember watching live TV while driving. At least hopefully your passengers remember it and you personally remember driving with your eyes on the road, right? Well you survived whatever you were doing, so I’m sure you were safe enough. Before 2009’s digital transition, regular TV signals worked while your RV was moving. Today, they don’t. The digital...

Friends, it’s going to be a pretty dry summer when it comes to streaming releases. If I had to guess, I’d say I’ll be writing a lot more of these types of articles where I talk about an aspect of streaming rather than some show or movie that is streaming. This time around I want to talk about “the algorithm.” The last several weeks I have heard the term “algorithm” more than I may have in my entire life, thanks to the potential that TikTok could be sold. TikTok’s sole asset is its algorithm. People who like TikTok say it almost magically knows what its viewers want to see next. (For my part, that has turned out not to be true, but I’m a little out of their core demographic.) What is an algorithm anyway? Here’s what Google says: And...

If you have a rooftop antenna, it probably has steel, aluminum, and plastic. Your indoor antenna might have all three, too. Why are there so many different materials used in antenna manufacture, and which is the one you just can’t live without? Spoiler alert: aluminum. I could tease you and make you get all the way to the bottom of the article, but I won’t. Aluminum is the key material in most antennas. Why? It’s a great combination of the factors you need for an antenna. I went into deep detail in this article, but here’s the short version It is more conductive than steel, more corrosion-resistant than copper, and cheaper than gold. Look at this list of the most conductive metals: Silver Copper Annealed copper Gold Aluminium...

Fiber optics are a big part of any new commercial installation. They get information from place to place faster and more efficiently than copper wiring. It’s also less expensive and easier to implement than ever before. However, there are some truths about fiber optics that are impossible to ignore. Fiber is still expensive. Fiber costs less than some of the cables it replaces, because one small strand can carry so much information. However, it’s still more expensive than copper because of the extremely high standards that fiber’s built to. Fiber isn’t adaptable. There are two different types of fiber — single mode and multimode — and it’s essentially impossible to convert from one to another. There are many different kinds of...

If you’ve enjoyed life on the water all summer, you’re probably thinking of packing it in about now. It’s about to turn colder, and that means getting that boat packed up for the winter. It’s also the perfect time to talk about upgrading. Still rockin’ that standard def setup? Back in 2004-2007, there was a huge increase in the number of boats with marine satellite dishes. The technology was brand new. For the first time you could watch TV ten miles off shore. A lot of boats got dishes installed, and then, the recession happened. Whether you’re the first owner of the boat or someone who picked up something with satellite built-in, there’s a good chance that marine TV system hasn’t changed much since those days. Marine satellite...

It’s sort of a traffic system for satellite TV signals. Multiswitches were born out of necessity in the early days of satellite television, and they’re still around today. Every modern satellite TV system has one, although they are often built into the dish itself. Let’s take a look at this modern marvel and how it does what it does. More than just a splitter A multiswitch is more than just a splitter, although at its heart it’s basically a splitter. The purpose of a multiswitch is to allow more lines to come out of a dish than it’s designed for, and to allow more programs to be available than are possible with simple satellite reception. Separate signals In the early days of satellite, basically you put up one dish and pointed it...

A customer asked this question the other day, and I thought it would make for a great article. There’s a good story to tell here and there’s a lot of information that might be helpful to someone trying to make this decision. A little background SInce 2016, DIRECTV has planned to end standard definition local service. The original end date was the end of 2019, but that plan has been pushed back several times. It seems to be going full steam now, and you can get an up-to-date list of which markets have lost standard definition locals here. A lot of those cities are port cities, and that has meant some specific impacts to our marine customers. In order to get high-definition local channels (in fact to get almost all high-definition...

A couple of weeks ago I ran into an old article on Gizmodo entitled, “Hey Artists, Stop Putting Shiny Crap Into Space.” The thrust of the article is simple. Putting things into space is now so cheap that we can do it just for art’s sake. They point to this installation, called the Orbital Reflector. The project finally did launch back at the end of 2018, but failed in perhaps the stupidest possible way. According to the official press release, NASA literally lost it. They couldn’t find its radio signature because they couldn’t distinguish it from other things that might have been it. Then, the US Government shut down, putting the whole effort on hold. When things did pick up, NASA still couldn’t find it. The plan was to “deorbit” the...

Over the years, we’ve been trained to believe that newer tech is always better tech. 3G was better than 2G, and 4G was better than 3G. We were told that LTE was even newer than 4G so that had to be better as well. Yet, in some cases, we’ve heard over the years that 5G was not as good as LTE even though it was supposed to be better. Before I even start… For several years, there’s been a series of urban legends that linked 5G to a number of different health and security concerns. Although I don’t claim to be a medical or surveillance expert, there’s no reason to believe 5G is anything more than just a way for cell phones to communicate. I go into more detail here. 5G is different from all previous cellular standards 5G was designed...

A little warning before we start: this isn’t going to be a long article full of math and equations that most people will never be able to understand. It’s my goal here at The Solid Signal Blog to provide information that the average person will find useful. Sometimes that means simplifying things a little bit or glossing over details. I want to help you choose the right equipment and feel confident in what you have and how to use it. I know there are a lot of sources for PhD-level information when it comes to RF engineering, and if that’s what you’re looking for I think that’s great. Realistically, this isn’t that. Let’s start with the electromagnetic spectrum We use the term “electromagnetic spectrum” for all the kinds of electrical...