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Cutting Edge
This past weekend 20+ SatelliteGuys members were lucky enough to spend two hours with Dish Network CEO Charlie Ergen and Senior Vice President of Programming Eric Sahl. Those folks lucky enough to attend got to hear from these executives totally unscripted, totally honest, 100% uncensored and totally open to our questions.
Why did these guys open up to us? Because they trusted us not to post details of this private meeting on the Internet. TRUST COUNTS.
As you might have seen recently we gave our readers another SatelliteGuys First Look with our "Premiere Review: The DirecTV SWM LNB." SatelliteGuys staff member Jason Crandall known as "Masterdeals" wrote this review. The review was based on his own findings in testing out the LNB for over 3 months.
The decision to release our review was made after we received word that DirecTV HSP's now were getting inventories of this amazing LNB. In posting this review we did so without violating any of the rules of the testing program.
It seems as though another website was very upset at us posting our review before they posted theirs and these folks filed a complaint with DirecTV about our review. Here is a portion of this complaint to DirecTV for your review.
Third and most concerning to me is the fact that DirecTV is not only approving DBSTalk's draft reviews of the product but DirecTV has also requested that edits be made to their review before they would approve it! (And in case your wondering I have this in writing, I am not just talking out my butt here.)
My question to the entire satellite community is how can the folks at DBSTalk call their review a review is it is essentially a review written by DirecTV? From where I sit all of DBSTalks credibility has been shot out the window as it appears they are nothing more then corporate puppets for DirecTV!
Jason's review for SatelliteGuys was his own heart felt review, which I felt was really well done. Yes it did contain a mistake where Jason noted that the first SWM switch was a 5 port switch when it was actually an 8 port switch.
I have also seen that a number of folks over there are upset that Jason mentioned that you can diplex with the SWM LNB. While you can indeed diplex with the SWM LNB it is NOT recommended or supported by DirecTV. What I find funny about the folks upset about Jason mentioning that it does work with diplexing is that these same folks who are complaining are also the same people who have posted in the private field test forum at DBStalk that they too are diplexing using the SWM LNB.
Jason's review also contained a few small spelling mistakes, but you know what I liked it. That review was Jasons true feelings about what he feels is an excellent product.
It also appears that that a number of folks are saying that I was the one who wrote the review. This is not the case at all; I unfortunately do not have a SWM LNB. Nor not until recently did I know that Jason was one of the lucky folks selected to test this LNB.
Since CES SatelliteGuys has started building a great relationship with DirecTV, and I have been in contact with DirecTV yesterday and I can see this relationship growing.
I have asked DirecTV for equal access to everything that DBSTalk has access to, and it is something they are working on making a reality for us.
Our philosophy here is we just want to provide our readers and members the satellite industry information they want. I understand that not everyone wants to read SatelliteGuys and would rather get their information from another site and I have no problem with that, but I also understand that folks would rather get their satellite information from one place, and that place is SatelliteGuys.US. And because of that I will take any action that I must to insure that the information is made available to our members.
I am sure a number of folks will say that my words and actions could cause an end to the CE program; I personally don't see that happening. Sure DirecTV can take their ball and go home but that wouldn't help anyone. The CE program is an excellent program and for the most part has been well run, Earl did a great job in getting things running. SatelliteGuys has been happy that we have been getting into the CE program and we will continue working to expand our role to make the CE program better for all.
Now I should note that I am working on a few exciting things and honestly I would like this work to include DBSTalk and their members on some of the things I am working on. Honestly the folks at DBSTalk are not bad guys, in fact I have enjoyed working with the DBSTalk guys at places like CES. We just have a different way of doing things, and ultimately that may not be a bad thing. We need to start working together. I fully understand this and have no problem with this. But for to work then both sites need to cut the crap (and I will be the first to admit we are not innocent either.)
To do this it is going to take work and most importantly trust.
I will do what I can to make this happen, but this is a two way street. I can see some exciting things happening for both of our sites if we work together.
I know that some folks will say how can you want to work with these guys after what I posted earlier in this message. If you know me, you know I always tell it like I see it. I felt I needed to show our members what's really going on behind the scenes. Yes what happened might not be pretty, however the way I look at things I am the kind of person who would rather look ahead then look back at the past.
The way I am looking is forward and I can see some amazing things coming down the line and that should be exciting for all satellite technology lovers out there. So today I offer the olive branch, lets both move on forward and ahead together. All the parties involved know how to reach me, lets see where we go together.
Now in closing let me make a promise to all the SatelliteGuys member, no matter what happens SatelliteGuys will continue to tell you the latest satellite news, rumors, talk and information. We will continue to call it as we see it, and when we review things the review we post will always be our own words. You have our word on that.
Trust us… Trust Counts!
Why did these guys open up to us? Because they trusted us not to post details of this private meeting on the Internet. TRUST COUNTS.
As you might have seen recently we gave our readers another SatelliteGuys First Look with our "Premiere Review: The DirecTV SWM LNB." SatelliteGuys staff member Jason Crandall known as "Masterdeals" wrote this review. The review was based on his own findings in testing out the LNB for over 3 months.
The decision to release our review was made after we received word that DirecTV HSP's now were getting inventories of this amazing LNB. In posting this review we did so without violating any of the rules of the testing program.
It seems as though another website was very upset at us posting our review before they posted theirs and these folks filed a complaint with DirecTV about our review. Here is a portion of this complaint to DirecTV for your review.
I have a few problems with the statements made in this complaint to DirecTV, first I am told that there was no non disclosure agreement required by anyone in these tests, thus there was no violation there. Secondly again we waited until the product was released before posting our review.
Third and most concerning to me is the fact that DirecTV is not only approving DBSTalk's draft reviews of the product but DirecTV has also requested that edits be made to their review before they would approve it! (And in case your wondering I have this in writing, I am not just talking out my butt here.)
My question to the entire satellite community is how can the folks at DBSTalk call their review a review is it is essentially a review written by DirecTV? From where I sit all of DBSTalks credibility has been shot out the window as it appears they are nothing more then corporate puppets for DirecTV!
Jason's review for SatelliteGuys was his own heart felt review, which I felt was really well done. Yes it did contain a mistake where Jason noted that the first SWM switch was a 5 port switch when it was actually an 8 port switch.
I have also seen that a number of folks over there are upset that Jason mentioned that you can diplex with the SWM LNB. While you can indeed diplex with the SWM LNB it is NOT recommended or supported by DirecTV. What I find funny about the folks upset about Jason mentioning that it does work with diplexing is that these same folks who are complaining are also the same people who have posted in the private field test forum at DBStalk that they too are diplexing using the SWM LNB.
Jason's review also contained a few small spelling mistakes, but you know what I liked it. That review was Jasons true feelings about what he feels is an excellent product.
It also appears that that a number of folks are saying that I was the one who wrote the review. This is not the case at all; I unfortunately do not have a SWM LNB. Nor not until recently did I know that Jason was one of the lucky folks selected to test this LNB.
Since CES SatelliteGuys has started building a great relationship with DirecTV, and I have been in contact with DirecTV yesterday and I can see this relationship growing.
I have asked DirecTV for equal access to everything that DBSTalk has access to, and it is something they are working on making a reality for us.
Our philosophy here is we just want to provide our readers and members the satellite industry information they want. I understand that not everyone wants to read SatelliteGuys and would rather get their information from another site and I have no problem with that, but I also understand that folks would rather get their satellite information from one place, and that place is SatelliteGuys.US. And because of that I will take any action that I must to insure that the information is made available to our members.
I am sure a number of folks will say that my words and actions could cause an end to the CE program; I personally don't see that happening. Sure DirecTV can take their ball and go home but that wouldn't help anyone. The CE program is an excellent program and for the most part has been well run, Earl did a great job in getting things running. SatelliteGuys has been happy that we have been getting into the CE program and we will continue working to expand our role to make the CE program better for all.
Now I should note that I am working on a few exciting things and honestly I would like this work to include DBSTalk and their members on some of the things I am working on. Honestly the folks at DBSTalk are not bad guys, in fact I have enjoyed working with the DBSTalk guys at places like CES. We just have a different way of doing things, and ultimately that may not be a bad thing. We need to start working together. I fully understand this and have no problem with this. But for to work then both sites need to cut the crap (and I will be the first to admit we are not innocent either.)
To do this it is going to take work and most importantly trust.
I will do what I can to make this happen, but this is a two way street. I can see some exciting things happening for both of our sites if we work together.
I know that some folks will say how can you want to work with these guys after what I posted earlier in this message. If you know me, you know I always tell it like I see it. I felt I needed to show our members what's really going on behind the scenes. Yes what happened might not be pretty, however the way I look at things I am the kind of person who would rather look ahead then look back at the past.
The way I am looking is forward and I can see some amazing things coming down the line and that should be exciting for all satellite technology lovers out there. So today I offer the olive branch, lets both move on forward and ahead together. All the parties involved know how to reach me, lets see where we go together.
Now in closing let me make a promise to all the SatelliteGuys member, no matter what happens SatelliteGuys will continue to tell you the latest satellite news, rumors, talk and information. We will continue to call it as we see it, and when we review things the review we post will always be our own words. You have our word on that.
Trust us… Trust Counts!
238 Replies
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28865 views
Slow down for a minute Mike. It is clear why you are at our site right now and you are way beyond over reacting.
The post said "Satelliteguys.US Exclusive..."
.US is part of our site address, simple enough
I've removed the word Exclusive, I agree that it should not be there. I actually removed it a few days ago.
The document and the frontpage post did not use the word exclusive.
Can we stop putting so much thought into the precison of the words I typed ... Believe me - I didn't put near as much thought into typing them as you have trying to interpet them.
Slow down for a minute Mike. It is clear why you are at our site right now and you are way beyond over reacting.
The post said "Satelliteguys.US Exclusive..."
.US is part of our site address, simple enough
I've removed the word Exclusive, I agree that it should not be there. I actually removed it a few days ago.
The document and the frontpage post did not use the word exclusive.
Can we stop putting so much thought into the precison of the words I typed ... Believe me - I didn't put near as much thought into typing them as you have trying to interpet them.
I'm honestly over the wording. AAMOF, After I brought it up Scott appologized for not realizing how your post was worded and that was good enough for me.
My problem is with the personal attacks. Not just this particular case(not just about me either) but it's on going. This just happened to be the straw.
Although I admit I did over react and I appolgize to Derwin0 for that. It wasn't necessarily his post but the whole thing so some of my comments were uncalled for. However, I really think this thread should be closed as it doesn't have much to contribute and will only foster animosity.
I don't do personal attacks. Go through my posts at DBSTalk and any other forum you can find my ID in any you find <5 (out of about 1600) where I had anything to say about another member. That isn't what informational forums are all about. There is a difference between allow free thought and opinion and letting trash talking run rampant.
Not sure what you mean by "It is clear why you are at our site right now" but if you check my posts you'll see I've limited my discussion on the subject to this thread. My other posts have been informational in the DirecTV forum. I was trying to contribute to those looking for information (within my level of knowledge such as it may be).
Again, it's true I over reacted and for that I appologize.
Mike
I belive there was a lot to be learned from this thread - this week. I know I sure have.
I think it's kind of funny that you are expecting / wanting this thread to be closed. It shows where you spend the majority of your satelite forum time
I think it's kind of funny that you are expecting / wanting this thread to be closed. It shows where you spend the majority of your satelite forum time
S
This is just so full of crap... Do you spend any time at all at DBSTalk? I see over and over again posts of "you can't disagree over there or you'll get banned or posts deleted". Again, do you actually read anything over there? I'd guess not if anyone really believes this junk. One only has to look at the DLB threads, the error 13 threads and heck pretty much every CE issues thread to see otherwise. There are *plenty* of negative things said and posted at DBSTalk. Plenty. Lots of disagreements and it's all out there in the open for any of you to see.
Please.
And then you try to take the high road by touting your own site and all you guys do is take cheap shot after cheap shot. I think most people see thru it except those that feel wronged by the other site in some way. Whatever.
Besides, I know of a couple people who have had their posts deleted here in the past for disagreeing or calling an issue to the floor and proof of it with screenshots. When brought to the mods all they say is that it doesn't happen here and we'd see it in the logs. Yea, keep telling yourself that. Even with proof it seems to just get washed under the rug.
Oh well...
I think it's kind of funny that you are expecting / wanting this thread to be closed. It shows where you spend the majority of your satelite forum time
This is just so full of crap... Do you spend any time at all at DBSTalk? I see over and over again posts of "you can't disagree over there or you'll get banned or posts deleted". Again, do you actually read anything over there? I'd guess not if anyone really believes this junk. One only has to look at the DLB threads, the error 13 threads and heck pretty much every CE issues thread to see otherwise. There are *plenty* of negative things said and posted at DBSTalk. Plenty. Lots of disagreements and it's all out there in the open for any of you to see.
Please.
And then you try to take the high road by touting your own site and all you guys do is take cheap shot after cheap shot. I think most people see thru it except those that feel wronged by the other site in some way. Whatever.
Besides, I know of a couple people who have had their posts deleted here in the past for disagreeing or calling an issue to the floor and proof of it with screenshots. When brought to the mods all they say is that it doesn't happen here and we'd see it in the logs. Yea, keep telling yourself that. Even with proof it seems to just get washed under the rug.
Oh well...
Shibby I have talked with DirecTV about this at length and they agreed with us for putting up our review
You will be seeing more reviews from us in the future.
Stay Tuned
Folks if you haven't noticed I have closed this thread, it served its purpose and have opened the doors we needed open.
It was great to work with Tom from DBSTalk last night, and we had a bunch of SatelliteGuys members and DBStalk members in the same room working for the same goal (and no one killed anyone)
Now I notice a few folks have come over here and signed and have done nothing but talked trash, to these folks I say if you want to be here and learn and help other users then welcome, but continue posting your crap and you will find your accounts closed. I have authorized SatelliteGuys staff members to ban accounts which are just trying to cause trouble. By folks just signing up here just to cause trouble you are not doing anything for your own cause and are making the other sites look bad. DirecTV is watching and has taken notice of this.
Enough is enough, its time for all of us to work together. Its time to stop looking back and its time to start looking forward. There are lots of great things coming. STAY TUNED.
It was great to work with Tom from DBSTalk last night, and we had a bunch of SatelliteGuys members and DBStalk members in the same room working for the same goal (and no one killed anyone)
Now I notice a few folks have come over here and signed and have done nothing but talked trash, to these folks I say if you want to be here and learn and help other users then welcome, but continue posting your crap and you will find your accounts closed. I have authorized SatelliteGuys staff members to ban accounts which are just trying to cause trouble. By folks just signing up here just to cause trouble you are not doing anything for your own cause and are making the other sites look bad. DirecTV is watching and has taken notice of this.
Enough is enough, its time for all of us to work together. Its time to stop looking back and its time to start looking forward. There are lots of great things coming. STAY TUNED.
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
Did anyone have a price increase today on their equipment? I own my VIP211k's, and they have been $5.00. My bill that I received last week shows the "add-ons" as being $5.00. However, I just logged into my Dish account, and my "add-ons" are now $10.00. Did the additional receivers go up by $5.00 recently?
As I mentioned, my last bill shows $5.00 and under the notes, nothing is mentioned about a price increase.
As I mentioned, my last bill shows $5.00 and under the notes, nothing is mentioned about a price increase.
4 Replies
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46 views
However, when I make a change (tried to add the Columbian pack for $2 so I could generate my bill) and there is a new line - it says "Access for TV" - whereas previously that line item was not there. I hope they aren't charging $5.00 for the initial TV now...
Possibly. In theory, $9 of the base pack has a rental fee built in. But now is this $5 a chance to get a little more? I don't know for sure. According to chat, it is a glitch and will be resolved in a timely manner, but we shall see. Part of my thinks there is a going to be a new charge, whether it is now or this fall. Here in Illinois, the law requires we are given 30 days notice of any fee changes, but I have not been given anything.
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
So let the game continue!
The last song was added by Bobby who posted...
One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters
CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!
Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game
Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.
Example:
Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow
Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio
Another example:
Ride the Lightning -- Metallica
Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne
Get it?
An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....
67106 Replies
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2662269 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Our DNS provider is encouraging us to enable DNSSEC on our domains for added security.
I have gone ahead and enabled it, and am told it may take anywhere from 90 minutes to 24 hours for it to take effect.
Hopefully doing this does not harm the site in any way. (It shouldn't) but if it does, you will then know why and I will revert the settings.
But from what I am reading it should be ok. so just giving a warning as I have screwed up DNS stuff in the past.
I have gone ahead and enabled it, and am told it may take anywhere from 90 minutes to 24 hours for it to take effect.
Hopefully doing this does not harm the site in any way. (It shouldn't) but if it does, you will then know why and I will revert the settings.
But from what I am reading it should be ok. so just giving a warning as I have screwed up DNS stuff in the past.
1 Replies
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31 views
Ham Radio 2.0
Time for another AWESOME video from Ham Radio 2.0!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erpXkKWLg54
Direct YouTube Link - I Went Wardriving for Meshtastic and Meshcoree Nodes!
Ham Radio 2.0 Website
Ham Radio 2.0 on Facebook
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erpXkKWLg54
Direct YouTube Link - I Went Wardriving for Meshtastic and Meshcoree Nodes!
Ham Radio 2.0 Website
Ham Radio 2.0 on Facebook
0 Replies
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5 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Due to security concerns and the fact that the Tapatalk Plugin for Xenforo is no longer being updated we have removed Tapatalk support from SatelliteGuys.
For those who were using it we recommend using our PWA App instead which is faster and does not have all the spam Tapatalk had. Below is a graphic showing how to add SatelliteGuys to your devices home screen. (While iOS is shown the process is mostly the same for Android.)
Thanks for your understanding.
For those who were using it we recommend using our PWA App instead which is faster and does not have all the spam Tapatalk had. Below is a graphic showing how to add SatelliteGuys to your devices home screen. (While iOS is shown the process is mostly the same for Android.)
Thanks for your understanding.
7 Replies
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183 views
Actually, PWA stands for "Progressive Web Application" and is basically just saving a site's homepage to your desktop where it appears as an "App" with the rest of your smartphone's Apps.
A PWA is a custom version of SatelliteGuys which is optimized for mobile devices. While it may look like the website, its actually different so that only the files needed for mobile are sent, meaning its a much faster experience all around.
TapaTalk is essentially dead. It was written for PHP 5.4 and we are now running PHP 8.4. There have been a LOT of PHP security updates since then and since Tapatalk for Xenforo has not been updated in a long long time it is not the safest idea to keep running it.
In addition those trying to view the site on their mobile devices using a browser were getting spammed on the top of the screen for people to install TapaTalk, this ad in some cases would take up 20% of the users screen. We could get rid of that ad but we would have to pay $20 a month to get rid of it.
In addition TapaTalk could and was inserting their own ads on SatelliteGuys in the app which only benefitted them, SatelliteGuys was not paid for those ads they were displaying on our site. Again we could pay to get rid of those ads.
And here was the cost of the Premium Tier.
Now to make matters worse Tapatalk recently announced that they are going to start charging users of the app 99 cents a month to continue using it.
So soon you would be paying them each month to access SatelliteGuys via their app, again all the money going to them... and you would still see all their ads too.
Tapatalk was a great program which we run for many many years, and for a long time we DID pay for the premium tier. But now with such a small offset using it (My numbers show a total of 6 members) it wasn't work paying for any longer.
In addition Tapatalk was sold to a different owner who made lots of promises of improvements and updates but then that owner has been really radio silent since, instead they have been letting TapaTalk rot on the vine.
If you visit their support forum at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/tapatalksupport/ you will see there is not much going on, in fact most of the support questions posted there go unanswered.
Please give the PWA a try, I was a die hard Tapatalk user myself but now only use the PWA on devices. It is a much better all around experience, with no bloatware or additional ads based on your user membership level.
I don't have an android phone so I could not make a graphic showing you how to add SatelliteGuys PWA to your phones apps or home screen. But here is a site that explains how to do it on all kinds of devices. How to Install a PWA on iOS, Android, Windows & Mac [2025 Guide]
The above link also explains PWA's better as well.
If Tapatalk were to update their plugins so we know we are more secure and up to date and allow us to remove the "Smart Banner" without having to pay $20 a month, we would consider adding it back. I don't even care about their ads, as if a user wants to use their app and is willing to sit through their ads in order to use that app then I am ok with it.
But hopefully that explains better why it was removed. It was not done to cut anyone off from the site. Please give the PWA a try.
TapaTalk is essentially dead. It was written for PHP 5.4 and we are now running PHP 8.4. There have been a LOT of PHP security updates since then and since Tapatalk for Xenforo has not been updated in a long long time it is not the safest idea to keep running it.
In addition those trying to view the site on their mobile devices using a browser were getting spammed on the top of the screen for people to install TapaTalk, this ad in some cases would take up 20% of the users screen. We could get rid of that ad but we would have to pay $20 a month to get rid of it.
In addition TapaTalk could and was inserting their own ads on SatelliteGuys in the app which only benefitted them, SatelliteGuys was not paid for those ads they were displaying on our site. Again we could pay to get rid of those ads.
And here was the cost of the Premium Tier.
Now to make matters worse Tapatalk recently announced that they are going to start charging users of the app 99 cents a month to continue using it.
So soon you would be paying them each month to access SatelliteGuys via their app, again all the money going to them... and you would still see all their ads too.
Tapatalk was a great program which we run for many many years, and for a long time we DID pay for the premium tier. But now with such a small offset using it (My numbers show a total of 6 members) it wasn't work paying for any longer.
In addition Tapatalk was sold to a different owner who made lots of promises of improvements and updates but then that owner has been really radio silent since, instead they have been letting TapaTalk rot on the vine.
If you visit their support forum at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/tapatalksupport/ you will see there is not much going on, in fact most of the support questions posted there go unanswered.
Please give the PWA a try, I was a die hard Tapatalk user myself but now only use the PWA on devices. It is a much better all around experience, with no bloatware or additional ads based on your user membership level.
I don't have an android phone so I could not make a graphic showing you how to add SatelliteGuys PWA to your phones apps or home screen. But here is a site that explains how to do it on all kinds of devices. How to Install a PWA on iOS, Android, Windows & Mac [2025 Guide]
The above link also explains PWA's better as well.
If Tapatalk were to update their plugins so we know we are more secure and up to date and allow us to remove the "Smart Banner" without having to pay $20 a month, we would consider adding it back. I don't even care about their ads, as if a user wants to use their app and is willing to sit through their ads in order to use that app then I am ok with it.
But hopefully that explains better why it was removed. It was not done to cut anyone off from the site.
Please give the PWA a try.
I just installed the PWA on my Android phone. It was pretty easy to do, and now I'm posting this from my phone. Thanks, Scott!A PWA is a custom version of SatelliteGuys which is optimized for mobile devices. While it may look like the website, its actually different so that only the files needed for mobile are sent, meaning its a much faster experience all around.
TapaTalk is essentially dead. It was written for PHP 5.4 and we are now running PHP 8.4. There have been a LOT of PHP security updates since then and since Tapatalk for Xenforo has not been updated in a long long time it is not the safest idea to keep running it.
In addition those trying to view the site on their mobile devices using a browser were getting spammed on the top of the screen for people to install TapaTalk, this ad in some cases would take up 20% of the users screen. We could get rid of that ad but we would have to pay $20 a month to get rid of it.
View attachment 191729
In addition TapaTalk could and was inserting their own ads on SatelliteGuys in the app which only benefitted them, SatelliteGuys was not paid for those ads they were displaying on our site. Again we could pay to get rid of those ads.
View attachment 191730
And here was the cost of the Premium Tier.
View attachment 191731
Now to make matters worse Tapatalk recently announced that they are going to start charging users of the app 99 cents a month to continue using it.
View attachment 191732
So soon you would be paying them each month to access SatelliteGuys via their app, again all the money going to them... and you would still see all their ads too.
Tapatalk was a great program which we run for many many years, and for a long time we DID pay for the premium tier. But now with such a small offset using it (My numbers show a total of 6 members) it wasn't work paying for any longer.
In addition Tapatalk was sold to a different owner who made lots of promises of improvements and updates but then that owner has been really radio silent since, instead they have been letting TapaTalk rot on the vine.
If you visit their support forum at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/tapatalksupport/ you will see there is not much going on, in fact most of the support questions posted there go unanswered.
Please give the PWA a try, I was a die hard Tapatalk user myself but now only use the PWA on devices. It is a much better all around experience, with no bloatware or additional ads based on your user membership level.
I don't have an android phone so I could not make a graphic showing you how to add SatelliteGuys PWA to your phones apps or home screen. But here is a site that explains how to do it on all kinds of devices. How to Install a PWA on iOS, Android, Windows & Mac [2025 Guide]
The above link also explains PWA's better as well.
If Tapatalk were to update their plugins so we know we are more secure and up to date and allow us to remove the "Smart Banner" without having to pay $20 a month, we would consider adding it back. I don't even care about their ads, as if a user wants to use their app and is willing to sit through their ads in order to use that app then I am ok with it.
But hopefully that explains better why it was removed. It was not done to cut anyone off from the site.
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
As you may have noticed we are doing a Fund Raiser for SatelliteGuys!
As many of you know I have been paying for a majority of the operation of the site out of my own pocket for awhile now. Now looking at things we have a number of renewals coming up that I could use some help with. These renewals include the license renewal for our Forum Software, Renewal of a number of our add on's the site uses, renewal of domain names etc.
I have set a goal of $400.00 - any extra that comes in will just go to fund the operations of the site. None of the money will go to me (I tried BuyMeACoffee a few months ago, and they denied me saying they do not do business with Satellite Piracy sites... which we are not... hell we host the beta programs for both DISH and DIRECTV here...)
Anyways... if you would like to help out please click the link below.
www.satelliteguys.us
Thank you in advance.
As many of you know I have been paying for a majority of the operation of the site out of my own pocket for awhile now. Now looking at things we have a number of renewals coming up that I could use some help with. These renewals include the license renewal for our Forum Software, Renewal of a number of our add on's the site uses, renewal of domain names etc.
I have set a goal of $400.00 - any extra that comes in will just go to fund the operations of the site. None of the money will go to me (I tried BuyMeACoffee a few months ago, and they denied me saying they do not do business with Satellite Piracy sites... which we are not... hell we host the beta programs for both DISH and DIRECTV here...)
Anyways... if you would like to help out please click the link below.
SatelliteGuys Maintenance Fund Raiser
www.satelliteguys.us
Thank you in advance.
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562 views
I planned on removing it today, but then my fathers car broke down and I had to drive him all around to get his stuff done. Then I had a doctors appointment after that which was annoying...
Dr asks me if I have had any changes, so I tell him something wrong with me that started a month or so ago and his reply back is, that it sucks to get old... I hate that. Why ask me. if your going to come back with a smart ass answer.
Anyays I hope to get rid of Tapatalk tomorrow.
And we had more people donate today, thank you! The extra money is going to future expenses since things like add ons don't expire at the same time.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU AGAIN!
Dr asks me if I have had any changes, so I tell him something wrong with me that started a month or so ago and his reply back is, that it sucks to get old... I hate that. Why ask me. if your going to come back with a smart ass answer.
Anyays I hope to get rid of Tapatalk tomorrow.
And we had more people donate today, thank you! The extra money is going to future expenses since things like add ons don't expire at the same time.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU AGAIN!
Tapatalk has been removed.
I have added a new feature which is a work in progress called "Social Feed" which displays the forums Facebook style. Its nice for people who like that, but needs work. But i have been watching this one for awhile and the author is being really responsive to suggestions and adding them. So if you have any please let me know and I can pass them along.
I have added a new feature which is a work in progress called "Social Feed" which displays the forums Facebook style. Its nice for people who like that, but needs work. But i have been watching this one for awhile and the author is being really responsive to suggestions and adding them. So if you have any please let me know and I can pass them along.
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
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2725 views
TFLEV
Time for another AWESOME video from TFL Electric Vehicles!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7CB6m89_RY
Direct YouTube Link - How the Heck Do You Tell the NEW 2027 Rivian R2 from the R1? I Compare Both Side-By-Side!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7CB6m89_RY
Direct YouTube Link - How the Heck Do You Tell the NEW 2027 Rivian R2 from the R1? I Compare Both Side-By-Side!
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10 views
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
I have had good experiences with Brave but lately I am frustrated with it.
Now when I launch the app it shows a box at the bottom asking if I want to go back to the last opened page. It is in conveniently located and I would prefer to eliminate it.
Does anyone know how to do this?
Please let's not sidetrack the discussion into an exploration of why I don't care for it or a lecture about all the wonderful aspects of the feature. I just do not care for it.
Now when I launch the app it shows a box at the bottom asking if I want to go back to the last opened page. It is in conveniently located and I would prefer to eliminate it.
Does anyone know how to do this?
Please let's not sidetrack the discussion into an exploration of why I don't care for it or a lecture about all the wonderful aspects of the feature. I just do not care for it.
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72 views
I don't have an Android phone so I don't know if this will apply to the Brave settings on your android device but it works on the desktop for me.
Change this setting to either startup to a different website or a new tab page. I have mine set to open to google.com instead of where I left off and it doesn't ask me at the next startup if I want to open the last opened page unless it crashed.
Change this setting to either startup to a different website or a new tab page. I have mine set to open to google.com instead of where I left off and it doesn't ask me at the next startup if I want to open the last opened page unless it crashed.
Supporting Founder
Since the Reds have there thread we should too!
Last watched Nine inch Nails
Next 3:10 to Yuma
Last watched Nine inch Nails
Next 3:10 to Yuma
5346 Replies
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509292 views
