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HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Since the arrival of the Slingbox on the scenes in July of 2005 people have had a hard time explaining what a Slingbox is. A Slingbox is an amazing product which is usually better explained by showing what it does then explaining it. And once you show someone what a Slingbox can do they want one. The same can be said about the new Slingcatcher from Sling Media.
The Slingcatcher is like a Swiss Army Knife for watching Video. If you can watch it on your computer, you can watch it on any TV.
First and foremost you can enjoy any of your Slingboxes on any television no matter where you are. This is great when your traveling and beats watching TV on your laptop. The Slingcatcher comes with its own remote, which lets you control your video equipment at home.
In the pictures of the remote, it looked triangle in shape, however this is an illusion and s flat on the back and is quite easy to hold and operate.
For my testing I was able to enjoy my Dish Network HD DVR, my DirecTV DVR, my free to air satellite system, and cable television from the office. All just like I was sitting in front of them.
Setting up the Slingcatcher was simple, I opened it up plugged it into my network, hooked it up to my TV and after booting up and accepting a software update I saw all 3 Slingboxes in my house. I was quickly watching my Slingboxes and the quality was excellent.
In order to see my Slingboxes that were not in the house I needed to log into my Sling.COM account, doing this was kind of a chore, but only because I have a long email address. To enter your email address and password to log in you use the number keys and type in the letters like on a telephone.. Once setup I was able to see all of the Slingbox units I own. (And note that to do all of this I never needed to touch a computer or configure my router.)
In my house I have a Slingbox Pro HD unit, A Slingbox Pro Unit, and a Slingbox Classic unit. The picture quality on both pro boxes was very good, While the picture on the older Slingbox Classic looked a little like I was watching video on the internet. Disappointing was the fact that I could not watch the HD from my Slingbox Pro HD as the Slingcatcher does not currently support HD streaming, but again the picture looked very good.
The Slingcatcher features standard AV video outputs, plus SVIDEO and Component outputs plus coax digital audio output as well. Settings let you customize the Slingcatcher for the TV you are hooking it up to and you can even specify the resolution you want the Slingcatcher to output at including 1080i.
There is no real manual included with the box just a quick setup guide. But setting it up and using it is a no brainer. The menus are well laid out and explain things well. You can even program the Slingcatcher remote to control the power and volume controls on your TV.
Besides letting you watch Slingboxes on your TV the Slingcatcher is also a good media player. By hooking up an external hard drive or USB drive to one of the two USB ports on the Slingcatcher you can watch your media on the drives. This worked very will but not surprisingly wouldn't play some on my purchased iTunes songs due to Apples silly DRM. (Note Sling is working on software called SlingSync which can be used to convert incompatible formats to make them playable on the Slingcatcher.)
Another neat thing that the Slingcatcher can do is by using the Slingcatcher with a PC and using a downloadable windows based software called the Slingprojector. With this software anything you see on your PC can be shown on your television. But the Slingprojector does not just mirror your entire screen onto your TV, you can pick the area of the screen you want projected on your TV. In doing this the Slingprojector just takes that portion of your screen and blows it up on your television. Now I know a lot of you are saying Blowing up a standard Youtube video on a big tv set must look bad, but surprisingly sling has some kind of magic technology in the Slingcatcher which blows up small video nicely on your tv without it looking like a bunch of big pixel blocks.
In testing this me and my kids watched videos on Youtube for hours. It was fun watching these videos on tv, but would have been hard for us to all watch if we watched on a PC.
I found it neat that by using the play, pause, rewind buttons I was able to control stuff on my PC, it was like having a wireless mouse. The Slingcatcher remote operated Windows Media Player without any issues.
The Slingprojector portion of the Slingcatcher is VERY powerful and I feel it is not being marketed correctly. This application could get heavy use in the business world, in fact I took my Slingcatcher to work this week and hooked it up to my conference room projector as we were on a video conference getting training for a new phone system we will be installing. With the Slingprojector we were able to take the video (and only the video) and put it on the big screen while I was able to use my laptop to check email and do other things below the video window. My co workers also enjoyed taking the little video window and being able to see it full screen. Personally I think every conference room should have on of these units, they can be used in many ways for your business.
In another test I was able to pair a Slingcatcher with a Slinglink Turbo setup. The Slinglink uses Homeplug technology to transmit you internet connection via the power lines in your house.
To test this I took a TV to my basement and hooked the Slinglink Turbo broadcaster upstairs in my bedroom. I hooked the Slinglink box into my router then went down to the basement. I hooked up the TV, Slingcatcher and Slinglink receiver and within a few moments I was watching live television.
Testing things I was surprised to get speeds over 4345 Kbps via the powerlines in my house! The Slinglink is a great way to expand your network in your house without running new cat 5 cable in your house and is great when WIFI is not practical. My Slnglink Turbo box features a built in 4 port hub making it easy to expand my network almost anywhere in my house.
I got to be honest, I didn't really want a Slingcatcher, but now that I have one I am using it a lot. I now have a small TV at my office and am able to watch and control my satellite systems without needing to lose space on my computer monitor with the Sling software. And being able to control my home equipment using a real remote. The Slingplayer is a winner to me.
As I said in the beginning the Slingcatcher is hard to explain until you used one, and once you used one your not going to want to give it up.
There is still time to ask Santa for one of these this year under your Christmas tree.
Pros:
Easy to setup
Your forget your watching TV over the internet.
Slingprojector is a powerful tool.
Very Good Picture Quality
Cons:
Does not currently display true HD from a Slingbox Pro HD unit.
Can't play files that have Digital Rights Management
High price causes sticker shock (but ultimately it's worth it)
Slingprojector software is only available for Windows
For more details on the Slingcatcher visit Sling Media - SlingCatcher and for more details on the Slinglink Turbo check out http://www.slingmedia.com/homeplug
The Slingcatcher is like a Swiss Army Knife for watching Video. If you can watch it on your computer, you can watch it on any TV.
First and foremost you can enjoy any of your Slingboxes on any television no matter where you are. This is great when your traveling and beats watching TV on your laptop. The Slingcatcher comes with its own remote, which lets you control your video equipment at home.
In the pictures of the remote, it looked triangle in shape, however this is an illusion and s flat on the back and is quite easy to hold and operate.
For my testing I was able to enjoy my Dish Network HD DVR, my DirecTV DVR, my free to air satellite system, and cable television from the office. All just like I was sitting in front of them.
Setting up the Slingcatcher was simple, I opened it up plugged it into my network, hooked it up to my TV and after booting up and accepting a software update I saw all 3 Slingboxes in my house. I was quickly watching my Slingboxes and the quality was excellent.
In order to see my Slingboxes that were not in the house I needed to log into my Sling.COM account, doing this was kind of a chore, but only because I have a long email address. To enter your email address and password to log in you use the number keys and type in the letters like on a telephone.. Once setup I was able to see all of the Slingbox units I own. (And note that to do all of this I never needed to touch a computer or configure my router.)
In my house I have a Slingbox Pro HD unit, A Slingbox Pro Unit, and a Slingbox Classic unit. The picture quality on both pro boxes was very good, While the picture on the older Slingbox Classic looked a little like I was watching video on the internet. Disappointing was the fact that I could not watch the HD from my Slingbox Pro HD as the Slingcatcher does not currently support HD streaming, but again the picture looked very good.
The Slingcatcher features standard AV video outputs, plus SVIDEO and Component outputs plus coax digital audio output as well. Settings let you customize the Slingcatcher for the TV you are hooking it up to and you can even specify the resolution you want the Slingcatcher to output at including 1080i.
There is no real manual included with the box just a quick setup guide. But setting it up and using it is a no brainer. The menus are well laid out and explain things well. You can even program the Slingcatcher remote to control the power and volume controls on your TV.
Besides letting you watch Slingboxes on your TV the Slingcatcher is also a good media player. By hooking up an external hard drive or USB drive to one of the two USB ports on the Slingcatcher you can watch your media on the drives. This worked very will but not surprisingly wouldn't play some on my purchased iTunes songs due to Apples silly DRM. (Note Sling is working on software called SlingSync which can be used to convert incompatible formats to make them playable on the Slingcatcher.)
Another neat thing that the Slingcatcher can do is by using the Slingcatcher with a PC and using a downloadable windows based software called the Slingprojector. With this software anything you see on your PC can be shown on your television. But the Slingprojector does not just mirror your entire screen onto your TV, you can pick the area of the screen you want projected on your TV. In doing this the Slingprojector just takes that portion of your screen and blows it up on your television. Now I know a lot of you are saying Blowing up a standard Youtube video on a big tv set must look bad, but surprisingly sling has some kind of magic technology in the Slingcatcher which blows up small video nicely on your tv without it looking like a bunch of big pixel blocks.
In testing this me and my kids watched videos on Youtube for hours. It was fun watching these videos on tv, but would have been hard for us to all watch if we watched on a PC.
I found it neat that by using the play, pause, rewind buttons I was able to control stuff on my PC, it was like having a wireless mouse. The Slingcatcher remote operated Windows Media Player without any issues.
The Slingprojector portion of the Slingcatcher is VERY powerful and I feel it is not being marketed correctly. This application could get heavy use in the business world, in fact I took my Slingcatcher to work this week and hooked it up to my conference room projector as we were on a video conference getting training for a new phone system we will be installing. With the Slingprojector we were able to take the video (and only the video) and put it on the big screen while I was able to use my laptop to check email and do other things below the video window. My co workers also enjoyed taking the little video window and being able to see it full screen. Personally I think every conference room should have on of these units, they can be used in many ways for your business.
In another test I was able to pair a Slingcatcher with a Slinglink Turbo setup. The Slinglink uses Homeplug technology to transmit you internet connection via the power lines in your house.
To test this I took a TV to my basement and hooked the Slinglink Turbo broadcaster upstairs in my bedroom. I hooked the Slinglink box into my router then went down to the basement. I hooked up the TV, Slingcatcher and Slinglink receiver and within a few moments I was watching live television.
Testing things I was surprised to get speeds over 4345 Kbps via the powerlines in my house! The Slinglink is a great way to expand your network in your house without running new cat 5 cable in your house and is great when WIFI is not practical. My Slnglink Turbo box features a built in 4 port hub making it easy to expand my network almost anywhere in my house.
I got to be honest, I didn't really want a Slingcatcher, but now that I have one I am using it a lot. I now have a small TV at my office and am able to watch and control my satellite systems without needing to lose space on my computer monitor with the Sling software. And being able to control my home equipment using a real remote. The Slingplayer is a winner to me.
As I said in the beginning the Slingcatcher is hard to explain until you used one, and once you used one your not going to want to give it up.
There is still time to ask Santa for one of these this year under your Christmas tree.
Pros:
Easy to setup
Your forget your watching TV over the internet.
Slingprojector is a powerful tool.
Very Good Picture Quality
Cons:
Does not currently display true HD from a Slingbox Pro HD unit.
Can't play files that have Digital Rights Management
High price causes sticker shock (but ultimately it's worth it)
Slingprojector software is only available for Windows
For more details on the Slingcatcher visit Sling Media - SlingCatcher and for more details on the Slinglink Turbo check out http://www.slingmedia.com/homeplug
4 Replies
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5053 views
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
Thanks to Fitch Ratings ( who gives the ratings on Credit and debt, as approved by the SEC, so they have accurate numbers) we have the totals.
DIRECTV's video subscriber base is the third-largest traditional multi-channel video programming distributor (MVPD) in the U.S. with about 8.2 million subscribers at the end of 1Q26.
The last time it was reported, it was 8.8M at the end of 2Q25, so only a 600,000 loss for 3 quarters, which is a major improvement, since for many years before that, it was losing 500,000 a quarter, 2 Million a year.
It is now losing less than Dish/Sling combined, I believe the Genre Packs are helping to retain and get subscribers.
DIRECTV's video subscriber base is the third-largest traditional multi-channel video programming distributor (MVPD) in the U.S. with about 8.2 million subscribers at the end of 1Q26.
The last time it was reported, it was 8.8M at the end of 2Q25, so only a 600,000 loss for 3 quarters, which is a major improvement, since for many years before that, it was losing 500,000 a quarter, 2 Million a year.
It is now losing less than Dish/Sling combined, I believe the Genre Packs are helping to retain and get subscribers.
6 Replies
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380 views
Recently came back to DirectTV Satellite service and have two boxes, Gemini and a main HR54.
DirecTV is charging me two "TV access fees" of $10 each, but can only watch TV on the one without the server. Is there anything I can do to fix this?
DirecTV is charging me two "TV access fees" of $10 each, but can only watch TV on the one without the server. Is there anything I can do to fix this?
24 Replies
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946 views
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....
67110 Replies
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2662396 views
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
I feel like this was discussed in another thread, but I can't find it. I have T-Mobile and my last iPhone upgrade was in 2020. I want to get a new iPhone, but what is the best way to go about doing it? Should I order the iPhone from T-Mobile directly, or should I buy from the Apple Store? I feel like there are pros/cons to each option.
2 Replies
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39 views
I have a Hopper with Sling. (Don't know exact model.) A couple nights ago, I went into the DVR screen, and noted that it was recording three programs. Yet I was able to view live TV (that was not one of the channels being recorded.) Did something change? In the past, it would only let me watch one of the channels being recorded, or any recording in the DVR menu. Maybe it was streaming, although there was no indication of that?
Apologies if this has been covered; I searched and didn't find anything.
Thanks.
Apologies if this has been covered; I searched and didn't find anything.
Thanks.
9 Replies
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361 views
iJustine
Time for another AWESOME video from iJustine!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YJjxjYvmQ8s
Direct YouTube Link - Good Bye, Tim! Last WWDC
The official iJustine Website's Website
Buy her book!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YJjxjYvmQ8s
Direct YouTube Link - Good Bye, Tim! Last WWDC
The official iJustine Website's Website
Buy her book!
0 Replies
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11 views
Pub Member / Supporter
Cutting Edge
WANTED DirecTV LCC
Anyone have a DirecTV Local Channel Connector that you'd like to get rid of at a reasonable price? DirecTV is currently in a contract dispute with owner of my local ABC affiliate.
12 Replies
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312 views
I did that. The response was that the LCC is not available. Escalated the issue to a tech support person with the same results.
Could be out of them I guess ... I'd keep trying, every 3-4 days.I did that. The response was that the LCC is not available. Escalated the issue to a tech support person with the same results.
If they are not out of them as them WHY you can't get one, seeing Your in a Dispute. Thats what they are for.
I would make them give you a real answer, don't let them off the hook.
I had one, and it worked well, but I believe I gave it to another D* friend (also had a AM21), I know I gave them away ...
According to the tech support guy, they don't have any in stock. He said I should receive an email when and if they have them. I even told him I would accept a refurbished unit.
I'm not sure your going to find any Refurbished ones as D* doesn't ask for them back.According to the tech support guy, they don't have any in stock. He said I should receive an email when and if they have them. I even told him I would accept a refurbished unit.
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.
11 Replies
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211 views
Hello everyone, new guy here. I'm trying to solve problem I'm having with Dish bonus view channels. When I'm watching the bonus view channels then I switch back to regular dish channels, after few minutes the screen flips to black and after 30 seconds flips back to regular channels and continues to flip back and forth until I turn off TV. After I wait 30 minutes and turn back on , I can use regular channels again. So, its after I switch from bonus view channels to regular dish channels the problem starts. Been trying to fix this for a month, but no luck
Here what I've done.
i contacted Dish support and they sent me a new Joey3, but no help. Switched to a different HDMI input on TV, no help. Used different HDMI cable , no help. Used different electrical wall plug, no help.
Finally got a Dish tech to check it. He ran all systems check and was OK. Finally he brought in a small TV and plugged in the HDMI out from the Joey to the small TV. He could not get the problem to occur on his small TV, so the new Joey was working OK. So, then the problem must be myTV. He made some phone calls and came back with the answer that there must be a problem with the analog to digital switch in my TV. Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this, or is it time to be looking for a new TV? My tv LG OLED65C8PUA. TV has been trouble free til now. Thanks
Here what I've done.
i contacted Dish support and they sent me a new Joey3, but no help. Switched to a different HDMI input on TV, no help. Used different HDMI cable , no help. Used different electrical wall plug, no help.
Finally got a Dish tech to check it. He ran all systems check and was OK. Finally he brought in a small TV and plugged in the HDMI out from the Joey to the small TV. He could not get the problem to occur on his small TV, so the new Joey was working OK. So, then the problem must be myTV. He made some phone calls and came back with the answer that there must be a problem with the analog to digital switch in my TV. Has anyone ever heard of a problem like this, or is it time to be looking for a new TV? My tv LG OLED65C8PUA. TV has been trouble free til now. Thanks
6 Replies
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108 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
House of the Dragon, the prequel to Game of Thrones, premieres on HBO Max on 8/21. I will be warching
www.syfy.com
View: https://youtu.be/fNwwt25mheo
S~
'Game of Thrones' spinoff 'House of the Dragon' fires up release date at HBO, drops new character pics
The wait’s felt a little like watching for a dragon egg to hatch, but HBO’s hugely anticipated Game of Thrones prequel series finally has a release date. House of the Dragon will debut the first of its initial 10-episode season this summer, the network revealed today in a series of tweets that...
View: https://youtu.be/fNwwt25mheo
S~
39 Replies
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5651 views
