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T
Last reply · posted in FTA Receiver / Equipment Support

GEOSATpro  MicroHd

Good afternoon,

Is the microHD still the cheapest and best HD receiver out today? 2. Does it have alot of HD channels? 3. Is there a channel list for the receiver?
16 Replies · 2880 views
T
Thank u, no problem!
W
Is the microHD still the cheapest and best HD receiver out today?


Here is the deal, it works with DVB-S2!!

My needs are basic, I just want PBS (in HD) from AMC-21 (125° W). I have used a Twinhan 102G (PCI card) and TSReader for many years but PBS changed to DVB-S2 and MPEG4 rendering my Twinhan useless. I have a Diamond 9000HD STB, MicroTrend and WinTV Nova S2 (PCI cards) and all these are supposed to do DVB-S2 but I could not get any of them to work.

Purchased a GEOSATpro microHD and within 5 minutes of opening the shipping box I had PBS up and running. Connected via HDMI to a Onkyo PR-SC5508P.

So far the only minus: Analog audio & video cable is too short and uses a 4 conductor 3.5mm plug that is not common. There is no way to set a "pass through" of the digital video that I have found. The video adjustments will affect you HDMI video. There is no mention in the manual if the HDMI video is 0-255 (computer) or 16-235 (Blu-ray, ATSC, many DVB-S, etc.). If you have an external 3-½" HD connected it will need to stay powered on all the time for recordings because there is no provisions to cycle the power.

I may rig me a small relay to the USB connection so it will cycle the power to my external 3-½" HD.



3. Is there a channel list for the receiver?
Yes
SatelliteAV
WRBreland,

Glad you enjoy the microHD!

I use RCA F/F Barrell connectors to extend the RCA AV cables with standard M/M RCA cables. Cost about 50 cents each.

Please explain "pass through of the digital video"?

The HDMI output is the consumer standard 16-255 not formatted for the expanded computer range. NTSC based consumer displays and televisions are typically expecting a black that is broadcast level set-up and not the computer zero black level. STB builds are usually based on 8-bit 4:2:0 YCbCr outputs and there is little reason to provide an expanded range as the broadcast material is typically produced and broadcast for the 54mv video black level set-up.

The microHD does provide USB power management (sleep mode). Compatible drives will spin down until a DVR event or media playback. The USB power is usually always present on any consumer device. Not sure that I have ever observed USB power being shut off on a port while a STB is in operation mode.
W
Please explain "pass through of the digital video"?
Bypass as in no processing or levels being set to unity. For example, the "Brightness" level control has a range of 0 to 100 so at what brightness setting represents a digital out of 16?


STB builds are usually based on 8-bit 4:2:0 YCbCr outputs and there is little reason to provide an expanded range as the broadcast material is typically produced and broadcast for the 54mv video black level set-up.
OK, you lost me on that one. AFAIK, 0V = Reference Black. From SMPTE 274M:
10.5 For the Y' component, reference black (zero) in the expressions of clauses 5 and 6 shall correspond to a level of 0 Vdc, and reference white (unity) shall correspond to 700 mV.


The microHD does provide USB power management (sleep mode). Compatible drives will spin down until a DVR event or media playback. The USB power is usually always present on any consumer device. Not sure that I have ever observed USB power being shut off on a port while a STB is in operation mode.
I will have to look into this. I have two Western Digital green drives in my NAS and will look at their documentation. If you know of a manufacture and series of drives that do this it would help.

For other folks reading this: the above is not a negative for the microHD. I have been using professional satellite receivers since PBS started program distribution via satellite in the 70's. Receivers used several rack spaces, required a 10 meter dish and a semi-rigid heliax from dish to receiver. Now we have a receiver the size of a match box that does HD and 5.1 sound, I find the microHD a truly amazing little device.
SatelliteAV
Bypass as in no processing or levels being set to unity. For example, the "Brightness" level control has a range of 0 to 100 so at what brightness setting represents a digital out of 16?
Consumer electronic devices with an user adjustable setting is not by design to be a calibrated reference. It is for the eye of the user or for reference and adjustment with an external calibration device. At the default position 50 - there is no amplification or attenuation.


OK, you lost me on that one. AFAIK, 0V = Reference Black. From SMPTE 274M:
The NTSCm standard, used in North America, does not set black at 0IRE (0V), but rather at 7.5IRE (54mV). ATSC black reference (and computer RGB) is set to 0IRE (0V). The rest of the world references black at 0IRE (0V)


I will have to look into this. I have two Western Digital green drives in my NAS and will look at their documentation. If you know of a manufacture and series of drives that do this it would help.
NAS enclosures are usually set-up different as they are often required to be spinning 24/7 and are not desired to spin down. Often they have a rear panel swoitch or software setting for user setting. On standard usb enclosures it is a function of the USB controller, not the drive. I have several USB devices that I swap around here at home that spin down: Maxtor One Touch4 Plus 500GB, Hitachi SimpleDrive 500GB, iomega eGo 500GB, WD My Book Studio Edition 500GB (USB, Firewire, eSATA), Hitachi 500gb Xmobile. Some have software tools allowing user selectable settings controlling the sleep function.
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
· posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network
0 Replies · 3 views
T
· posted in DISH Network Support Forum
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
0 Replies · 8 views
dfergie
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in What's Cooking?
We have a Breakfast and Dinner thread so... :)
Continuing from the Breakfast thread, found Cornbread mix so ...
Yellow Cornbread Mix
2 Hatch Green Chiles -diced
1 Egg
2/3 cup of milk
add to greased pan
Bake for 400f 20-25 minutes(From instructions)
now to put together and try... this to go with pinto beans...
5389 Replies · 334596 views
TRG
TRG
Pork shoulder, refried beans, cheddar and chopped green chile burrito with a pint of pale ale.

Its nice being able to have a pint with lunch during the week or whenever. I've been enjoying the retired life. 🍺

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dfergie
Pork shoulder, refried beans, cheddar and chopped green chile burrito with a pint of pale ale.

Its nice being able to have a pint with lunch during the week or whenever. I've been enjoying the retired life. 🍺

View attachment 191651
Congrats! I love retirement, no wake ups, no e-mails...
Leftovers for lunch, bacon wrapped salmon fillet from Saturday and a KFC thigh from Friday, Tea.
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TRG
TRG
Congrats! I love retirement, no wake ups, no e-mails...
Leftovers for lunch, bacon wrapped salmon fillet from Saturday and a KFC thigh from Friday, Tea.
I've been retired since October. It was very strange at first. But I'm loving it now.
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TRG
TRG
Creamy flat chicken enchiladas with green chile, beans and rice.

enc.webp
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dfergie
Layered Spicy Dorito / chili cheese Frito pie casserole…real sugar Pepsi
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TRG
TRG
I had a very unusual but delicious 1/4lb hotdog with cream cheese, raspberry preserves and chopped Hatch green chile. It is an unlikely combination but it works.


hdog.webp
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N5XZS
Last reply · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info
New low power station has been granted by the FCC and the new call leter is K33OB-D on RF ch. 33.

Will run at 15 KW ERP, this one runs from the Westside same location as KWPL-LD a HC2 owned station.

It's going to be aimed at eastern part of Albuquerque, so it's tightly focused beam pattern.

This new station is owned by Digital Network and what kind of programmings is unkown at this time.😎
10 Replies · 152 views
N5XZS
Yeah, there are some diginets like Heartland, Retro, The Family Channel diginetworks that we already have here in this market and we don't need duplicates, but bring the new diginets on like the Rev'n, Karate Acton movies, different kind of music videos on the new station. :hatsoff2
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comfortably_numb
Yeah, there are some diginets like Heartland, Retro, The Family Channel diginetworks that we already have here in this market and we don't need duplicates, but bring the new diginets like Revn, Karate Acton movies, different kind of music videos on the new station. :hatsoff2

I watch MovieSphere Gold channel a lot. Many recent movies on that digitnet :)
N5XZS
Yes that's a good channel MovieSphere, only thing is the missing CC on it. :rolleyes: :hatsoff2
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comfortably_numb
According to the FCC listing, the tower is near I-40 and Juan Tabo:

primestar31
According to the FCC listing, the tower is near I-40 and Juan Tabo:

Many of these in my DMA are on cell towers, so don't always reach very far because the towers aren't very high.
zippyfrog
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
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.
6 Replies · 90 views
zippyfrog
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...

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T
Apparently it's not an "owned receiver" fee but rather an extension fee that's applied to 2nd and subsequent viewing. Maybe that played into their decision to force a box at every TV- garnering those fees
zippyfrog
Apparently it's not an "owned receiver" fee but rather an extension fee that's applied to 2nd and subsequent viewing. Maybe that played into their decision to force a box at every TV- garnering those fees
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.

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MikeD-C05
These fees are why streaming has caught on so well across the country and DISH is losing subs each quarter. Soon won't be enough subs to be profitable.
T
Does cable charge box rent?
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Bruce
Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
With the 1st Quarter Report just released, Dish lost another 180,000, now at 4.84 Million.

Sling now at 1.79 million subscribers, down approximately 190,000.

For comparison, YouTube TV now has about double the subscribers of Dish and Sling combined.

71 Replies · 3427 views
fmj77
I'm surprised Dish still has that many subscribers. I don't know a single person in my area that is still with them after getting either Starlink or fiber at their home. They all cancelled Dish and went with streaming. I used to get offers pretty regularly in the mail to come back to Dish, but no more. Haven't seen one in a couple of years now.
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Bruce
I'm surprised Dish still has that many subscribers. I don't know a single person in my area that is still with them after getting either Starlink or fiber at their home. They all cancelled Dish and went with streaming. I used to get offers pretty regularly in the mail to come back to Dish, but no more. Haven't seen one in a couple of years now.
Only about 3.6% of Households in the United States, still have Dish Network.

For comparison, YouTube TV has about 10%.
Y
$25 a month for 1 gig, for two years with Spectrum. I'd be darned that their router was MUCH better than AT&T's. I didn't realize that what I thought was something else was the bloody router. Those buffering issues stopped when I swapped... after AT&T refused to lower my bill, after 25 years of high speed internet service. They wanted $80 or so a month for 1 gig, with no drop to a lower speed.
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T
I despise that most of all. I'm going to talk to a remote?
T
$25 a month for 1 gig, for two years with Spectrum. I'd be darned that their router was MUCH better than AT&T's. I didn't realize that what I thought was something else was the bloody router. Those buffering issues stopped when I swapped... after AT&T refused to lower my bill, after 25 years of high speed internet service. They wanted $80 or so a month for 1 gig, with no drop to a lower speed.


1gbit up and down here from att start out great was suppose to be $60 for life of service, with years time it went back up to $80 I complained about they gave us $49 for year which about to end, I Wonder what prices will be when it "up" I in no way like ATT fiber service there DNS that are hardcode and unchange able in the router are some WORSE DNS I ever used. you know how much of pain it is to change DNS setting on EVERY single wireless device...
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mwdxer1
Only about 3.6% of Households in the United States, still have Dish Network.

For comparison, YouTube TV has about 10%.
I dropped Dish a couple years back after having them for 25 years. The pricing got higher and after we got high speed internet, I watched it less and less. It got to the point all I watched was TCM for classic movies. Many of them are on You Tube now and a Premium subscription is $14 a month. A far cry of the $100 a month was paying with AT180, Supers, and locals. I get locals OTA anyway. I took down the dish several months ago and tossed it. I owned all my my equipment, so nothing to return. Do I miss a traditional cable type service? No way. If I want one I have all of the free live streaming with Roku, the Fire Stick, as well as Google TV. Right now as I type this, I am watching episodes of "The Midnight Special" from 1976 on You Tube, ad free. Dish was fine for many years. I do not regret buying the equipment and installing it myself (No installers in 1999). I enjoyed Dish for many years. My thoughts, Dish & Direct will be forced to merge in time, or they both will be gone. Even cable companies are getting out of TV. Some are only selling the internet and phone packages.
tanman
I despise that most of all. I'm going to talk to a remote?
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nelson61
A lot of it flows back to the 4 big networks.
Cable and satellite are their money tree.

But, in reality, each market need 1 or perhaps 2 news feeds - not 4 or more
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MikeD-C05
A lot of it flows back to the 4 big networks.
Cable and satellite are their money tree.

But, in reality, each market need 1 or perhaps 2 news feeds - not 4 or more
In my area we get 2 news feeds spread over 4 local stations.
ABC/NBC (TEGNA)
Same news cast simulcast over both channels.

CBS/Fox (Sinclair)
Same news casters at 5pm, 6pm, 10pm.
Fox shows an hour at 9pm but same news casters.
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