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Supporting Founder
Just to start out so all of you understand what is and isn't done I explain below.
When it comes to the HMC the software will be split up like this below.
Ucentric side= includes all multiroom and networking based features.
DirecTV side = program guide and interactive middleware.
NDS side = conditional access and security.
Now the HMC software was designed as a module based system so that each of the three software sets could be done seperately and put on the box together without conflicts.
Now when it comes to software as far as how long it will take it breaks down like this.
NDS = 15%
DirecTV = 15%
Ucentric = 70%
Now with all that said I'm glad to say that Ucentric has finished making and testing their portion of the middleware for the new HMC and it has been given to D* within the last week or so. That means that most of the work has been done and all thats left if for D* to put all the software together and make sure it works and do their testing on the box as a whole and once that is done they would start production. This means in simple terms that the HMC will be out sometime in the 4th quarter and that is giving time for delays lasting in the weeks.
This box should be completed and final enough that I'm sure an announcement will be made in July with IMO a date of availability for the HMC.
When it comes to the HMC the software will be split up like this below.
Ucentric side= includes all multiroom and networking based features.
DirecTV side = program guide and interactive middleware.
NDS side = conditional access and security.
Now the HMC software was designed as a module based system so that each of the three software sets could be done seperately and put on the box together without conflicts.
Now when it comes to software as far as how long it will take it breaks down like this.
NDS = 15%
DirecTV = 15%
Ucentric = 70%
Now with all that said I'm glad to say that Ucentric has finished making and testing their portion of the middleware for the new HMC and it has been given to D* within the last week or so. That means that most of the work has been done and all thats left if for D* to put all the software together and make sure it works and do their testing on the box as a whole and once that is done they would start production. This means in simple terms that the HMC will be out sometime in the 4th quarter and that is giving time for delays lasting in the weeks.
This box should be completed and final enough that I'm sure an announcement will be made in July with IMO a date of availability for the HMC.
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18809 views
C
Longhorn, your research is generally quite good, but there are a couple of facts amiss here.
Cable will most definitely have limits on their bandwidth. With simulcasting, they'll be able to provide the legacy analog beside all digital and have bandwidth for between 30-45 HD channels before a system upgrade is necessary. This was stated in a response to an analyst question during the CC last week.
No such thing in the cable world unless you're the only one on the line from the head end to your house
Are you confusing this with VDSL2, which is a telco product and has a 1000 ft. limitation? Any cable solution is a shared line. Even if it were a gigabit uplink, you're talking one line from the head end to each 10 homes and even that is simplistic and doesn't account for overhead. And the more users you through at that during heavy load periods, the more your speed goes down.
The cap for HSI on the current Comcast system is generally thought to be in the low teens with all the other services they are rolling out being considered. That would apply to newer build areas(including my own, thankfully) where loads are not saturating the network.
LonghornXP said:
Cable will most definitely have limits on their bandwidth. With simulcasting, they'll be able to provide the legacy analog beside all digital and have bandwidth for between 30-45 HD channels before a system upgrade is necessary. This was stated in a response to an analyst question during the CC last week.
No such thing in the cable world unless you're the only one on the line from the head end to your house
Are you confusing this with VDSL2, which is a telco product and has a 1000 ft. limitation? Any cable solution is a shared line. Even if it were a gigabit uplink, you're talking one line from the head end to each 10 homes and even that is simplistic and doesn't account for overhead. And the more users you through at that during heavy load periods, the more your speed goes down. The cap for HSI on the current Comcast system is generally thought to be in the low teens with all the other services they are rolling out being considered. That would apply to newer build areas(including my own, thankfully) where loads are not saturating the network.
L
Have you heard what Docsis 3.0 and switched video/all digital switchover can do because those two things will greatly increase available bandwidth to these levels. Now again they could offer every customer 100Mbps down speeds if everything went perfect but in the real world we won't have anything more than 50Mbps down per customer. Now with that said we most likely will see cable companies offering teirs to compete with the telcos. Say if Verizon offers 15Mbps down and 2Mbps UP for 45 bucks a month. Most likely we will see cable companies offering 20Mbps down and 2Mbps UP for the same price. Again just because they can do it doesn't mean they will or that it will work as well as they hope. The whole point of what I've said is that they soon will have ways to massively expand their bandwidth without a big costly upgrade process that also takes tons of time to boot.
cfarm said:Longhorn, your research is generally quite good, but there are a couple of facts amiss here.
Cable will most definitely have limits on their bandwidth. With simulcasting, they'll be able to provide the legacy analog beside all digital and have bandwidth for between 30-45 HD channels before a system upgrade is necessary. This was stated in a response to an analyst question during the CC last week.
Switched video has limits to only how many channels their encoders can handle so I have no idea what you read because they must have been talking about something else.
No such thing in the cable world unless you're the only one on the line from the head end to your house
The cap for HSI on the current Comcast system is generally thought to be in the low teens with all the other services they are rolling out being considered. That would apply to newer build areas(including my own, thankfully) where loads are not saturating the network.
Have you heard what Docsis 3.0 and switched video/all digital switchover can do because those two things will greatly increase available bandwidth to these levels. Now again they could offer every customer 100Mbps down speeds if everything went perfect but in the real world we won't have anything more than 50Mbps down per customer. Now with that said we most likely will see cable companies offering teirs to compete with the telcos. Say if Verizon offers 15Mbps down and 2Mbps UP for 45 bucks a month. Most likely we will see cable companies offering 20Mbps down and 2Mbps UP for the same price. Again just because they can do it doesn't mean they will or that it will work as well as they hope. The whole point of what I've said is that they soon will have ways to massively expand their bandwidth without a big costly upgrade process that also takes tons of time to boot.
Pub Member / Supporter
Now that I'm retired, obviously I have different health care insurance. I take 2 prescriptions. With my old insurance I didn't have to pay for either of them, now I do. It's not a huge amount but it led me to dig a little into the cost of prescription medications. I have been using Walgreens for the longest time. But what I found was that Walgreens price is 4.8 times more for one of my prescriptions and the other is 2.3 percent more compared to the lowest price pharmacy. If you pay for prescription medications you might want to have a look at trumprx and see if you can get a lower price.
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185 views
Actually I take just 2 prescriptions, Atorvastatin and Lisinopril. They cost me $6 each for 100 pills. Next year that will be nothing.That's ok. I probably take enough for the two of us.
God knows what Bobby takes. Maybe so much they count as a meal?
Looks like DTV made a deal. I'm now getting it on ch 650. The tv promise slate is gone.
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4 views
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
Comcast is the first to report, with a massive 274,000 loss in video subscribers.
In the 3Q of 2016, Comcast had 21.42 million video subscribers and was the #1 provider, now at 10.39 million and is the #3 Provider, YTTV is #2 ( who also surpassed DirecTV-8 Million and Dish-under 5 Million), Charter/Spectrum is #1.
cordcuttersnews.com
In the 3Q of 2016, Comcast had 21.42 million video subscribers and was the #1 provider, now at 10.39 million and is the #3 Provider, YTTV is #2 ( who also surpassed DirecTV-8 Million and Dish-under 5 Million), Charter/Spectrum is #1.
Comcast Just Lost 274,000 TV Customers & 144,000 Internet Customers In Just Three Months | Cord Cutters News
Comcast Corporation reported its third-quarter 2026 results on October 22, showing continued erosion in its domestic residential broadband internet and video customer bases as competitive pressures intensified across the connectivity market. The company recorded a net loss of 144,000 domestic...
cordcuttersnews.com
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Lifetime Supporter
I know HipKat said that they were working on conversions but we got the official news yesterday right from Dish that starting next month all DMA's will be on the western arc, and all customers will be assigned to that. That's gonna mean a lot of customers around here aren't gonna get Dish unless there are exceptions. Too many mountains and trees.
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3874 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
The following is from Reddit. -
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/DirectvStream/s/orzHBkmqQW
There appears to be a new DIRECTV Gemini OTT box, the C81KW-650.
The FCC listing is partially available, and a Geekbench entry confirms it uses an Amlogic S905X5, a solid SoC for a set-top box.
I also see 4GB of RAM, and the manufacturer is SEI Robotics.
DIRECTV C81KW OTT Box - Android TV Guide
Ok found a picture of the Box too on Reddit:
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/DirectvStream/comments/1twlex0/comment/opzeqi1/
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/DirectvStream/s/orzHBkmqQW
There appears to be a new DIRECTV Gemini OTT box, the C81KW-650.
The FCC listing is partially available, and a Geekbench entry confirms it uses an Amlogic S905X5, a solid SoC for a set-top box.
I also see 4GB of RAM, and the manufacturer is SEI Robotics.
DIRECTV C81KW OTT Box - Android TV Guide
Ok found a picture of the Box too on Reddit:
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/DirectvStream/comments/1twlex0/comment/opzeqi1/
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951 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....
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2676911 views
Pub Member / Supporter
Lifetime Supporter
I've always been super interested in things space related so this is a pretty cool event coming up. Nov 18, 2026 early in the morning, Voyager 1 will reach the distance of one full light day from Earth. Took almost 50 yrs. I was 13 when it launched.
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gjHK3clOwIw?feature=share
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/gjHK3clOwIw?feature=share
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68 views
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
This thread is a place to discuss the 4K events that appear on channel 540. We are getting, at this point, one college football game a week. Let's hope there is more coming.
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299659 views
Even though it didn't work out for the Hoosiers, this event recorded and I was able to watch it in full 4K HDR.
Timer is set to Record the Series. Thanks, Bobby!
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
So...DirecTV advertises the Choice package with 95+ bonus channels for Satellite customers. You don't want 90+ of the 95...
Excluding PPV, premium networks, infomercial, shopping, religion, and non-English programming, there are 7 channels on satellite that are not on streaming:
NFL Network, MavTV, FE TV, Free Speech, NASA, INSP, and Pursuit. I'm pretty sure a couple of those are public interest that they have to carry to meet an FCC quota on satellite.
I hope they get called out for this advertising because that is ridiculous. One big network, NFL, will probably get added to streaming when their next agreement comes up, and the rest are likely very low viewership.
What about streaming, what do you get extra with the Choice package that isn't on Satellite:
Two stations - one of which is an internet TV - Fox Weather, and Heros & Icons (a diginet). Nothing special here to look at either.
If they cleaned up a couple of their agreements, added a few public interest stations to streaming, they could probably have their lineups match. It's close now, if you take out all the garbage on satellite that they earn money on. If they can sell infomercials on satellite, why can't they on streaming, seems like a miss. A bigger miss, including those stations in the "bonus channels just for satellite customers." Pretty sad marketing right there.
Attached is a comparison sheet of satellite vs streaming for the three main packages if anyone is interested.
MOD EDIT: See Post #3 for an up to date list of what channels are available on sat but not on streaming/internet, see Post #21 for an up to date list of what's available in the app for streaming customers, but not for sat customers.
Excluding PPV, premium networks, infomercial, shopping, religion, and non-English programming, there are 7 channels on satellite that are not on streaming:
NFL Network, MavTV, FE TV, Free Speech, NASA, INSP, and Pursuit. I'm pretty sure a couple of those are public interest that they have to carry to meet an FCC quota on satellite.
I hope they get called out for this advertising because that is ridiculous. One big network, NFL, will probably get added to streaming when their next agreement comes up, and the rest are likely very low viewership.
What about streaming, what do you get extra with the Choice package that isn't on Satellite:
Two stations - one of which is an internet TV - Fox Weather, and Heros & Icons (a diginet). Nothing special here to look at either.
If they cleaned up a couple of their agreements, added a few public interest stations to streaming, they could probably have their lineups match. It's close now, if you take out all the garbage on satellite that they earn money on. If they can sell infomercials on satellite, why can't they on streaming, seems like a miss. A bigger miss, including those stations in the "bonus channels just for satellite customers." Pretty sad marketing right there.
Attached is a comparison sheet of satellite vs streaming for the three main packages if anyone is interested.
MOD EDIT: See Post #3 for an up to date list of what channels are available on sat but not on streaming/internet, see Post #21 for an up to date list of what's available in the app for streaming customers, but not for sat customers.
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31757 views
My OTA is not working anymore. This started after the latest update. I have the OTA dongle with a OTA antenna that I've been using for years. My hopper does not recognize the dongle anymore and when I go to the OTA setting, it has a screen that says to plug a dongle into the USB. I tried unplugging and plugging back, in the same usb port and other ports. The Hopper does not recognize it. Anyone have same issue?
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5415 views
Hi all. If you were using a single tuner USB OTA adapter that is no longer working, please PM me. Thanks. 
I have the dual tuner OTA adapter currently connected, but I have 2 of the single tuner OTA adapters that I can quickly connect - neither is seen by my H3.Hi all. If you were using a single tuner USB OTA adapter that is no longer working, please PM me. Thanks.