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Last reply · posted in Local Radio Discussion
Can someone give me a ball park for what the start up cost is for a commercial station? I plan to rent tower space somewhere but I do not know what a fair price is for that as well. All information is welcome and thank you for your help!
4 Replies · 1410 views
radio
There's no set or ballpark "cost." All setups are different, all scenarios vary. You'll have purchase price of CP (construction permit) or existing license, music licensing to at least BMI, ASCAP, SESAC, Yearly regulatory fees, Tower rent from "the biggies" is not only high, but they are ruthless on enforcing high-dollar insurance liability policies. Privately owned towers are a better bet, but YOU'LL be responsible for a structural analysis study to make sure your antennas don't cause overload of the tower. Other than that, you've got commercial insurance including libel/slander (if you have a good carrier)...and the usual electric bills, rent, internet, and phone.

On the equipment side, bare minimum, a good quality audio mixer board with program and audition channels, software and PC to automate, software and PC to record callers and do production of commercials, audio processing for your tailored "sound" and of course the transmitter, transmission lines, and antenna system. All of this is assuming it's an FM you're setting up. Oh, don't forget the software for scheduling commercials, (known as "traffic") and a music scheduling software system, too. The Government mandates you have an EAS system for emergency preparedness, and that minimum price is around $2500, no choice.

With due respect to your ambitions, and not knowing your qualifications, if you have not been active IN the field and need to ask costs, chances are you're setting yourself up for failure. Radio is a LIFESTYLE these days when privately owned, not just an income, and not a "license to print money." It takes talent, long days of work, talented engineers, good credit, knowledge of audio processing, BARE MINIMUM. You also have to be in a market which can support you, and have excellent salespeople!

If you have some experience, some cash, and lots of time to invest in your own company, go buy a distressed station and build it back up. It takes YEARS, but can be very rewarding if done properly. Localism is the key. It's no longer, "location, location, location, " it's" LOCALISM ,LOCALISM, LOCALISM" Operating an LPFM is an option, but those must be owned and operated by non-profit organizations, are limited to 100 watts, and still have all the EAS costs and legal restrictions of the "big" sticks. Might be good to get your feet wet AT a local LPFM where volunteerism is encouraged and what you learn can be used later as you grow in the field.

NOBODY should take lightly the effort to own a communications business, especially radio. When it IS successful, however, it is personally and professionally rewarding. Now that I've depressed you, I assure you it CAN be done, but the road is not easy.

Good Luck to you in your endeavor and your decisions!
Keep us posted.
TNGTony
Great post, Radio. Thanks!
Trip
I'm one of those people who has always thought "boy, wouldn't it be cool to own a radio and/or TV station," but the more I have thought about it over the years, the less interested I am. In my own case, I'm very much an engineer. I'd have endless fun building the station from a technical point of view, then the time would come to program it and I'd likely lose my shirt because I just have no interest in that end of things.

Oh, and unless you're in a rural area, do not expect to be able to build a new station in your local area. You'll have to go somewhere else to do so. If I wanted to start a new station where I grew up, I could do so. I've done the engineering work to know it could be done. But it's in the middle of nowhere and a radio station would likely not succeed as a business there.

It's a huge investment of time, money, and effort, with what is likely to be little return aside from pride and self-satisfaction, unless you either get lucky and/or do a lot of work to make your station very appealing to local listeners and advertisers.

And I say all of this as someone who loves radio and TV.

- Trip
radio
Every engineer I've ever known who owned a station made sure it sounded EXCELLENT! Bet your "dream" station would, too. Good points made, too! Glad you chimed-in. I hope we're not "dashing" someone's dream, I just know it took years of learning, working my way UP in announcing, saving written references, having some engineering/electronics knowledge, and learning from some GREAT programmers with whom I've worked how to make radio sound pleasant overall, and to a wide-enough audience to garner listeners and advertisers. Thanks for adding to the thread on the "reality' side. If our original post-er still wants "in"...we can all help a bit along the way, but the road is long to "getting there."
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Gary Toma
Staff member Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in DIRECTV Technical Resources Forum
The TPN Map Excel Presents all DIRECTV Channels:
​
National (50-States or wide/NAT+PR beams)
Local (Local-Into-Local or narrow/Spot beams)
​
Additional tabs provide:​
OTA the (Over-The-Air) Database
VOD (Video On_Demand) Records
Offline Records
Engr Records
Net Decoder a graphic presentation of all satellites and transponders
​
Domestic Satellites
@99W...... D11, D14
@101W.... D16
@103W.... D12, D15
@110W.... D5
@119W.... D8​

Understanding the TPN Map

Making Sense of the TPN Map Display Conventions
2170 Replies · 945658 views
D
DirecTV Satellite Transponder Updates for Oct 28 2026

Comparison of Transponder Data for Oct 28 2026 vs Oct 21 2026:


No changes in system tables for any transponder tuning parameters.

Changes to the use of defined transponders:

1 Transponder cleared of all Streams::
Net 15 TID 12 Beam NAT is a National Transponder on D12@103ca, TPN 13

2 Previously unused Transponders with current APG records::
Net 0 TID 28 Beam NAT + PR is a National Transponder on D16@101, TPN 29
Net 10 TID 126 Beam NAT is a National Transponder on D11@99cb, TPN 3

Stream (PID) counts:

LIVE Streams​
National​
Spot Beams​
Count​
Change​
Count​
Change​
4K​
4​
​
​
​
HD​
264​
​
1449​
​
SD mpeg4​
144​
-1​
194​
​
SD mpeg2​
434​
1​
​
​
RB​
​
​
​
​
Audio​
89​
​
​
​
Push​
26​
​
​
​
Slate​
19​
​
1​
​
​
TEST Streams​
National​
Spot Beams​
Count​
Change​
Count​
Change​
4K​
​
​
​
​
HD​
​
​
1​
​
SD mpeg4​
​
​
​
​
SD mpeg2​
​
​
​
​
RB​
​
​
​
​
Engr Work​
38​
​
​
​
​


The PID count Excel workbook provides much more count detail.

Newly updated tables of Streams on each transponder are available in the DataDigesters TPN Grids

More details of changes in individual channels will follow in the Weekly Analysis
and Gary Toma's Domestic TPN Map Excel files
A few remaps
Weekly Analysis soon
Enjoy
DataDigesters
D
Weekly Analysis for 10/28/2026:
K
ElectionHQ mixes testing with BBC News, CNBC, CNN, FBN, FNC, MSNOW, NewsMax and NewsNation

Some more reshuffles

Updating the TMSIDs for KSBI and KQCW to use the cable feeds with Thunder games instead of the OTA feeds

An additional commercial PPV channel is now on 9530
coolman302003
Monday 11/2 is a full slate for NBA League Pass as all 30 teams are playing and 14 out of 15 total games are on NBALP. Only one national TV game on Peacock/NBCSN (Thunder @ Cavs).

DirecTV is even having to use several MLB EI channels (from 745-748) and a NHL CI (770) channel to fit all of them in the guide close together. 5 games at 7:30 ET, 3 games at 8 ET, 2 games at 8:30 ET, 1 game at 9 ET, 3 games at 10 ET. Luckily NHL CI is light on Monday (3 games on CI).

DirecTV is providing both broadcast feeds for all League Pass games except Hornets, Magic, Bucks & Raptors that night. These are all teams that have local broadcasts via a OTA channel which is on spotbeams and have streaming deals (DTC) that are not exclusive DAZN teams which DirecTV just signed a deal with (à la Spurs, Grizzlies, Cavs, Pacers & T'Wolves). Its also very common that we don't get Raptors broadcast very often from TSN or Sportsnet Ontario on League Pass.

11/2/26 (MON) EASTERN7:00 PM7:30 PM8:00 PM8:30 PM9:00 PM10:00 PM
Peacock/NBCSNThunder @ Cavaliers
NBA League PassNonePistons (745) @ HornetsKings (755) @ Mavericks (756)Celtics (760) @ Rockets (761)Trail Blazers (764) @ Nuggets (765)Suns (769) @ Warriors (770)
Hawks (746) @ Pacers (747)Pelicans (757) @ Grizzlies (758)Jazz (762) @ Spurs (763)Raptors @ Clippers (766)
Nets (748) @ Knicks (751)Bucks @ T'Wolves (759)Heat (767) @ Lakers (768)
Wizards (752) @ Magic
Bulls (753) @ 76ers (754)
*No Hornets, Magic local broadcasts*No Bucks local broadcast*No Raptors local broadcast
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K
Only the Knicks, Nets, Wizards, Bulls, Celtics, Rockets, Lakers, Warriors, Avalanche, Sharks and Bruins feeds will be using remaps of 24/7 RSNs that night. The rest will be relying on the part time feeds, including the Nuggets, Blackhawks and Kings who will be on their alt/overflow channels, and MSG Western NY will be live on channel 635-1 to carry Buffalo area ads during the Knicks game.

The NHL Network alternate will have Red Wings @ Panthers for those blacked out of Golden Knights @ Bruins on the main feed.

The Thunder @ Cavaliers game will be on one of Peacock Game Pass channels that night for commercial customers, they'll also have the back to back U-Conn Women's and Men's Basketball. One of the part time feeds will also be in use for WWE Raw via Joe Hand promotions.
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M
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
Over the past few weeks, I have had problems connecting to streaming services (Netflix, HBO et al). When I go to the TV's native Channels, I have no problem. The Dish internet troubleshooter shows I have a good internet connection. I'm wondering whether it's an issue with my internet provider or a problem with the Dish software on the Hopper Plus. Anyone else seeing this?
3 Replies · 121 views
Almighty1
Over the past few weeks, I have had problems connecting to streaming services (Netflix, HBO et al). When I go to the TV's native Channels, I have no problem. The Dish internet troubleshooter shows I have a good internet connection. I'm wondering whether it's an issue with my internet provider or a problem with the Dish software on the Hopper Plus. Anyone else seeing this?
I have a DISH Hopper 3 (Software H713) with Hopper Plus (Software P15403). I have not tried streaming services but I primarily watch TVB Jadeworld international package which is only available by streaming and when I have an issue, I usually have to go to a non-streaming satellite channel first before the streaming channels will work again. What software versions do you have and what is the error message if any are showing on your screen? or is that Dish downloading logo just stuck and never finishes?
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M
I have a DISH Hopper 3 (Software H713) with Hopper Plus (Software P15403). I have not tried streaming services but I primarily watch TVB Jadeworld international package which is only available by streaming and when I have an issue, I usually have to go to a non-streaming satellite channel first before the streaming channels will work again. What software versions do you have and what is the error message if any are showing on your screen? or is that Dish downloading logo just stuck and never finishes?
I'm on H713 on the Hopper and P15403 on the Hopper Plus. It shows internet connection issues and doesn't finish loading the various services. I see the "loading circle going around. Sometimes I get a message saying that the service is having trouble loading my content and to check the internet connection.
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Almighty1
I'm on H713 on the Hopper and P15403 on the Hopper Plus. It shows internet connection issues and doesn't finish loading the various services. I see the "loading circle going around. Sometimes I get a message saying that the service is having trouble loading my content and to check the internet connection.
Did it ever work correctly before? Hard to say what the problem is. Usually for streaming, it will show the Dish logo with lines sweeping down to show downloading, never seen the circle issue. Did you try a manual reboot, red button reset, power cord unplug/replug to see if it makes a difference.
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Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
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....
68662 Replies · 2680385 views
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RaiderPower
Take It Easy On Me - Little River Band
long_time_Dish
Take It Easy - The Eagles
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sdfntx
Take It as It Comes - Steve Winwood
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long_time_Dish
Take The Money and Run - Steve Miller Band
EatMyVolts
Run Joe -- Louis Jordan and his Tympany Five
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meStevo
Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in TV Shows
Starting a thread klang !

After an amazing first 2 seasons and an 8 episode 3rd season still coming this year, season 4 has now been greenlit.

Keri Russell Wow GIF by NETFLIX
11 Replies · 981 views
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KAB
KAB
Not in a hurry to watch it this time.
K
Finished season 3 last night. Still one of my favorite shows.

Anyone else wonder if there might be something else going on with Callum? Seems to me he has too much access to Russian intelligence.
meStevo
One episode into season 4 that dropped today...

Jon Stewart Popcorn GIF
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meStevo
Renewed for season 5.
K
Finished 4 last night. Great stuff.

They do like to end each season with a Bang!
Neutron
Supporting Founder
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
Patrick Stewart died yesterday, October 28th at the age of 86. We lost yet another great actor. :(

6 Replies · 47 views
dfergie
This hits hard, R.I.P. ...
Foxbat
Rest in Peace…
Bobby
Rest in peace. Long live Jean Luc Picard…
long_time_Dish
Rest in peace. Wow, so many good roles, but Jean Luc Picard will always be my favorite...
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Bobby
Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in DISH Network Support Forum
This is a thread that will keep you apprised of 4K events that will be showing on Dish channel 540. Keep looking here for information.

As of today, 9-27-17, there are no scheduled events posted for the next 2 weeks. That is subject to change on a daily basis.
769 Replies · 168221 views
Bobby
MLB, Rays at Brewers, Saturday 10-24, 5PM PDT, Channel 148-01.
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Bobby
MLB, Brewers at Rays, Monday 10-26, 5PM PDT, Channel 148-01.
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Bobby
MLB, Brewers at Rays, Tuesday 10-27, 5PM PDT, Channel 148-01.
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Bobby
CFB, Florida vs Georgia, Saturday 10-31, 12:30PM PDT, Channel 148-03.
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Bobby
CFB, Wisconsin at Iowa, Saturday 10-31, 9AM PDT, Channel 148-01.
CFB, Arizona St at BYU, Saturday 10-31, 12:30PM PDT, Channel 148-01.
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dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in The Chit Chat Club
5 Replies · 80 views
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dishstaller
Sorry for posting the wrong link. Just corrected it.
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dfergie
I loved it when Rodney was on the Tonight Show...
Foxbat
Sorry for posting the wrong link. Just corrected it.
Thanks, I wasn't sure if you had the wrong Subject or the wrong YouTube link.
osu1991
Was a Don Rickles fan. I've dvr'd most of his appearances on Carson from the antenna tv replays.

"MysteryMan"
Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
I created this thread on the original Edgecutter Cutting Edge Forums site. It's simply a place for those to review the latest software available for those using Windows 10 and Windows 11. To date it has received 112,559 views. I have been asked by staff to continue this thread here.
524 Replies · 48065 views
EarDemon
If it wasn't for what I want, I wouldn't need any of this.

Do I need a collection of handheld radios, scanners and speed enforcement countermeasures? Nope, but I want them. Very little, if any of the software used to interface with these devices is available on Linux.
WhiteBeard
If it wasn't for what I want, I wouldn't need any of this.

Do I need a collection of handheld radios, scanners and speed enforcement countermeasures? Nope, but I want them. Very little, if any of the software used to interface with these devices is available on Linux.
To each there own but I've found that Windows can't do much more than Linux can. Can't have everything. ☹️
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EarDemon
To each there own but I've found that Windows can't do much more than Linux can. Can't have everything. ☹️
For niche use cases, yes I agree. Kali for ethical hacking and security testing, and running a Cacti server for network monitoring are the two things I have experience in. Plus thousands and thousands of other things, but for every day use I just can't see it. The owner of the GMRS repeater that I pay to access is changing the Tx DPL tones tomorrow, while Chirp is available on Linux, the software to program my MXT500 is not.

I run Fedora and Ubuntu in VMWare, honestly I don't care much for the UI of either of them and I don't feel like spending days/weeks to customize the UI to make it look Windows-like when I could just use Windows. The cartoonish dock at the bottom of the screen reminds me of Apple products.
harshness
I don't care much for the UI of either of them and I don't feel like spending days/weeks to customize the UI to make it look Windows-like when I could just use Windows.
What is so fantabulous about the Windows UI? By many accounts, it has been going downhill since Windows 7.

There are Linux desktops that offer Windows or Mac UIs, yet you don't hear much chatter about them outside of questions about when the creators might get sued.
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EarDemon
What is so fantabulous about the Windows UI?
Because it's what I prefer. I know I've said this a few times, I use Open Shell to give me the cascading start menu a la WIN 95 and NT4.0. The only reason I went from Windows Vista to 7 back in the day was because of Classic Shell. I cannot stand anything other than the OG start menu from 30+ years ago. I'm using ExplorerPatcher to give me Windows 10 UI elements of the taskbar and right click context menus.

If you could take a look at how I set up Windows 95, you'd find many similarities to how I use 11.
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EarDemon
I could probably use that as a starting point, but I don't like the full size icons. If you have to click on each folder that's also a no-go for me, it has to be cascading.

I used to have Peppermint Linux in a VM, that was about as close as I could get to recreating a Windows NT4.0 style of menu structure, but I could never get it to scale properly in VMWare on a 4K display and eventually gave up.

Whatever the boot up time it's fine with me. The longest part of my bootup is the HP SureStart BIOS integrity check. Once that is done, it's only a few more seconds. I haven't done this reg tweak yet since the reformat, but I switched the bootup animation to the Windows 10 style spinning circle of dots, and it's two and a half rotations. I can live with that.
harshness
Because it's what I prefer.
I hope you don't believe that makes it wonderful (especially when you're using workarounds for Microsoft's malfeasance).

I use LibreOffice as opposed to Microsoft office (even in Windows) because it's UI is like the Office of old, so I'm putting my money where my mouth is (in a manner of speaking). The ribbon was one of the worst ideas to come out Redmond.
HipKat
I could probably use that as a starting point, but I don't like the full size icons. If you have to click on each folder that's also a no-go for me, it has to be cascading.

I used to have Peppermint Linux in a VM, that was about as close as I could get to recreating a Windows NT4.0 style of menu structure, but I could never get it to scale properly in VMWare on a 4K display and eventually gave up.

Whatever the boot up time it's fine with me. The longest part of my bootup is the HP SureStart BIOS integrity check. Once that is done, it's only a few more seconds. I haven't done this reg tweak yet since the reformat, but I switched the bootup animation to the Windows 10 style spinning circle of dots, and it's two and a half rotations. I can live with that.
I used to pin the C: drive to the Win Taskbar and it would open in cascading style
"MysteryMan"
2026-10 Preview Update Builds: 26300.9818 and 26200.9818 (KB5127936) has been released. Moderate time needed for those choosing to perform a manual download/install/restart. Quality improvements only. No new operating system features.
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JSheridan
Actually it looks like there are a lot of features new or updated, although most are on a gradual rollout schedule.

M
Last reply · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info
Interesting article about the work being done to develope an ATSC 3 converter box. Yes it does mention affordable.
13 Replies · 757 views
primestar31
DEATH TO NEXGEN!
star trek GIF


It's dead, they just don't know it yet. They killed it by forcing DRM on it, and that TOTALLY botched implementing it.

There is absolutely NO compelling reason for anybody to switch to ATSC3.0. They only want it as a total and complete money grab.
Mister B
What bothers me is the total waste of broadcasting spectrum in this very crowded market. It has been almost three years now since KFOX converted their broadcast tower to ATSC 3.0 and moved all of their channels to other towers causing noticeable degradation of the picture quality.
I have a Sony TV with 3.0 capabilities but still use the 1.0 version of locals due to the fact that one or all of the 3.0 channels are often missing or unwatchable. In this city of 800K I doubt that more than a few hundred even know about ATSC 3.0.
The only thing that could motivate me to be interested in 3.0 would be if all of the minor networks (diginets) could be in at least 720P rather than blurry ultra-compressed 480i.
Three years is long enough to waste one of the few available RF frequencies in the area for this trial.
It is time to either move on with this experiment or call it quits.
navychop
It is time to either move on with this experiment or call it quits.

QFT. Of course, my preference involves a curb and some kicking.
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S
star trek GIF


It's dead, they just don't know it yet. They killed it by forcing DRM on it, and that TOTALLY botched implementing it.

There is absolutely NO compelling reason for anybody to switch to ATSC3.0. They only want it as a total and complete money grab.
WHAT ABOUT THE INTERNET PART OF IT. NO ONE WANTS A BOX CONNECTED TO THE INTERNET EITHER.
navychop
Cough, cough. COVID vaccine implants.

:oldlaugh
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Foxbat
Cough, cough. COVID vaccine implants.

:oldlaugh
That would be handy. Download the latest RNA snippets that can be updated over 5G and no more shots! You're a Genius!
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R
I want it and I have to have it.

I can neuter the phoning home with adguard home so it won't be doing that in my castle but I prefer without Internet so that my TVs in the house don't turn into e-waste
dishstaller
Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter
· posted in The Chit Chat Club
It states the average amount they are under water is OVER $7,000. :eek

Personally, I tend to be the type that drives a vehicle for a lot of years....do my own oil changes and other fluid changes. Just replaced the spark plugs and a couple coils. Youtube is great for things like this.

0 Replies · 20 views
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