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JUST You n' Me-Chicago

Saturday in the Park - Chicago

MacArthur Park - Donna Summer

Long Hot Summer - Keith Urban

Long Cool Woman (In a Black Dress) - The Hollies

Unless Dish acquires DirecTV and its mid-USA satellite slots, I may not have Dish Network to reach 40 years. Or, I guess we could buy a new house…

Even if you are broadcasting old SD-only shows, I would think advertisers would still want their commercials to look good.

Strega said:

Even if you are broadcasting old SD-only shows, I would think advertisers would still want their commercials to look good.

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Advertisers on SD channels are probably Far and Few, very hard to find, they have very few viewers to watch them.

Jimbo said:

Advertisers on SD channels are probably Far and Few, very hard to find, they have very few viewers to watch them.

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I watch mostly SD channels (H&I, Start and ION, etc.). There are plenty of advertisers, this time of the year it is mostly Medicare Advantage plans, auto extended warranties and the occasional walk-in-tub. They know who is watching.

Foxbat said:

Unless Dish acquires DirecTV and its mid-USA satellite slots, I may not have Dish Network to reach 40 years. Or, I guess we could buy a new house…

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have charlie buy you a new house

Well, I didn't immediately think of broadcast, where there are all kinds of digital "subchannels"- I remember back when digital broadcast began that supposedly the 6mhz channel would likely support just 1 HD program and that the added subchannels would likely have to remain SD. I don't watch enough broadcast to know. Are there a lot of the subchannels in SD-only, and how do they do that, like are they in 4:3 or some kind of low-res widescreen?

slow_poke_pete said:

have charlie buy you a new house

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Unfortunately, I don't think my social proximity to Charle Ergen provides any special perks. Maybe if Foxbat, Jr. were to marry his daughter…

Foxbat said:

Unfortunately, I don't think my social proximity to Charle Ergen provides any special perks. Maybe if Foxbat, Jr. were to marry his daughter…

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that would be one hell of a convo .

telstar_1 said:

Well, I didn't immediately think of broadcast, where there are all kinds of digital "subchannels"- I remember back when digital broadcast began that supposedly the 6mhz channel would likely support just 1 HD program and that the added subchannels would likely have to remain SD. I don't watch enough broadcast to know. Are there a lot of the subchannels in SD-only, and how do they do that, like are they in 4:3 or some kind of low-res widescreen?

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New more efficient encoders. I think there's around 60 channels/sub channels now in the Tulsa dma. 480 widescreen for most of the sub channels, but some have 2 HD channels and a couple of SD sub channels while others have 1 HD and 5 or more SD sub channels. If they moved to mp4 or hevc encoding they could do higher bitrates for SD or more HD or even 4K in that 6Mhz channel. That could render some early digital tvs unable to tune though as they may not have the codecs for that. Considering 4K tvs have been on sale for years, I think it would be a very small minority of TVs with the problem. I'd rather see that happen and keep ATSC 1 than continue the move to a DRM enforced ATSC 3 world.

Mister B said:

I watch mostly SD channels (H&I, Start and ION, etc.). There are plenty of advertisers, this time of the year it is mostly Medicare Advantage plans, auto extended warranties and the occasional walk-in-tub. They know who is watching.

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can't forget the little blue m&m's

And captioning landline telephones. And "final expenses" insurance.

slow_poke_pete said:

can't forget the little blue m&m's

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That's what my wife calls my Viagra!!

Many of us have used a universal LNBF mount (or get creative with L brackets and plumbers tape - perforated metal strapping). Use a few inches of aluminum tube (or a piece of 1x2" lumber) to extend the support arm (replacing the plastic mount used by DirecTV and Dish) to place the LNBF throat opening at the correct distance from the reflector, the correct height and at the correct angle. Nothing magical... simply place the new linear LNBF in the center at the same distance, height and angle as the current combo.
www.amazon.com/Universal-Single-Bracket-Holder-FTA-US/dp/B074L85WK2

To add: 101W Ku seems to be (one of if not the) strongest for me, and if I only had Ku I definitely want 101W for the music mux, it's robust FEC and strong signal help a lot. I've thought about using a used Dish/DirectTV dish at my Dads to supplement his OTA (mainly for my benefit when I visit )

I used a 60cm Shaw Satellie dish (60e) with its original dual-LNB. It worked fine for 101W/97W or 99W/103W at that time when weather was fine. But the fade margin was small so rainy weather killed reception or almost so. But it was all free since they're so plentiful so I couldn't complain.

A Shaw dish with the linear LNBFs are as rare as hens teeth in the US...

cyberham said:

I used a 60cm Shaw Satellie dish (60e) with its original dual-LNB. It worked fine for 101W/97W or 99W/103W at that time when weather was fine. But the fade margin was small so rainy weather killed reception or almost so. But it was all free since they're so plentiful so I couldn't complain.

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Free is good

View: https://youtu.be/mUq0cZaflyc?si=odZ2TTCweQXCWNBR

osu1991 said:

View: https://youtu.be/mUq0cZaflyc?si=odZ2TTCweQXCWNBR

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They get cruel sometimes, very very cruel.. Hated to see my dawgs go down but I still say being ranked #1 is a hex on you!

Mike0616 said:

They get cruel sometimes, very very cruel.. Hated to see my dawgs go down but I still say being ranked #1 is a hex on you!

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Yup, I agree, I'd rather be 2 or 3 till the last few weeks.

View: https://youtu.be/F6KonG-9Gz0?is=NqOTlbotkS--p4aj

View: https://youtu.be/bgOaI0013IE?si=S4bOiJ4TQWZuo86b

osu1991 said:

View: https://youtu.be/bgOaI0013IE?si=S4bOiJ4TQWZuo86b

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That one was Awesome !!!!

When you need a battery, you need a battery.

If you can wait, new technologies are on the not-too-distant horizon.

You're probably doing something wrong if you're only getting a year out of an AGM battery. Heat and infrequent charging both significantly reduce lifetime.

The guy in the Video, REALLY needs to TAKE a Breath ...
If he'd Slow down, you could figure out What he's testing and on what.

Jimbo said:

If he'd Slow down, you could figure out What he's testing and on what.

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You can't view his videos passively.

I appreciate this approach to videos that take an hour to deliver a fraction of the same data.

Now, if YouTube were required to flag the AI "reviews", that would really be something.

harshness said:

You're probably doing something wrong if you're only getting a year out of an AGM battery. Heat and infrequent charging both significantly reduce lifetime.

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Huh? How can I be doing something wrong.....I took out the original battery, that was 6 yrs old and put in a new one.....kinda hard to screw that up. I figure it was just a bad battery....it happens.


The biggest takeaway I got from this video was the Walmart batteries only had something like 85% of battery life left even though they were brand NEW. The ones from O'Reilly all tested 100% of life left.

dishstaller said:

Huh? How can I be doing something wrong.....I took out the original battery, that was 6 yrs old and put in a new one.....kinda hard to screw that up. I figure it was just a bad battery....it happens.


The biggest takeaway I got from this video was the Walmart batteries only had something like 85% of battery life left even though they were brand NEW. The ones from O'Reilly all tested 100% of life left.

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And the Walmart ones mostly had very little warranty.

My last AGM (using now) I got from O Rielly's, its the Super Start ... I got the Platnium, they had several to choose from.

dishstaller said:

Huh? How can I be doing something wrong.....I took out the original battery, that was 6 yrs old and put in a new one.....kinda hard to screw that up. I figure it was just a bad battery....it happens.


The biggest takeaway I got from this video was the Walmart batteries only had something like 85% of battery life left even though they were brand NEW. The ones from O'Reilly all tested 100% of life left.

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I've been buying my batteries from AutoZone. I avoid Walmart whenever possible.

harshness said:

I appreciate this approach to videos that take an hour to deliver a fraction of the same data.

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That's the way I feel about it.
I hate those videos where they show themselves slowly opening up the box and unwrapping it.
His videos are probably the fastest pace test videos on Youtube.

He sounds like he's trying to sell me a pocket hose.

I just had to replace a car battery this week and thought I'd look into LiFePo4. Amazon has plenty of them, but all have top posts and only one 'also' has side connections (Group 75).Then I read that they're really lousy in the cold. So, an AGM, but again, almost nothing with side terminals instead of top. In researching that, I read that most mfrs in recent years have dropped side terminals and gone back to the old top posts, which is surprising to me since those are more corrosion-prone, cause the battery to need more space and are generally more hazardous. Finally I just threw up my hands and bought a regular lead-acid at Sam's Club. They had a Group 75 "Duracell" with side terminals only. It was virtually the only such battery with side posts on their shelves

Had a Die Hard in my folks cellar for over 6 years. Pulled it out, slapped it on a charger for a day. Put it in my 'Cuda and drove it around for a week of my vacation. Next year, the same. But my dad kept it topped off for me.It was a mid 80's battery in early 1990.

Flooded acid batteries like a float voltage of around 13.5-13.8 voltage.
AGM needs a float of 14.2 volts. So if you slap an AGM in where a flooded was. It never gets a full charge.
"Why do they die so fast?" Question answered. There are folks who sell voltage regulators for alternators that are designed to boost float voltage for AGM batteries.
The other way around? Flooded will gas-off a little at 14.2 volts. But seems to tolerate it pretty good.

Lithium car/bike/atv batteries. After 3 batteries in my Harley. The OEM flooded and two AGM's (before the 14.2 volt float requirement to let them live was learned). I bought a lithium for it. 4 year, no gripe warranty after having it tested by an approved store.
The thing started like Thor himself sent a bolt from the sky. Except......try to start it around freezing? Nope. Needed a heating pad.
And I usually like to park it around events in the evening with the parking light on. Looks cool like that.
We could traipse around for a few hours no worries. Hop on, fire it up, and go putt around.
Lithium? A Dakota Lithium at least. The BMS shuts it right down if it discharges below <something>.
Come back. Parking lights off. Won't start. And you know the rest. But it lasted 6 years. A lot better than 'new every two'. And the fact that powersports batteries are warranted for six, maybe nine months. Ludicrous.

I called Noco. Asked all of the right questions. Great warranty. Save some bucks ordering directly, faster service that the wally world alternative.
They addressed (or claimed over the phone) that the shut down was addressed. Sure. The BMS keeps it form being damaged. But if it is shut down because it does become low. Shut down any load (key on, parking or headlights left on) for 10-15 minutes and you get a second try to start your rig. Not a bad thing if it really works. Right?!

Exide, Interstate? Be very afraid. They ain't what they used to be. In Florida my '70 Cutlass had an Interstate (early 90') that lasted 6 years until it dropped its plates at an intersection and boiled over. In Florida, mind you. The last Interstate.....done in 2. Guys down there would suck out the acid and put water in shortly before the warranty ran out. Make it to the auto parts, get them tested. And get a new one pro rated. No more pro rating.
You can't beat an Odyssey. Napa, AC Deco (the better ones). Yup.
The mom and pop Car Quest only sells Die Hard. For a reason, the old man says. So they convinced that a Die HArd Platinum was the hot ticket for me. l will see. Stand by!

You can't cut Mr. Project Farm down. He does great tests of all sorts of things. Not sponsored and pressured to slap a little sugar on his comparisons and reviews. Compared to the Brits and Aussies with their constant overzealous and same sounding (Dave from EEVblog) rant. I like P-Farm a lot. Of course I like AvE (Boltr) too.
Reminds me to beware when wearing shorts around the garage vice.


Opinions may vary.

Jimbo said:

And the Walmart ones mostly had very little warranty.

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The days of the 84-month warranty appear long gone, regardless of brand or where you acquired it. Warranties tend to be shorter, with much greater dependence on quick prorating.

The big problem for lead-acid batteries (whether flooded or AGM) is that the US no longer produces lead (the last smelter closed in 2013) and must import it.

Recycling covers a good chunk of the need (~70%), but it isn't free.

Females wearing any clothing is unthinkable on Ferenginar.

harshness said:

Females wearing any clothing is unthinkable on Ferenginar.

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Was never a huge of the Ferengi-centric episodes in Trek...

long_time_Dish said:

Was never a huge of the Ferengi-centric episodes in Trek...

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Me either ...
They turned out to be a Poor adversary ....

They got their proper due on "Deep Space Nine"

Foxbat said:

They got their proper due on "Deep Space Nine"

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And too many episodes centering on/around them as well...

Jimbo said:

They turned out to be a Poor adversary ....

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As has always been the case for those consumed by their own financial enrichment.

Hmmm. I think Roku will last. But will Firestick? With their backing, I guess so. Apple TV STB? Of Course. Walmart? Seems someone ought to go, but with their backing?….

Off brands have, as probably expected, very short lives.

navychop said:

Hmmm. I think Roku will last. But will Firestick? With their backing, I guess so. Apple TV STB? Of Course. Walmart? Seems someone ought to go, but with their backing?….

Off brands have, as probably expected, very short lives.

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All of those services have FAST Channels. FAST is a linear online broadcast stndrd. You notice how their linear channels all have some overlap? They are gettting paid for every second those streams are up without really having to do their own accounting. Best part is they don't even facilitate any of the stream bandwidth. Over glorified app stores on some android hardware. No reason NOT to stay in the game.

It is largely because of the standard Roku remote that channel numbers are a distant memory on the streaming side of things. Because their competitors followed suit only reinforces that they were right.

Linear TV's death is a direct result of DVRs giving you what you wanted when you wanted it; why go back?

SatZach said:

FAST is a linear online broadcast stndrd.

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FAST is uniquely popular as a way of saving money. It isn't so much about consumption as passing time.

What a "pile of slop" review! I liked the show.

KAB said:

What a "pile of slop" review! I liked the show.

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If the review is like the article, oi! Eighteen paragraphs into the review and... all they've done is not really talk at all about the actual thing they are reviewing.

Halfway into the "written" review, I know more about how the writer "thinks" than I do about what they are writing about. I understand their politics, their self-overestimated understanding of film, their inability to be funny.

Takes about 22 paragraphs to get to one that starts "Anyway, the story kicks off...". Talk about Slop!

Punditry is alive and well and just as divisive as ever.