Social Feed
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Pub Member / Supporter
Cutting Edge
Faced with a deadline of July 17, 2023 for the end of ATSC 3.0 test broadcasts, the FCC has taken a step which essentially saves the new technology from extinction, while leaving a lot of other questions open for the future. Like the FCC of 2017, today's FCC is counting on tomorrow's FCC to solve those problems, but at the very least they haven't allowed ATSC 3.0 to die from inaction.
In a long public statement, the FCC has come to the rescue of ATSC 3.0, but done little else. The deadline for the end of testing for ATSC 3.0 has been pushed to July 17, 2027. The FCC has also put a little reminder in their calendars to look at things in 2026 to see if this deadline needs to be pushed again.
Honestly, that's all they seem to have done. Here's a short list of what they could have done, and didn't:
That last one seems to have been of particular interest as the commissioners have been vocal in their disagreement. According to Cord Cutters News,
The FCC also said that they will "consider" temporarily making more channels available during the testing period, but I have to presume that's like when you would ask your mom if you could have some toy or other and she said she'd "consider" it. It usually meant you weren't getting the toy.
That's really the question, isn't it? When will we get low-cost converter boxes for real? When will the issue with encryption really be solved? When will we have over-the-air 4K and all those other services? The way things are now, there's no real need for anyone to even try ATSC 3.0 services since everything broadcast on ATSC 3.0 is also available on a regular 1.0 station.
You will occasionally here someone comment on how something looks better on an ATSC 3.0 station, and that's likely true, especially if the station normally broadcasts in 720p. ATSC 3.0 allows for more picture information at a lower bitrate, which can make the picture look better. But let's be clear here: it's not 4K.
What the FCC did here is essentially a punt, and it's better than nothing. By taking action, they're allowing the testing to continue. Without their action, it would have all ended. But since they haven't answered any of the real questions, I still have doubts.
If we look at this time frame, we're now talking about 2030 or so before we really see the full transition to ATSC 3.0, and 2027 before we see 4K over-the-air. I have to wonder if there will be any demand at all for it at that point. By that time it's perfectly possible that streaming and pay-TV will have gone to 8K or something else, and over-the-air will be left behind again.
All the antennas sold today at SolidSignal.com are ATSC 3.0 compatible! Check out our great selection. If you need help choosing, call us! We're here for you during East Coast business hours. Just call 888-233-7563. Or, if it's after hours, just fill out the form below. We'll get right back to you!
The post BREAKING: ATSC 3.0 gets a lifeline from the FCC appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
What I'm really talking about
In a long public statement, the FCC has come to the rescue of ATSC 3.0, but done little else. The deadline for the end of testing for ATSC 3.0 has been pushed to July 17, 2027. The FCC has also put a little reminder in their calendars to look at things in 2026 to see if this deadline needs to be pushed again.
Honestly, that's all they seem to have done. Here's a short list of what they could have done, and didn't:
- Recommended a federal incentive to pay people who buy converter boxes
- Required all TVs to become ATSC 3.0-capable by a specific date
- Funded additional research into making low-cost converter boxes
- Allowed ATSC 3.0 channels to broadcast materially different programs than ATSC 1.0 (which would have allowed 4K over-the-air)
- Set a hard stop for all ATSC 1.0 broadcasts
That last one seems to have been of particular interest as the commissioners have been vocal in their disagreement. According to Cord Cutters News,
The FCC also said that they will "consider" temporarily making more channels available during the testing period, but I have to presume that's like when you would ask your mom if you could have some toy or other and she said she'd "consider" it. It usually meant you weren't getting the toy.
When will things actually change?
That's really the question, isn't it? When will we get low-cost converter boxes for real? When will the issue with encryption really be solved? When will we have over-the-air 4K and all those other services? The way things are now, there's no real need for anyone to even try ATSC 3.0 services since everything broadcast on ATSC 3.0 is also available on a regular 1.0 station.
You will occasionally here someone comment on how something looks better on an ATSC 3.0 station, and that's likely true, especially if the station normally broadcasts in 720p. ATSC 3.0 allows for more picture information at a lower bitrate, which can make the picture look better. But let's be clear here: it's not 4K.
What the FCC did here is essentially a punt, and it's better than nothing. By taking action, they're allowing the testing to continue. Without their action, it would have all ended. But since they haven't answered any of the real questions, I still have doubts.
If we look at this time frame, we're now talking about 2030 or so before we really see the full transition to ATSC 3.0, and 2027 before we see 4K over-the-air. I have to wonder if there will be any demand at all for it at that point. By that time it's perfectly possible that streaming and pay-TV will have gone to 8K or something else, and over-the-air will be left behind again.
One more thing…
All the antennas sold today at SolidSignal.com are ATSC 3.0 compatible! Check out our great selection. If you need help choosing, call us! We're here for you during East Coast business hours. Just call 888-233-7563. Or, if it's after hours, just fill out the form below. We'll get right back to you!
The post BREAKING: ATSC 3.0 gets a lifeline from the FCC appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.
Continue reading...
8 Replies
·
759 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....
67104 Replies
·
2662235 views
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
As you may have noticed we are doing a Fund Raiser for SatelliteGuys!
As many of you know I have been paying for a majority of the operation of the site out of my own pocket for awhile now. Now looking at things we have a number of renewals coming up that I could use some help with. These renewals include the license renewal for our Forum Software, Renewal of a number of our add on's the site uses, renewal of domain names etc.
I have set a goal of $400.00 - any extra that comes in will just go to fund the operations of the site. None of the money will go to me (I tried BuyMeACoffee a few months ago, and they denied me saying they do not do business with Satellite Piracy sites... which we are not... hell we host the beta programs for both DISH and DIRECTV here...)
Anyways... if you would like to help out please click the link below.
www.satelliteguys.us
Thank you in advance.
As many of you know I have been paying for a majority of the operation of the site out of my own pocket for awhile now. Now looking at things we have a number of renewals coming up that I could use some help with. These renewals include the license renewal for our Forum Software, Renewal of a number of our add on's the site uses, renewal of domain names etc.
I have set a goal of $400.00 - any extra that comes in will just go to fund the operations of the site. None of the money will go to me (I tried BuyMeACoffee a few months ago, and they denied me saying they do not do business with Satellite Piracy sites... which we are not... hell we host the beta programs for both DISH and DIRECTV here...)
Anyways... if you would like to help out please click the link below.
SatelliteGuys Maintenance Fund Raiser
www.satelliteguys.us
Thank you in advance.
18 Replies
·
543 views
I planned on removing it today, but then my fathers car broke down and I had to drive him all around to get his stuff done. Then I had a doctors appointment after that which was annoying...
Dr asks me if I have had any changes, so I tell him something wrong with me that started a month or so ago and his reply back is, that it sucks to get old... I hate that. Why ask me. if your going to come back with a smart ass answer.
Anyays I hope to get rid of Tapatalk tomorrow.
And we had more people donate today, thank you! The extra money is going to future expenses since things like add ons don't expire at the same time.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU AGAIN!
Dr asks me if I have had any changes, so I tell him something wrong with me that started a month or so ago and his reply back is, that it sucks to get old... I hate that. Why ask me. if your going to come back with a smart ass answer.
Anyays I hope to get rid of Tapatalk tomorrow.
And we had more people donate today, thank you! The extra money is going to future expenses since things like add ons don't expire at the same time.
THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU AGAIN!
Tapatalk has been removed.
I have added a new feature which is a work in progress called "Social Feed" which displays the forums Facebook style. Its nice for people who like that, but needs work. But i have been watching this one for awhile and the author is being really responsive to suggestions and adding them. So if you have any please let me know and I can pass them along.
I have added a new feature which is a work in progress called "Social Feed" which displays the forums Facebook style. Its nice for people who like that, but needs work. But i have been watching this one for awhile and the author is being really responsive to suggestions and adding them. So if you have any please let me know and I can pass them along.
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
Cutting Edge
Due to security concerns and the fact that the Tapatalk Plugin for Xenforo is no longer being updated we have removed Tapatalk support from SatelliteGuys.
For those who were using it we recommend using our PWA App instead which is faster and does not have all the spam Tapatalk had. Below is a graphic showing how to add SatelliteGuys to your devices home screen. (While iOS is shown the process is mostly the same for Android.)
Thanks for your understanding.
For those who were using it we recommend using our PWA App instead which is faster and does not have all the spam Tapatalk had. Below is a graphic showing how to add SatelliteGuys to your devices home screen. (While iOS is shown the process is mostly the same for Android.)
Thanks for your understanding.
6 Replies
·
155 views
Actually, PWA stands for "Progressive Web Application" and is basically just saving a site's homepage to your desktop where it appears as an "App" with the rest of your smartphone's Apps.
A PWA is a custom version of SatelliteGuys which is optimized for mobile devices. While it may look like the website, its actually different so that only the files needed for mobile are sent, meaning its a much faster experience all around.
TapaTalk is essentially dead. It was written for PHP 5.4 and we are now running PHP 8.4. There have been a LOT of PHP security updates since then and since Tapatalk for Xenforo has not been updated in a long long time it is not the safest idea to keep running it.
In addition those trying to view the site on their mobile devices using a browser were getting spammed on the top of the screen for people to install TapaTalk, this ad in some cases would take up 20% of the users screen. We could get rid of that ad but we would have to pay $20 a month to get rid of it.
In addition TapaTalk could and was inserting their own ads on SatelliteGuys in the app which only benefitted them, SatelliteGuys was not paid for those ads they were displaying on our site. Again we could pay to get rid of those ads.
And here was the cost of the Premium Tier.
Now to make matters worse Tapatalk recently announced that they are going to start charging users of the app 99 cents a month to continue using it.
So soon you would be paying them each month to access SatelliteGuys via their app, again all the money going to them... and you would still see all their ads too.
Tapatalk was a great program which we run for many many years, and for a long time we DID pay for the premium tier. But now with such a small offset using it (My numbers show a total of 6 members) it wasn't work paying for any longer.
In addition Tapatalk was sold to a different owner who made lots of promises of improvements and updates but then that owner has been really radio silent since, instead they have been letting TapaTalk rot on the vine.
If you visit their support forum at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/tapatalksupport/ you will see there is not much going on, in fact most of the support questions posted there go unanswered.
Please give the PWA a try, I was a die hard Tapatalk user myself but now only use the PWA on devices. It is a much better all around experience, with no bloatware or additional ads based on your user membership level.
I don't have an android phone so I could not make a graphic showing you how to add SatelliteGuys PWA to your phones apps or home screen. But here is a site that explains how to do it on all kinds of devices. How to Install a PWA on iOS, Android, Windows & Mac [2025 Guide]
The above link also explains PWA's better as well.
If Tapatalk were to update their plugins so we know we are more secure and up to date and allow us to remove the "Smart Banner" without having to pay $20 a month, we would consider adding it back. I don't even care about their ads, as if a user wants to use their app and is willing to sit through their ads in order to use that app then I am ok with it.
But hopefully that explains better why it was removed. It was not done to cut anyone off from the site. Please give the PWA a try.
TapaTalk is essentially dead. It was written for PHP 5.4 and we are now running PHP 8.4. There have been a LOT of PHP security updates since then and since Tapatalk for Xenforo has not been updated in a long long time it is not the safest idea to keep running it.
In addition those trying to view the site on their mobile devices using a browser were getting spammed on the top of the screen for people to install TapaTalk, this ad in some cases would take up 20% of the users screen. We could get rid of that ad but we would have to pay $20 a month to get rid of it.
In addition TapaTalk could and was inserting their own ads on SatelliteGuys in the app which only benefitted them, SatelliteGuys was not paid for those ads they were displaying on our site. Again we could pay to get rid of those ads.
And here was the cost of the Premium Tier.
Now to make matters worse Tapatalk recently announced that they are going to start charging users of the app 99 cents a month to continue using it.
So soon you would be paying them each month to access SatelliteGuys via their app, again all the money going to them... and you would still see all their ads too.
Tapatalk was a great program which we run for many many years, and for a long time we DID pay for the premium tier. But now with such a small offset using it (My numbers show a total of 6 members) it wasn't work paying for any longer.
In addition Tapatalk was sold to a different owner who made lots of promises of improvements and updates but then that owner has been really radio silent since, instead they have been letting TapaTalk rot on the vine.
If you visit their support forum at https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/tapatalksupport/ you will see there is not much going on, in fact most of the support questions posted there go unanswered.
Please give the PWA a try, I was a die hard Tapatalk user myself but now only use the PWA on devices. It is a much better all around experience, with no bloatware or additional ads based on your user membership level.
I don't have an android phone so I could not make a graphic showing you how to add SatelliteGuys PWA to your phones apps or home screen. But here is a site that explains how to do it on all kinds of devices. How to Install a PWA on iOS, Android, Windows & Mac [2025 Guide]
The above link also explains PWA's better as well.
If Tapatalk were to update their plugins so we know we are more secure and up to date and allow us to remove the "Smart Banner" without having to pay $20 a month, we would consider adding it back. I don't even care about their ads, as if a user wants to use their app and is willing to sit through their ads in order to use that app then I am ok with it.
But hopefully that explains better why it was removed. It was not done to cut anyone off from the site.
Please give the PWA a try.
Staff member
HERE TO HELP YOU!
111 Replies
·
2718 views
TFLEV
Time for another AWESOME video from TFL Electric Vehicles!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7CB6m89_RY
Direct YouTube Link - How the Heck Do You Tell the NEW 2027 Rivian R2 from the R1? I Compare Both Side-By-Side!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7CB6m89_RY
Direct YouTube Link - How the Heck Do You Tell the NEW 2027 Rivian R2 from the R1? I Compare Both Side-By-Side!
0 Replies
·
5 views
Supporting Founder
Lifetime Supporter
I have had good experiences with Brave but lately I am frustrated with it.
Now when I launch the app it shows a box at the bottom asking if I want to go back to the last opened page. It is in conveniently located and I would prefer to eliminate it.
Does anyone know how to do this?
Please let's not sidetrack the discussion into an exploration of why I don't care for it or a lecture about all the wonderful aspects of the feature. I just do not care for it.
Now when I launch the app it shows a box at the bottom asking if I want to go back to the last opened page. It is in conveniently located and I would prefer to eliminate it.
Does anyone know how to do this?
Please let's not sidetrack the discussion into an exploration of why I don't care for it or a lecture about all the wonderful aspects of the feature. I just do not care for it.
3 Replies
·
65 views
I don't have an Android phone so I don't know if this will apply to the Brave settings on your android device but it works on the desktop for me.
Change this setting to either startup to a different website or a new tab page. I have mine set to open to google.com instead of where I left off and it doesn't ask me at the next startup if I want to open the last opened page unless it crashed.
Change this setting to either startup to a different website or a new tab page. I have mine set to open to google.com instead of where I left off and it doesn't ask me at the next startup if I want to open the last opened page unless it crashed.
Supporting Founder
Since the Reds have there thread we should too!
Last watched Nine inch Nails
Next 3:10 to Yuma
Last watched Nine inch Nails
Next 3:10 to Yuma
5346 Replies
·
509282 views
Looking for a manual. Want to do some radio astronomy with it. Realize it's old but, since it's not for tv use don't need any decoders, just the RF section.
0 Replies
·
15 views
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.
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.
9 Replies
·
129 views
M
The 'get after it media' stations
www.getafteritmedia.com
Like Heartland, Retro, rev'n, Action etc
probably the same programming they have been putting on their other owned stations.
The 'get after it media' stations
Get After It Media
www.getafteritmedia.com
probably the same programming they have been putting on their other owned stations.
The 'get after it media' stations
Like Heartland, Retro, rev'n, Action etcGet After It Media
We already have those diginets here.
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. 
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.
I watch MovieSphere Gold channel a lot. Many recent movies on that digitnet
Yes that's a good channel MovieSphere, only thing is the missing CC on it. 
TWiT Tech Podcast Network
Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ue4NAM2-j90
Direct YouTube Link - Paul's Microsoft Build 2026 Takeaways #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
View: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ue4NAM2-j90
Direct YouTube Link - Paul's Microsoft Build 2026 Takeaways #shorts
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed
0 Replies
·
11 views