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Stuart Sweet
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Pub Member / Supporter Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in The Solid Signal Blog
I was talking to someone recently and they told me that they really didn't understand grounding. There are a lot of resources on this blog having to do with grounding. But, when I look at them, I realize that there's no single article that goes over the grounding in a really basic way. So, I decided to write one.

Note: Experienced RF engineers will probably be tempted to point out minor inaccuracies in this article. I admit that I'm simplifying a lot of this so that it is as easy to understand as possible. If you're really interested in the science of grounding, I encourage you to seek out college courses on the subject.

Basically, here's what grounding is and why you need it


Stray electricity is everywhere. All life runs on electricity, and electricity is generated practically any time that two things come into contact. Electricity is even flowing through the air. In fact, all broadcasting is really just electricity flowing through the air.

Normally, the amount of electricity in the air is pretty small. It's there all the time and it's not dangerous to you. However, there are cases where enough stray electricity is in the air that it becomes dangerous. When clouds interact with each other, they generate an electrical charge. That electrical charge has a natural tendency to flow toward the center of the earth. The problem is, that it will flow through anything that comes between it and the center of the earth. The stuff that comes between it, whether it's a house, a person, or a TV, will usually be destroyed.

The idea of grounding is that you provide a way for that stray electricity to travel down to the ground without going through things like houses and people. Grounding dissipates electricity harmlessly. This keeps your valuable things (and you) from being destroyed. It also means the stray electricity doesn't interact with the electricity in your wires, and that's important to make sure your video and audio equipment works right.

How is grounding done?


The idea of grounding is simple. You create a path between a piece of metal and the ground. This is done using a copper wire. Copper carries electricity much more easily than human beings or wood, and electricity is "lazy." Electricity, like water, will always flow in the easiest possible path. So if we give the electricity a nice easy copper wire, with a straight line to the ground, the electricity won't bother to go through your house or your body.

Things that are made of metal usually have green screws that are used to connect dedicated ground wires. The wire runs from that metal thing (like a TV antenna) to something connected straight into the dirt. This can be a dedicated grounding rod, a cold-water pipe, or something else that's connected to the ground. Every city and county has its own ordinances around what things you can use for grounding.

In order to keep stray electricity from affecting sensitive equipment, electrical devices also have one of the "pins" of the plug dedicated to grounding. When devices inside the house connect to the grounding system of the building, that's generally called bonding.

What needs to be grounded?


Everything made of metal that's outside should be grounded. It doesn't matter if it's not very high up, it should be grounded. It's most important to ground the thing that's highest up because that's where electricity will flow first. But every metal item needs to be grounded or bonded. There's no such thing as too much grounding, so don't be afraid to ground things if you're not sure it's needed.

Warning: grounding will NOT protect your house from a lightning strike


This is the biggest misconception about grounding. A lightning strike is about 300,000,000 volts and 30,000 amps. If it strikes something on your house, no skinny little copper wire is going to handle it. There are large devices called lightning arresters which are designed to protect large installations from lightning strikes. However, they block all electricity meaning they don't work with antennas or satellite dishes.

What grounding does do is to dissipate stray electricity around your house so that a lightning strike is less likely to happen. Grounding keeps that stray electricity from building up so it never turns into a lightning strike.

Who should I go to to help with grounding?


A local electrician or contractor should be able to help you with grounding. The laws around grounding vary because some areas are drier or wetter or have different terrains. If you don't know the laws in your area, your local city clerk can help you.

However, I've said it before and I'll say it again — some grounding is better than no grounding. If you're not sure what's legal in your area and you aren't going to be able to find out for a while, do what you can. Ground everything the best way you can and then go back and fix what needs to be fixed when you can.

The simplest form of grounding means getting hold of some ground wire. Don't use any other copper wire if possible. Connect one end of the wire to something metal that's outside, preferably using the green screw you'll find on it. Run the other end to something metal in the ground. This can be a ground rod, an exposed metal pipe, or even a metal fencepost if that's all you have. Really that's all it takes.

Remember, these are just suggestions. What's legal and required varies from city to city.

What if I don't ground anything?


I'm not going to paint you this grim picture of your house going up in a ball of flames because you didn't ground your TV antenna. It's possible yes, but it probably won't happen. Still, one lightning strike can destroy your home and everything in it (including you.) Even though lightning strikes are rare, they do happen and you should take precautions against them. A few dollars spent on some copper wire, and a little bit of time spent on a weekend, are a small price to pay.

If you're looking for grounding supplies, shop at Solid Signal. If you're looking for the kind of equipment that needs to be grounded, call the experts at 888-233-7563. We'll help you figure out what you need and work with you from beginning to end. Call us during East Coast business hours or fill out the form below.


The post A VERY basic discussion of grounding appeared first on The Solid Signal Blog.

Continue reading...
1 Replies · 551 views
harshness
In fact, all broadcasting is really just electricity flowing through the air.
This is a pretty fundamental flaw. Electric potential exists but current does not flow in air.
The simplest form of grounding means getting hold of some ground wire. Don't use any other copper wire if possible. Connect one end of the wire to something metal that's outside, preferably using the green screw you'll find on it. Run the other end to something metal in the ground. This can be a ground rod, an exposed metal pipe, or even a metal fencepost if that's all you have. Really that's all it takes.
Grounding to an unbonded metal anything is not NEC as it may allow a potential to build up between that "ground" and your home wiring ground. You're arguably better off not having a protective ground at all if it isn't bonded.
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Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in SatelliteGuys Support Center
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.)

add_to_home.gif

Thanks for your understanding. :)
7 Replies · 157 views
Foxbat
Thank you, Scott, for adding years to my Life and dropping my BP a few millimeters! Money well spent…
dweber
Thank you, Scott, for adding years to my Life and dropping my BP a few millimeters! Money well spent…
What is PWA app? PWA utilities seem to be a Spanish app. I hope you are seeing this since nothing seems to be working. I will miss SatelliteGuys. Tapatalk worked well. The Siri browser doesn't seem to work well.
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Peter Parker
Thank you, Scott, for adding years to my Life and dropping my BP a few millimeters! Money well spent…
Hooray!
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Peter Parker
What is PWA app? PWA utilities seem to be a Spanish app. I hope you are seeing this since nothing seems to be working. I will miss SatelliteGuys. Tapatalk worked well. The Siri browser doesn't seem to work well.
Do you mean the safari browser?
Foxbat
What is PWA app? PWA utilities seem to be a Spanish app. I hope you are seeing this since nothing seems to be working. I will miss SatelliteGuys. Tapatalk worked well. The Siri browser doesn't seem to work well.
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.
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Scott Greczkowski
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.

Screenshot 2026-06-11 085611.webp



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.

Screenshot 2026-06-11 085641.webp


And here was the cost of the Premium Tier.

Screenshot 2026-06-11 085701.webp


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.

Screenshot 2026-06-11 090141.webp



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.
NYDutch
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.

View attachment 191729


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.

View attachment 191730

And here was the cost of the Premium Tier.

View attachment 191731

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.

View attachment 191732


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.
I just installed the PWA on my Android phone. It was pretty easy to do, and now I'm posting this from my phone. Thanks, Scott!
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....
67104 Replies · 2662240 views
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long_time_DNC
King Of Pain - The Police
H
Haven't Got Time For The PAIN-Carly Simon
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ClarkGable
No Time - The Guess Who
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harshness
Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper
sdfntx
Right on Time - Brandi Carlile
Scott Greczkowski
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge
Last reply · posted in SatelliteGuys Support Center
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.


Thank you in advance. :)
18 Replies · 545 views
Scott Greczkowski
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!
T
Yeah, dr's...joint pain? Your joints are wearing out. It hurts when I do this...don't do that
comfortably_numb
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

No excuse for a flippant response like that from a doctor! I'd be looking for a different one.
Scott Greczkowski
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. :)
navychop
😍
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Scott Greczkowski
We got more kind donations yesterday! Again a very big thank you to everyone for your support!
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dfergie
Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!
Last reply · posted in The Sports Section
111 Replies · 2719 views
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Foxbat
Awesome pictures, Yespage! Thanks!

I caught the end of the four hour race on YouTube so I wasn't "spoiled", but got to see the exciting last lap action in the TCR division!
Y
Awesome pictures, Yespage! Thanks!

I caught the end of the four hour race on YouTube so I wasn't "spoiled", but got to see the exciting last lap action in the TCR division!
I heard on the radio, after the final pitstop, Turner Motorsport were resigned to second place. 'You're in second. Don't worry about it. First is McLaren, we aren't catching them.'
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Y
Caught up to the 500... err... k in St. Louis. What a race! Andretti Motorsport were doing very well with Ericsson and Kirkwood, meanwhile Power was moving up the grid. Veekay started cautiously. He was working the tires just right, becoming more lethal later in the stint. Rasmussen was racing likewise, not nearly as insane as he has in the past. Palou was leading the race, in a shocker to all. Caio Collet was having a wonderful ride, making Ferucci potentially sweat a bit. Rain came, rain went, rain came, rain went. Generally mild sprinkles, but enough to pause racing on an oval.

Palou would kind of send Siegel into the wall. Siegel really didn't do much wrong. As he noted, you have to turn at some point. Palou had acres of room below and Siegel might have had his ticket out of Indycar stamped. Dixon was doing the fuel thing and got busted twice by yellows, not pitting before the flag came out. Then the most critical happened... Palou ran out of gas on pit lane, effectively giving Newgarden the race lead and win. Newgarden had a very early pit, so he was able to slide in, get service and go. Meanwhile, everyone else was confused and stuck behind Palou for a bit. Once people figured what was happening, Newgarden had a major advantage of several seconds. Newgarden wouldn't look back and when it went green again, he'd hold the lead for the win.

Massive credit to Juncos Hollinger who bested Penske in getting Veekay out before Malukas in a transition that was oddly bizarre. I haven't had time to check, but I'm wondering if Veekay was about to run out of fuel or cut a tire. He was charging late in a stint, got up to fifth, and then tailed back for a few laps to 10th or 11th. It looked like it was over. Went into the pits, and after the pitting sequence was over, Veekay was well inside the top ten again. It was weird. And he charged, getting up to fourth. He made a late move on Rasmussen, but Rasmussen held his position with some great driving. In fact, there was a ton of incredible racing passing, not passing all race long. Veekay would finish 4th. A podium would have been awesome, but it is a great outcome for a guy who hopefully will get a break with a big team. We saw what Veekay could do with a Honda last season with fuel save, imagine replacing Simpson on Ganassi and having speed to go with fuel saving. His 6th at Indy and 4th at St. Louis get him up to 13th in the points standings and only 5 points outside of the top 10.

Ericsson finished second, resigned to finishing behind the current best in the world guy on a short oval. Rasmussen got the final step on the podium, a nice rebound to what has been an otherwise bad year for him, and a good reward to ECR who just extended his contract.
Y
They raced USAC cars at Daytona once. Once! People died. Aj Foyt said 'f this', and left after the first go around. AJ freaking Foyt thought it was crazy! And cars weren't nearly as fast as they are now.

I think they tried Talladega once too.
Y
LeMans qualifying on going. WEC has d9ne a great job expanding the automotive company entries. Even without Porsche, a large nunber of manufacturers.
Peter Parker
Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter
Last reply · posted in Computers and Gadgets
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.
3 Replies · 65 views
b4pjoe
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.

Screenshot 2026-06-10 at 6.46.20 PM.webp
Peter Parker
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.

View attachment 191721
Thank you for trying to help. However thrse choices do not appear in Android. There is a setting for "New Tab Pages" that is similar but does not include your choice. I have tried all of the existing entries with no success
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Juan
Something like this maybe


Option 2: Set a custom Home button URL
  1. Click the menu icon in the top-right corner and select Settings.
  2. Click on Appearance in the left sidebar.
  3. Toggle on the Show home button switch.
  4. Under the home button settings, select the option to Enter custom web address and type in your preferred website. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
BlackHitachi
Supporting Founder
Last reply · posted in Movie Talk
Since the Reds have there thread we should too!

Last watched Nine inch Nails
Next 3:10 to Yuma
5346 Replies · 509282 views
osu1991
Rooster Cogburn.

Keep forgetting the free movies on youtube are ad free with my premium subscription.
dfergie
Rooster Cogburn.

Keep forgetting the free movies on youtube are ad free with my premium subscription.
There are some really good movies on youtube.
Saving Private Ryan 4k, Dolby Atmos...
harshness
Saving Private Ryan 4k, Dolby Atmos...
These are severely limited. Getting better than stereo audio is improving, but still has a long way to go.
dfergie
These are severely limited. Getting better than stereo audio is improving, but still has a long way to go.
I went with my 4k disc after checking out that version.
osu1991

View: https://youtu.be/I68627xyDPA?is=gUZB0Yv_08pE0DR3


Tonight revisiting one of my favorites. Ranks up there with Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Hunt For Red October.
dfergie
Watching Monterey Pop, been awhile, had the DVD, but probably lost in the fire 10.5 years ago. HBOmax
"MysteryMan"
813WnPwdB3L._SX342_.webp
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S
· posted in FTA Manuals Section
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 · 16 views
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.😎
9 Replies · 130 views
M
This new station is owned by Digital Network and what kind of programmings is unkown at this time
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 etc
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comfortably_numb
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 etc

We already have those diginets here.
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: