Why no new competitor equipment upgrades?

TheKrell

A mighty and noble race originating on Altair IV.
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Jan 4, 2007
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Those satellite transmitted RF signals don't get to my dish by magic. Most of trip is indeed "Over The Air"... ;)

I beg to differ. Most of the trip is actually through space that is a near perfect vacuum. :D Our atmosphere is a very thin layer on the scale of the planet and geosynchronous orbit.
 

Jim5506

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Oct 19, 2004
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80% of earth's atmosphere is below 11 miles thick, most scientists say the far reaches of the atmosphere only reach about 300 miles up.

Geosynchronous orbit satellites are about 22,226 miles up, so at least 75% of the distance to them is outside the atmosphere.

Cable TV wires are all strung within the atmosphere down here, so they could be convolutedly deemed OTA??
 
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NYDutch

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Dec 28, 2013
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Where our wheels go
I admit I was way off in my statement, but how many miles does the trajectory angle from the satellite to a North American dish location add to the "over the air" distance? If nothing else, the "last mile" is definitely "over the air"... ;)
 
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hahler2

SatelliteGuys Pro
Jan 14, 2005
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I agree that streaming services will not replace satellite anytime soon. I've tried them all. They do work and I like the fact that you're not under contract, but they all have issues. Some have local channels, some don't. DVR can be hit or miss. Some have limits on how much you can record. Some replace recordings with VOD versions that you can't fast forward through commercials. Then, if you're like me, you end up subscribing to several different ones to get all the shows you want to watch and end up spending just as much as you would on satellite, but have the inconvenience of switching apps to find the shows you want. If I'm going to be paying close to the same amount, I would rather have all my shows in one spot along with a more reliable DVR. Also, living in a rural area, my internet is BARELY fast enough for streaming TV. So if internet is having a bad night (which happens frequently) you're stuck and unable to watch TV.
 

TheKrell

A mighty and noble race originating on Altair IV.
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Jan 4, 2007
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...how many miles does the trajectory angle from the satellite to a North American dish location add to the "over the air" distance?

The slant angle does add to the distance the signal travels through the atmosphere. But it also adds to the distance the signal travels through space. :D Sorry; I used to teach; it's in my blood.
 

NYDutch

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Dec 28, 2013
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The slant angle does add to the distance the signal travels through the atmosphere. But it also adds to the distance the signal travels through space. :D Sorry; I used to teach; it's in my blood.

Oh, of course it adds to both distances. I thought that was a given... ;)
 

pattykay

formerly crodrules
Jun 14, 2014
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North Central Ohio
how is it cutting the cord when your bound to an isp of some sort. to cut the cord one has to be on pure OTA. i can see cord shaving!!!
Well, even an OTA antenna requires a cable to get the signal from the antenna to the TV. Now, if your TV happens to have a built-in antenna, that would be a different matter. (Although technically, any internal wiring could also be considered a "cord.") :biggrin

I don't recall ever having a VIP, 1st gen hopper , and Hopper 3. Ever fail.
I had an original ViP211 fail. Of course, it took more than 10 years for that to finally happen. I later had another original ViP211 fail, but it was already starting to fail before someone else gave it to me for free.
 

wvman

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Sep 19, 2014
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yep thats what i thought

Samsung’s 250GB external SSD is priced at $179.99, a 500GB drive is $299.99, and a 1TB drive is $599.99. I have a 500GB hooked to my FTA receiver and it's been in use for over a year with no glitches, but I don't do a lot of editing, just storage for movies I record. I never tried one on my video recorder for my surveillance system. I have been thinking about it. I usually install WD Blue drives in them.
 

Cheddar_Head

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Feb 13, 2008
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Colorado Springs
Samsung’s 250GB external SSD is priced at $179.99, a 500GB drive is $299.99, and a 1TB drive is $599.99. I have a 500GB hooked to my FTA receiver and it's been in use for over a year with no glitches, but I don't do a lot of editing, just storage for movies I record. I never tried one on my video recorder for my surveillance system. I have been thinking about it. I usually install WD Blue drives in them.
What's the point of using SSD in those applications? You don't need the higher iops and the spinning rust drives have an awfully low failure rate in non-mobile applications. Just wondering your use case.
 
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