Some of my recent restoration work... strip and re-surface w/ 24 carat gold.... post surgery recovery and all that...
here's the back story
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...cumentary-about-carrier-air-group-11-in/posts
WWII flying ace pilot wings service medals for exemplary duty and such...
John L.
here's the back story
https://www.kickstarter.com/project...cumentary-about-carrier-air-group-11-in/posts
WWII flying ace pilot wings service medals for exemplary duty and such...
John L.
With an uncertain economic future and limited income, I am hesitant to sign up for anything that requires a minimum term commitment. Dish wants a 2 year contract, Hughes wants 2 years + equipment rental, or no commitment if you BUY the satellite terminal. I didn't even ask! Their fastest package is 5 Mbps down and 1 Mbps up.
We have been looking to minimize our fixed monthly costs like utilities, phone and TV. In our current house The fixed costs are over $500 per month, with $200 of that going to Comcast. You get absolutely zero reception here with an antenna and Comcast knows it.
In Florida I took the basic TV (lo def) + phone + internet bundle and paid $99 per month. I used an antenna to get Miami and West Palm Beach TV channels in hi def. The internet was fast, and the phone was good enough. I would like to do that here, and probably accept whatever internet I could get from them.
The web site "TVfool.com will give you TV signal strength plots for a given location by zip code, street address or GPS coordinates. They are totally wrong about the signal here. I can't find a TV signal on this property with a spectrum analyzer. They say that I can get the Wheeling station (Ch 7.1 CBS and 7.3 ABC) and the Steubenville station (9.1 NBC and 9.2 FOX) out there, though Wheeling is 35db stronger than Steubenville.
So this afternoon I took my $50 portable TV out there and was able to watch CBS and ABC. No hint of channel 9 though. I think I will drag a the spectrum analyzer out there next.....maybe I can find an AT&T signal????
One can do as they do in Nepal...... go in with a neighbor on paying cable costs... and a video cable splitter over to your house. Who wouldnt want to pay 1/2 for their service?
THx-RNMarsh
THx-RNMarsh
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George, I recently dropped cable TV and only get internet now.
For TV I have a 30ft mast with an old Channelmaster antenna.
I bought a cheap RF amp at walmart and it made a noticeable difference.
I bought a TV antenna with built in amplifier for my wife and it made a big difference over rabbit ears for her.
I think the amplified antenna was something like $39.
It might be enough gain to make TV usable.
For TV I have a 30ft mast with an old Channelmaster antenna.
I bought a cheap RF amp at walmart and it made a noticeable difference.
I bought a TV antenna with built in amplifier for my wife and it made a big difference over rabbit ears for her.
I think the amplified antenna was something like $39.
It might be enough gain to make TV usable.
George i will pm with my friend in Col that you met at the hamvetion he is the man on antennas .
George, best "grounded" antenna: Take a shovel, dig a big hole in the ground, plant a big tree that grows real fast (a cedar for example), and look @ it, every day, growing slowly, and walk around it, with your two feet on the ground.
Best TV reception; your own environment, the outside nature, the wildlife. ...Best channel of them all.
...With everything around it; family, children, parents, friends, gardens, skies, rivers, mountains, sun, rain, trees, forests, cougars, blossoms, seasons, ...
Best TV reception; your own environment, the outside nature, the wildlife. ...Best channel of them all.
...With everything around it; family, children, parents, friends, gardens, skies, rivers, mountains, sun, rain, trees, forests, cougars, blossoms, seasons, ...
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I retired for 9 years, I still keep busy. I watch very little TV during the day time, only have it on for the news as background to keep up the current affairs. I study, blog on technical forums like this one, design and build amplifiers. Then I exercise a lot. Only after 7pm then I watch TV. Just because I retire does not mean I am rodding away. Have to keep the brain and body in shape. Absolutely no bingo, card games, video games etc.
I notice the mind of retired people that take it easy slow down very fast. My sister is only 1.5 years older than me, I notice her mind is slow when I talk to her, it's like she can't hear very well and follow the conversation. My wife seems to slow down after retirement, she is not sitting around, still read a lot, doing hobby, very involve in different things, but she does not do hard study and design circuits like me. I can really tell. Getting old is bad, but I would like to keep my body and mind as long as possible.
I think picking up hobby like DIY audio will help keeping your mind strong as design and building amplifiers stimulates your mind. But just don't do the same thing over and over, then it becomes a repetitive motion. I spent two years on guitar amps and guitar effects, now I jump to audiophile as the technology is very different. I learn a lot of new things since I am here for the last two weeks. I am trying to build an amp for myself, then I am going to move onto other things to keep my mind busy and keep learning. This is my crossword puzzle as I really hate crossword puzzles.
I notice the mind of retired people that take it easy slow down very fast. My sister is only 1.5 years older than me, I notice her mind is slow when I talk to her, it's like she can't hear very well and follow the conversation. My wife seems to slow down after retirement, she is not sitting around, still read a lot, doing hobby, very involve in different things, but she does not do hard study and design circuits like me. I can really tell. Getting old is bad, but I would like to keep my body and mind as long as possible.
I think picking up hobby like DIY audio will help keeping your mind strong as design and building amplifiers stimulates your mind. But just don't do the same thing over and over, then it becomes a repetitive motion. I spent two years on guitar amps and guitar effects, now I jump to audiophile as the technology is very different. I learn a lot of new things since I am here for the last two weeks. I am trying to build an amp for myself, then I am going to move onto other things to keep my mind busy and keep learning. This is my crossword puzzle as I really hate crossword puzzles.
Reality check
Morals? Whose shall we go by?
Here's how its done (publicly) in the rest of the world... see attachments... click on them.
🙂
THx-RNMarsh
Morals? Whose shall we go by?
Here's how its done (publicly) in the rest of the world... see attachments... click on them.
🙂
THx-RNMarsh
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I watch very little TV. I could do without it, Sherri however could not. After my father kicked the cigarettes and the alcohol, he became rather attached to the TV.....until all he did was watch it from morning 'till night. Soon it was all he could do. I refuse to be like that.
That might work in a lot of the world, but not here. Everything that comes out of Comcast's wire is encrypted, and . Merely connecting a second TV in the same house to the cable with an RF splitter does nothing. Even a cable ready TV sees nothing. You need to rent a second box or a Cablecard from Comcast to make a second TV work. You could use a splitter after the box to the second TV IF both TV's wanted to see the same channel. Ditto the phone service. You could share internet with a high powered WiFi setup.
41 years as an RF engineer for Motorola has taught me how to make all the antennas and amplifiers I would need, but they will not do anything if there is no signal. We are in between two "ridges" that are at about 1200 feet. We are at 650 feet(above sea level). There is a ridge that rises about 500 feet immediately to the west of the creek behind our property. Peaks of 800 to 1200 feet surround us on all sides, so we are in a "holler". The only signal that gets in does so by "edge diffraction" which is very lossy. The 25 KW VHF station 11 miles to the north is predicted to be at -45 dbm at our location, which should be quite strong. I walked the whole 15 acre area and only found 5 places where that signal could be decoded with a cheap TV. 2 were on our lot. I found no trace of the station that is 26 miles away and only predicted to be at -90 dbm. The spectrum analyzer is far more sensitive, so I need to take it out there for some signal hunting.
If you have nothing better to do, plug these coordinates into a Google map and turn on the terrain feature. 39.889762-80.728158 That's the back porch of the old mobile home. I get Wheeling's channel 7 there.
If you live in a favela in Rio you get free wireless internet service. That may be because there are enough wires already or because the government want to keep trouble indoors. I don't know the real reason but (of course) the real reason can't be what the government says, that is, they're doing it to educate people. Educated muggers, oh no.... it gives me the shakes.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Hi,
You brought up your issue but my answeres are always for everyone all over this planet who might read this. If one's morals, culture and political persuasion allow - there are plenty of 'universal' converter boxes available by internet direct to you (wont respond to comcast test signals to identify you). You pay for basic but get every channel on the cable. The world is full of hackers on any subject. Anyone can find out the details if they look.
I use Comcast for cable and Internet and I have two over-the-air antenna.... long distance antenna with 35 db gain, quiet rf amps. I get a respectable number of stations up to 150 miles away. But I have no hills/mountains between me and those far away stations. I will, like many others, drop the cable channels now and only use the antenna and internet with HD (Netflix) movie streaming for $8 a month.
THx-RNMarsh
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Everyone hacks. I remember rich kids hacking satellite boxes, it was a trend around the neighborhood. I'm a bit disconnected, don't know what they're up to now.... hacking porno sites possibly.
Digital TV here is only available with 1 extra outlet (+ $5/month)
I need 8 outlets minimum, preferably 10.
That's one situation where I wouldn't object to go the Nepal way
Not uncommon in WV living down in the Holler. That does expain the problem. 😱
We are just like animals in the wildlife of the forests from the jungles high on the mountains of Peru.
We watch the stars @ night in the skies around us, and we feed ourselves from the fruits of the trees and the rain water and the rivers and the mushrooms and the small bugs full of vitamins.
We run wild, up and down, sideways, to keep in shape, and we read the time history to keep our brain alive.
We don't need no TV with all them news and soap operas from America and Hollywood.
We can survive on our own without no dictators of any sort (power bills, cable TV, Netflix, gas bills, phone bills, mortgage payments, tra-la-la...).
We are free like the jungles of our planet. We don't need no accommodation from subscriptions and conventions and consumptions and confrontations and conformations and all that jazz invented by men for men in a system of denunciation and abso!ution and corruption. Money is not what rules our lives; we know what true love is, and happiness.
We are an intelligent species; we live in cities like a pack of sardines and we work on the 107th floor of the babel tower. We get our paychecks directly from the corporations, and we drive mercedes benz.
When we go shopping we know exactly why; newest iPhones, most accurate watches, and OLED TVs.
We are the human race, and we race towards our own destiny.
With time we have evolved into what we see today.
When we embarked aboard that plane we know how long it will take to reach our destination.
When we walk we walk the trails of the jungles, or the asphalt of our streets with rubber wheels. ...Or on the sidewalks made of cement with our shoes purchased @ the shoe store.
In the jungles we walk barefeet, and it makes us healthier. We go deep into the jungles till nobody can find us, ever.
When it rains we find a canopy under a tree, or we simply open our umbrellas.
When we live we live hard because we work hard, and survival is a way of living dangerously with our natural human instinct.
We never retired, unless we are too old to move that we can no longer physically be active, then we became thinkers of the planet, and we teach our children of our past findings from our experiences.
When we retire we do it with graciousness and wisdom.
We watch the stars @ night in the skies around us, and we feed ourselves from the fruits of the trees and the rain water and the rivers and the mushrooms and the small bugs full of vitamins.
We run wild, up and down, sideways, to keep in shape, and we read the time history to keep our brain alive.
We don't need no TV with all them news and soap operas from America and Hollywood.
We can survive on our own without no dictators of any sort (power bills, cable TV, Netflix, gas bills, phone bills, mortgage payments, tra-la-la...).
We are free like the jungles of our planet. We don't need no accommodation from subscriptions and conventions and consumptions and confrontations and conformations and all that jazz invented by men for men in a system of denunciation and abso!ution and corruption. Money is not what rules our lives; we know what true love is, and happiness.
We are an intelligent species; we live in cities like a pack of sardines and we work on the 107th floor of the babel tower. We get our paychecks directly from the corporations, and we drive mercedes benz.
When we go shopping we know exactly why; newest iPhones, most accurate watches, and OLED TVs.
We are the human race, and we race towards our own destiny.
With time we have evolved into what we see today.
When we embarked aboard that plane we know how long it will take to reach our destination.
When we walk we walk the trails of the jungles, or the asphalt of our streets with rubber wheels. ...Or on the sidewalks made of cement with our shoes purchased @ the shoe store.
In the jungles we walk barefeet, and it makes us healthier. We go deep into the jungles till nobody can find us, ever.
When it rains we find a canopy under a tree, or we simply open our umbrellas.
When we live we live hard because we work hard, and survival is a way of living dangerously with our natural human instinct.
We never retired, unless we are too old to move that we can no longer physically be active, then we became thinkers of the planet, and we teach our children of our past findings from our experiences.
When we retire we do it with graciousness and wisdom.