HOUR 3:
Tech News & Commentary
Ron in Eerie, Pennsylvania listening on WPSE 1450 asked: “I’m interested in converting an old satellite receiver to an over-the-air TV antenna.”
It will take some work. The satellite dish itself cannot be used to receive over-the-air TV signals. They’re different technologies that work with different frequencies and are used for different purposes. Even many of the satellite receivers that have a connection for an antenna won’t work for over-the-air, unless you also have a satellite dish connected to it. What you can do is use an antenna that clips on to your satellite dish and uses the cables that already run into your house to carry the signal.
Basically, the setup works like this: You clip the antenna onto your dish, connect the cable from the dish to the new antenna, and then at the other end of the wire (inside your home) use a “diplexer” to split the satellite and TV signals. A diplexer is just a cable splitter that has one input and two outputs, one for VHF/UHF signals for regular over-the-air TV, and one for satellite signals.
The catch here is that this may or may not work, because you may actually have more than one cable running from the satellite dish to your TVs. For example, you may have one cable that runs to your living room and from there splits off into your kitchen, and a second individual cable that runs into your bedroom. If you connect the antenna to your bedroom’s cable, then you won’t see an improvement on the living room’s TV. Unless you know how the house is wired, get ready to face a little disappointment if you decide to attempt this.
The costs you’re looking at (if you decide to go for it) are: around $60 to as much as $100 for a clip on antenna. You could make one for a lot less, but if you buy an already made one, it’ll cost you around that. A signal splitter (the “diplexer”) per room isn’t very expensive. You can find them for as little as a few dollars — for less than $10. A lot of clip-on antennas are sold as a kit that already includes several splitters.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
“Into Gaming Update” Weekly Feature with Mark
Lautenschlager
Larry in Shreveport, Louisiana listening on 710 KEEL asked: “I am building a new media room at my house and I’m trying to decide whether to buy an LED TV or a projector. I am a big fan of movies and will be using it for that, mostly.”
it would mostly depend on the size of your room and how big a picture you wanted. If you’re looking at a standard size room with a picture no bigger than, say, 50-inches, a TV will probably be your best bet. If you’re setting up a large home theater with a bunch of seating and have room for a large screen, then you can look at a projector.
Both have their advantages and disadvantages. A projector, for instance, is great for showing a movie to a bunch of people and gives you more of that “movie theater” feel. They aren’t good, however, unless the room is very dark. If you’re gonna have any light in the room and still want to watch TV, then an LED/LCD or Plasma would work best for you.
You also have to think about long-term cost. A TV generally lasts for years with little or no maintenance. When you go the projector route, you also have to purchase a screen to project the image onto. There are also replacement bulbs that you’d need every couple years when the old one burns out in the projector. Those can cost upwards of several hundred dollars.
And that cost is on top of the cost of the projector itself. A 1080p projector’s price can hover around the price of a big screen TV already! To give you an example, an Optoma EH1020 1080p projector sells online for $1499, and a 55-inch Toshiba 1080p 3DTV sells for the same price. You can find cheaper projectors (and cheaper TVs for that matter), but the prices are usually not too far from each other if you go full HD. If you’re ok with 720p, then projector prices drop to about the price of a 720p TV.
So Larry, it all depends on what you’re doing with it. If you’re making that room your “home theater” room, it might work out great for you. If you need more versatility and would like to watch movies in the daytime or with the lights on occasionally, then a TV is probably best.
For more information, tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast.
Guest in this hour:
Professor Edgar Choueiri, Director, Engineering Physics Program – D3A Lab at Princeton University
One of our listeners introduced us to a video on YouTube where a professor at Princeton University explains what 3D Audio is and how it’s possible to get that experience from laptop speakers.
“IFA History Feature” brought to you by Messe-Berlin
In 1928 the time finally had come for the world premiere of television, after many years of intensive research and development around the globe, with Germany as focal point. The venue: the 5th “Grosse Deutsche Funkausstellung” in Berlin, today as IFA the number one global show. The screen, developed by Denez von Mihaly, was as tiny as a postage stamp, just an inch and a half, square, with only 30 lines and 900 pixels. Von Mihaly received the first license “to build and operate” a television station from the German Post.
That’s this week’s IFA Update brought to you by Messe-Berlin. Be sure to visit IFA-Berlin.com.
Danny in Jefferson City, Missouri listening on KLIK and asked: “My digital TV signal keeps going out and freezing up. It’s a regular over the air antenna. Are they ever gonna work that problem out or am I gonna have to get cable?”
It sounds like you may be having an issue with your reception. This should be an easy fix. (famous last words.) The difference with the digital TV is that you no longer get static when you have low reception. What happens now is the signal will just drop out or do what you’re describing – it’ll sort of freeze.
The fix could be as easy as re-aiming your antenna. But there’s a chance you’ll have to get a different one. Come by IntoTomorrow.com and we’ll link you to AntennaWeb.org which will help you not only choose the right antenna, but based on the address you enter, it will tell you exactly where to aim the antenna so that you get the best possible reception in your area.
Tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast for more details.
Facebook friend Juan in Miami Beach, FL asked referring to our “Cutting the cable” ITTV video report:
“Good call on Boxee for Mac OS X. Had PLEX, but it was pure garbage. Uninstalled. Connecting your laptop with Windows Media Center or Boxxee for Mac is the winning solution for now. Unless you have lots of torrent files, these set-top boxes are overpriced and little unnecessary toys. My biggest pet peeve is I don’t see the value of Hulu Plus and refuse to pay for it, and annoyed that the Hulu Standard doesn’t even work on them. And, even with PLUS, certain shows won’t work on Mobile or TV OS, not to mention there is NO Android support yet. So, until we have a ubiquitous standard on all devices, I just can’t justify the extra cost on the service and by extension the connected hardware since it defeats the very purpose. By the way, I have a WD TV Live HD Media Player for sale ask around only 50 bucks, plays ANY file you can throw at it or your money back. So what do you guys think?”
Thanks for your feedback! And we agree. These streaming set-top devices aren’t for everyone, as not everyone can justify spending money for content that is still limited.
In answer to your question about the Western Digital TV Live HD Media Player … From what we can see online, that’s a reasonable price. It might even be cheap. Somewhere between $50-$75 would be fair. We heard there were some issues with certain files — specifically, the Matroska Files (.MKV). Supposedly, there are some that won’t play.
Tune in to Hour 3 of our podcast for more details.
If you have any questions about any of this week’s show info,
please email us here.
This Week’s Prizes for Our Listeners
Microsoft: Copies of Street & Trips Software with GPS receiver
Powermat: Several Powermat Power! Dual 1850 & Dual 1200 Portable Battery Packs
Que Publishing: Copies of the book: “My iPad 2” (Covers iOS 4.3)