Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

When my nephew visited recently, I mentioned that I was NOT happy with the
picture quality that I have on my big screen Sony. I have TimeWarner cable
input; and I use two Tivo's. I use a splitter so I can record one program
and watch another. I do NOT have digital coming in and I don't want it ( so
I can record and watch ).

He's been in the cable business for fifteen years or so. He asked how many
TV's I had in the house, and how many of those were connected to my cable
system I answered 5 and all 5 are connected to the cable.

He spent a minute explaining Decibels, etc....and we went to Best-Buy. We
bought ( for about $12.00 ) a 10 db 110 v. powered amplifier. Ten minutes
to hook it up on the main incoming line.... and all 6 TV's look like
brand-new.

Just thought I would share. RichG TX

--
RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
..

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

In article <GWxee.1403$7U.138@newssvr30.news.prodigy.com>,
"RichG" <rich99sue@sbcxxxglobal.net> wrote:

> When my nephew visited recently, I mentioned that I was NOT happy with the
> picture quality that I have on my big screen Sony. I have TimeWarner cable
> input; and I use two Tivo's. I use a splitter so I can record one program
> and watch another. I do NOT have digital coming in and I don't want it ( so
> I can record and watch ).
>
> He's been in the cable business for fifteen years or so. He asked how many
> TV's I had in the house, and how many of those were connected to my cable
> system I answered 5 and all 5 are connected to the cable.
>
> He spent a minute explaining Decibels, etc....and we went to Best-Buy. We
> bought ( for about $12.00 ) a 10 db 110 v. powered amplifier. Ten minutes
> to hook it up on the main incoming line.... and all 6 TV's look like
> brand-new.
>
> Just thought I would share. RichG TX

Typical "You're just a piece of cash flow" thinking that the cable
company hadnt done this upon install.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

While I agree that the cable companies don't much care much about individual
clients, in fairness to them....I probably added two or three TV's since I
had the original install some 5 years ago.

Rather than spend two days waiting for someone to please show up and "try"
to fix the picture quality issue.. it seems that a $12.00 solution was a
good thing for me.

--
RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
..

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

"RichG" <rich99sue@sbcxxxglobal.net> wrote in message
news:awJee.1359$1o3.228@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com...
> While I agree that the cable companies don't much care much about
individual
> clients, in fairness to them....I probably added two or three TV's since I
> had the original install some 5 years ago.
>
> Rather than spend two days waiting for someone to please show up and "try"
> to fix the picture quality issue.. it seems that a $12.00 solution was a
> good thing for me.
>
> --
> RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
> http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
> .
>
>

Not to mention that 4 hour time window they give you !!!!

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

In article <wZQee.5080$7F4.1729@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
"Scooby" <mmscooby1@removeme.earthlink.net> wrote:

> "RichG" <rich99sue@sbcxxxglobal.net> wrote in message
> news:awJee.1359$1o3.228@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com...
> > While I agree that the cable companies don't much care much about
> individual
> > clients, in fairness to them....I probably added two or three TV's since I
> > had the original install some 5 years ago.
> >
> > Rather than spend two days waiting for someone to please show up and "try"
> > to fix the picture quality issue.. it seems that a $12.00 solution was a
> > good thing for me.
> >
> > --
> > RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
> > http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
> > .
> >
> >
>
> Not to mention that 4 hour time window they give you !!!!

and in the case of Warner Cable in Houston, They may meet the window,
and then "discover" they don't have the key to your apartment complex's
wiring closet.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

TWC, Houston is my vendor , too. They make an appointment..... I give up a
day of fishing or golfing..they show up. ..two, or maybe three or more hours
late..they don't have the necessary materials or... even, in one case..a
LADDER.... to get up the pole ( I lent them mine to save me another day of
frustration)...

Life is much too short for this. And now they have the audacity to buy TV
ads advertising against competition from SBC ( not much better, in my
opinion...)

Somebody's got to find a better way to deliver the signal. Satellite dishes
go out in storms; cable can't get it right...seems like there is room for
improvement here.
--
RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
..

"Jack Zwick" <jzwick3@mindspring.com> wrote in message
news:jzwick3-93A64F.16312906052005@news1.west.earthlink.net...
> In article <wZQee.5080$7F4.1729@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net>,
> "Scooby" <mmscooby1@removeme.earthlink.net> wrote:
>
> > "RichG" <rich99sue@sbcxxxglobal.net> wrote in message
> > news:awJee.1359$1o3.228@newssvr12.news.prodigy.com...
> > > While I agree that the cable companies don't much care much about
> > individual
> > > clients, in fairness to them....I probably added two or three TV's
since I
> > > had the original install some 5 years ago.
> > >
> > > Rather than spend two days waiting for someone to please show up and
"try"
> > > to fix the picture quality issue.. it seems that a $12.00 solution
was a
> > > good thing for me.
> > >
> > > --
> > > RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
> > > http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
> > > .
> > >
> > >
> >
> > Not to mention that 4 hour time window they give you !!!!
>
> and in the case of Warner Cable in Houston, They may meet the window,
> and then "discover" they don't have the key to your apartment complex's
> wiring closet.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

> Somebody's got to find a better way to deliver the signal. Satellite dishes
> go out in storms; cable can't get it right...seems like there is room for
> improvement here.

I know we've been over this, but even as a cable customer, I think the
storm dish issue is *way* overblown. I'd love to see an average yearly
outage rate per customer due to storms, I bet it's less than 15 minutes
per year.

There are other, more legitimate problems that may be encountered with
satellite, mainly lacking line of sight due to tall buildings, mountains
or trees, an admittedly anemic amount of HD content (which is
improving), and inconstant access to local stations. Plus there are
always issues of overcompression as they try to get the most channels in
the least bandwidth. But cable suffers from the last one as well, with
less excuse (since they have much more available bandwidth).

Randy S.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

"Randy S." <rswittNO@SPAMgmail.com> wrote in message
news5hgma$rn0$1@spnode25.nerdc.ufl.edu...
>
> > Somebody's got to find a better way to deliver the signal. Satellite
dishes
> > go out in storms; cable can't get it right...seems like there is room
for
> > improvement here.
>
> I know we've been over this, but even as a cable customer, I think the
> storm dish issue is *way* overblown. I'd love to see an average yearly
> outage rate per customer due to storms, I bet it's less than 15 minutes
> per year.
>
> There are other, more legitimate problems that may be encountered with
> satellite, mainly lacking line of sight due to tall buildings, mountains
> or trees, an admittedly anemic amount of HD content (which is
> improving), and inconstant access to local stations. Plus there are
> always issues of overcompression as they try to get the most channels in
> the least bandwidth. But cable suffers from the last one as well, with
> less excuse (since they have much more available bandwidth).
>
> Randy S.

I would guess that mine (Sat TV) goes out more like about 1-1.5 hours per
year - of which I notice. A majority of that would be early summer when we
have pretty harsh evening storms. That is a lot less than I used to lose
cable and less than I currently lose my cable internet. For reference, I
live in North Carolina.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

You must live in a pretty "weather -passive" area. I had dish for five years
( Summers only ) at my cottage in northern Illinois.

EVERY time we had a storm to the South.... ( which was the ONLY time that I
bothered to watch TV ) the d^%$# dish went out. Half hour later, after
watching the storm move off, over the lake..the picture came back on. It
seemed that when I "needed" the TV for entertainment ( I couldn't fish or
golf ) it was out. Maybe only 1 or 2 hours a month..but it was the one or
two hours that I wanted to watch the darn thing. --
RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
..

"Scooby" <mmscooby1@removeme.earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:kv1fe.5296$7F4.2019@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> "Randy S." <rswittNO@SPAMgmail.com> wrote in message
> news5hgma$rn0$1@spnode25.nerdc.ufl.edu...
> >
> > > Somebody's got to find a better way to deliver the signal. Satellite
> dishes
> > > go out in storms; cable can't get it right...seems like there is room
> for
> > > improvement here.
> >
> > I know we've been over this, but even as a cable customer, I think the
> > storm dish issue is *way* overblown. I'd love to see an average yearly
> > outage rate per customer due to storms, I bet it's less than 15 minutes
> > per year.
> >
> > There are other, more legitimate problems that may be encountered with
(snip)
> less excuse (since they have much more available bandwidth).
> >
> > Randy S.
>***********************************************************
> I would guess that mine (Sat TV) goes out more like about 1-1.5 hours per
> year - of which I notice. A majority of that would be early summer when
we
> have pretty harsh evening storms. That is a lot less than I used to lose
> cable and less than I currently lose my cable internet. For reference, I
> live in North Carolina.
******************************************************************>

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

RichG wrote:
> You must live in a pretty "weather -passive" area. I had dish for five years
> ( Summers only ) at my cottage in northern Illinois.
>
> EVERY time we had a storm to the South.... ( which was the ONLY time that I
> bothered to watch TV ) the d^%$# dish went out. Half hour later, after
> watching the storm move off, over the lake..the picture came back on. It
> seemed that when I "needed" the TV for entertainment ( I couldn't fish or
> golf ) it was out. Maybe only 1 or 2 hours a month..but it was the one or
> two hours that I wanted to watch the darn thing. --
> RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
> http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
> .

I keep reading *highly* divergent anecdotes about rainfade experiences,
and at least a portion of the discordance has got to be attributable to
individual cases and not due to the system as a whole, there is just too
much variance. Some of the difference can probably be attributed to
location, more northern installations will be more prone to noticeable
rain-fade than southern ones since the satellite elevation angle is
shallower and the signal path passes through a longer distance of
atmosphere, but the geosynchronous satellites are high enough that I
don't think the actual increase is too much. Some of it can probably be
attributed to aiming precision, dishes aimed more precisely will
obviously be less-prone to rain-fade. And probably some of it is due to
exaggeration, poor experiences stand out so those who've experienced
them with either cable or satellite will remember them as taking up an
exaggerated period of time.

Randy S.

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

RichG (rich99sue@sbcxxxglobal.net) wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
> You must live in a pretty "weather -passive" area. I had dish for five years
> ( Summers only ) at my cottage in northern Illinois.
>
> EVERY time we had a storm to the South.... ( which was the ONLY time that I
> bothered to watch TV ) the d^%$# dish went out.

I think "had dish" is the operative term. Both satellite companies have
done a lot of tweaking to their signal strengths in the last two years. I
noticed a lot more outages when I first got DirecTV than I have lately,
and the weather is pretty much the same as always (DC area). In particular,
the spot beams for locals are a lot more powerful, so even when I lose
something due to rain fade, the locals might still be on.

--
Jeff Rife |
| http://www.nabs.net/Cartoons/OverT [...] atcher.gif

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

"Jeff Rife" <wevsr@nabs.net> wrote in message
news:MPG.1ce6ac0d4d2ccb5d989d19@news.nabs.net...
> RichG (rich99sue@sbcxxxglobal.net) wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
> > You must live in a pretty "weather -passive" area. I had dish for five
years
> > ( Summers only ) at my cottage in northern Illinois.
> >
> > EVERY time we had a storm to the South.... ( which was the ONLY time
that I
> > bothered to watch TV ) the d^%$# dish went out.
>
> I think "had dish" is the operative term. Both satellite companies have
> done a lot of tweaking to their signal strengths in the last two years. I
> noticed a lot more outages when I first got DirecTV than I have lately,
> and the weather is pretty much the same as always (DC area). In
particular,
> the spot beams for locals are a lot more powerful, so even when I lose
> something due to rain fade, the locals might still be on.
>
> --
> Jeff Rife |
> | http://www.nabs.net/Cartoons/OverT [...] atcher.gif

Actually, we get some pretty mean storms. But, when it happens, it seems
like I only lose the signal for a piece of it (5-10 minutes) - it usually
takes a pretty good electrical storm before mine goes out. Most rain storms
do not cause me any problems. The interesting part is this... The storms
come in from the southwest - exactly where my dish points. When I lose my
signal, there is often no rain, or light rain. It is 10-15 minutes before
the worst part of the storm hits. By the time that the bad part is on top
of me, my signal is back. It is a neat little built in storm warning system
<grin>.

I think another key is the availability of good signal under the right
circumstances. My signal meter on an average day is around 98-99. So, it
takes a lot to get mine to drop to an unwatchable level. If you have a poor
view, poor installation or something else affecting your signal strength,
then you will lose it quicker during rain storms.

I guess if you only watch tv when there is a storm outside, you will see a
higher percentage of time that there is an issue.

Jim

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

I guess I fell into "all of the above" as reasons for it dropping out.
1. I watched it more often when crummy weather was forecast.
2. I was way up north with a low angle to the horizon.
3. my last experience was about 20 months ago..so things may well be better
now.

The point is still, though..that having your signal ( from cable; satellite;
DSL etc. ) drop out completely for part of your viewing time is a PIA and
shouldn't be unsolvable ( for the right $$$ ). If airline pilots had to
worry about losing touch with the tower as often as I lost touch with my
TV...there would be a solution found ....pronto.

Let's see...two dishes, pointing at different areas of the sky; redundant
broadcasting; a switchable device to automatically pick up the stronger
signal. Yea.. just lots of $$$ and it is solved.

RichG manager, Carolina Skiff Owners Group on MSN
http://groups.msn.com/CarolinaSkiffOwners
..

"Scooby" <mmscooby1@removeme.earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:sN5fe.5401$7F4.5083@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.net...
> "Jeff Rife" <wevsr@nabs.net> wrote in message
> news:MPG.1ce6ac0d4d2ccb5d989d19@news.nabs.net...
> > RichG (rich99sue@sbcxxxglobal.net) wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
> > > You must live in a pretty "weather -passive" area. I had dish for five
> years
> > > ( Summers only ) at my cottage in northern Illinois.
> > >
> > > EVERY time we had a storm to the South.... ( which was the ONLY time
> that I
> > > bothered to watch TV ) the d^%$# dish went out.
> >
> > I think "had dish" is the operative term. Both satellite companies have
> > done a lot of tweaking to their signal strengths in the last two years.
I
> > noticed a lot more outages when I first got DirecTV than I have lately,
> > and the weather is pretty much the same as always (DC area). In
> particular,
> > the spot beams for locals are a lot more powerful, so even when I lose
> > something due to rain fade, the locals might still be on.
> >
> > --
> > Jeff Rife |
> > | http://www.nabs.net/Cartoons/OverT [...] atcher.gif
>
> Actually, we get some pretty mean storms. But, when it happens, it seems
> like I only lose the signal for a piece of it (5-10 minutes) - it usually
> takes a pretty good electrical storm before mine goes out. Most rain
storms
> do not cause me any problems. The interesting part is this... The storms
> come in from the southwest - exactly where my dish points. When I lose my
> signal, there is often no rain, or light rain. It is 10-15 minutes before
> the worst part of the storm hits. By the time that the bad part is on top
> of me, my signal is back. It is a neat little built in storm warning
system
> <grin>.
>
> I think another key is the availability of good signal under the right
> circumstances. My signal meter on an average day is around 98-99. So, it
> takes a lot to get mine to drop to an unwatchable level. If you have a
poor
> view, poor installation or something else affecting your signal strength,
> then you will lose it quicker during rain storms.
>
> I guess if you only watch tv when there is a storm outside, you will see a
> higher percentage of time that there is an issue.
>
> Jim
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.tivo (More info?)

RichG (rich99sue@sbcxxxglobal.net) wrote in alt.video.ptv.tivo:
> The point is still, though..that having your signal ( from cable; satellite;
> DSL etc. ) drop out completely for part of your viewing time is a PIA and
> shouldn't be unsolvable ( for the right $$$ ).

For DBS, a 1-meter dish with a dual LNB works great for making downtime
almost nil. The trouble is you need one for each satellite...I'd need
three.

> If airline pilots had to
> worry about losing touch with the tower as often as I lost touch with my
> TV...there would be a solution found ....pronto.

Sure, but then who dies if you don't get to watch TV? Or, since this is
a TiVo newsgroup, I'm sure you have something to watch even if the cable
(or satellite) goes out for a few days.

--
Jeff Rife |
| http://www.nabs.net/Cartoons/FoxTrot/Blackboard.gif