New televisions with ATSC 3.0 tuners may be available around Thanksgiving, 2019. We will see...
Having a tv with built-in ATSC 3.0 tuner would be nice, but I will probably try to get a new usb tuner that does ATSC 3.0 and install it like the ones in the screencap. Doubt you see much ATSC 3.0 until 2020-2022. Looks like what you have now is working Great, and that is all that matters.



 

That's interesting.... ATSC usb tuner on an enigma tuner. Maybe something to try in the future.

For now I think I'll just try a cheap ATSC tuner with HDMI. (Instead of the old ATSC-Analogue convertor) That should give me a better picture. RF connector on the tv was banged up while moving 4 yrs ago. So it has a bad case of the jiggles under the best circumstances.

Haven't found the old pre-amp yet.

We have a Roku so don't really need a Roku tv.... but would be nice to have everything in the tv. One less remote too.lol.

Maybe I can hold out on a new tv until ATSC 3.0 shakes out.

It is always great to use existing equipment instead of buying something new. Turning a directional tv antenna away from the source may help in hilly terrain. But you may find that the antenna needs to be adjusted as the weather or seasons  change. Installing a rotor would help make turning the antenna a bit easier. TV Rotors are cheap.

A combination of ATSC usb tuners and enigma2 fta receivers have worked well for me on the terrestrial channels. I have all the scanning benefits of the receiver, plus the ability to record. I can also connect two antennas that are aimed in different directions to the receiver without having to worry about a combiner or splitter. This is done by connecting each antenna to a separate ATSC usb tuner.

The MIO and most other enigma2 receivers are pretty much unlimited on the amount of channels that can be found in a transponder scan. Some transponders on the 105W c band satellite can have anywhere from 100 to over 1,000 radio services listed for a single transponder. The MIO can find these services and seems to play all that are available.

A blindscan of 105W c band may take a couple of hours during a Free Search because the receiver has to check around 3,000 entries and try to determine if a single entry is encrypted or not.
A blindscan of 105W c band with Free not selected will complete in around 6 minutes and return around 3,000 entries.

Many different skins can be used in the MIO which allows the user to customize or select how things are displayed. Some skins have more features than others. The attached screecaps show the results of a blindscan of 105W c band with All channels selected for the search. Some Galmour skin features such as weather and bit rate are also shown.

Video Link:

Don't forget, DirecTV will probably increase in February as they have in years past. In fact, not only did they raise in February in 2018, a few months later they raised the protection package. So I got 2 raises last year.

Geostationary Orbit - According to Wikipedia

Kids Central and Spydar channels are ITC on Anik F1R 107.3W C Band

TP 4110 H 14990

DVB-S2 (8PSK) 3/4

Most channels on this Mux scan in $, but these 3 scan in as ITC, but now only audio is ITC, video is not.

CBS
Spydar
Kids Central


These are HEVC so you need a receiver capable of that.





 

UPS, Fedex, USPS Rates to Increase in 2019, once again.

UPS®, FedEx®, and USPS® announced their 2019 rate increases and the additional costs will affect every on-line business.

UPS rate changes went into effect December 26, 2018. They have increased an average of 4.9% across most services.

FedEx Express and FedEx Ground parcel movements increased by approximately 4.9% January 7, 2019.

USPS will be making the following changes January 27, 2019.

•    USPS First Class packages are increasing an average of 11.9%*
◦    Note that USPS First Class Package Service pricing will change from a flat rate per ounce to zone-based pricing per ounce
•    USPS Priority Mail increases an average of 5.9%*.
•    Changes in weight distribution of packages will affect pricing on USPS packages starting in June.


---------------------------------------------------------


Expect the price of everything you buy on-line to go up in cost because of this. And oh yeah, when it comes to these increases, understand this: We are paying more to supplement lower ship rates for Amazon.



 

Just an FYI for anyone interested:

So... I played more with my OTA setup a couple days ago. A hugely annoying problem is that my RCA 32" LED tv doesn't have manual scan. Each auto scan removes previously found channels. Worthless with a rotating beam antenna and stations from multiple locations. (No way to add ALL channels)

I got to thunking... my old analogue to hd convertor box has both auto and manual scan. I put it in line and auto scanned toward the majority of my known receivable stations. To my surprise, I received a few extra stations. Hmmmm.... the old convertor tuner is much more sensitive than the tuner in my hdtv! Next, I used my 'armstrong' rotator to manual scan for possible signals in other directions... and picked up several that I have never received before. Most important to me since I don't have them on C Band: A weather channel, Quest, Antenna tv, Charge, Comet, and Get tv. (Also getting 'local' affiliates like ABC, Fox, NBC, CBS, etc. And several channels that I already have on C band)

Now the viewing quality is sub-par since it it converting to analogue. I'll be looking for a new HDTV with a better tuner AND manual scan in the future. Then I can return the old convertor box to the scrap box.

Another surprise: Could not receive several stations due to trees, hills, and distance when aimed toward them. BUT... I am getting them by back scatter from the mountain in the opposite direction. Practically all transmitters in the Greensboro, High Point, Burlington, Chapel Hill and Charlotte area. Signals seem pretty reliable once I point the antenna to the correct point. That will probably change when the trees are back in foliage. Time will tell.

(I have to rotate the beam 150 degrees to receive the 2 channels that I have always received. Can't find a bounce spot for them to date. Only 21.6 miles away.Nothing I can't get elsewhere except for Winston Salem news)

The most extreme: 3 tropos and 1 two-edge, 90 miles away via mountain bounce. I'm pretty happy with that.

Nothing I try can receive stations over the 1000 ft Blue Ridge to my north though. Oh well. Looks like Roanoke Va is out of reach without a 1000 ft tower lol. I can't lock in Raleigh NC at 130 miles either, probably never will without random skip.

Besides a new tv, I may experiment with a pre-amp next. Got one here... somewhere.   

Think momma would notice a second bandstacked beam up there?

Everything okay, Problem on my end.