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Post by MonkeyMan on Aug 12, 2015 13:35:19 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Aug 12, 2015 7:06:22 GMT -5
I have to fire up the Pluto one of these nights and blow out the cobwebs. It hasn't even been powered up for months now and the longer it sits unused the more likely the wife will suggest I pack it all up for storage.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Aug 10, 2015 16:18:13 GMT -5
Well good, because I don't like heights. You're hired, but we'll have to deduct the cost of the bucket truck out of your pay. Better get humpin'. What part of "steal someone's bucket truck", did you not understand? I will have to pay for the paint cans to disguise it though..... Steal? I can't have a thief working for me. Too much potential liability for a fledgling upstart. I know a guy in Florida who may need some help, though.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Aug 10, 2015 13:29:32 GMT -5
I'm not afraid of heights, but the older I get, the more fearful I have become of climbing ladders...... I'll just have to steal someone's bucket truck.... Well good, because I don't like heights. You're hired, but we'll have to deduct the cost of the bucket truck out of your pay. Better get humpin'.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Aug 10, 2015 10:16:39 GMT -5
This could eventually be bad news for me. Hopefully, it takes more than 10 years to really get bad...... I'll hire you to help sell and install TV antennas. You're not afraid of heights, are you?
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Post by MonkeyMan on Aug 9, 2015 20:24:00 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Aug 7, 2015 18:57:09 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Aug 3, 2015 15:00:16 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jul 29, 2015 13:40:36 GMT -5
Someone should probably put the author of this article in contact with the guy who wrote about the "comeback" of OTA TV.... That's exactly what I thought. I like the concept too. And I doubt it could be any less reliable than my lousy Verizon DSL service.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jul 29, 2015 12:27:17 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jul 23, 2015 8:47:34 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jul 23, 2015 7:45:33 GMT -5
I have an old Shakespeare 4' fiberglass antenna and mount, I should rig it up and give it a whirl, just for kicks and giggles. I'm sure it will work somewhat. An outdoor antenna, even the wrong length, should work better than an indoor antenna, especially if you have "stuff" inside that generates interference. Maybe that's what that "AM/FM" antenna product company is counting on. Hmmm, maybe I should market my own. How's the "Super HD Monkey Penetrator" sound?
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jul 22, 2015 20:24:44 GMT -5
I have an old Shakespeare 4' fiberglass antenna and mount, I should rig it up and give it a whirl, just for kicks and giggles.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jul 22, 2015 11:36:04 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jul 22, 2015 8:33:16 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jul 18, 2015 13:36:33 GMT -5
That's what I figured, thought maybe I was missing something. Cripes its even the wrong length! I guess you can throw in that "HD" tagline and charge triple for anything.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jul 18, 2015 8:58:39 GMT -5
Help me out here folks. I received an email from Solidsignal.com on a sale they were having and found this antenna on "clearance" for $80. After close inspection it appears to be a 4' Firestick on a cheap mount, terminating with a PL259 to 75 ohm cable adapter which is covered in shrink tubing for good measure. 4' isn't even the ideal length for the middle of the FM band. This thing is going for $115 on Amazon and the reviews are positive, am I missing something here??? www.amazon.com/Pixel-Technologies-AFHD-4-Satellite-Antenna/dp/B001I7T6AE#Ask
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jul 17, 2015 7:25:57 GMT -5
Bottom line: Don't let fear of lightning ruin your fun. That's why we have homeowner's insurance....... Exactly. And who doesn't like buying new equipment?
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 28, 2015 8:32:07 GMT -5
So, after a weeks vacation I returned home on the 20th to find the signal on channel 2 degraded a bit. Since nothing changed I'm going to assume it has something to do with the trees finally being in full bloom, specifically the one in my back yard 40 ft away from the antenna which it points directly into. No biggie, this just reinforces the need for a larger antenna. On a side note, we had 100 channels for the week while we were on vaca and I cannot imagine going back and having to actually pay for all that garbage. Pure rubbish.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 24, 2015 6:51:30 GMT -5
This one made me laugh. I've seen similar setups like this on several occasions. Someone decided to take advantage of an existing TV antenna and mast to mount their CB antenna to. But for some reason, they chose to mount the CB antenna 3 or 4 feet below the TV antenna, and extending right up through it. I'm sure that wasn't good for the SWR, the radiation pattern, or TVI immunity........ Not a bad shot either as it was taken from a 45 MPH moving car...... I believe I spotted this one last week. The intersection of Rt. 562 and Greshville road in lovely Greshville Pa?
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 12, 2015 9:32:40 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 9, 2015 9:52:00 GMT -5
It's been a while since I've posted a pic of surviving antennas (or the remains of antennas) from the heyday in radio. So here's one I caught on the way back from my lake house. This poor Super Scanner has definitely seen better days. Only one element is intact, one is bent (I have to wonder what bent it), and there are missing sections. As a bonus, this operator also had either a Hy-Gain CLR-2 or a Radio Shack 5/8th wave ground plane. All three radials are missing, but surprisingly, the radiator is still there at full length. Which makes me think it's probably the Hy-Gain, as the Radio Shack versions always seemed to back out the sheet metal screws that held the sections together, and they slid down inside each other. View Attachment Rt. 562 coming into Boyertown. Been looking at those for years...
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 5, 2015 9:58:06 GMT -5
Yea, and at some point it may happen. But before it can, the internet needs to "grow up" a bit, and become far more robust and reliable. You can't stream all this high definition video content without taking up gobs of bandwidth, which the average end user does not have at the moment. They also have to find some way to be able to "broadcast" to mobile stations. So to me, you are only replacing one type of broadcasting with a different form. And wonder upon wonder, terrestrial broadcasting is experiencing a resurgence. Newfangled technology can be great, but I also believe in the old saying "Not everything new is better, and not everything old is obsolete". Some people just prefer to hold a newspaper (or book) in their hands and turn the pages, rather than reading something on a screen. It's more a matter of personal preference than of technical superiority. So here's to many more years of Gilligan's Island reruns on OTA TV......... Amen. I couldn't agree more.
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 4, 2015 11:58:09 GMT -5
...And to think, it was only a small handful of years ago when the pundits were predicting the eventual demise of terrestrial broadcast radio and TV at the hands of new technologies. www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2470378,00.asp
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Post by MonkeyMan on Jun 2, 2015 12:02:27 GMT -5
"The patron saint of antenna television is a complex figure who I have come to know very well on a nightly basis. His commercials air on almost all of the networks above. It is through the lens of this marketing onslaught that the target demographic of antenna TV becomes clear. He is an older man—a former cowboy to be exact but also, he uses catheters. His voice is grizzled, he’s been cowboying for 25 years, suffered fourteen broken bones, had two concussions and a punctured lung. He knows pain and doesn’t want any more of it, especially when he “caths.” He wears a cowboy hat, a flannel shirt, and a vest and he wants you to try a free catheter sample. He says he’s just like me, like you, like us, wondering if we should call." Ode to Antenna TV: Love in the Air(waves)
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Post by MonkeyMan on May 18, 2015 14:46:56 GMT -5
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Post by MonkeyMan on May 17, 2015 8:38:56 GMT -5
So we had a line of thunderstorms blow through last night and I noted a few interesting observations. After the line passed and was between me and the transmitting towers channel 2 went haywire. Signal strength was jumping between 92 and 100, while quality was jumping between 0 and 100! Occasionally it would drop completely to double zeros for a second then come back. Channel 6 was exhibiting the same behavior albeit not as severe. I was even getting a higher signal level on channel 12 and a 5-9 on quality where it's usually a big fat zero. After the storms cleared the towers I had a solid 97 strength and 100 quality on channel 2! This morning we are back to normal. I realize this is all weather related, but interesting nonetheless.
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Post by MonkeyMan on May 14, 2015 9:29:29 GMT -5
Made and sold in good ol' Reading PA.... www.omnitenna.com/features.html I wonder how this would stack up to the larger Antennacraft unit I have my eye on? Search omnitenna on Facebook, he has more info there.
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Post by MonkeyMan on May 14, 2015 9:06:16 GMT -5
Throw in free installation, and it might go over..... I dug into this a bit and they're offering a Mohu Leaf 50, amplified indoor antenna. It's UHF only square you hang in a window, so if you're not line-of-sight and relatively close to the transmitter(s) it's not going to do much good. More aluminum is more better.
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Post by MonkeyMan on May 13, 2015 10:30:47 GMT -5
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