Deke wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
m...

Deke wrote:

"Michael A. Terrell" wrote in message
m...

Deke wrote:

Universal Cable rule # 1- They don't care about audio, or visual
quality,
and will always be geared to please the lowest common denominator.


File a complaint with the FCC at


Universal Cable rule # 2- Even if they DO have a high quality signal
available to them, they will compress/mangle it (1080i to 720i, 5.1 to
distorted L-R mono) to save bandwidth.


File a complaint with the FCC at


Universal Cable rule #3- Cable companies don't care if you have a
$10,000
home entertainment center. Can you see a picture? Good!, and can you
hear
it? Good!, will always be good enough for them.


File a complaint with the FCC at


Universal Cable rule #4- Charge maximum amount of money for the
poorest
choice of channels, with the worst possible signal quality. Increase
rates
at will.


Rate increases must be approved by the franchising authority. They
can not increase rates 'At will'.

This solved all my problems, AND gave me a far superior DVR...
www.dishnetwork.com


Tell me how well it works in heavy rain or fog. I have had outages
of over three full days becasue of bad weather, but the local cable
system worked after several hurricanes even though there was no
electricity in the area for over a month.

Since my system was installed correctly, it works fine in heavy fog or rain.
I do lose signal when a squall line comes thru, but only for a couple
minutes.


Big deal. It isn't a problem in your area, but it is in others.


After a 13 day power outage due to an ice storm, the system came right back
up when power was restored.


Installed properly? Sigh. I installed the dish and wiring. The
drone from dish turned on the account. I installed, upgraded and aimed
5 meter dishes at CATV headends and TV stations. I worked for Microdyne
who built the commercial grade equipment. A 'Dish' or Direct TV'
antenna is designed to be installed by anyone with a pair of pliers.


Who needs a DVR? There is life outside of watching TV. I spent over
a year with no TV or internet last decade, and all I missed was the
wether maps on the local TV news.

So? Your choice to live off the grid was your choice.


What are you smoking? I am not living 'Off grid'


I choose to watch the TV shows I enjoy, minus the commercials, in HD.


Learn to ignore them. I did, when i started working as a TV
broadcast engineer in 1973. There is no programming worth it to me to
record to a DVR. If there was, I would build one out of a spare
computer. It doesn't take much of a computer these days:


From http://www.mythbuntu.org/


Minimum System Requirements:

1.0 GHz x86 or x86_64 Processor
192 MB of system memory (RAM)
2 GB of disk space (Frontend Role)
20 GB of disk space (Backend Role)
Graphics card capable of 1024x768 resolution
Supported TV Tuner Card (Backend Role)
Recommended System Requirements:

2.0 Ghz x86 or x86_64 Processor
2GB MB of system memory (RAM)
10 GB disk space (Frontend Role)
160 GB+ disk space (Backend Role)
nVidia 8xxx+ 256MB+ Graphics Card
Supported TV Tuner Card (Backend Role)

I have all of this laying around as spare parts.



Local Mediacom cable service is HORRIBLE.


Not my problem. I used to work in Cable TV in Cincinnati, Ohio at
the top rated system in the region. I maintained the headend for that
system, and 35 other systems across the country.


--
You can't fix stupid. You can't even put a Band-Aid™ on it, because it's
Teflon coated.