Gasoline Prices....when and where will it end?                 5/22/08

As I write this, I’m furious!  The price of gasoline on my way home from work in Champaign last night had risen to $4.09.9.  I filled up in Rantoul where it was still $3.83.9 before heading home to northern Vermilion County.  Four dollars NOW...when and where will it end?  I can only speculate what this is doing to the economy of this country!  As people trim their own budgets to allow for the necessary gasoline purchase to commute to work, other areas of our economy will lose out.  People are making sacrifices of entertainment, food, prescription medications, vacations, child care, heating and cooling, family commitments and travel....and will surely affect the nation’s economy in a very negative way. I complain, but I’m really in an advantage when it comes to fuel consumption.  Sure, I commute 50 miles to work, 50 miles back home, but I have been concerned about gasoline prices for quite a while.  I have owned vehicles which got well above the average miles per gallon rating.  Right now, my 2007 Honda Civic EX is rated at 38 mpg.  Normally, driving as I did before this most recent gasoline price hike, I would get around 36-38 miles per gallon, by driving speed limits on major 2 lane highways and on local Interstate highways.  Now, I have been forced to removed any unnecessary weighty cargo from my car and drive as if I have no brakes(no fast acceleration and slow coasts to stop), as well as keeping speeds down to the 50-55 miles per hour range.  This has gained me over the last two months between 5-10 miles per gallon MORE!  I couldn’t imagine how some commute with SUV’s getting half my miles per gallon! I was watching the “dog and pony show” questioning of the oil executives by members of Congress today on CNN.  The executives said they were paying more for crude oil because of “supply and demand.” I’m certainly not an economist, but where do they get the idea that their own profit levels have no ceiling?  Other businesses experience profit and losses based on various factors.  Are not the oil companies subject to similar profits and losses?  Who dictated that oil companies MUST obtain profit increases in the double digits each quarter??  It seems as though the oil company are untouchable! To top that off, now other unrelated businesses are using the profit levels of the oil companies as some kind of benchmark.  I’ve heard radio and TV business newscasts report that certain companies are failing to meet expectations and are seeing a downturn in their businesses because profit levels only saw increases of 10 to 12 percent!   I’ve known businesses in which that kind of quarterly increase would have been a cause for celebration!!  Not now, the stock market suffers because to be successful, a company has to see similar profits to that of the big oil companies! Small businesses are paying more for gasoline, many of which are absorbing the cost in their operation, hoping that the problem is temporary in an effort not to lose customers.  The oil companies....are riding the price of gasoline based on the price of crude being driven up by the oil speculators.  Sure there is a supply and demand, but the demand for gasoline could not have doubled in the last year, even working in the additional demand of the Asian countries!!   The price of gasoline is way out line even under the basic rule of supply and demand.  The price of gasoline is based more on the rule of greed by these commodity traders! How can the Bush Administration, Congress and other lawmakers sit idly by and watch this happen under their own noses?  Since when has the security of our nation been sacrificed to the profit of the oil companies? There have been no serious mentions of any kind on price ceilings or price controls, such as we saw in the 1970's with the “Whip Inflation Now” program.  There have been no serious mention of reducing the national highway speed limits to conserve gasoline such as we saw in the 70's.  Do our lawmakers really want the price to go down?  There certainly has been very little activity to indicate any desire to see gasoline prices go down.  The recent campaign pandering done by John McCain(McBush) and Hillary Clinton was an impractical solution to the problem.   The campaign year proposed gas tax holiday will only be to the detriment of our own infrastructure, and the oil companies will only boost their gasoline prices to fill in the gap.  The Windfall Profits tax will only cause the price to rise even more, because as I stated earlier, the profit levels of the oil companies are untouchable!!  It appears to me the U.S. oil company executives and boards of directors should be tried for treason, as well as those in the Bush Administration.   Gasoline prices are only one of many reasons why this Administration should be tried!  Any lawmaker who has even winked at an oil lobbyist should be voted out! Look, you’ve got a President and Vice-President who have backgrounds in the oil business.  The price of oil 8 years ago was regarded as “high” at around $30 a barrel in 2000.  Now, as I write this, it’s $100+ more!  As the old saying goes, “if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck....”  If it’s not obvious, it should be.  I can see an editorial cartoon now, at the end of the Bush term, a cookout at the Crawford Ranch, with the “Mission Accomplished” banner hung on the background of a bar-be-cue which is attended by a bunch of Texas oil merchants, while the crowd cheers their Bush term wealth! I don’t think George Bush has made this happen.  Frankly I don’t think he’s smart enough.  The powerful people who manipulate this Administration has created this situation as well as trampled on the constitution, brought about the failed home lending industry(which is indirectly causing our dollar to be reduced in value), an illegal and immoral war, and in fact encouraged it, to make themselves, along with the powerful friends and business cronies of the Bush family and Dick Cheney, not rich, but RICHER and even more powerful!  This country went through the Great Depression in the 1930's, most of which was caused by greed and denial by the Hoover Administration.   Now we’re facing another Great Depression, and just like in history our elected officials sit by and do nothing while the greedy oil companies, stock holders and speculators count their obscene profits.

On the Road....my rage                                                    2/5/08

It's been a while since I've posted anything.....I hope to be able to post on a more regular basis. I begin today's commentary on the subject of some really ignorant drivers.  I admit, I suffer from road rage.  It's probably good I don't live in some metro area in which my commute would consist of traveling crowded crawling expressways and main urban arteries.  Many of you know I drive to Champaign from my home in northeastern Vermilion County.  That’s about 50 miles each way every afternoon and night.  During my travel on Monday, when because of fog, visibilities on my afternoon journey ranged from 0 to less than perhaps a couple of hundred feet.  I was shocked and angered by the dozens, yes dozens, of drivers in both Vermilion and Champaign Counties that were driving without headlights!   That’s not even counting the many drivers who have vehicles with those “running lights” that operate whenever the vehicle is running.  Those so called safety “running lights” are not any better than having no lights on at all!  What many of these drivers assume, and I do assume they have at least given at least some thought to the safety of using headlights, is that the running lights do not include the tail lights on their car or truck.  Then there’s the idiots who drive with their parking lights on.  What can you say about them?  Why do you think they call them parking lights?  Is it because if you’re “parked” along side the road, to avoid being a road hazard, you should use your “parking lights?”  To drive at any time with parking lights on, is the same as saying “I’m an idiot, I’m proud of it, and I wouldn’t blame you if you hit me.” I know there are a lot of local towns who are facing a cash crisis, with the increase cost of snow removal and such, I have this as an idea for them.  You should position several police vehicles in the middle shared turn lane on some major thoroughfare, where you can have police flag down those who are not using headlights, to direct them to line up along the far right lane.  You should have another police officer issue tickets to each of those drivers for reckless driving.  All of the fines, could go into a fund for things like snow removal, or perhaps pot hole fixing. I haven’t noticed any major common trait for any of these morons.  They have been old, young, male and female.  Many of them seem to be big supporters of our troops, if those silly yellow ribbon magnets are any indication.  But they’re also proud of their students who are making the honor roll.  Maybe they should let their honor student drive...couldn’t be any more dangerous. I’ve also taken up the habit of flashing my headlights whenever I come across some driver who is exhibiting less than acceptable judgement.  That action if you should see it from an oncoming driver over the years, was a reminder to you that you should turn on your headlights.  Somehow over the last few years, that piece of common knowledge is fading, because very few drivers “get it.” By the way, even the police are guilty.  On Sunday(Feb 3), after dark, I observed a Danville police vehicle, driving along north Gilbert street near the intersection of Fairchild with no headlights.  What is wrong with these people??

The Time Has Come......                                       5/3/07

The time has come to eliminate smoking as a form of acceptable behavior in public settings.  The reasons, by now, should be obvious. My collections of vintage TV shows from the 50's shows a much different attitude toward smoking and smokers.  Probably one of the best examples of the acceptance of smoking as being a normal activity were the CBS shows which featured Edward R. Murrow such as “See it Now” in which the famous journalist would be seen interviewing the news makers and celebrities of the day smoking away in a dark room, lit so that the smoke was actually part of the setting itself.  Many game show and talk show hosts were seen with a lit cigarette resting in an ash try on the desk until such a time in which they would be seen on camera taking a drag from a sponsors product.  Garry Moore, Allen Ludden, John Cameron Swayze and even Johnny Carson were often seen smoking on the air.   Even local newscasters were seen smoking as they delivered the nightly news. Many a network show was sponsored by the tobacco companies.  “The Bob Cummings Show,” sponsored by Pall-Mall, “Wanted Dead or Alive” with Steve McQueen sponsored by Viceroy are just two examples.  Many shows pictured the star smoking the sponsors product while proclaiming the smoothness, healthfulness and good taste of using the sponsors product.  Even the animated prime time series “The Flintstones” watched by millions of children over the years was once sponsored by Winston cigarettes, and featured the characters of Fred and Barney smoking! In 1971 the broadcast advertising of cigarettes was banned, but over the years the advertising of tobacco products has been very creative in continuing its goal of selling their brands along with the idea of the public acceptance of smoking.  Well dressed, attractive young adults were pictured in glamourous situations, on beaches, on horse back and at sporting events in magazines, newspapers, outdoor billboards and bus cards trying to give the impression that smoking was totally acceptable, and in fact encouraged as a sign of being vibrant participant of society.  Young people from high school to college age were targeted in specially designed ad campaigns for years. Fortunately, over the years various regulations and advertising bans have virtually eliminated the portrayal of smoking as being acceptable.  Sponsored ad campaigns from organizations like the American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association has contributed to the negative image, as well as reinforcing the health dangers of smoking.  Laws eliminating public smoking in progressive forward thinking communities, municipalities and states has brought cleaner air to businesses and public places and will eventually contribute to healthier citizens as well. It now seems rather shocking to see our classic TV friends “light up” within a scene of many a loved TV series like, “The Andy Griffith Show,” or “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”  Can you imagine the outrage if a network anchor was seen with a smoking cigarette just out of camera range?  It’s good to know that it will soon be just as shocking to see someone “light up” in public.  It’s my hope that smokers will “feel the pressure” of the public and put off lighting up until they’re in a more private setting, if at all. When you see a stranger smoking now, perhaps someone in a passing vehicle, walking down a sidewalk, or standing outside a door of an establishment taking a “smoke break”, the activity is now recognized as being outside the norm. In fact, NOW it reflects rather poorly on the character of the person who is smoking. The smokers and threatened restaurant and bar owners have stated that they shouldn’t be told how to conduct their business.  That’s what many would want you to believe.  But look at the regulations in the restaurant business.  Food servers are educated, trained and certified and are told how cold to set their refrigerators and freezers, what temperatures to cook meats, how to store food products while owners are told how big their restrooms are to be, how many fire exits they need, how many people to allow in their buildings and on and on. These rules and requirements of conducting business are established by the local public health agencies, fire departments, the zoning laws and regulations, as well as city, state and even federal governments, all justified as being good for public health.  Outside of “no shirt, no shoes no service” the customers of such businesses are not regulated at all.  The elimination of smoking is not a regulation against the business owner, rather a regulation for the customer, for the overall health of the public, the cleanliness of the establishment and the right of a smoke free environment for those who frequent those businesses. Even though it will be perfectly legal for smokers to practice their behavior at home, in their car and outdoors away from the general public, the idea of smoking where children are present, in my opinion is the equivalent of Michael Jackson dangling his child over the hotel balcony.  For adults to put a child in an environment filled of second hand smoke is criminal.  Besides being unhealthy,  it smells bad, really bad, and the odor hangs not only on the smoker, but everyone else spending even just a little time in the presence of the stench.  Many school teachers can tell the students who have smoking parents, simply by the odor of these children in their classroom. It also appears that the great majority of smokers are totally oblivious to the filth they spread to the rest of the world!  I can’t count how many times I’ve seen a smoker in the car in front of me, throw their cigarette butt out of their car, still lit, and have it bounce off my car.  Smokers just seem to throw their waste anywhere thinking that it just “goes away” when if fact it litters curbs, sidewalks, streets, grassy areas, and just about everywhere.  Discarded cigarette boxes, packages, cartons, wrappers, cellophane and cigarette butts are nasty, dirty and unsightly, and are seemingly unnoticed by smokers. Another observation is of mine is that smokers seem to be rather insecure individuals that somehow receive self confidence and self esteem with the activity of smoking especially around non-smokers.  The more display of a persons gestures in how they smoke seems to be in proportion to the amount of insecurity they have. I was originally in favor of allowing bars to be exempt from public smoking bans.  My idea was to classify a business as being a “bar” and being free from the anti-smoking regulation if it did not allow minors under 21as part of it’s customer base.  I have since changed my mind based on the comments and attitudes of many a bar patron interviewed on various TV news broadcasts and after reading the opinions in letters to local newspapers of many smokers.  It seems their logic has been affected by years of smoking and breathing second hand smoke.  Their reasoning doesn’t hold up! It’s good to know that the public acceptability of smoking is slowly ending.  The time has come to snuff it out as a form of acceptable behavior.

Satellite TV Past and Present....

It was about 27 years ago, the goal was to get cable TV to my home, when there was no cable TV available.   The idea of a home satellite system was beyond what my budget would allow, somewhere in the range of three thousand dollars.  Perhaps my employer would somehow come into play.  My advantage was the fact I worked at an AM/FM radio station with a 380 foot tower which could possibly give me a microwave link between the radio station and my home, around 11 miles away.  A phone line installed at the radio station could be set up to allow me to change channels on a receiver at the station, and the signal would be received at my TV at home.  That was a workable plan, but the cost of a cable hook up, phone line, the microwave transmitter and receiver along with the cost of installation of the antenna on the tower made sent me back to the drawing board.  Another plan involved a helium balloon tethered by coax with an omnidirectional antenna on the balloon, which would float several hundred feet above my home.  That would enable me to receive broadcast stations in the surrounding markets.  Okay, a bit extreme, but it did cross my mind. It looked as though the only way to expand my local TV selection was to consider a satellite dish with a receiver.  What follows is the story of my experiences which brought me into my own "golden years of television." Some of the first plans for a home satellite system appeared in a magazine.  It described the use of curved wooden planks and copper screen wire to shape a parabolic screen, which would reflect a satellite signal into a feedhorn that was placed on a stand independent of the reflector.  The advantage was the low cost of making this "hobby" grade project, but viewing beyond one satellite was nearly impossible.  Plus the electronics would still be a major expense. It was in the early 1980's, one of the local cable companies pursued customers beyond their cable reach by leasing satellite systems to persons in rural areas.  They offered a basic spun aluminum dish on a hand cranked mount and an inexpensive receiver with a basic LNA, polar rotor and feedhorn.  I chose not to go this route.  I interviewed some customers of this set up and they were less than impressed with the quality.  Add to it, the prospect of going outside and cranking the dish to direct it to another satellite didn’t appeal to me.  Those were the days of finding programming on about 4 different satellites from one end of the satellite position spectrum to the other.  It seemed to me that the only way to achieve the quality and selection of channels was to make the move and go for my own system.  After arranging financing through my local credit union, I was ready to make the big purchase.   I knew that the only way to keep the installation cost down was to install the system myself.  Fortunately, I had a friend in the communication business, and he had a co-worker who was installing a dish and needed some help.  So, on what was probably the coldest day of the year, we assembled and installed a 12 foot Janiel Dark Star dish.  In spite of being quick frozen during his installation, it was a valuable experience which would make my installation a little easier.  The dish I installed was also a Janiel brand, but was a 9 foot perforated stainless steel dish which came in panels. It was mounted on an extremely heavy mount which would allow the dish to be aimed pretty much from the west horizon all the way to the south eastern sky.  The drawback was the absence of a remote controlled motorized rotator to turn the dish.  I sacrificed to keep the cost down and went with a hand crank.  My friend Barry and I dug a 6 foot hole, planted the cast iron mounting pipe in it in which we drilled holes for screws and bolts through it at the base, to prevent it rotating in the concrete, and used about 10 bags of concrete to surround the pipe.  We then dumped more concrete down the center of the pipe.  It was an arrangement that has made the dish totally immovable over the years.  Years in the future it will be an unexplainable monument to a former technology. My first receiver was a Lowrance stereo satellite receiver with no remote or accuator control.  The manufacturer is the same one making the fish finders.  This system did a pretty good job of fishing signals from the cosmos and landing video that was of a pretty good quality.  The major drawback was the unstable tuner that changed channels as temperature changed at the LNA.  But, oh well, it was worth the problems.  The programming choice was incredible.  It was like picking cherries from a tree.... and it was all free.  Every movie service, HBO, Showtime, The Movie Channel, along with Disney(I had 2 young daughters), WGN, TBS, WPIX, American Movie Classics, Madison Square Garden and a huge variety of back-haul feeds(sporting events, news, syndicated programming, network feeds).  It was truly the Golden Age of Television! I was surprised on my birthday when my wife, Melissa, made arrangements with my friend Barry to make a homemade actuator for my dish.  This would enable me to rotate the dish along the belt to receive more than one satellite without having to go outside to crank it around by hand.  It consisted of a mount which attached along the hand crank actuator shaft.  The crank was removed and attached to the end of a mechanism which was then attached to a reversible electric DC motor.  The wiring went to a small control box at the receiver with a toggle switch which would then move the dish to the east or west.  The danger, was going too far to the east or west.  It was important to spot which satellite field was being passed through by tuning to familiar channels to spot your location along the belt.  If it went to far, it ran the risk of destroying the motor drive, or damaging the mount and dish by pushing it off the actuator guide and allowing it to drop to the east.  I can=t tell you how many times it would drop to the west too far.  I would have to pick up the dish from the west drop off point and reposition the actuator mount to a more allowable position where I would have to re-tighten the actuator arm to the frame.  It always seemed to happen during heavy rain...or on an icy, snowy night...while I was in my pajamas. Then, the unexpected happened.  During a severe thunderstorm a flash of lighting struck a nearby object.  And my Lowrance receiver was toast.  It was time to make a change.  My homeowners insurance made the change easier.  The next receiver in line was a Swedish made Luxor stereo satellite receiver and actuator control.    This was a major move up in technology and convenience with it's programmable actuator and stable tuner, until the rumors of scrambling came true.  The program providers to the local cable systems were becoming more aware of their services being used by the growing number of home satellite receivers around the country.  Many of which were within normal cable territories.  The only way to protect their investment and that of programming providers was the initiation of scrambling technology.  This technology was one which would be theft free, cost efficient (they had to provide the equipment for their cable company head ends), plus, looking down the road, would allow for a market of future subscribers from those same home satellite receiver households. That was when the Videocypher method of scrambling/de-scrambling appeared for consumers as well as for cable systems across the country.  The original methodology was later updated when hackers compromised the process.  My first videocypher was a leased unit from a local cable system serving a nearby Air Force base.  When the cable-guy brought it to me, he was a bit confused about why the lease was made to me, some 30 miles away from the area served by the cable system, but he followed through with the set up anyway.  For the Luxor receiver I had at the time, I was facing a compatibility problem which I fought for quite some time.  Later I found a common solution suggested by technicians from another manufacturer that saw similar compatibility issues.  The solution, as I remember involved a piece of coax, a splitter and another jumper cable which installed between the units would eliminate some video distortion which plagued my set up. My subscription was started with the providing cable system using my leased Videocypher unit which continued for several years.  Later an upgrade was made with one of the replacement units inside the shell of the unit.  That was when the unit was upgraded to a Videocypher II.  This upgrade made it possible to change the code settings by sending out a credit card size encoded card which would update each individual unit to try to stay one step ahead of hackers in the future.  I never received any updated card as it now appears, the code was never changed.  It looked as though the hackers were foiled. Viewing was improved with the additional videocypher channels.  The original video quality of the Luxor receiver was less than desired, at least as it compared with my original Lowrance unit.  The Luxor=s video output was dark and somewhat grainy but by using the Videocypher II, most of the work was done by add on descrambler which increased the quality of video, and with it the stereo audio.   The incompatibility problem still was an occasional problem, but one which I could live with...if I had to.  As it turned out I would have to live with it for several years. In the late 1990's, I was forced once again to make a change with a little help from mother nature.  Again, a passing thunderstorm delivered a lightning bolt to my neighborhood which fried my LNA, Luxor receiver, actuator, a TV, RF TV antenna amplifier, VCR and a microwave oven.   My next satellite receiver was a Toshiba with a new LNB.  This unit was totally compatible with the Videocypher II unit being slid into the guts of the Toshiba.  A self contained actuator control unit was totally accurate in moving the dish from satellite to satellite, the tuning being micro processor controlled was right on dead center.  The unit would even fine tune itself, find the best setting for focusing on an individual satellite and then remember it forever.  It was definitely a much improved system for home delivered satellite TV.   The Toshiba had S-video out which gave me an excellent video signal, one which looked great whether the channel was unscrambled or through the videocypher II.  The videocypher II had a lot of really unique features which would have made C-Band satellite reception an even better experience.  Unfortunately, most of these features were never utilized.  For example: the use of messages from the provider was utilized for time to time, but some of these messages were weeks old or simply not applicable to me.   The use of current program/next program, ratings, along with time lapsed information were not used by most channels.  I guess the number of C-Band subscribers didn't make it worth while to follow through on the data insertion by programmers to use the full capability of the Videocypher II system. From the 90's through 2004, the Videocypher II worked very well for the big dish consumers. The channels available on C-Band were at a maximum.  But another technological revolution was underway. Cable systems were offering digital set ups which increased the number of movie channels from HBO for example, to the number which were available by subscribers of that same service on C-Band.  Then the biggest technological step was actually the "smallest."  During the mid 90's it was the introduction of the small "pizza pan" dishes from Direct, Dish and other smaller providers.   But for C-Band fans, the only choice was to add a digital receiver as an addition to analog C-Band receivers.  This was the step I took in 2004.  The Motorola "Side Car" system was already obsolete when I added it to my existing satellite system.  In fact, I thought I would have trouble locating one as the manufacturing of the "side car" was discontinued.  Surprisingly I found one at my local dealer. The "side car" operated much like those UHF converters were to the basic VHF TV's of the 1950's and early 1960's.  This unit would utilize the LNB and power from the existing analog receiver to pull the digital signals from individual transponder channels.  This allowed the viewing of many more movie channels from providers like Encore, Starz, HBO, Showtime, The Movie Channel and Cinemex.  In all, I subscribed to services which offered over 25 movie channels and was also able to pull in pay for view channels, at least one UPN TV station from Denver along with a variety of shopping channels, religious channels and some audio services. One major issue, and an important one at that, was the quality of the analog Videocypher signals compared to those on the Digital receiver.  Frankly, I found the analog video on a 100% signal strength channel far superior to that of a digitally compressed video channel.  The compressed video has a "flat" texture which, on my 60 inch HDTV rear projection TV, amplified the digital artifacts along with the lack of "updating" of unchanging scenery.  The analog signal of full strength channels were a lot more "pleasing" and natural to watch with more contrast between similar colors and better definition on smaller details in the background.  The only drawback to the analog channels was the familiar break up on intense reds and orange colors along with the addition of "sparklies" to weaker signals.   Some of these weaker transponders, unfortunately, were some of the most watched channels, such as the Weather Channel and CNN Headline News.   With a digital signal, either the signal is there, or it isn't.  There's very little in-between when it comes to a digital signal.  It it starts to "pixilate" your reception is pretty much over. Over the last year, technology once again shifted, which eliminated a number of C-Band channels available.  Several providers eliminated their west-coast feeds, or disappeared altogether.   It also became evident that there were several channels which weren't available on C-Band at all.  These were channel selections which appeared only for subscribers of the small dishes or cable systems.   For the most part I accepted the changes, as long as my favorites still were a part of my subscription package.  Then it happened...New Years Day, 2005.  I tuned to my number one favorite, must see channel, Turner Classic Movies and it was gone!  I had snow on the transponder that formerly brought the many black and white classic movies to my home screen.  Over the next few days, the search was on to relocate the service on perhaps another transponder...or another satellite.  Then, I made the phone call to my provider for an explanation. On a pre-recorded message I heard the words which would change my satellite service forever.  "TCM was no longer available to C-Band viewers." I was thinking about making the switch to a small dish for a while, but after comparing the monthly subscription cost between the two systems, the C-Band was a much more cost efficient system.  My big dish gave me the ultimate ride in movie channels, but I was now without my beloved TCM.   My e-mail box has been full of hundreds of messages with "deals" on small dish systems over the years, even my programming provider Netlink was planting information packets from Dish to entice me to make the changeover.  Now it was time to filter through the offers and make a critical decision on which system I would change to.  I must admit, it was going to break my heart to replace my C-Band dish. After comparing offers, prices, channel lineups of both Direct and Dish, the decision was made to go with the Dish Network.  Both offer near identical lineups and prices, but the A322" twin receiver from Dish was the most flexible for my video set up which distributes the satellite signals to other sets in my house, without adding the cost of another receiver to my subscription.  This resulted in a trip to my nearby Radio Shack where the ball was put into motion to bring our satellite TV viewing into the 21st century.  Within just two days, the installer was at my home to follow through on my order.  In spite of temperatures being below freezing, a mounting poll for the mega dish was buried in the snow covered ground and packed with a partial bag of concrete, wiring was run to my twin receiver in my living room and a second unit in our sunroom.  The installer authorized each receiver, showed us how each one worked and best of all: didn’t track any of the outdoor snow, slush and mud through our home. When he left, it was time to take out the old.  The cables attached to the rear of the Toshiba C-Band receiver and the Motorola Digital Side Car were disconnected for the last time paying no attention as to which colored wire was removed from which connector.  The conversion to total Dish Network was completed when it was hooked up through the existing wiring to send the signal from one of the twin receivers to feed the rest of the house.  The other receiver feeds my living room big screen, while the third separate receiver feeds a HDTV receiver in my wife's sunroom sanctuary. The major advantage of the small dish is now my wife and I are able to watch two different channels at the same time on different TV=s in the house.   This was in itself a vast improvement.  No longer were we going to argue about who was going to watch which program from the satellite receiver. Features are plenty, favorite lists of channels for both of us are programmed in each along with just the movie channels, and an added bonus the audio services including that from Sirius satellite radio.  (I've been an XM subscriber since the beginning) The use of recording timers is another feature I've found useful when recording programming for viewing later.  In all honesty, though, I miss the great uncompressed analog video of the big dish.  That's the one major complaint I have with the small dish.  The quality of the video signal is similar to the look of the "side car" described earlier, but with even more compression.  In most situations, the digital artifacts and compression isn't that obvious on small screen CRT sets, but on my 60 inch Hitachi HDTV rear projection set, it's a real disappointment.  Jerky, moving backgrounds, grainy video along with that "flat" look makes the viewing less than pleasing.   If I had to place the quality of video in a comparison with other sources, I would put the video quality somewhere between VHS and a normal off-the-air TV station.  A good analog C-Band satellite signal would be just short of a good quality DVD.  I already have an off the air digital receiver to bring in those local digital channels and some really superb HDTV video! All in all, the choice to make the move to a small dish has been a good one.  My wife doesn't have to memorize which satellite, or transponder her favorite channels are located.  She never did feel familiar with the SideCar receiver and never realized the benefit of it.  My C-Band system was very user unfriendly.  Now, she's able to channel surf more channels, use the programming information guide and the convenience of those uniform screen channel identifiers.  Satellite TV has grown over the years.  C-Band big dishes were projected to take over the country side in the 1980's, and in many areas they did.  Over the years, though, many were falling on hard times.  Owners were unable to find replacement parts for receivers for which they paid hundreds of dollars.  The number of manufactures of equipment was smaller and smaller each year.  Actuators failed and owners didn't want to invest several hundred dollars in new ones.  Some satellite dishes were susceptible to damage or simply old age which threw their ability to receive and focus those incredibly weak signals out of tolerance.   Twenty years ago it was predicted that a pizza sized dish wou ld take over the big dish technology.   For the typical consumer, they were right, but it still breaks my heart to know that the video quality of my C-Band dish was still far superior to anything I've seen yet on my small dish.   We can only hope for improvements in digital video compression technology.   I can only hope we're on the verge of yet another Golden Age of Television.

 

updated  5/22/2008 web master:  Doug Quick copyright © 2001-2008  Doug Quick