Satellite Radio has become a very popular alternative to broadcast radio since its first release. It did take a while for the two competitors of satellite radio, Sirius and XM, to begin gaining customers. Equipment was expensive and bulky. There is also a monthly fee for the service, where broadcast radio is free. Satellite does have a few advantages against broadcast that helped it gain momentum more each year. There are very few channels on satellite radio that have commercials. This is very similar to premium cable television like HBO or Showtime…they cost extra but have no commercials.
Another great feature Satellite Radio offers is quality that you cannot find in broadcast radio. Satellite radio is a digital signal that sounds cleaner and has virtually no static because with digital signals you either have close to full quality or nothing at all. Satellite also offers coast to coast coverage so you do not have to search for a local station when you travel.
Recent technology moves have helped the receiver end of satellite radio tremendously. Car manufacturers now offer satellite equipment built in to new cars so that there is nothing to buy, just the monthly service fee. Some car companies like GMC only offer XM capability, but many companies offer you to choose either but not both. Car manufacturers also offer much more high end stereos that can utilize the benefits of a digital signal. They use this as a sales pitch to show how good their stereos really are.
Satellite does have new competition that is broadcast for free like analog radio. HD Radio will be broadcast by many local stations in the near future offering better quality than satellite radio. This is much like television stations that broadcast HD TV locally. There are still commercials, but clear sound and music information about artists is available by any HD Radio equipped stereo. Only the future will tell if people are willing to shell out the dough to avoid commercials.
Find the latest information and more at http://all-satellite-radio.info/
If you go to your local home theater store, you may be confronted by a variety of “extreme” sounding names for cabling: Mega Cables, Monster Cables, Uber Cables… the proliferation of “boutique” cabling is always a source of controversy in home theater and audiophile circles. The question is, how much difference do they make, and are they worth it? Well despite the perils involved in even mentioning this topic, I’m going to attempt to add something to the discussion.
The most important thing to recognize is that a cable cannot improve the sound of a home stereo system any more than an electrical wire can create extra electricity when you plug it into the wall. That’s actually a very good example, because when you’re listening to audio for instance, what we’re hearing is an electronic representation of acoustic sounds - that is to say, the actual sounds have not been captured and stuffed into a compact disc like fireflies in a child’s jar - they have been copied, imitated, and a representation stored on the disc as a series of numbers.
These numbers are then read and translated into electronic signals, which are sent to the speakers in order to approximate the actual sounds. With that in mind, it makes sense that poor quality wires don’t physically change the sound - instead it’s like a game of ‘telephone’, in which the band tells the CD, the CD tells the player, the player tells the wires, and the wires tell the speakers, with something being lost at every step so that the message “Aunt Betty baked a pie” is altered to “Fat Eddy wants to cry” or what should be a great live recording sounds tinny, distant, or otherwise just plain wrong.
A good cable will change the signal as little as possible, but all cables do damage your signal a bit - it’s simply a matter of degree. As far as which cables are the best? That’s up to you or your local audio guru to decide - much is up to personal preference, with the rest probably being left up to your budget to decide.
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Warren Thompson is fanatic about his new home theater system. He is also a contributing writer for hometheaterfocus.com - an immensely informative guide to home theater technology, with information about speaker positioning, home theater lighting, projection systems and more. |
I’m not even sure how old I was when I got the gift for Christmas, but I remember thinking it was a pretty impressive piece of electronic hardware. It was really cool looking (technologically speaking), and I was awfully proud to own it. It certainly made for lots of fun times.
What was this high-tech gift, you ask? Why, it was a tape recorder! It was a monographic, reel to reel tape deck that came with it’s own plug-in microphone. I could hold that mic up to my transistor radio’s speaker and record songs onto tape. I could also play the guitar and sing and record every second of it. I could even hide and record conversations from unsuspecting family members. I was in recording heaven!
Years later I owned an 8 track stereo recording deck (ok, that was a mistake). At another point in time I had a stereo cassette recording deck that would physically flip the tape over when one side was finished recording or playing. Now I own a more conventional stereo dual cassette deck, but I no longer use it for recording or much of anything else for that matter.
All my recording is now done on my computer. The audio and midi software available today for computer recording is quite amazing. You can record multiple tracks, edit the recordings and add special effects as desired. Many of the audio recording programs come with their own native special effects such as reverb, compression, flanger, and chorus, to name a few. Some of the recording software can also accept third party effects such as vocal removers, tube amp effects and many more.
Multitrack recording software allows for recording various live instruments, vocals, etc, onto individual tracks. After recording one track, you can play it back while recording another. Once finished, you can mix all the individual tracks down into one stereo track. Some recording software will import and record both audio and MIDI, some audio only. If you have a MIDI keyboard or other MIDI instrument, be sure to pick software that handles both formats.
Creating a simple home audio recording studio is easy. In addition to software, an audio and/or midi interface will allow you to plug all kinds of audio components, microphones and instruments into your computer for live recording, recording from tape or even from your old vinyl lp’s. You can also use a home stereo system as an interface for audio components by running cables to it from your computer’s sound card. A laptop with recording software and a USB interface can serve as a totally portable recording studio. And again, if you have MIDI instruments, be sure to get an interface that will allow connecting them in additon to audio components and instruments.
The digital revolution has made music recording easily available to anyone with a computer. If you enjoy music and want to do more than just download mp3’s from the Internet, get some multitrack recording software and start your own home sound studio.
Steve Leedy is a computer technician and sound hobbysist. His website, at http://www.pcmusicstuff.com, contains information and diagrams on computer music recording.
In this world today, there’s satellite everything…there’s satellite TV, satellite phone….and why not satellite radio? Essentially, a satellite radio is a kind of service that one can subscribe to to receive radio service anywhere you want. You can have satellite radio service in your car, in your home, in your office or even in public locations. In order to receive satellite radio service, you’ll need to subscribe to the service, so, it’s not like free TV or free radio whereby any radio can receive signals for free. You will need to pay a monthly or yearly subscription fee to enjoy satellite radio. There are, in the United States, two top satellite radio services available, Sirrus and XM. Well, there could be more but these are the two leading satellite radio service providers known to date.
Each of these satellite radio services provides and transmits hundreds of channels. Unlike free radio service, you’ll have to tune in to each station to listen to whatever they’re airing at that point in time, satellite radio gives you complete coverage from Blues to Techno, Jazz to Punk Rock in one single satellite radio service. And since you’re paying for the satellite radio service, it’s logical that the service is usually commercial free, except for their own commercials, of course. So, even if they do not allow other companies or people to put commercials into their satellite radio service, they retain the right to put their own infomercials and commercials into the satellite radio service that you receive.
In order to have the satellite radio service, you need a special radio. Any other normal radio won’t cut it because our normal household radio cannot possibly receive a satellite radio signal. However, when you subscribe to the satellite radio service, they will normally package the satellite radio receiver together with the package price. The good thing is that no matter where you are, all you have to do is to bring the radio along with you and you can receive the satellite radio service. The signal receiver is not restricted by the power of signal from the radio station. We’re talking about using the Satellite to transmit radio signals, so, you can literally listen to satellite radio anywhere in the world.
The biggest advantage that a satellite radio has over the conventional radio is that you will never have to re-tune your radio as you’re traveling out of state or you don’t need to bear with static noises when the reception is bad. With satellite radio, you’re assured of high quality reception anywhere you go anywhere in the world.
Dakota Caudilla, journalist, and website builder Dakota Caudilla lives in Texas. He is the owner and co-editor of http://www.your-media-empire.com on which you will find a longer, more detailed version of this article.
As the big shots of the satellite TV industry do on-air battle with the giants of cable tv, you may have already found yourself wondering… does it really matter? I mean, aren’t we talking about different techno-roads to the same place here? Six of one, half dozen of another? For Pete’s sake, I just want to watch the game!!
I’m going to let the cat out of the bag right away here - I’ve actually found an unequivocal answer to this very important TV question: satellite is beating the snot out of cable every day of the week. Ok, so now that I’ve let you in on my subtle bias, let me lay out for you why satellite is eating cable’s lunch and sending the cable guys into boardroom frenzies. (For additional technical info on the differences between the two technologies/services, send me an email with “sat vs. cable” in the subject line to: pm_nels@yahoo.com and I’ll send you the links you’ll need).
Lets first talk about where they both compete evenly. Both cable and satellite offer lots and lots of programming-including local channels. Oops… that apparently is where the similarity ends.
How do they compare in regard to technology and delivery?
With satellite TV, your favorite shows come straight from the satellite (out in peaceful, quiet space) to your dish/tv. Pretty simple. The cable company, on the other hand, has to first acquire the signal from a satellite themselves (surprise!), then they must snake it through miles of fragile ‘cable’ until it arrives at your TV. Here’s my point: storms, wayward construction crews, landscapers, and car accidents among other things, can all inadvertently knock out your cable. My local cable company has almost always got a nice disclaimer on their tech support hotline referring to some weather disaster resulting in ‘interruption of service’ to some portion of your region, and that they are working as fast as possible to correct the problem (and call hold times may be lengthy as a resultGREAT!).
Here’s the good news for satellite TV customers: there are no storms, wayward earth movers or landscapers in SPACE! The cold, hard truth is that cable tv viewers experience MORE service problems, not fewer (contrary to what those finger-pointing cable industry advertisements say) than their satellite viewing counterparts. If you’re not convinced, just poll ten of your friends or neighbors with cable tv, and then another ten with satellite and see how many reception and “interruptions of service” problems they report. I promise you the satellite customers are far less concerned about “the weather” than their cable watching neighbors.
You’re also going to get more for less with satellite, hands down. Most satellite providers offer DVRs (along with free satellite installation for multiple rooms) as a free upgrade, where most cable companies nickel and dime you for DVR, among other ‘upgrades’ and miscellaneous fees.
And that leads me to the next big issue in the cable-satellite face off. In a word: competition. Satellite has actually got some. As a TV consumer, I just love a market economy, don’t you? Your local cable company competes with the satellite industry, but not with anyone else. The satellite TV industry is filled with many small and large wholesalers that must compete with each other as well as with the cable industry. This creates the competitive economic conditions among satellite dealers that allow for things like… that free equipment I mentioned, free installation, free premiums, etc that cable tv providers just don’t feel compelled to (or just can’t) offer. To see some representative examples of competitive satellite providers that give away the shop to gain a viewer, see the links at the very bottom of this article (”about the author..”).
All other factors being equal (and they really are), the TV battle boils down to technology delivery, and competitionperiod. And shrewd consumers are beginning to choose satellite over cable tv in big numbers, and you can expect to see this trend causing more and more panic in the cable industry in the coming years. So to all you cable watchers out there… is that a thunderstorm moving in on the horizon?…
About the author: Paul M. Nelson resides in Raleigh, NC and possesses more than a decade of experience in microbiological and molecular biology research and diagnostics, as well as a consuming interest in satellite technology. He is an occasional author of articles pertaining to the satellite television industry, and can be reached at pm_nels@yahoo.com. [Example providers: http://www.paulnelsonweb.com, http://www.paulnelsonsites.com]
Its true, not all HAMS are edible. Some hams are actually useful radio amateur operators who serve the public and have fun making friends. Ham radio operators (or amateur radio operators as they are known) use two-way radio stations from their homes, cars, boats and outdoors to make hundreds of friends around town and around the world. They communicate with each other using voice, computers, and Morse code. Some hams bounce their signals off the upper regions of the atmosphere, so they can talk with hams on the other side of the world. Other hams use satellites. Many use hand-held radios that fit in their pockets. In the 20 plus years I have been a General Class Operator I have been afforded the opportunity to make hundreds of new friends thru this great hobby of ours while being afforded an opportunity to serve my community in a variety of ways.
Much of this hobby in electronics and communications can be viewed by going to the amateur radio site called the Amercian Radio Relay League or ARRL at www.arrl.org.
Hams exchange pictures of each other using television. Some also like to work on electronic circuits, building their own radios and antennas. A few pioneers in Amateur Radio have even contributed to advances in technology that we all enjoy today. There are even ham-astronauts who take radios with them on the International Space Station and thrill thousands of hams on earth with a call from space!
Hams assist their communities and prospective agencies in times of need such as;
• Hurricanes
• Earthquakes
• Tornadoes and floods
• Motorist accidents
• Fires and chemical spills
• Search and rescues
The most popular license for beginners is the Technician Class license, which requires only a 35 multiple-choice question written examination. The test is written with the beginner in mind. Morse Code is not required for this license. With a Technician Class license, you will have all ham radio privileges above 30 megahertz (MHz). These privileges include the very popular 2-meter band. Many Technician licensees enjoy using small (2 meter) hand-held radios to stay in touch with other hams in their area.
Technicians may operate FM voice, digital packet (computers), television, single-sideband voice and several other interesting modes. You can even make international radio contacts via satellites, using relatively simple equipment.
Did you know may of todays TV and Music stars are amateur radio operators or Hams? Its true, Ronnie Milsap, Patty Loveless and many many more.
The 170,000+ members of the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) are among the most active and enthusiastic amateurs in the country. Headquartered in Newington, CT, ARRL speaks on behalf of its members in Washington and internationally as well as providing direct member benefits.
The Amateur Radio license examinations are administered by ham radio volunteers. When you’re ready to take your exam, you’ll need to locate an exam session near you.
If you have questions on becoming a Technician class operator please feel free to leave me feed back or as I stated earlier, visit the Amercian Radio Relay League site at WWW.ARRL.ORG
Denny, KB9GFX
Denny Knutson, LPN,EMT, Maa
Emergeny Room Nurse
Bellin Health - Bond Health Center
When choosing a satellite TV service people tend to ask, what gives DIRECTV System an edge? First of all, a DIRECTV System uses nationally manufactured hardware in a patriotic and business respective way.
The DIRECTV System is adaptable to different needs for different kinds of people throughout the US. The DIRECTV System delivers high-quality digital experience unlike any other satellite TV service in the country with the latest in hardware possibilities.
DIRECTV System Uses Nationally Manufactured Hardware
All directly related satellite system hardware for the home owner that is used in the DIRECTV System is all manufactured inside the United States of America.
The point of developing a DIRECTV System is to make the life of the homeowner more relaxed when changing to a new service, for better rates and when they are unsatisfied with other services.
A DIRECTV System also does this with the intention of focusing more on programming and services rather than hardware manufacturing and control. The important part of a DIRECTV System is the solution for those kinds of people who just don’t have time to record their favorite shows, or get home in time to watch them live.
DIRECTV System Has DVR Technology
Of course, Satellite TV has a parabolic dish that captures digital transmissions from a satellite in geosynchronous orbit around the equator (what a mouth full). But what technology is superior in a DIRECTV System?
The DIRECTV System Dish was an innovating factor when it came out as it used a smaller frequency with better reception than larger dishes. The great thing about a DIRECTV System is that they are always on the cutting edge and innovating, that’s why the DIRECTV System has DVR technology.
Linked to the IRD (integrated receiver/decoder) device that is used to translate channel frequencies for the television system, some DIRECTV System IRDs can translate up to three different channels at once.
When using a DVR however, the DIRECTV System can record up to two different channels simultaneously with a limit of up to 70 total hours of programming. Best of all, the DIRECTV System DVR technology can be reviewed at owner convenience when there is time, with the push of a button on the remote control.
DIRECTV System Delivers High-Quality Digital Experience
Also, the DIRECTV System delivers high-quality digital experience through HDTV. High quality means crystal clear image and sound, wide screen Movie Theater like accommodations and exiting new technologies the more and more this kind of technology becomes common place.
The DIRECTV System offers a better, clearer and more highly defined picture than traditional analog TV, 5 to 10 times clearer. The wide screen size is 16:9 compared to the traditional 4:3 used by analog broadcasting. The DIRECTV System also uses surround doubly sound for those with entertainment systems and want to feel the action around them.
The DIRECTV System like all developing entertainment technologies, in the end, means being prepared for the future of television. Some outstanding technological ideas have come and gone throughout our very lifetimes. Some might say that digital TV is the system of the future and will end the business of Video Rental once and for all within the next 25 years. In fact one Satellite Communications technician was quoted recently in response to the question about digital broadcasting and how long it would take to end Video Rental business, he said “about 25 years.”
“The DIRECTV System is a telecommunications solution of the future.”
Gary Davis is owner of http://www.dtv-satellite.com an authorized DIRECTV retailer, has over five years experience in the Satellite TV business and has written numerous articles on the subject.
Once you have your LCD TV home, you now have to concern yourself with how to install a wall mounted LCD TV. Wall mounting, because of the space saving factor of it and the way it prevents your television from dominating the room, is a very popular way of displaying it.
One way to get it installed is to use a professional. Obviously, someone from the store or an electronics store is going to be able to install the TV efficiently and correctly. However, that will cost you a great deal of money, and since you just spent all that money on an LCD TV, it may be a good idea to install it yourself. It is not that hard, so you may as take advantage.
First Things First
Once you have an idea of where you would like to mount your LCD TV, you need to get a stud finder. How to install a wall mounted LCD TV doesn’t matter if you don’t put it in the right place. User your stud finder to make sure the wall mount is put into a stud. This is the only way you will be able to make the television safely stable on your wall.
Anchors Away
Once you find the studs and have marked the mounting location, you are ready to put up the wall mount. The wall mount will need to be screwed into the wall at as many points as possible. The more points of anchor, the less weight is on each individual mounting spot. Once you have the wall mount anchored to the studs in the wall, you are almost done with how to install a wall mounted LCD TV.
Hide Cables
Once you have the studs located, the wall mount anchored, and the LCD TV attached to the mount, you need to plug in and hook up your television. You will need to find a way to hide the lines. That can be done either by drilling into your wall and running them through it, or by finding other methods of “hiding” them on the outside of the wall. Certain conduits and sheathes available in your local home improvement store can really help with this process.
Have Help
Finally, no matter how sure you are that you know how to install a wall mounted LCD TV, it is still a good idea to have help around. Whether it is to hold up the TV as it is mounted or to bounce ideas and suggestions off of, having a second person there will make the process safer and more efficient.
Learning how to install a wall mounted LCD TV is the last step in the long process of getting your perfect television. You did the research on the types of technology, found the place to buy, found the model you wanted, and installed it in your wall. Now, all that is left to do is sit back and enjoy your new LCD television on its newly installed wall mount.
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Stu Pearson has an interest in Business & Technology related topics. To access more information on 20 lcd tv or on lcd tv wall mount, please click on the links. |
The world’s first colour television transmission occurred in John Logie Bairds English studio back in 1928. This transmission showed some blue and red scarves and a UK policeman’s headgear. Also viewed was a mixed bunch of flowers, a gent poking his tongue out and the glowing end of a cigarette.
The 1st TV commercial in history lasted twenty seconds and was for a product mass produced by a corporation called Bulova. This company also manufactured the 1st watch that went into space. The advert was seen in July 1941 and went out during a game being played by the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies.
The first toy ever advertised on tv was the “Mr potato head” product. He was brought to the focus of millions of American TV viewers and even now can be viewed in the ever popular “Toy story” animated adventures.
Way back in 1950 only 10 percent of American households had a television in their possession. By 1960 this had changed to an unbeleivable 90 percent whilst in todays world it is ninety nine percent with 54 percent of American kids having one in their bedroom. Now more of us own tv’s than we do a phone.
The highest known annual earnings for a TV actor were given to U.S. comedy star Jerry Seinfeld. He was paid an unbelievable $1000000 for each episode. The series lasted 8 years and although this fee came into play in about 1997 this still makes Jerry the highest paid TV actor so far.
The highest ever fee paid to play a television add was $2,000,000 per 30 seconds of time. This was given by advertisers to show their adds during the very last U.S screening of the hit comedy show friends. The show was aired by American TV corporation NBC on May 6 2004 and lasted for a whole hour.
The largest number of ads starring a company founder were made for Wendy’s Hamburger chain in the United States and featured Dave Thomas the companies president. In all he has featured in 652 commercials with the shortest being 5 seconds and the longest being sixty seconds. These commercials have achieved thirty six important advertising awards and have made Dave as famous as his Burgers.
Whilst viewing an episode of the hit Japanese cartoon Pokemon over seven hundred Japanese schoolkids were rushed to hospital with severe convulsions and trauma. This was caused by a ten second part in which the programs hero Pikachu flashed his big red eyes to the sound of a huge booming explosion.
Some early experimental TV transmissions started way back in 1928 by station W2XBS and featured a test figurine of the well loved Felix the cat. Although these transmissions were only showing a figurine Felix the cat he will always be able to claim his place in the TV hall of fame as the 1st genuine Televison hero.
In the States the largest proportion of the Television audience consists of of pre-school children. On average their weekly viewing works out to be about 30.4 hours which means by the age of 17 they would have amassed as much as 15000 hours of television watching. Surprisingly this adds up to a staggering two years of solid viewing.
Irene Revallio is the owner of find plasma TV
which is a fine source of information about Televisions. For more information, go to: http://findplasmatv.com
One of the things that makes HD Radio so exciting is that it enables multicasting. This means a station can broadcast its normal programming, plus a second channel with an entirely different format. For example, KIOI-FM in San Francisco is broadcasting both Hot AC (Adult Contemporary) and 80s pop hits on an HD2 channel. Best of all, these HD2 channels will be commercial free — at least for the time being.
Clear Channel has announced a roll-out schedule for adding HD2 channels in 28 of its markets, including New York City, San Francisco, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Washington, DC.
Note: For a complete list of Clear Channel markets, stations and its new HD2 channels, you can go to the HD Radio Blog you will find on my web site listed below.
Entercom
A second broadcaster, Entercom which owns and operates more than 100 radio stations across the country has announced that it is also beginning to add HD2 channels. The first markets to see these stations will be Boston, Denver and Portland.
Both Clear Channel and Entercom will soon begin promoting HD Radio with contests, give-aways and on-air commercials. And Entercom has said it is also negotiating accelerated roll-out efforts with retailers such as CarToys and Ultimate Electronics.
HD Radio is also great in that it enables AM and FM radio stations to broadcast their programs digitally, a tremendous technological leap from today’s familiar analog broadcasts. These digital broadcasts provide listeners with radically improved audio quality, more radio channels through multicasting, and new data services. In fact, with HD Radio, stations can actually send you helpful information such as traffic alerts and weather reports.
More than 15 manufacturers now offer HD Digital Radios. Online and in-store retailers selling HD Digital radios include: ABC Warehouse, Audio Adviser, Bjorn’s, Boston Acoustics, Car Toys, Great Indoors (a unit of Sears Roebuck & Co.), Harvey’s, eBay, J & R Music, Listen Up, Magnolia Audio Video, One Call, Ovation AV, Radiosophy, Tweeter and Ultimate Electronics.
You can learn all about HD Radio, retailers now selling HD Radios and about Clear Channel HD2 channels at my web site, http://www.hd-radio-home.com
Douglas Hanna is a retired marketing executive and the author of numerous articles on HD radio, the Internet and family finances.
