New TV.

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09-10-2010, 10:33 PM
KA5PIU

New TV.

Hello.

I would normally get Islamic TV from my FTA receiver.
For AFRTS I have a microwave point to point downconverter.
But I had not been watching much TV, the thing quit.
I went to the Mosque and was asked to watch a given channel.
I explained that my TV did not work, for whatever reason.
So I was handed a new FTA everything in a box.
I drove by Lackland and somebody saw this large cardboard box and asked about it.
Before I left I had another downconverter.
Mind you I had no idea as to what was wrong.
So, I get home, bring in 2 large boxes and take a look at the TV.
Power was coming in but the set would not turn on.
The downconverter was also dead but the satellite would sort of work.
I looked at fuses and connectors, the whole bit.
The satellite would only come on if it was connected to the TV, really off the wall odd.
There is no power connection whatsoever to the TV.
I unplug the TV, no effect whatsoever.
But if I disconnect the antenna the satellite box goes dark, insane!
Finally I take the satellite box into another room and plug it in, it works.
Drag TV into other room, also works.
OK, time to look at power, but I get power.
This is an old house, some of the legacy wiring was left.
The neutral to the outlet was open, a 2 wire circuit.
Spent 2 hours running greenfield 3 wire and replacing outlets.
The satellite dish was not grounded but the outside antennas are.
The downconverter is powered by a walwart and the TV is double insulated.
I now plan on conduit for at least all of the wiring I am going to change.
The other wiring was upgraded sometime in the 80's so it is at least 3 wire.
But trying to find it was crazy!
09-10-2010, 10:37 PM
NA4BH

That is insanely crazy (in a conduit kind of way).
09-10-2010, 10:48 PM
kb2crk

Quote:

Originally Posted by KA5PIU

Hello.

I would normally get Islamic TV from my FTA receiver.
For AFRTS I have a microwave point to point downconverter.
But I had not been watching much TV, the thing quit.
I went to the Mosque and was asked to watch a given channel.
I explained that my TV did not work, for whatever reason.
So I was handed a new FTA everything in a box.
I drove by Lackland and somebody saw this large cardboard box and asked about it.
Before I left I had another downconverter.
Mind you I had no idea as to what was wrong.
So, I get home, bring in 2 large boxes and take a look at the TV.
Power was coming in but the set would not turn on.
The downconverter was also dead but the satellite would sort of work.
I looked at fuses and connectors, the whole bit.
The satellite would only come on if it was connected to the TV, really off the wall odd.
There is no power connection whatsoever to the TV.
I unplug the TV, no effect whatsoever.
But if I disconnect the antenna the satellite box goes dark, insane!
Finally I take the satellite box into another room and plug it in, it works.
Drag TV into other room, also works.
OK, time to look at power, but I get power.
This is an old house, some of the legacy wiring was left.
The neutral to the outlet was open, a 2 wire circuit.
Spent 2 hours running greenfield 3 wire and replacing outlets.
The satellite dish was not grounded but the outside antennas are.
The downconverter is powered by a walwart and the TV is double insulated.
I now plan on conduit for at least all of the wiring I am going to change.
The other wiring was upgraded sometime in the 80's so it is at least 3 wire.
But trying to find it was crazy!

Hello

Did you run the greenfield across the floor or did you tear out the walls to get it inside?
09-10-2010, 10:52 PM
KG4CGC

So, what are you watching?
09-10-2010, 10:52 PM
NA4BH

It came in boxes. Two of them.
09-10-2010, 10:53 PM
kb2crk

alli baba and the forty cow thieves
09-11-2010, 01:52 AM
W4RLR

AFRTS on a free to air satellite dish? As a former AFRTS troop, I'm calling BS on that one, Cowthief. On the program bouquet for the AFRTS signal, the only FTA program you could receive would be the Pentagon Channel. Everything else requires a PowerVu decoder, and to get that decoder authorized requires paperwork proving you are overseas. When you rotate stateside, AFRTS in Riverside, CA removes the authorization from the data stream.

I do need to get my FTA receiver setup hooked up, and my 12 foot dish moved from my old residence. My Ku dish is already set up.
09-11-2010, 07:03 AM
WØTKX

Channeling Madman Muntz?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../Earlmuntz.jpg
09-11-2010, 07:30 AM
w2amr

Quote:

Originally Posted by WØTKX

Channeling Madman Muntz?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi.../Earlmuntz.jpg

Ah yes, an American Icon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69yXg9EkD-g
09-11-2010, 08:12 AM
KA5PIU

Hello.

Reread this.
Islamic TV is FTA.
AFRTS is a microwave point to point feed.
We have these antennas that look like a pole with a bunch of washers spaced along and a white hexagonal box on the end.
Power is provided by a walwart to the coax and to the decoder.
California Amplifier.
One is the device and the other is another.
Couple that with 2 outside TV antennas and you have it, all connected to a Zenith Space Command TV and Zinwell digital converter through the TV decoder loop.
Yes, a 19 inch CRT TV, PiP even!
The TV is a Heath/Zenith SpacePhone unit, really neat in that it has a speakerphone.
09-11-2010, 06:49 PM
kb2crk

Quote:

Originally Posted by KA5PIU

Hello.

Reread this.
Islamic TV is FTA.
AFRTS is a microwave point to point feed.
We have these antennas that look like a pole with a bunch of washers spaced along and a white hexagonal box on the end.
Power is provided by a walwart to the coax and to the decoder.
California Amplifier.
One is the device and the other is another.
Couple that with 2 outside TV antennas and you have it, all connected to a Zenith Space Command TV and Zinwell digital converter through the TV decoder loop.
Yes, a 19 inch CRT TV, PiP even!
The TV is a Heath/Zenith SpacePhone unit, really neat in that it has a speakerphone.

Hello

And you wonder why the black helicopters are circling you now?
I told them to after reading this post. Anyone with an islamic tv spacephone must be some kind of cow thieving terrorist...
09-12-2010, 08:35 AM
W7XF

Quote:

Originally Posted by kb2crk

Hello

And you wonder why the black helicopters are circling you now?
I told them to after reading this post. Anyone with an islamic tv spacephone must be some kind of cow thieving terrorist...

+1000
09-14-2010, 01:24 AM
W4RLR

I would be interested to know just what feed you are looking at for AFRTS with a microwave shot in Texas.

AFRTS Broadcast Center is in Riverside, California at March Air Reserve Base. American Forces information Service and DVIDS, the Defense Video and Imagery Distribution system, has a satellite and fiber distribution hub which provides news feeds to civilian media, in Atlanta. http://www.dvidshub.net/

Just what you are looking at I'm not sure, but there are no microwave feeds from AFRTS in your area. The AFN signal is encrypted, and even being in the military won't get you authorization for private use unless you are overseas. I'd love to get it myself just because I worked there once. But no dice.
09-14-2010, 03:00 AM
KA5PIU

Hello.

Very simple, RTFM!
http://myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil/BulletinPopup.aspx?b=871
http://media.myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil/..._i_get_AFN.pdf
Yes, it is encrypted, Cyberpoint decoder.
And, I get all of 3 channels, one being the rebroadcast of Voice of America, the only channel of interest to me.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/
If it were not for the fact that it is free I would not bother.
To be blunt, the BBC gives me more useful information than the USA media outlets, so I really could care less about this one feed.
For information about SaudiTV, I tune SaudiTV.
For Iranian I tune Iranian.
I want to know from the official sources as quickly as I can, failing that, BBC does an excellent job of distilling the news "From around the world".
And to show how absolutely important television is to me, I am not sure how long this was out, it could have been as long as a few months, I do not know.
It was sometime after 9/11/2009 and before 9/8/2010, that I am sure of.
Again, non-issue, I have no plans on turning it on anytime soon. ;)
09-14-2010, 05:59 AM
n2ize

Quote:

Originally Posted by w2amr

Ah yes, an American Icon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69yXg9EkD-g

Not to be confused with the great Madman Munce.
09-14-2010, 07:03 AM
W3MIV

Hey, Geo! Thanx for that Muntz video. Priceless.
09-14-2010, 07:07 AM
kb2crk

Quote:

Originally Posted by KA5PIU

Hello.

Very simple, RTFM!
http://myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil/BulletinPopup.aspx?b=871
http://media.myafn.dodmedia.osd.mil/..._i_get_AFN.pdf
Yes, it is encrypted, Cyberpoint decoder.
And, I get all of 3 channels, one being the rebroadcast of Voice of America, the only channel of interest to me.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/
If it were not for the fact that it is free I would not bother.
To be blunt, the BBC gives me more useful information than the USA media outlets, so I really could care less about this one feed.
For information about SaudiTV, I tune SaudiTV.
For Iranian I tune Iranian.
I want to know from the official sources as quickly as I can, failing that, BBC does an excellent job of distilling the news "From around the world".
And to show how absolutely important television is to me, I am not sure how long this was out, it could have been as long as a few months, I do not know.
It was sometime after 9/11/2009 and before 9/8/2010, that I am sure of.
Again, non-issue, I have no plans on turning it on anytime soon. ;)

Hello

And you wonder why the black helicopters are always around you?
You do know that the nice young men in their clean white coats will be coming to give you a jacket that lets you hug yourself.
09-14-2010, 02:54 PM
W4RLR

Clarify something, Cowthief. Are you listening to audio subcarriers or watching video. The links you cited ALL say that the video is encrypted. You CAN listen to AFRTS Voice Channel on SSB shortwave, that's what I can do in my own shack. But as for WATCHING AFN on the feed from Riverside to Andover, Maine, where the signal hops the Atlantic to Germany for a feed to the Hotbird satellite, it's encrypted.