TV

[Pat]

Since many rural folks have limited alternative evening entertainments other than TV I was wondering if most folks used off-air antennas, Satellite TV, or what. We do not have and may never have cable as the demographics auger against it. (Shucks, we just got DSL late last month.)

We just recently had Dish TV installed and the first installer looked at the job and had no clue what to do but luckily they sent out a more experienced guy and got 'er done.

We got a satellite RCVR with a DVR so we can record movies instead of watching them as they are broadcast. This lets us fast forward through commercials. Now we think we want a fairly big screen TV (we like movies, hate commercials but like movies.) I want to get a large enough screen to get a more old time big screen movie house feel. I was initially attracted to video projectors but you heed a really dark room for a good experience with them so I gravitated toward rear projection.

Any of you larger screen TV owners out there care to comment on how large your screen is and the distance from which you most typically watch it? I'm thinking probably a 67 inch but either a 61 or 71 is a possible alternative. We typically view the TV from about 16 ft, other furniture arrangements are possible but not as desirable. This will be our first NON-CRT TV and as they aren't cheap and will have to last a while to make it practical, I'd like to try to get inside the "envelope" pretty well on the first attempt.

Anyone out there with a TV that has DLP rear projection technology? What sort of bulb life have you experienced? I'm leaning toward a 5 year in-house parts and labor warrantee on the TV and a 3 year (renewable) warrantee on the projector bulb replacement. If we don't use the warrantee on the bulb enough to warrant the cost, We can not renew it after the 3 years. I still have to check that there is a shop to do the warrantee work within 60 miles or the warrantee is not valid and they expect you to bring it in. Even though the units I am considering top out under 120 lbs they are big enough to be a hassle to handle. The 61 only weighs about 85 lbs so might get the nod if I can't find an authorized service center within 60 miles and I have to pack it in.

TIA for sharing your experieince.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Adron]

Don't know much about big screens except looks like I'll have one for the next year as SIL is deployed [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img] , and daughter's apartment doesn't have room for one. She gets my 35". [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

DSL ?......Phone company won't even talk to me about it. It's
satelite or nothing if you want a high speed connection here. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[BlueRidge]

<font color="blue"> We just recently had Dish TV installed and the first installer looked at the job and had no clue what to do but luckily they sent out a more experienced guy and got 'er done. </font color>

Pathetic, isn't it, Pat? It's not exactly rocket science, but you hear these stories all the time. Decent installers are a distinct minority.

I do my own - can't be bothered with the "pros"!

[GaryM]

Pat,

I know it's not the size you are interested in, but we recently, 3 months ago, bought a Sony 50" LCD rear projection unit. It uses their SXBR technology. something, something, LCD , reflective, something something. [img]/forums/images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

Uses a Xenon projection bulb and has a beautiful picture. Bulb life is projected to be over 2K hours, but we did get an extended warentee on the bulb as well as the rest of the unit.

We normally watch from about 10-12 feet, up to 20-23 if we're in the dining area. No problems at either distance. My signal source is a Dish Network Vip622 receiver with the dual tuners and DVR. Nice to be able to record two shows at once.

[Bird]

We have Centurytel telephone service and I'd never even heard of them until we bought this place. They're providing the phone service, DSL Internet service, and Dish TV. To an old fellow like me, the Dish installer looked like a kid, but he definitely knew what he was doing, got it all up and working, and answered all my questions.

[Pat]

Adron, Blue, and Gary, This install was interesting. The sig down from the dish goes comes into my workshop and there connects to a prewired coax runing to the great room inside the entertainment cabinet. A jumper takes it to the dual sat rcvr/dvr box and the out put of rcvr #1 goes a couple feet into the current TV. That sat rcvr #1 is controlled by IR wand.

The #2 output of the sat rcvr destined to make its way to the second TV (in the sitting room behind two 8 inch thick steel reinforced walls) is diplexed back up the same coax that brought the sat sig to the great room. Back in the workshop another diplexer handles the separation of the incoming sat sig and the TV sig to the siting room. This diplexer feeds the prewired coax going to the sitting room.

Ok so far?

The second chan remote control to be used in the sitting room is RF based (about 430 MHz)and will not transmit through two steel reinforced concrete walls) so... we took the RF ant off the back of the sat rcvr box and put it in the sitting room and (I bet you saw this coming) diplexed it and sent it back up the coax that brought the TV sig to the sitting room. This 430 MHz sig is grabbed out in the shop with another diplexer and sent down the cable with the sig from the dish going to the great room where another diplexer separates it out and puts it into the (remote's) ant connector on the back of the sat box.

Yeah, it all works but there are a couple problems that working in concert is bad enough to require my attention: 1. the prewire contractor (now deceased) used RG-59 instead of RG-6 and 2. the multi trips taken through the inferior coax and all those solderless connectors and all those connections and insertion losses of the diplexers attenuates the #2 TV's signal and there is a bit of snow on its picture.

The output of the sat box is pretty hot so that is not a good location for an amp. I'll try one at the workshop junctioin first. Just insert a UHF/VHF amp in the coax outside of the diplexer's territory, i.e. where there is only the one signal (chan 69) even if you have to introduce a couple more diplexers to git 'er done.

A db here a db there all those non-soldered F connectors and all those diplexers and high loss cable (RG-59 isn't so wonderful at high freqs and long runs.) I need to pump in some db of gain as far upstream toward the sat rcvr box as the extant sig level will let me do it. This will optimize the amplification and introduce the least additional noise. I don't want to amplify any more noise that I have to or that will introduce snow as well.

I hope you paid attention as this will likely be on the mid-term.

I have a couple amps and even had a new one in my hand last month and can't find it now. I may have to break down and buy yet another as being easier than trying to find one I have.


[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Pat]

Bird, The yoiung installer I got didn't have a clue but the (guessing) late 30'3 -early 40'3 guy was a super pro. We get Dish, phone, and DSL from Valor Telecom, yet another unknown till we arrived here. They only do business where they have a monopoly and customers have no other choice.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[egon]

Pat:

Large screen TV's may be nice but why not start working on a helmet model with built in IMax effects with surround sound.

It would make a nice little package and not require large rooms.

Acoustics would be terrific. Most rooms are not designed properly for the discerning ear. It would also work for some of us older types that have non selective hearing loss.

It would also aid us older folks with challenged eyesight.

With a little extra effort heat/cold/wind effects could also be added.

Smaller may be better! [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Egon [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[GaryM]

I prewired my house with RG-6 Quad Shielded. What I didn't do was run two cables to each location. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

But the diplexers solve that problem. And I'm only feeding one TV from my receiver. Two other TV each have their own receivers.

[Pat]

Egon, There were artificial reality helmets over a decade ago. My involvement with the helmets at the lab where I worked was minimal but I did a survey of available technology and looked at some of the stuff other departments were woriking with/on. Total immersion is interesting stuff. Put on the helmet and gloves and you are ready to manipulate things that only you and the computer see. My application was a flight simulator/trainer for UAV pilots.

The guys who take off and land UAV's from Navy ships have to maintain a high level of proficiency as crashing one of those things into a flight deck lined with multi-milliion dollar A/C is not a way to make friends with the skipper. Yet the "pilots" frequently don't get much opportunity to practice and keep their skills sharp. Hence the need for a flight sim for the UAV pilot. Typically in a sim you get the view from the cockpit but here of course you need the view from outside the cockpit, where the "pilot" is standing. Space is critical on virtually all weapons platforms (ships) so a sim composed of a laptop computer and a helmet wouldn't take up too much space.

Get a chuckle... My wife was a budget analyst at our lab and had to make trips to visit the various projects she counted beans for, including our branch lab at Kaneohe, HI where she got to "test drive" a remotely operated recon vehicle where you put on a helmet that confered tele-prescence. She watched some guys bouncing a basketball on the pavement and then one of then bounce passed the ball to the recon vehicle and she exclaimed OHH! and ducked her head big time. It looks so real (surround sound and stereo vision) that your brain thinks your actually getting a basketball in the chops.

[img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img] Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]