http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/3247601/posts"
Thanks!
So...hmmm...sports news...
TX > ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )
) ) ) ) ) > RX
?
;-)
Posted on 01/15/2015 9:58:53 AM PST by Utilizer
Dish's grand experiment is called Sling TV, and before going on, we need to point out that it has very little to do with the Sling brand you may already be familiar with. There's no direct partnership with Slingbox or Sling Media, though both it and Dish are beneath a single parent company, EchoStar. So right off the bat, it's a somewhat confusing name that Dish maybe could've done better with. Another thing: though this is a service designed by and coming from Dish, you wouldn't know it without being told. The satellite provider's own logo is nowhere to be seen on branding and marketing materials — a decision meant to underline that Sling TV isn't meant to compete with or cannibalize Dish's primary satellite business. It's a new product meant for consumers that Dish has never been able to sign on. "It is a complementary service, not a supplementary service," said Clayton at a recent media gathering.
(Excerpt) Read more at theverge.com ...
I thought the ESPN “wholesale” cost was about $5.50?
It is, but that normally presumes it’s also being subsidized by all subscribers, even those who don’t want it.
On the flip side, a streaming-only solution cuts out a lot of middlemen, meaning consumer prices can be lower while still maintaining profit margins. See digital vs. print publishing as an example: digital books cost roughly 50% of print, but the publisher makes the same profit per copy either way (based on average of 35% of cover price vs. 70% for print and digital respectively).
At the same time, the success of Netflix has also established a point of reference for consumers. If you’re going to charge more than Netflix, consumers are going to demand you justify it - HBO, for example, might be able to get away with $15/month (compared to Netflix’s $8) because they carry less content, but more of it current plus their original programming. On my cable system, HBO as an add-on is $30, but without the cable system’s normal markups (and padding so it can be reduced for sales and bundle deals), HBO could probably sell direct subscriptions for $15 and make more money per subscriber.
The Outernet website is a maze—not very well done in my opinion. But there is a Do-it-yourself way. Go to
https://www.outernet.is/en/receive
Under “Connect to Outernet,” see the link, “receiver.”
http://outernet-project.github.io/orx-install/
Then follow either of the OS links, for example,...
Arch Linux ARM
https://github.com/Outernet-Project/orx-install/blob/master/archarm/README.mkd
See the list of components.
“Satellite dish (60cm or larger)
LNB (must support Ku band)
USB satellite tuner (see below for devices know to work)
Raspberry Pi (model B or B+ recommended)
...”
[See ellipsis above. There’s more.]
I ran
LNB Ku band
as keywords, and saw an EBay hit pretty quickly. Cheap antennas for dishes. Real cheap. What’s Ku band? Range...?
11.7 to 12.75 GHz
Wow!
10.750 GHz LO (for setup)
That’s quite a frequency range from an old timey radio perspective! [Been looking at the challenge of maybe building a stronger HF antenna for a mobile application...maybe a loop roof rack or something.]
I’ll dig around, when time allows, to see if it can be done with a laptop instead of a Crackberry...er, Rasperry. Maybe a package, or an emulator, virtual machine or something.
In Atlanta, you would think the market is large enough for each local to have a live stream, but the only one I can see is WSB... We are in the “fringe” reception range for the locals and I might look for a high-gain over-the-air antenna, but with the thunderstorms we get every summer, that’s asking for trouble with even a strike nearby (how I lost a SW radio).
We’re not big on sports either — mainly because every time I watch the Braves, they lose. So I have made a personal commitment to stop watching & jinxing them.
The channel lineup on Playstation Vue has all the history, discovery, science, etc channels that we like to watch. So I’ve got my fingers crossed that when it launches, it comes in at a subscription price competitive to Sling TV. If it does, we’re on it.
Have to admit that if I was offered a la carte cable tv programming for less than 20 dollars a month I would be sorely tempted. At the very least I could then get only the programs I need. I most definitely do not need ABCNNBC, pMSNBC, two Black Entertainment channels along with the Opreh Winfree channel, 4 channels of golf, two bowling channels, C-SPAN 1 and 2, the SPEED channel, and two boating channels.
Just to name a few. They want 50 dollars a month minimum for that here locally while the only interesting channel is the FoxNews Channel. Oh, and you can get Showtime unscrambled for 9.99 per month extra.
Think I’ll pass.
Yes, I read about the availability for the ARM or PI computers, but I am not interested in purchasing either of them simply to play with an untested and not-readily-available satellite feed of dubious value. If they can port it over to a standard ‘nix or *BSD setup, then I might play with it.
Also, Software Defined Radios (or Receivers, depending upon the descriptor) are still not simple devices to get working. Currently, I can throw together receivers and transceivers fairly easily, and even convert something for satellite reception. An SDR, however, requires more than simply soldering together some components and tuning the circuits so I am not placing that in the simple-to-build category.
Think I’ll wait until someone simply puts together a group and uses the same general concept but with a simple sat uplink and downlink so people can use already-available satellite radios to receive the same concept. Even Amazon sells simple satellite receivers and antenna setups at this point. Don’t really see the need for all the rest of the equipment that OneWeb is pushing, all things considered.
Thanks for the reminder. I had thrown around a few concepts a few years back but put it on the back burner since I have so many other projects ongoing. Simply; hook up two modems on a couple of dedicated freqs as a simple LocalNet setup. Oh, you’d still have to fake the Tip, Ring, and Dialtone to get the modem functioning, but then again PBX software has been around a long time and it might be fun to play with that and get something reliable going between a group of Hams for example. At 56kB max you would not be able to quickly send a vid file, but for a general BBS or Chat setup I think it would be perfect.
Primarily for local use, some long-distance could be set up also if desired with appropriate planning.
True, lightning strikes are a constant danger here as well. I am up in the mountains where the nearest OTA BTV station is roughly 100 miles and on the other side of several mountains so there is no reception here, no matter how good an external antanne you have. Recently lost a modem due to a distant lightning strike, which really threw off our schedule for several days until we could replace it.
There are online options currently available, as I have mentioned in other posts, where you can view many popular programs and TV series if you look around. Heck, even YouTube has episodes of the History and Discovery Channels available, if you do not mind the tiny screensize and low rez.
You should give them a try. :)
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