Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

Windows Phone Outsells BlackBerry in Q1 2013

ExDilbert — Sat, 18 May 2013 17:43:13 GMT

The market percentage of both platforms is still quite low but it represents a gain for the MS/Nokia Windows phones and a further decline for Blackberry. They switched third and fourth places in worldwide phone sales. Android almost doubled units sold over last year and gained a significantly larger market share while iPhone increased sales and lost market share.

Source: Windows Phone Overtakes BlackBerry With 133% Growth

Can Rogers Damage My Modem?

otown47 — Sat, 18 May 2013 13:53:44 GMT

I was on the line to Cable Fulfillment yesterday asking if I could use my own DOCSIS 3 (Motorola SB6121) modem on their network. The agent was very helpful and found a way of having it accepted in their system based on the MAC address and customer serial number. He also cautioned me that if the modem is added to the system it will have new firmware downloaded and this could damage the modem. He has set it up so I can add the modem if I want in the future.

So my questions are
-is this damage likely and
-how could the wrong firmware damage a modem....or any other device for that matter?

Does anyone else use this modem on Rogers? Apparently Rogers doesn't officailly support this modem....but Teksavvy does....

thx

SDV8622 vs CM4221HD

fortissimo — Sat, 18 May 2013 10:42:53 GMT

So I am moving from the Bell TV (Express Vu) forum to OTA forum here, guess what? I cut the cord, wait, satellite is not a "cord", so what should I call it, shoot down the satellite?

Anyway, I have been lucky to get a great deal from NCIX, for merely $5.99, I bought a refurbed (but suspiciously brand new looking to me) Philips SDV8622 (actually printed as SDV8622T/27, I have no idea what that means at the end) and placed it on the balcony of my condo on 1st floor, surrounded by other buildings (but luckily not too close but there is a tree outside close by), also in the flat land of Richmond (i.e. Richmond is below the sea level!!). Here is the TVfools prediction:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...1dda5ac56677d7

In the past, I had borrowed a small passive log-periodic antenna (UHF, the popular one) from a friend and had compared between balcony and indoor performance and indeed simply outdoor on the balcony, despite there is no other geographical differences, but being indoor sucks a lot.

I had also bought (wrongly) an RCA indoor antenna w/ so called "28dB" gain which was simply a lie b/c it didn't make a difference at all and was overall weak. (Ok may be the unit is defective since I bought it refurb at XS Cargo). Can't believe this is the same one sold at Futureshop at $90. which I think is not worth even $9.

I now have 3 TVs: LG plasma, Samsung LCD, and Dynex, and Bell's 6141 and 9242 which both have ATSC tuner, and at a brief time, I bought an opened box ATSC converter box from Best Buy to test also, which is absolutely awful compared to other tuners I have had.

So the Philips SDV8622, w/ a built in amp, w/ the name 18dB amplified antenna, is actually not bad at all on the balcony, fed w/ RG-6 (re-use the cable originally for the Bell dish), but I want PBS so bad, that I really want to get K24IC-D, and it was very marginal, comes and goes.

Reading this forum prompted me to buy the CM4221HD, as I thought the 8 bay is too big on the balcony and might stick out a little much (I face south and I wanted to point at least partially south east to get K24IC-D according to the TVfools plot). I ordered from an Ont dealer Angel Electronics, btw, for $40. on sale, plus $10. shipping (flat rate).

Guess what? Turned out the CM4221HD (w/o any amps) is just about on par w/ the SDV8622 (w/ built in amp). That shocked me. Why am I spending $56. if it didn't improve on the $6. antenna from NCIX? (I admit that was a steal of a deal). So now I am contemplating for a pre-amp, not sure if I should follow Gerry for the DIY (I know electronics but I am lazy also) or buy a CM7777 which Angel Electronics recommended for $80. (it's cheaper in the US).

I don't have a good amp here so I used a very old (30 year old?) Radio Shack amp, actually I own 2 but I think one is bad. Those old amps must be pretty bad b/c it made the signal less table, it seems to gain a little, but then the ups and downs are even worse, so I gave up on it. I think they use some simple transistor inside, and has horrible specs, like being non-linear, easily overloaded, and high noise figure, and possibly other problems I don't even want to know.

But I just can't figure out why would a Telus Optik HD PVR be $48.xx during Boxing Week, and even very regularly a bell 6141 / 6131 is $99. and now I am spending a lot more just on a simple antenna and a simple amplifier? (b/c that cost doesn't even include the cabling and I am lucky I don't have to raise a tower / feed cable, lightning arrestor, grounding etc).

I think this market is very niche, and thus those components stay at enthusiasts / commercial pricing range, and not into a consumer range (b/c for $80. you can buy an Android smartphone that has complex components inside, and an amp, well, is an amp that I can even build if I am not lazy). Plus those tv boxes are subsidized so you pay back when you become their customers, I do understand.

So now I am hooked and have been reading up on the pre-amp thread, except it goes to very deep details, so it is more technical (which makes interesting reads as I understand what IMD, SFDR etc means) than I need for practical purpose now. Should I plunge and spend $80. to get the CM7777? Or build something like Gerry's DIY (I don't have time to make my own PCB, so only if I pay off for a share of one board).

This is crazy b/c I am building an HTPC w/ an ATSC tuner (Hauppauge WinTV PVR 850 model 1230), and if the sale comes back for the HDHomeRun I will get one as well. So the signal department is going to be solid or else it is not worth it.

Because all I want is the PBS. As for the local channels, I do get most of them, except 6.1 is a bit weak, comes and goes. The other 2 US channels work well but are completely uninteresting (infomercial? old classics? music videos?). I might as well do Netflix and Hulu Plus or other streaming activities.

So what would you guys recommend? I also need to feed at least 3 or more tuners, so do I need another distribution amp as well when it gets inside?

What I worry is that I don't want to buy the pre-amp and again, found it doesn't really do much more, just like the famous CM4221HD doesn't currently do more than the SDV8622, which is the size of an iPad (but 4 times as thick)! I don't know of any local distributors so I would likely mail order it again (shipping again, should have done it in one shot, as it is flat rate! grrrw).

I never expect the OTA game to be as expensive. (can you believe the amp cost as much as a multiswitch for sat, which is a more complicated piece of equipment).

Anyway, and suggestions and advices welcomed.

HAFH & New LNB Install

Iceman31 — Sat, 18 May 2013 01:23:01 GMT

We are at our HAFH location and I have brought my new LNB to install. Question is this is the first of my two locations to get the new LNB. Can I install it here call in to SD and have them switch my account over to the new LNB even if my home location still has the old LNB which I will change when I get home? I guess what I am looking for do I have to have both LNB's installed before I call SD or will my receivers take the code and then when I get home and swap LNB's will I be good to go?

DB4e or other comercial 4 bay bowtie antennas Low UHF and HI-VHF capability

mezmoom — Fri, 17 May 2013 20:42:06 GMT

Hi all,
I live in Montreal, QC and I am trying to find a suitable 4 bay antenna for outdoor reception. The distance between the TV and the antenna would be around 10 m (30').
In my location, according to tvfool report, the worst case would be channel 13 HI-VHF and 43 UHF with an NM (db)= -3.
I have been looking at the new 4 bay antenna DB4e's (antenna direct) report and it seems that this antenna has a gain of 11.68 dbi (9.53dbd)on channel 14 which is good for my situation. But there is no mention of HI-VHF gain.
I tried to model this antenna with 4nec2 to see its HI-VHF gain, but I don't have all the dimensions of it (bowtie length and spacing...).
I am looking at two options:
1) - Make an antenna. I had modeled a 4 bay antenna and the results are:
CH7-CH13 the gain is between: 9-9.26dbi and SWR is <13.6
CH14-CH51 the gain is between: 14.35-15.09 and SWR is <2.8

This antenna required a reflector that can be made with welded wire mesh 2''Vx4''H, 36'' large and 40'' long but I can't find in my location this kind of material with a good price (less than 20$). I would need also to buy some tools to make the antenna, so I am leaning towards the second option.

2)- My second option is to find a commercial antenna that has a good HI-VHF capability and good low-UHF gain that would be suitable to my situation explained above.

Thanks to anyone can help me find cheap and good materials to make my antenna, model the antenna direct DB4e to see its HI-VHF capability or to suggest any other 4 bay-panel antenna.

MZ

Rogers internet home

Many7695 — Fri, 17 May 2013 19:50:38 GMT

is anybody having trouble with Rogers Internet connection, 4x today my connection has gone down only to be back up within seconds. is time to get a new modem, or wait for rogers to help me.

Google playstore

Many7695 — Fri, 17 May 2013 18:13:44 GMT

I have successfully bought google music from the playstore but when I try to buy tv shows or movies my payment (google redeem cards) gets declined. Any idea why it works for music and not for tv\movies.

USB TV tunner for testing OTA

raczyk — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:19:30 GMT

Hi Folks,

I'd like to buy a USB tv tunner for testing channel signal strength with my laptop. What would you recommend?

Regards,
raczyk

internet for home computer without landline

monkeybikegirl — Fri, 17 May 2013 16:09:37 GMT

I would like to cancel my Telus home landline and just use my cell phone for calls. Any reviews out there about dry-loop service or Bell internet service for home computer (I already use Bell satellite for TV). Shaw is not option. I live in Vancouver, BC.

Earthquake Felt In Southern Ontario/Quebec

57 — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:46:48 GMT

I felt this very weakly while sitting at my computer this morning and also heard the mirror doors on the nearby closet "rattle" for a few seconds. These mirror doors can also rattle when there's a very high wind, but there was no wind at the time. This earthquake was not as noticeable as the last one though (2011-08-23) when my house "swayed".

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/...ticle11987450/

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/earthqu...tawa-1.1285923

UHDTV's will force Bell Satellite Service to show their next move

daurora — Fri, 17 May 2013 14:12:13 GMT

To my way of thinking, the industry move to 4K television sets will force Bell Satellite service to show us their next move. Given that they have not introduced new receivers for quite some time now and the fact that they have not upgraded their system to the mpg4 codec standard. There is no way for their present technology to compete in this new UHDTV world.

What do you think?

The antenna I found in my attic

smallmj — Fri, 17 May 2013 13:23:30 GMT

Hi everybody,

I just did some measurements of the old VHF antenna that I was in my attic. It's a big monster. The boom is 10'6" long and the elements range from 7'4" to 9' in full length. The five elements are roughly equally spaced along the boom.

The fourth (active) element seems to be a folded dipole with on extra cross bar attached. That is, there are three parallel bars that join at rounded ends . The bottom bar is split in the middle and has attachments for the wiring. The middle bar is bolted on at the ends and in the middle where it is electrically connected to the top bar.

All of the elements fold back to the mast, except the middle piece of the active element, which is bolted on.

There are mounting bolts behind the middle of the boom, which is likely the centre of mass. There was probably another piece that attached to the mounting bolts to secure it to a mast, but that piece is missing. The antenna was hanging by string in my attic.

Some of the elements are no longer straight.

I haven't found any branding or model markings on it.

I can post some pictures if anybody is curious.

So is this thing any good? I'm hoping to pull in CBC Charlottetown on channel 13 with it but I haven't managed to get any signal yet. (see the Maritimes reception thread)

If I can't get diddly with this antenna, is there any hope with a channel cut yagi?

Mark

Gawker and The Star say Rob Ford does cocaine

alebowgm — Fri, 17 May 2013 12:48:10 GMT

I don't see how he can survive this, especially if the video leaks. Thoughts?

Voip.ms CallerIDName & toll free numbers

erikdv — Fri, 17 May 2013 05:04:15 GMT

I recently signed up a for a toll free sip with voip.ms. I couldn't get a local number and my wife runs a small business so I fiqured having toll free was OK. I have a obi100 and the setup was super simple. The only issue I am having is my outbound caller ID. Currently its says "Toll Free Serv" when I call my home POTS line... I have added a name in the "CallerIDName" field under call settings in the obi100 but it doesn't seem to make a difference. If I understand correctly Canada doesn't use CNAM for caller id and regardless it wouldn't work as it is caller ID. Any other ideas? Having "Toll Free Serv" as your title on caller ID will probably have most people not even picking it up.

Are super sports channels being removed?

Doppelganger399 — Fri, 17 May 2013 03:04:54 GMT

Look at ch 474-488 theres no listing, no SPP, just the channel number and theres no fan 590 just a channel not available message.