BERRIES or TELEVISION? WE HAVE (HAD)    BOTH

August 10, 2006

The mostly hot and steamy summer continues, although berry season is waning.  The dish in the picture is a little bit deeper in green than the picture you see, and Anik F1R and F2 reception is down maybe a dB from previous levels (before berry season).  IA-5 at 97 West was overwhelmed, so we installed another set of LNBFs for it and other satellites, parallel to the one pictured above.  Good reception so far, and we may leave the "other" 1.8 meter offset pictured below permanently adorned with at least 6 or 7 LNBFs.

Since our last column in early July, there have been developments which point towards the futility of having any DBS antennas pointing at either 82 or 91 West.  Bell ExpressVu has been simultaneously fighting piracy as shutting off some in-the-clear (free to air) audio channels that we have become accustomed to since their appearance in that mode over seven years ago. Within a two day period in July, they turned on the scrambling for most of the FTA radio stations found on both satellites, including the CBC and Radio Canada.  Why now is hard to understand, but unless you have either STAR CHOICE or Sirius Satellite Radio, there is no more radio from CBC.  The free ride is apparently over.

During the last month, we have mailed out nearly 500 flyers to selected customers that purchased equipment during the time period from 2002 until now, and had not made any purchases within the last year.  This was done in an effort to get the message out that we are still around;  awaiting to serve your satellite equipment needs.  Less than 15 letters have been returned by the Post Office, so there are over 450 of you that have yet to respond to this mailer.  We included a request that anyone wanting future sales bulletins please contact us with an Email address, and they would be added to the list.  Printing and postage costs about 50 cents per customer for a simple flyer, and it is an exercise that we cannot continue based upon response so far.  If you would like Email bulletins, which will ideally be tied to catalog updates, please drop an Email to Mike at globalcm@mhtc.net    For the benefit of those that did not receive a mailer, we will mention some sale items that are current on special while supplies last:

New in the box I.R.D. receivers that are the perfect (and more reliable) answer to controlling your C or C/Ku band satellite system, in conjunction with an MPEG-2 receiver.   See the BARGAINS section for details.
TOSHIBA TRX-2220 (their best)   199.00 plus shipping to all that mention this column.
LEGACY 1 and LEGACY 2 receivers from R.L. Drake (79.00 and 69.00 respectively, plus shipping). 

VOOM Infrared Remote Controls.   Ideal for STAR CHOICE receivers, and better than their original remotes!
15.00 each    2 for 25.00     5 for 49.00   (plus shipping).

Plastic Weather Covers for your Big Ugly Dish.   RADIO SHACK, SEARS and unmarked covers with cable ties.  One for 9.00    Two for 15.00    Three for 19.00    5 for 29.00  (plus shipping).
SAMI Covers with plugs and donut plates:   19.00 per set         Two for 35.00         3 for 49.00  +  10.00 shipping.

VOOM 68 cm elliptical antennas (36 x 20 inches) with Universal Mounting Bracket and P-870 Stacked Ku LNBF
69.00 each plus shipping.        2 or more systems   50.00 each plus shipping

Free 50-foot Telephone Cable with Modular connectors upon request with ANY order.   1.00 each for extras.  50 cents each for 2-way modular telephone splitter adapter.

D-Tube type DBS LNBFs with Single Output          10.00 each while they last.     LIMITED QUANTITIES

S-Video Cables      6 foot length for 5.00       12 foot length for 7.00        25 foot length for 10.00
6-foot Triple Component Cables for HDTV Systems    8.00 each.

Mention this editorial, and get the TRAXIS DBS-3500, preprogrammed MPEG-2 receiver, for 99.00 + shipping.
Add a 4 input DiSEqC switch for 10 dollars.   Experimenter's special.  Two 4-input DiSEqC switches and One 22 KHz switch---allows 8 separate inputs at the dish farm to be controlled by one receiver such as the 3500.
25.00 for this package, with purchase of a DBS-3500 receiver.

WINEGARD amplified VHF TV Antenna (batwing type) with power supply.       25.00 each.

Until next month, 

MIKE