May 2, 2009

My head is about to spin.......starting tomorrow I start a new schedule. We have been considering moving our business out of Wisconsin for almost two years, with the intentions of setting up in the state of Minnesota. It would appear that the cosmic dominos are now lining up to make this a real possibility. Step one involves a 400 mile (each way) commute once a week, in order to take on the challenge of a new day job, in a technical and sales capacity with SKYVISION in Fergus Falls, Minnesota. If you want to reach me between Sunday and Thursday, it is best to communicate via Email. I can also return telephone calls in the evening on those days, or you can talk to Laurel at our normal telephone number and see if she can assist you.

If you must talk to me directly, call me at our main telephone number on Fridays, when I will be available to take care of any pressing business, or to schedule drop-in appointments. We will continue to do our Satellite Talk segment with Ralf Black in New Orleans, from 8 to 10pm Central time on Friday nights. IF you are wanting to make a road trip to visit me, it is best to make an appointment and plan on doing it either Friday or Saturday during the daytime. All of these limitations are necessary so that I can attempt to juggle things and seemingly be everywhere at once! If anyone is interested in 22 acres of paradise, less than an hour from Madison, Wisconsin, and about 45 minutes from Wisconsin Dells, our property will be available for sale.

Hardware news. PANSAT will have an S-2 module with Blind Scanning abilities available within a week, at the same price as previous standard S-2 device, which itself will be reduced to 129.00 plus shipping. These connect to the PANSAT 9200-HD receiver, and allow reception of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 signals in both DVB-S as well as DVB-S2 formats. Lots of potential for new channels, so if you are interested, drop me an Email and we can discuss the subject further.

DMS has a new and improved HOT DISH 90 (36 inch) offset antenna. It is now pressed with a heavier gauge metal, is packaged in a smaller cardboard enclosure, and not only will be sold at the same price as the WINEGARD DS-2076 antenna, but also at a competitive shipping cost that does not break the bank. You will have substantially more gain than the WINEGARD antenna, with the only downside possibly being my recommendation to add some extra flat washers under the elevation adjusting bolts for adding gripping power.

STAR CHOICE in Canada has officially changed their name to SHAW DIRECT. They claim that there will be no changes in actual operational policies, but we'll see what happens. The four regional SPORTSNET channels have been added at no extra charge to the ESSENTIALS programming package as well as even the spartan DIGITAL BASIC package. Last month's announcement that Buffalo stations were being removed from Star Choice met with a very vocal minority (fans of WNED-PBS Buffalo). Other Buffalo stations are going away, but the East package will now include ABC-CBS-NBC Detroit, FOX-Rochester, and a choice of either WTVS-PBS Detroit or WNED-PBS Buffalo. Those with HD receivers might consider asking for the Buffalo PBS as a standard definition choice, because PBS in HD will be from Detroit's affiliate. Why are the other Buffalo stations gone?? To make room for the new HD service of the GOLF CHANNEL, which has been added to the 2.99 per month SPORTS-HD package, which is quite a deal in itself. The stipulation with any HD sports channels in this package is that the customer must also take the standard definition version of each channel.

We'll talk to you in a few weeks. Just remember that now I am working directly for SKYVISION, anything that is not listed in the GLOBAL COMMUNICATIONS catalog can be ordered for shipment from SKYVISION at their catalog price. You now have access to a greatly increased selection of inventory. Any questions, please send a detailed Email and we will find a solution to your problems, if there is one.

Until next month,

MIKE