January
02, 2011
We REALLY thought that
we would be enjoying a rural paradise near Fergus Falls, Minnesota by
now. I could not have imagined on May 3, 2009, when I began my
odyssey of commuting between Plain, Wisconsin and Fergus Falls, that
nearly two years later I would still be burning up the miles up and down
Interstate 94. Personal situations and the economy have dictated
that I am still trapped in this personal hell, getting ready to turn over
300K on my Dodge Dakota pickup.
My latest estimate is
that nearly 70% of our "stuff" (old and new inventory plus
personal items) is in storage somewhere in Minnesota. I actually had
to discontinue an offer on a 9 acre farm property with plenty of storage
at the end of November, because it was contingent on our property in
Wisconsin selling first. If you know of anyone that is contemplating
the purchase of a rural home near Madison, Wisconsin, check out this link
to our property listing:
http://www.c21affiliated.com/Listings/197/1607274/WI/FRANKLIN/S9141-HWY-23.aspx
45 minutes
west-northwest of Madison. Midway between Reedsburg and Spring
Green, Wisconsin.
Over 21 scenic acres and a ranch style home with over 3000 square feet.
Must see to appreciate. Asking price: $269,900
The year 2010 was quite hellish, with a concerted effort by National
Programming Service to destroy the bread and butter of the company that I
work for in Minnesota (Skyvision). It started in early February with
a scripted bunch of lies and distortions that pictured the 4DTV system
going out of business on December 31, 2010. This was not the case at
that time, but NPS did their best to scare thousands of their customers
into believing that DISH Network was their only option to continue
receiving subscription television. The lies continued the message
that C-band was gone. Like sheep, thousands did believe this
message, enough to the point that it became a self-fulfilling
prophecy. In late June, Motorola publicly announced that yes indeed,
the 4DTV system would be discontinued at the end of 2010.
All of this caused a shrinking of the remaining companies in the satellite
reception industry. I thought that my job was on the line (it
definitely was), as I saw the majority of my co-workers leave for other
jobs outside the satellite industry. We gave NPS a good fight, and
found a way to reuse 4DTV receivers for subscription programming on a
different Digicipher 2 system that Skyvision and Satellite Receivers Ltd's
Programming Center had been running for over 3 years on the W5 C-band
satellite with DSR-410 receivers. Once the 4DTV datastream vanishes
on the morning of Jan 4, 4DTV receivers that have undergone a software
update will then be able to subscribe to a group of over 100 audio and
video channels on 105 West (W5, officially known as C-band satellite
AMC-18). Hopefully enough people that still have working systems and
4DTV receivers will join us in stemming the defection from C-band
reception. Check the Skyvision website at www.skyvision.com
for details and bulletins.
Another area that we intend to pursue is an expansion of MPEG-2 and MPEG-4
reception, starting with the soon-to-be released Manhattan RS-1933 MPEG-4
receiver. This will usher in an era of lower cost receivers that not
only do MPEG-2, but also MPEG-4, including the DVB-S2 format, and
automatically process Dolby and a number of other audio formats. Need we also mention that it does high definition, has blind scan, and an
available channel editor. Barring any production and
transportation/clearance delays, we hope to have this Manhattan product
available in a few weeks (probably early to mid February, at this
writing). Drop me an Email to globalcm@mhtc.net
or my Skyvision address at mkohl@skyvision.com
if you are interested in this product, which will retail under $200.00 for
the receiver.
The above receiver will be instrumental in reception of nearly 20 PBS
signals on the Ku-band side of AMC-21 at 125 W.
State networks include Montana, Oklahoma and Louisiana. Go to the
C-band side of 87 West (W3 or AMC-3) and you will see the many channels of
Retro TV in DVB-S2 format, process the AC-3 audio from THIS TV, and be
introduced to the new ME-TV service from Chicago, which started in
mid-December. Classic television like we have never seen it before
will become plentiful and available in multiple channels 24 hours a
day. Niche markets of foreign language broadcasts continue to
multiply. We will be at the center of trying to inform the world
that C-band subscription programming is not dead, but that there are also not
just hundreds, but well over a thousand audio and video selections
available for free via C Band and Ku-band, to most North American locations.
Back in September, my schedule at Skyvision got longer (less time off
every week), so we have moved our 2-hour radio show to Wednesday nights
from 8 to 10 pm Central time. Ralf Black from New Orleans continues
to host the show and provide the satellite time so that we can all join
together to preserve and grow this hobby known as satellite reception (and
anything remotely connected to the communications industry). This
allows me to travel on the rare weekend that I am able to do so, and
actually results in less missed shows (thank you BP and other newsmakers),
which seemed to interrupt us a great deal earlier during 2010.
I sign off with the intentions of an update in early February...its
timeliness will depend upon how busy that I get in coming weeks (a good
thing or a bad thing, depending upon how you look at it). Global
Communications is still available to assist you via Email at globalcm@mhtc.net
if you have questions or concerns. Thank you for coming back to this
News & Views update...it's 11 months since our last one!
Until next month,
MIKE |