My previous post is the one I wanted to end with, but now there is an update. The 12-inch coaxial cable from my wall to the splitter has a problem. One end wishes to come apart easily. When I pulled the cable out of the wall connector to install a "5G filter" last week, the end of the coax came apart. When I jam the connector back together, or use another 12-inch piece of coaxial cable, the weak station (180-185 MHz with the antenna down by the Louisville, KY airport) is now fairly strong.
(The splitter sends one signal to the "Zapperbox" ATSC 3.0 device, and the...
Hondaman
Badcaps Legend
Last Activity: Today, 12:01 AM
Joined: 09-12-2008
Location: Clarksville, Indiana
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Last edited by Hondaman; 12-16-2024, 01:31 PM. -
Okay. I tried several different combinations of one antenna and two antennas. I did keep in mind that a two-antenna setup requires EQUAL length coaxial cables going from the antenna to the combiner. I was thinking about posting every single result, but now I think that would be boring.
NOTE: There are some errors in the post above. One station in my town is at 181-186 MHz (RF channel 8), and another station is at 199-204 MHz (RF channel 11).
CONCLUSION: Basically, combining two antennae up in my attic always gave me worse results than one antenna by itself. The Antennas...Last edited by Hondaman; 12-03-2024, 03:33 AM.Leave a comment:
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I'm sorry, but here in the USA, LG is selling refrigerators with terrible "linear compressors". These compressors have rubber coating some of the moving parts. They fail quickly because the rubber is not compatible with the oil used with the refrigerant inside the sealed system. LG is not making any effort to design a different compressor. How old is this refrigerator? Can you spend the money for a different brand? I hate to give you bad news, but after you fix the electrical problem, the compressor might fail.Leave a comment:
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Single-channel antenna?
Recently I switched from my Gray-Hoverman to the Antennas Direct ClearStream 4 MAX. Seems to work about as well as the old G-H in my attic (one-story ranch home), but the Antennas Direct unit can be mounted outside on my chimney if desired.
I should mention that I was also using a 29-inch "T" shaped antenna for RF channel 11. I know you're not supposed to use TWO antennas unless they have the same length coaxial cable going into your combiner (and even then there might be problems). So I made sure the cables were equal length.
Years ago I made a "T"...Last edited by Hondaman; 11-18-2024, 01:17 AM. -
Okay, scratch what I said in my post number 6003 in this thread, about one month ago (a few posts above this one). It turns out my Toshiba D-R550 will record the output of a VCR, even for VHS tapes that used to belong to a video rental store (tapes that had MACROVISION copy-preventing signal recorded on the tape).
So if anybody wants a copy of those two movies ("Convicted", with Carroll O'Connor and John Larroquette, or "Where the Spirit Lives") I can get you a copy. I don't really believe copyright law applies to out-of-print stuff. I can also get "50 years...Leave a comment:
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Backup to USB drive
Okay, I fixed my USB problems discussed in another thread. Now I would like to back up some files. I bought a USB enclosure and a 2 TB SSD (I should have saved $50 and bought one without cache, but I bought the more expensive Samsung EVO 570 instead).
I seem to prefer Linux Mint, although I could probably use Microsoft Backup for Windows 7. I think it still exists. Here's what I did with Mint 18.3 tonight:
[CODE]cp * -pR "/mnt/win7-drive/users/mike/My Pictures/" "/mnt/usb-enclosure/My Pictures"[/CODE]
and
[CODE]cp * -pR "/mnt/iwn7-drive/users/mike/My...Last edited by Hondaman; 08-29-2024, 11:37 PM. -
For $2 at a barn sale, I got an Apex DRX-9200. It is a DVD recorder, but it probably only has a pre-2006 NTSC tuner, not an ATSC tuner. But rumor has it this unit IGNORES MACROVISION VHS copy-prevention used in the USA. If it works, and if I can get an old / universal remote to work with it, I can play a VHS tape into it and it will record the footage onto DVD with chapter markers every 5 minutes (crude, but effective). (I suggest my ATSC Toshiba D-R550 will probably see the Macrovision and refuse to make a copy.)
I have a couple of VHS tapes that will never, ever be on DVD.
...Last edited by Hondaman; 08-13-2024, 08:53 PM.Leave a comment:
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Interesting......I booted from a DVD of Mint 21.3. After about 8 minutes, the live environment came up. Mint 21.3 was able to read a 1.0 TB WD Black spinning drive (one big NTFS partiiton, backup of documents, spreadsheets, pictures) in 2 different USB enclosures. The 500 GB Samsung EVO 570 SSD is apparently BLANK, and this is why Windows and Linux could not read it (I thought it had Mint 21.3 on it). I'll probably have to use a rescue CD/DVD to format the SSD (no other hard drives present) before I can use the 500 GB SSD. So once again, the problem is my lack of understanding of what's going...Leave a comment:
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USB problems?
Recently I discovered my SSD died (OCZ/Toshiba 240 GB). It was in a USB enclosure, attached to the Linksys WRT-AC1200 router. Since then I removed the USB enclosure and attached it to my Win7 PC (AMD 8150 CPU, 970 chipset, 64 GB RAM). I also gathered one or two other USB enclosures to figure out what is going on.
(I suspect that I lost quite a few MP3 and FLAC files I recently ripped from my audio CDs, I think I lost very little un-replaceable stuff.)
I think it is IMPOSSIBLE for Win7 to have any problems with a USB enclosure as long as Win7 knows how to speak to the...Last edited by Hondaman; 08-12-2024, 03:28 PM. -
Here's an update to this project. I got a brand new CanoScan 8400 for just under $51 from eBay. It seems to work under Win7 only when you turn the scanner on AFTER Win7 boots up. And if Win7 reports problems with the TWAIN driver, this problem may survive rebooting. Also note that Windows <CTRL> <C>, <CTRL> <V>, etc might not work properly as long as the Korean keyboard is installed, even if I am typing in English. So use the mouse for Windows cut and paste.
My workflow:
The Canon software scans the file as a .BMP, then I use PS Elements 5 to cut...Last edited by Hondaman; 07-27-2024, 02:05 AM.Leave a comment:
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Foreign language OCR?
I'm good at starting projects but never really completing them. So I think I'll start another one. Back in April 2024, a book was published, for the first time, in English ("Passcode to the Third Floor Secretariat"). So I don't need to use OCR and online translation portals for that one. But another book, "Fully Controlled Areas", ISBN 978-89-90959-28-7, has not been translated to English and probably never will be. (And I have got the only copy I will ever have, trust me). Lots of crude, hand-drawn illustrations of people starving and getting executed in North Korea. The...Last edited by Hondaman; 07-17-2024, 05:15 AM. -
Okay, EVEN MORE drama. The DVD unit in question failed to recognize a DVD. Region 3 does not matter -- the Win7 file manager should still be able to recognize VIDEO_TS folder. (Sometimes the AUDIO_TS folder is omitted from store-bought DVDs). I replaced this with a new in box eBay burner I bought about 60 days ago (LiteOn iHas424), it recognizes the disc perfectly. I'll set the questionable unit aside and label it as questionable, and use the eBay burner going forward.
EDIT: I am so sorry that many of my projects are so slow to get finally resolved. And thus far, it is only this...Last edited by Hondaman; 06-03-2024, 12:10 AM.Leave a comment:
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Wow. My LiteOn SH-224 is now having the same problem as the LiteOn SH-222. I still have the SH-222 (I never throw anything away, and my house is ALMOST like a "hoarder house" because of it).
When I reinstalled the SH-222 and booted Linux Mint 18.3 KDE a few minutes ago, everything is fine. So this is a Windows problem, and both the SH-222 and SH-224 work fine. Maybe the Patin-Couffin layer (VSO software, it's a free download) has a problem. I will also check for an update to CDEx software, which is kind of like K3B, but for Windows.
Since I installed the SH-224,...Last edited by Hondaman; 04-22-2024, 04:15 AM.Leave a comment:
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Dan Schneider was a pedo? I had no idea. I remember someone, who I think is Dan, appearing on TV BEFORE "Head of the Class". Someone asked his character "so how's that cure coming along for childhood cancer?" and he responded harshly because his young character's cancer was in remission -- for now. Perhaps I have him confused with David Greenlee. He did some stuff from before "Beauty and the Beast" (1987, Ron Perlman, Linda Hamilton) which is where I mostly remember David Greenlee from.
So if Dan went from in front of the camera to behind it, then he...Last edited by Hondaman; 02-04-2024, 01:39 AM.Leave a comment:
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Re: Laptop external keyboard?
Oh goodness. I forgot to ask the obvious question. Can I also use an external mouse?
(You can still get a WIRED mouse in the US so you don't have to worry about batteries or Linux compatibility.)Leave a comment:
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Laptop external keyboard?
Can I use an external keyboard with a modern (as of this post) laptop from, say, Dell?
I am worried about durability because I am a cheap, frugal person. I suspect an external keyboard would extend the life of the laptop. I have always been a desktop person, since my AMD 386DX-40, and I really don't know about laptops (though the current Dell products look like they are fanless, which eliminates a big failure point).
(Also I prefer the "clicking" "Unicomp" keyboard, which is still made an hour or two away from me in Lexington KY, using the same equipment... -
Re: My new Motherboard test stand
Excellent. It beats my "pizza box" testing rig by a country mile (1.609344 kilometers) !!!Last edited by Hondaman; 10-23-2023, 12:12 PM.Leave a comment:
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Re: Copy-protected DVDs
Thanks !! I'll try and grab some of these other software tools, just in case I need them.
I can do that? It has been so long, I can't remember (I don't even remember if I have Lightscribe, I know I have it on several spare units). I'll look into it. I have had these problems before, where it doesn't detect that a disc is present. One was on old EIDE CD/DVD burner, and another was my Toshiba D-R550 set-top unit (record ATSC 1.0 US TV programs onto DVD-R instead of VHS tape). Had to send the Toshiba back to the factory, never saw...Leave a comment:
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Re: Copy-protected DVDs
Okay, I figured it out. I removed the LiteOn SH-222 and installed the LiteOn SH-224 (Lightscribe?), new out of the box. The DVDs in question played immediately, and I could see the "AUDIO_TS" and "VIDEO_TS" directories with a file manager. So they are perfectly normal DVDs (unless the DVDs are doing something weird, like not using CSS on the first 1-gigabyte .VOB file but using it on the others). Yes, I'll have to figure out how to disable the autoplay in Win7.
When I put the SH-222 back in, the problems returned. DVDs are...Last edited by Hondaman; 10-05-2023, 10:41 AM.Leave a comment:
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Copy-protected DVDs
Recently I got some DVDs that won't play on my PC drive. This is not unexpected, since there is a warning on the back of each package. But they play just fine on my set-top DVD player hooked up to the HDMI port on my TV set.
I bought "Head of the Class" where Howard Hesseman [WKRP in Cincinnati] teaches a class of extra-smart students. I also bought "Ode to Billy Joe", a 1976 movie.
All of these appear to be released by Warner Brothers. Rumor has it DVDs from several movie studios have a root directory that contains extra entries of non-existent files...
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