March 11, 2007
Satellite TV sucks
One of the nods to modernity at Camp Roberts is the appearance of small satellite dishes sprouting near the barracks and officers' quarters; the base is too far away from the nearest town to justify running cable, so I guess this is the only way to keep the all-volunteer soldiers entertained.
I've never subscribed to either of the two players in the satellite market, but I can say -- having seen the technology as featured on post -- two things:
Cable ain't got nothing to worry about.
Because satellite sucks.
Constant -- and I do mean CONSTANT -- signal interruptions, digital glitches, artifacts and freeze frames.
And, oh, did I mention that with more than a gazillion channels, there's no ABC programming at all?
So much for staying up to date with Lost. Despite my recent musings after the craptastic episode from a couple of weeks back that the show had jumped the shark in a big way, the message boards say last week's episode was quite good.
Of course, I wouldn't know, would I?
How bad to you have to be to be worse than cable?
Posted by Mike Lief at March 11, 2007 11:03 PM
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Comments
Well ... could some of it depend on location? Our DirecTV is pretty darn good. Artifacts and interruption *very* rare, ABC completely available. Could it be there's no local ABC affil playing ball with the sat companies?
Posted by: Anwyn at March 11, 2007 11:28 PM
I've had Dish Network for nearly 7 years, and except in the the most severe weather, have never had any significant problem with my service. I even did a self install in my first service. Then again, I am an electronically trained former submarine sailor.
It could be blocked by trees or other obstacles. Get a professional installer out there to get those problems cleared up. It'll be worth it. In my second install, after about 2 years, I had to have someone come out and put the dish on a 4 ft. pole on my house so it could clear the tree line. It's way better than cable, and cheaper, too. In my area, anyway.
Posted by: sonarman at March 12, 2007 07:47 AM
You mean an entertainment benefit on a military base is somehow of lower quality than what you can get at home? Next you'll tell me the weight room has rusty old Universal plates and the pool looks like a fish pond. Then I'll really know you're pulling my leg.
Posted by: LT at March 12, 2007 07:08 PM
LT, I'm not knocking the military; having TVs in the barracks with a decent selection of available channels is a big improvement over what was provided when I was a young enlisted man back in the early '80s.
What I find astonishing is that the satellite companies can't figure out a way to make sure the major networks are carried.
Oh, by the way, the weight room has some pretty nice equipment, none of it rusty. And the pool is bone dry, unfortunately.
Posted by: Mike Lief at March 12, 2007 07:26 PM
I still find it amazing that an Army base does not carry Fox News.
Posted by: andrewdb at March 12, 2007 11:36 PM