[Vintage-Audio] OT NASA TV Reception

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

Hi All,

Sorry for the OT, but frankly I do not know where to pose this question. I 
know that there are a good many brilliant minds on this particular list and 
if one of you do not know the answer, or where one might go to find said 
answer, it is probably going to remain an unanswered question!

On Friday August 13th the NASA Channel on channel 289 of Direct TV vanished. 
No, the blind Magician here was not testing a new magical wand and 
accidentally zapped it into Alice's Never Never Land Of Wonders!

I called Direct TV on the landline and asked why the NASA Channel was no 
longer on 289? As I suspected, and feared, they had moved it to a different 
satellite. Since most subscribers have a 3 LNB antenna, and the HD antenna 
is a 5 LNB antenna, it had been moved to a satellite that used the 5 LNB HD 
antenna. They did this some years ago when they moved the NASA Channel, and 
others, to the 2 LNB antenna from the 1 LNB antenna. Then the NASA Channel 
moved from where ever it had been to channel 283.

I had purchased all of my equipment from Sony, as their receiver was vastly 
superior to the one being leased to customers by Direct TV. I had put up a 1 
LNB 18 inch circular antenna originally, but changed it to a 2 LND 24 inch 
oval antenna when Direct TV moved the NASA Channel. Since I had two Sony 
satellite receivers, and the newer one handled the 2 LNB antenna, I did not 
have to buy a new receiver to get the NASA Channel.

This year in March I had Direct TV upgrade my entire system. Why? Because a 
multi-switch on the back of the 2LNB 24 inch oval antenna broke and nobody 
had, or could get, a replacement part! So I told Direct TV to fix the 
problem or cross me off their customer list.

The technician who came out was about clueless. All he knew how to do was 
what Direct TV, or whomever trained him, taught him to do. The word 
"improvise" was not in his neuron data bank! So if bolt AA2 was missing 
washer WW11, he was dead in the water. This required phone calls, several 
trips to his employers warehouse, a number of consultations with engineers 
etc. I told him to pick one up at the hardware store .5 miles from my house. 
Could not do that. He had to have authorization etc. I told him to just go 
there and get the darn washer and I would pay for it. Nope. Could not do 
that. Taking such an unauthorized action could get him fired. Frankly, at 
that point in time, firing him in favor of somebody else who had more free 
neurons seemed like a good move to me!

Then after a supervisor, an engineer, and others came to my house and 
studied the situation, I was told to live with what I had or go without! By 
now the old blind man was getting angry. The supervisor said they could not 
mount the antenna on my fifty foot R-25G tower as they were not allowed to 
climb anything. Doing so could get them fired.

He told me that they would need to find a forty foot ladder to replace my 
current antenna. I reminded him that most of them were made of Aluminum, or 
some other combination of metals, and were more dangerous because they could 
conduct electricity should any be present. Whereupon he and the engineer 
decided that I was going to have to hire a cherry picker!

I sarcastically told him that I did not have any Cherry trees on my 
property. So why would I need to hire a mechanical device that picks 
cherries? Saying that with a straight face was not easy, trust me!

The supervisor looked at the engineer, the engineer looked at the 
supervisor, and both exchanged what might best be described as 'stupid' 
looks! I could hardly contain myself waiting for their answer!

I did not get one. The two of them just walked off mumbling and grumbling to 
themselves. The installer finally wandered back from talking to them and 
told me that if I repeated what he was going to tell me, that he would lose 
his job. I assured him that I would not rat on him. He said that his boss, 
the supervisor I assume, said that the damn blind guy could either live with 
what he had and the channels he could receive, or go without a damn 
television. Since he could not see the television anyhow, what difference 
did it make what channels he received? When the installer said that Direct 
TV might end up with a very unhappy customer that could cause quite a mess 
if he were to tell the media about his experience. The supervisor said some 
things I will not repeat here!

I asked the installer why I could not install their blasted antenna myself? 
I told him to look around my yard. Did he see the four towers? Did he see 
the eleven Ham Radio antennas? Did he see the television beam with rotor? 
Did he see the FM radio antenna for my AM/FM stereo receiver? Did he see the 
150 foot long, 25 feet high, solid #12 gauge Copper wire short-wave longwire 
antenna? He was silent for a few long seconds. He said yes he saw them, all 
of them. He had never seen so many antennas on one piece of land in his 
entire life! What he hell did I communicate with anyhow, Martians? Much to 
his shock, I answered that particular question "yes"! Now that I had his 
attention ...

I asked him if I could have my antenna guy, Bruce Harbin, of Bruce's 
Antenna, come over and install the new 3 LNB antenna. He said he supposed 
so, but Direct TV would not pay for it. I told him to let me do the worrying 
and for him to be here at 9:00 AM the next morning. He promised me that he 
would be here with all the necessary parts.

I had already called Bruce to be sure he would do the job and that he could 
be here at the designated time.

So the next morning Bruce showed up at 9:00 AM. and the installer was ready. 
He had already assembled everything that he could. He told Bruce a few 
things, Bruce grabbed the antenna and up the tower he went.

Bruce had it mounted, connected and calibrated in less than twelve minutes. 
He watched the installer use his instrument to check the signal strength on 
each LNB. It was 100%.

Bruce collected some money from me and was off to his next job.

The installer came in the house, checked the reception on my Pioneer fifty 
inch projection TV and the Sony 13 inch with built-in VCR. Still a signal of 
100%. He was happy.

He called Direct TV and told them everything was working perfectly. Then he 
reminded them that they owed me a lot of credit. Not only had I paid for the 
new antenna to be installed, which violated the maintainance contract that 
Direct TV had with the company he worked for, but I had also been being 
chared for local channels that I had not received in over five years! Ever 
since they went to a 3 LNB antenna and moved local off the 2 LNB that I had. 
He also reminded them that I did not have two receivers. The one in my 
grandsons bedroom was gone. It had not been in use for three years.

Alright, things were fine from March 31, 2011 until August 13, 2011.

The current upgrade? The installer showed up with the much larger 5 LNB HD 
antenna. It has a two inch diameter hole in it. It is supposed to slide over 
a two inch pipe. But there is no two inch pipe on my fifty foot tower! Since 
I have a forty foot++ Scotch Pine woods 150 feet south of my house, and 
since the satellite signal must be picked up from the south, mounting the 
antenna on the ground, ten feet above the ground, on my roof etc. will not 
work. The angle of the signal from the satellite hits the trees in the 
woods! Which is precisely why the current 3 LNB antenna is mounted forty 
feet up the fifty foot R-25G tower!

The installer does not know what to do. I asked him if he would leave me the 
part of the antenna that gets mounted? I would have my antenna guy, Bruce, 
come over and see if he could make a mounting bracket for it to mount on my 
tower. Which I already knew that he could do. The installer starts to tell 
me that Direct TV won't pay for ... I told him I already knew that, but I 
was confident that Direct TV would give me plenty of credit to compensate me 
for the problems, cost and disruptions to my life.

I wrote to the head administrator of NASA, Charles Bolden. I told him what 
an educational disaster this move by Direct TV would cause young children 
and college age students. NASA TV is one of the best educational channels 
out there! They have interesting programs for children in elementary school 
right up to educated adults! Now Direct TV claims to have fifty million 
customers. It is estimated that 60% ofof that customer base is going to be 
affected. Now that equates to thirty million people! Now it seems to me that 
if only ten percent of that thirty million get angry and cancel Direct TV 
out, that is a customer base loss of at least three million customers! More 
then enough to make management sweat in their boxer shorts or short skirts!

I now have another letter from the right hand man for Administrator Charles 
Bolden that informs me that NASA has lodged a complaint with Direct TV! Both 
written and by phone.

Thousands of people each month are dropping their cable and satellite 
service because of rising costs, deception on the part of the providers and 
what amounts to forced upgrades solely to increase the bottom line for 
Direct TV. Not to provide better or more cost effective service for their 
customers.

So gentlemen, I ask you: How can I receive the NASA Channel without having 
to go through Direct TV? Since NASA has a down link frequency both for video 
and audio, is there some way I can receive them?

Someone mentioned getting NASA TV by EMPEG? At least I think the word was 
"empeg".

Can I get it via the Internet? If so, do I have to install a high speed 
modem service here? I currently use a dial up service.

What, if any, are my options to get my beloved NASA TV?

Thank you for your patience, consideration and assistance.

Duane, W8DBF

P.S. Oh yes, should have mentioned this above. Even though what Direct TV is 
doing is not a violation of the law, it certainly is unethical. The ADA 
(Americans With Disabilities Act) is a federal mandate, but it is not a law. 
It is being violated. The negative media attention this could generate - The 
Administrator of NASA not being able to receive NASA TV in his home area in 
Virginia, the loss to millions of students who will no longer get the NASA 
Channel in their school as doing so would require the school system to 
upgrade everything to HD and the money just is not there, the people such as 
I who are simply left out because we are blind etc. Since NASA has sent 
Direct TV a complaint, wouldn't one think that bucking NASA would be a very 
bad move for any company to do? I am told by those who know that thousands 
of customers each month are dropping cable and satellite service. They are 
buying a HD TV, if they do not already own one, having a HD antenna put up 
and no longer paying for TV as they were with cable and/or satellite! They 
get all the normal local channels plus the digital ones! Locally here in 
Flint, MI there are 45 channels for free! So if Direct TV looks at what they 
stand to lose  by bucking NASA and the public schools and individuals, why 
not leave the NASA Channel on the 3LNB dish and put the movie channels on 
the 5 LNB antenna?



Duane Fischer, W8DBF - WPE8CXO
E-Mail: dfischer at usol.com
Hallicrafters web site: www.w9wze.net
HHRP web site: hhrp.w9wze.net