Videokarma.org

Go Back   Videokarma.org TV - Video - Vintage Television & Radio Forums > Early Color Television

We appreciate your help

in keeping this site going.
Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #31  
Old 02-28-2019, 09:53 AM
ohohyodafarted's Avatar
ohohyodafarted ohohyodafarted is offline
Bob Galanter
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Whitefish Bay, Wi (Milwaukee)
Posts: 1,053
Quote:
Originally Posted by benman94 View Post
Meh. I'd rather deal with the snow and have cooler summers. Winter weather doesn't bother me, any kind of heat does.
Me too Ben! The UP is very under appreciated. Although at 71 I am afraid I would not be as able to do winters as easily as when I was your age. We have owned a lake home just inside the Wisconsin Michigan boarder about 17 miles south of Wakefield Mi for about 30 years. In my early to mid 50's I did a lot of show mobiling up there. The UP's big attraction for me is that it is still fairly isolated and offers wonderful opportunity for outdoor recreation. I get the distinct impression if it were not for tourism and government employment, the UP would have a hard time economically. If you ever get to Wakefield Mi, stop in at Randal's Bakery. They have great bakery and what I consider to be the best pasties in the area. I often make the 17 mile run from our cottage in Winchester, up HY 'O' to Randal's just to get a pasty.

We have a 50' tower at the cottage and receive all of the network digital stations OTA. Prior to the switch to digital we received stations out of Wausau Wi and Duluth MN. The transmitters in Duluth are on top of the hill bordering Lake Superior. I also used a 10' C band dish for subscription tv at that time, but technology moves on and that is all but dead for consumers now. I have DirectTV Now. My next door neighbor at the cottage lets me use his WiFi internet connection. He put a WiFi extender in the corner of his house closest to our cottage and I get a very good signal. So I run the DirectTV Now app on my laptop connected to the internet via the neighbors WiFi and feed my flat screen TV with a HDMI cable from the laptop. It works great. Unfortunately being in the boonies disadvantages people who depend on OTA to get their TV programs. We get a total of 12 channels OTA at the cottage, where as I get about 60 in at my home in Milwaukee. So for people in isolated areas, far from the transmitters, who have an internet connection, I think OTA is pretty much going to fade away because the population density is so low in those areas that it makes no sense economically for broadcasters to put up repeaters in those areas. Actually, my neighbor is using a small DirectTV dish to get all of his programming now. He uses the same service at his home in Illinois and drags his receiver up to his cottage when they come up. IMHO the FCC screwed the pooch for people in rural areas when they mandated the switch to digital. Perhaps the government, (who wastes so much money on other crap), should have subsidized the construction of repeaters in the rural areas for those of us who are too far away to get reliable OTA digital reception. Don't get me wrong, I am all for the switch to digital tv. Digital is great if you are in a large metro area with a ton of channels, but people in isolated areas still have a very small offering to chose from.

In this photo (follow link) you can see the bottom half of our 50' self supporting tower at our lake cottage. http://antiquetvguy.com/WebPages/Abo...PhotoPage.html
__________________
Vacuum tubes are used in Wisconsin to help heat your house.

New Web Site under developement
ME http://AntiqueTvGuy.com

Last edited by ohohyodafarted; 02-28-2019 at 10:02 AM.
Reply With Quote
  #32  
Old 02-28-2019, 11:01 AM
Jeffhs's Avatar
Jeffhs Jeffhs is offline
<----Zenith C845
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fairport Harbor, Ohio (near Lake Erie)
Posts: 4,035
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohohyodafarted View Post
Me too Ben! The UP is very under appreciated. Although at 71 I am afraid I would not be as able to do winters as easily as when I was your age. We have owned a lake home just inside the Wisconsin Michigan boarder about 17 miles south of Wakefield Mi for about 30 years. In my early to mid 50's I did a lot of show mobiling up there. The UP's big attraction for me is that it is still fairly isolated and offers wonderful opportunity for outdoor recreation. I get the distinct impression if it were not for tourism and government employment, the UP would have a hard time economically. If you ever get to Wakefield Mi, stop in at Randal's Bakery. They have great bakery and what I consider to be the best pasties in the area. I often make the 17 mile run from our cottage in Winchester, up HY 'O' to Randal's just to get a pasty.

We have a 50' tower at the cottage and receive all of the network digital stations OTA. Prior to the switch to digital we received stations out of Wausau Wi and Duluth MN. The transmitters in Duluth are on top of the hill bordering Lake Superior. I also used a 10' C band dish for subscription tv at that time, but technology moves on and that is all but dead for consumers now. I have DirectTV Now. My next door neighbor at the cottage lets me use his WiFi internet connection. He put a WiFi extender in the corner of his house closest to our cottage and I get a very good signal. So I run the DirectTV Now app on my laptop connected to the internet via the neighbors WiFi and feed my flat screen TV with a HDMI cable from the laptop. It works great. Unfortunately being in the boonies disadvantages people who depend on OTA to get their TV programs. We get a total of 12 channels OTA at the cottage, where as I get about 60 in at my home in Milwaukee. So for people in isolated areas, far from the transmitters, who have an internet connection, I think OTA is pretty much going to fade away because the population density is so low in those areas that it makes no sense economically for broadcasters to put up repeaters in those areas. Actually, my neighbor is using a small DirectTV dish to get all of his programming now. He uses the same service at his home in Illinois and drags his receiver up to his cottage when they come up. IMHO the FCC screwed the pooch for people in rural areas when they mandated the switch to digital. Perhaps the government, (who wastes so much money on other crap), should have subsidized the construction of repeaters in the rural areas for those of us who are too far away to get reliable OTA digital reception. Don't get me wrong, I am all for the switch to digital tv. Digital is great if you are in a large metro area with a ton of channels, but people in isolated areas still have a very small offering to chose from.

In this photo (follow link) you can see the bottom half of our 50' self supporting tower at our lake cottage. http://antiquetvguy.com/WebPages/Abo...PhotoPage.html
I live in northeastern Ohio, 30 miles east of Cleveland near Lake Erie. (The TV towers themselves are almost 50 miles southwest of me; however, most of the stations except two reach here OTA surprisingly well with just an indoor antenna.)

My OTA TV reception is good, but not great. Two important network affiliates (FOX and CBS), on channels 8 and 19, respectively, do not reach my area without cable or satellite. The company which owns channel 19, Raycom Media, absolutely refuses to put up a translator for the east lakeshore area; I don't know why, unless the population of this area (just under 3100) is so low the company doesn't see the sense in putting up a translator for the region. However, channel 19 does have a translator for another area of NE Ohio near Akron, Ohio, that lost the station's signal after the DTV transition.

One way to get TV reception in areas that don't get all the locals from metropolitan areas (or have poor reception from those stations) is to use an Internet TV device. I've been watching all my locals from Cleveland with a Roku for some time, and am very pleased with the results. I get every station I would normally receive using an antenna. I installed my Roku over a year ago, and did not look back.
__________________
Jeff, WB8NHV

Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002

Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten.

Last edited by Jeffhs; 02-28-2019 at 11:02 AM. Reason: Spelling
Reply With Quote
  #33  
Old 02-28-2019, 12:27 PM
benman94's Avatar
benman94 benman94 is offline
Resident Lunatic
 
Join Date: Jun 2011
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 1,190
Quote:
Originally Posted by ohohyodafarted View Post
Me too Ben! The UP is very under appreciated. Although at 71 I am afraid I would not be as able to do winters as easily as when I was your age. We have owned a lake home just inside the Wisconsin Michigan boarder about 17 miles south of Wakefield Mi for about 30 years. In my early to mid 50's I did a lot of show mobiling up there. The UP's big attraction for me is that it is still fairly isolated and offers wonderful opportunity for outdoor recreation. I get the distinct impression if it were not for tourism and government employment, the UP would have a hard time economically. If you ever get to Wakefield Mi, stop in at Randal's Bakery. They have great bakery and what I consider to be the best pasties in the area. I often make the 17 mile run from our cottage in Winchester, up HY 'O' to Randal's just to get a pasty.

We have a 50' tower at the cottage and receive all of the network digital stations OTA. Prior to the switch to digital we received stations out of Wausau Wi and Duluth MN. The transmitters in Duluth are on top of the hill bordering Lake Superior. I also used a 10' C band dish for subscription tv at that time, but technology moves on and that is all but dead for consumers now. I have DirectTV Now. My next door neighbor at the cottage lets me use his WiFi internet connection. He put a WiFi extender in the corner of his house closest to our cottage and I get a very good signal. So I run the DirectTV Now app on my laptop connected to the internet via the neighbors WiFi and feed my flat screen TV with a HDMI cable from the laptop. It works great. Unfortunately being in the boonies disadvantages people who depend on OTA to get their TV programs. We get a total of 12 channels OTA at the cottage, where as I get about 60 in at my home in Milwaukee. So for people in isolated areas, far from the transmitters, who have an internet connection, I think OTA is pretty much going to fade away because the population density is so low in those areas that it makes no sense economically for broadcasters to put up repeaters in those areas. Actually, my neighbor is using a small DirectTV dish to get all of his programming now. He uses the same service at his home in Illinois and drags his receiver up to his cottage when they come up. IMHO the FCC screwed the pooch for people in rural areas when they mandated the switch to digital. Perhaps the government, (who wastes so much money on other crap), should have subsidized the construction of repeaters in the rural areas for those of us who are too far away to get reliable OTA digital reception. Don't get me wrong, I am all for the switch to digital tv. Digital is great if you are in a large metro area with a ton of channels, but people in isolated areas still have a very small offering to chose from.

In this photo (follow link) you can see the bottom half of our 50' self supporting tower at our lake cottage. http://antiquetvguy.com/WebPages/Abo...PhotoPage.html
I'm not sure how far you ever make it east, but Bessie's in St. Ignace makes a great pasty. And if you ever make it up into the Keweenaw, Harbor Haus in Copper Harbor has the best German I've ever had in a restaurant. This coming from an ethnic kraut who was literally raised on sauerkraut, wurst, gromperekichelcher, und buchteln...

My Grandparents (Mother's side) own a summer home on Mackinac Island which is technically part of the UP, but overrun with tourists from the Detroit and Chicago areas. I enjoy visiting, but after a day or two of the nonsense I'm ready to leave, either that, or I just spend most of my time in the wooded part of the state park that 99% of the tourist folks won't venture into.

My father and Uncle own a huge tract of land in the Keweenaw with a cabin on it. That's my favorite vacation spot by far. Peace and quiet in the middle of the woods.

My Great-Grandfather also owned a tract of land on Isle Royale, but that was taken by the Feds when they decided to make Isle Royale a national park. They technically paid him, but far, far less than the property was worth, which I suppose is par for the course for the slime in Washington.
Reply With Quote
  #34  
Old 03-01-2019, 11:08 PM
ohohyodafarted's Avatar
ohohyodafarted ohohyodafarted is offline
Bob Galanter
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Whitefish Bay, Wi (Milwaukee)
Posts: 1,053
Hey Ben,

Your family has good taste to have acquired land in the Keweenaw.

Don't know if you are aware of http://johndee.com/

This fellow lives in the Keweenaw and his web site is devoted to the weather up there. Specifically during the winter season, he keeps the snowmobilers up to date with the latest conditions. There are many links to live web cams showing trail conditions on his web site. Looks like we have about 3 feet of snow on the ground in Winchester where our cottage is located.

http://johndee.com/webcams/northwoods-cam-network/

Hope I will be able to get up to our cottage this year for some much needed R&R. I had to move into my mother's home, and I have been doing full time 24/7 caregiving for my mother (102 years) every day for months now. I am the only family she has and this will probably continue for some years to come. TV hobby is also on indefinite hold.
__________________
Vacuum tubes are used in Wisconsin to help heat your house.

New Web Site under developement
ME http://AntiqueTvGuy.com
Reply With Quote
Reply


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 11:46 AM.



Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
©Copyright 2012 VideoKarma.org, All rights reserved.