Archive for May, 2009

Satellite TV Trends – Watch Digital TV on Your PC

Who needs a TV receiver anyway?

Ever since the 1930s we have purchased and used standalone TV sets for entertainment and up to date information but now things are changing. We live in a world that is very different from what it was only a few years ago, a world where digital TV, Satellite TV, computers and the Internet are all around us. Today the computer is as common in the home as the TV set is. I know of many households that actually have more computers than they have TV sets.

Your television used to be the best and in some instances the only way to get up to date information about current affairs and news. This is no longer the case now that we have computers in the home connected to a planet-sized library of information called the Internet. You can get up to date information about literally any topic instantly by browsing the Internet whenever you feel the need.

So why do we need a standalone TV set?

The home computer revolution has crept up on us almost without notice and it might come as a big surprise to you to find that your computer is now capable of doing everything that your TV set can do and a lot more. It wasn’t so long ago that to have the kind of processing power needed to decode and play full motion digital video from sources such as sattelite, cable and terrestrial broadcasts, not to mention DVD, would have been unthinkable. When you sit down and think about it you might want to consider buying a PC the next time you go shopping for a TV set.

How to watch satellite digital TV on your PC?

Not very long ago in the early days of PC TV it was necessary to install a TV capture card inside your computer in order to watch television broadcasts without using a standalone television. This was not a difficult task but it wasn’t simple or elegant either. It also made it unsuitable for use with notebook PC’s which limited the appeal somewhat. Notebooks were also less common and more expensive a few years ago so there was no incentive to develop such systems.

Affordable, powerful and cheap notebooks with USB 2 arrived

You can now get good notebook PCs for prices comparable with television sets. They are equipped as standard with USB 2 interfaces which are fast enough to cope with a digital TV data stream from an external receiver. This means that modern desktop and notebook PCs are capable of transforming themselves into digital TV sets provided that you can find a source of digital TV data.

USB 2 and satellite television

The USB 2 interface is one of the most significant additions to the PC in recent times. It is fast enough and versatile enough to handle a variety of applications including digital video. Manufacturers have seized this opportunity to bring you all manner of gadgets that become part of your computer simply by plugging them in.

You will find that there are many USB 2, solutions for receiving, decoding, streaming and watching sattelite, cable and terrestrial TV by simply plugging it into your PC. DVB is the digital TV standard to look out for. It stands for ” Digital Video Broadcasting” and there are 3 versions – DVB-C, DVB-S and DVB-T for cable, satellite and terrestrial use.

Digital TV USB adapters – disadvantages

Adding a digital television adapter to your PC to watch free-to-air broadcasts is a great idea but if you want to subscribe to any encrypted pay-for-view channels such as Sky in the UK you may be unlucky. At the time of writing the only way to watch these channels is through a set top box designed for the service.

Digital PC TV is the future

Computers are here to stay and so is digital TV and video. Computers will only get more and more powerful as they get more and more affordable and digital TV is capable of far more than we have seen so far. The days of the conventional TV set are numbered.

Introduction to Radar Detectors

A radar detector is an electronic device used by motorists to determine whether their speed is being observed or not by a police officer. The objective of a radar detector is to protect the motorist from getting a speeding ticket from the officer who is using a radar gun.

Radar detectors were introduced in the early 1970′s. The term radar detector originated from technologies that were used earlier to detect speed.

Now the question arises, “What is radar?” Radar is a system used to measure the speed and location of any object. This system consists of two important parts – a transmitter and a receiver. The radio transmitter causes voltage fluctuation by oscillating an electric current at a predefined frequency. This oscillation of the electric field generates electromagnetic energy. This electromagnetic energy propagates in the air as electromagnetic waves. A transmitter consists of an amplifier and an antenna. While the former increases the power of electromagnetic energy, the latter transits it into the air.

The basic function of radar is to determine its distance from the destined object. For this function, the radar device emits concerted radio waves to observe any echo. If any object comes in the way of the radio waves, then it can be easily detected by radar with the help of electromagnetic energy. Radio waves constantly travel in the air at the speed of light. The distance of the object from the radar is determined by observing the time taken by the radio waves to return.

For measuring the actual speed of any object, radar can be used with a fact called Doppler shift. When any moving object passes in front of the radar, its echo will reflect the signals of the radar. The time taken by the radio signals to return after striking the object, and the frequency with which they travel, gives the actual speed of that object. If an object is coming towards the radar, then the signals will come back in a shorter period of time. It will increase the frequency and tells the actual time in which an object will cross the radar. This process depends on how fast the frequency will change. Traffic police use radar in the form of a radar gun, which is either hand-held or vehicle mounted, to detect speeding vehicles.

A basic radar detector detects police radar with just a simple radio receiver. In contrast, detectors that are more sophisticated comprise of a basic receiver along with a radio transmitter. A jamming signal is produced via this transmitter. It blends the signal of the police radar gun with extra radio noise. Due to this, a perplexed echo signal is received by the police radar gun, and the exact speed-reading cannot be taken.

Light-sensitive panels are being used in modern detectors which detect the beams from police laser guns. Lidar is difficult to avoid due to its concentrated beam, so it is quite possible that by the time the detector is able to detect it, the vehicle is in the beam’s sight already. For that, speeders also use a laser jammer. It works much like a radar jammer.

In conclusion, there are several systems available to detect radar, but none of these systems is a sure shot way to get protected against speed detectors. However, one thing that can be done to avoid speeding tickets is to ‘slow down’.

Stay Warm With A Patio Heater

Patio heaters are heaters for use in open spaces. They are popular for domestic use and outside dining areas particularly in open cafes and restaurants with outdoor seating.

They usually heat a radius of 10-20 feet. However the radius varies according to the model and ambient atmosphere. Patio heaters usually raise the temperature from 10-30 degrees Fahrenheit.

Patio heaters are not designed for chilly winters as that would require a heavy duty heater with enormous energy consumption. They are used for relatively little increase in ambient temperature and particularly used in the evenings of late fall and early spring.

Patio heaters run on a variety of fuel like natural gas, propane, butane, kerosene etc. Some electric models are also available. The natural gas models are popular because they use the same fuel system as an outside grill. Portable patio heaters have a portable cylinder attached to the heating unit.

The principle used in most patio heaters is to heat using radiated heat and not convection. As a lot of energy gets used up in heating air for convection heating and very less percentage of heat is left for the user convection heating is not feasible. Radiative heating patio heaters are more economical as they provide heat to the user and air is not heated.

The heaters are provided with a heavy aluminum reflector at the top to direct the heat downwards and outwards from the heater. These aluminum reflector type models are termed as mushroom patio heaters or umbrella patio heaters. The pole is usually 3 to 7 feet tall. Ceiling patio heaters are also available in the market. These are installed permanently and need less maintenance than the portable one.

Patio heaters radiate anywhere up to 35,000 BTU (British Thermal Units). The emitter reaches a temperature up to 1150 degrees Fahrenheit. This causes bluing of the stainless steel. Also a brownish color develops on the emitter which appears like rust. However there is no cause for alarm as this brownish tint is normal and is not rusting of the unit.

The cost of patio heaters varies as per the model. A reasonable quality patio heater may cost between $100 to $300. Look for safety features like tilt switches, sealed burners, emergency cut off valves, flame controllers and electronic ignition systems etc when purchasing.

Patio heaters are available in shops where natural gas or butane is available. Some specialty shops for home decorating also keep patio heaters. Patio heaters are not to be treated as toys and it is prudent to not let children operate them.

Ozone Air-purifiers – Eliminate Unwanted Odors And Pollutants From The Air

Ozone air-purifiers are known for their effectiveness of reducing the odors in your room or surrounding spaces. The smells of contaminants like new carpets and acrolein, pet odors and tobacco smoke, bacteria smell and rotten odors can be specially removed through the help of ozone air-purifiers. Ozone is a highly reactive oxidant that aids in the destruction of certain bacteria, chemicals and other contaminants in the air. So the ozone air-purifiers can prove to be truly effective for cleaning the air in the surroundings.

The working of ozone air-purifiers is simple but unique. When ozone reacts with various substances or contaminants in the air, these contaminants are broken down into other materials that are also termed as pollutants. Ozone comprised of three oxygen molecules converts certain contaminants in the air to carbon dioxide, oxygen, water, formic acid and a variety of aldehydes. So the air gets easily purified when cleaned with ozone air-purifiers.

Types of ozone air-purifiers

Ozone air-purifiers are available in two versions: the direct ozone generators and the indirect ozone generators.

1. The direct ozone generators – usually work by producing ozone that filters out some chemicals in the air of the surrounding spaces. The ozone generators are highly effective for removing odors in the bars, reducing burnt smell completely during fire restoration jobs and in removing smells in other major odor issues.

2. The indirect ozone generators – these are part of the ionic air purification systems that produce and emit out negatively charged ions into the atmosphere causing the air-chemicals and particles to drop into the grounds and floor surfaces. You can clean off the dust and dirt particles once they are on the grounds, thereby purging the air completely.

But when you are using the ozone air-purifiers you should be quite careful. According to Environmental Protection Agency, ozone has been known for decreasing lung functions and body activities, aggravate asthma and other respiratory ailments, increase cough and chest pain, cause shortness of breath and inflame the lung tissue and increase the susceptibility to respiratory infections.

When you are using it, try to vacate the premises including pets, plant pots, art and other valuable items that are made of rubber. Seal the building and keep the generator running for few days so that all the pollutants, unwanted odors and contaminants gets ventilated. The human health institutions have recommended worldwide that a maximum of outdoor ozone exposure should be 50 to 80 ppb [parts per billion].

Advantages of using ozone air-purifiers

The ozone air-purifiers prove to be truly efficient for the following purposes:

-Protects you from pollutants, contaminants and unwanted microorganisms in the atmosphere.

-Reduces viruses and bacteria from the atmosphere thereby decreasing the spread of diseases like pneumonia, tuberculosis and other diseases.

-Can be installed almost anywhere in the homes because they are portable, lightweight and flexible.

A word of caution suggests that you should limit the use of ozone air-purifiers specially indoor to reduce any ill-effects on the inhabitants. The ozone air-purifiers can be truly effective for outdoor purposes. But for even regular outdoors, check out indirect ozone generators with a low tested emission rate to reduce all possible ill effects on common people.

From Sputnik to Sports Channels – The History of Satellite TV

The first satellite TV broadcast set out to capture something more ambitious than the latest sports channels: try outer space.

In 1957, the Sputnik, the Soviet Union’s first artificial satellite, sent back the first images of outer space, beating the United States by one year (they later sent out a small scientific satellite called Explorer I).

Though the broadcasts were pretty much long hours of very large and funky looking rocks (adding a whole new dimension to the media industry phrase, “dead air”) the competition between the Soviet Union and the United States pretty much ushered in the beginning of satellite communication. By 1973, Canada’s satellite Anik I became the world’s first satellite television network—which showed far more entertaining images of “stars” instead of, well, stars.

Thus, the coach potatoes of this world began their wonderful love affair with TV satellite networks. HBO began broadcasting their signals to cable companies, who “sold” you access to the channel. The problem of this, of course, was that for every channel you asked for, you had to pay a little extra. Not good news for the rabid channel surfers who want to have their 100+ channels available. And it got pretty frustrating for those who heard about a new movie or sports event being shown, only to discover that the signal was blocked and available only to “premium subscribers”.

Later on, companies started selling actual satellite dishes. Essentially, you paid for the equipment but got free satellite TV. That wasn’t good news for the cable company, who were losing subscription sales to people. They tried scrambling the information. That meant people had to buy the descrambler to view the signals. But, it still worked out for the coach potato: hundreds of channels available, and no risk of being stuck at home with nothing but reruns. (Unless you’re into reruns, in which case there are entire channels dedicated to them).

By the 1990’s companies began launching their own satellites and getting into the satellite TV market. For example you had Primestar, then Direct TV and finally Dish Network. It was a more competitive market. Also good for the consumer: competition meant the race to provide better shows, and more channels.

Today, the technology of Satellite TV has gotten very, very cool: clear signals, more reliable transmission, and several providers that guarantee that there’s always something good to watch. With TiVo you can even record shows and watch them when you’re ready—or, if that doesn’t work for you, you can plug in the VCR or the rewritable DVD, and tape it for another time.

So maybe we haven’t conquered outer space yet. The Space Race has slowed down, and dreams of colonizing Mars have become largely limited to cheesy movies and science fiction shows. But the technology has now made it possible to rule the world with your remote control. Now sit back. Open those potato chips. Put your feet up, and enjoy. It may be several decades before we understand the secrets of the universe, but you can always watch a movie while you wait.