TV/DVD Tv/dvd Combo....revisted....again

Oh Yeah, LOL, I forgot about the 12v brick... Doh!!!...
I'll look for it or get one...

If mistaken I got a 21" laptop... bulky/heavy but does one helluva job. I'm looking at the smaller, more portable ones, max screen 15, but looking for a 13-14", levno or dell.. still a while off, next overseas trip might be in June.. so plenty of time...

I have the TV/DVD from Camp Inn and I really like it, out of the way easy, sort of, to use... but??
If they came out with a more modern one, bigger screen, USB etc as discussed above, I'd swap it out.

Meanwhile I do have a bigger version, haven't used much bulky, but works... it's a TV/DVD player too, mainly for home etc.. but it works, just bulky lugging it around.





Laptop:


Fun...

 

Hey Frank, need to see more pictures and the story behind that scuba grill/smoker. Very cool looking.
MDP
Mike & Denita

 

Heheheh, well here's the link to my albums, and various "Things" appear...
https://plus.google.com/photos/108683042376142967861/albums

the dive BBQ is actually an old steel 72 a friend of mine, fellow diver, made in his spare time.. I thought it was really kewl, but heavy and with proper "Bees Wax" seasoning, to keep it from rusting for the most part, it works great.

I think this is the frist time I used it so you'll get a "Before" pic. Album here:
https://plus.google.com/photos/108683042376142967861/albums/5814094062935134753



and has seasoned up "right nice llke"...



At the PNW Camp Inn Reunion last year??

fun...

ps. now you sorry you asked?? heheh..

 

That indeed is too "kewl" Looks heavy but a top quality build that should last a long time. Thanks for sharing.

 

This is really helpful. Java Jack, did you have any special wiring or outlets installed for your hardware?

 

Chuckwagon, Huh?

I don't know if you're addressing me or someone else..
If you can clarify to whom the question was directed you might get a faster answer...

It gets confusing on who's talking to whom...

at least for me anyway..

Mike, yep heavy and cumbersome to travel with, sharp edges etc.. bulky, but once set.. heheh, ain't no wind gonna knock that over..

 

Oops! Sorry Frank. I was trying to ask Java Jack--I'm a newbie, still trying to figure everything out

 

Well, you would need to have the antenna wiring (Coax Cable) coming from the outside to the location where you will have the laptop.The tuner would just plug into a USB port on your laptop and the other end would connect up to the coax cable, the s/w would do the rest. The receiver would typically come with some s/w widget you would install for tuning...but if you have a Win 7 system with Msft Media Center on it, Media Center would handle the tuning of channels. Media Center has a menu system that looks a lot like your cable guide channel where you select the channel and the s/w tunes to that channel just like changing channels on your TV at home. You would also then be able to record shows on your laptop, pause live TV, etc.

I had run a Home Theater PC with 2 tuners on it for several years. Great for Over The Air broadcasts. I have 4 seasons of Big Bang Theory on a HDD along with numerous other shows.

 

Java Jack,

I need to ask a few questions.

What is s/w?
the s/w would do the rest

What is HDD?
I have 4 seasons of Big Bang Theory on a HDD

I have 5 seasons of Big Bang Theory DVD's that I would love to transfer to a jump drive.
Once on a jump drive, does the DVD index still work?
Would the jump drive work like on long movie?
How would I jump from season to season and episode to episode.

My laptop does have the media center.

Thanks,

Jean

 

Java Jack,

I want to ask another question. I have a marine radio installed, but in certain location poor reception. Thus I would like to run a cable with an antenna that I can place on a painters pole for additional height.

Yes, I carry a painters pole in the car to use for geocaching! Also found it to be handy for elevating the TV antenna.

Jean

 

Java Jack... I am watching Big Bang Theory now! Love that show! Bazinga! No, really, I love that show!

Happy trails,

Diane

 

Sorry, as an Engineer working in the PC industry, sometimes I forget that I am speaking in PC lingo. So topics like converting (aka ripping) DVDs is starting to open a larger can of worms of which the topic is heavily debated. I will try to provide some insight into the topic but will limit any details and/or instructions.

S/W = Software
H/W = Hardware
HDD = Hard Disk Drive
DVR = Digital Video Recorder
Bit Torrent (aka torrent) = File distribution s/w and/or sites. People often use these sites to share content such as videos, TV shows, and more.

The s/w in this case is media center and any application or drivers the USB tuner might require/install. Usually, the tuner will have a s/w widget that you would install and it would talk with the tuner to tune to the appropriate channel you select. Basically, it would have a grid or something of the channels, you would use the remote (or mouse/arrow keys on laptop) to select the channel and the tuner would then change to that channel.

Msft Media center does something similar. Now, there is typically setup required for both the tuner s/w or media center as you have to tell it what zipcode or something and then it would scan the airwaves to see what signals it can detect. This is similar to when you buy a new TV and hook it up...it has to scan the airwaves and program the channels in. So, this would be required for each stop you make.

The nice thing about the PC is that it can be a DVR and record shows and/or pause live TV just like a Tivo or your cable/sat box (assuming you have a capable box).

In Media Center, once the channels are programmed, you open media center and go to TV and you will see recorded TV (if you recorded shows), channel guide, etc. Here are a few links to Media Center images that show how the guide and such work.

http://res1.windows.microsoft.com/...n/9249a311-e477-45a5-bd15-4f3d31c2b652_53.jpg

http://www.microsoft.com/library/m...family/mediacenter/setup/screenshot_guide.jpg

http://www.buydvb.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/tv-channel-scan.jpg

This is where topics can become quite sticky. Converting your DVDs to a jump drive (assuming you mean USB flash drive) is not really viable. Typical flash drives are not large enough to hold much video content unless it is seriously compressed and resolutions lowered, etc. Putting them onto a HDD (even a portable USB HDD) is perfectly doable assuming you have a good size drive. Each 30 min show in HD could consume several GBytes of space. So, the larger the drive, the more room you have. As for maintaining the index, it all depends on how you rip the DVD but yes, you can maintain the index if you so choose.

The process of converting DVDs over to a HDD so they can play on media center or other player can be somewhat tedious and complex. It has gotten substantially easier over the past couple of years however, some places may consider it illegal (copyright issues). Per my comment above, I will not document the process but if you really want to know, there is a ton of information on the internet along with free apps that will take you step by step through the process. Just search on ripping a dvd and you will find all the info you could ever want, even the most novice user could figure it out fairly quickly.

Someone mentioned Torrents earlier. There are people that rip the DVD content and upload it to Torrent sites. You can find just about any movie, TV show, etc. already ripped on various torrent sites. The legality of this could be questionable though, especially when you are talking about copyrighted and/or protected content like movies, etc. I personally do not use torrent sites for several reasons...one of which is security. Torrent sites are often managed by the user community and therefore, there is little quality control or security. Someone that might wish to inflict widespread, malicious code (aka virus) could bury code in a torrent rip and when you run it, it could infect your computer causing serious problems.

As such, I recommend people I know to stay away from torrent sites for that reason alone. Virus' have been spread through torrent rips on more than one occasion. Others will tell you it is safe but as someone that has worked in the PC industry for 25+ years, my opinion is that any user managed community that is sharing apps, files, movies, etc. is far from secure or safe.

OK, stepping off my soapbox now.

 

Not sure I understand the question here...can you explain?

As for antennas, you can make your own antenna out of wire coat hangers and a board along with a few screws and an analog to coax converter that you pick up from radio shack for about 5 dollars. I actually have one in my attic that works great and took about 15 mins to build.

Here is one similar to what I made...

http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/how-to/tv/build-your-own-digital-tv-antenna

Works great, I get all the local OTA (over the air) signals here in Austin just fine. Sits in my attic and is never seen.

I also don't have cable/satellite either...I cut the cord about 6 years or so ago. I do everything OTA or through Netflix and Amazon Prime. Don't really miss having paid TV at all. In fact, I travel a lot for business and all the hotels I stay in have cable/sat service. I have found that most of the channels that used to have great content now only have reality TV shows. History channel, Discovery channel(s), etc. all have the same stuff. I can only watch so much of cars being restored, antique picker shows, pawn shop, storage wars, etc. So, I am happy to no longer pay for TV at 70-100 dollars per month and instead put that toward taking my wife on dates, nice bottle of wine, and other fun stuff.

Anyhow, I digress. Are there any other questions I can answer for you?

 

Yep, one of my all time favorites.

 

The Big Bang Theory will remain on the 5 DVD's. I am not going to mess with transferring.

Current radio antenna: Jensen AM/FM side mount antenna As for the ancillary radio antenna, I want to have an additional radio antenna that can be raised on a pole to increase reception.
Currently the small black 6 inch antenna can be removed, screws on/off from the external mount.

http://www.asaelectronics.com/jensen-6-top-or-side-mount-rubber-mast-antenna.html


Not sure what is needed. Guessing some coaxal cable with ends to screw into the external base/mast assembly mount. I have no idea how to explan...

Jean

 

Radio frequencies are different from TV frequencies and therefore use a different type of antenna design. Generally speaking, a radio antenna will not do a very good job of picking up TV channels because TVs operate on VHF (Very High Frequencies) and UHF (Ultra High Frequencies). The difference in frequency wavelength necessitates a different antenna design. If you have a pole on which your radio antenna works and the antenna comes off easy, you could just build a TV antenna (like the one pictured and make it so it can mount on that same pole.

As I had mentioned, building the antenna is very easy and only needs 6 or so wire coat hangers, a pair of wire cutters, a tape measure, some wood screws, a piece of wood about 2-3 inches wide and about 3 feet long and the analog to coax transformer from radio shack.

Total cost for everything is about 10 dollars or so. Here are some pretty easy to follow instructions for building your own bow tie antenna.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw

If you are looking to add a 2nd radio antenna, then I am not sure what recommendations to make for you. Generally a long whip style antenna might work.

If you would like to chat on the phone about it, I would be happy to do so, just let me know.

 

I think this subject has been covered. The TV/DVD does take up cabinet space,the TV/DVD is set into the middle of the cabinet and you lose about a foot of storage space.It is also outdated technology. By the way the torrents are scanned by your antivirus software and should not be any more risky than any other download.

 

On that I will have to disagree. I have personally seen torrent sites to distribute malicious code. Anti virus sw is always playing catchup to the virus' in circulation...it can help but far from full proof. But hey,feel free to do as you wish, but like I mentioned, I have been. In the pc industry for over 20 years and worked with the security side folks for several years and would never trust torrent rips.

 

I also have to disagree some too. The TV option does not take but a tiny amount of storage space. The TV is only the face part of the center cabinet and hinges down give you your storage behind it. I think you lose about 2" of depth for the thickness of the TV. Some actually like the TV cabinet better because it basically has a third door.

It also is not outdated technology. It has the latest LED backlit HD TV screen, DVD/CD player, SD card reader, USB input for using data stored on solid state storage and also two HDMI inputs.

Cary

 

What, no 4K Blu-Ray?