[opendtv] Re: Portable Insignia brand HD Radio

  • From: "Dale Kelly" <dalekelly@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Mon, 20 Jul 2009 16:27:10 -0700

Bert wrote:
"How typical. No subscription fee? So keep very few in inventory, hide
them from view, and then discontinue them citing "no customer demand" as
the excuse."

Unfortunately this self-fulfilling tactic works and those injured by such
actions have little recourse, unless the FCC mandates receivers, which will
likely not happen for this radio service.


-----Original Message-----
From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf Of Manfredi, Albert E
Sent: Sunday, July 19, 2009 4:32 PM
To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [opendtv] Portable Insignia brand HD Radio


Went to Best Buy yesterday, because they supposedly had portable HD
Radios from their house brand (Insignia) available, for a mere $50.

We walked around the shelves where they SHOULD have been, no luck.
Finally I asked one of the sales guys. "Oh yes, we got them last Sunday,
and there's only one left." And he went into a BACK ROOM, unavailable to
the public, and got it for me. "Actually, we only got two of them last
week, and this is the only one left."

How typical. No subscription fee? So keep very few in inventory, hide
them from view, and then discontinue them citing "no customer demand" as
the excuse.

The radio is very small, a little smaller than a compact cell phone. It
arrives with a dead lithium battery, which appears not to be
user-replaceable. To charge it, you have to use a USB cable connected to
a PC. (!!) They don't supply a charger, but they do provide the USB
cable. Also provide the ear buds, connected via 3.5mm phone plug.

So today, I bought a 6' audio cable, 3.5mm stereo phone plugs at each
end, and tried it out connected to my car's audio system. Since the
audio cable performs double duty as FM antenna, I draped it over the
rear-view mirror, and had the radio sitting on the passenger side seat.
Very good reception. There is obviously not as much margin in some of
the digital multicasts, i.e. especially the ones that use the extended
digital spectrum, but it does work better than I had hoped.

Come to think of it, the 6' audio cable, draped on the rear view mirror
so as to become a ~3' antenna, is most likely as efficient an FM antenna
as anything the auto manufactuers embed in their rear windows, these
days.

Bert


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