Home Entertainment Center

 I replaced the Pioneer VSX-42 with a Pioneer VSX-1023. This model is newer than the VSX-42 and has anadded feature that is useful. The speaker setup system has a new mode, 'Bi-Amp.' I've altered the programming to run in Bi-Amp speaker mode. Previously, the 'Surround Side' speakers were used for the speaker wooers, and the 'Surround Front' speakers were used for the horns.

 I have suffered significant hearing loss over my life and decided to make an adaptation. I enjoy listening to and performing music, on occasion. What I hear is determined by my ears' frequency response curves. An equalizer allows me to epmphasize weak frequencies in my hearing. My AVR does not have an adequate equalizer. The headphone input on the AVR now has an Alesis M-230 30 band stereo equalizer attached. The equalizer was already in my stockpile. All I needed were a couple of adapters for the headphone-to-AVR interface. I had one and ordered the other online. The equalizer's 30 bands allowed precise modification and therefore an accurate representation and compensation of hearing loss, in each ear. I can now listen to music as played for normal hearing ability.

  The LG oled Smart TV does not handle USB external drives very well. I often get false error messages. This is in part, I think, due to the fact I have often exceeded the 6TB limit on external USB drives. I have tentatively removed the drives and taken a different approach, for the time being. I have catalogs of the drives' contents that can be browsed and searched. I will use the catalogs to decide what I want to watch, then attach the drive(s) required for viewing. If I limit myself to the 6TB limit, there may not be any problems, but I suspect the Western Digital 4TB Passport is not completely compatible with LG software. The drive seems to work fine most of the time. I've not done exhaustive testing for a conclusive observation. One option not tested is the use of six 1TB drives, four on the TV and two on the router's USB drive inputs.

  I received a couple of TP-Link Kasa smart plugs a couple of days ago. The reason for the addition is top remove the visible plug strip and plug hub from the floor in front of the system. There is a wall outlet behind the system. I plugged both smart plugs into that outlet. I then plugged the power strip into one, and the plug hub into the other. The smart plugs are coonnected throughwi-fi to my smart phone Kasa app. I canturn them both on or off from my iPhone. I should explain what a plug hub is. Many devices, such as a USB hub or external hard drive have small trandsformers in the wall plug housing. they're often referred to as 'wall warts.', and they often take up the space of twoor three standard plugs. The plug hub is round and contains five plugs designed for 'wall warts'. All my transformer wall plugs fit on the hub and make for the most efficient use of power wiring devices. All other devices have standard plugs and fit on the power strip.

 Some time ago, I purchased a used Hauppauge WinTV television dongle for my laptop. Until recently, the thing worked well. The FCC required WJHL-TV undergo a frequency reassignment. I couldn't get the new station on the device and contacted the company. The agent suggested I go into the Advanced settings and delete the stations database, then rebuild the base. That worked. However, today, and to a lesser degree, in recent days, I've been unable to receive some other local stations. WCYB-TV in Bristol, TN is one. Currently, my station list is: 11.n (where n = 1, 2, and 3 for three stations total) 39.n Previously, the list was: 5.n, 11.n, 19.n, 36.n, 39.n, and 64.n Perhaps my device has ceased to function properly. I've been wanting to upgrade to a newer model. I may do that in the near future. I can get the local and national news, and that's the primary reason for having the device. My oled tv, on the other hand receives all channels without problems. Perhaps the antenn...

 The LG oled TV has apps available for use with the TV. For those who are uninformed, when you buy some blu-ray disks, there is what is called a 'digital key' included on a piece of paper. This key will allow you to access copies of the videos online from participating services. I purchased 'Game of  Thrones' 1080p and 'Independence Day' 4K/UHD which have keys included. I added the GoT keys to my Apple iTunes account. This allows me to download 720p versions to my laptop. I opened accounts at Vudu and MoviesAnytime and linked my Apple account. I added the Independence Day 4K/UHD to the latter accounts and can now watch the videos on the LG 55" oled TV. Be careful, though. I purchased a 4K blueray on one of the auction websites and got ripped off. The ad included a digital key. When I got the item, I noticed the image on the website did not match the box I received. There was a digital key, but the key would not work. The services mentioned were no help. I t...

 A couple of months ago, I had two drives go out. The first was the 4TB WD  Passbook Ultra. Two subdirectories containing over four hundred videos, disappeared. The second was my archive drive. The drive contains all of my work since the late '90s. Beginning in the late 90's, I started burning what I considered worthy data, to CDs. Later, when CDs had been replaced by DVDs, I copied all my CDs to DVDs. Most recently, several months ago, I decided to use hard drives as a storage medium. I copied all my DVDs to a hard drive and destroyed the DVDs, except for the ones with videos and operating systems. I have since discovered M-disks. These are supposed to be good for hundreds of years where other mediums lose data after a decade or so at most. This does not include the possibility of surface scratches. Those hazards still remain. But without physical damage the disks should last indefinately. These disks are expensive, but will be my choice for archiving historical data. I moane...