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      Tuesday, September 17, 2024

entertainmentstuff 05:14 PM - 09/17/2024 The topic: Now, the theater update ---------------------------------------------- I first posted about our little home theater back in September 2021. Some things have changed. It looks like the only things that haven't been upgraded are the screen and the stand. And it looks like the images from Amazon are broken. That's a shame. I ain't fixing it. Earlier this month, it was dark enough, early enough that we were able to actually watch a movie. The Fall Guy. The picture was good, but I still had a problem with the sound, even though I was listening through headphones. Now, our setup is such that the screen is not visible from anywhere but the patio. This was the optimal place to attach it (more detail in the original theater post, linked above). We use headphones because sound carries. We don't want to offend the neighbors with expletives and the headphones block out the ambient noise (street noise, barking dogs - not our little angel, planes - we're close to a small airport, you get the idea). But the first two projectors we had weren't the highest quality and the sound was muffled on both of them. (The Bluetooth never sounded good.)  It wasn't clear, at least to me. It didn't bother Brian at all, but I was never happy with it. So, I got this new sound amplifier/splitter. The first problem was the cables to the headphones and the projector used 3.5mm male ends. This splitter takes 1/4" adaptors. (Fortunately, I had some of those, I just had to find them.) But the sound still wasn't acceptable. I started to research different projectors since that's where the sound problem originated. And I found one. It was spendy (for us), but I still have some of my IRA money (I cashed it out last year) and since our source of entertainment now (since COVID) is television or the little theater, I figured I should go for it. As well as the new projector, I got shorter cables with the proper ends for the splitter to the headphones and projector. And I got new volume controls. These might seem redundant since the splitter/amplifier also has volume settings for four different headphones, but I figure it would be a lot more practical to have the volume control at the fingertip instead of having to reach under the projector stand to make changes. And they were cheap. I was pleasantly surprised with the projector. The first "yes!" moment was the auto-focus. I would think if you had something that had a dedicated space, this wouldn't be such a big deal, but at the end of movie watching, we tear everything down and put it away. The auto-focus makes short work of getting the picture perfect. The second was the sound settings. It has an equalizer! And the sound is spot on, crystal clear! And the icing on the cake is it has a very good warranty. "For any questions, our 24/7 after-sales email support, 2-year Money Back guarantee, 3-year Repair, and Lifetime Technical Support are at your service." The first movie we watched with the new projector was Horizon: An American Saga. The picture blew me away. I didn't have to adjust any of the settings (and there are quite a few). I'm looking forward to more movies this season. The original stand The stand facing the screen - to make sure I had it set up correctly, i used different acrylic pens to mark the top of the table and the stand legs. I used a black Sharpie to mark where the table needed to be on the cement, because it gets moved a little The projector case Inside the case - the projector is protected, There is also room for the Roku, both remotes and wires The Roku attaches to the back of the projector via HDMI and USB (for power) (Goose is on the chair) Storage for extension cord, headphones, amplifiier/splitter and connections Headphones connected to the amplifier/splitter Close up Volume control The back of the projector The front of the projector - it also has a decent lens cap Roku -  https://amzn.to/4eq0DfZ Projector stand -  https://amzn.to/3MN3W4S Headsets -  https://amzn.to/4gqO4Tr Adapters - 3.5mm to 1/4" for the amplifier to headset and projector - https://amzn.to/3XN35aO Headset amplifier/splitter - https://amzn.to/47rFKPj Volume controls - https://amzn.to/4dce2az Projector screen - https://amzn.to/3zdeCH7 cables  HDMI -  https://amzn.to/3zcyKJv             6 ft cable for headset to splitter -   https://amzn.to/3Xxu8Wc             3 ft cable for splitter to projector  https://amzn.to/3Xxyyg1 Projector - https://amzn.to/4d7PHCx | | Permalink

graphicsstuff 07:10 AM - 09/17/2024 The topic: Morning photo ---------------------------------------------- We upgraded our security cameras this past month. Better picture, more options. This morning, the moon was setting over a nearby hill and I took some snapshots using the Blue Iris app. I use this to view all of the cameras and motion videos. Another fine moonshot - the moonset was awesome! I tweeked it a little using Topaz Denoise AI. I like it. This camera is on the roof and sends a photo up to the weather page every fifteen seconds. The camera is a Reolink camera. After we got this, I bought another one for the front of the house. I took a few snapshots and I'm going to see if I can make it into some sort of smooth timelapse movie. Wish me luck! photos    | | Permalink

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lisaviolet is seventy something, married with no kids, takes care of lots of cats, likes taking photographs, loves Southern California weather and spends altogether too much time avoiding her responsibilities.

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