Motorhome service complete/ Working with Direct TV

I was just reading the comments from yesterday, and the discussion of Minus 40 verses Plus 40.  I think that JB was talking Celsius, in that plus 40 is somewhere like 104 F. And that that would be impossible for Alberta.  Where as I believe Rick was referring to 40 F for the mean winter temperature out on Vancouver Island. Guys you can correct me if I am wrong.  The one thing I think they both would have in common, is that if they would visit here in KC during the July and August heat wave, they might well melt, because we do see that 40 C or 104 F quite often.  You both have an open invitation for a back yard bar b que next summer, but I am not responsible for heat stroke emergencies! LOL

With that in mind, we had a very nice day here today, except it was a tad windy as the Southern winds blew in with warm weather.  Officially we saw 72 F this afternoon with bright sunshine.  And I think JB was driving thru Western Kansas, and probably enjoyed this nice weather as well.

By mid morning, I received the call that the motorhome service was complete.  I was in the middle of hanging some small blinds over the front door side windows so that had to be completed before I could leave.  But once done, Loyce took me to the Freightliner shop.  The bill was $263.  That included 17 quarts of oil and the oil filter, and one of the two fuel filters.  I provided the other filter, as I carry it in the coach. They went thru everything that needed serviced and assured me that I was good to go for departure to Arizona.

I also purchased a second primary fuel filter and water separator to have in the compartments of the coach.  This filter has the clear water separator threaded on the bottom.  It is a separate piece and is not replaced every time with the filter, but that makes the filter a proprietary piece.  Bad fuel with junk in it ends up in this filter first, so having one could save my bacon.  The other filter is available at most auto parts stores and particularly NAPA stores, so that one isn't as critical.

So for about $285 I was out the door.  Will I change the oil myself next year?  I guess time will answer that one, but I'm sure I have found my diesel shop here in South KC.

The remaining part of the afternoon was spent trying to get my Direct TV receiver re authorized.  Since we were here at home with the coach, I scanned the sky for the satellite with the King Dome and locked on the receiver.  As is usually the case when we haven't used the system for a period of time, the receiver went into a full reprogram mode.   It downloaded a bunch of new software and took what seemed like forever to reprogram itself.

Once I had waited for about 30 minutes, the system came up and declared that I had no subscription.  The satellite companies send authorization codes about every two or three weeks to foil the folks that have unauthorized receivers.  Since the motorhome's receiver was not powered up and locked onto the satellite, it had missed these authorizations.

You can go onto the internet at direct tv's web site, and resend the codes yourself, if you enter the error message in their search engine.  That will bring up the proper page.  But the rub was that I sent it several times, but could not get it to record in the receiver.  I was frustrated!

Finally I brought the receiver into the house and hooked it to the dish on the side of the house.  Once I had the transponders and the computer and internet hooked up in the same room, I was able to see it all at once and got it authorized.  I'm not sure what I did different, but it worked this time.

I made the decision to leave the receiver here in the house until we get ready to leave.  That way it will be powered up and connected to a dish at all times.  It shouldn't miss any authorization codes and I will not have this frustration again as we transition to our home on rolling wheels.  Remind me to take the receiver with me, as we leave.  Please!

This whole process causes untold grief for folks that are mobile with their systems.  I can't help but wonder if they chase away more folks that pay for services, than they foil would be service pirates!

But then again, I am aware that most pirates steal Dish Network signals and not Direct TV, as its security is much tougher to compromise.

I was worn out and sore on my front side after all of that, so tonight has been computer time to give myself some respite.

Retired Rod