Had one of those nights when you wake up at three AM and wonder why you aren't sleeping... But then you go back to sleep about 5 AM and sleep until 9... That always messes up the day for me...
Seems like everything was well behind where the clock said the time was, so after reading blogs and getting the day going, it was noon... But I did get after that satellite dish...
It wasn't all bad that it was afternoon as just as I had predicted the concrete didn't seem dry to look at at all.. So as I was disassembling the dish from my portable tripod and moving it to the more permanent pipe in the ground I was being rather careful not to jar things too heavily...
Again and like usual I had to scan the sky repeatedly looking for the bird.. I had the exact angle of the birds location etched into the rocks of the ground, but still didn't find it... I purchased a locator out in Quartzsite a number of years ago and I was using it in the coax as a sensor..
These things have a meter and a beeper... When you get onto the signal the beeper sounds.. And as you center the dish on the signal it beeps louder until you go to far and then it quiets again..
Finally I found the bird as it was just a tad back West from where I was aiming.. And the new pole is vertical where the tripod was angled with the ground, so the elevation was off a bit too...
I was also running back into the house looking at the screen that shows all the transponders and the percentage of signal on each one.. When I was done, I had several that were reading all 100 percent...
I started to run the wire, but didn't like the fastener idea I had so I came back inside to think about it some more... That caused a trip to Home Depot again where I purchased more hardware...
As I was coming back home, I decided that we needed a nice dinner as it was Saturday night.. so Wal Mart loomed for the fixings for a steak dinner...
Needless to say that was the end of the satellite dish project for the day... But the new gas grill worked quite nicely, so it was a good day in the end...
Retired Rod
A DIFFICULT PHONE CALL FOR KELLY AND I TODAY
6 hours ago
Glad yo see you have the dish in and a signal. Now, will it detect enemy aircraft inbound, I always think of those huge search arrays on an aircraft carrier when I see a dish, like a miniature radar dish. be safe out there. Sam & Donna.
ReplyDeleteThere are specially made tubes that you install through the wall. You then pass the Coax through it with a dab of sealer to keep bugs and dirt out. When the Coax needs replacing, simply clean the sealer off, remove the old and replace with a new Coax. If you don't find it at Home Depot try Radio Shack. Be Safe and Enjoy!
ReplyDeleteIt's about time.
A steak bbq is a perfect way to end a day of fiddling around with a satellite dish. They can sometimes be incredibly frustrating to get setup and connected. Good work.
ReplyDeleteSounds like what I went thru down here in Long Beach Mississippi. I love the challenge of capturing microwaves from 16 thousand miles away. ( but 2 days of trying can work on your nerves.)Keep up the good blog posts.
ReplyDelete