Satellite Dish Maintenance

Heiskell, Tennessee

Weather: low 55 degrees, high 72 degrees, fog early, then partly cloudy

We were expecting rain today, but it held off. Now, the forecast is for scattered showers tonight. Looking at the radar, it may make it tonight.

The cable television reception continued to be bad, and I didn't have any more luck in finding a satellite signal at the site we stayed in last night. I talked to the office folks again about moving so we could get a better satellite signal. They asked me if I had picked a site that might work for us, and I said yes. I was told to move in to it at my leisure. About 1000 hours, I hooked up the truck to the RV and we moved about 200 feet to the new site.

By 1030 hours, we had the RV set up and were ready to go find some lunch. Arby's was our choice, back down the road at the next exit. After eating lunch, I asked Carolyn what she wanted to do, and she suggested we take a short ride north to the next exit beyond where we're staying. That turnoff happens to be an exit to Clinton, but also has a WalMart Mall. Well! What more do we need?

So, we pulled into the Mall, since we needed a few groceries and a mat to put outside the RV on the ground so we could brush the dirt and grass off our shoes. We take our shoes off just inside the door, but our goal is to keep as much debris outside as possible.

Carolyn found the craft section, and was surprised at how big it was. Most of the Mall stores have been making their craft sections smaller, but not here. She looked around a little, but didn't have anything in particular that she needed. It's good to know that she can find a lot of her crafting supplies at that store if she needs any.

When we got home (home is where the RV is, no matter where that is), I decided to set the satellite dish up. I was expecting it to be a piece of cake, since I had an open view to the southwest sky. Not to be.

I spent about an hour trying to get a signal on both satellites that we need to find in order to get all the channels that we should. I could find one satellite but not the other. Carolyn started telling me I needed to get some help. Like, call a satellite installer. No way!

I knew I could do the job, since I had done it hundreds of times in the past. Finally, I decided to check the horn on the dish. Taking the horn apart, I disassembled the cables that connect to the horn, sprayed the ends with an electronic cleaner, and put them back together. Then, I carefully put the horn back together, noticing that the horn seemed to be a little loose when I took it apart. It wasn't surprising that it had loosened up a little, with the use that we put on it. Then, I started trying to find the satellite signal again.

Bingo! I found the signal in about a minute, and it was strong. To top it off, both satellites were found. Hoo-ah! Or something like that.

By the time all that aggravation was finished, it was past time for some meditation. The rest of the day was spent recovering from our past few days of traveling. Maybe we'll get out and explore some new places tomorrow.

More later, be safe.

Today's Town - Rayne, Louisiana: Frog Capital Of The World

Not all who wander are lost.