Tuesday October 9th 2018

The overnight temperature only fell into the low sixties giving the day at good start. Today was a bright sunny day with a high temperature about eighty. The normal high temperature for this time of year is in the sixties.

Conditions were finally right to get up on the roof and work on my satellite antenna. I put all of the tools I might need along with the short cable I bought in a canvas bag and climbed up the ladder on the back of the RV. The ladder isn’t the easiest or most comfortable thing to use. Many people carry folding ladders for better access to the roof, but I can’t afford the storage space. Before I climbed on the roof I powered up the antenna and verified the problem hadn’t miraculously fixed itself. I left the antenna in a vertical service position and powered it down.

Satellite dish in the service position. The cable in question comes up from the base in the square grey metal mast. The view in the trees was nice.

I found a kink in the suspect cable that runs from the base of the antenna to the Low-Noise Block Downconverter (LNB) that receives the signal reflected off the dish. To replace the cable you need to disassemble the LNB from the mast. Once I did that and threaded the new cable into the mast, I discovered the cable I bought was too short. Surprise, the internet lied. I bought a three foot cable based on information I found on the net. At least in my case, I need four feet. I’ll get one of those tomorrow or the next day and go back up and do the install. Once I prove it’s only the cable I can order a new fancy braided cable from Winegard, the manufacturer. If it isn’t the cable, the whole LNB assembly is the next option and that’s very expensive.

My other accomplishment for the day was starting to put some definition into my plans for Florida in February and March. I’m going to see a lot of the state. In the beginning of February I’ll be in the northern part of the state. In the beginning of March I’ll be on the northern edge of the Everglades in South Florida. I’ve made three of the more difficult reservations for durations in the eight to eleven day range. I need to make a couple of calls tomorrow or the next day to lock in the rest of the reservations. Those shouldn’t be a problem because there are alternatives in the area. The good news is out of all of this mess of reservations and Florida travel I get to be in Spring Training land for the third week of March and I’m at Fort Wilderness in Disney for the last week of March. After that I think I’m heading slowly west.

Blossom of the day.