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Desperate measures to log on...

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Tom Bair
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PostPosted: Sun Dec 21, 2008 11:44 pm    Post subject: Desperate measures to log on... Reply with quote

Two days ago, my satellite signal strength shot down to 30 (70-74 is normal). It was worse than having a dial up connection! We are socked in with snow and ice here in the Pacific Northwest.

I powered down my satellite modem and went outside in that dreary mess and cleaned all the ice and snow off the dish. Then I taped water pipe heat tape to the back of the dish and plugged it in. Ah ... I'm a pretty smart fellow! Signal strength shot back up to 68-69. Ya!

Today, everything outside is covered in ice. Trees, houses, roads, lawns, everything. But not my satellite dish!

Yet ... as I write this, my signal strength is down to 47. A bit faster than dialup would be, but still frustrating.

The problem?

Thick clouds full of moisture and a sky full of freezing sleet is blocking my signal. Mother nature owns me. I'm defeated.

Unless .... I convince a studio down in Hollywood to bring up some of those huge fans to blow the stuff over into the next state ... Laughing
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Fire Ant
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tom,

Your pretty resourceful, you could get yourself a plane and seed the clouds. I believe a bit of silver iodide will do the trick. I suggest you have a look at this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_seeding.

I once saw this work on an episode of Quantum Leap.

Good luck,

Matt_s
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graycat
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

t'is a good effort, Tom.

How about attaching it to a weather ballon to get it over the cloud cover? Smile
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Fire Ant
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Come on everyone, we need more blue sky thinking Wink
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graycat
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

matt_s wrote:
Come on everyone, we need more blue sky thinking Wink
ok, how about a mutli million jigga gigga flippa watt laser to blast a hole through the clouds?
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Fire Ant
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PostPosted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 1:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hands up everyone who has too much free time on their hands. Very Happy
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Tom Bair
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gee, I like the idea of hooking my dish to a balloon ... only problem is in aiming it, and I'd never be able to afford that much fiber-optic cable to stretch between the dish and my modem.

I lost power for two days!!! Not only the power but the phone line as well. So paying for a dialup service for the past two years that I never use, but have as an emergency .... didn't quite work out.

Did get to work locally on my laptop, but had to dredge out to the car every two hours to recharge the laptop battery.

I get power back this morning and guess what? Got thick clouds passing overhead dumping wet snow on top of me. My signal fluctuates so much that I'm lucky to get 20 minutes straight online time.

But my driveway is clear of snow!
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capi
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PostPosted: Thu Dec 25, 2008 5:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Damn, that sucks... We're so used to technology being right there and always available that when the force of the elements takes it away we find ourselves lost.

Losing Internet for two days would already be a major nuisance for me - let alone losing power!! That would be a nightmare, being without power for so long.

Where do you live anyway, in the North Pole? Razz

Good thing I live in a nice and comfy large city... hehe
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Tom Bair
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 12:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I live in the North top of the state of Oregon, just below Washington state, and above California. SifuMike lives a few miles north of me across the Columbia river ... so he is experiencing the same cruddy weather as I am.

This morning it was snowing big flakes, which is a good thing ... means the air is warming up. But at this moment (in the afternoon) it is gently snowing medium size flakes and the outside temp is 26 degrees F..

It's a pretty view outside for Christmas.
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RoboGeek
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PostPosted: Fri Dec 26, 2008 5:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have 8 inch thick ice that flood my shop every time it melts.. being a bout 6 inches higher than the floor level - but surprisingly no power outages yet. But we are supposed to get another nasty blast tonight, followed by heavy rain
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Tom Bair
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PostPosted: Sat Dec 27, 2008 12:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Things are warming up a bit here, with rain due in this weekend. All that does is make the existing snow on roofs heavier. Today I will be clearing the snow off the roof to keep problems from occuring. Scares the cold right out of me!

Last night the wife and I tried to get into town to have dinner. Got stuck in the deep ruts on the main road and actually broke the tire chains on both sides. Thanks to the help of a shovel and a few good SRV drivers, we managed to get unstuck (high centered on the snow) and headed for home ... sliding on the studs all the way.

Checked the car today, and other than loosing the chains; no damage. We aren't driving again until the roads are cleared ... sometime next week.

So, we ended up having pizza out of a box for Christmas dinner Smile

The good news from all this mess is that my wife is going to let me invest several thousand dollars in a deisel generator that I've been wanting for several years. She just does not like roughing it without power!

Good news for the neighbors ... I'll be able to generate enough power not only for my needs, but with extension cords; their needs as well! My first step is to hire an electrician to install a special electrical meter that allows not only incoming power, but a shunt to the generator as well. I could go with the unit that allows power feed back into the electrical system, but the extra expense does not warrent it. I'd just as soon shunt to the generator during warm up tests and save that way.

I had an Installation/Repair guy out this morning to check the aiming of my satallite ($125.00 service charge) ... he was impressed with my electrical heating tape on the back of the dish idea. The dish, receiver unit, fiber optic cables, and modem are all in perfect health. So it was mainly the weather which knocked me out (along with the loss of power for 24 hours Smile ).

Robo, I'm surprised you aren't knocking down all that ice off the shop. And don't you have any drop drains in the shop?
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graycat
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 5:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

if you get your own gen going, you could hook up a heater direct to your dish if needed. still not sure on the could cover side of things though Laughing
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Tom Bair
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 19, 2009 11:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was talking to a Sat Dish Installer as he was reallinging my dish (high winds knocked it off it's aim). He liked my idea of electrical heat tape on the back of the dish.

He said many customers would use a spray bottle filled with windshield washer fluid and coat the dish. This caused the ice not to form on the dish. However, it did nothing for the snow.

Not being able to leave well enough alone, I attached my heat tape to a photo-electric cell, so it only comes on at dark. Figured I'd save a few pennies and a little juice. Am wanting to locate a tempeture controlled switch which would turn the circuit on when the air temp fell to 32 F and turn it off at 40 F. Haven't located one yet but I know they are out there ... used to have one many years ago for the horse water trough.
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