Satellite Adventures

Yesterday I hooked up the satellite that came with our RV. This is not something we would have bought, but was included by Winnebago for the Hershey RV show. When we finally opened the box last week, which had been already partially opened, we discovered that the cable was missing. I ordered one off Amazon, which was delivered over the weekend and yesterday finally decided to tackle it.

The Wally receiver was already installed and on. Now, the directions clearly say not to plug that in until after you hook up the satellite to the connection on your RV. It took me forever to figure out where the plug was without dismantling everything.

I followed the directions and got a no signal message. Sigh. I knew it wouldn't be easy. Went back up in the cabinet, unplugged Wally and tried to pull it off the velcro to see if there were other issues. I pulled up the velcro instead. First thing I noticed was the HDMI cable was not attached. Attached that, plugged in the Wally and the install process began and failed. Unplugged again, pulled up the receiver again and checked the connections. Oh, duh, the cable connection was loose. I know they advise you not to over tighten, but this was barely on. Plugged back in and finally success.

We're supposed to get three satellites. We got one. I'm sure that's because we are surrounded by trees. Eventually, another satellite connected because the channels doubled. It worked and the picture was great. So, finally, disconnected the dish from the RV and stowed it.

I'm sure if we are in a campground that is fairly bare of trees, we'll be glad we have it. Most of the campgrounds we stayed at had cable, but there were a couple that had nothing, and no local stations either.  Our trip to Perry, Georgia last year comes to mind as the TV reception was really bad. Also, it was very cold and rainy on that trip. Not that I expect the satellite to work in bad weather. But hopefully, we will get some use out of it.

Water! Not Where I Want It!

This did not happen with Wandering Wanda the Winnebago, but with Izzy the Dynamax Isata 3 on our last trip.

Due to space constrictions and the fact that we would be driving the rig for several days before landing in one spot for more than one or two nights, we used our cheap Walmart pot that uses k-cups. The first night out, I filled it with water for the first morning cup. Next morning, I put a k-cup in, set the coffee mug underneath and heard it heat up. I got about four drops of coffee out of it. That's when I noticed that the coffee mat was soaked. Yeesh. Obviously there was a leak. It was still capable of making coffee, as long as you didn't load up the water until you were ready to brew.

Not once, but twice, I forgot to put the coffee cup on the brewer. Those little drip things do not hold 12 ounces of coffee. What can I say, I am NOT a morning person. Still we persisted with the crappy coffee maker knowing that at home that our compact Keurig was waiting for us. The first thing unloaded after the pets was that little coffee maker straight into the garbage.