Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Saved By The Wasps!

I am in the middle of installing a new Shaw Direct (StarChoice) dish on the roof. The antenna has four outputs and we are allowed six receivers so it does not work out. They are happy to sell you a magic box that has four inputs and eight outputs but they cost $135 and require power which would be very difficult to run to the attic where the box would have to mount.

It just happens that I was seriously thinking about replacing the dish that got blown over in Texas on the way home. It was slightly damaged in the fall and I had to epoxy the LNB at the end of the feed horn back together but everything seems to be working fine. I just hesitate to take it with me this winter in case it does fail in which case Shaw will not ship replacement parts out of the country. I decided to add this dish to the rooftop to give me my extra outputs and to order a new $50 dish for the motorhome.

Anyway, I was taking parts and tools up onto the roof when I bumped the gutter and a bunch of wasps came flying out of a gap in the roof line looking for the intruder! I did not get stung but I broke the existing speed record for climbing down a ladder! I have to go and buy a "bomb" so the project is put off until tomorrow when I have to go downtown anyway. I love retirement. It lets me put jobs like this off without a guilty conscience.

3 comments:

  1. I'll bet you did break the record! I probably would have thrown myself to the ground; idiot that I am. Glad you don't have any stings to show for the experience.

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  2. OK, how are you going to make another dish add outlets? I'm confused. If your current LNB has 4 outlets will you use one of those to go to the new LNB and then have 3 more? Am I even making sense?

    I'm about to sign up for our own Shaw account but I have several problems. One is getting the receivers down here but the other is whether I need 2 dishes to hit both sats from down here. sigh.

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  3. Hi Jonna.

    The only way you will be able to get equipment down there is to have someone either bring it down for you or re-ship it to you. Shaw will not ship outside of Canada. You will only need one dish as it has a dual LNB. That is, it "sees' both satellites at the same time.

    Each dish has 4 outputs so if you need more than that you will need either another dish or the multi switch that gives you more outputs. A second dish is the cheaper option. The dishes are not connected together but are mounted separately on the roof. Some receivers are hooked to one and the rest of them to the other. Remember the receivers with recording capability are actually two receivers in one and need two cables to the dish, one for watching and one for recording.

    I hope I am being clear. If you have any questions, just ask.

    Also remember to get the "large" dish(es). They come in two sizes but the large one works much better down there. The small one is much more subject to rain fade.

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