Friday, May 11, 2012

ELECTRONICS, WOES

So we are having our fill of electronics troubles.
We LOVE our Tivo. We have a Tivo receiver in the living room and in our bedroom. Both Tivo's can record 2 programs while we watch a recorded program. We are spoiled by always having something to watch, when we want, without commercials. Our living room Tivo unit has been acting up lately. So we can only record 2 programs in the bedroom and we have to share the TV! Horrors! Lucky for us, we do not get bored easily and I'm fine with being on the computer or reading while Scott hogs the TV. In reality he would let me have the TV as long as he's not in the middle of a hockey game.
Scott, being the computer geek he is, has added more memory to our Tivo's in the past. He increased the Tivo's recording time 10 fold! We went from 30 hours recorded programs to 300 hours! So when Tivo isn't working, we are not happy. So as I said, Scott, being the computer geek, figured that the power supply was broke. Ordered a new one and wham, bam, thank you maam, IT WORKS! $70. gone!

Great, all is good. Then while in Rifle, CO, where it is very windy from 11am - 6pm, our Direct TV satellite dish blows over and yes, it's broke. Dumb, dumb, dumb! I checked it 5 minutes prior and didn't want to lay it down because then Scott would have to align it up again. Lesson learned, lay it down just in case.  This is the THIRD dish we have lost to wind. Have I said how much I hate the wind? If you've read my blog, I'm sure I've mentioned it before!

Our first Direct TV dish was the larger "slimline" in case we upgraded to high definition.

That blew over, so we bought a smaller (non HD) model, for $79.
 Still on a tripod. That blew over.  We purchase another one at $79.! That blew over!!!!
So, we need a new dish. There are no Direct TV dealers near us, so Scott drives 50 minutes to Grand Junction, only to find they do not have the correct dish for us.  So, change of plans. We will now be heading North to the major city of Salt Lake City in search of a new dish.

We stop in to the Camper's World in Salt Lake City. Scott decides to try the Windgard Direct TV dish, that is smaller and lower to the ground and folds up compactly in it's own case.
Winegard Carryout MP1 Manual Portable Satellite AntennaHopefully this won't blow over.  So far it works fine, even though it is a much smaller dish. We'll see when we get some rain how it works. $180. gone!

Now, Scott's computer is on the blink! While traveling from Salina, CO to Salt Lake City, UT, we had to break heavy because the cars in front of us did. What! Geeze, what are you breaking for???? 2 goats decided to cross the road and the cars in front, didn't want to hit them. Of course I agree, but it has cost us dearly. When we opened up the RV, Scott's computer case was laying sideways on the floor.  That's bad enough, but again, Scott being the computer Geek he is, he has a water cooled computer! When we lived in NJ, he was really into gaming and he needed a lot of power to handle the graphics, videos, etc. So water cooling is the way to go.  It is much quieter than fans. But, since his computer case fell over, his water cooled system leaked and no more working computer. I have no idea what needs to be replaced, but Scott will "need" the best for his computer.

1 comment:

  1. Hi, was curious as to how your Winegard MP1 Satellite is doing? I found your blog while doing a search for this satellite antenna. We travel about 2 to 6 months a year in our motorhome and want to try out one of these. It seems to be the cheapest so was wondering if CHEAPEST means Cruddy reception. I have not read anyother posts yet, as this is what popped up while searching for the MP1.
    Thanks, will be reading a few more of your posts shortly.

    ReplyDelete

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