Today was a little laid back because we didn’t have a plan. Then we thought about the Presidential Debate scheduled for 6 pm which evolved into a discussion about problems we’ve encountered with TV reception.

The first space we had, #29, had an excellent list of channels on the cable service provided at each space. We had most of the network channels and a ton of other channels we don’t really need and probably won’t watch. But they are there if we want to. We moved to #45 and the cable service is severely limited. But the view is magnificent.

We have the option of over the air broadcast channels which works but brings us mostly Hispanic channels that we don’t understand very well, and maybe one network channel. That’s not consistent with the previous luck we’ve had with OTA channels. When it worked well the antenna had power to it, but that seems to have gone away for some reason. That points out a reason for me to, perhaps, take a look to see if I can find out why. Maybe tomorrow.

Our other TV option is the satellite Dish. When we’re not surrounded by trees, or buildings, it’s the best. Tons of channels in addition to all of the networks. It’s perfect. No, it was perfect. I was unable to get it to function properly here in San Diego and I wasn’t sure why. So, with Diane’s approval, I dismantled the antenna to see if there was something obviously broken, or loose inside. That permission was granted after we had decided to take a road trip to a local Camping World to buy a new antenna. Looking at the innards of the old antenna was done, and a determination made prior to the trip. I couldn’t find any obvious issues with the old antenna so I put it back together and we hit the road.

Diane plugged the Camping World location into her GPS and away we went. Got to go over the Coronado Bay Bridge both ways. After getting the new antenna we stopped and got lunch at Wendy’s, found a city park where we ate our hamburgers, then journeyed on home. On arrival I unwrapped the new antenna, connected it, and it didn’t work any better than the old antenna. I spent hours, literally, on the phone with Dish techs who tried to help me but, at the end of the day, it was a waste of time. No one could figure out why the antenna would connect but the signal strength was too weak to function properly. Seriously. I was on the phone with one guy for 1.5 hours. Really! Wore me out. I must of rebooted that system a dozen times and nothing changed.

So, tomorrow we’re taking the new antenna back on the assumption that there’s really nothing wrong with the old one. Maybe it just doesn’t like the humid air down here and it will get over it once we move along to Arizona. I’m committed to turning my trouble shooting prowess, which is questionable, toward finding out why the really good OTA antenna doesn’t have power because if I can retore it I feel good about the possibility of resurrecting it to a point where we’ll be able to get channels from all over the place. Maybe even from LA where all that stuff originates.

So, please wish me some luck while I dabble with electrical circuits on my quest to solve this problem. I know, it’s only 12 VDC so it wouldn’t kill me unless ai fell off a ladder because I was shocked, and broke an arm, or leg, or arm and leg, or a rib or two when I tumble into something hard on the floor. Something like that.

The reason for all this TV reception concern was the debate as I mentioned previously. Diane thought it was going to be on ABC but while fiddling with our various choices for seeing it I discovered that it was actually on NBC. Guess what! That’s the only network channel we could get on OTA antenna! So, we got to watch it after all.

The upside of all that effort was I got a lot of exercise and Diane got to spend the entire afternoon sitting in her chair on our very large patio, reading a book while the cool breeze off the bay kept her cool. She needed that. Apparently, I slugged her in my sleep last night and interrupted a pretty good night for her. I slugged her in the arm but I have no memory of it. Proof that him getting closer to losing my mind.

Before this devolves into something I don’t want to talk about, I’m going to quit. I’ll let you know how the search for OTA antenna power works out.

Cheers.