TV antenna upgrade - Hi, Jack!

I decided to do an upgrade from my original Winegard antenna with the Wingman attachment.  I was getting pretty good reception getting over-the-air channels in most places, but I wanted a little more range and clearer channels.  So...   Hello, Jack.

John, whom I met last year at Bluewater Lake State Park, is here at Storrie Lake - he's our Camp Host in the South Circle - and he said he wanted to know how it worked when installed because he was thinking about getting one, too.  We talked about the installation, and he agreed to help when it arrived at the campground by UPS.

The Jack Antenna arrived on Tuesday, and that night I attached the brackets to the Jack Antenna so it would be ready to go.  The next morning, John walked over and while I was getting my camera, he climbed up on the roof, removed the old antenna and laid it on the roof.   He then attached the new antenna, and that was it. Easy, peasy.

I was getting all three broadcast channels, ABC, NBC and CBS and also PBS.  But ABC wasn't coming in well - it was pixilated and came and went.  After the Jack was installed I went down and checked the channel, and it was super clear and constant, so the new antenna was a success.

I'm putting the link on my right sidebar, and also into The Palms Store.  If you buy one, I'd love it if you'd go through that link to Amazon.com - check prices, though.  John found it on sale elsewhere.

Below are the photos of the install with explanations of what was done - and some great photos of John.  Well, actually he didn't want to be the star of the show, so I didn't get too much of him.  :)

This is the box it came in:

It comes with more hardware than we needed, because we just replaced the top of the antenna.  We didn't need to do any re-wiring, and placed the Jack on the existing antenna mast.  I think there is other hardware here that would be used to mount the Jack directly on the roof.

Here's the old antenna, it actually did a good job for me, but I wanted to get a little more coverage:






Here John is holding the cotter pin rings he removed from the old antenna.  They were in good condition, so we re-used them, as well as the cotter pins.

The Winegard Antenna with the Wingman attachment have been removed from the antenna mast:

For some reason, the two "poles," I think they are called the mast, were different heights:

See how the one on the right is right up to the top of the plastic thingie, and the left side is shorter?  The cotter pins are also shown:

If you get one of these and the mast is different sizes, don't worry, the Jack will still fit.  The metal bracket that is attached to the Jack has two rows of two holes, and the taller mast fits in the upper hole, the lower mast fits into the lower hole, so the Jack is level and attached securely with the two cotter pins and rings.  Here John is lowering the Jack with the attached bracket onto the existing mast:

 The package comes with this grease to put into the coax cable ends:

John filled the coax cable end with the grease, and then screwed it back into the new Jack Antenna:

I went down to check out ABC on channel 7.1 and the picture and sound were 100 percent clear, no pixilating, no losing the picture and sound intermittently, etc.  So I considered the upgrade a success and decided to keep the Jack Antenna.

This is how it looks:

Two other things that are better with this antenna than the older Winegard - it's very light and takes up less area, so it shouldn't have a problem in the wind.  I used to bring the antenna down flat on the roof in high winds because I was worried it might break.

The other thing that I like is that the Jack is installed with the "arrow" side pointing toward the front of The Palms - the rear, flat side points to the TV stations.  It's set so that the notch on the ceiling turning mechanism with the handle inside The Palms is the same directional setup as the Jack.  The notch points toward the kitchen, and so does the flat side of the Jack, so I'll always know the notch points to the stations - I don't know if that makes sense...  Maybe you have to see it to understand what I'm trying to say.

Before, with the Winegard, it wasn't situated that way, and I had labels showing the dinette, couch, kitchen and cab stuck on the ceiling around the mechanism with the directional handle.  The antenna was 90 degrees off from the inside mechanism notch.  So...  for a person like me who can never remember which way the antenna is pointing, I can now take down my labels.

And here is moi - showing off my new Jack Antenna (excuse the sloppy camping clothes, it was hot, and I was comfortable, as usual):

And that's it.  Thanks, John, for helping. (Actually John did all the work and figured it all out while I took the pictures.  That's fair, right?  LOL)  It's fun to do these little upgrades from time to time.

I've seen a lot of RVing friends while here at Storrie Lake.  Of course I see Jeanne (and Riley) every day for our walks, and this morning Jeanne invited me over for home-made scones.

I didn't think I liked scones until I tasted these.

And then she gave me a package of three scones to put in my freezer for another day.  :)


OMG, they were delicious, super flaky and "just right" sweetness - and now I have the recipe!  And three more in the freezer.  Yeaaaa,  thanks, Jeanne!

I've visited with John quite a bit, too.  He's usually out and about, either riding his bike throughout the park, or doing his Super Camp Host duties here in my loop.  He's got to be the best Camp Host I've seen, our area looks great.  He is always sweeping, raking, cleaning and hosing the empty campsites to get them ready for the next campers.  Nice!  I've enjoyed getting to know you better, John.

Last week I had a nice visit with Nancy.  She stopped over at Storrie Lake for one night on her way to another location, and came over for a visit.  We haven't seen each other since Quartzsite, so it was great to catch up.  Then she stopped over for a quick good-bye the next morning.  We always enjoy getting together, and of course, Nancy is one of Katie's favorite people so everyone was happy.  It was great to see you, Nancy.

The WINS were also here for a few nights, and I was able to catch up a little with Trish and Carol and Margaret while Jeanne and I were walking the dogs.  It was good to see them again, too, and see what they were up to.

Donna and Bob are also here, up at the other end of the campground; we met up with them while they were driving by and the next day walked up to their campsite for a visit.  It's always good to catch up with them - they like taking their Jeep out to see the local sights and find new geocaches; check out their website for some great photos of their day trips.

We have one more day here, then we're moving on.  I've sure enjoyed Storrie Lake this year and will be back before the summer is over.   I have more photos from the park, so I'll have another post or two from this area.

From me and Katie, have a great Thursday evening, everyone!  :)

More Storrie Lake news

We're here at Storrie lake for a few more days, and still enjoying our stay.  It's been really relaxing, the weather has been very changeable, wind, rain, sun, mostly good, though.  And I like the changes, so I'm happy. 

We're walking twice a day with Jeanne and Riley, longer than I'd probably walk with just Katie, so this is great for me.  Here are the dogs heading toward the bridge:

Hey - look at that little dog, she passed me up:

Katie is really good with Riley.  AS LONG AS WE'RE OUTSIDE.   She's a real bear when Riley commits the crime of coming into The Palms.  The other day I had to send Katie to her room (the car-seat) and block her entrance back into the main area.  AND she didn't get her "after walk treat."  Bad, bad girl. But if they are outside, she's fine.  We're working on this.

Jeanne is a real crafts person, she makes lots of things - like her own yogurt and dog cookies.  She brought over a baggie of cookies for Katie (and also gave me the recipe), and Katie loved them.

When she was done, she licked all over her blanket to get every single tiny crumb.

Jeanne has a scooter that she uses to go into town and she travels all over the place checking out near-by campsites and other places of interest to her.  I've thought about getting one from time to time.  Here she is on her scooter:

Pretty cool, huh?  :)

I've been bringing Katie's stroller on all our walks.  Katie will walk a certain distance, sometimes more, sometimes less, then just stop, I throw her in the stroller and on we go.  It's great.  The other day when we got home, she wouldn't let me take her out of the stroller, so I parked her under a tree and went inside.  I watched her out the window, and she just chilled in the yard.  

After a while, she sat up and stared at me through the window - her way of saying, "Come get me."  I thought it was pretty neat that she wanted to be outside by herself for a while.

I bought her a treat ball when we were in Albuquerque at the Pet Smart.  She used to have one of these at home, but it went in the Estate Sale, and it's one of the things I wished I had kept for her.  So we got a new one and some little treats to put inside.  She loves it, of course!

She rolls it around with her nose, treats fall out, she eats them, and continues to roll it until it's empty.

It's not a lot of work for her to get out the treats, but fun - something different for a mainly house-bound little girl.

That's about it for now!  From me and Katie, have a great Tuesday evening, everyone!

Good ole Storrie Lake State Park, NM

Storrie Lake is one of those state parks that feels like home when I drive in.  Bluewater Lake is the same way.  And also Quartzsite.  So far, my three favorite places to be.  I like all the places I've stayed, otherwise I would have rolled on to greener pastures (or sandier landscapes), but these three give me a special feeling when I arrive.

We've been here a week now, and are in our third site.  (You know how I am!)  When we arrived last Saturday at 11 am, Memorial Day Weekend, I couldn't believe we actually got a developed site overlooking the water.  It was almost level and had a shelter and bar-b-que ring. 

Unfortunately, a big group camped next to us kept using the areas around my campsite as football practice and behind The Palms as a baseball diamond.  I was afraid The Palms would get hit, and they didn't seem to want to move out further into the field behind us, so I moved on Monday morning to a site off my myself. Then in the middle of the week, I decided to move into the main loop, where there were a few non-reservable sites available.  Katie and I are happily settled here for the duration.

They have those beautiful, colorful Bullock's Orioles here:

We've been taking lots of walks with Jeanne and Riley, who got here right after we did.  She did a bit of campsite moving, too, and she's now settled in at the other end of this loop.  We've both got good sites.

Here are Jeannie and Riley on one of our walks.  I told her she could approve the photo I took before I post it, but this is so good, I hope she won't mind.   Two cutie-patooties!

The Canada Geese are usually in the field across from our campground in the morning, foraging for food.  The other day they crossed the road before we got there during our walk; they were in a field very close to us, so I was able to get some good close-up shots:

Here's a very rare two-headed goose  LOL:

 And away he goes:

Here's a darling little juvenile Western Bluebird:

And this Western Kingbird looks like he's just sinking into the branch:

Hello.

Yesterday we went into town to get some propane for the tank, shop, visit the library and do laundry.  So nice to get that all done.

When I was getting ready for bed last night, the fridge started clicking.  I couldn't figure out what it was, but knew it was coming from the fridge.  Then I noticed the "check" light was on.  I fiddled a bit with the buttons, but the clicking kept on.  Finally I thought, I wonder if the attendant didn't turn the propane back ON as I had asked him to...   I tried to start a burner on the stove top and - no flame.  I've never messed with the propane tank, the attendants always fill it and turn it back on for me, as I'm watching.  I think the guy misunderstood me, because he was done when I asked if he would turn it on, and he bent over and turned the dial.  I think he had already turned it on, and thought I was asking him to turn it off.   So anyway, from about 1:00 until 10:00 pm, the propane was off and the freezer was slowly defrosting.  Thank goodness I heard the ignition clicking, trying to turn on.  All my food is okay.

The reason I didn't use any propane all afternoon/evening was that I bought some hot, home-made tamales that some people were selling to benefit their church.  They had a table outside Wal-Mart, and I decided to buy a couple.  I'm not tamale person, I think I've had one but really don't remember.  Jeanne and I were talking about home-made tamales the day before so I thought I'd take a chance. 

I took them back to The Palms which parked in the Wal-Mart parking lot, made some quick guacamole, threw on some sour cream and took a bite.  Wow - it was so good!  I bought two, but only ate one, packed up the other one in a baggie and went back and bought six more.  They are now sitting in my freezer waiting for an evening when I'm craving Mexican food and want an easy dinner.  Yummm.  I just finished the second one for dinner tonight and it was just as good as the first. Sorry, no photos - it's gone.  I'll try to remember to take a picture next time. 

But I digress...  So, anyway, I hadn't opened the fridge and noticed the light was out, or tried to start the stove or burners, and didn't know I had no propane coming through the lines.  I was full from my late lunch and didn't use the kitchen at all last night.

I went outside with a flashlight and checked the propane compartment to see what was what.  There was an OPEN/CLOSE knob, so obviously that is what I needed to turn.  I turned it to the left, per the OPEN arrow, but it turned more than I thought it should.  Even so, I kept turning until it stopped.  I have to tell you, I was really nervous messing with the propane.

Then I came back inside and tried a few propane powered appliances and everything was working again. 

For any RVing newbies or wannabes, this is how I've learned most things.  Now I know how to turn on the propane, and I'll make sure it's ON every time I refill my LPG tank.  One more piece of knowledge.  It couldn't be easier, or obvious, but I don't like messing with some things and the propane tank is one of those things.  I don't want to explode because I did something wrong.  I think the OPEN/CLOSE knob is too easy to fail, so don't be afraid to open or close it.

This morning I checked with Jeanne, since she also has a built-in LPG tank, and she said yes, that's all I needed to do.  She added that when you turn the knob, turn it all the way ON or all the way OFF.  Don't go halfway, it's not good for the system.

Good night from our beautiful site at Storrie Lake:

From me and Katie have a great Saturday night, everyone!  :)

Manzano Mountain State Park, NM

Katie and I spent a little more than a week at Manzano Mountain State Park in New Mexico.  This was our first visit to this park, which has been closed for a few years because of fire danger.  It's not near anything, so if you visit it, make sure you have enough food and supplies.  They do have a dump site and water and trash removal, and a very nice couple who are camp hosting.

It's a small park nestled in trees - the electric sites are on a loop.  Most of the reserved electric sites are nice and looked level, but the non-reserved sites were pretty small and not level.  I circled the loop three times when we arrived looking for a good non-reserved spot, but couldn't find one, and the overflow area was chained off.  A park employee told me it was closed because a group of 150 (boy scouts and their families) were expected for the weekend and they didn't want anyone parking in their spaces.  The camp hosts were in Albuquerque for the day, and so I took an open "one-night only reserved" dry site and talked to the camp host later that day.

He said he would have the Ranger take down the chain so I could get back into the overflow primitive area and choose a site at the end.  There were seven sites in an end loop that were available for campers not attending the group events.

This is our site for the first night.  Nice and level, nice shade structure with a table and a fire ring.

The next morning we went back into the overflow area - I liked that area better, but there were only two sites with enough sun to keep my solar panels in the sunshine all day, and this is the one I chose.  I actually had sun on the roof all day long - it was a very good site.  Kind of hard to back into, though, without hitting trees.  It was pretty level.  We were NOT in the desert any more!

We had some good critter activity here - first here are photos of Katie's favorites - look at the dirt on this guy - he has a hole in the soft dirt at the base of the tree right next to The Palms.  Katie could see him coming and going from her car seat:

Here he is climbing up the tree:

Below is the another lizard - he almost looked wet.  He looks pretty round around the middle, too, and I wondered if it was a she with baby lizards in her tummy. :

Below is Katie checking out the lizard hole, and of course, I made her get away from it. I didn't want her getting bit on the nose.

And so Katie just stood nearby, guarding it. (This is what she looks like when she guards me while I'm in the kitchen.)  Notice she's facing away from the lizard hole holding up her right paw.  Watching for enemies!  :)

And we had some good hummers, too:

The sun caught this guy just right in this shot:

Chirp, chirp, chirp:

This park has Ponderosa and pinyon pines, and alligator juniper trees.  Looking at the rough trunks on the alligator junipers, it's obvious how they got their name:

I was planning to stay here the full 14 days, but one morning I woke up and decided to leave, and 2 hours later, we were at Costco in Albuquerque.

It was really nice to camp in the forest with the great pine tree smell, but I think Manzano Mountains State Park, as nice as it is, was just too small for us, and the spaces, even the overflow spaces, were too close together.  With that many trees it's hard to find a spot that will work with the solar panels.  This park is pretty out-of-the way, too, and I don't think I'll use the gas to come back next year.  It's an about a two hour drive to Albuquerque.  I'm glad we visited this once, though. 

By the way, the 150 campers with the Boy Scout troups were so quiet, even though they were right  next to us I hardly knew they were there.  They were always working in small groups at different campsites, earning badges I think.  It was a pleasure to camp near them.  I honestly don't know how they kept those boys so quiet for the whole weekend. Some of the families had small children, too. Super well behaved! 

I took a photo of a camp stove one family had on their table, isn't this a good idea?  It has an oven and two burners on the top.  It's propane powered.  Very cool, so I looked it up on Amazon.com, and if you're interested here's a link:  Coleman Camp Stove.  Expensive...

I also saw a new bird while there - it's a Band-tailed Pigeon and it sure looked big flying from tree to tree:

At first I thought it was a dove, but my field guide shows that the Band-tailed Pigeon has that iridescence on it's neck, and yellow legs and feet.

Goodbye from:

From me and Katie, have a great Sunday, everyone!  :)