Attack of the Signal-Killer Pumpkins
This entry was posted on 8/10/2007 4:55 PM and is filed under uncategorized.
A few days ago, after a strong thunderstorm, my FTA system went down. The next morning, I started trying to find the problem. Did some rain get into the wiring? Did lightning fry some equipment? I checked one piece after another, only to determine that the problem had to be somewhere in the line between the grounding block and the spot where it enters the house.
Some of that wire runs past a garden where I have pumpkins growing. If you've never grown pumpkins, you've got to try it some time. They expand explosively, taking over the whole garden and beyond with fast-growing stalks supporting 18-inch leaves. Meanwhile, they send out curly feelers to grab on to anything they can for support.
The hard rain had knocked down some of those stalks with some of those feelers. Which had grabbed hold of the RG6 wire next to it. Enough plants somehow yanked down with enough force to pull the cable out of its crimp. It was an easy problem to fix, but I would have never thought to look there first.
All of which is why I was slow to add the returning KFDF to the list this week. It's great to have another RTN channel to choose from. 
