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Catching Up

I just realized that the time of some of these posts is off--I still have this blog set to Mountain Standard Time (I've adjusted all the times since this was originally posted). The time hit home last night when I quickly glanced at the Bogus Basin web site before I went to bed. Taylor was skiing there, and it was the middle of a cold day with fresh snow, and I was ending my day in Africa.

So it's been a couple days with nothing posted here. I spent all the Thursday and Friday still working to get the VSAT system working again. The GATR-com antenna was working great, but the electronic and RF components were giving me problems. Thinking that maybe the problem was the iDirect satellite modem, I borrowed a brand new one from Traig. This was one of the real advantages of coming here to do this testing with the GATR-com system on C-band--their is a container full of various VSAT components to which I have access.

So, I proceeded to take the modem, and hastily prepare if for my system so I could get one last call in to the NOC before they had a scheduled appointment. But, what happened is that haste made waste, and I made the modem unusable. I spent four hours on Thursday afternoon, trying to recover it, with no success. I was not happy, as it's a $3,000 piece of equipment, and I had visions of having to take it with me back to the US to have it repaired. I ended my day Thursday by posting my problem to a VSAT forum to see if anyone out there could help me. I also called the NOC (the Network Operation Center at Constellation Net Corp, the satellite provider I'm using for the testing) and Tim kindly sent me a PDF file containing recovery steps.

Friday morning I went with Traig to the hangar, so I could spend some time with the VSAT class. I'd spent Wednesday and Thursday working at Traig's house. The back yard had a good location for the GATR, and it was right next to the house so I could keep my laptop and the modem under the porch roof when it rained. By noon, I had the modem recovered, ready to use again, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I can't say I'm glad that I had that problem with it, but I learned a good lesson, and a lot of useful information about the modem.

With the second modem working again, I resumed my troubleshooting efforts. When my first effort with the new modem wasn't successful, I moved the GATR to a spot farther out in the yard where I had a better view to the satellite. I still was not successful in that spot, but I had to stop around 5:30 PM because I was invited to a bar-b-que for the MAF staff and the people in the VSAT class. By the time dinner was over, I was in touch with the NOC for a file I needed for them, but it was too late for any more work. And, they told me to call again on Monday. I really wanted to work on the weekend, but some forced time off would be a good thing, because I'd run myself a bit ragged.

Saturday I went with Traig and his family, and the Vennell family, over to Boemfontain, South Africa. It was a little over an hour to get there, once I had gone through immigration to leave Lesotho, and then again to enter South Africa. We visited an arts and craft fair, and went to a large Walmart-like store. It was interesting to see more of south Africa. I heard lots of Afrikans, ate some local sausage, and then slept almost all the way home. In the evening I went over to the Vennell's house, as they have a movie night each Saturday.

Today was church, lunch with the two VSAT class students from the Congo, and then I went with Traig and the family to the Maseru Sun Hotel for a swim at the pool. The water at the house was off again today, the third time this week. It was nice on a very hot afternoon to be able to spend some time in a cold pool. When we arrived home, the water was back on. This morning, because I have short hair, I was able to wash my hair with only two full glasses of water. I really do know better, but this trip is reminding me not to take so many things for granted in the States.

The weekend has been good to catch up on some rest, and I hope and pray that I'll have more success with the GATR-com system this week.

Posted by David at March 2, 2008 09:25 PM