Monday, June 20, 2016

Connectivity in the Woods

Country dwellers don’t have the Internet options that city folk enjoy. For several years the only connection we could get was through HughesNet, an expensive and unreliable service provider whose customer service reps all spoke with us from India.

A few years ago another option showed up – Mercury Wireless, a Topeka, Kansas company put up a radio tower just a mile from our house. We immediately signed up, a technician came to install a small radio receiver on our roof, and we were on line for a fraction of what we had been paying. Mercury’s service was excellent and if a problem arose, a technician came from Topeka to set things right.

We were happy surfers until this spring. Our connection was slow and would unexpectedly cut off.  Three times technicians came to work on the problem, but eventually we got no connection at all. Finally Dennis called Mercury and chatted with a fellow who said, “I see that your signal was initially strong, but year by year it has grown weaker.”

Like a light bulb turning on, Dennis realized that every year the trees around our house have grown taller and broader. He drove to the radio tower to get its precise location by using the compass on his phone. Thirteen degrees North, he determined.

Back home, he stood below the radio receiver on our roof and sighted 13 degrees North. The sight line was blocked by two large walnut trees, an ancient redbud, and one big branch of an elm. Steve Grammer kindly came with his chain saw and the two men cut the trees. Immediately I was able to access my email!


Steve took the cut=up logs home – four pick-up loads – to burn as firewood and he and Dennis spent a few hours cleaning up the debris. And everybody’s happy.

Copyright 2016 by Shirley Domer



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