FYI -  standard procedure all paramedics follow at the scene of an accident when they come across your cell phone: ICE - ‘In Case of Emergency’.

We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.

If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn’t know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this ‘ICE’ (In Case of Emergency) Campaign. The concept of ‘ICE’ is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell (mobile) phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name ‘ICE’ (In Case Of Emergency). The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn’t know which number to call. He, therefore, thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as ‘ICE.’

 Tech- Tune up your TV antenna

But… what to do when you cannot get the stations that your neighbor can, or when the antenna gets a bit stuborn while cranking it up, down, or turning it.

Luckily, troubleshooting these antennas is pretty easy, and along with some regular maintenance, the Sensar will give years of top notch viewing enjoyment.

Let’s take a look at the basic of maintenance and repair for antenna and coax cable….

Mechanical Maintenance

The first item to cover is regular maintenance- something everyone should be doing, whether you have problems or not. This should be done on a fairly regular schedule- a good time to do this is on a twice yearly inspection of the roof sealant (you do need to get on the roof to do this….. don’t fall off!).

These pictures are from the Sensar owners manual, which you can download from http://winegard.com/mobile/sensar.htm - if you don’t have a copy, download, print and read the manual…. it answers a lot of questions.

You want to use a pure silicone spray lube to do this… not WD-40 or any lubricant that contains petroleum products!

The reasons for this are two fold- if you have an EPDM (rubber) roof, you don’t want the petroeum getting on the membrane, and the worm gear that elevates the Sensar uses an EPDM set of washers to seal out water… using a petroleum based lube will destroy this set of washers, resulting in leaks. Simply praying the gears and base with silicone lube will eliminate the “chunka-chunka-chunka” that you sometimes get when lowering the antenna, and keep the washers that provide the seal intact- protecting you from leaks.

Electrical Tune-up

(and Coax cable repair)

The Winegard Sensar is an excellent antenna (here at our shop, they outperform a large 12 foot multi-element “deep-fringe” antenna we had, which was much higher than the Sensars).

There are only a few things that can go wrong with the Sensar and by far the most common is a problem with the coaxial cable , there are generally 2 types of coax used for Television signals, RG-6 or RG-59 . Winegard uses RG-59 for the short length of cable that comes pre-attached- the reason you need to know that is that the end F connector is different for each type of cable- RG-6 is larger than RG-59.

The Sensar comes in 2 versions, an unamplified and an amplified version. By far the most common version is the amplified model, which usually (but certainly not always) has a wall plate with a switch and an LED power indicator.

 

Luckily, this is easy to diagnose- simply turn the power switch on, unscrew the coax from the antenna head, and check to see if you have 12 volts between the center conductor and the shield (outside). 90% of the time, this connection will be the problem- the other 10% of the time, it will be in the first splice, which is sometimes hard to access. The first (and usually only) splice in this cable will be right under the roof plate inside the roof. If you are lucky, you can pull it out (carefully) through the entrance hole in the plate- if not, you may have to remove the inside crank assembly and fish around for it a bit.

This brings up the issue of the “F” connectors themselves and how to properly install them There are several types of connectors, but only 2 types are really good enough to use- the hex crimp and the compression type. There is a twist on type as well, but the twist on is only useful in an emergency repair- for a variety of reasons they are simply not very good- including the fact that we are running 12 volt power through them, and the sharp threads in the barrel tend to simply cut the shield wires.

The next tool which is nearly mandatory is a good coax stripper. Now, you might question the need for a special stripping tool that just works on coaxial cable, but, while it is posssible, it is very, very hard to prepare a coax cable properly for connection without one.

Why? The answer is that not only does a good coax stripper strip all of the layers of the cable to the right length, but it does that without nicking the center conductor. because the senter conductor of an antenna coax cable carries very high frequency electricity, it is subject to something called the skin effect, which is that very high frequency signals travel just on the very outside skin of a conductor. A nick in this conductor will cause the signal to reflect backalong the cable, causing reduced signal reaching the television.

The skin effect is so pronounced that a lot of RG-6 cable has a center conductor of steel, with copper plating- the steel is simply there for stregth, and the copper plating carries the entire signal.

These thumbnail images are of of a good coax stripping tool (under $15), and properly prepared coax cable- ready for installing either a hex crimped or compression F connector.

A few tips-

• If you need to buy coax cable, either RG-59 or RG-6, look on the jacket for the specs- most RG-6 cable is spec’d at 2.5 to 3 gigaherz, which isn’t needed for regular TV signals, but is needed for satellite signals, and some RG-59 will actually meet this spec. You can never have too much bandwidth.
• When you have to figure out which cable goes where, I use a multimeter set on Ohms, and a small jumper cable with sligator clips. I then measure the resistance between the center and shield, then shirt them out with the jumper and measure again. When I find the one with near zero resistance, I know I’ve found the right cable.
• Never try to push a meter probe in to a female F connection- it will probably fit, but you will distort the spring metal inside the connector. I cut a short piece of cable and use the center conductor to insert in to the F connection.
• Clean and shiney- the signal currents we are dealing with are tiny- the smallest bit of corrocion can mean the difference between getting a picture and not.

 Campfire Building Tips

Wood fires are a camping classic that you just can't camp without. They provide warmth as well as a place to cook. When the sun goes down, there is not a better place to hover than around a nice, warm campfire. However, do be aware that not all campsites allow fires. Some wilderness parks prohibit them all together. If there is a drought and fire ban in a particular area you need to follow the rule for your safety and the safety of others. You even have to be careful with your grills.

There is an art to building a good campfire and to burn well, your fire needs fuel. The wood must be stacked in a manner that allows air to circulate. The fire will start small with burning paper, fire starters or other small twigs or "tinder." As the fire builds, the larger pieces of wood will catch on as well. The goal is to get a good layer of glowing coals and a continuous heat supply.

Tinder must burn easily and produce enough heat and flame to ignite the next layer of fuel. Choose your tinder carefully as not all things that burn makes good tinder. For example, leaves are not good. If they are green they won't burn well. If they are dry, they will burn too quickly. Ideally, you will want tender that is made of dry, tiny twigs or pieces of birch bark. There are also fire starters that will help speed up the process. Another unique fire starter is to use paper egg crates, fill each hole with wax and some dryer lent. They do the trick every time.

Once your tinder is burning, you can begin adding kindling or medium sized pieces of wood. When that layer is lit you can begin feeding it your larger pieces of wood.

Firewood is not going to be accessible at many campsites, so you will need to bring some along with you. There is only so much wood that falls dead each year, and campers quickly use it up. You may be able to buy firewood at the campground or you can bring it with you. This is often better because you know that the wood is dry. Don't cut down a live tree and expect it to burn. The wood will be green and not burn well at all.

Choose the location of your fire very carefully. If you find an existing fire pit, use it instead of building a new one. If you must create your own fire pit, it is best to use large rocks. At the very least you can use large logs that are soaked with water. Wet wood does not readily burn. You can also control a fire by digging down into the soil to create a fire pit that helps to control the fire. Be careful not to do any unnecessary destruction to the area though.

There are a variety of ways to start fires and there are a variety of different types of fires that you can build. Here are a few types of fires that you can use. The type that you build will depend on its function such as warmth, light, cooking or all of the above.

Teepee Fire

With this fire, you will stack same-length wood pieces in the triangular shape of a teepee. Put tinder and kindling in the center of the fire. Place a narrow space on the windward side to get a breeze to aid in the starting of the fire. If you plan to hang a pot over the top of the fire for cooking, the big flames from this type fire make cooking convenient and easy.

Log Cabin Fire

This fire begins with a small teepee of tinder and kindling. Then you will position the logs in a square shape that resembles a cabin. There should be small squares between each layer. The fire will burn fast with a high flame, so you wouldn't want to use it for slow cooking.

Star Fire

This fire is similar to that of the teepee fire, however it is a flatten version. The wood is laid out in a starburst shape. It only burns the ends of the wood that are in the fire. As you need more flame, you gently push the logs in deeper. This fire is easier to control and is good if you need a slow-burning fire for cooking.

Campfire Safety

Always consider the wind direction. You don't want to smoke out your neighbors.
Emergency tinder kits work even when they are wet.
It is recommended that you don't use kerosene or fire starter liquid to hurry up your fire. This is due to the fact that the fluid burns very quickly and a spark or flame can easily travel up the stream of fluid and cause the bottle to explode.
Waterproof matches can be purchased or you can make your own by dipping them in wax. Store matches in a watertight container. Butane lighters are handy as well.
Bring a small handsaw or axe in case you need to cut wood.
Keep your firewood in your car
Use an old charcoal pan as a fire pit.
You can always use a triangle shape as the base of your fire to keep the heat concentrated in one area.
Don't add too much wood to the teepee fire until it gets going well.
Keep a bucket of water or dirt nearby to douse your fire.
Never leave your fire unattended.
Small fires are easier to control, especially in the wind. Keep flames short but enough to heat and cook on. Control the fire by adding large pieces of wood that are harder to burn.
Large flames will only burn food and not cook it thoroughly.

Enjoy your camping trip and good luck with these campfire building tips.