Dead or alive

Wednesday.
The Datastorm Motosat Satellite System had been working for about a week with no problem.
Even this afternoon around 5.
On line to check the stock market, the hurricane centre and to handle the evening mail that had come from Europe.
At 8 in the evening the Datastorm Motosat Satellite System was switched on again to watch the news on internet TV from the Netherlands.
Access to the internet was not possible.
The LAN-light on the modem was not illuminated.
What means that the Datastorm D3 controller has no connection with the Hughes HN 7000S modem.
A range of emotions.
After a serious problem one week ago, resulting in being off internet for 3 days, now this.
Why this new problem?
How to fix it?
Something for tomorrow.

Thursday.
The whole day occupied with trying to fix the Datastorm Motosat Satellite System.
Without success.
Somehow the D3 controller is not getting in touch with the Hughes modem.
It is not the cables.
They have all been checked and they are perfect.
It is not the Linksys router.
The current one has been replaced with one that is in reserve and the problem persist.
It must be the settings then.
But all the settings in the D3 are correct.
What is suddenly causing this problem?

The D3 controller has been updated with the latest firmware.
A new Satellite table has been uploaded.
Is not solving the problem.

Locking to the satellite is now impossible.
When the D3 controller is assigned to search for the SatMex5 satellite it makes the satellite dish spinning around and around.
Without that it stops to search at all.

Nor is it possible to access the software of the modem.
Because this goes through the D3 controller, the modem is unreachable.

There are no more ideas what could be a solution.
And it is impossible to understand why suddenly, out of the blue, this problem exists.

Juaquin came by.
The guardsman of the resort under construction.
He had a problem of his own.
For a month now he has not been paid.
His $ 600.
Juaquin is getting desperate no money coming in.
He has two kids in school in La Paz and his wife in the village an hour from the resort.
They need money to live and to study.
He is thinking now to return to work as a fisherman and leave the resort under construction.
To take his loss and not have it grow higher.
This he wants to announce to the representative in La Paz of the American owner of the resort.
So he gets either money quickly or he can leave and start fishing.
From the resort, climbing on the roof of the building, he can use his cell phone and, with interruptions, call La Paz.
But he has no credit anymore.
One may wonder why he is not getting paid.
And Leonardo at La Ballena, the storage place of the resort at half an hour walk,
either.
Doesn't the American owner of the property have no more $ 1.200 per month to pay the guardsmen?
He's playing it tough because if Juaquin and Leonardo walk away, all the building equipment and materials will be stolen in a few days.



Friday.

Switched on the Datastorm Motosat Satellite System.
On the D3 controller the LNB light is not coming on.
That rings a bell.
Datastorm Motosat Satellite System supplies the customer with a CD-ROM with a rudimentary manual.
There, something has been read about the LNB light.
"LNB light will illuminate when a modem is connected to the D3."
The D3 unable to recognize the modem is presuming no modem is connected.
Hence, no LNB light on the D3.
What else does the CD-ROM say about this problem in troubleshooting?

Problem: States that the D3 is in DiRECWAY mode and cannot communicate
with the modem.
Solutions:
- Make sure the modem is connected to the network.
- Check the network settings on the D2 in accordance with the
D2/Modem Quick Setup Guides.
- If connected via a router, disable the router firewall.
- Reboot the modem.
- Double check all connections and network settings.

Sure, the modem is connected to the network.
The settings in the D3 are correct.
The firewall in the router is disabled.
The modem has been rebooted and even reset with a button on the back.
And still nothing positive happening.

Some time later the D3 was switched off and on and this time the LNB light came on contrary to this morning.
But the LAN light on the modem still not working...
This makes the puzzle more complicated.

Yesterday on the roof of the Fuso Szulc, all connections between the cables and the disk itself were checked.

What could it be?

Every 3 minutes or so, all 5 LED lights of the modem come on for a split second.
As if to say, it wants to but it can't.

It is either a software problem or a hardware problem.
A software problem is not very likely.
The Datastorm Motosat Satellite System was working well one moment and two hours later suddenly it stopped.
Software and settings are not expected to change by itself.
In any case, the latest firmware has been uploaded in the D3 controller and all settings are OK.

Leaves the hardware to house the problem.
It could be the modem that has broken down.
Never heard of such a thing though.
Or the connection of the cables.
Let's check them inside and on the roof once more.

All this is a challenge.
To learn to remain quiet.
Not to get upset.
To avoid to get angry, frustrated, violent, destructive, foul, mad, nervous and crazy.
Of course it is not good communication by internet is made impossible by the failing Datastorm Motosat Satellite System.
There are new developments with the publication of the photobook of the project "The most beautiful people in the world".
Next month will be the most important Book Fair of Frankfurt where the "The most beautiful people in the world"-publisher is going to for making deals with other publishers to have the book come out in different languages and countries.
Right now planning for this important event is going on and as an author there is deep involvement.
That is, when it is possible to communicate.
The other publisher, of the book "Sequences: the ultimate selection", is in the final stages of printing the book and organizing the events dressing it.
Also this needs a high level of involvement to share responsibility and have major input.
This has stopped as of the moment the D3 can't find the modem anymore.
As well as different other projects currently being developed.
While of course social life through internet has stopped completely also.
Next, hundreds of people can't read the daily blog and may wonder what is the matter this time.
Maybe even with a feeling of worry because the last posting was about dreams where death came to get the pioneering photographer.
Maybe fervent and loyal blog readers think it actually happened?

In those circumstances it is maybe the best strategy to leave El Triple immediately to return to La Paz to ask help and solutions from Motosat by telephone.
In the past this has happened.
Because in fact, many, many times this Datastorm Motosat Satellite System has caused serious problems.

But these days a different feeling dominates.
It refuses to be the slave of the caprices of the Datastorm Motosat Satellite System.
Life is not centered around it.
Let it be silent for awhile.

Saturday.

Juaquin, the guardsman of the resort under construction came by.
He is going to La Paz to visit the office of the Mexican representative of the American owner of El Triple resort.
To demand the money he is waiting for during one month.
Good fortune Juaquin is going to La Paz today!
He got a 100 Mexican Pesos to buy credit for his mobile phone to call good friend Alonso there.
Who will, like ten days ago, inform several people that the pioneering photographer didn't die but that again the Datastorm Motosat Satellite System is down.
Explaining the silence.

Meanwhile, during the night, a tremendous storm developed.
With very strong winds from the South, dark clouds and occasional rain.
Creating a paradox: in case the Datastorm Motosat Satellite System had been working, the system would have needed to be switched off and the satellite disk folded against the roof.
Due to the strong winds.

A new experiment to undertake.
How about switching off the D3 controller and the Linksys router.
And switch on the Hughes HN 7000S modem.
To connect the modem with an ethernet cable straight to the computer.
Would that give access to the settings and the control panel of the modem?
Let's try!

First surprise: when the D3 has no power, the LNB light is on anyway.
That indicates a modem is connected to the D3.
Ethernet cable from modem to Linksys router disconnected and plugged into the computer.
Impossible to access the modem.

New idea!
To change the ethernet cable between modem and Linksys router.
Maybe the cable went bad.
Isn't it either.

Another idea.
On the back of the modem is a reset button.
When that has been pushed nothing has been happening.
No lights on the modem coming on or anything.
How about switching off the Linksys router and the D3 controller and then reset the modem?
Nothing happening again.
The only thing with the modem that shows activity is the power light being on and every 30 seconds all lights flash for a second.

Meanwhile, this storm is pretty serious.
Lots of rain and very strong winds.
Over 50 km per hour (30 MPH)
Barometer down to 1002 mb.
Impossible to go outside.
What a weird games life plays.
First it locks the permanent pilgrim out and isolates of the worldwide community by sabotaging the Datastorm Motosat Satellite System.
And as if that was not enough, now the weather makes the isolation even more complete.
Due to the storm, only inside the Fuso Szulc is where one can be.

Sunday.

Life without internet.
Reality forces to admit it is fine too.
It feels like being on a holiday while on vacation.
Even while the storm keeps on dumping rain and the time is therefore spend inside the Fuso Szulc.
There are things to do anyway.
No reasons to run away from El Triple and hurry to La Paz to dive into an internet café.
Everybody can wait.
And the persons that should know that death has not reached dominion have been called by Alonso.

Monday.
Next, the Dometic fridge broke down.
Was that another indication to stop the retreat at El Triple and return to civilization?
Where the world is crazy but where they can fix modems and fridges?
One can live without internet.
But far away from shops, the food is in the fridge and the freezer and when they stop working there will be only cooked rice to eat.
In strong winds and rain an effort was made to figure out what was wrong with this Dometic fridge.
Somehow rainwater had gotten into the backside of the fridge and affected the electric connection.
Drying and cleaning them resulted in new life for the fridge.
Allowing to resume the retreat at El Triple.

It is 28 days now and the mental state is at its best.

Tuesday.
This can go on and on.


.