I’m up in the mountains about 30 miles from the nearest small town so why can I post here and get text messages and check email?
I have a Joel Pole, that’s why!
That is my affectionate term for the wi-fi antenna created for me by none other than my good friend Joel. He and his wife Laura wanted to give me a retirement gift and since they are very tech savvy, (unlike myself) I suggested a wi-fi antenna. I also suggested places they could find information about such matters. One, Mick’s fine instructions on RVSues blog site, and another, the Technomadia blog.
So Joel got his engineer brain in gear and came up with his own creation, and I think it’s pretty neat!
The Joel Pole!
They gave it to me before I left CA in August, but Joel was still adding his little touches to it when we met on Bainbridge Island, about two weeks later. I didn’t really get to put it to the test though until yesterday, my first boon dock experience.
When we got here to Cow Pie Camp ( the name I gave it…see yesterday’s entry), I have one bar on my little hot spot. Perfect! One bar itself is pretty useless, but they say if you have at least one bar, an antenna may improve the situation.
With great anticipation I fasten my Joel Pole to WS’s back bumper. It has the capacity to rise 10 feet! I connect the cable to the tv hook up thingie, and Yay! Three bars, sometimes four bars, magically appear! Is that cool or what? I immediately text Laura to let her know the JP is working.
If you have any questions about the antenna Joel will try to answer them for you in the comments section at the end of this post.
In other news, our second boon dock day is uneventful, and I mean that in a GOOD way. Cow pies in the vicinity remain undisturbed!
The cows pay us a visit in the morning and I take the opportunity to sing to them. I discovered in the past that cows seem to like music…even my singing. The dogs are used to my singing but they seem fascinated with the cows. Curious about the noise coming from me I suppose, the cows come a bit closer, the dogs begin to bark, and bye-bye cows! Off they trot.
Nice sunset…
Sunset tonight
Wandering Spirit 
How fun. Great that the Joel Pole is working as designed. I’m sure you will eventually end up in a canyon with no signal what so ever but for now it’s great that you remain connected to civilization. Paul saw the picture of your rig and asked if you had an antenna pole. I will have to tell him he was correct. Glad you had an uneventful day. Those are great to recharge your soul.
Yes I really did need a nice peaceful day.. Went for a couple of walks, had a few raindrops. And internet to boot. Yay!
I think I now have antenna envy! I have one of those retail ones…a Wilson Sleek 4g. It’s made for cars. It has a tiny little antenna. It definitely *does* help, but boosts maybe one bar. It looks like you are doing much better with your Joel Pole. I think I need to do some research now…you’ve inspired me!
So wonderful that you can get internet at your remote location. I know from my own experience how comforting it is to have a connection back to the world.
Thanks for the post!
Hi Michael,
If it were up to me I would not know where to start with antennas. It’s good that all I need to know is how to fasten it to the bumper and to the cable connection. 🙂
You seem to be doing really well with getting things posted though, so you must be doing something very right!
For the record, the Joel Pole consists mainly of two pieces — a Wilson directional antenna, and a telescoping fiberglass mast (links below if you want to build your own). The other parts, the mounting hardware and the cables, are more specific to the situation. I was thrilled to find the fiberglass mast because it collapses into a relatively small space, and I know that in the Casita, anything that takes up space has to earn its keep. The cables I really had no choice about, since the antenna comes with one connector, and the Casita with another. I just needed to find the right combination of adapter cables to make it all work.
The most interesting part of the whole thing is the part you can’t really see — the attachment to the bumper. My initial attempt wasn’t nearly sturdy enough, but with Micky and Laura’s key insights, the end result is more than adequate, and pretty simple to attach and detach as well. It’s not especially pretty, but I often lean more towards function than form. A picture would be worth a thousand words here, but the basic gist was to use a corner-shaped piece of metal about 2 feet long to connect the mast to the bumper. The mast is held to the metal with hose clamps, and the metal is attached to the bumper using some 4.5″ bolts that run through it.
Micky, I’m glad it’s working for you, because it means we get to hear more about your travels, and see more of your amazing pictures. The one with the cows and electric trees in the background is especially fantastic. Can’t wait for the next update.
-Joel
Mast: http://www.mgs4u.com/Antenna-MK-2-Standard.htm
Antenna: http://www.amazon.com/gp/r.html?R=2LMIL54DP5M3D&C=3JNG5JOTKOGN0&H=4TQRCTIIMZDBI0FJC4QHS3PEQAMA&T=C&U=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fdp%2FB003HFQ0VS%2Fref%3Dpe_385040_121528360_TE_dp_1
Hi Joel, I just saw your comment this morning on a list to be ‘approved’. I think it was there because it was your first comment on this blog. I was getting emails about comments needing approval, but it seems I’m not getting them anymore, so by accident this morning I found a number of comments that were waiting for me. So your comment is late showing up and that’s why!
I need to get more detailed pictures of the Joel pole on the blog. I may need to set up a separate page for it, if you think that is a good idea.
Hi WS
Love your blog and your 2 beautiful companions. I’m excited for you and all your new adventures and travels.
Welcome Willow! I just now found your comment. I’m still learning this blog business! I’m glad you are enjoying the blog! I really enjoy writing it. :-). My companions…yes, so precious. I don’t know if I would have started this lifestyle without out them!
” Cow pies in the vicinity remain undisturbed ”
Best sentence yet 🙂
🙂