Direct TV, Direcway Internet, Sirius Satellite Radio, HAM Radio; one way or another we're connected to the outside world.  When we moved up here we spent about five years without television or radio.  Since then I've been an early adopter of electronic technology and we're finally at the state-of-the-art for rural living.

Satellite installation has been the most troublesome because we're located in a valley with hills blocking the southern sky.  I have to get the dishes high enough to clear the hills and then deal with long cable runs and wind blown mounting spots.  Our dishes, antennas and weather station are currently located on a hill behind the house and I had to do most of the pre-installation construction myself.  All mounts are cemented in and supported with guy wire to hopefully withstand the high winds.  So far we've withstood gusts up to 55 mph but the wind speeds have been known to go higher. See related journal entry about Direcway here.