In attempt to get a long range signal temporarily, I rigged up a DirecTV dish with a small directional antenna I had. Being just a hack I first used tape to tape the antenna to the LNB. Hoping to improve the signal I removed the LNB and clamped the antenna in approximately the same place as where the LNB was. Moving the antenna didn't really seem to help much. I could only get a signal of about 1-3 on average. Fortunately the Netgear card I'm using will actually move data with such a low signal so I could still use UUCP to relay email.

Later I decided to try this hack. I simply wrapped a piece of aluminum foil around my antenna and secured it against the metal post so it would be connected to the shield conductor. WOW! What a difference! My signal jumped up to 8-10 and stayed there!