Lou Schneider

When Verizon stopped maintaining their wired network infrastructure shortly before Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast and destroyed the wired infrastructure they came out with a small base station to let hardwired phones use a cellular connection.  Rather than repair the damaged landlines they just gave these to their residential customers.

It sat on the counter like an old Hayes Smartmodem, had an RJ-11 jack you plugged your phone into and provided a user experience just like being connected to a landline. You got a dial tone when you lifted the receiver and used the normal touchtone keypad on the phone.   It ran off of a wall wart and you could install a regular 9 volt battery for backup if the power grid went down.  Since it pre-dated VOIP it used the analog cell network just like any other cell phone.  In California Walmart sold them for $40 and I bought a half dozen to use with the dialup security and backup remote control systems at our mountaintop transmitter sites.

Where are they putting Dishy?  When I was a broadcast tech I once got an off the record tour of one of the FCC radio detection "vans".  It was actually a mid-sized SUV and the only thing that distinguished it on the outside was about a 3" higher than normal roofline - it hid a pod cocealing the antennas that fed the detection and direction finding  equipment in the center console.

The agent also showed me the half dozen different state license plates they had in the trunk so they could blend in regardless of where they were operating.  Unregistered and untraceable in any database.

21 hours ago, Kirk W said:

In nearly all motorhomes the coach battery supplies the power to strar the generator. 

I have to disagree, Kirk.  Most motorhomes I've seen have the generator connected to the house batteries with the jump switch available to boost from the chassis battery if it's needed to start the generator.

The reason is most generators don't produce 12 volts, only 120 VAC so it relies on the converter to recharge the battery and replace the 12 volts used by the generator's ignition system.   The converter only charges the house batteries, if the generator was on the starting battery it would slowly drain it.

4 hours ago, Yahoo Ramblers said:

We are looking to sign up for the Visible $30 plan as a backup to our T-Mobile Senior plan. We’d prefer to not spend a lot of money on a phone to use as the hotspot.

Looking at what they offer does anyone have experience with the Blade A3 prime, Blade A7 prime or the Visible Midnight phones? Any other recommendations?

Again, we would only need this phone for the hotspot.

I've had the Blade A7 as my only phone for 2 years.  It and it's hotspot work fine.  Be aware Visible restricts the hotspot to one device at a time unless you get an iPhone because Apple doesn't allow this restriction.

Victron Multiplus inverters have a similar problem.  They have a 1/8" headphone style jack that's used with optional remote current sensors.  The jack has a set of contacts that signals when a plug is inserted so the display software uses these values instead of reading the internal sensors.

The problem is the contacts get dirty over time and fool the Multiplus into thinking a remote sensor plug is inserted when it's not.  The software then displays the (non-existant) readings from it so the display shows current and power readings that are zero.

The fix is to insert a 1/8" plug in and out of that socket several times to exercise and clean the contacts.

On 9/11/2022 at 1:56 PM, RV_ said:

More on long overhang which is a short wheelbase:

https://rv.org/blogs/news/short-wheelbases-and-accidents-go-hand-in-hand

Safe Travels!

JD Gallant has been banging the drum on short wheelbase, long rear overhang motorhomes for over 30 years, and IMO he's right on the money.

I've had two Class A gas powered motorhomes during that time (I'm now on my third).  The first was a 1995 Damon Intruder on a Ford F53 chassis .  It was 35 ft. long with a 60% wheelbase to length ratio meaning it had a long wheelbase and a relatively short rear overhang.  The black and grey water tanks were located between the axles and it had a 95 gallon fresh water tank just behind the rear axle.  Although it had limited payload capacity it drove down the highway like it was on rails without needing any steering or suspension upgrades.

The second motorhome was a 1994 Hall Chaparral Class A on a Chevrolet P-30 chassis.  This one was only 21 ft. long and had essentially the same dimensions as a UPS delivery truck with a short rear overhang and a sloped front end.  It too was a pleasure to drive, I told people it handled more like a sports car than a motorhome.  A couple of times on the LA freeways I'd find myself going 75 MPH keeping up with traffic without realizing I was going that fast.

My current motorhome is a 1998 Safari Trek 2430 on a Chevy chassis,  It has the Electro-Magic bed that descends from the front living room ceiling which greatly increases the daytime living space but it means almost all of the storage, kitchen and bathroom weight is behind the rear axle, along with the holding tanks and fresh water tank.  Couple this with a longer rear overhang and the Trek has considerably more road wander than the other two, despite having all of the suspension and steering upgrades added by the previous owner.  It's not bad enough to be unsafe, but it does mean you have to constantly pay attention when driving it.

Even microtrenching can be expensive if you're talking about a 200 space park with existing underground utilities going to each site.

2 minutes ago, amarie1 said:

Thank you! We’d be westbound on Saturday afternoon, 11-4 or so. Think the traffic might be going eastbound toward Tahoe?

Yes - eastbound towards Tahoe on Friday and maybe Saturday, westbound going back home at the end of the weekend (Sunday or in this case Monday).  Enjoy the drive!

You'll have no problems taking an RV along Highway 50 - tour buses drive it every day taking people from Sacramento and San Francisco to and from the South Lake Tahoe casinos.

There are some dropoffs climbing up from the Lake Tahoe basin to Echo Summit but nothing to worry about and going westbound you'll be on the mountain side of the road.  After a short descent on the other side of the summit you'll be riding alongside the American River with mountains rising up on both sides of the canyon.  Just be prepared for heavy traffic if you're traveling over a weekend - especially since this upcoming one is the Labor Day holiday.  Lots of people going up to Lake Tahoe at the start of the weekend and returning home to SF and Sacramento at the end.  Same holds true for I-80 BTW. 

As far as fuel, etc. facilities will be sparse but not non-existant between South Lake Tahoe and Placerville but you should be able to easily go from Carson City to Sacramento on a single tank and you're never in true wilderness - there are homes and cabins along the road the whole way.

11 hours ago, Chad Heiser said:

Has anyone taken the sim out of a Visible phone and put it in an LTE router? 

Possible but a violation of Visible's Terms of Service.

6 minutes ago, LindaH said:

I have a Samsung S21+ phone.  I don’t think I need to upgrade it.  The roaming in Canada and Mexico isn't a concern.  The only thing I'd be interested in is the 5G Ultra Wide band, but I don't know if that's worth $20 extra a month.

You should ask Visible if the S21 is compatible with their 5G Ultra Wideband.  Scanning the specs between the S21 and S22 it looks like the latter has a few extra 5G bands not included in the 21.

All Visible customers get non-enhanced 5G including those with the $25 Party Pay.  This is faster than 4G but not as fast as the 5G Ultra Wideband in the $45 plan.  I'd upgrade your phone and see if this is fast enough before quitting your existing plan.

49 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

The one thing that I will say for Battle Born is that so far they are the only brand that I have verified is actually made in the USA. Most of them are made in China. 

Battle Born is also unique in that they use spiral wound cells, most of the other brands use rectangular prismatic cells.  Battle Born is assembled in the USA, but I couldn't find any info about the source of their cells.

13 hours ago, Chalkie said:

I read things like this and then I get curious. 

In the middle of the day? I am not sure what to make of that qualifier when the Australian government says:

That only adds up to 98%, I am guessing solar accounts for that? I think the other thing that bothers me is the assumption that an EV can support the grid. That power had to come from somewhere in the first place. Ford has used something similar in ads for the Lightening and in an emergency it is an awesome capability. However, if that need goes on for very long the source (EV) is depleted and must recharge somewhere, somehow.

Rounding errors.  If each source was .25% higher than the published percentage it would round down to the next lower whole percent, and with 4 sources this would make up the missing 2%.

The problem with charging an electric car via solar is it has to be at the source of the solar power during the day.  If it's charging at home it's out of commission during that time, not good if you want to use it as a commute vehicle.  If you plan to recharge it at your workplace, that parking lot will require an awfully large solar array.  Otherwise you're relying on the same conventional power plants, running them longer each day to supply the needed power.   Guess what happens when you increase the duty cycle on a piece of machinery?  It breaks down or wears out sooner.   Maybe that's why Australia has "failing coal-fired power stations"?

We have several wild herds around Pahrump, NV.  You can often see them wandering into town to graze on the irrigated grass at a couple of the city parks.

49 minutes ago, TXiceman said:

I have read about Tesla and all the other wannabe EVs and for now, I am not ready for one.  EVs are still in their early stages of development, and I look at them as glorified golf carts for now.  Give them a few more years, but by that time I will probably not be driving anything, except possibly an electric wheelchair.  I guess I will eventually wind up with an "EV".

Ken

300 mile ranges with zero to 60 times in the low single digits are more than glorified golf carts.

6 minutes ago, D&J said:

I found this interesting

 

http://www.nlcpr.com/Deceptions1.php

Denny

 

Whole house power factor correction may have marginal benefits, but the device I used, installed at the device and specifically designed to correct it's power factor gave a definite advantage.

As far as using a similar whole house device on an RV, I doubt there will be much else turned on while you're trying to start an air conditioner on a limited power supply.  Plus modern microcomputers can monitor changing loads and react much more quickly than just taking a brute force approach.  A whole house soft start may dip the voltage momentarily to implement a soft start when the compressor kicks in but this isn't too different than the flickering light effect you get on 120 volt circuits when a regular compressor kicks in.

Thirty years ago I bought a $20 device for a household refrigerator that simply plugged in between the refrigerator and the wall outlet.  It corrected the power factor (phase angle) of the incoming current.

Restoring the power factor to unity made the refrigerator run noticibly quieter and reduced it's power consumption by about a third.  As a bonus keeping the phase angle in check reduced the compressor's starting surge as noted by the lack of incandescent bulb flicker when it started.  Later this technology was incorporated into many refrigerators when the Energy Star standards came into effect.

No problem as long as the motorhome can handle the Class B's weight.  A 3k tow rating won't cut it.

I use the Brave browser.  Ads never appear on most websites and in many video streams and it has an optional program where you can watch non-invasive ads to earn crypto credits to send to sites you choose to compensate them for lost ad revenue.  The default is to block all ads, one click will disable the blocker on individual sites if blocking makes the site act wonky.

It's based on the Chromium web core and is owned by an independent company but released as open source.

https://brave.com/

On 8/12/2022 at 4:30 AM, Kirk W said:

Interesting article, but 3 years old now.

I have never been inside of a pot store, and I don't believe that I have seen one but can't say for sure. 

Come to Pahrump.  You'll find pot, gun and fireworks stores in town along with the obligitory casinos - this is Nevada, after all.  The legal brothels, gun range and fireworks safety zone are a couple of miles away from each other outside of town.  The latter two are places where you can responsibly discharge your guns and skyrockets.   In a way the first is in a similar league, I guess.  Everyone gets along fine - we believe in personal freedoms out here.

I've watched from the bleachers at the fireworks range and enjoy good, inexpensive food in the casino restaurants but I don't gamble and haven't visited any of the other places.  My choices.

The main reason Lake Mead continues to drop is reduced discharges from Glen Canyon Dam as they try to keep Lake Powell high enough to let the dam continue to generate hydroelectric power.  Both Glen Canyon Dam and Hoover Dam supply significant amounts of power to the Southwest power grid.  Eventually some decisions will have to be made.

Las Vegas has been actively preparing for this for the past 20 years.  They're currently the most water efficient large city in the world, beginning by removing lawns and other outdoor water users in favor of natural desert landscaping.  Even things like the Bellagio fountains and the Canals at the Venetian use mostly recycled water.  Las Vegas has one of the most advanced wastewater treatment plants and something like 90% of all water used in the city is restored to drinking water quality and returned to the lake.  They just completed a new tunnel that will let them continue to get water from Lake Mead (their main water source) even if it falls below the "dead pool" level that no longer lets water pass through Hoover Dam.

10 hours ago, Darryl&Rita said:

What good is a pickup parked in front of every suburban home? Poor commuter mileage, higher insurance costs, higher maintenance costs. Yet they continue to be sold, strictly for commuting.

You sit higher in a pickup, letting you look out over the cars ahead of you instead of just seeing the back end of the car in front of you.  Unless that car is another pickup, of course.

I retired in 2015 at age 63 and decided to roll the dice on healthcare, deciding to self insure until Medicare kicked in at 65.

I'd been going to Los Algodones every winter since the mid 1990s for my annual dental checkups and eye exams and my eyes still work and I have all of my own teeth.  Lifeline Health Screening tours the country setting up pop-up clinics where for a couple of hundred bucks you can make an appointment to get bloodwork done, EKG and bone density tests and screening for high blood pressure, peripheral artery disease and abdominal aortic aneurysims.  My ex-wife was a former nurse and introduced me to them when we were living in WA.  It's in an assembly line fashion but very efficient and not bad at all. Escapees also has their annual Octoberfest Health Fair with similar testing if you're near Livingston.

I figured switching to a lower stress lifestyle had to improve the odds on my overall health.  I started watching what I ate, exercised and made a conscious effort to relax and de-stress.  I went to walk-in Urgent Care centers and paid cash the few times I needed help for things like a deep cut. 

Worst case an emergency room has to treat you for a life threatening condition and they'll figure out the financials later.  The other guy's insurance covered my ambulance ride and emergency room treatment when the police report said he was at fault for an accident that totalled both vehicles and the settlement for the truck paid for another one after some careful shopping.