https://www.votervoice.net/iframes/AFSA/newsletters/354466?isInformationalBroadcast=true

They have not published for the last two weeks. Hopefully they are back.

Sorry to hear your Dx.

On 9/7/2023 at 12:17 PM, Lou Schneider said:

Valley Electric's service area extends about 100 miles along the lightly populated Nevada-California border.  The original proposal was to use the fiber line they installed to monitor their transmission equipment to provide high speed Internet to the very isolated ranches and towns along the way.  They figured they would need 4000 subscribers in Pahrump to cover the investment and it would take a couple of years to build that up.   They got 4000 commitments within a week of the initial offering (Pahrump didn't have DSL or cable TV that could provide similar service and wasn't even connected to the electric grid until 1960).  This prompted the initial WiMax rollout until they could extend fiber to everyone.

Sounds like Pahrump (along with a lot of cities like here) start with the utilities then others see the opportunity to piggyback on them the rush is on. I know of three players here and we also have had our outlying sparse counties install fiber in some really rural areas like the Rifle CO area.

The following is only for those who still have a Stix n Brix in a medium to large city or its burbs! 

We all had dial up in the 90s and relied on Telcos who started fiber deployments but then decided it was too expensive in the late 90s. The Telcos could have a monopoly on Internet services today but their CEOs blew it along with profits for years and threw all their eggs into cellular.

Cable companies had a good thing but refused last mile to rural areas and they are on the way out all because they did not foresee the profits in Internet everywhere.

We watch all our networks and many other channels over the air (OTA) using the existing cable and satellite wiring in the house with a distribution amp for perfect 1080p broadcast on more than 75% of the 57 or so channels we get. I forget to count the Spanish, Jewish, and some other channels channels we deleted from our line up that are less resolution. Many are perfect full HD and 720 p with a few oldies channels occasionally broadcasting old blurry shows from the 50s - 80s in the old standard resolution on the subchannels of each network. We have five full HD Public Television stations all different and free! Free After buying a $40 dollar directional HD outdoor antenna and a 60-70 dollar Electroline one in four out powered distribution amp. So we do not NEED streaming at all. Yes we have Netflix, Disney+, Peacock, Paramount plus, and Sling TV. We are about to drop Sling TV because we do not watch cable channels much at all. We canceled Hulu which forced ESPN+ on us despite us asking for them not to as we do not watch any sports except our home team in Football, Winter Olympics, and maybe the Super Bowl for the halftime show and the commercials. We are soon to drop Paramount, Peacock, and any other channel that charges us yet still shows commercials! I can watch FreeVee and all the free LG TV channels. We may just cancel them all and stick with OTA TV but with the writer's strike broadcast TV is all reruns.

They are getting greedy. I remember the big draw for cable was the no commercials and no censorship of language or nudity in movies and shows. That was when we had maybe five channels and a few independents. Then cable became big biz and they started to raise prices and add commercials.  Shoot even public television started commercials they disguise as "Made Possible by" We have always loved PBS and supported it but those ten minute every 15 minutes fund raisers on what would otherwise be great shows has turned us off to some of their programming.

But since it went digital OTA TV has come a long way in addition to still needing it for emergencies and disasters.

 If the power ever goes out or the Internet we still have local news and weather using battery inverter to power our 24" 1080p TV, and then our tiny 12,000 mAh car jump starters with their USB ports tiny batteries that can power the little $6.98 indoor USB 5 v indoor antenna amp for a day or three.  $6.98 Cheap amplified antenna link

I use those cheapo antennas only on my two main computers using Hauppauge TV HVR 955Q Windows receivers for TV ( USB TV tuner link ) in a corner of my screen like the news that is on now. This one in the pic below is in a closet with the cable extended to reach my desk. I get perfect reception on all channels but we are in a city now and I used the outdoor directional digital antenna and Electroline Distro amp ( Electroline Amp link ) because I wanted max signal to power through all the preexisting in wall cable/satellite/ cables and interior connectors and splitters so I could use the existing wires to all rooms. They work perfectly with the Electroline  amp. And despite the outdoor antenna the reception is limited without the distribution amp. It is the amp that makes the big difference. I have also tried those funky looking antennas with built in rotator and amps that go on a mast and they are terrible quality. They work for a few weeks then the rotator dies or the remote or the amp. YMMV

Above in a closet, below second one for second computer over window:

32" 2k quad HD monitor with my normal browser top left, email on right, and OTA television in full HD o the bottom left:

Each move of antenna requires a complete new channel scan with the portable cheaper amplified antennas. Tedious. If you are outside the range city TV  you may need a much larger directional antenna outside with the Electroline Amp, too far out and you need Starlink. One data point. Anyone in the area is welcome to come see the setup.

Lou good video. Watching it reminded me of them doing the fiber trunk line installs here in the last year, soon to my home as in the video. Realize that fiber allows for more 5G transponders enhancing 5g home and phone services. So more choices and competition for pricing and speeds/reliability. That is a good thing!

18 hours ago, Chalkie said:

This is pretty exciting to hear about my old home town as I think more cities should be pushing high speed internet.

I just did the Ookla Speed Test on my current Centurylink copper wired Internet connection. I test from my main computer system upstairs wirelessly to get my actual operating speeds. My WiFi 6 modem is downstairs and serves a lot of computers and devices. My new free upgrade WiFi6 gateway/router will be delivered today as part of their deal to keep my business. Great company.

I may still try the T-Mobile just to see if the service is better than wired here. The advantage of the wireless modem/routers is they can be moved anywhere in the house without drilling/pulling/adding connectors for wiring. My printer for all systems is up here not downstairs and it is an Ethernet wired laser Brother DCP-7065DN. I bought six hi-capacity aftermarket toner cartridges for ~ 8 bucks each on sale and have only used two in the last eight years, and one drum unit $12 for it I have not used. They work as well as the $60 brother ones. We use digital (not paper from printing) almost exclusively now. I use a two Netgear PL1000 1TB Powerline adapters to plug the Ethernet network printer into and the other connected to the router downstairs which connects via a short Ethernet cable to the router and is plugged into a wall outlet and uses the house wiring to connect to the second just plugged into the wall, which has an Ethernet outlet that will avoid pulling more wires around or through the house. These are not as fast as direct Ethernet cabling but fast enough to handle printer data. So our phones etc all have access to the printer that are connected to the router wirelessly. Ours are just fine for our printer but now they have combo Powerline Ethernet and WiFi extender in one set of two for $79! https://www.amazon.com/TP-Link-Powerline-Wi-Fi-Extender-TL-WPA7617KIT/dp/B09L85MFNY?ref_=ast_sto_dp&th=1

Far cheaper than hiring the cable job or buying tools to put the connectors on the Ethernet cable after pulling it through and the cable. Not to mention I'm less inclined to climb 12 foot ladders these days. Until I checked today I was unaware how inexpensive the combo WiFi extenders and HomePlug Powerline adapters are today.

We are in a middle income area and all the fiber has been pulled here and the effort is ongoing. The lower middle income folks are complaining about digging in and around their properties to make it happen despite the companies fixing any damage or having it fixed. Some folks would complain if you hung them with a new rope!

5G is strong just about everywhere here now and they started with the Powers corridor.

Yesterday was our 51st Anniversary and it brings home how changed our world is . . . for the better by far! We take video calls on Google "Meet" free to our kids in Germany for granted now, and the call quality is perfect. 24 years ago we thought a millennium bug in computers was going to cause worldwide blackouts and planes falling from the sky. In 2000 we thought dial-up at 23Kbps not Mbps in 2003 was good, then  we thought 5Mbps was great speed to use our Netflix streaming DVD in our Wii to watch movies in standard definition. No smart phones until 2007 and dash navigation devices were starting to come into their own with Garmin and Magellan leading that pack. Remember the crazy allegations that 5G was harmful?

"Since the release of 5G, many false claims about its health appeared on social media. Examples of these myths include:

• COVID-19 vaccines contain 5G microchips
• 5G release is used to cover up the COVID-19 pandemic
• 5G causes headaches, migraines, and dizziness

There is no proof behind these claims."

Source with more: https://www.healthline.com/health/is-5g-harmful#false-claims

😉

Roger thanks for the incentive to check and save money either way. Great info and update bud.

I just got through and I was paying Centurylink $55 a month locked in and $10 a month for my gateway router with WiFi 6 etc. My new bill to keep me from switching to T Mobile home Internet is $45 a month for the same speeds (100-150 down 20 up,) and no equipment rental fees. They are sending me a new modem that is a free gift to keep me as a customer because mine is a rental only unit, and they are paying to ship the rental back.

However, the City utilities, Google, and Ting, are bringing fiber to home with synchronous speeds of 500 Mbps up and down for the same price.  $89 for 1TB up and down.

So before switching from a great company with great service, call them and see if they are as good and will price match to keep you..

That said, I may yet be doing the $50 trial of T-Mobile service still keeping mine for the free period to see if they offer any advantage.

Excerpt:

"The answer is no. None of the CenturyLink internet plans have a data cap for practical purposes. All of them offer virtually unlimited data allowance. This rids you from any data overage fees and passive-aggressive messages reminding you multiple times that you have crossed a point of no return."

https://www.highspeedinternet.com/providers/centurylink/internet

46 minutes ago, Lou Schneider said:

After much discussion including bumping up through two levels of supervisors, T-mobile acknowledged both units had been returned and the account should not have been activated.   But since I was no longer a current customer, they wouldn't refund the $50 to my credit card.  Instead, I will receive a $50 Visa gift card which should arrive sometime in October.

That sounds like my experience with them last year with phones. But since this does not involve setting up phones. They said no problems with 100% refunds. They kept $30 bucks even though they could not make our phones work after spending hours at their store twice. I canceled within 7 days and then the trouble began. Their clerk made a mistake on the trade in on one of the two trade in phones and they said they could not refund that one because of their clerk's error?? So let us know if they s tardily do actually refund you.

However I can risk 50 bucks to see, and then if I do need to quit from poor service whatever and I have again to battle to get my money  back again if needed, I'll check back here. I am on hold now with CenturyLink who have been great since we moved here, to see if they are willing to price match as the speeds 100-150Mbps down 24 up ate similar. As well, Fiber to home is on the way very soon.

Roger, I dislike T-Mobile and their parent company DT. Especially after a fiasco with their phones and phone service that they issued to us as new customers, and could not get to work for four days during which we had no phone service. It was in the middle of this fiasco and should be over now.

However, I respect your comm and computer expertise so I just called them because my area now has 5G just about everywhere in the city and 'burbs.

They now offer free equipment gateway/router for life, Speeds here 100Mbps down and 24 Up, a $150 gift card, and price lock for life of $50 a month when paid with debit card, three free months of service which I can try out alongside my current service with Centurylink. I would have to pay now an initial processing fee/payment of $50. I get a seven day complete money back guarantee where they refund the processing fee 100% (The $50.)

Granted they were just bringing on 5G at that time and they were working issues with CDMA and Dish 3G/4G as well as having just merged with Sprint recently. So perhaps I will try it alongside of my Centurylink service. With $150 gift card and three free months, 50 bucks a month all taxes and fees and equipment are included.

I am on the phone now with Century link to ask if they price match  and doing local research. I will let you know when I decide to try or not.

1 hour ago, sandsys said:

I tend to think of the topic areas as single point sources. I only read the topics that interest me. No one says you have to read all of them. I do, however, check the latest post area to see if anything there from other topics catches my eye. Those that do tend to be from the HDT area which I don't normally read but they post some fun stuff.

Linda

💯

56 minutes ago, Kirk W said:

 

Kirk any comments on what your Texas papers reported above? Don't look behind that curtain. It's your energy Charlie Foxtrot, not mine. There's dozens.

2 hours ago, Chalkie said:

 And could not the same be said of Tesla? I mean two individuals that own the most Tesla stock (as individuals, not investment groups) are Elon Musk and Larry Ellison.

Whataboutisms?  I'll stay on topic with Texas sources.

Excerpts:

Jerry Jones Bragged he hit the Jackpot:

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/2021/02/17/jerry-jones-natural-gas-company-hits-jackpot-as-texas-freeze-drives-up-prices/

"One utility, CPS Energy, is blaming Energy Transfer for its woes. The company’s CEO, Paula Gold Williams, has said the pipeline company engaged in “blatant unlawful price gouging” and used the cold snap to “generate more than two years’ worth of profits from intrastate gas sales in just the first quarter of 2021.” CPS is suing Energy Transfer to recoup a portion of the $1 billion it lost during the storm. In a statement to Bloomberg, Energy Transfer co-CEO Tom Long blamed the utility’s “miscalculations of the severity of the storm and their lack of competent planning.”

https://www.texasobserver.org/after-kelcy-warrens-energy-transfer-partners-made-billions-from-the-deadly-texas-blackouts-he-gave-1-million-to-greg-abbott/#:~:text=No one won bigger than Dallas pipeline tycoon,bounty soon trickled down to Governor Greg Abbott.

Excerpt from the Texas Observer:

"The Texas electric grid collapse during the February winter storm killed hundreds of Texans and caused an estimated $295 billion in damages, while generating seismic gains for a small and powerful few. The natural gas industry was by far the biggest winner, collecting $11 billion in profit by selling fuel at unprecedented prices to desperate power generators and utilities during the state’s energy crisis. No one won bigger than Dallas pipeline tycoon Kelcy Warren: Energy Transfer Partners—the energy empire Warren founded and now is executive chairman of—raked in $2.4 billion during the blackouts."

https://www.texasobserver.org/after-kelcy-warrens-energy-transfer-partners-made-billions-from-the-deadly-texas-blackouts-he-gave-1-million-to-greg-abbott/#:~:text=No one won bigger than Dallas pipeline tycoon,bounty soon trickled down to Governor Greg Abbott.

OK, I had Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage but I decided to go back to my old method of using my 26TB of HDDs to archive my data.

See I stopped Microsoft OneDrive from loading or accessing the Internet after I loaded all my pics on this, my backup computer and OneDrive copied them all. The only problem is with syncing offline or during an outage. No access. Then when I tried to delete them after I copied the good ones from the eternal drive I could not delete the old ones. So I went online and after a lot of reading I found an easy way to delete the old in accessible OneDrive pics.

Everyone tells me they love online storage and can access their files anywhere. With the new tiny superfast external USB 3.0-3.2 SSDs I can just buy a drive for each system or plug it into my phone. (ExFat) They use micro USB 3.0 to USB C cables, or micro to USB A 3.0-3.2

All you have to do to delete files that need the internet and whole folders is to make a new folder, copy them to it, then delete that new folderfolder. Gone.

The whole story -  my new computer started syncing with one drive and if I was disconnected I could not access my files at all. That torqued my jaws. So since I was setting it up I set it up with an external fast SSD and all my data went on it before OneDrive messed them up. I copied all my Pictures, Music, Videos, and documents in daily use, almost 550GB, to a tiny PNY 960GB SSD that is super fast. Connected to a USB C with a USB 3.2 cable to my USB C it was as fast as the internal 256GB M.2 SSD and 1 TB HDD storage drive. It was perfect and I all but deleted One drive on my systems and can use this drive between them. Since I upgraded all my systems to new or newer computers none older than 2018, they all tried to sync.

My main system started getting goofy so before I did a reset I brought my backup system and 32" Quad HD ViewSonic monitor over as my main for now - my backup system, and simply started using the PNY drive with it. I made a folder on my now main system called called Pictures 2 and copied all of those pre-OneDrive picture files to that folder. I have been using it like that. My plan was to use the new folder and if it went well top delete all the old inaccessible pics and folders.

SO the solution was quite simple and it is done. Here's the original instructions I followed:

https://appuals.com/how-to-fix-error-0x8007016a-cloud-file-provider-is-not-working/

Ken,

I got the RSV vaccine and my flu shot yesterday. Of course my reaction may not be the same as yours or anyone else.

I have the same mild soreness today from the flu shot, only hurts when I hold it up over my head but barely noticeable.

I have no soreness in my arm with the RSV vaccine. That was my concern as I have never had it before.

The roll-out for the new COVID vaccine is mid September so in the next two weeks or three I should have my COVID shot too.

Excerpt:

Rollout of the updated shots is expected in mid-September.

"August saw combined EVs at 90% share in Norway, comprising 83.5% full electrics (BEVs), and 6.5% plugin hybrids (PHEVs). These compare with YoY figures of 86.1%, 74.9%, and 11.3%, respectively. We can see that BEVs have gained almost another 10% of the market in the past 12 months, and PHEVs are in decline, along with all other non-BEV powertrains.

In volume terms, BEVs are actually flat YoY, and all other powertrains have lost volume, leading to the overall 10.4% decline in overall market volume. Petrol-only vehicles lost 58% of their volume YoY, seeing just 122 units in August. Even PHEVs lost 48% of their volume, falling to 724 units.

HEVs (plugless hybrids) fell in volume by “only” some 30%, and are shrinking more slowly than PHEVs. Both have a little over 6% market share. It would be ironic if PHEVs, which can drive most of their miles on renewable energy when used as intended, fell below HEVs, which are entirely dependent on fossil fuels. The issue is likely the price difference, with PHEVs being generally expensive, whereas basic HEVs, with tiny batteries and modest motors, can be produced for not much additional expense over a combustion-only vehicle.

Once BEV models have filled out more niches, and lower price points — in the context of Norway’s extensive DC charging network — all other powertrain sales, including both forms of hybrid, will quickly fade.

EVs At 90% Share In Norway — Evolution

More charts in the link below.

https://cleantechnica.com/2023/09/02/evs-at-90-share-in-norway-tesla-model-y-best-seller/

Texas has their utilities in the hands of private billionaires who to date have not hardened their gas cooling valves and other shortfalls. The more Powerwalls there are in Texas the better for all Texans. 

https://cleantechnica.com/2023/09/02/tesla-virtual-power-plants-get-approval-in-texas/

Personal use for 5 machines is free too!

Shoot!

I had two months out of a mask and now back to wearing a mask in public indoors only. <sigh> I waited to see if the boosters will work on the new omicron variant, and if it keeps growing. First from six days ago: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-hospitalizations-spike-22-percent-cdc-predicts-increase-new-variants-2023/

And from 7 hours ago: https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/surge-booster-plan-to-tackle-most-concerning-covid-variant-since-omicron/ar-AA1g02Ti

Take what you can use and leave the rest.

Whenever I get time I'll check it out Ray. I need a good alternative for my local friends when 2025 comes and support is dropped for Win10.

https://www.votervoice.net/iframes/AFSA/newsletters/49053

10 hours ago, DaveC said:

thank you all for your input.. i will also be getting the Vehicle Sales Association involved as when the VSA gets involved Dealerships are scared of this Organization.. 

YW and good luck. thanks for the great questions. Do come back and let us know how it worked out.

I see you have only posted four times so welcome to the forums if no one has welcomed you yet.

Here's the VSA:

Consumer

Consumer Dispute Resolution

Use My Self-Help to understand your legal rights, Dealer responsibilities and initiate safe issue resolution.

https://vsabc.ca/

 

We talked several times and he read my stuff when I kept my website, which I decided not to redo. He was a friend and will be missed. He was an RV safety advocate who helped many of us willing to learn, and I am sure saved some lives.

I would contact the attorney general's office about the lemon laws in the dealer's/your state regardless of if it also your domicile. That is irrelevant in a lemon law claim. They should be reachable by phone. I did not see the state and without that info it is tough.

I would also get the BB reporting docs filled out and ready to send. As well call one of those accident lawyers and you may find one that takes these kinds of cases.

As well see if you can call the factory and talk to someone there and see if they have anything to offer. If all refuse to help proceed with BBB and advertise the incident and use their name on several RV forums so we all know to stay away from them.

It sounds like they want to get rid of them and then say they already replaced yours once, implying the problem is you.

Do a memo of each call and contact with dates and times and persons talked to and their comments/promises/etc. The  rarely will as the person/dealer/rep rarely do make MFRs and will just be vague or get them totally wrong, intentionally or not. Many do not want anything in writing for which they would be liable. If it goes to court that goes a long way. If the state they are in has laws allowing recording of phone conversations if only one party consents by all means record each call as well. That means

If they are fair and honest brokers you won't need therm and will have only wasted a few minutes after each contact to accurately journal the experience. If not fair and honest brokers you will be at the same disadvantage they would be had you done memos.

That's just me.