[GMCnet] Home from Dothan

[Jeremy]

Got home early last night from Dothan after spending a great 3.5 days at convention. Good tech sessions, good facilities, good people, good food. What more could you ask for?

Not much "new" in the tech sessions. What stuck out was a little depressing about the lack of alternative generators, and a great session on the fuel delivery system. Not much "new" in the vendors area, though the Manny Brake certainly looks like a good dollar per value received upgrade for the rear brakes.

Flea market worked out well for me as I picked up a few odds and ends that make the coach just a little bit better. Coach weighing went great. A few were out of whack, but a surprising number of the coaches after all these years are doing pretty well on the weight. We probably lined up 20-30 coaches during the weighing. Not as many went and got pictures taken by the Gardners, probably a shame since I can't wait to see how the coach, the dog and I look through a professional lens. Was really nice of them to volunteer their time and equipment.

Dothan is a good facility for the purpose. Not too spread out, the buildings are convenient. It is easy to find, set up, and hook up. Not perfect, as the spaces aren't necessarily level and the hookups aren't always where you would expect them, but good enough for the purpose. Now if only the weather would have improved. Sunday was gorgous, Saturday was very wet, Monday and Tuesday much too cold for this southerner!

Special thanks to the Sunshine Statesmen for letting me crash their BBQ. Also it was great to meet all the newcomers. Seems like we had a lot of green badges including long time GMCMI member Jeff Sirum. Hard to believe that was Jeff's first convention, but he was kept so busy along with a few of the other vendors and experts helping out coaches in need he may need 17 more membership years to recover! Nice to meet Robin Hood who braved the torrential Saturday downpours in a tent. We also had a few people bring families over the weekend, a nice byproduct of changing the schedule to stretch midweek to midweek.

Best guess was 125-135 coaches at the max over the weekend. People were pulling out some on Sunday and dribbled out thereafter until I left. Seems like a good showing however. Some really stunning coaches and some others like mine that aren't so pretty but work real well. A bunch of stretches were there as well.

Thanks Kim and the rest of the GMCMI crew for putting on a really good convention. A GMCMI Convention should be on the bucket list for every GMC owner!
--
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL
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[Billy Massey]

Thank you, Jeremy, for the convention report. I've, (we've) been dying to
know the particulars. Now I'm satisfied. Sounds like we've missed another
great get-together. :-( Makes me even more determined to make this my
last gainfully employed year. (fingers crossed) I'm ready to ramble!

bdub

[Johnny Bridges]

You oughta been there!  Aside from the Dothan/Houston County rule against dogs in the buildings, it's a hell of a venue.  Even torrential rains didn't loosen the ground so much the GMCs wouldn't pull off it.  The next one I go to, I'm gonna borrow all the x-pens I can find and build an off - leash 'dog park' for the duration.  More and more venues are doing the 'no dogs' thing unfortunately.
 
--johnny


________________________________
From: Billy Massey <bd...@wtconnect.com>
To: gmc...@temp.gmcnet.org
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 9:49 AM
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Home from Dothan

[Devin Wells]

I was told that our 3 coach caravan made 143 Saturday morning and I'm sure some arrived afterwards. Probably 150 total.
--
Devin Wells
Nashville, Tennessee
1974 GMC Sequoia 260 "Gilligan"

[Mark Grueninger]

Well dang I would have liked to have been there. I am even more determind to make Branson. Oh well. Just have to make sure the coach is ready to go when I get back in the states.

Mark
--
Mark Grueninger 76 Palm Beach
Valmeyer IL

[Emery Stora]

Johnny

We have allowed pets at all of our conventions. You can have them in your motorhome or leashed outside. However I don't know of any place in the country that will allow dogs into buildings where food is served unless they are guide dogs.

Emery Stora

[Dan Gregg]

Billy, there was no outside wifi. Had to sit inside to do internet unless you brought your own. I suspect that had something to do with lack of information to you about the goings on. Bout all I had time to do was the pictures. I even tried to title most of them this time. We bring our own internet so I was able to upload the pictures during short periods of down time.
I suspect that first timers got a real look at how many folks it takes to put these things on. Without all of those folks these would not happen.
I just have to brag about the shrip boil supper last night. It was all you can eat and then some, totally unbelievable vendor. I hate boiled shrimp myself but he had sausages and I got a few of them as I'd pass by. Difficult to believe how that many folks got fed so fast last night.
Trying to plan for Branson now. We won't get back to Dexter until Friday but I have accessories that we picked up that we will get started on shortly.
We werre recipients of folks donating time to work on our coach this time. Can't say enough about GMCers lending hands to help others.
See yall in 6 months.
Dan
--
Dan & Teri Gregg
Dexter, Mo.

http://danandteri.blogspot.com/

[Ken Burton]

I'm sorry about no outside WiFi. I was suppose to bring the stuff and set it up like I did last time we were in Dothan. Unfortunately I did not make the rally so the WiFi equipment is still here in Indiana.

Blame it on me.

Ken B.
--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

[Ken Henderson]

Nope, don't blame it on Ken B. To take full advantage of what's available,
everyone should have an Alfa AWUS036H wifi adapter. I had wifi in the
coach most of the time, except when everyone was on line & streaming.

But even that's not the complete answer: I had to substitute for HER
(severe laryngitis) in the GMCMI Board Meeting today. When Kim
pathetically pleaded "...do I really have to try to please all these people
who want wifi throughout every campground...?", I had to speak up with my
opinion: "NO -- it can't be done. There's not a campground in the
country where the wifi can support a group this size when everyone gets on
line and starts streaming video -- the bandwidth just ain't there!"

It's time we all realized that there are real limits to what GMCMI can
provide. If we want to have full speed access everywhere we go, we're
going to have to provide it for ourselves. And even when we attempt to do
that, with "hot spots", or "mifi", or whatever, we'll be disappointed at
times. My suggestion to the board is that we should start trying to
educate people on their options so that they can do that -- NOT expect Ken
B, nor anyone else, to do the impossible.

I haven't yet gotten into the mifi club -- I'm about to, in preparation for
my upcoming 5 month trip to the NW. Someone's mentioned Millenicom and it
sounds good to me right now. Anyone's experience with that or other
services would be appreciated -- I've got to commit soon. SHE won't
appreciate it if we go off incommunicado.

Ken H.

On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 11:55 PM, Ken Burton wrote:

>
>
> I'm sorry about no outside WiFi. I was suppose to bring the stuff and set
> it up like I did last time we were in Dothan. Unfortunately I did not make
> the rally so the WiFi equipment is still here in Indiana.
>
> Blame it on me.
>
> Ken B.
>

[Ken Burton]

Ken,

I have set up WiFi at most rallies since Emery was in charge. The problem at Dothan last time was lack of any outside access points. Their router and ISP were more than adequate. At Dothan I ran one outside access point and two repeaters. We had full coverage of the parking area. I have the equipment to do this.

The real problem at most sites is having good upstream connections from the WiFi to the Internet. Every one of these sites have different problems. At Amana Colonies it was an ISP problem. They had the same problem the first time we were there and they never fixed it. I tried to help them the first time we were there, but they weren't interested. They were more concerned about driving around counting coaches every day. They were even less interested the second time. The problem is so bad there that one private company that uses the building once a month installed their own router and upstream service in the building where our vendors were.

The best sites were Berrien Springs (under Emery) and Harrington (under Ray) where we ordered our own line and had full control of the setup. The WiFi worked well in Pueblo only because we found an unused Comcast line and installed a repeater on a 3 story building to make it to the parking area.

At most sites, relying on the park to deliver reliable service is a mistake. Most do not have any idea what they are doing. Duquoin was an exception and it worked very well. That circuit was only 1.5 meg but everyone was happy.

If you want good service at the rallies, then we need to check out the site thoroughly long before we arrive and design a plan to get what we want / need. Since Emery left the job, unfortunately WiFi has not been important to the rally planners until the day the rally starts. Then it is too late to do anything about any upstream deficiencies.

The second much lesser problem is setting user expectations of what is available for their use. Most users only want email and a little web access. You are correct, if someone wants to stream anything they are using a lot bandwidth taken away from others. I have not seen this as a major problem. As an example Elkhart worked as poorly at 4AM with no one but me signed on as it did during the day.

No one much cares about WiFi issues these days until the start of the rally. Then we are jumping through hoops to come up with acceptable service. Most of the times we are successful but at a few like Amana, Elkhart, and Rapid City there is nothing that could be done.

Another major problem I have seen with locations that say they have coverage is poor design of the in park systems. At Elkhart and Rapid City the park installed multiple access points but had them all on the same SSID and channel. This made the user's machines constantly hop from one AP to another and made all of the APs beat against each other on the same RF channel. At Amana the coverage is excellent but the upstream ISP service and transport is totally screwed up.

So if you want better service at these rallies, elevate WiFi service planing in your rally preparations for each site. I have jumped through a lot of hoops to get WiFi running at the last minute at many sites. Most of the time we were successful. At a few there was nothing that could be done. If you want a good guarantee, then order a line from the cable company or phone company and we can get away from relying on poor park systems.

Again, I apologize for not being there and not setting up the WiFi at Dothan. I had multiple reasons we could not make it. We wanted to be there. Had I been there I would have brought and installed the appropriate equipment just like we did last time. It should have run well just like Dothan did last time. I am assuming that they had the same Linksys router and same ISP at Dothan.

Now is the time to start asking and planning for WiFi at Branson. I have no idea what they do or do not have at that site. So I have no idea what equipment o bring.

Ken B.



--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

[Johnny Bridges]

________________________________


That's why I noted the Dothan/Houston County rule - or perhaps in this case the Peanut Fetival rule - nothing to do with GMCMI, and given the number of us who brought pets, I don't see the club ever taking such a stand.  We are, however, bound to the rules of the venue and unfortunately more and more of them exclude dogs.  There's one coffee shop here in Gainesvliie (GA) which does allow dogs.  They had to jump through some hoops with the health dept to get this done, but it is do-able.
 
While I'm on the subject, let me suggest that yall have a look at your homeowner's insurance.  If the policy has breed specific exclusions, vote with your pocket.  Cancel it, go elsewhere, and tell the agent why you did so.  Although there's a lot of anecdotal press to sell papers and TV shows, there is no scientific study to show any one breed of dog is any more or less dangerous, agressive, or passive than any other.  Don't support any organization which believes otherwise.  (We in the South tried this idea with people in the past, that didn't work either)
 
--johnny
'76 23' transmode norris
'76 palm beach


________________________________
From: Emery Stora <emery...@mac.com>
To: gmc...@temp.gmcnet.org
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2013 10:21 PM

Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Home from Dothan

Johnny

We have allowed pets at all of our conventions.  You can have them in your motorhome or leashed outside.  However I don't know of any place in the country that will allow dogs into buildings where food is served unless they are guide dogs.

Emery Stora

On Mar 27, 2013, at 11:10 AM, Johnny Bridges wrote:

> You oughta been there!  Aside from the Dothan/Houston County rule against dogs in the buildings, it's a hell of a venue.  Even torrential rains didn't loosen the ground so much the GMCs wouldn't pull off it.  The next one I go to, I'm gonna borrow all the x-pens I can find and build an off - leash 'dog park' for the duration.  More and more venues are doing the 'no dogs' thing unfortunately.
> 

[Ken Henderson]

Ken,

Unfortunately, with the explosion of the hand-held "computer" population,
the demand for wifi bandwidth is growing too fast for you, or anyone else,
to keep up. Not long ago, there probably averaged one data consumer per
2-3 coaches, now, the average is probably up to 1 per coach, with many
having 2. That average is going to continue to grow, as is the average
consumption of each of them. With TV, Netflix, Hulu, etc., available via
wifi, there's less incentive for people to have their own satellite
antennas or to even plug into a campground's cable service -- all to the
detriment of the low-bandwidth email-only users.

Perhaps Kim should place more emphasis on wifi, including gathering
information for you (or someone else) during site surveys, but for ANYONE
to harangue her because their connection is poor or non-existent is just
not acceptable. It's extremely difficult to just satisfy our schedule,
space, and support requirements without imposing an impossible wifi burden
also.

We DO ALL appreciate your mostly-successful efforts to provide good
coverage at our rallies; we sure know it when you're not here.

But, this is primarily a communication problem (as are most problems) --
between people, not between electronic devices.

Ken H.

On Thu, Mar 28, 2013 at 6:52 AM, Ken Burton wrote:

>
> I have set up WiFi at most rallies since Emery was in charge. The problem
> at Dothan last time was lack of any outside access points. Their router
> and ISP were more than adequate. At Dothan I ran one outside access point
> and two repeaters. We had full coverage of the parking area. I have the
> equipment to do this.
>

...

[Jeremy]

Geez... It didn't even cross my mind when I was in Dothan to worry about Wifi. Whenever I was in the main building I wandered over to the Wifi Cafe to check my emails and look at anything I wanted. I did spend some time over there Skyping with my kids since I was missing them.

The rest of the time I was so busy going to sessions, meeting people, and sightseeing the coaches I didn't even think about it. At night I picked up this thing called a BOOK and read it. Of course, I had a kindle with me, but for once I left it turned off. My wife packed our portable TV/DVD player, but I didn't even get it out.

Most be something about my GMC that brings out the Luddite in me. That and I spend my life in front of a computer, thank goodness for vacations to get away from it.

Pretty strange that the 34 year old was pretty happy living without the technology.

--
Thanks,
Jeremy Knezek
1976 Glenbrook
Birmingham, AL

[Matt Colie]

Johnny,

Most states that I have dealt with have rules about dogs in places with open food.

For me, I'd often prefer having the dogs instead of so many people's children. The dogs aren't just better behaved, but they are cleaner.

Oh, By the way, You won an insulated tote bag. I was sitting next to KenH and he suggested that he could hold it until you and then remembered that George Zookoff (sp?) lives close by you and so it got passed to him.

Matt - waiting for the wagon train to form up
--
Matt & Mary Colie
'73 Glacier 23 Chaumière (say show-me-air) Just about as stock as you will find
SE Michigan - Twixt A2 and Detroit

[Johnny Bridges]

Thanks for the win!  I'll get it off George when next I see him.  As to food and dogs, the Europeans are light years ahead of us in that department.  And it's do - able, the easiest way being a patio for diners where their pets can join them.  As I said, one joint (Inman Perk) in Gainesville allows dogs inside the place.  They had to change some of their layout, and some of their access ways for staff to get it done.  It was worth it, they do a lot of 'pet' binniss.
One way around this which happens and which I >don't< condone is to put a harness on the dog and claim "Service animal in training."  The dog is then allowed pretty much anywhere under ADA.  The downside is, as people take advantage of the current ADA rules, eventually it will blow up and become much more restrictive, to the detriment of those people who truly benefit from service animals. 
Wanna see what real service dogs can do?  Have a look at
http://www.akc.org/news/ace/2012/honorees.cfm
and scroll down to the Service Award.  As far as we know, Pilot is only the second BWD extant who is a Service Dog, and the first to be so honored.   Ann gets in my coach at shows by having Pilot step up into the door, and then uses him to pull her up.

 
--johnny
'76 23' transmode norris
'76 palm beach


________________________________

From: Matt Colie <matt7...@gmail.com>
To: gmc...@temp.gmcnet.org
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 9:42 AM

Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Home from Dothan

[Ken Burton]

When I lived in France, The local watering hole / restaurant had a cute doggie that came by every evening around 5:30 for petting and treats. No one ever thought that he did not belong there. I never figured out whose doggie he was.

--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

[Jim Galbavy]

Johnny,

Banson KOA (site of the fall GMCMHI rally) has an off leash dog park. ...but before I would take it on myself to set up x-pens at a rally, I would check with the rally site owners thru Kim to make sure that that is not a problem. You and I are used to going to dog shows where the site owners are willing to look the other way for the sake of booking the show. ...and then there is the issue of cleaning up the pen site to the condition it was in before we arrived. just saying......

jim galbavy
'73 x-CL ANNIE
back home in Lake Mary, FL

[rally...@juno.com]

Rules are different in France. Some restaurants will even set a plate
for your dog.
That was 1991, may be different, now.
RonC

On Thu, 28 Mar 2013 11:48:47 -0500 Ken Burton <n9...@comcast.net> writes:
>
>
> When I lived in France, The local watering hole / restaurant had a
> cute doggie that came by every evening around 5:30 for petting and
> treats. No one ever thought that he did not belong there. I never
> figured out whose doggie he was.
> --
> Ken Burton - N9KB
> 76 Palm Beach
> Hebron, Indiana

> _______________________________________________
> GMCnet mailing list
> Unsubscribe or Change List Options:
> http://temp.gmcnet.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/gmclist
>

Ron & Linda Clark
1978 Eleganza II
North Plains, ORYGUN

[Johnny Bridges]

That's a given.  Don't wanna jepordize anyplace as a rally site.  A lot of KOAs have off-leash facilities.  Actualy,  a lot of venues are caught up in insurance constraints.  And pretty much all show - giving clubs, like both of mine, carry substantial limit liability to keep the venue owners happy. 
I won't be surprised when someone makes the case that we who appreciate old vehicles are liable because they don't have some of the modern accoutrements, regardless the facts of the accident.  Again, the cost of defense is likely to persuade the underwriters to simply skip that (very small) market segment. 

 
--johnny
'76 23' transmode norris
'76 palm beach

From: Jim Galbavy <j.ga...@att.net>
To: gmc...@temp.gmcnet.org

Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 1:17 PM
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Home from Dothan

[Dan Gregg]

Ken B, you were missed by all. I took a small repeater to help some folks with wifi. When i went to set it up, I forgot an eathernet cable. Never had time to find a Radio Shack and no one had one I could borrow. I do not depend on others for wifi but I used to and realize folks enjoy it. Though, wifi was available inside. No complaints.
See yall in Branson

Sent from my iPhone

Dan
--
Dan & Teri Gregg
Dexter, Mo.

http://danandteri.blogspot.com/

[Rob Mueller]

Emery,

If we had a convention in France it wouldn't be a problem! ;-)

Regards,
Rob M.

-----Original Message-----
From: Emery Stora

Johnny

We have allowed pets at all of our conventions. You can have them in your motorhome or leashed outside. However I don't know of
any place in the country that will allow dogs into buildings where food is served unless they are guide dogs.

Emery Stora

[Johnny Bridges]

You just didn't ask the right folks :) :)
For future reference, I've usually got a fair collection of cables in my laptop case.
 
--johjny
'76 23' transmode norris
'76 paLm beach


________________________________
From: Dan Gregg <greg...@hotmail.com>
To: gmc...@temp.gmcnet.org
Sent: Thursday, March 28, 2013 9:21 PM

Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Home from Dothan

[Ken Burton]

I do not disagree with most of what you said. I'm just saying that people do not come to rallies to watch TV (Netflix and Hulu). Also most people carrying smart phones and i-pad type devices also use cell service for their access. Yes, I realize most of them are also dual connect (Cell and WiFi) and could put some minor additional load on the network, but the load in no more than any one would see if they walked into their local McDonalds or coffee shop.

I currently support an entire airport on a 1.5 meg guaranteed circuit with burst to 4 meg. (I'm trying to get him to upgrade because faster is available for the same price from an different ISP). We have people coming and going all the time with those type of devices. We have bored corporate pilots hanging around all day waiting for their passengers using those type of devices. On top of that I have many remote links running out of the main terminal supplying private hangars, 4 businesses, a remote pilot lounge, and remote self serve gas pumps. Also connected are 4 remote cameras and a web server with outside inbound internet access. Is there potential to exceed the available bandwidth? The answer is definitely yes, but it hasn't happened yet.

My past monitoring of rally usage does not indicate that people are watching Hulu or Netflix. Most are on and off in less than 15 minutes. (I take a snap shot of users every 10 minutes.) None, other than me monitoring usage, stays on for 1 hour. GMC rally people do not spend $1000 or more in rally fees and gas to just sit in their coaches watching movies. Also 95% of them go to bed by 9PM.

I still stick with my original story. Give me a good upstream link to the internet, control of the router for an adequate DHCP pool, and a site good survey. With enough notice to plan and set things up, we will supply good service.

Your other choice is to scale back and say we do not want to do this any more and make people go to a central location like happened in Dothan for their WiFi access.

You are suffering from the same thing many of my clients do. They think they want/need more without actually defining the business need and measuring what they really were using. I had one CIO (IT manager and hospital VP) tell me he had to have a T3 (DS3) which is equivalent to 28 T1's to the internet. After going over a month's the usage data I found he could hardly justify two T1's rather than the 28 he wanted. I found out later that a friend of his at another hospital had a T3 so he wanted /"needed" one also. Determine the business need and measure the existing usage. Only then and then make a decision based on the need current need, future need, and cost.

Again I did not intend to force this as an issue at Dothan. I just could not make it there as planned. If I had made it, very few people would have been complaining assuming their Internet connection (ISP) was the same as last time. The DHCP pool was a small issue at Dothan last time but there are ways to work around it.

I think you have 3 choices.

1. Do nothing and it will be haphazard and supplied on a best effort basis as in the past.

2. Quit offering any service at all. I do not think some members will be happy.

3. Put a little more effort into planning and good site surveys ahead of time to provide good to excellent service.

Those are decisions that Kim and the GMCMI board members need to address.

I'll gladly participate in any discussions that the board and Kim wish to have on this subject.

We probably should take any further discussion of this off net.

--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

[Ken Burton]

The last time we were there I magnet mounted an access point on east side of the building ethernet connected it direct to the router. I pointed directional antennas towards the parking area. Then we put two additional repeaters on the telephone poles in the parking area. I believe you helped me install them. Also Ray S. brought another non-Cisco repeater that we set up on a short pole up against the fence to the south of the building. I do not think it was necessary but why not use it since we had it. The major problem we had was the DHCP pool in the router was too small and no one had the password so I could not make it bigger. I ended up giving a bunch of people static addresses and cleared the router twice a day to clear out the pool for the remaining users.

--
Ken Burton - N9KB
76 Palm Beach
Hebron, Indiana

[Mark Grueninger]

That is something I found interesting here in Germany. It is not unusual to see a dog sitting quietly next to the table while its people are eating. They bring them along just like a well behaved baby. I suppose it is no big deal to them. I think the dogs are much more accepted and people tend to instill discipline in them more so then in the states.

Mark

[quote title=emerystora wrote on Wed, 27 March 2013 21:21]Johnny

We have allowed pets at all of our conventions. You can have them in your motorhome or leashed outside. However I don't know of any place in the country that will allow dogs into buildings where food is served unless they are guide dogs.

Emery Stora

--
Mark Grueninger 76 Palm Beach
Valmeyer IL

[Matt Colie]

Ken Henderson wrote on Thu, 28 March 2013 00:47

> Nope, don't blame it on Ken B. To take full advantage of what's available, everyone should have an Alfa AWUS036H wifi adapter. I had wifi in the coach most of the time, except when everyone was on line & streaming.
>
> But even that's not the complete answer: I had to substitute for HER (severe laryngitis) in the GMCMI Board Meeting today. When Kim pathetically pleaded "...do I really have to try to please all these people who want wifi throughout every campground...?", I had to speak up with my opinion: "NO -- it can't be done. There's not a campground in the
> country where the wifi can support a group this size when everyone gets on line and starts streaming video -- the bandwidth just ain't there!"

> <snipped>
> Ken H.

Ken,

First - thanks for a wonderful quiet night.
Next - I have an Alfa AWUS036HNR (More power than H and 802.11n) and 12dB directional antenna, and I couldn't get a usable signal where I was, so the guys out in left field didn't stand a chance.

But, the real issue is....
Can you count on GMCMI to provide you ever want and desire???
FNo.
I need internet access to conduct business about 3~4 hours a day. So, I bring my own access. I typically look at the maps when planning, just to make sue there is a good chance, but I also have a 38dB repeater in the coach. If you NEED ACCESS, this is what you have to do.

I really missed having Ken and Laurie there (I won't say which one more), but missing his 802.11 access was not the reason.

Our coaches were built to be self sufficient. I realize that is no long desired by some, but it is how I do things.

Matt - bivouaced in a quiet dead end outside of Savannah

--
Matt & Mary Colie
'73 Glacier 23 Chaumière (say show-me-air) Just about as stock as you will find
SE Michigan - Twixt A2 and Detroit

[Johnny Bridges]

You n me.  I bring either a Clear (Verizon) USB toy or a fullblown modem along.  I don't do 3 -4 hours a day, but I do have to be able to hit our wire for the few minutes it takes to get something essential back on-line or fire off the spare.  I don't expect the club to support my business, after all.  Apropos of which, anybody who wants some bandwidth off it is welcome to it.  3G everywhere, 4G where it is available, and where there's a Clear presence (Cities) it screams.
There was enough signal in Dothan late Saturday night to crank up my little frequency agile radio and shut down another site so a couple of doofi from American Tower could do their biannual inspection of the top hundred feet or so of the tower that station's main is on.  Saridday midnight to two ayem, probably a couple thousand bux at issue.  Even at that rate, it pays for them to give me the means to stay in touch.
 
--johnny
'76 23' transmode norris
'76 palm beach

From: Matt Colie <matt7...@gmail.com>
To: gmc...@temp.gmcnet.org

Sent: Friday, March 29, 2013 7:57 PM
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Home from Dothan

[Rob Mueller]

Johnny,

I have a Verizon Pantech UL290 4G USB modem that I bought last year. Before that I had a Verizon 790 USB modem.

I am on a month to month plan with no contract.

Upon arrival in the USA I go to a Verizon Corporate Office and get a new SIM card and new number. It costs $35 activation fee and
$50 per month.

I get 5GB of downloads per month.

I have my Acer Notebook configured to let me know when any software updates are available and when that happens I go to a place that
has WiFi available and download the updates.

So far I have never gone over 5GB in a month.

When I leave the USA I cancel the service.

Regards,
Rob M.


-----Original Message-----

From: Johnny Bridges

You n me.  I bring either a Clear (Verizon) USB toy or a fullblown modem along.  I don't do 3 -4 hours a day, but I do have to be
able to hit our wire for the few minutes it takes to get something essential back on-line or fire off the spare.  I don't expect the
club to support my business, after all.  Apropos of which, anybody who wants some bandwidth off it is welcome to it.  3G everywhere,
4G where it is available, and where there's a Clear presence (Cities) it screams.
There was enough signal in Dothan late Saturday night to crank up my little frequency agile radio and shut down another site so a
couple of doofi from American Tower could do their biannual inspection of the top hundred feet or so of the tower that station's
main is on.  Saridday midnight to two ayem, probably a couple thousand bux at issue.  Even at that rate, it pays for them to give me
the means to stay in touch.
 
--johnny

[Johnny Bridges]

Well, the USB one was actually made by Cisco and has a Cisco part number on the side which I forget, but I've used to find the drivers for it.  The big modem is Motorola.  The Motorola wants to see a Clear or Verizon signal, the Cisco hooks to anything with 3G or 4G available.  The Company pays the freight on both of them, we do national service out of Silver Spring MD home office.  We buy Verizon, AT&T, Speakeasy, and Megapath that I know of, plus some others.  Additionally, I buy some bandwidth from the local wireline company and some from the local cable company.  With the slow but steady demise of ISDN in this country, we're migrating our backup transmitter feeds to various i.p. techniques Company - wide.  With the implementaion of IPv6, I can see the total demise of circuit switched communications in favor of packet routing.  Might's well to be ready for it.
 
--johnny

 

From: Rob Mueller <robmu...@iinet.net.au>
To: gmc...@temp.gmcnet.org
Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2013 8:46 AM
Subject: Re: [GMCnet] Home from Dothan