THE NEW T1 AT LAST!

[Peter]

As of today the long-awaited new T1 transmitter has been installed. It
is broadcasting, but we still need to adjust the antenna’s direction
and attitude, so that the signal will reach the maximum of residents
requesting membership.

This installation required a lot of work, some of it arduous, some
even dangerous. From negotiating with landowners (Bob and Chip) to
clearing around poles (Bob, Chip, and Richard D’Urso) to mounting the
antenna (Bob, CJ, Alan, Blake) to final tuning, testing and
installation (Alan, who logged days and weeks in testing and
researching), and pestering Sovernet, FairPoint, Sovernet, and The
State of Vermont (my job) , this success rests on hundreds of hours
contributed by 7 members of the cooperative.

So this might be a good time to remember what “cooperative” means. In
theory, a cooperative grants benefits to members, who, in return,
donate time to building and maintaining the system. This reciprocation
produces very low costs for members.

Well, we have low costs and, in time, we hope to make them still
lower. The burden of expanding and maintaining our network, however,
still rests almost entirely upon a handful of volunteers (none of whom
receives any compensation). If you have a skill that might help us, or
want to learn a new one, do let me know. If you have equipment or
other resources you would like to donate or lend, please tell me.

The next step for the cooperative will be the installation of EUMs
(receiving radios) at the homes of people who have requested
membership. At times such installations are quick and easy, but most
of the time some problem pops up[ and the installers find themselves
spending hours or even days on one installation. Helpers are always
need. People interested in learning how to install EUMs are much in
demand.

So, if you have asked for membership, please remind me. I have a
list, but I want to double-check to make sure it is in order. If you
can remember the date of your request, all the better.

We will begin installing additional EUMs, as our time permits, once
the direction and attitude of the antenna have been adjusted to give
the cooperative maximum benefits. Think about contributing your time
as the cooperative enters this significant stage of expansion.

[Peter Haviland]

Thanks for all the work you have done.

Let me know if you need help with EMU installations.

Peter Haviland

[Ken Butcher]

Congrats to all working the project on a long fought victory.

kb

[Kim M]

We second that.  A heartful thanks to all who worked solong and hard on making this a reality.    Tom & Kim Morandi --- On Sun, 11/23/08, Ken Butcher <kbut...@hughes.net> wrote:

[Linda Lazzari]

Hi Peter,

My name is Linda Lazzari and I live at 402 Jepson Road, Stamford. I did
request to go broadband back on or around 8/27/2008.

Thank you.

Linda Lazzari

[P. Grudin]

Dear Linda,

Fine. I will put your name on the list. We hope to b e doing some installations towards the end of this month.

Peter

--


Peter D. Grudin, Ph.D.

[Adria Weatherbee]

I want to give a very special thanks to Alan Clayson who spent waaay
to much of his time at my house dealing with the Airport, Apple
support and myself to get me up and running. Thanks to his patience
and perseverance I now have it installed and it's working great!

Thanks again

Adria

[Alan Clayson]

Hello, Adria

I appreciate the thanks. Coming from one for whom "patience" has to be
a religion (ie. in terms of your wait for broadband), this is praise
indeed, but very unnecessary.

Other than the Airport Extreme which, in the end, appears to be
nothing but a router with attitude, things went very well (I thought).
I must admit that if I ever get another desktop machine, it'll be one
just like yours. Not only the sublime hardware, but I absolutely loved
what I saw of Apple's current OS.

At any rate, in checking your stats, things appear solid at the
moment. Let's hope that the new site above you offers some
alternatives before mother nature shrouds your signal next spring.

Alan