DataStorm RIP

By Jim

We are retiring our dish.

 

You who have been following us for a while know how much we love our Internet satellite service.  We had it installed in ‘03 before we left Florida, our first year out.

 

Back then, cellular broadband was almost non-existent and Wi-Fi was in its infancy.  Dial-up was out of the question for us.

Our fledgling business plan was based on the ability to be connected with high-speed Internet wherever we traveled.  Satellite Internet was the only viable solution at the time.

 

So, we bit the bullet and forked over the $6K for the (then) state-of-the-art F1 DataStorm with the 4020 Hughes modems and D1 controller.  Service with one static IP address was $115/month through Ground Control.

Over the years, we only had a few problems that were readily handled by MotoSat or Ground Control.  The DataStorm Users Group and especially founder Don Bradner were our lifeline and support.

 

I turned off service last fall while we were in Florida for the winter because our home park, Paradise Island, has good Wi-Fi.  Besides, our 3rd set of modems had finally bit the dust and I needed to upgrade.

 

Since we left Florida this year, I replaced the Upper Control Board on the mount, got the newest D4 controller and a new 7000S modem.  I figured I was all set.  Wrong.  I was not able to get everything working together.  Hours were spent on the phone with MotoSat technical support.  More hours were spent on site by a MotoSat tech at the FMCA Convention in Bowling Green.  They finally decided that a new LNB and arm might fix it.  But our dish was just too old, they didn’t have a replacement to send.

 

We could spend big bucks and replace the dish.

 

What we will do is use our Verizon cellular broadband and Wi-Fi when it is available to access the Internet.

 

Next year we might replace the dish for our travels west.   There are still lots of places we want to go where cell towers are scarce and Wi-Fi is not available.

 

Like we always say, “If you *Need* the Internet, you need all three ways to connect.  Satellite, Cellular, and Wi-Fi”

Datastorm User's Rally is over

We really do love this group! First of all, it's such a great size. We had about 115 RVs here, mostly with 2 people. That's big enough to have plenty of new people to meet, but small enough that it's almost possible to know everybody. Secondly, the purpose of the rally is to learn. Learn about satellite technology and computer technology - our favorite thing to do! And, last, of course is that we get to present a lot of seminars - and to this group we can be a little more advanced than we are normally.

The slide show above comes from our Picasa Web Albums. Here's Jim giving his google earth seminar and he decided to show the new, included, flight simulator feature. He's using a joystick to fly a jet over Google Earth!

And, these aren't just a bunch of computer geeks, they're some really fun people. The sound of laughter was everywhere.

We attended the very first Datastorm rally in Tampa, Florida in 2003. At the time we didn't even have our dish - we were 'wannabees.' It didn't take us long after that though. We were so impressed with what we saw and learned at that first rally. I think the most impressive thing was the participation of the Motosat company. From that very beginning rally to now, the top brass of the company attend the rally. And, the top engineering and support folks as well. This is the place to be if you have *any* questions about Motosat or Datastorm.

Here's Royal Lamb (yes, that's really his name) - he is VP of Sales and Marketing and he's attended every Datastorm rally - all five. He's one of the 'suits'! Ever seen a 'suit' making a service call?

And, he knows how to have fun too!

The president, Jim Pendleton, has also attended all the Datastorm Users' rallies. He's the one on the left in this next photo.

They sure make me feel good about being associated with Motosat.

Next year, the rally will be the second week of November in Tampa. Sure hope we can work it into our schedule!

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A New Seminar

We've presented all of our seminars many times. Here at the Datastorm rally we taught "Every RVer needs a Blog", "Practice Safe Computing", "Managing Digital Photos with Picasa", and "Using Google Earth". We are very practiced at these - no preparation needed.

Yesterday we gave a new one, "Building a Website." As I said in my introduction, 'There are as many ways to build a website as there are people building them." So, it is a bit of a daunting task to cover the subject in an hour and a half! It actually came off fairly well, although I have plenty of ideas on how to improve it for next time. If you'd like to see the seminar handout, you can go to the Geeks on Tour "Articles" page. You'll find the Build a Website handout there (at the bottom)as well as all our other handouts. These are for your personal use only please!

I forgot to count, but I think we had at least 40 attendees - more than I expected.

I think my favorite part of the seminar is when I mention Search Engine Optimization. I indulge in a little back-patting by showing if you Google for "Datastorm Installation" our website, GeeksOnTour.com, comes up first in the list! Pretty cool. My purpose in showing that is to teach that you don't have to pay for ads or other slick tricks to get placement - I didn't. You *do* need good content. Of course, I am exceptionally lucky! And, it may change tomorrow - but, I have 40 witnesses who saw it today :-)

It was a gorgeous day in Tucson today. The wind has died down. We had a great day. Ending with a delicious meal! The rally organizers searched for a good caterer and found Porta-Pit. They told us the food would be good, and they weren't kidding!

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Datastorm Users' Rally, Monday

The first night is a meet and greet, potluck. There are at least 70 rigs who have never attended one of these rallies before. It's great to get to meet new friends! Question: How do you get more Internet Satellite dishes than RVs? Because some rigs have more than one dish! There is actually one rig here with 3 Datastorm dishes! Two on the 5th wheel trailer and one on the truck that tows it! I'm including the picture above because that is the RV of our undisputed leader, the guru of all things Datastorm, Don Bradner. I've posted LOTS mor photos on a Picasa Web Album of the Rally. There's a Picasa Web album of the 2006 rally too.

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Datastorm Users' Rally, Tucson 2007

The Datastorm Users' rally started today. We're in Tucson at the Beaudry RV resort along with about 100 other RVs with the Datastorm Internet Satellite dish. This is the 4th such rally we've attended. It's such a unique group. One of the most remarkable things is simply seeing so many RVs with these special satellite dishes. It's special to see this sight during the day, but it's even more other-worldly at night because of the blue light that is the trademark of Motosat who makes these dishes. It's quite impossible to convey this sight. I've tried it with the camera, this time I'm trying with the video camera. It's not any better - but here it is:

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Satellite Success

I guess if it wasn't hard, anyone could do it. Jim's middle name (in addition to 'reboot') is 'perserverence.' He keeps at it until it works. All day, half the night and with phone calls and emails to Motosat and the great folks at DatastormUsers.com (thanx Bill!) He's still getting an error message, and there's still a part due to arrive this morning. But, IT WORKS! ... and not a minute too soon! As I mentioned in an earlier post, our site is in the trees and we didn't even raise our dish because the Wi-Fi here is good, fast and free. Well, when I got up this morning and sat down to read my email, the Wi-Fi was down :-( Hey! No problem, I'll just jump on this other wireless network powered by the new satellite dish ... we know the password! Just another example of our belief that, "If you gotta have the Internet, you gotta have multiple methods to connect." Our multiple ways are 1. satellite, 2. Wi-Fi and 3. cell phone as modem. Today, another very popular method is Cellular Aircards. If money were not an issue, we'd have one of those too - just for the experience. We hear such great things about aircards these days that we wonder if they will overtake all other methods. I'll only believe it when I see it however. We have been in many places where our cell phone didn't work at all - an aircard would have the same problem. More cell towers are added all the time, but there are still 'black holes' for every provider. Our new satellite dish customer confirms this. He has aircards from both Sprint *and* Verizon and he still experiences lack of Internet often enough to justify purchasing the Datastorm. If you have an interest in satellite Internet, check out the Frequently Asked Questions on our website. Datastorm Rules!

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Meet Bob and Polly and new baby, Datastorm

One thing I notice, and like, about couples you meet while RVing ... they really get along well. Think about it, if you're gonna live 24/7 in a 35X12 (approx) box, you *BETTER* get along! Bob and Polly exemplify this philosophy, and they're a joy to be around. They are also fellow geeks. They used to live in Tampa and they had a software business which developed data systems for Juvenile Assessment Centers in several counties in Florida. They got out of that business a few years ago to follow Bob's dream of living on the road. Now they spend summers in Southwest Wyoming, some of the winter here in Florida, and their legal residence is in South Dakota. True full-time RVers, we have a lot in common with Bob and Polly. And, they decided to add to our common factors by getting a Datastorm Internet Satellite dish from us! This will help them in their new business ventures and stock-trading. Here's Jim and Bob getting their new dish onto the roof of their Dutch Star motorhome. Although the dish has to be secured to the roof with screws, Jim was happy that he didn't have to drill a big hole for the cabling because it worked to pass them inside the coach next to the exhaust vent. Here's the proud new owners admiring their magic dish. I snapped a photo of 'the boys' as they were playing with the new toy. They looked up at the sound of the flash popping up, and immediately went back to their toy. Aren't they cute? And, here's Polly, calling friends to tell about their new purchase. As the sun set, we have a new Satellite Internet connection here at Peace River. You'll be seeing them on the DatastormUsers.com map very soon now.