Internet for Chasing

[Dylan Johnson]

Hi Everyone,

I'm planning on getting the Millenicom Hotspot Plan for my first year of chasing this year. I was wondering, since my primary chase area will be rural, what would the best way to amplify my signal?

 

[Jeff Duda]

http://www.maximumsignal.net/ would be a good place to start. I believe Gordon Spencer, a forum member, owns or runs this site, so he could probably get you some high quality equipment for a reasonable price.

 

[Dylan Johnson]

Also another question I should add is what wattage should a power inverter have to run both a laptop and a signal amplifier?

 

[Ed Johnson]

I'd run them both on 12-volts and no inverter...

NAPA auto parts has a fine three-way 12-volt power adapter that you can wire to your battery and have plenty of power to run all your toys with. eBay has 12-volt power cords for your laptop, mifi, etc.

 

[Tim Carley]

I am running a MIFI 4510 with 6db antenna on a verizon 4g plan at $50 a month. with the antenna the network still provides good extended 3g service in remote areas (still havent tested it in NW Oklahoma yet, though). Also running a 200w inverter to run a laptop, MIFI, UV-5R hand held, and small additonal cooling fan. I have blown one fuse but i think that it was its time to go as i have had no problems since! I do always carry a spare fuse box.

 

[Walt VanRheen]

Ed is right. Taking 12 volt DC from your battery, converting it to a poor excuse for 110 volt AC, and then having your laptop's transformer back to DC again is very inefficient. Get a 12 volt power device to run your laptop and all the in car cell amps I have seen run on 12 volt DC anyways. Much more efficient overall.
Also be sure you fuse everything. I have been running in this fashion for the last 5 years and it works great. A Powerpole Power Distribution devise like a RIGrunner 4005 to serve up the 12volt are also the way to go. I have a fuse directly off the battery, have run 12gauge for both the pos and neg directly to the RIGrunner in the rear of the car. The RIGrunner has a fuse for power in, and each output is fused as well. You will never be disappointed with this method.
RIGrunners come in many models, but most chasers will be fine with the 4005. There are cheaper models, but they are not fused. If you have ever seen the results of an electrical fire, you will always us fuses. Pairing the correct gauge of wire and the right amp fuse correctly for the device is paramount to not blowing fuses. And never run multiple devises on one fuse.
FYI, I get my RIGrunner products at my local Ham radio outlet.

Also, you can trust Gordon Spencer when it comes to selecting the right amp for your needs.

 

[Joshua Nall]

I just reworked all of my in cab wiring and went with the 4005. Took 8 gauge wire off the battery to a hub then wired my inverter and the 4005 to this. It turned out really well. I built a wooden box that is approximately 5x6x14 that sits in the passenger floor. Still plenty of room for someone's feet. My hub, main switch, inverter,AC power strip and 4005 are mounted on top of this with the wiring going into the box and coming out to various accessories. I can quickly unplug and remove and then reinstall, everything uses powerpoles. As to the OP, I would go with a 400w if you want to use an inverter.. just because. You might want to plug something else up. I've got an amp from maximum signal and it wires up straight to 12V DC. The problem I see with getting away from AC completely is all the small chargers that you can so easily plug up to AC and a DC laptop power source is just something else to buy.

If you come off the battery, as has been stated, put a fuse at the battery.... I did not understand the importance of this for some time, but if you get a bad spot in the wire between the battery positive and the first fuse well then there is the possibility of contact to ground and all the bad stuff that will cause. It's not something that usually happens until 10 years down the road when the wire coating gets a crack in it or you have a place that has rubbed through...and all of the sudden you have problems, like smoke coming from under the hood.

 

[Matt Tottle]

You should not have unfused wiring of any gauge entering the passenger compartment, EVER. Basically any wiring that goes directly to the battery must have a fuse within 18 cable inches of the battery. There has been more than one member here who lost a vehicle to a fire started exactly from that.. I know Jason was one, I forget who else..

You have to be careful with those cigarette lighter multipliers too.. I have seen WAY too many of those that have melted to within one step of starting a fire. They are mainly cheap crap from China with 18 or 16ga lead wire (good for 10A) and what a lot of people do is cut the fused male plug off and hardwire it in without a fuse - and then they proceed to plug about 30 amps worth of crap into them. The biggest offenders are the laptop DC adapters. They can pull upwards of 15 amps by themselves because of what they have to do.. Unlike most mobile electronics, laptops generally run on 19-23v at about 4-5 amps, while your car's electrical system is only 12v. So they use a principle called linear conversion, which pulls extra amps in order to boost the voltage. Even a lot of cigarette lighters can't handle the load and fuses blow.

 

[Dylan Johnson]

Thanks for all the input, now I'm just wondering would this power inverter work with a laptop and cell phone signal amplifier plugged into it? Here is the link to the inverter: http://www.amazon.com/PowerLine-PowerCup-Mobile-Inverter-90309/dp/B0042X8XQE/ref=zg_bs_583328_13

 

[Windshear Kear]

Do they make "powerpole" style adapter for laptops...or are you guys wiring on some powerpole pig tails yourself?

 

[Windshear Kear]

I'd run them both on 12-volts and no inverter...

NAPA auto parts has a fine three-way 12-volt power adapter that you can wire to your battery and have plenty of power to run all your toys with. eBay has 12-volt power cords for your laptop, mifi, etc.

So far, I can only find the 3 way cigarette adapter/ splitters....not the hardwired version.

 

[Mothra]

So, yesterday i went to a verizon store to get this non-contracted mobile internet. they tell me there is no such thing. i have to have a 2 year contract. and there is a shut off and turn on fee every stinking time.
so i leave and go to best buy. i told the the dude that worked there what i was looking for and he goes "well have you looked at verizon?" i told him what had happened and he goes "of course they did...."
so he guided to verizon 4g mobile hotspot jetpack. which is non-contract and prepay month by month. HOWEVER! the only monthly options they have are $60 for 3gb or $90 for 10gb.
my question is, how much data do it need? i would be using my laptop for radar on different sights and sometimes mapquest. but i'll try to always use my tomtom.
could i survive on 3gb?

 

[jshields]

it depends on how much you plan on chasing each month and what you are going to be looking at when you are out. i recently went on a chase for 2 days and used a total of 179 MB. i was looking at mainly data from the spc site and then had my grlevel3 radar running for the entirety of the chase.

 

[Windshear Kear]

So, yesterday i went to a verizon store to get this non-contracted mobile internet. they tell me there is no such thing. i have to have a 2 year contract. and there is a shut off and turn on fee every stinking time.
so i leave and go to best buy. i told the the dude that worked there what i was looking for and he goes "well have you looked at verizon?" i told him what had happened and he goes "of course they did...."
so he guided to verizon 4g mobile hotspot jetpack. which is non-contract and prepay month by month. HOWEVER! the only monthly options they have are $60 for 3gb or $90 for 10gb. my question is, how much data do it need? i would be using my laptop for radar on different sights and sometimes mapquest. but i'll try to always use my tomtom.
could i survive on 3gb?

I contacted a Verizon sales rep online last week, and was quoted 4gb for $50-$60 per month....month to month. The biggest problem I saw, was having to pay the absurd price for a USB aircard or wireless router due to the fact I don't want a 2 yr contract. I've had a 3gb data plan on my smart phone for the last year...using various radar apps, etc, and I've never got anywhere near 3gigs.

 

[Matt Tottle]

Look into Millenicom if you don't want a contract. They have BYOD options if you want to buy a modem off Ebay or something, and if you want to buy it from them, they sell a USB modem and a MyFi device for $100 each. The plans are $70 a month across the board with no contract.

As for Powerpole, there are no laptop adapters that I know of that come with Powerpole connectors, but I would simply hack apart a cheap laptop CLA and wire the PP pigtail into it.