TornadoXtreme Live Chase Cam

[Chris Bowman]

Not sure what you mean by 'just purchase from the card' you are currently using. Do you mean purchase the card, or swap the card? But, yes they are going to explicitly use only their hardware they are building. Previous hardware will not work - or so the guy told me. I asked because I was wondering if I could just purchase a 595U now and use it on the new system. But he said no existing cards are incompatible. He also said the new cards would only cost $60 though. So really that's pretty cheap. No big deal IMO. Since I'm purchasing a new 595u card for only $99. I think I can resale for about the same price on Ebay. So little usage I may just claim it is new - which it basically would be. So, as it stands according to this guys current understanding of Millenicom's plans in May they will switch over requiring users to have a new account and purchase new equipment. The equipment cost is $60. There may be a very small sign up or activation fee (not sure), and then the plans are for the flat rate data plan to cost $39 / month.

Sorry about that. I didn't go back and proofread what I wrote. What I meant was if I can purchase the card I am leasing now from them. But you understood what I was asking and answered my question. Looks like I'll have to turn in my equipment and buy their new stuff. Thanks for clarifying and gathering the information from them. Should save me time and confusion in the future.

 

[Chris Nuttall]

So, are they still going to run this on a month-by-month plan with no contract? If they are rolling out in May, and it's their own network, I can't imagine how their coverage is going to be very big.

I was about ready to sign up for this after hearing about all the Alltel difficulties. Now, I'm not so sure. Too many questions and not enough answers.

 

[Derek Weston]

Just as a reminder for those who do not want to get locked into the 2 year contract..which I didn't either. But I found that at least AT&T allows you to turn the service off (temporarily suspend) up to six months at a time. For me this is perfect as I use the service more than 6 months each year as we have two distinct tornado seasons here in AL and then the hurricane season to add to that.
I would guess if one major carrier does this, the others would also. The time the service is turned off does not count toward the 2 year contract, but continues once it is turned back on. No big deal as far as I am concerned.
When I figure the cost of my aircard with a contract versus buying without a contract and the locked in rate that cannot go up for the contract length, it is beneficial to me. If the prices go down, so does mine. But with my contract, which will probably take 3 years to fulfill, I will be good. The total cancellation fee before prorating is only $200.00 I think, should I decide to cancel.
I know this has all been discussed before, but some may not have seen it, and to me, it is worth checking on and really comparing,

Sprint allows you to turn your coverage off and on as well.

 

[Derek Weston]

So, are they still going to run this on a month-by-month plan with no contract? If they are rolling out in May, and it's their own network, I can't imagine how their coverage is going to be very big.

I was about ready to sign up for this after hearing about all the Alltel difficulties. Now, I'm not so sure. Too many questions and not enough answers.

Would imagine it depends on how many towers they contract to get.

 

[Ryan McGinnis]

Would imagine it depends on how many towers they contract to get.

It's possible, too, that when the TV spectrum frees up in '09, there will be a LOT more opportunity for mobile internet. This is likely why they mention "new equipment needed" after they migrate from Sprint.

 

[Johnathan Brouwer]

As I mostly tether with Verizon, I have been trying to understand my options. If you get a dedicated data card and activate it thru sprint, verizon, etc...it is possible to deactivate it for a time and then reactivate it, but be very careful about doing this as they can and will EXTEND your contract for the time it is essentially deactivated.

This is not the case for me, as I tether and turn it off and on at different times, they only pro-rate my time for anything under a month at a time.

This seems to differ form what others have said, so I would specifically check with your provider. They seem to treat a tether as a "non-dedicated" service vs a dedicated data card which actually has its own number and is billed just like a phone.

I am drawn toward millenicon as they do not require a contract. I despise them (contracts) and watch my phone account like a hawk.

If anyone has anymore direct experience and/or background with them, please post...

 

[Bill Tabor]

Update: I was able to stream probably 80% to 90% of my chase yesterday with my new SW 595U and Millenicom service. It worked really well. There were some areas that were very slow even though I remained connected such as south on I20 near Cross Plains. That's too bad because I was going through some somewhat 'harrowing' experiences there, which might have made interesting viewing.

I'd like to thank David Drummond for his recommendations on Sprint, card, etc. I probably need to get his external antenna - the Wilson Trucker, or go with Gorden Spencer's antenna and amplifier. I can imagine I'll have extremely good connects then. I started my cell service in Austin and had a solid connect almost the whole way up into the Abilene and north area.

Anyway, I hope those of you that managed to catch the cam off my website or on the severe streaming site saw something interesting off my cam. I regret I was often running from the storm so the dashcam was pointed away, plus the road was often parallel to the storm making it difficult to point to the storm at times.

Bill

 

[Ben Holcomb]

You'll most definitely want to get an antenna and booster. Your cam looked great last night! Here's one of the quotes from our chat room last night:

"tabor's cam looks like the apocolypse"

 

[Bill Tabor]

You'll most definitely want to get an antenna and booster. Your cam looked great last night! Here's one of the quotes from our chat room last night:

"tabor's cam looks like the apocolypse"

...that's funny. They should have seen it when I was running from the giant hail core closing over me and dodging driving into a developing tornado / gustnado down by Cross Cut. Unfortunately I didn't have a good cell signal there.

 

[Bill Tabor]

I might add that my website is now mostly up to date for all chases until my last April 23rd. I still need to go through my video of possible tornadoes from previous chases. I plan on grabbing some stills, and maybe some small clips.

I also now need to update for the chase on the 23rd. Before now, all my chase pics and accounts for 2008 were on Stormtrack and some on Wxchase.

I didn't chase the 24th or 25th - I wasn't that crazy about the set up plus I've been meaning to turkey hunt with my Dad. That's what I've been up to the last 2 days. I shot a turkey, but he ran off....oh well.

Just chilling in west Tx currently. The weather's been very nice and pleasant. If tomorrow looks decent I will be chasing.

 

[Bill Tabor]

Let me add on my chase yesterday toward San Angelo and Brady to Brownwood Tx I found another cell phone data hole. I had zero service on Verizon or Sprint for this area. The area northwest of Brownwood toward Cross Cut / Cross Plains is poor also - although I have a weak signal as I recall (data wise) near Cross Plains. Probably a better antenna / amp would help - but I don't think it would in the SJT/BBD/BWD triangle.

Next time any of you are in this triangle chasing...please give us a report with your service and see if you have anything. I suspect there are just no cell towers anywhere nearby as it is extremely rural.

 

[Bill Tabor]

Sure enough this coverage hole shows up on the Sprint data coverage map:
http://coverage.sprintpcs.com/IMPACT.jsp

There's an even bigger one further sw toward Del Rio and just south of I10.