After dropping my AT&T iPhone plan for T-Mobile, AT&T called asking me to take an exit survey. All the normal questions were asked, “Why did you leave, what didn’t you like, how was the service” etc. etc. This went on for 20 minutes.

Near the end of the survey, AT&T started asking about Verizon specifically. Questions like, “Even if you’ve never been a customer of Verizon, what is your perception of them?” They wanted to know what I thought of Verizon based on what other people I know have said about Verizon. AT&T also asked what I thought about Verizon’s coverage compared to AT&T’s coverage. Obviously taking those AT&T vs. Verizon coverage map commercials to heart.

They never mentioned the iPhone specifically, but with all signs pointing to an upcoming Verizon iPhone, AT&T is obviously concerned. AT&T knows exactly when their exclusivity deal with Apple is up, so if anyone outside of Apple knows that a Verizon iPhone is coming, it’s AT&T. Also, AT&T never asked a single question regarding any other carrier.

Adding on to Merredith’s family plan, I’m now paying approximately $75 less per month. I get the same number of minutes, unlimited data and unlimited text (which I didn’t have on AT&T) for only $15 more per month on top of Merredith’s existing bill. That’s a fantastic savings, and I couldn’t be happier. Oh, and that also includes tethering!

The only downside is lack of 3G service on the iPhone due to T-Mobile using different frequencies for their 3G service. Surprisingly, I really don’t miss 3G. Pandora and all my other regularly used apps still run as expected. I can still stream SomaFM on the ‘High Bandwidth’ setting without breaks in service.

If I do feel the need for 3G speed I can tether the Sony Ericson TM717 that came with my account to my laptop and surf that way.

But best of all, I actually get uninterrupted voice and data service at my house. T-Mobile’s coverage is much better in that regard.

T-Mobile was also very easy to deal with in the store. They were able to tell us exactly how much everything would cost, and they were actually correct.

All-in-all, I’m very happy to be on T-Mobile. The service is excellent and I can actually use their product at my house. Imagine that!

Update 7/30: Jeff got the job done. We attended a nice ceremony and reception in Bangor and met lots of nice folks. Many had traveled as far as we did and even further.

The stock of Cadillac Mountain Stout has also been secured and lobster has been consumed by all. The best part of Bangor has been the weather. An amazing mid 70s for highs.

Update 7/29: DC and Baltimore traffic was a breeze this morning. We drove right through Philly and NYC with minimal traffic. I-95 took us right through the Bronx.

The Bronx from I-95

For whatever reason, Connecticut was the trouble spot. Between 2:00pm and 7:00pm traffic was ridiculous. Bumper to bumper most of the way inside and outside of the largest cities all the way to Massachusetts.

New York City Skyline

Philly Skyline

The worst part of the Northern portion of the trip was the crazy amount of tolls we had to pass through. States imposing tax/tolls on the Interstate system just doesn’t seem right. I guess the people up North don’t mind. That’s something you won’t see in the South, however.

Toll in New York State

Update 7/28: The drive from Florida to DC was really quite uneventful. We stopped at South of the Border (just South of the North Carolina line) which felt like a 1960s/1970s era tourist trap. Lots of statues of gorillas, flamingos, and Pedro in a sombrero.

South of the Borderder just South of the North Carolina border

Update 7/28 8:37a: We’ve repurposed the trip into the most epic beer run ever.

Update 7/27: Flew into Jacksonville and picked up the minivan which is a light blue Chrysler Caravan. We’re calling it the Blue Beauty. Got the CB/WX radio installed for maximum information consumption as we make out trip northward. Here’s an image taken from the air, plus some HD footage taken from the plane:

The events this summer include a road trip from Jacksonville Florida to Bangor Maine to attend Jeff’s wedding. 6 of us are piling into a mini van for this epic 2,700 mile drive over the course of a week or so. I’m going to be adding updates to this post. Photos, video, etc. Our progress can also be tracked on the embedded Latitude module above. You can also follow along on twitter.

The fun starts tomorrow afternoon when I fly out to Jacksonville. Check back often!

My contract with AT&T is up next week, so naturally I’ve been getting snail mail and email with various offers. Overnight I received three emails from AT&T telling me I should visit some of their stores in Michigan and Indiana. Thanks for the info AT&T. Maybe I’ll make that 500 mile trip to Three Rivers.

Over the years I’ve called AT&T a few times about the lack of service at my house. Maybe Michigan is their solution.

It’s a simple setup. The 100 watt panel:

Siemens SR100 100 watt solar panel

Which connects to the power regulator. This prevents the battery from being overcharged:

Sun Force Solar Charge Controller

The regulator connects to the battery. I’m using a marine deep-cycle 75 amp hour battery from Wal-Mart.

75 amp/hr deep-cycle marine battery

Connected to the battery is an inverter which allows me to power standard AC devices.

Cobra 400 watt inverter

The total power draw from the connected devices, including the 0.5 amperes used by the inverter equals 1.65 amperes. If my math is right, the 75 amp/hr battery should power the modem and router for 45 hours if the battery were allowed to drain completely.

In actual use the modem and router drain the battery to around 60% overnight. If the sky stays sunny, the solar panel provides more than enough energy to recharge the battery each day.

The panel itself is not in an optimal position. It probably misses 3 hours of morning sunlight, then maybe another hour or two of late afternoon sun due to its location on the ground. It’s also not properly angled.

Solar panels connected to a battery pack can be a great system, but the current cost for solar panels really puts a robust system out of reach for a lot of people. The solar industry says $1.00 per watt is were these systems need to be in terms of cost. I’d like to see half that. A 3,000 watt non-battery system that ties directly into your home grid for around $3,000 with an inverter (not including labor costs) would be fantastic.

As for my little system, it’s a lot of fun to have even a tiny portion of my home being powered off the grid, even though I’ll never see a difference in my electric bill. I don’t know enough about batteries, so I worry about having one inside the house. I monitor its level constantly, never letting the battery get below 50%. I need to get a battery box, but with the gases that the battery gives off, I just don’t know how much of a concern that is with the inverter being so close-by.

Everything went well to begin with. We planted a variety of spring lettuce, carrots, radishes, etc. And they all sprouted right away. Unfortunately, they never grew any further than a few small leaves. Same issue with pepper and cucumber plants that were panted later. They never grew any further than the size they were when planted. Leaves also began to turn yellow. So growth was obviously being stunted for some reason.

These cucumber plants stayed this same size for several weeks. (July 3rd)

Overall yellowness and lack of growth. (July 3rd)

After a lot of reading, it seemed the garden had all the appearances of a nitrogen deficiency. As a lot of posters suggested, we applied blood meal. A week or two later we’re seeing green leaves and normal growth.

Green leaves with actual growth after blood meal application. (July 17)

While we’re a little behind in getting things started, I hope we’ll have enough time to produce a modest amount of vegetables before the end of the season. At the least, we should have a decent fall garden of lettuce and even better results next year.

This is a tomato plant that randomly popped up on the other side of the lawn. I’m anxious to see what it produces.

So, while reading about receiving sat. signals, I learned that NOAA also broadcasts various weather maps over shortwave radio for marine vessels. I just happened to have a little shortwave receiver and with the closest NOAA Radiofax station in New Orleans, I thought I’d see what I could pick up.

Using a piece of software called MultiMode and with my radio tuned to 8503.9 kHz, I plugged my radio’s audio out into my laptop’s audio in, checked the broadcast schedule, and waited to see what I could see.

With the built-in antenna the signal was a bit noisy, but you can see the outline of a map coming through. Not too bad. It takes a minute or two for each map to be received. You can see my results below. And below that is what the map is supposed to look like.

My next task is to try again using a proper antenna. With the ubiquity of the internet, it’s fun to obtain data using these older methods.

The actor is my brother, Colin. Chris Conner did the score and opening title as a test project many years after the film was shot. The transfer to video didn’t turn out too well, but that’s what you get for videotaping film projected onto a wall.