New, New Chat Thread

[Joe Wicked]

I like the surge suppressor idea. I'll take some pictures either today or tomorrow and post them up. By the time it is "done" I will hopefully have my Cobra. I won't likely work in it today, but I have tomorrow off for Presidents Day and I had planned on gluing the track in place.

[Ron61]

Joe,

I have almost everything in my house connected through surge protectors. The computers and all this equipment is on battery back up units that also serve as surge protectors. We have several hits during the Winter when the wind is blowing and tree limbs hit a power line and cause it to short for a second. They try to keep the trees trimmed back but it is hard when the lines go through so many canyons and some houses are miles apart.

Ron

[4RE KLR]

Ron,
This brings up a question. I used to have a surge protector on my PC. However when I went to the laptop I was told it wasn't necessary because if the house power died the battery would serve as the protector. OK, I'll buy that (I think)

I tried to put it on the desk top when I fired it up the other day and found out it was dead. I guess it has been too long since it was used.

Two questions;
1) Do I need one for the laptop?

2) What kind (wattage) do you suggest for a single desktop PC.

[wtm442]

Originally Posted by Joe Wicked

By the time it is "done" I will hopefully have my Cobra.

When do you expect it will be done, and how long is the Cobra in question?

Steve - contact a couple of the surge protector companies like APC and ask them. The "protection" built into the power strip is almost worthless.

You should also call a couple of electricians and ask about a whole house surge protector to cover all your electronic goodies (TV, stereo, refridgerator, whirlpool, etc).

[Ibr8k4vetts]

Ron,
Are any of these near you?
http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist2/cctv/allcams.shtml

[Ron61]

Steve,

Warren is correct about the surge protectors that you buy at the hardware store. I have a few, but just for the extra outlets as they don't work well for surges. I use the APC units for my computers. The ones that I now have are 800VA/540 Watt and will give me about 10 to 15 minutes to shut everything down if the power goes off. I am thinking of upgrading to newer APC units as my batteries are getting old and it isn't that much more to just buy a newer unit. As for the 2whold house surge protection, I did check into that a few years ago and it was so expensive then that I decided to just forget it. I would need Warren's 401K to make a payment on it.

Ron

[Ron61]

Mike,

Several of those cameras are within 1 to 9 miles of me. I am glad they weren't working when I had my Cobra. Also the ones over on the coast are about a 4 hour drive and I would have been in trouble there too.

Ron

[wtm442]

Originally Posted by 4RE KLR

MMMMM,
Had a Texas Red grapefruit this morning. tasty.

I know why you like grapefruit!

[Ibr8k4vetts]

This one is about 4 miles from my house.
http://video.dot.ca.gov/asx/D5-Patterson-Ave-at-101.asx

[Ron61]

Soon they will have them in your house. I have already seen a small bit about them wanting to put some in public restrooms as a security precaution. They claim it would stop dope dealers from doing their business in them. I think that idea died a quick death.

Ron

[Ibr8k4vetts]

Originally Posted by Ron61

Soon they will have them in your house.
Ron

What makes you think they dont all ready.

[Joe Wicked]

Warren,
The Cobra is still years away. By the end of next year, there will be money going into a savings fund for the Cobra. I committed that my car would be paid off and all credit cards will be paid off before I put money to a Cobra. I will be at that point next year. I have included all store credit and lines of credit in the Credit Card category. Good news is that I owe $6500 on my car and all "Credit Cards" total about $4K. I expect to have them all paid by the end of 2010 making my current payments. If I get this job/promotion I applied for at work, and the raise is anywhere around what I think it will be, I may get it paid off by this time next year. Then the process of saving up for the next several years to get the Cobra will begin.

[wtm442]

GMW
Joe - sounds like a plan. Paying off the credit cards first is always best. Of course, there are enough deals around so you should be able to transfer the money owed to a card with a very low interest rate (teaser) and roll it over to another when the teaser rate stops.

Time for some breakfast.

[Ron61]

Mike,

Did you see the shoot out in Phoenix I believe it was where a guy had surveillance cameras all around his house? It showed this car puling up and 4 people with ski masks on and carrying guns jumped out and started towards the door of the house. The owner shut the door and grabbed his own gun and started shooting. Boy, did those 4 would be robbers ever run like he**. He did shoot a hole in the windshield and they found the car in a driveway not to far away but the 4 people weren't in the house. One of the anti gun reporters was doing the talking and he kept talking about that guy having a gun so handy but never mentioned the 4 crooks that had two of what looked like maybe AR-15s and I couldn't tell what the other two had. But since they were crooks and the guns obviously weren't registered this reporter never mentioned them at all.

Ron

[Ibr8k4vetts]

Ron,
I missed that but it sounds like most reporters around here, so sad! I think you mean AR-15 or M-16.

[Ron61]

Mike,

You are right. I made a typo and meant AR-15s. And I am not even sure about that as everything went so fast. The idiot reporter trying to make this look as if the home owner was to blame because he had a gun was what I was paying attention to. They made a big scene about one of his bullets lodging in the wall of a neighbors house, but the neighbor wasn't at all upset. He shut the reporter up by telling him he was glad the guy had a gun handy and that all people should have them ready, especially now.

Ron

[trularin]

Ah yes, the best plans of mice and men.

It will be a challenge to make it to 2010 if things continue to get worse.

[4RE KLR]

I do not use the plug strips for the surge protectors. I know those things don't work. I actually had a box looking thing about the size of a good book. That is what quit working. I have had it so long that the numbers are off of it.

I'll talk to the folks at the electronics store and see what they suggest. I am really not worried about the laptop but the desktop needs one. It does not have access to the web.

[Ron61]

Steve,

I have used APC battery back ups for years and you can get them in several price ranges. I believe that Office Depot handles them if you want to look at some. They use the batteries the same way we did at the switching computers. They provide some filtering and surge protection which is pretty good. The price will depend on just how long you want to be able to run your equipment if the power goes off and you are running off the battery. I like mine with the 5 to 10 minute capacity depending on how many windows and things I have going.

Ron

[4RE KLR]

Thanks Ron,

From what I can find on the web they cost about $30-$40. That is cheap enough.