I had to pay just under $700 to bring the phone line to my house 15 years ago. Despite the fact the poles were in place, Verizon said that the town road was "My driveway." Even the power company rep told me that was ridiculous, but there was nothing I could do about it if I wanted to have phone/internet access.
Out of touch w/the world
- Thread starter widefat
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orezok
Elite Member
Someone bought the 8 acres across the road from me and is planning to build a small home. I say road because its just a dirt path with dedication to the county for a future real road (not likely in my lifetime). Anyway, I was talking to the water district operations manager last week because we are negotiating the new owners connecting to my water main that I installed for $28K when I built my home 15 years ago. I feel that I am entitled to reimbursement and their lawyers agree. Now just the amount and who pays. Water district or new home owner.
There is a pole line with primary running down the 途oad on the neighbors side which goes down to the next home about a quarter mile down and then terminates.
The ops manager told me that SCE wants $75K to run power to the future house location, a distance of less than 150? CRAZY!
He told me that SCE in this area is at capacity and additional connections would cause them to upgrade their core system at $$$$.
If it was me I would tell SCE to take their electrons and put them where the sun dont shine and for the same $$ install a solar and wind generator system and never pay an electric bill again. Two things we have plenty of in the desert are sun and wind.
There is a pole line with primary running down the 途oad on the neighbors side which goes down to the next home about a quarter mile down and then terminates.
The ops manager told me that SCE wants $75K to run power to the future house location, a distance of less than 150? CRAZY!
He told me that SCE in this area is at capacity and additional connections would cause them to upgrade their core system at $$$$.
If it was me I would tell SCE to take their electrons and put them where the sun dont shine and for the same $$ install a solar and wind generator system and never pay an electric bill again. Two things we have plenty of in the desert are sun and wind.
I get a chuckle out of some modern-day utility companies...... they will grumble and complain about alternative energy competition, then turn around and give out ridiculous quotes for installations. It's not just us TBN'ers who are willfully out of touch
!I don't know exactly what Alt NRG contractors charge in Mojave, but I'd be somewhat surprised if $75K USD didn't land you a turn-key system delivering plenty of power 24/7 - given site-appropriate building/thermal design. Can't imagine those same contractors have to spend much on marketing either....
Utilities used to carry most of the build-out costs themselves, then charge for consumer consumption, at reasonable rates. Times change; fortunately we have some economically viable options today, compared to even 20 years ago.
Rgds, D.
oosik
Epic Contributor
No idea what the phone line would have cost - if I would have been allowed to run on the power poles. The 1982 cost of $25K was based upon a three foot deep trench dug for the mile down my driveway. Three quarters of this length would have been in solid bedrock. There is no phone system in this world that is worth that much to me. The first phone we had - Motorola Bag Phone. External aerial mounted on the roof.
3Ts
Elite Member
A friend of mine built a house and asked to be connected to the water line. Water company said $11,000 to run the line down the road about a mile ($2/ft seems reasonable but total cost is steep). Anyone connecting to that line will be charged a connection fee and reimbursed to my friend - for the first 2 years. After that the water company keeps all of it. He went with a well.
oosik
Epic Contributor
For sure the Motorola Bag phone worked better. It had that vertical antennae mounted up on the peak of the roof. But the bag phone was analog and AT&T went to digital. So we had to get a digital and I was never able to get an external aerial for the little cell phone. It's not that big a deal. I average six minuets per month on my cell phone. I try to remember to turn the new iPhone XR on every so often. See if any messages were left worth returning. There seldom is.
For rural areas, those bag-phones were hard to beat.
Progress...... I guess it's fitting, when both the content and the tech have declined in performance.......
Rgds, D.
2LaneCruzer
Super Member
BBQ is always iffy; especially at a restaurant that doesn't specialize in BBQ. Seems one good way to get rid of meat about to go bad is to slather it in BBQ sauce and call it "BBQ". I can usually cook better stuff than you can buy any way. As for out of state restaurants, the only one I could recommend would be the Big Texan in Amarillo. Best calf fries I have ever eaten...steaks are good too!
k0ua
Epic Contributor
You could try a Passive Repeater. Two antennas. Say an omni vertical near your favorite operating position with a short run of low loss coax like LMR400 to a high gain yagi pointed at the nearest tower. You might be surprised at the difference it would make. No actual connection to your phone at all. You would need to figure out what band(s) that nearest tower would operate on for your chosen service. Passive repeaters have been used for decades to get over/around obstacles.
