Weekend Update (10/25-10/27)

I don’t know where the time goes! It certainly goes somewhere, though… I never did post an update from last weekend. Have talked with several customers, and I genuinely appreciate your continued patience…

In Marquette, I had sincerely hoped to fix Lifetime. My old satellite receiver seems to have most likely gone out during a thunderstorm… it’s got a little computer inside, so naturally, that’s going to be the first thing to roll over and quit. When you plug it in, the front panel just blips on, off, on, off. I took another digital receiver to replace it, but it turns out they use the “S” standard rather than the “M” standard for their satellite transmission… and the receiver I had with me was only for “M” signals. Trinity, naturally, uses neither “S” nor “M” for their transmission… so those two are still on hold.

I fixed channels 7 (Fox-24, Wichita) and 10 (KAKE-10, Wichita) — much better. Channel 12 is also improved, but has more work to be done. This will be completed in a few days.

I did make a lot of progress on Internet speeds, including installation of a new software platform that performs continuous monitoring on cable modems and can report back to me on signal quality and reliability at each house.

Here is a very important point: If you have Internet trouble, please call me. It seems many customers have gotten so accustomed to problems, that they sit back and wait, figuring it’s another one of those things. That’s not my way of doing business. If you have to leave a message, please be assured that I will receive it and will acknowledge it as soon as possible. If there is a widespread Internet outage, I will update TV Channel 2 if possible.

MAC Address	xxxx.xxxx.xxxx
IP Address	xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx
Prim Sid	11
Interface	C5/0/U0
sysDescr	General Instrument SB3100 Cable Modem	Hardware version	2; OS	VxWorks 5.3.1; Software version	3.2.17p
Upstream Power	58.00 dBmV (SNR = 26.48 dBmV)
Downstream Power	-10.05 dBmV (SNR = 35.04 dBmV)
Timing Offset	3054
Initial Timing Offset	3054
Received Power	!-3.00
MAC Version	DOC1.0
QoS Provisioned Mode	DOC1.0
Enable DOCSIS2.0 Mode	Y
Phy Operating Mode	tdma
Capabilities	{Frag=N, Concat=N, PHS=N, Priv=BPI}
Sid/Said Limit	{Max Us Sids=0, Max Ds Saids=0}
Optional Filtering Support	{802.1P=N, 802.1Q=N}
Transmit Equalizer Support	{Taps/Symbol= 0, Num of Taps= 0}
Number of CPE IPs	0(Max CPE IPs = 5)
CFG Max-CPE	5
Flaps	11229(Oct 30 13	42	10)
Errors	0 CRCs, 0 HCSes
Stn Mtn Failures	239 aborts, 0 exhausted
Total US Flows	1(1 active)
Total DS Flows	1(1 active)
Total US Data	31564 packets, 3491163 bytes
Total US Throughput	33768 bits/sec, 16 packets/sec
Total DS Data	31612 packets, 2851211 bytes
Total DS Throughput	21382 bits/sec, 12 packets/sec
Active Classifiers	0 (Max = NO LIMIT)
DSA/DSX messages	permit all
Total Time Online	1h18m

Slick, huh?

I’ll be installing the same thing in Bentley soon.

In Bentley, still no Fox News. I’m looking at $1,500 for their downlink equipment. Will keep you posted. HGTV— another interesting development: They use “M” satellite gear, so I called up their control center to ask them to authorize my new receiver to get HGTV so I could fix that channel. “We don’t show any records that you have HGTV in Bentley.” D’oh! So despite the fact that we all know it was there, I’m having to sort that out in the contract. I’m paying for it (I have to pay a monthly charge to the programming providers for just about all of the channels), yet… well, go figure. HBO is still to be determined.

Bills are coming out soon for November. For now, I will keep the due date at the 25th of the month, but appreciate your prompt payment.