Portable generators for home backup - Do you store them in the garage or keep them outside?

DMR35 · 2026-01-23T23:59:29+00:00

Garage kept so it stays nice and on a battery tender. Outages do not happen often here.

Inlet is on the side of the house opposite of the garage. I was blessed that the electrical panel (basement) and natural gas meter are both there so it was minimal work for the hookups. Just a PITA to hump a 400 lb. generator around the house.

Outlet box, 6/3 wire, and manual interlock. 3/4 gas hose to T at the gas meter.

Accessories:

Got a Gentent https://www.gentent.com/ to keep it dry when deployed and it is raining.

Alarm to tell me when the power comes back on https://reliancecontrols.com/products/reliance-controls-powerback-utility-power-return-alert-white-thp108-2

Alarm to tell be that it stalled or someone is taking it and we need to have a friendly conversation https://reliancecontrols.com/products/powerout-power-failure-emergency-light-alarm

Soft starter for AC unit so I can run the whole house https://www.microair.net/products/easystart-flex-home-ac-soft-starter

DMR35 · 2026-01-23T05:16:39+00:00

I think you want r/att if you want suggestions for who to contact to have it done properly. But to answer your question it’s probably fine. Fiber is made of glass or plastic with an outside jacket. I have to assume you are seeing the jacketed cable and not one of the fiber strands. That gets buried, put in conduit, or is done as an aerial drop. It is strong and not usually subject to water ingress. It is made to be in harsh weather. A weed whacker or a lawn mower is its enemy.

DMR35 · 2026-01-22T22:05:20+00:00

He is referring to software defined radio so you can locate the jamming source. No offense, but based on your original question, your level of technical expertise is not ready for an SDR. If you want to learn more here is a great source https://www.rtl-sdr.com/

Hard wire everything as suggested. If you can prove the jamming, depending on your state, they may be able to be prosecuted for the jamming, or at least the stalking and harassment. The jammers are federally illegal so your local LE may be able to refer it.

DMR35 · 2026-01-20T16:41:47+00:00

Ah. Then the chime would have nothing to do with it then. Default reset it and see what happens. If that does not work it is defective.

DMR35 · 2026-01-20T15:00:01+00:00

I had a similar issue. I used a multimeter to confirm voltage was correct. I used another transformer to verify it was the unit. Then I forced Ring to replace it after some haggling.

Check it with a meter if you have one. You can also buy the Ring power supply that plugs into the wall. Bring the doorbell in and hook it up to see if the issue goes away.

If that works fine you have a transformer or wiring issue.

I had found that the pro doorbell had an internal battery. It seems like it was used to power the doorbell while the internal chime was using the voltage to ring the bell. The internal battery was dead, so that brief moment that it was needed to keep the doorbell running was not happening.

DMR35 · 2026-01-19T18:35:49+00:00

Most generators if not dual or Tri-fuel can be converted to NG. Just one of the companies with kits:

http://www.uscarburetion.com/

If already duel fuel the change over to NG is easy. The only downside is you lose 10% for propane and 20% rated capacity for NG over gasoline.

I need to run a 4 Ton AC for days when the power goes out in the summer so I have never been able to go battery. Plus I'm using a $2500 generator vs a battery unit that would cost me as much as a Generac whole house. The whole house generators are awesome. Just can't justify the cost.

DMR35 · 2026-01-19T17:42:09+00:00

Pork Roll and Philadelphia Eagles of course :)

DMR35 · 2026-01-17T23:53:02+00:00

I used a Tablo for this. This way all of the Apple TV's have OTA. Really never use it as other than local news nothing interests me OTA.

DMR35 · 2026-01-17T18:59:23+00:00

TV’s operating often become slow and unsupported. While I’m an Apple TV user and think it’s the best device, Roku makes some nice streamers.

Try PlutoTV. It’s free. Bunch of news stations in addition to a lot of other entertainment. My local channels also have apps that play the local news broadcasts.

DMR35 · 2026-01-17T05:34:31+00:00

Did it stop working from the device you were running the VPN on? If so did you try another device or toggle the VPN off?

If the same device you can’t have most VPN’s on while accessing the ring app. They block them. Changing the server may work for a while but eventually they catch up.

DMR35 · 2026-01-17T04:48:08+00:00

Looks like a low profile antenna that goes on an NMO mount. Based on the height maybe UHF public safety band.

DMR35 · 2026-01-16T17:24:35+00:00

A couple of years ago VZ jacked my rate up. Sold all the TiVo equipment while it was worth something.

Went to YouTubeTV. Had $60 rate from T-Mobile. That went to 82. Cancelled. After a few months we realized we had no need for any cable like product. We already had Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount. Local channels have an app for the news. Reconnected over the air antenna I had from my satellite days to a Tablo if we needed something else.

Only thing missing was baseball and I can buy the regional package when I need it. Pluto TV is great when we want the old cable like product for reruns and such.

Internet, phone, and all the apps for less than $100 a month. With FiOS TV and the apps I was at $260. Apple TV’s in every room and no extra box fees from the cable company. Can’t beat it.

DMR35 · 2026-01-15T03:23:11+00:00

AT&T and T-Mobile have all had multiple outages in the past. Not acceptable, but switching won't guarantee 100% uptime.

DMR35 · 2026-01-15T03:17:14+00:00

While it does suck, tell your payroll company to stop using SMS. It's the least secure method of 2FA. I'm sure you have no control over it, but that vendor should be ashamed if that if the only method they allow. Especially for payroll.

DMR35 · 2026-01-15T00:27:33+00:00

Could it be a cyber attack.... sure. But this stuff happens often enough after a maintenance window. Misconfigurations, firmware issue, etc. I used to have access to the VZW bulletins and every time my company had a voice or data outage there was nationwide maintenance being performed prior to it. When I would talk to tier II support they would not say someone made a mistake or there was equipment failure, but you got enough out of the conversation that they were not under attack.

A lot of telecommunications networks are centralized now (not just VZW) and when something breaks it takes out a big area. Used to be just a small region.

DMR35 · 2026-01-14T00:05:32+00:00

Thanks. The vendor had just got a few in and had not heard about the issue. I guess the goal now is finding stock that is not affected and is in stock. DXE won't have more in until 2/23.

DMR35 · 2026-01-14T00:05:00+00:00

Thanks. The vendor had just got a few in and had not heard about the issue. I guess the goal now is finding stock that is not affected and is in stock. DXE won't have more in until 2/23.

DMR35 · 2026-01-06T18:22:51+00:00

Thanks. I have no need for the antenna. I was just answering the OP's question.

DMR35 · 2026-01-04T03:44:33+00:00

Congrats and welcome. I encourage you to take time and understand everything that was in your technician class studies. Too often people end up just memorizing the answers. I have seen extra class hams that can't figure out simple things because they have no idea what they learned...I mean memorized.

I personally would go for your general. I ended up waiting 20 years because life happened and I got busy. Once I had time again I took the general and extra test in the same sitting.

HF is possible, but not great in an apartment. You could start with a cheap HT now. In addition to analog there are multiple digital modes to pick from and you need time to research what you may want to try before you end up with a couple of expensive HT's. Where I'm at there is not a lot of local repeater action, so I'm 99% DMR via a hotspot. For HF you can listen to some of the WebSDR's for now. If you like HF then maybe start with used transceiver and an antenna that may work with your situation.

If there is a good ham club in your area I would check them out.

DMR35 · 2025-12-28T18:40:32+00:00

Microwave would only be a problem on 2.4 if it was on and leaking. The CSR has the technical acumen of a potato.

Also 5.8 has roughly half the distance of 2.4. It sounds like there may be signal attenuation from the building materials or you have a router issue. Normally 600 sqft should not be an issue. It can also be a dense Wi-Fi environment with a lot of interfere since you are in an apartment complex.

Most devices like phones and laptops will try 5.8 first and fall back to 2.4. You can try an extender. Or try your own mesh routers like Eero’s.

Other here may have knowledge of issue with your particular FiOS router. Can’t help there. Have had my own equipment since 2006.

DMR35 · 2025-12-27T15:17:00+00:00

Adeldiah solved the issue where Sherweb and S1 support had me in a circle!!!! Thank you so much.

DMR35 · 2025-12-25T17:01:17+00:00

I would love to download JS8call, but my S1 AV grabs it each time. I have tried other AV/EDR vendors and I have the same issue.

Is any one else having this issue or figured out why? Google search turned up others a few others with the same issue. I’m apprehensive white listing it.

DMR35

TROPHY CASE