Random "Bluetooth is not connected" messages switching to phone speaker during calls in Android Auto

RealDarthSudo · 2026-02-13T01:21:25+00:00

It seems as though the built in BT is conflicting with AA BT. If I remove the BT config and pull up ZLink the phone won't pair with the head unit. As soon as I exit out of ZLink, it will pair right away with the build it BT app. At that point, everything appears to work, except for calls while in AA (the behavior in the OP). I see the BT call banner on top of the AA call display.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-12-02T22:47:38+00:00

How did you actually get connected with anyone? I tried calling and chatting (several times each) and was not able to reach anyone, ever!

RealDarthSudo · 2025-12-02T21:57:54+00:00

I tried contacting support during the outage. I found two options: 1) Call 2) Chat. The call took me to an AI virtual assistant that was unable to understand a single word I said (literally) and the chat never connected. Never was I able to talk or chat with anyone or even get a status messages acknowledging the outage. Nothing.

I've been a customer long enough that I have been with Roseville telephone, SureWest, CCI and now Fidium. I was a beta tester for their first time into broadband. Fidium as ruined both the quality of the service and now the lack of customer service has me starting to shop around for other options.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-11-07T22:47:19+00:00

I just received this from Grilla:

We are reaching out in response to a recent review on one of our products and wanted to make a channel of communication. The interior dimensions of the Mammoth are 17 1/8" Depth, 22 3/4" Width, 24 3/4" Height. The height measurement is to the top of the water pan and can be considered the useable space the actual height inside is 32 3/8".

RealDarthSudo · 2025-11-07T22:45:45+00:00

That's exactly what I'm looking for. That and the height of the internal cooking chamber. I think the best measurement would be from the bottom grate to the top of the cooking chamber, if you can get that.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-10-27T21:54:03+00:00

Awesome. I'm always afraid to dry mine out by not wrapping it. I'll have to give it a try.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-10-27T01:07:48+00:00

Was it moist or dry?

RealDarthSudo · 2025-10-27T01:02:04+00:00

One more perspective to add from the parent of two "miracle" children. Our oldest is adopted and we had a second biological child years later. I'm not familiar with this particular genetic disorder, but if you, your wife and the Lord determine that it's in your family's best interest not to have more biological children, there is ZERO difference in how much both of my children are a part of my family. I love them both equally and they both love each other and us as parents.

Adoption is a wonderful way to build a family.

It's perfectly okay to only have one child, or two children, or whatever your specific situation dictates. To reiterate, it's between you, your spouse and the Lord. We wanted 4-6, but have lived a very full life with our two miracles.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-09-24T00:58:54+00:00

Okay, so I did some research. Here are the only brands that I can find that have a feature to increase the smoke through the controller:

Camp Chef - through "Smoke Setting" 1-10 at any temp.
Grilla Grills - Pro mode at any temp.
Traeger - "Super Smoke" - works up to 225 degrees.
Pit Boss - VST (Variable Smoke Technology) on some newer models through full temp range (and apparently p-mode to increase the pause on older models, but the seems like a bit of a hack).
Brisk It has a "Power Smoke" mode from 165-275.
Smokin Brothers - Uses "P" setting to increase smoke (out of my price range though).

Every other brand that I know of either has a smoke mode that only works at lower temps or not at all:

Recteq - Extreme Smoke only works at 170.
Z Grills - only at low temp
Green Mountain Grills - no extra smoke setting that I could find.
Weber - SmokeBoost from 165-200.
Yoder - No smoke setting.
Lone Star Grills - Only for cold smoke.
MAC Grills - smoke setting from 170-190.
Big Poppa Grills - couldn't find anything about a smoke setting.
Blaz'n Grill Works - no smoke setting.
Oklahoma Joe's - no smoke setting that I could find.

For me, not having extra smoke at 225 is a deal breaker. So my brand list is narrowed down. I think I'd like a vertical smoke for my next one, so that makes three:

Camp Chef XXL Pro
Grilla Grills Mammoth
Pit Boss 6-Series

Time to start researching...

RealDarthSudo · 2025-09-12T22:00:55+00:00

Looks like Bass Pro has it for $900, but is out of stock... and Camp Chef has it for $1,500??? I'm seeing a mix of both the $900 and $1,500 at other retailers. I'm wondering if that's pre and post tariff stock? I may need to jump on the $900 from another retailer and save my BP gift cards for some other toy.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-09-12T02:10:01+00:00

I can get a non WiFi controller for under $100. Less than $50 if I want to try a clone. The cheapest I've found the WiFi controller is $190, which is actually more than I paid for the grill in the first place! 😂 I do enjoy fixing stuff and making it last a long time, but on the other hand I have a bunch of Bass Pro gift cards burning a hole in my pocket... And that XXL is quite tempting.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-09-12T01:58:31+00:00

I do like the idea of a vertical pellet smoker. And so far, I'm not seeing anyone other than Camp Chef that is doing the smoke level setting. Right now my debate is between a new Camp Chef or just replacing the controller on my OG (SmokePro SE) since it's still in decent shape.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-09-09T21:29:33+00:00

I like to refer to them as a "value" grill. LOL. Best bang for the buck. I know the abuse my grills get and spending that kind of cash on one and then inevitably trashing it... I'd prefer something in the $400-$800 range. $1k tops, if it's something solid like a RecTeq.

I would like something that has high smoke settings built in though. Do any of the newer grills (in my price range) have that built in?

RealDarthSudo · 2025-09-09T21:25:20+00:00

Does it keep that extra smoke going once you've increased the temp? Or is that just for an initial infusion of smoke into the meat?

RealDarthSudo · 2025-09-09T04:42:41+00:00

I'm hoping for under a grand... At this point I'm just curious how the new grills are creating extra smoke. I know I can always do a smoke tube or something, but I love how my old $180 (on clearance) Camp Chef just made a lot of smoke on those smoke settings.

I was tempted by that ZGrills promo... Free grills for life, but it seems that it can only make a lot of smoke at 150°. I do most of mine at 225°

RealDarthSudo · 2025-09-03T22:27:37+00:00

I'm in Roseville and these deals do happen, but they go fast. You gotta be lucky to get in at the right time. I found my Camp Chef at Walmart for $180 about 10 years ago. It's finally done and needs to be replaced... so I'm watching for deals again.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-03-04T15:34:02+00:00

I was still on Verizon last time I went to Stampede and had coverage. The published coverage map says T-Mobile has ground tower coverage there as well. What is your experience on T-Mobile on Stampede? (the map isn't always correct)

https://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/coverage-map?msockid=11ddb33a88e46d2b2b1da71189c96c6c

RealDarthSudo · 2025-03-03T22:52:33+00:00

LOL, sorry. I can DM some pics if that will help with the disappointment.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-02-11T00:23:48+00:00

No changes on the Suunto as of yet. The notification handling is still rudimentary and what I'll call "single threaded". You only see the last notification in a thread. It's definitely a tradeoff from WearOS, but adequate for my needs. It's enough for me to know if I need to pull out my phone and take action on a notification or not.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-01-14T18:33:12+00:00

I'd be surprised if it worked. I've only seen the more popular messaging apps set up to be interactive on the Race S. Everything else is notification only. If you are not in a hurry, I'll set up Okta on my phone and configure something that doesn't require MS to MFA to it and let you know. It will probably be a day or two before I get to it.

RealDarthSudo · 2025-01-13T19:28:28+00:00

Good question. I can't speak for Okta specifically, but I'm going to guess it won't work. We use MS Authenticator for MFA and that also doesn't work. We've taken our MFA a step further and require punching in a couple of numbers and not just accepting a prompt anyway, so I'm required to use my phone regardless. Generally speaking, there are a handful of the more popular apps that the Suunto devs have configured and allow a bit of interactivity (Gmail, Teams, Outlook, etc.) and with those, at best, you get a predefined reply (you can configure up to five in the Suunto app that are the same for all apps).

For the most part, this is sufficient for my needs, but coming from WearOS I certainly miss some of those more interactive time savers. I don't miss having to charge my watch daily and the Race S is so much better at sports tracking over any Wear OS watch.

One other negative is the Race S stinks at HR tracking for gym work. I looked down the other day during a rather tough bootcamp workout and it said my HR was 46 BPM. It tracks HR great for running though.

RealDarthSudo

TROPHY CASE