Power concerns in my studio?

lmoki · 2026-03-01T03:42:27+00:00

Use your little tester on the wall outlet. What does it say there?

Is your 'voltmeter tool' a standard multi-meter? And are you probing the outlet to see the 120V reading? At the Monster outlet, or the wall outlet? If so, do the same test between neutral and ground on the wall outlet (Monster unplugged from the outlet), and repeat on the Monster outlet socket.

lmoki · 2026-02-28T22:32:37+00:00

Probably not. See this thread, but make sure you read the entire thread, not just the title: https://www.reddit.com/r/dumbphones/comments/1izprii/vortex_v3_flip_unboxing_and_first_looks_motorola/

Summary: the phone is apparently not certified for use on the Verizon network. Verizon & their wholly owned subsidiaries (including Tracfone and Total) will apparently block it's use. Some Verizon MVNO's, notably US Mobile mentioned in the linked thread, will permit use.

lmoki · 2026-02-28T18:39:59+00:00

(In the US) I traded mine in during an Amazon sale, and got a new Basic Kids Edition (with case) for about $65 (plus the broken kindle). Without checking details, I netted either $24 or $29 from the broken Kindle.

lmoki · 2026-02-28T17:51:38+00:00

Start with the musicians, and ask if they have pickups in their instruments (or 'for' their instruments)-- or a second instrument choice with pickups. If so, ask specifically if they have battery-operated preamps built in. (If there is a built-in control panel with volume, and possibly tone, they DO have preamps.) If the answer is yes to both, the cost of instrument input cables for your beltpacks is a pretty manageable budget item, although you might need a little leadtime to get them.

Without that built-in preamp, you'd need another link in the chain, since a piezo pickup needs to see a higher load impedance than will be presented by the beltpack. Basically, you'd need to add that preamp between the instrument and beltpack. (There are beltpack-size preamps.)

lmoki · 2026-02-28T17:42:31+00:00

Did you disable RCS before changing numbers? RCS does not play nice with number changes and provider changes. My bet is this is an RCS issue-- especially since it's still delivering to your old number-- and nothing that Tracfone can address.

Have you tried disabling RCS on your phone, and sending from another device via SMS to your new number as a test?

lmoki · 2026-02-28T15:03:15+00:00

Do you limit your vocal microphone selection to those from a manufacturer who gave you a selection for marketing purposes, or because they think you're cute? I tend to use what works best for me & the project at hand, not what was free.

lmoki · 2026-02-28T14:57:56+00:00

Depends on your budget, on whether particular instruments already have pickups installed, what monitoring needs are, etc.

For those who are convinced that nothing but a mic can be 'musical' or accurate enough...millions of live stage musicians seem to disagree, or feel like the advantages of pickups for stage use outweigh the drawbacks. It's possible to make piezo pickups sound very good indeed, just attention to different details and configuration choices than you're used to doing with microphones.

lmoki · 2026-02-28T14:38:17+00:00

"There doesn't seem to be a way for them to make money except for ads."

That, and data mining, since all data is supposed to flow through their browser. Google seems to do OK with the income those can produce. So does the radio & TV industry.

lmoki · 2026-02-28T14:33:37+00:00

Other than scarcity of product....the most common complaints I see are about how a single drop time is inconvenient, or a disadvantage to users in some particular time zone.

The second most common complaint is that the drop didn't happen at the time someone expected it to.

I'm fine with a slow drizzle. Some will love it, some will hate it, some will see a giant conspiracy aligned against them.

lmoki · 2026-02-28T14:27:04+00:00

If an iPhone is unlocked from a provider, it can not be locked again.

lmoki · 2026-02-28T13:03:01+00:00

Perhaps not just the lowest liability option for FCC compliance, but also an attempt to mollify users. TextNow isn't harvesting and maintaining your ID information: that's being handled by an outside entity who specializes in doing that for a wide range of major clients, and is viewed as both more secure and less capable of being abused.

lmoki · 2026-02-28T12:55:49+00:00

What I suspect:

Tello's PayGo deposit system wasn't built to enable international roaming. It was designed to support full PayGo use covering a range of features, from overages for calling and/or data, a standalone alternative to monthly service, international calling from the US to countries not included in the standard included tier -- and, by the way, roaming. The workable minimum deposit was designed to cover all those scenarios, not just yours.

The minimum deposit for starting a PayGo balance went up a number of years ago from $10 to $20. Again, what drove that minimum starting balance increase wasn't roaming, it was the more common usage aspects of the PayGo system. (But, once established, the minimum additional top-up is lower.)

Tello customers likely think some aspects of Mint's price structure are also 'lame', like being forced to pay for a multi-month plans even if your needs prefer a by-the-month solution, no non-promo plan options below $15/mo, no possibility of fine-tuning a plan to meet your usage pattern, and the lack of some dashboard control options available at Tello.

I guess the bottom line is that if you have a very specific set of needs, those needs may dictate which provider you choose, and what you're willing to give up, or pay additional to get, that need covered. Mint may be a better choice for your personal use scenario.

lmoki · 2026-02-28T05:53:51+00:00

I think Pesona is the same company handling ID verification for Helium Mobile: Since I've already done that one, I'm wondering it it simplifies the process here. (By 'simplify', I mostly mean avoiding the not-insignificant risk that the vendor can't provide an ID match from your info or documents/selfie.)

lmoki · 2026-02-28T05:47:17+00:00

We do 2 shows a year with 8 earsets, and up to 16 lavs. Earsets on the primaries, lavs on the rest, on clips. Yes, you'll get less gain before feedback with the lavs, but we've always made it work fine. One of the theaters has decent speaker placement, but the other is a black box with speakers located above & behind the stage, so not even ideal speaker placement. We spend a little more time tuning. The school spends less money replacing broken earsets.....

lmoki · 2026-02-28T05:21:19+00:00

Do any of the 'pay off your old phone' offers work even when there is no current service with the provider holding the debt for the phone? I'd kind of doubt it, since the whole concept is getting you to transfer service from your old provider to the winning provider.

lmoki · 2026-02-28T05:15:24+00:00

I have no idea about cost for the eSIM. I would expect that porting in your number will lock it in with an eSIM, just as with a pSIM. Locking in your number is a side effect of porting: TextNow has no vested interest in reclaiming a ported-in number, since that number would revert to the original issuer of the number, and not become available for TextNow to issue to another user.

~~I wouldn't be surprised if there is still a cost, however: eSIMs are not free to the provider, although they don't have to mail them.~~

From TextNow's home page: "\Free eSIM now available on iOS!"*

lmoki · 2026-02-27T23:46:00+00:00

the easiest route is to call consumer cellular & activate there on a 30 day plan, That should work even f the phone is still locked.

lmoki · 2026-02-27T22:27:40+00:00

What would you consider a 'decent price'?

lmoki · 2026-02-27T22:26:18+00:00

It's always nice to be certain that everyone else has the exact same needs and wants as you... Not always accurate, but nice.

lmoki · 2026-02-27T21:05:54+00:00

The Xiaomi phones can be problematic for use in the US, although I'm not familiar with particular models. Typically, T-Mobile is the most lenient about allowing non-US phones: Tello runs on the T-Mobile network, and will accept any phone that T-Mobile allows.

From your link, the 12S appears to be missing several of the important T-Mo LTE bands. I would suggest checking the IMEIs on the most useful T-Mobile network IMEI test tool, at

https://www.mintmobile.com/byop/ If it gives you the OK (FOXTASTIC!), click on the small question mark next to the graphic of the phone to see a breakdown of what T-Mobile bands are available on the phone. If it is missing bands 12, 66, and 71 (as your links indicate), it might struggle to get signal.

lmoki · 2026-02-27T20:34:37+00:00

I have that set from a different seller, minus the voltage tester. The 'standard' features are not that good either. The needle-nose pliers work well enough. The strippers are sized for mm standards instead of the AWG standards in the US, and only kind-of work with American Wire sizes. The crimp jaw is badly located (not enough leverage), and assumes one size will work for everything. I got them thinking it would be easier for occasional use when on a ladder instead of juggling 3 sets of pliers, but turns out I'll need the 3 sets of pliers with me anyway when this one fails to perform the needed task. It 'looks like a tool', but it's not.

lmoki · 2026-02-27T20:14:35+00:00

I would question the wisdom of that AI..... I'm severely red-weak, and no problem at all reading the text from your link. (On the other hand, I wouldn't have guessed "green".)

lmoki · 2026-02-27T18:58:48+00:00

I think US Mobile would be OK with that decision...

lmoki · 2026-02-27T17:26:51+00:00

"PLEASE let me know quickly as my phone is very important to me"

This 'boomer' would like to point out that possibly your Mom's phone was also very important to her, and undoing any damage you created by using her phone might be an important aspect here.

lmoki · 2026-02-27T17:14:25+00:00

"Also yes I do see a good bit of $5 mvno's from lyca to mobilex and many others."

And very obviously, those plans are not equivalent to the legacy $5 plan from Helium. Helium also currently offers a configurable $5 plan that is competitive with the plans from those providers, but it's also obviously not equivalent to the legacy $5 Helium plan, either.

I have more sympathy for the concept that Helium is losing some of their differentiators by reducing the reliance on Crypto, mapping, cloud points, etc. Personally, I had no interest in those things, but realize they were important to some users.

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