Precip On The Way!
Looks like a good chance of heavy rain over the next 36 hours here in OK and in TX:
“Event Social” Success
So I decided to try a social method this evening that I’ve been reading about but didn’t necessarily like the idea of. I had been wanting to try it with one of the social assets I manage but the nature of the method required me to wait until there was a prolonged period of severe weather to give it a whirl.
The idea is, create one post for an event and only update within that post. In this case, a weather event expected to last 5-7 hours. These are always tricky because, of course, posting individually too much will clog your followers’ news feed. Not being active enough though on an event day can hurt the brand just as bad. The trial was a success! One post with a little about what’s going on and a few instructions. Nothing to it.
59 Likes, 13 Shares and over 80 new followers (likely from the shares) and only one appearance in the news feed of followers. looks like we have a new policy for “event social”.
Sprint Data Changes – What You Need To Know
The following release was made by Sprint on January 4th. It took until yesterday for someone to uncover it and bring it to the attention of chasers:
Effective March 1, 2012, on-network coverage in portions of Kansas and Oklahoma will change to roaming (off-network). Customers with Sprint-branded devices will be impacted when using services in the affected areas
What exactly does this mean? Well, visual aid should help:
The affected area
So basically, for years and years, Sprint has been the go-to service for solid data coverage for chasers in the plains. Now cutting out all of western Oklahoma and a lot of Kansas chase territory, this is no longer the case in my opinion. Sure, the area looks small in the grand scheme of things but it is actually a pivotal portion of Tornado Ally.
What has happened is the company Sprint leased from, Pioneer, simply decided to do business with Verizon. Was there more money, incentives, etc? Yeah. Is Verizon the new Sprint for storm chasers? YES.
Federal funds Pioneer tapped into over the past couple years has allowed them to build out the capability to outfit their towers with the ability to run at 4g / LTE frequencies and speed. This is part of a rural broadband project and will benefit chasers greatly.
So the catch is that a lot of chasers are in contracts with Sprint. I have not verified this but according to several online sources, carrier changes beyond the customer’s control qualifies the customer for early termination. I’ll be anxious to hear how this plays out for everyone.
I’ll update THIS blog entry should any additional information become available. Suffice it to say, if you are a chaser who spends a reasonable amount of time in OK and S KS, it’s time to start shopping Verizon for you wireless data needs.
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Special thanks to Texas Storm Chasers for finding this release
Automatic Running Boards
Added Amp Research running boards to my 2012 Dodge Ram Laramie 4×4. These things are very cool as they are almost totally hidden from sight and allow the ground clearance I want while retracted. As soon as I open a door they swing down quickly. They are amazingly sturdy; I can step on them with full weight and they do not “give” any more than a standard set of boards would.
Running boards retracted
Extended
It’s clear that this truck needs to be leveled. I’m not sure why Dodge made this pussy move, but the stance of this 4×4 is the same as my 2009 Laramie 4×2. It just does not make sense. A 2″ lift in the front is what it takes to level the truck out and I have that process started now. Not planning for big wheels and tires or anything crazy, just want the truck to look it’s part on the road. I’ll post a before and after pic when I have this task completed.