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mariLAWIN

Last reply Feb 28, 2008 · posted in The Chit Chat Club

LASIK Information

Last year I undergo Lasik surgery for my nearsightedness and like the concern of other people im not comfortable in wearing contacts because my eyes are sensitive for infection so my friend recommends me for Lasik exam .The exam include a complete evaluation of the internal and external health of the eyes. They create a detailed map of the eyes and perform all of the visual tests necessary to prepare for LASIK. And the nice thing is they use the latest, most advanced technology to thoroughly determine your eligibility for LASIK. Here's the LASIK procedure step by step:

Step 1: Using advanced technology, your eyes and their visual fields are mapped out entirely. This customized and extremely detailed information is then reviewed by your surgeon and transferred directly to the laser.

Step 2: The cornea of the eye is numbed with eye drops and the eyelids are gently held open to prevent blinking. Using a microkeratome, your surgeon creates a thin flap from the outer corneal layers of the eye, this flap is then gently folded back and away from the eye.

Step 3: Using an Excimer laser, which emits a cool beam of light upon the eye, your surgeon will gently reshape the cornea.

Step 4: Finally, the protective flap that was created in Step Two is gently placed back in its original position. Your eyes will begin to heal immediately and visual improvements are often seen right after the procedure or the very next day!

Ohh actually you can check my2020 for more info about LASIK procedure. Hope it helps you in a little way though.

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bhelms

Feb 22, 2008

Tks for the info guys. I think/hope! this procedure is in my near future. I was a (hard!) contact wearer for almost 35 years until I completely gave them up about 5 years ago. I have been uncorrected since then. But the sight in my rt. eye has made a step change for the worse in the past year or so. I want to take care of it soon and hopefully lasik is an option for me. If I need to do it in stages, I'll do the rt. one first and see how that turns out.

Did you have any insurance that covered any part of the procedure? I have a VSP plan at work and good HMO coverage. I hope to apply some of that to the overall cost and use my FSA to cover the rest. Once I know the cost I'll restructure the FSA for the coming year (it resets next month) to cover the difference.

Welcome to the OP, BTW...!

primestar31

Feb 22, 2008

bhelms said:
Tks for the info guys. I think/hope! this procedure is in my near future. I was a (hard!) contact wearer for almost 35 years until I completely gave them up about 5 years ago. I have been uncorrected since then. But the sight in my rt. eye has made a step change for the worse in the past year or so. I want to take care of it soon and hopefully lasik is an option for me. If I need to do it in stages, I'll do the rt. one first and see how that turns out.

Did you have any insurance that covered any part of the procedure? I have a VSP plan at work and good HMO coverage. I hope to apply some of that to the overall cost and use my FSA to cover the rest. Once I know the cost I'll restructure the FSA for the coming year (it resets next month) to cover the difference.

Welcome to the OP, BTW...!

Your eyes have to be stable for at least two years before you can qualify for Lasik. If you are having trouble with one, it's not the time to get Lasik. You don't want them changing after the surgery. Also, how old are you? You say you had hard contacts for 35 years and gave them up for 5 years, so I'm assuming you have to be at least 50-55. If so, and you qualify and have Lasik, at that age the odds are real good you will immediately need to then wear reading glasses all the time! That's not good.

You can consider "monovision", Monovision but have the doctor do a trial with contacts first, to see if you can handle mono-vision. I had monovision Lasik (unintended, as the doctor didn't plan for monovision!), and it's worked for me, but took over 20 months before I adapted to it. I'm now age 49, had the surgery in 2000, and I'm glad I had it.

bhelms

Feb 25, 2008

Tks. Yep - 55 and counting! The "trouble" with my right eye seems to be more rapid than usual change about a year to year and a half ago, but it has been stable since then. So something changed. It could be a cataract, the exam will tell. In a very big sense I am mono vision now! Ironically my bad right eye has really acute close vision. I can read like 1-pt text at about 6" no problem at all. But I have trouble reading a computer screen at 18" - all blurry with that eye. In a very real sense, I would almost hate to give up that acuity as I depend on it often! For my left eye, I can still see close-up fairly well, just not as good as with my right eye. It's in best (not perfect) focus at about 12" but then since things are twice as far away vs. my right eye, I can't see the really small stuff. For most close things using both eyes, 8-12" is best and I don't need the reading glasses. For long range, I can resolve things fairly well with my left eye by squinting to mostly correct the life-long astigmatism. Until the change, it was the same with my right eye. Now there is nothing I can do personally to correct my right eye for distance vision. So I guess I have been "monovision" for distance for at least that year plus.

I'll get an appointment under my current vision plan to see what can be done, and hopefully Lasik is still an option at least at some future point. It's the "glad I had it" part that I'm looking for! The real irony is all the money I've invested in HDTV, and I can't fully enjoy it from normal viewing distance...!

Tks again for the info and BRgds...

rharkins

Feb 26, 2008

I had Lasik on both eyes last June, and a touchup on the left eye last November. I'm 56, and did the monovision thing. The touchup on the left eye was needed to bring me to a point where my brain would merge the two different images.

My vision is excellent if you only go by the eye chart. 20/15 distance in the right eye, and 'good enough' reading in the left.

Unfortunately, I've been miserable ever since the surgery. The first five months I struggled with eye strain because of the difference between the two eyes. I just could not merge the two different images. The touchup seems to have helped, but any prolonged use of my eyes (driving, computer) results in a meltdown, and I can't focus on anything.

I've also been cursed with dry eye since the original surgery. I need to use drops every 30 minutes, or I feel like my eyes are full of sand, and a blink of the eye will leave me with badly distorted vision.

While I enjoy not needing glasses, I'd pay 10 times what I paid for the surgery to have my old eyes back. Read the small print in the 'informed consent' document you'll be asked to sign. It says some people's eyes are screwed up for life. It happens...

primestar31

Feb 28, 2008

rharkins said:
I had Lasik on both eyes last June, and a touchup on the left eye last November. I'm 56, and did the monovision thing. The touchup on the left eye was needed to bring me to a point where my brain would merge the two different images.

My vision is excellent if you only go by the eye chart. 20/15 distance in the right eye, and 'good enough' reading in the left.

Unfortunately, I've been miserable ever since the surgery. The first five months I struggled with eye strain because of the difference between the two eyes. I just could not merge the two different images. The touchup seems to have helped, but any prolonged use of my eyes (driving, computer) results in a meltdown, and I can't focus on anything.

I've also been cursed with dry eye since the original surgery. I need to use drops every 30 minutes, or I feel like my eyes are full of sand, and a blink of the eye will leave me with badly distorted vision.

While I enjoy not needing glasses, I'd pay 10 times what I paid for the surgery to have my old eyes back. Read the small print in the 'informed consent' document you'll be asked to sign. It says some people's eyes are screwed up for life. It happens...

rharkins: Sorry this reply is late, however, have you tried using FLAXSEED OIL pills to help your dry eye? Flaxseed Oil for Dry Eyes - AllAboutVision.com

If you take about 6 of these pills a day, after about 1 week, your dry eyes should start feeling much better. You could also go for the cold-pressed, and keep it in the refrigerator. It doesn't seem to increase my tears any, but it's definately doing something else to make it better. I think it increases the oily layer, but either way, it works for me. Perhaps it'll help you also.

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N5XZS

Last reply 10 minutes ago · posted in Over the Air Television By RabbitEars.Info

New low power station with CP has been granted. "Albuquerque "

New low power station has been granted by the FCC and the new call leter is K33OB-D on RF ch. 33.

Will run at 15 KW ERP, this one runs from the Westside same location as KWPL-LD a HC2 owned station.

It's going to be aimed at eastern part of Albuquerque, so it's tightly focused beam pattern.

This new station is owned by Digital Network and what kind of programmings is unkown at this time.

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N5XZS

Yesterday at 4:51 PM

Yeah, there are some diginets like Heartland, Retro, The Family Channel diginetworks that we already have here in this market and we don't need duplicates, but bring the new diginets on like the Rev'n, Karate Acton movies, different kind of music videos on the new station. :hatsoff2

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comfortably_numb

Yesterday at 4:54 PM

N5XZS said:
Yeah, there are some diginets like Heartland, Retro, The Family Channel diginetworks that we already have here in this market and we don't need duplicates, but bring the new diginets like Revn, Karate Acton movies, different kind of music videos on the new station.

I watch MovieSphere Gold channel a lot. Many recent movies on that digitnet

N5XZS

Yesterday at 4:59 PM

Yes that's a good channel MovieSphere, only thing is the missing CC on it.

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comfortably_numb

Today at 1:35 AM

According to the FCC listing, the tower is near I-40 and Juan Tabo:

FCCInfo Results

FCC Info is a Radio and Television Station Search Engine provided by Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.

www.fccinfo.com

primestar31

10 minutes ago

comfortably_numb said:
According to the FCC listing, the tower is near I-40 and Juan Tabo:

FCCInfo Results

FCC Info is a Radio and Television Station Search Engine provided by Cavell, Mertz & Associates, Inc.

www.fccinfo.com

Many of these in my DMA are on cell towers, so don't always reach very far because the towers aren't very high.

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dfergie

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU!

Last reply 14 minutes ago · posted in What's Cooking?

What's For Lunch?

We have a Breakfast and Dinner thread so...

Continuing from the Breakfast thread, found Cornbread mix so ...
Yellow Cornbread Mix
2 Hatch Green Chiles -diced
1 Egg
2/3 cup of milk
add to greased pan
Bake for 400f 20-25 minutes(From instructions)
now to put together and try... this to go with pinto beans...

5388 Replies · 334588 views

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TRG

Monday at 3:34 PM

Pork shoulder, refried beans, cheddar and chopped green chile burrito with a pint of pale ale.

Its nice being able to have a pint with lunch during the week or whenever. I've been enjoying the retired life.

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dfergie

Monday at 4:27 PM

TRG said:
Pork shoulder, refried beans, cheddar and chopped green chile burrito with a pint of pale ale.

Its nice being able to have a pint with lunch during the week or whenever. I've been enjoying the retired life.

View attachment 191651

Congrats! I love retirement, no wake ups, no e-mails...
Leftovers for lunch, bacon wrapped salmon fillet from Saturday and a KFC thigh from Friday, Tea.

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TRG

Monday at 4:50 PM

dfergie said:
Congrats! I love retirement, no wake ups, no e-mails...
Leftovers for lunch, bacon wrapped salmon fillet from Saturday and a KFC thigh from Friday, Tea.

I've been retired since October. It was very strange at first. But I'm loving it now.

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TRG

Yesterday at 4:11 PM

Creamy flat chicken enchiladas with green chile, beans and rice.

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dfergie

14 minutes ago

Layered Spicy Dorito / chili cheese Frito pie casserole…real sugar Pepsi

Reactions: TRG and Bobby

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Linus Tech Tips

16 minutes ago · posted in Linus Tech Tips

I Found Free Money in the Tech House

Time for another AWESOME video from Linus Tech Tips!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6FoAOhbeo5Y

Direct YouTube Link - I Found Free Money in the Tech House
Linus on Facebook
The LTT Store

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TWiT Tech Podcast Network

46 minutes ago · posted in TWiT Tech Podcast Network

Hollywood Faces the AI Tipping Point with Robert Tercek

Time for another AWESOME video from the TWIT Network!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOgBoy9ScCY

Direct YouTube Link - Hollywood Faces the AI Tipping Point with Robert Tercek
TWIT's Website
TWIT Live Feed

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zippyfrog

Pub Member / Supporter Lifetime Supporter

Last reply 50 minutes ago · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Price Increase on Owned Equipment?

Did anyone have a price increase today on their equipment? I own my VIP211k's, and they have been $5.00. My bill that I received last week shows the "add-ons" as being $5.00. However, I just logged into my Dish account, and my "add-ons" are now $10.00. Did the additional receivers go up by $5.00 recently?

As I mentioned, my last bill shows $5.00 and under the notes, nothing is mentioned about a price increase.

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zippyfrog

Today at 11:29 AM

However, when I make a change (tried to add the Columbian pack for $2 so I could generate my bill) and there is a new line - it says "Access for TV" - whereas previously that line item was not there. I hope they aren't charging $5.00 for the initial TV now...

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telstar_1

Today at 11:45 AM

Apparently it's not an "owned receiver" fee but rather an extension fee that's applied to 2nd and subsequent viewing. Maybe that played into their decision to force a box at every TV- garnering those fees

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zippyfrog

Today at 12:34 PM

telstar_1 said:
Apparently it's not an "owned receiver" fee but rather an extension fee that's applied to 2nd and subsequent viewing. Maybe that played into their decision to force a box at every TV- garnering those fees

Possibly. In theory, $9 of the base pack has a rental fee built in. But now is this $5 a chance to get a little more? I don't know for sure. According to chat, it is a glitch and will be resolved in a timely manner, but we shall see. Part of my thinks there is a going to be a new charge, whether it is now or this fall. Here in Illinois, the law requires we are given 30 days notice of any fee changes, but I have not been given anything.

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MikeD-C05

Today at 1:11 PM

These fees are why streaming has caught on so well across the country and DISH is losing subs each quarter. Soon won't be enough subs to be profitable.

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telstar_1

50 minutes ago

Does cable charge box rent?

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Bruce

Supporting Founder Lifetime Supporter

Last reply Today at 1:16 PM · posted in DISH Network Support Forum

Dish Satellite now under 5 Million subscribers/Sling under 2 Million.

With the 1st Quarter Report just released, Dish lost another 180,000, now at 4.84 Million.

Sling now at 1.79 million subscribers, down approximately 190,000.

For comparison, YouTube TV now has about double the subscribers of Dish and Sling combined.

DISH & Sling TV Lost Over 366,000 TV Subscribers In Just 3 Months | Cord Cutters News

EchoStar Corporation, the owner of the DISH Network satellite television service and the Sling TV streaming platform, continued to experience steep declines in its pay-television customer base during the first three months of 2026. The company reported a net loss of approximately 366,000 pay-TV...

cordcuttersnews.com

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fmj77

May 11, 2026

I'm surprised Dish still has that many subscribers. I don't know a single person in my area that is still with them after getting either Starlink or fiber at their home. They all cancelled Dish and went with streaming. I used to get offers pretty regularly in the mail to come back to Dish, but no more. Haven't seen one in a couple of years now.

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Bruce

May 11, 2026

fmj77 said:
I'm surprised Dish still has that many subscribers. I don't know a single person in my area that is still with them after getting either Starlink or fiber at their home. They all cancelled Dish and went with streaming. I used to get offers pretty regularly in the mail to come back to Dish, but no more. Haven't seen one in a couple of years now.

Only about 3.6% of Households in the United States, still have Dish Network.

For comparison, YouTube TV has about 10%.

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Yespage

May 18, 2026

$25 a month for 1 gig, for two years with Spectrum. I'd be darned that their router was MUCH better than AT&T's. I didn't realize that what I thought was something else was the bloody router. Those buffering issues stopped when I swapped... after AT&T refused to lower my bill, after 25 years of high speed internet service. They wanted $80 or so a month for 1 gig, with no drop to a lower speed.

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telstar_1

Jun 2, 2026

I despise that most of all. I'm going to talk to a remote?

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tsunami2311

Friday at 11:03 PM

Yespage said:
$25 a month for 1 gig, for two years with Spectrum. I'd be darned that their router was MUCH better than AT&T's. I didn't realize that what I thought was something else was the bloody router. Those buffering issues stopped when I swapped... after AT&T refused to lower my bill, after 25 years of high speed internet service. They wanted $80 or so a month for 1 gig, with no drop to a lower speed.

1gbit up and down here from att start out great was suppose to be $60 for life of service, with years time it went back up to $80 I complained about they gave us $49 for year which about to end, I Wonder what prices will be when it "up" I in no way like ATT fiber service there DNS that are hardcode and unchange able in the router are some WORSE DNS I ever used. you know how much of pain it is to change DNS setting on EVERY single wireless device...

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mwdxer1

Saturday at 3:08 AM

Bruce said:
Only about 3.6% of Households in the United States, still have Dish Network.

For comparison, YouTube TV has about 10%.

I dropped Dish a couple years back after having them for 25 years. The pricing got higher and after we got high speed internet, I watched it less and less. It got to the point all I watched was TCM for classic movies. Many of them are on You Tube now and a Premium subscription is $14 a month. A far cry of the $100 a month was paying with AT180, Supers, and locals. I get locals OTA anyway. I took down the dish several months ago and tossed it. I owned all my my equipment, so nothing to return. Do I miss a traditional cable type service? No way. If I want one I have all of the free live streaming with Roku, the Fire Stick, as well as Google TV. Right now as I type this, I am watching episodes of "The Midnight Special" from 1976 on You Tube, ad free. Dish was fine for many years. I do not regret buying the equipment and installing it myself (No installers in 1999). I enjoyed Dish for many years. My thoughts, Dish & Direct will be forced to merge in time, or they both will be gone. Even cable companies are getting out of TV. Some are only selling the internet and phone packages.

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tanman

Sunday at 12:01 PM

telstar_1 said:
I despise that most of all. I'm going to talk to a remote?

Hello Computer On Phone GIF - Hello Computer Hello On Phone - Discover & Share GIFs

Click to view the GIF

tenor.com

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nelson61

Monday at 8:20 PM

A lot of it flows back to the 4 big networks.
Cable and satellite are their money tree.

But, in reality, each market need 1 or perhaps 2 news feeds - not 4 or more

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MikeD-C05

Today at 1:16 PM

nelson61 said:
A lot of it flows back to the 4 big networks.
Cable and satellite are their money tree.

But, in reality, each market need 1 or perhaps 2 news feeds - not 4 or more

In my area we get 2 news feeds spread over 4 local stations.
ABC/NBC (TEGNA)
Same news cast simulcast over both channels.

CBS/Fox (Sinclair)
Same news casters at 5pm, 6pm, 10pm.
Fox shows an hour at 9pm but same news casters.

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lordodogg

Last reply Today at 12:54 PM · posted in DIRECTV General Forum

HR44 rebooted overnight?

Hello again, haven't posted here in a while.

This morning, around 6:30am, I woke up and found the front panel lights on my HR44 on (I leave it off all the time as it is co-located with one of my Geminis).

Immediately thinking that either a reboot or power outage occurred, I checked the software version, and found that it's still the same release that was sent out last month.

I then ruled out a power outage by checking the clocks on my appliances and seeing that they're still correct (they reset when there's an outage, somewhat similar to the "blinking 12" on VCRs).

I then confirmed a reboot by checking the Upcoming Recordings (fka To-Do List) and seeing that the number was much lower than before (it always resets after a reboot).

I am definitely guessing what happened (and it may very well be actually what happened) is that the "Reset Required" prompt may have come up sometime overnight, and it eventually timed out and rebooted automatically. IIRC that prompt comes up when new software "plugins" have to be installed.

Would like to hear your thoughts, especially since I probably haven't talked to some of you reading this in a while (was a former CE member, left almost a year ago).

Thank you all in advance!

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Tom Speer

May 20, 2026

My HR54 blue light is on this morning. I think you ae right about the plugins. They are tweaking things in the customer National release. What version does your HR44 Genie have now? I think you are probably on the same varsion as the CE group today.

lordodogg

May 20, 2026

I believe mine says 0x1D7F

Tom Speer

May 20, 2026

That is what I have.

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lordodogg

Today at 12:54 PM

Happened again today & have new software, 0x1d88

Scott Greczkowski

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge

Last reply Today at 11:08 AM · posted in The Chit Chat Club

Song Name Game Part 3!

Sometimes a thread gets so many posts in it that is can cause issues for the server so that why today we introduce The Song Name Game Part 3!

So let the game continue!

The last song was added by Bobby who posted...

One Meat Ball - Andrews Sisters

CONTINUE ON AND HAVE FUN! WELCOME HOME TO SATELLITEGUYS.US!

Here are the original rules for the game as posted by WebbyDude back in 2006. http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/68645-Song-Name-Game

Just name a song title and the band who performed it. The next person does the same thing, but needs to list a song title or band name which includes a word from the previous entry. Pick songs from any genre.

Example:

Long Live Rock and Roll -- Rainbow

Rainbow in the Dark -- Dio

Another example:

Ride the Lightning -- Metallica

Lightning Strikes -- Ozzy Osbourne

Get it?

An additional note: we all know that song titles, sometimes, use profane words. Because this is a family friendly website it is advised that you clean up that title up a bit. This is accomplished by using something like sh!t instead of the real word. Thanks....

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ClarkGable

Today at 6:48 AM

No Time - The Guess Who

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harshness

Today at 9:01 AM

Time After Time - Cyndi Lauper

sdfntx

Today at 9:50 AM

Right on Time - Brandi Carlile

gms49ers

Today at 11:00 AM

Time Stand Still - Rush

Bobby

Today at 11:08 AM

I Can't Help It (If I'm Still In Love With You) - B.J. Thomas

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Scott Greczkowski

Staff member HERE TO HELP YOU! Cutting Edge

Last reply Today at 10:24 AM · posted in SatelliteGuys Support Center

DNS Work being done

Our DNS provider is encouraging us to enable DNSSEC on our domains for added security.

I have gone ahead and enabled it, and am told it may take anywhere from 90 minutes to 24 hours for it to take effect.

Hopefully doing this does not harm the site in any way. (It shouldn't) but if it does, you will then know why and I will revert the settings.

But from what I am reading it should be ok. so just giving a warning as I have screwed up DNS stuff in the past.

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Scott Greczkowski

Today at 10:24 AM

Doing my checks it appears the changes have gone through... and we are still here. (Phew!)

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Ham Radio 2.0

Today at 10:22 AM · posted in Ham Radio 2.0

I Went Wardriving for Meshtastic and Meshcoree Nodes!

Time for another AWESOME video from Ham Radio 2.0!

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erpXkKWLg54

Direct YouTube Link - I Went Wardriving for Meshtastic and Meshcoree Nodes!
Ham Radio 2.0 Website
Ham Radio 2.0 on Facebook