Well, today is Saturday of a three-day weekend. My plan was to head to the Beta Site today but a project went into overtime, so it’s gonna have to be tomorrow.
Im working on a deck for up there to give me some space off the ground to put a tent, or just a couple chairs. I’m building two 4’x8′ “decks” that will sit on concrete deck blocks. Just some eight foot 2×6 covered with wooden decking. I’ll bolt them together side-by-side and that should give me an 8’x8′ platform. And, once I no longer need it, the two 4×8 decks will wind up becoming footbridges over the creek.
Assembly took longer than planned so I’ll be leaving tomorrow in the morning.
A buddy of mine came by and we were chatting about the Beta Site and I mentioned that I was going to, at some point, get StarLink for up there. He mentioned that his experience with it was positive. I told him I had no idea he had StarLink. He said he’d bought it a few months back, and then proceeded to pull a Pelican case with the whole setup contained within from his truck. Well, nothing accelerates my desire for something like getting to actually handle and examine the tangible goods. I knew I wanted to get StarLink for up there and now that I’ve gotten to see it up close I just need to open a new browser tab and order the thing. I’ve run the math and decided that if I move some money around into a fund specifically for StarLink subscription, I can have my dividends pay off the subscription fee meaning it won’t be an out-of-pocket expense…I’ll just use dividend and interest revenue to cover the $55/month fee.
Among other things tomorrow is hitting the Montana cadastral for approximate locations of where the corners of the property are, snagging the GPS coords, and going to see if I can find the actual corners. Last trips adventure showed me where three of the four are supposed to be.
And, finally, I’ve a friend with a goodly amount of experience driving logging trucks and pretty much anything else that eats diesel and winds through the woods. He’s off the opinion that we can get a small trackhoe up there without too much difficutly (assuming he’s doing the driving.) If thats the case, then its time to mark out where I want the holes dug for the polytanks I’ve got in the queue.
So, of to the Beta Site tomorrow. Details and pics when I get back.
Sounds like a good plan. Look forward to hearing how it turns out.
Starlink has a stand-bye plan. It just went from $5/month to $10/month. You still get a very low bandwidth connection even on stand-bye. You might check it out. It could fit your needs until you are on-site more often.
Your buddy should be able to refer you and you both get one month free. The free month for you will be the second month.
Maybe think about putting some rags soaked in some type of rodent/skunk repellant such as ammonia, tea tree oil, spearmint oil, Irish Spring soap, etc. under the deck to keep the little buggers from making it their crash pad/love nest.
Our local ISP sucks. We got Starlink. It works quite well.
Knowing someone who can drive big machines up what some call “roads” is a massive benefit… be sure to compensate this friend generously for his expertise.
Sounds like you’re making great progress, CZ!
RE: Starling,
I bought in 3 months back. Great service!
However, they provide a roaming service with Starlink mini, that you can take with you when you come.and go, and it is a touch pricey at first but not too bad after that. More than $50/mo, but not bad. The bonus is you just plopnit on the dirt and aim it and you are connected. 12 volts, wifi calling, you are good. Do your research. You will like the setup, it works well, from the reports I have seen. My setup is the trad antenna on the roof, not the mini. The “stand by” service has the potential to get expensive, there is lots on youtoob about that. My speed comparison is Starlink, in my case, is faster than a 5g connection. Comparable, but my 5g throttled after a certain point, Starling does not, at least my plan. HTH!
Tom762