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To All of my Friends and Neighbors in East Shore Estates;
I can't express how much your donations of blood means to me. Your thoughtfulness and generosity are beyond compare. A simple "Thank You" seems so inadequate, but it is the best I can do. I am going to the Myeloma Institute of Research and Therapy in Little Rock every month. The doctors tell me I am making slow progress, but the experimental chemo will continue to destroy both the bad and also (unfortunately) some of the good cells.
Words cannot express how much you are in my heart. At this special time of year, I want to wish one and all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
With grateful Thanks,
Ron Keeley
12-20-12
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Ron Keeley is needing blood transfusions and platelets several times a month due to the chemo to treat the Multiple Myeloma cancer he has. If you would like to give blood to the Carter Blood Bank and have it credited to him, you can do one of the following:
1. Give blood at the Carter Mobile bus located on the Brookshire's parking lot in Whitehouse the 1st and 3rd Mondays of each month from 11AM - 4PM and give them Ron's credit # SPON051737.
2. Give blood at ANY Carter Blood donation center and have it credited to Ron's #SPON051737
We gratefully appreciate all donations.
Thank you,
The Keeley Family
Dianne Keeley
dkeeley@prismnet.com
C: 9035218261
(NOTE: This is a request being supported and passed along by the East Shore Estates Board of Directors requesting your help for Ron)
(Updated 06-14-12) Bob Dillon, Webmaster
This is intended to be my personal general summary of the viable broadband Internet Service Providers (ISPs) currently available in East Shore Estates. Dial-up services are no longer viable for anyone anywhere due to the large amount of data transmitted by web pages and web sites. Every residence is a different situation due to the location, terrain, structures, trees, etc. This summary will be updated periodically as more information becomes available so check our website frequently. (www.eastshoreestates.com)
Their 3G wireless broadband is currently our most universally available, consistent and long standing broadband service that is generally available to everyone, except for the Pavilion area. That area still has a weak signal and needs a signal amplifier in addition to your aircard. Download speeds fluctuate from .7-1.5MB down and .2-.8MB up which is basically the speed of DSL. It took years for me to get them to upgrade and debug our tower but now the service is very good and dependable. This service currently costs $59.99/month for 5GB of data plus $10 for each GB over your limit. (NOTE: There is also a very small 250MB plan for $39.99/month but DO NOT get this plan. It is WAY too small and therefore not usable.) Pricing for new customers is going to change drastically June 28, 2012 so just be aware that this pricing will no longer be available for new customers.
When VerizonWireless 3G became available years ago I threw my data satellite system in the trash and have been using this ever since. I really like the fact that I can toss my aircard in my laptop bag when we travel and have Internet service virtually everywhere we go.
IF you are currently on one of the grandfathered unlimited 3G data plans that I was able to arrange for years ago you need to carefully consider ever changing or upgrading from that plan. You will lose your unlimited data plan and cannot get it back. If you are a heavy data user your costs could rise significantly so you need to know how much data you are using a month and plan to use in the future.
Their 4G wireless is currently NOT available for approximately 90% of our residents due to Verizon's not upgrading our tower in the recent roll-out of 4G in our area. We understood that we were going to be included but wound up getting cut out of the deployment. They need to run fiber optic cable to the tower or install microwave equipment to support 4G speeds and throughput. While we believe fiber is available in Omen less than a mile away, they did not make that a priority so we were left out. I should note that the 4G aircards will fall back to 3G service if no 4G service is available. SO, even though you were sold a 4G aircard you will probably be using the 3G service in most cases in East Shore Estates until they upgrade our tower to 4G. This is due to the terrain not allowing the 4G signal to reach you from Arp, Whitehouse, or Chapel Hill since it is not on our tower.
The Tyler Verizon office on the loop wanted us to promote their new 4G service roll-out to our residents. I went to their office and met with the manager and assistant manager explaining our past service issues getting the 3G system to work like they said it should and that I didn't want unhappy users again not getting what they were sold. I told them I had residents calling me wanting to know what to do and if they could get 4G at their house now. I explained our terrain issues, etc and the fact that since we were cut out of the 4G tower roll-out that I wanted to be SURE that our residents could get the service inside THEIR house before I would support it. Their employees cannot go onto customers property so I offered to do that for them and test the system in our whole neighborhood to satisfy myself we could all get the service. I just needed them to get me a demo aircard and MiFi to use to test. This was on Friday April 27 and the manager said he would get right on it but everyone was sick the next week and he was short handed so he didn't get it done but would get right on it the next week. OK, so the next week went by saying he would get right on it while the assistant manager slipped out here and put up her own 4G sign advertising the 4G service and to call her for the sale. I texted the manager back again and said I was "still waiting" and he as ignored working with East Shore Estates as a group ever since.
Fortunately, I was able to bypass the unresponsive local manager and go through other channels and obtain the test equipment I needed to test the 4G coverage in East Shore Estates. My testing reflects much worse coverage than even I expected. The few houses on the ends of the 3 points are picking up a low usable 4G signal and have speeds of 7-10MB down and about 1.5-2.0MB up. That is basically the few houses on Susie's Point, Cardinal west (left) from Sunshine, Fisherman's west (left) from Ramp Road. The majority of East Shore Estates which is remaining is getting zero 4G signal at this time. Keep in mind that the 3G coverage is good and working well but just don't expect 4G speeds until our tower is upgraded. Your best 4G equipment options are a USB aircard (Pantech UML290) that plugs into your computer or into a specialized wireless router if you want a hotspot with long range and also be able to have hardwired Ethernet connections. The other option is their small MiFi wireless router hotspot (Verizon Jetpack Novatel 4510L Mobile Hotspot). It is a credit card sized device providing WiFi only connections for up to 5 devices. It is very portable if that is a need, but WiFi speeds drop off significantly when you get more than 25 feet away. The 4G plans cost $30/month for 2GB of data (Too small, don't get), $50/month for 5GB of data (normal users), or $80/month for 10GB of data (heavy users) plus $10 for each GB over your respective limit. Pricing for new customers is going to change drastically June 28, 2012 so just be aware that this pricing will no longer be available for new customers.
On 6-1-12 I finished the 2 week testing of the current Verizon Wireless 4G LTE signal out here and returned the equipment. It basically showed that 4G LTE is not working for 90% of our residents until Verizon installs it on our Omen tower which I hope is in the not too distant future. Many folks can get a 4G signal but it is a fringe signal, has issues and is really not reliable/stable enough to be usable. Anyone using a 4G aircard or MiFi needs to lock it onto 3G until our tower is upgraded. When 4G LTE is installed on our tower I think these weak signal problems will be over. Our 3G signal is good in most places although some areas towards the Pavilion need a signal booster added to the aircard to get good service. Our trees and terrain are our big challenges in getting the signal to drop into our hole we call the lake.
If you wish to order Verizon Wireless service please contact:
Chris Pritchett
903-431-9800
Christopher.pritchett@verizonwireless.com
Many of you may remember Chris from the days when he helped us all get setup on the 3G system initially. He will set you up over the phone and then overnight FedEx you the equipment so you will be up and running the next day without having to go to town. I have made arrangements for Chris to personally take care of us here in East Shore Estates. He's a great guy!
Another broadband option several of our residents are using is Gower's fixed service that is broadcast to your residence. I have not personally had a chance to test any of these systems or get any feedback from their users and would love to receive some if you are running this system. Gower will need to come to your house for a site survey to see if you can receive their signal at your location due to the terrain and trees, etc. I asked the Gower folks to send me this brief summary of their system and related costs:
GOWER.NET is offering High Speed Wireless Internet to East Shore Estates. We are a locally owned business that started in 1984 as Gower Computer Support, Inc. in Tyler.
Unlike other providers, there is NO CONTRACT REQUIRED. We have 3 towers in the Lake Tyler area of which 2 cover East Shore Estates. We use small outdoor antennas mounted at customers site pointed at our tower to receive the signal. Equipment and standard installation is $250 or $350, depending on equipment needed. If extra poles and cable are needed, there is additional cost. Your monthly cost depends on speed ordered. Different Internet speeds are available depending on what speed you choose. Currently we offer 192K down for $29.95 monthly with speeds up to 2Mb down/1Mb up for $174.95 monthly. Our most popular speed is 1Mb down/256K up, which is priced at $79.95 monthly. NOTE: we do not throttle speed down after a preset limit or charge extra for overage. It is UNLIMITED and again NO CONTRACT REQUIRED. Anyone interested can call GOWER.NET at 903-597-9220 for a FREE site survey.
There are several satellite Internet providers and it has been years since I threw my Starband satellite dish in the trash after we got VerizonWireless 3G out here. If you must do satellite, your best provider is probably HughNet and I would definitely recommend staying away from Wild Blue and Starband because I know of no happy users. All of the ones I have encountered have been moved to VerizonWireless. The satellite provider/installer will have to do a site survey to see if they can get a good line-of-sight to the satellite around your trees, etc. I am not a fan of satellite Internet due to the high cost of equipment and service, service interruptions, rain fade, and especially the latency delay. Latency delay is the time it takes the signal to go up 22,000 miles to the satellite, back down 22,000 miles to the ground station, and on through the Internet to its original destination. This delay makes gaming not work, causes you to click about 15 seconds early when bidding (like eBay biding) to attempt to not miss the sale, and used to not allow VOIP Internet telephone call like Magic Jack, Vonage, etc, but that may be different now.
The satellite companies try to compensate for the latency delay by using various data accelerators that cache web pages on your system so they pop up quick and then fill in the data that has changed with the satellite download. It makes things appear a little faster but the latency issue is still there.
We have several residents that are currently satellite users and I would be interested in their feedback about what provider they are using, how they like it, what it costs, and what they don't like about the current satellite systems.
Currently we have NO cable Internet service provider. Our last company, Zoom Media LLC, closed and entered bankruptcy proceedings at the end of March, 2012. Some people are still receiving a signal while others are not. Zoom Media, LLC cannot be reached by email or telephone. My last automated response from an email to the company President simply read:
"Zoom Media LLC has permanently closed and is seeking Bankruptcy protection."
I have contacted 3 other cable providers about our situation. To date, one has us on their radar screen but is not currently interested, a second has sent the information to their engineers to review, and the third has not yet responded.
I am currently not aware of any other Internet Service Providers (ISPs) that have a signal strong enough to service our area with high speed Internet. If you know of any that I can check out and test please contact me with the information about who to contact where I can see the system in service and run a few tests. We are always trying to stay current and keep up with any new services that might become available to us in East Shore Estates.
Bob Dillon, Webmaster
East Shore Estates
babyblues409@yahoo.com
(This is our cable internet service here in East Shore Estates)...FYI
Cable Company Serving Hamburg Apparently Now Out of Business
By David Moyers, Ashley County Ledger, Hamburg, Ashley County, Arkansas
Published: Tuesday, April 17, 2012 9:20 AM CDT
As of this week, the customers of Zoom Media, LLC, which had been operating the Hamburg cable television system have only limited channels.
The system ceased carrying a CBS affiliate some time last week, and by Monday morning of this week, the Little Rock ABC affiliate was also gone. As of mid-morning Monday, the El Dorado-Monroe NBC affiliate, Public Broadcasting station AETN and The Weather Channel remained active, as well as another channel which was broadcasting commercials.
A call to the company's support number results in a message that, "Due to unforseen circumstances, Zoom Media has permanently closed and is seeking bankruptcy protection."
Mayor Dane Weindorf said that he was waiting to hear back from Paul Keith, the city attorney, in regard to what to do about the system.
A person familiar with the system noted that electricity was cut off to the system this past week, and it was only through the mayor's appeals that it was turned back on. The person also noted that unless someone pays the electricity and starts paying franchise fees to the channels, he expects the system will gradually disappear. "If someone doesn't take it over, it is going away. I just don't know how soon," he said.
Faced with a similar situation, the City of Montrose took over and began operating the system in that town.
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East Shore Estates residents: If you learn any new information about this situation please pass it on to Bob Dillon, our webmaster, at babyblues409@yahoo.com OR 903-839-6902. Please include any articles, contact numbers, etc, that you can obtain.
Here is some of the owner's personal contact information.
His name is Steve Houston and his phone numbers are as follows...
903-525-9888
903-595-3233, 903-593-6454, 903-566-8605
Here is the information on the Rabies Vaccination Clinic:
This years Clinic will be on April 19th at 7pm in front of the Arp Jr. High Cafeteria. The cost will be $8.00 per animal vaccinated with part of the proceeds going to support the FFA Activities. All Animals must be 6 months old to be vaccinated, and remember that they must be vaccinated each year. This year they have cut the number of vaccination locations and are looking at the numbers of animals vaccinated to determine if they will keep doing the program. So be sure to bring your dog or cat and show that this is a worthwhile program to continue. We will be there until we run out of vaccine or dogs.
Thought we could help to get the word out.
Mary Caldwell
UPDATE: The temporary outage planned for this upgrade took place from 9:00-9:20AM and has now been completed as far as we know now.
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ALL East Shore Estates Residents!!!!
February 28, 2012
RE: Planned Troup Substation Outage
Dear Consumer Member,
Cherokee County Electric Cooperative Association (CCECA) strives to deliver reliable, low cost power to rural residents and businesses of East Texas. In order to improve upon this service, CCECA is in the process of upgrading our Troup Substation. In general, Troup Substation's service territory is from Omen south, Turnertown west, New Summerfield north, and Highway 69 east.
Maintaining a safe work environment is of the utmost importance to CCECA. Therefore, CCECA will be shutting off the power in the Troup Substation for a "temporary outage" on Tuesday, March 6, 2012 in order to conduct several dangerous tasks. This temporary outage is planned from approximately 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM. Should this outage not be conducted due to unforeseen circumstances on the above scheduled date, it will be rescheduled as soon as feasibly possible and without additional notification. There will be subsequent temporary outages to follow during the course of this project. Construction should be completed in April.
Please accept our apologies in advance for any inconveniences this temporary outage may cause.
Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to call our office at 903-683-2248 or 903-566-5028.
Sincerely,
CHEROKEE COUNTY ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE ASSOCIATION
Greg Jones
GeneralManager
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