Data Offer for those chasing USA 2008

[Tony Gilbert]

Dear Netweather members,

I have cracked a deal with vodafone for data in the USA.

The current offers by vodafone online are about £25 per month with additional £4.50 per day for usage!

This could work out damn expensive!

I have spent some time explaining the needs of UK chasers when in the USA and vodafone have come back with a pretty good deal;-

Free modem or data card with 12 month contract

£12.50 per month 3GB download max in UK

Extra £1.00 for first 15 MB then per day then £2.00 thereafter!

This is an excellent deal for those considering chasing in the US next year.

T. Mobile and 3 are still unable to offer any service whatsoever in the US ATM

and it is pretty much impossible to open a data account in the US unless you are a US citizen with a US address!

This offer is not open to anyone and will not be available to the general public. If you are interested then please email me and I will send you the email address of the vodafone customer rep.

PS. I am not on commission I am just trying to share info :o

[Paul Sherman]

Many Thanks for this Info Tony, This will proves Invaluable with GR Level 3, I believe their Radar reflectivities are "MUCH" Better than the Barons, although to have both in the Cars will be an added bonus!!

Paul S

[Tony Gilbert]

Many Thanks for this Info Tony, This will proves Invaluable with GR Level 3, I believe their Radar reflectivities are "MUCH" Better than the Barons, although to have both in the Cars will be an added bonus!!

Paul S

Agreed!...especially considering the grief we had with the Baron earlier this year

[Stu]

Just a word of warning - The US cell phone network does not support 3G - you need an EVDO or a CDMA network card for your laptop

One option is just to rent one from this store in London

http://www.cellhire.com/content/datacard_US.htm

Cellhire plc

1-3 Pemberton Row

Fetter Lane

London

EC4A 3ET

England

t: +44 20 7490 7799

f: +44 20 7490 1890

e: [email protected]

Personally I would not chase without one.

[Gorky]

Another option would be AvisConnect, which is cheaper but that ties you to one specific Car Rental firm, and is available only at Dallas Fort Worth in the Plains currently. This is the option I'm looking at at the moment unless I find anything cheaper. Turning your car into a WIFI hotspot seems like a nice way of making friends out in chase country too

http://redirect.avis.com/autonet/

[Paul Sherman]

When are you going out Nath ??

Looks like a possible Active Season this Spring!

[Gorky]

Nothing confirmed yet, but I am almost certain to go in some form I'm trying my best to get friends involved but unfortunatey, most don't have the money to spend on going. (I'm almost tempted to just make them pay flights and then food just so I have some company heh ). I should have 3 weeks off work this spring with May5th - May15th pretty much guaranteed and one week pending for the week before that. I have to put in a special claim for holidays over 2 weeks long but it should be a formality. That would give me around 20 or so days in the states if necessary! I'm fairly sure I'll go even if I do end up going on my own. I'd quite like the freedom to do my own thing. The only real issue with that is the expense is a lot higher due to not being able to share rooms and fuel bills, but then if I fancy spending a day going off and doing some non weather related outing I have some flexibility. I have spent over £1000 on camera equipment since last year so I really need to test it out on some impressive storms/scenery to make it worth while!

I have a week off work next week during which I hope to finalise the trip and see if any of my old uni mates is able to go. Most are interested in what I do, but for someone who isn't a complete storm nut, it is a lot of money to stump up for something they are not guaranteed to enjoy.

I think I'll probably go the Avis Autonet route($10 per day unlimited use) with a trial install GRLevel 2 on a laptop and Level 2 data for the month from AllisonHouse.com ($20/month). To me, that seems like the best setup for chasing in most areas. The only issue is the lack of data in a few areas, especially in Oklahoma where data coverage is really poor Outisde of the Central I35 Belt. That is the real strength of Baron's I guess A combo of both would be awesome together but veeeeerrrrrry expensive