Back to the fold

[MattNW]

I just had a hard drive die so I'm installing everything again including FS2004. I'd uninstalled it to make room for FSX but now with a 300Gig HD there's no worry about drive space. I'll install FSX again too but it looks like it's going to be a long time before I have a system that can handle it as well as my current one is handling FS9. I'd added a stick of RAM to try and squeeze out a little more performance in FSX. Never got to try FS9 with it. WoW! Big difference in FS9. Never seen a sim so smooth. So with that and some well thought out add ons (sky, ground and mesh). I now have a sim looking as good or better in some ways as FSX with twice the performance. Only thing missing is some of the eye candy.

Same thunderstorm that took out the drive also took out my trusty old X-45. Gonna miss that but I got an X-52. Luckily I just purchased some electronic equipment insurance from my power company. Hopefully that will offset the cost of the new joystick and drive so when that pays off I'm thinking about some rudder pedals.

[Fozzer]

Matt...

...welcome back amongst your old FS9 Friends... [smiley=thumbsup.gif]...!

A cool beer (or three) is awaiting you in the FBO Bar... [smiley=beer.gif]...!

Have fun...(we do!)... ...!

F....G-BPLF... 8-)...!

P.S. 2 Gig of Ram will make FS9 run as sweet as a nut.. ...!

[garymbuska]

Why not purchase a good surge protector. I use a APC ES 750 va 450 watt battery backup. These come with a $50,000 guarantee. Even against Lighting Strikes.

[MattNW]

I have an APC 1500 XS uninterruptible power supply and the insurance came with a whole house surge protector attached to the electric meter. Living at the end of a very long power line makes it hard for any surge suppressor to stop everything. Sometimes something will get through. That was the reason for the insurance. If I suspect a thunderstorm I usually unplug everything before I leave the house but last week it kind of caught me by surprise. Don't usually get thunderstorms this time of year.

PS: I also keep 5 gallons of gas and a generator handy. We get blackouts several times a season. Usually on the hottest day of the summer and coldest day of the winter . Just part of living in the country.

[garymbuska]

I have an APC 1500 XS uninterruptible power supply and the insurance came with a whole house surge protector attached to the electric meter. Living at the end of a very long power line makes it hard for any surge suppressor to stop everything. Sometimes something will get through. That was the reason for the insurance. If I suspect a thunderstorm I usually unplug everything before I leave the house but last week it kind of caught me by surprise. Don't usually get thunderstorms this time of year.

PS: I also keep 5 gallons of gas and a generator handy. We get blackouts several times a season. Usually on the hottest day of the summer and coldest day of the winter . Just part of living in the country.

Maybe a 100 foot lighting rod is in order
There are devices that can be used to help clean up the power but they are a little on the expensive side. Some of these devices pretty much prevent lighting from entering the building 99.9% of the time
Other than that a good batch of four leaf clovers and some horse shoes and a rabbits foot could not hurt. 8-)

[Fozzer]

Its not very often that we get wild Thunderstorms over here (England), but every time I hear a rumble of Thunder I go round and pull out all the plugs attached to ALL of my various bits of electrical apparatus, especially my Computer and Electronic Keyboards...

...not just switch them off, but PULL OUT all the plugs..!

F....Not frightened of Thunder... ...but paranoid about mains-borne, high-voltage electrical spikes... ...!

[MattNW]

...not just switch them off, but PULL OUT all the plugs..!

F....Not frightened of Thunder... ...but paranoid about mains-borne, high-voltage electrical spikes... ...!

Exactly! That's the only sure way of preventing lightning strikes to your computer. I usually do that but since we don't usually get thunderstorms in Nov. I didn't this time.

@ garymbuska

Clover I can do but rabbit feet might be a little hard. The coyotes take care of the rabbit population along with an occasional cat..  ;D

[vololiberista]

Where I live, in Northern Italy, we get frequent thunderstorms. So the tv aerials get pulled and so does the modem conection.

Remember that more people are killed by lightning whilst talking on the house phone than in the open air.

Vololiberista

[pepper_airborne]

Fortunately most lines are secured where they enter the unground trafo stations, so i dont worry too much about it whilst in a thunderstorm, i also got fail safe blocs between the electrical equipment and the power plug.