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"Why is VPC so quite?"

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Emile[Crew]

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"Why is VPC so quite?"
04-23-03, 05:36z 

Hello all,
Just wondering why is the VPC site so quite? I am used to a lot of posts, answers, comments, .....
I have the feeling that the site is just in a wake-up state.
Yes, I know the birds are singing, the garden ..., the golf season starts (this time I will decrease my handicap, I promise) , the sun in present (at least in Europe and on the Continent) .... a lot of bad reasons to stay away from the Flight Sim ....
but ...
Regards
Emile
EBBR Brussels
Belgium

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  Table of Contents

  Subject      Author      Message Date     ID   
  RE: Why is VPC so quite? jonahbird[Crew] 04-23-03 1
   RE: Why is VPC so quite? Emile[Crew] 04-24-03 2
  RE: Why is VPC so quite? Stephen[Sysop] 04-24-03 3
   RE: Why is VPC so quite? vgbaron[Sysop] 04-24-03 4
   RE: Why is VPC so quite? jonahbird[Crew] 04-24-03 5
        RE: Why is VPC so quite? Stephen[Sysop] 04-24-03 6
             RE: Why is VPC so quite? jonahbird[Crew] 04-24-03 7
                  RE: Why is VPC so quite? Stephen[Sysop] 04-25-03 8
                       RE: Why is VPC so quite? jonahbird[Crew] 04-25-03 9
   RE: Why is VPC so quite? Ben_Chiu[Admin] 04-25-03 10
        RE: Why is VPC so quite? Stephen[Sysop] 04-26-03 11

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jonahbird[Crew]

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1. "RE: Why is VPC so quite?"
04-23-03, 20:06z 

Hi Emile

We could say "quite what?" - "Perfect?" :-) but I know you mean "quiet" (English can be a confusing language!)

For some time I too have been wondering about the silence. I have concluded that it is due to the excellence of FS2002. We all remember the pain that was FS2000 - lots of frustrations, leading to many gripes and questions of our learned friends, and little real enjoyment. FS2002 has been a different experience altogether. I just hope that COF will be as good with the promised pluses.

Best regards
Frank
10 miles SW of Gatwick

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Emile[Crew]

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2. "RE: Why is VPC so quite?"
04-24-03, 05:29z 

Hello Frank
Of course I mean quiet !!
Yes , we all wait for the Next Generation of FS. That will be : installation, first try ..., start improving, O'clocking vid cards (AA or not AA?, X2 or X9?), move fs2002 stuff to the "new one", ....frustrations, "it works!", blurries.., again and again ...

A lot of fun ! I can smell it, the hunt is open ..

Regards
Emile
EBBR Brussels
Belgium

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Stephen[Sysop]

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3. "RE: Why is VPC so quite?"
04-24-03, 12:16z 

I think Frank might be on to something when he mentions how few gripes users of Flight Sim 2002 have in comparison with all the performance issues people were discussing when everyone started using Flight Sim 2000. Flight Sim 2002 certainly performs much better than Flight Sim 2000 ever did on the same hardware - and without the patches from Microsoft and the tweaking of configuration files.

I haven't been at the VPC for a few days because an electrical storm resulted in my modem being destroyed when a power surge hit it through the phone line (fortunately, my computer seems to have suffered no harm) and I've been waiting for a new one to arrive. I'm pleased to report that my new modem arrived about an hour ago and it's working fine so I hope to be able to be a little bit more active at the VPC in the immediate future despite the rapid approach of my 'A'-Level exams which I'll be occupied studying for until July.

What the FSFORUM seems to have lacked in recent weeks are a few interesting talking points that will engage most readers. The readers certainly exist but unless there are a range of topics being discussed that interest different sections of the readership then the number of people who are able to contribute to any discussions in FSFORUM is obviously limited.

Things will become more lively once we get some more interesting discussions started and bring up topics that have more widespread appeal to visitors to the VPC and readers of the FSFORUM.

-Stephen.

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vgbaron[Sysop]

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4. "RE: Why is VPC so quite?"
04-24-03, 15:29z 

Agreed Stephen - I also think that the conflict in Iraq had an effect on the attitudes of a lot of people. I for one found myself spending more time watching CNN than my computer monitor.

Have a good day,

Vic


-= VPC OffLine Reader 2.1 =-
Registered to: Vic Baron
-OLR.PL v1.80-

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jonahbird[Crew]

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5. "RE: Why is VPC so quite?"
04-24-03, 18:12z 

Hi Stephen

Getting struck by lightening is not something we expect to experience - although most of us have hopes of winning the Lotto despite it being statistically less likely, I believe :-)

But that's not why I pick up on your posting. Do you have your equipment plugged in via a surge protector? I use one and the modem is also run through that. It will be interesting to know if you have that "protection" but it failed you.

Frank

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Stephen[Sysop]

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6. "RE: Why is VPC so quite?"
04-24-03, 20:56z 

Hi Frank,

I use surge protection on most of the equipment I have because I once lost a computer (fortunately I was due for a new one at the time - it was a 486 DX/2 66MHz with 8MB RAM when most of my friends were beginning to use Pentium II 300MHz with 64MB RAM systems!), a fridge/freezer and a television in one very expensive electrical surge. However, my modem is only surge-protected on its connection to the power supply and there is no surge protection for the modem's connection to the telephone line. I therefore conclude that the surge must have hit the modem from the phone line, which makes perfect sense since my phone lines were also both killed during the electrical storm and an engineer from BT was required to actually install a new 'box' in the house to get the lines back up and running.

I've often considered using surge protection between the modem and the telephone line because I have a perfectly good surge protection system for this very purpose built into the UPS I use, however, I've never got round to making use of this feature because it is keyed to the American RJ-11 style phone socket and not the British standard so I'd need to buy an additional RJ-11 to RJ-11 cable in order to connect the modem to the surge protection system and then I'd put my usual RJ-11 to British-style cable between the UPS surge protection system and the telephone box.

So I'm afraid I couldn't tell you whether or not surge-protection might have saved this modem because it looks like the surge hit it via an unprotected route.

-Stephen.

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jonahbird[Crew]

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7. "RE: Why is VPC so quite?"
04-24-03, 22:22z 

Hi Stephen

Well the good news is - it wasn't connected through a protector. All my equipment runs via a 6 way extension socket which incorporates a telephone link. So I hope it would be effective.

3 years ago a house on this estate was hit and all electrical gear was destroyed including the PC. Neighbouring houses were also affected and although we are about 500 yards away, one of the circuit boards for my remote control on a garage door and the motor to the fridge in the garage were burnt out. Apparently the charge runs into nearby houses via the earthing system.

I don't follow your reference to RJ-11s. Is your equipment American?

Frank

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Stephen[Sysop]

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8. "RE: Why is VPC so quite?"
04-25-03, 14:20z 

Hi Frank,

My UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) unit is made by APC (American Power Conversion) and whilst I ordered it in the UK from a UK supplier it would appear to be designed around American standards (but this doesn't present a problem for power-protection). The unit features surge protection for a modem connection. Basically you connect the phone line to the UPS and then connect the UPS to the modem - so that the connection between the phone line and the modem is running through the UPS's surge-protection system. My problem is that the UPS features an RJ-11 'in' and an RJ-11 'out' for this function. Modems purchased in the UK come with an RJ-11 to British phone jack cable (not RJ-11 to RJ-11).

Usually the RJ-11 end obviously plugs into the modem (probably because the standards for modems were set by Americans) and the British phone jack end fits the standard BT 'box' installed in one's house. Since the UPS has RJ-11 'in' and RJ-11 'out' sockets I only have a cable I can run from the phone box to the UPS (British phone jack to RJ-11 cable) and I don't have the additional RJ-11 to RJ-11 cable which would connect between the UPS and the modem.

I'm sure I could make use of this feature by simply buying an RJ-11 to RJ-11 cable (the type of cable which is usually used in the US to connect a modem to a telephone line) and making use of it to connect the UPS to the modem. Americans using the UPS product I have probably have a spare RJ-11 to RJ-11 cable lying around somewhere (since it's the standard cable supplied with modems in the US) but I don't.

I hope I've made sense with my explanation although I realise upon re-reading what I've written that it's a bit fuzzy. Let me know if you need further clarification.

-Stephen.

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jonahbird[Crew]

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9. "RE: Why is VPC so quite?"
04-25-03, 17:59z 

Hi Stephen

Thanks. I think I follow. I lived in the States for 4 years and I can't remember what form the phone plugs took. I'm just glad I don't have that problem.

Regards
Frank

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Ben_Chiu[Admin]

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10. "RE: Why is VPC so quite?"
04-25-03, 18:42z 

Hey Stephen:

Good to have you back online.

Speaking of power-related modem problems, a year or so ago when we in California were having regular brownouts and blackouts, my USR Courier V. Everything modem power supply (external) burned out while connected to a surge protector.

It seems that surge protectors only protect against surges (hence the name I suppose! <g>), but brownouts can be just as damaging to equipment. The important thing to note is surge protectors don't protect against low voltage/low amperage or what ever a brownout is doing. What I think happens is the circuits heat up and fry over the brownout period of time rather than in a instant as when encountering a surge. I guess when the electrical genies in the wires say your hardware's time is up...

Best!

Ben


-= VPC OffLine Reader 2.1 =-
Registered to: Ben Chiu
-OLR.PL v1.80-

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Stephen[Sysop]

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11. "RE: Why is VPC so quite?"
04-26-03, 17:41z 

Hi Ben,

I recognise the problems that brownouts or variable voltage/amperage can cause electrical equipment and fortunately my UPS unit has a special power "regulator" feature which is supposed to ensure a constant and reliable flow of power. If not enough power is being supplied by the mains system than the UPS will draw on its battery to bolster what is being supplied, whereas if there is a surge in the system the UPS will detect and 'filter' that surge before delivering power to the connected equipment (my computer and its monitor).

I feel much safer powering my computer through my UPS unit simply because I've lost a lot of electrical equipment in the past because for some reason my power supply has been unreliable (one year I had power surges on an almost weekly basis and I get several power cuts each year, usually because of bad weather).

Unfortunately my modem is never likely to be safe from power surges and brownout problems (not that I have had any of the latter) because there's no protection between the modem and the phone line and the modem is connected to the mains with only a surge protector and is not connected to the UPS.

Oh well. I suppose on the plus side I now have a much more modern modem which is considerably smaller and better-designed than my last one :).

-Stephen.

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