Category Archives: Technology

Coconino County Provides Successful Test Platform for SpaceX Starlink Mobile Units

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FLAGSTAFF — Coconino County continues to lead the effort in connecting students with SpaceX’s Starlink high-speed internet across Northern Arizona, including multiple tribal communities within the region, and now on school buses.

With continued focus on education, Coconino County collaborated with Flagstaff Unified School District (FUSD) and Page Unified School District (PUSD) to identify and select routes with an emphasis on connecting students who must ride the bus more than one hour to and from school. SpaceX provided Coconino County with two of their Flat High Performance Starlink kits that are installed on the buses, enabling students to stay connected and complete homework during their transit.

“The opportunity to deploy new technology to connect underserved rural communities is a tremendous achievement,” commented Supervisor Fowler. “The collaboration between SpaceX and Coconino County illustrates what can be achieved when the right people come together at the right time. We are incredibly thankful to our partners for the opportunities they have enabled by delivering enhanced connectivity throughout our most underserved communities.”

Coconino County began conversations with SpaceX when District 5 Supervisor Lena Fowler and Coconino County’s Chief Information Officer Matt Fowler both met with the company in 2019. This resulted in securing a private donation for the County to utilize Starlink and make high-speed internet accessible to rural areas of Northern Arizona. Coconino County successfully became an early customer, purchasing and launching Starlink internet in a 45-household trial on May 6, 2021. Shortly after, the County identified K-12 students living on the Navajo Nation without access to the internet or existing speeds less than 5 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. The County Information Technology Department engaged with the Board of Supervisors and the Flagstaff Unified School District, seeking collaboration opportunities to identify eligible students living on the reservation.

To date, Coconino County facilitated approximately 300+ implementations of Starlink internet services for a free 2-year period, which was made possible by private donations. This provides students the ability to connect with education providers and continue their studies remotely.

“This journey would not have been possible without the continuous teamwork from SpaceX, County Management, our Board of Supervisors, FUSD and PUSD. We rely heavily on our public and private partners to offer internet where it historically has been unavailable. This is truly an exciting moment,” commented CIO Matt Fowler. “We have amazing community partners, and this opportunity to embrace new technologies has greatly benefitted students in our region,” commented Deputy CIO Helen Costello.

Kaibab National Forest Considers New Alignment for Fiber Optic Line to Support Grand Canyon Schools

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WILLIAMS — The Kaibab National Forest (KNF) is considering authorization of a new fiber optic line. The Grand Canyon Unified School District and the Town of Tusayan obtained grant funds for the new fiber optic cable to provide high speed internet service to the school at the Grand Canyon, which is needed to deliver bandwidth to students whose access to high-speed internet lags badly behind other Arizona schools. Commnet Wireless would build the fiber system.

The southern terminus of the fiber optic line would be located at an existing Commnet facility near Airport Road and Interstate 40 in Williams, follow an Arizona Public Service (APS) utility easement to Arizona State Route 64 (SR 64), and extend north primarily along the west side of the Arizona Department of Transportation right of way for SR 64 to the vicinity of the Tusayan Airport, for a total of 53.8 miles. A total of 19.1 miles of line would be located on KNF lands, with 7.8 miles on the Williams Ranger District and 11.3 miles on the Tusayan Ranger District. The remainder of the line would be on state and private lands.

The KNF approved a different alignment for this fiber optic line in 2020. The former alignment, which would have totaled approximately 68 miles, would have generally followed the Grand Canyon Railway. The proponents requested the KNF analyze this new alignment instead of the alignment approved in 2020 because of logistical and cost considerations.

Experiencing technical difficulties

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We have been experiencing some technical difficulties with the web site. Some stories may get re-posted or duplicated while we are conducting repairs. Sorry for any inconvenience.

State Route 89A near Slide Rock to be narrowed to one lane for cell tower installation

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Motorists using State Route 89A between Sedona and Flagstaff should allow extra travel time next week when the roadway is reduced to one lane near Slide Rock while a new cell tower is installed.

SR 89A will be narrowed to one lane between mileposts 381 and 384 from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, December 13, and Wednesday, December 14. Flaggers will be on site to provide alternating north- and southbound travel through the work zone and delays are possible.

Drivers should proceed through the work zone with caution, slow down and watch for construction personnel and equipment.

ADOT works to inform the public about planned highway restrictions and closures, but it’s possible that unscheduled impacts might occur because of weather or other factors. For the most current information about highway conditions statewide, visit ADOT’s Travel Information Site at www.az511.gov, follow ADOT on Twitter (@ArizonaDOT) or call 511, except while driving.

When is your sister not your sister?

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Earlier in the evening of November 25, I got an unusual friend request on Facebook. It was from my sister. Which is unusual because I did not know that we were on unfriendly terms. It was a particularly busy afternoon, so—presuming that she accidentally unfriended me and friended me again—I accepted.

“She” started to PM me, which is highly unusual since she has my phone number. No you cannot have it.

The “conversation” started off with how ya doin’, how’s your day kind of messages. Then she told me that the IMF is giving away grants for money that does not have to be paid back. All I would have to do is fill out an application and if approved, pay a delivery fee.

Bingo. The scam.

First of all, the IMF is presumably the International Monetary Fund. That IMF is hardly in the business of giving away money. They are a group of scumbag bankers whose function is to consolidate the wealth of countries—particularly the United States—for use by global elitist who believe it is their job to rule the earth. They are not nice, they are not friendly and they are hardly charitable.

The second point was the “delivery fee.” You are telling me that the IMF is giving away money and cannot pony-up 35-cents for a stamp? I have been contacted by overseas people by phone telling me that Obama was going to send me a million dollars, all I had to do was pay a $250 delivery fee.

I replied as much to my “sister.” I logged off because I had other things to do. When I logged back on, I received a message demanding that it was not a scam because the delivery fee was not much. When I went to look at the message, Facebook had, apparently, caught up with the scam and deleted the profile.

The point of the story is this was obviously not my sister. If you get caught up in a “free money” scam and go to any links attached to them, you might actually go to an official looking “application.” Meanwhile the web site is loading viruses and Trojans into your computer. If you fill out any application, you are giving them your personal information for identification theft.

So here are some Facebook tips.

If you receive a friend request from a friend and you have their phone number, call them and ask them if they “friended” you.

Click on the name of any person wanting to friend you. Check their profile. If they have very few posts or haven’t posted for awhile or if their posts are exactly what you would post and you do not know them, delete the friend request.

The government creates profiles and friends people they want to fry. Those profiles are not deleted by Facebook because they know about them.

So choose your friends wisely.

Amateur Radio Field Day active Saturday

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FLAGSTAFF — The Coconino Amateur Radio Club will be participating in the annual Field Day event sponsored by the Amateur Radio Relay League. The event will be held at the Silver Saddle Outdoor Market on Highway 89a in Flagstaff. In Prescott, the Yavapai Amateur Radio Club will be hosting an event at the Jeep Posse building.

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Amateur radio clubs across the nation participate in this event allowing the uninitiated a chance to find out what Amateur radio is all about. You DO NOT have to have an Amateur radio license to get a chance to work the equipment. If you are new to Ham radio, this is an opportunity to check out various HF operations.

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Amateur radio has more to offer in this technologically advanced age. Most people do not realize that, with the Internet and Voice Over the Internet Protocol, you do not even need to purchase a radio. Echolink is a popular program that you can download and use on your computer and smart phone. You must have at least a technician license to use the program. There are web sites that allow you to operate over HF frequencies if you have the proper credentials.

Demonstrations at the Flagstaff location include:

  • SINGLE SIDE BAND RADIO
  • G.O.T.A (Get On The Air) STATION (You can talk of the radio)
  • DIGITAL STATION – sending message from radio to internet to radio, or, peer-to-peer
  • Auto Patch – Radio to phone
  • RIMLINK – Relaying radio messages from repeater to another repeater to reach Phoenix
  • APRS – Automatic Packet Reporting System
  • Alternative power sources – solar, hand cranked generator

Amateur radio groups across the country will operate at the exact same time and have similar activities. In Arizona the main operation will be from Saturday, June 25 at 11 a.m. ending Sunday at 11 a.m. In Flagstaff, the Coconino club will be setting up at 9 a.m. on Friday and members will be available in the afternoon for questions and possibly some demonstrations.

At 9 a.m. on Saturday at the Flagstaff location, the CARC will be giving the test for Amateur Extra for those who desire to get the license before the new examination is issued July 1. You must provide a picture I.D., copy of Amateur Radio license, and $15 fee. You need to bring a pencils for filling out the answer sheet and black pen for filling out the applications. You may bring and use a simple calculator.

Museum Ship Amateur Radio event begins June 4

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logo-09The Museum Ships Weekend Event, sponsored by the Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station, will begin Saturday, June 4 at 0000Z ending at 2359Z June 5th. Amateur operators will have the opportunity to contact almost 100 stations including retired ships from the U.S. Navy and Maritime service and Maritime museums.

On June 3, Ham operators can download an Excel spreadsheet of the participating stations from the New Jersey Amateur Radio Station web site.

The main operating modes will be single-side band (SSB) and International Morse Code (CW). There will be some PSK31 operations and some of the ships will fire up their origianl amplitude modulation (AM) equipment.

Interested Amateur radio operators can get more information and find contact information at the Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station web site.

Consumer Labels for Broadband Services

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Comparing prices, performance and network practices of broadband service providers can be challenging, even for savvy consumers. With this in mind, the FCC created Open Internet transparency rules requiring providers to convey sufficient information for consumers to make informed choices about available broadband services. Based on recommendations from its Consumer Advisory Committee, the FCC provides templates for broadband labels – one for landline and one for mobile – that service providers may use to supply consumers with information about their services.

If a provider uses a broadband label template, here’s the type of information you can expect to see:

  • Pricing details, including all of the various charges that seem mysterious to consumers – overage fees, equipment fees, early termination fees, other monthly fees beyond service fees such as insurance, administrative fees, or regulatory recovery fees.
  • Monthly data allowance – namely, the carrier-defined plan limit after which consumers will incur additional charges.
  • Broadband speed and other performance metrics.
  • Network management practices – namely, precautions providers may take to manage heavy traffic on their networks.

Service providers who use the labels will satisfy the FCC’s requirement to make transparency disclosures in the proper format, or a format that meets the needs of consumers. However, providers may still be in violation of FCC rules if the content of their labels is misleading or inaccurate or if they make misleading or inaccurate statements to customers in ads or elsewhere. In such cases, consumers can file complaints with the FCC at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov.

The new rules will go into effect later this year, but service providers may begin using the broadband label templates anytime. The labels can serve as a helpful comparison shopping tool for consumers. Look for and consider them when you shop for service.

More information

ADEQ Announces New Search Feature for Public Records

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PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) announced today it now has available through its website an online search engine allowing faster, more direct access to the agency’s 19 environmental databases containing information such as a facility’s operating permits and compliance history.

Known as MegaSearch, the tool allows customers to enter search criteria such as a facility’s name and address or its unique ADEQ file number to view a list of relevant environmental records and files of interest. Once identified, the files may be selected from the results page and emailed to the ADEQ Records Center for retrieval and viewing. By conducting their own independent research, customers can save time by eliminating the need to wait for results from a traditional records request with the help of Records Center staff.

“MegaSearch helps prospective land and business owners or anyone who wants to see instantly what environmental activity has been reported for a given location,” ADEQ Records Manager Eric Flohr said.

For example, Flohr said if you previously had wanted to know if a nearby gas station had a history of leaking underground storage tanks, you would have contacted ADEQ to submit a research request. Staff would then have accessed these same databases now available online to see what records of activity had occurred at the site. The process could take several days depending on the number of pending research requests, he said.

“Tools like MegaSearch give customers direct and instantaneous access to ADEQ’s vast amounts of environmental data from all over the state, which supports more transparent government for our citizens,” Flohr said.

ADOT: Beware of fraudulent ‘DMV’ websites and misleading

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PHOENIX — Many motor vehicle services can be performed online nowadays. Unfortunately, scam artists, misrepresenting themselves as official motor vehicle division entities, are using the Internet to take a customer’s money and personal information.

The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division wants to alert customers that there are fraudulent websites falsely offering motor vehicle services such as Arizona driver licenses, IDs, and vehicle titles and registration. The fraudulent websites appear in searches with keywords such as MVD or DMV.

ServiceArizona.com is the only authorized website for all Arizona MVD transactions. Customers can use ServiceArizona.com to conduct many routine motor vehicle transactions, such as applying for a duplicate driver license or driver license reinstatement, renewing a vehicle registration and purchasing a specialty or personalized license plate.

Currently, a person cannot obtain a driver license online. To do so a customer must visit a local MVD or Authorized Third Party office.

Additionally, ADOT does not offer MVD services through phone solicitations, nor does it endorse or advertise for online businesses claiming to provide MVD services.

There are, however, legitimate Authorized Third Party businesses that are licensed and authorized to perform MVD transactions in person. A list of Authorized Third Party businesses can be found at azdot.gov/locations.

ADOT’s goal is to prevent its customers from becoming victims of fraud or identity theft. ADOT also wants customers to be aware of unauthorized sites that may offer MVD services at an extra cost. The only authorized ways to conduct Arizona driver license or motor vehicle services are either in person at any ADOT MVD or Authorized Third Party office, online through ServiceArizona.com or by standard mail.

For more information about MVD services, please visit azdot.gov/mvd.