Chile Forum

patagoniax wrote:What ever became of Mad Max, I mean Mad Texan? He should have been settled in Chile by now in some remote location, churning his own satellite based internet and living in perfectly self-sufficient harmony with nature and the universe. Wassup? Tell us your tale, Mad Texan.

patagoniax wrote:

fraggle092 wrote:

for the minimum service (128 kbps uplink, 256 kbps downlink) they charge about USD200

Crap for voip. Contention Ratio is the phrase the SAT providers use to signify bandwidth you share with other users.
The contention ratio can be up to 15:1
Now if you want dedicated bandwidth, multiply the figure quoted above by a factor of at least Ten.
Not cheap and not good.

patagoniax wrote:

Moonzuk wrote:
In the wooded areas that are controlled by the Chilean government, these are often managed by the CONAF agency. CONAF is not well funded, nor well staffed, nor well managed. And frankly their policies suck rocks, but do have authority and the force of law. In many areas you as a private property owner cannot do even small scale timber harvesting lawfully without permits from CONAF. Get used to it. This is all part of the socialist bureaucracy that Chile no doubt learned from the North Americans. If I am poking ragged holes in your notions of Chile-as-Utopia then it is better that we get that silliness out of the way now before you load everything into a container and start teaching the kids Spanish.

CONAF rangers can stop you on a public road if you are transporting wood because this is the area of their domain. Does it happen a lot? I have no idea how frequently, only that it does happen to my associates. When I buy wood at the sawmill I make sure I keep that factura handy, because I can be stopped by either the pacos or the CONAF people for the mere suspicion of transporting suspicious wood. A wise person lets others get the citations and fines and learns accordingly. I may be a crafty old bastard but I am not a completely stupid one.

Thus CONAF's authority to govern use of woodland products extends to private property, and transportation of wood on the roadways, as well as controls on "fiscal" or government-controlled lands, including easements. Down here we have had some recent gas lines installed and the disrupted deadfalls just cry out to be harvested for firewood. Not so fast. You would need a permit from CONAF.

Welcome to Chile. The insanity has only just begun.