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Patreon is officially off…..

August marks the end.

I’ve deactivated my Patreon page.

If you were a supporter on Patreon, please take a quick second to subscribe to your desired support level via the Memberships section here.

As of now, PayPal is the only option for payment during checkout. That means that any subscription will be billed monthly on the 25th to the Paypal account used to checkout during the initial subscription purchase. I am planning on reactivating the credit card capability soon but I have no idea how long that will take. Once that happens, IF you’d rather use a credit/debit card for your subscription, you’ll have to cancel the current subscription and re-subscribe using your desired credit/debit card.

Thank you all for your gracious generosity and I’m looking forward to getting The Shop into full swing and making tons of great behind the scenes content for you all.

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We have power!!!

What’s better than getting home after a week away? Getting home to see that the power company has connected the cable to power the shop!!

It may not look like much but that right there is 400A of 240v power connected and available for use!!

And a brand spankin new meter to boot!!

Now the final push begins. At the very least, I need to get the lights ran and the A/C hung and connected. Then the other phase converter has to be done by the end of this week because the mill is due to arrive next week!!

Lots happening!

Stay tuned!

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The Shop – Electrical Install

The electrical install has been making steady progress. I managed to finally collect everything I needed to actually mount the panels.

The first attempt (see below) went well enough until I learned that the 2 1/2″ pvc male adapter I thought I could use to get the panel feeders into the building wasn’t to code.

Attempt #1 at getting the meterbase set on the new shop. That PVC male adapter in the bottom of the box was a no-go so off to HomeDepot I went to get the proper parts.

Turns out I needed a specific service entrance adapter and they only work on a single cable at a time.

With the correct parts in hand it was back to work getting the meter box installed correctly with the feeders inside. I had to make a new hole since there can be only one cable through a connector at a time.

  • Meter box mounted
  • Cables through their connectors
  • 65″ center of the meter to the ground

That done it was on to the distro panels on the inside.

The feeders you see (those big ass cables) are 4/0 aluminum and a massive pain in the ass to work with. They DO NOT like to move, bend, or cooperate in any way. Wrangling them though their respective holes in the breaker boxes was NOT easy. But they eventually ended up where they belong.

  • Panels mounted.
  • 4/0 cable connector
  • Cables and connectors installed
  • Cables mirror each other nicely
Mains are in. Just need to strip the jackets back and land the wires.

Mains are landed

All the main feeds are in and full landed to their respective lugs in their respective boxes. Everything pertaining to the main feeds are in place.

  • Main feeders in one of the distribution panels
  • Main feeders in the meterbase
  • Detail showing the main feeder connections
  • Detail of a connection
  • Detail showing NoAlOx application

Next up……Burying the main service cable…..

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Fireworks and a Site Update

A couple of new things happened on the site this week.

First, there’s now a new product alert system in place. Not to be confused with a new product alert system. Let me explain.

Now, you can sign up to receive an email so when a product comes back in stock, you’ll know. Just find the product you’re interested in and fill in the field. Once the site’s reloaded, you’ll get an email to alert you that they’re available again.

Next up, the top navigation menu.

The main nav menu has been tweaked a bit to include the new Memberships section. As a result, a couple headings had to be condensed to make room.

You may have noticed that there’s no longer a separate section for Tanks and Drippers. These have been condensed into the Atties section. There’s also a Mods section where the Tubes section has moved and where all mods will live.

And finally, FIREWORKS!!

Happy Independence Day everyone!!

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Memberships and Subscriptions

So here’s how I think the migration from Patreon will work.

I’ll be setting up the specific tiers here. These will kinda mimic what’s already set up over on Patreon (sort of). Each tier will inherit the access of the tiers below it and the basic breakdown is:

  • Tier 1 – 20% Discount on all orders and access to all content
  • Tier 2 – 15% Discount on all orders and access to all weekly updates
  • Tier 3 – 10% Discount on all orders and access to all monthly updates
  • Tier 4 – 5% Discount on all orders
  • Tier 5 – The kind heart tier. No discounts or special access but my undying gratitude.

Each tier will incur a monthly subscription fee (just like Patreon) and will be manageable from your user account page. Cancel anytime but in order to change tiers you’ll first have to cancel your current subscription and purchase a new one.

Other cool features of doing this via the site here include:

  • Allowing access to specific products to specific tiers
  • Early availability of upcoming products to specific tiers
  • Directed content to specific tiers
  • …..many more possibilities I’m sure I’ve yet to discover

Once all the tiers are set up I’ll be making a post both here and on Patreon itself to let everyone know that they can begin subscribing. I don’t think I can move existing Patreons myself to the new system over here so those of you that currently support via Patreon will have to cancel your subscription over there and purchase your desired tier here. Once done, you’ll see a monthly recurring charge on your prefered payment method that matches the chosen tier.

In order to become a member of the desired tier you’ll need to purchase a subscription to that tier via that tier’s specific subscription product (not a physical product). Once that’s done you’ll have access to all the benefits of the chosen tier. (NOTE: The cost of that “subscription product” is the recurring monthly membership fee.)

Thank you all for your gracious and continued support! Stay tuned as we get this ball rolling!

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To patreon or not to patreon…..

So, Patreon is great. It lets people donate to the creators they love most and really help those creators keep, well, creating. The downside though, is that it isn’t really all that user friendly for the way I want to use it.

See, I want to be able to offer the great people that support through patreon discounts on their orders. Currently, there’s no good way to link your patronage with your scottua.com account. Currently I have to do that manually. Now, it’s hard enough to keep track of what I already have to keep track of and things that aren’t easy to manage tend to get forgotten.

Enter WordPress.

Most of you probably don’t know, but, Scottua.com runs on top of WordPress using software called WooCommerce. These two together allow for basically a roll-your-own Patreon.

I’ve discovered recently exactly how to implement this capability and I’m here for feedback.

So how’s this help? Well, a few ways.

It will allow me to much more simply implement the discount per tier functionality that’s so difficult/time-consuming to do with the current Patreon system. (Many of you have already inquired about the “Membership” banner seen on product pages and that’s exactly what this is.) It’s also just as easy, if not more so, to share content in many of the same ways as Patreon. Plus, since there’s no Patreon middle-man, it means that more of your gracious donations go where you intend them to.

So what do you think? Make the switch, or stick with Patreon? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

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About us

About Scottua

/SKAHˈcho͞o ah/

noun
    1. creator of finely crafted devices

Scottua is a person as well as a brand. As a single person operation STC Designs, LLC and Scottua make every effort to ensure each and every interaction is a personal and professional as it can possibly be. Please understand that, while every effort is made, there are some times when life gets in the way and things have to be put on hold for a short time. Rest assured that we will do everything possible to ensure your needs are met.

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Privacy Policy

Privacy Policy

This privacy policy sets out how STC Designs, LLC uses and protects any information that you give STC Designs, LLC when you use this website. STC Designs, LLC is committed to ensuring that your privacy is protected. Should we ask you to provide certain information by which you can be identified when using this website, then you can be assured that it will only be used in accordance with this privacy statement. STC Designs, LLC may change this policy from time to time by updating this page. You should check this page from time to time to ensure that you are happy with any changes.

What we collect

We may collect the following information:

  • name
  • contact information including email address
  • demographic information such as postcode, preferences and interests
  • other information relevant to customer surveys and/or offers

For the exhaustive list of cookies we collect see the List of cookies we collect section.

What we do with the information we gather

We require this information to understand your needs and provide you with a better service, and in particular for the following reasons:

  • Internal record keeping.
  • We may use the information to improve our products and services.
  • We may periodically send promotional emails about new products, special offers or other information which we think you may find interesting using the email address which you have provided.
  • From time to time, we may also use your information to contact you for market research purposes. We may contact you by email, phone, fax or mail. We may use the information to customise the website according to your interests.

Security

We are committed to ensuring that your information is secure. In order to prevent unauthorised access or disclosure, we have put in place suitable physical, electronic and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

How we use cookies

A cookie is a small file which asks permission to be placed on your computer’s hard drive. Once you agree, the file is added and the cookie helps analyse web traffic or lets you know when you visit a particular site. Cookies allow web applications to respond to you as an individual. The web application can tailor its operations to your needs, likes and dislikes by gathering and remembering information about your preferences.

We use traffic log cookies to identify which pages are being used. This helps us analyse data about web page traffic and improve our website in order to tailor it to customer needs. We only use this information for statistical analysis purposes and then the data is removed from the system.

Overall, cookies help us provide you with a better website, by enabling us to monitor which pages you find useful and which you do not. A cookie in no way gives us access to your computer or any information about you, other than the data you choose to share with us. You can choose to accept or decline cookies. Most web browsers automatically accept cookies, but you can usually modify your browser setting to decline cookies if you prefer. This may prevent you from taking full advantage of the website.

Links to other websites

Our website may contain links to other websites of interest. However, once you have used these links to leave our site, you should note that we do not have any control over that other website. Therefore, we cannot be responsible for the protection and privacy of any information which you provide whilst visiting such sites and such sites are not governed by this privacy statement. You should exercise caution and look at the privacy statement applicable to the website in question.

Controlling your personal information

You may choose to restrict the collection or use of your personal information in the following ways:

  • whenever you are asked to fill in a form on the website, look for the box that you can click to indicate that you do not want the information to be used by anybody for direct marketing purposes
  • if you have previously agreed to us using your personal information for direct marketing purposes, you may change your mind at any time by writing to or emailing us at contact@stcdesignsllc.com

We will not sell, distribute or lease your personal information to third parties unless we have your permission or are required by law to do so. We may use your personal information to send you promotional information about third parties which we think you may find interesting if you tell us that you wish this to happen.

You may request details of personal information which we hold about you under the Data Protection Act 1998. A small fee will be payable. If you would like a copy of the information held on you please write to 9481 Old Richmond Rd Keeling, VA 24566.

If you believe that any information we are holding on you is incorrect or incomplete, please write to or email us as soon as possible, at the above address. We will promptly correct any information found to be incorrect.

List of cookies we collect

The table below lists the cookies we collect and what information they store.

COOKIE name COOKIE Description
CART The association with your shopping cart.
CATEGORY_INFO Stores the category info on the page, that allows to display pages more quickly.
COMPARE The items that you have in the Compare Products list.
CURRENCY Your preferred currency
CUSTOMER An encrypted version of your customer id with the store.
CUSTOMER_AUTH An indicator if you are currently logged into the store.
CUSTOMER_INFO An encrypted version of the customer group you belong to.
CUSTOMER_SEGMENT_IDS Stores the Customer Segment ID
EXTERNAL_NO_CACHE A flag, which indicates whether caching is disabled or not.
FRONTEND You sesssion ID on the server.
GUEST-VIEW Allows guests to edit their orders.
LAST_CATEGORY The last category you visited.
LAST_PRODUCT The most recent product you have viewed.
NEWMESSAGE Indicates whether a new message has been received.
NO_CACHE Indicates whether it is allowed to use cache.
PERSISTENT_SHOPPING_CART A link to information about your cart and viewing history if you have asked the site.
POLL The ID of any polls you have recently voted in.
POLLN Information on what polls you have voted on.
RECENTLYCOMPARED The items that you have recently compared.
STF Information on products you have emailed to friends.
STORE The store view or language you have selected.
USER_ALLOWED_SAVE_COOKIE Indicates whether a customer allowed to use cookies.
VIEWED_PRODUCT_IDS The products that you have recently viewed.
WISHLIST An encrypted list of products added to your Wishlist.
WISHLIST_CNT The number of items in your Wishlist.