Burton Kelso, Tech Expert
3 Tech Tips to Help you Enjoy the Great American Eclipse 2017

In less than a week, the total solar eclipse will occur and I’m excited. There are many questions people have about the eclipse ranging from the best way to find the best viewing of the eclipse to cell phone outages because of the eclipse to if you can take photos with your smartphone of the eclipse. If you continue reading, I can answer most of the questions and help you and your family enjoy the Great American Eclipse 2017. Next total Eclipse in North America won't be until 2055.
1. Plan for Cellphone and Wifi Outages. If you were planning on using your smartphone or tablet to stream or talk with friends or family during the eclipse, you might have a problem. It won’t be because of the eclipse, it will because of the large amount of people sharing their experiences online. It is predicted that areas in path of the totality which are attracting large crowds will have outages similar to disaster zones. What’s worse, is many of the areas in the path of the totality are in rural communities which already suffer from poor cellular signals and slow Internet. Some cell phone companies will deploy COWs or Cellular on Wheels to help with the increase bandwith and coverage, but you should be prepared for spotty coverage in areas near or around the totality. Keep in mind the following to compensate for lack cell coverage and wifi: Use text messaging rather than phone calls as text messaging doesn't use much bandwidth. Limit Your Phone Calls only to only emergency calls or 1st responders. Setup a designated meeting spot if you are viewing the eclipse near the totality in case you get separated. If you want to record the event, consider just usi