Mastodawn

Sarah dreams of beans Feb 22

If I could figure out how to plug the test dock into an e-bike I would feel so futuristic

Sara Feb 22

@beandreams is this, like, a thing normal people can do?

Sarah dreams of beans Feb 22

@sarae A PlusLife dock is a couple hundred dollars but it's a thing normal people can buy, especially as a group. There's a good faq and a discount code at https://virus.sucks

virus.sucks

Real Syntactic Feb 23

@beandreams @sarae can’t find code. Am I just incompetent or is it gone? Thank you!

@mirijb2 @sarae I find that site hard to navigate as well, but there is a footnote with an email address you can contact about a discount code

Real Syntactic Feb 23

@beandreams @sarae thanks so much

Magic Cauldron Feb 23

@beandreams @mirijb2 @sarae Normally they answer really fast. Got the Code and used it a few times for the test kits. (Got a used pluslife somwhere else.)

@sarae
It's somewhat fiddly, but it's a "I need to be paying attention to what I'm doing", not "I need a week of training" kind of fiddly. And the ability of tests to detect pathogens (you can get test cards for various kinds) is significant.

*Personally*, with 5 days of daily tests with this, I think taking only minor additional precautions with people returning from travels is sufficient.
@beandreams

@sarae
And that's from someone putting on a mask to go downstairs to take trash out.
@beandreams

@beandreams
I'm not sure the power supply would be stable 🤔 Probably safer from a power bank 😅

@viq That's probably the move

@beandreams

Does this testing apparatus demand a level surface and no movement while the test is running?

Pretty sure the testing rig we have specifies both, and even then it fails with an error on half the test we've tried to run on it.

@beadsland
No, only stable power supply and no condensation (which would destroy the device, they say)
@beandreams

Nice.

@beadsland
https://virus.sucks/pluslife_en/
@beandreams

Unofficial Pluslife FAQ (EN)

@viq @beadsland There are also some temperature limits, which are pretty reasonable but do need to be considered if you are thinking of running a test on your patio in the winter or something

Ah, "not be placed in the sun or exposed to direct sunlight".

So, this setup wouldn't work during the day unless always in a tunnel or other structure, then.

@beadsland @viq Or, e.g., in February in the pacific northwest

@beadsland
Or put a hat/shirt on it while it's doing its thing. It beeps and/or you get details via Bluetooth, so you don't need to see it while it's working.
@beandreams

A pity there's no auto-shutoff of the heater.

You could keep it in the glove compartment, powered by a USB battery, and not even have to interact with it after the test result pings, if it weren't for the need to undock the card once finished.

@beadsland
Though I think they also say to get the card out of there due to risk of contamination of the unit. But, yeah.
@beandreams

Due to evaporation from the heater. The implication being that if the heater shut off, contamination would be a non-issue. Short of some other heat source leading to vapor forming within the unit.

@beadsland
Ah, makes sense 🤔
@beandreams

@beadsland
And, after re-reading the FAQ, "don't put in direct sunlight, avoid strong light and electromagnetic interference"
@beandreams

@viq @beadsland Oh man, I look forward to direct sunlight being a risk someday soon 😂

@beadsland That's a bummer that your tests are so unreliable! Can I ask what kind you have?

@beandreams

Aptitude Metrix.

Gave up on it years ago. Just dug it out from behind the mask supply to check and confirm the usage instructions.

"Always use on the Metrix Reader on a flat surface."

The video also specifies that a flat surface be used in the assembly of the sensor component once the swab has been taken.

The instruction not to move their reader while in operation is not reflected here, but may have been additional guidance offered by their customer support team. Or maybe am just misremembering.

They sent replacement tests for each one that failed, but expect those have all expired since, as we didn't even bother trying to use them.