An Interesting Satcom Antenna Kit

The EggNOGS, by Halibut Electronics.  I've been looking at eggbeater antennas for a while now.  They're omnidirectional, a sort of "set it and forget it" setup, which would be perfect up on my low roof.  It's a kit with all the hard to find parts, the rest is easy.  Of course, I'll need two, but that still under $200.  The closest thing I've seen to this was a commercial antenna (still sort of a kit) in the $800 ballpark.  Hm, maybe sometime before the summer heat sets in.

Here's a quick description video by the inventor/manufacturer, and here's a construction video.  If it looks interesting to you, go through the link for more info.

It Looks Like Mountain Biking Through Middle Earth

That's because it kind of is.  Riding the Old Ghost Trail in New Zealand, over at Singletracks mag.

I'm not exactly booking a flight anytime soon, but it still is pretty cool to look at the pics.  Like this one:

I mean, just look at it.  You can almost picture four hobbits off-trail to the left, while a ringwraith riding black carbon fiber full suspension bike is about to come around the bend.

The Mash-Up You Didn't Realize You Needed

The Zantis invade Mayberry:

As usual, embiggen for full effect.  In fact, with youtube so broken these days, it may be best to just click through on the text at the top of the video window.

Yes, I've been watching The Outer Limits again.  Very cheesy at times, but it paved the way for better things.

$100 & Done: Basic Hurricane Season Power

You'll want power after a hurricane, at least a little bit.  In this short video, some guy shows you how to set up a dinky 20w system for $100.  It'll run a light or two, recharge a cell phone, recharge a laptop, let you recharge NiMH AA & AAA batteries, run a CB or ham radio (go easy on that last one), and not much else.  Which is kind of the entire point: when you've got exactly nothing else after a hurricane, just a little bit of power can go a long way.

Think about what this provides.  If the local cell towers are still functioning, you've got more or less normal levels of communications.  If they're out, your new-ish cell phone likely does satellite texting, so you can at least tell family that you're OK.  I can tell you from personal experience that the worst part of losing power for three weeks is a lack of even one light to read by.  Having just one light in the living room, oh man, what a luxury.

The video has Amazon links to buy the stuff, and though the video's a year old, the $100 price is still in the ballpark.  This project is easy.  Plenty of time to order, get it in, test everything, have it ready come June 1st.

Of course there are bigger systems that will do more.  But maybe that beautiful 12KW generator won't crank.  It happens more often than you'd think.  A hundred bucks for a backup system is pretty cheap.  Or maybe all you've got is a $100 for backup power.  This minimalist system can make all the difference.  Get on it, hurricane season will be here before you know it.

Defeating Predictive Text on a Mac

Apple's questionable feature of predictive text was driving me nuts whenever I was trying to write, and this rainy evening I finally got around to switching it off.  The simplest how-to explanation came from this link to reddit.  The important part is quoted here:

The setting to disable it is a bit hidden away and it took me ages to find (which is why I've posted this in case anybody else has the same difficulty). Go to System Settings > Keyboard > Input Sources > Edit > All Input Sources > Show inline predictive text and toggle it on or off.

Right now I'm testing it out while posting this.  Wow does it ever feel good to have that thing gone.  Curiously, I left the auto-correct on (it's in the same control panel).  It puts its suggestions in a small bubble below what I'm typing, which I find not nearly so distracting as putting predictive text on the same line ahead of what I'm typing.

Steve Jobs would never have put up with this shit.  As his influence slowly fades, the encrustification of Apple products marches onward unabated.  Linux is becoming a stronger possibility for my future.

Back Up and Running

From this sad story on Feb. 10 to this:

Kevin over at Apalachicola Community Bikes can get the job done and get you back on the gravel.  He doesn't stock very much, but he will point you towards where to order exactly the right items.  In this case, it was to the derailleur hangers at Modern Bike, and ultimately through to Pilo Precision Machining to get the hanger part number for this 15 yo cyclocross frame.  Once all the pieces are in Kevin takes it from there to hand back a repaired, cleaned, and tuned solution.  The fact that the shop is in easy walking distance is a real bonus.

Port St. Joe Repeater is UP

Good news everybody!  Formerly on a 40' temporary tower post Hurricane Michael, the GARS/W4WEB repeater antenna has been relocated up – way UP – to 220'.  This makes for an enormous improvement in coverage area.  Shown below are Egli model predictions of coverage to a car antenna from the former and current antenna heights; the radii are 10 and 22 miles, respectively.

Coverage to higher base station antennas will be somewhat larger.  Last night several of us were able to get rough but readable coverage out to 40 miles, just past Carrabelle.  That's slightly over the horizon (27mi), but within Egli predicted range (46mi); generally useable for fun, but not entirely reliable for an emergency.

BTW the numbers for the GARS/W4WEB repeater are 147.300 103.5, standard positive offset.

With the Port St. Joe repeater antenna raised and the Carrabelle repeater upgraded, VHF coverage of the Forgotten Coast, Area X, and adjacent regions is nearly complete from Tallahassee to Panama City.

This is much, much better than the patchy situation we had just two years ago.

Monday Monday

About 3 miles into today's ride, for some reason the derailleur tore off of my gravel bike.  Fortunately the bike has a sacrificial soft aluminum derailleur hanger, and despite the its 15 year vintage, a replacement was readily found at Modern Bike.  On the way.

Eh, just the cost of doing business.  I'm going to go spend the rest of the evening among my people – i.e., watching The Outer Limits.

Of Taxes, Snakes, & Other Things

Got the taxes off to the accountant yesterday.  Got the monthly Panama City bank & big-box store run done.  Sinuses continue to improve, but still not quite good.  Not enough biking, about to go put in some miles.

Here, have an article about snake places over at Atlas Obscura.  All I got for this morning.

A Visit to the Panama City Publishing Company Museum

A nice day, and only an hour-thirty drive from home.  I walked in, breathed in the type wash and lead, felt at home right away.  With the exceptions of a Heidelberg windmill press and a non-functioning Linotype, I could've gotten down to work within minutes.  Really nice people, on a slow day.  Here, read all about it.

Nice part of town.  There was a farmers' market going on this fine Saturday morning, and a nearby pizza emporium was ready with our lunch in just a few minutes.  A day well-spent.