Random Space Pictures

The latest from Ultima Thule, now in higher resolution.  Whew, breathtaking!  Low bandwidth, these things take a while.  Worth the wait.

Two of the Full Turbo Wolf Howl Techno Moon Bloody Eclipse, all over at APOD:

• over Cologne Cathedral
• over the Matterhorn, with a lagniappe meteor

Orion, seen from the Austrian Alps.  Chilly but beautiful.

OK, tabs cleared, we can move on now.

More on the New St. Joe Peninsula Pass

Following up on the report two weeks ago, the hearing on what to do with the new pass Hurricane Michael punched through the St. Joe Peninsula was held last week.  The overwhelming consensus was to leave things alone, let nature take its course.  Sounds good to me.  Here's a link to the article at the St. Joe Star.

Yes, it does look good to me.  Very good.

The Right Way to Wire a Battery Bank

I mentioned this on last night's ham club net tech session, and it is something worth knowing:

The Old Tech Guy: Electronics - RV - Ham Radio, Solar, and Batteries

The first eight minutes are about how to jumper between batteries in a bank properly, and the last fifteen or so are about cheap batteries vs. good deep-cycle batts.  It's the first part that is most enlightening.

Data point: I've run the last two weeks' nets at 75 watts FM, powered by the same two deep-cycle batteries, starting from the same fully charged state.  Last week, the system voltage from a fully charged battery bank would dip as low as 12.2 volts.  Re-wired this week, all else the same, the voltage only dipped to 12.6 volts when transmitting.  Much better!

Also, wiring things this way opens up the possibility of thinner gauge jumper wires with more reasonably-sized fuses.  I'd been working under the impression that heavy jumper wires were needed to properly balance a bank, but with this connection method they are not.  If 12 gauge wires will carry the maximum load from the bank, then only 12 gauge wires are needed within the bank.  That alone is quite a cost saving.

Hm, interesting and useful facts abound on the internet, if you look in the right places.

Water Filter Recommendations

Yesterday's post at Section Hiker listed the Top Ten results of their "what water filter do you use" survey.  No real surprises, and a lot of experience talking there.

The Katadyn Hiker I use made the list, down at #6.  What I didn't mention about it in my initial buying impressions post last year is that the filter element can be taken out and the entire thing cleaned and dried between uses.  That's the killer feature that'll keep me using this type of filter.  I do sporadic weekend trips, so drying for storage is a big deal.  Were I doing a through-hike where things would just stay wet, it wouldn't matter so much.  Something to consider.

FWIW, when going solo I carry a Sawyer Mini (#2 on the list, $20) as a backup, and chlorine dioxide tabs as well.  I tend to err on the safe side when it comes to water.  Comes from listening to my Father's tales of his backpacking trip across North Africa in 1942.

A Little Closer to Home

From a quick search over at Atlas Obscura.  It starts with an interesting location three blocks from my place.

Worth the Hype: Last Night's Lunar Eclipse

Despite the breathless reports of an upcoming "super blood wolf moon" and some gentle mockery of the hype, the sky show last night proved to be 100% worth staying up for.  Once the total portion of the eclipse began, the moon seemed to take on an almost 3-D appearance, like a ripe satsuma suspended ten feet beyond my eyes.  Yes, it was an optical illusion, but it still looked cool as all get out.

If you missed it, or just want a pretty fair replay, the BBC has a page full of pics.

Drink of the Day: Espresso con Panna

Picked up a new espresso pot this week, and on a hunch added a dollop of whipped cream to the top of a double shot.  Thinking "there's got to be a name for this combo," yes of course there is, it's espresso con panna; see article at wikipedia.

Espresso drinks, they're like string theory: 10^500 variations, but only a few actually work.