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This tree randomly split in two and fell over!  No one was hurt, it could have been muuuch worse.

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2012 Solar Eclipse

During this solar eclipse, I was lucky to be near the path of the full eclipse.  Sky & Telescope have a really nice graphic showing where in North America the eclipse was visible.

Eclipse path (click image for source)

I’m just north of the ideal path.  Anyway, it was cloudy here in Oregon, so my pictures aren’t great.  I hope you enjoy them.

Solar eclipse 2

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One of my first NOAA APT satellite images! (click to learn more)

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) manages a few satellites in low earth orbit.  There are three actively transmitting APT signals at the moment, NOAA15, 17, and 18.  Each of these satellites passes overhead a few times a day.  I’ve been interested in learning how to receive their signals for a while now, and I’ve finally succeeded!

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Ready to fly at the BCRCC Polar Bear

I’m back from the third (and fourth) flight, and it keeps getting better!  On Friday (New Years Day) I went to the BCRCC (Benton County Radio Control Club) “Polar Bear” event.  Basically, the idea is: On new years day, rain or shine, everyone comes and flies something.  There is a raffle for all those that fly.  I brought the Kadet, mostly because that’s the only plane I have, and the tiny Blade mSR that I got for X-mas. Read more…

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I’ve just finished building the first radio controlled airplane kit since, i don’t know, over a decade. I tried to build one 8 yeas ago, but never finished. Anyway, It’s pretty exciting. I’ll share some of the building process with you. My intent from the beginning of the project was to build a arial platform for autopilot development, photography, and, perhaps, an attempt at FPV (first-person video).

With those goals in mind I decided to select a “trainer,” which is a very stable plane intended for teaching new pilots.  There are several advantages to a trainer in this context.  In a way, I’m training an autopilot to fly, so it’s a fitting.  In addition, a typical trainer has a simple, boxy fuselage.  I think that the simplified geometry should be easier to build around.  The individual plane I settled on is the SIG Kadet LT-25, and my mom was nice enough to get it for my for christmas a few years ago.

Official photo of the Kadet

I wanted the plane to be on the small side because I’m 100% electric for all my planes and helicopters.  I don’t have any investment in nitromethane power, and I don’t want any.  It’s stinky, loud, dirty and annoying.  At the same time, electric power is getting better and better.  The batteries are increasingly amazing in their capacity and power.  Unfortunately, I don’t have any early building photos.  But, I’ll talk about some of the photos I do have: Read more…

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Photos from da Vinci Days and related frivolity.

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Hi, everyone. I’ve added a photo gallery with pictures of our IM softball games. Enjoy!

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I’ve finally gotten my home weather station online!  I’m using a Oregon Scientific WMR918 system with anemometer (wind speed), wind direction, temperature, humidity, and barometric pressure sensors.  Click here to access the current and recent readings, or the beta version of an integrated page (also available in the navigation bar below the blog title) and “read more” to find out how it works.

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Updated to include photos of our Wine Tasting trip around the Willamette Valley.

Amity Vineyard Panoramic - click the image for a full-size version...

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