BeachWeb - April 2006

Re-organized April web-site (today is 30 April - the last day of the month) - and some 'viewers' wanted the web-page re-organized so that the last - 'stuff' / latest 'additions' were at the top of the web-page (and I thought, maybe, - add a picture or two) - so that the 'viewer' could tell there'd been some 'updates' - rather than 'bury' the updates in the remainder of the page?

SO - here's some updates, (as of 30 April) - in no 'particular' order - On the 30th (A Sunday) we went Kayaking in the Loxahatchee River - at the "Johnathan Dickinson State Park" ($4.00 entry / day fee) - they 'said' when we phoned them - that the boat-ramp was open sun-up til sun-down - but their definition of 'sun-up' is 08:00 a.m. ? - well - so we had to wait 10 mins - so what? They also have both paved and off-road bicycle paths to use - we haven't tried this yet - but perhaps soon?

Anyway - we had a very good time paddling - but next time maybe not against so much WIND _ (Mr. Bill went kiteboarding two days in a row - it was EXCELLENT WIND _ and it's even excellent today - maybe I'll go do some more kiteboarding later today?

Here's some pictures from the kayaking this morning:

Mr. Bill found yet ANOTHER 'lawn chair' - (the two previous ones were a 'matched pair' - even though they were found over two months apart in different locales - but he found this one today - - and you'll notice Ms. May's underneath a favourite tree with some 'air-plants' in it...

we found two of these BIG PINE TREES about to fall in the river, - and then Ms. May discovered some 'fruit' of some sort on the banks of the river - hidden in this really sharp grass.

and - here's some pictures from the Hang- Gliding competition at Quest Air in Groveland - where we learned and where we mostly fly:

Bill, in front of the line of gliders in the competition - AND _ a water-lily on the pond at the Quest Air property in Groveland...

another picture of hang-gliders at the competition site - pretty colors, huh?

and this is how one spends most of the day (getting a little 'pudgy' around the middle-there, huh?) - between the 'excitement' of the launch (usually between noon and 2 p.m.) and when most of the competitors return (between - say - 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.)...

---------- ---------- Opportunity to view very amateur movie of hang-gliders launching: ---------- ----------

If (and ONLY IF) you want to sample our 'amateur' (VERY basic-stuff) movie-video-clip of how they launch
100 gliders in less than an hour (with no accidents!) here are two 'digital video clips' from the 8-10 cklips that Ms. May took.

374 k byte Quick Time Movie (...mov format) - this is a 'combined' version (much shorter & smaller of what was here before)

We've now figured out 'something' about iMovie - but we'll have to work with iMovie, further, to get more 'sophisticated'?

This isn't the 'crispest' video in the world, but it gives "some-basic-idea" of how things are done. Bill helped-out the 'ground-crew' two days, Ms. May helped one day. it takes 'about' 10-15 people PER FLIGHT LINE (and they typically run two flight-lines in parallel...) to get this operation done - and all these people come together from all over and do a pretty good job of it! - it could be faster, still, with more organization, more planning, more management, more 'dedication', however, even at the given level it's a pretty stunning thing to watch & participate in... ... At some point I'll upload something more 'exotic' in terms of video here. Ms. May took some good 'clips' and I "THOUGHT" I'd been able to 'splice-together' some in iMovie - but I wasn't very successful?

Also this month (on the 25th of April):
===========================

Bill's passed his ARRL / FCC "Technician Class" amateur radio (License) test... - He studied for this at http://www.hamtestonline.com and with their help (and 47 'tries' at their 'practice test' (35 questions)) he managed to pass the 'real' test with only one 'gotcha' - one question that was inthe 'question pool' (due to change this summer) but a question that the "on-line-test" failed to show to Mr. Bill, adequately. - Interesting point here - I wrote to the guy that owns the on-line-test and he said their randomization thing definately short-changed-me here... - apparently they have excellent records..... In any case - this amateur radio license (which lasts 10 years) is needed for using the 2 meter (144-148 MegaHertz) frequencies (2-meter band) so popular with the hang gliding community.

Further information may be obtained at the http://www.arrl.org web-site... -

The other thing that's taken a 'hold' of the hang-gliding community is something that the amateurs call 'APRS' (Automatic Position Reporting System (web-site-here) ) - which is a methodology to feed the output of the GPS that (almost) everyone uses in their hang-gliders (most use Garmin Model 76S (or 76CS or 76CSx) ), into their amateur radio (2-meter band) hand-held unit (carried in one of the many zippered pockets on your hang-gliding harness) - and then the (2 meter / amateur) radio transmits the GPS coordinates back to some (ground-based) station and then the base-station can (with appropriate radio receiver and a PC with appropriate software) view / re-view your (or everyone who's got APRS) progress, in the air, in semi-real-time - which is PRETTY SLICK....

I just got my new books from ARRL today, one on APRS, so I'll be reading-up on this in the very near future. - SEVERAL things that are required here (like with all modern technology) is

a.) an understanding of the technology (and there are a LOT OF PARTS to this technology
b.) the kevlar-based-credit-card to buy 'all the PARTS' to make it work
c.) a WILLINGNESS to do the 'debugging / troubleshooting' when it breaks - and it WILL BREAK
d.) on the other hand - if it's on the transmitting end - you are really NOT in a position to do much about it when
you're at 3,000 feet and doing 30 knots of ground speed and can't let-go of the control bar!

Here's the 'meal of the century' - Ms. May's great French toast with peanut butter inside!!!

This is our 'breakfast treat (French toast with peanut-butter') - our food picture of the month...

This is April - in the USA we call this "Tax Month" - and as Mr. Bill is 'attempting' to 'say grace' over 3-4-5 tax returns (for Mom, for deceased step-Dad, for trusts of theirs, etc.) , this year, instead of just one (for Ms. May and myself) I'm working 'hard' this year to get all the paper-work in the right place at the right time. - but as of 15 (well 17) April it should be 'all done'!

NEAR the last of March (29th to be exact), we went to Jacksonville to celebrate Mom's birthday, did some gardening in / at her place at Westminster Woods, and then had dinner with Uncle Boink and Auntie Joy. Mom's been a great Mom, it was good to see her, again, and help her celebrate her birthday, with friends, family and etc.... She continues to like digital pictures in her e-mails so we're continuing along that vein

HOWEVER, that doesn't mean we're not 'having fun yet' - we went Hang-Gliding AGAIN (yes, I think we can consider ourselves 'hooked' (or close) at this point) - on Wednesday and Thursday, April 5, 6 we were in Groveland at Quest Air, again - spent 3 nights in the tent - got a total of (we think) about 16 flights in between the two of us ... it was a VERY GOOD TIME - and we're just starting to learn to fly in 'bumpy air' - and we also learned a LOT from Mr. Kevin's clinic discussions about varios (electronic instrument used to tell if you're climbing or sinking) and about GPS units and their 'track-logs' and other such things. This was not only a great time from the flying standpoint but from the mental-education standpoint.

Some pictures from this week's (this was early April) trip to Groveland:

Ms. May starting to take-off

Ms. May doing 'truck-tow' (back to the flight-line for another ride)

Ms. May assembling the glider (Wills Wing Falcon 2 140(square_feet) she rents from QuestAir one morning

Mr. Dave (from New York) and a passenger, ready for an early morning ride on Dave's 'trike' (basically a hang-glider with an engine - this one is configured for Mr. Dave and a passenger.

Mr. Mike - who soloed in the "Aeros Target" hang-glider with the (Quest Air built) 'landing-gear'. This is the same glider that Mr. Bill's been flying in - he rents this from Quest Air - usually by the 'day'. Sometime soon I hope to be in a different glider and learn how to use the launching cart and how to land either on small wheels and/or land on-foot. This is a new and interesting challenge - and a 'move up the learning curve' for me. Ms. May already knows how to use the launching-cart and how to land on small wheels. Challenges for both of us to pursue and get better at as we move up the learning curve!

Some (Hang-Gliding related) web-links:

http://www.seeyou.ws = software to download GPS 'waypoints' and make track-log and 'flight-path' files - for viewing in 2D and 3D
http://www.compegps.com = software to download GPS 'waypoints' and make track-log and 'flight-path' files - for viewing in 2D and 3D
http://www.onlinecontest.org = this is where people from around the world enter their flights / GPS-track-logs and you can view them on-line
http://www.garmin.com = what you want to look for is the '76 series' GPS units
http://www.icomamerica.com = icom brand two-meter hand-held radios
http://www.flytec.com = varios (instrument that tells you if you're rising or sinking) and combo-units (this guy is at the Groveland / Quest Air facility but his 'role' is solely as the Flytec USA representatitve)
http://www.mallettec.com = a 'mini' vario - very inexpensive and simple
htttp://www.ushga.org = the US National 'governing body' for the sport of Hang Gliding
http://www.ozreport.com = used hang-gliding equipment and such

the two weather-sites we rely on most are:

http://www.usairnet.com = for general information / weather around Orlando
http://www-frd.fsl.noaa.gov = for something called 'soundings' (winds aloft (which are much more important than 'surface' winds

more...

http://www.thefloridaridge.com = The Florida Ridge competition from 9 April through 15 April near La Belle, Florida
http://flytec.pgcomps.net/comps = The Flytec World Championships at Quest Air - 17 April through 22 April near Groveland, Florida - this link takes you to the results web-page - click on the blue-underlined scores, then on the little circle with the red arrow for a very slick animation - task 4 seems to be pretty good

One of Mr. Bill's other projects, lately - has been to attempt to connect his 7-8 year old Garmin "GPSMap 175" unit to one or more computers, in order to both download position data (as well as routes, waypoints, etc.) and to also edit all that 'stuff' on the laptop or desktop computer - then upload it all again... - we also have a Garmin GPSMap 48 - very small and light - came out of one of our boats, but it's internal (memory) battery seemed to be DEAD - UGH - but - Garmin's replacing the battery for free and all we have to do is pay for shipping one-way - pretty good deal, huh!...

Let's just say that Macintoshes (unix-based) are waaaaaaayyyyy..... better at this than Windows XP PCs (but the PCs will do it!)

Bottom Line - there's a couple of thngs to 'learn' here:

a.) when you want to 'get' data (via NMEA format) FROM a GPS to anything the NMEA protocol is 'chatty' - that is it is REALLY CHATTY - when a GPS unit (or anything called a 'Talker' in NMEA nomeclature) - gets going - you can't shut-it-up - it just sends out what's known as 'sentences' (there's about 120 of them only about 30 that are relevant to a GPS unit, though) - and it just keeps sending and sending and sending - it makes no attempt to 'receive' information.
b.) when you want to 'get / send' data-files to/from a GPS unit (files like waypoints, routes, track-logs, almanac, etc. etc. etc. you must use a 'two-way' protocol - and the Garmin units speak "GRMN / GRMN" protocol (but my unit is so old it's not called GRMN / GRMN )- and that type of data-file exchange is more like 'computer to computer' talking -
c.) you have to SHIFT PROTOCOLs when you want to change what you do from receiveing position (and other data) to the Garmin protocol for file-exchange

and - all the files are raw-ASCII-text - some are ...html formatted, some are ...tdf formatted, some are just 'raw' but mostly it's pretty easy to deal with / manipulate / program the file-exchanges...

Assuming that this all works (and it does, after a fashion) on both my Macintosh and my Windows computers - then there's a plethora of software out there to deal with the files. However, I'm also writing some Basic and some perl routines to do things other software tools don't do...

ANYWAY _ major software and hardware accomplishment to get all this to work together, and it does, pretty flawlessly, but there certainly are a lot of 'ifs', 'ands', and 'buts' - lots of pieces, lots of re-booting, etc. etc. etc. etc....

On some of our 'off and on' afternoon walks (towards the intracoastal waterway (about 3.2 km round-trip) we venture east into a 'gated community'. We frequently find people to spend time with along our walk. They frequently 'pace' us - until someone gets tired - here's a couple of pictures of our walking-friends...

this guy has 'moved in' underneath the 14 foot skiff that I took off the Trailex (see below) - he's dug a HUGE HOLE under the skiff (if when I move the boat, it falls into the hole, I'll have lost the boat) - anyway - we've seen him around a couple of times, while working in the yard... - Fortunately, he's a little slower than his smaller four-legged-friends above, so easier to get a good picture of...

Later this month we may go to Groveland to help-out with the hang-gliding competition there (see pictures and text - above) - on Saturday, 8th, Mr. Bill spent quite some time re-configuring our 12 year old Trailex aluminum triple-decker boat trailer to carry hang-gliders - just in case they want us to do pick-up (of hang-gliders / pilots who don't make it 'quite' to the 'task' (place they are going) and return (all the way back to Quest Air (where they take-off from) duty?

Some other 'miscellaneous' things, such as:

some pictures in the 'shop' (Bill's Mess!) and picture_2, and picture _3(stairs) and picture_4(car) and picture_5(Nside)
some pictures on Miami Beach North_view (and larger) - South_view (and larger) went there on the morning of the 12th.
some pictures inside "Jerry's Deli"picture_1 (and larger) and picture_2 (and larger) - on/near Miami Beach and the "Convention Center" (where Ms. May did her "U.S. Citizenship" celebration, etc... - where we had breakfast. This was 'tasty' but the restaurant's 'decor' was also very 'art-deco' - very traditional decoration for the Miami Beach Area - it said, inside, over the bar - 'Established 1976' (if we remember correctly - but then at that hour who remembers anything, huh?).
a picture of Bill's (real-world) box (and larger) that he's attempting to do in Adobe Illustrator for his IRCC Class. Here's the Illustrator file (not finished, yet) and here's the 'larger-version' (sans 4 legged-furry-thing).

last updated: Saturday, 11 October 2013; revID: 1s r5