Miscellaneous babble – Page 35

September 13, 2012August 7, 2024

HamCamp

With BarCamp Charleston getting closer, the idea popped into my head about doing something similar with ham radio, a Charleston HamCamp.

Ham radio has a strong tradition of mentoring, or “Elmering” in ham-speak. Having an event like HamCamp seems like it would be a great way to foster more Elmer-like activities. It’s an idea that’s been kicking around in my head for all of a couple hours now, so not entirely fully formed yet.

It would follow the BarCamp concept, so people could come and provide talks, demonstrations, tutorials and share other ham radio related information and ideas. There will be some space to set up portable radios, something outdoor to show off things like antennas and get some radio activity going.

Maybe it can start off as a mini-camp at BarCamp Charleston…

September 6, 2012September 4, 2019

Dragon*Con recovery

Been spending the last few days recovering from DragonCon and working up to re-inserting myself into normal (non-cosplaying) society.
The 2012 DragonCon was a pretty awesome event as usual. The crowds and lines were definitely a lot bigger and longer this year, and I heard a lot of people comment about that. In the past, people get in on Thursday, and Friday the DC action starts happening. This year it was like DC was in full swing by the time we rolled in Thursday evening, and I heard a lot of people had arrived Wednesday and were already partying. Thursday is the new Friday it seems.
Almost all of the sessions I went to were standing room only. Only made it to two celebrity panels this year, one with John Barrowman (Torchwood) and one of the Gillian Anderson (X-Files) panels. The lines for all the other ones were just too insanely long for me to want to stand in. Even most of the EFF, Science and Space track sessions I went to were jammed.
This year’s DragonCon was a little different in a couple of areas. First, I got to walk in the parade this year (thanks to Erika for organizing things!). Rick, Mark and I marched in our robes and carried pipes, while Erika and her daughters were Star Trek “Bunnies”. It was a pretty awesome time seeing the parade from the inside.

I also got to help out with a few ham radio related sessions in the Science track (thanks to Jim for letting me play). Helped out with the scanner radio scavenger hunt Saturday night. Although we didn’t get too many people coming out to play, it was still a fun time listening on the radio and tuning around to find things on the list. Then Sunday I helped with setting up and showing some ham radio stuff at the Evil Geniuses panel where we got to demonstrate a few radio things.
I didn’t get nearly as many pictures this year as I have in previous years. I opted to carry around the little Sony camera I have rather than my DSLR. Takes fairly decent pictures, but I found the battery would run down fairly quickly, especially if I was using the flash a lot. Still managed to get some decent shots of some of the more interesting costumes I saw.
One of the first things I saw as we walked over to registration was this van sitting in one of the parking lots

Check out the rest of my pictures.
Already have my membership for next year’s DragonCon and made the hotel reservation. Start the countdown.

August 28, 2012

Cicadas are big

Leaving work one day, I heard a really loud buzzing sound coming from one of the (relatively) newly planted trees by the bus stop. Walking closer to find the source, I came across this monster of a bug, which I later learned was a cicada.

I hear them quite a bit around the house and the ponds, but this is the first time I’ve seen one up close and in person.

It was pretty large, about the size of the palm of my hand. Had no idea they got this large. It’s pretty intimidating looking, with the camo colouring. I’m sure I wouldn’t want one flying at me or landing on me.

August 11, 2012

Inexpensive camera monopod

Every now and then you’ll see a photographer walking around with a monopod for their camera, instead of or in addition to their tripod. There are even some tripods that turn into monopods, or where you can remove the central pole to use as a monopod. You can even find collapsible monopods that are light and easy to carry around. There are inexpensive monopods and some more pricey monopods around.
Monopods don’t give you as stable a platform as tripods do, but they do come in handy when your regular tripod is too heavy or bulky to carry around, or you’re just out walking around and don’t want or need to have a super solid platform. They’re easy to carry around and quick to set up. Monopods can also be used to get some pretty neat shots from high up because you can hold it up in the air and give the camera some extra elevation for your shot.
Volume 31 of Make Magazine has super simple project for making your own monopod for really cheap, or free if you already have the components.
All you need is a wooden broomstick (around $7 from Lowe’s if you don’t already have an old broom you can cannibalize), a 1/4″x20 bolt, a couple of nuts for the bolt and a drill. The project calls for a hanger bolt, which I couldn’t find so I just used a 3″ bolt. I used a 7/32″ bit to drill a hole in one end of the broomstick for the bolt, put the two nuts on the bolt and tightened them against each other and then screwed the bolt into the hole. Make sure to leave enough room so that you can mount your camera.

The bolt is a little off center because the drill bit walked a little when I started drilling. It doesn’t affect the use of the monopod though.
The project also suggests a spike for the other end so that you can stick it into the ground but I figured with the way I am, the probability of accidentally impaling myself (or someone else) was too high. Instead I got one of those rubber chair leg caps to fit on the end. This also lets my camera monopod double as a walking stick.

My little Sony camera mounted on the monopod. It holds my Rebel XT pretty well too.

Total cost was less than $9 including sales tax.