Marathon, dog show, hamfest

Lots of things going on the next few weekends to keep me busy.

This Saturday (Jan 18) I’ll be helping out with radio communication support for the Charleston Marathon. If you happen to be near the 23 mile mark, stop by and say hi.

The next CHUUG meeting on Jan 23 is something a little different. Instead of the usual Barcamp style discussion, it’s going to be 5 minute lightning talks on the topic of your choice.

Please create and bring a 5 minute presentation on a technical or geek topic that you are passionate about. If you go after the sacred cows of the geek community, all the better.

Next weekend (Jan 25-26) is the Charleston Kennel Club dog show up at the Exhcange Park fairgrounds. Always a fun to see the variety of dog breeds there. I’ll be there both days in the afternoon with the Charleston Lab Retriever Club (the fun dogs) outside. Stop by if you want to experience what a dog show is like, and then head outside to see the Labs where the fun dogs/people hang out.

The weekend after that (Feb 1) is the Charleston Hamfest and “Computer” Show at the Armory Park Community Center just off East Montague. I’ll be there bright and early helping out in the tailgating area. It’s not a huge hamfest but I should be able to find a few interesting things there. There will be door prizes drawn throughout the day, including three cash prizes (if you’d like to buy a prize ticket, drop me a note). Don’t go if you’re expecting a lot of computer stuff though. It’s just not that kind of show. You’ll find a lot of older “computer junk box” stuff, but if that’s what you’re looking for, by all means stop in. An amateur radio licensing test will be conducted at the hamfest too.

The weekend after that is Orlando Hamcation which was a whole lot of fun last year, but we won’t be going this year. Too many other travel plans coming up to make it practical this year.

There’s also a lot of radio contesting coming up over the next few weekends.

Hello 45

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44 was a pretty good year. Let’s see what 45 has in store. I think it will be another good year.

Happy New Year from the dogs

Rain kept me from making my traditional trip to Folly Beach with the dogs today, so Nala and Simba are wishing everybody a Happy 2014 from the wet and slightly rainy back yard.

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They’re not all that happy about having to sit out in the rain.

Nala turned 9 a few days ago, and Simba will be 8 next month. Hard to believe I’ve had them for that long. They definitely don’t act their age, although Nala does like spend her time sleeping these days.

Nest back online

After a quick call to Nest support (only spent 10 minutes on hold) and speaking with one of the support guys, I was able to get a new base plate sent out to me which seems to be staying cool. The support guy mentioned that the FETs in the base plate can go bad and create a short, which can be confirmed by moving some of the wires around. SInce I didn’t have the Nest mounted at the time, we couldn’t test it out.

Installed the new base plate and left it for a few minutes. It stayed cool, so it looks like the new base plate solved the problem. Hopefully we don’t run into any more problems with the Nest.

Pro tip: If you’re going to replace a thermostat with a Nest, keep the old one around. Might come in handy as a temporary replacement if the Nest goes down for any reason.

Nativity set visitors

The nativity set on the mantel seems to get a few extra visitors each year. The regular nativity set is one that was made and painted by Connie’s mom back in 1975. This year, in addition to the usual cast and crew, they’re joined by (L-R) a decrypted armoured red dwagonthree Chinese gods, Pope Francis, two cats, and Tux.

Nativity set visitors