08/19/10

My Weather Page

Here are some of my hobbies, projects and interests:

bulletWeather Station - I have a Davis Vantage Pro weather station mounted on my backyard shed.  Click on the pictures for more info.
bulletScanners - I have a Uniden Bearcat 780 XLT TrunkTracker III radio scanner which is arguably the best consumer-grade scanner on the market today.  The scanner is interfaced to my PC where I manage its settings using TrunkStar780 software.  Go to my Favorites page for some links to scanner sites.



Bearcat 780 XLT
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Personal Computers - My first computer was an Advanced Logic Research 286 (circa 1987).  I'm currently running a homemade:
bullet CPU:  Intel Pentium 4, 2.4 GHz
bulletRAM:  1 GB PC2700 DDR DRAM
bulletOS:  Windows XP Pro and Windows 98 SE (dual boot)
bulletMotherboard:  ASUS P4S533
bulletVideo:  128 MB ATI All-in-Wonder Raedon 9700 Pro
bulletDisk:  Four 120 GB 7200 RPM ATA 100 drives
bulletCD:  Teac SCSI CD-ROM, HP 200j DVD-Writer DVD+RW
bulletOther Drives:  Internal Iomega Zip 100
bulletMonitor:  Dell 2000FP 20" LCD
bulletSound:  Turtle Beach SantaCruz sound card
bulletMouse:  Microsoft Wireless Optical Wheel mouse
bulletAdaptec SCSI adapter
bulletBelkin USB Hub
bulletPrinter:  Hewlett-Packard Deskjet 5550 inkjet
bulletScanner:  Epson Perfection 1200U
bulletHeadphones:  Plantronics DSP 500 USB digital
bulletRouter/Cable Modem:  Toshiba PCX5000
bulletDigital film reader:  Zio!
bulletCase:  Koolance liquid-cooled PC2-601BW
bullet

UPS:  APC

bulletInternet - I've been accessing on-line resources since before the Internet took off.  Here's all the commercial service providers I've used over the years:
bulletLocal bulletin board
bulletProdigy
bulletGenie
bulletCompuServe
bulletAmerica On Line (before it was big)

At this point the World Wide Web started to take off and I dumped all of the other services and signed up with Voicenet, a regional internet service provider.  I'm currently using Comcast for high-speed internet access.
bulletPersonal Digital Assistants - I've carried a PDA with me at work for a number of years.  My first PDA was a PalmPilot, which was later upgraded to a Professional version.  Once I saw the PocketPC's running Microsoft PocketPC 2002, I abandoned the Palm OS and got an HP Jornada 568.


HP Jornada 568

In June 2002 I added Wireless Network connectivity via a Symbol Wireless Networker CompactFlash card.  This allows me to connect to the wireless network where I work.  I also added a router-wireless Ethernet bridge.  I configured the router with the same settings as the network at work, so I can easily access move between work and home.
bulletRadio-Control Sailplanes - A somewhat expensive hobby for old men with too much time and money on their hands.  Go to my Favorites page for some links to R/C sailplane sites.



R/C sailplane
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Nuclear Weapons - things that go boom.  Go to my Favorites page for some links to nuclear sites.
bulletTelevision - I watch a lot of science and warfare-related shows.  Some of my favorite TV shows of all time (in no particular order) are:
bulletThe Simpsons
bulletSouth Park
bulletTwin Peaks
bullet

The X-Files (before Mulder left)
bulletMP3 files/Car Audio - I converted my entire collection of audio CD's and many of my finer albums to MP3 files, thus allowing 6 to 10 hours of music to fit on a single CD.  I previously owned a Kenwood Z919 receiver, one of the first automotive units that could play MP3 files, but I decided to replace it after it had a second round of problems.  It was replaced with another Kenwood (I guess I didn't learn my lesson) CD/MP3 receiver that was capable of controlling the new heart of my car audio, a Kenwood Music Keg.  This is a hard-drive based unit that comes with a 10 GB DMS cartridge.  The cartridge gets loaded with MP3 files from my PC via a USB docking station.  Click here to see my MP3 list.

 


Kenwood KDC-722

 

 

 

 

Kenwood MusicKeg

This site was last updated 12/02/07