kurtismccartney's blog

If you see and are able to play that little OGG video that means you have all the HTML5 you need. I you received the message then you do not, consider finding/updating to a compliant browser.

As a HAM/SWL you may eventually come to the point when you ask "Why are there no Shortwave Radios in Cars?", aside from the small market for such specialized equipment you may discover that the best radio is the one you already have. Rather than messing around with a crummy in dash Shortwave radio, of which you probably only use three or four stations get a short range FM transmitter and build a dock for your portable shortwave unit.

Understandably you are going to have to do your own math and work to get a proper dock, antenna, and FM transmitter for your vehicle. It can be easier than trying to rewire the proprietary connectors in your vehicle, and much more affordable if done right. On the odd occasion I choose to listen while on the road I use a FM Transmitter from DealExtreme - a respectable vendor from Hong Kong. One antena configuration was in a triangle wire antenna between the front seats to the two clothes hooks in the back - it was too complicated and unweildy. A modified active loop antenna strapped to the top of the radio solved the problem.

Find the radio for you and take it with you.

In 2009 I made a rookie mistake - after owning a couple of yagi style integrated antennas I tried a DB8 and it failed to impress, I discovered why and how to fix it. The problem was that the old antennas had an amplifier built into the rotor and the new one did not. By adding the pre-amplifier signal quality jumped, I used an inexpensive one from Antra Antennas but I've now seen people using ones from The Source and other online vendors.

American Channels are usually foolproof due to signal strength, so when I failed to get a lock on any station it was clear there was a problem. The Pre-amplifier solution provided valuable information about the true quality of the DB8. I still find that my Yagi is better at getting SunTV (66) and Global (41) from Toronto for now. I will probably swap back to the DB8 in August 2011 and add a single VHF wire specially tuned for Channel 3 from Barrie.

Don't make the rookie mistake of forgetting your pre-amplifier when you install your outdoor antenna.

This problem supposedly exists on both sides of the border when people receive affordable antennas from overseas lacking information about signal dissipation. If you plan on running without a pre-amp you may have to swap from unbalanced 75ohm coaxial lines to balanced 300 ohm twin-lead. This was the type of wire you used to see on the back of television receivers connected with two screws.

Feel free to use my search box for more information about yagi, db8, and other antenna gear or take a peek at the antenna array that I use now. Here: http://www.kurtismccartney.com/antenna

I like the computers and media devices that I get to enjoy in Canadian society, there are some immediate shortcomings with regard to integration. If I was to seek out each of these modules (hardware) and try to configure software for ease of use I may run out of both time and money in the pursuit. So here goes the idea:

A Portable Computer with:

1. Mini Projector Display that flips into a Head-Mounted Display
   
2. Open-Standard Docking Station for Antennas/Sound/Home Theatre
   
3. AM/FM Recorder (DVR Style) with Weeklong Program Listings
   
4. ATSC Television DVR with Weeklong Program Listings
   
5. Solar Charge with Second Hot-Swappable Battery (24hr Battery, 6hr Solar Charge)

Of course some of this ultimate computer would also require the ultimate workshop.

Each year around Canada Day the Niagara Peninsula Amateur Radio Club (NPARC) and some of its members contribute their time and some money to the Radiothon Charity - with dollars going to one of two charities of your choice - the CNIB or the St.Catharines Hospitals.

I'll be collecting pledges for the CNIB to help support quality of life programs for the visually impaired. These programs can provide opportunities for visually impaired persons to communicate, built job skills, and reach out to a greater community that includes both visually impaired and non-impaired persons.

This year the event will be held ON Canada Day, a Thursday. I will have a link to pledge online added to this post ASAP, until then feel free to contribute to my donation pool in person.

Alright, time for another quick tip, If you've already gone through the Drupal quick fix for the ereg to mb_ereg change on line 911 of your file.inc problem you may be like me - unable to open anything after a restart.

Here is the fix: Try to restart apache directly like this

sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart

If the error arises it will highlight which file is missing in this folder:

/etc/apache2/conf.d/THISFILE

In my case it was a remnant from Ampache the music daemon. I deleted it and restarted apache again.

sudo rm /etc/apache2/conf.d/THISFILE

There are no paid advertisements on KurtisMcCartney.com or any of the other Zen Alliance sites that I actively contribute to. This is because all of this information is sponsored by the authors, and in the case of this site it is yours truly.

I will make recommendations and those are out of a genuine satisfaction with quality, price, or some other factor that is typically mentioned. Off the top of my head I remember mentioning the following companies:

Antra Antennas (Ontario) or Motrak Antennas (Quebec)
These companies made it easy to save money and support local television. That is not their mission, it is mine, and their equipment was just right. Affordable, quality, cold-safe. I swapped over to Antra because they are speedy shippers and do business closer to Niagara.

DealExtreme.com
Started off buying Nintendo DS parts, fixed some iPhone screens with parts from here, and have found numerous meaningful gifts and tools here. Easy to "lose" a lot of money here, as my gadget loving ways are overwhelmed.

RareSeeds.com
Hands down one of the most rewarding experiences is growing right now in my family garden. Rather than dealing with the same six foods that every other gardener has in high supply RareSeeds.com allowed us to experiment with different colours, flavours, and more durable plants. In 2010 there is a "White" theme in the garden, with white tomatoes, white cucumber, and white flesh watermelon. Even though you had seed shipped in it is still local food, and that fresh off the vine taste is hard to duplicate.

REMEMBER: None of these vendors pay me, I pay them for products and occasionally for services. Usually with PayPal. So these are not what I would call advertisements as much as they are recommendations - which is also why they are in the "Recommended Menu" for at nearly a year after I purchase equipment. If their name isn't on there it is either because something has gone wrong or I have not needed to shop there. The goal is always to live with knowledge rather than products or money - but until that utopia arrives these are my go-to favourites.

This is very important - the Conhis Motor parts work, but the connectors are sometimes wrong. Namely the red and black power wires coming from the motor kits. A number of people, including myself, have connected everything properly only to experience the frustration of watching it catch fire.