One year ago today: December 27, 2014, mystery Morse code.
Five years ago today: December 27, 2010, perfectly circular thinking.
Nine years ago today: December 27, 2006, there is little evidence . . .
Random years ago today: December 27, 2007, Dr. Skrbc, bat-shit crazy.
MORNING
Told ya, I went shopping. Spent $17, including a big 2-lb reel of solder to replace what JZ used up on my water tank. I think I’ll buy a tankless from his brother, who says he has never had a problem with the identical model he uses. Now, take a look at this photo and see if you can spot the less than obvious. This object was once the hub of an experimental wind turbine, but is now my fancy pencil holder. I’m about to relate what you see to both photography and music.
There may be slight differences, but that is more likely due to my placement error and my cheap Argus camera. Return tomorrow for a photo of my new, heavy-duty steel tripod. I have not seen one of these in fifty years and until I spotted it under a junk pile at the Frenchie flea market. The plan is to use it for my videocam, which is modified from the old battery-chomping Nikon to have a permanent power supply.
Which brings me to recording music. I have a theory you already know, that Indie music sounds alike because it is layered up and often the same musician plays many instruments. Well, there is another aspect that is trickier to follow, but I ran up against it when trying to get the Nikon to record from my lapel mic. Why is simultaneous recording of both video and audio important to me. That’s what I’m getting at.
To me, “live” music contains elements that are impossible to recapture when music is layered. Try it. Right now, my best recording device (remind me I owe Trent fifty bucks for that) will only record on instrument at a time. Anyone who has used a real multi-track recorder will know that if you record five takes of a song, one of those takes will be superior. It’s because, goes my theory, the musicians can interact in a way that is unachievable if you go back later and add on track by track.
I instantly recognize indie (independent) music on this count, even my own. Usually I’ll have the whole band play to the drum track while recording the rhythm guitar and the vocals. (I said my recorder does only one instrument at a time. It can record two tracks if one is the vocals.) Then, when I go back to record the bass, the moment is gone. I instantly start recording my bass lines to fit the sound of the playback tracks, a far narrower concern that if I was doing my best to meld with the live band. End of this mini-theory lesson.
But let’s wait to see what a difference this vastly superior tripod system makes. Today I will design and build a weatherproof box to contain the Nikon and see if I have time for some test footage.
This next section is a test. There was a time before Google stuck it’s nose into this blog that it was possible to post videos. No, not gif animated clips. I’m testing to see if Google left that capability in the system. If it works, you should see a video of me driving the Kenney Tunnel in Fort Lauderdale on November 27, 2007, which will look like a gif, but if I am successful, there will be real sound. What a boon it would be to this blog to be able to post such videos. It's still a youTube link, but I could work with that. I’m an amateur video editor, you know.
NOON
This is my test setup for the solar panel battery keeper, you saw something similar here two years ago. No, not battery charger, I already told you that portable solar panels do not have the power density to actually recharge a dead battery. And the models that can charge are due to a charge controller device, not the raw juice coming off a solar panel. The wag meters shown here are there to detect the wavering pulse of power that emerges from the charging capacitor inside the solar panels. The needle never stops moving when there is power, that is, the power that comes from these panels is never steady.
The wag meters are necessary to follow a wavering power reading, which digital meters have trouble with. It takes three meters to test one panel. The volts and amps each need a meter, as does the power that emerges after the controller. This controller seems to be the source of the trouble. The idea is to test the ability of the controller to keep the power within the correct parameters. It should put out 115% of the rated voltage. For a 12 volt battery, you need 13.7 volts to charge it.
The test became needed after these solar panels not only failed to keep my expensive marine battery topped up, they finally wrecked the battery after only two years. I was leery as to why it went dead in Colorado, eastern Nebraska, and on that run home from Canaveral last year. These systems were triple-tested to the best of my hundreds of hours of research on the matter. I still suspect the only part that I do not know how it works down to the molecular level—the charge controller itself.
And yes, since I’m looking for movement on the meters, not actual readings, this getup makes for an excellent first test of the new video tripod system. Is that a fluke or what? I see the newer models of solar panels now contain a tiny sticker on the back stating that a charge controller is, after all, necessary.
I took some time to think about the Arduino problem, where you cannot tell what program is uploaded unless you keep separate track. I see ever more kits for oddball uses, why not a kit that uses that LCD module to display the program info, say, whenever the reset button is pressed. This would require the programmer to include that code, but considering how ridiculously convoluted C+ code is to begin with, who could realistically complain?
Speaking of idiot programmers, I see the jerkoffs who invented the system that spellchecks the period at the end of the sentence are at it again. This time, they’ve changed the commands when Android plays music. When you click on a song title, I’ll bet a thousand bucks people want to hear that music play. Now, one time in three, Android enters edit mode and tries to change the title of the song. Way to go, Google. Now you appeal to the crowd that regularly changes the titles of their music.
My concept of Millennial-think: “Gee, I don’t like the song titles of all my favorite music. I think I’ll take a day off from illegal telemarketing, phone plan scams, and publishing get-rich-quick schemes, and go change the names of all 5,000 songs in my music directory. I’m so proud of my collection, even though most of the songs only get listened to once every other year.”
EVENING
A day with NPR, with music and commentary from famous people you don’t recognize.. Acclaimed musicians you cannot name. Renowned writers you’ve never read. Legendary singers you’ve never heard. Now, it seems there is a hepatitis epidemic. That’s them, not me. Every person they interviewed caught it you-know-how. The program centered on public concern instead of personal responsibility. It was mostly heavily accented women who can’t figure out why they still have this disease even after they have “put all that behind”. Duh.
This type of tripod sells for close to $200 new these days. It is not portable nor meant to be. It is a solid workmanlike heavy piece of equipment.
I also watched documentaries that got past my filters. Including one on the pilots that flew the P-51 Mustang, a fighter aircraft that was in fact designed by a German. They are more likely to give credit to enemy pilots than your armchair historians. The one guy describes how a German pilot bailed out and stood at attention, saluting the American as he sailed past, and only then pulled the ripcord. Or the German pilots who attacked the bombers head-on. I have a hard time even imagining somebody would do that.
If you watch the videos, you may not the few scenes of bomber gunners downing a fighter are played over and over. That’s because it so rarely happened. By 1943, the Germans had equipped their fighters with cannon that could down a bomber from outside of the range of the 50 caliber machine guns.
ADDENDUM
What’s happening with the property search. Nothing, because there is nothing decent for sale. It’s that time of year when all the newspapers carry falsely optimistic reports of the upcoming sales market. There is a lot of property listed at twice what it was bought for one and two years back. JZ and I are not the only ones looking at flipping, but the difference is, we’ll do better than giving the place a paint job.
Areas looked at today: Arcadia, Ft. Meyers, Haines City, Davenport, Bartow, Auburndale, Plant City, Lakeland, Winter Haven, and good old Mulberry. It all seems to be small operators rather than for sale by owner type listings. The entire Tampa to Orlando swoop is getting nearly daily attention for now, it just takes that one hit.
By February 1, I plan to embark on a plan of bottom-fishing. Trolling for somebody who has to sell at a loss. Folks, this is not tiddleywinks and it is not like people who buy with borrowed money are playing fair themselves. That plan will be in place within two weeks, and if it is a go, it will be a reality in a few more. I’m not saying I’ll do it, I’m just saying the plan will be ready.
Last Laugh
(Suicide fail.)
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