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RoadieRich @midwest.social
Posts 4
Comments 21
How did you meet your significant other?
  • We met on OkCupid. We were on opposite sides of the Atlantic, but she had a friend on this side, and they were comparing the "weird" profiles they were each finding. OkCupid has a "if you liked this person, you might like these more" section, and I appeared in there. She wasn't really looking to date anyone, but she clicked, messaged me, and we clicked. I moved to the US to be with her after a two-year long distance relationship, and we'll be celebrating our ten year wedding anniversary next year.

  • Sounds great in theory
  • It's definitely great in theory until you inherit a codebase with no tests, poor documentation, and numerous reported bugs already live in production. Even better if it was written by people hired because they could do other things better than they could code - which looking at some of the unlabeled wiring messes we were left, isn't saying a lot.

  • recommendations for indoor (museum/arena) comms
  • The problem you're going to encounter is that any radio system capable of covering your entire area is going to need some sort of license, either individual or group. You probably can't require your volunteers to pay the FCC $35 for a GMRS license, and ham radio requires an exam, so that's probably out, too.

    That pretty much only leaves business licenses. Yes, there is MURS, which is license free, and might work better than what I am assuming are Walmart FRS radios, but still runs the risk of communication failing when you need it.

    If I was in charge of a convention, I'd talk to the company that supplies your AV equipment about who to rent business radios from. They probably have recommendations. If you don't have an AV company, you can Google for "radio rentals West Virginia", there's a few options. They can help you with all the licensing, and will provide all the radio hardware. This is not going to be cheap, but will probably end up being less expensive than trying to set up your own repeater, and all the associated licensing headaches.

  • What is a niche hobby of yours that you are fascinated by and would like to share with others?
  • I'm a big fan of amateur radio, specifically portable operation, and Parks on the Air.

    I'll take my radio out to a remote location, throw an antenna up into some trees, and talk to people all over the US.

    Currently I need mains power, but I'm looking to buy a battery soon, and I already have some solar panels gifted from a club member.

    I live in Michigan, and last time I was out, my most distant contacts were in Dallas, Texas, around 1100 miles away, while I was sitting at a picnic table at my local state park campground.

  • Didn't realise that windmill blades are serrated
  • It reduces the turbulence at the trailing edge, reducing noise. Bernouli's principle dictates that part of the force on the blade is due to the airflow on each side moving at different speeds, if the crashed into each other all at once, you'd get a lot of turbulence, and hence noise. The serrations ensure that the two flows meet over a longer distance, reducing said turbulence.

  • Technology @midwest.social RoadieRich @midwest.social

    Amateur Radio's Field Day is this weekend

    Field Day is, more or less, amateur radio's yearly open house. Clubs around the country will be setting up in parks to demonstrate their ability to make contacts in "less than ideal" conditions (which basically means "outside, without mains power").

    If you're at all curious about radio communication, you should find your nearest site and drop in.

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