March Blizzard 2009

The Colorado Front Range had only received 2 inches of precipitation in the past 5 months and it had been balmy throughout the new year, so we all knew we were bound to get smacked with a spring blizzard. The snow came Thursday (3/26) morning and dumped a foot and a half in Boulder. CU was shut down and the governor declared a state of emergency to pull stranden folks off of US-36. To me, it was a nice opportunity to take some photos of surreal shapes in my front yard and to get out cross country skiing with Mike. Enjoy the photos!

Zetec Final Exam

Today marks the second week I have had my Zetec up in running in my
1985 Westfalia! I had already put 300 miles on it, so yesterday I gave
it a thorough check out and everything looked great.

This morning, I drove it up I-70 in Colorado to go skiing, which was
the final exam of this whole process for me and the Zetec. The main
reason I put the Zetec engine in was that I wanted to be able to take
the van all over Colorado up and down steep, high altitude passes on a
regular basis at normal highway speeds and without worrying about
breaking down. There are 2 or 3 hills on I-70 that are absolute
killers, and I got to test out the Zetec on one of them just west of
Georgetown.



I also created a playlist on Youtube with the 5 documentary videos I made in
the correct order:
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=D43034D72686EB02

In case you missed the 3rd video in the series that included the first start of the Zetec in the Vanagon, here it is:



And since I'm a big geek, I recorded my trip with a GPS, so you can check out the route, speed,
and altitude at:
http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/player/7806254


Enjoy!
Pat

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Bostig Engine Conversion Write-Up

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5

Cruising in the Zetec-powered Vanagon!

I can't believe how incredible the Zetec is in my Vanagon! Joe came down and provided a tremendous amount of help to me this weekend, and we got the van running beautifully today, 8 days after I tore out the old VW waterboxer engine!

I will let video speak for itself (PG13 for language)!

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Bostig Engine Conversion Write-Up

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5

Zetec mounted in the van!

It was another long day and a great conclusion to the weekend to be able to see the Zetec mounted in the van!

There was a lot of incidental work like figuring out how to take apart (put back together) CV axles, mounting brackets in the engine bay, transferring equipment to the new transmission, and finally mating the transmission to the engine. Fortunately, Joe came over and helped me, and since he has already been through the process, it was much, much easier. Finally at about 7pm , we got the engine and transmission up and bolted into the van without support from the engine hoist. There is still a lot to do before turning the ignition key, but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Check out another video diary from today's efforts.

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Bostig Engine Conversion Write-Up

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5

Vanagon engine removed

It was a long day, but when all was said and done, my VW camper van was without an engine and I was happy about that!

I had to remove the old WBX engine in order make room for the new Zetec (not at all unlike John Locke having to die to save the "Island" on Lost), and today was the day to get the work done. Thanks to the wonder of craigslist, I found another VW fanatic named Todd who helped me remove the engine. It was a huge help to have him there, since he had previously removed several engines from Vanagons; not to mention that two sets of hands really makes a difference when doing that kind of work.

It was a full-day affair, and since many people have wondered exactly how long it takes to remove an engine and install a Zetec as part of the Bostig conversion, I decided to make a video diary for the day. I'm hoping to make one for the installation process also, but 'till then, check out what I did today...

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Bostig Engine Conversion Write-Up

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5

Zetec Progress

I am moving forward quickly with preparations on my Zetec engine prior to the transplant into the Vanagon. I have completed the SK-A (adapter) and SK-C (cooling) steps of the conversion process which means that I am a few steps away from being ready to pull the old engine out and put the new one in. On Monday, I should receive the SK-E (exhaust) and SK-M (mounting) kits and the GoWesty rebuilt transmission. These parts should provide everything I need to complete dressing the engine prior to my goal of transplanting on the weekend of February 20. It's going really smoothly so far, so I'm going to keep my fingers crossed!

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Bostig Engine Conversion Write-Up

• Part 1
• Part 2
• Part 3
• Part 4
• Part 5

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Training video

Last night, I made a training video for work that spoofed the training films from the t.v. show Lost. If you have seen the orientation video for the Swan station, you might find this funny. It really helps to also know that what we are doing with our tests at work is very similar to what they are telling people to do in the Swan film. For the back-story on the Swan training video, check out Lostpedia!

One month down...

It's hard to believe that the first month of 2009 has come and gone! I didn't manage to write during January, since I was busy working on my resolutions and goals for the new year.

Piano
The only resolution I have made any measurable progress towards is learning to play the piano. I have been taking lessons for 4 weeks now and practicing on my Yamaha YPG-625 digital piano. I have to say that this is one of the most challenging/difficult endeavors I have ever embarked on. There are two feelings that I usually experience while learning and practicing the piano. When I am learning a new concept, my brain hurts beyond normal description and the only way I can attempt to relate the feeling is to say that it feels like I've stuffed a grand piano into my head (like in the cartoons)! And when I practice playing a song from beginning to end, I find myself holding my breath and concentrating with such devotion that you'd think I was trying to levitate. Sounds like fun, huh? Actually, I know that with time I will progress and it will begin to feel more natural. Till then...

Robotics
Without a doubt, my biggest time sink during January has been mentoring the Fairview High School robotics club as we build a robot in 6 weeks to compete in the FIRST robotics competition. I have found myself spending 20 hours a week after work and on weekends working on this project. In some ways we are making tremendous progress and in others, we are spinning our wheels. Although spinning our wheels literally won't be one of them, since we have implemented traction control in our software system! I have to say that volunteering has also been a major challenge for me that has resulted in more than a headache or two. However, I really believe that when this is all finished, the students, the other mentors, and I will come away having learned about ourselves and working as a team at least as much as we learned about building a robot.

Engine Transplant
Finally, I have just begun to work in earnest on the Zetec engine conversion for my Westfalia van. Yes, this is usually a full time project without spending 20 hours a week building robots, having a grand piano stuck in your head while levitating, and playing men's basketball (7 points last week, yeah baby!), but I am really excited about this project and hope to complete it by March. It is an ambitious goal, but I'm off to a great start! I received the donor engine for the transplant a few days ago and performed a Cinderella transformation on it from ugly, dusty, junkyard engine to shiny, 7345 mileage, reliable beauty! In order to keep myself on track, I'm using Google Notebook to track my progress and have shared the notebook with the world. Take a look if you are interested in such things.

The Inexplicable Realities of Life

I'm not sure when these words formed in my head the first time, but I know that they certainly stuck and have been of great assistance to me when I ask the age old question, Why? to life's many mysteries. Now, when I am presented with a challenging situation that I cannot begin to comprehend, I simply chaulk it up to The Inexplicable Realities of Life, smile, and get on with things!

Desiderata

The Desiderata is most certainly my favorite poem and written work of wisdom, so I thought I would share it here. A great website about the poem, it's history, and related resources can be found here.



Go placidly amid the noise and the haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence. As far as possible without surrender be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let not this blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love; for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is as perennial as the grass. Take kindly the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth.

Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness. Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore, be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be. And whatever your labors and aspirations in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul. With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams; it is still a beautiful world. Be cheerful.

Strive to be happy.

--- Max Ehrmann, 1927

2009 New Year's Resolutions!

Well, it's almost the new year and I decided to set some goals and make some resolutions for myself this year for one of the first times in my life. It's not like I feel guilty about being fat and need a resolution to make me carry through. It's just that it's fun to think that I can accomplish a bunch of great things in 2009 if I set my mind to it. And I figure that posting my goals and resolutions makes me accountable for them, so that I can hopefully report on my successes throughout the year.
As a matter of definition, I consider resolutions to be things that I would be less likely to achieve if I didn't really set my mind to them, and goals to be things that I plan or expect to do during the year.

Resolutions

1. Take an aerial photo using the balloon and gimbal system that I have been working on and off again for the past few years. I'm not far from being ready to do it, but like one of my previous posts said, it's one thing to talk about something and it's another thing to do somthing.


2. Learn to play the piano! Why? Well, it seems cool, and I always love to see my nephews, sister, and mom playing it. As a possibly practical goal, I want to be able to play Lovers in Japan by Cold Play.


3. Bombproof my kayak roll and kayak The Numbers on the Arkansas River. I have let my roll deteriorate and not progress with the rest of my kayaking, and it's time for that to stop. Kayaking the Numbers will be an achievable goal that I should feel comfortable with once I can roll on demand under any conditions.

Goals

1. Mentor the Fairview Robotics club for the FIRST robotics competition. I'm already underway with this again this year, and I expect to be spending a lot of time working on the new robot and hopefully having a positive impact on these kids.


2. Install a Zetec engine in my Westfalia van. I already plunked down the money for the sweet Bostig conversion kit that will allow me as an amateur mechanic to perform a heart transplant for my seriously underpowered Vanagon.


3. Attend EJ's kayaking clinic in Ottawa, Canada in July including a road trip with stops in NY and Cape May to visit my family. With my bombproof roll and souped-up van, this will be a great way to take my accomplishments to the bank!

Oma-riffic!

When I first found out that I was stranded in Omaha, NB in the middle of my long Christmas flight itinerary from Denver to Elmira, NY, I became angered but didn't take it out on the Northwest Airlines employees. Instead, I decided to make the most of my time Omaha. After all, when else would I find myself with 2 days to explore and enjoy this mid-western city?

I arrived just in time for one of the biggest events of the year in Omaha- the 2008 NCAA women's volleyball championships. I had never seen a real volleyball match before, but with nothing to do and this big event right across the street from my hotel, I found myself cheering on Stanford with the rest of the Nebraska crowd. But as fate would have it, Penn State was able to hold their ground and maintain their undefeated season en route to becoming national champions. It was really a lot of fun to watch this exciting sport at the top of its game!

Did I mention that although the Quest Center arena was just down the block from the hotel that it was also 0 degrees with 15-20mph winds outside! The minus 20 windchill made exploring the rest of Omaha on foot nearly impossible, but I was able to take the hotel shuttle to the Omaha zoo and the downtown restaurant/market district. The zoo is a really cool place with lots of indoor exhibits including the world's largest indoor rainforest and an enormous geodescic dome that houses the deserts of the world exhibit. After watching the 3D Wild Ocean movie in the IMAX theatre, I got to experience sharks, rays, and fish all around me again in the aquarium tunnel and snap a few photos on my iPhone.

I have to say that I never would have guessed that I would be spending part of my Christmas vacation in Omaha, much less having a really good time, but I've gotta say it's been a fun, unexpected diversion! Now we'll see if I can finish my itinerary tomorrow...

Gumby Flies Over Boulder!

You read that right, Gumby took to the skies and flew over Boulder, CO today on his quest to return to New York for Christmas!



I felt confident enough to fly with Gumby on the 3rd flight with the live video downlink after just completing this 2nd flight. The new Futaba 7C 2.4GHz RC transmitter worked beautifully and apart from some small video glitches, the EasyStar flew admirably with all the extra weight tacked on! Unfortunately, I didn't heed the lower battery warning signs and wound up with a broken plane. Oh well, nothing a little CA glue can't fix! Enjoy the flying!

In Search of Treasure

It's one thing to say that you can or are going to do something, and it is a completely different thing to actually do it!

I was pondering this today and came to a realization that the story of lost treasure is as much about just accomplishing something as it is about gold, silver, and diamonds. You could imagine that this goal, however simple or complicated, is the fabled treasure. Many people know of this treasure and so you come across them in taverns speaking of it and how they hope to find it one day or how they would go in search of it, except for the fact that blah, blah, blah. Yes, many people know of the treasure, but to actually find the treasure takes time, hard work, a bit of luck, and the fortitude to know that it will all be worth it when the journey is over and the treasure is in the hand. But then again, some people like to talk about treasure, and others are obsessed with chasing after it.

Garmin Vista Cx Memory Card Usage

My Garmin eTrex Vista Cx GPS has an expandable microSD memory card slot that can be used for storing maps. I have Garmin's Topo maps as well as their City Navigator maps. The Topo maps are great to have when out exploring the backcountry, since they have topographical lines and various natural features that can make navigating the backcountry easier. Meanwhile, the City Navigator maps can be used to turn my little GPS into a fairly capable unit that can route me throughout the streets of the U.S. just like its big brother automobile units do. However, all of the expandability and flexibility comes at a cost- you have to know how to load maps onto the GPS!

For the most part, loading maps onto my Vista Cx is a pretty simple process based in Garmin's MapSource program, but there are a few tricks and choices that I made for the process to suit my taste. I am going to describe those specifics here.

There is no limit that I know of to the maximum size of microSD card that the Garmin units can use, however, there is a limit of 2025 map segments that they can access. This is a seldom documented feature, but here is a reference that can fill you in some more. There are a total of 111 City Navigator map segments with a size of 1.5GB, but there are over 6600 Topo maps with a size of 1.8GB! I had considered buying a 4GB card to stash all my maps on once and for all until I learned of the 2025 map segment constraint. It's a real bummer, but rather than mope over it, I decided to just make do with what I have and write down exactly how I'm using my 2GB card.

I decided to add all of the City Navigator maps and I chose a subset of the Western states Topos that got me up to 1897.6 MB with 1372 Maps. I suppose that if I come across a cheap 4GB card, I could add the rest of the western mountain states plus another few states of my choice before reaching the 2025 map limit. I have saved the map selection of these to Maps2GB.gdb, so I could always inspect exactly which regions I have loaded in the future.

If I decide to travel to a new location that I don't already have maps for, I will load them to my older 512MB card and just swap the cards before/after the trip. That way, I won't have to go through the hassle of completely reloading all the maps on the 2GB card.

Since I also use the microSD card to store recorded GPX tracks, I verified that the remaining space on the 2GB card would be sufficient. It turns out that 2 years of recorded tracks amounted to a whopping 5.5MB and there was over 34MB free on the 2GB card, so I don't foresee any problems with running out of room to record GPX tracks!

Finally, it's worth noting that to ensure the GPX tracks are actually recorded to the microSD card, you need to select the Track Menu, then Setup, then Data Card Setup, and finally make sure the checkbox is selected next to Log Track To Data Card.

My first attempt at FPV flying!

After much preparation that included soldering a custom video wire harness with +5V and +12V connections, configuring my computer to accept NTSC video via USB to video capture software, and fabricating a custom aluminum mounting bracket, I finally got my EasyStar RC airplane out with hopes to fly to it from the first person view (FPV). It was a lot of effort and I got most of it right, but as you will see from this video, I didn't test it completely and could have easily avoided the mishap that went with it!

My first Easy Star flights!

After an initial checkout of my recently built EasyStar RC airplane on Friday by Erik at LASP, I took it out Saturday morning near my house for my initial flight. The November day could not have been nicer- 60's, sunny, and very little wind. I wound up flying for nearly an hour on a single charge of the 1500 mAh LiPO battery, which encompassed 6 flights and only one minor crash :-) Because of the low weight of the LiPO battery, I added my Garmin Forerunner 305 watch into the cockpit as ballast and got some fantastic flight paths recorded! It took two small tricks to make this really useful. First, the GPS watch had to be set to record data every second in order to wind up with smooth flight paths. And second, in order to maintain the measured altitude, the Activity Option to use MB Gravity Elevation Correction had to be disabled in MotionBased prior to exporting the KML file. However once I did this, I was blown away with the flight paths that this little runners' GPS watch was able to record!

Take a look at this playback animation of my last flight which consisted primarily of unpowered gliding high above the ground. Be sure to choose Satellite and Large within the Google map frame, select the playback speed to be 0.5x or 1.0 x, and hit the Play button! Pretty darn cool!

Assuming that you have Google Earth (and you should), take a look at this 3D flight path. Now I want to figure out how to use the built-in flight simulator to fly the recorded flight path!

A more thorough posting that relates to autonomous RC airplanes is over at DIY Drones.

Rafting Ruby-Horsethief and Westwater Canyons

I did my last rafting trip of the year on the Colorado River through Ruby-Horsethief and Westwater canyons from Thursday, October 16 through Sunday, October 19. I had absolutely perfect weather for mid-October with temperatures in the 60's, not a cloud in sight, and none of the brutal afternoon winds that plagued my trip down Ruby-Horsethief last year. I spent the first two days on my own through Ruby-Horsethief and had a great time slowly working my way down the river and teaching myself to flycast. I met up with the rest of the crew on Saturday and we headed down river just barely into Westwater Canyon before spending the night. On Sunday, we blasted through all the major rapids and even managed to have a little adventure while doing so. I don't remember Westwater being as big as it was, and although I ran Skull and the rest of the rapids with great lines, my heartbeat really got going! And things definitely got interesting when Jon partially dislocated his shoulder right when he entered Skull rapid! Everything turned out okay, but it was a handful to get the rafts down the next few rapids and suffice it to say, River dog wound up rafting all by himself once again! All's well that ends well!

Unfortunately, my GPS broke on the first day, so I wasn't able to record a track for this cool trip :-(

Photo album

Autumn Hike in Golden Gate Canyon State Park

Mike and I went for a great autumn hike through Golden Gate Canyon on Saturday, October 4. The aspen leaves could not have been any brighter or more spectacular, especially on an otherwise dreary day!

Check out the photo album to see for yourself!

You can also view the geotagged photos in Google Earth along with our track, or you can play back the track at Motionbased.com!

Vinnie's Wedding

On Friday, September 26, I flew back to Philadelphia and Moorestown, NJ to attend Vinnie Balsamo's wedding. Vinnie was one of my best friends in high school, and it was great to get back there and hang out with all my old football buddies. It was an amazing reception, but as with almost all weddings I have attended, I end up appreciating the time I spend with people around the table at the reception and at the open bar as much as the ceremony itself. I got to see Chris Chesner, Maria, and their daughters before the wedding, and Joe Mure, Murad, Mike Meaney, and Coach Paris at the wedding. That definitely made the quick trip back completely worth it. And to top it off, I got to stay with Katie and Drew and eat at the White House and Webers!

Photo album (Photos courtesy of Joe Mure)