Smart Electricity Meters: Insanity in Ouray!

Posted on October 21, 2011 by

Power to the People

Recently our little electric utility, San Miguel Power Association, said they were moving into the 21st century by installing smart meters. The idea is that these can transmit the meter reading to the utility’s billing system over the power lines. SMPA can save money it now spends hiring meter readers. Sounds simple and effective, right? It is!

Argh! Not so fast! The FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) started flying immediately. People came out of the woodwork to claim that these meters are dangerous to the point of making people sick. The RF (radio frequency) energy they spout will kill us all! (Well, that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but it makes just as much sense as the “make people sick” claim.) Continue reading →

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C’mon Amazon, ship the way you say you will!

Posted on October 21, 2011 by

Amazon, like any large shipper, is always looking for the least expensive way to get packages from Point A (their warehouse) to Point B (my home). We live way, way in the boonies, so we like to get our stuff at the local Post Office. No problem, Amazon allows that, right? Well… I paid for shipping via the Postal Service. But take a look at the screen shot Continue reading →

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Owl Creek Fall Color Slideshow- Ouray CR 8 and Double Tracks

Posted on October 14, 2011 by


Even though past peak, there are plenty still around. Plus, the scrub oak is turning color too! The photos I took today for this slideshow were taken along Ouray County, Colorado, CR 8 up to Vista Point, then along a few doubletrack (ATV) trails that start there, coming out eventually at Stealey Mountain Trailhead. From there I went on up to Owl Creek Pass, then headed back down toward Ridgway. Note that we’ve already had snow in the mountains, and some of it is left along the trail. This can make for really squirrely riding! I came across another motorcycle rider that I’d met up at Peach Valley—small world! Click on “continue reading” to see the GPS map. Continue reading →

Posted in Fall Color, Motorcycling, Ouray County, Video | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Ham Radio Video Instructional Material On Line

Posted on October 14, 2011 by

I’m looking for easy ways to help people get their ham radio licenses. To that end I’ve been combing YouTube and have found a number of sources. There are two ways to study: just study the questions and their answers, or study the theory and then study the questions and their answers. Personally I prefer the latter because simply passing the exam doesn’t really teach you how to get on the air.

However, I’ve discovered a great resource along the lines of studying the questions at The Ham Whisperer at http://www.hamwhisperer.com/p/ham-courses.html. He’s articulate and he provides some additional explanatory material as he answers the questions. He offers a total of 35 short video lessons. By short I mean 10 minutes or less each. You could take one of these a day, and with some review pass your Technician exam.

I’ve been looking for videos that go through the instructional material in the ARRL Ham Radio License Manual. I found some but am not impressed. If you know of any, shoot me a comment using the form at the bottom of this page.

So: a bit of philosophy. Studying the questions will get you your ham license. Studying the other material in the book will help you become a ham, not just someone with a piece of paper in your filing cabinet.

If I can’t find material I like, I’ll make my own videos and put them here on the site for you to use. Stay tuned!

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Fall Color along Last Dollar Road, Dave Wood Road, Rim Trail

Posted on October 7, 2011 by


Last Dollar Road has great fall color every year! I went through this delightful San Miguel County, Colorado, road on 30 Sept 2011, a few days before peak–good thing I did because the weather turned bad. The slideshow also includes fall color photos from Dave Wood Road and the Rim Trail doubletrack trail up on Uncompahgre Plateau, both in Montrose County, Colorado. Fall’s my favorite time of year. See why!

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Red Mountain Pass Fall Color

Posted on October 7, 2011 by


Fall color galore! The area from Red Mountain Pass up to Ironton Park, along US Hwy 550 in Ouray County, Colorado, offers some of the best fall color in the Rocky Mountain west. Enjoy this slide show, taken right at the peak of the color, on September 28, 2011. It doesn’t get any better than this! (And, I was on the motorcycle. Some of these views you don’t get from a car.)

Posted in Fall Color, Ouray County | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Red Mountain Pass, Last Dollar, Uncompahgre Plateau Fall Color Update

Posted on September 30, 2011 by

Wednesday and Thursday of this week, I was up in the Ironton Park area, about 7 miles south of Ouray, where the color was at its peak and quite spectacular. Also, some great photos continuing south up to Red Mountain Pass. There’s not much color of any kind on the southern side of Red Mountain Pass.

Today I checked out Last Dollar Road. The color is yet a few days away from peak. This is normal—the Lizard Head Pass side is usually several days to a week behind Red Mountain Pass area. I would note that Last Dollar Road, normally pretty tame, is rutted and there are rocky places I sure wouldn’t take our Prius!

I also went up Dave Wood Road from CO Hwy 62 to Divide Road. The color is a bit past its peak. I took Divide Road onto Uncompahgre Plateau, taking a couple trails along the way, returning via Montrose CR 90. The color atop the southern end of Uncompahgre Plateau is a mix—a fair amount is just past its peak, some is at peak, and there are still some green leaves that will be turning very shortly.

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Troubleshooting whether phone problems are yours or belong to your telco

Posted on September 27, 2011 by

This is a post written in response to a question from a friend about whether the hum on her line was her problem or the phone company’s problem. I’m providing lots of pictures for a step-by-step way of testing. Please note that nothing here will violate the telco’s lines or property—they would tell you the same thing I’m telling you here, except I’m actually showing you how. You will need a Phillips screwdriver and a plain old-fashioned corded telephone (one that only plugs into the phone line and doesn’t need electricity from a separate wall-wart). Continue reading →

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Ham Radio: How Much Does It Cost to Get On HF?

Posted on September 24, 2011 by

UPDATE! UPDATE! UPDATE! See this video for more updated information.

In an earlier post I discuss costs associated with becoming a Technician Class ham radio operator and getting the proper equipment to get on the air. This post describes the costs to upgrade to General (or Extra) Class and get on the air on HF. As with the Technician Class equipment, you can spend as much as you want to, so I’ll focus on what I would consider to be a minimum satisfactory station, meaning one you can have lots of fun with and will serve as a foundation as you explore additional modes of operation. For our purposes, we’re looking at HF Single Sideband (SSB, meaning voice) operation.

Don’t be fooled into thinking that simply purchasing an HF radio will get you on the air. There are Continue reading →

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Wildflowers in San Miguel Canyon near Norwood, Colorado

Posted on September 9, 2011 by

Aster in San Miguel Canyon

Aster in San Miguel Canyon


Gateway, CO, was my destination on Saturday, September 3rd, 2011. My Labor Day weekend street bike ride took me west from Ridgway, along the San Miguel Canyon, up to Norwood, to Naturita, and thence to Gateway. A rest stop in the canyon, nearly to Norwood Hill, revealed many wildflowers—amazing, really, considering Continue reading →

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