Blackberry REACT February 2009 NewsletterQuick ClicksI spoke to my insurance company about volunteer liabilityThis is not advice on your insurance coverage, as it is different from Louise's and mine. You should call your insurance agent for information specific for your coverage. My company's definition concerning volunteer work is that I am doing non-compensated work for a non-profit entity. I do not receive monetary or valuable consideration for my activity. A hat or a lunch is not considered compensation by my insurance company. My volunteer work for the non-profit can not be related to my employment. My insurance company says I would be covered first by my homeowners if I'm sued, then by my umbrella policy. Check with your agent - it may be that you are covered for your volunteer work if some knucklehead sues you at an event. Cellphones could be useless in a terror attackAccording to this article "handlers" of the terrorists in Mumbai were in constant contact with the terrorists by cell phone, watching events on TV and reporting to the killers, and telling them where to go, where the police were, and so on. Wired Magazine reports here that the New York Police Department wants the ability to "shut down cell phones, in case of a terrorist attack." There is no information on how this would be done, so I have no idea how widespread the outage would be. It would mean that people who know where the terrorists are would not be able to call in and report it, people with injuries would have no way to call for help if landlines were inaccessible, and so on. Amateur radios, of course, would continue to work. ICS forms are onlineForms include Incident Briefing, Assignment Plan, Incident Radio Communications Plan, Check-In List, General Message Form, Radio Frequency Assignment Worksheet, Demobilization Checkout, and many more. More information and documentation is at the Resource Center. Whole Earth Catalogs now onlineThese date from 1968 to some time in the Seventies, I think, and I used to read them from cover to cover. Stewart Brand is one of the best writers ever, and his reviews of software, tools, kerosene lanterns, and the whole world fascinated me. I even bought stuff based on his recommendations. World's most dangerous roadsNote that this is part 6. Scroll down and gaze at the photos of some of the worst roads (and one sidewalk) you'll ever see. Follow the link at the bottom for more of the same. Smart phones aren't dumbAnastasia has a smart phone with an application that scans bar codes and compares prices among stores and online. She was in Best Buy and found some DVDs she wanted. Using the scanner, she found that although the in-store price was $45 per DVD, they were available at Best Buy's Web store for $22. Using her phone's browser, she ordered the DVDs online, choosing in-store pick up. Is that brilliant or what? It took ten minutes to get the email saying her order was ready, but she saved twenty bucks each for two DVDs while waiting. (Louise and I did this in a Radio Shack, comparing prices there and on Amazon; was it worth $20 to wait for delivery?) Climbing Sutro TowerSutro Tower holds many radio and television antennas, and someone got to climb it and take pictures. The photos show the views, of course, but also the 'inside' of the structure with its walkways and yards and yards of hardline. Lots of incredible photos showing the cabling and antennas from close up. I have no idea what arrangements are made to have the antennas shut down to protect the workers, but RF safety is definitely a consideration. There's a map showing all the antennas and the broadcasters who own them, photos of the control room, back up generators, underground access tunnels (you have to get those transmission cables there somehow), huge power connectors and manual switches. Fascinating stuff. It turns out there's an elevator in one of the legs, so you don't have to climb a thousand foot ladder to get up there. Flickr has a group for everything, so there's a group devoted to Sutro Tower photos. Case Mods
Not all computer cases are steam punk. Here are a 50s tailfin design and a World War Two-ish modification with attached telephone handset. I've got visions of this one with my Kenwood TS-480 in it. Make your own Wi-Fi boosterUsing parts from around the home or from Ikea. Flagger hit by motorcycleIt's a small "pocket bike" ridden by a kid, and no one was hurt. Watch the video and two lessons seem to jump out at me if we're directing traffic at an event or are otherwise on or near a roadway. First, don't stand on a curve where the straightaway enters the curve. The kid didn't make the turn. He hit the flagger. Second, watch in all directions. The flagger was flagging on a nearby stretch of the race course, but he was in the direct line of fire of that straightaway. He got hit from behind and never saw it coming. If you're between two driveways, (a) move to a safer location or (b) keep your eye on traffic in both directions. Third (of two lessons), this flagging position was wrong, wrong, wrong. They should have had two people there since you can't watch both directions at once. Red Cross Personal First Aid KitGenerally I prefer to make up my own kit, but there are times when a store bought kit gets the job done. This one is $15 from the Red Cross, and its got a poncho, blanket, whistle, wipes, and more, all in a plastic bottle the size of a big can of spaghetti you get at Costco. Keep one in your desk drawer at work for part of your bail out kit, keep one in the trunk. It's well into winterAlthough it hasn't felt like it the last few weeks, we are well into winter, and you should have made adjustments to your bail out bags, go kits, and such - warmer layers, waterproof clothes, better shoes that will keep your feet dry and warm if you're standing out in the rain for a few hours. Be sure you can be seen at night. Speaking of bail out bags ...Do you have a bail out bag for your plane trips? Keyboard made with Scrabble tilesVery attractive wooden keyboard with brushed aluminum accents. Accounts from passengers on the flight to the HudsonA harsh lesson: many passengers prayed, but one guy read the instruction card in the seat pocket. He was the only one who knew how to open the door. Second lesson: if you don't have time to put on your life vest, take your seat cushion with you if you ditch in the water. People had to get in the water to get from the plane to the ferries for rescue, and seat cushions were a big help even for the few feet they had to swim. Here are a few surveillance camera clips of the landing from a few different angles. A man ahead of his timeI used to read Modern Mechanix back in the Fifties (I think they used to have Mimi as a model to pose with various products they were reviewing), and here's flash from the past. This guy has built an AM radio that sits on top of the headband of his headphones, with one tube and an antenna, so he can listen to the radio as he does yard work. (Remember when dads did yardwork?) Weapons of Mass DestructionArtful photographs of nuclear bomb, missiles, and planes, this is of more interest to me because of the three photos of a Minuteman II Launch Control Center (referred to in the photos as a "bunker"). I spent four years in Minot, ND, staffing Minuteman I and Minuteman III launch control centers, and although I see some differences in the Minuteman II LCC, the similarities far outweigh the differences. The three photos do not show the launch panels, for some reason. There's nothing secret about them, so there's no reason for them not to show other than inadvertence. Uranium ore on AmazonScroll way down and read the comments. Spot lightWe are coming into our so-called rainy season, and members may be called out for flood watch. How are you going to see if the tide or creek is rising at night? Handheld spotlights are sold to hunters and fishermen, so check your favorite search engine for them. They run from easily portable 75W units to million candle power monsters that may have fallen off that jet plane. Clock from Romeo y Julietta Cigar Box
It uses meters instead of a clock face. More reasons not to give your contact information outCanada has a "do not call" database that people can sign up for to prevent telemarketers from calling. According to this article, "unscrupulous scammers" (as opposed to scrupulous scammers, I suppose) are buying the list and selling it as verified live phone numbers for telemarketers to call. Safety ClothingSince we talked about high visibility clothing this month, take a look at these outfits. _Very_ funny news story on news via computerA 1981 KRON news report on home news by computer. See if you recognize anyone as Richard Halloran dials his phone (yes, dial - no touchtone keys), then places the handset into his acoustic coupler on the modem before sitting down in front of his Radio Shack computer. (I think it's a TRS-80.) There were an estimated two to three thousand home computer users in the Bay Area, and it took over two hours to get the full text at $5 per hour for the dial up connection. Events
UpdatesBill Dale, ARRL Section Manager for the Santa Clara Valley was at our meeting on the 4th and invited us to join his net on Thursday evenings at 7:30 PM on the K6BEN repeater, 441.275+123.0 Bill sends out a monthly newsletter about local happenings which I've subscribed to for some time. You can join the Santa Clara Valley email list at arrl_scv_section-subscribe at yahoogroups.com or on the Web at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arrl_scv_section/ Programs
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