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Hawkins

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Posts posted by Hawkins

  1. Posted

    I am doing the Geico Honda Adventure Rally and will be staying nearby in my RV at Stagecoach Trails Nov 1st through the 5th so this trip won't work for me. I was just out by the campsite while doing some training with West38Moto and that crazy little paved road that leads to the camp did not disappoint - super fun to ride.

    I'm toying with making my own GPX files. I rode from Borrego Springs (East of the campground) to Anza (North of the campground) and back. I've edited that a bit to identify which sections are paved vs dirt. I'd love to hear feedback.

    Download GPX file: Indian Flats Campground - East (Borrego Springs) and North (Anza) Approach.gpx

    356947016_2023-10-2710_22_48-gpx.studiotheonlineGPXfileeditorMozillaFirefox.thumb.png.ea54572f95c7184d5e99baae3c456e5e.png

     

  2. Posted

    On 6/6/2023 at 10:12 AM, Zubb said:

    +1 on @Hawkins crash bars.  I love the fact that he's out riding and the bars show it.  

    A ship in a harbor is safe but that is not what ships are built for."- John A. Shedd

    I've never shied away from pushing a bit harder than I can handle because that is where learning, growth, or injuries happen - that's a 2/3 chance of a good outcome!

    On 6/6/2023 at 10:12 AM, Zubb said:

    @hawkins can probably just run that little badge of honor forever it he so chooses.

    Still on there today, with many miles logged since the trail repair. I now carry my own stick of putty.

     

    • Like 2

  3. Posted

    Does anyone have a 50cc bike or quad that my kids can try out? Most rental places I've found offered adult machines located in the desert or the mountains. I need a kid-sized machine with some flat area for them to get the feel for things. Will or come to you, or meet somewhere that's open and easy to ride in. All the better if there is another young kid or kids there to boost their confidence.

    Open to all ideas and suggestions.

  7. Posted

    Is anyone in this thread a licensed ham radio user other than me?

    (wall of text below, if you want to skip to what I consider the interesting bit, scroll to jump in here)

    I have my technician license, the lowest level, and I am studying for my general license, which is the mid-level of the three. The highest level is called amateur extra and is pretty geeky, and I'll work on it after I get my general ticket! Getting my technician license took about 1 month of studying in between work and life, and really wasn't that hard. I used an audiobook and did chapter and section-based quizzes for free online. The certification is a 35-question test, from which you need 27 correct answers to pass (might be off +/- 1, doing this from memory). I am not the sharpest marble in the bag and I only missed 1 question so I can say with confidence that anyone can do this, and it is worth doing because the science is really quite cool. Also, the math is very, very minimal and basic, nothing other than simple addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division - and you can use a calculator on the test if you are scared of math. I'm happy to help anyone study.

    As for operating without a license: you must have a ham radio license to transmit using a ham radio operating within ham frequencies - unless there is an emergency. Will the FCC jump out from behind the next turn and fine you or arrest you? Almost certainly not. They have the legal right to suspend your license temporarily, fine you (and the fines can be massive), and even bar you from having a license - for life. Full disclosure, I spent lots of time operating in frequencies outside of my license, which is against the rules, but I figured nobody would care. I was incorrect. The ARRL is an organization dedicated to amateur radio (I am a member) and a member who volunteers their time making sure people follow the rules in my city saw what I was doing and sent me a letter warning me that continuing to do so would likely get me reported to the FCC. You need to understand that a very large percentage of the ham radio operators out there have both money and time to spare. Often your most experienced users are ex-military retirees. They like rules, they like order, and they are wicked smart. Every heard of a fox hunt? The various radio clubs around the country put them on and invite licensed operators to participate for cash, prizes, and most importantly, bragging rights. The goal is to use self-made antennas to track down where a single, specific signal transmission is coming from in the form of a hidden/disguised transmitter. The entire point of this exercise is so that users hone the skills needed to track down rogue users who are not licensed. And why would they do that? Hell someone of them just like doing it. Ever met a HOA member and thought, "why would someone want to just... be a jerk?". It's like that, but radio waves cover the planet, not your little cul-de-sac. My overarching point here is that the right thing to do is to operate within the law.

    Amateur radio is a really cool hobby, the people that work to be part of it (like myself) enjoy knowing more about the way radio works, and most importantly the self-governing of the ham community is one of the justifications used to get the government to keep our amateur radio space free of commercial users. If you want to better understand how much desire there is to take away our amateur space, realize that T-Mobile paid 3.5 Billion for more spectrum in the 600 MHz band. How many companies and government agencies use radio? A LOT - have a look. Try to squint and find the space reserved for amateur use. And that was from 2016! Having my technician license means I am allowed to transmit on UHV (ultra high frequency) and VHF (very high frequency) ham frequencies at up to 1,500 watts, as well as a very small slice of the HF (you guessed it, high frequency) frequencies at up to 200 watts.

    Here are the names of the various bands, if anyone is interested.

    radio-frequency-spectrum.jpg

    The way around this is to use CB (citizen band, which operates at approx 27 MHz in the HF range) or FRS (family radio service, uses 22 "channels" in the 462 MHz and 467 MHz range, all of which are shared with GMRS) radio which doesn't require any license or training or use something like GMRS (General Mobile Radio Service, which operates at approx 465 MHz aka UHF) which has a license fee good for (I think) $10 years but doesn't require training.

    (jump in here) The crux of the issue is that without a ham license and ham hardware, you are going to be very limited on power (watts) and even with high power, UHF/VHF are largely line-of-sight. So much so that repeaters are located on top of mountains in and around the San Diego area so that UHF/VHF users can talk to each other.

    repeater-graphic.jpg

    In the picture above, the two cars very likely cannot talk to each other directly via UHF/VHF because, well, there is a mountain in the way. The tower at the top is the repeater and ham radio users love hanging out on them to find someone to talk to. It's like a party chat phone line, for those that are old enough to remember them. Free too, for licensed ham users. Many repeaters are linked, meaning you can talk to one receiver and have your signal (greatly!) amplified and broadcast one mountain over - or on the other side of the world thanks to internet-linked repeaters.

    Come back to UHF/VHF, they are really just line of sight. For a 6' (~183 centimeter) tall person, the horizon is a little more than 3 miles (5 kilometers) away. Two 6' tall people holding radios at head level, with their antenna oriented in the same plane (yes, radio signals are polarized), with perfect atmospheric conditions, and zero obstructions between them, could theoretically talk to each other. Putting that antenna inside a helmet, or tucking it somewhere on a metal motorcycle, then adding electrical noise from the bike's power system, vibrating it all to hell, and then adding tons of BRAAAAP in the background, and well, it likely won't go 6 miles. :) And if it did you likely couldn't hear it well without paying for good gear, which often means sound-isolating headphones, which are a hazard on the trail.

    I could spend pages/days talking about how HF frequencies can travel beyond the line of sight. The extremely short version is that they bound off layers of the atmosphere and come back down to the surface. This single sentence requires something like 11 astricts because those layers change, different frequencies bounce differently, sometimes thermal ducting comes into play, launch angle matters, the weather on the sun is what dictates the "bounciness" and that changes by the minute, and so. much. more. It really is a cool hobby. When I click the button and transmit on my radio here at my desk, the signal travels fast enough to circle the globe 7.5 times - in a second. And thanks to my understanding of some of the astricts I mentioned, I have verified 2-way contact with every state including Alaska and Hawaii, well over 200 counties in the US, and every continent except South America - though I did get contact there once, however that person didn't officially log it. Jerk. :) And all that using 100 watts and an antenna bade of wire suspended from my 2nd-floor balcony to my pool railing.

    So what's the answer? There is no perfect solution. It is my understanding that the greatest power (watts), range (HF > UHF/VHF), skillset (moon bounce, talk through satellites, measure solar weather's impact on the ionosphere, help during a real emergency, etc.), and just cool factor is ham radio.

    So that's my pitch. Get licensed. It is a cool hobby.

    • Agree 1

  9. Posted · Edited by Hawkins

    Hey, that's a nice bike you have there. :)

    68067031089__A511D4AC-EC93-410A-80EC-EFAD32447B02.jpeg.8242a71f13c7d41860b2a53c38169f3a.jpeg

    IMG_1675.jpeg.e450fb2b3b2eca7865f56cf1a5192bdb.jpeg

    2021 Honda Africa Twin Adventure Sport ES DCT

    • OEM crash bar
    • OEM light bar
    • no name hand guards
    • Tusk rackless cargo system
    • OEM foot shifter
    • TrailTech Voyager Pro
    • RUBY Moto R5 lights
    • OEM tank bag
    • HEX ezCAN II
    • no name cell phone holder with wireless charging and quick disconnect
    • Doubletake mirrors
    • no name kickstand foot pad
    • OEM mount for hard top case
    • OEM hard top and side cases
    • DENALI SoundBomb horn (yet to be installed)
    • Denali B6 driving lights (yet to be installed)

    I'd be happy to ride with you. My wife @Angela and I did Palomar Mountain's Nate Harrison Grade up followed by the South Grade down late yesterday. It was chilly but we had a blast.

    IMG_1735.jpeg.2a960fb85767e29b1956c8059fa31155.jpeg

    • Like 5

  16. Posted

    @J5ive and I are in need of a little wind therapy, and @MitchpulscherADV is already on the maybe list.

    We're all off work on Friday and @Angela is going to helm the S.S. TooManyKids so that I can add some miles to the odometer. Actually I am trying to get a sitter so she can ride too! The starting point is my house in San Marcos, CA and the destination is Señor Grubby's in Carlsbad. The food there is *chef's kiss* and they have a good beer selection.

    The route is purposefully circuitous thanks to my attempt to make use of some of the nicer side roads that I've found in the area as well as ample time along the oceanfront. The route is open to input. What should we add/omit?

    Ride Time: approx 2.5 hours
    Ride Type: 100% paved road, backroads and good views, easy pace
    Skill / Equipment Level: Open to all road riders and all bike types
    Arrive: After 7:00 am, coffee will be ready
    Depart: kickstands up at 8:30 am
    Origin: 320 Crownview Court, San Marcos, CA 92069
    Destination: 377 Carlsbad Village Dr, Carlsbad, CA 92008
    Route: https://goo.gl/maps/Yrd82S3PZt9fYoqN9
    POI's: Double Peak Park, Olivenhain Dam, Elfin Forrest, Lake Hodges Dam, Torrey Pines State Beach, Highway 101, South Ponto Beach, Tamarack State Beach Jetty

    711912779_Screenshot2022-11-10100300.thumb.png.ad8fff05fdf10d542242477c251b593c.png

    We might run into gates blocking the way to the dam, but I am not sure as I've not been that way before. I will likely make a GPX file for myself once input is received from the community.

    • Like 3

  19. Posted · Edited by Hawkins
    typos

    Here's a long wall of text, for my own amusement really, and for the therapy of writing it out. Totally optional to read, no reply is needed.

    My wife and I got massages during lunch to help with the soreness following the bike rally. On the way to the massage, I learned via Seattle Police Department's Twitter feed that the school that my wife attended as a kid, where my 18-year-old graduated, and that is located 2 blocks from our previous Seattle home had a shooting where a 14-year-old shot and killed a high school senior. My 18-year-old found videos where kids were live-streaming while at school (groan) when the shooting took place and you can hear the gunshots. The shooter was arrested a few blocks away at a bus stop. Just 14 years old. Two lives were ruined. We don't know either kid or the affected families, but it was jarring. As a parent, I literally cannot fathom the grief and pain of losing a child, and to something so meaningless.

    Once at the massage clinic, we took off our watches and put our cell phones down for an hour to enjoy some self-care - and during that hour our 6-year-old had what we think was a seizure while at school. Tons of texts and calls to get to the school quickly greeted us right after the massages ended. We arrive at school a few mins later and talk to the paramedics, firefighters, and school employees. They sent a two-driver ladder truck and an ambulance, so we were quite the spectacle. Ruby was fine and was more nervous from all the new faces and attention. After getting the all-clear from the paramedics, I picked her up and went to check out the fire truck. :slightly_smiling_face: She got a firefighter sticker and hat and was all smiles by the time we left.

    We had missed lunch and now had both 6-year-olds with us and we still needed to complete our ballots. As a bit of a reward/nice thing for the kids, we went to Mcdonald's to eat and pass the time until Ruby's follow-up doctor's appointment. We sat at a table made for kids for an hour and researched each person and decision on our ballots. Hooray for voting! I took Ruby to her doctor's appointment which confirmed that she was in great health and a quick neurological test came back clear. We have a referral to a neurologist, which we might follow through with.

    Angela told me she'd like to go to a nice restaurant for dinner, so I picked a new place, and off we went. We sat on the edge of the Pacific Ocean under tropical-storm-level winds and rain (a very rare occurrence in SoCal, or so I am told) and had some of the best service, food, and drink that I've experienced in some time. We needed it.

    • Like 6

  25. Posted

    On 11/5/2022 at 6:30 PM, Mr.JAJA said:

    Didn't see anyone else in  there campground from the forum.

    Dang, sorry we missed you. I was there with my family in our RV, spot 139. tow rows down from us was @shutterrev, @moto_rph, and a lifelong friend of Nick's who flew in for the event. There were 2-3 other people staying with them, sorry if I am forgetting handles from the forum. Also had 2-3 people from the forum come up and say hello to me during the event. Considering it was my first GEICO Adv Ride event and thus I had no measuring stick, I think it was a great event. I had fun riding with my wife ( @Angela is now an official adventure biker! ) and my friends.

    • Like 2
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