Living On The Edge (Propagation Frustration)

There is the joke(?) in ham radio that a vertical antenna “radiates equally poorly in all directions.” As gain is usually had by focusing directionality, the omnidirectional antenna can seem poor in comparison. That, and many do not care to do the actual work of installing a proper ground system for a vertical antenna. It’s not just a rod driven into the ground. I know how much work is, for I have done it.

That supposed joke comes to mind when looking at TV coverage maps for $HOOTERVILLE. We’re served equally poorly by all networks/broadcasters. There is a CBS affiliate transmitter relatively close, which the web services claim shuold be easily recieved – except there’s a ridge and we’re right smack in its shadow. There are various translator transmitter towers scattered around the area. Around, not in or near. The result is that one has cable, satellite, an elevated outdoor antenna – ideally with rotator, or pretty much nothing.

That nothing option doesn’t really bother me much. I gave up on cable in 2009 or earlier. I saw the “local” (ha!) CBS affiliate sign off analog for digital – and digital is all or nothing. As we didn’t get it all, what we got was nothing. No real loss.[1] But recently I saw a deal for an amplified indoor antenna and at under $15 bucks, I got curious. And perhaps a bit too hopeful.

I have an alleged “smart” TV [2] of the Vizio brand. The bad thing is that there is no signal strength meter or such indication to be found. The good thing is that my cost was effectively nil, having been most fortunate in a company party drawing.

As there is no signal strength meter, I need to set the TV to scan, turn the antenna, and repeat to get anywhere. And I have gotten somewhere – sort of. The scans do usually, though not always, find something. That something differs with antenna orientation and seems to be short-lived no matter what the orientation is and what the channels are. Upon investigating the supposedly acquired channels, I find that they are from the translators (no surprise) and I am just at the very edge of coverage at best. Aside from the one station blocked by a ridge, the rest are at best “weak” and more likely “edge” with several after listed as “tropo.” If you are not familiar, that means that unusual propagation conditions are needed to get those. It’s not unheard of, certainly, but nothing one should depend upon. I was surprised to even see it listed.

The results, while disappointing, are hardly unexpected. We seem to be on a hill (well above the nearby lake) but despite that appearance, are actually in something of a hole.

The Vizio set is on the ground level. No, not the basement. It’s too big for any place upstairs, but there are a couple older analog sets[3] up there, and a digital-to-analog converter box (remember those?) that… can’t find bupkis. Nor will it permit a channel to be manually added. There is a channel edit feature, but it evidently is solely to remove channels that a scan has found. The “delightful” thing is that this converter is obviously made to gov’t or at the very least marketing department spec. It doesn’t say something truthful like “NO SIGNAL” but the hopeful and quite wrong “WEAK SIGNAL” as if it found something, even if not much, to work with.

Now, I am fairly sure that since the little wall-mountable antenna managed to pick up something downstairs, that a proper gain antenna on the roof or in the attic would result in more reliable reception. But while I was willing to risk $15 on a probability, I am not about to spend $80 to $150 on this – and that’s before the mounting hardware and probably feedline. I can do without the TV networks, after all. Done it for years.

 

[1] From a Capitol Steps tune: CBS, what a mess! When you watch them, you just See… BS! And that tune was from before Ra^th^ergate!

[2] As far as I can tell, this means if one is not vigilant the damn thing can be a spy. Alright, it does do digital app stuff and I could go Hulu or Netflix or such. So far I’ve only used the free Youtube stuff. So I have this fancy wide screen digital hi-def stereo set and the first show I watched on it was a 1950’s Spike Jones New Year’s program in 4:3 aspect black & white mono. Once again, it just happens. I didn’t go out of my way to do that, it was simply first thing I saw with any appeal.

[3] Cathode ray tubes with phosphor dots.

*BURBLE*BURBLE* FUNCTION?

When we moved into this house, it lacked most appliances and so we bought various things. One was a refrigerator with an ice and water dispenser built in. This was a thing I’d seen, but never had at home, but the idea of always having cold water (tap water is merely cool, at least city-supply seem to be) and not having to fiddle with ice trays had appeal. And it was great – for many years. The only hitch was that a couple times if we left for a while during cold weather, the lower temperature of the house in Winter, combined with our absence and thus lack of water flow, and rather good appliance insulation resulted in the water line freezing. This could be dealt with by use of a hair dryer we discovered or were informed. And that was well enough – until a few months ago.

I’m not sure when it happened, but the water stopped. The ice did not – that’s a different line. And out came the hair dryer and a check of water line routing was done. Heat was applied supposedly all along where the line was most likely to have frozen. Nothing. Well, maybe it was the solenoid/valve setup. The switch did cause a satisfying *clunk* like it was working, but nothing happened. There is a point in the water line that has a coupler which allows the line to be checked well before the freezer. Nothing. Sure seemed like a valve issue. And we’d get to it… ‘eventually.’

‘Eventually’ went from days to weeks to months, as while a solenoid is an electric device and thus no big deal for myself or $HOUSEMATE, the thing is also a valve in a water line. That’s plumbing. Even admittedly simple plumbing. But I dislike dealing with plumbing so ‘eventually’ grew ever longer. I’d about had enough of dealing with tap water, never truly cold, and not filtered and had decided that before Summer ended (yeah, I know, it only just started) the problem would be Dealt With.

And not long after this decision had been taken and a mental flag set, I was in the kitchen and looking in the fridge, and in the freezer section (side-by-side setup) and found what I was after. I was just leaving the kitchen when there was an odd burbling sound, like water flowing but past air bubbles or such. That was abnormal. And suspicious. I tapped the control for the water dispenser… and got wet. Huh. Being unsure if there had been an ice plug that had finally melted or some other peculiarity, I figured the thing to do was to run a lot of water through things to clear the lines of whatever – and the water that might have been ‘at rest’ in the line for months. Did that. Filled a jug and poured it down the drain. And again. And again. And… it seems to still be working. Weird, but I’ll take it. No additional spending on parts and no fiddling doing plumbing work – or calling someone to replace a perfectly good valve and apply a heat gun for a fee.

For what it’s worth, the fridge is branded Amana. It amuses me as I recall the microwave oven commercials, “If it’s not an Amana, it’s not a radarange.” so I associate the brand with cooking or at least heating. If that wasn’t enough, the stove is a Fridgidaire. We didn’t select them to be jarring contrasts, that Just Happened. Surreal? That’s my “normal.”

The Beneficial Screwup

Ever hear that line “Screwed up in reverse”? I experienced it once upon a time. Before I worked for ACME I worked at a post office for a while. The work itself wasn’t bad and I didn’t really mind it, but the politics could get quite annoying.

There were two buildings. The post office itself, and a big garage structure. The garage was behind and sort of off to one side of the main post office building. Behind the main building was the parking lot. If you were on the loading dock you could see all the cars. At first I parked there with everyone else. So did other folks who weren’t full time – and probably in one of the unions. Someone decided that this was Not Acceptable and those of us were only part time were told to park behind the garage. Evidently they wanted to keep an eye on their vehicles or have others keep watch, but anyone else was left to park where their vehicles couldn’t be seen. Or heaven forbid they might have to walk an additional few feet.

The amusing part was the area behind the garage was evidently also considered the “good spaces” as this area was the assigned/reserved parking for the postmaster and supervisors. Also, there was an electrical conduit on the outside of the back wall of the garage, providing power to outlets, and these went all along the back wall, not just to the assigned muckety-muck spaces.

That Winter it was cold. Very cold. There were two solid weeks of lows near -40 and no highs above 0 F. The vehicle I was driving had a block heater. And I had just been sentenced to park in the one place where I could plug it in. I took full advantage of that. Unlike some, I never had trouble starting the vehicle in the morning. Whoever all decided to shove everyone not full time into the bad unseen spaces did me a big favor. He screwed up in reverse.

Letter from a Minotaur: “Only Human”

[This was originally posted on AccordingToHoyt. I’ve done a light retouch as I had not truly polished some errors away. This was inspired by a comment on an earlier ATH post. Credit for inspiration goes to “madrocketsci” and blame for the remaining errors to the slow ox.]

“I’m only human.” “You’re only human.” “(S)He’s only human.”

It sounds like an excuse for being of limited capability, “only” human. Alright, humans are not Gods. Not to themselves, anyway. They warn themselves not to “play God” and point to horrors of their history when someone has tried to do that very thing. A most sound warning. Mr. Marx might not have realized it, but he eventually killed millions in his perhaps unknowing attempt. Mr. Hitler made an attempt and contributed to the horrific cost. Mr. Stalin as well. And Mr. Mao. And… well, it’s a long, horrific list. The “Zombie Apocalypse” might be less deadly should it happen – at least Humanity will know it has an Enemy and be willing to fight it from near the beginning. Yes, humans “playing God” tends to end in disaster.

And yet… it’s humans that called my kind into existence. Yes. Sure that one story is about a sacrificial gift not sacrificed, but used in a most unusual (and genetically impossible) breeding procedure. But the result, horrific as Asterion and his story was and is (yes, “The Minotaur” had a name: Asterion) it did inspire the idea of the general form and give it – us! – a name.

Humanity has similarly created centaurs, unicorns, mer-folk, fauns, satyrs, dragons (the dragons will deny this…), and a good (or bad) many others. And when that wasn’t enough, why, they came up with Personifications. The process of dying and the state of death was a thing that was somehow more easily understood by inventing the character of Death (it was not “JUST TERRY PRATCHETT” though he [He?] did very well with the characterization). Yule? Solstice? Christmas? The Great Spirit of Giving is created in Santa Claus (and if once-common lumps of coal do not send the message of “you get a common, near worthless gift, you Problem Child” with sufficient force, there is Krampus – the anti-Claus as he were.)

“Only human.” Only. You have created… us. Your myths are our existence. In that way, humanity, you ARE our Gods – you have made us. Yes, we are imperfect – in the same ways you are. Only the traits are… amplified. The centaurs party and party hard. There is, as far as I know, no centaur version of William Tell. It is simply understood that of course the centaur’s arrow hits the apple and not the noggin – even if the centaur downed a barrel of wine. Us minotaurs.. well, let’s just say you do NOT wish to be the “Guest of Honor” at a minotaur event (I suggest you nominate a sheep – one that will NOT be missed – for that role. Mint jelly optional, but highly recommended). The unicorns are more faultless than Angels… or are at least as evil if not moreso than Demons, depending upon the tale and the teller.

Ponder that power. Humanity.. creates. Yes, rocketships to the Moon and wafers of silicon where they’ve taught the sand mathematics and lightning politely gives error messages instead of smitings. But also… entire species. Entire Universes! Mirrors. Oh, Mt. Wilson and Palomar and those that came after are impressive, sure. But virtual mirrors of humanity itself. Not mere mirrors, but amplifying mirrors. One trait or another, good or bad, is dialed up to 11. Or 12. It’s not that we are human – we are not. Nor are we “better” than humans. Humans might claim such, but we didn’t summon ourselves into existence. That’s a Brilliant Human Trick. We did not do that. We are… stories.

Humanity, please keep telling the stories. And if you do not like them, then tell better ones. My kind…our kind… depends on you. If you forget us, we cease to be. We are NOT Gods. You… you… just might be. Don’t play at it. Take it very seriously indeed. We’re depending on you. And so are you. Embrace it, but with great caution. What you create or summon can be Good or Evil.. dialed up. Choose wisely.

Dealing with “protesters” who are not, but are just troublemakers.

After the verdict in the Twin Cities, some assholes blocked I-94. The right answer: KEEP IT IN GEAR AND KEEP GOING. Why? Reginald Denny, that’s bloody why. That, and the sad lack of a forward-aimed flamethrower.

“Rats don’t moo.”

Last weekend $HOUSEMATE and myself attended the Siouxland Renaissance Festival yet again. We haven’t missed one yet. I was sort of mixed up in it from the start or before. When someone posted, “We’re thinking about starting a faire in the Sioux Falls area…” on a now defunct web board I replied and wound up chatting in-person with those who became the founders. The first actual lets-get-this-done meeting resulted in more organization in a few minutes than many places manage in ages. Yeah, though I am not a genuine participant (I do not get in such a pass, though I perhaps could due to one bit I help with) it is my ‘home’ faire. Yeah, it’s out of state and a good drive away, but… there is a feeling of “We’re having a party, come on.” that the Big Name faire in the state of residence lacks. That one? It’s like paying an expensive ticket fee to walk around a mall.

Saturday

In years past I had hung out at the Mythical Garden when it was going on – a sort of sub-event that doesn’t fit the renaissance theme as such, but it’s something and it’s there and allows an even bigger break from alleged reality. The first few years it was around, I just hung out and provided some small support. A few years ago they were missing a character and I offered to step in and wound up as one of the Mythicals (anyone NOT see that coming?) for the next few years. This year the fellow running things found a full complement without me. I had said that I give an open offer for this, but I will not stand in anyone’s way if they would rather. And really, the younger (and thinner, more fit…) likely have an easier time of things. So I was asked if I could be do the crier bit to draw folks in. Someone more forward and more vocal did that, but I did hang around and provide support (handler/tender/lookout). There was a fellow already there for that, but he’s, shall we say, easily distracted. And I know from direct experience what it’s like to do that stuff. Overall, it went quite well. The heat was… potent. One fellow did feel the start of heat stroke coming on and bailed out to the ‘green’ tent – and, after a medical check, said he would do what he could about things but if he couldn’t manage it the next day, well, I might end up in his spot.

After that, and even though I was not performing, I made a point of getting hydration and electrolytes. And then some food. And only after that did I check out the beer and mead. One beer was of interest and it was alright. The gal serving the mead warned that the new one was too easy to drink and rather dangerous. She was not kidding. It was gone before I noticed. Decided not to repeat that one.

Chatting with some of the vendors was quite interesting. There are durable goods from last year (or earlier still) still in service. I probably added at least one sale not mine to a worker in ceramics. And a soap maker who knows me (and $HOUSEMATE) made a point of doubling up on the one scent we agree on in a positive way. Paid off for them, as I bought half of that supply.

Another vendor noticed that the display of walking sticks she had, from another party, was short one and there had not a been a sale of such. She was observant… or the taker was.. uh.. something, for he didn’t leave the area nor even bother to remove the price tag from the stick and was discovered fairly quickly. The walking stick was recovered. A lecture of sorts was given (and, I overheard some, given in more detail again later). I wound up taking a few photos, and showed one to the folks at the gate later. If he took one thing, he might have tried taking another.

And then, almost done for the day, I watched a bit of an act. In one part, one of the two performers pretended to fear the upcoming bit and did some “I’m audience, not performer” shtick and the bit called for her to claim she was not a cow. Now, if that wasn’t a cue to moo, what was? So I did. It seemed to take folks by surprise, but they went with it and did well. I later asked if that had been a problem and was assured that it was not, but was also thanked for asking about that.

After the faire, friends and family had a good meal at an Indian restaurant, and a rather potent nightcap back at the motel. Other than the cane incident the only issue was I hadn’t had any caffeine since breakfast. I wound up making coffee in the middle of the night to try to avoid a withdrawal headache.

Sunday

I first stowed a few things in the Mythical’s ‘green’ tent, figuring I’d do the same thing I had on Saturday since the fellow who had had the heat issues assured me he was up to it again. But as time went by, someone else kept not appearing. I had a suspicion I might wind up more involved.

The performers whose act I’d mooed for/at were out and about and I talked with them a bit, asking if I should or should not repeat that. The answer wasn’t a solid yes, but not a solid no either. More on the order of, “We won’t hate you for it.”

Running into one of the folks running some of the festival, I showed the photo of ‘Stickie’ and was told I had to show that to $SOMEONE and could I wait a bit while the party was summoned? I could. And then showed a photo and explained things.. and wound up forwarding the image. I doubt ‘Stickie’ showed up again, but they knew who to watch for. “We appreciate your looking out for the faire.” Well, he was screwing up my faire. Doesn’t make me feel very charitable toward that party, no sir.

And back at the Mythical Garden they had just gotten word that the fellow they were waiting for couldn’t make it. So it was time for a quick costume change so I could step in – again. And yes, the handler was too easily distracted or caught up in his own world (make of that what you will) and had to be reminded a couple times to tend to the characters. Overall, however, it went well. As the fellow I replaced was obviously younger, when asked about his whereabouts I could give a simple let-them-fill-the-blanks-themselves reply that it seems he found a lady friend and… well, easily distracted youth. This worked out rather well: an absence explained without need of detail.

After that, more hydration and electrolytes (they sent the medical type to check on me this time. Evidently I looked worse than I felt) it was time for a proper meal. And then caffeine. And, after a while, mead not of the insta-gone variety though all of what I eventually tried over time seemed to be easy-drinking. More wandering until it was decided it was time to go, with a couple purchases on the way out. And I saw the act that got the moo was starting, so watched that.

And this time the moo seemed to be contagious as perhaps a fifth of the audience joined in! The performers then exchanged a few cattle puns before continuing. I found out later that when I was not there, one of them at least said ‘moo’ at that particular point. That had not happened, I am told, the day before. At the end of the act, after the tips were collected or mostly so, one rambunctious kid got a quiet little lecture about when the performers say to not run around (this was NOT just quietly leaving, but jumping up close when stuff was flying about) that jumping up close is a Bad Idea as it can cause all sorts of trouble. That over, a girl asked about the rats (part of a different act). “They’ll be here soon, but we are not the rat people.” I chipped in, “Rats don’t moo.” and got a laugh, a reply of, “Right! Rats don’t moo!” and a high-five.

And then was a trip home, that I do not recall as since I was not driving, I slept much of the way. It was quite a good weekend. I spent very little time online at the motel, and didn’t read anything on the Kindle app on the phone, as I expected I would do a bit before sleeping. It was quite a contrast to the last gathering I attended where the ebook of the time was generally more interesting than the event itself.

The Liberty Zone on “Automatic Respect”

This is one of those “I wish I had said it so well” things:

https://thelibertyzone.us/2017/05/31/automatic-respect/

Summary: Respect is always earned.