Rotten Hotel WiFi......

I gave up on the "free" hotel WiFi. Even though Windoze declared the signal level as "Very Good", the connection was always dropping, stalling, and sometimes I couldn't even get past the log-in screen.

I dug out my Virgin Mobile 3G/4G "Mobile HotSpot", called them up to reactivate it, and now I have 10MBPS speeds, with a SOLID 4G connection.

Dyno Day was really interesting. A guy set a "new record" for normally aspirated (NON turbo) cars of 299 rear wheel horsepower, and I watched several people easily crack the 800 horsepower level.

It took two or three people sitting on the rear of the car to get the required traction at that level!

I didn't hear who the Top Gun was for this session, but I'll find out about it at dinner tonight.

It was expected to exceed 1000 horsepower.......

Supras in Vegas 2015!

Just got back from the first "Field Trip" scheduled for the event, where after we all registered, we went to Hoover Dam, and took over the entire top floor of the parking structure.

There's some SERIOUS horsepower on display here, with several of the cars capable of running low 11 second to low 10 second ET's in the quarter mile.

Some of these guys are running TWO intercooled turbochargers, each one big enough to scare a Caterpillar mechanic.......

And there's also people who have completely stock cars that are worthy of being in a museum.

And I've met several people in person that I've chatted with over the last couple of years on the celicasupra forum.

Don't think I'll upload any pix, as the WiFi at the hotel is pretty slow, but at least it's free.

Thursday is "Dyno Day", and it will be interesting to see if these guys really do make the "800 rear wheel horsepower" that they claim. From my experience, it's pretty hard to transfer that much power through the tires into the dynomometer rollers......

American Mercenary is Pulling The Plug

No reason given, just a short, cryptic message.

Stop over and wish him well.

I just finished packing the Jeep, and I'm on my way.....

Tuesday Already?

Time sure flies when you don't know what you're doin'!

Have to put my 2016 registration stickers on the Jeep, then head to the car wash, check my mail, and do a load of laundry in preparation for leaving Wednesday morning for Supras in Vegas!

I'm looking forward to meeting up with a bunch of my on-line friends from the celicasupra,com forum where I hang out.

Even though I didn't get Ms. Swan ready for the trip (I just have to learn how to organize my time better!), I've volunteered the Jeep to act as a support vehicle.

I'll get her there next year after I clean up the garage (again....) and get her inside to swap out all the worn-out parts for the huge stack of new stuff I have for her.

I'll be rebuilding the front and read suspensions with poly-graphite bushings, new KYB Gas-A-Just shocks and strut inserts, new springs that will drop the front a little over 1", and the rear about 3/4", and some new wheels and tires for her.

And I'll finally get the new carpet installed, the new stereo installed, and my short-throw shifter installed.

The stock Supra wheels for the Mark-II are 14x7, with a 225/60-14 tire, and you just can't get proper performance tires in that size anymore. The new rims are 16x8, and I'll be running something like a 265/40-16 tire. The rolling radius of the tires is the same as the OEM tires, so it won't change the overall gearing, or throw off the speedometer.

It sounds like a huge change, but with the correct offset rims, they fit right in there just fine, with plenty of clearance even considering the car will be lowered a bit.

So, go read the good folks in the sidebar, and I'm off running errands for the rest of the day!

Chris Mintz - HERO -

This gentleman stepped up to the plate, and put his life on the line to try and stop the madman in Oregon.

For this, he was shot SEVEN times.

Please kick in a few bucks if you can.

School Shooting

Yes, I heard about it.

And again, the ONLY thing that will stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun.

The school has a strict no guns policy; even the "security" people are only allowed to carry Mace.

Busy Day on the Iowa.....

Spent yesterday on the Iowa helping the Grey Radio Gang in getting some of the original receivers and a transmitter running for a crew tour of the radio spaces next week.

I won't be there as I'll be attending the 5th annual "Supras in Vegas" car show, so I wanted to make sure things were good-to-go.

Didn't work......

We started having receive antenna problems right away (the ships uses separate antennas for receive and transmit), so we never got around to getting the "Aft Twin Whip" transmit antenna connected using the adapter I made up.

The picture was taken before we connected the feed lines to the antennas from the box mounted between them. In the picture below you can see the feeds coiled up on the box:

The box contains a Jennings vacuum variable capacitor, and a length of copper strap used to "tune" the reactance of the antenna to a know value so the antenna couplers located in the transmitter room can work with it.

These antennas, made by a Canadian company, are rated for 10kW continuous duty, so they'll just be loafing along with 1200 Watts. The large feedline coming out of the right hand side of the box is 3-1/8" Andrew Heliax which runs down to the transmitter room. The cable terminates in a flange type connector (I forget the Andrew designation...), and I had to fabricate an adapter to a Type-N connector so we could use a jumper to the output of the coupler.

Back to the receivers....

At first we thought we had dead receivers, then we thought the couplers were bad, then it looked intermittent, then everything started working again. I was busy doing some mechanical "fine tuning" on the adapter (no hammers, just a file and a caliper!), so I wasn't helping with the receivers.

Anyway......the receivers appear to be operating normally, and the GRG will connect the transmitter to a dummy load, and talk to the Ham Radio station we already have aboard.

Not the best, but at least it will show the tour group that we can get audio from the Red Phones, through the Coke machine, down to transmitter room, and on the reverse path, audio from the receivers, back through the Coke Machine, and on to the same Red Phone for the demonstration.

Two Old Men.......

Bill gives homage to the two remaining Dolittle's Raiders.

These men, and their comrades, fit the definition of brave.

God Bless them and keep them........

Coming Soon To A Neighborhood Near You....The Muslim Invasion!

Say what you will about Pat Condell, he pulls no punches, and tells it like he sees it.

And on this topic, he has very clear vision.

Listen carefully, folks. This is already happening here, albeit at a slower rate.

For now.......

Navajo Nation Pissed Off At 0bama

Along with about 60% of the rest of the US.

Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye again called on Obama and administration officials to declare the San Juan River a disaster zone.
In August, an EPA accident resulted in 3 million gallons of contaminated water flowing into the Animas River, which runs into the San Juan River. One-third of the Navajo Nation’s people rely on the Animus for water.
EPA officials have insisted the toxins have been diluted. But Begaye said he “doesn’t buy it.” He argues toxins are seeping into ranchers’ soil and threatening livestock and crops.
“There’s no way we can guarantee that the drinking water is safe,” he said.
“We are asking the Democratic Party to have President Obama declare the river a disaster area — and we haven’t gotten anything. Nothing,” he said. “The Democrats? I don’t know what happened. We basically are Democrats. We always vote Democrat. But it seems like they’ve just walked away. And we’re not hearing anything that’s of value to us from the Democrats.”

Complete story here. 

And make sure you continue past the story and read the comments.

Some true comedy gold, and some very sad truths, are there.

Hmmmm....could this be the first known instance of "Black man speaks with forked tongue"?

Tip of the hat to our friends at DaybyDay cartoons.

Duh.....Forgot What I Was Going To Post

Must be an after effect of stopping the Chantix......

Anyway....got a couple of posts I'm working on, including one on "Basic Soldering" that I'm doing for the Celica Supra guys.

Some of the WORST soldering I've ever seen has been on automotive stuff, so I'm rewriting a primer I've used in the past to help teach the guys over there what I know.

If I was a big-time prepper, I suppose I could call it "SHTF Soldering" or something clever......

Be back after I spray the weeds in the back yard........