High performance TV antenna from one piece of wire..

I built this little antenna today, one piece of wire 60" long bent in five places and I was blown away by how well it works, I nearly doubled the number of channels I was picking up and got a second PBS station. I live in a fairly far suburb and most of my stations are at least 25 miles away over fairly hilly terrain with lots of trees.

There is a small group of hobbyists on the net using genetic algorithm antenna design software to come up with new TV antenna designs and this is one of their inventions, it's more or less omnidirectional so it wouldn't be suitable if you live in the boonies but for someone in a less remote area it can pull in a signal remarkably well for something so simple.

Keep in mind that this antenna, like any, is sensitive to position and having things, particularly metal, nearby, it will generally work better outdoors and up high than inside and down low. The nice thing about putting this outdoors is that it's basically invisible from more than about fifteen feet away and would be really hard for even the nosiest HOA to spot and complain about.

http://sites.google.com/site/maycreates/ota-setup/my-stealth-hawk

Frank Zappa on the Monkees.. No shit..

I happened to have local TV on a small window on my computer when the Monkees came on and I saw this..

I had no idea FZ was ever on the Monkees..

Helped some young friends of mine out with a car problem, saved them quite a bit of money.

A younger couple I know has two young kids with a third on the way, they're short on cash and their older Ford Aerostar minivan was feeling very unsafe to drive. I offered to help because I know neither of them has a clue about cars and I've been playing with them since I was tall enough to see over the fender into the engine compartment.

The little truck was pulling hard to the right when you were just driving down the road and pulled even worse when you put on the brakes, it was also making a loud noise that could have been any number of things, including a bad rear wheel bearing or perhaps brakes desperately needing attention. Another problem was that at about 40 mph the front wheels had a violent shimmy that made the steering wheel vibrate back and forth, the faster you went over 40 the worse the vibration, the wheel was moving several inches back and forth at 45, it felt like the front suspension and the steering were trashed and about to fall out from under the truck.

First thing I noticed is that all four tires were in really bad shape, they had been run underinflated for a long time (told you the couple was clueless about cars) and had a severe wear pattern that looked like this.. Tread in the middle and bald on either side.



Took the van up to the Hispanic tire store up the street where they sell remarkably good used tires for decent prices, got four Uniroyal tires that looked nearly new with lots of tread left for $175, including mounting and balancing..

Amazingly, the tires solved all the steering and vibration problems, it felt like a different truck to drive. However the grinding noise was even more apparent, it had actually gotten louder.

In the course of looking over the van after getting back from the tire store I happened to notice the the exhaust pipe had become bent to the point it was rubbing on the right rear tire and also the coil spring on the right rear suspension. I got a long cheater bar, stuck it in the exhaust pipe and bent the pipe back away from the tire and coil spring. Result, noise gone... The new tires had a lot more tread, particularly on the edges, than the old ones which was why the noise had gotten worse, there was more tire to rub on the pipe.

If this couple had taken their van to the average car repair shop they'd have been lucky to get out for $500 (money they really didn't have), instead we gave their transportation a new lease on life for well under $200. When I started I honestly thought the van was going to need front suspension work which could have been pricey. I've seen bad tires make a car drive poorly before but never to the extent this one was.

Ozzy wants you to enter CBS Cares sweepstakes for a chance at a free celebrity colonoscopy.

Seriously? Him? ... Am I being punked?

Another bizarre politically themed painting from Jon McNaughton..

Feelin' lucky, punk?

First it was the Ferrari powered motorcycle, then it was the V12 CBX..

Andreas Georgeades builds some unique and interesting motorcycles, true custom machines.





Now it's no less than a an H16 comprised of two stacked boxer eights, each of which is two Yamaha YZF600 engines.

The gleaming high tech shop is notable..



http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2012/01/27/16-cylinder-h16-engine-to-power-new-motorcycle-under-construction-by-andreas-georgeades/

Satire: Tim TeBowie..

Hands On Skills Mean Greater Choice and Freedom to Buy Used

This is a recent article from a motorcycle blog I read fairly regularly, it's specifically about motorcycles however the ideas can be extended to a lot of things in the consumer world but most particularly cars. A car is the second most expensive thing most of us will ever buy and the most complicated thing most of us will buy too, it behooves the frugal person to know something about their most expensive and complicated gadget.

http://thekneeslider.com/archives/2012/01/10/hands-on-skills-mean-greater-choice-and-freedom-to-buy-used/

Given all of our recent talk about hands on skills and the positive reception it has among readers here, think about another real benefit the hands off crowd might not consider, the freedom to buy used. Take a minute to check out the motorcycles for sale. Look through those listings for a few minutes, how many are really out of consideration if you don't do your own work? If you need a knowledgeable mechanic you can trust to fix and maintain your bike and there's none nearby, you might as well write off almost any vintage model. Those good looking BSAs, Nortons, all vintage British bikes really, forget it. Even early models of some current brands would be questionable, along with recent models of bikes not sold anywhere near you. If all you can do is pay for service instead of doing it yourself, you eliminate many potential choices.

In a world where everyone is supposed to be able to buy whatever they want or need, many often don't consider the narrowing of choices a lack of skills creates. Even if you buy it new, if it breaks and no one is around to repair it, you replace it or do without. (Whether it's designed to be repairable is an issue for another day.)

If you want to buy a new Triumph, Moto Guzzi, Ducati or even a BMW, the dealers are spread a lot thinner than they are for Harley and Honda. If you go the distance and buy new, who does the required service if you can't? Another long trip, time and again and pretty quickly you cross those off your list. With this economy, those dealers are getting spread even thinner and the lack of DIY skills makes it tougher for those brands to hang on to territory if everyone needs dealer service for every oil change or valve adjustment.

With the impressive reliability of a lot of current new motorcycles, some non DIY owners might take a chance and buy from a distant dealer anyway, but it doesn't take overwhelming skill and years of experience to get to the level of basic maintenance and for the effort necessary to learn, the reward of so many more potential choices is a strong incentive to get familiar with a tool box.