The Yaesu FTM-500DR is their flagship product, it’s about $500, but it’s got so many small gripes it’s almost as if no one on their team has actually used a radio in a vehicle…
Powering It Off — Why do I need to hold the power button to shut it down? A single press or a double press should shut it off… instead they’ve decided the single press of the power button will lock it…
Locking Out a Memory Channel During Scanning — Each memory channel has a SCAN attribute of YES/NO… setting this takes about 10 steps… ten steps! So if you’re scanning around and hit on something you want to skip, you essentially can’t…
Memory Scanning, All or Nothing — There’s no apparent way to break up what memory channels you do scan — it’s all the channels or none.
SD Card is Half Baked — Using an SD Card to be able to program the radio seems like a great idea, but in practice both the RT Systems and Yaesu software don’t seem to work well with it… Neither of the software packages recognize that the Yaesu radio itself will save multiple copies of the data by incrementing a number on the file… so you have to go manually rename files… and while opening saved files in the software seems to work fine, the other direction hasn’t worked at all for me… it either fails or corrupts the radio and requires reprogramming by cable, this is true even if I format the card in the radio to have just a single saved version…
USB – Serial Cable — Why are still transferring data to these radios from a PC using serial? It takes ages to move data at 9600bps which seems unnecessary…
No Ignition Sense — I know this isn’t common on mobile radios, but I really don’t understand why not… the radio is connected to the battery, why not provide an input to let the radio be powered on/off along w/ the ignition w/o requiring relays and hard power cuts?
Audio Recording — I love the audio recording feature, but it’s recording in uncompressed audio with support for only a 32GB card… recording to a compressed format would let you store much more audio on the card
Audio Recording Part II — Quite a bit of the functions are persistent through power cycling, like memory scan, but unfortunately recording is not, so you need to start it each time (fortunately you can set one of the P-keys on the mic for that)
Maybe these are issues w/ all radios, maybe I’m not using it like most others would, but these are fairly annoying quirks. It’s only been a few weeks, so maybe it’ll grow on me…
I decided that I wanted to run an APRS iGate at my house because I found that low power transmissions in my neighborhood simply aren’t making it to the nearest Digipeater.
My current setup is a Mobilinkd 4 + iPhone SE 2020 + aprs.fi — but it’s not working very reliably — What I’m finding that is that every 2-3 days it stops beaconing and stops receiving packets… if I unlock the iPhone and fiddle it starts working, I’ll get a day or two, and then it will stop. My assumption is that iOS is simply not geared to run background applications like this and so it doesn’t work as a “set it and forget it” type of system.
That lead me to a purchase I made a long time ago… When I was first getting into APRS I bought a Coastal Chipworks TNC-Pi — it’s a TNC in the form of a Raspberry Pi “hat”, and I recall that it worked fairly well at the time using a Raspberry Pi 3B. I don’t fully recall what my goal at the time was, but it was using in a vehicle and ultimately when I found the Mobilinkd that worked out better. I parked the hardware, but pulled the Micro-SD.
Fast-forward a decade or so and I’ve decided to resurrect the TNC-Pi in the hopes that I can use it as an iGate and doing RF beaconing.
I’m grateful that despite having not sold this product for quite a while (I think over 5 years at this point?) the website linked above is still operational with instructions and files… but what I found was that time marched on in the world of Raspberry Pi development and left these little setup/helper apps behind.
If you try to run pitnc_getparams and see this message:
-bash: ./pitnc_getparams: cannot execute: required file not found
That means you’re likely running a 64-bit version of Raspbian / Raspberry Pi OS, but these applications are built for 32-bit.
You have two options:
Install a 32-bit version of Raspbian / Raspberry Pi OS
Install the required 32-bit libraries
If you decide to take the option 2 route — installing 32-bit libraries — these are the two fairly straight-forward commands I had to run to get going:
They don’t make em like they used to, but I’d have probably said that in 2013 when I bought that HTC One phone and the Yaesu radio… yet they’re both still kicking over 11 years later running APRSdroid. The TNC is a Mobilinkd TNC 2.1 bought in 2016.
I’m not much for talking on the radio, but I do love telemetry and packet radio.
Simon creates very compelling videos about working on older vehicles — in each one he tells a story while sharing his love of the hobby, and the trials of working on these relics, all without saying a word — he uses interesting angles, relaxed but captivating pacing, and carefully chosen visuals and sounds, as well a few (optional) captions.
I look forward to every video he makes, and if this post helps even 1 person find his channel then I’ll be very happy.
In late October 2022 I bought a 77 Cadillac from someone in CT via eBay.
It’s in surprisingly good shape, and has yet to break down — made the 100+ mile trip home and dozens of around town drives since — but I don’t have any confidence in it for situations where timing is important.
Brakes
Lines — I assume they’re all ready to blow
Master Cylinder — based on speculation it’s bad
Wheel Components — calipers/cylinders, pads/shoes, rotors/drums, all the bits and pieces, they’re not specifically bad, but have to assume they’re a liability
Suspension
Springs — the car sags in the rear and floats even for a Cadillac, I’m assuming the rusty 45 year old springs are done
Shocks — replaced already, the old ones were absolute toast
Ball Joints / Bushings — nothing feels specifically bad, but all the rubber is shot, and who knows how old the parts are
Tie Rods / Steering — similar to above, nothing feels bad, but it’s all super old and rubber components are disintegrated
Cooling
Hoses — might be fine, but stamped 1992… probably gotta go
Water Pump — I can see a mild wobble in the pulley and I thought it might be weeping some coolant
HVAC
Blower — initially worked on high, now not at all… not safe to drive in any situation with condensation
HVAC Head — has a pretty obvious vacuum leak when in any position except “Off”
Refrigerant — would be nice to be able to get cold / dry air, I remember how lousy driving in rain can be without working air conditioning
Body
Rust Prevention — I want to “do no harm”, so I really want to coat or other protect the underbody before I start regularly driving it
General Mechanical
Oil Leaks — it leaks oil, but it also seems to be leaking something else, unclear what it is, only happens while running but nothing is getting low, the fluid is viscous but has no obvious color or strong odor, it’s vaguely fuel like, but could be anything.
Belts — not specifically bad, but good to baseline
Vacuum leaks / Rubber — have to assume all the vacuum and fuel lines are toast at this age
I’ve got all the parts together, I believe all the tools I need, even have a garage… just need to find the time…
I don’t keep this blog up much, but occasionally it’s entertaining to me go back and look at it. With that in mind I used internet magic to retrieve entries I made in previous iterations of this blog from the past decade and add them all here w/ backdates.
I also decided to go back to the WordPress “Twenty Thirteen” theme because I sort of really like it…
In the recent issue of Make magazine they had a comparison of hobbyist CO2 sensors. The purpose of these meters was to help identify indoor spaces that might be more conducive to Covid spread (higher CO2 levels in a room with people means more shared air).
I decided to build one for my office because I share a small 10×12 room with a coworker. I thought seeing the CO2 might be interesting and informative… I never got that far:
What I didn’t expect was to see that my own home is quite poor when it comes to CO2 levels.
Our house is on a busy road, the traffic noise can be difficult to ignore so we often run the HVAC 24/7 even in moderate temperatures. Our house is a 1989 build, it’s all original — doors, windows, siding, etc — the HVAC is replaced but with “like kind”, meaning there’s no ERV/HRV add on, though the new heating appliances are high efficiency so they have dedicated combustion air ducts (instead of drawing air from the house).
Our house is consistently in the 800-1200ppm CO2 range when the windows have been closed for a few days. I personally haven’t felt that it was stuffy or recycled feeling, but the data doesn’t lie.
The other interesting aspect is just how much our gas range will impact CO2 levels… take a look at this annotated chart:
The oven running spikes the CO2 way up. I’m definitely making it a point to keep windows open as much as we can, even if the HVAC is running, to keep some fresh air in the house.
The Jutai pump failed after just 1 full day… it was a bit overcast so I assumed the lack of pumping was due to lack of sun, but later in the day during strong sun it was still dead. The bird bath I’m using was full of water so it wasn’t a burn out.
I’m now using the pump w/ the rose (2 days and still running); the Juntai pump is headed to that big Amazon warehouse in the sky…
My grandmother always kept a two-piece concrete bird bath in her front yard, I remember moving it in/out of the garage, painting it in spring, cleaning it, and filling it for her many times.
When I bought my first house my dad gave me a one-piece plastic heated bird bath that I kept running for a while, but when I moved to my current house the bath apparently didn’t make it.
I bought a heated bath this past winter, but it didn’t come with a stand, and the dish was very shallow, so it was really a pain to use, I decided it might be OK for winter, but for the warmer months I really wanted a concrete birth bath like I remembered from my grandmother’s house — and after all the unusually hot days we’ve been having I decided to put a solar pump in it to attract birds to it and keep the water moving.
I generally like to avoid Amazon as my first stop for shopping, so I hit Home Depot’s iOS app where I found a nice “light weight concrete” two piece bird bath, it looked OK and was well reviewed, so I went with that… I searched for solar pumps and found that they really only had one, and it seemed a bit expensive, but I ordered it anyway for sake of convenience.
The pump arrived first and I decided to try it out in a flower pot overflow dish… I filled the dish, dropped in the all-in-one solar pump and……nothing.
At first I though it was DOA, but then after a brief moment of direct sun appeared I realized it does work, but only when the sun is really blasting directly on it…
I quickly realized that something better for my local birds was needed, so I went to Amazon’s app and was surprised to see a huge range of similar looking all-in-one pumps under $15…
At this point I knew I wanted to do a comparison of a few versions from Amazon vs. the Home Depot pump…
All GIFs below were taken back-to-back to avoid any unfairness as a result of shifting sunlight. It was a fairly bright day at about 4PM so the sun was a slight angle vs. the location.
First up is the one from Home Depot, “AquaNura LP Solar Birdbath Kit” — At $42.98 it is by far the most expensive in this group, in fact it cost more than the three other pumps combined:
Does that AquaNura look dead? That’s because it essentially is… it needed absolutely full, direct, fade-your-fabrics-in-an-hour, sunlight to start pumping… any sort of angles between the sun and panels, or cloudy haze, and it would just go inert, or dribble. It does have suction cups on the bottom which will help hold it in place (assuming your bath has a smooth & flat surface… if it’s a dish or rough then the suction cups won’t do anything)
I absolutely do not recommend this thing, and it will be going back to Home Depot for a refund.
Next we have the three semi-random choices from Amazon… I say semi-random because it’s incredibly easy to get overwhelmed by choices at Amazon, so these three represent some of the lowest cost versions that were available w/ Prime shipping and didn’t have a very off putting title or name.
First up in the Amazon group is the “Solar Water Fountain for Bird Bath” — $7.99 with a 10% off coupon so it was $7.19 or so… it’s the least expensive of the bunch:
Wow, yeah, so that’s a pretty huge difference vs the AquaNura in the same basic light… and it’s got that weird rose in the middle which really classes up the joint and attracts more upscale birds. It doesn’t have anything to hold it in place, and in fact it’s on a foam block so that it will float — I guess people put these in their pools and ponds — that’s less ideal in a bird bath where you want the thing to stay stationary in the center.
Next up is the “Jutai Solar Bird Bath Fountain” — $22.99 it seemed expensive, but Amazon had a 50% “coupon” so it was $11.50:
I’ll say here that all of these pumps come with a variety of nozzles, but I think the spray nozzle option on this one produced a nicer spray and it seemed to have double the number of solar cells as well (at least visually, who knows if they are just fakes). This also has a foam bottom so that it will float around.
Last in the Amazon line up is the “Sunlitec Solar Fountain with Panel” — $9.99 with no “coupon”, it’s also the only model that had an external solar panel…
I thought the squirting was sort of interesting, it went on for a while so I assumed it was by design, but after a few minutes it became a steady stream, so I guess maybe air in the pump at first…
I like several things about the external panel —
External panel can be oriented much more ideally vs. the built in panels, and allows the bath to even potentially be in the shade a bit
This panel has more solar cells than any of the built-in versions, so it will likely work in less ideal light conditions
The entire contraption displaces the least amount of water in the bird bath which leaves more water
The pump has suction cups so it will stay in place on a smooth surface, but even in concrete it will likely stay in place as there is no foam to float it around.
On the negative side —
External panel means wiring is kicking around…
Panel has no mounting features or stand, so it just sort of sits on the ground
The bare pump sitting in the bird bath isn’t aesthetically appealing at all
Overall conclusion:
“AquaNura” from Home Depot is an absolute rip off at nearly $43 even before you consider the fact that it’s the worst performing pump in this group.
You can’t really go wrong w/ any of the $8-12 pumps I got from Amazon:
“Solar Water Fountain” is the cheapest in the group at under $8 and performed very well
“Jutai” is my choice for an all-in-one because it seemed to have more panels and the nozzles had nicer spray pattern
“Sunlitec” is a good choice if you want to remote mount your panel or you’re using a very small dish for the bath and need to avoid displacing water.
Final Thought:
In all cases you want to consider your bath diameter because these things will empty your bath in short order if the sprayed water isn’t landing completely back in the dish… and in general they will greatly accelerate evaporation anyway, so plan to refill the bath every morning, or potentially even more frequently.
