A 2nd image from my cell phone

Hi amanda - you are being posted by cell phone !

Success with mobile blogging!

So now I have successfully sent two pictures, one of Michael and then one of Eric to my blog using my cell phone and they did not overwrite each other. This has great implications for storm chasing. Now I can update my blog with photos and text in the field, away from wifi, as long as I have a cell phone signal!

2nd pic of eric

1st pic of michael

Mobile blog posts don't overwrite regular posts

So that test worked, I now have two mobile blog posts separated by a regular one. Now I will try two more and see what happens.

A 2nd image from my cell phone

Testing out mobile blogging!

Okay the previous post titled "Mabs the crazy dog" was taken on my camera phone and emailed to go@blogger.com along with some text that I typed in also on my phone. It was the third image I had sent and it appears that it overwrites each mobile post. I'm guessing that if I post a regular entry here it will start a new mobile post?? Let's try it and see.

Mabs the crazy dog

Rain Cover and Website Sign arrive today

Just back from an awesome weekend at the Winter-X games in Aspen! Will have to write up more about that soon. Got a couple new things today, this rain shield for the HDV.





Also got this magnetic, reflective sign for the Supa'ru that says www.StormChaserCO.com





Saw this sign at a wood cutting site, seems somewhat applicable to storm chasing don't you think.

Sony 3CCD HD Camcorder Arrives by UPS today!

Today the UPS truck arrived with my new Sony HD Camcorder. Very exciting, it's Christmas and my birthday all in one as I banked my presents for the last year so that I could get this camcorder for the 2006 chase season! Thanks to Amanda - my most wonderful wife in the world for getting me my heart's desire!





The box within a box - a new Sony 3CCD HD Camcorder from B&H Photo!





Unpacking the goodies!





Hooking it up to the big screen HD ready TV and I'm ready to play!





The HD Camcorder, batteries charged and ready for action. Bring on the highly photogenic backlit tornadoes!

Day 6 of equipping the Subaru - HAM radio antenna and wiring harness

Today the Fed-Ex truck arrived with my new Ham radio antenna. Apparently I los tthe whip off my old one when it fell out of the back of the Exped while hauling lumber.





New antenna on the roof of the Subaru. Now there are two, one for the HAM radio and one for the CB/Weather Alert Radio.





Wiring harness in place to power the HAM radio and any other accessories to come later. I took note from Tom Dulong who did not like the placement of my amplified speaker right next to the passenger's head so this time I am mounting it under the drivers seat. It's a little muffled but still audible when turned up a little higher.

New YouTube videos

Trying something new with presenting my videos that Michael turned me on to. www.youtube.com is a site that you can browse to your videos, upload them and then it produces HTML code that I can cut and paste into my website. The result is the "Top Storm Videos" section that is now on my front page. I like this format better because you can see the first frame of the video before you click to watch it.

Mable's Jacket and Amanda's new Mountain Bike

Our friend Tif got our beagle Mable this jacket for Christmas. She loves to be warm out in the snow in it and doesn't she just look beautiful in it.







Here's Amanda's new mountain bike. A 2005 Santa Cruz Blur!

WINTER STORM HEADING TOWARDS COLORADO Sunday night into Monday

...WINTER STORM HEADING TOWARDS COLORADO....A DEVELOPING STORM SYSTEM ACROSS THE WEST COAST WILL INTENSIFY ASIT MOVES ACROSS COLORADO ON SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. SNOW WILLINITIALLY SPREAD ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS DURING THE DAY ONSUNDAY...THEN SPREAD OUT OVER THE PLAINS SUNDAY EVENING. AT THISTIME THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY SNOW DURING A 6 TO 12 HOURPERIOD SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY MORNING...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE PALMERDIVIDE REGION AND SOUTHERN FRONT RANGE FOOTHILLS. JEFFERSON...DOUGLAS...ELBERTAND ARAPAHOE COUNTIES WILL BE THE MOST VULNERABLE FOR THE HEAVYSNOW. LIGHTER SNOWFALL IS EXPECTED FURTHER NORTH TOWARDS THEWYOMING AND NEBRASKA BORDER.IN ADDITION...STRONG NORTHERLY WINDS WILL DEVELOP SUNDAY EVENINGAND CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MPH ANDGUSTS TO 50 MPH WILL CREATE BLOWING SNOW AND POOR VISIBILITIESACROSS EASTERN COLORADO.

Day 5 - New Battery and Cigarette Lighter Expander

On my last trip to Grease Monkey they reported that the Subaru battery was only providing half the cold cranking amps that it was rated at. Here I have installed a new high amp battery.





Checking on the placement of the 3 port cigarette lighter expander. Had to remove the old single socket and the ash tray to make room.





New 3 port Cigarette lighter installed and ready to use.





Another decal I got off of eBay to place on the Subaru bumper.

Day 4 the "Jotto" desk gets installed

Test fitting the location of the Jotto desk mount so that the passenger still has leg room and the glove box will still open.





Self-tapping screws go right in with no problems.





"Jotto" desk installed and ready for use!





View from the passenger side - passenger still has pretty good leg room.

Day 3 of equipping the Subaru

Removed the center console in preparation for installing the HAM radio.





Checking the clearances for mounting.





HAM radio installed at rear of center console.





HAM radio is on a slide mount for easy removal when not in use.

The Subaru gets her plates

This morning I drove to the Jefferson County DMV and got the plates for the Subaru so now it is officially street legal. Took it in to work for the first time and got the oil changed at Grease Monkey. The battery may need to be swapped out since it was found to have only 1/2 the cold cranking amps that it should have new.

The Exped comes out of the shop

This morning I took the Exped in to have the ABS break light, windshield washer level light and the automatic transmission indicator needle fixed. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the two lights were just sensor failures and cheap to replace. The total bill was $267.00 and now the Exped is ready to go out on HW 72 with a For Sale sign on it this saturday.

Fixing up the Exped for sale

Today I got a new windshield for the Exped. At noon Elite Autoglass came to the office and replaced the hail damaged windshield I had for the last year and a half. The charge was only $197, I swear the last time I got it replaced it was over $500 so I was pleasantly surprised.

This evening I stopped by Chris' (prev owner of the Subaru) house and picked up the title and another set of keys so now I can get it licensed and insured and start driving it. Just in time for gas to go up another .10 a gallon to $2.29 in Louisville.

Day 2 of equipping the Subaru

Tonight I put in two connectors on the power wires so that I can slide out the CB/Weather Alert Radio and disconnect it. This will allow me to quickly remove the radio and put it in my equipment box and take it inside Motels with me. The goal is to leave nothing of value in the car overnight to deter theft. My Ham radio is already on a slide mount from the Expedition and I am thinking I will mount it under the dash just above the gas pedal.

Tonight I ordered a Jotto type desk for $59 and a set of 3 filters for my Olympus camera for $35. Both from ebay.

1st day of equipping the Subaru

Video camera, CB/Weather Alert Radio, Cell Phone and Radar Detector mounted.





Side view of first day of equipment mounting in the Subaru. I had originally wanted to mount the camera bar horizontally but it put the camera too close to the windshield. This was a compromise position that hopefully will work out. The range of camera motion is reduced due to it's being on it's side. Also the passenger side seat is hard to adjust with the pole sitting on the seat rail.

Beginning the swap out of Storm Chase Gear

The Exped and the Subaru ready for storm chase equipment swapout.





The expedition center console used to hold my wiring harness and the Ham radio and Scanner.





Center console opened up with wiring harness exposed.





Off come the antennas.





Everything is out of the Exped and ready to be installed in the Subaru starting tomorrow.





Hints of things to come!