Happy New Year

Happy New Year to all.

I spent most of yesterday working on my radio equipment, and by around 2000 was so exhausted, I just took Zoe for a quick walk and went to bed. There's not a lot going on in City Island, so I don't think we missed much. We did hear some fireworks a little after dark, which upset Zoe a bit, but that was about it.

I soldered a 7-pin connector onto the audio cable for my Pactor modem, but that was only after I messed up the 8-pin one. Somehow, the connector cover slipped off the wire before I got around to soldering the connections. I didn't notice till I was done and ready to slip it over. I tried to heat up the solder and remove them, but one ended up pulling out of the plastic holder, so I gave up and used the other one.

Both of them came with the radio and look exactly the same except the 7-pin one is missing the center stud. I'm not planning to use the other plug anyway, so it shouldn't matter. I just need to make sure no one plugs it into the wrong one on the back of the radio -- I'll tape the other just to make sure.

I have the PTC-IInet version of the modem that comes with an ethernet connector, so I used a crossover cable to connect it directly to my laptop. It ships with DHCP enabled, and since I'm not running a DHCP server (that's what doles out ad-hoc IP addresses on a LAN) I had to take off the back cover and pull off the DHCP jumper. The funny thing is that once I got the cover off, I saw that it had both an RJ45 ethernet connector and a USB type B connector, which was hidden by the cover. I thought that was a great discovery, since now I'll have the option to use USB if I want -- as soon as I cut a hole in the aluminum cover (which I did later).

So I pulled off the DHCP jumper, fired it up, and was able to use my browser to connect to and configure it. I still need to get another cable and 3.5mm mono plug in order to get everything working, but that's on order and should be here next week. Anyway, I decided this would be a good time to upgrade the firmware since the unit was over 2 years old. I downloaded the newest version, but discovered that I needed to use another program, e.g., Airmail on my laptop, to actually do the upgrade.

The only problem was that it didn't support upgrading the firmware over a network connection -- guess that's why it had the USB connector in the first place. They sell 2 models, an ethernet version and a USB version, but from the looks of it, the only difference between the two is the front and back covers. The guy from Farallon told me he'd have to change the input board in order to switch it from ethernet to USB, but obviously that's not the case -- glad I didn't send it in.

Unfortunately, I don't have the right USB cable, so I can't upgrade it right now, or verify the USB works correctly. It takes a type B connector which I don't seem to have. I might have had one in all the computer junk I got rid of earlier this year, but since I didn't have any USB connections to worry about at the time, I didn't save too much -- no room on the boat for everything.

So today, I've been spending a lot of time trying to figure out exactly what I need to complete all of my electronic connections, including charging, and plan to order a bunch of cables tonight. Cables are pretty cheap, so it's no big deal, and I plan to get a few spares just in case. I also going to get a USB splitter and a 4 port USB to serial adapter. The only other cable I need is a special cloning one that's specifically for my radio. It's not cheap, but I don't see an easy way around it.

Other than cables, I'm going to order an adapter so I can power my laptop via my 12v system. I have an inverter, but those aren't very efficient, so I'd like to avoid it if possible. I'm looking at a couple of options made by Lind. Since I'll be just going from DC to DC, all I need is a transformer. Maybe I'll be able to make my own someday, but I'm not quite there yet.

However, I am pretty happy with the soldering I did today. It turned out surprisingly well. I've tried to solder other things before with mixed results. I just had a hard time seeing it, as well as holding it in place, so I may try to pick up a cheap magnifying glass with clamps for future work. I still have to make up a few more cables once the parts arrive.

Zoe watch:

She really loves the snow, and likes to roll in it. She reminds me of Osa and Darcy. When I lived in Virginia, I'd walk them along some hillsides near my apartment. They liked to roll on their backs and slide down the hill. They didn't go far or fast, but it was fun to watch, and they loved it.

Darcy was the first one to do it and before long Osa was doing it too. He was a very smart dog. In fact, he used to grab a ball and throw it when I walked in the door to distract her so he could get my full attention while she chased it. She was bossy and used to box him out, but he could always out smart her when he wanted. In the end, she couldn't live without him and passed less than two weeks after he did.

They were a good match, and I miss them both.