Down Time - 4/5/07

So, the weather has turned cold again. The ridge to the west and the trough in the east has given us a break from severe weather for a while. This may be a good thing as we've got lots of issues to tackle before the true season gets under way.

Video Equipment
Problem: Our DV camera failed miserably down in Cherry County, NE. This is why we don't have any video of the large tornado I observed last Wednesday. After recording about 30 seconds of some nice towering cumulus near Arthur, the camera lost it's mind (and it's timecode) and recorded blue for the next 45 minutes.

Solution: Looking at possible purchase of a Sony HDR-HC7 to transition to HD recording.

Communications
Did you know there are no cell towers in western Nebraska? At least not many. Fortunately, I have both an Alltel cell phone, and a Verizon data card. When the Verizon card wouldn't have service, the cell would, and I could dial up some data.

Problems: The connector from the 3-watt booster to the cell is crap. It's held on with velcro (that's the way the manufacturer designed it)! Also, the Verizon card is a model PC5740. I found out through some research that it's the cheapest model Verizon sells and there's NO external antenna jack!

Solution: Currently researching wireless mobile boosters so there's no wires wrapping around everything and it will boost the cell and data card signals.

Vehicle
This is already fixed, but I opened my driver's door into the 40mph south wind while in Neb. and bent the hinge. The body shop told me this was normally a $1000-2000 dollar job, but they were able to adjust something and it only cost $78.00.