Sunday, November 27, 2011
"More people drop out of distance races due to stomach issues than do from injury"
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
It starts now...
No chance to post the gear pics, but at this moment we are embarking on the long drive. Full tank of gas, half a subway sandwich, it's dark and we are wearing sunglasses. Hit it.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Well...so here we are...
This morning was one of those silent drives in to work despite having the radio on. Something about having the air conditioning come at you full blast on an already cool morning, a bit less sleep than normal, and then climbing out of your car to put on a backpack that has both work stuff and dead weight in it while trying to avoid aggravating the cut up hand so it has time to heal that makes you think a bit. I think some get the impression that these things start at the trail-head.
I was up late last night chatting, having the best distraction I could think of, but my head is in the game this morning. Prior to that we made our last trip to Aiguille. Both Mike and I did a little hand damage which I hope will be completely healed before we hit the natural rocks.
I realize I did not get everything accomplished that I had set out to. In fact I have not even finished putting an enclosure and battery pack around my astro rig just yet, which I absolutely need to do. It would be pretty lousy to get out there and have some wire pull loose because it snagged on something during setup.
I never got to dive in to the cable dolly project. I'm hoping I still have cause and drive for this when I get back so that it can be ready long before the next trip.
Also... I'm recognizing that I'm carrying a heavy load on this trip both physically and metaphorically. I still need to do a final weight, but I think it's right around the goal 25lbs. Maybe a little over. This actually feels pretty heavy to me for whatever reason. I'm glad I set the goal there and not higher. On the metaphorical front: I have always been the caretaker of others. I may be the team medic on hand, which is ironic considering my propensity to injury. Additionally I have decided that I will be the one who doubles back alone to pick up the crash pad while the rest get settled. I'm a distance runner and the pad is only 9lbs, so I am far and away best fit for this job. Should be clocking some altitude training on this.
Every once in a while the body decides to remind me of the life I live: last week I started getting an unfortunately familiar itch on my chin. A couple days later a small piece of gravel worked its way out. I cannot specifically say which injury embedded that piece in my face.
Sharks and squids swimming around in my head...
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Get Sirius...
Friday, November 18, 2011
Accuracy...
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Shelter!
Very busy, but here's the answer to a previous question: Henry Shires Tarptent Sublite. 19.5oz, plus another 5oz in poles (I don't do trekking poles). Packs down to 14x4" roll and apparently is pretty good even in heavy weather.
I also had a chance to throw most of the other stuff in the bag and get an idea of the weight involved. I'm not sure if I weighed things incorrectly at some point, forgot stuff, or what but everything I thought was on my list plus an extra lens came out to 16.2lbs. Which would be very, very nice.
Monday, November 7, 2011
Improving the Celestron CG2 tracking mount
So allow me to present the problem:
If you have a looksie at this diagram you’ll see that because the main barrel of the tracking mount is cast the tolerances on certain sections are not very good. Even if they were it would still be difficult to get exactly what is needed using soft aluminum.
Rotation in direction A there is the enemy of tracking (well there are other things too, of course, but this is the one I’m poking at). The way the original mount is designed this play is controlled either by tension in direction B, or the tolerances between the axle shaft and the walls of the cast tube it resides in. Since there are no bearings B cannot be very good, and because this is cast A cannot be very good.
What really strikes me about this is that they cast this long tube, which if they had made use of could have helped this issue a great deal. My solution will add a little more weight back in to the fixture but I think it’s worth the sacrifice:
Longer shaft means play has less effect, and tighter tolerances are made by using pre-made bronze sleeve bearings on either end. As much as I’d love to put in precision tapered needle bearings? This is not the place for that. In total it will cost me $7 to change these parts out, and I will need to do a small amount of machine work. Parts are on order…Sunday, November 6, 2011
More weight savings- the old fashioned way...
Friday, November 4, 2011
Off Topic: Sleep Data
- A normal sleep cycle (REM -> slow wave -> REM) averages about 90 minutes. My sleep cycles are more than double that.
- The majority of my REM time happens after the alarm. While it's not unusual to have some REM time in those early moments...long term waking dreams is kind of a strange thing.
- REM did not transition to waking state before the gear was turned off. Which sort of makes me wonder how long after "wake-up" I'm still in a waking dream state.
- Actual sleep time is way below average. Much of this has to do with very long time to fall asleep.
- Proportions are pretty far off too: very little deep sleep proportional to the statistical mean.
Thursday, November 3, 2011
And there you go....
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Do unto others..
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
first shot at saving some weight...
- Gerber Multitool, 170 grams
- Modified Gerber FAST pocket knife, 87 grams
- Fenix E21 flashlight, 139 grams
- 100 Feet of ParaCord, 180 grams
- Mission Workshop Rambler backpack, 1280 grams
So Item 1: Leatherman Style PS-8. Clocking in at just 45 grams.
Second item, the FAST knife. I'm keeping this, but I might shave a little more weight out of it. Will come back to that.
Third item: flashlight. Fenix for Fenix, this is the LD01 at 28 grams including battery:
Fourth Item, paracord: I can't see myself needing more than 50 feet. Cut that weight in half.
And last, and most painfully, I love my Mission Workshop backpack. It's a fantastic bag. I can't say enough about it, except that for the volume it weighs too much. That makes it the perfect bag for everything except this. Sadly I think it will have to stay home.
GoLite Peak, 625 grams without the hip straps (which drive me crazy on every bag I've ever had with them).
Total savings? 981 grams, or 2.1lbs. I wish I could have that kind percent savings across the board, but something tells me this is the easy one...