Micro Blog

El Perro Negro's Day to Day Ramblings

Notes (1046)

T-Deck Plus update ...

Only downside to the T-Deck is internal antenna is a bit naff. I am not a natural dabbler & hate getting hands dirty but had no other choice. Took the radio apart, detached internal antenna, attached better one & put it all back together somehow.

It works! Although, just like an IKEA wardrobe, a couple of bits came off and I have absolutely no idea how or where to re-attach them 🤣 🤣

Thanks to "Ray J" for helpful video https://youtu.be/llg40EWJ_R8?feature=shared

An image of a Lilygo T-Deck Plus radio with antenna

@cutting This is today's webcam shot of part of our route that crosses over a 2700m pass. The route over marked in red

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It's a week before we head off to the Pyrenees for a week long trek. Seems there is more snow than normal for June so will have to take crampons and ice axes to cross the high passes and maybe summit some stuff.

Bummer, as adds to the weight. In an effort to lessen the impact on my ageing body I have bought a pair of these. Petzl Leopard Flexlock crampons, very light, only 385 grams/pair (similar to my existing micro spikes).

Anybody used them?

A single Petzl Leopard Flexlock crampon with orange spikes and staps

Don't normally do selfies but does show you my new super duper "Ranger" camera bag from https://www.leichtmut.de/product/the-ranger-ultralight-camera-bag/

Can be worn on chest but I prefer as a waist holster bag rather than across the chest. Only 94g! The bag fitted perfectly onto my rucksack waist belt making it accessible & very easy to open/close. Fully waterproof & offers just the right amount of protection.

Support garage businesses!

2 people in hiking gear pose for the camera with snow covered mountains behind

Facebook making it really hard for me to delete my account permanently! 🤬

I haven't used it personally in over a year but have been contributing to our business account. In Europe you have until 27th May to opt out of your posts being used for Meta AI. Problem is, they make it very hard for you to actually "opt out". Turns out, they make it very hard for you to delete your account too.

Message from Facebook about account deletion.

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I attached a SenseCap T1000-E credit card sized tracker to my lovely but very naughty dog, Rita via a small pouch on her collar. When she escapes out of our grounds on her adventures to visit neighbors etc we are able to keep track on where she is via a map on the Meshcore web app.

No monthly fees, initial cost €42 for the T1000-E and €20 for the Lilygo Lora V2.1 attached to laptop. I have contributed to the developers of the software.

Suspicious look on the face of a white dog with pointy ears. She has a red pouch attached to her collar

A credit card sized SenseCap tracker T1000-E with a small rope lanyard attached to the top

I screamed again today 😱 as I disturbed a warming snake out of it's morning slumber. It ran at an alarming pace past my legs stopping briefly to hiss it's annoyance and headed off into the bush.

Dark color, so possibly a Ladder Snake. Could also be a Montpellier or a Horseshoe Whipsnake, I was too frightened to stop and study. Harmless unless manhandled and I certainly wasn't likely to do that 😀.

Here's a archive image of ours of a ladder Snake.

A long thin Ladder Snake with distinctive lines down it's back

Plenty of water still coming down from the Sierra Nevada on this morning's dog walk. Long may it continue!

Water flowing fast down an irrigation channel. A wall to the right and green low grasses to the left

Yesterday I did get 12km line of sight messages through without a problem

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Test ... tracking @khusky and the morning dog walk from my home laptop using radio network and the repeater on my rooftop.

Interesting possibilities for hiking and backpacking in groups?

Got a right shock getting into my car yesterday. As I reached for the door handle to close the driver door I felt something run over my hand. It was a Scolopendra! I screamed like a demented banshee & flew out of the car, must have looked funny as 😀.

Now we don't have much in Spain that will hurt you but a Scolopendra can inject a venomous bite that can cause intense, long-lasting pain & swelling. I love most living things but draw the line at these 😂

A 6 inch Scolopendra with black and orange stripes

Exciting 4WD exploration/adventure this afternoon into some hills to our SW. Sketchy tracks with huge ruts and big drops. No real idea what was coming round the next bend. Mrs Google no help at all 😀

BTW at furthest distance, managed to send a text message 12km (straight line) back to my house via radio. A record distance for me. Used a SenseCap T1000-E

@bergmeister It certainly beats my self made map of the northern section of a trek on the Patagonian Icecap which I made in 2010 using a large scale map but with my own grid lines superimposed (and probably wrong 😂 ). How times have changed!

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Building a small local Meshcore network here with LoRa radios. Managed to communicate with the repeater on my roof from a SenseCap T1000-E, some 7 kilometers away. Much further reach than I originally anticipated.

A sensecap T-1000-E bluetoothed to a mobile phone running Meshcore software