Rick's Site » Computer

LoganCountyLive.com Launched

Rick Thompson — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:26:52 +0000

After a bit of work putting a site together we are now announcing the launch of LoganCountyLive.com a new site to help everyone in the county to keep up to date on current events and communicate with each other. It is a pretty good messageboard with a local events section as well as a for sale/wanted section. If you are in or near Logan county come check it out.

Configuring Diarist for use with WordPress

Rick Thompson — Wed, 30 May 2007 03:39:18 +0000

For anyone interested in Mobile Blogging I have found one program that works pretty well from a Windows Mobile based phone. Diarist is a very nice app that lets you write a post on your device and it will automatically post to your WordPress site. This is useful for anyone wanting to be able to write a post on their Windows Mobile Phone or PDA then post it without having to use the web based forms to edit and add your posts.

There is no default setting that configures it directly to work in WordPress so you have to manually enter your information in. First thing is download and install Diarist. It is a free application and takes up very little room. Once you have it installed run it and go to Menu > Weblog > Add. Pick ‘Generic MetaWeblog’

When it comes up to the configuration screen, enter in your information as follows. Make sure the API address has the /xmlrpc.php on the end of your normal site address or it will not work
API: http://[yoursite.com]/xmlrpc.php Username: your username Password: your password
Click on the Extra tab and enter your information in there
Blog Title: does not have to match the actual blog title, useful if you post to more than one site. Blog URL: Put in the normal URL you use to view the site. Default Hour Offset: set according to your time zone. eg EST -5
Once you configure all your options don’t click the OK button in the top right or you will lose your settings. Click the Confirm button at the bottom and it will test and make sure that it can connect and everything works.

Now I would recommend making a few test posts experimenting with how the software works and getting the hang of it. It is a pretty simple program but it is very powerful and can let you write very detailed posts. The only problem it has is that it can not upload the images to WordPress so you still have to upload images using either Postie or the web based forms but hopefully soon it will support image uploads and it will be a perfect app for posting while on the road.

Using the Innovate LC-1 Wideband Oxygen Sensor to improve your mileage.

Rick Thompson — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:16:50 +0000

The Innovate LC-1 sensor is pretty expensive for the intended usage so if you drive a lot or your vehicle gets really bad mileage it might be worth it but if you do not do either then this will be of limited use for anything other than bragging rights.

One of the features of the LC-1 is that it can simulate the output of a normal Lambda or Narrowband Oxygen sensor. So if you just wanted to replace your factory sensor with it this would be a simple plug in swap. There would be no real advantage in doing this though as it will not help serve any function other than to be a really expensive oxygen sensor swap.

The thing that makes this a pretty easy mod that can have a measurable impact on your mileage is that the sensor lets you define what lambda should be using a laptop computer to program it. So lets say you install the sensor and use a laptop to look at your AFR (air fuel ratio) and it shows the computer is easily able to maintain 14.5:1 which will give you normal economy. The computer is listening to the Oxygen sensor and adjusting the AFR to keep it as close to that ratio as possible. The LC-1 can trick the computer by saying the car is above or below that number. So you can program the LC-1 to say that 15.0:1 actual AFR is reported to the computer as 14.5:1. This makes the car run a bit leaner and uses less fuel. How much you can push this beyond that number will take some trial and error but it is pretty simple to change the value the LC-1 reports.

I would recommend installing the LC-1 and leaving it at 14.5:1 and take it for a drive to make sure the car’s computer has no problems with it and does not show any error codes. Once you are satisfied the car is running properly with the new sensor then adjust the ratio slightly leaner and see how the car responds. Maybe go to 14.8:1 and drive it. Once you are satisfied that the car will behave and work like it should then you can start testing the limits of how lean you can run your engine. It is possible if you drive easy to run the car as lean as 18:1 with no adverse effects. The biggest problem you will have is the car will start to knock if it gets leaner than it really can handle. Listen for this to happen and if you hear it then adjust the LC-1 to be a bit richer. I would recommend filling up the tank and driving a full tank at something like 15:1 and checking your mileage. Then go in small steps to leaner AFR each tank until your mileage starts to level off. Once it levels off go back down to your last setting and run it there.

Just remember that if you have to take the car in for an emissions test that you may have to adjust your numbers to make the car pass. This really depends on the car so there is no way to know if it will pass or not before hand. You could play it safe and set it back to 14.5:1 before the test but then you would not know if it can pass running leaner.

Do not get greedy and keep leaning the car out beyond where it runs well. Even though the increase in mileage will diminish after you go past a certain point leaning the car out it will still get slightly better mileage so you might be tempted to lean it out even more. This can damage your exhaust valves by overheating them badly and will be expensive to repair so don’t do this! Also don’t blast your radio while you are testing this out or else you will not be able to hear what is happening with your engine. This can improve the mileage of pretty much any fuel injected car but you have to use some common sense and don’t try pushing the limits of your car since an extra gallon of gas is way cheaper than a new motor.

Set up the Ultimate C/KU-band Satellite system. Part 1

Rick Thompson — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 05:50:51 +0000

It is pretty easy to find a used C-band dish in someone’s back yard for free to haul away. Usually the LNB on the dish is old and if they still have the receiver and give it to you it won’t do a lot more than maybe pick up a handful of channels. They think the system is worthless but it can get way more channels than they think it can, it just needs some updates and someone willing to tinker with it.

The first step is to find a dish. Usually the easiest way is to take some tools and anything you might need to get the dish and post out of the ground with you and go driving around. Look for an old dish in someone’s backyard and go up and tell them you will haul it away for free. Usually they will be happy to be rid of it and give it to you and sometimes even the old receivers are still around and you can get them as well. Try and get as much wire as possible so you won’t have to buy new wire. Take the stuff all home and set the post up in your yard where you get a good view of the sky. Aiming the dish is not that hard, aim the polar mount that the dish moves back and forth on at the north star. Sight along a corner of the mount and get it lined up dead on the north star. The dish should be right on and it is just a matter of using the motor to drive it from one sat to another.

If you have an old Dish Network receiver and lnb from the little dish you can duct tape the lnb onto the feedhorn of the dish and go to the signal strength screen on the receiver. Move the dish back and forth and you should be able to hit all of the Echostar receivers. You won’t have a valid subscription so it will not actually pick anything up though, just the signal strength meter is all that matters.

Now that you have a working dish that can move across the sky you need to get the equipment to make use of it. I used a Twinhan 102G PCI card on my computer but you can use any of the FTA receivers or any other DVB-S PCI card. I also purchased the S-DS41C 4-Way DiSEqC Switch with Weatherproof case, BSC621-2 C/KU Band LNBF, and Moteck V-BOX II DiSEqC POSITIONER. I got them from sadoun but you can get them from any place convenient.