Archive for March 28th, 2012

Two birds, one ride.

March 28th, 2012 / / 3 comments

I’ve had the dashcam in the car now for ages, and while I’d only call it a moderate success (I have to repeatedly reset the clock – this appears to be a battery problem, and I’ve ordered a replacement for $4), it is reassuring to have the device rolling (especially at a cost of $32).

I wanted something similar for the motorcycle, but didn’t want to mount anything to the bike itself. The solution seemed to present itself in DVR Sunglasses.

At a cost of $20, I can record the ride and any shenanigans that take place during it.

Right out of the gate I discovered the buttons that operate the thing are easily activated by my helmet once the glasses are on (which I fixed by removing the buttons).

So the first clip (posted above) lasted only until my head movements managed to turn the recorder off.

Still, rather funky, no?

It is home.

March 20th, 2012 / / 11 comments

Wow…

2012 Honda CBR250R

Did I already say “wow”?

Buffalo Linkstation Duo LS-WVL – Media Server/NAS

March 16th, 2012 / / No comments

I have been using small NAS devices running Snake OS. We haven’t had any problems with our device, but the one that I set up over at Moms place died a week ago with no clues as to what went wrong.

Our system has been largely reliable, serving triple duty as an SMB (network file share), UPnP server (via a Mediatomb installation) and as a Bittorrent client (Snake OS comes with Transmission BT client). This has meant that I have been able to leave this unit happily churning away at downloads and feeding the assorted media players in our house without issue, while all the PCs sleep soundly each night.

It’s a handy little device but there are several issues;

  • All storage is USB external drives (two ports on the NAS unit). Does NOT recognize anything larger than a 2TB drive, obvious storage cap of 4TB as a result.
  • There appears to be a chronic (multi-release) memory leak, so after a week of running the services will eventually slow to useless and a hard reboot required. (newer releases of Snake OS are better at compartmentalizing this issue, but it remains. I have never made it past 14 days without having to reboot the NAS.)

I wanted more capacity, and less clutter. It seemed clear that despite the expense I was going to have to buy myself a proper NAS with internal storage. Some shopping around brought me to the Buffalo Linkstation Duo LS-WVL, dual 2tb internal drives along with a USB port for external storage, built in UPnP/DLNA media server, SMB sharing and a BT client make it the perfect replacement, on paper…

Abuse testing is in progress, we’ll see….

New Bike Inbound

March 15th, 2012 / / One comment

Signed the papers yesterday, pick it up next week…

Brand new 2012. Sweet.

Jilly – Born to ride

March 6th, 2012 / / 6 comments

So, Jillys training wheels came off on the weekend, and this evening she wanted to venture out of the driveway to try bike riding.

We went round the block, on the final lap I recorded a few seconds of footage. I know it looks shakey, but that’s what you get for trying to use a cell phone camera while riding a bike.

We’re quite proud of the munchkin.

Panniers for Symba

March 5th, 2012 / / 4 comments

So finally got around to installing the ‘generic’ panniers for the Symba. Nice to have some secure storage on the bike.

sym symba panniers

Have not yet had a chance to properly abuse test them, but early impressions are favorable.

symba panniers

Ironically the ‘winter’projects have kept me from riding through this mostly mild winter. I’m going to finish some basic wiring and then put it all back together.

 
Theme by ThemeZee