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Showing posts from 2016

Red LED Pen

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My boss got me several of these (and a few more, when the batteries on one went out). But he can’t remember where he got them. Sigh. They work great for copying down clearances at night, etc. They’re not quite perfect; the clicker at the top of the pen controls the light, and the ballpoint end is extended/retracted by twisting the barrel. But if you can live with that, and if you can find them, maybe you can call on, the Red LED Pen:

USB Audio

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I’m using a ‘poor man’s KVM,’ (one of these days I’ll get something with EDID , like the IOGEAR GCS932UB ) hooked up to an OS X mini tower (DVI) and a MacBook Air ((mini) DisplayPort). I use the input selector on the  DELL U2311H monitor (I love  matte displays) to toggle the displays, and a Plugable USB switch to toggle a Unicomp SpaceSaver M  (best. keyboard. ever.) and ThinkPad Laser Mouse (which matches the USB version  I carry with my laptop) between the two CPUs. Problem: The Creative T10 speakers (cheap, but all I really have room for at this workstation; elsewhere I have a set of Klipsch ProMedia 2.1 s that are mind-blowing) weren’t switched, and the connection is buried behind the mini-tower. 1st world problems... (How do I link this back to flying? Oh, yeah, editing GoPro footage. And, um, LiveATC.net .) Anyway, problem simply and cheaply solved: Sabrent USB External Stereo Sound Adapter  ($7) (shows up immediately in OS X 10.9.5 as a C-Media Electronics Inc. USB Au

Stylus

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Just a quick note to give a shout-out where it’s due. I've been flying with the Lunatik Touch Pen Alloy  ($20) (2021 update: Amazon link , $15) lately, and it's a godsend. As a stylus, it’s just firm enough to be usable to, e.g., annotate charts / use the ForeFlight scratch pad en route; as a pen, once the abominable ink cartridge it comes with is discarded and a CROSS 8521  ($7 for a 2-pack at Office Depot; $6.23 on Amazon ) refill swapped in in its place, it writes like a dream. I liked my “flight bag” one so much, I got another to keep in my briefcase to take with me to/from the office. No caps to lose, no awkward writing position with the stylus tip at the ‘clip’ end of the pen (the pen tip extends and retracts through the stylus, but unlike those cheap disposable promo pens, the stylus on this pen is firm and very usable).

Android Apps

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[work in progress] I have an old Android Nexus tablet that was collecting dust. Thought I’d see what was available that might serve as a backup to my iPad/Stratus setup (the Nexus has a built-in GPS and more screen real estate than my iPhone, and it was sitting in a drawer unused, so why not?). This isn’t a comprehensive review of the platforms. I’m not going to use an Android app to plan a flight, file a flight plan, get a DUATS briefing, check weather, etc. I’m very comfortable with ForeFlight for that, and don’t have a reason to change. My focus is on the apps generally, how usable they are if, say, I was being vectored for an approach and my iPad and G430 failed suddenly. (By the hand of a DPE, say.) If I was going to grab the Nexus from my flight bag and fire it up, how useful would it be to (re)acquire situational awareness, find and brief the appropriate approach plate, etc. Just for the sake of completeness, I also downloaded Garmin Pilot , which has a 30 day free tri
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Just a few updates... I ended up getting the new RAM claw for yoke mounting ( RAP-B-400U , $26), and it's a lot less cumbersome both in the cockpit and in my flight bag. Meanwhile, I also got a suction cup base ( RAM-B-224-1U , $16) for use in the Cirrus: I also got my complex endorsement, and have been racking up time in a PA28R-200 Arrow II. My first landing after my insurance-mandated 5 hours with a CFI:

Timer+ for IFR approaches etc.

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So I almost pulled the trigger on an ASA timer , or the Sporty’s rebranded kitchen timer , or something similar. Which was going to mean a yoke clip with a spot to velcro the timer, hold approach plates, etc. And then I was gonna get a knee clip for the iPad. (I’m bouncing between an SR22 with a side-stick, and rental PA28s.) Instead, I found the perfect timer app: Timer+ . You can pre-specify countdown timers (e.g., at 90 kts, the time from the final approach fix to the missed approach point on the CNO 26R ILS is 2:56) that can be named and started with a tap: When the unexpected happens and you have to setup a new count-down timer on the fly, tap the lightning bolt, tap in the time (2-5-6) (no scrolling through Apple’s weird timer setup, in turbulence, for the win), and hit Start when you’re ready to activate it: Super easy, and a couple of taps away when you’ve got the approach plate loaded in ForeFlight (ForeFlight should have a pop-up timer, too, but that’s a

Getting OS X 10.11 El Capitan printing to a color Ricoh MP C2503

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This is nominally flying related (’cause, IDK, printing approach plates and charts...) Mostly I just wanted to create a permanent record somewhere of the incantations required to get this to work. Problem : The Ricoh MP C2503 printer at the office doesn’t have Postscript installed (verified on the Configuration Page , which, under System Reference, lists “Printer Language[s],” in this case, Adobe PDF, RPCS, PCL5c, and PCL XL, but no Postscript). The official Ricoh driver for OS X is a Postscript Printer Description (“PPD”) file. Not useful if your printer doesn’t support Postscript. Apple does ship a “Generic PCL Printer Driver” with OS X, but it only prints in greyscale, and I needed color support. Solution : Install Ghostscript (I used 1.9, available as a .pkg here:  http://pages.uoregon.edu/koch/   [Ghostscript-9.19.pkg] ) Install Foomatic-RIP (I used 4.0.6-230, available here:  http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/macosx/foomatic  [foomatic-

Cockpit Updates

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Not a lot to mention. I sold my XGPS150A, and picked up a used Stratus 1. It’s nice having traffic and weather in ForeFlight: ( Yeah, potentially could have built something roughly equivalent in a Stratux, but I like having a known-quantity all-in-one solution for not substantially more money. I love open source, but I'm not sure I want to rely on volunteer code when aviating. ) Other than that, just flying. Started IFR training (back at DuBois , who continue to impress). I’ve also been fortunate enough to clock a number of hours (including some actual IMC time, both hand-flying and under autopilot) in a friendly Cirrus SR22 (Avidyne Ex5000 glass cockpit): Love flying that plane. 150kts at ~12 gph, and (contrary to what I’ve heard from others), it’s the easiest plane I’ve ever landed. Or maybe I’m just a better pilot than I was before. Either way. after my first three landings, I’ve greased it in every time. Meanwhile, Proteus has a nifty new simulator