JdFinley.com

Fulltime RV Living Adventures

Internet Speed Test

My current home is in a rural area south of Albuquerque, NM. Century Link (formerly Qwest) is the only land-based Internet service provider. They charge $76.80 per month for a “High Speed Internet” DSL line.  All of my neighbors complain of terrible performance and we all suffer from terrible performance after any good rain.  The… [Read More]

CPAP Trouble

I spent the weekend packing and preparing to move onto the boat. I have sleep apnea and use a CPAP machine and nose mask while sleeping.  This is a “Constant Positive Airway Pressure” machine that helps to prevent snoring which prevents the constant interruption of sleep.  The device that I have (ResMed Escape S8) has both… [Read More]

Velocity Cruz Tablet Update

I tried. A lockup/restart problem finally took it’s toll on me so I have returned the tablet computer that I described here (kind of a review). The Velocity Cruz T310 Google Android 2.2 7″ tablet pc (pictured here) was a pretty good deal considering the price. I knew it was not the best nor highest performing unit.  If it… [Read More]

Velocity Cruz Tablet

I really wanted to get some experience with tablet pc computing. Actually, there was some “need” for this based on my profession and the desire of some of “my” customers to work with tablets.  I have been using my Samsung Galaxy S 4G phone for about six months now and love it.  I could easily… [Read More]

APRS

I was doing some thinking about the benefits of having a Ham Radio license after writing my previous post.  One of the things that came to mind was APRS (Automatic Position Reporting System). I had not thought of this since I was thinking of adding to my airplane so others could see my position/movement.  In… [Read More]

Nikon CoolPix S3100 Camera

CoolPix cameras are…. well… kewl! There are many things that I am not – photographer is one of them.  Nonetheless, I do like to take pictures.  My last digital camera was a rather old Sony CyberShot. It died due to being dropped – NOT by me!!  It was time for a new camera. I always… [Read More]

EarthNC Android App

There is a slick app available at the Android Market titled EarthNC. It is described as “seamless charts, user waypoints, and realtime navigation. …features seamless NOAA marine charts for US waters, user waypoints, and realtime navigation.” I downloaded it and have been playing with it for a couple of weeks (on my Samsung Galaxy S… [Read More]

Garmin 441 GPS Chartplotter

I purchased the excellent Garmin 441s chartplotter in the spring of 2011.  So far, I really like it.  I would not claim to have fully utilized it or played with every feature – there are many! I agonized over where to mount it.  I have seen a lot of installations with the unit inside the cabin… [Read More]

A Fuse

I have this neat 12 volt electric  fan on the boat. Last time I plugged it in, the inline fuse blew.  I made a trip to the auto parts store to pickup a new fuse today, installed it, plugged the fan in, and ….. nothing.  I took a look at the fuse and, yup –… [Read More]

Electrical System

I have always been very interested in solar energy. The sun is a very powerful resource of which we, as a planet, are simply not taking full advantage.  A few years ago I calculated the equipment needed to supply 100% of the electricity requirements by my home.  The cost was rather astounding and enough for… [Read More]