Big Blue's Transformation

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, that's how it works.

And then you can also go into the radio settings and move where the sound* seems to be coming from.

IIRC, there are various 'concert' settings that make it seem the sound is in front of you rather than around you.

I think I'm just set to (3)

I think I understand. The system I had in my Miata had DSP and you could use a mic to not only set the delays but also the frequency response. It ran through several test patterns at various frequencies and auto-tuned the EQ. Worked wonders.

Sounds like this one only adjusts the delay, and while 1 or 3 may work fine, the fact that my rear channels are actually above the ears and only slightly to the rear may make using the mic very beneficial. Otherwise the rear channel sound will get to the ears well ahead of the front channel sound, which will muddy things.

As for the "concert" setting, I'm intrigued. Yesterday I was sitting in my chair in the shop and became aware of the way sound was coming out of my Bose speakers when listening to 60's music. I have a center channel wired up as the difference between the left and right channels, and it works very well. Whatever song was on started in the left, slid through the center to the right, and then came back to the center. It was impressive.

So the radio may be doing something like that through DSP. It certainly can be done, and can be quite effective. I think I'm really going to like this thing!

[ArdWrknTrk]

I think I understand. The system I had in my Miata had DSP and you could use a mic to not only set the delays but also the frequency response. It ran through several test patterns at various frequencies and auto-tuned the EQ. Worked wonders.

Sounds like this one only adjusts the delay, and while 1 or 3 may work fine, the fact that my rear channels are actually above the ears and only slightly to the rear may make using the mic very beneficial. Otherwise the rear channel sound will get to the ears well ahead of the front channel sound, which will muddy things.

As for the "concert" setting, I'm intrigued. Yesterday I was sitting in my chair in the shop and became aware of the way sound was coming out of my Bose speakers when listening to 60's music. I have a center channel wired up as the difference between the left and right channels, and it works very well. Whatever song was on started in the left, slid through the center to the right, and then came back to the center. It was impressive.

So the radio may be doing something like that through DSP. It certainly can be done, and can be quite effective. I think I'm really going to like this thing!

I'll let you play with all that.

I'm too low brow to have a real appreciation for it anyhow.

The cab is really coming together!

I hope you don't need the inverter to run your furnace.

 

[Gary Lewis]

I'll let you play with all that.

I'm too low brow to have a real appreciation for it anyhow.

The cab is really coming together!

I hope you don't need the inverter to run your furnace.

Thanks, Jim. I think I'm going to like everything I've done on and in the cab. It has become a clean and presentable place to ride, with plenty of creature comforts and lots of usable technology. No, not the heated & cooled seats that massage you like Blue has, with automatic temp control. But old school systems that work - save for the radio which is hardly old school.

As for the storm, it has started and the NWS says we are to get 5 - 8 inches with locally higher amounts possible. And that given the cold and dryness of the snow, we will have lots of drifting. But while that is a lot more than we've had in quite some time, it doesn't sound like conditions that will take out the power. And while we could use BB to power the furnace, a lot of our friends don't have that capability so I hope that doesn't happen.

[Nothing Special]

.... So, the possibility of losing electricity exists. But all I'd have to do is to use BB's inverter to power the garage door in the shop and then drive him to the front of the house and use the inverter to power the furnace. I could run the furnace a while and then start the truck and charge the battery. The rear tank is full, so we could do that for quite a while....

-20 this morning here north of the frozen tundra (Minneapolis is actually farther north than Green Bay). But fortunately no storms. When it gets this cold here we usually have beautiful blue clear skies, which is what we have today, with the bonus of no wind. Still, it's COLD!!!

A few years back we lost power for several days following a big thunder storm. I was lucky to find a generator (most stores were sold out) to get our sump pump going (it was desperately needed). But now with the motorhome sitting in the driveway with its generator we've left the other generator at my folks cabin. Not as necessary to have a backup there, but it was sure nice to have running water (not hot though), lights, a fridge and a microwave when we were cleaning up after the wind storm a couple years ago.

[Gary Lewis]

.... So, the possibility of losing electricity exists. But all I'd have to do is to use BB's inverter to power the garage door in the shop and then drive him to the front of the house and use the inverter to power the furnace. I could run the furnace a while and then start the truck and charge the battery. The rear tank is full, so we could do that for quite a while....

-20 this morning here north of the frozen tundra (Minneapolis is actually farther north than Green Bay). But fortunately no storms. When it gets this cold here we usually have beautiful blue clear skies, which is what we have today, with the bonus of no wind. Still, it's COLD!!!

A few years back we lost power for several days following a big thunder storm. I was lucky to find a generator (most stores were sold out) to get our sump pump going (it was desperately needed). But now with the motorhome sitting in the driveway with its generator we've left the other generator at my folks cabin. Not as necessary to have a backup there, but it was sure nice to have running water (not hot though), lights, a fridge and a microwave when we were cleaning up after the wind storm a couple years ago.

You have us beat on the cold, but then you are more used to it than we are. Supposed to hit -7 tonight and -9 tomorrow night and then warm up some.

About 10 years ago we had an ice storm and were without power for 36 hours. Of course the furnaces didn't work, but the fireplace with its gas logs did, as did the gas-powered water heater. But the gas logs didn't do a whole lot, and we found out later why - there was no insulation in the ceiling. There is a LOT of insulation up there now, so the gas logs are really warming things up right now.

At the time I was looking for a 3KW to a 5KW generator, but they were all sold out. Now, with the 3KW inverter in BB I can at least run the furnace every once in a while, and could power a few lights quite easily. But hopefully I won't need to, although people from church lost their power a couple of hours ago.

[Machspeed]

You have us beat on the cold, but then you are more used to it than we are. Supposed to hit -7 tonight and -9 tomorrow night and then warm up some.

About 10 years ago we had an ice storm and were without power for 36 hours. Of course the furnaces didn't work, but the fireplace with its gas logs did, as did the gas-powered water heater. But the gas logs didn't do a whole lot, and we found out later why - there was no insulation in the ceiling. There is a LOT of insulation up there now, so the gas logs are really warming things up right now.

At the time I was looking for a 3KW to a 5KW generator, but they were all sold out. Now, with the 3KW inverter in BB I can at least run the furnace every once in a while, and could power a few lights quite easily. But hopefully I won't need to, although people from church lost their power a couple of hours ago.

It's 5 degrees here in my little town of Wagoner OK right now and I'm hating it! I spent a year in Iceland and I swear the cold here is more bitter and just bites to the bone. Maybe I was tougher, I don't know. Still, I hate cold weather and this is as far north as I ever want to live! Feel for you guys up north.

[Gary Lewis]

It's 5 degrees here in my little town of Wagoner OK right now and I'm hating it! I spent a year in Iceland and I swear the cold here is more bitter and just bites to the bone. Maybe I was tougher, I don't know. Still, I hate cold weather and this is as far north as I ever want to live! Feel for you guys up north.

A year in Iceland? We spent a couple of days there two years ago. It was interesting, but the best thing I remember was The Blue Lagoon. 58F and raining, but the heat sure felt good. (Yes, I know it is man-made.)

[Nothing Special]

It's 5 degrees here in my little town of Wagoner OK right now and I'm hating it! I spent a year in Iceland and I swear the cold here is more bitter and just bites to the bone. Maybe I was tougher, I don't know. Still, I hate cold weather and this is as far north as I ever want to live! Feel for you guys up north.

Yeah, we get the cold here, but we hardly ever get ice storms, so I'll take that trade! We'll get black ice on roads when it gets really cold, but that doesn't happen very often. And I don't know if I've ever lost power in the winter. Out on the prairies the blizzards can put you in a world of hurt, but in the cities or in the woods that's not much of an issue either. So our winters aren't nearly as bad as people might think.

[Machspeed]

A year in Iceland? We spent a couple of days there two years ago. It was interesting, but the best thing I remember was The Blue Lagoon. 58F and raining, but the heat sure felt good. (Yes, I know it is man-made.)

The lagoon is natural geothermal while the facilities around it are man made. That's what you mean, correct? It is an incredible experience and one I delved in many times while I was there. Can you believe I was sitting in that lagoon in temperatures below 32 degrees while it was snowing! I was totally warm too!

Gary, were there trees there when you visited two years ago? When I was there back in 1988-89 there was not a single tree on the island, except for what was intentionally planted and cared for. What were you doing there?

The airport that you landed in was built and paid for by the US government. It was a US Naval Air Station that had a USAF F-15 detachment for which I was a part of. Back in those days, the Russians used to like to send their Bear Bombers over into the Icelandic Airspace for which our F-15s would intercept and escort out. Man, it is quite a sight to see an F-15 take off near vertically in full after burner.

The Icelandic's in Keflavic and Reykjavik didn't care for us much and we were very careful in our associations with them out in public. Issues with native Icelandic's could get an American airman or sailor into big trouble. The smaller communities welcomed us. From what I understand, we no longer have a presence there and it hurt them immensely economically when we left there. It was a wonderful experience to be there, but I longed to be back in America!

[Rembrant]

Still, I hate cold weather and this is as far north as I ever want to live! Feel for you guys up north.

Ha! I've lived in Canada my whole life, and I still hate the cold. Luckily it's fairly mild where I live on the coast. We didn't have any snow until a week ago, and daytime temps were usually above freezing (32-40F). Last Sunday though, we got about 16" of snow in 12 hours, and it's been cold ever since (Daytime temps 19-20F). Last week my neighbors lawn was as green as it was in the summer.

Summers are nice here though. 80F is hot for me, and 85F too hot lol. If the winters were a little milder here, I'd be happy.

I lived where it hits -40F, and I've worked where it hits 125F, so I've experienced the full scale, and if there's a place that I could live where it was about 65-75F and dry all year round, that's where I'd like to be...lol.