Author Topic: Howdy from Dallas!  (Read 4740 times)

dfw_pilot

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Howdy from Dallas!
« on: January 26, 2016, 01:59:36 AM »
Howdy guys!

I suppose it's time I say hello. I'm Toby, and live in Lewisville, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas.

I love Jesus and don't know where I'd be without his eternal and matchless grace. For a living, I fly the 747 for an international carrier and most of my trips involve US-HKG-US flying. It really is a cool job, but I'm gone way more than I would like and miss my wife and three daughters (ages three, two, and five months) a lot while on the road. For hobbies, I really enjoy photography and have built up more Nikon equipment than I should admit. I also really like lawn care and enjoy the boys (and a few gals) on the forum over at AroundTheYard.com. With water at a pricey premium down here, the chance to monitor and more accurately water my lawn while I'm away on trips was what initially brought me to look at a Davis PWS. Now, thanks to a connected irrigation controller and my Davis PWS, I can check on the lawn, the rain, and the E/T, all from my phone.

I also have a geeky interest in model railroading, telescopes, marine reef tank aquaria, and WordPress. I really enjoy the Meteobridge product and use it to upload to all my selected weather networks. It's great because even if the computer goes down, it still sends all my data. However, I really enjoy WeatherCat too, especially for logging data, custom website publishing, and those sexy blue gauges. I don't like to have all my eggs in one basket, so the combination of the Meteobridge and WeatherCat is good for fault tolerance and each can back up the other. Because the Meteobridge is IP based, I just tell WeatherCat I have weatherlink and point it to the IP. So far, so good.

My WeatherCat website is over at CastleHillsNorth.com and any advice, tips, or tricks are always appreciated. A special thanks to Steve for pointing the way via the WXI template. Though, like him, very little of the original remains! I know so little about html and css that I bumble along for an hour to get done what programmers could do in minutes. However, that's all part of the fun!

I won't even mention politics or how much I love Ted Cruz or how much of a hoax global warming is . . . oops, I just did. At some point I'd like to add an IP camera to my site and to Wunderground via WeatherCat, but that will be a future project.  Y'all are great and I look forward to learning all I can from you about WeatherCat, web publishing, and making the weather station experience great.

A clear conscience is a great pillow.


Steve

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Re: Howdy from Dallas!
« Reply #1 on: January 26, 2016, 02:43:26 AM »
Hi, Toby! :)

Wow! That's the same template as I have? You've sure spruced it up and added some color. That looks great!

From your template post:
If interested, I can send you a zip file of my various pages for reference. They are a real mess, as I've added and removed stuff over the years.
Steve
Steve, I am interested! I promise not to copy, but I'd love to use your fantastic site as a good reference for an html/css newbie like myself. I'll take whatever you are willing to share, thanks!
Cripes! I was going to do this for you and totally forgot until I saw your intro post. Still want to see what I've got, or are you done for now.

Sorry,
Steve
Steve - Avon, Ohio, USA


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dfw_pilot

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Re: Howdy from Dallas!
« Reply #2 on: January 26, 2016, 02:53:16 AM »
No sweat, Steve. I think I'm finished with it for now. You are right - it's a lot of work to go from the original old wxi file (that had errors in the html) to what I have now, but it's been a fun project, for sure.
A clear conscience is a great pillow.


elagache

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Welcome! (Re: Howdy from Dallas!)
« Reply #3 on: January 26, 2016, 03:28:25 AM »
Dear WeatherCat welcoming committee,

Sorry an even longer day, but still the same reply . . .

Welcome Toby to the WeatherCat forum!

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

Bull Winkus

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Re: Howdy from Dallas!
« Reply #4 on: January 26, 2016, 05:12:35 AM »
Welcome Toby from Lewisville, TX! The site looks great. You must be a quick study artist!

 [cheers1]
Herb

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Re: Howdy from Dallas!
« Reply #5 on: January 26, 2016, 07:27:58 AM »
Toby:

Welcome to the WeatherCat Forum. I just took a look at your site. Nice work. I lived in Texas for 30 years and was finally driven out by the weather.
Blick


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Re: Howdy from Dallas!
« Reply #6 on: January 26, 2016, 12:16:19 PM »
Greetings from a little jaunt down 35. Nice site and welcome to WC!


Alan

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Re: Howdy from Dallas!
« Reply #7 on: January 26, 2016, 06:13:47 PM »
Welcome Toby!
Reinhard


elagache

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Feel free to tell us more about your station. (Re: Howdy from Dallas!)
« Reply #8 on: January 27, 2016, 11:25:17 PM »
Hi Toby and WeatherCat station caregivers,

Sorry, I'm parallel processing on your introduction as well.

I suppose it's time I say hello. I'm Toby, and live in Lewisville, Texas, a suburb north of Dallas.

If you feel up to it, feel free to post something about your station setup.  You could put it here or there is a thread for sample station setups:

http://athena.trixology.com/index.php?topic=969.0


I really enjoy photography and have built up more Nikon equipment than I should admit.

In that case, you might enjoy trying to contribute some photos to this thread:

http://athena.trixology.com/index.php?topic=1842.0

There are lots of photo nuts supposedly on this forum but they don't seem to be as good at putting their photos where their interest is!  ;D

I also have a geeky interest in model railroading, telescopes

Model railroading - huh?  Ya' mean something this?



It is an old Christmas card, sorry I didn't have anything else handy.  So ya' got any pictures of your model railroad?  :D

And telescopes - huh?  Like this?



Also a handy photo.  So do you have any pictures of your astronomical exploits?

 ;) . . . . . Come 'on man, . . . . get to work!! . . . .  [biggrin]

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

dfw_pilot

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Info
« Reply #9 on: January 28, 2016, 11:50:50 AM »
Done.

and

Done.

As far as aquariums, telescope, and trains, I have a keen interest but don't have any yet. I'm currently in the planning stages for all three.

I'd like to build a ceiling mounted train in our retreat/play room for my young girls. The more I plan, the more complex it gets and the tougher it all becomes. I'm going to build an O-scale on FasTrack about 18" down from the ceiling and then try to build a truss/bridge system to cross a few open sections of the room. The more I plan an aquarium, the more complex and expen$ive it all becomes, too. We were going to get a 20 gallon for the girls, then 55, and at last check, we are planning on a 150 reef tank. Those things need a salt water mixing tank, fresh RODI water, and all sorts of add ons that are quickly blowing that project into big bucks. The telescope (again, for me and the kids) seems like the simplest thing to get, and probably the most peaceful. I'm looking at a 12" truss dob so that it will collapse enough to fit in our small car to take it out into the darkness. I'll post pics when all this is complete one year!! Been up all night, time for bed . . .

All the best,

dfw
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xairbusdriver

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Re: Howdy from Dallas!
« Reply #10 on: January 28, 2016, 05:35:12 PM »
"Time to say hello!" Hope your flights are closer to 'on-time' than your 'hellos'! [lol2] Anyway, after several PM's and replies to your posts...Welcome AboaRd, Toby!

Good "morning" Toby and welcome back from your trip? (RE)Aligning your "day" with the families is always fun, isn't it? Few people know much about circadian rhythms like you and I do. That's why I decided to bid contiguous US trips and was senior enough to make them daylight only! [rockon] Hang in there and get lots of rest!

I posted some questions about the 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in gauge track on the thread where you have some shots of your backyard. No need to repeat here. I'm surprised that you don't have an outdoor layout! And a fressh-water pond (much less trouble than those aquariums for 'foreigners') to build a bridge over!

I spent a weekend in Lewisville a couple of years ago attending a church-related sound tech seminar (First Baptist, I think). Was later welcomed by the Texas State Department of Transportation with a 'request' for a small fee after I used the Sam Rayburn Tollway. Apparently, it's more cost effective to use technology to find names & addresses from license plate data than to man toll booths. :)
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Those that use metric = #1 Measurement system
And the United States = The Banana system


dfw_pilot

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Response
« Reply #11 on: January 28, 2016, 08:32:06 PM »
Here's my response to you from the other thread.

Thanks!!
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elagache

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RailModeller, telescopes, and unlimited aquariums! (Re: Info)
« Reply #12 on: January 28, 2016, 11:18:54 PM »
Dear Toby, X-Air, and WeatherCat victims of . . . . . too many hobbies! . . .

As far as aquariums, telescope, and trains, I have a keen interest but don't have any yet. I'm currently in the planning stages for all three.

 ;) . . . . Now ain't that a darn shame! . . . .  [biggrin]

I'd like to build a ceiling mounted train in our retreat/play room for my young girls. The more I plan, the more complex it gets and the tougher it all becomes. I'm going to build an O-scale on FasTrack about 18" down from the ceiling and then try to build a truss/bridge system to cross a few open sections of the room.

 [wink] . . . . You don't get this model railroad concept do you?  It isn't for your kids to play with - it is for you to play with!! . . .  [biggrin]

I don't know if this is helping for making the project even more difficult, but there is a model railroad and slot car specific CAD program for Mac called Railmodeller.  I wrote up a review of it a while back:

http://athena.trixology.com/index.php?topic=1843.msg16429#msg16429

I found it extremely helpful in creating my current model railroad layout.  It is especially handy because you can do the "what-if" scenarios without a lot of mocking up.  Since there is never enough space for a model railroad making the best use of the space you've got is always important and a CAD program does help with that.

The more I plan an aquarium, the more complex and expen$ive it all becomes, too. We were going to get a 20 gallon for the girls, then 55, and at last check, we are planning on a 150 reef tank.

Well, I used to be into that sort of thing eventually I decided there was no substitute for the real thing and took up scuba diving!



Alas, I was forced to give it up around 2000 and my camera was the Nikonos V which is very much a 35 mm film camera.  So I don't have a lot of images scanned into digital archives.

Scuba displaced my amateur astronomy efforts so those photos are even older.  Here is another handy photo taken in the late 1980s I would guess:



Alas all my hobbies are seriously obsolete.  My "super-deluxe" dual-mode 8" f/4.5 Newtonian and f/20 Cassegrain telescope never did have a really suitable mount.  I bought in 2003 a Meade LXD-75 telescope but never got a chance to really use it.  Today you can buy dedicated DSLRs for astrophotography and that's just the tip of the iceberg!

As to scuba, my gear is worn out, my tanks out of hydro, and my venerable Nikonos V probably needs to be rebuilt.  Even here you can find digital cameras to replace film cameras:

http://www.sealife-cameras.com/cameras/dc1400

Nikon hasn't announced a digital underwater camera yet, but Nikon does have a DSLR designed for astronomy, so it may be only a matter of time.

So many toys  . . . . so little time!  [biggrin]

Cheers, Edouard  [cheers1]

dfw_pilot

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Sweet
« Reply #13 on: January 31, 2016, 04:28:10 PM »
Edouard, dude, those are sweet pics. Guys like you and XAir are right up my alley, interests and all.

You must speak from experience about the trains being as much for me as my kids because I think you are on to something there. As far as scuba, I'll have to live vicariously through your memories as I'd probably be a chicken when it comes to going too far under water. I earn my living staying and remaining well above the mean sea level.

The Nikonos system was one heck of a system, and even though I don't use it, I too am sorry all that classic stuff was discontinued. I'd love to get a telescope system that plays well with a dslr, but then that means equatorials, refractors, and motor drives. I might get there someday, but for now am just looking to get an affordable dob.

All the best.
A clear conscience is a great pillow.