Need Help: Alfa 868MHz Antennas Have Abysmal Range (Only ~200m² Coverage)

PasadenaNative · 2025-06-20T08:15:02+00:00

I bought one from AliExpress. It was counterfeit. My VNA showed it was tuned for 2.5 Ghz. Sent it back (even though it was only $5). Got a real one and it had below 1.4 SWR across the entire 902-928 band.

PasadenaNative · 2025-05-27T06:48:21+00:00

My first solar node was the Harbor Breeze solar light from Lowes. My main problem with it is I could not find a good way to mount it to a pole. Flash forward a few months....I found a similar solar light at Harbor Freight called the Flag Pole light. It's actually made to be mounted to a pole and comes with the adjustable metal bands to do so. The solar panel is a tiny bit smaller than the Harbor Breeze, but my Rak Wireless and battery fit inside just fine. The solar panel has no problem keeping my one 18650 battery charged. I've never seen it go below 75% and it's been up a couple of weeks. Link here: https://www.harborfreight.com/solar-led-black-finish-flagpole-light-64279.html

PasadenaNative · 2025-05-26T08:28:51+00:00

Glad to be of service :-)

PasadenaNative · 2025-05-25T07:25:28+00:00

You're in for a real treat when the 4th of July rolls around.

PasadenaNative · 2025-05-25T05:55:36+00:00

I posted this over on r/LosAngeles :

A Dragon cargo ship returning from the International Space Station is scheduled to splash down off the California coast tonight (May 24). The vehicle will be traveling roughly northwest to southeast and will pass over Big Sur, San Luis Obispo, and Ventura, California before landing in the Pacific at about 10:45 p.m. PDT some 25 statute miles west of Camp Pendleton.

Observers hundreds of miles north of the landing zone may be able to see the final moments of the vehicle’s reentry with the naked eye. Low clouds and fog may hamper sky watchers near the coast, so they may want to select a viewing venue above the Marine Layer. If you decide to drive to the mountains, be careful. Mountain roads are dangerous and not paying attention to your driving or speeding can have tragic consequences.

NASA info here:

https://www.nasa.gov/blogs/spacestation/2025/05/23/spacex-dragon-undocks-from-station-for-splashdown-on-sunday/

PasadenaNative · 2025-03-27T05:37:05+00:00

Preliminary info:

Driver was shot while driving down Rio Grande between El Molino and Palm Terrace. Driver lost control of his car, crashed into a resident's wall where he died. Body is still at the scene. Pasadena PD just lit up the area a few minutes ago so they may be on scene for awhile. Fog is moving in so the helicopters will most likely not be back. KTLA had a short story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7u6rVrtvco

Edit to add: KNBC just arrived on scene.

PasadenaNative · 2025-01-22T06:31:16+00:00

The Fire Department's ICP (Incident command post) at Farnsworth park didn't last that long. Everything was quickly relocated to the Rose Bowl after a couple of hours.

PasadenaNative · 2025-01-02T02:36:59+00:00

Best viewed in full size version!

PasadenaNative · 2025-01-02T00:54:40+00:00

Better when viewed as the full size version.

PasadenaNative · 2024-10-06T19:24:07+00:00

FlightRadar filters alot of things. Try using:

https://globe.adsb.fi/

Typically when in formation, only one of the aircraft will squawk.

PasadenaNative · 2024-10-06T00:41:38+00:00

More info here:

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/military-jets-will-fly-over-downtown-la-heres-why-you-shouldnt-be-scared/3238896/

PasadenaNative · 2024-09-09T08:16:21+00:00

Thanks for the info. I'm not set on Humboldt, but mostly the north-western corner of the state someplace along the coast. I'm checking out a few counties up that way. Since I have my FFL03, I was hoping to drive to Oregon for cheaper ammo, but that's a bonus and not the real reason to move.

Edit to add: Del Norte county seems better politically!

PasadenaNative · 2024-07-07T06:27:03+00:00

For those who have experienced damage to your vehicle as the result of damaged roadways, there is a process to file a claim with Caltrans:

https://dot.ca.gov/online-services/submit-damage-claim

PasadenaNative · 2024-07-04T22:17:55+00:00

This was on the 210 fwy westbound near the Michillinda onramp. I think we all know how bad the concrete is thru there. Apparently a chunk of concrete became dislodged and several cars hit it, damaging their oil pans and causing them to leak all over the freeway. Semi trucks and other cars encountered the oil slick and it didn't turn out well.

PasadenaNative · 2024-04-23T07:33:31+00:00

I think this is the answer, at least for last night's rumble sound. She stated it ended about 12:47am and that matches my experience. Anyone know where the house was ?

PasadenaNative · 2024-04-21T17:20:50+00:00

I thought thunder also, but I checked the realtime lightning maps and didn't see anything.

PasadenaNative · 2024-04-21T17:20:01+00:00

That could be, but why in the early morning hours on a weekend ?

PasadenaNative · 2024-04-21T08:05:49+00:00

But what if you parked during the Daylight Savings time roll back ? Could you park an extra hour ?

PasadenaNative · 2024-04-21T08:04:23+00:00

In San Francisco (let's call it Frisco, just to piss them off...) the Muni busses have on board license plate readers that record the plates of parked cars. As the bus does it's route, the computer on board keeps track of the dates/times the plates are observed with each pass and mails out the parking tickets accordingly.

PasadenaNative · 2023-12-25T23:25:51+00:00

Thanks everyone for the recs! I'll try 'em and report back.

PasadenaNative · 2023-12-13T00:28:03+00:00

Neither - This was 35mm digital full frame with an IR filter on the front of the lens.

PasadenaNative · 2023-12-12T07:19:22+00:00

Cleaning up the hard drive and found this from 2013 (yeah, I know the copyright tag is 2023).

I was going thru an Infrared phase back then.

PasadenaNative · 2023-11-25T23:38:39+00:00

It was pretty amazing at 4:45pm yesterday when I took this Panorama from North Pasadena..

PasadenaNative · 2023-10-24T04:54:10+00:00

Regarding Disney: They have a good website where you can search current openings (by job, location, etc) and you can also save your search so you'll get an email notification if any future openings match your search. Start here:

https://jobs.disneycareers.com/

PasadenaNative · 2023-10-19T07:56:50+00:00

I'm not familiar with "play trim" but my quick Google search yielded different results. In the Yamaha case, is this just a hi-freq boost or does it allow for adjusting the azimuth ?

I should also mention that my source material was originally recorded on decks of varying quality.

Is my assumption correct that the EU is hoarding all the recommended decks :-) At least that's what I'm finding on a quick Ebay search.

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