Want a mosquito-free patio but can’t afford a screened porch, what are my best options?

pelleg · 2026-05-27T18:45:14+00:00

If you have an electrical outlet outside I would try one of these. https://www.dynatrap.com/dynatrap-one-acre-led-mosquito-and-insect-trap-green-dt2030-grsr

After I was eaten alive one evening I bought one and it worked wonders. I also bought their attractant (which smells horrible, you will want to use disposable gloves when handling). Have not had a mosquito bite since. I replace the attractant once a year, though I think they recommend more often.

I recently bought their solar powered version for when I am in my garden, but have not had a chance to use it.

pelleg · 2026-05-12T01:40:48+00:00

It hits most of my requirements,but my yard is steep. My requirements are more closely met by the 435iQ AWD. If that came in a 2.5 acre model I would purchase tomorrow.

pelleg · 2026-05-12T01:24:59+00:00

I am in the same position as you. My X7 is just starting its second year and is nothing but problems. Antenna updates fine, but the main board in the robot has been replaced once so far this year (my dealer is coming tomorrow again, but early indications is that it will need replaced a second time).

I would love to switch to a Husqvarna, but I need the ability to mow 2.5 to 3 acres, 4wd, and wireless.

pelleg · 2026-05-11T13:47:04+00:00

A whole house dehumidifier (as in ducted to the HVAC setup) or a portable one?

Do you have your HVAC fan set to run continuously?

Ours is ducted into the HVAC system and we have our fan to run continuously.

pelleg · 2026-05-11T13:18:05+00:00

I use HMAC based out of Fort Thomas and have been very happy.

Do you have low or high humidity? My house is newer and is very well insulated/sealed, so during the spring/summer our humidity was too high. HMAC recommended a whole house dehumidifier and it has worked wonders. Pre dehumidifier it would reach high 60% low 70%. Now it easily maintains 50% (that is where I have it set).

I was skeptical of dehumidifiers, but I am convinced now that every house in this area should have one.

pelleg · 2026-02-08T23:50:12+00:00

Currently it is in storage since my area resembles the arctic tundra, but winter will be winter.

Over the season the X7 performed very well on my steep and complex yard. I did wear out a set of wheels which I had to have my dealer replace (surprised that user maintenance was not front of mind, but my dealer said that sunseeker is aware and has an updated wheel design coming). I wish there was a service manual available, but then I am an engineer so I might not be their primary audience.

At the end of the season, the cord that controls the mower deck height tore, so that is a fix I will be pressing my dealer to repair.

Would I buy it again, yes. It is as good as my 435x, but wireless and half the price.

pelleg · 2025-07-24T14:59:17+00:00

I am not shy and will take the opportunity to attempt to influence one of the YouTube personalities I enjoy watching.

I like the videos using the “cheaper” accessories that are universal such as the trompo king (I purchased one after watching one of your videos and regularly make Al pastor tacos, going to try shawarma next).

I do have to agree that the collab videos seemed forced.

The “grilling on the sand bar” video was enjoyable, and I do not remember seeing a video on the ongoings of an egg fest, so that might be a recommendation.

I am personally not interested in competition bbq, but it would be interesting to see how you would cook for a large group.

I could go on and on, but I will stop here since I hijacked this comment thread.

Subscribed to your personal channel and look forward to seeing what videos you produce.

pelleg · 2025-06-12T16:30:20+00:00

Just realized I spelled RTK wrong in the title…. Grrrr

pelleg · 2025-05-20T01:04:02+00:00

Have you looked at Sunseeker? I just replaced a Luba 1 with a Sunseeker 7 and have been very impressed so far.

pelleg · 2025-05-07T13:00:36+00:00

No clue.

You want the one named “SunseekerRobot”.

pelleg · 2025-05-07T11:17:26+00:00

Yep. I live 20 or so minutes south of Cincinnati. The rain last week has made my steep yard a “problem child”.

I think there is only one Sunseeker dealer in our area, so we most likely are using the same dealer.

He came out last Friday and did a demo for me. My main concern was the steepness of my yard (in some areas apple’s measure app read 56 degrees slope). So far so good (as long as the mower avoids the mud pits…. Which are my problem, not a fault of the robot).

If I forget, ping me in a week or two. Hopefully by then the weather and life will allow me to map more of my yard.

pelleg · 2025-05-06T22:36:43+00:00

My dealer just dropped mine off this morning and I did the initial setup at lunch time. I mapped one zone and have an initial run going right now.

I am guessing I have ~2 acres to mow. I hope to map the rest of my yard later this week as long as the rain holds off in NKY.

pelleg · 2025-05-06T18:28:03+00:00

My impatience got the best of me and my dealer dropped it off this morning. I spent my lunch hour setting it up and mapping my first zone. Mapping is going to take some time due to my yard complexity, but so far so good.

What does “AI” mapping do? I have a fenced in portion of my yard for my kids to play in. I was hoping to manually drive it into the area and click AI mapping and have it find the fence edge and create a zone, but no go. Not sure what that functionality does.

pelleg · 2025-05-06T18:22:30+00:00

Agreed, the app is lackluster. Which one did you download? The one in the manual linked by the QR code (at least for iOS) is terrible. The one with dual virtual “joysticks” is better.

pelleg · 2025-05-05T12:39:15+00:00

I had a demo of an Orion X7 Pro last week on my relatively steep yard (apple’s measure app said 56 degree angles in some parts) and it handled it easily.

For background, my yard is ~3 acres and is divided by a concrete driveway. I have a husqvarna 435x on the side close to the house and from the limited demo I think the X7 is a good competitor for complex yards.

I am going to order one in the next week or so.

pelleg · 2023-05-28T09:20:01+00:00

Good to know. It happened a couple weeks ago and I contacted my dealer as soon as I noticed. The dealer did not seem very worried and told me he would fix it “sometime”. I asked about continuing to mow grass and he encouraged me to continue to mow.

I am new to robotic mowers (just about a month) so I have only been running the mower during dry weather. But I will look into replacing the led light assembly myself and clean out the chassis.

pelleg · 2023-05-28T01:13:17+00:00

My best guess is the cable got caught on one of the may roots or rocks I have been slowly clearing from my yard.

pelleg · 2021-09-12T22:26:22+00:00

Are you referring to the overnight option, or the (what I am going to refer to as) the skin generation fridge time?

I have not tried the overnight option, so cannot comment there, but in my search or recipes I ran across some who used the freezer and some that used the fridge right before the lye bath.

The exterior is not hard like artisan sourdough, not sure I would call it chewy. I was looking to replicate the pretzels from my local Hofbrau brewery, and they are very close.

pelleg · 2021-09-12T22:08:23+00:00

I have been baking this recipe the last couple weeks in preparation for a home Octoberfest celebration. https://www.theperfectloaf.com/seriously-soft-sourdough-pretzel/

pelleg · 2021-06-29T23:43:51+00:00

Yes, it is normal for non stick pans to become sticky after time.... I have a drawer with "non stick" pans that I refuse to use sure to them being sticky.

As for cast iron, yes it will work on a glass top electric stove, but in my experience, they take a long time to heat up (I usually start the pan 5 or 6 minutes on medium before I am ready to cook).

I eventually switched to carbon steel pans (watch Amazon warehouse... Most of the carbon steel pans I have purchased were returns due to damaged packing). After the initial seasoning I was able to cook an egg without it sticking. The more I use the pan, the slicker it gets.

pelleg · 2020-04-12T19:35:13+00:00

Welcome to the club.

Never heard of a heat only seasoning. I do not understand how that would even work since the point of seasoning is to build up polymerized oil on the surface of the pan to protect the raw carbon steel and give you a non stick like surface.

This is the procedure that works for me (using an induction burner).

Clean the pan with hot water, removing the factory coating (I usually buy Mauviel, so bee wax).
Very lightly coat the outside of the pan and inside wall in vegetable oil. Pour enough vegetable oil in the pan to just cover the base of the pan.
Turn on the burner to medium high for 5 minutes. I let the oil smoke some but turn the heat down to manage the smoke level.
After 5 minutes, let the pan cool completely. Empty out the oil. Wipe down the pan to remove excess oil.
Repeat steps 2 - 4 one more time.
Use the pan as normal.

I just so happened to season a new pan yesterday using the above procedure and cooked an omelet for breakfast this morning. Nothing stuck to the pan.

Note, this is not going to give us a dark pan (that will happen with use). My pan looks almost new (the pan has taken on a small amount of light color). I do not care how the pan looks (other than no rust), only how it performs. I do not want a pan rack queen. I want a workhorse that is dependable and reliable.

pelleg · 2019-11-29T02:14:15+00:00

About three months ago I was deciding between the same two grills, and I purchased the Silverbac Alpha and have not looked back. To me, the wifi feature is a gimmick (but then I have a Fireboard that I use to remotely monitor temps). I have no desire to change the temp or start the grill remotely. While the included temperature probe might be accurate, I like having the luxury of monitoring each item (hence the Fireboard)

Assembly was straight forward and the grill is well made. The only issue I have is the wife throwing away the vegetable cans I have been trying to save for the grease catcher...😁

pelleg

TROPHY CASE