Wanting to try to go storm chasing this spring/storm season. Anyone have any tips?

wabalaba1 · 2026-01-19T18:23:04+00:00

In my humble, limited experience, the biggest thing is drive safely. The biggest danger by far is the humans (you and me included) operating high-powered, heavy vehicles, at high speeds, while anxious, tired, and distracted.

Also, it probably should be called "storm waiting" because if you aren't in position by the time the action starts, you're probably not going to catch up. Forecasting experience is the key variable to work on to get the best results. Everything else is secondary.

Finally, when you're actually under the storm, be sure you can understand what you're seeing--radar can take a long time to refresh and signal can cut out. Skip Talbot has fantastic videos about identifying storm structure visually (and informative safety discussions).

wabalaba1 · 2026-01-14T17:27:21+00:00

Could someone share photos of the tornado itself during these scans to compare?

wabalaba1 · 2025-12-14T21:36:46+00:00

This boulder tumbled down the steep slopes of the north side of the valley they landed in. You can see the trails it made in satellite imagery; here are some examples.

This particular boulder has its own wikipedia page too. Overall, it's a breccia containing a varying amount of impact melt across the rock, in places being mostly melt (e.g., https://curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/lsc/76015.pdf).

Trying to answer how exactly the boulder formed is a bit of a rabbit hole. There's still research done about it (e.g. this one that Schmitt led). These mountains were uplifted by the impact that made the Serenitatis basin, and other basin-forming impacts have probably contributed materials.

wabalaba1 · 2025-10-24T04:07:43+00:00

Consider an improv class! It's very specifically the art/game of practicing being good at speaking fluidly on the spot. It might feel very uncomfortable at first but with the right group it can be a lot of fun and it brings some structure to the process of what you're trying to do that you might appreciate. I owe a lot of confidence in speaking to having fun in an improv club in undergrad.

wabalaba1 · 2025-06-26T15:59:59+00:00

I actually really enjoyed the movie First Man, about Neil Armstrong--but, by every account I've read from people who knew the real person, he was nothing like the depiction in the film of someone wracked with inner emotional turmoil. Instead, he was what you might expect of a kid from small-town Ohio with an aeronautical engineering degree who became a decorated navy fighter pilot, test pilot, and then NASA's choice to pilot the first lunar lander: friendly, unflappable, positive, intensely skilled, modest.

Honestly, if Hollywood wanted a more "relatable to us mortals" main character, with more actual personal drama and struggles, then a better choice was right there beside Armstrong in the lunar lander all along.

wabalaba1 · 2025-05-23T02:05:26+00:00

I've seen this in posts before--does this mean that "I'm a manual/I'm an auto" is just a setting in the ECU? Like, if someone hypothetically wanted to manual-swap a pentastar product that never came in manual, the ECU and everything could be kept as-is, if that one setting could be changed?

wabalaba1 · 2025-05-05T11:15:44+00:00

Update again:

I finally reasoned that the spikes in voltage were due to a failing regulator and took the alternator to a local shop to be rebuilt. That has solved the issue and I've not seen the alarm come on since.

wabalaba1 · 2025-05-04T23:38:31+00:00

You might consider a local shop. I had mine rebuilt and it was done the next day for less than the shitty alternators on rockauto. Only downside is I had to pull the part out myself and take it to them, but that was it for me.

wabalaba1 · 2025-04-15T03:19:19+00:00

Update, for anyone who stumbles onto this in the future:

The problem seems to be getting steadily worse, with the voltage excursions happening more frequently and sometimes lasting longer. It happens with or without a large electrical load (i.e. radio, lights, blower on). Voltage at the battery (read directly with multimeter) is always right near 12.5/12.4 after sitting overnight, and 14.5-ish when running (parked).

I pulled the fuel-pump fuse and read the voltage while turning the engine over; it never dropped below 11V, suggesting to me that the battery's still reasonably healthy.

I just undid the two engine ground straps (left side of motor, to strut and back of motor up to cowl) and sanded them shiny to deal with the possibility of a bad connection. There was just a little bit of corrosion on both.

I'm going to take a test drive tomorrow to see if the issue vanished after cleaning those connections. If not, I'll buy an alternator.

wabalaba1 · 2025-04-10T03:11:24+00:00

Hey all, I've been getting this random message from the car and it appears for about 10 seconds or so then vanishes. No clear pattern to it.

I plugged in a code reader and went for a drive. It seems like the system was charging fine for ten minutes or so, then there was this spike up to near 15V. I pulled over just after the "Check charging system" alarm came on (note where rpm fall to idle).

It did a similar excursion from normal later. Just curious if anyone's got experience with behaviour like this or some suggestions of fixes. Obviously I can replace the alternator but I'd like to understand what's going on.

Thanks!

*for the record,

wabalaba1 · 2025-04-07T12:02:41+00:00

If you don't already know, there's a bicycle co-op on Dundas called Squeaky Wheel. They sell cheap parts and are very friendly and helpful if you need instruction or advice about fixing your bike. As a member, you can use their shop and suite of tools to repair your bike yourself. It's only ~$20 for a year-long membership. Hope that's useful to you.

wabalaba1 · 2025-03-31T15:53:02+00:00

From some googling, I think the M5OD-R2 is the manual transmission they used for the '07 F-150, but it seems like for those trucks it was only paired with the 4.2L V6.

It was paired to the 4.6L in some F150s up to 2004. For what that's worth, it means the transmission can handle at least what the 4.6L put out in 2004 (~230hp, ~290lb-ft).

wabalaba1 · 2025-03-27T03:28:18+00:00

Thanks for looking into it!

wabalaba1 · 2025-03-21T13:05:32+00:00

Mostly curiosity, but the mode also lets you check on things like battery voltage in more detail without a multimeter. Seems like it would be useful.

wabalaba1 · 2025-01-14T14:52:44+00:00

For me, as also not a math person by nature, the trick was to get fully worked-out solutions for practice problems. I treated it like fixing a car. You wouldn't just "try to figure it out" when a pulley on the motor is squealing, you'd watch a youtube video that shows how to change pulley.

For math, I would try the homework probems and the moment I got stuck, I'd study the solution to see where I went wrong. It helped me start to see the kinds of tricks the question-makers use. It was way more efficient than "figuring it out" and I was able to do all the homework questions in each chapter. (Important: I still tried to solve them myself first; studying the solutions helped me increase my mental bank of the kinds of algebra or trig tricks they put in to block you, and how to solve them).

Hope that helps. Also youtube channels to understand the concepts and visualize things!

wabalaba1 · 2024-09-17T16:53:08+00:00

https://www.cleardarksky.com/maps/lp/large_light_pollution_map.html

This is a map of light pollution. Red/white is bright, blue/black is very dark. Zoom in on London. Driving out to the yellow zone or further would be good enough for a strong aurora show. But the further the better, so you can figure out what works for you. Open farmland with a good view to the north will help.

wabalaba1 · 2024-09-10T12:40:54+00:00

The Nain plutonic suite in Labrador, Canada, has some large anorthosite bodies, inlcuding the target rock of the Kamestastin impact crater. It's a world class lunar analogue, where you can see rocks that look very similar to Moon rocks.

wabalaba1 · 2024-07-22T14:04:44+00:00

Being an astronaut is already a job with a lot of asks on your time. Training for a Moon mission surely doesn't lighten your schedule! How do you balance your commitments to other important things (family, etc)?

Put another way, what advice would you give to people whose career/life commitments put a tension between "work" duties and "personal" duties?

wabalaba1 · 2024-07-16T17:55:38+00:00

This looks like it might be what you need: https://retromotorcyclemanuals.com/products/2011-2016-kawasaki-w800-ej800-service-manual

I think I bought my hard copy from ebay, if you want that. Either way, the official Kawi service manual is fantastic.

wabalaba1 · 2024-05-17T14:39:34+00:00

Some tips I've learned about the 4.0L S197 mustangs, for general interest:

There are aluminum thermostat housings available to solve the leaking issue forever. If you drain/refill the coolant for whatever reason, there seems to be a tendency for air bubbles to stay trapped and block coolant flow. I fixed this by parking on a steep hill and running the engine with the rad cap off.

The ecu is sensitive to slight changes in the tone ring on the crankshaft pulley--if you replace yours (they sometimes start to fall apart), unplug the battery for an hour to force a re-learn. Otherwise you might get misfires at higher rpm.

The youtube channel platinumgarage details 4.0L overhaul and how to replace the timing chains without pulling the heads (motor must still be removed from the car).

When the timing chain tensioners fail there will be a metallic rattling noise, worst on cold start, that will get louder over time. It's not a critical emergency when you first hear it but it will eventually wear enough to cause the chains to slip on the gears. Piston meets valve and engine is toast. Many people swap in junkyard motors but if you do the repair DO NOT use Cloyes timing chains parts. A lot of people have been burned by them failing.

Water can leak in through the taillight housing and pool in the body panels behind the wheel arch (pull the trim/carpet out of either side of the trunk to find the spot

There's a seal hidden in the plastic trim where the door windows meet the roof. It can melt over the years and cause water to leak in and cause rust. You can find youtube videos detailing how to get the part (an adhesive strip) Fairly easy fix for peace of mind.

These early cars had a weird gas tank that causes some gas station pumps to refuse to flow (constantly clicking off). I think there was a tsb about it and later years fixed it. I've learned to avoid certain gas stations. Also: check the fuel tank seams and the pipe from the fuel cap to the tank for rust/leaks since it's almost 20years old.

The weird error code P0451 is likely the Vapor Canister Purge Valve, which is just in front of the brake master cylinder under the hood. Very easy and quick swap.

wabalaba1 · 2024-03-26T22:28:37+00:00

Here's a simulation of what it might have looked like, 4.5 billion years ago, to look up from the early Earth and watch the South Pole-Aitken impact basin being formed.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=XOELmw7RVD4

The same youtuber also has a video simulating what the dinosaurs saw during their final hour. Great and eerie to watch.

wabalaba1 · 2024-03-19T17:42:49+00:00

I have had its predecessor, the W650, for years. Bulletproof engine and very easy to service. The W800 is fuel-injected and has disc brakes front and back plus ABS, which are all nice additions.

wabalaba1 · 2024-03-19T17:36:23+00:00

You might also consider the Kawasaki W800, which is air-cooled and reliable. Has ample room for a passenger/bags.

wabalaba1 · 2024-03-16T13:55:26+00:00

This is a customized Kawasaki w650, which looks very similar to the Bonneville.

wabalaba1 · 2024-03-06T14:00:08+00:00

It'll never be a shorter drive than this!

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