Been Looking at CB Radios

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This springtime I plan to install a CB Radio on my truck, partially for emergencies but mostly so I can hear what the Big Rigs are talking about on the highway and chat with others who have CBs. I often see trucks on the back roads with CB antennas, and it would be fun to be in communication with them.

Citizen Band radios have somewhat fallen out of popularity, for common use, due to cellphones and their need for long antennas, but a lot of off-road groups and truckers still use them, and it would be fun to hear what people are talking about on the open road, especially on long road trips.

IMG_13637It turns out CB radios aren’t that expensive, but I want to get something that is a good quality, offer years of reliable service, and will last. I am looking at the ever popular Cobra 29 LTD Classic, or actually probably the same model with the WX option, so I can get weather stations on it.

I could get a cheaper, high-tech digital one (like the Cobra 29 LX or a Uniden Digital Radio), but I’d rather have something that is more likely to be reliable in a dusty, dirty truck I take up to the woods. I don’t like dinky switches that appear on the high-tech radios.

Cobra_29WXNWST_025Unless I can find a better solution, I will probably be stuck mounting the antenna on the hood rail. Which sucks, but with the cap and the kayak on the roof, other mounting points are difficult. I want to be able to remove the antenna with ease, so I will get a quick release, so I can still go through relatively low-clearance locations.

The top of the antenna will probably be around 9 feet from the ground (with a 4 ft antenna on the hood plus height for quick release and spring), once my truck is lifted later this spring (the hood will be about 4′ 8″ from the ground when lifted — it’s 4′ now). Been busy measuring things.

The DEC says forest preserve roads have a clearance of 9-10 feet on average, so I shouldn’t hit too many things. I also checked and saw that a clearance of 9 feet is good for most roads — except maybe the Southern State Parkway, where one bridge has an actual clearance of 8’6″ on the outer lanes. Worst comes to worst, the spring on the antenna will save it, or the $25 antenna will have to be replaced.

Thinking of installing a CB Radio on my truck in the next couple of weeks, should the weather get nice.

When It Snows It Kind of Is Nice Living in City

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People talked about how awful the roads were this past week. I guess that was true, although it didn’t seem that slippery walking out to the bus stop. Despite the weather, the bus was on time this morning.

Snowy Delaware Avenue

As much as I don’t like tromping through the snow in the winter to the bus stop or occasional delays in the bus service, winter really isn’t a big deal. I have off-street parking, so when it snows, I don’t have to clean-off my truck much less move it until I feel like going out somewheres.

My experience is that snow doesn’t often effect the bus schedule, as car traffic on the roads drops dramatically in Albany, especially when there is advanced notice of an impending snowstorm. People don’t like driving in the snow, so who can blame them for staying home? The reduced traffic often speeds up the bus – indeed in recent snowstorms, I have actually gotten home early because rush hour traffic on the bus is a breeze.

Winter is such a non-issue when you live in the city and can take the bus downtown.

The Case for Shorter Blog Posts

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Recently, I’ve gotten into writing shorter more topical blog posts, rather than the longer more detailed blog posts of the past. I then schedule them throughout the day, to keep the blog fresh, and to better organize content based on when I think it likely to be most interesting for readers.

On many issues my thoughts and ideas about them are brief, and it doesn’t make sense to make things overly complicated or wordy. Often a picture is a better illustrator of an idea, and nowadays pictures are commonplace throughout the web.

Friday\'s Snow Squall

I will try doing some more meaty and interesting posts, but sometimes one just needs to keep things short and thoughtful.

Shorter is often better when it comes to blogging.

Good Morning! Happy Wednesday.

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Or as I like to say it, we have kicked it down into overdrive and are cruising into the weekend. Despite the possible snow we are going to get on Thursday-Friday, I think we will cruise into the weekend. While not commonly realized, winter will quickly succumb to endless summer and memories of the cold, and snow will just be memories.

Getting Campfire Going

I much prefer the balmy and oppressive heat of summer. As much as I might not like the mildew and rust problem I have downstairs in my apartment, summer is always nice as you can go to the Adirondacks where the heat of summer never quite makes it. Summer is never that bad up north. I sure miss those long summer nights, the fires, and the styrofoam plates. Lol.

Another cold winter day, as I continue to dream about the coming summer months.

My Evolving Views on Fracking

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A few years ago, I was pretty supportive of fracking in New York State. I thought it would be good for the Southern Tier and Western NY, as there is already a fair bit of historical natural gas production in that part of state.

Natural Gas Well

I always viewed the anti-frackers as being the same group of extreme lefties who decided they had to ban open burning on farms and rural locations to save the environment from rednecks burning a little bit of plastic in a fire. Or the same people who decided the entire state land holding in the Adirondacks could not ever be used for responsible timber production, like is common in our national and state forests. Or those at war on ATVs, snowmobiles, and even back-country campsites and trails. In other words, environmentalists who are opposed to fracking are generally bad people.

Circa 2006 Natural Gas Well

Over time claims that I once saw as best distorting the truth, are proving themselves somewhat true. Accidents happen and as you scale up, there is a potential for accidents get worst. Conventional natural gas production is not unlike the high volume horizontal wells, much like a convenience store is much like Super-Walmart. Much of the products and methods are the same but the scale is much larger than conventional processes. Bigger means bigger risk.


View Larger Map


View Larger Map

Is it more dangerous or polluting than conventional wells? It depends how you look at it. Natural resource extraction, to a certain degree, is always polluting, although pollution can be controlled. Areas with a lot of natural gas drilling underway tend to be busy with heavy truck traffic and big construction equipment, which can certainly bring in a lot of pollution, at least temporarily. Even modern big-rig diesels can be pretty polluting, and many of the equipment is older and dirtier from the era before strong diesel emission regulations.

Another View of Well Pad

I measured some of the the high-volume fracked wells in Pennsylvania to conventional natural gas wells in New York on Google Maps. The footprint was in some cases 2-3 times larger, but in other cases about the same as a New York State Black River-Trenton formation well. Regardless, any drilling campaign uses some farmland and forest, and cumulative impacts have to evaluated to the environment, even if eventually the wells will be plugged and recovered when they run out of gas.

I also think some of the water pollution and methane contamination complaints are legitimate. As was cynical at first about such notions, and I am sure the anti-fracking activists tried to milk out every little accident and problem, but there are issues and accidents that need to be considered, especially when scaling things up. We need regulations that protect people’s water and ensure that any impacts on the land are temporary inconveniences not long-term headaches.

Edge of Marcellus Well Pad

I believe in keeping an open mind. I still prefer strong regulation over an outright ban, but we will see where this evolves. Many will argue that fracking should be banned be banned in our state. New York State created the Forest Preserve many years ago, and while controversial, wasn’t the great disaster that some people proposed. It’s something to watch.

New York, as an urban state, will never be energy self-sufficient, but we could do better if we could manage our natural resources better.

While I am still not opposed to oil and gas production in NY State, I can see where the winds blow and realize like any policy choice there are pros-and-cons.