AZ Housing upload timeout

 If you are trying to upload a pdf to azhousing.gov and it shows a time out error, your file might be too small.  

Capture the file as an image and print it as a pdf and upload it again.

Changing Front Brakes on a Yamaha Zuma 50

After watching several videos, I spent about 2 hours trying to keep the brake pads in the clips while I put it on and they either didn't go in or fell out before I could get them on the disk.

To get the brakes on, I finally had to fit them into the part that goes on the disk and then carefully remove the whole assembly and slide it into the cylinder housing before the clips let the brakes loose.

Finding Ham Conversations

I have had my ham license (KI7OAZ) for 4 years and I have struggled to find conversations.  After finding a youtube post about triangulating (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtICIDDvnPw&t=194s) I realized that WebSDR (Software Defined Radios) are a great way to find activity.  You can also hear some of the conversations.  One site close to me is Northern Utah SDR (https://www.sdrutah.org/) If you use the TDoA (time difference of arrival) using the KiwiSDR, you can use a map to find other sites around the country and try to triangulate where some of the signals are coming from.

To convert from meters to MHz, use this rough equation 300/meters=MHz or 300/MHz=meters

I am still not sure about relays.

FRC Robotics 2021 Simulator with PathWeaver

This started with a post from Joe Ross on ChiefDelphi.com.

I needed some further details to get this to work.

Out of Date?: To add the proper map to PathWeaver, open a File Explorer to %USERPROFILE%/PathWeaver/Games, make a folder named "Custom Game" and copy 2021-Slalom.png and .json from the PathWeaver git repo then make a zip of the two files with the name 2021-Slalom.zip.

When you create the PathWeaver, use the Slalom map, some reasonable numbers for Max velocity is 2 m/s and 1 m/s2. 

Under paths, click the + button then click the Unnamed.path that is created.

Click the starting triangle and change the Y to -8.2 to get it to the bottom of the screen.  My son pointed out that you can click the blue line to adjust the Tangents.

Click the ending triangle and move it to the end point.

If you single click the line you can create a new triangle.  You can then click and drag the triangle to a new position on the map.

Click Build Paths when done and yes.  Somehow (clicking on the path when it was first created?) I got it to rename the project but it didn't work this time.

The {path}.wpilib.json file you need ends up in PathWeaver/output.  I had to copy it to src/main/deploy.

After replacing the voltage constraint, etc. code with the PathWeaver code, you have to change exampleTrajectory to just trajectory after the inserted code.  There is also a few times that you highlight the error and do Ctrl+. to resolve the problems.  Copying the json file to deploy means you can get rid of the paths/ part of the file name.  There are better ways to do this where the json file is generated.

When you start the simulation with F5, remember that you will see the robot moving under NetworkTables, SmartDashboard, Field.  You can add the map to the simulation by right clicking the top of the /SmartDashboard/Field window and navigating to the png file mentioned above. You have to change the Robot State to Autonomous.  It is nice that you don't need a controller.

I found that the path generated by PathWeaver did not scale well to the robot simulation.

Water Heater Maintenance

Now that I have been through 2 water heaters in 2 years, I am ready to learn how to maintain them.

I knew you were supposed to drain them every once in a while, but it is easy to assume they are working and hope for the best.  If you do this, make sure you put a pan under the water heater to catch the dripping water when it does give out.  I had rust tracks on the top of the old one.

The warranty is for 6 years.  Ours lasted 12 years without doing any of these things.  Delaying maintenance is a calculated risk.

This is from an Rheem Water Heater manual:

Replace the anode when 6" of the center wire is exposed.  You should probably check it 6 months after getting the water heater and every year after that.

The anode rod is about 2.5" down through insulation on the top of the unit.  There is a plastic cap on the top.

It takes a 1 1/6" socket to remove the anode rod.  The plumber had to hit the top of the existing rod to loosen it.  He said next time it will be easier.  He put plumbers lubricant as well as teflon tape on the new rode before inserting it.

After 2 years, pretty much all of the rod was exposed.

Drain several quarts every month.

Check the pressure valve once a year (make sure it is drained to a proper place).

If you are thinking of a tankless water heater, consider the cost of wiring for it.  The old water heaters used 10 gauge (10/2 on the wire) and the tankless needs 8 or 6 which is thicker.  Larger tankless needs 2 sets of wires ( or maybe 2 hots and 1 neutral).

New beetle convertible switch to manual top operation

My daughter pulled out in front of  the someone and they hit the left behind the wheel.  Various manuals point out that this is where the hydraulic pump for the convertible top is.  You have to remove the trunk liner to see the pump (which I haven't done yet).

• Follow the manual to disable the button (remove a rubber stop in the left of the trunk and twist the valve to disengage the hydraulics)
• The alarm will go off for 5 seconds each time you pull away from a stop if the top is down.
• To disable the convertible system altogether and stop the alarm about the top not being secured down, you need to remove the fuse for the convertible system.
• I had to remove the driver knee bolster (the cover and the reinforcement) to see the fuse on the top of the relay panel.  This will disable the big button that rolls all the windows down.

It was a lot of work so hopefully this picture will save you the effort.  The fuse is the top green fuse on the right.  Below is a link to where I first got the information from newbeetle.org and a picture of the standard relay layout which does not include the position D or the fact that the convertible fuse is above that position.

I hope this saves someone the pain I went through of pulling the dash apart to remove the fuse.  It isn't a lot of effort to put the top up and down manually if you don't want to pay a mechanic thousands of dollars to fix the problem.

https://www.newbeetle.org/threads/fuse-position-30-for-the-convertible-top.110481/

Updating Exif Data on JPEG Pictures

I have all these pictures and more are coming.  I am concerned about 20 or 40 years from now when we look at them and say "who was that?".

I feel the solution is to update the Exif data which is embedded in the picture.  I have been trying to find a way to update the Exif data.  Windows 10 and  and Mac OS have the ability built in.  I am still working on a way to update it in Android and IOS using a web page.

To update it on Windows 10, right click the picture, select properties.  Click on the Details tab.  The first section is editable.  Most of the other parts are not.  Below you will see that the Apple Title and Description are correlated to the Windows Title and Description.

On MacOS, I found you can modify the Exif data by opening the picture in the Photos app and running Command-I that will show the following screen which will allow you to update the Title and Description by clicking on the line you want to change.

You can also use TheXifer to change these and many more Exif fields.  It is free for a limited amount of photos per day.  You can link it to your Dropbox, Flikr and Google Drive accounts but I am concerned about security risks.  You have to assume that they keep any photo you upload but I doubt they spend much time figuring out how to exploit the photos on an individual basis.

I am working on a small VM to update a limited number of fields by a web page that uploads the file, changes the fields and then downloads the file again.  Using PHP does not seem to be an easy way to make the change.  This is a portable, watered down version of TheXifer.

Dry(er) information:
The Exif data is written in accordance with an Adobe standard called XMP.  It was later adopted in ISO 16684-1:2012 which has been updated.

If you add a title or description and then edit the JPG with an editor such as Notepad++, you can see the data in several places under XML tags and in binary portions of the file.