WIMAX arrives in Turbaco

We have been trying for almost a year to get internet to our farm here in Turbaco, outside Cratagena, Colombia. Orbitel installed WIMAX last year, but isnsisted that even though we had a perfect shot at one of the base stations, that it wouldn't work and they refused to sign us up. I finally got them to aggree give us service at the scrap yard where my office has been located, and because it is "on the fringe" of the service area the insisted that I needed a high gain antenna. I didn't argue. It only took them 3 months to install it! When I arrived back here in August, it was all up and running. Tested it for a few days at the office and on Saturday, Aug 4, I moved al the stuff here to the farm. Up and running in no time, although, the signal strength varies quite a bit. It is also a shared resource, so at night, it slows down a bit. The antenna is a 16Db unit from Hyperlink Tech. I think I will replace it with a 22 or 24Db unit to inprove signal strength. Probably wouldn't hurt to put some guy wires on th mast either, as when it blows, it sways a bit.

The Bridge is in!

After almost one year, I have finally finished the bridge to span the stream at our camp on Little Rocky Pond. The bridge is contructed out of a 53' trailer that hit a low overpass. I cut off the sides, reinforced them with bar joists from a building I salvaged and some steel from old New England Telephone step by step exchanges. So far the bigest expense was the 2 yards of concrete for the piers at each end. Here is the Movie of us this morning doing the final install.

The Bridge is in!

After almost one year, I have finally finished the bridge to span the stream at our camp on Little Rocky Pond. The bridge is contructed out of a 53' trailer that hit a low overpass. I cut off the sides, reinforced them with bar joists from a building I salvaged and some steel from old New England Telephone step by step exchanges. So far the bigest expense was the 2 yards of concrete for the piers at each end. Here is the Movie of us this morning doing the final install.

World record WiFi link & Possible NSA wiretapping

I ran into these two very diverse articles in the last few days. One is about how several enthusiasts in Venezueala, with the help of some Italians, set a WiFi Distance record for a link using off the shelf Linksys AP's with modified C Band satellite dishes. The other news article was on the front page of the WSJ and concerns a case of evesdropping on cellular phone calls made by Greek officials during the time of the Olympics. There is some inference that it may have been the handiwork of our very own NSA.

Ding Dong the Grease is gone

Andrea and I spent Saturday moving all the old grease for BioDiesel to a new home

Latest news

As some of you may have already heard, I now have a job in Colombia, working for several companies there. I will be helping them to become more efficient, acquire new machinery, develop new processes, start new lines of business and develop new markets in China, India and other countries for thier products. I will be spending about 50% of my time there and the the rest split between the US, Australia and The Far East.
We now have our own CAR. This isn't the actual one, but the same color, etc. We are also renting the house shown in an earlier post, with the option to buy it if we like it.
The big project is to clean out the warehouse, so we can rent it or sell the building, so if any of you have need of anything in the warehouse, NOW is the time to come and grab it at very reduced rates.
Leaving for Florida tomorrow (6/8) to work with one of the businesses there to try and generate more material for export to Barranquilla.
I am going to try and be more diligent with posts, so this is more up to date.

Matthew

Photos, etc

Carnaval photo index

Webcam warehouse Out of service at the moment. We are setting up a new system at the factory in Cartagena. When it is fully operational, I'll post a new link

Contra Dance video A short video of last weekends Dance festival in Topsham, Maine.

George Bush comes to Carnaval, with Osama

In a surprise visit, Bush and Osama make their debut in the desfile at Carnaval. Luckily, I was there to capture this moment in history. We celebrated by downing some rum.

Bucaramanga

 

Door to hell

Aluminum smelter (100% hecho en Colombia) at our factory in Barranquilla. It turns old car parts from the USofA into Al ingots used in the iron smelting business here in Colombia

Finca in Turbaco

Two room house on top of the hill.














Outdoor kitchen














View from the Kiosco

 

Weekend in Monteria

Oso perisoso, not really a bear of any sort, but a very slow moving animal.


















A stove made from a termite mound














Relaxing during the ride














Cooling off  

Latest project

This is the latest project here at the factory in Cartagena, a vibrating table with water that seperates plastic from metal . We are using it to seperate ground up connectors from circuit boards to make it easier to reclaim the precious metals. The plastic falls down the front and the metal and a small amount of the larger pieces of plastic come out on the right.  

More Carnival

Carnival Barranquilla

People buy little boxes of cornstartch and throw it at each other, in addition to vendors selling spray cans of "espuma" (foam) that is sprayed all over. Last night was ony pre carnival, nest weekend is the real thing, 4 days of partying in the streets of Barranquilla

Best Red Snapper Sancocho