My Writings. My Thoughts.
New Job!
// March 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // General
I started working for AutoZone this past Monday. It seems to be a great company to work for and I’ve started to enjoy the shorter drive and being downtown.
Florida here we come!
// June 10th, 2009 // No Comments » // General
The girls and I are taking a much needed vacation in Florida. We’ve been visiting with some good friends and we’ll be going to Walt Disney World in part to celebrate Eden’s 5th birthday. We’re also looking forward to seeing more friends and spending time with Grandma and Grandpa DuToit in Sarasota.
Off-Air HDTV really is better
// January 13th, 2009 // 2 Comments » // General
About a month ago, our cable and Internet provider (Comcast) ended their ‘teaser’ rates and my cable/Internet bill was about to double. We don’t watch a whole lot of TV anyway and so it wasn’t worth near what Comcast wanted to charge so it wasn’t a tough decision to return the cable box. This left us with a small dilemma – what do we do with the big high-def capable TV mounted to the wall? Selling it isn’t really practical because it’s not worth close to what I paid for it (TV’s aren’t an investment anyway), and it’s nice to have so that the girls can watch something every once and a while, or we can watch the news.
I set out on a mission to get an antenna that wasn’t 1980’s obtrusive but would pickup our local channels clearly. Solid Signal was very helpful in finding the right antenna for my location. They have an on-line service that will take your zip code and attempt to select the appropriate antenna. I filled out the form and received an e-mail from a real person within 12 hours with a suggested antenna (which I eventually purchased). I learned several things in the process.
1.) Off Air antennas don’t have to be huge to pickup signal. We ended up with an Antennas Direct C2 antenna which measures 20″ x 10″ – not big at all. According to antennaweb.org, most of our stations are between 20 and 30 miles from our house, and the majority are North/North East of the house. Antennaweb.org seemed to think we’d need a large antenna with a pre-amp. That site was useful in which direction and how far the towers were, but SolidSignal did a better job of matching me with an antenna that was compact but picked up everything.
2.) Digital broadcast signal is all or nothing. With analog TV (gone in about a month), you get snow if the signal is not strong. With a digital broadcast, it’s there and clear or it’s not there at all. You won’t see snow or fuzzy picture if your antenna won’t pickup signal, you just won’t see anything at all. This means it is more important to get an antenna that is right for your environment if you want to receive all possible broadcasts for your area.
3.)Digital broadcast HD is noticeably cleaner and clearer than cable or satellite HD. You’re not going to get ESPN or any of the pay HD channels, but the HD channels you do get over the air are visibly better than what you get from cable/satellite. It makes sense, but in order to diver$ify their offerings, cable and satellite providers must compress all their channels (not just HD) when delivering them. This isn’t a horribly bad thing as it does allow you – the customer – to have a larger selection of channels to watch, but the sacrifice is in image quality and clarity especially with HD. Even if I wanted to pay the (in my opinion) outlandish price for cable, I’d probably still want an off-air antenna to get the best clarity on the local channels.
My antenna arrived via FedEx Ground and it was very easy to put together. I picked up 100′ of RG6 cable at Home Depot and some 3″ lag bolts to mount the 3′ mast. I decided to mount the mast to our chimney since it’s a wood frame chimney wrapped in siding with a liner inside, so I mounted it so that the highest point of the antenna is 2-3′ from the top of the chimney which, by my fuzzy math, places it about 25 – 30′ in the air (to do : add pics). I routed the cable under a rubber grommet for rooftop sewer vent into the attic (note : rooftop sewer vents *stink*) and patched it into the wiring closet and on to the TV. To our satisfaction, all the local channels were detected by the TV and we were able to watch some really clear news and late shows.
Sunpak 383 Super flash
// January 8th, 2009 // No Comments » // Photography
I recently decided that the on camera flash from my Canon 40D just wasn’t cutting it. On camera flashes ‘help’ but sometimes they are more of a hindrance. On camera flashes are notorious for red-eye, and with my lovely (almost) albino ladies, even the ‘red-eye’ option on the camera fails and while digikam has a decent red-eye removal tool, it just isn’t the same. On camera flashes are severely limited in their distance and, when used with a long lens, can make shadows.
I’ve been fascinated by the strobist technique in flash photography so I picked up a Sunpak 383 Super flash off eBay. This is a fully manual flash so it doesn’t have the ETTL (Through The Lens) that a Canon 580EX ii has, but.. I could buy 4 – 383 supers and have enough for a nice dinner at what 1 Canon 580 EX ii would cost. The 383 Super I bought of eBay included a Lumiquest Pocket Bouncer which I think is very useful.
It arrived today via FedEx Ground (go FedEx) and I snapped a few test shots while the girls were eating dinner. It’s something I’m going to have to get used to, but I immediately noticed how nice it was using a dedicated flash. It came with a ’sync’ cord so I was able to hold the light off to the left of the camera on a few shots to get some neat shadows.
With the low cost of this flash, I’d like to add one – maybe two more – 383 Supers triggered via Cactus v2 remote triggers and some umbrella diffusers which would make a great traveling / portable setup.
New Years in Branson
// January 7th, 2009 // No Comments » // General
We surprised my mom by driving to Branson, MO on New Years Eve. We left Hernando and showed up on her door step at 9 PM. She was totally caught by surprise. My mom usually picks up on things we try and keep secret but this was kept under wraps pretty well. I had called Lowell and made sure they were going to be in town and informed him of our plans. I had originally thought to call my mom on the way to give her a few hours of warning but Lowell suggested we just surprise her at the door – it was a great idea.
On Saturday we had incredible weather – low 70’s. We met Janet and Dean (Kristina’s aunt and uncle) at the Golden Corral for brunch and then we went to Stockstill Park with the girls. I took some great pics of the girls playing with rocks at a creek that ran next to the park. I also learned the value of white balance on the 40D – it makes a huge difference in some situations.
More later!
Cedric McCormick and McCormick Music Minsitry
// January 7th, 2009 // No Comments » // General
If you don’t know our good friends Cedric and Tonya McCormick, they have a website : Cedric McCormick and travel the country as McCormick Music Ministry teaching choir clinics and church music. Not all churches are blessed with a strong music program and Bro. Cedric is very good at helping choirs sound their best.
DuToit Photography
// February 11th, 2007 // No Comments » // General
I’ve finally put a website up for the photography business. For weddings, seniors, families, and children I’m a Desoto County Photographer ready to shoot. I’m looking forward to the possibilities.