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Category Archives: Rural issues

Update: rural internet access

Monday, April 20, 2009

My internet antenna. It’s a 12-inch omnidirectional antenna. The fencing is a quick-and-dirty ground plane. Last year I started using Alltel’s EVDO wireless system for internet access. I had a rough start with slow speeds, but after some nerdly noodling the system settled down and was pretty reliable, with typical download speeds of 500 kbps […]

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Coyotes in Carolina

Friday, January 30, 2009

North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission The cat woke up and make quite a fuss about 3 a.m. when she heard a pack of coyotes in the woods. It’s the first time I’ve heard coyotes in North Carolina. I’ve heard them before while camping in the mountains of California, near Yosemite. It’s a primitive sound — […]

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Update on rural Internet access

Friday, August 1, 2008

Omnidirectional vertical EVDO/cellular antenna DSL speeds! For reasons I don’t really understand, I’m getting better EVDO performance with an omnidirectional antenna than with a directional Yagi antenna pointed at the nearest Alltel tower. Small improvements in antenna placement also have made a substantial improvement. The antenna wants to be high and in the clear (as […]

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Today: stalking trains, tractors and lilies

Saturday, June 28, 2008

A diesel engine belonging to the Yadkin Valley Railroad stands idle on a sidetrack at Donnaha, right beside the Yadkin River. Yadkin Valley Railroad is a tiny railroad owned by Gulf and Ohio. It has two lines — one from Rural Hall to Mount Airy (48 miles), and another from Rural Hall to Elkin and […]

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Road trip: The headwaters of the Dan River

Monday, June 9, 2008

Near Westfield on N.C. 89 The Dan River begins in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia. The area includes Stokes and Surry counties in North Carolina and Patrick County in Virginia. I took a little road trip through this area today. It was hot, but I just couldn’t take another day of […]

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A ride up Booger Swamp Road

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Yes there is a Booger Swamp Road. I believe it’s in Zip Code 27055 if you want to Google it for yourself. Californians, here’s what young Carolina flue-cured tobacco looks like. This is the kind of tobacco that is made into cigarettes. This is on Center Road, one turn off Booger Swamp Road. I’ll try […]

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Today's photos, in no particular order

Thursday, May 29, 2008

The local power company, Energy United, has been clearing trees around the power lines up on Duggins Road. I stopped and had a nice chat with the two supervisors about going as easy on the greenery as possible. They were very nice and didn’t disagree at all. Part of what they’re doing, though, is an […]

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The miracle of May

Friday, May 23, 2008

Mountain View Road, Stokes County, May 23. This is the kind of grass I want — deep, unmowed grass that swallows pickup trucks. Note the color of the sky close to the horizon. That is Carolina blue. More of Mama’s roses, May 23, Yadkin County. The amazing thing is, these blooms had not even started […]

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From Mama's house to my house

Saturday, May 17, 2008

Mama’s roses All these photos were taken yesterday. I let the GPS device pick a route from Mama’s house to my place in Stokes. I told the GPS device to pick a route that led past a particular place along the Yadkin River where I’d remembered seeing an old mill 30 years ago, and I […]

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Finding country roads, with technology

Monday, May 12, 2008

The backroad to Germanton I’ve always loved the backroads, and I thought I knew the backroads around here. But nothing knows the backroads like a GPS device. I’ve had a hiker’s GPS unit for years, but it’s not smart enough to plot over-the-road routes and tell you where to turn. I’ve played with those things […]

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