Wednesday, October 29, 2008

MediaZone closes Moto Channel

Last week I got email notification that MediaZone is closing their Moto Channel. This is a big disappointment to me, as I just signed up for a 1-year subscription when I watched the MXdN on live video.

MediaZone will refund my subscription fee on a pro-rated basis, but the money isn't really the problem. I'm disappointed that what seemed to be a really good service for catching all the GPs has gone by the wayside.

I don't know anything about what motivated the closure, and the email gave no reason. But if you read my post on The right broadcast model for motocross you know I think full length video on the web is the right way forward for MX.

I suspect MediaZone lost their agreement with YouthStream, or the licensing fees went way up, or maybe there just weren't enough subscribers to pay the fees. I don't know. But I do know it's a loss.

Over on Eternal Two Stroke Derrick Harris is talking about the same topic in his post Which "M" is in?. Derrick points to this cool video highlight site for Australian Supercross.

Personally, I'm not happy with highlights. I want full race coverage. If not live, at least same day. And I'm willing to pay for it. Hopefully, MX Sports will be able to negotiate something along those lines in the near future. For now, we'll have to get by on the oddly structured SPEED TV coverage.

Friday, October 17, 2008

New Ham: KJ4HFJ

I got my call sign assignment from the FCC yesterday — KJ4HFJ. That seems a little unwieldy to me, but maybe I'll get used to it. Kilo-Juliette-4-Hotel-Foxtrot-Juliette. For $12 I can get a vanity call sign (a bit like vanity license plates.) I might do that and get something I can remember like K4TWF — Kilo-4-Tango-Whiskey-Foxtrot.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Blast it all

One of the tools I've always wanted is a blaster for cleaning metal. A blast cabinet would be nice, for doing small parts in an enclosed area. But I wanted a bigger unit that would also let me work on frames and bigger pieces.

A couple of years ago I bought a 60-gallon, two-cylinder, 12 CFM compressor that was on close-out (about $350, I think) at Lowes. I had an electrician come in and wire a 220 outlet into my garage and hook it up. But I never used it. Not even once. I never even turned it on except to be sure it ran. I didn't have any piping or anything. So, like most of my projects, it sat for a year and a half while I went on to other things.

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Saturday, October 11, 2008

MX Sports announces changes for 2009

The press conference this morning revealed the big changes coming for the 2009 season. 2009 is the first year that MX Sports will own the series. The big hitters are:

• New class names — 250 and 450. Imagine that. Somebody actually listens to Jody Weisel.
• Tracks — all the same tracks as 2008.
• Races — still two 30+2 motos, folks. 450 class will run first.
• TV — 3 live races on SPEED. All others broadcast same day at 10:00pm ET. 250 races on the following Tues. First motos, both classes, live and free on the internets.
• No. 1 plates — If you're a defending champ you have to run the Numero Uno. That's the way it should be.
• No Side plates — side numbers no longer required. Transponders have rendered them unnecessary and you can't read them anyway. So the riders are now free to add more "bold new graphics".

Also, the WMA gets a lot more coverage in 2009 with 8 National events, SPEED and internet coverage. You can infer from this announcement that two-stroke and four-stroke bikes of equal displacement will have to compete against each other. We'll have to see what this means in practice. Will there even be any two-strokes since all the MX manufacturers have pretty much given in to Honda's marketing assassination of the ring-dingers? We can hope.

Given all the wild rumors floating around about what would, and would not, happen I'd say this is a great start for rebirth of MX. I give Davey Coombs and the entire MX Sports organization an A+ for their first foray in the Pro Motocross management role.

I qualified for my Ham Radio license today

This is not really about motorcycling, except that I got the idea to do this from a post on the Wild Goose Moto Guzzi discussion board. I've been thinking about some way to have communications on my street bike for a while. Emergency communications mainly but, ultimately, I want to be able to do bike-to-bike with other riders.

I looked into a lot of different walkie-talkie radio systems. The cheaper units (under $150) all got bad user reviews. I concluded that they are basically junk. The more expensive ones cost as much as handheld Ham sets and you still have the issue of having to have matched units to talk to anyone else.

In my research of available options I saw a post by a Guzzi rider showing the water-resistant, mil-spec Ham unit he uses. The idea of having a licensed radio that could reach repeaters and such seemed like a good idea, especially since the best riding roads are often off the cell phone grid — at least if you have a Sprint cell phone.

I like the idea of having a license to operate it. The test is not hard. Anyone who puts in even a little effort can pass it. But that's the deal, you have to put in at least some effort and it's clear that operating a Ham radio is a privilege, not a right. The privilege comes with an obligation to know the rules, abide by them, and act responsibly. I like that. And there is a lot more to Ham radio than just walkie-talkie function.

I'll get to explore that over the coming years, and I look forward to it. I don't have anyone to talk with yet — at least not on the bike. But that's ok. I don't have a radio yet. I don't have a call sign either. But the FCC will assign that in a few days. I'll post it here when I know it. In the mean time, let me know if you're an operator interested in motorcycles. Maybe we can have a rag chew.

Friday, October 10, 2008

MX Sports press conference Saturday

In today's Racerhead column Davey Combs announced a press conference to be held tomorrow morning at the MGM Grand Hotel. Coombs will announce some of MX Sports' plans for the 2009 Pro MX season. There have been a lot of discomfiting rumors flying about. Many sound far-fetched, to me. But you never know. Hopefully we'll get answers that put the worst of them to bed.