Category Archives: Boomershoot 2012

Posts about Boomershoot 2012.

Boomershoot Mecca update

Posted on by

Barb and I went to Boomershoot Mecca today. I installed a 3/8” U-bolt on the solar panel mount and made a plate to replace the conduit clamps I had used to secure the pole to the top edge of the shipping container. I just didn’t trust the previous configuration. Barb and I raised the pole and secured it in place:

IMG_7558

Then I did some more wiring and tested out the transfer switch (it automatically switches from the external generator to the battery powered inverter):

IMG_7556

I moved some shelves into the proper position and started putting things away.

IMG_7557

But by then Barb was cold and tired and wanted to go home. I had a 1750 Watt heater at her feet with my coat over her lap but it’s getting cold enough that you have to be moving or else be in a warm environment to keep from getting hypothermia.

I still have a little bit more wiring to do such as connecting the 115 VAC battery charger to the generator side of the transfer switch, installing an Anderson Powerpole and securing the cables and flexible conduit to the wall. Then I want to arrange all the boxes, chemicals, mixer, air cleaners and other stuff in prep for Boomershoot 2012.

The solar panel seems to be working well. At one point the charge controller indicated 7.1 amps which is getting close to 100 W (the panel is rated at 130 W under ideal conditions). As we were leaving the sun was lower and the battery was nearing full charge and the amperage dropped down to the four amp range. Still that is far more than enough to run Wi-Fi and a web cam without generator backup.

Bracing against the wind

Posted on by

On Sunday Barron and I went to Boomershoot Mecca and mounted the solar panel on the pole and did most of the wiring for the power transfer switch and the solar panel. I was not happy with the mounting of the solar panel to the steel pipe with just two hose clamps. The panel has quite a bit of surface (wind) area, clamps are very thin with holes (weak spots) ready made from the factory. After we had it mounted it was trivial to rotate it on the pole. It just didn’t have enough grip. And if it would rotate that probably meant it could slide down the pole as well. We drove to Orofino for lunch and bought some friction tape at the hardware store. I wasn’t entirely happy with this solution but it was better than what we had.

I ultimately realized what were really needed was a U-bolt in addition to the factory provided clamps. The hardware store was closed by then and so we used the friction tape and cobbled something together that was better than nothing.

Also the conduit clamps I planned to hold the 1” pipe to the side of the shipping container started looking weak to me when I thought about the panel being pushed around in the wind. I installed two but figured four would really be better. It took a lot of time to bore and tap the holes into the corner of the shipping container so I decided the other two could wait until the next time I came out.

It was decided that I would look at the weather forecasts and if there was no high winds I would take care of it on Thursday when Barb and I go to my parents place a couple miles away for Thanksgiving. If there were winds forecast I would get up early Monday morning, buy the parts at the local hardware store, drive out to the site, finish it up, and still be able to get back to Moscow without being excessively late in my “work from home” week at my Seattle job.

The wind forecast looked good and I didn’t even bother to purchase the parts. Then about 9:30 last night I checked my email on my phone and found (in part):

Joe,

Here is a current Wind Advisory for Boomershoot (Lenore, ID) until 8:00am, Wed Nov 23 2011, from your local National Weather Service office.

…

URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
940 PM MST MON NOV 21 2011
OROFINO/GRANGEVILLE REGION-
840 PM PST MON NOV 21 2011

…WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TUESDAY TO 8 AM PST WEDNESDAY…

A WIND ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 AM TUESDAY TO 8 AM PST WEDNESDAY.

* IMPACTS/TIMING: SOUTH WINDS WILL BECOME QUITE STRONG AFTER
MIDNIGHT. STRONG SOUTH WINDS WILL CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY
MORNING.

* WINDS: SOUTH 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 35 MPH…INCREASING TO
25 TO 35 MPH WITH GUSTS UP 50 MPH AFTER MIDNIGHT TONIGHT INTO
WEDNESDAY MORNING.

I am already in bed, ready to go to sleep shortly and now I have 50 MPH winds forecast for Boomershoot in about three hours. Even 25 MPH winds would have made it difficult to sleep without taking some action to prevent the loss of the solar panel. I drove out to the site which is normally one hour each way but last night the roads had snow and ice on them. I used a rope to safely lower the pipe and solar panel to the ground and tie it to a couple of railroad ties (thanks Matt!) so it wouldn’t blow around and bang into some nearby rocks:

WP_000352Web

I made it back to bed by a little after 1:00 AM.

My Tweets for the little adventure were (minor grammar errors corrected):

We needed one more bolt to secure the solar panel against high winds.

I could have done it this morning but no winds were in the forecast so I could do it on Thursday when I was going to be there anyway.

A few minutes ago I got a wind warning for Boomershoot. Up to 50 MPH winds starting at 1:00 AM. On my way out to the site.

On site at #Boomershoot Mecca. Not much wind yet. Glad I didn’t try to drive across the field. It was very soft and muddy.

I’m going to take down the mast with the solar panel and Wifi AP. No cell service so this is the last Tweet until I get back home.

#Boomershoot Mecca solar panel is secure and I’m back home and in bed with @BoomershootWife where I belong.

This morning I received another wind warning for Boomershoot:

URGENT – WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MISSOULA MT
815 AM MST TUE NOV 22 2011
OROFINO/GRANGEVILLE REGION-
715 AM PST TUE NOV 22 2011

…WIND ADVISORY NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM PST THURSDAY

The winds are going to last until 4 AM Thursday? I’m really, really glad I took it all the way down rather than just tried to lash it together a little better with the rope or paracord. I’ll get the parts tonight and get the panel back up later this week after the winds have died down.

Back to work

Posted on by

Wife Barbara went back to work on Saturday after breaking her ankle in August.

At the end of the day her ankle was sore but she went off to work again yesterday. She has today and tomorrow off but starts her regular schedule of six days on, eight days off again on Wednesday.

It was tough leaving her behind in Idaho yesterday. It was really nice living together full time again but we have our duty to support all those other people who need the time to camp out in the parks and protest people having more money than them so it’s back to work for us.

In somewhat related news Ry drove his van to Idaho this weekend to deliver stuff for Boomershoot I had purchased in the Seattle area. Life is always an adventure when riding with Ry and this weekend was no different. This was the drive across the field to the new explosives production site:

The first voice you hear is mine. The laughter is Barron, who gave Ry QOTD status for that little adventure. The last voice is son-in-law Caleb.

I rode back to the Seattle area with Ry yesterday. We had the left front tire blow out on the van while on I-90. It was a very interesting hole in the tire. We had never seen anything like this before:

We got the limited service spare put on without getting hit by another vehicle and limped on in to Ellensburg, Since it was Sunday all the tire shops were closed. Ry paid the $100 to get someone to open up the Ellensburg Tire Center on Sunday and we arrived back in the Seattle area about 18:30 after leaving Idaho at 09:30. That was a nine hour journey that usually takes only five hours.

It could have been worse. On the way to Idaho Barb and I were a few minute ahead of Ry and had stop and go traffic over snow covered Snoqualmie pass on I-90. We weaved our way around the stopped, crosswise, and even backward facing cars, RVs, and trucks. Ry, probably less than 10 minutes behind us, found the pass closed. After it was opened up again he was an hour behind us.

Barb and I had bare and wet and even bare and dry conditions the rest of the way to Idaho. Ry had black ice:

Boomershoot 2012 prep

Posted on by

Saturday son-in-law Caleb, Barron, Ry and I did some more prep for Boomershoot 2012.

Ry has pictures and an overview. Barron has a bit more.

I was tempted to make Ry’s comment just before we left Mecca my QOTD, “I’m doing you a favor.” Barron said he agreed with that sentiment then Ry threw my 8″ crescent wrench over the hill. Sunday morning Ry gave me three new crescent wrenches in various sizes and told me they had lifetime warranties and to take them back if I ever had problems with them.

There is still a lot of work to be done. I had hoped to get the solar panel operational but we didn’t quite get there. There is still more wiring to do but most importantly the pole it mounts on needs to be secured to the shipping container with something more than zip-ties.

Boomershoot 2012 supplies

Posted on by

I have ordered the cardboard boxes for Boomershoot 2012. I stress cardboard because for Boomershoot 2011 we mostly used plastic “deli” boxes. This was, essentially, a disaster. For reasons we are not entirely certain about (probably the additional confinement provided by the extra mass of the cardboard) the cardboard box targets detonated as expected and the plastic ones had a very high percentage of duds.

Next weekend I will deliver the 500 7”x7”, 800 4”x4”, and 900 3”x3” boxes to Mecca (and here) along with the new 130 W solar panel, new tables, and miscellaneous other stuff. I think I have enough reclosable (“Zip Lock”) bags for next year but I have an idea for a new method of sealing the targets which I will do some tests on someday soon. This new method will eliminate the slow process of putting the Boomerite in the plastic bags. The small bags for the 3”x3” and “4×4” targets are a real pain.

Son-in-law Caleb says he will be able (he broke his leg a few weeks ago and hasn’t completely healed yet) to go with me and help do the installation of the solar panel, wiring, and the Wi-Fi.

The last time I visited Mecca (October 15th) I had numerous problems and did not get done nearly as much as I had hoped. Weather and soil is getting to the point where it will be “interesting” to delivery anything that we can’t carry by hand. Fortunately Mecca is much closer to a drivable road during the winter than the Taj. It is only about 140 yards. So even carrying a wood tabletop is doable unless you are on snowshoes or wading through knee deep mud (both of which are possible at certain times of the year).

Gun rights in the Jewish community

Posted on by

Via The Jewish Week:

While I was recently giving a class at a Modern Orthodox synagogue in New York City on the topic of halachic approaches to weapons I asked this group of 25 people (most between 50-65 years old) how many of them owned guns. I expected 1 or 2 hands to emerge but was astonished to find that about 50-60% admitted to having a gun at home. Shortly after, I learned that there is an Orthodox organization now training Orthodox Jews to use guns and to bring them to synagogue as a form of “protection.” If the religious Jewish community in America has joined the consumers of guns then we must also enter into the national gun discourse.

Wow! This is awesome!

The rest of the article is rather negative on gun ownership with things like:

The Mishnah describes weapons as “shameful” things to be seen with (Shabbat 63a). One should be embarrassed to own a weapon, even in the case that they must.

But the important part is that it may be that U.S. Jews are recognizing the utility of possessing the skills and tools to defend themselves rather than being totally dependent  upon the government. Even though this would seem to be a “Well, DUH!” conclusion (German Police Battalion involvement in direct killing operations were responsible for at least 1 million deaths, see also this book) this is a huge change from 10 or 15 years ago.

If 50-60% possess firearms then most of the rest will be willing to have open-minded discussions about guns. This means we win as well as the Jewish community.

[Slightly off topic but one semi-famous Jewish author just signed up for the Precision Rifle Clinic at Boomershoot 2012.]

Mecca under construction

Posted on by

I take exception with Ry saying, “Joe tried to drive the cat through the uphill side of the container, missing only by a few inches”. It was under complete control when I was within a few inches. I was out of control sliding sidewise for a few feet a minute or so earlier but it stopped before I got within five or six feet but everything else is correct.

Barron has some pictures and I will get some pictures, video, and stories (three different types of fuels failed me with the bulldozer, there was a flat tire on my vehicle, and it was HOT out there), of my own up within a few days.

On the bright side; Mecca is going to be awesome!

Oh, and those guys who stayed in bed until after 10:00 AM or 2:00 PM today are wimps. My muscles were a little sore from moving over 1300 pounds of ammonium nitrate and other stuff but I was out at the range today by 9:00 AM and shot in the Steel Challenge Pistol match with only minor complaints. I guess it must suck when you get to be as old as those other guys who didn’t make it to match. [wink]

Thanks again Ry, Barron, and son-in-law Caleb, for all the help. I couldn’t have done it without you.

Mecca construction progress

Posted on by

Son-in-law Caleb and I went to the Boomershoot site both yesterday and today. Yesterday we removed the remains of the first Boomershoot explosives storage magazine. I had busted it up with the bulldozer last June and finally got around to hauling it off.

Today we put some old railroad ties in place for supporting a modified 40’ shipping container in place as a manufacturing site for Boomershoot reactive targets:

IMG_6420

The shipping container should be delivered in two or three weeks. It’s going to be awesome to have a place to build the targets with lots of room and sheltered from the wind, snow, rain, hail, sleet, sun, and various combinations thereof we have endured in the past.

The railroad ties had been donated by Matthew and hauled to within a couple hundred yards by Barron and Janelle. There was a crop in the field and they couldn’t get them all the way to the site. Enough of the crop was cut last night and this morning that we got them in the rest of the way. We also brought in some gravel to position them. That turned out to be a bit of a misadventure.

I originally planned to just put down a tarp in the back of my SUV and shovel in some gravel at my brother’s place a couple miles away and carry it over like that. My brother suggested using the bucket loader on the tractor. Since one bucket full would be plenty a single trip with the loader would take less time than shoveling it into and out of my vehicle. Good idea.

The problem was that the heavy load in the bucket exposed a fatigued weld in the 35+ year old tractor and as I crossed a small ditch the front left wheel broke off:

IMG_6451

IMG_6454

As you can see in the second picture most of the area of the weld had been broke for some time.

We ended up shoveling the gravel we needed into the back of my SUV and delivering it the last 150 yards or so as originally planned.

My brother Doug and I looked at it fairly closely and it looks like the pieces can be taken off, tossed in a pickup, and taken back to the shop for repair. It’s probably a half-day job that is relatively inexpensive.

I was just glad that it didn’t break on the county road as I was going much faster and next to a step drop off. It could have been much more serious.

Here’s an opportunity for a caption contest:

IMG_6458

Boomershoot 2012 slogan and image

Posted on by

I have finalized the image and slogan for Boomershoot 2012.

2012boomershootdraft2

Thanks to Caleb for the slogan, Rolf for the image, Ry for the fireball, and Xenia for the editing.

Entry for Boomershoot 2012 will be opening up soon. 2011 participants will probably be able to enter tomorrow night or the next. I expect it will be open for everyone by September 1 or 2.

Boomershoot 2012 prep

Posted on by

Son-in-law Caleb and I went out to the Boomershoot site yesterday. Caleb staked out the four corners of where we will place the shipping container for the new reactive target production facility:

IMG_6284Web_2011

The corners stake out an area 8’ x 40’. We brought a laser level and Caleb was able to determine that I had got it level within three inches using my eyeball and the old dozer. After the crop has been taken off the surrounding field this fall we will go back in with a pickup load of gravel and put a little gravel on each of the four corner locations making the rear end about 3” higher to keep water from draining to the rear, settle the railroad ties from Matthew into the gravel, and then bring in the shipping container.

While Caleb worked on staking and leveling task I worked on getting the Wi-Fi connection set up and then did some further tests on Internet provider options. One of the options included putting an antenna on a distance hill that is visible both from Mecca (this Boomershoot production facility), my brother Doug’s home, and Teakean Butte where First Step Research has high-speed wireless link available. Doug would pay the recurring Internet bill and I would pay for the equipment and do the installation.

Currently we are getting service from a neighbor who has a satellite connection but does not have visibility of Teakean Butte. The connection is slower and cheaper than the connection from First Step, a latency you could measure with a sundial, and “Fair Access” limits of only a few gigabytes per month. Doug does not have visibility of Teakean Butte either but if I were to put up a solar powered FSR connection on the hill at the power pole in the distance (about 0.75 miles away from the Wi-Fi access point in the foreground below) I could service both all of the Boomershoot site and my brother Doug.

IMG_6275Web_2011

The picture above was taken with a 300 mm lens which gives about a 6 X boost from a normal view.

The question was could I make the 0.75 mile connection with the current technology I have or would I need better antennas and/or higher powered transmitters. I pointed my antenna at the distance hill, connected to the neighbors satellite powered access point via the rear lobe of the directional antenna which was about 0.7 miles away through a few trees. I then went to the distance hill to measure the signal strength—with my cell phone. I could not connect from the distant hill but I could measure the signal strength. It will work. The signal strength would probably be strong enough I could even connect with some laptop computers. Propagation was very good and the noise floor was very low. That appears to be a viable option.