Sunday, March 05, 2006
Starting to gear up
I'm working on getting my chase vehicle ready for the upcoming season....anyone who wishes to donate a Mobile Threat Net system to me, please leave a comment and I WILL be in touch...lol
I'm essentially upgrading my power inverter and mounting my jotto desk elsewhere. I would love to hear from folks who have experience with dash-mounted camera hardware...I want something that will allow me to mount my video camera using the standard tripod shoe such that it can be removed and popped back atop my tripod quickly. Don't know if there's such a critter out there, but any leads to acquiring such a device would be greatly appreciated.
About my vehicle: I drive a 2000 Ford Excursion with the V-10 Triton gasonline engine. It's equipped with a jotto desk to hold my laptop, which is running a GPS system so's I don't get lost...lol. I also have bluetooth enabled on my laptop so that I can connect thru my cellphone to updated weather information.
Other equipment includes a radar detector with an integrated weather alert, a CB radio, a semi-mobile scanner, and xm satellite radio. I use a Sony Handycam for video footage and a Canon PowerShot S50 (5MP) for still photographs.
Complete the outfit with a stearns heavy-duty rainsuit, a good collection of Classic Rock and Classic Country CDs, and several cartons of cigarrettes, and it's chase time!
Oh, and a major credit card...noticed the price of fuel lately?
At any rate, the SPC and AccuWeather are both forecasting a strong potential for severe weather this upcoming week, especially from Wednesday forward. This due to a good dose of warm, moist Gulf air colliding with a fairly strong cold front from the Northwest, with the added effects of a shift in the jet stream that makes severe weather even more probable.
At some point in the near future, I'm going to post a blog entry about my thoughts/feelings as I look at such a forecast and find myself hoping for bad weather. The notion of wishing for severe storms and tornadoes is something that I'm sure every chaser (well, at least any with any semblance of conscience) struggles with, and I'll try to put into words exactly how I feel towards this dilemma.
More to come soon (hopefully).....
I'm essentially upgrading my power inverter and mounting my jotto desk elsewhere. I would love to hear from folks who have experience with dash-mounted camera hardware...I want something that will allow me to mount my video camera using the standard tripod shoe such that it can be removed and popped back atop my tripod quickly. Don't know if there's such a critter out there, but any leads to acquiring such a device would be greatly appreciated.
About my vehicle: I drive a 2000 Ford Excursion with the V-10 Triton gasonline engine. It's equipped with a jotto desk to hold my laptop, which is running a GPS system so's I don't get lost...lol. I also have bluetooth enabled on my laptop so that I can connect thru my cellphone to updated weather information.
Other equipment includes a radar detector with an integrated weather alert, a CB radio, a semi-mobile scanner, and xm satellite radio. I use a Sony Handycam for video footage and a Canon PowerShot S50 (5MP) for still photographs.
Complete the outfit with a stearns heavy-duty rainsuit, a good collection of Classic Rock and Classic Country CDs, and several cartons of cigarrettes, and it's chase time!
Oh, and a major credit card...noticed the price of fuel lately?
At any rate, the SPC and AccuWeather are both forecasting a strong potential for severe weather this upcoming week, especially from Wednesday forward. This due to a good dose of warm, moist Gulf air colliding with a fairly strong cold front from the Northwest, with the added effects of a shift in the jet stream that makes severe weather even more probable.
At some point in the near future, I'm going to post a blog entry about my thoughts/feelings as I look at such a forecast and find myself hoping for bad weather. The notion of wishing for severe storms and tornadoes is something that I'm sure every chaser (well, at least any with any semblance of conscience) struggles with, and I'll try to put into words exactly how I feel towards this dilemma.
More to come soon (hopefully).....
