No Red Sox tonight

Today is a travel day for the Red Sox as they head down to Tampa for two games against the Rays.

I was pleasantly surprised when I was scrolling through the channel guide, looking for something to watch, and I found that NESN is carrying a Pawtucket Red Sox game. This means I get to watch baseball!

This makes me happy.

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This evening I started working on all the "stuff" I need to build a ADSB-in system for my flying pleasure.

For the record, ADSB is the system put together by the FAA to allow ATC as well as aircraft to "see" each other. They issued a directive that all aircraft must have ADSB-out (transmitter) before 2018 so that ATC can "see" all of the aircraft, along with all the information they need to determine altitude, speed, etc... When I show you those images of my flight, it's because of ADSB that they are available.

The beauty of the system is that if you put a ADSB-in (receiver) in your plane and hook it up to a mapping system, you not only get a picture of all the aircraft in your area, you can also receive weather information and airport information.

These are traditionally very expensive systems but several nerd pilots got together some time ago and created not only a flight planning and mapping system for the iPad called FLTPlan Go, someone also came up with a design using the RaspberryPI mini computer that is the perfect ADSB-in receiver.

I have an old iPad that I've successfully installed FLTPlan Go on and in the next few weeks I'll be ordering all the parts I need to build the receiver and connecting it to the iPad.

This means I no longer have to rely solely on my eyes or the ATC to tell me if someone is near me or heading towards me. I will be able to look at a screen and see everything that is around me, inlcuding any weather I need to be aware of.

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While I watch the PawSox do their thing and play with my new flight software, you can click on these links:

• Only in China.



• This does not shock me.



• I'm betting The Sopranos had something to do with this.



• Beer: Is there anything it can't do?



• I'm trying hard not to make any Jim Fixx jokes.



• You gotta love dogs.