Category: product endorsements

Tesla Model X

At a Parksville B.C. car show I liked best — of hundreds of show cars — the Tesla X.

Those doors.

Many of the different Corvette Stingrays appealed, as well.

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my Dad’s electric Trike

Dad bought a Pedego Trike for running around Parksville B.C.

Joyriding and doing the shopping.

You only pedal in case of emergencies. Dead battery, for example.

It tops out at about 20km / hour … unless you are riding downhill. Downhill I’ve got it up to 30km / hour.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

my Dad bought an electric Trike

We did shop around, finally deciding on the Pedego Trike as being safest for running around Parksville B.C.

Specifications.

Price is about U.S. $3000. Canadian about $4200 including a special lock and B.C. taxes.

ElectricBikeReview.com does a terrific job reviewing what’s available.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

mapping my hikes & bike trips

For summer 2019 I’ll use the Relive app.

It generates Google Earth videos with the photos you too included.

Here’s an example from the FREE version of the software.

The free version adds a maximum of 10 photos. For up to 50 photos you must join the CLUB which costs US $60 / year.

Mapping works in conjunction with Strava, Runtastic, Endomondo, Garmin Connect, Suunto, Apple Health (Watch), MapMyRun, MapMyWalk, MapMyRide, MapMyHike and Polar Flow.

I might be using the free version of Strava. Otherwise I’ll use Apple Health.

my GoPro Hero 7 Black set-up

As of May 2019.

I tried and gave up on drones.

I tried and gave up on gimbals.

GoPro works for me. Small. Tough. Durable. Waterproof.

For BikePacking travel I’ll be carrying:

  • two tripod(s) … one a selfie stick
  • Bike handlebar mount
  • Bike helmet mount

VIDEO

  • aspect ratio 16:9 (not 4:3)
  • cool kids like me use 4K/60fps 

Click PLAY or watch a 4K sample on YouTube.

  • zoom is digital — so I won’t often use it
  • HyperSmooth (new video stabilization)
  • Protune is ON
  • once on a trip I’ll turn on QuikCapture (video with one click)
  • time clips (15 or 30 seconds) are useful
  • TimeWarp

For reasons unknown, GoPro stopped supporting their Apple Watch app. I use my watch a lot for iPhone, but will have to use voice control rather than my watch for the GoPro. (There is a 3rd party app called EasyBlack 7 that I might try.)

Click PLAY or watch a sample of Slow Mo on YouTube.

Audio

Typically I delete audio replacing it with some soundtrack.

On my last trip I tried using the audio. That can be tricky as the GoPro is not great at audio. It’s not easy to edit audio.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Time Lapse (Hyperlapse) mode

  • I’ll use this occasionally to speed up lengthy videos

Click PLAY or watch a sample on YouTube.

PHOTOS

  • SuperPhoto mode
  • photos at 4000×3000 pixels (4×3) default
    • it’s slow, uses a lot of battery, best on tripod
    • I won’t take many photos with the GoPro. The iPhone is better.
  • I won’t use Burst or Continuous photo

This GoPro photo came out as .tiff — huge at 96 MB. When I exported it to .jpg it was still large for web (1280 x 960) at 735 KB. It’s not been edited.

click for larger version

my CURRENT travel camera system

As of May 2019.

Two cameras. The iPhone can be remotely controlled by my Apple Watch 3.

I’m trying to use voice control as much as I can for the GoPro.

I have GoPro attachments on both bike helmet and bike handlebars as well.  All mounts can attach either GoPro or iPhone.

What’s lacking most is the ability to ZOOM with either camera. I MIGHT carry a small camera with zoom, as well. I like zoom for distant animal sightings. And for Gymnastics.