Outdoors OZ

Adventures in hiking, running, biking and other sporty pursuits

Welcome to Outdoors OZ, where I share the fun and follies of getting out and about. Expect gear rants about equipment that fails to live up to what's on the box and fulsome praise showered upon stuff that actually works properly. Tips and tricks, safety advice, camp cooking ideas, philosophical meandering, really bad puns, funny (hopefully) anecdotes, all with lots of pictures. Also, since I am a fan, Sci-Fi and Fantasy short stories and maybe a novel or two. Written by a recently retired scientist/engineer with a long history of enjoying the Australian outdoors who now has time on his hands and an inclination to perpetrate a blog about it all.

Kindle 3 (the one with the keyboard) hacking

terrycornall

Aug 1026 min read

Kindle 3 (the one with the keyboard) hacking

I have a spare Kindle 3 (the old one with the keyboard from 2011 or so) that I can play with to see if I can use it as an eink GPS...

6 views

terrycornall

May 2111 min read

Zoomies using mkgmap

Intro I absolutely hate it when the hut I am looking for on my Fenix requires me to zoom in on the map down to almost the lowest level...

73 views

terrycornall

Sep 20, 20232 min read

Dances with Wolf spiders

In April 2023, Gordon and I did a trip to Mawson's hut in Kossie Nat park. We parked near Round Mountain, hiked to first night's stay at...

13 views

terrycornall

Jul 24, 202329 min read

LILYGO T Display AMOLED for GPS

Intro: In keeping with my search for a platform to build a hiking GPS on that will last for a week in the field without recharging, show...

9 views

terrycornall

Jul 18, 202318 min read

Debugging the builtin ESP32s3 debugger

The ESP32-s3 is supposed to have a built-in JTAG accessible via the USB. But danged if anyone has explained (at a level I can follow...

7 views

Microcontrollers with mid-sized touch-screen displays

terrycornall

May 6, 202318 min read

Microcontrollers with mid-sized touch-screen displays

I've been nibbling away at the task of making a home-brew outdoors navigational device for a while now, 3 or 4 years, I guess. In that...

3 views

terrycornall

Oct 10, 20224 min read

Two person four season tents

During a recent snow trip, while I cowered in a hut that the wind was trying to obliterate, I was so grateful that I didn't have to rely...

36 views

terrycornall

Sep 22, 202211 min read

In the Shadow of Mt Jugular

A wee bit of whimsical hyperbole and poetic licence in the title. Just a smidge. This is a trip report for four days of alpine touring I...

106 views

terrycornall

Sep 19, 20224 min read

How to Fix your Swix Sticks

Have you got a pair of those nifty but expensive telescopic ski sticks for use in backcountry alpine touring skiing so you can adjust...

17 views

terrycornall

Jul 28, 20221 min read

Funny Papers

Cartoons and quirky art.

22 views

Second Pass: Low-Power GPS device. Project Pathfinder with SHARP Memory display

terrycornall

Jun 3, 202248 min read

Second Pass: Low-Power GPS device. Project Pathfinder with SHARP Memory display

I am a retired electronics geek with some experience writing software for small microcontrollers and I love the idea of putting that to...

13 views

terrycornall

May 16, 20223 min read

It's Bigger on the Inside!

"Right, what you do is... are you lot listening?" "Yes sir!" came the eager replies. Lots of impressionable minds to mold today, better...

1 view

terrycornall

May 10, 20223 min read

On Anon

"We are here today to begin investigation into a growing suspicion that humanity's history and development has been for centuries...

1 view

terrycornall

May 10, 20221 min read

What's a New York Microsecond?

The time between when the traffic lights change to green and the New York autonomous taxis start bleeping their horns.

0 views

terrycornall

May 5, 20222 min read

Immortality...ooops

'Hey, Gorge," called Matt from across the lab. "I think I've got it!" "Yeah, but there's a cure for that now," I quipped. "Got what?"...

1 view

terrycornall

May 3, 20221 min read

Didja bring the beer along?

Song scored for lagerphone, monkey-stick or ugly-stick. Ugly stick - Wikipedia I'm glad you broughthebeeralong, 'cos I am badly needin'...

1 view

terrycornall

Apr 27, 20221 min read

User manual

Often, when trying to get some piece of hardware or software to work, I have to try, retry, then go and read the instructions (if I can...

1 view

terrycornall

Apr 26, 20221 min read

Locality v Universal Constant

It appears to me that physics has a dilemma. On the one hand we insist that things have to be local (which has a particular technical...

0 views

terrycornall

Apr 24, 20221 min read

Anty Deluvian

What if ants discovered the joys of waterproof sealant? 'Looks like the ants are gearing up for rain', commented Jennifer, munching a bit...

1 view

terrycornall

Apr 14, 20222 min read

The Fermi Paradox Resolved

Fermi's Paradox wonders where is all the spam from alien civilizations, if planets that support life are as common as UFO abduction...

2 views

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