simon43

I realise that I have been cluttering up GG's weather thread with images that I receive from the various weather satellites. Since satellites and all-things-radio is my hobby, I think it would be better to create a separate thread in this sub-forum for topics about this hobby. I'm a radio amateur in Thailand, but I don't actually do much transmitting. I mostly spend my time designing and testing various shortwave VHF and UHF radio antennas, mostly to receive image signals from satellites (weather satellites, ISS etc), or data signals from various small Cubesats - mostly built by students at technical colleges in Russia. To be honest, Russia is far more active than the USA in building and deploying Cubesats with projects and experiments on board that 'ordinary folk' can involve themselves in. The USA mainly has question and answer sessions between college students and astronauts on the ISS. From time to time, the Russian sector of the ISS does transmit images, which I receive at my home in south Thailand. Anyway, I will try to post interesting signals and news on this thread. Of course, I welcome relevant posts from other forum members! So to start things off, I repost the image from GG's weather thread that I posted today (Thursday 12th June). This is an image from the USA weather satellite NOAA-15, as it passed over south-east Asia this morning.. The satellite transmits about 10 images on each pass, and the free processing software on my laptop creates the different images. The image shown has the rain storms indicated by colour - the darker the colour, the more rainy it is!

If you're using Satdump, your screen should look like this: On the left is the progress of the satellite in its pass, showing the azimuth and elevation. The satellite signal is shown on the waterfall and if you have the audio playing box checked, then you'll hear the 'tick-tock' sound of the signal. After the pass is completed, Satdump processes the data and adds the country overlay/underlay. This is an image with rain clouds received 10 minutes ago from the above screen of NOAA-15, so you can see that the image map is of south-east Asia (I'm located in Thailand).

Antarctica?? Something is not correct. With these 137MHz satellites, you can only receive a signal as they pass over your location in Spain, because they are LEO (low-Earth-orbit) satellites and move around the Earth at a fast speed, (in order to cancel out the Earth's gravitational force which would otherwise pull them down). So typically their signal can only be received for about 12 minutes as they pass over you. I dropped the location of Barcelona into n2yo website and it tells me that NOAA-19 will pass over that location between 11.52am - 12.07pm today Thursday, peaking at 72 degrees elevation.

Which weather satellite was that image received from? NOAA-19 has the strongest signal, so you can use the n2yo.com website to see when there will be a high elevation pass over your location. You can also add a low noise amplifier to your system (they cost about $20 online and are powered by the SDR up the signal conductor of the coaxial cable).

Muslim countries would never accept Palestinians in their territory, not as settlers nor refugees. They have made that very clear for decades. Now I wonder what they know that's created this POV... ?

Many in the bar are there only to get drunk, to party with their friends, maybe to take some drugs, many reek of cheap tobacco, of course many aim to chat up members of the opposite sex and end up in bed with them. Many are obnoxious, selfish, uneducated, rude, many smell of BO.... That's a description of the male visitors to the bar, probably many bar-girls are just as bad....

I know about Chok Chai farm, but that seems to be the exception to these thin beef cows. It explains why Thai beef in restaurants tastes terrible....

This is what I plan to buy in a few weeks to replace my rented car that I rarely use: https://www.lazada.co.th/products/pdp-i4866947009.html It's an electric pedal tricycle, meaning that you can 'contribute' to the motion of the vehicle by keeping fit and pedalling, or you can let the electric motor do all the work. Top speed is about 25 km/hr and range is about 40km. Interestingly, it uses standard lead-acid batteries, not Lithium. I regard this as a bonus, because the replacement cost of lead-acid batteries is very cheap, no fire-risk etc and you can easily replace the existing batteries with larger-capacity ones, thereby increasing the range between charges. Price is 15,900 thb, delivered to your door. I think this type of vehicle needs absolutely no tax, registration etc 🙂 In any case, I obtained a letter from the friendly Swiss doctor in Pattaya that states that I have a balance problem (I don't), and therefore need to ride a tricycle, even when sober!! Once I buy this tricycle, I'll do a review. I'm not in Pattaya (I now live in south Thailand), but this vehicle looks excellent with its large carry basket and ability to pedal/exercise as well. Also, some reviews (in Thai) from YT: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/E57BTNDL3FM?feature=share https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfisKN4E0EQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mR-REoboW4

I'm talking about the bovine sort, not the recent influx of obese Western female tourists in Pattaya... Take a look at this cow that I snapped next to my house... That's what all the cows seem to look like in Thailand - thin, certainly not much beef on that animal. What is the point of breeding cows like this? It's not a dairy cow... Why are there no large, sturdy beef cows? Where are all the dairy cows? I'm confused as to why cattle look so emaciated in Thailand.

Well, from the various messages in this thread, I've drawn my own conclusions about Cameroni's moral compass. It seems to be somewhat 'broken'.

Dissing the locals?..... again (and again and .......)

Agree with all the above. My previous comments are from the perspective of a school teacher (and father). This isn't some minor offence by the boy - it can cause serious and lasting mental harm to those girls.

Just to note that one of the US weather satellites that transmit in the 137 MHz band - NOAA-18, 'died' on 6th June after 20 years of operation. The main data transmitter broke and NASA decided to switch it off completely. It will still be listed on satellite prediction websites though until they update the status. That leaves NOAA-15 and NOAA-19, both of which will no longer be supported for professional use by NOAA after June 16th. In other words, they will still work.... until they don't! Apart from that, there are 2 Russian weather satellites in the 137 MHz band that pass over Thailand. Both of these have some problems, notably black bars that sometimes cut across the transmitted images. They are also a little weaker in signal when compared to NOAA birds. Anyway, the Russian Meteor M2-3 bird went over Thailand a few minutes ago and this is part of the image that I received (I cropped the image to remove the black bars).

"How are fake AI images a "sexual crime"? They depict scenes that are not real" The important point is that fake AI images are often believed by the viewer to be real images - the image-creation software is so good. If you see a 'photo' of President Trump fighting a T-Rex dinosaur, then you know that it is fake. If you see a 'photo' of a clearly-underage naked girl, does it matter if it's made by AI or a genuine photo? It's still child porn and therefore illegal in many jurisdictions.

You say fake is fake, but the Law in the UK disagrees with you! https://www.reuters.com/technology/artificial-intelligence/uk-makes-use-ai-tools-create-child-abuse-material-crime-2025-02-01/ If the pixels depict child porn (which is basically what this boy created), then obviously it's an offence. How you can defend his position is beyond my understanding. Let me ask you directly: Do you think it's OK to create AI child porn?

You really have no idea of how realistic images can be when created by AI. Tell me, is this image of a 20 year old female tennis player real or fake?

The people viewing that 'child porn' will not know that the images are fake. This is why creating fake images of child porn (eg in the UK) is as illegal as taking real photos...... I'm seriously worried why you seem to think it's OK to create AI porn images of kids with their real faces so that everyone thinks that they are real images...

"He attempted to smother the small fire with a damp cloth, but the battery exploded again moments later, igniting a rapidly spreading blaze. " Ah!! Lithium (which many e-bike batteries contain), ignites/has a very rapid chemical reaction on contact with water..... Do NOT throw water on a lithium battery fire!

I'm rather surprised by some of the replies in this thread. This boy wasn't just creating fake porn images using AI - he was creating these images with the faces of the underage girls in his class. So now those girls will be able to find porn images all over the internet that are apparently of themselves..... As we know, once it's on the internet, it stays on the internet. Can you imagine the repercussions for those girls whose images have been created using AI?

Creating fake porn images using AI is one thing. Creating fake porn images of underage girls from your own school is definitely not ok. It says that the boy showed no remorse. Ie - he doesn't understand right from wrong or is just an evil person, who knows....

Good luck in getting it sent back to the sender. When I tried this with a simple radio antenna that UPS claimed needed an import licence, they refused to send it back on the basis that it needed an export licence!! It all ended up in the UPS trashcan, (or more likely at the home of a UPS radio enthusiast...)

"Isn't it the responsibility of the road owner (government or hotel) to ensure there are no potentially fatal drops from it? Is suggesting a barrier of some kind too complex? " No, this is not Kansas.... it's your responsibility not to be so p*ssed as a fart that you can't navigate a simple flight of steps....

This is the sub-forum to discuss Thai language, not to post news reports in Thai language...

Been here about 23 years, although time has been spent in Burma teaching. Now I've just retired, so no more work trips to Burma. I've had my ups and downs, but the downs usually coincided with when I was married! Since declaring myself as single for the rest of my years, life has been good 🙂

Reviving this thread! I've ridden big bikes (Honda Goldwing etc) since I was 18 years old, and loved off-road riding on my 125 trials bike in Laos. But as I get older (66 years old), I find that my balance is not as good as it used to be. I'm now retired and living by the beach in a quiet part of south Thailand. I do rent a car right now, but TBH I don't need a car anymore. The local shops are walkable (I do that every morning), and slightly further afield (say no more than 5km), there are waterfalls and other nice attractions. So I'm thinking to buy an electric tricycle, but the type that allows one to 'contribute' by pedalling, thus providing exercise. This one on Lazada caught my eye: https://www.lazada.co.th/products/20-mobility-36-i5742956565-s24469407689.html Because it has a rear trailer that can either be a second seat (not needed by me), or I think I can convert it to an area to carry bulky shopping, such as water bottles etc. So I can use this kind of trike to go to the distant shops, exercise by part-pedalling, and if I do find some willing 'tart', I can pop her in the trailer for a quick trip to my home.... As for the legality, I don't think any police would trouble me (I already see one foreigner riding a slow disability scooter and another with a motorised tricycle). In any case, my friendly doctor in Pattaya previously provided me with a doctor's letter stating that I have balance issues and need to ride a tricycle.. Comments, opinions? Thanks!