More of Big Boy's Toys

I have got it at last. Ever since my Foretrex 101's small spring in the battery chamber broke I have been meaning to replace it. Today got the eTrex 10 by courtesy of Suranjanadi. The cost is Canadian $114.10. Took several photographs as I unpacked the box. Loaded the batteries and acquired satellites from the rooftop and then registered the product on their website. Here are my first impressions.

1. The look is great but the feel is rather cheapo. Its very plastic. However, at about $100 you can't expect anything more. I just hope that it's not as brittle as it feels like. 
2. Opening the battery chamber is fairly easy. There is a knob behind that you turn 90 degrees and the back cover opens. Inserting the batteries was a little tricky. It felt a little too tight. Hopefully it will ease up. This task is pretty tough in the Foretrex 101. You need a penny to open the chamber. Indian coins don't work. In fact I have a US coin in my wallet for this purpose.
3. The instruction manual comes in 7 different languages. But thankfully each language is a separate booklet. English was on top. 
4. Satellite acquisition was pretty fast. 

Why did I buy the eTrex 10? Because of its no frills and bare bone nature. I don't really need maps and other fancy capabilities. I intend on buying a Nuvi for my car at a later stage which will have elaborate all India maps. But for hiking and general birding trips an affordable replacement for my basic Foretrex 101 is what I was looking for. The eTrex 10 is an improvement over that in the sense it has USB connectivity. Apparently the computer will read it as just another storage device. Let me see. 

I shall acquire some way points today and then see how it can be transferred to the computer.

In Foretrex I used to jot down the waypoints by hand and then key them into an XL sheet and then upload them on a map to create my own maps. With eTrex 10 that's no longer going to be an issue. 

27th December, 2012 : Few learnings from today worth noting down. Satellite capture with a clear view of the sky is super fast compared to Foretrex 101. The USB works fine and Windows could read the files but the Mac could not. Possibly because of the old OS. The system does not need to be switched on before connecting to the computer. It switches itself on - partially though. While coming back home from work left the receiver on on the front passenger seat. It never lost satellite contact. Am I missing my Foretrex 101? I think so, yes. If it had USB connectivity I would have gone out of my way to get it fixed.   

28th December, 2012: Went out to create some waypoints to check how the machine performs. It worked just fine. I went round the Victoria marking 11 waypoints in the process. When connected I could find this file that I quickly saved in my hard drive. The descriptions are typed by me on the computer.

After this I created this map, which is interactive (if I am connected to the internet) in the sense I can zoom in and out or click on the clickable elements. 

The waypoints are all marked with a blue flag and a number which is automatically assigned by the GPS. The typed in descriptions about the points can be viewed by any viewer by clicking on the flag. 

This map is created free by this website. All one needs to do is upload the GPX file on that website and they create such a lovely looking map. It is possible to add more details into the maps but I couldn't work out how to copy and paste .gpx files. Will crack that too in due course of time.

29th December, 2012: Today I uploaded the way points on the website of everytrail.com and created a "guide" for the walk around Victoria. The process is very straight forward and simple. Just upload the gpx file and then follow the steps one after the other. This is what it looks like.
A short walk around Victoria Memorial, Calcutta at EveryTrail | Download Guide to your iPhone or Android

EveryTrail - Find trail maps for California and beyond

Mr Mochi Revives My HD Boots

Last time when we went Bulleting to Shantiniketan (read the story here) I had worn my ten-year old Harley Davidsons. It was a very dear purchase for me when I went to the US in 2002. However, not having worn it for a long time the sole had got a little dry and when I reached Shantiniketan I realised that the pasting of the sole had just gone off. 

Thankfully this happened only on the right foot. Went looking for a cobbler. He put a few nails, saying his gum won't work with such heavy boots. He tried to stitch it up too but thankfully his needle couldn't make any impression on those American boots (made in China though). 

I was sad that a legend that I bought for more than $100 would perhaps have to be thrown away. 

But then someone told me about Mr Mochi. They are a shoe repairing shop on Darga Road. They pasted the soles for Rs 150 and the boots are wearable again. Bingo. I think Mr Mochi is going to get a lot of business from me. This is perhaps the first organised sector cobbler shop in Calcutta. 

The Brown Shrike of Metro Park

Towards the end of last winter I noticed a lone Brown Shrike perched on a small tree (possibly an Acacia Arabica) on the plot of land next to Biplabda's house. I was pretty thrilled by its presence. I heard the bird after a few days - very early in the morning, as I was going out on some birding trip.

This time, even before the full onslaught of winter, on 23rd September to be precise, as I was coming back from a day's birding at Rajarhat, I found a Brown Shrike perched on an electric line right in front of Salil Babu's house. I parked the car in my garage and came back with my camera. The bird gave me all the poses very quietly, albeit from an artificial perch. It was a juvenile.

Subsequently I heard the bird several times, particularly while going out for early morning birding trips when the area was still in the dark. I also saw the bird on several occasions.

A few weeks ago they started making a house in the plot next to the one where the shrike was most frequently seen. There is a lot of human activity there now. I had thought the bird must have called it a day and flown off to some other locality. But this morning at around 10.30 am, I heard her loud call. I went towards our stair case and saw the bird on the "Madhabilata" tree just outside. The distance between the bird and me could not have been more than 3/4 feet. I was on this side of a glass louvered window.

I quickly went and got my Edirol. Had to set it up with card, battery etc and then recorded the call. There was a lot of environmental noise over which I had no control. I wonder if she will come back to my locality all the way from Mongolia next year. I hope she finds a better place to spend her winter next year.



However, if she finds the Madhabilata tree in my house safe enough, it will always be there for her and other birds that want to use it.

According to IUCN Redlist the bird's population is decreasing. It is yet to reach the vulnerable stage. However, that is due to its large distribution range.