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This week, find out about the latest descendent of N4RVE's Behemoth.

Steve Roberts, N4RVE, is no stranger to this column. He appeared here back in April 2003, when I wrote about his plans to build Microship, "a canoe-scale amphibian pedal/solar/sail micro-trimarans, intended for open-ended exploration of coastal and inland waterways." While manually propelling his Microship across the waterways of America, Steve planned to be on the air using ham radio equipment integrated in his vessel.

Shacktopus is the latest amazing project from Steve Roberts, N4RVE.

Fast forward three years and Steve is working on something completely different. Building on his two decades of wandering the US on computer-laden bicycles, embedding systems into amphibian micro-trimarans and geeked-out kayaks, and otherwise building a career around the tools of high-tech adventure, he is now working on a project called the Shacktopus.

"Named in honor of its ham-radio roots coupled with its multi-pronged design, this is a complete Shack-to-Go with added Internet access, adaptable power system, remote control, environmental sniffing and data logging, tracking and telemetry, multiple audio options, on-board security system, robot-operator and logging capability, universal audio filter, synthesized speech response and event notification, and, well, the list goes on for quite a while."

The Shacktopus Web site documents the project with project news, a system architecture drawing, photos, hacks, a FAQ, a blog, daily updates, and a description of a theoretical product line. It is all very interesting reading and I will be following the progress of Steve's Shacktopus closely.

Thank you Barry McWilliams, WK2S, for suggesting this Web site.

Until next time, keep on surfin'.

Editor's note: Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, will not be testing APRS coverage between downtown Wolcott and downtown Dayton next weekend! To discuss why or to discuss anything else, e-mail Stan or add comments to his blog.

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Next: Bicycles and Radios