An interesting shift is taking place amongst Spanish wine drinkers in the USA. White wines are growing in popularity relative to the more traditionally recognized Spanish reds. Not long ago we had trouble convincing people to try white wines from Spain. Now, the choices are numerous, the quality is high and the prices are quite reasonable. The Albariños from Galicia were the first Spanish whites to really take off in the American market, followed by Rueda region Verdejo wines. Then a few years ago it was as if the grape cart tipped over and out spilled Godello from Valdeorras, Viura from Rioja, Garnacha Blanca from Priorat, Treixadura from Ribeiro and Hondarribi Zuri from the Basque country. With so many distinct, vibrant, interesting styles to choose from, Spanish whites have become an adventure in novelty grounded in traditions that are only now starting to find an audience outside their native regions.
This week I would like to share with you a few of the best Spanish white wines I have tasted lately. These are special occasion wines that showcase Spain’s unique grapes and winemaking styles. They tend to veer away from the barrel aged style in favor of a crisper tank fermented technique. Extended time on the lees (sometimes very extended) is the preferred way to achieve richness and depth while protecting the varietal/regional character of these wines. The complexity and textural weight of these wines makes them perfect companions to winter fare. Please consider the following selections for your holiday table:

Odysseus Pedro Ximénez Blanco 2007This is a unique dry white wine in that Pedro Ximénez is usually reserved for use in sweet Sherry, while this, on the other hand, is totally dry and has notes of apricot, tangerine, a bit of lemon and white flowers. Bright acidity and foundational minerality find balance in the rich, leesy texture and floral aroma. We paired this with first-of-season Dungeness crab (simply steamed) the other night. It worked perfectly. Regular retail $35.99. Now $19.99-Limited.

Zárate Tras da Viña 2005 This is an Albariño with a decided difference that comes from 30 months (two and a half years!) spent ageing on the lees. On one hand you have a lean, flinty wine that expresses the edgy, almost saline side of the Rías Baixas regional style. On the other hand, after the extended time in tank, this wine takes on a denser, richer tone but not so much as to obscure its original character. If you have ever wondered whether Albariño has the ability to age, here is your affirmative answer. $31.99

Aforado Sobre Lías 2008 Aforado is a small family winery in the coastal O Rosal sub-zone of DO Rías Baixas just over the border from Portugal, The tradition here is to blend Albariño with small amounts of other local varieties. The 20 acre Aforado estate vineyard is planted mostly to Albariño with small quantites of Caiño Blanco & Loureiro. The estate fruit is used exclusively for the regular Aforado as well as this small production (250 cases in total) sobre lias version that ages on the lees for 12 months after fermentation. Floral aroma and tart citrus fruit character find expression here in a bolder, denser frame than the regular bottling. It will continue to age well for at least another 3-5 years. $38.99

Emilio Rojo 2008 While Spanish white wines are a recent discovery here in the USA, regions such as DO Ribeiro have been making wines for centuries. The tradition in Ribeiro is to drink the local wines from shallow ceramic cups. Emilio Rojo, named after its maker, is one of this region’s most sought after wines. Made in minuscule quantities (only 50 cases imported to the USA) this finely tuned white is a blend of several grapes including 55% Treixadura, 15% Loureiro, 10% Lado, 10% Albariño and 10% Torrontés. Poise and balance are the words that best describe Emilio Rojo. Firmly mineral at first, this wine reveals itself in layers over time. Aromas of orange blossom and grapefruit zest soften the minerality and add context to the melon and pear fruit character. This wine is rarely found at retail and we have just a few bottles to offer. $58.00

New Cava

We just got in a few new Cavas that are sure to find favor at your table this holiday season. You may also check out the rest of our extensive collection of sparkling wines, Cava and otherwise, here:

L’Hereu de Nit Rosado Brut Cava 2006 Raventos i Blanc is a true pioneer of Cava production (this family winery was making sparkling wine before the name Cava existed). They just released their newest wine, this vintage rosado Cava, and it is phenomenal. Adding 15% Monastrell to the traditional cava blend of Macabeo, Parellada and Xarel-lo (all estate grown in this particular instance, unusual for the region) tints the wine with the palest pink hue. Fine bubbles lift the yeasty brioche aroma from the glass. The barest whiff of strawberry aroma adds context to the dry, crisp, pinpoint precise style that Raventos i Blanc is known for. Pour this in any context that calls for sparkling wine and you (along with your guests) will be happy indeed. $21.99

Augustí Torelló Mata Reserva Brut Cava 2006 This bodega is celebrated for high end wines that rival the best French Champagne. This is a vintage Cava that spent several years ageing in the cellar to get the ‘reserva’ label. The blend here is 48% Macabeo, 27% Parellada and 25% Xarel-lo. Small, persistent bubbles and the aroma of freshly baked bread create a first impression that leads on to restrained green apple fruit character and a crisp toasty finish. This is a top shelf, traditionally styled Cava for serving at any festive moment that may arise. $24.99

pc: zepellipsis.com

All I have to say is yumm!!!. If you’ve never tried ice-cream drizzled with Osborne Pedro Ximenez 1827 Sherry, you are missing out.

I am a very big fan of desserts, and this pairing is so simple, yet heavenly. Make it for your friends, and you’ll look like a top chef!  I personally love this recipe with rum-and-raisin ice cream, but slow-churned vanilla is great too.

Try it and let me know what you think!!

Have a great weekend!

-Rocio

I have one word for Microsoft on PDC 2009:

Awesomeness!

This years Product Developers Conference was much scaled back compared to last years but it had a great innovation in format that allowed people who didn’t attend the conference physically to still interact with it virtually.

And so the good folks at Channel 9 had built up a talkshow like studio at the PDC, with live streaming video through Silverlight, and the ability to viewers to ask questions live on air via Twitter.

This was immensely fun. I had the opportunity to ask questions to at least two technical fellows at Microsoft. Technical Fellow is the highest technical ranking at Microsoft besides of course Chief Technical Architect, a position which is currently held by Ray Ozzie.

I asked a question to Patrick Dussud, Technical Fellow and lead architect of the .Net Common Language Runtime (CLR), designer of the CLR GC and a member of the Windows Core Architechture team. The question was about how how parallel you could make the GC and what possible downsides this had.

I also asked a question to David Campbell, another Technical Fellow, from the Business Platform Division (BPD) where he manages Microsoft SQL Azure and .Net services in the cloud computing space. This question was about whether databases (e.g. SQL Server), programming runtimes (e.g. CLR) and … are merging. David mentiond that MSIL/CIL bytecode execution on SQL Server – “close to the data” – has improved performance of managed code accessing data greatly.

LINQ shows us where things are going: tighter and tighter integration. Erik Meijer, who is perhaps the lead architect of LINQ and whom I was also able to ask a question, also works for David Campbell on cloud programmability. The  new Reactive Extensions (Rx) for .Net is a pearl which we’ll see permeate .Net soon. It also builds smoothly on top of Parallel Extensions for .Net (Px), which is Microsoft’s near- to mid-term answer to the manycore challenge.

Parallel Extensions for .Net comes from the Parallel Computing Platform (PCP) team which is the team tasked with the strategic challenge posed by the massively parallel hardware of the future.

It gets better. I also asked a question to the director of NASA’s Mars programme as well as a NASA scientist.

I repeat: Awesomeness!

NASA had a marked pressence at this years PDC because they have offered up data on Microsoft’s new “Dallas” data marketplace. The attendees were apparently given 3D goggles and were viewing stereoscopic images of Mars. Pretty damned cool.

Supposedly recordings of the live Channel 9 stream will be available. I’d certainly like it.

This years PDC will be one tough PDC to outdo.

Estupendo… genial… completamente perdido…. Necessito pararme i pensar  … dificil !

Great…. superbe….. completely lost.. Just need to  think more… tough !

A long day …   Friday I drived from Bordeaux to Burgos…. arrived and stopped at the first Hotel I saw… good luck: cheap, nice room and nice food & wine: Abadia de San Quirce Ribera del dueroa 2005. Woke up at 7.00 and drove to Lisboa !

Beautiful drive through Spain and some areas I never crossed : Salamanca, ..saw a few pigs eating and running in “La Dehesa”…. I was already thinking of them in my plate !!…north east Portugal…. Lisboa !

Arrival in Lisboa found quite easily the VIP Gran Lisboa… superbe & modern Hotel: VIP Gran lisboa ..feel like a star… Hermés soap, Hermés body care….. great bathroom…. I wanna stay there more !!!

Registration for the EWBC …. met my friend Oscar Quevedo… Met other people: Anthony Swift: WINE PLEASURES WORKSHOP…. Miss Vicky “herself”: Miss Vicky Wine (Photo below…) I am looking for the most important “blogger sommelier in the world”: Emmanuel Delmas, Paris..but I Can’t see him.. What a shame !!

Great tasting with fortified and sweets wine:  Barquero Amontillado (dry) – Lustau Amontillado Escuadrilla – Apostoles Palo cortado – Quevedo Colheita 1994 – Barcalhoa Moscatel Roxo 1999 ( very unique !!) - Justinho’s Madeira Colheita 1995 – Sandeman Vintage 2007  ( just bottled) – Garvey’s Gran orden  PX  (pedro ximenez) !! In 2010 there is a wine show for sweet and fortified wines in Jerez de la Frontera: VINOBLE 2010.

Write it  in your agenda… Great opportunity to taste Sauternes, Jerez, Auslese, Eiswein, Icewine,Port, etc….

Responsible for Vinoble 2010 – Esteban – Ryan Opaz during the tasting of the sweet wines.

Then we had a tasting with the Douro Boys: Cristiano Van Zeller  Quinta D V. Maria – Luis Seabra from Nieeport – Francisco Fereira from Quinta Vallado – Francisco Olazabal…an old friend I toured the U.K. with 22 years ago !!

Vito Olazabal during the presentation of his Quinta in the Douro.

Studious moment….different people and Evelyne Resnick on the theme: “Blogging and the social wine brand”.

Oscar Quevedo, my friend who produce delicious Port, and “Douro still” (red )! (foto Melanie Tarlant)

A nice photo of the restaurant ELEVEN “entrance hall”  after a long day…

Great diner , good food and great ambiance, with a superb view over Lisboa……

I had the chance to taste many vintage port ( from the new release… )

Fabulous time in Lisboa meeting people from around the world: USA: The Wine Hub ,Wine Lover’s Journal, UK: Brett  The Wine Maestro ; Niamh ( passionate about food ) : eat like a girl , France (Vicky see above), Philippe Hugon (Vinternet ) , Italy, Spain etc… &  from differents businesses linked with wine.

Thanks to Adegga , Ryan and Gabriella Opaz: Catavino, and every one who was there !

IVO

Una imagen de cómo va avanzando el hadita de Navidad. Ha sufrido un pequeño parón porque perdí la hoja con el esquema, pero ahí está, preparándose para la Navidad.

Es un placer ver cómo surge el diseño de Nora Corbett. La verdad es que estoy disfrutando mucho con ella.

A little pic of mi Xmas Little Fairy. She has been waiting because I lost the chart, but here is again, growing for Christmas.

It’s a pleasure stitch this Nora Corbett’s design. I’m enjoying a lot.

Avan

Idag spenderades större delen av dagen på en av Gonzalez-Byass‘ vingårdar i Jerez. Tillfälle att studera vingårdarna närmare. Vi blev också praktiskt förevisade olika typer av ympning och beskärning specifika för området. Arbetskrävande fältympning och beskärning för uppbindningen “vara y pulgar”. Antecknar intresseklubben för fullt? Hur som helst mycket intressant för dem av oss som nått en utstuderad nördnivå av nästan plågsam art.

Provning blev det förstås också. Vi fick följa en sherrys utveckling från det helt unga (en månad) vinet, via den kortare lagringen över skedet där vinet förstärkt och lagrats en tid under jästtäcke till den färdiga produkten. Sedan även vidare i skalan av oxidativ mognad. Mycket intressant och ganska unikt.

De färdiga vinerna som provades var Tio Pepe som jag känner väl. Stor, kraftfull doft med flyktiga toner av gröna oliver, mandel och granny smithäpplen. Torr, ganska fyllig med en torr, lite skarp och uppfriskande eftersmak.

Viña AB Amontillado Seco har rena fina dofter av hasselnötter och lite russin. Smaken är helt torr med en lätt karaktär. Fina oxiderade toner av rostade nötter och russin och en ren, lång smak med en liten metallisk eftersmak. Mycket läcker och elegant.

Sista vinet var Alfonso Oloroso Seco med en stor doft av torkad frukt, fikon, dadlar, russin och lite brända toner. En aning läder och vanilj. Smaken är överraskande torr med bra fyllighet, stor smakrikedom men med samma uppfriskande, fräscha eftersmak.

Smakrika, användbara viner. Med tanke på att ingen av dem kostar mer än 139 kr hemma i Sverige och att lagringen är upp till tio år så är priset fantastiskt. Vi fick dem även till tapas och lunchen och de fungerade även mycket bra till maten.

Lunchen bestod förutom av obligatoriska tapas (friterade räkplättar bör man äta en gång i livet) av en regional specialitet som hette bieza: en gryta serverad ur stora keramikärl, långok på fläsk, kikärtor, gröna ärtor bondbönor och lök (samt givetvis andra kryddor vi inte kunde lista ut). Ovanpå denna milda, smakrika röra slevades kokt fläsk, morcilla (blodkorv), chorizo och fläskgrevar jag aldrig sett maken till. Mycket rustikt, smakrikt och mättande. Fettgrevarna var betydligt smakligare än de såg ut. Alfonso Oloroso var en makalös kombination till denna rätt.

Till efterrät blev det en enorm kula hemjord glass på övermogna moscateldruvor serverad i en rånkorg. Till detta givetvis en söt, simmig pedro ximenez som hälldes som en sås över hela härligheten. Ljuvligt. Den överblivna px:en hällde jag i kaffet med varm mjölk som serverades efter maten. Mycket läckert.

…var det kanske inte. Men väl en historisk genomgång av Jerez’ historia och en mingelprovning av sherries från Lustau. Platsen var Castillo de San Marco, en fästning som genomlevt många förändringar. Startade som romersk befästning för att sedan bli en moské som vidare byggdes om till en befäst kyrka. Idag är det en kombination av historiskt monument och sherrybodega. Fantastiskt vackert. Nåväl. Vad provades?

Startade med Pavon Puerto Fino som hade en ganska stor doft med inslag av halm och stall. Smaken var lätt, mycket elegant och med en markant metallisk eftersmak. Mer av en manzanilla i stilen.

Lustau Rare Amontillado Esquadrilla hade en stor komplex doft av apelsin, hasselnötter och choklad. Smaken knastertorr, medelfyllig och smakrik med toner som speglade doften. Fantastisk till jamon iberico.

Lustau Emperatriz Eugenia var en oloroso som uppvisade en stor, komplex doft av fikon, dadlar, kanel, lakrits och valnötter. Smaken var torr, fyllig och rik där torkad frukt och nötter kom tillbaka.

Lustau East India Solera Sherry doftade som en julkaka! Fyllig, smakrik med en viss sötma och med julsmakerna av kanderad frukt, lite pepparkaka, nötter och fikon kom tillbaka. Mycket balanserad och komplex. Provade den även som drink med massor av is och en skiva blodapelsin. Överraskande uppfriskande.

Lustau Moscatel Emilín bjöd på en stor, aromatisk doft av pomerans och apelsinmarmelad. Tydliga toner av kanel och vitpeppar. Söt, smakrik och mycket aromatisk med citrus- och apelsintonerna som slog igenom allt tydligare. Kan tänka mig detta vin till en créme brulee med syltade mandarinklyftor eller en smakrik, vällagrad hårdost som Wästerbotten.

Lustau PX San Emilio doftade inte helt överraskande som koncentrerade fikon, dadlar och russin upphöjt till två. Söt, simmig, sirapslik med de markanta tonerna av torkad frukt, melass och en aning sötlakrits. Häftig.

Fantastiskt trevliga, välbalanserade viner som bjöd på fina smakupplvelser. Lite okoncentrerade provningsanteckningar ur minnet då det var en mingelprovning där vinerna även provades mot små trevliga tapas.

Além do iMiEV Cargo, a Mitsubishi apresentará outro veículo elétrico conceitual durante o Salão de Tóquio. Trata-se do Concept-PX, que também deve adiantar o visual de algum utilitário-esportivo da marca japonesa. Pelo porte, o protótipo se aproxima bastante do Outlander.

Especulações à parte, o PX MiEV é um crossover híbrido que pode ser recarregado em tomadas domésticas de 100 ou 200 volts. Seu propulsor a combustão é um 1,6 litro a gasolina, que move as rodas dianteiras e garante a energia para as baterias do sistema. Ele gera 115 cv e 13 kgfm.

O modelo também conta com dois motores elétricos, um para cada eixo. Em separado, eles geram 60 kW e torque de 20 kgfm. A dupla pode mover sozinha o crossover por mais de 50 quilometros, de acordo com a Mitsubishi, mas em condições específicas não reveladas. O sistema também pode atuar em modo híbrido paralelo, fazendo com que os propulsores elétricos ajudem a reduzir o consumo de gasolina.

O crossover atua com o sistema S-AWC e o controle E-AYC, que permitem a utilização do veículo com tração traseira ou integral e distribuição de força entre direita e esquerda. Ele conta ainda com ar-condicionado individual e câmeras para alerta de trocas de faixa involuntárias e de fadiga do condutor.

O PX MiEV mede 4,51 metros de comprimento, 1,83 m de largura e 1,65 m de altura, com 2,63 m de entre-eixos.

GALERIA

Banda da Semana: Planet X

Planet X é uma banda Instrumental de Metal Progressivo (com influência clara do Jazz Fusion), liderada pelo tecladista Derek Sherenian (ex-Dream Theater). A banda foi uma evolução de um disco solo de Sherenian intitulado ‘’Planet X’’, de 1999. Tem em sua formação clássica Derek Sherenian no teclado, Tony MacAlpine na guitarra (Atualmente na banda Devil’s Slingshot, mas na época saiu do Planet para se juntar a banda de Steve Vai), Virgil Donati (também ex-integrante da banda de Steve Vai e atualmente no Devil’s Slingshot, mas, diferente de MacAlpine continua no PX) e Rufus Philpot no baixo. Atualmente a guitarra fica a cargo de Alex Machacek.

Discografia:

Universe (2000)

Live From Oz (2002)

Moon Babies (2002)

Quantum (2007)

A banda conta com riffs pesados, ritmos ‘’quebrados’’ e muito virtuosismo. PX não é uma banda considerada ”popular”, então foi difícil achar um vídeo para ilustrar esse post. Abaixo, um dos poucos que está disponível no Youtube:

Once again, I apologize for the lack of updates. I’ve been busy lately — I suddenly found that I needed to find a new roommate or be financially forced to move out, I was unable to find a new roommate that I could trust, and subsequently had to move out. Additionally, work has been crazy and I have been absolutely engrossed with photography as of late. Mostly, I blame David Hobby and his Strobist blog. If you’re a photographer and you’d like to learn more about how to use flash in an elegant and intelligent manner, Strobist is THE place to go.

Anyway:

Long story short: I (and many other people) have problems getting my Canon-brand strobes to sync off-camera while using Pocket Wizards (the industry gold standard for rock-solid reliability and range — even through walls and other objects). While PW advertises ranges of 1800 feet with the old Plus II’s and maybe half of that range with the new PW TT1 and TT5’s, I can’t seem to use them at distances greater than 35 feet, max. What’s going on? Read on for the full deets:

Sigh.

Despite saying that I’ve been engrossed in photography lately, I haven’t actually been shooting as much as I would have liked. I spent most of the weekend agonizing and researching radio frequency interference (RFI or EMI for electromagnetic interference) generated by my Canon flash units. As it turns out, I happen to own two of the [RF] noisiest flash units ever produced by Canon (430EX and 580EX II), and I’m fortunate enough (sarcasm) to own what appear to be two PARTICULARLY noisy specimens of those models.

If it sounds nerdy, it is. It’s got nerd in spades written all over it.

Warning: nerdy pseudo-scientific rant mode ON. I apologize in advance to anyone actually reading this and especially to anyone who finishes reading this post. Also, be aware that this situation is a bit complicated. There are a lot of details and factors involved, and I may not get to every single little issue here in this preliminary post. If I did, you’d all be reading for hours, probably (That was sarcasm. Sort of).

RF noise can be a big issue for me (and other people who use radio triggers) because I shoot my flashes off-camera. The industry’s gold standard for firing flash units off-camera are little radio triggers called Pocket Wizards (PW). You simply hook up your flash to a PW receiver, stick a PW transmitter onto the hot shoe on top of your camera, turn them on, and fire away. The PW’s will synchronize the firing of the flash to the opening and closing of your shutter, up to the maximum “sync speed” of your camera (most Canon cameras will go up to 1/125 sec to 1/250th of a second, even though they’re advertised as 1/200 minimum. Personally testing my cameras tell me 1/125 is the fastest I can go on my old XTi. Not that that matters to you — unless you own an XTi and you’re looking to sync off-camera).

At any rate, PW’s are supposed to be super super reliable, with an advertised range of 1600-1800 feet. That’s almost 1/3 of a fraking mile. That’s insanity.

On top of that, since it’s RF, you can run around, you can trigger your flashes even with walls and large objects in the way, you don’t have to worry about staying close to the flash units, you don’t have to worry about line-of-sight from your transmitting “master” unit to your receiving “slave” units. . . . It’s just a really AWESOME idea.

So what’s the problem? I can’t seem to reliably trigger my strobes from more than 10-15 feet away when I’m outdoors. As you’ve no doubt gathered by now, it seems like the RF noise from the Canon flashes I own (again, the 430EX and the 580EX II) is causing interference with the PW tranceivers I have (“Pocket Wizard Plus II”’s — which cost me about $160 – $180 USD each when I bought them. I have two and you need at least two to use them).

Research online (e.g. Rob Galbraith’s tests) confirms this: it turns out the frequency of the noise generated by the Canon strobes is at about the same frequency of the channels that the PW’s operate on. Oops?

So who’s to blame?

Canon, for making such noisy strobes? Nikon’s strobes emit almost no noise at all. Nikon’s strobes are also a lot more powerful and useful than Canon’s strobes, yet they’re similar in price. Most third party strobes emit almost no noise, too. Why is Canon so noisy?

Or is PocketWizard to blame? They’re bent on backwards compatibility so it’s not like they want to change the frequency on which their units operate. They picked the frequency to use because it was one of the least noisy frequencies available, after taking into account RFI generated by any and all electronic equipment in the US (basically, anything powered by electricity tends to produce some sort of EMI at varying levels. There are laws that are supposed to regulate EMI noise, but it’s hard to figure out what’s being noisy and what’s not sometimes). Funny how Canon’s flashes are so perfectly noisy, isn’t it?

Or maybe I’m the one to blame? After all, I probably should have done some more research before spending the big bucks to buy all this gear (all in all, the two flashes, the PW’s, and the necessary adapter cable required to use them all cost me $1000+). Maybe I should have waited to hear more in-depth, intelligent reviews instead of leaving it up to the sometimes clueless customer/user reviews on Amazon.com. Heck, my original intention was to go with Nikon when I first wanted to get my feet wet with the whole DSLR scene, but I went with an XTi cuz it would have saved me 200-300 bucks (which is a lot when you’re a poor, starving, buried-in-debt-as-it-is college student trying to foolishly get into DSLR photography).

:sigh sigh:

I just want my shiny, expensive toys to WORK, damnit!

But in case you’re wondering, there are ways around PW’s inability to reliably trigger remote Canon flashes. The folks at PW recommend a $6 ferrite choke from Radio Shack. I’ve ordered one and will test it. I’ll let you know about the results, even if it may be redundant considering the info you’ll probably find on the web if you just look hard enough. I don’t care. I want to see it with my own eyes.

PW is also developing an RF shield that is worth mentioning, except it will likely cost $50 or so when it comes out (IF it ever comes out, since it’s taken quite a long time for them to develop a simple RF shield).

Additionally, there’s a relative newcomer to the off-camera RF triggering scene. They’re called RadioPoppers and they seem to be really awesome. They’re not perfect and I’ve got some issues with those units, too (I don’t own any. Yet. I just decided to do some heavy research first to prevent getting bitten by more expensive radio triggers again), but if you’re looking for rock solid stability and reliability up to 600-800 feet and you need that capability RIGHT NOW, it’s a good alternative to PW’s until PW and/or Canon fixes their shizz. Still, I can’t give them a full, 100% recommendation, and I’m not trying to endorse Radio Poppers here.

As the name implies, RadioPoppers DO operate on radio frequencies, but at a higher frequency than the noise emitted by Canon. Field tests and controlled tests confirm that RP reliability is pretty darn good. REALLY good, in fact.

What I love about Radio Popper is that they offered a limited time rebate deal for their first generation triggers. Basically, if you had a 1st-gen trigger, you could send it back for a heavy discount off of their 2nd-gen product. If PW’s weren’t so ubiquitous with serious enthusiasts and professionals who shoot Canon, I would suggest/pray/hope that PW did this, too. Recall the old units, either retool them to operate on a frequency that doesn’t get affected by the RF noise emitted by Canon strobes, or offer a discount for people looking to upgrade to their new, vastly improved, E-TTL-compatible triggers (Flex TT5 and MiniTT1).

And forget about complaining to Canon. Word on the net is that they don’t listen, don’t seem to care. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen by me, personally. I’ve got big big big issues with Canon’s flash units even besides the RF noise issue, since it only really came to my attention recently. Circumstantial evidence leads me to have problems with their apparent drive to excel and innovate as well, but I won’t get into that since I’ve already written a fraking 12-page essay to you about it with this post. Plus, I’d like to give ‘em a little more time before actually blowing a gasket.

:sigh:*3
/end nerd rant

Again, I apologize for the long rant. If you have any thoughts, comments, questions, disagreements, whatever — PLEASE sound off in the comments. I do moderate comments, so if you wish to remain private please start your comments with the words, “DO NOT PUBLISH.”

I’m just trying to put more info out there on the net to let potential customers of these companies know what’s up before spending the obscene amounts of money needed to use this stuff — trying to help out. If a meaningful dialogue can be started here, it will be worth it — even if I only ultimately help out ONE dSLR user out there.

Thanks.

Coming soon:
- field tests with range issues on the above mentioned flash units.
- putting the ferrite choke through its paces
- testing some work-arounds to increase range
- DIY RF noise shielding (a.k.a. where’d I put my aluminum foil?)
- more nerdy Canon rants

Lepanto

Paxys

Philex (Old Chart)

Daily chart
RSI reads above 80, this suggest level is overbought. Parabolic curve in the making. Clients were happy with 10.75 thus the profit taking. There were crosses done at 10.50 and 10.75 as well. Problem with huge crosses is that it usually being used as the peak of the stock. Pls see MER crosses example (Title of post is “300″). Im playing it safe for them, 10.75 is a blessing. caveat.

Will unload almost all PX today at 10.75 as i see heavy crosses. Averaging up on LC. Sold PAX earlier. Will watch 3.30. Caveat.