I was an early adopter of what were once called “online information retrieval” services, which (back in the 1980s) were powerful tools for accessing databases on distant servers. These are less in the public consciousness now, of course, with Google and other search engines giving the illusion of access to all information, but structured data…

Read More
Steve Roberts aboard Winnebiko II on cellular phone

This article came at a pivotal time in both the evolution of the cellular industry and the design of my bike. Added to the Winnebiko II for testing, the Oki 491 phone did so well that it became fully integrated into BEHEMOTH… even to the point of deriving an RJ-11 phone line and distributing it…

Read More

This article is about HF amateur radio on the Winnebiko II back in 1988, and is one of my favorites from the 73 Magazine series. It discusses the rig and antennas on the bike, of course, but also rhapsodizes about being a roving guest-op, cultural issues, expressiveness in CW, learning, techno-passions, and so on. This…

Read More

Amateur radio was a huge part of my bicycle travels. I used local repeaters for logistical support, packet to stay in touch with distant friends, HF for entertainment while camping, and 2-meters to stay linked to my YL while pedaling. My hospitality database was full of interesting hams, and we would drop in to share…

Read More

Part 7 in the High-Tech Nomad series by Steven K. Roberts N4RVE 73 Magazine August, 1988 When I first set out on my strange 8-foot-long, 140-pound bicycle back in 1983, I received a lot of serious advice from my Ohio neighbors. “Never turn onto a road with ‘mount’ or ‘hill’ in its name,” said one seasoned…

Read More

Part 6 in the Tech Nomad series Steven K. Roberts, N4RVE 73 Magazine July, 1988 Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Sometimes I have no choice: I must turn my back on the Winnebiko and trust the public to leave it alone. And yes — to answer a frequent question — it usually makes me nervous. For…

Read More

One of the most challenging parts of packing the Winnebiko II (and later BEHEMOTH) for open-ended travel was dealing with the need for tools… not just the usual little bag of bike tools like spoke wrench and crank-puller, but all the stuff needed to continue development of the electronic systems which, by definition, are never…

Read More

From my series in 73 Magazine, this details the power management system on the Winnebiko II. I’m so glad now that I wrote such things then, as it would be nigh-impossible to reconstruct from the sometimes sketchy documentation binders of the epoch! This one has the additional advantage of a second voice… my friend Glenn…

Read More

This was a fun article, though I have to wince a little at the tale on the first page in which I recounted the Great Tollbridge Caper. I actually thought this was pretty funny, but the Bicycle Advocate of the NJ Dept of Transportation wrote to the magazine to denounce my temerity in boasting about…

Read More

This has always been one of my favorites from the 73 Magazine series I wrote in the late ’80s. The editors gave me freedom to talk about everything from cultural issues to deep geekery, and I was creating a lifestyle that melded those in all sorts of twisted ways. In this one, the world-changing implications…

Read More