Research Triangle Park

Now that I have a good idea of what the rtprailfan site will entail, I think I'm going to start trying to get the rtp area things to do site together. Although, I'm not sure what I'm going to call it yet or even exactly what the content will be. I'd like to do something similar to the railfan site, something with interactive maps and good photography. Maybe something that includes outside/inside activites, places for couples. Any one have suggestions for what they would like to see?

Keyword Searches

I wonder how difficult it will be to get any traffic to this blog. I've been reading about keyword association with your site and it seems difficult. I guess it just takes time. I'm still working on my website but its slow going. I don't know how to use the programs very well so there is a very steep learning curve. I'm still trying to figure out how exactly I want to lay it out. I'm thinking if I can just get the page overview together, I'll go ahead and launch it. On a different subject all together, I'm still waiting on my mag mount antenna with BNC connector. I also got a 5/8 wavelength antenna custom build for 160 MHz resonance frequency. I'm hoping this will do much better than my Diamond antenna hooked to my scanner in the car. I just don't think I'm getting the range I'm supposed to be getting. Went out at lunch today looking for trains in RTP, no luck.

To much to do, to little time

I'm probably biting off more than I can chew here but in addition to my railfan website, I want to create one that highlights things to do in the Research Triangle Park area. I'm still trying to figure out what that will be about but I'm thinking something that links video/photography with google maps and a good description of what there is to do.

Got the flash part finished

Well it took me about 5 hours but I got the flash portion of the website done. It was fairly difficult for such a small bit of the website but i think it was worth it because it looks pretty cool. Hopefully I will get the video portion of the website up soon. Then I can focus on content instead of layout.

Railfanning around Apex, NC

Apex is a pretty good place to watch trains. Although I never really see the Amtraks because they are during work hours and later at night (about 9:30 if its on time), I do on occation pick up a freight train going though. I can usually pick these up on my scanner from Holly Springs. I'll post some pics when I get home. By the way, I believe I will start having monthly articles on railfanning locations around the area. These won't be posted here, I am setting up a site, http://www.rtprailfan.com/ that will hopefully be up soon.



View Larger Map

Web Page Design and AdSense

Wow, developing a webpage is pretty difficult if you haven't done it before. You can get really cool results though by using Photoshop. I have a Nikon D80 camera and I have some cool shots of train related stuff. I incorporated some of those photos in and it turned out really good. I think the website if gonna be cool. I think its just a matter of me coming up to speed with the programs. I hope to have it up soon. I'm going to incorporate some flash and movies. Hopefully that won't be too difficult. I also hope to get enough traffic to make some money from adsense. I need to get a domain host too.

I think I am going to take a more active role in the internet. I've been reading about Google AdSense and I really want to see what its all about. I'm going to create some webpages about specific topics that interest me and see how it goes. Specifically railfanning in the Research Triangle Park area. This will include my interest in scanners and all things RF. My brother has become quite the artist in the past few years and I want to see if I can setup a website to sell some of his work. Maybe I can get him interested in painting railroad scenes. I think he wanted to do that anyways. I should also be posting to this blog more often.

By the way, In the Springs, come from the area I live. Holly Springs, NC, one of the up and coming areas around Research Triangle Park.