Monday, December 31, 2012

Time till 2013

Time has ran out for the year 2012

Have a great 2013


Thanks for reading my blog ............ Jack

Sunday, December 30, 2012

What's going on with the Sun?



I as a Radio Amateur (Ham) look at the sun's activities most every day. The sun effects radio waves here on earth and this effects my communication activities. The solar cycle runs on a 11 year cycle. In the 1990s it was not uncommon to see the reading (flux) of over 200. The same was true in the 2000s but now in the peak year of a 11 year cycle of 2012 - 2013 it hovers most days just over 100. When the flux reading is 175 to 200 I can expect to communicate to all parts of the world with very little power (watts from the transmitter) on the 14 Mhz. band (20 meters)  With the flux count of 100 14 Mhz. drops dead at slightly after sunset. If I want to talk to Europe or the Pacific I must lower the transmitter frequency down to the 7 Mhz. band and use very high power (1000 watts). So what is going on with the sun ? See if you can find the answer on Google.

Above chart from:
http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2011/jun/30/whats-going-on-with-the-sun

The Earth's Axis has shifted ??

I ran across these web pages just by accident and was amazed at what they state. Take a look and make up your own mind. There is pro & con. if you dig for the facts, make up your own mind. It is entertaining,  also a time killer to dig out the unknow ...... Jack

Pro site:
This has created severe changes in our global weather, seismic & volcanic activity... And it will get much worse. You need to know the facts & scientific details about these increasing global problems from authentic, verifiable sources.
http://www.divulgence.net/


Con site:
http://www.uwgb.edu/dutchs/PSEUDOSC/49Degrees.HTM
No, Every so often something so outrageous comes along I just shake my head in disbelief. Latest one (several e-mails from people wondering about it) is the claim that sometime around 2006 the earth's axis tilt suddenly changed by 26 degrees. The principal page making this claim is http://www.divulgence.net/.

Saturday, December 29, 2012

looking through the window



My wife hasn't stopped looking through the window since it started snowing. If the weather gets any worse, I might have to let her back in.

Friday, December 28, 2012

Wernher von Braun (1912 – 1977)




 Wernher von Braun was a German-American rocket scientist, aerospace engineer, space architect, and one of the leading figures in the development of rocket technology in Nazi Germany during World War II and, subsequently, in the United States.
Read more about him

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

The Curse of the Bambino



The Curse of the Bambino was a superstition evolving from the failure of the Boston Red Sox baseball team to win the World Series in the 86-year period from 1918 to 2004. While some fans took the curse seriously, most used the expression in a tongue-in-cheek manner. The curse was said to have begun after the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth, sometimes called The Bambino, to the New York Yankees in the off-season of 1919-1920. Before that point, the Red Sox had been one of the most successful professional baseball franchises,
Read the full story



Tuesday, December 25, 2012

Saint Nicholas






Sinterklaas or Saint Nicholas,
considered by many to be the
original Santa Claus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinterklaas

Monday, December 24, 2012

Trans Siberian Orchestra


Q.
You seem to be able to find things on the Web that others can't, so where can I find the song or video of Trans Siberian Orchestra Christmas lights. I was told it was on the Web but I have not had luck locating it. Where is it  ye ol' Google man ?

A.
You Tube has the video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0IwpRzWL_4

Thursday, December 20, 2012

December 21, 2012 "The End ??"


Scientists insist there is no dire threat on the horizon, while Mayan experts stress that the ancient civilisation’s legacy has simply been misinterpreted.
‘Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012,’ says NASA on its website in the reassuring tones of a parent dealing with a frightened toddler.
‘Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than four billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012.
Read more

International Space Station
















The following is really interesting. A lady crewman (Sunita Williams) on the International Space Station who has been there for 6 months gives you a tour of the facility.  It’s the first time I’ve see an ISS bathroom, kitchen, bedrooms, etc.  The tour guide is about ready for a return trip to earth.  Hope you enjoy it.
Click here to view the video

Note:
I have contacted the ISS via Amateur Radio, what a thrill !....... Jack WB9OTX

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

To my Ham Radio Friends


N0D: SPECIAL EVENT STATION CELEBRATING THE END OF THE WORLD!
That's right! The end is finally near. According to one of the three Mayan Calendars, the End of the world will occur on December 21, 2012. To celebrate this—literally—oncee in a lifetime event, Special Event Station N0D (Now Zero Days) will be activated for three days during and possibly after the end of the world. December 20; is a celebration of the end of the world. December 21, the day of destruction, we will be on the air as long as possible. December 22...that is a little iffy right now
See the Web page

N0D on QRZ
http://qrz.com/db/N0D

Sunday, December 16, 2012

not what I meant

I know that you believe you understand what you think I said.  But, I’m not sure you realize that what you heard is not what I meant.  
Robert McCloskey

Friday, December 14, 2012

Sea salt




The harvesting of sea salt—salt obtained by the evaporation of seawater—in Phetchaburi Province, Thailand. Like mineral salt, production of sea salt dates to prehistoric times. Generally more expensive than table salt, it is commonly used in gourmet cooking because it is believed to taste better.

Photo by: JJ Harrison
Wikipedia dot org

Sky King


Out of the clear blue of the western sky comes Sky King

When 9 or 10 I could not wait to see the next adventure of Sky King. ........ Jack
See Sky King official site






See Sky King Videos on YouTube

Apollo 17 December 1972





Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final mission of the United States' Apollo program, the sixth mission to land humans on the Moon.  In 1972, with a three-member crew consisting of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt.
Read More

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Monday, December 10, 2012

"Spirit of Tuskegee" Stearman













The “Spirit of Tuskegee” takes a flight above Moton Field, the plane’s original home during World War II, in Tuskegee, Alabama. The “Spirit of Tuskegee” was used to train Tuskegee Airmen from 1944 to 1946.
See this Video on YouTube


Top image from Smithsonian Museum

Wednesday, December 05, 2012

Japan attacks Pearl Harbor Dec. 7th 1941

 Photo & text from history channel dot com ---- Just before 8 on the morning of December 7, 1941, hundreds of Japanese fighter planes attacked the American naval base at Pearl Harbor near Honolulu, Hawaii. The barrage lasted just two hours, but it was devastating: The Japanese managed to destroy nearly 20 American naval vessels, including eight enormous battleships, and almost 200 airplanes. More than 2,000 Americans soldiers and sailors died in the attack, and another 1,000 were wounded. The day after the assault, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Congress to declare war on Japan; Congress approved his declaration with just one dissenting vote. Three days later, Japanese allies Germany and Italy also declared war on the United States, and again Congress reciprocated. More than two years into the conflict, America had finally joined World War II.---- Video from YouTube dot com

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Malwarebytes Its the best


I was editing a customers web page tonight and a thing happened that I had never seen before. I had copied and pasted from an email the customer sent into a web editer, I looked it over after the pasting process and it all looked good. I saved it and FTPed it to the web sever. I opened the web browser and typed in the address of the hosting server. Up the page came but there was two places that were underlinded. This told me these were links to other pages on the net. I did not click these links fearing a virus or spy ware. I looked at the page on another computer and there was no links, this tells me there is Malware on the other machine. I did a scan with Microsoft Security Essentials but it found nothing. Next I downloaded Malwarebytes.from C/net
I installed the program, this took about five minutes, it updated at the end of the install OK. I then ran the quick scan and it found to my surprise twenty-three pieces of problem files. I clicked remove, then restart. After the restart I navigated to the customers web page. The links were gone. Problems fixed. This program MalwareBites is one of the best. I have it on a few of my other computers and have fixed many problems in the past with it. You can set it to run a scan automatically and I would advise you to do this at the very least once a week. ...... Jack

Monday, December 03, 2012

Do you know how to drag & drop


The basic sequence involved in drag and drop is:

Move the pointer to the object
Press, and hold down, the button on the mouse to "grab" the object,
"Drag" the object to the desired location,
"Drop" the object by releasing the button.

See a demo

1st Text Message sent Dec. 3, 1992


Twenty years ago today, a British software engineer had the honor of sending the very first text message. You may be delighted to know that it was grammatically correct and each of the two words sent was spelled correctly. The text words were "Merry Christmas".
Clearly, that one message was the start of something big. The CTIA wireless trade group estimated in June that, in the U.S. alone, cell phone users sent more than 184.3 billion text messages. It has become such a dominant way of communicating that voice calls on mobile phones  are in decline.
Read More

Sunday, December 02, 2012

The Revolution- American Crisis


This is a 45 minute video I suppose most will find boring, but if you want to learn about how our USA got started take the time to watch.
http://youtu.be/m7nXIyoxXlA

Saturday, December 01, 2012

South Pole - from the archive 1/8/2004


I have been interested in Antarctica for a long time and read about anything I can find on the subject. My interest came about quiet by accident in 1980. You see I am a Ham Radio Opperator and while dialing my receiver across the twenty meter band I heard the word Lawrenceburg. This is a town about twenty-five miles from where I live. To my surprise the call sign this fellow was using was KC4AAA, this told me he was located at the South Pole. When he signed off with the station he was in conversation with I called him, he answered and told me his name was Pat and his home town was Lawrenceburg, Indiana. This was the start of a friendship with his family and Pat. I would connect my radio to the telephone lines so Pat at the Pole could talk to his parents and other friends here in the states. Other people at the pole would want me to do a phone patch as it was called to their friends also. Pat and I had a schedule two times a week starting at midnight, if I remember correctly that was three in the afternoon at the pole, they were on the same time as Christchurch, New Zealand. Sometimes other stations on the Antarctic continent would call and want me to run phone patches for them after Pat and I were finished. I was leaving the house for work at four A.M. at that time so it was pretty hard on me not getting much sleep, but I loved doing it. I did this phone patching for the fellows at the Pole for two years. I could tell you some very interesting stories about things that took place in that two year period, two stick out in my mind very vivid. I received a call about three in the afternoon, I had just walked in my home from work. The voice on the phone was very low and I could tell from the tone something was wrong. The young lady in a very quivering voice ask if I was the one that talked to the South Pole, I told her yes. She said she had to get a message to her brother there and could I do it. I told her I thought I could but it depended on the radio propagation and the time of day. Sometimes it is not possible but I would try that night. I ask what is your brothers name and what do you want to tell him. She began to cry. I knew it was going to be bad news. After a time she finally said tell him Mom has died. She gave me the details to pass on. I told her I would do my best to get the message through to her brother and I would call her back when I delivered the message. That night at 11PM I started calling on our sched frequency as I thought they may just be listing early. At about 11:45 my time I heard, "WB9OTX this is KC4AAA go ahead". It was my friend Pat, I told him the name of the man and that I had very bad news for him from his sister. I wanted Pat to tell him but he said he would call him on the all-call (intercom) and have him speak over the radio to me. This was one of the worst moments in my life when Pat told me he was at the radio listening and for me to go ahead with the message. I told him about his Mother in the same words as his Sister had told it to me. I felt very bad about telling him this as I knew nothing could be done to get him out from the continent and back home. Nothing comes or goes from the Pole in the Winter-Over period except radio waves. I told him I could call his Sister and run a phone patch to her, but he said no. He told me to call her in the morning and tell her he had received the message and to be strong. I called his Sister the next morning and told her what he had said. She thanked me over and over again. I ask her how she got my telephone number, she said the National Science Foundation gave it to her. To this day I have no Idea how or why they had my name and phone number. Remember, "big brother is always listening".

One more story I remember that I want to tell, but I am out of time so it will have to wait till tonight or tomorrow.

To be continued …………. Read more about Antarctica from my Blog's past posts at:
http://wb9otx.blogspot.com/search?q=Antarctica

Read an article that was published in World Radio magazine by my wife Betty Demaree named
"Echoes From Antarctica" at:
http://www.worldradiomagazine.com/wro_issues/2010/WRO_0210_01-11.pdf