CENSORED PHOTOS OF WWII

These photographs were classified during WWll.  
Many of us have not seen photography like this before.  
Beautiful, stark black and white pictures, about 110 of them,  
of historical significance in this collection.

Hats off and a salute to the men that fought in WWII ..... Jack  
   
http://blogs.denverpost.com/captured/2010/03/18/captured-blog-the-pacific-an 

Thanks John for sending these.

WB9OTX - 20 QSO in 24 Hrs.

Most QSOs were made on 40 meters a few on 20. Using mode J65 with only 5 watts of power. The antenna was a single 1/4 wave vertical or an A3S tri-band Yagi . Isn't  Ham Radio fun ???
 K5SRG VK3HXT SM7VGQ VE3NRT G4HXC M0SGO G0OXY ON3CQ OK2BHD PA5JS N1TCH YV6BFE VA3DYD/HR3 IK2WJT EA8/RW3DO F5PBM W6VY F5GPE

The building of a 40 meter phased array @ WB9OTX

It has been a much larger and much more time consuming than I had thought and did I mention more expensive. What Ham Radio operators will do for only 3 db of antenna gain. Keep checking as time passes. Many more photos will be added. ..... Jack WB9OTX
 *** click the photo to see the progress.

Finished enough today to tune and test. It is working as it should and is better than I thought it would be. I really like the way I can null out the powerline noise coming from the West when I have it aimed North East. The SWR is very low (1.15:1) where I have it tuned (7.100) but it is usable even at 7.299 with an SWR of 1.61:1
-----------------------------------
On the air 2 days later.

The bands have been very poor sense I have had it operational but I still have worked a few Europeans and some from South America. I did manage to work a VK (Australia) and tons of stateside, both East and West coast stations on JT65. I usually get lower signal reports than I give out but I have been running only 5 watts. I'll hook up the TS-590 and run the power up a little. I have not tried any SSB QSOs as yet but that will come soon when the band improves.
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The replacement of the old three inch diameter 30 ft. tall irrigation tubing (SW antenna) has began. It was un-tunable and the radial (60) wires needed re-worked. The new one has all stainless hardware and should last longer than I. This one has a tilt over mount so it is much easer to install the 34 foot aluminum vertical element. Most of the radial wires must be lengthened about 6 inches to attach to the new grounding plate. This involves alot of soldering. The temperature has been over 90 degrees each day so I have only been working on it a few hours in the cooler morning hours. Stay tuned .... Jack

The Nightmare is over

Today I connected all 120 radials to the grounding plate.  adjusted the element on antenna 2 to match the antenna 1. Because of a almost nothing bend in the 2nd to bottom pipe I had to cut off about 2.5 foot, but that was OK as it was too long anyway. The reading came to 36 Ohm and the SWR read 1.3.5:1 almost perfect. At the transmitter 90 feet away the SWR reads about 1.03:1 why ? I don't know as it should read the same as at the antenna. Both antennas with a tee connector reads 46 ohms and this is what it should be (perfect). On the air testing shows when looking NE S-0.5, when looking SW S-6 from the power line noise. In the non-directional position it reads about S-5. It is 4PM and not much is happening on 40 meters so the final test will come tonight. I am looking at Europe at about 9PM and in the morning at 6 or 7AM Australia or New Zealand. The gain of the system is only 3DB, so you can't expect too much but at 3DB gain you can expect doubling your power (100 = 200).

This has been a very fun and educational project with lots of book reading and work putting it together. It was much more costly than I had thought but it will out live me and that's for sure. Isn't Ham Radio fun??? ... Jack WB9OTX

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But dose it work ?
Tonight in just about 2 hrs I worked these DX stations:
CE6MBK  VE2GHI  YY5EVA  IZ2DMV  F5HGT  SV6GIM  CO3JY  PU2NOE  VA2PBJ  YV5MM
And a ton of state side stations, I was running from 5 to 20 watts with JT65 & JT9 for these contacts. Yep its working .... Jack WB9OTX

What's up in space

Space Weather
Even if your not into radio propagation you will find the photos are great.
See the page HERE

Disable Avast E-mail Footer Signature

Avast footer signature – both in plain text and HTML formats

I belong to a Yahoo group that I post messages via my email program.
I use Avast virus program and it was putting an advertizment at the bottom of every post and I wanted to remove it. Of Course how to remove it was posted on the web. You don't have to look it up cause I have done it for you........ Jack
READ THIS to find out how.

Propagation Stinks

Get the full report :
Click HERE

Don't do it - Window 10

I have given up after 4 hours trying to fix or get the files off of a laptop that just had the Windows 10 upgrade. It is totally crashed and everything I have tried has failed. My advice is:
Just Say No to Windows 10.
...... Jack

Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

Atomic bomb mushroom clouds over
Hiroshima (left) and Nagasaki (right)

The United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, during the final stage of the Second World War. The two bombings, which killed at least 129,000 people, remain the only use of nuclear weapons for warfare in history.
READ THE FULL STORY

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Antiartica KC4AAA Story #2

I think it was the Winter of 1982 at the Pole. This makes it June or July here since the seasons are reversed or opposite in the two hemispheres. On one of our skeds Pat told me they were going to have an air drop. This had never been attempted before because of the great distance and weather conditions the planes would encounter coming and returning from New Zealand. The planes would be a pair of C-130s with no skies, as there would be no landing and hopefully a round trip. The planes would have to be mid-air refueled coming to the Pole and returning to Christ Church New Zealand, so you see it was quite a complicated trip to organize. I think we talked about it for more than a month. The families of the men (and one woman) were contacted and told they could send one package. Each person at the Pole could make one request for anything in reason. Most wanted some type of food ranging from ice cream to kiwi fruit, did I say ice cream, yes he wanted chocolate flavor. Pat told me I could send a package also, so I sent some things about Ham Radio and a 5 X 7 photo of myself. I told him to hang it above the radio to keep the mice away and do you know it worked as there has never been a mouse in the radio room to this day. I hope it is still hanging there. The packages were to be sent to New Zealand for relay on the air drop. The day came and all the crew were lighting flairs (it is dark for about 3 months) to mark the drop zone and trying to call the planes that were coming. I was at my radio listing and could hear the Pole calling the planes and I could hear the planes call the Pole, but neither could contact each other. I called the Pole and told them I could hear both of them. The planes were on a frequency that I was not allowed on, but they were also listening on the Ham frequency so they could hear me. I transmitted in the Ham band and I listened on the military frequency, this is called operating split. It worked very well. I relayed the location and arrival times to the Pole. It worked great and I have to tell you I thought I was really something being able to relay the como for this big adventure. It all went off without a snag, there were a few things that took place when the planes made the drop, but I am sworn to secrecy, I can say they were pretty low to the ice when they kicked the freight out of the planes.(nuff said) To end this story and get the point across that I wanted to make. All the crew got sick about a week or two after the air drop. There are no germs as we call them at the Pole because it is just like the inside of your freezer here at home, its just too cold for them. All the packages and food were carrying loads of bacteria and viruses attached to them. All was brought inside the dome that is heated and spread to the crew. Almost all came down with a nasty cold or worse. No one thought of this, but that ended all future air drops. I always think of the story ‘War of the Worlds’ that is what killed the aliens that were from Mars you know. They could not tolerate the germs here on earth that we are all immune to.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, as most people know little about the South Pole. I will tell you that things have changed with all the satellites and Internet. The crew at the Pole now can communicate just about as well as you and I do now from our homes here in the good ‘ol USA. But back 20 years ago and longer, the Ham Radio fellows sure provided a wonderful service to the stations in the Antarctic and I am very proud to be one of them...... Jack WB9OTX

Click to Read Story #1

“Victory over Japan Day,” or simply “V-J Day.”

Both August 14 and August 15 have been known as “Victory over Japan Day,” or simply “V-J Day.” The term has also been used for September 2, 1945, when Japan's formal surrender took place aboard the U.S.S. Missouri, anchored in Tokyo Bay.
The Japanese surrender aboard the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay on September of 1945.





President Truman reads the Japanese Surrender 1945



See Past Posts of V-J Day

Oceans At National Geographic

http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/

Antarctica KC4AAA & WB9OTX

Click to enlarge

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 this 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"..... Jack WB9OTX

Click to read story #2

Joining a Club

I would not belong to any organization that would have me as a member.
Groucho Marks

441.775

At a minute a week I was just trying to calculate just how long it would take for the clock to have the correct time again ?

Extremely easy exercises

Yourself or you know someone that needs to look at this page.
Click HERE

Do not rely on gossip - re-post from year 2010

 A Blast From The Past

 I was going through some of my papers looking for a letter I received from a friend a few months ago and ran across the certified letter that I received from a local Ham Radio Club (RCRA). Some 20 years or so ago I was a founding member of a Ripley County Radio club. I donated much time and funds to this organization as did many others. Much fun was had along with a good bit of public service that was provided to the county. Then we gained a few new members that changed the overall internal workings of our little club. These people rooted their way in as officers and made drastic changes, such as dues cost, closed to the public meetings, closed repeater use, and many other things that were not in the best interest of amateur radio. As a result I spoke not favorable of these new changes. The offices campaigned for the membership to discredit me by telling them untrue statements, such as I was using cuss words on their repeater stations and this would be an FCC violation. John Reid N9SFW (repeater trustee) investigated this and other claims they made and found no violations. He also uncovered that many other statements they claimed were completely false, such as tape recordings made of myself cussing did not exist at all. At this outcome the officers discredited Mr. Reid and he was removed or resigned under presser. I could go into many other instances that occurred including much hate mail I received. If indeed and you do not believe me I can prove these and many others. The fact that I want to make is, check things out for yourself, do not rely on gossip from others.
Click the letter to enlarge.

Jack Demaree WB9OTX

*** Edited from original post
*** original post was: OCTOBER 27, 2010
*** By the way, an FCC lawyer told me to put this letter in the waste can