"Area 51" Vets Talk

Fascinating article in the Seattle Times about a group of "Old Farts" (like me!) talking about their activities at Area 51.
Go check it out, it's a good read!
Actually, I qualify as an "Old Crow", and if you know what that means I'm sure I'll hear from you!

Major Earthquake in Baja, California

I was coming in from the garage, and the YF asked me if I felt it. The house was still moving, and continued to do so for several minutes.
According to the USGS, it was a 6.9 in Baja. That's a pretty big belt, and to feel it in Long Beach for *several minutes* means things must have gotten really rattled in San Diego.
Hope everybody is OK down there.
USGS wbsite

Investigation reveals numerous bogus claims on Obama resume

This could be one of the most interesting stories of the year.
I wonder how long it will take the lamestream media to try and defuse it?
We still haven't seen a REAL birth certificate.
He still won't release his school records and transcripts.
We have a fraud and liar in the White House, doing more real damage to the United States than the former USSR ever did.
Conservative Examiner

Long Lines

No, not a a grocery store. The term "Long Lines" is (was?) used in telecommunications to designate Long Haul Paths, which are those paths not associated with Local Exchanges, and they were handled by Interexchange Carriers. Now reading and watching all the Science Fiction stories, movies, and TV shows that I did, I was always fascinated with big dish antennas and the equipment that went with them. My Mom used to take my sister and I swimming at Dad's bosses house, and we always drove right by Andrew Corporation in Orland Park, Illinois. The antenna range that Andrew had was right along the highway we took, and I always used to stare at those big antennas and wonder who they were talking to with those big "SciFi" dishes. When I was 10 years old or so, about the time I got seriously interested in radio and other forms of communications, my Dad introduced me to a friend of his who worked for the AT&T Long Lines department. I'd also been to the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry that summer, and saw an exhibit sponsored by Western Electric called "The Wonder of Waveguide", and it fascinated me. So, getting a chance to meet somebody who actually worked with all that neat stuff was quite a treat for an inquisitive 10 year old! I decided then and there that when I "grew up" (still waiting for that to happen...) I was going to work for AT&T Long Lines. The Long Lines department was spun off in 1984 to become AT&T Long Distance, and eventually became AT&T Communications, slowly going to fiber optic, and shutting down all their C-Band Terrestrial Microwave activity. I never got to work for them, but the fascination of all things radio, and in particular VHF/UHF/Microwaves stayed with me all my life. One of the links I have in my huge collection is a glimpse at what the AT&T Long Lines System was all about. These guys handled everything, including military and Presidential secure links. I'm sure if you're my age +/- a few years, you've seen the huge microwave towers out in the country, and the antennas on top of large buildings in major metropolitan areas. A lot of that communications traffic has since moved to satellites, as you can put up a VSAT station, and have more bandwidth for less cost, than you could in the old "Leased Line" days.
Anywhoo...without further fanfare, I present you with a link to a magical place......

The Microwave Radio and Coaxial Cable Networks of the Bell System

Enjoy the trip back through time....I know I do!

The Uncyclopedia

Got this from a friend. it's a hoot, like a "Wacky Wikipedia". Go check it out!
The Uncyclopedia

Radio Contest Results

Well, first of all, I didn't operate anywhere near the alloted 36 out of the possible 48 hours, from Friday afternoon to Sunday afternoon. The YF (that's wife in ham-speak) had an event at the school where she works, so we went out to dinner, and then to the event. I didn't feel like getting started at 10PM Friday night when we got home, so all I did was tune around a bit to see how much activity there was. Saturday morning I got started, and decided to run my FlexRadio Systems rig exclusively, along with the logging program that I recently installed. I stumbled around figuring out the logging program, lost the first half-dozen contacts I made when I hit a wrong button on the logger, and then decided I'd better RTFM. Finally got serious around noon, and started cranking out contacts on the 15 Meter (21.000MHz~21.450MHz) band. I use a method called "Hunt And Pounce", where I'll start at one end of the band, work my way up (or down) in frequency, and work all the stations I can contact. Contests like this don't give you a chance to sit and talk to people, but rather encourage making as many contacts as fast as you can. You give out a signal report and contact number, receive the same back from the station you're talking to, and move on to the next contact. A really good operator at a powerhouse station can sit on one frequency and bang out contacts at better than 200 per hour! When I'm doing 20~30 per hour I feel like I'm doing pretty good considering my modest station. I operated about 6 hours on Saturday, took a break for dinner, watched a movie with the YF, and then hit the hay. I got back on Sunday for about another 4 hours. I only made 116 contacts, with 100 different multipliers, for a total score of 20,800. Some of the station I worked had over 6,000 contacts, so I'm sure their score will be astronomical. I mostly used this contest to get used to operating my FLEX-5000A under fire, and left it on all weekend. I have to say this thing has the absolute BEST receiver I've ever used under crowded band conditions. The adjustable filters are nothing short of amazing, and to be able to hear a signal barely above the noise (S2), sandwiched between two extremely loud signals (S9+30), and to be able to make the interference just go away, is staggering. My other Big Rig is a Kenwood TS-950SDX with an INRAD Roofing Filter kit, and INRAD 1.8kHz crystal filters in both the 8.83MHz and 455kHz IF stages, and outstanding combination in what was, and still is, Kenwood's top-of-the-line Amateur Radio transceiver.
Yeah, I know it's time I could be spending at the range keeping my skills really sharp, but hey, activities like this help keep my "Signal Corps" skills sharp, and it sure beats sitting on the couch drinking beer and watching ESPN all weekend!

2010 Elections In Jeporady?

And I don't mean the game show!
There's an excellent "Open Letter To America" to read over at our friends the JPFO's website. I'm hesitant to just copy and paste it, so please follow the link and read the letter.
H/T to Fuzzy's Dad.

Obama's Business Experience

...Is absolutely ZERO, or maybe even less. In the news of several large corporations taking huge writedowns due to the passage of ObamaCare and their loss of tax breaks, here's a good article to read about Teh One and his cronies reaction to it.
Obama In Rude Denial

Radio Contest This Weekend!

I'll be busy, so see you later.....

The FED Wants Your 401(k), Too!

Man, I'm *seriously* considering buying a few mattresses to stuff my money into!
http://www.aei.org/article/101672

Unions Want to Take Over Your 401(k)

Oh, boy.....
Found a link to this article at The Market Ticker. And it's not just any union, it's the scum sucking SEIU, one of the Obummer's bed pals.
Pretty damn scary.