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Got into the Port St. Joe (FL) repeater with no trouble at all, then heard a station in Largo on 146.52 MHz (the 2m common calling channel). It was a little statickey, but perfectly readable. 430 miles, straight across the Gulf. No, this is not reliable comms by any means – VHF station-to-station limits out around 10 or 20 miles under usual conditions, due to the curvature of the Earth – but it was something out of the ordinary and a lot of fun.
These things happen in the calm, clear weather a day or two after a cold front passes.
Yesterday was a wonderful Thanksgiving Day Feast: the traditional grilled steaks and vegetables, washed down with bourbon, chased by too much pumpkin pie and whipped cream, with a cup of chicory coffee some time later. Now as for all today's Black Friday ruckus, just remember:
Yes, you may have seen this one before. It most definitely still applies.
Excess runoff-laden water from the Mississippi River has completely messed up the coastal waters to the east. This is what happens when you turn a major river into a concrete lined ditch and keep pushing for 1930s farming policies upstream. Article at NPR.
Don't let this happen to your river.
This is a very good movie, with no aspirations of greatness. Look, it's about GUYS with CARS and MONEY who set out to win a race, and to do it against all odds. The only big idea in evidence here is that when asked these guys said "Hell yeah we can do this. Now get out of our way. And keep the money coming." Then they worked hard to make it happen. Beyond that, it's all broad brush strokes, bright colors, and loud engines. No subtlety, no subtexts, no sideways commentary about the '60s. In some ways the story and presentation could be called "cartoonish," but only in the best possible sense of the word.
Likewise, the acting and cinematography are top-notch. As is the writing; there's not a clunker line in the entire movie. There's just enough tension between the characters to make them all pop out in 3-D, while maintaining their core traits. For all the simplicity of the story line and the overwhelming personalities of the characters, it works, it's believable. The whole thing is a professional effort. It's also a lot of fun to watch.
Three-plus out of Four Stars. Go see it in a good theater, with a good LOUD sound system.
Is it a bad thing when a movie merely aspires to goodness, not greatness, and then solidly hits the mark? In a way, does that make it great after all?
Article over at Science. In a nutshell, the plan is for a series of rover, lander/launcher, and orbiter missions throughout the 2020's (all unmanned of course) to bring soil and rock particle samples back to Earth in 2031. While I'm glad to see that we're getting on with this, there are a lot of moving parts to the plan and it's going to take every bit of expertise we've built up over the last 45 years of Mars missions to pull it off. Anyway, the article's a short and informative read.
A very cool little crystal radio, with a unique "crystal" over at The SWLing Post:
https://swling.com/blog/2019/11/am-radio-from-a-hand-wound-coil-and-an-oxidized-british-penny/
The fact that it was tuned to a station playing The Clash's London Calling when he got it to work just makes this video all the sweeter.
I really need to build another one of these again fairly soon. However... I will continue to enjoy my triple-conversion superhet with its plethora of digital filters for the time being.
Got into the Port St. Joe (FL) repeater with no trouble at all, then heard a station in Largo on 146.52 MHz (the 2m common calling channel). It was a little statickey, but perfectly readable. 430 miles, straight across the Gulf. No, this is not reliable comms by any means – VHF station-to-station limits out around 10 or 20 miles under usual conditions, due to the curvature of the Earth – but it was something out of the ordinary and a lot of fun.
