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Showing posts from November 3, 2024

Wyoming and Idaho

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We are back from a quick vacation. I managed to score three (actually several more) bucket list items in 4 days. 1.) Long Snowmobile Trip. 2.) Yellowstone Park and 3.) Wyoming. I reached my 50th State --Wyoming! And we took a 90 mile snowmobile trip in Yellowstone National Park. We went to the "Craters of the Moon--National Monument and Preserve" in Idaho and also stopped at Idaho National Laboratory (INL) where I got to see (with my own eyes) the very cool nuclear powered twin turbojet engine. It was a successful experiment in the 1950s and 1960s. https://whatisnuclear.com/safety-minutes/htre-3-meltdown.html Of course, I had my Radiacode scintillation detector with me and yes, the apparatus is "Hot". The screenshot of the readings from my three walk-arounds the artifact. I swear you could smell the radiation. There was a very un-natural burnt smell something reminiscent of burned bakelite. Although, I am quite certain the emitted radition was not the source...

Stone Mountain (Gwinnett County) Hamfest 2024

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I haven't been to a hamfest in probably 10 years. They are still happening. They certainly are not as big as they were back in the 80s and 90s. But they still happen. An ever-reducing fraction of the expereince is still advancing state of the art communications technologies. Otherwise, they are celebrations in the antique, classic and nostalgic. It's fun to have conversations with folks that understand the specifics of eosteric radio and electronics technology. I saw one product that I wrote the manual for many years ago (The MDS new "P" Model). Angie decided to help out. We left the house incredibly early with the truck that was loaded up the night before. How early was it you might ask? Well, we went to Waffle House for Breakfast on the way to set up and the waitress told us to have a nice night when we left. I sold a few items, and I couldn't help but buy a few things. (Military Antenna base for the Humvee, a vintage Marantz receiver and few other odds an...