Monthly Archives: October 2024

October 2, 2024 Eclipse Report

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Shown above, via Facebook, is the view I hoped to see for myself on October 2, 2024. There was an annular eclipse of the sun that day for Easter Island, and portions of southern Argentina and Chile. Other places, it was just a partial eclipse. And as any eclipse chaser will tell you, a partial eclipse really isn’t a very big deal. The sky doesn’t get dark, and you can really see anything special.

Oct2SunriseBut there’s an exception, and that is if the eclipse takes place at sunrise (or sunset). As anyone who has ever watched a sunrise or sunset can tell you, it is safe to look at the sun momentarily. (Of course, if you do more than a momentary glance, then you should get some eclipse glasses from our sister site, MyEclipseGlasses.com.)  And you can see it’s shape. Normally, that shape is a circle as the sun hits the horizon. But if the sunrise is in the middle of a solar eclipse, then it’s not round. The sun is instead a crescent. I tried to see one in 2021, and got clouded out. And, unfortunately, I’m now zero for two when it comes to sunrise eclipses. My family travelled to Hawaii to see it, and we viewed the sunrise at a beach near Laie, Hawaii. Unfortunately, the clouds were just a little too thick, and they obscured the crescent shape. Our view, while a beautiful sunrise over the Pacific, is shown at the left. We had a nice trip to Hawaii and saw a nice sunrise. But we’re still zero for two. Our next chance will be March 29, 2025, when the Northeastern U.S. and Maritime Provinces of Canada will experience a Sunrise Eclipse.

The photo above was taken by Stan Honda, October’s artist-in-residence at Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.



Mississippi Mobile Communications Center, 1954

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1949OCTRadioNewsSeventy years ago, the Mississippi Highway Safety Patrol and Civil Defense Council operated this state-of-the-art mobile communications center. The need for such a facility had been shown by recent disasters such as the Gulf Coast hurricane of 1949, the severe ice storm of 1951, and the December 1953 Vicksburg tornado.

The state’s basic police radio network consisted of nine 3000 watt stations, and this one would be the tenth, ready to roll at 60 MPH to wherever disaster struck. In addition to the state radio, the van was equipped with VHF low-band and high-band stations, complete with crystals for local departments. At the scene of the disaster, the correct crystals could be installed, and that station manned by personnel from that department. The van included a conference room and bunkroom with six bunks. A power generator was in a trailer. With the exception of the antennas, everything was operational while in motion.

The amateur station consisted of a Johnson Viking 2 transmitter and National NC-125 receiver. Six separate booths were available for the radio operators.

The photo is from the cover of Radio News, October 1954.



1939 One Tube Loudspeaker Receiver

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Screenshot 2024-09-05 12.52.18 PMEighty-five years ago, this young man is making the final tuning adjustments for the one-tube radio he built from plans in the October 1939 issue of Popular Mechanics.

The set was simplicity itself, but it boasted a loudspeaker and AC power, so there was no need to mess around with headphones or a B battery. It was really a crystal set, with a fixed crystal detector. The single tube was a 25A7GT, which combined a pentode AF amplifier with a rectifier. Of course, it had a hot chassis and the familiar “curtain burner” cord to power the filaments.

It was best suited to tune permanently to the same local station. It wouldn’t tune the entire broadcast band without changing the fixed capacitor in parallel with the tuning capacitor, and tuning was very broad. But if you wanted to listen to a local station with loudspeaker volume, the simple design couldn’t be beat.

Screenshot 2024-09-05 12.54.48 PM



Happy Birthday, President Carter

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CarterToday is the 100th birthday of the 39th President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, the first former president to become a centenarian.

I never voted for Jimmy Carter.  In 1976, I was too young to vote, and if I had been able to vote, I would have voted for Ford.  And in 1980, I proudly cast my vote for Ronald Reagan, and would do so again.

But we have long admired President Carter.  He is clearly a patriot and loves his country.  He was appointed in 1943 to the Naval Academy, making him a veteran of the Second World War and the Korean War.  He went on to serve honorably.  He was undoubtedly the most intelligent person to ever serve as president, his credentials including that of a nuclear engineer.

In addition to being the oldest living former president, he is also the oldest living former governor.  He achieved that position upon the death of former Minnesota Governor Al Quie (another statesman we admire) in 2023.

Happy Birthday, Mr. President.