A Crummy Commercial

I was reading this article on the IEEE Spectrum site: https://spectrum.ieee.org/lunar-telescope mentioning putting a radio telescope on the far side of the Moon where it is shielded from human created RF.  Arthur C. Clarke mentioned this idea in this 1961 article in Harper's Magazine on page 61: https://archive.org/details/sim_harpers-magazine_1961-12_223_1339/page/60/mode/2up?view=theater The Spectrum article mentions that the radio astronomers are concerned about keeping the far side RF quiet due to a possible constellation of new communications satellites around the Moon. But of course the thing that I noticed was the pictures :)  Whenever I see these detailed renderings I think of the Chesley Bonestell paintings from the "golden age" of science fiction like this cover: The Fireman, aka Fahrenheit 451, the painting is unrelated, of a rocket ship on Mars being tied down source: https://archive.org/details/Galaxy_v01n05_1951-02   Bonestell wasn't much for scantily c...

I have watched this interesting and informative video about the history of Estes as a model rocket supplier several times: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9GZM93n2zdE Kids in the 1960s during the space program peak were all interested in model rockets.  One thing I remember was that rockets were supposed to be painted with butyrate dope, not sure why - maybe it is lighter ?  But it sure had a smell to it ! About the only things that I still have that I purchased from Estes are a couple of books by Arthur C. Clarke: https://archive.org/details/explorationofspa00arth https://archive.org/details/profilesoffuture00clar I have got to find them and re-read them one of these days. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

NASA eclipse data for 54246 Here is a NOVA Eclipse 2024 program from PBS: source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTfQpdTD_3M I didn't have the glasses so I rigged up a quick projector using a +1 closeup lens: The setup . The eclipse begins . Totality at 54246 The sky was clear though which was nice - hope the folks in Indianapolis, Cleveland and Buffalo also had good viewing weather.  I gave up about 2:15 PM, there was kind of a cold wind.  The sky did seem darker but didn't see any stars. Cue up the Peggy Lee song (it was popular in the olden days) source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCRZZC-DH7M Kinda like Comet Kohoutek, Halley's Comet and so on, a little disappointing :) I'll check the NASA live stream thingy on Youtube later, they had the best seat. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm              

I always watch: Call The Midwife each season on PBS.  This week the show (season 13, episode 4) takes place in July 1969 during the Apollo 11 launch and landing. https://www.pbs.org/call-the-midwife/ Of course the whole cast watches the landing via the BBC but I *think* at my house we watched the CBS broadcast with Walter Cronkite and Wally Schirra.  This was the summer between grade school at Maple Dale and high school at Nicolet. Wally on the left, Walter on the right   And there is a video of this on Youtube: launch source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zYnF31el-ik landing source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oMF58ZP681A Somehow the BBC (as portrayed on Call The Midwife) was able to show live footage of the landing while CBS had an animation :) CBS did kinda jump the gun though showing the Lunar Module on the surface while it still hadn't landed: One thing that Call The Midwife didn't show and that I didn't remember was this commercial: source: https://www.youtube...

I was reading this article from Wired on how an anchored ship may have cut internet cables knocking out service for lots of people: https://www.wired.com/story/houthi-internet-cables-ship-anchor-path/ But of course it reminded me of this episode of Gilligan's Island: https://tubitv.com/tv-shows/200002714/s02-e17-you-ve-been-disconnected A telephone cable is washed up onto the island during a storm and the castaways try to use it to call for a rescue:   There were only a few seasons of Gilligan's Island so as a kid I saw them all multiple times after they were syndicated.  As a result they are all burned into my memory - yes, I should have been studying instead. Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm

I was reading a book which mentioned the Hagoth voice stress analyzer.  It was a contraption that could be hooked to a phone.  If the 8 green lights went on, no stress.  If the 8 red lights went on => vocal stress => indicating falsehood. The Inventor: http://www.rickbennett.com/aboutrickbennett.html So it turns out he is an ad man  ? https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-i-refused-sell-my-invention-stirling-moss-most-famous-bennett The Hagoth got a mention in the NY Times: https://www.nytimes.com/1978/02/20/archives/telephone-voice-analyzer-is-designed-to-spot-a-liar-telephone-voice.html something similar ?: https://www.ebay.com/itm/326076975510 I can't find any pictures of a Hagoth on the internet.   I dunno, I lost all faith in lie detection in high school.  During a psychology class lab one of the guys had a galvanic skin response tester attached to his hand. Then the teacher had one of the girls in the class sit on his lap - the needle didn't move ...

I was reading the March issue of the NAQCC newsletter: http://naqcc.info/newsletter/newsletter_309.pdf and read that W8DIZ has died.  BUT, it also mentions that Mike KU4QO is now running kitsandparts so a small seller continues rather than folding ! https://kitsandparts.com/ Best Regards, Chuck, WB9KZY http://wb9kzy.com/ham.htm