A Look at the 6″ Guns / U.S.S. Little Rock

What’s 6 x 47 ?? – what’s the 47 mean ?? The barrel length is measured by the number of diameters of the shell – 6″ x47 – the Barrels are about 23 1/2 feet long . . .

The Iowa class main guns are 16×50 – 16″ x 50 – 800″ equals about 66 2/3 feet . . .

Enjoy!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

USS Little Rock

Pretty good home video – gives you an idea of the missile conversion done on the WWII era Cleveland Class light cruisers . . .

The U.S.S. Little Rock was one of only six of these that were kept after WWII – she went on to serve for right at 30 years – the Navy got their nickels worth out of her . . .

The video is worth watching just for the sound track – Enjoy!

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Happy Birthday U.S.N.

Having a little birthday party today – Saturday – it’s when I had the time to do it. October 13th 1745 the U.S. Navy was “created” – Enjoy the videos today!

So let’s “Get the Party Started”!!

And I know there are those of you out here that are going to disappointed – but no jokes about long tubes full of seamen today . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Antenna “Trim” for SWL?

A short video from Stan Gibillisco – Pay attention here folks – he’s trying to learn you something . . .

That little learning experience didn’t hurt to bad did it? No headaches or nosebleeds? – and yes an antenna tuner can and does make a difference . . .

Listening to Radio Tamazuj at about 10:45 pm CDST 13OCT22 getting ready to dive through the shower and into the bed . . .

About 9800 miles from the mid-west – banging in like a local station . . .

The transmitter is on the eastern side of Madagascar . . .

Picked this up from DXENGINEERING.COM – the video is older – current list is at $104.95 – free shipping and got it the 2nd day after ordering – DX Engineering really delivers! (see what I did there? – LOL! )

A hobby that can be relatively inexpensive and as simple as turning on your TV or as complicated and / or as expensive as you want to make it. And for an added benefit you can get uncensored real time news and information from just about anywhere on the planet – dependent on conditions of course . . .

Grayline Effects and propagation are always factors in what you are able to hear . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Using the Grayline – SWL “Stuff”

Bruce – why can’t I hear XXXX on X.XXX at X P.M. – but I can hear it like a local station at X A.M.??

Remember what I said about Short Wave Listening being like real estate? Real estate is but 3 things when you get to the basics – location – location – location. Well SWL is but 3 things when you get to the basics – conditions – conditions – conditions.

Everything can be “right” – radio / antenna / noise makers off ( LED lights can really make a LOT of noise ) and seemingly like someone turned a switch you can’t hardly hear anything – or – just as quickly you are hearing stations that you never even knew were there.

Here are three videos tat will get you started on your path to understanding what is meant by the phrase “well that depends on conditions” when referencing SWL.

First is one from a guy named Tom – think of it as a primer . . .

And here is Dave – complete with his white board diagrams . . .

And one more from Dave and he is not using his white board – almost like finding an ELO video and Jeff Lynne is not wearing sunglasses . . . ( and there are 1 or maybe 3 out there )

If you to look at a Gray / Grey ( LOL ) Line map on the web <<< CLICK HERE >>> – pretty good map . . .

However – if your really starting to dive into this here is the software to put the map on your desk top <<< CLICK HERE >>> – for casual listening you really don’t need to worry about it – scroll through the bands and enjoy what you come across . . .

But – if you really want a challenge – try AM DXing during the “Grayline” times in your area – you would be amazed at just how far away a 500 or 1000 watt “Daylight Darling” can be heard as they fire up their mighty AM transmitter at what is now local sunrise for them and you are sitting a 1000 to 1500 west of them – and trust me when I say AM DXing can become an obsession – DON’T ASK !! Too many years ago to count there was a whole group of us kids that worked at DXing Caribbean stations from just above the AM broadcast band to WWV at 5.000 every morning as they eased into THEIR local sunrise – we called it taking a Caribbean Cruise – and it was a good time . . .

And the grayline is just one thing that can affect conditions – a line of thunderstorms or a strong front moving through an area can affect conditions – solar weather can produce significant impact on conditions as well . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Industry On Parade – From Cushman “Trucksters” to Maytag to Organdy

If you were ever on any Govt. installation of any size, you remember Cushman – S.A..C. / U.S.A.F. alone bought them by the thousands . . . The Western Electric Company in Omaha ( long closed – sigh ) has / had a shop / garage that as of about 10 years ago had 100 or so still there – and they all still ran – if you could get procure ownership of them – OH MY!

And Cushman is still being made today . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!