Took a Quickie “Turn and Burn” Road Trip

So I drove to Hot Spring SD and back – 13 hours – gas stop – about an hour break – gas stop – and home – talk about feeling like a hot steaming pile of puppy poop the next day -Oh My!! – 794 miles in a hurry . . .

Ex – son in law retired and his hobby is keeping him busy – his favorite genre is the Star Trek universe . . .

putting the light kit battery pack and controller in . . .

he airbrushed the base then hand painted the rest – way cool . . .

and the reason for my road trip . . .

paint scheme as “Tommy’s Tigator” – done as full SAC “noo-ku-lar” combat flash paint AND Hound Dog Missiles . . .

and don’t tell me you weren’t expecting that clip – LOL!

Boeing B-52D-75-BO (S/N 56-0591) “Tommy’s Tigator.” This aircraft was used to test hydrogen bomb blast effects during the Operation Hardtack tests at Eniwetok, Runit and Bikini. (U.S. Air Force photo)

The Hound Dog missile program was quite a step forward for the B52 program –

You can read more about the “Hound Dog” (the AGM-28) missile program here on WIKI – decent write up . . .

And done in period (app. 1962) paint scheme – an Ellsworth AFB KC135A

Now all I need to do is glue the boom on the KC and hang them from the ceiling . . .

My backup pi4 shit the bed so I replaced it with a refurb windows box from amazonia – yes they have gotten that inexpensive – of course I had to change everything around to make it fit – modern problems – sigh . . .

I have the layout about where I want it . . .

And a ton of connectors and adapters are coming – the 4 SDR’s will each have their very own connections and can switch between the 5 antennas without having to change coax around . . .

Bruce? – What? Will he do models for me?? – I’m not sure that would work out – the labor will scare you – and then the shipping is beyond ridiculous – bubble wrap inside of bubble wrap and into an over sized box – it’s realistically far cheaper for me to road trip across South Dakota and back then shipping it – even adding 2 days of feeling like death warmed over – if you are bound and determined let me know – I will check into it – but – I don’t think you are emotionally prepared for the estimate – nor am I responsible for ANY emotional trauma you have from learning the shipping costs – LOL!

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

More Radio Stuff & Busy Busy Besides

retire they said – it will be fun – you will have so much time on your hands they said

So this was what I started with . . .

first the loop and random wire – then added the discone . . .

left to right – random wire – PRO 1B loop – and a wide coverage discone . . .

Added a 60 foot Loop On Ground . . .

(not visually impressive)

Then added a DX Commander 30 foot mast – with wire length about 28 feet . . .

Both the vertical and horizontal random wires are terminated with LDG 9:1 unun’s . . .

And then the deck project . . .

(and yes – that is a spare run of coax – never know when I might want to test drive a different antenna)

Had it built with steps at both ends – then I added gates fashioned to look like railing when they are shut. Still need to add a little bit of concrete on the right . . .

The steps on the back end were added so the boys could go out in the “yard” although size wise it’s better classified as a “garden” – which leads right into the fence project . . .

Which then leads right into the patio project . . .

this pic gives you a good view of my loop on ground antenna – impressive ain’t it? – lol!

Been working on the radio room – trying to get it to where you can just crank a switch rather than disconnecting and reconnecting coax to change antennas and SDR’s – that is a cluster all on its own – two of the SDR’s that I use have single inputs – three have 3 software switchable inputs – and I’m running 5 different antennas to them . . .

Get a dachshund they said – it will be fun! We are up to three of them – and I freely admit that there is never a dull moment around here – LMAO!

I will detail some of the “projects” and how they went the direction they ended up going here in the next few posts . . .

Wait one minute Bruce – Five Different antennas? You’re crazy!! – They are all going to perform with some overlap in performance – however depending on the frequency and conditions I’m hearing stations that are incredibly rare to copy here in the north central U.S. – and in my defense – I was somewhat sane three dachshund’s ago!

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

In May of 1941 . . .

If you haven’t seen it – it’s well worth the watch – or watch it again!

If you want the Cliff Notes version . . .

the actors did an incredible job through body language/mannerisms and such of conveying “But for the Grace of God – there go I” – there was no cheering of celebratory moments in the actual (according to witnesses) course of events – naval surface engagements ARE NOT something of a cheerful nature . . .

The Iowa class “Fast Battleships” changed naval warfare – every 30 seconds nine rounds of 16 inch dropped into a 90 foot circle – at roughly 23 miles – DAMN! – for a reference book start with “Battleship Commander” The Life of Vice Admiral Willis A. “Ching” Lee by Paul Stillwell – and that will start you down quite a rabbit hole . . .

The Iowa class was simply the epitome of naval surface warfare . . .

Have Fun! – Run the Gun! (or 9 of them-LOL!) – and remember – Fish Heads are Cheap!!

Friday Music – For All You Young Dudes

Those of us who are young (at heart) have a musical soundtrack that remind us that we are still young – maybe not our knees/hips/back/hairline etc. – but we still enjoy traveling to younger days at least in our heads . . .

Here are some that will take you back to the halcyon days of our youth – traveling in/on that time machine known as music – Enjoy!

Just about any city of any size had the park – Joy Land – Play Land – Peony Park – Do YOU recall YOUR local park?

On the 24th of this month – MAY – 85 years ago – this naval engagement occurred . . .

How many of you saw midsummer sunrises over south central Kansas? – while listening to this on KLEO AM? – this one is for YOU . . .

My personal favorite by The Cyrkle . . .

This could literally go on all day – so many genres – so many memories – so much time listening to the radio – AM and FM . . .

I have so much going on and I keep adding to this – oh why not – here’s one more – and then I must go (now) . . .


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

Friday Music : Some 70’s One Hit Wonder Action

Everybody remembers them – they were all good stuff – but not much “chart” follow up – Enjoy YOUR Friday!

what one hit groups/songs were YOUR favorites?

And of course I had to throw this in here! – LOL

And still making the karaoke rounds – King Harvest lives on . . .

Foghat? Slowride? The entire album was good stuff!

My own personal favorite “One Hit Wonder” . . .

Released in 1969 – 2525 was still getting quite a bit of airplay in 1970 – and still shows up today!

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