Every now and then, I like to test out my communications capabilities. Friday night after dark, I went outside and using a flashlight, strung up a wire, ran it into the spare room downstairs, set up my ham radio, and in the next 24 hours, I spent 14 of them making sure I could talk around the world without using any public communications infrastructure such as phone lines or internet. I even ran my generator for an hour or two.
I only was on the air for a total of 14 hours, so I didn't do as well as two years ago, but here is the list of the 57 countries I was able to contact. I also heard lots of stations in Japan, and they did indicated they heard my signal, but I didn't have enough power for them to understand what I was saying (they were speaking English, but couldn't dig my signal out of the background noise).
I made complete two-way radio contacts (short conversations) with hams in Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, El Salvadore, England, Finland, France, Germany, Guatemala, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Morocco, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Northern Ireland, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Siberia, Sicily, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Uruguay, Venezuela, and the island "countries" of Aruba, Azores, the Balearic Islands (off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean), Bonaire, the Canary Islands, the Madeira Islands (off the coast of Portugal north of the Azores), Martinique, Sicily, St. Kitts and Nevis islands, US. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, and the Spanish Territories of Ceuta and Melilla (in Africa ...look up Melilla and Ceuta in Wikipedia and learn something new! I did.) I talked to numerous American hams, too, including one in Alaska.
I used all three of my shortwave radios to make sure they are all still working. And... I had fun.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Tuesday, May 19, 2015
Do you know where Lem Turner is? Not the road, the Jacksonville pioneer....
I found Lem Turner. No joke.
A major highway in Jacksonville Florida, State Road 115, is known as Lem Turner Road as it runs from I-95 exit 356 all the way to the Duval-Nassau County Line (115 continues all the way to Callahan).
Lem Turner Road is a multi-lane divided highway for most of it's length. But who is this Lem Turner?
It is named after Lemuel Turner, who lived from 1820 to about owned most of the property on the north side of Trout River from Kings Road (Today US 1) to the Holly Ford community across from what would later become Imeson Airport. He and his sons cut the timber and sold it to the Broward Sawmill on the Seaboard Railroad tracks, today at the corner of Dunn Avenue (Turner's logging road back then) and US 17 (North Main Street) This is the present location of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.
Turner's children and grandchildren continued logging, and in the early 1900's sold the timber to the Cummer Sawmill at the corner of US 17 and Heckscher Drive, near the Jacksonville Zoo, (today the location of Pick-A-Part junkyard). Yes, the Cummer Sawmill was owned and operated by the same Cummer who endowed the Cummer Art Gallery when he finally sold it. Turner's kids and grandkids sold their property bit by bit over the years, but Turner's original 1840's homestead stood on the banks of Blockhouse Creek until my teenage years, I used to see it from my schoolbus every morning. The dirt road leading to it (from Lem Turner Road, just across and south of Bessent Road) is still there, but I believe the house may be gone.
I found Lemuel Turner's grave 2 weeks ago, in the overgrown and unkept Turner-Picket cemetery. To reach it, take Lem Turner Road north from I-95 at Norwood Avenue, go 2 blocks to Ida Street, turn right onto Ida, go 1 block to Calvin Street, turn right, and Calvin Street ends at the cemetery. It looks like an overgrown vacant lot, but if you walk from the torn-down gate diagonally to your left, about 50 feet in you find Lem Turner's grave stone, broken, and lying on the ground. There are numerous other graves dating from the 1800's, all the way up to 1977. I'm wondering if Craig Zipperer has done any genealogy and knows whether this Mildred Zipperer is any relation?
A major highway in Jacksonville Florida, State Road 115, is known as Lem Turner Road as it runs from I-95 exit 356 all the way to the Duval-Nassau County Line (115 continues all the way to Callahan).
Lem Turner Road is a multi-lane divided highway for most of it's length. But who is this Lem Turner?
It is named after Lemuel Turner, who lived from 1820 to about owned most of the property on the north side of Trout River from Kings Road (Today US 1) to the Holly Ford community across from what would later become Imeson Airport. He and his sons cut the timber and sold it to the Broward Sawmill on the Seaboard Railroad tracks, today at the corner of Dunn Avenue (Turner's logging road back then) and US 17 (North Main Street) This is the present location of the Anheuser-Busch Brewery.
Turner's children and grandchildren continued logging, and in the early 1900's sold the timber to the Cummer Sawmill at the corner of US 17 and Heckscher Drive, near the Jacksonville Zoo, (today the location of Pick-A-Part junkyard). Yes, the Cummer Sawmill was owned and operated by the same Cummer who endowed the Cummer Art Gallery when he finally sold it. Turner's kids and grandkids sold their property bit by bit over the years, but Turner's original 1840's homestead stood on the banks of Blockhouse Creek until my teenage years, I used to see it from my schoolbus every morning. The dirt road leading to it (from Lem Turner Road, just across and south of Bessent Road) is still there, but I believe the house may be gone.
I found Lemuel Turner's grave 2 weeks ago, in the overgrown and unkept Turner-Picket cemetery. To reach it, take Lem Turner Road north from I-95 at Norwood Avenue, go 2 blocks to Ida Street, turn right onto Ida, go 1 block to Calvin Street, turn right, and Calvin Street ends at the cemetery. It looks like an overgrown vacant lot, but if you walk from the torn-down gate diagonally to your left, about 50 feet in you find Lem Turner's grave stone, broken, and lying on the ground. There are numerous other graves dating from the 1800's, all the way up to 1977. I'm wondering if Craig Zipperer has done any genealogy and knows whether this Mildred Zipperer is any relation?
Tuesday, February 17, 2015
Large Birds at the Feeder Today... (Post 1 of 3)
After clearing the snow from the driveways, I was tired so I sat at the kitchen table and worked on my computer for an hour or so, and took pictures of the birds coming to the bird feeder out the window.
Click on the pictures for a larger version.
Northern Mockingbird
in the boxwood scoping out the situation
before chasing the other birds away from the feeder.
In the Maple Tree after grabbing a bite to eat.
Going back for seconds.
Mourning Dove
The dove didn't come to the feeder while I had the camera.
He just sat in the tree and watched the proceedings.
Red-Bellied Woodpecker (you can't see his reddish belly from this angle)
There were 15 species of birds today (Feb 17 2015). The other blog posts below show the others.
Little Birds at the Feeder Today (2 of 3)
Chickadees (we have lots of chick-a-dee-dee-dee-dee-dee's)
A chickadee with his friend, the nuthatch.
Goldfinch. We have lots of goldfinches, too.
Sometimes the gold finches tussle with each other The feeder will be full, and there will be several more wanting a place at the banquet, urging those already eating to hurry up...
Yellow-headed finches -- NOT to be confused with gold-finches. We have lots of yellow-headed finches, too. The goldfinches will perch on the feeder and feed, but the yellow-headed finches sit in the tree, and when the feeder is open, they'll dart in and grab something and fly off, just like the tufted titmouse.
Tufted Titmouse
Other Misc Birds Today (3 of 3)
All photos taken February 17, 2015
Carolina Wren
Downy Woodpecker
Junco
Another Junco
Nuthatch
Pine Siskin
Purple Finch
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