Checking in again, at a truck stop along I-20 near Jackson Mississippi. Having to pace our travel to stay ahead of the recent front moving out of the north through central US and the one ahead of us. So far no problems. Should arrive at destination this evening. Accounting for time zone difference, should make destination around 10 or 11pm EST.
Wife appreciates kind words. Will check in again at hotel in Georgia.
RFB
Dear RFB:
I respect, admire, and appreciate you for staying in contact during your heavy side-trip away from the normal part of everyday life. And with weather fronts taunting you on several sides.
There is a heavy reality when we gather to say goodbye to someone who is already gone. No matter how good some parts of life are, there is always the sadness that arrives on a secret schedule that writes our life.
We will try to keep the everyday part of the world going while you are on your goodbye trip.
We arrived in Georgia a bit ahead of schedule. Checked in at hotel and settling in for the rest of the evening. Wife is fast asleep and I am just about to pass out myself. One thing I like about CB radio and trucker convoys...just like Smokey and the Bandit slipping in between rigs, blocking head wind and smooth sailing. Sure made the time pass quickly.
Tomorrow is the "heavy" day, bright and early. Will be making the funeral arrangements then and all that other stuff. Gonna check out a few more threads and then zzz it for the rest of the night.
We appreciate all the condolences and kind words. Wife sends her thanks and love.
RFB
Sleep is an underrated bonus during the experience of life. Sleep, while you believe you are passed out, actually puts the brain to work solving puzzles, including the biggest puzzle of all, that of death.
Every time you wake up from sleep you are healthier than prior to sleep.
People who try to avoid sleeping are hurting themselves.
Trust sleep.
All arrangements made, service set for 10 am Friday. Wife is doing ok and I am still tired from the long drive. The plan is to head back to Casper on Sunday...baring any severe weather getting in the way.
We did find out that her mother passed away in her sleep and did not have to endure any suffering.
Wife says thank you again for the kind words. I do too.
RFB
Give our best wishes to your Wife, too.
This is not easy stuff.
Have a safe stay and journey, and when you get back -
when you are ready - we can talk about radio again.
Best Wishes,
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2
The services went well, no issues with weather or other delays. She is now at peace and in a better place.
Wife is doing ok as can be expected under the circumstances. Her sister however is not doing so well emotionally. My wife is her sister's moral support. I think her sister will be ok. She may return to Wyoming with us because I think if she stays in Georgia, the memory thing will be too much for her.
Our return trip will begin Saturday evening..weather permitting. I hope we can get back as quick as the trip was coming to Georgia. But I think we will take our time and perhaps stop at a couple places just to help the wife and her sister if she comes along. Perhaps a view from a mountain or lake, anything with nature might work. Nature has that magical way of relieving stresses.
RFB
Wyoming and Georgia are way apart in weather zones and maybe time zones and long ago in the south north conflict.
Your wife's sister is fortunate to have you both to make sure she's o.k. and your wife is lucky to have a sister who needs looking after, because that will occupy attention and keep everyone from thinking about the dreary things.
Agreed that nature has a cure.
The ancient societies lived by nature and planned around nature's ways. It has a resonance that does work with our own natural resonances (auras). When in sync, we feel at ease, calm and enlightened.
There is an experiment everyone can do to test this.
Simply walk into a consumer electronics store that has a bunch of televisions and stereos turned on. Or go into a building with tons of lighting and electrical wiring. You will feel the effects from the EM fields produced by these things, all interrupting the natural resonances our bodies produce. Walk out of those places and you begin to feel normal again.
Go from the clustered EM fields of a city to a quiet, unpopulated area like a forest or wide open field and feel the same cleansing effect away from all the EM fields.
Nature at its best.
RFB
Absolutely, RFB.
I notice this also when there's a lengthy power outage. The entire sense of consciousness and thought has a much more comfortable feel.
In fact, some of us can hear "the super hetrodyne," an ultra high pitched squeal similar to the sound of a flyback-transformer in an NTSC TV set. It is an unpleasant clash combined of ALL the RF signals and interferences all-at-once.
I know a singer who can "hear radar," and this phenomenon has been observed in research.
Trouble is, some of us LOVE electricity and absolutely need our RF fix everyday.
We are preparing to head back to Wyoming. We're leaving a bit earlier than planned to avoid any weather issues. In about an hour we will be on the highway heading back.
I plan to take the same route back since it was faster. Got the CB fired up, ready to join up in a trucker convoy and head em on home.
Will check in at our first major stop.
Once again I and my wife appreciate all the kind words over the last few days. It has been difficult I will admit. But life must go on and as long as we remember the good times with my wife's mother, she will live on in our memories.
RFB
I wish you and your wife a safe journey home.
Best Wishes,
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2
P.S. Are the trucker dudes still
using channel 19?
The tool shed here is two blocks from an interstate highway, so tonight I'll scan the CB frequencies on my Sangeon which goes way up to 29.999mHz.
A friend gave me his old truck CB which I will hook up near the computer and run to a chimney antenna so I can talk to unknown people "out there."
Talking on CB is a local form of HAM.
Carl, I can't remember. Does
your Sangean have a BFO for
listening to SSB and morse code?
I know during one of the last
Low Power Hours you were trying
to hear one of our friends from
the board, who is also a ham. If
you were listening with the Sangean,
I guess it doesn't have a BFO.
Although I have a great love for some
old CB radios, I haven't been on there
for a long time.
I can tell you the little bit I know.
Listening there now and then the last
few years, most of the channels have
been empty here. However, I have not
listened much.
There is a fringe section of society that
still exists on CB. These people run very
high power and do weird things. I'm figuring
you probably know what I mean.
The F-skip conditions are getting better in this
solar cycle. You may hear skip. If it happens,
I think it will probably be better in the
Spring. During the summer - sporadic E skip will
occur.
Although I don't agree with the idea of pirate radio,
there is an interesting frequency to listen to, I
believe. I think it is 27.555 MHz. I think this
is sort of an international unlicensed "Freeband"
frequency. You may hear a lot of activity there,
but it is SSB I think. So you would need to have
the ability of receive that - i.e. - a radio with
a BFO.
I think the truckers still hang out on channel 19,
and there may be another trucker channel, as well.
Let us know what you find. But be careful.
Like I said, there is a fringe section of
society on there that does strange things.
I an very fond of the 10 meter ham band, which
is next door from 28.0 to 29.7 MHz. I have worked
all over the world with small antennas and low
power when the conditions have been right. There
are many ten meter beacons that run Morse Code all
over the world. But again, you would have to
have a BFO. And the American Radio Relay League
transmits too with their station W1AW.
I'll listen in that general area of the spectrum,
too. By the way - there are still a very few
radio stations in the U.S. that are using the
25 MHz band for remotes. In other words, stations
that do traffic reports for instance, send out
a transmission on usually a fixed VHF or UHF channel.
So, the guy in the helicopter listens to say 161.???
or 454.??? and knows when to give the traffic report.
This is a simulcast of what the station's main
channel is running. Some engineers leave the transmitters
on all the time. There are a very few stations that
are STILL using the 25 MHz band. So chief engineers
that are running those operations, are probably hams
that have been involved with the stations for decades.
They probably leave those 25 MHz transmitters on to
see if anyone out there is hearing them. A couple of
solar cycles ago, I listened to a Seattle AM station
on 25 MHz during a big part of a solar cycle peak.
That 25 MHz signal was on so much, I considered it to
be a pest. It would go away after local darkness in
Connecticut, when the maximum usable frequency dropped
below 25 MHz.
Local ham radio activity has, unfortunately, dropped way
off, too. There are lots a repeaters on 2 meters, etc,
but they are quieter than several decades ago.
I was very fond of a simplex frequency - 146.52, which
is for local communications without a repeater. A year
of so ago, I had a vintage 2 meter FM ham base rig on there
with a friend. The radio is from 1972. It's down in
the cellar now, because the mike broke. It's a low
priority, but it's a beautiful radio, and I would love
to get it back on the air.
Anyway, let us know what you find, and I will look, too.
Who knows - you may get some material for The Low Power
Hour. And seriously, watch out for the fringe - or
what I guess I would call the crazy dudes on CB. Seriously.
Good luck,
Bruce, DOGRADIO STUDIO 2
Well Bruce, minus the advantage of BFO, I went a-scanning at 6:10 PM CST starting at 20mHz.
A few carriers ... 20.990, 24.800, 27.900, 28.000 & 29.450;
A tone, approx. 1.5kHz, at 22.090;
Buzz Tone at 22.800;
KDX SW 2nd harmonic sounding muffled and warbled at 27.120;
Data at 28.500.
No AM and no voices.
Last frequency scanned: 29,999.