<![CDATA[Worldwide DX Amateur Radio Forums - Ham - CB - HF - VHF - UHF - Announcements & Open Forum]]> http://www.worldwidedx.com/ Information, news, nonsense, anything about anything goes here. No controversial topics allowed. en Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:41:03 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.worldwidedx.com/images/misc/rss.jpg <![CDATA[Worldwide DX Amateur Radio Forums - Ham - CB - HF - VHF - UHF - Announcements & Open Forum]]> http://www.worldwidedx.com/ <![CDATA[Young Andrew's first kill (with pic)]]> http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/73129-young-andrews-first-kill-pic.html Thu, 09 Sep 2010 01:55:52 GMT This past Sunday, my buddy Greg & I went up to his local hunt club to look around for some dove. Greg's 5 year old son Andrew came along as well (a grown man couldn't hold him back!). We weren't really doing any serious hunting but we did bag a few birds. After we got back to the lodge, we did a little plinking with the Mini-14 and then started to pack up. While Greg and I were getting our gear together on the back deck of the lodge, little Andrew was messing around below us with his Daisy BB gun, shooting a few cans and plastic bottles. We weren't paying much attention to him.

All of the sudden, Andrew comes running out from under the deck shouting, "Daddy! Daddy! I GOT him! I GOT him! I shot the bird!!!". We looked at each other, shrugged and went, "huh?" "Daddy! There's a bird under there and I GOT him!", Andrew kept declaring while jumping around. Greg looked down at his son and said with eyes rolling, "Hammer (Andrew's nickname), there are no birds under the deck." But Andrew insisted that there was and that he had bagged him. I decided to walk down the steps of the deck to take a look and have Andrew show me what all the excitement was about.

When I got down and looked, Andrew was scurrying back under the deck with his Daisy BB gun toward a quail that was obviously stunned toward the rear of the deck. "He's still alive", I said, which prompted Andrew to quickly raise his BB gun to his shoulder, put the muzzle point blank on the bird and pull the trigger. As I called over to Greg to come down and see this, I couldn't contain my laughter! Andrew had found a quail that had escaped from the club's pen, cornered it, and instantly turned into a fearsome hunter! Andrew then grabbed the bird that he had dispatched and brought it over for all to see: his first kill!

Here is Andrew, 5 years old with his trusty Daisy BB gun and the quail that made the mistake of crossing his path. It will now be enjoyed for dinner by the mighty hunter!
Attached Images
File Type: jpg IMAG0015.jpg (1.50 MB)
]]> moleculo http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/73129-young-andrews-first-kill-pic.html Hot? Don`t stand behind this! http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/72718-hot-don-t-stand-behind.html Mon, 06 Sep 2010 01:52:06 GMT Something to take your mind off the heat Captain

Oh....They call it Shockwave




YouTube - Jet Semi ]]> AudioShockwav http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/72718-hot-don-t-stand-behind.html <![CDATA[God it's hot!]]> http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/72266-god-its-hot.html Thu, 02 Sep 2010 16:50:52 GMT Now that summer is almost over Mother Nature decided to deal out her best hand and drove the mercury higher then ever for this past summer. Normally... Now that summer is almost over Mother Nature decided to deal out her best hand and drove the mercury higher then ever for this past summer. Normally we don't get above 82 degrees very often and very rarely above 89 but the past couple days as well as today it has. Currently it is hanging at 96 degrees in the shade with a humidex of 108. :eek: That may be somewhat near normal for some of you guys but no where near normal for we that live along the coast this far north.

Yesterday we decided to head over to the other side of the province for a day at Bayswater Beach and enjoy the cooler temperatures. What a surprise we got when we arrived and found that there was no breeze whatsoever. The white sand beach was so hot you could hardley stand to walk on it and according to one fellow that had a thermometer on his beach umbrella it was 115 degrees in the shade at four feet above the ground. :tongue_smilie: We arrived pretty much at high tide and had to wait about an hour until a slight breeze picked up which was really just enough to make you fail to realise just how bad you were getting burnt and burnt we did. For some reason none of us remembered to use the sunblock we had with us. :headbang Normally the water along the east coast here is quite cold even this time of the year but yesterday it was pleasently cool at first and after being in the water a few minutes it was wonderful. A group of small baby sea bass kept us entertained for some time as they were darting in and out of where we were swimming.Here is what the beach looked like yesterday.







This beautifull beach was not quite so beautifull twelve years ago. In fact it was closed for an extended period of time as it was a primary recovery site for victims of Swiss Air flight 111 that crashed just off shore pretty much on the horizon. Being an RCMP auxilliary member at the time, I worked here during the recovery operations following the crash on Sept.2/1998 and it took me a good four years before I could return to the area. There is a memorial just across the road from the beach where the unidentified remains of the 229 passengers and crew are buried. I stopped by and paid my respects as I have done everytime I have been there since 2002. Today marks the 12'th anniversary of the crash.The memorial is made of solid granite and lists the names of all 229 persons killed in the crash.













May they rest in peace. ]]> Captain Kilowatt http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/72266-god-its-hot.html I wonder who won this match!! http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/72139-i-wonder-who-won-match.html Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:26:47 GMT Ouch........!!! Image: http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/3401/bullfighting1701254i.jpg Ouch........!!!


]]> DXman http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/72139-i-wonder-who-won-match.html thorium http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/72130-thorium.html Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:42:01 GMT Obama could kill fossil fuels overnight with a nuclear dash for thorium - Telegraph


"If Barack Obama were to marshal America’s vast scientific and strategic resources behind a new Manhattan Project, he might reasonably hope to reinvent the global energy landscape and sketch an end to our dependence on fossil fuels within three to five years.

We could then stop arguing about wind mills, deepwater drilling, IPCC hockey sticks, or strategic reliance on the Kremlin. History will move on fast.

Muddling on with the status quo is not a grown-up policy. The International Energy Agency says the world must invest $26 trillion (£16.7 trillion) over the next 20 years to avert an energy shock. The scramble for scarce fuel is already leading to friction between China, India, and the West.

There is no certain bet in nuclear physics but work by Nobel laureate Carlo Rubbia at CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research) on the use of thorium as a cheap, clean and safe alternative to uranium in reactors may be the magic bullet we have all been hoping for, though we have barely begun to crack the potential of solar power.

Dr Rubbia says a tonne of the silvery metal – named after the Norse god of thunder, who also gave us Thor’s day or Thursday - produces as much energy as 200 tonnes of uranium, or 3,500,000 tonnes of coal. A mere fistful would light London for a week.

Thorium eats its own hazardous waste. It can even scavenge the plutonium left by uranium reactors, acting as an eco-cleaner. "It’s the Big One," said Kirk Sorensen, a former NASA rocket engineer and now chief nuclear technologist at Teledyne Brown Engineering.

"Once you start looking more closely, it blows your mind away. You can run civilisation on thorium for hundreds of thousands of years, and it’s essentially free. You don’t have to deal with uranium cartels," he said.

Thorium is so common that miners treat it as a nuisance, a radioactive by-product if they try to dig up rare earth metals. The US and Australia are full of the stuff. So are the granite rocks of Cornwall. You do not need much: all is potentially usable as fuel, compared to just 0.7pc for uranium.

After the Manhattan Project, US physicists in the late 1940s were tempted by thorium for use in civil reactors. It has a higher neutron yield per neutron absorbed. It does not require isotope separation, a big cost saving. But by then America needed the plutonium residue from uranium to build bombs.

"They were really going after the weapons," said Professor Egil Lillestol, a world authority on the thorium fuel-cycle at CERN. "It is almost impossible make nuclear weapons out of thorium because it is too difficult to handle. It wouldn’t be worth trying." It emits too many high gamma rays.

You might have thought that thorium reactors were the answer to every dream but when CERN went to the European Commission for development funds in 1999-2000, they were rebuffed.

Brussels turned to its technical experts, who happened to be French because the French dominate the EU’s nuclear industry. "They didn’t want competition because they had made a huge investment in the old technology," he said.

Another decade was lost. It was a sad triumph of vested interests over scientific progress. "We have very little time to waste because the world is running out of fossil fuels. Renewables can’t replace them. Nuclear fusion is not going work for a century, if ever," he said.

The Norwegian group Aker Solutions has bought Dr Rubbia’s patent for the thorium fuel-cycle, and is working on his design for a proton accelerator at its UK operation.

Victoria Ashley, the project manager, said it could lead to a network of pint-sized 600MW reactors that are lodged underground, can supply small grids, and do not require a safety citadel. It will take £2bn to build the first one, and Aker needs £100mn for the next test phase.

The UK has shown little appetite for what it regards as a "huge paradigm shift to a new technology". Too much work and sunk cost has already gone into the next generation of reactors, which have another 60 years of life.

So Aker is looking for tie-ups with the US, Russia, or China. The Indians have their own projects - none yet built - dating from days when they switched to thorium because their weapons programme prompted a uranium ban.

America should have fewer inhibitions than Europe in creating a leapfrog technology. The US allowed its nuclear industry to stagnate after Three Mile Island in 1979.

Anti-nuclear neorosis is at last ebbing. The White House has approved $8bn in loan guarantees for new reactors, yet America has been strangely passive. Where is the superb confidence that put a man on the moon?

A few US pioneers are exploring a truly radical shift to a liquid fuel based on molten-fluoride salts, an idea once pursued by US physicist Alvin Weinberg at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee in the 1960s. The original documents were retrieved by Mr Sorensen.

Moving away from solid fuel may overcome some of thorium’s "idiosyncracies". "You have to use the right machine. You don’t use diesel in a petrol car: you build a diesel engine," said Mr Sorensen.

Thorium-fluoride reactors can operate at atmospheric temperature. "The plants would be much smaller and less expensive. You wouldn’t need those huge containment domes because there’s no pressurized water in the reactor. It’s close-fitting," he said.

Nuclear power could become routine and unthreatening. But first there is the barrier of establishment prejudice.

When Hungarian scientists led by Leo Szilard tried to alert Washington in late 1939 that the Nazis were working on an atomic bomb, they were brushed off with disbelief. Albert Einstein interceded through the Belgian queen mother, eventually getting a personal envoy into the Oval Office.

Roosevelt initially fobbed him off. He listened more closely at a second meeting over breakfast the next day, then made up his mind within minutes. "This needs action," he told his military aide. It was the birth of the Manhattan Project. As a result, the US had an atomic weapon early enough to deter Stalin from going too far in Europe.

The global energy crunch needs equal "action". If it works, Manhattan II could restore American optimism and strategic leadership at a stroke: if not, it is a boost for US science and surely a more fruitful way to pull the US out of perma-slump than scattershot stimulus.

Even better, team up with China and do it together, for all our sakes." ]]> BOOTY MONSTER http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/72130-thorium.html shave your head for charity http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/72008-shave-your-head-charity.html Tue, 31 Aug 2010 11:37:19 GMT Video: Chuck Liddell Gets A New Hair...]]> Video: Chuck Liddell Gets A New Hair Cut - FightLine.com

"he BIC 4 GOOD initiative asks Americans to shave their head – for real or virtually – and in turn BIC will make a donation on their behalf to DoSomething.org, a not-for-profit organization that empowers youth to do good in their own communities. In celebration of the launch of the BIC Flex 4 shaver and the opportunity to support a great cause, BIC and Chuck are asking America to join the movement.

From April 15th through September 30th of this year, BIC will donate $444 to DoSomething for every video of a shaved head, $44 for every photo of a shaved head, and $4 for every virtually shaved head. Already, do-gooders everywhere have raised over $45,000. With Chuck's help, BIC hopes to push this number to reach the $60,000 fundraising goal for DoSomething.org."

BIC 4 GOOD

ill be doing this since i shave mine 2 or 3 times a year anyhow . ]]> BOOTY MONSTER http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/72008-shave-your-head-charity.html Body Tatoo http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71880-body-tatoo.html Mon, 30 Aug 2010 17:35:39 GMT it would be cool if they made a temporary tattoo like these body paintings .

YouTube - ]]> BOOTY MONSTER http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71880-body-tatoo.html New Member http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71877-new-member.html Mon, 30 Aug 2010 15:06:31 GMT Greetings: Just wanted to introduce myself. I joined the forum last week and just became a Technician licensed ham about 3 months ago. I hope to... Greetings:

Just wanted to introduce myself. I joined the forum last week and just became a Technician licensed ham about 3 months ago. I hope to study some more as time permits and pass the general test some time this winter.

In my car I have a galaxy 949 pushing a 2 pill and I enjoy the sidebands the most, using am only for traffic reports on channel 19.

I am hoping to purchase a TS2000 in the future to use as my ham radio.

gamegetter,,, on sidebands I use 243. ]]> gamegetter http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71877-new-member.html Something Every Radio Operator Should Know... http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71543-something-every-radio-operator-should-know.html Fri, 27 Aug 2010 20:36:37 GMT That really massive solar flares are rare - but can occur. That it has happened in the past (1921). That massive power and communications outages... That really massive solar flares are rare - but can occur.
That it has happened in the past (1921).
That massive power and communications outages are expected on a global scale.
That such events can be considered a major disruption compared to 1921 technology and today's standards of technology.
That we are going into a period of greater solar activity - by default of the naturally occurring 11 year solar cycle - now that we are in the 'upswing' of this very same cycle.

Read this:

Massive solar storm to hit Earth in 2012 with 'force of 100m bombs' - Yahoo! India News ]]> Robb http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71543-something-every-radio-operator-should-know.html Radio hobby woes....... http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71495-radio-hobby-woes.html Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:26:05 GMT Do any of you share the same feelings as I do when it comes to the radio hobby? I often go through these phases of either getting out of radio for... Do any of you share the same feelings as I do when it comes to the radio hobby? I often go through these phases of either getting out of radio for a while, running barefoot, taking the CB out of the mobile, and just running a Ham rig, and so forth and so on.
It seems to coincide with mood I’m in, or the lack of DX. Usually a good DX contact brings me right back.

Oh Well…….. ]]> quiksilver http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71495-radio-hobby-woes.html views counter http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71420-views-counter.html Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:53:52 GMT Not that it really matters but it looks like the views counter may not be working properly.

I've just posted a new thread 'detail photo's' and on flicking on to it to see if there had been any replies I noticed that three other members were looking at it at the same time but the views counter only shows 1.

The names were all green; (wire weasel, W5LZ and jazzsinger) does that signify anything? are these members incognito? ]]> dave s http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71420-views-counter.html <![CDATA[detail photo's.]]> http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71418-detail-photos.html Thu, 26 Aug 2010 22:19:42 GMT I'm afraid that I cannot add anything to this forum by way of knowledge relating to radio. I have none!!

However, by way of a thank you for allowing me to use your forum I would like to share a discovery I made which I hope might be of interest and of use to members who use a digital camera particularly to take photos for eBay; or maybe to show circuit detail etc. in photo's used in threads.

If, like me, you use a fairly cheap digital camera or even your mobile phone to take pictures of items for eBay etc. then you probably have problems when you want to show close-up detail.

Some time ago I did some experimentation based on my memories of using a screw on '2 diopter' close-up lense on an old 'point-and-shoot' film camera that I had back in the 70's.

I discovered that by holding an ordinary magnifying glass in front of the lense of your digital camera you can get closer to your subject. The more powerful the glass is, the closer you can get and you know you are in focus because you can see the image on the screen before you press the button.

I've taken a photo of what I mean:-



The magnifying glass should be held up against the camera lense.

The more powerfull the magnifying glass is, the closer you can get to the object but don't use too big a magnification or you will get edge distortion.

I took this photo of a charm bracelet lock with this method using about an 8X magnifying glass.



Without the magnifying glass I could only get an 'in focus' photo of the whole bracelet. There was no way you could make out the hall mark and with only a 2meg. camera it was useless trying to selectively crop the photo, it was far too grainy.


I hope this is of some use to some of you.:)

Please give it a try, it really does work well.

Dave.;)

. ]]> dave s http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71418-detail-photos.html New site sponsor Radio Spectrum Labs http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71288-new-site-sponsor-radio-spectrum-labs.html Wed, 25 Aug 2010 22:02:28 GMT I'm pleased to announce that Radio Spectrum Labs. has signed on as a supporter of the site. Radio Spectrum Labs is a new company that has some very interesting communications products that are about to hit the market. I've attached a preliminary brochure that outlines the first line of products. I also have some pictures that have been sent to me that shows better detail of the products.

A couple notes about the preliminary brochure: First, you notice that the pictures don't line up next to the product names, but you can cross reference the captions to figure it out. Second, the company listed on the brochure is Tricomm Communications, which is not the company that will be selling these products. When I have an updated brochure, I'll post it.

One of the most interesting products is the first commercially available Aerostat (balloon) Antenna. Radio Spectrum Labs is sending me a 300 foot model to feature for a Worldwidedx.com exclusive first look article and video, so look for that in the near future!

Pics to follow...
Attached Files
File Type: pdf mycom brochure.pdf (527.7 KB)
]]> moleculo http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71288-new-site-sponsor-radio-spectrum-labs.html FIRE TORNADO !!!!! http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71284-fire-tornado.html Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:30:54 GMT msnbc.com Video Player pretty wild looking even though it...]]> msnbc.com Video Player

pretty wild looking even though it was only a few yards tall .
one big enough to measure on the Fujita scale would be both awesome and horrible at the same time ]]> BOOTY MONSTER http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71284-fire-tornado.html Silent Key - KC9OWM http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71002-silent-key-kc9owm.html Mon, 23 Aug 2010 17:04:25 GMT All, I was notified this weekend via email that one of our own, KC90WM passed away a few weeks ago as a result of a motorcycle accident. His wife... All,

I was notified this weekend via email that one of our own, KC90WM passed away a few weeks ago as a result of a motorcycle accident. His wife Mary told me that his love for ham radio was even mentioned in his obituary. ]]> moleculo http://www.worldwidedx.com/announcements-open-forum/71002-silent-key-kc9owm.html