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Stations worked list

Countries worked:

Aruba, Azores, Bahamas, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Canary Islands, Columbia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, England, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Guatemala, Hungary, Italy, Jamaica, Latvia, Mexico, Namibia, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain, Netherlands, Ukraine, United States, Venezuela.



States and Territories worked:

Alabama, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming.

Are We Alone in the Universe?


Frank Drake
The Drake Equation
N= N* fp ne fl fi fc fL

Frank Drake who was the founder of SETI (Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) developed the Drake Equation. The equation is used to figure the number of worlds in our Milky Way Galaxy capable of supporting intelligent life.

The equation goes like this:
N* = the (N)umber of stars in our Milky Way.
fp = The (F)raction of stars that have (P)lanetary systems.
ne = (N)umber of planets per star (E)cologically able to sustain life.
fl = (F)raction of those planets where (L)ife actually evolved.
fi = The (F)raction of (fl) that evolves (I)ntelligent life.
fc = The (F)raction of (fi) that communicates.
fL = The (F)raction of the planets (L)ife durring which the communicating civilization survives.

(N*=100 billion) X (fp=50%) X (ne=1) X (fl=50%) X (fi=20%) X (fc=20%) X (fL=1/1,000,000 or 10,000years). Using these numbers then N = 1,000 communicating civilizations in our galaxy. The actual numbers may be quite a bit higher.

1,000 planets just in our own Milky Way Galaxy. Many scientists will tell you that this number is very conservative and the actual number maybe many times higher. Remember that there are billions of galaxies in the universe so the real number of planets with intelligent life could be in the hundreds of billions.

Are we alone? I would have to say probably not. Have we been visited? That’s another thing entirely, maybe, maybe not but that discussion is for another day but makes you think.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Tuckerton Wireless Tower

 

Circa 1916

Tuckerton was the home of the Tuckerton Wireless Tower. The tower was constructed by the Germans in 1912. It is rumored that it was used to send the message to order the attack by a German U-boat on the RMS Lusitania in 1915.

The tower was taken over by the U.S. Navy when America entered the war on April 6, 1917. The 680-foot steel tower, anchored by three large concrete blocks, was taken down on December 27, 1955. The three huge anchor blocks still exist today.

One of three anchor blocks


Why Are We Called "HAMS"?


Why are we called "Hams"? The real reason may have been lost to history but there are a couple of plausible possibilities.

In the early days of radio every station occupied the same frequencies or more accurately every station occupied the whole spectrum. Ships, the government, commercial stations and the increasing number of amateur operators all competed with each other. Many of the amateur stations were very powerful. Two amateurs, working across town, could effectively jam all the other operators in the area. Commercial operators would refer to them as "hamming" it up. Amateurs, perhaps not realizing that the term was derogatory picked it up and applied it to themselves in true "Yankee Doodle" fashion and wore it with pride.


Another possibility is that they were the initials of one of the first amateur stations operated by some members of the Harvard Radio Club. They were Albert Hyman, Bob Almy and Peggie Murray. At first they called their station Hyman-Almy-Murray.

I’m sure that they’re other possibilities but these two make the most sense. More then 100 years later the term has continued to stick.