Today, there was an antenna walkabout. This is a show and tell about the different types and mountings of antennas used by RVers and anyone who needs to set up temporary or mobile communications for emergencies or pleasure. When we arrived at the gathering point for the walkabout near the main fire ring, we saw the results of last night's Burning SandHAM Ceremony. Poor guy.
This is the Hex Beam antenna that was used for the event station.
The owner of this antenna combo was showing us how he had developed a method to raise it from the convenient transporting position into a perfect transmitting height and position. He used compressed air to push the collapsible multi-sectioned mast into the air about 25 feet or so.
Sharp desert rocks did not deter this person from going barefoot during the walkabout.
This dipole antenna is usually onboard a boat. It is painted with special yellow paint to protect it from the sea's salt water spray.
These are the many and varied types of antennae that are used for the California Rescue Communications base when they go to the location of a disaster.
This spider antenna is mounted on the front tongue of the trailer. There is a flexible, foldable solar panel draped over the rock shield for the front window.
Another interesting antenna mounted on the ladder in the rear of the trailer.
It is definitely a Ham Radio gathering when you can see so many antennae such as in this view across the campground.
This evening, our group of friends had a potluck. Everything was delicious. After dinner, we all gathered around the campfire to relax and visit for awhile.
When it got darker, we decided to send up a Chinese lantern.
Trying to get the waxy fuel to light so that it will heat up the envelope of the lantern.
Finally! It is lit.
It is almost ready to take off. I couldn't get photos of the lantern in flight. It was too dark and the lantern moved too fast for the camera to focus. We see Chinese Lanterns floating through the skies almost every evening here in Quartzsite. It is interesting to watch them to see how high and how far they go, especially if there are many up at one time.
There was another beautiful sunset tonight. I decided to try some night shots and some time lapse starry sky pictures for a change. Here I have the whole sunset photo and a zoomed in version showing the Moon with Mars (the tiny yellow-orange dot to the left of the Moon) and Venus below.
This is Orion in a 30 second exposure. It is amazing how much the earth turns in 30 seconds. The stars are not pinpoints, but slightly dashed because I did not track the stars. Never the less, the belt (three perpendicular stars in the middle of the picture), the sword (2 brighter and 1 dim stars going at a diagonal to the right and below the belt), and Betelgeuse (the yellowish star on the far left) can easily be seen.
That is all for today. Time to get to bed.
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