GEOGRAPHY |
| I've loved geography for most of my life. I've always loved maps: old, new, political, terrain, maps of Earth, maps of the Moon and Mars, I've always been fascinated by geography and cartography. I decorate my digs with maps, I collect them, and I use physical and digital maps to better understand a wide variety of subjects and disciplines.
One of the great things about the information-sharing potential of the Internet is that it provides some great resources for the study of geography. Aside from excellent websites and tools like Google Maps and Google Earth, the widespread use of the web and personal GPS handsets has also led to the rise of activities like geocaching. The combination of open source imagery and wiki technology has led to sites like Wikimapia, which allow users to add text and pictures to enhance existing satellite images. These are amazing tools that allow Internet users to learn more about the world around them.
To the right are links to a number of online resources for land navigation, orienteering, satellite imagery, and maps. Listed below are some of the more interesting sites I've been able to find on Wikimapia over the last few years. Geography and Land Nav Resources Algeria Chile France Georgia Ireland Libya Mauritania Saudi Arabia/Bahrain Spain Sudan Tunisia Ukraine United Kingdom United States |
SHORTWAVE RADIO |
Technically speaking, I was introduced to shortwave radio as a middle schooler, through the Saturday Academy (now STEM Academy program at Oregon State University. In 2006, my friend Howard "Father Time" Rhoades reintroduced me to shortwave, also known as world band radio, as a hobby that I could enjoy while working long shifts at Fort Irwin National Training Center in the Mojave Desert. Over the years, I was able to tune in a number of interesting stations. Since I find propaganda broadcasts to be extremely entertaining, two of my favorites were the "Voice of Justice" program (1, 2) from Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting; and Radio Havana Cuba. In the case of the so-called "Voice of Justice", it was also a great way of keeping up on what the Iranian regime's current party line is. I think the Voice of Justice sort of fizzled out by late 2015, but by that time, it had also transitioned to a downloadable MP3 file. There used to be some great advantages to shortwave. In areas where no AM or FM band signals Were available, you could usually find something on shortwave. It was a great form of entertainment when you were out camping, or living or working in remote areas. It was a great way to learn about other regions and distant cultures without spending more time staring at a computer screen than you already had to. Of course, with the rise of the Internet, many countries have cut their shortwave broadcasting budgets - it wasn't cheap - and spun up similar capabilities on the Internet. These days, I enjoy listening to foreign radio stations using Radio Garden, but it's not quite like the thrill I used to get from finding a foreign station on my shortwave set to offer me a foreign perspective on goings on in the world at large. Posted below is a list of some of the stations I've tuned in over the last few years. Shortwave Links Tom's Equipment Tom's Listening Log Description // Frequency // Time // Date // Location Arabic broadcast // 9.55 mhz // 8:27 PST // 5-Nov-06 // NTC Radio Australia // 9.59 mhz // 9:07 PST // 5-Nov-06 // NTC Radio Japan // 9.58 mhz // 9:18 PST // 7-Nov-06 // NTC French broadcast // 17.9 mhz // 10:07 PST // 7-Nov-06 // NTC Voice of America // 12.0 mhz // 11:05 PST // 7-Nov-06 // NTC Radio Deutsche Welle // 15.4/11.7 mhz // 16:00 PST // 5-Dec-06 // NTC China Radio International // 11.6 mhz // 16:50 PST // 5-Dec-06 // NTC BBC Caribbean // 11.69 mhz // 13:25 PST // 24-Jan-07 // NTC Radio Netherlands // 11.63 mhz // 13:07 PST // 13-Feb-07 // NTC Radio New Zealand // 17.65 mhz // 12:00 PST // 21-Feb-07 // NTC BBC World Service // 9.75/9.5 mhz // 7:53 PDT // 28-Mar-07 // NTC Arabic music // 9.55 mhz // 9:55 PDT // 5-Apr-07 // NTC DW Arabic // 17.9 mhz // 11:30 PDT // 5-Apr-07 // NTC Radio Netherlands // 9.9 mhz // 17:30 PDT // 7-Apr-07 // Barstow, CA EWTN // 5.81 mhz // 21:00 PDT // 27-May-07 // Barstow, CA Spanish numbers station // 17.8 mhz // 10:30 PDT // 30-May-07 // NTC Radio Taiwan // 9.68 mhz // 19:45 PDT // 30-May-07 // Barstow, CA Radio New Zealand International // 13.73 mhz // 21:15 PDT // 30-May-07 // Barstow, CA Voice of Croatia // 9.925 mhz // 21:00 PDT // 1-Jun-07 // Barstow, CA Radio Havana // 11.76 mhz // 21:05 PDT // 1-Jun-07 // Barstow, CA BBC Arabic // 9.915 mhz // 21:20 PDT // 1-Jun-07 // Barstow, CA Korean broadcast // 5.956 mhz // 20:00 PDT // 2-Jun-07 // Barstow, CA Voice of Russia // 9.515 mhz // 20:45 PDT // 17-Jun-07 // Barstow, CA Voice of Justice (Iran) // 6.120 mhz // 21:45 EDT // 22-Aug-07 // Hampton Roads, VA Radio Thailand // 5.0 mhz // 20:40 EDT // 24-Aug-07 // Hampton Roads, VA Radio Bulgaria // 7.4 mhz // 20:10 EDT // 31-Oct-07 // Hampton Roads, VA Radio Sweden // 9.4 mhz // 20:20 EDT // 31-Oct-07 // Hampton Roads, VA Radio Exterior de Espana // 6.055 mhz // 18:55 EST // 13-Nov-07 // Hampton Roads, VA Radio Australia International // 7.325 mhz // 19:20 EST // 13-Nov-07 // Hampton Roads, VA Radio Havana Cuba // 6.100 mhz // 21:30 EST // 27-Nov-07 // Hampton Roads, VA Radio Romania // 6.145 mhz // 20:20 EST // 2-Dec-08 // Hampton Roads, VA |
