DX Update and a Station Upgrade at W8MDE

Old man winter still has us in his icy grip but I've been keeping warm inside at the operating position at W8MDE.  In the last week I've taken advantage of the multi-band capabilities of my backyard antenna and worked some DX.  Besides my regular log book of all the contacts I make I  keep a list of amateur stations I work located in other countries and I've managed to add a few new ones to the list.

As of right now the 10-meter band or 28 MHz is my favorite slice of radio spectrum.  10-meters is a great band for low power long range communications.  I've noticed every morning just after daybreak signals appear and quickly gain intensity as the band "opens".  It is most definitely hard to tear myself away from my rig to head into work for the day.

I have been mainly using the digital PSK modes to chase DX but I've also made a few CW contacts using Morse Code radiotelegraphy.  

PSK-31     7.040 MHz      HI8MU     Domincan Republic*

PSK-31     7.040 MHz      EA2BJS    Zaragoza, Spain*

PSK-63     7.040 MHz      F5RHD     France*

PSK-63     7.040 MHz      EH5ANT  Denia, Spain*

PSK-31     7.040 MHz      IT9CCB     Siracusa, Italy*

CW             24.902 MHz    IS0BOY    Sardinia, Italy

PSK-31     28.120 MHz    IV3JER     Italy

PSK-31     28.120 MHz    F1PKH      France

CW             28.020 MHz    E79D        Bosnia Herzegovinia

CW             28.020 MHz    YN5SU     Nicaragua

PSK-31     14.070 MHz    HR1EPZ   Tegucigalpa, Honduras

PSK-31     28.120 MHz     UR5ZD     Pervomaisk, Ukraine

PSK-31     28.120 MHz     R3FO        Dmitrov, Russia

PSK-31     28.120 MHz     ON4BWI  Merksplas, Belgium

*For these contacts I was using the 66' end fed half wave wire.  As a resonant antenna at the 40 meter wavelength the wire works much better than the short Gap Eagle antenna.

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Palstar SP30B Communication Speaker

One day I happened upon amateur radio equipment manufacturer Palstar Inc. based right here in Ohio.  What caught my attention was two models of communication speakers made and sold by this company.  External speakers have been around as long as radio but since most modern ham transceivers have built in speakers I never gave the idea much thought.  As predominantly a CW and digital operator the tiny on board speaker of my Icom 718 always seemed to work fine.  If I am sitting down for an extra long session or weak signal copying I usually use a pair of headphones.

After reading a few favorable reviews of the speakers at eham.net I decided the smaller of the two units would fit my needs nicely.  At the time I had a couple of days until I would be operating in the Straight Key Century Club's Weekend Sprint so I called up the company and purchased the SP30B.  The service I received from Palstar was excellent and the speaker arrived well packaged the Friday before the sprint.

Three different ways to connect your audio in.

The online reviews I read all had one thing in common and that is exceptional build quality.  Like any reasonable person I took this with a grain of salt but as soon as I lifted the speaker out of the box I noticed that indeed it was well built and heavy.

Here's a description from the Palstar website:

The Palstar SP30B shortwave speaker is a custom engineered shortwave radio speaker. To truly enjoy the radio listening experience, you need a high quality speaker.

After completing the R30A shortwave receiver to rave reviews among users, the Palstar team saw the need for a compact shortwave speaker that is tonally matched to the R30A and designed to put out clear, low-distortion reproduction of the frequency range of broadcast human speech.

The key to quality speaker sound is magnet size. The SP30B has an 8 Ohm speaker with a hefty 6 oz. magnet, a frequency response of 60 Hz to 8 kHz, and a 5 Watt power rating in a custom-built wooden cabinet (black or cherry). The SP30B is the speaker that will bring back good sound to your listening experience.

I chose the black cabinet to compliment the rest of my equipment which is also black and it does look great on my desk.  The real test though came when I found a patch cable in my spare parts and connected up the speaker to my rig.  I am truly impressed with the sound that comes out of the SP30B.  The natural background noise and harshness of the HF spectrum seemed to be reduced and the sounds I want to hear pop from the grill more clear and loud than I ever experienced before with my amateur gear.  The tone of received CW signals now have a much warmer and pleasant quality that really does enhance my listening.

Next I tuned in some amateur single side band voice transmissions and discovered sure enough this is where the speaker really shines.  I've never been a fan of side band audio and the Donald Duck like sound of transmitted voice.  With the Palstar's response tuned to the frequency range of human speech it was as if my receiver had been transformed.  The voices I heard had a clarity and warmth that the stock speaker in my radio can't even begin to touch.  I noted the same outcome later that night when I checked out the shortwave broadcast bands.
   

The joinery of the hardwood cabinet is very well done.

 I'm very pleased with the performance of this new piece of gear and happy to support a local business. Had I known what I was missing in the audio department I would have bought this thing years ago.  The volume is plenty loud and if it's turned up a bit I can easily hear Morse code signals or voice from anywhere in my house.  Kudos to Paul Hrivnak, N8PH the Captain of the Palstar ship and the rest of his crew.  Thanks guys for a great American made product.

   

News From ARS W8MDE

My winter operating season got off to a rocky start.  For most of the fall of 2013 I suffered from a debilitating case of PLN or Power Line Noise. This condition has been the bane of the amateur radio operator for nearly as long as radio has been around.  Whole websites have been devoted to the problem.  Usually the cause is a worn or loose connection in the power distribution system somewhere in close proximity to a radio's antenna system.  Another cause could be a pole top transformer ready to give up the ghost.

I like to describe it this way:  Imagine that a broken insulator or jumper cable with loose hardware up on a power pole has caused a very small gap to occur in the system.  In its unending quest to keep the circuit energized the current arcs across the gap or bad connection.  The side effect of this condition is that energy that should be flowing smoothly to our homes and businesses is radiated out into space as a broadband hash loudly sizzling from the speaker of a sensitive radio receiver.

In my case the interference was a solid S9 on my signal meter.  The PLN knocked out my ability to hear anything on the HF bands except the ARRL station in Newington, CT which transmits an amplified signal with high gain antennas that point more or less towards my location.  This whole event was very disappointing because during the winter is the time I most enjoy sitting comfortably inside playing with my radio gear.

With the help of my local amateur radio club the line department was notified and after a few weeks I noticed the PLN was gone and the bands have been back to normal since the 21st of December.  Detecting problems in the power distribution grid is one of the services hams offer to their communities.  Power line noise usually goes undetected and like a leaky garden hose the end result is a wasted product not getting to its intended location.  Yes the lights still come on in the neighborhood but with local grids carrying 5000 volts or more a leak in the system if gone unnoticed ends up costing us all money.

In other ham radio news we have arrived at the high point of the 12 year solar cycle.  World wide  radio communication on the High Frequency bands is made possible by the energy flowing from our sun and the way this energy reacts with Earth's upper atmosphere.  When I first got my license in 2008 we were at the bottom of the cycle with very low sunspots or none at all.  I did make contacts none the less and had fun but it has really been exciting and interesting to witness how the increase in solar activity directly correlates to increased radio propagation here on Earth.              

Above is an electronic QSL card I received from a Russian ham named Yuri after we had a successful PSK-31 contact one evening on the 40 meter band.  I was using my 40 meter end fed wire up 40 feet. As a horizontal antenna the EFW normally works great for close in work out to a range of about 500 to 1500 miles.  Now that the ionosphere is bristling with charged ions even my lowly flat wire is transmitting a signal over 5000 miles away!

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A new "old" antenna project at W8MDE

My very first amateur radio antenna I purchased from the commercial vendor Gap Antenna Products.  The attractive assembly of aluminum pictured above is called the Eagle DX.  I had the antenna mounted on a fifteen foot steel mast attached to the peak of the garage roof on the property where I lived at the time.  I used the Eagle for about a year before moving onto a different antenna so I took the antenna apart and stored it back in its original box.

The last few years I have only had a couple wire antennas up and now with the solar cycle in full swing I felt the need to get on some of the higher HF bands.  Time for the Eagle to fly once again!

The Gap antennas are unique radiators that really do work.  Technically they are multi-band vertical dipoles.  Vertical antennae have a lower radiation angle which puts signals closer to the horizon resulting in a longer "skip" distances.  A horizontal antenna shoots its signal up at steeper angles allowing it to return back to Earth much closer to it's origin.  With each successive bounce a signal loses some of its energy as it travels around the curve of the Earth.  A vertical antenna by nature of its low radiation angle makes it a good choice for "DX" or long distance communications using low power.  Less hops for a given distance means a louder signal more easily copied at the receiving end.

Dipole antennas are normally deployed in a flat or sloping position.  The Gap antenna is a dipole which means the feed point is in the middle of two antenna elements.  Unlike a traditional flat dipole the Gap is tilted up on one end.  The feed line coax does attach at the bottom end of the Eagle but a secondary piece of coax isolates the signal from the aluminum part of the antenna and deposits it at the feed point or "Gap" a thicker gray section with the yellow stripe visible in the photos.

While I was reassembling the antenna in my garage I noticed exposed wire showing at the end of one of the internal coax runs.  I made a quick call to GAP and spoke with Chris about it and he recommended simply capping off the end with a wire nut.  The original must have popped off while I was taking the antenna apart years ago.  Sure enough in my spare parts I found a wire nut that screwed down tight and even fit perfectly into the black shrink tube that was on the end of the wire. (See first assembly photo above.)  I've dealt with the guys at Gap a few times and have always had helpful and friendly service.

To operate on multiple bands the Eagle is actually a set of dipoles.  Points of resonance along the shortwave spectrum are accomplished by "tuning rods" placed around the main antenna on short PVC standoffs.

These rods work with the main body of the antenna to make up the various dipoles required for operation on the 40m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m and 10 meter bands.   Of course with the 40 meter end fed half wave wire already in use I wasn't concerned with the Eagle's less than stellar performance on that band.  At 21 feet tall the Eagle is just too small to be an effective radiator at 7 MHz.

At 20 meters and up on the other hand the Eagle works very well and now with the help of the sun spots and the radiation they spew forth these higher frequencies are available for long range radio fun.

My garage worked perfect for the assembly process and allowed just enough room to build the antenna.  I only had to open the back door to attach the mounting plate and short section of fiberglass mast right before taking the whole thing out to the back yard.
  

The following photograph shows the mounting plate attached to a short section of fiberglass mast pipe I chose because it conveniently slips into the steel pipe of my heavy duty tripod.  As a dipole the bottom end of the Eagle must be insulated from the support structure.  This is accomplished by the short PVC sections directly under the U-bolts. (In the event a metal mast pipe is used.)

Two weeks ago with the RoadQueen's assistance we erected the antenna on the tripod in the back yard.  For now the installation is temporary although we did guy the antenna using four non-conductive guy lines spaced 90 degrees apart to prevent tip over and damage in the case of high winds.

  

The following day we put the radiator to work making contacts from one end of the country to the other during the Straight Key Century Club's February Week End Sprint.  I made a majority of contacts during the WES on 20 meters and a couple on 10 meters.  At the same time a radio tele-type contest was going on and had the whole lower end of 40 meters booked solid with loud RTTY transmissions.  40 meters was my only band of operation before but now the Gap Eagle allows me into different areas of spectrum to meet up with other SKCC members for contacts.

Another reason I had been wanting to put up the Eagle is to take advantage of the great propagation conditions and try to put some DX stations in the log using the low power digital mode PSK.  Here is what I've got so far:

(While the first two stations are not really DX as in a foreign country I don't normally hear many western US stations with my low wire antenna so to me they are DX)

2-09-14     10.139 MHz    KA5PNX    Eagle, Nebraska         

2-10-14     28.120 MHz    N7CMJ       Kalispell, Montana    

2-11-14     14.070 MHz    ZZ80DF      Brazil                        

2-12-14     14.070 MHz    DL1FAM    Langen, Germany      

2-12-14     28.120 MHz    NP3LY        Aibonito, Puerto Rico

2-17-14     28.120 MHz    IZ0RPS       Rome, Italy

2-17-14     28.120 MHz    UR5ICG      Donetsk, Urkraine

You may notice that the first contact on my list shows the frequency at 10.139. This is the digital only 30 meter band that is one of my favorites sharing attributes of both the 40 and 20 meter bands.  The Eagle was not designed to operate on 30 meters.  Back in 2008 when I first put up the antenna I noticed while sweeping the entire short wave spectrum using an antenna analyzer coupled to the Eagle that a dip in the SWR occurred near 30 meters.  I inquired about this with Chris at Gap and he said as long I kept my transmit power at 100 watts or less I should be good to go using an antenna tuner or trans-match to even out the impedance between the antenna/feed line system and my transceiver.  Using very efficient modes like CW and digital phase shift keying the bit of loss due to the miss match is inconsequential. 

Even though I didn't "homebrew" the Eagle but put it together from a box it was still great fun to play around with aluminum out in the garage while it's too cold to do much besides ski or snowshoe outside. Making contacts with hams on the other side of the planet using the Gap Eagle is just icing on the cake.

       

Cross Country Ski!

When the temperature climbed to nearly 15 degrees F yesterday afternoon I decided to go for it and get out on my cross country skis.  Just a mile or two from my house is a park that has a one mile circuit that is used by the local school's cross country team.  I can remember running the course in competition many years ago and I have to say I much prefer skiing along the loop rather than hoofing it.

Occasionally another skier will cut tracks but I guess this year nobody has been crazy enough to do it so I took it upon myself.  Lately we've had sub zero temps into the double digits and relentless winds here in Ohio so it has not been much fun going outside for any length of time.  

The fierce winds have carved and eroded the surface of the snow into strange patterns and textures much like what happens with desert sand.  In in lower depressions where the snow has drifted a crusty shell developed and this slowed me down considerably on my first lap as I broke through and sunk into the deeper snow.  On my second and third lap travel was much easier skiing in my tracks.  

I've done a few winter hikes so far this year which is an activity I really enjoy but the extreme cold has kept me inside for much of the time.  I've been keeping fit by sporadically working out in my basement gym but I admit that gets old quick. It was wonderful to finally get out and do some skiing and enjoy a sunset.      

Insulator Post -- 2013 Springfield Finds

This year I almost skipped the big insulator show that happens every year in November at Springfield Ohio.  In the end I did decide to go after all.  The show is a bit of a tradition now with this being my fourth year of attendance in row.  As one of the biggest shows in the country I just can't pass up the opportunity of possibly adding some new pieces to my collection.

When I first got into collecting glass insulators I quickly took the sage advice of an experienced collector and specialized my interest in the hobby around the California Glass Insulator Company.  I love the soft pastel colors of the California glass and the interesting history of the company that operated for only four years. (1912-1916)  Now on the eve of 2014 I am certain that the pieces in my California collection are between 98 and 102 years old.  2014 is the 100th anniversary of the reorganization of the small upstart company which occured in 1914.

During a rare sunny day in December I set up in the back yard to photograph my new pieces.  In the above picture are four sage green CD 161 "Signal" Insulators.  These are a relatively common shape and color from CGIC and can be found for around $5 a piece or a bit more for a pristine example.  Note the difference in "Dome Glass" at the top of each insulator.  Dome glass is a term used by collectors to describe the solid glass at the very top of the insulator.  Because CGIC did not adhere to strict quality control measures back in the day the depth of the threaded hole and resultant dome glass can vary widely.

Even though I already have a few of these I couldn't pass up this nice pale purple CD 152.  A common insulator that once probably sat atop a pole along a railroad out west.

Two CD 102 Ponies and a CD 112 "Keg".  These little guys are a bit more rare. They were used on telephone circuits.

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For the past couple years I've been looking for a scarce power insulator called a CD 208 "Cross Top"  Although commonly produced in larger numbers by eastern glass houses the California cross tops were made in limited quantities and used on only a few power distribution lines in the west.  These unique insulators got their nickname from the double grooves situated in a cross pattern at the top of the dome.  I'm not sure of the purpose of the double grooves but I suspect the arrangement offered more options to the lineman who secured the heavy power conductors to the insulator with tie wires.  Perhaps two tie wires would  be fixed at 90 degrees to one another providing a very secure attachment of the power line to the tower.

    

After carousing most of the show floor I settled on a beat up CD 208 that had some cracks, a broken inner skirt and severe wear on the top of the dome.  Normally I don't choose to buy an insulator unless it is very near if not mint condition.  This trade off in my collecting method means I have to be patient and wait for the right piece to come along or else settle for a less than perfect example of the CD I'm looking for.  In this case the desire to have a cross top in my collection won out over my normal modus operandi and besides the price was right on the damaged 208 at ten bucks.

After passing just a few more tables and nearly at the end of the show floor I spotted another cross top and to my amazement this one was in perfect shape.  Of course I had to pay full collector market price for this one but I finally found a winner cross top for my main window display.

Damaged insulator on the left.

Technical note:  For the opening group shot of insulators I used a setting on my Cannon camera called "Vivid".  This setting enhances the color which looks great but is not really a true representation of the colors as they appear.  The remaining pictures on the post were all taken with a normal automatic setting to account for the bright background.  I prefer to photograph glass insulators in direct full sunlight and while this does tend to wash out the look a bit I feel it provides the most accurate color representation of the glass.

Cool Bicycle Art

Many years ago my mother started a tradition at Christmas of giving a Christmas tree ornament to myself and my sister as a stocking stuffer.  A few years back I began a similar thing when I started collecting bicycle themed ornaments to decorate my tree.  Always clever and thoughtful and knowing I'm a bike nut my mom gifted me this box of long stemmed matches.  She transformed the box into an ornament by attaching one of those little metal hooks to one end.

   

Of course the best part is the old-timey bicycles on the front and back of the box.  Even a tandem!  So with this post I'll kill two birds;  Display some very cool bicycle art, wish a Merry Christmas and hope that you all enjoy your holiday traditions whatever they may be.

"Keep Calm And Pedal On"

The Shooting Bench -- Ruger SR1911

In 1911 the U.S. Government adopted John M. Browning's .45 caliber automatic pistol as the issued sidearm for the U.S. military.  After 70 years of faithful military service and a hundred and thirteen years after its inception the design is still wildly popular.  Probably the most recognizable handgun in the world it has been produced by many manufactures from all over the globe.  Currently the 1911 and its variants are available from a greater selection of manufactures and price ranges than ever before. 

   

In the year 2011 Ruger introduced their very own version of the classic centerfire pistol.   Back then I knew it would be nearly impossible to get my hands on one so I just bode my time and recently my friend at the local gun shop tracked one down for me.  For a while demand outstripped supply and pistols were selling for a couple hundred over the suggested retail price.  

The pistol is constructed from stainless steel with the slide and barrel machined from forged steel while the frame is investment cast stainless in Ruger's foundry.  The design closely follows the original colt "Series 70" guns in that it does not have any firing pin safety disconnect like later "Series 80" and most contemporary pistols and revolvers.  The reason for a firing pin disconnect is to prevent the pistol from firing in the event it is dropped and impacts a hard surface.  The SR 1911 uses a lightweight titanium firing pin with a heavier spring to guard against accidental discharge from impact.  

I like that Ruger chose to build their pistol remaining true to the original configuration of Browning's design.  

  

Modern features like a lightweight aluminum trigger, skeletonized hammer and Novak 3-dot sights bring the platform up to current spec's demanded by today's 1911 shooter.  I've been shooting guns since I was a boy and as an adult I've mostly been a revolver enthusiast but I have to admit there is just something very satisfying about operating a semi-automatic.

For the initial test firing I brought a box of Aguila 230 grain full metal jacket cartridges. This is the standard ammunition consisting of a copper jacketed round nose bullet seated over the powder in a brass case as used by the armed forces for the seven decade tenure of the pistols service.  I thought that would be as good a place to start as any.

I shot a combination of standing two handed fire and shooting from sandbags.  Right away I noticed that the SR 1911 with its 5" barrel and longer recoil spring shot much smoother than my 3 1/2" Rock Island Arsenal 1911A1.    The RIA was my first 1911 and it is a handful when it goes off.  I was very curious to try out the Ruger in its full size configuration.  The recoil is bit softer and the gun just feels better in my mind than the shorter version.

     

I shot on the pistol range at a distance of 15 yards.  The black bulls eye (7, 8, 9, and 10 rings on the target) measures 4 inches in diameter.  At this distance that black dot would be completely obscured by the front sight blade and after the first few shots I noticed that I was hitting high.  Adjusting my point of aim to make the top of the sight blade even with the row of numbers brought my shots down just about right.  The following targets show my hits impacting a little to the right so on my next trip out I'll remember a hex wrench so I can adjust the rear sight a bit to bring me dead on target.

7 yards - Sandbag rest

7 yards - Sandbag rest

7 yards - Standing off hand

Judging by the targets I look to be shooting as well off hand as I did from the steady rest of the sandbags.  I'm very happy with my results and I can't wait to get back out and fine tune sights and try out some different loads.  

After a range session cleaning and proper lubrication of firearms is a must for continued safety and long service life of a weapon.  What I really like about the 1911 is how quick and easy it can be field stripped for cleaning.  

Stainless steel makes cleanup so much easier than blued or blackened guns.  Without a doubt all the grime can be removed from the nooks and crannies and you can tell by sight things are ship shape.  

Check out this interesting article on the history of the 1911 on the Browning website.

Chilly Commute

I passed this ice sculpture in the town square on the way to work this morning.  It was 15 degrees but with my wool balaclava and lobster gloves I was plenty warm.  The temperature is supposed to reach a balmy high of 27 today so I have some lighter gloves and hat for the ride home.

The Peters Cartridge Co.

During my recumbent tour of the Little Miami Valley this fall I came upon the remains of this early industrial complex right along the bike trail.  The Peters Cartridge Company operated for about a hundred years along the banks of the Little Miami.  The company produced shotgun shells, rifle and pistol cartridges for both civilian use and government contracts.

I've mentioned before on this blog how I love discovering places of historic import on my bike rides and then learning about the subjects later by reading books and Internet searches.  My short visit to the Peters factory did not disappoint in that regard.  Established in the late 1800's the business worked in conjunction with the King Powder Company located just across the river in Kings Mills.  In the early days before the advent of modern smokeless gunpowder volatile black powder was the only option for propelling a bullet or a wad of shot from a gun.  One of the ingredients of black powder is charcoal and it is said that wood harvested from willow trees makes an excellent charcoal for the creation of black powder.  Years ago I suppose plentiful willow groves along the river were responsible for several powder mills to spring up in the area.

Although the plant closed down for good in the 1950's the Peters legacy lives on to this day.  In the 1930's Peters sold out to the Remington Company which used the facility to assemble smokeless munitions up through World War Two.  At that time Remington decided to concentrate its manufacturing elsewhere and operations at the Peters plant soon came to an end.

As a shooter and cartridge reloading hobbyist myself I have always wondered what the R - P stamp stood for on the heads of my brass casings.  Easy enough to reason that the R is for Remington but had it not been for my bike ride down into the south western corner of Ohio I may have never discovered what the P meant.        

The brick buildings shown in my photographs were built in 1916.  Originally the work was done in wood frame structures and once the business was well established the facility was upgraded.  Obviously the tall smokestack was used to vent gasses from the furnaces but I wasn't sure what the purpose of the tower was.  I thought maybe it was a quiet place where Mr. Peters could take his special guests up so they could look down over his little empire.  

Well I couldn't have been farther from the truth.  The tall structure is called a shot tower.  Inside was a shaft through which molten lead would fall and cool after passing though a screen resulting in the lead shot that would then be loaded into shells.  The little round spheres would land in a pool of water at the base of the tower fed by a small stream diverted to flow underneath the factory.

   

I love the style and flair of the architecture of that era.  Check out the tiled P logo that adorns the tower and main building.

Parts of the facility are leased out by the current owners for industrial purposes and the site has been used for other purposes over the years.  Police training takes place on the grounds and for a few years a haunted house display was operated in one of the buildings.  I also read that a low budget horror film was even shot on the location.

Here is a great newspaper article from 1890 that details the hazards of working with black powder back in the day:

TERRIFIC EXPLOSION OF POWDER.

A CARTRIDGE FACTORY BURNED AND SIX PEOPLE KILLED.

CINCINNATI, Jul 1 -A terrible explosion occurred late this afternoon at King's powder mills, on the Little Miami railroad, twenty-nine miles east of this city. Six persons were killed and a dozen or more seriously injured. Two empty freight cars were being rolled on to the side track where a car containing five hundred kegs of gunpowder was standing. As the cars struck there was a terrific explosion, and immediately afterwards a car containing eight hundred kegs of gun powder exploded, making thirteen hundred kegs altogether. WM. FRAULY, a brakeman, in the service of the Little Miami, was standing on one of the empty cars when the explosion occurred. His body must have been blown to atoms, as no trace of it has yet been found. Five other persons, supposed to be employes of the powder company, were killed. The King Powder Company and the Peters Cartridge Works have works on both sides of the river along the railroad. The explosion occurred on the south side, and the destruction was enormous. There are a number of cottages occupied by the workmen in the powder factory and situated close to the track. These were shattered by the explosion and their inmates injured. Twelve or fifteen girls at work in the cartridge factory were crippled by the explosion. The military station, or freight house, belonging to the Little Miami railroad, together with all the adjacent buildings, were set on fire and totally consumed. The havoc wrought by the explosion of sixteen tons of powder is dreadful. The track and ties of the railroad are fairly torn out of the ground, and a great hole ploughed in the ground. The Peters cartridge factory was burned to the ground and nothing but a mass of smoldering ruins remains to mark the spot where the building stood. As soon as the news reached this city, about 5 o'clock, a relief train was dispatched to the scene of disaster, with SUPERINTENDENT PETERS and a large party of surgeons on board, and relief was afforded the sufferers as soon as possible. The work of searching for the missing and caring for the wounded is now progressing. As most of the girls who were injured, live at Morrow and South Lebanon, it is most probable that they will be taken to their homes in these places. It is hardly possible that any train will return from King's Mills earlier than 10 o'clock, and further particulars will be obtained then. The Peters cartridge factory was a large building, and fully supplied with a great amount of costly machinery, both for the manufacture of shells and the loading of shot gun ammunition, and a large force of employes was at work at the time that the explosion occurred. The news from King's Mills at 9 o'clcok to-night is that ten dead bodies have been taken from the ruins, and thirty are known to be wounded. Definite news is more likely to swell the list of casualties than to diminish it.

The Columbus Enquirer-Sun, Columbus, GA 16 Jul 1890

((I found this and other interesting newspaper articles about the tragedy here.)

Other links worth a look: 

A great collection of photographs of the site here.

http://www.daytonhistorybooks.com/powdermill.html

Dating Cartridge Boxes By Peterson Cartridge Company

Custom Moto Trike

What I like about riding bicycles is one is never going too fast to spot interesting things along the way.  While I was on my mini-tour of the Little Miami Scenic Trail a few weeks ago there was a few motorcycle rallies going on.  I passed one watering hole along a state route where the bike path crossed over and I saw this.  As a motorcycle fan myself I had to stop and check it out.

Knobby tires all around for those southern Ohio back roads and plenty of space out back for refreshments! 

It reminded me of this song the moment I laid eyes on it.

The Log Cabin Shop -- Lodi, Ohio

The list of interesting places in Ohio is a big one and now I can check one more off the list.  This weekend I visited The Log Cabin Shop in Lodi, Ohio.  I've been aware of this supplier of all things black powder for many years but never made the trip until now.  The Log Cabin Shop is a second generation business founded in 1940 that has for 73 years proudly supplied traditional muzzle loading guns and related equipment to black powder hunters, history reenactors and target shooters.

The retail section of the shop is amazing and must really be seen to be believed.  Glass cases line the walls and shelves display for sale every imaginable piece of gear a primitive shooter would need; Pistols, long guns, caps, balls, flints, molds, ramrods, powder measures, horns and patches just to name a few. All kinds of accoutrements from huge buckskins, belts, bags and period clothing to outfit a 17th or 18th century buckskinner or adventure seeking rifleman.  A multitude of examples of  locks, stocks and barrels can be found.  If a person possessed the skills all the components could be hand picked to build a fine and functional one of a kind black powder long gun.

I knew I'd be overwhelmed as soon as I walked in the door so I made up my grocery list ahead of time. Needless to say I found all the items I was after and then some!

The retail establishment is amazing enough standing on its own but it was the other half of the operation that had me curious to check out with my own eyes.  Passing through a door off to the side I entered a large room with a massive stone fireplace at one end complete with rocking chairs and a warm fire crackling away on the hearth.  A grand collection of authentic weapons, gear and tools from the past has been gathered and meticulously displayed in museum form.  I mostly just wandered around shaking my head in awe but I did mange to take a few pictures.
        

One wall held racks of muskets and rifles from both America and around the world.  Some of the specimens were in amazing condition for being around a couple centuries or more. 

Below is a selection of American made smooth bore muskets from the early 1800's.  What a treat to be able to stand just inches from these old pieces checking out the armorer's engraving and wondering of the places these guns must have seen in their long history. 

The opposite wall was all Ohio made long guns.  Small white tags designated the gun's maker and the county from which he worked.  When one thinks of old side lock guns common styles like "Kentucky" or "Pennsylvania" rifles come to mind.  In reality rifles were made just about everywhere in young America.  I think it is interesting how design elements of English, French and Germanic guns were brought to the New World and over time and the westward expansion these traits blended and evolved into weapons best suited to the needs of their owners.  Uniquely American just like the first generations of immigrants who used these tools to tame the frontier as the population of a young nation grew.  And later in darker times when divisions among countrymen unfortunately came to blows.
   

Here is an awesome collection of authentic powder flasks and below powder horns.

Some of these powder horns show intricate scrimshaw designs carved by their owners.  Perhaps during rare spells of downtime around the camp or cabin the more artistic hunter or soldier would decorate his horn with a motif to personalize it.

Bullet and ball molds and one very large Bowie knife.

A nice collection of Native American artifacts.

Pictured above is a barrel drilling machine.  I have always wondered how the bore was drilled and rifling was cut in the early days.  As a woodworker I know how hard it is to drill a straight hole in a piece of wood just a couple inches deep.  I've got big time respect for the guys that pulled off this precision work in metal before the days of electricity.

Exiting from the museum room a third door leads into the library.  Benches are lined up in the center between the stacks where workshops and classes are held.

It goes without saying that basking in the glow of all that firearms history gets me in the mood for gun smoke!

After paying for the goods to resupply my shooting box we headed outside to the large muzzle loader-only range behind the shop.  Nice.

I am a fan of modern cartridge firing guns but there is just something special to me about bringing out my Hawken rifle and going through the steps just as rifleman have done for hundreds of years.  I think of muzzle loading as bringing not only the gun to the range but the reloading bench too.  Shooting black powder for sport allows me to practice my marksmanship as well as a peek back through the window of history. 

While in the shop I bought a new adjustable powder measure.  That's the brass cylinder that I'm holding with the wide mouth.  From the powder flask the black powder is slowly metered out until the measure is full.  A charge of black powder is measured by volume not 

 by weight.  Once the powder is poured down the barrel a lubed patch cut from pillow ticking is placed over the muzzle.  Next one of the .54 caliber 

round balls that the RoadQueen and I cast the other day is placed with the sprue facing up.

The hardest part of the loading sequence is using a short starter; the round wooden ball in my hand, to force the patched ball down past the crown of the muzzle.  With a pop the ball and cloth patch material will engage the rifling and from there it is much easier to start the ball down the barrel.  

At this point I can drop the short starter and use the gun's ramrod or a range rod to fully seat the ball against the powder charge.  After just a couple shots the bore will become fouled with black soot and it will get progressively harder to push the ball down unless the bore is swabbed out.  

My rifle employs a caplock system to ignite the charge.  By the mid 1800's firearms technology reached  the point where mass produced percussion caps supplanted the older flintlock ignition.  Like most hobbies today's muzzleloaders fall into various camps and endlessly debate the merits of their preferred ignition system.  I have a flinter too but it doesn't matter much to me how it goes off as long it does.  If it makes a boom with lots of sparks and smoke coming out of the business end it's all good.  The final step is placing the cap on the nipple.  At that point the rifle becomes a deadly weapon and utmost care is taken to keep it pointed in a safe direction.

Using 60 grains of Goex ffg black powder and thanks to the heavy mass of the 34" x 1.00" across the flats barrel the Hawken barely kicks.  More of a dull boom instead of the sharp crack of a modern rifle and the lighter recoil makes for an enjoyable shooting experience. 

Thanks to RoadQueen for her excellent camera work during the range session.

Just because I crossed the Log Cabin Shop off my list of places to visit does not mean I won't be returning.  On the contrary I can't wait visit again when I have a whole afternoon to spend.  The folks at the counter were very friendly and helpful.  And the customers too were laid back and took their time looking over the museum exhibits or shopping for supplies.  Very much a friendly, old-fashioned vibe you don't see to much these days.