Thursday, April 30, 2009 - Pampa TX
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Big sky lunch break, US60 east of Panhandle TX, April 30, 2009
Now to work on sharing my pictures
It's time to get to work. Quite unexpectedly there is a FAST internet connection here in Pampa over Verizon's Extended Network. I've had glimpses of a fast connection occasionally on Verizon's Extended Network but it has been fleeting at best. I get the feeling the network speed gets throttled back as soon as it discovers I'm on as a Verizon EVDO customer. Can that be?
[Time passes] Ok, let's try this. I'm not really happy with it but it will do for a first go.
Night camp
Wal-Mart Supercenter in Pampa TX
Wal-Mart Supercenter Store #600, 2801 No. Charles St., Pampa, TX 79065 - (806) 665-0727
- This store has a nice, level parking lot.
- Verizon cell phone service - Extended Network - very good signal
- Verizon EVDO Broadband service -via Extended Network - surprisingly fast service
- Find other Wal-Marts in the area
- Check the weather here
Heliograph route between Fort Cummings NM and Tubac, AZ
1886 heliograph transmissions between Tubac near Nogales Arizona/Mexico, and Fort Cummings New Mexico: Joe Marques (Flagstaff) was doing some research in old Flagstaff newspapers and found something that might interest. In the Arizona Weekly Champion, Saturday August 7, 1886, page 2 column 1, it says: "A message was recently sent by the government heliograph (signalling by sunlight flashes) from Fort Cummings, N.M. to Tubac, Ariz., a distance of 400 miles, and an answer received in four hours." What a great [research] find! This was during the Geronimo Campaign of 1886, and the heliograph system at that time did indeed extend between the two stations. From Tubac, the most westerly terminus, the intermediate stations were Baldy Peak or possibly Josephine Peak just a little south of Baldy), Fort Huachuca, Antelope Spring, Emma Monk, White's Ranch, Bowie Peak (or Helen's Dome), Steins Peak, and Camp Henely (east of Fort Cummings). This means the message would have been relayed seven times, one way. It most likely was a test message, and relatively short, but I would love to know what it and the reply really said. The 1886 "airline" distance between Tubac and Fort Cummings; and of course on to Fort Cummings. I calculate the one-way distance between the two extremes as being 241 miles, with round trip of course being 482 miles.