I think the final count was near 300.  We will probably never know what happens in 6 months.  I did hear of one couple that had their wedding last weekend and then decided to come here for this as well.  So much for waiting a while on "renewing" your vows.  

I have posted some cropped photos on my FB page.  Nothing else, just zoomed in on the event.  

73's
George - WB5JJJ
HoIP - 100105


On Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 5:10 PM <w5znjoel@gmail.com> wrote:

Oh yea forgot to ask how the “mass wedding” came off.

 

I wonder if they’ll be a “mass divorce” in about six months !!!  😊

 

From: w5znjoel@gmail.com <w5znjoel@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 8, 2024 5:08 PM
To: 'WB5JJJ' <wb5jjj@gmail.com>
Cc: 'ADXA' <adxa@mailman.qth.net>
Subject: RE: [ADXA] The Eclipse

 

Thanks George. I was curious about the turnout and experience over there.

 

ZN

 

From: adxa-bounces@mailman.qth.net <adxa-bounces@mailman.qth.net> On Behalf Of WB5JJJ
Sent: Monday, April 8, 2024 4:48 PM
Cc: ADXA <adxa@mailman.qth.net>
Subject: Re: [ADXA] The Eclipse

 

Outstanding here.  I had some company that waited until the last minute to decide to drive in from near Springfield, MO this morning.  We were not disappointed.  My backyard was a perfect viewing location.  We went out to lunch about 11:45 and had almost no traffic.  Seems everybody was already in place.  The restaurant was very busy, but cleared out by 1:00 when we left.  The 1st grader was "amazed" by what he saw, even though he didn't really understand it.  We told him to be ready in 25 years for it to happen again.  The little girl (Pre-K) was too busy running around, but she did look up a couple of times with her glasses on.  She thought the glasses were neat.  

 

The one thing I did notice was that the local airport was a very busy place starting about 9am, and even more so as soon as the event was over.  Single, twin engine and several jets and a couple of helicopters departed as soon as they could to get home and back to work tomorrow.  After about an hour, the number of planes dropped back considerably.  

 

The repeater was not all that busy, a few visitors availed themselves of it.  And since I had company to entertain, I was not able to do any band checking as Totality approached as I had hoped.  

 

I'm capturing the video from the Depot railcams now even though they don't show the eclipse itself.  The microphones picked up the excitement from those folks downtown enjoying all the activities all weekend.  

 

I took a bunch of pictures with my Nikon and ND10000 solar filter.  Did not set up the tripod out of fear the little girl, with all her running around, would snag a leg bringing it and my camera down to the sidewalk.  In just looking at the LCD screen, I think I got some really good shots.  A little post for centering and such will make them look a lot better.  

 

Bottom line, the 30k they were expecting was a bit high, but I think the final count will be well in excess of 15k since all parks were full and turning late arrivals away.  Motels were mostly full.  Restaurants probably did not have the numbers they were hoping for.   I-40 East of Russellville to Little Rock and West to Ft Smith was not quite bumper to bumper, but it was slow going.  

 

73's

George - WB5JJJ
HoIP - 100105

 

 

On Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 4:23 PM Mark Sutherland - K5DXR via ADXA <adxa@mailman.qth.net> wrote:

My brother and I drove from Siloam Springs to Ola. The clouds stayed away and totality was spectacular. Well worth the drive. 

 

Mark/K5DXR

 

Sent from Proton Mail for iOS

 

 

On Mon, Apr 8, 2024 at 3:30 PM, Lanny Aldrich <k1lec@hotmail.com> wrote:

The Eclipse was a disappointment.  It got darker, the street lights came on and the temperature went down, but there was no total darkness.  GiGi was out in the back yard with me and went back to the mat at the back door sensing something was different!  With the glasses I could see a white crescent as the moon was about to cover the sun and a red crescent as it departed.  2017 in Cary, NC was about the same.

73, Lanny  K1LEC in Searcy

From: adxa-bounces@mailman.qth.net <adxa-bounces@mailman.qth.net> on behalf of w5znjoel@gmail.com <w5znjoel@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, April 8, 2024 3:27 PM
To: adxa@mailman.qth.net <adxa@mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [ADXA] The Eclipse

 

For the record, my issue is with the gov’t overhype and hysteria over an impending emergency management disaster, not with the eclipse!

 

Kim and I, along with our daughter, son-in-law, and youngest granddaughter, viewed the eclipse from our pool deck. Leading up to totality things were nice and routine. The real issue I experienced during totality was trying to fly my drone and grab motion video, still video from another camera, and still photographs. I needed a third hand, maybe four!!! The drone footage is neat as well as the still photographs but I forgot to take the filter off the video camera during totality, thus the video is not good during that time but very neat leading up to and after.

 

A nice still photograph is attached during totality without a filter on the still camera!

 

I hope everyone was able to ignore the drama and enjoy a nice, peaceful event.

 

73 Joel W5ZN

 

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