As the sun enters totality, there is a flash called the “Diamond Ring.”
I had loosely planned this trip in 2017 when a partial solar eclipse passed over Virginia. I was at work and got a brief glimpse of the ¾-eclipsed sun through an office window with a set of borrowed safety glasses. I thought it was interesting, but wanted to see if there was an even better opportunity in the future. A web search revealed that the 2024 total eclipse would pass directly over my family’s small town in central Texas. Even better, my brother built a house on 10 acres outside of town in 2018. I knew it would be a perfect location for a private eclipse viewing. But there were a few things that I didn’t know at the time…
Longhorn Cavern State Park
For starters, I had no idea that events in 2020 would compel me to dive deeper into ham radio than I had in the previous 25 years that I had been licensed. Today, I’m more connected with fellow hams than ever before, I’ve built quite a mobile ham radio station, and I’ve become at least a little fond of Parks on the Air (POTA). Back to 2017, I also didn’t know that I’d gain popularity within ham circles that reach far beyond my local club. Finally, I didn’t realize that 2024 would feature the last solar eclipse to sweep the United States until August 12, 2045, when I’ll be 77 years old. That led to A LOT of people pouring into the path of totality. All of those facts shaped my eclipse experience for 2024. See this video for details on how my plans evolved as new information surfaced.
My first attempt at astrophotography…
Hotels all along my path to Texas were already showing price increases for my original travel period. For example, a room that cost $107 on April 5th went for $350 the following night. I knew that I needed to travel ahead of that mess! I was thankful to be at my brother’s house and settled on Friday, well before the circus began. My early arrival led to new planned activities and further travel. For example, I was surprised to see how clear the sky was the evening that I arrived. So, I tried my hand at astrophotography for the very first time. I don’t know the constellations, but I can say that Orion’s belt is in the upper left section of this photo. I was hoping to see the Milky Way, but it was not visible that evening. I’ll try again someday.
Being a mild POTA enthusiast and having a fully-equipped mobile ham radio platform, I knew that I’d activate a few parks that are within an easy drive from my brother’s place: Longhorn Cavern SP (US-3034), Inks Lake SP (US-3020), and Balcones Canyonlands NWR (US-0543). I mention more parks in a photo album at the bottom of this page. The weather forecast was questionable. This image shows the chance for clouds on the day of the eclipse. We were in the red. Would we have thunderstorms, total cloud cover, or might we get a break and be able to see the eclipse? I also participated in HamSCI.org’s “Solar Eclipse QSO Party” (SEQP). Their goal was to study the effects of the eclipse on radio frequency propagation by collecting data from any amateur radio operator who submitted a log. I operated on FT8 and only during the partial phases of the eclipse, making just 31 contacts between photographs during the SEQP.
My primary goal was to expand my photography palette and to see if I could capture decent images during the eclipse, especially during totality. This photo shows the equipment that I used that day. My setup included a Canon 80D with 100-400mm f4.5-5.6L lens (and slip-on filter) to shoot the sun; a Canon 90D with 24-70mm f2.8L to shoot “night time” photos of the car during totality (which were uninspiring); and a GoPro Hero 10 down on the ground to capture a video of the scene going from light to dark and then back to light. I didn’t know until I was processing raw images at home that I had captured the “Diamond Ring” and “Baily’s Beads.” I have more photos in an album at the bottom of this page.
I stayed in Texas for nine days and then drove to White Sands National Park, US-0970, in New Mexico. I’ve always enjoyed shooting automotive photos there, especially when I had a dark green car that contrasted well against the white gypsum. The sun’s position wasn’t ideal in April, but I still captured a few good photos. I also activated the park for POTA. I spent the night nearby, came back the following morning for more photos and POTA, and then headed toward my next destination. I photographed the “World’s Largest Pistachio” near Alamogordo, NM. It’s just a sculpture, but still made for a fun photo. I also stopped just outside of Roswell, NM. I’m not into “alien” memorabilia enough to visit the attractions there. But I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to shoot the “Welcome to Roswell” sign before taking the bypass loop around the city. See those photos in in the album below.
From there, I continued to Shamrock, TX. What’s there? It’s a small town on Route 66 with an interesting attraction. I think the fictional town of “Radiator Springs” in Pixar’s “Cars” features elements from all over Route 66 in various states. “Ramone’s House of Body Art” is based very closely on “Conoco Tower” in Shamrock. I’ve shot photos of most of my VWs there before, but never at night. Shamrock was in a great position along my route to plan an overnight stay. So, I included evening photos of the building, as well as the daytime photos that I shot in daylight.
The following day, I drove to visit some engineering students at Missouri University of Science and Technology (MST). I had met two of them at a hamfest in Berryville, VA. I had no idea that they lived in Missouri since they were working near Washington, DC at the time. Coincidentally, one of them had e-mailed me to share his own mobile radio project, but I didn’t see his message until after we met. In a follow-up e-mail, he invited me to visit MST to meet their amateur radio club, W0EEE, “if you’re ever passing through on I-44,” he said. I’m sure he had no idea how soon that meeting could happen! I met the club, gave a presentation about my car in their shack, showed them the car, and then had dinner with a small group. It was a great stop! This photo shows the club’s president, who is also one of the hams that I had met in Berryville.
The following morning, I met with a W0EEE club member who had offered to shoot some drone footage of my car. You will likely see selections in some of my future videos since he said that I’m free to use the footage however I like. It was a very kind gesture! I left Rolla at around 11am and continued east. As I passed through St Louis, I heard a familiar call sign on 146.52 MHz: AA0Z. Most of the contacts that I made on “52” were from those who could see me and wanted to ask, “What IS that?” It turned out that he was headed in a different direction, hadn’t seen me, and tripping over him was just dumb luck. We couldn’t talk for long, but he encouraged me to e-mail him for possible discussions in the future.
This is most of what comes into the hotel each night during a trip…
I stopped overnight near Louisville, KY and then another overnighter in Beckley, WV. This random photo shows how neatly everything appears to be as removed from my car for a hotel stay. Believe me when I say that this load-out takes a lot of space, both in my car and in the hotel room. I did activate one more park, Fort Boonesborough State Park, US-1256, in Kentucky. I considered activating more parks for POTA, but I was experiencing a bit of “barn door fever.” Usually, I’m quite tired after 10+ days on the road. So, I can get a bit impatient and don’t stop to “smell the roses” toward the end of a long road trip. Oddly enough, I was still feeling VERY good, perhaps because I was on a good regimen of anti-allergy meds that didn’t make me drowsy. Still, I was READY to be home! I made it home by mid-afternoon on a Friday with plenty of energy, sixteen days after I had departed.
“How fast do you drive with all of that up there?” I cruised at 78 mph…
Overall, I think the trip was fantastic! Once home, I spent several days processing my raw images to share here, as well as with friends and family. While the photos may not be of professional quality, I am still quite pleased with my efforts and hope to improve my photography skills as I continue to experiment. Again, see the photo album below for the rest of the photos. I’ve added descriptions to tell stories that aren’t already shared above. Of course, I have to share some driving stats: I drove 5,258 miles and consumed 176.3 gallons, which calculates to 29.8 mpg! Obviously, the car is capable of better fuel economy, but I still think the result is excellent when I consider the extra equipment on the roof, my cargo, some idling to charge my secondary battery, and the increased speed limits that I encountered out west. Let me know if you have questions that I may not have covered.
Eclipsed,
Scott
