ATV History

The ATVs (all terrain vehicles) we know today had very humble beginnings in the mountainous farming regions of Japan. The muddy mountain roads became difficult for the farmers to travel during spring thaws and were almost impossible to drive over with conventional vehicles or big machinery. The Japanese, always a culture to modify and tinker with something until they could improve it, created the three wheeled ATV. This vehicle did wonders for helping the local farmers. The ATVs were less expensive than the larger farm vehicles and it proved to be an excellent little workhorse. 

Honda Ranger ATV (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The Japanese didn’t stop there, though. ATV manufacturers took it a step further and realized that they could market these ATVs to Americans. America had nothing like the ATV and the first ATV arrived on our shores in the early 1970’s. Honda was the forerunner of the ATV, and had a proven track record with motorcycle sales in America, having introduced the Honda Cub to millions of Americans only a decade before. The successful marketing slogan “You meet the nicest people on a Honda” came at a time when bikers had a bad reputation and proved to people that the average Joe could enjoy motor sports as well. By the 1970’s, Honda had a reputation for building reliable, state of the art machines and their ATV was no different. This time the marketing scheme would be to show people how thrilling recreational ATV riding could be.

Over thirty years ago the Honda US90 made its debut and was called the ATC90. Oddly enough, the initial intent of the ATVs may have started out at the opposite end of the spectrum from Japan’s working class ATV, but in the end, the results were the same. After gaining popularity as a recreational vehicle, the ATV soon became popular as a working vehicle as Americans began to realize exactly how versatile this little three-wheeled vehicle could be.

The ATV proved to have several advantages for the working class man. First and foremost, the ATV was cheaper to operate than a tractor or pickup truck and during the gas crunch of the 70’s, that was a big plus. The ATV was also easier to maneuver in tight spots and could travel over practically any type of terrain.  The only problem people found was the tires. The tires of earlier ATVs were low-pressure and while this worked fine on mud or sand, the tires punctured easily when going over sharper terrain, like a harvested field or sharp rocks. Overall, the ATV did work that no other piece of heavy equipment could do. The original tires weren’t repairable either.

In 1975 the hubless wheel design was replaced with steel hubs and a wheel lined with a tough fabric on the inside. More durable plastic fenders were added. This time they produced fenders in bright colors for better visibility out in the bush. As the ATV’s popularity grew the Japanese engineers didn’t stop their research and development. They had a good thing going and they were determined to make it better. Their engineers went into the field to see how the ATV’s performed and started gathering data to help with the next round of modifications.

By the 1980’s, ATVs had gone the same route as dirt bikes and motorcycles. The ATV’s were being used as a utility vehicle and for racing. More and more people were buying ATV’s for riding off road trails and competing in races similar to motocross events. By 1985 ATV usage had gone from only 30% in the 70’s to the whopping 80%. In 1988, Honda made another groundbreaking leap with the ATV’s design, the introduced the FourTrax 300 and a second model called the FourTrax 300 4x4.  Up until this point the ATV still had the three wheels, now Honda added an extra wheel and gave the ATV four wheel drives, which provided more stability and power. They also fitted the FourTrax with a four stroke single cylinder engine which was air cooled and gave it a five-speed transmission, automatic clutch and a maintenance free drive shaft. Honda also thought to give the FourTrax an extra low gear for hauling particularly heavy objects as big as 850 lbs.

Today, ATV’s are fully ingrained into our way of living. You can find ATVs on the dirt bike trails, on farms, on construction sites and a host of other places. Now countries all over the world are discovering the same thing Americans have; the ATV is a fun and efficient vehicle for handling a wide array of jobs in almost any environment.

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Shooting Stars

If you are a serious astronomy fanatic like a lot of us are, you can probably remember that one event in childhood that started you along this exciting hobby.  It might have been that first time you looked through a telescope.  But for many of us, it was that first time we saw a rain of fire from the sky that we eventually came to know as a meteoroid shower.

Photo of a part of the sky during a meteor shower over an extended exposure time. 

The meteors have actually occurred several seconds to several minutes apart. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

At the time when you see the first one, it’s easy to remember the movie “war of the worlds” or some other fantastic image of aliens entering our atmosphere in droves to take over the planet.  But with some guidance and explanation of what was going on, we eventually learned that these showers were not at all threatening or any kind of invasion.  For the most part meteoroid showers are harmless, part of nature and very fun to watch.

So what are these strange lights in the sky?  Are they aliens invading from Mars?  Are the comets coming to start the next ice age?  Or perhaps asteroids burning up as they enter the earth's atmosphere.  The answer to the above questions is no to the first and “yes and no” to the other two.

A meteoroid is actually a small piece of space rubble, usually dust or small rocks that come from either a comet or the break up of an asteroid in space and that eventually plummets toward the earth.  We say “toward the earth” because the lights you see are the friction of the atmosphere burning up those small space tidbits and creating a spectacular show for all of us as they do so.  A particularly exciting moment to witness is when a meteoroid breaks up or explodes on entry.  A meteoroid that explodes is called bolides.

There are some interesting details about the life of a meteoroid that make the viewing of shooting stars even more fun.  To be seen, a meteoroid only needs to weigh as little as a millionth of a gram.  But the thing that makes them so spectacular to see is the tremendous speeds they reach as they enter the atmosphere.  Before burning up, a meteoroid will reach between 11 and 74 kilometers per second which is 100 times faster than a speeding bullet.   

We tend to think of t seeing a shooting star as a freak event and we associate it with superstition (hence, wish on a lucky star).  But there are actually thousands of them every year so it really isn’t that rare to see one.  In fact, scientists tell us that over 200,000 tons of space matter enters the atmosphere each year and burns up on entry.  

Comets are a big source of meteoroids because of the nature of those long tails.  A large amount of dust, ice, and other space debris gets caught up in a comet’s tail as it moves toward the sun.  Then as the comet moves away from the sun in its orbit, tons of this matter is thrown off into space to disperse.  As the Earth moves in its routine orbit around the sun, it often crosses through clouds of this discarded matter which becomes one of those “meteor showers” that are so popular for viewing.  

These showers of shooting stars are pretty easy for astronomers to predict so you can get into position to see the excitement at just the right time of night and be looking at the right area of the night sky.  Usually, the astronomy magazine or site will give you a general time and location to be ready to look when the meteoroids start to fall.  

Now keep in mind, this is a phenomenon of nature so it may not observe the time table exactly.  Also, note that there is a notation system for where the meteoroid shower will occur based on what constellation is its backdrop.  The section of the sky to focus on for the show is called the “radiant” because that is where the entering meteoroids begin to glow or radiate.  The radiant is named after the constellation it is nearest to.  So if the meteor shower is going to occur in the constellation of Leo, then its radiant will be called Leonid.  This will help you decipher the listing of asteroid showers in the publications.

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Astrophotography

The principle of operation of an equatorial mount to keep a telescope pointing
in the same direction. The black spots denote rotation axes seen end-on.
The green telescope is rotated at the same rate as the earth but in the
opposite direction, while the red telescope is not driven.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Astrophotography can be a rewarding pastime for some beginner astronomers.  Conventional 35mm cameras, Schmidt cameras, and CCD or Digital cameras can be used to take your spectacular pictures.  

The right pieces are needed to make this a success.  You will need a shutter cable for the 35mm, an equatorial telescope mount to help with tracking your object for up to an hour sometimes.  A “T” mount to help align the camera with the eyepiece holder, and a guiding eyepiece to help keep your object in the center of your frame. 

There are many ways to pursue this hobby.  One is by using a camera mounted to the side of the telescope.  Another has the camera on the back of the telescope, using the scope as a guide.  The last is to use a camera that is attached to a movable mount on a tripod.  If you use these, please make sure your camera is steady and firmly attached with no vibrations or shaking. 

If you are just starting out, take your digital camera and select some constellations to snap.  To set your digital camera up, check your aperture and sensitivity settings.  Also, check your shutter speed.  All of these should be set to where more light can be focused especially when taking pictures at night.

Focusing means doing the manual focus on the camera or digging through the many menus until you find the right one and set it to what you want.  Then try to shoot something far away to see if the setting you programmed works.

White balancing is usually by default.  At night, the default setting will the sky to a brown-reddish color.  If you are going to incorporate long exposures of the night sky, try setting the balance to Tungsten.

  

After you take several pictures, transfer them from the camera onto the computer.  Sometimes they come up grainy, try reducing the size down by increments and you should soon have a clear picture.

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The Different Types of ARCHERY Bows

ECompound Bow. Full Size. Orig. 1300 kb.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Bows are used to shoot arrows. In ancient times bows were used in combat and hunting. Archery which uses bows and arrows has become a popular sport. There are many types of archery bows available in the market. This article gives information about the basic types of archery bows

Following are the types of archery Bows;

Longbow: Longbows are tall. In fact they are taller than the user’s height. They have relatively narrow limbs which have a D shaped cross section. As compared to other bows, they are not significantly recurved.

Traditional English longbows are made in such a way that their thickness are 5/8 or more of its width. If it is less than the specified width then the bow is disqualified from long bow competitions. 

If you want to take part in long bow competitions then it is necessary that your long bow meets the desired specifications. At the handle, long bow is widest. Longbows have been commonly used for warfare and hunting by many ancient cultures of the world.

During the period of Middle ages, English longbows are frequently used. The English long bow was 6.6 feet i.e. approximately 2 meters long. The Scot, Welsh and Scots used it as a war weapon. It was used in various battles such as battle of Crecy in 1346 and battle of Agincourt in 1415.

Flat bow: Flat bows are non recurved, flat and have relatively wide limbs. They have approximately rectangular cross-section.  Most modern flat bows are very similar to classic longbows.

Shortbows: Shorter version of a flat bow or longbow designs is nothing but a short bow. An important feature of short bow is that they are more maneuverable than flat bows and longbows. The arrow can cannot be drawn very far as the bow is short. Therefore shortbows store less energy; hence their maximum range is not long as compared to longbows. Shortbows were previously used for hunting purpose by many American tribes and by African Bushmen.

Recurve Bows: Recurve bows are the only bows that are used at the Olympics. As they are extremely light in weight many Olympic players prefer these bows.  Its working principle is similar to that of traditional longbows. Limb ends, curve forward which helps to smoothen the draw.

Compound Bows: A Compound bow considerably reduces the force that many archers have to hold. As less force is required to hold compound bows at full draw, the user can more concentrate on the target. Overall energy is also stored by this bow. Compound designs use elliptical or cam wheels on limb ends to optimize leverage that is exerted by the user.

Crossbow: Crossbows are a variation of a general bow design. Here are the limbs are mounted horizontally. The limb design is either a recurve or a compound but the concept of shooting remains the same. The user manually pulls the string either with a windlass or manually and then locks it into the place.

The string is held through mechanical means in the locked position. The energy that is stored in it limbs is then released with the help of trigger mechanism to launch the loaded arrow.

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GEORGE WASHINGTON

It is impossible to reflect on the truly great leadership that has been one of the real blessings of this nation without including the name of George Washington in that list.  In fact, in almost anyone’s “top ten” list of truly great presidents, Washington would almost certainly top the list.  His stature in American history is legendary and the respect Americans have for this their first president borders on adoration of myth.  

The earliest authenticated portrait of George Washington shows him wearing his colonel's uniform of the Virginia Regiment from the French and Indian War. The portrait was painted about 12 years after Washington's service in that war, and several years before he would reenter military service in the American Revolution. Oil on canvas.
 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

In fact, there is a lot of myth and some humor about our first president that reflects the love people have for this great leader.  From the many quips about his supposed wooden teeth to the thousands of places around the nation that proclaim “George Washington slept here”, to the mythical story of how he threw a silver dollar across the Potomac as a child or his response when he was caught cutting down a cheery tree and responded to the accusation “I cannot tell a lie”, Washington’s myth is strong in the national memory of this great leader.

Washington never set out to become the greatest president of all time or even to be in a position of leadership in the new country he helped to start.  He was the one who originated the concept of a “citizen president” and he believed so strongly in that concept that he refused to run for a third term because his time as citizen leader was over.  This tradition was sustained with little exception until it was codified into part of our constitution in the form of the 22nd amendment.

But before Washington was a great political leader, he showed his tremendous leadership skills on the field of battle.  He learned the art of warfare serving honorably in the French and Indian war and his influence and the respect he had earned during that conflict netted him the title of commander and chief of the American Army when the continental congress created that role in 1775.  Small wonder when he ascended to the presidency some years later, he carried the responsibility of commander and chief with him to the presidency where it continues to reside today even though few of our modern presidents have the military credentials of Washington.

When commanding the troops during the revolutionary war, a famous incident that has been captured beautifully by artists was his decision to cross the Delaware in New Jersey to stage a surprise attack and win the battle against the British.  It was yet another brilliant maneuver that showed his firm grasp of military strategy and only served to add to his fame and reputation as an outstanding leader of men.

After the war, Washington again was interested in retiring from public life but he was never one to turn away when his nation needed him.  And needed him it did as he presided over the Continental Congress to assure the successful drafting of the US Constitution.  Of the many great accomplishments of his life, his ability to provide leadership and inspiration to that assembly to produce this masterpiece of American political ligature would certainly be ranked as perhaps his finest hour.

George Washington was rewarded for his superior leadership skills when he was given the awesome responsibility of serving as the nations first President of the United States.  His wisdom and insight into what the nation needed at east stage of its early development made him the man of the hour for a struggling republic.  Few recognize that one of his greatest contributions to the presidency was recognizing that the nation was torn and weary of war.  So using his considerable influence and negotiating skills, Washington signed a number of important treaties that resulted in years of peace that were needed to turn the country from thoughts of war to thoughts of building a great nation.

Washington never tired of providing leadership for two terms as the first American president and it was he who decided not to serve a third term and returned once again to private life.  But his impact on the nation and the world was profound and long lasting.  It was the kind of nation shaping influence that truly earned him the title associated to him to this day of “father of the nation.”

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Crewed Motor Yachts – Sail The Seven Seas Without Stress

Crewed motor yachts are yachts that you charter for a vacation without needing to have any sailing experience. With the crewed charters, you don’t have to do any work in handling the yacht or navigating the waters of the location you choose. You can choose to have a luxury charter where you have exquisite surroundings and meals prepared by a chef. Waiters bring you drinks and the members of the crew will provide instructions for water sports if you need any. Crewed motor yachts range in size from yachts that can only take 2 passengers to ones that can take up to 12 or more. 

Motor yacht sailing in the bay of Gdansk in Poland (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A crewed motor yacht charter is an excellent choice for a family vacation. Children are welcome on these yacht charters, but none of the crew will be assigned to looking after them, even with luxury motor yacht charter. Parents are expected to keep the children entertained and to bring whatever they need for enjoyment aboard with them. Crewed motor yachts are perfectly safe for children, but like any location, you do need to keep them within your sight at all times. 

When you choose a luxury motor yacht charter, you have a personal chef to prepare your meals. However, before you arrive to meet the yacht, you will already have informed the company about your food preferences through the food preference sheet. This sheet also includes a list of beverages for you to choose from, which include soda, wines and alcoholic beverages. The chefs of crewed motor yachts take great care to prepare meals that you will enjoy and only use the freshest ingredients. In the case of fruits and vegetables, the chef of a crewed motor yacht charter may buy foods at the various locations. 

Whether or not you experience any seasickness on crewed yacht charters depends on you. It is probably a good idea to take some form of seasickness medication with you so that you can thoroughly enjoy being on a luxury motor yacht. If you are new to vacationing on a crewed motor yacht charter, be sure to let the crew know so they can choose routes that will cause you less discomfort. If you smoke, you will have to limit your habit to the outside areas of the yacht. Since the interior of the yacht consists of close quarters, yacht charter companies do not permit smoking inside. 

With crewed motor yachts you have comfort and style. You do not have to bring anything with you and all the linens, dishes and utensils are there for you to use. Both the exterior and interior of these yachts are roomy so you can sit back and enjoy the charter in comfort. You don’t have to worry about the wind because the motor will take you to your destination on time. You can enjoy air-conditioning with luxury motor yacht charters, although most of the charter yachts do have this feature included. Depending on the location and type of charter, some crewed charter yachts include scuba diving equipment, kayaks and other equipment you would need to enjoy a variety of water sports.

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ASTEROIDS

There is a lot of exciting stuff going on in the stars above us that make astronomy so much fun.  The truth is the universe is a constantly changing, moving, some would say “living” thing because you just never know what you are going to see on any given night of stargazing.

243 Ida and its moon Dactyl. Dactyl is the first satellite of an asteroid to be discovered. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But of the many celestial phenomenons, there is probably none as exciting as that time you see your first asteroid on the move in the heavens.  To call asteroids the “rock stars” of astronomy is simultaneously a bad joke but an accurate depiction of how astronomy fans view them.  Unlike suns, planets and moons, asteroids are on the move, ever changing and, if they appear in the night sky, exciting and dynamic.

Like rock stars, asteroids have been given their fair share of urban myth and lore.  Many have attributed the extinction of the dinosaurs to the impact of a huge asteroid on the earth.  This theory has some credibility and, if it is true, it evokes some pretty startling images and foreboding fears in the current reining species on earth, the human race.

The fact that asteroids are fast moving space debris only makes their movement and activity more interesting and exciting.  Unlike a moon, planet or star, the odds that an asteroid could hit the earth are entirely reasonable and in fact, there are many documented cases of small asteroids making it through our atmosphere and leaving some pretty impressive craters in the earth’s surface.

Popular culture has happily embraced the idea of an asteroid impact.  The idea has spawned many a science fiction story adding the idea that alien life forms may ride asteroids to our world and start a “war of the worlds” situation.  But by far, the most talked about concept that has captured the imagination and the fears of science fiction fans and the general public is of another asteroid hitting the earth that could wipe out life as allegedly happened to the dinosaurs.  In fact, the movie “Armageddon” was based on this idea and the concept that somehow mankind could avert that catastrophe with technology.

But probably the best way to calm our fears and replace science fiction with science is with understanding and knowledge.  The truth is, there has been a lot of study of asteroid activity and the serious scientific community has gained significant knowledge of these amazing celestial bodies.  A number of probes to asteroids have been conducted which have given us a wealth of information about their composition and how we might predict their behavior.

We now know that the majority of asteroids we get to witness come from an asteroid belt that exists between Mars and Jupiter.  It is from this community of asteroids that many of the notable asteroids emerged.  Scientists have gained significant knowledge about the composition of asteroids and separated them into classes including class S which comes of the part of the belt that is closest to Mars, classes C, D and V which are classified by composition and a class called “Centaurs” whose flight patterns take them closer to Jupiter and Uranus.

Some of the probes NASA has conducted on near flying asteroids have performed some pretty amazing studies of these eccentric celestial bodies.  In 1994 the Galileo probe got within 1000 miles of the asteroid Ida and discovered that Ida actually had its own moon.

Other probes have fired impactors into asteroids and even landed on an asteroid to produce some amazing scientific data for us.  There is much to learn about asteroids in our love of astronomy and that knowledge only makes our enjoyment of seeing them in the cosmos even more exciting.

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243 Ida and its moon Dactyl. Dactyl is the first satellite of an asteroid to be discovered. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

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