And we have returned from the desert once again

originally posted by: Zaphod58
a reply to: BeefNoMeat

I wouldn't be surprised if there are more pics than you think that are kept in private collections just because people don't want to leak them. Either out of concern about a reaction, or because they just don't want to.

I wouldnt be suprised either.
But at some point someone just has to go like *### it i'm 80 and its been decades since that photo, who cares if they try to burry me under the jail*
Guess its a generational thing too.

a reply to: BeefNoMeat

There's a reasonably long thread about Amarillo.

a reply to: BeefNoMeat

There was also Wichita

Here you go: theaviationist.com...

www.abovetopsecret.com...
www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: mightmight

Thanks for doing me a solid...off to get educated!

Thanks again, mightmight !!!

a reply to: Sammamishman

Thanks for the photos Sammamishman looks a great experience You come to ATS as a guy looking for ufos and discover there are so many more wonderous things going on in our skies that is explained and beautiful

a reply to: PhantomTwo



My rig:

6" Celestron Schmidt–Cassegrain telescope
AstroTech Voager II alt-az telescope mount with custom modifications
Custom built P8079HP cascading night vision tube with 135mm lens
Custom mounting for my DSLR

So, after talking to someone else that listens to the region a lot, these guys have been heard several times. We had the scanner running late one night, and about 0030, there was an in the blind call from Palmdale. About ten minutes later, HI-TEST2 checks in with Joshua, confirming their flight plan was active from 0100 local. They reserved a block of airspace from 50,000 to 55,000 and above. Going by the sound of the comms before and after takeoff, it's an unmanned platform. They were last heard being instructed to maintain 51,000-51,500. May have been a Global Hawk, may not have, but interesting comms either way.

The other interesting one was in the middle of the day. An aircraft was asked if he had stated type of aircraft yet, to which he replied "not yet", followed by, "uh, military". The reply to that was a simple roger and it was never brought up again.

a reply to: Zaphod58

A drone huh....

I wonder where the rest of the family's at

a reply to: penroc3

It may have been an RQ-4. There was another one up and around all afternoon and into the night. That one was having radio problems that night not long before this one went up. But the guy I talked to agreed that it sounded like the pilot was sitting in an office when he heard them before.

Were you near TTR? Do you know why they are still flying the Nighthawks?

m.youtube.com... m.youtube.com...##

m.youtube.com...##

a reply to: Forensick

No we weren't, and they're testing stuff with them. They'd be stupid not to use them to test new datalinks and counter stealth tech.

a reply to: Zaphod58

Good honest words,
and good to keep it that way.

Second Line.

a reply to: Zaphod58

It would be cool if adaptive optics were even close to being avalable to regular folks, other than the enoumous cost.

Slice right thru our thick atmosphear and get us some good pics.


From some of the things I've been hearing there is some pretty impressive drone tech out there flying operationally right now so I can only imagine what they are testing out there.

a reply to: penroc3

There's a number of low cost things that can be done to minimize the effects of heat haze on a terrestrial image. The time of day is the biggest and most obvious one. Image stacking programs and a regimented sequencing of image taking at specific exposures. Even with high heat haze there are moments of clarity that can be captured and stacked in post.
Modifying your optical train to squeeze as much contrast out of it as possible with flocking, light shrouds and light baffles is another low cost option that really helps too.

originally posted by: Sammamishman
a reply to: penroc3

Image stacking programs and a regimented sequencing of image taking at specific exposures.

Also known as the "yadda yadda click" method.

a reply to: Sammamishman

yeah but... lasers and fake stars.

but seriously i get there can be a moment in clarity but that seems like 1 in a million even more as the distance increases but i guess if you were lucky and used a fast enough camera you would get that moment.

i see you built you own NV set up, i've been looking into something like that. i have a bead on some israeli tubes but they are kind of old. where did you get your P.M from and what kind is it. basically i would love to see the guts of it and a schematic of how you wired it. if you have the time of course

a reply to: penroc3

Hence yadda yadda click. We sat there shooting the # scanning with binos and another lens, and randomly hitting the button on the camera remote. Got some pretty good pics too.

The big problem at that range is the false hit. You'll get a shot of something and talk yourself into thinking it's something else, then get another shot later and it looks totally different.

a reply to: penroc3

It's a fairly simple build. The tube is a P8079HP image intesifier tube. One of the best Gen 1+ tubes out there but they are rather hard to find now a days. I got mine off of Ebay from England. It runs off of 4 AAA batteries in conduit junction box mounted on top with a switch. I mounted the tube into a chunk of ABS tubing with camera thread mounting rings at the front end and a sliding adapter to mount the dovetail plate on my camera so I can fine tune the focus. The whole assembly is then mounted to a Vixon style dovetail bar with telescope tube mounting rings.
Like most all my projects I have no drawings of what I build. I make it up as I go.

a reply to: Sammamishman

Kinda like the stories you tell us, Sam?

a reply to: anzha

Hey, I'll have you know we really did see three F-117s dropped out the back of a C-5 in flight, while being escorted by a pair of B-2s! It was awesome!