New Member- San Diego, CA.

[CrookedRecords]

Hello All,
On the morning of Friday the 28th of Jan I was just driving to work minding my own business and talking with a friend of mine about APRS on the 2 meter Sandra Otay repeater when one of your members (Willie I believe) jumped in to say hello and answer some questions. He was very helpful and informative and mentioned this forum so I decided to come check you guys out.

I do not at this point own a 4wd vehicle but it looks as though I share many of the same interests as some of you. I am a gold prospector. I have been into prospecting and reading about the history of ghost towns, mining and local lore of the southwest since I was 13. I love adventure and camping. I am into amature radio, CB radio and the installation of radios and radio towers. I was an Iron worker for 17 years but now am a rigger/equipt operator for a crane company so I have all the fun goodies to climb towers etc. I love to weld and fabricate things. I am into archery, bow hunting, mineralogy, geology, electronics, aviation,jet boats, dune buggies, rat rods, metal detecting, Texas style bbq and smoking brisket and pork butt.

I do have some pics of a trailer build that I did as well as some from a few mining claims that I have worked that I will post up...

Thanks,
Brian.

[cruiserlarry]

Welcome to the OAUSA site, Brian !!

Even without a 4WD, you'll fit in here just fine...

Many of us love to go exploring the old mining claims out in the Mojave / Calico /Joshua Tree desert regions. You might know one of our members, Joe De Kehoe, who has written books on the history of the Mojave, including "The Silence and The Sun". Some of us have had the pleasure of touring these areas with Joe, getting a feel for the area as it was that's to his narration and historical perspective.

I'm sure, if you wanted company on a trip though these areas, you'll find willing companions here at OAUSA.

Please tell us your call sign, and we'll list you on the OAUSA Amateur Radio Operator Roster. We conduct a net on the Keller Peak repeater (146.385+, PL 146.2) every Thursday @ 7:30pm on various outdoor related topics. While you might not be in radio range, the repeater is being outfitted with IRLP as we speak, and should be linked to some So Cal repeaters in your area soon. It is also Echolink equipped in case you'd like to join in while we wait for the IRLP system to come on line.

We'd love to hear more about your prospecting adventures, so feel free to post up any stories you'd like to share...

[CrookedRecords]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

My call sign is KJ6JMA.

I may start a new thread on this but are any of you familiar with the old "Desert" magazines from the 40's and 50's? A friend of mine has an almost complete colection and I have seen people selling digitized collections in the back of prospector magazines. My friend printed out the most interesting stories by geographical area and had them bound. Some of the most interesting ones are of the wagon train massacre site that was found in what looks like patton valley at gordons well and some of the stories about the cargo muchacho mines and potholes in winterhaven,AZ (the old mission there, the spaniards and the indian slaves used to prospect for gold and then the massacre at the mission, a fire and the supposed hidden gold) Interesting stuff..... This is all in our back yard... lots of stuff about Bradshaw and his trail and some murders out near the old dale mining district back in the day....

[OLLIE]

Welcome... It's good to have you aboard. We would love to see some of those old stories or maybe you could point us to the references.

[BorregoWrangler]

Welcome to the forum.

There's a number of things folks enjoy here that don't require 4x4, so you're in good company!

[dzJeepchic]

Welcome! I saw your thread about the Old Dale Mining Dist. and didn't realize you were new to the forum! d

[DaveK]

Brian:

Great to have you join us. I think we could use a Texas style BBQ expert at Summer Fest this year.

Welcome aboard!

[Willie H]

Welcome Brian. I'm glad you decided to check the forum out!.

[cruiserlarry]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

My call sign is KJ6JMA.

I may start a new thread on this but are any of you familiar with the old "Desert" magazines from the 40's and 50's?

I think a new thread with information about the Desert magazines would be a great idea...looking forward to reading more about it, and possibly setting up an exploration of the areas in more detail after...