Dixie Horn at the Biloxi Beach

[W2LYS]

Grumble, grumble... my radio station is running this Dukes of Hazard promotion... once an hour they'll play this sounder of "General Lee's horn"... a horn sound that plays the first few notes of Dixie...

In the early 80s I was stationed at Keesler AFB in Biloxi MS... the base is walking distance to the beach... so I would spend a good bit of time there. Some idiot that lived there had that horn sound on his car... he'd endlessly drive up and down the highway that is right on the beach and hit his horn... drove me up a wall back then and I'd truly like to thank this radio station for bringing back that delightful memory...

And it just struck me... the director here was at Keesler during the same time period... I asked her... she remembers that confounded horn also!

I figure there's got to be a few that spent time at Keesler in the early 80s... anyone else remember that fool and his horn?

[W0LPQ]

Keesler - 3392 Student Sq in 1959/1960. No horns, just race riots on the beach.

Came out in August 1960 as a VHF/Microwave Relay Tech 30430.

73

Bill, W0LPQ

[W2LYS]

I was ground radio - 304X4. With all the electronics training that has taken place there, I figure there has to be some folks here that are familiar with the place...

[w5klb]

I have been to Keesler more times than I can count on my fingers and toes. I was stationed in the Navy at NAS New Orleans, Alvin Calender Field in Belle Chasse in the mid 80's. That's about 80 miles west of Keesler. US 90 the "main drag" through there used to be one of the most dangerous highways in the country. It was because of all the "eyeball liberty" that was available, and not paying attention to the road. "She's sure pretty..." <CRASH!> http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I also remember the tug that was a gift shop on the north side of US 90. They told me it was a remnant of Hurricane Camile.

[W2LYS]

Oh, yeah... I remember that tug also... boy did I have fun in that town... as long as I avoided the 'pinger' bars...

[kd7eze]

And we all remember 'Pinger Beach' http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[w5klb]

Quote[/b] (kd7eze @ June 21 2005,04:59)]And we all remember 'Pinger Beach' #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
I have been all over the Mississippi Gulf Coast and I have never heard of the "Pinger Beach". I must of lived a "sheltered" exsistance while I was there.

LYS,

Did you ever go over to New Orleans during Mardi Gras? They used to have a parade called "Choctaw" located in #Meterie, just west of New Orleans. The "Chief" of the Choctaw Nation would salute the Navy Chiefs. The only thing I didn't understand was the real Chief of the Choctaw Nation lives here in Oklahoma (Oklahoma is a Choctaw word meaning "Land of The Red Man"), and doesn't attend Mardi Gras. I guess this was a tourist thing.

One thing I never understood about the layout of Keesler is why anyone would put a golf course that close to the runway. This could be dangerous especially if there was an aircraft mishap. I guess maybe they wanted to "FOD" out aircraft engines with golfballs or something.

I did like the Air Force female flight surgeons. Very attractive women. I was sent there for some tests and it was all I could do to keep from drooling all over myself. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[n5rfx]

I was stationed at Keesler twice. Once as a 304X4 instructor at Jones Institute of Technology (Jones Hall) 1980 to 1987, and then again at the 1839th from 1989 to 1990. I miss those days, especially the house I had in Bay St. Louis.

If you remember the "roach coaches" at Keesler also played the ditty you are fondly remembering.

73,

Mark N5RFX

[W2LYS]

Quote[/b] ]Once as a 304X4 instructor at Jones Institute of Technology (Jones Hall) 1980 to 1987

You were an X4 Instructor? I took that course from Sep 80 to March of the following year... then due to an assignment fowlup, I ended up in the 2052... actually ended up next door to you in Allee Hall, fixing various systems (Scope Signal, those little electronic training boxes they used in the basic course)...

We had to have bumped into each other at some point...

[n5rfx]

Quote[/b] (W2LYS @ June 20 2005,07:33)]Quote[/b] ]Once as a 304X4 instructor at Jones Institute of Technology (Jones Hall) 1980 to 1987

You were an X4 Instructor? I took that course from Sep 80 to March of the following year... then due to an assignment fowlup, I ended up in the 2052... actually ended up next door to you in Allee Hall, fixing various systems (Scope Signal, those little electronic training boxes they used in the basic course)...

We had to have bumped into each other at some point...
I knew a lot of folks in Scope Signal, one of the blocks I taught in the 3 level course was the URG (789X-1, 618Z-4, 208U3), I am sure you are familiar with those. I sure wish I had a 208U3, what a beast!

Later when I was in the 1839th, they sent me to Scope Signal III school. So we have probably crossed paths.

73,

Mark N5RFX

[W2LYS]

I left in 83. You may remember the '65 T-Bird I drove around...

[W2LYS]

Quote[/b] ] have been all over the Mississippi Gulf Coast and I have never heard of the "Pinger Beach". I must of lived a "sheltered" exsistance while I was there.


A pinger is one of the tech school students... "Person In Need of Graduation"... there were some other variations of the acronym, but I forget them.

Heaven forbid anyone should drop something in the dining hall in the student side of the base... especially one of those plastic glasses that seemed to take forever to stop bouncing... the entire room would erupt in a chorus of high pitched 'ping's....

[W0LPQ]

Plastic Glasses? Plastic anything? Nope, not in 1960. We (within the first 60 days) had our daily duty of KP which meant long hours. Meals were served on metal trays about 24" X 15", with sections made in them when stamped out.

Never heard of Pingers during this time.

Scope Signal....part of the Collins system. We had the 618Z-1's in Cedar Rapids, driving a 208U-10 and 205J-2's (which were 22.5/45Kw).

Golf Course ... not in 1960. We had the flying banna's from Piaseki doing helicopter training as well as T-33's doing flight training.

26 Miles of man made beach and the saying at the time was the Man was out of his mind. You could walk 100 yards into the Gulf and never be in water over your ankles. Never did the trip to what was called Ship Island. Don't know if the name still exists or not. Went back to Biloxi twice, once for a class of 6 weeks and then to visit a friend who was transferred there from South Carolina.

Have not been back since. At the time there was no interstate, it was just US 90 that ran East/West. The USO club was on the beach, but believe it was wiped out in the hurricane.

Bill, W0LPQ

[n5rfx]

Quote[/b] (W2LYS @ June 20 2005,09:10)]A pinger is one of the tech school students... "Person In Need of Graduation"... there were some other variations of the acronym, but I forget them.
Maybe you remember the pinger detector that tech school students built at Allee tech?

It was an astable multivibrator with two LED's.

73,

Mark N5RFX

[N5TJZ]

Quote[/b] (w5klb @ June 20 2005,20:52)]I have been to Keesler more times than I can count on my fingers and toes. I was stationed in the Navy at NAS New Orleans, Alvin Calender Field in Belle Chasse in the mid 80's. That's about 80 miles west of Keesler. US 90 the "main drag" through there used to be one of the most dangerous highways in the country. It was because of all the "eyeball liberty" that was available, and not paying attention to the road. "She's sure pretty..." <CRASH!> http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

I also remember the tug that was a gift shop on the north side of US 90. They told me it was a remnant of Hurricane Camile.
I worked at Joint Reserve Base New Orleans from 1974 to 1999. I worked in Public Works, I bet some of the Work Reqest and Sevice Calls you submitted are still pending.


Jim

I now work for DHS.

[N5TJZ]

Quote[/b] (w5klb @ June 21 2005,05:43)]Quote[/b] (kd7eze @ June 21 2005,04:59)]And we all remember 'Pinger Beach' #http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
I have been all over the Mississippi Gulf Coast and I have never heard of the "Pinger Beach". I must of lived a "sheltered" exsistance while I was there.

LYS,

Did you ever go over to New Orleans during Mardi Gras? They used to have a parade called "Choctaw" located in #Meterie, just west of New Orleans. The "Chief" of the Choctaw Nation would salute the Navy Chiefs. The only thing I didn't understand was the real Chief of the Choctaw Nation lives here in Oklahoma (Oklahoma is a Choctaw word meaning "Land of The Red Man"), and doesn't attend Mardi Gras. I guess this was a tourist thing.

One thing I never understood about the layout of Keesler is why anyone would put a golf course that close to the runway. This could be dangerous especially if there was an aircraft mishap. I guess maybe they wanted to "FOD" out aircraft engines with golfballs or something.

I did like the Air Force female flight surgeons. Very attractive women. I was sent there for some tests and it was all I could do to keep from drooling all over myself. http://www.qrz.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif
Choctaw is a Westbank Parade and will parade Feb. 28, 2006 in Gretna LA. At Noon. Come on down.

BTW both my wife and myself are Navy Brats, My dad a Chief Builder and hers a Chief musician. I did 4 years on a DE to much sea time to stay in.

[KA9VQF]

A few years back one of the local kids got a Plymouth Valiant it was about a 1978 vintage machine, 2 dr, ht, slant six, automatic. When first he acquired it, it was a pretty decent machine. He soon took care of that. He painted it screaming orange {K-Marts finest $0.99 spray can} with the Dixie flag just like the General Lee, and installed a 440 sixpack engine with a four speed in it.

He also installed the Dixie horn but it also played several otherobnoxious tunes like la cucaracha, taps, reveille, charge, and something like 20 more. It played them real loud too. Loud enough that it got him several tickets for breaking the ’quiet time’ ordinance when he would go screaming by his girlfriends house way to many times during the night.

One night he was sitting in his front yard just playing the horn through all the tunes it would play over and over. A distraught neighbor {no it wasn’t me} went over and after a short fight, yanked the whole horn system out from under the hood.

Seems the boy was not a good enough mechanic to keep the thing running and was just sitting there, bored because it wouldn’t go for him, and decided to play with the horn.