THE SPARTA FARMHOUSE TELEMETRY RIG

Following Sparkie's departure from the guest room on March 13th, I converted the fruit cellar in our Sparta farmhouse into an amateur radio tracking post. I connected seventy feet of galvanized wire to the lightning rod atop our old grain silo to serve as a long-wire receiving antenna.

The equipment includes a surplus Collins military receiver, an oscilloscope donated by a friend at Michigan State, and an analog tape recorder running on a continuous 90-minute loop.

    [ SPARTA GRAIN SILO ANTENNA ]
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    [ COLLINS R-390 RECEIVER ] ───▶ [ 24.3 Hz SPARKIE HARMONIC FILTER ]
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    [ HEATHKIT OSCILLOSCOPE ] ────────▶ [ CONTINUOUS CASSETTE DECK ]
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    [ PHOSPHOR SCREEN: "A PROFILE OF SPARKIE WITH CROSSED PAWS FORMS IN STATIC" ]

TELEMETRY FINDINGS ALONG THE FRUIT RIDGE:

Every evening around 9:15 PM, the needle on the receiver swings wildly toward the 2.4 GHz spectrum. Through the headphones comes a distinct, comforting sound: the low, vibrating purr of Sparkie, mingled with the gentle rustle of a spruce tree and the faint ticking of an antique Sparta grandfather clock.