home bbs files messages ]

Just a sample of the Echomail archive

Cooperative anarchy at its finest, still active today. Darkrealms is the Zone 1 Hub.

   LS_ARRL      Bulletins from the ARRL      3,036 messages   

[   << oldest   |   < older   |   list   |   newer >   |   newest >>   ]

   Message 1,922 of 3,036   
   ARNewsline poster to all   
   arnewsline   
   10 Sep 15 22:00:06   
   
   Amateur Radio Newsline report number 1976 with a release date of Friday,    
   September 11, 2015 to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.   
      
   The following is a QST. A bright young undergraduate makes sense of    
   solar flares and propagation. India works to grow its ham radio    
   community. A Texas hamfest prepares for the FCC's former top enforcer.    
   And a Netherlands fox hunt takes to the sky. All this and more in    
   Amateur Radio Newsline report 1976 coming your way right now.   
      
   (Billboard Cart Here and Intro)   
      
   **   
   SOLAR FLARES AND PROPAGATION   
      
   Just as many of the nation's students are returning to the classroom,    
   one student at Virginia Tech is still receiving accolades and high marks    
   for a research project he worked on last year. Carson Squibb, KM4MBQ,    
   looked at HF propagation during X-Class solar flares, using the Amateur    
   Radio Reverse Beacon Network. Amateur Radio Newsline's Kent Peterson,    
   K-C-ZERO-D-G-Y (KC0DGY), has this report:   
      
   [KENT'S TRACK]: Sometimes being a reporter for AR Newsline is pretty    
   easy when an articulate ham is on the other end of a Skype call.   
      
   "I'm Carson Squibb and I'm KM4MBQ.I am attending Virgina tech and right    
   now I'm a Junior in aerospace engineering. Both my parents worked    
   actually for NASA at Goddard space flight center in Maryland and that's     
   where they met and also strongly helped my interest in aerospace. I've    
   always really been interested in planes and aircraft its  really    
   fascinating and I think there's a lot of cutting edge innovations in    
   aerospace and I wanted to be a part of that.   
      
   KENT: Squibb gathered ionospheric data during solar flare events using    
   the ham radio reverse beacon network and explains how it works.   
      
   "The reverse beacon network is this global series of passive receivers    
   and they listen to and record communications links achieved by amateur    
   radio operators."   
      
   KENT: In his research project Squibb also used something called the    
   super dual auroral radar network.   
      
   "Super DARN is this global array of high frequency radar stations, so    
   what they're doing is just monitoring the ionosphere, so they can   
   look at the motion of the ionosphere or the strength of it and how that    
   varies from day to day or from time of day."   
      
   "I was looking at the ground scatter band, which what that's doing the    
   super darn stations area broadcasting HF signal up into the ionosphere    
   and then that is refracting back down to the earth and during a solar    
   flare which I was studying that would drop out because of absorption."   
      
   KENT: Squibb has a technician class ham license, but he has managed to    
   get on HF.   
      
   "Not much by myself, my Dad Brian Squibb he has is general license. and    
   he is W4PAJ and through him I've been able to talk a bit through HF."   
      
   KENT: Squibb says this raw HF propagation data is already out there   
      
   "Most of the tools I was using are open source, so really anyone could    
   have been doing the research I was using and anyone can continue in the    
   future. I think  that is one of the major takeaways in this that is not    
   exclusive to a university.  Someone in the civilian setting could easily    
   do the same research this is an area which hasn't been studied as much    
   as it should for something that's so important when using the reverse    
   beacon network I mean it's amateur radio operators everyday people    
   creating this data and its so interesting how you can see these real    
   world effects in this citizen science."   
      
   KENT: Squibb plotted data from X class flares occurring in October 2014    
   and March 2015 and precisely documented global HF signal loss and    
   duration during these and other events.   
      
   For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson, K-C-ZERO-D-G-Y.   
      
   ANCHOR TAG: Carson Squibb's research study was published by Virginia    
   Tech and you'll find the link to his research materials in the printed    
   edition of this week's Amateur Radio Newsline.   
      
   (http://vt.superdarn.org/tiki-download_file.php?fileId66)   
      
   **   
      
   INDIA'S NEXT GENERATION OF HAMS   
      
   Various schools in India have been cultivating a new generation of    
   student hams - with potentially another Carson Squibb among them. More    
   than 30 youngsters from Focus High School in Hyderabad paid a visit    
   earlier this month to the National Institute of Amateur Radio in that    
   same city and spent the day learning Morse Code and phonetics. They also    
   watched videos and demos on transmitter fox hunting and on VHF/UHF    
   operations. Then, in tribute to the history of all they had learned    
   about in amateur radio, the students visited the Radio Museum located on    
   the property to learn about the history of hams in India. If all goes    
   well, some of the students might well find themselves back on the museum    
   campus in a few short years, sitting for their licensing exams.   
      
   Meanwhile, Patna University, the seventh oldest university in India,    
   recently trained its students in a five-day disaster responsiveness    
   workshop, demonstrating how ham radio plays a big role in crisis    
   recovery. The Indian Red Cross Society, the Bihar State Disaster    
   Management Authority and the National Institute of Technology-Patna    
   coordinated the program, which illustrated how amateur radio becomes a    
   key communications tool especially during such disasters as floods, when    
   other networks fail.   
      
   (NIAR, SOUTHGATE, THE TIMES OF INDIA)   
      
   **   
      
   NOT-SO-POETIC LICENSE   
      
   According to a recent report, the present generation of hams in India    
   appears to be holding its own as a somewhat stable, but steadily growing    
   population. The latest compilation from India's Ministry of    
   Communications and Information Technology notes that 244 new amateur    
   licenses were issued between April and September of 2014, with an    
   estimated 250 more expected between October 2014 and March 31 of this year.   
   The licensing process in India is notoriously slow, taking an average of    
   45 days or more.   
   The 494 licenses in the most recent report compare favorably with    
   figures from the previous year's report, which notes that 366 licenses    
   were issued to new stations in India between 2013 and 2014, and another    
   414 previously licensed stations were renewed.   
      
   Korea, by contrast, has not shown such optimistic numbers. In a recent    
   report submitted to the International Amateur Radio Union Region 3    
   conference, set to take place next month, The Korean Amateur Radio    
   League reports a 22 percent drop in amateur radio stations, from 45,999    
   in 2009 to 35,944 this year.   
      
   Korea reports that efforts have been made to boost the hobby there. A    
   Fourth Class Amateur Radio License was made available beginning in July    
   2013, giving operators permission to use the VHF/UHF bands on a maximum    
   10 watts output. Since that time, Korea has issued licenses in this    
   class to 5,669 amateurs. In addition, the establishment of a 144 MHz    
   repeater on a mountaintop, giving a 500 km range, is credited with    
   helping boost the hobby's struggling viability.   
      
   (SOUTHGATE AMATEUR RADIO NEWS)   
      
   **   
      
   THE BEST FESTS   
      
   For hams in Texas and beyond, the Greater Houston Hamfest just got a    
   whole lot greater: The featured speaker at the March 19, 2016 event is    
   going to be Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, the FCC's former top cop.   
   Hollingsworth had been the FCC's Special Counsel for Amateur Radio since    
   1998, joining the newly created Enforcement Bureau that year. The    
   Gettysburgh, Pennsylvania resident retired from the agency in 2008.    
   Hollingsworth, a ham since 1960, is a frequent speaker at amateur radio    
   gatherings. He recently accepted the invitation to attend the hamfest    
   which, last year, had more than 1,000 attendees in Houston. The Greater    
   Houston Hamfest is sponsored by the Brazos Valley Amateur Radio Club.   
   Meanwhile, get ready for another supersized hamfest coming a little    
   sooner - the Peoria Superfest in Illinois on Sept. 18 through 20. The    
   region's largest hamfest will feature keynote speaker, Bob Bruninga,    
   WB4APR, the developer of APRS, and Chris Wilson N-ZERO-C-S-W, of Yaesu,    
   who will discuss Fusion Technology. FCC licensing exams will be given on    
   Saturday, Sept. 19.   
   (RON LITT, K5HM, ARRL)   
      
   **   
      
   SATELLITES: TWO THAT SIZZLE, ONE THAT FIZZLE   
      
   The August 27 QSO between a ham in Little Rock, Arkansas and Trouy,    
   France is being called a record-setting satellite contact. On that day,    
   at 17:32 Universal Time, Dave Swanson, KG5CCI, operating portable atop    
   an Arkansas mountain, answered a CQ from Christophe Lucas, F4CQA, in    
   France.   
      
   Only later did the two hams calculate the distance between them,    
   reaching consensus at 7,599 km - or roughly 4,712 miles. They were using    
   satellite FO-29.   
      
   Swanson explains the revelation that came next: QUOTE: "To the best of    
   our knowledge, referencing data found on AMSAT-UK's website, this breaks    
   the previous distance records of 7537.799 km between W5CBF and G4DOL,    
   and 7538.685 km between K4FEG and DK1TB" ENDQUOTE, he said.   
      
   A few days later, on Sept. 5, Swanson is said to have created yet    
   another record, via the OSCAR 7 satellite, in a contact with Manuel    
   EA5TT. Swanson was working atop an old U.S. Forest Service Fire Tower in    
   western Arkansas and Manuel was in Valencia, Spain. Their QSO covered a    
   distance of 7947 km.   
      
   Unfortunately, the so-called $50 Amateur Radio "PocketQube"    
   microsatellite, also known as Eagle 2, has not been enjoying the same    
   kind of good fortune. News reports indicate that the satellite, also    
   known as MO-76, went silent this summer a few days short of being in    
   orbit for 20 months. Although it did not carry an Amateur Radio    
   transponder, it transmitted on 437.505 MHz with 100 mW of power. One of    
   its developers, Michael Kirkhart, KD8QBA, reported in a Yahoo Groups    
   posting that the last time he heard the satellite was July 19.   
      
   He later told the ARRL, QUOTE: "It was fun while it lasted." ENDQUOTE   
      
   (AMSAT NEWS SERVICE, ARRL)   
      
      
      
   BREAK HERE:   
      
   Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio    
   Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the    
   W4WVP repeater of the Arlington Amateur Radio Club of Arlington, Virginia.   
      
      
   ** **   
      
   **   
      
   CRAZY LIKE A FOX HUNT   
      
   The forecast looks bright for a special weather balloon being launched    
   on Sunday, September 13, in the Netherlands. The balloon is carrying a    
   special payload: an amateur radio transponder.   
      
   The 37th annual hunt, sponsored by Radio Club Gooi, PI4RCG, will be on.    
   An estimated thousand or more hams will set out on an electronic chase    
   of this flying fox of sorts, which is expected to have radio coverage    
   reaching France, Germany, Belgium, the UK and of course, the Netherlands    
   and nations beyond. The signals will be on 2 meters at 200 milliwatts of    
   power and a 13cm Amateur Television transmitter at 1 watt. A special    
   event station will broadcast on 40 meters exchanging reception reports,    
   balloon data and engaging in QSOs in support of the event.   
      
   **   
   NO BRIDGE TOO FAR   
      
   A more earthbound form of travel - the railroad - is being celebrated on    
   Saturday, Sept. 12. The Historic Bridges Centennial Commemoration,    
   hosted by N3SRC, will honor the travel improvements made along the    
   Lackawanna Railroad between New York City and upstate Buffalo in the    
   early 1900s. Those improvements included, of course, the building of new    
   bridges.   
   The Susquehanna County Amateur Radio Club has created the two-day event    
   to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the bridges' opening. For    
   information on certificates for QSOs with N3SRC, visit the club's    
   Facebook page.   
   **   
      
   SWAPMEET FOR DAYTON AREA HAMS   
      
   You don't need to be a ham to attend the Mound Amateur Radio    
   Association's fourth annual swapmeet and open house on September 19 in    
   Miamisburg, Ohio. But you might leave there WANTING to be a ham. Anyone    
   can attend the event in Mound Historical Park - especially anyone    
   interested in studying to take their licensing exam. Hams, of course,    
   are especially welcome, and those wishing to sell their own personal    
   radios or shack-related equipment are free to do so. On the other hand,    
   if you can't get there but want to be there in spirit, talk in will be    
   on the repeater at 147.195 MHz.   
      
   (Mound Amateur Radio Society website)   
      
   **   
      
   KICKS ON ROUTE 66   
      
   Radio amateurs, start your engines - or at the very least, turn on your    
   rigs. The annual on-air celebration of Route 66, also known as The    
   Mother Road, revs up on Saturday, Sept. 12 and will go the distance    
   through Sunday Sept. 20. Twenty-one mobile stations and area clubs along    
   the route will be sharing the romance and memories of the route, which    
   begins in Chicago and ends in Santa Monica, California. The Citrus Belt    
   Amateur Radio Club in San Bernardino, California, is organizing the    
   event, which is in its 16th year. Operators will be using special    
   one-by-one call signs, aiming for as many worldwide QSOs as possible.   
      
      
   NY GETS READY TO PARTY   
      
   It's not too early to plan a party, especially in New York. So the    
   Rochester DX Association has already equipped its website, www.nyqp.org,    
   with everything a successful partygoer needs to be ready for the big    
   weekend that starts Saturday, October 17. The modes will be Phone, CW    
   and RTTY/Digital. Looks like there's plenty of space for a QSO party    
   this big - New York State has 62 counties and every one's worth points!   
      
   (Rochester DX Association)   
      
   ** **   
      
   BOYS SCOUTS ARE PREPARED   
      
   Radio amateurs can take a lesson from the Boy Scouts and prepare now for    
   this event next month: The worldwide Boy Scouts Jamboree On The    
   Air/Jamboree On the Internet is taking place during the weekend of    
   October 16 through 18th. The call sign of K2BSA will be in use in nearly    
   every call district in the U.S. for this year's Jamboree, Scouting's    
   58th such event.   
      
   The Jamboree is the world's largest scouting event. According to the    
   World Scout Bureau, more than 1 million Scouts were involved last year,    
   reaching 157 countries, operating from 11,500 stations. Nearly 20,000    
   radio amateurs worldwide also participated, giving their support, the    
   bureau said.   
      
   While there are no merit badges for hams who register early for this    
   year's Jamboree, it's recommended. Hams are asked to contact their local    
   Scout councils to either work with an established special station, or    
   set one up using your own shack.   
      
   **   
   THE REAL THING: ERIKA'S STORM OF DAMAGE   
      
   The cleanup continues in Dominica, where Tropical Storm Erika was    
   bearing down in late August. Part of that recovery work has included    
   setting up emergency telecommunications equipment, deployed recently by    
   the International Telecommunication Union. Satellite phones, solar    
   chargers, laptops, and Broadband Global Area Networks are being used to    
   help coordinate relief efforts and keep communication lines open while    
   communities count their losses from flooding and landslides. Shortly    
   after Erika subsided, the government declared nine disaster areas in the    
   Caribbean island.   
      
   Kelver Darroux, Minister of Information, Science, Telecommunications and    
   Technology, expressed his gratitude publicly, saying: QUOTE    
   "Communication is vital in the aftermath of any disaster. The emergency    
   telecommunication equipment we have received from ITU brings us a step    
   closer in our recovery process."ENDQUOTE   
      
   Brahima Sanou, director of the ITU's telecommunications development    
   bureau, added: QUOTE"After a natural disaster, not a single life should    
   be lost because of the break down in telecommunication services. The    
   emergency communication equipment sent by ITU will provide vital links    
   to coordinate relief and rescue efforts in Dominica."ENDQUOTE   
      
   (ITU Press Release)   
      
   **   
      
   THE SIMULATION: 'EARTHQUAKE' IN MALTA   
      
   The "disaster" earlier this month in Malta wasn't for real - but the    
   response from radio amateurs certainly was. A simulated 7.6 magnitude    
   earthquake on Sept. 3 mobilized The Malta Amateur Radio League, working    
   with the Malta Civil Protection Department right up through Sept. 5.   
      
   Close to 220 emergency services messages were relayed by the hams, who    
   also provided mobile radio backup in areas unserved by repeaters. There    
   was also ham radio ATV service streaming from the site of the exercise    
   to where the operation was based. The hams employed digital modes for    
   photos and text files and aided in setting up IT and other forms of    
   technical support.   
      
   (Internatinoal Amateur Radio Union, Region 1)   
      
   ** **   
   THE WORLD OF DX   
      
   C6 BAHAMAS,   
      
   Randy, K5SL, is active as C6ASL from Freeport, Grand Bahama Island    
   (NA-080) through Sept. 18, with his active time on 40 meters through 17    
   meters holiday style. He will be using SSB and CW, concentrating on the    
   WARC bands. Send QSL cards via K5GS.   
      
   D4, CAPE VERDE,   
      
   Chris, DL2MDU and Heike DL3HD will be operating from Boa Vista Island    
   (AF-086) between Sept. 11 and 25th as D44TUK and D44TUQ respectively.    
   The pair will be active on 80 through 10 meters in CW and digital modes,    
   holiday style. Send QSL cards via DL2MDU.   
      
   FO, FRENCH POLYNESIA.   
      
   Heinz, D-F-ONE-Y-P (DF1YP), is active from Moorea Island (OC-046)    
   through October 1st, as FO/DF1YP. He will work SSB holiday style mostly    
   on 20 meters. He can receive QSL cards via his home call sign, direct or    
   via the German Amateur Radio Bureau.   
      
   Members of the Black Country DX and Contest Club, based in the English    
   West Midlands, will be operating as M-S-ZERO-OH-X-E (MS0OXE) on Fair    
   Isle through Sept. 15. Fair Isle is considered the most remote inhabited    
   island in the UK. The IOTA reference for this DXpedition is EU-012. Send    
   QSL cards to M0URX.   
      
   Sam, F6AML has returned to Mayotte Island in the Indian Ocean and has    
   reactivated the call sign TX6A. Send QSL cards to his home call.   
      
   A reminder that the international Enigma Event takes place beginning    
   Sept. 12 and runs through Sept. 25, with special call signs IO4ENG and    
   IQ4FE. Ham radio messages will be exchanged over the air but will carry    
   encryption with the Enigma code of World War II. For details visit the    
   event's official website, www.enigma-reloaded.it   
      
   (OHIO PENN DX NEWSLETTER, IRISH RADIO TRANSMITTERS SOCIETY)   
      
   ** **   
      
   KICKER: LIVE LONG AND PROPAGATE   
      
   And now for a postscript to last week's story about the honors bestowed    
   recently upon Charlie Hellman, W2RP, of Hastings-on-Hudson, New York,    
   for his longevity on the planet as well as on the air. After the Quarter    
   Century Wireless Association honored the 105-year-old for his amateur    
   radio record, California ham Marcel Stieber, AI6MS, stepped forward to    
   introduce a slightly older and still active radio amateur -- Harry Wolf,    
   W6NKT, of Morro Bay, California. Licensed since 1936, Wolf is 106 years old.   
      
   A retired educator like Hellman, Wolf has been anything BUT retiring.    
   Four years ago, at the age of 102, he received ample press coverage in    
   the San Luis Obispo Tribune for his radio demonstrations at Field Day in    
   Tidelands Park. Last year, California's Information Press profiled him    
   for his continued work teaching the public about the powers of ham radio.   
      
   The report said hams who want a QSO with Wolf should consider working 10    
   meters or 20 meters, the most frequent bands he visits. Although most    
   recently, the report said, Wolf has been sticking to CW because Morse    
   Code is easier for him to hear. But no matter the mode, he is always    
   looking to answer a call.   
      
   (San Luis Obispo Tribune, ARRL, The Information Press)   
      
   ***   
      
   NEWSCAST CLOSE   
      
   With thanks to Alan Labs, the ARRL, AMSAT News Service; CQ Magazine, DX    
   Coffee, DXWorld, Greg Mossop G0DUB; Hap Holly and the Rain Report; The    
   Information Press; IARU Region 1; the ITU; Mound Amateur Radio    
   Association; National Institute of Amateur Radio; the Ohio-Penn DX    
   Newsletter; Rochester DX Association; San Luis Obispo Tribune; Southgate    
   Amateur Radio News, TWiT TV, the Quarter Century Wireless Association;    
   QRZNOW, Virginia Tech University; and you our listeners, that's all from    
   the Amateur Radio Newsline. Our email address is    
   newsline@arnewsline.org. More information is available at Amateur Radio    
   Newsline's only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can    
   also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio Newsline, 28197 Robin    
   Avenue, Santa Clarita, CA 91350.   
      
   For now, with Caryn Eve Murray, KD2GUT, at the news desk in New York,    
   and our news team worldwide, I'm Don Wilbanks AE5DW in South    
   Mississippi, saying 73 and as always we thank you for listening.   
      
   Amateur Radio Newsline(tm) is Copyright 2015. All rights reserved.   
      
      
   ***   
      
   As a Service to the HAM Radio Community and HAM Operators all over the world,   
   this Amateur Radio Newline(tm) message has been gated from the internet and   
   posted to you by Waldo's Place USA, fidonet node 1:3634/12. We hope you   
   enjoyed it!   
      
   Please address all comments and questions to the ARNewsletter editor as   
   described in this posting. If you have any specific questions related to the   
   actual posting of this message, you may address them to   
   hamfdn(at)wpusa.dynip.com.   
      
   Thank you and good day!   
      
   -73- ARNTE-0.1.0-OS2 build 42   
   (text/plain utf-8 quoted-printable)   
      
      
    * Origin: (1:3634/12)   

[   << oldest   |   < older   |   list   |   newer >   |   newest >>   ]


(c) 1994,  bbs@darkrealms.ca