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Ärende: Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1856 - March 8 2013
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Amateur Radio NewslineT Report 1856 - March 8 2013
The following is a QST. Scientists say Solar Cycle 24 may have two
separate peaks; APRS found to extend the range of underground
communications; a United Kingdom ham finds a long abandoned satellite that
has come back to life; Last Man Standing to feature an episode with ham
radio and Amateur Radio Newsline opens the nominating season for the 2013
Young Ham of the Year Award. Find out the details are on Amateur Radio
NewslineT report number 1856 coming your way right now.
**
PROPAGATION: SOLAR CYCLE 24 MAY HAVE A DOUBLE PEAK
Will 2013 be the year of the Solar maximum of Cycle 24 or have we already
seen one and is there another prak yet to come. Some researchers think
that the best has not happened yet because this could be another double
cycle. Amateur Radio Newslines Heather Embee, KB3TZD, has the details:
--
Something unexpected appears to be happening on the sun. 2013 is
supposed to be the year of Solar Max also known as the peak of Cycle 24.
Yet 2013 has arrived and solar activity is relatively low. Sunspot
numbers are well below their values in 2011, and strong solar flares have
been infrequent for many months. The quiet has led some observers to
wonder if forecasters missed the mark.
Dean Pesnell is a Solar physicist at the Goddard Space Flight Centre in
Greenbelt, Maryland. He suggests that this is the solar maximum, but it
looks different from what we expected because it will be double peaked.
Conventional wisdom holds that solar activity swings back and forth like a
simple pendulum. At one end of the cycle, there is a quiet time with few
sunspots and flares. At the other end, the Solar Max brings high sunspot
numbers and solar storms with a regular rhythm that repeats every 11
years.
Reality, however, is more complicated. Astronomers have been counting
sunspots for centuries, and they have seen that the solar cycle is not
perfectly regular. For one thing, the back-and-forth swing in sunspot
counts can take anywhere from 10 to 13 years to complete. Also, the
amplitude of the cycle varies. Some solar maxima are very weak while
others can be very strong.
And as researcher Pesnell notes, there is yet another complication. He
says that the last two solar maxima, around 1989 and 2001, had not one but
two peaks. He says that solar activity went up, dipped, and then resumed
while performing a mini-cycle within the Solar Max that lasted about two
years.
Pesnell says that the same thing could be happening now. He notes that
sunspot counts jumped in 2011 and dipped in 2012. As such, he expects
them to rebound again saying that another peak will happen in 2013 and
possibly last into 2014. Lets hope he is right.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Heatrher Embee, KB3TZD, in Burwick,
Pennsylvania.
--
Another curiosity of the solar cycle is that the sun's hemispheres do not
always peak at the same time. In the current cycle, the south has been
lagging behind the north. The second peak, if it occurs, will likely
feature the southern hemisphere playing catch-up, with a surge in activity
south of the sun's equator. (SARL, NASA)
**
RADIO WRITING: ARRL'S DAVE SUMNER K1ZZ EXPLAINS DIY RENAISSANCE IN HAM
RADIO
The resurgence in ham radio may partly be due to a renaissance in home
building coupled with a need on the part of radio amateurs to serve their
community. So says ARRL Executive Vice President Dave Sumner, K1ZZ's, in
a recent article appearing in the Urgent Communications on-line
newsletter.
In his commentary Sumner notes that when amateurs began experimenting with
radio more than a century ago, they had no choice but to build everything
they needed. Some went on to become successful entrepreneurs, selling
their creations to fellow hobbyists who were more interested in operating
radios than in constructing them. Others built their own receivers and
transmitters either from economic necessity or for the fun and
satisfaction of being able to say, "I did it myself." This in turn lead
to the era of kit building with such giants as Heathkit becoming household
names in ham radio.
K1ZZ notes that the advent of solid-state devices, printed circuit boards,
and automatic parts insertion removed the price advantage that kits
enjoyed. By the time the Heath Company closed its doors in 1992, most
amateur-radio equipment was being manufactured in Japan. But this has not
stopped ham radio operators from continuing the art of home construction
and this in itself has lead to a resurrection in the art of kit building.
And this in turn has made portable emergency communications ability more
attainable in the hobby.
As Dave Sumner notes, society has come to rely on a fragile
telecommunications infrastructure that is susceptible to overload and
outright failure. And while ham radio operators cannot substitute for all
that infrastructure hams can communicate, no matter what.
+
You can read K1ZZ's entire article on-line at
tinyurl.com/amateur-radio-renaissance. (Urgent Communications)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: UK HAM LOCATES 1965 SATELLITE AS IT RETURNS TO LIFE
An American satellite, abandoned in 1967 as a piece of space junk has
begun transmitting again after 46 years and a ham radio operator is
responsible for finding it. Amateur Radio Newsline's Bruce Tennant,
K6PZW, has more:
--
Phil Williams, G3YPQ, is an Amateur Radio Astronomer in North Cornwall in
the U.K.. According to reports he accidentally picked up the signal and
after cross checking with various lists, he identified it as LES 1.
LES 1 was built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and launched
in 1965. The satellite failed to reach its intended orbit owing to a
wiring error and has been drifting out of control ever since.
Williams ran across it while monitoring near 237 MHz when he noticed a
signal with a peculiar signal drift caused by the bird tumbling end over
end every 4 seconds as the solar panels became shadowed by the satellites
engine. Williams said that gives the signal a particularly ghostly sound
as the voltage from the solar panels fluctuates.
The LES 1 satellite is about the size of a small car and is not likely to
re-enter the atmosphere for a long time as the orbit is still relatively
high. It poses no threat other than that caused by the thousands of other
pieces of space junk currently in orbit. By now its likely that the on
board batteries have now disintegrated so its likely that some other
component failure has caused the transmitter to start up when its in
sunlight bringing the ghost satellite back to life.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Bruce Tennant, K6PZW, in Los Angeles.
--
G3YPQ says its remarkable to think that electronics built nearly 5 decades
ago, 12 years before Voyager 1, and long before microprocessors and
integrated circuits, is still capable of working in the hostile environs
of space. He adds that listening to the signal one can easily imagine the
craft tumbling over and over every 4 seconds and the transmitter starting
up as the sun rises on its solar panels. (G3YPQ)
**
RADIO SCIENCE: APRS EXPERIMENT EXTENDS UNDERGROUND COMMUNICATIONS
APRS works to extend communications range underground. So says the modes
developer Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, who reports on an experiment that took
place on March 2nd . One where he and several other hams tested the use
of APRS as a means to extend radio communications underground in Mammoth
Cave, Kentucky. Amateur Radio Newsline's Stephan Kinford, N8WB, reports:
--
According to Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, typically, VHF and UHF radio in
underground caves are limited to only a few hundred feet and strictly
line-of-sight making their routine use of little value. But with APRS
radios acting as packet digipeaters, these few hundreds of feet can be
extended by an order of magnitude.
Bruninga says that in the test a total of 14 APRS equipped radios were
used in the cave to establish a network almost a mile long providing
real-time position and text message communications along the route.
Cavers carried a map of the cave marked with a Latitude and Longitude grid
so they could manually enter their position into their handheld
APRS-equipped transceivers. Texting via APRS provided communications end
to end.
Among the interesting findings were that UHF worked about 13% better than
VHF withan average link distance of about 450 feet even in the large
subway sized passages of Mammoth Cave. Also power did not seem to matter
much. The Kenwood TH-D72 walkie-talkie performed as well as several
portable 10 watt mobile radios housed in boxes.
Another advantage of using UHF for this APRS network was that individual
links in other caves can just as easily be pre-tested by unlicensed cave
explorers using inexpensive FRS radios. This way, all cavers can plan and
individually test the topology of an APRS network before actually
gathering the required APRS equipment and setting up the actual
expedition.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Stephan Kinford, N8WB, in Wadsworth,
Ohio.
--
Bruninga says that the system could even include e-mail into the topside
global APRS system. (WB4APR)
**
YHOTY: NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR 2013 AMATEUR RADIO NEWSLINE YOUNG HAM OF
THE YEAR
The nominating season for the 2013 Amateur Radio Newsline Young Ham of the
Year Award is now open.
Created in 1986, this award is offered to recognize the accomplishments of
a radio amateur age 18 or younger for his or her accomplishments in
service to the nation, his or her community or to the advancement of the
state of the art through amateur radio.
Nominees must reside in the United States 50 states or its possessions or
in any of the 10 Canadian provinces.
As in years past, corporate underwriter Yaesu USA will transport the
winner to the Huntsville Hamfest in Huntsville , Alabama, where the award
will be formally presented. Yaesu will also provide Hotel accommodations
as well as convention tickets and a prize of Yaesu amateur radio equipment
to the winner. CQ Magazine will again treat this year's recipient to a
week at Spacecamp-Huntsville. Heil Sound Ltd. will be gifting this year's
winner with an additional prize. Last but by no means least; Amateur
Radio Newsline will present the winner with the official Young Ham of the
Year Award plaque which is underwritten by Dave Bell, W6AQ, of DBA
Entertainment in Hollywood, California.
Complete details, rules and a required nominating form in Adobe .pdf
format are available on our website at www.arnewsline.org/yhoty.
Nominating forms can also be obtained by sending a self addressed stamped
envelope to Amateur Radio Newsline Inc., 2013 Young Ham of the Year Award,
28197 Robin Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350.
Again the cutoff date for nominations is May 30, 2013. And please note
that all nominating forms and support materials become the property of the
Amateur Radio Newsline and cannot be returned. (ARNewslineT)
**
ENFORCEMENT: FORMER HAM ISSUED $10000 NAL FOR UNLICENSED OPERATION ON 20
METERS
The FCC has notified Jared A. Bruegman of Bolivar, Missouri, a $10,000
Notice of Apparent Liability. This for his alleged operating of an
unlicensed radio transmitter in the 20 meter band.
On December 18, 2012, in response to a complaint of interference to
amateur radio communications, agents from the Enforcement Bureau's Kansas
City Office monitored a male voice transmitting on 14.312 MHz. They used
direction finding to locate the source of the radio transmissions to an
antenna mounted on a pole next to a residence in Bolivar, Missouri.
The agents quickly determined that the signals on 14.312 MHz exceeded the
limits for operation under Part 15 of the Commission's rules and therefore
required a license. The Commission's records showed that no authorization
was issued to the address for operation of a radio transmitter on that
frequency at that location.
Immediately after locating the source of the signals the agents inspected
the unlicensed radio transmitter, which was located in a bedroom in the
residence. The FCC says that Jared Bruegman was the only person present
in the bedroom and the only male in the residence during the inspection.
At that time Bruegman admitted to the agents that he owned the radio
transmitter. The agents observed that the transmitter was turned on and
tuned to 14.311 MHz. Bruegman told the agents that he had no current
Commission licenses, but that he previously held an Amateur Radio license
with the call sign KC0IQN. Bruegman then told the agents he would remove
the microphone from his transmitter and only use it as a receiver.
On February 25th the FCC issued the $10,000 proposed fine to the former
ham. In doing so it noted that the evidence in this case is sufficient to
establish that Jared A. Bruegman violated Section 301 of the
Communications Act. He was given the usual 30 days to pay the amount in
full or to file an appeal. (FCC)
**
RADIO LAW: FCC TELLS STATIONS TO CHANGE EAS PASSWORDS
Several broadcast groups are taking precautions to ensure their emergency
alert units are secure. That's in the wake of someone hacking into a
station's Emergency Alert System or EAS encoder/decoder through its
connection to the Internet and programming a fake alert. One which the
device then automatically transmitted.
Soon after the incident the FCC issued an order telling stations that they
must change the passwords for their EAS encoders/decoders. This being
especially urgent if the devices are still set with the factory default
password.
As previously reported, the bogus alerts, which were initially broadcast
over TV stations in Montana and Michigan, warned viewers of zombie
attacks. The fake alerts occurred when someone knew or figured out the
default password of EAS equipment and inserted the fake message into the
EAS automatic forwarding system. (RW)
**
COMMUNICATIONS VANDALISM: LOCK GLUER HITS COLORADO SPRINGS TV STATION
A traffic reporter for Colorado Springs, Colorado station KXRM found he
couldn't get into the downtown studio on Monday morning March 4th. This
was because the locks on the building had been vandalized by filing them
with glue.
Police told KXRM that a substance had been placed in the locks causing
them to malfunction. The lock gluer also hit a Presbyterian church, the
El Paso Democratic Party offices, City Hall and the Colorado Springs
Independent newspaper.
Authorities say that they have identified a possible suspect despite the
downtown surveillance cameras not working at the time. (BCF)
**
RADIO BUSINESS: HAMMOND MANUFACTURING TO TAKE OVER DAHL TRANSFORMER LINE
A follow-up on our recent story concerning the decision by Harbach
Electronics to discontinue the manufacture of the Peter Dahl line of high
performance transformers. Transformers that are used in the design and
manufacture of many high power amplifiers around the world.
Late word is that Hammond Manufacturing of Cheektowaga, New York will be
taking over the Peter Dahl line of from Harbach. According to both
Harbach and Hammond, the two are working swiftly on the finalization of
the acquisition and that the transfer of Peter Dahl brand assets will take
place over the next few weeks.
Both Harbach and Hammond hope to have everything completed no later than
March 31st. Keep an eye on the Hammond website at www.hammfg.com for the
latest updates. (Hammond Mfg.)
**
RADIO BUSINESS: MOUSER ELECTRONICS SIGNS INTERNATIONAL DISTRIBUTION
AGREEMENT WITH COILCRAFT
Mouser Electronics, a name well known in the ham radio do it yourself
movement, has announced the signing of a new international distribution
agreement with Coilcraft, a leading magnetic component manufacturer,
across the regions of Europe, Asia, Mexico and South America. Through
this partnership, announced at Embedded World in Germany, Mouser is now
stocking a wide range of Coilcraft's magnetic and inductive products for
immediate shipment.
Coilcraft provides magnetic components including high-performance RF chip
inductors, power magnetics and filters in a variety of packages and a wide
range of values. Designer's kits are offered to help engineers learn the
capabilities of these high-performance inductors.
According to Mouser President and CEO Glenn Smith, this agreement with
Coilcraft helps further his company's commitment to providing the newest
products and technologies for design engineers from industry-leading
suppliers. Smith adds that Mouser and Coilcraft are looking forward to a
long-standing and successful partnership together. (Mouser Electronics,
Power Systems Newsletter)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: DARC HAMVENTION 2013
On the social scene, the 64th Lake Constance and the HAM RADIO 2013
Convention, both organized by Deutscher Amateur Radio Club will take place
from Friday, June 28th through Sunday, June 30th, 2013 in Friedrichshafen,
Germany. This event has long been considered Europe's premiere ham radio
gathering with attendees from around the world coming to take part.
One of the highlights of this years HAM RADIO gathering will be an
informal international meeting for representatives of IARU member
societies. It will be held at the Zeppelin Museum on Friday, June 28th.
Event planners say that they will provide a shuttle bus that will take
those attending from the exhibition halls to the museum.
If you are planning to attend from outside of Europe, the closest major
city to fly into would be Munich. From the United States it is served by
several major airlines including non-stop service from New York's JFK
International and Los Angeles International airports on Lufthansa and
United.
More information on HAM RADIO 2013 can be found in the German language at
www.hamradio-friedrichshafen.de. Planners say that they hope that you can
be there this year. (DARC, DF2OO)
**
HAM HAPPENINGS: THE SARL NATIONAL CONVENTION APRIL 26 - 28
The 2013 South African Radio League's National Convention and Annual
General meeting will be held April 26th to the 28th at the Sulla Via Venue
not far from Johannesburg. This years gathering will be hosted by the
West Rand Amateur Radio Club with Kenny Neville from West Rand Astronomy
Club as the featured guest speaker. If conditions are clear Neville's
talk may be followed by a sky gazing party. More information, further
program details and reservation forms should be on-line right now at will
be available on www.sarl.org.za. The planners hope to see many ham radio
operators there. (SARL)
**
WORLDBEAT: WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY 2013
World Amateur Radio Day is April 18th and according to the International
Amateur Radio Union that sponsors the event the theme this year is Amateur
Radio: Entering Its Second Century of Disaster Communications. Amateur
Radio Newsline's Cheryl Lasek, K9BIK, has the details:
--
According to the IARU announcement, the theme for 2013 of Amateur Radio:
Entering Its Second Century of Disaster Communications is an excellent
opportunity for amateur radio emergency communications groups to take
advantage of the event to highlight the role amateur radio plays in
disaster response.
Among the suggestions are for IARU member societies to arrange ham radio
demonstrations in public places such as parks or shopping areas. The IARU
says that such demonstrations in public areas usually generate inquiries
and questions from the public about amateur radio. It adds that this
makes it a great opportunity to attract new people to become members of
the ham radio community.
The IARU notes that in 2013, April 18th is a weekday but that should not
keep public activity from taking place either on the weekend before or
after that date. Also, if you plan on holding a public demonstration, the
IARU says not to forget to include some young people to show all ages are
a part of this growing world wide public service oriented hobby.
For the Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Cheryl Lasaek, K9BIK, in Zion,
Illinois.
--
More information on World Amateur Radio Day is on the web at www.iaru.org.
(IARU)
**
WORLDBEAT: BBC ACCUSES CHINA OF JAMMING ITS BROADCASTS
The BBC World Service says that its radio broadcasts in English are being
jammed in China, suggesting the Chinese authorities were behind the
disruption.
In a statement issued on Monday, February 24th the BBC said that it has
received reports that World Service English shortwave frequencies are
being jammed in China. It continued by stating that it strongly condemns
this action which is designed to disrupt audience's free access to news
and information.
China, which enforces restrictions on its domestic media, has been accused
by several foreign media distributors of trying to stop their news reports
reaching Chinese audiences. A duty officer at China's foreign ministry
had no immediate comment. (BBC)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: IARU ANNOUNCES FREQUENCIES FOR KOREAN CUBESAT OSSI
In ham radio space related news, the IARU amateur radio satellite
frequency coordination panel has announced the frequencies for the OSSI-1
CubeSat developed by Hojun Song DS1SBO. The 2 meter downlink will be on
145.980 MHz with an uplink and downlink on 437.525 MHz.
OSSI-1 is currently planned to launch on April 30th into a 575 kilometer
64.9 degree inclination orbit on a Soyuz-2-1b booster from the Baikonur
launch facility in Kazakhstan. Other satellites to be launched on this
mission include the Bion-M1, SOMP, BEESAT 2, BEESAT 3 and the Dove-2
satellites. (IARU Satellite Coordination)
**
HAM RADIO IN SPACE: VANDERBILT-AMSAT RADFXSAT CUBESAT SELECTED FOR NASA
ELANA PROGRAM
A joint satellite venture of AMSAT and Vanderbilt University has been
selected as one of the winning projects for the fourth round of their
CubeSat Launch Initiative.
AMSAT partnered with the Institute for Space and Defense Electronics at
Vanderbilt University to develop its winning proposal. The official name
of the project is RadFxSat and it was selected at priority 15 out of the
24 winners.
Project selection was based on technical feasibility and the assessed
merit for conducting technology demonstrations, education, and science
research. The selected projects are eligible for a free launch on NASA
Educational Launch of Nanosatellite missions as auxiliary payloads on
launches planned for 2014, 2015 and 2016. The 24 winning CubeSat
proposals came from universities, a Florida high school, non-profit
organizations and NASA field centers. (ANS)
**
RADIOSPORT: HOLYLAND CONTEST 2013 - APRIL 19 - 20
On the air, word that the 2013 Holyland Contest 2013 will be held from
2100z UTC on April 19th, and ends at 2100 UTC on April 20th. This year's
contest goal will be to have as many Israeli mobile stations activating
many different and rare squares for the "Holyland Award". Complete
contest details and last year's results are available at
tinyurl.com/holyland-contest-2013. (4Z4KX, IARC)
**
ON THE AIR: DL100OUI CELEBRATES 100 YEARS SINCE FIRST DL - US RADIO
CONTACT
And keep an ear open for the German special event callsign D-L-100-Oh-U-I
which will be on the air throughout 2013. This is in celebration of the
100th anniversary of the first commercial radio contact between that
nation and the United States from village of Eilvese near the city of
Hannover. OUI were the call letters of the German station at that time.
The US station was located in Tuckerton, New Jersey. QSL this one as
directed on the air. (Southgate)
**
DX
In DX, word that TA1HZ will be in Somalia on a humanitarian mission from
March 23rd to April 4th with the organization Yeryuzu Doktorlay. His
primary purpose is as a doctor and but also plans some on the air time
likely from the city of Mogadishu using the call T5TC. His operation will
be on the High Frequency bands using a Kenwood radio and a Windom antenna.
If you work him QSL to TA1HZ as per the details found in www.qrz.com.
OE1MWW will be active from the Maldives as 8Q7WK between March 9th to the
23rd. His operation will be holiday style on the High Frequency bands.
QSL via his home callsign.
DF8DX will be operational from Tanzania as 5H1DX from April 20th to the
28th. Late reports say that he will be active from different islands
including Pemba. QSL via his home call.
G3RWF will be on the air from Rwanda through March 12th likely usi8ng the
call sign 9X0NH. Activity will be on most High Frequency bands using
mainly CW with some SSB. Logs will be uploaded daily to Logbook of the
World. QSL via G3RWF.
F2FD is now active stroke HR5 from Honduras and should be there through
May 20th. He states that he will be active as much as possible on CW, SSB
and RTTY. QSL via F6AJA or Logbook of the World.
SM6CUK will be operational as SA6G/7 from Ven Island between June 10th and
the 17th. Activity will be holiday style on the HF bands. QSL via
SM6CUK, direct or via the bureau.
Lastly, G0VJG will be on the air S79VJG from the Seychelles between April
4th to the 16th. Activity will be on the 40 through 10 meters using SSB.
QSL via G4DFI.
**
THAT FINAL ITEM: MARCH 15TH EPISODE OF LAST MAN STANDING TO FEATURE HAM
RADIO
And finally this week, Friday, March 15th is the date that ABC will air an
episode of its hit situation comedy Last Man Standing that will involve
amateur radio.
The episode is titled The Fight. In it, central character Mike Baxters
daughter Mandy gets her cell phone taken away. She then uses Mikes home
shack and amateur radio to make friends over the airwaves.
The shows producer John Amodeo, NN6JA. He tells Newsline that while he
hopes amateur radio operators will enjoy watching, that they have to
remember the episode was written keeping in mind the shows 7 million
non-ham viewers who will be tuned in. Even so, he hopes that ham
radio-wise the story line might serve an even more important purpose;
--
Amodeo: "Episode 217 of Last Man Standing is written about ham radio, but
of coarse its written for the general public; so hams will probably notice
some inconsistencies or inaccuracies. But what's most important is that
non hams ask questions about ham radio and perhaps learn something about
ham radio; then we've accomplished something."
--
Last Man Standing stars Tim Allen as Mike Baxter, who holds the fictitious
call KA0XTT and has ham radio as his hobby. The show is produced by 20th
Century Fox Television for the ABC Television Network and airs on Friday
nights at 8 PM Eastern and Pacific and 7 Central. Check your local
listings for the ABC station that carries Last Man Standing in your area.
(ARNewslineT)
**
NEWSCAST CLOSE
With thanks to Alan Labs, AMSAT, the ARRL, the CGC Communicator, CQ
Magazine, the FCC, the Ohio Penn DX Bulletin, Radio Netherlands, Rain, the
RSGB, the Southgate News, TWiT-TV and Australia's WIA News, that's all
from the Amateur Radio NewslineT. Our e-mail address is newsline (at)
arnewsline (dot) org. More information is available at Amateur Radio
Newsline'sT only official website located at www.arnewsline.org. You can
also write to us or support us at Amateur Radio NewslineT, 28197 Robin
Avenue, Santa Clarita California, 91350
For now, with Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, at the editors' desk, I'm Skeeter
Nash, N5ASH, saying 73 and we thank you for listening.
Amateur Radio NewslineT is Copyright 2013. All rights reserved.
------------------------------------
R\%/itt, K5RXT
--- GoldED+/W32 1.1.5-31012
* Origin: Texas Lone-Star - Texan, American, USAian (1:387/22)
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