eHam.net News
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ISS CubeSat Deployment, 'Ham Video' Commissioning Postponed:
Posted: 07 Feb 2014 04:10 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31700
Two Amateur Radio-related activities aboard the International Space
Station have been postponed. The deployment of Amateur Radio
CubeSats planned for February 6 has been put off, and a new date has
not yet been announced. NASA reported that astronaut Koichi Wakata,
KC5ZTA, this week installed a deployer mechanism that will be used
in concert with the Kibo robotic arm to release the first set of
CubeSats. He ran into difficulty last week installing some related
electronics, delaying the CubeSat deployments. NASA now wants to
make sure the CubeSats do not fall into the intended orbit of the
Global Precipitation Measurement satellite, which goes into space
later this month.
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Propagation Forecast Bulletin #6 de K7RA:
Posted: 07 Feb 2014 04:09 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31699
Solar activity surged this week, with average daily sunspot numbers
increasing nearly 55 points from 101.4 to 156.3. Average daily solar
flux rose nearly 38 points from 142.9 to 180.4. These increases
compare the recent period, January 30 through February 5, with the
previous seven days.
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Boy Scouts Show Off Skills:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 04:13 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31698
If a natural disaster knocks out cellphone service across the Central
Coast, Evan Beard will be ready to help coordinate emergency services and
spread information. "The only way of communication (would be) either by
word, by foot or by ham radio operators because they have their own
personal antennas," he said. Beard, a member of Boy Scout Troop 2103 based
in Lompoc, was on hand Saturday at the Santa Maria Town Center to show off
homemade amateur radio equipment to passers-by as part of the annual
Scout-O-Rama. The theme for this year's event, which included more than 30
troops in the Los Padres Council in Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo
counties, was "Mad Science Saturday." Rick TerBorch, the Los Padres Council
commissioner, said the purpose of the annual event is to show members of
the public the skills youths learn in Boy Scouts and its affiliate
organizations. "If you look at what Scouting's all about, Scouting's about
the development of character, citizenship and moral and physical fitness
and \& leadership in our youth," TerBorch said.
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Think You Can Hear Berkeley Police Online? Think Again:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 04:12 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31697
In recent months, Berkeleyside has heard from multiple residents who still
believe they can listen to what's happening with local police calls on
their phones or online. Said one, in response to an email alert that went
out to a neighborhood group in January, which listed a previously active
online channel as a good resource: "I have \& been tuned into the internet
scanner feed given out in the email. I have not heard one thing. Perhaps I
have not tuned in and listened long enough to hear any calls come over the
airways." Other readers have said they use a cell phone app to tune in, or
suggested various web links, in response to crime stories Berkeleyside has
posted. Wrote one on Facebook last year: "Anyone can listen in to the BPD
and BFD radio feeds," which was followed by a link to a site that hosts
scanner chatter. But, in fact, Berkeley frequencies are now part of a
regional "trunked" system, which means members of the public can no longer
hear them via the means that may be easiest. (Very limited Berkeley Fire
Department broadcasts are still available online, but do not represent all
the department's traffic.) In December, Berkeleyside made the $400+
investment to purchase a scanner to monitor local frequencies to help track
important public safety incidents for our readers. It's already led to
exclusive reports on several local crime stories. Previously, in addition
to online and cellphone access, a much cheaper scanner had been sufficient
to hear what was going on with local public safety agencies. Under the new
system, those options became obsolete.
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ARNewsline Report 1904 -- Feb 7 2014:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 04:13 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31696
The following is a QST. The Dayton
Hamvention announces its 2014 award winners;
the FCC opens a short window to comment on
WRC 2015 preparations; an FCC reform measure
is introduced in the United States Senate; a
think-tank says its time to merge the Federal
Trade Commission with the FCC; A Russian
Special Events Station celebrates the 2014
Winter Olympics and a new ham radio video
podcast will be coming soon from the UK. All
this and more on Amateur Radio Newsline
report number 1904 coming your way right now:
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DX News -- ARRL DX Bulletin #6:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:48 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31695
This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by
NC1L, QRZ DX, the Weekly DX, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The
Daily DX, DXNL, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest
Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all.
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Just Ahead In Radiosport:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:47 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31694
Just Ahead In Radiosport:
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Dayton Hamvention Announces 2014 Award Winners:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:47 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31693
Two radio amateurs with close ARRL ties are among the winners of
Dayton Hamvention 2014 awards. Hamvention will honor three Amateur
Radio operators and one ham radio club for their "significant
contributions to the Amateur Radio Service" when the annual, 3 day
gathering gets underway May 16.
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ARRL Offering Three Teachers Institute Sessions in 2014:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:46 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31692
The ARRL Education and Technology Program (ETP) will offer three
Teachers Institute (TI) sessions this year. The ETP is aimed at
preparing teachers to meet the "STEM Challenge" -- introducing science,
technology, engineering, and mathematics in their classrooms. Two
sessions of the basic program (TI-1), which will provide an
introduction to wireless technology, and one session of the advanced
program (TI-2), which will focus on remote sensing and data gathering
are planned for this summer. Educators must complete the basic program
before taking the advanced session.
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Slovenian Radio Amateurs Fill Communication Gap In Wake Of Severe Weather:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:46 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31691
Amateur Radio operators in Slovenia are helping to support
communication after the Eastern European nation was hit by extreme
winter weather that has included heavy snow and sleet, and accompanying
ice damage to power and telecommunications lines -- not to mention to
Amateur Radio antennas. Accumulated ice and snow took down power lines
and even toppled support towers, cutting the electrical supply to a
reported 25 percent of households, according to the European Union.
Continued bad weather has complicated repairs to the power grid,
prompting Slovenia to ask the European Union to help by providing
mobile generators.
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Radio Amateurs Receive Rosetta Spacecraft Signals From Deep Space:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:45 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31690
James Miller, G3RUH, was among a handful of Amateur Radio operators
to receive the X band signal January 21 from the European Space
Agency's Rosetta
spacecraft,
some 500 million miles from Earth. Miller used the 20 meter dish at the
Bochum Amateur Radio facility in Germany, run by AMSAT-DL and IUZ
Bochum Observatory.
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School Club Roundup is February 10-14!
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:45 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31689
The "Winter/Spring Term" School Club Roundup gets underway Monday,
February 10 at 1300 UTC, and continues through Friday, February 14, at
2359 UTC. Stations may operate no more than 6 hours in any 24 hour
period (up to a maximum of 24 hours).
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ARRL Field Day Information Packet now Available:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:45 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31688
The 2014 Field Day packet is now available
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ARRL Centennial Convention Registration is Open!
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:44 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31687
Registration now is open for the ARRL National Convention, Thursday, July
17, through Saturday July 19, at the Connecticut Convention Center, to
celebrate 100 years of the ARRL.
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W1AW Centennial Operations Now in Georgia and Hawaii:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:43 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31686
The ARRL Centennial "W1AW WAS"
operations that are taking place throughout 2014 from each of the 50
states are in Georgia (W1AW/4) and Hawaii (W1AW/KH6) until February 12
(UTC), when they will shift to California (W1AW/6) and Wisconsin
(W1AW/9).
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A Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRL:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:43 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31685
The "European War" began on July 28, 1914, and the United States
entered the renamed "World War" on April 5, 1917. The three American
military services -- the Navy, the Army, and the Army Air Service --
quickly realized how ill prepared they were in the area of
communication, having neither enough operators nor enough equipment to
wage a modern war.
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Fatal West Virginia Tower Collapse Takes Out Ham Radio Repeaters:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:41 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31684
The collapse of two radio towers in North-Central West Virginia on
February 1 resulted in three deaths and injuries to two individuals.
The tragedy also resulted in the loss of three Amateur Radio repeaters
belonging to the Stonewall Jackson Amateur Radio Association (SJARA) linked
repeater system, which were available
to assist with emergency and disaster communication. Richard Wilt,
K8TPH, reported that one tower went down, killing two workers on the
300 foot structure and taking down a second, shorter tower. And
emergency responder died after being struck by falling debris. Two
other tower workers suffered minor injuries.
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Past ARRL Foundation Directors Conferred with Emeritus Status:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:42 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31683
Two past members of the ARRL Foundation Board of Directors have been
honored with emeritus status. Named as a Director Emeritus were Thomas
W. Comstock, N5TC, who served on the ARRL Foundation Board from 1991 until
2012 and chaired the Scholarship
Committee, and Eugene H. Hastings, W1VRK, who served on the ARRL
Foundation Board from 1993 until 2014 and was a member of the
Scholarship and Proposals Committees.
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Indianapolis Entrepreneur, Politician, Publisher Beurt Servaas, W9WVO, (SK)
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:41 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31682
Beurt SerVaas, W9WVO, of Indianapolis, Indiana, died February 2. He
was 94. Known in his home city as the politician who revamped
Indianapolis and Marion County politics, he presided over the
City-County Council for three decades. Outside of Indianapolis
politics, though, he may be best remembered as the person whose
publishing company rescued The Saturday Evening Post magazine in the
1970s and moved it to Indianapolis.
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In Brief:
Posted: 06 Feb 2014 08:40 AM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/31681
Cuba's 5 MHz Band Comes with Strings Attached: Cuba's Ministry of
Communications (ACS) recently granted radio amateurs on the island nation a
12 kHz wide band at 5 MHz, --
5418 to 5430 kHz -- rather than a channelized system.