eHam.net News

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WIA Submission to ACMA on High Power Trial:

Posted: 17 May 2013 05:04 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/30198


The WIA has lodged a submission to the ACMA concerning the High Power
Trial. The WIA submission is based on responses received from trial
participants following a call for information, and also on its own
observations. The WIA's submission (below) notes that the trial appears to
have gone very well, with licensees generally having a sound understanding
of the self-assessment process and the use of EMR assessment tools. The WIA
also notes that it is not aware of any incidences of interference to other
spectrum users, or an increase in interference to other Radio Amateurs, or
an increase in the noise floor on affected amateur bands. Many responders
noted that the advantage of the higher power was most evident in
contesting, when many stations are calling on the same frequency and all at
once, and the relatively small 3-4 decibel increase in radiated power (from
400W pX to 1kW pX) can make all the difference in being heard.


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Peter Brown, VK4PJ (SK):

Posted: 17 May 2013 05:03 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/30197


Peter Brown became a silent key on the 8th of May 2013 - He had only
recently chalked up the century - he was 100 years old. Peter was a WIA
stalwart, being the national contest manager during the 70~80s. He was
behind the introduction of the WIA Contest Trophy, one that was before its
time - these days with results of contests able to be produced much more
quickly the trophy has been reintroduced in 2012/13 a fitting tribute to
his love of the hobby. The trophy bears his name and callsign and will be
awarded at the WIA AGM in Perth this year after an absence of some 25
years. It is believed by his friends that Peter was first licensed in the
early 1950's. There is evidence that he was issued with Amateur Radio
licence QA.244 on 12 May 1963 so we can say with some certainty that he has
been licensed for well over 50 years.


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Region Tunes in to Hamvention:

Posted: 17 May 2013 05:02 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/30196


DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) - Nearly 25,000 amateur radio operators from around the
world are expected at the 62nd Annual Dayton Hamvention May 17-19 at the
Hara Complex.


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Smartphone Satellites Snap Some Amazing Photos:

Posted: 17 May 2013 05:01 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/30195


Three consumer smartphones that were sent into orbit around Earth last
month snapped some incredible photos of our planet from space. The images
were snitched together as part of NASA's PhoneSat initiative, which aims to
show how existing technology could be incorporated into powerful low-cost
satellites. Named Alexander, Graham and Bell, the trio of tiny cube-shaped
PhoneSats was launched into orbit during the inaugural test flight of
Orbital Sciences Corp.'s Antares rocket on April 21. Each PhoneSat had a
smartphone for a brain. Alexander and Graham : both PhoneSat 1.0s : were
battery-powered and carried a Nexus One smartphone running Goggle's Android
operating system. Bell was a more advanced PhoneSat 2.0, built around a
Nexus S smartphone running on Android. The nanosatellite was also outfitted
with solar panels and a two-way radio that allowed engineers to control the
satellite from the ground. What's perhaps most remarkable is that they were
cheap. The three PhoneSats cost just $3,500 to $7,000 each; most satellites
can cost upwards of $1 million. As part of this demonstration, the
smarthphones' cameras captured photos of Earth and converted them into
image-data "packets" to be beamed back on the amateur radio spectrum. These
packets were then decoded and put together by the PhoneSat team and amateur
ham radio operators.


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Fallout from Huge Solar Flare to Sideswipe Earth:

Posted: 17 May 2013 05:01 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/30194


A huge explosion on the sun will deal Earth a glancing blow Friday but
should not pose a threat to the planet, scientists say. The sun storm
erupted late Tuesday during a powerful solar flare -- the fourth unleashed
by a single sunspot in just 48 hours -- and hurled a massive cloud of
charged particles out into space at millions of miles an hour. Such
eruptions -- known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs -- can wreak havoc if
they hit Earth squarely, temporarily disrupting GPS navigation, satellite
communications and power grids. But this one isn't aimed directly at us, so
there's no cause for alarm, experts say.