eHam.net News for Wednesday 15 August 2012
 

eHam.net News

///////////////////////////////////////////
New Research Could Help Predict Solar Storms:

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 05:23 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/28819


Predicting solar flares still remains a hit-or-miss task for scientists,
but new research may shed more light on helping to predict just when the
events could occur. Researchers discovered a new method to predict solar
flares more than a day before they occur, which could help provide advanced
warnings to protect satellites, power grids and astronauts. As the sun
transitions into "solar maximum" next year, more solar activity is expected
to take place. Some even worry about a massive solar storm that could even
lead to wide-scale blackouts. The prediction system works by measuring
differences in gamma radiation emitted when atoms in radioactive
elements "decay," or lose energy. This decay rate is believed to be
constant, but recent findings challenge that theory. The new technique is
based on a hypothesis that radioactive decay rates are influenced by solar
activity. This influence can wax and wane due to seasonal changes in the
Earth's distance from the sun and also during solar flares. The researchers
have been examining similar variations in decay rates before solar flares,
as well as those resulting from Earth's orbit around the sun and changes in
solar rotation and activity. "It's the first time the same isotope has been
used in two different experiments at two different labs, and it showed
basically the same effect," Ephraim Fischbach, a Purdue University
professor of physics, said in a prepared statement.


///////////////////////////////////////////
RSGB: Contest General Rules Proposals:

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 05:23 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/28818


The RSGB is conducting a "Litmus Test" consultation into Contest General
Rules proposals.
The consultation is open to all RSGB members. The consultation commenced on
10 August 2012 and will close at 23.59 BST on 16 September 2012. A similar
process to our other Litmus Tests will be adopted whereby the discussion
will be facilitated by moderators Ian Pawson, G0FCT and Don Field, G3XTT
who additionally have the task of calling the consensus view a week or so
before the end of the period.


///////////////////////////////////////////
Vanity Call Sign Fee to Increase September 4:

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 02:09 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/28817


On August 3, the FCC announced via a Final Rule in the Federal
Register that the cost of an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will
increase 80 cents, from $14.20 to $15. The new fees take effect 30
days after publication, making September 4, 2012, the first day the
new fee is in effect. Earlier this year, the FCC released a Notice
of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (NPRM), seeking to raise the fee
for Amateur Radio vanity call signs.


///////////////////////////////////////////
James Millsap, WB4NWS, Appointed Vice Director of Southeastern Division:

Posted: 14 Aug 2012 01:38 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/28816


ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, has appointed James Millsap,
WB4NWS, of Acworth, Georgia to the position of ARRL Southeastern
Division Vice Director, effective August 1, 2012. Current Vice
Director Andrea Hartlage, KG4IUM, has resigned because she has
accepted a job outside of the Division. Millsap's appointment runs
until noon January 1, 2014.