eHam.net News

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Space Station Astronauts Ham It Up to Inspire Student Scientists:

Posted: 11 Mar 2016 04:04 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/36350


On Thursday, March 10, 2016 astronauts on the International Space Station
logged their 1,000th educational contact with the ground. NASA astronaut
Tim Kopra answered questions posed by the North Dakota Space Grant
Consortium in Grand Forks, North Dakota. No matter how many times it
happens, talking directly with someone orbiting above the Earth remains a
thrill for students. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) works through an international consortium of amateur radio
organizations and space agencies in the United States, Russia, Canada,
Japan and Europe. Amateur, or ham, radio operators set up hardware on the
ground and call NA1SS, the space station's radio call sign. The suspense is
palpable as those on the ground await a reply from space. A few students
prepare and ask questions while hundreds of others, along with teachers,
parents and members of the community, listen in from classrooms or
auditoriums. The overall goal of this long-running experiment is to
interest young people in mathematics and science, and inspire the next
generation of explorers. Crew members typically answer from 10 to 20
questions. These frequently touch on current research and life aboard the
station, along with a wide variety of topics from emergencies, whether a
human heart beats faster or slower in space, how food is stored on the
station, whether astronauts ever get fresh fruit and vegetables, and what
returning to Earth is like.


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WWII Code-Breaker Honored After 71 Years:

Posted: 11 Mar 2016 04:03 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/36349


Good things come to those who wait, the old proverb says. Theo "Millicent"
Hopkinson has been waiting 71 years for acknowledgment of her contribution
to Britain's war effort. It finally arrived Friday. Hopkinson, 89, spent
time decoding Nazi radio messages during the war. She worked at Hanslope
Park, a facility closely connected with Bletchley Park, the top secret site
made famous in the movie Imitation Game. The work was so hush-hush, those
who worked at Bletchley and Hanslope signed the Official Secrets Act, which
bound them to secrecy for 30 years. After the war, most of them simply
returned to modest lives and the enormous contribution they made towards
ending the war was largely forgotten. Their friends, neighbours -- even
family -- had no clue what these brilliant mathematicians and scientists
had done. They were part of an organization called the Government Code and
Cypher School, which studied and devised methods to enable Allied forces to
decipher secure enemy military codes and ciphers. Three years ago, the
British government decided to reward these forgotten heroes with the
Bletchley Medal. "It's a great honour," the still sprightly Hopkinson told
me before the ceremony and lunch. She was only 17 when she joined the army.


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The Big 'Secret' to Successful DXing:

Posted: 11 Mar 2016 01:56 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/36348


Jim Heath, W6LG, has launched a new video series about DXing. He should
know about the subject -- he's been working DX on 20-meters with great
success for over 50 years. "It doesn't take a huge station to work DX, and
it doesn't take a lot of money," Heath says. "You can have a lot of fun
with a very modest station." He says that one key to success is not getting
caught up following the crowd. "The skill is not getting onto a DX net and
putting your call sign in and waiting for your turn to work a guy in Japan.
That's not working DX -- that's being spoon-fed DX," he says. "If you're
new to DXing, go for the easy countries: the guys who are calling CQ." Most
people who have real success working DX do a lot more listening than
talking. "A DXer listens, listens, and listens some more and learns about
propagation and knows when the band is going to open to certain parts of
the world," he says.