eHam.net News

///////////////////////////////////////////
Possible New Club Prepares for Natural Disasters:

Posted: 24 Apr 2016 06:03 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/36640


In preparation for a major earthquake that's historically overdue in the
Pacific Northwest, Mt. Hood staff members Jeff Sperley and Steve Konrad are
looking to take safety measures to improve communication and lessen panic
when the event occurs. Sperley and Konrad are two members of a community
that have worked with amateur radio in the past. They want to use their
expertise and launch a new club at MHCC to help students to learn how to
use a ham radio and how to communicate in the most direct way during a
major natural disaster. Phone lines are one of the first things to go down,
since everyone is trying to make a call out to family or friends -- and the
Internet capability on electronics is also extremely fragile. "Ham radio
started as an extension back in the early 1900s," explained Konrad,
training manager for Multnomah County Amateur Radio Emergency Services and
a Public Safety officer at MHCC. "People used to retire out of the military
with ham radio experience and they started to identify those who weren't in
the military as 'amateur' radio operators." The hobby allows users to speak
to other ham radio operators around the world, using wireless signals. They
can to speak to anyone with a receiver/handset, as well as contacting the
International Space Station. Amateur radio has reliably allowed contact
during major emergencies, including hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes.


///////////////////////////////////////////
Earth's 'Magnetosphere' Collapsed in Space Today for Two+ Hours!

Posted: 24 Apr 2016 06:02 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/36639


A stunning and terrifying event has taken place in space surrounding our
planet; for two hours today, earth's "Magnetosphere" COLLAPSED around the
entire planet! The magnetosphere is what protects earth from solar winds
and some radiation. Deep within the Earth, a fierce molten core is
generating a magnetic field capable of defending our planet against
devastating solar winds. The protective field, called the "magnetosphere"
extends thousands of miles into space and its magnetism affects everything
from global communication to animal migration and weather patterns. The
magnetosphere is the region of space surrounding Earth where the dominant
magnetic field is the magnetic field of Earth, rather than the magnetic
field of interplanetary space. The magnetosphere is formed by the
interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetic field. This magnetic
field, so important to life on Earth, has weakened by 15 per cent over the
last 200 years. And this, scientists think, could be a sign that the
Earth's poles are about to flip. This morning at 01:37:05 eastern US Time,
which is 05:37:05 UTC, satellites from the NASA Space Weather Prediction
Center detected a complete collapse of earth's magnetosphere! It simply
vanished for just over two hours, resuming as normal around 03:39:51
eastern US time, which is 07:39:51 UTC.


///////////////////////////////////////////
Anderson Radio Club Celebrates 50th Anniversary:

Posted: 23 Apr 2016 05:27 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/36638


Anderson County Emergency Services Deputy Director Matthew Littleton is an
amateur radio operator and so is his son. And his father, James Littleton,
is president of the Anderson Radio Club. Speaking at the club's 50th
anniversary celebration on Saturday, Matthew Littleton said the emergence
of cellphones and the Internet have not diminished the importance of
amateur radio. "In the last couple of years I've seen a resurgence in
amateur radio because we are beginning to realize how vulnerable things
are, how vulnerable systems are," he said. "It doesn't take a 9/11 event to
cause us problems," said Littleton, recalling how a lighting strike in 2011
caused catastrophic damage to Anderson County's emergency dispatch center.
Anderson County Sheriff John Skipper expressed appreciation for the club's
members at Saturday's celebration, which was held at the main branch of the
county library in Anderson. "When things go bad, we are going to revert
back to old school -- the basics of how we communicate," Skipper said. "We
have to have those folks like you that can step up and communicate across
the world if we have to."