eHam.net News

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Petaluman Shares Love of Skies, Safety:

Posted: 26 Jul 2016 06:20 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37258


On the western outskirts of Petaluma lies 1.3 acres of land that houses
several telescopes, an observatory with retracting roof, separate moon,
vegetable and flower gardens, a ham radio station with enhanced emergency
frequency antennae and a G-scale model train layout complete with water
features, landscaping, trestles and hundreds of feet of track. This is
where Eric Swanson, his wife of 47 years, Mary Ann, and the couple's dog,
Bess, make their home. The retired couple, he from the Department of Public
Health and she from a career in social work, have created a sanctuary-like
place that suits their post-retirement pursuits, which include fiber arts,
astronomy, gardening, ham radio, photography, woodworking and model trains.
Swanson, 75, is currently the secretary of Sonoma County's Astronomy
Society, a group that works to promote an interest in astronomy, with
efforts including annual presentations to middle schoolers when the skies
offer viewable events, such as a recent transit of Mercury across the face
of the sun or conjunctions of planets that are visible. It was a neighbor
who helped Swanson develop his ham radio skills and who taught him enough
so that he was able to earn his first license in 1965. He was later able to
deploy his radio skills his post at The Department of Public Health
Service, later becoming involved in the Auxiliary Communications Services,
which offers emergency preparedness support. He pursued enhancements
allowing him to become a part of the official emergency radio operators'
network and went on to launch a local official ham radio community in 1991.
Post-retirement, Swanson continues to aid emergency responders with
volunteer radio support and is a member of Sonoma County's Volunteers In
Prevention, a group that contributes to the South County framework disaster
response network that also provides training to assist responders. He
continues to participate with fire officials, most recently during the
illegal firework activity watch around the Fourth of July. "We're sort of a
hidden asset," he said of ham radio operators.


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Sun Blasts Out 2016's Strongest Flare (Video):

Posted: 26 Jul 2016 06:19 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37257


The sun fired off its strongest solar flare of 2016 during an active
weekend that saw three eruptions from the star's surface. The uptick in
solar activity occurred overnight on Friday and Saturday (July 22 and 23)
when the sun unleashed three relatively moderate solar flares, all of which
were captured on video by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory. While all
three were somewhat minor, they are the first substantial solar events in
months, NASA officials said in a statement. The first solar flare
registered as an M5.0 sun storm and peaked Friday night at 10:11 p.m. EDT
(0211 July 23 GMT). It was followed by a second, more-intense flare, which
peaked as an M7.5-class solar storm on Saturday at 1:16 a.m. EDT (0516
GMT). A third, M5.5-class flare peaked 15 minutes later, at 1:31 a.m. EDT
(0531 GMT)


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Ham Talk Live #24 -- Log Analysis NV9L:

Posted: 26 Jul 2016 01:54 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37256


Coming up Thursday at 9 pm Eastern on Ham Talk Live!
this week, Valerie Hotzfeld, NV9L, has rescheduled to
be here to talk DXing and Contesting! Val gave a
presentation on log analysis at Contest University this
year, and she is going to share some of her knowledge
with you and answer your DXing and contesting
questions - including how to analyze your own logs!


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Everything Ham Radio Podcast -- Mobile Radios:

Posted: 26 Jul 2016 01:56 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37254


Howdy everything, this is Curtis, host of the Everything
Ham Radio Podcast. In my latest episode, number 28, I did an
interview with Alan Applegate, K0BG about tips on
Mobile Radio Installations. It is packed full of information
and I wanted to share it with everyone to make sure that
this GREAT information reached as many people as
possible!