eHam.net News

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Propagation Forecast Bulletin #37 de K7RA:

Posted: 09 Sep 2016 06:23 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37521


Compared to the last reporting week, this week (September 1-7)
average daily sunspot numbers were down, solar flux increased, and
geomagnetic indices were much more active.


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Old Communication Style New to Town:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 05:27 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37520


Move over fiber optics Internet and cell phones, there is a new
communication style in town called ham radio. Considered safe and reliable
channels of communications, ham equipment and operators are experiencing
resurgence in the U.S. and Navasota. Homeland Security has been part of the
reason for the regrowth of an old communication technique. The radios use
bands of air waves for communications, primarily used during disasters and
military operations, but also as a means to connect to others around the
world. The military has its own restricted band, but other band frequencies
are open to licensed ham operators for transmission, and to the general
public for listening. The Grimes County Amateur Radio Group is new in town,
and comprised of a group that meets the third Saturday of the month at 10
a.m. at the Navasota Fire Department, 1500 S. La Salle St. in town. The
group and its members are also reaching out to groups and citizens in the
community who may be interested in joining the club or becoming ham
operators.


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Library to Make Contact with International Space Station on Friday:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 05:27 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37519


If you've ever wondered what it's like to eat and/or use the restroom in
zero gravity, you likely won't find out Friday, when the Lawrence Public
Library is scheduled to make contact via ham radio with the International
Space Station. Since confirming the date with ARISS (Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station) officials last month, the library has received
dozens of space-centric questions from the curious public, eventually
narrowing the inquiries down to just 20. A few lucky teens will be able to
pose those questions to Japanese astronaut Takuya Onishi starting at 11:25
a.m. Friday in the library auditorium, 707 Vermont St. Turns out, a lot of
people are interested in the dietary and bathroom habits of astronauts
serving on the space station, said Miriam Wallen, the Lawrence Public
Library's Teen Zone librarian. Because those questions are so frequently
asked and relatively easy to find through a bit of online searching, the
library already posted answers on Facebook. And then there's the issue of
time. The chat, which is being facilitated through the Douglas County
Amateur Radio Club, will happen over the course of just 10 minutes
-- "that's the time it takes the Space Station to go from horizon to
horizon above us," Wallen said. "It's completely dependent on radio
technology," she added. "What we're going to be doing is the Radio Club has
built a special antenna that will be tracking the space station and
actually turning with it as it passes overhead." The program, which is
overseen by NASA and several foreign space agencies in addition to an
international consortium of amateur radio organizations, is open to schools
and other educational institutions worldwide.


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Hamfest Gathers Ham Radio Enthusiasts at Saratoga County Fairgrounds:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 05:26 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37518


Saratoga County Amateur Radio Association will hosts its 31st annual
Hamfest 2016 on Sunday, Sept. 11, at Saratoga County Fairgrounds, 162
Prospect St., Ballston Spa. The gates open at 7 a.m. for the event that
will include hourly demonstrations of the latest accessories for ham radios
as well as food and vendors. The day concludes about 2 p.m.


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Ham Radio Club Hosts 9/11 Memorial Station Saturday at Camp Blanding:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 05:25 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37517


To commemorate the 15th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist
attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City, the Pentagon in
Washington and an airliner over Virginia, the Clay County Amateur Radio
Emergency Service and Orange Park Amateur Radio Club will operate
a "special event station" 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Camp Blanding, 5629
W. Florida 16 in Starke. The event memorializes those who lost their lives
that day and coincides with memorial activities at Camp Blanding.
The "special event station" (Amateur Call Sign N4G) will contact amateur
radio operators throughout the world. Operators who successfully contact
the special event station via radio receive a certificate commemorating the
event.


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Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2028, Sept. 9, 2016:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 05:25 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37516


The following is a QST. Licensing changes in Europe permit more hams to
work across borders. In Australia, a special Field Day marks a 60-year
milestone. Scouts prepare for Jamboree On The Air -- and we offer a special
tribute to a Silent Key who nurtured a generation of young amateurs. All
this and more in Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2028 coming your way right
now.


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DX News -- ARRL DX Bulletin #37:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:14 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37515


This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by
N4RG, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, DXNL,
Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web
sites. Thanks to all.


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Just Ahead In Radiosport:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:14 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37514


Just Ahead In Radiosport:


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Amateur Radio Volunteers on US East Coast Were Ready for Hermine:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:14 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37513


Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and weather-spotting volunteers
kept close watch on the progress of Tropical Storm Hermine as it made
its way up the US Eastern Seaboard over the Labor Day weekend. The
storm did most of its damage as a category 1 hurricane, after making
landfall along Florida's northern Gulf Coast. Some strengthening was
forecast after the center subsequently moved offshore again, after
passing over Georgia, but Hermine was downgraded to a tropical storm on
September 3, causing no significant weather problems.


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SpaceX Falcon 9 Failure Prompts Postponement of Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:14 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37512


As a consequence of the September 1 explosion of a SpaceX Falcon 9
launch vehicle during a "static fire" test, AMSAT has announced that the
planned integration of
Fox-1Cliff and Fox-1D on the maiden voyage of the Spaceflight SHERPA
platform would be postponed. AMSAT said the impact of the incident on
the launch date is unknown at this time, however. Fox-1C and Fox-1D are
scheduled to launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 between September 1 and
November 30, and, if integration is rescheduled, they still could
launch within that time frame.


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More Countries Act on 60 Meter Amateur Allocations:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:11 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37511


Belarus and Latvia are among the latest countries to open Amateur Radio
bands at 5 MHz. The Belarus Federation of Amateur Radio and
Radiosportsmen (BFRR) announced recently that radio
amateurs there now have access to a new contiguous 15-kilohertz 60
meter band, consistent with the consensus reached at World
Radiocommunication Conference 2015 (WRC-15). Class A licensees in
Belarus may operate on 5351.5-5366.5 kHz on CW, SSB, and digital modes,
on a secondary basis with a maximum output power of 50 W. In Latvia,
radio amateurs also are now permitted to use 5351.5-5366.5 kHz, with a
maximum power output of 15 W EIRP. (Some Latvian hams now may also
operate on the new 630 meter band, 472-479 kHz, with a power of 1 W
EIRP and a transmitted signal bandwidth no greater than 800 Hz.)


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The Doctor Will See You Now!

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:10 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37510


"Coaxial Connectors" is the topic of the latest episode of the "ARRL
The Doctor is In" podcast. Listen...and
learn!


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National Parks On the Air Update:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:08 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37509


As National Parks on the Air (NPOTA)
participants make their contacts with stations operating from the more
than 480 eligible NPS units, special attention is paid to logging the
59 bona fide National Parks. In order to qualify for the National Parks
Honor Roll certificate, Chasers must work 75 percent of the 59 National
Park Service units activated during 2016. So far, 55 of the 59 National
Parks have been visited by NPOTA Activators.


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Gold! NPOTA Activation Set from Alaska's Klondike Gold Rush National Park:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:10 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37508


Mark Bowers, VY1MAB, from Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, will activate
the Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park (HP21), for the National
Parks on
the Air (NPOTA) program. A storm has forced
postponement of his trip until Saturday and Sunday, September 17 and
18.


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ISS Expedition 48 Commander, KD5TVQ, Breaks Time-On-Station Record:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:09 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37507


NASA astronaut and International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 48
Commander Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, and two of his space station crewmates
returned safely to Earth this week, following Williams' US
record-breaking mission aboard the ISS. Williams, Oleg Skripochka,
RN3FU, and Alexey Ovchinin landed in a Soyuz TMA-20M transporter early
on September 7 in Kazakhstan. Now with four space missions to his
credit, Williams has logged 534 days in space, making him first on the
all-time NASA astronaut list in terms of time on station. Skripochka
has 331 days in space on two flights, while Ovchinin spent 172 days in
space on his first mission.


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ARRL September VHF Contest is September 10-12:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:08 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37506


The ARRL September VHF Contest gets
under way on Saturday, September 10, at 1800 UTC and wraps up on
Monday, September 12, at 0259 UTC. This annual event provides an
opportunity for seasoned contesters and newcomers alike to experience
contesting on the VHF and UHF bands. The higher you go, the greater the
point value of contacts! The goal is to contact as many different
stations in as many 2 A: 1 grid squares as possible on frequencies above
50 MHz while operating from home, in the field, or as a "rover" --
traveling from grid square to grid square to hand out contacts.


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Search is On for Illegal 10 Meter GPS Buoys:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:07 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37505


Radio amateurs in Portugal this summer intensified their search for GPS
buoys that are illegally operating -- and intruding -- on 10 meters. A
recent International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 Monitoring System
(IARUMS-R1) report indicated that one such
buoy was operating 24/7 on 28.100 MHz, using F1B mode (RTTY), 51 baud,
270 Hz shift. IARUMS-R1 also has posted a lengthy and growing list
of intruding driftnet
fisheries buoys, transmitting CW in various parts of 10 meters. A group
of Portuguese radio amateurs has volunteered to identify the location
of GPS buoy clusters that have been transmitting "for years" on 10
meters, an exclusive Amateur Radio allocation.


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'Frequency Crunch' is ARRL/TAPR Digital Conference Seminar Topic:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 10:07 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37504


"Spectrum (It's the frequency crunch for real)" will be the Sunday
Seminar topic at the ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC)
September 16-18 in St Petersburg, Florida.
Michelle Thompson, W5NYV, and Bob McGwier, N4HY, will headline the
tutorial.


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NASA's CubeSat Launch Initiative Opens Space to Educators, Nonprofits:

Posted: 08 Sep 2016 09:58 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/37503


NASA is soliciting another round of CubeSat Launch Initiative (CSLI)
applications. The agency is inviting accredited education institutions,
nonprofit organizations, and NASA centers to join the adventure and
challenge of space while helping it to achieve its exploration goals.
Many research CubeSats launched as part of the CSLI have carried
Amateur Radio payloads. Applications are due by November 22.