eHam.net News

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Bellbrook Man (W8LLY) Named District Emergency Coordinator:

Posted: 20 Dec 2016 04:19 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38278


BELLBROOK -- Bellbrook resident Fred Stone has been appointed the district
emergency coordinator (DEC) for District 3 of the Ohio Section of the
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES). Stone, whose amateur radio call
sign is W8LLY, will coordinate ARES activities in Champaign, Clark, Darke,
Greene, Logan, Miami, Montgomery and Preble counties. Stone had served as
an assistant district emergency coordinator under Bob Rhoades, whom he
replaces. Rhoades, who had served in a variety of local, district and state
emergency service positions, died in an automobile accident in November.
ARES consists of licensed amateurs who have voluntarily registered their
qualifications and equipment, with their local ARES leadership, for
auxiliary communication support in the public service when disaster
strikes. District 3 has more than 300 active amateur radio operators
participating in ARES. All ARES positions are strictly voluntary, complying
with the FCC requirement that amateur radio operators not receive any pay
for their services.


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WIA Members to Decide Composition of the Next Board:

Posted: 20 Dec 2016 04:18 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38277


Following the resignation of two directors, WIA members are to decide the
composition of the seven-member Board through the annual election process
now under way. In the ordinary course of events, Phil Wait VK2ASD would
have another year as a Director, but has agreed to end his term to enable
the membership to decide all positions. On Sunday 18 December, Directors
Paul Simmonds VK5PAS and Andrew Smith VK6AS tendered their resignations. In
addition, Treasurer Chris Hendry VK3PAT and Assistant Treasurer Jeff
Tubbenhauer VK5IU, also tendered their resignations. Remaining Directors
Phil Wait VK2ASD, Fred Swainston VK3DAC, Ewan McLeod VK4ERM, Roger Harrison
VK2ZRH, and Robert Broomhead VK3DN, will vacate their positions on the
Board at the next AGM. Your Board is fully committed to the principle that
the future leadership of the WIA shall be determined through the
transparent and democratic process, whereby people are encouraged to offer
themselves as candidates with selection process by way of a members' votes.
Allowing Board members to select and adopt short-term replacement board
members to fill the vacancies resulting from resignations is something the
current Board is opposed.


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DARPA Aims for Personal Mobile ULF Radio for Transmitting Devices:

Posted: 20 Dec 2016 04:17 PM PST
http://www.eham.net/articles/38276


A DARPA project could enable radio to be transmitted through water and
rock. Radio frequency signals hit veritable and literal walls when they
encounter materials like water, soil, and stone, which can block or
otherwise ruin those radio signals. This is why scuba buddies rely on sign
language and there are radio-dead zones inside tunnels and caves. With his
newly announced A Mechanically Based Antenna (AMEBA) effort, program
manager Troy Olsson of DARPA's Microsystems Technology Office is betting on
a little-exploited aspect of electromagnetic physics that could expand
wireless communication and data transfer into undersea, underground, and
other settings where such capabilities essentially have been absent. The
basis for these potential new abilities are ultra-low-frequency (ULF)
electromagnetic waves, ones between hundreds of hertz and 3 kilohertz
(KHz), which can penetrate some distance into media like water, soil, rock,
metal, and building materials. A nearby band of very-low-frequency (VLF)
signals (3 KHz to 30 KHz) opens additional communications possibilities
because for these wavelengths the atmospheric corridor between the Earth's
surface and the ionosphere -- the highest and electric-charge-rich portion
of the upper atmosphere -- behaves like a radio waveguide in which the
signals can propagate halfway around the planet. "If we are successful,
scuba divers would be able to use a ULF channel for low bit-rate
communications, like text messages, to communicate with each other or with
nearby submarines, ships, relay buoys, UAVs, and ground-based assets,
Through-ground communication with people in deep bunkers, mines, or caves
could also become possible," Olsson said. And because of that atmospheric
waveguide effect, VLF systems might ultimately enable direct
soldier-to-soldier text and voice communication across continents and
oceans.