During a thorough review of space shuttle Discovery's readiness for flight, NASA managers decided Friday that more data and possible testing are required before launching the STS-119 mission to the International Space Station.
Engineering teams have been working to identify what caused damage to a flow control valve on shuttle Endeavour during its November 2008 flight.
"We need to complete more work to have a better understanding before flying," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations at NASA Headquarters in Washington who chaired Friday's Flight Readiness Review. "We were not driven by schedule pressure and did the right thing. When we fly, we want to do so with full confidence."
The shuttle has three flow control valves that channel gaseous hydrogen from the main engines to the external fuel tank. Teams also have tried to determine the consequences if a valve piece were to break off and strike part of the shuttle and external fuel tank.
The Space Shuttle Program has been asked to develop a plan to inspect additional valves similar to those installed on Discovery. This plan will be reviewed during a meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 25. Afterward, the program may consider setting a new target launch date.
The big DX news over the past week has been the Desecheo Island operation, call sign K5D. As the 3rd most needed DXCC entity for Europeans, Desecheo has been much sought after. At the time of writing, K5D has more than 60,000 QSOs in the log, including many EI stations. EIs have been logged on all bands from 15 metres to top band. The DXpedition continues for another few days.
Logs have been uploaded and can be checked at www.logsearch.de follow the link to the K5D log.
Radio Rallies
Rallies during March include the Radio Hobbies and Electronics Fair in the Limerick Radisson SAS Hotel on Sunday 8th March, The Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society Rally in Hillsborough, Co. Down on Saturday 14th March and the Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club Rally in Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh on Sunday 29th March.
The big event in April is the IRTS AGM Weekend, on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th April. This takes place in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone. Weekend events include the IRTS Annual Dinner, a Radio Rally and the IRTS Annual General Meeting.
More details of these events are also available on the IRTS web site at www.irts.ie/rallies
IRTS / COMREG MEETING
A very constructive meeting took place between representatives of ComReg and IRTS on Thursday, 12 February. The Society was represented by Paul EI2CA, Seán EI4GK and Seán EI7CD.The meeting covered the following wide range of issues.
Lifetime Licences
The necessary revisions to the Regulations to give effect to lifetime licences have been completed and the target commencement date is 20 April next. Renewals after that date will be invoiced with the €30 lifetime licence fee and a lifetime licence will be issued. New applicants after that date,including those who have let their call signs lapse, will pay a fee of €100
Consideration is being given to accepting renewal applications under the existing arrangements up to a date in the relatively near future. This would also allow those who have lost their original call signs a once off opportunity to apply for their re-instatement. If this is agreed, we will bring you the details as soon as we can.
5 MHz
The present permits will expire on the expiry date of the associated licence and an application will be required for continuance.
This can take the form of a letter sent to ComReg at the time of the payment of the licence fee. An application on the appropriate ComReg form will only be required where a variation in the terms of the original permit is being sought.
Additional Power
No general increase in power levels is to be granted for the present.
It was agreed that the Society would make an application for a general increase in power for the duration of a list of specified International Contests.
For special event stations or for particular experiments it is proposed that above a certain power threshold (which has yet to be defined by ComReg) then the Test and Trial licence provisions will apply.
Maritime Mobile
Any operation on water requires an application to ComReg.
If it is clear from the application that operation will be on a river or lake and the maritime mobile would not be appropriate then the permission will be for /M and not /MM.
Application for all of the recognised bands at present power levels may be made. The actual bands and power level granted will depend on consultation, where considered necessary, with the Department of Transport which is responsible for maritime safety.
Representation
It is accepted that IRTS has a role in representing the views of experimenters and due weight will be given to its view. A formal meeting will be held at least once a year between ComReg and IRTS. Other meetings can be held if necessary.
Agreed that IRTS review existing ComReg published documentation in the light of the necessity to revise some of this in the context of lifelong licences.
500 kHz
The general position of ComReg is that it will consider the allocation of spectrum around 500 kHz on the basis of a common European position.
However, in the light of developments internationally on 500 kHz, it was agreed that a limited number of permissions would be granted here.
This will be achieved by a Test and Trial licence issued to IRTS under which a limited number of experimenters, both members and non-members of IRTS, would be granted permission to operate on 500 kHz.
The detailed arrangements have to be worked out and we will keep you informed of developments.
7 and 10 MHz
The segment 7100 to 7200 kHz will be upgraded to ‘amateur primary’ with effect from 29 March next.
Also at that time the modes on 10 MHz will be revised to permit modes with bandwidths of less than 500 Hz to be used above 10140 kHz.
3400 to 3410 MHz
ComReg is not prepared to grant facilities to experimenters in this band.
Automated Stations
Licences will issue shortly for repeaters on the basis of the call sign formats set out in ComReg document 08/58R of 6 October. This is available on the ComReg website at www.comreg.ie
Consideration is being given to leaving the call signs of the beacon stations as they are at present.
The society would like to thank the officials in ComReg Licensing Operations for their constructive approach to this meeting which resulted in significant progress on a range of issues of interest to experimenters generally.
I personally would like to thank the IRTS and ComReg for having this significant meeting, as always the IRTS gives the likes of me, an experimenter, a strong voice in the Amateur Radio community.
I stumbled upon this bit of news on eham, Check it out!!!
We would like to have hams joining our site www.dxqsl.net in order to further promote the ham radio hobby in our part of the world and to educate many new hams, the site is very friendly and progressing very well.
Ok I know it's a bit late the update an all that but I was away in the UK up till now anyway here we are!!! Enjoy
Before I start anybody come across this advert on TV yet???
Its Brilliant,
The Public's Reaction To the Commercial.
Amateur Radio and Hillwalking
Those who want to combine amateur radio with hillwalking can get involved in the Summits On The Air ("SOTA") programme. SOTA is a bit like IOTA, with hills and mountains replacing islands. It is designed to encourage portable operation in mountainous areas, and there are awards for activators, who ascend to the summits, and chasers, who either operate from home, a local hilltop or are activators on other summits.
More than 20 countries are currently involved in the SOTA programme, including Ireland - North and South. There are 387 eligible summits in EI (of which more than 50 have been activated) and 66 eligible summits in GI (of which 36 have been activated). More details, including a list of eligible summits and a lot more, can be found at www.qsl.net/sotaei and at www.sota.org.uk
With a view to encouraging more SOTA activity, an International SOTA Weekend is to be held on Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd May 2009. It is hoped that this event will see many summit-to-summit contacts between different SOTA associations, and give chasers the chance to work activators from several different DXCC entities.
Dave EI3IO Joins IARU Committee
We are glad to let you know that Dave Court EI3IO has been invited to join the IARU Region 1 External Relations Committee as an expert adviser. The External Relations Committee is a very important body as it is the IARU Region 1 interface with the CEPT and other radio regulatory bodies on matters of importance to the interests of the amateur service such as spectrum requirements and licensing.
As many of you will be aware Dave has extensive experience in these and a wide range of other areas having held quite a number of key positions in spectrum management including Director of the European Radio communicarions Office (ERO).
We know that Dave's experience and advice will be of great assistance to furthering the work of the External Relations Committee in Region 1 of the IARU.
Galway Radio Experimenters Club
The Galway Radio Experimenters Club here in the west of Ireland will be operating a portable station from Inis Mor on the Arann Islands off the West coast for the duration of ST. Patrick’s day.
Using the callsign EJ4GRC, they will be operating on all bands and modes and a commemorative QSL card will be sent to all stations worked, and also to any SWL's that hear our station and request a card.
This is the first outing by GREC to the Arann Islands but may not be the last so listen out on St. Patricks day and seize the opportunity to aquire a QSL card from the first ever trip to Arann..Who knows it may be a collectors item some day!!
Radio Rallys
Rallies during March include the Radio Hobbies and Electronics Fair in the Limerick Radisson SAS Hotel on Sunday 8th March, The Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society Rally in Hillsborough, Co. Down on Saturday 14th March and the Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club Rally in Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh on Sunday 29th March.
The big event in April is the IRTS AGM Weekend, on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th April. This takes place in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone. Weekend events include the IRTS Annual Dinner, a Radio Rally and the IRTS Annual General Meeting.
More details of these events will be given in later bulletins, and are also available on the IRTS web site at www.irts.ie/rallies
Thanks to the IRTS for the info.
EME Contact Could Be A World Record
Andy Kissack, GD0TEP reports on a 4-metre EME contact which, he says, could prove to be a world record.
Andy says: "This morning at 01:35 ZS6WAB and myself completed the world's first 4m EME contact on JT65a.
"Willem and myself tried EME on 4m on Friday night, but my station suffered problems with the masthead relay on the receive side and we didn't complete.
"This morning, Willem and I started at 00:38 and I didn't receive a thing until almost an hour later. With my moon at SIX degrees, Willem's signal was decoded with me and we quickly completed.
"I will create a page on my web site with screen shots on Sunday.
"I think this is a world first for 4m. (unless some else knows better?)"
This weekend of February 21-22 will be a busy one for CW operators as the 2009 ARRL International CW DX Contest takes center stage.
First started in 1929 as the ARRL International Relay Party, the ARRL DX CW Contest is the longest running contest in Amateur Radio. Stations from all around the world - from Australia to Zimbabwe - should be active for this great event that takes place on 160-10 meters (no contest QSOs are permitted on 12, 17, 30 or 60 meters).
Stations in the US and Canada work only DX stations (Alaska and Hawaii are considered DX for this contest), and DX stations only work the US and Canada. DX stations will be trying to make as many QSOs with all US states and Canadian provinces as they can.
The contest exchange is simple - US and Canadian stations send a signal report and their state or province, while DX stations send a signal report and the amount of power with which they are transmitting.
"If you've never operated a CW contest, now is the time to start," said ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X. "You can work a lot of DX with just 100 W and a simple dipole or vertical antenna. If your CW is a little rusty, this event is a great way to get your CW skills back up to snuff and get some new DX countries into your bag. If you live in one of the rarer states, such as Delaware, North Dakota, West Virginia or Wyoming, DX stations from all around the world will be looking for you. This is your opportunity to 'be the rare one!'"
After the contest is over and you've had your fill of DX, Kutzko advises that you make sure to submit your QSOs to Logbook of The World (LoTW). "You can get a lot of your DX QSOs confirmed with little effort, and the instant gratification of having those QSOs count toward your DXCC totals just can't be beat."
The ARRL International CW DX Contest runs from 0000 UTC Saturday, February 21 through 2359 UTC Sunday, February 22, 2009. Complete rules and forms can be found on the ARRL Contest Web site.
Electronic logs should be e-mailed DXCW@arrl.org paper logs can be sent to ARRL DX CW Contest, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.
Logs sent via postal mail must be postmarked no later than 2359 UTC Monday, March 23, 2009.
Rhynhardt Louw, ZS6DXB, the ZS8T Press Officer, reports that all dx posts posted on February 2 are 100% bogus. Petrus wasn’t operating that day at all.
We would also like to inform the Ham Radio Community that 14.300.00 is not ZS8T’s operating frequency and that Petrus will tune any other legal clean frequency to operate on 20m.
Antarctic Activity Week
The Worldwide Antarctic Program's (WAP) 6th Antarctic Activity Week (AAW) will take place between 0000z, February 16th and 2400z, February 22nd. For details, see: http://www.waponline.it
This week in History
1881 Edison patents his incandescent lamp.
1910 First radio message is sent from an aircraft in flight, NY.
1926 Baird displays his first television images.
Radio Rallies
15th February 2009 Coolmine Radio Rally,
The Coolmine Radio Rally, run by the Phoenix Radio Club will be held in the Coolmine Community School, Clonsilla Dublin 15 on Sunday 15th February 2009,Doors open 9.30 am.
The Coolmine Committee welcome all visitors to bring their items for sale as there will be table available for bring and buy. This makes for great interest and perhaps bargains for those wanting to buy and a good opportunity for those wanting to sell unwanted gear.
The Radio, Electronics & Hobbies Fair takes place on 8th March 2009 at the Radisson SAS Hotel, Ennis Road, Limerick. Doors Open at 11:00 AM. Admission €5. There will be the usual traders attending the Fair. A Bring & Buy Sale will also take place.
Tables for the Bring & Buy Sale can be reserved by contacting ei4lrc@eircom.net. The cost per table is €10.The Club will have its own stand at the Bring & Buy Sale. Members willing to donate items of equipment etc for sale on the stand should contact any member of the committee prior to the event. The usual raffle with excellent prizes will also be held.
Other Rallies during March include The Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society Rally in Hillsborough, Co. Down on Saturday 14th March and the Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club Rally in Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh on Sunday 29th March.
The big event in April is the IRTS AGM Weekend, on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th April. This takes place in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone. Weekend events include the IRTS Annual Dinner, a Radio Rally and the IRTS Annual General Meeting.
More details of these events will be given later, Information is also available on the IRTS web site at www.irts.ie/rallies
Save the Date: ARRL National Convention to be Held at 2009 Dayton Hamvention
The ARRL National Convention will be held at the Dayton Hamvention May 15-17 at Hara Arena. According to ARRL Sales and Marketing Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R, the ARRL National Convention will be filled with activities and exhibits. "Our host organization, the Dayton Amateur Radio Association, has three big days planned, chock-full of every bit of Amateur Radio you can think of," Inderbitzen said. "ARRL volunteers from across its 15 National Divisions will be present, alongside thousands of out-of-towners who will make Dayton their home-away-from-home during the event. The centerpiece of ARRL's convention planning is ARRL EXPO -- a huge showcase of ARRL program representatives and activities. Many new exhibits are being planned, with special focus on operating and project-building." A preview of what is planned for ARRL EXPO can be found at the ARRL EXPO Web site. [Source: PlanetHam.org / 02-07]
Some new amateur radio allocations may soon be available in Norway. A report of the Norwegian amateur radio society the Norwegian Radio Relay League says that it was successful in persuading the nation’s licensing authority to add new bands to the amateur radio band plan.
Included in the new offerings is a CW-only allocation of 490 to 510 kHz on a secondary basis with a maximum power of 100 Watts PEP. On the 160 meter band from 1.850 to 2.0 MHz, regulators indicate they intend to allow 10 Watts average power of instead of the current 10 Watts PEP.
The frequency segment from 5.260 to 5.410 MHz will be opened to all Norwegian radio amateurs on a secondary basis, with a maximum power of 100 Watts PEP.
The 12m band will be extended by 150 kHz and allocated from 24.740 to 24.990 MHz with a maximum power of 1000 watts.
Lastly, part of the European 70 MHz band will also be added to spectrum available to Norwegian hams. The Norwegian Radio Relay League says that the new amateur radio rules permitting access to these frequencies are expected to take effect sometime this spring. (DXNL)
Comet Lulin (C/2007 N3) is approaching Earth and putting on a good show for amateur astronomers.
On Wednesday, February 4th, observers witnessed a 'disconnection event.' A gust of solar wind tore off part of the comet's tail in plain view of backyard telescopes. Photos of the event are featured on today's edition of http://spaceweather.com.
Activity in the comet's tail and atmosphere will become even easier to see in the weeks ahead as Lulin nears closest approach on February 24th. At that time the comet will lie only 38 million miles from Earth and it should be visible to the naked eye.
In the meantime, please note that February 5th-7th, is an especially good time to find Comet Lulin in the pre-dawn sky. The comet is gliding beautifully close to the naked-eye double star Zubenelgenubi. Just point your binoculars at the double star and the comet will materialize right beside it.
This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all.
EAST MALAYSIA, 9M6. John, 9M6XRO and Steve, 9M6DXX will be QRV from Sabah, IOTA OC-088, from February 7 to 10. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL both calls via M0URX.
ANDORRA, C3. Finn, OV8FM and Martin, 5P1M will be QRV as C3/OV8FM and C3/5P1M, respectively, from February 10 to 13. Activity will be on 40 and 20 meters using SSB, RTTY, SSTV and PSK. QSL via OV1A.
ENGLAND, G. Tim, G4STH and Hazel, G4YLO are QRV using special event callsign GB50BH until March 3 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the death of the singer Buddy Holly. QSL via G4STH.
DOMINICA, J7. John, K3TEJ will be QRV as J7N from February 11 to 27. Activity will be on 160, 30, 17 and 12 meters using CW and RTTY. This includes entries in the upcoming CQ WW RTTY and ARRL DX CW contests as Single Op/ALL Band entries. QSL to home call.
ST. VINCENT, J8. Nigel, G3TXF is QRV as J88XF from Mayreau Island, IOTA NA-025, one of the smaller Grenadine islands, until February 9. Activity is on 40, 30, 20 and 17 meters using only CW. QSL to home call.
DESECHEO ISLAND, KP5. Look for a group of operators to be QRV as K5D from February 12 to 26. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via N2OO.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA, P2. Jerry, P29ZAD is QRV from Buka Island, IOTA OC-135. QSL to home call.
SOUTH GEORGIA ISLAND, VP8. Lars, VP8DIF ha been QRV on 20 meters using RTTY around 1630 to 1900z. QSL via DJ9ZB.
NICARAGUA, YN. Andrei, NP3D will be QRV as H7/NP3D and YN2/EW1AR from February 11 to 15. This includes activity as YN2S in the upcoming CQ WW RTTY contest. QSL direct to home call.
OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT The following operations are approved for DXCC credit: Bhutan, A5100A, 2008 operation; Afghanistan, T6EE, Additional documentation has been received to include 2006 and 2007 operations. If you had a QSO rejected for these dates send a note to dxccarrl.org to be placed on the list for an update; Republic of the Congo, TN5SN, current operation effective October 2008; Chad, TT8HA, operations for 2007 and 2008; Chad, TT8SK, operations for 2008 and 2009; Albania, ZA/F4DTO, 2008 operation; and Albania, ZA0/I0SNY, ZA0/I8LWK, ZA0/I8YGZ, ZA0/IK2AQZ and ZA0/IK7JWX, operations in 2008.
THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO The Mexico RTTY International Contest, North American CW Sprint, NCCC Sprint, Vermont QSO Party, YL-ISSB CW/RTTY QSO Party, 10-10 International Winter Phone Contest, Black Sea Cup International, World Wide PMC CW Contest, Minnesota QSO Party, FYBO Winter QRP Sprint, British Columbia QSO Challenge, AGCW Straight Key Party, Delaware QSO Party and the New Mexico QSO Party will certainly keep contesters busy this upcoming weekend.
The ARRL School Club Roundup runs from February 9 to 13. The NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint and RSGB 80-Meter Club Data Championship are both scheduled for February 11.
Pleased see February QST, page 82 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest web sites for details.
As of February 1, the Cospas-Sarsat(Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking) satellites are no longer monitoring distress beacons at 121.5 and 243 MHz. All mariners, aviators and individuals who use emergency beacons on those frequencies will need to switch to the newer, digital 406 MHz frequency if they want to be detected by the monitoring satellites. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) claims that in 2008, beacons monitored by the Cospas-Sarsat worldwide system were responsible for almost 300 lives saved, including 203 people rescued in 65 in at-sea incidents and 12 people rescued in 7 aviation incidents.
Dani, EA4ATI, who is currently active as 9M2TI from Malaysia, is preparing for a DXpedition (with a team of operators) to activate Nauru in the Pacific sometime in May. The callsign will be C21TI.
Travelling through Australia to get to Nauru, tentative dates will be either from May 3-17th (after the cyclone season) or May 16-30th. Dani states, "I am preparing the logistics with a friend from Nauru that I met in Malaysia during a ITU workshop last November, but we will probably stay in the Od'N Aiwo Hotel."
This is the same location that previous DXpeditions to Nauru have used (such as C21BH, C21SX, C21XF, etc). The composition of the team is not finished yet, but Dani is looking for CW, SSB and RTTY operators. Ruben, C21RK, was mentioned as part of the team.
Activity will be on all HF bands including 60m and 6m. The suggested frequencies mentioned (as of now) are: CW - 1825.5, 3505, 7005, 10110, 14025, 18075, 21025, 24895 and 28025 SSB - 1825.5, 3799, 5371.5, 7065, 14195, 18145, 21295, 24945 and 28495 kHz 6m - 50.115 MHz (CW/SSB)
They currently have two transceivers with HF amplifiers and will use a yagi beam antenna for 20/15/10 meters and several dipole antennas (they are looking for additional antennas). Dani mentions that they will have a satphone for data connection. QSL will be via EA4ATI.
A study of propagation with a proposed band plan for the DXpedition will be posted on their Web page. This study will be done by the Technical University of Malaysia.
They have not yet estimated a QSO target, but it will not be less than 20,000. The estimated budget for their DXpedition is 14,500 USDs and the team is looking for funding as well as more operators. If interested in helping, see details on the Web page.
Note: You may know Dani, EA4ATI/9M2TI, from the following operations: XT2ATI, XT2TI, HP2PL, Z39A, 6W1EA, 6W1/EA4ATI, HP1/EA4ATI, HI5/EA4ATI, HI3CCP, HI3C, 3XY9B, etc.
Iran Omid Satellite Launch
A video of the launch of the Omid satellite can be seen on YouTube.
It has been reported on the AMSAT Bulletin Board and elsewhere that the satellite may be transmitting on 464.98750 MHz and 465.01250 MHz and Gordon MM3YEQ posted this link to a recording of the sat http://www.gjcp.net/space/2009-0a4-2024.mp3
The BBC reports that Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) and Sir Richard Branson's space travel venture Virgin Galactic want to develop a UK satellite launcher.
Although the United Kingdom is the 5th largest economy in the world it currently lacks its own independent launch facility.
It has been reported that Virgin Galactic have been looking at Moray as a potential UK Spaceport.
According to news reports the system would be capable of launching satellites into a 400 km orbit. This is slightly higher than the International Space Station and satellites put into this orbit would have a limited life span before they burn up in the atmosphere (The ISS has its orbit periodically boosted to prevent re-entry).
The low orbit is not, however, an obstacle to commercial success since many satellite missions are designed for a short life-time, less than a couple of years.
Firstly where is the year going???? Ok here is some updates!!! Enjoy :)
Listen for new Sats using web receiver
You can listen for the five new Amateur Radio satellites, launched Friday Jan 23rd by using a Web based Software Defined Radio (SDR).
Some of the Radio Amateurs who were involved in the very successful Delfi-C3 / DO-64 Amateur Radio satellite have made available a WebSDR receiver that listeners around the world can use to receive signals from the new Amateur Radio satellites.
The Coolmine Radio Rally, run by the Phoenix Radio Club will be held in the Coolmine Community School, Clonsilla Dublin 15 on Sunday 15th February 2009,Doors open 9.30 am
Table bookings and information please contact Tony 087-2439997 or Tom 01-8211043 See map on www.coolminecs.ie/locationmap.php
Radio, Electronics & Hobbies Fair
The Radio, Electronics & Hobbies Fair takes place on 8th March 2009 at the Radisson SAS Hotel, Ennis Road, Limerick. Doors Open at 11:00 AM. Admission €5. There will be the usual traders attending the Fair. A Bring & Buy Sale will also take place. Tables for the Bring & Buy Sale can be reserved by contacting ei4lrc /at/ eircom.net.
The cost per table is €10.The Club will have its own stand at the Bring & Buy Sale. Members willing to donate items of equipment etc for sale on the stand should contact any member of the committee prior to the event. The usual raffle with excellent prizes will also be held.
Saturday 14th March 2009
Lagan Vally ARS Rally in the Village Centre, 7 Ballynahinch Road Hillsborough, Co. Down Doors open 11:30 a.m. Information:Jim Henry, GI0DVU Telephone 048 9266 2270 gi0dvu.co.uk/lisburnrally.aspx
Sunday 29th March 2009
Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club Annual Rally at The Share Centre, Lisnaskea Co. Fermanagh Doors open 12 noon Bring and Buy, Food, on-site parking Access from Lough Erne/Shannon Waterway Details: Ian 02866-326693. EMail: Gibbjgbb /at/ aol.com www.lougherneradioclub.co.uk
Evening Rally 3rd April 2009-01-26
The Church Island Radio Group’s Rally is scheduled to take place at the club QTH in The Parochial Community Hall, Bellaghy, Co.Derry. FROM 8-10PM on Fri 3rd April 2009. more info available at our web site
The big event in April is the IRTS AGM Weekend, on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th April. This takes place in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone. Weekend events include the IRTS Annual Dinner, a Radio Rally and the IRTS Annual General Meeting.
More details of these events will be given in later bulletins, and are also available on the IRTS web site at www.irts.ie/rallies
EI100cqd
During the weekend of 23-25 January, EI100CQD was active from the Vintage Radio Museum in Howth to commemorate the centenary of the first use of wireless telegraphy to send a distress message at sea.
On 23 January 1909, the RMS Republic was severely damaged when rammed by the SS Florida off Cape Cod in Massachusetts. The Republic eventually sank, but not before its 1600 passengers and 300 crewmembers were firstly transferred to the Florida and from there to the SS Baltic, which eventually arrived at the scene as a result of the distress call.
Jack Binns was the radio operator aboard the Republic and, despite the radio room being damaged and being exposed to the elements, he managed to patch up the equipment and continue to transmit for almost two days summoning help and guiding rescue ships to the scene. The Baltic was the first vessel on the scene having searched in the dense fog for over 12 hours.
CQD was the international distress call used at that time. To commemorate the event, EI100CQD took part in the celebrations, along with other stations around the world.
As was considered fitting, CW was the preferred mode of operation. However, on Sunday, the station was also QRV on phone listening for EIs on 2 and 40 metres. Forty was almost unusable for EI but several QSOs were completed on 2 metres.
Tony (EI5EM) was interviewed about the event for Seascapes on RTE1 radio and the programme was transmitted on the date of the centenary. A podcast of the programme is available on the RTE web site.
There is also a clip on youtube.com that can be found by searching youtube for EI100cqd.
In 1968, the IRTS approached the Department of Posts and Telegraphs for permission to transmit a weekly news bulletin of general interest to radio experimenters and amateurs. The 19th of January this year saw the 40th anniversary of the commencement of these news transmissions. The Radio News has been kept going over the past 40 years without interruption even during the occasional postal strike when the typed news scripts were delivered by hand to the small number of newsreaders involved.
Initially the news was read at 1200 local each Sunday on 3560 kHz AM by either the late Bill Mc Ilwaine EI9F from Dublin or the late Pat Conway EI3Z from Athlone. This was followed at 1230 by an SSB transmission read by Jim EI2BB. The news was also transmitted on 2 metres from Navan read by the late Shane Mc Namee EI2A.
Over the years the news service has expanded and today, in addition to the news on HF, regional news bulletins are transmitted on 2 metres FM from different locations throughout the country. On this 40th anniversary of the radio news service it is good to give a moments thought and to pay tribute to those who have kept the service in operation over those 40 years both scriptwriters and newsreaders alike.
50MHz Now available in Sweden
Swedish Radio Amateurs now have access to the 50-52 MHz band with a power output limit of 200 watts and will get access to 7.1-7.2 MHz with 1 kW output from 1st April.
Previously access to 50 MHz had been by special permit only.
Although the power limit is currently 200 watts output the Swedish National Society website says that work is ongoing between the SSA and the PTS in order to get this changed to 1 kW output.
The Australian Red Cross communications arm RECOM, run by radio amateurs, is providing vital support as bushfires continue in the Gippsland region of eastern Victoria (Australia).
Two RECOM units were activated on Thursday 29 January to provide communications at the Mirboo North and Churchill relief centres as hundreds of people were forced by the fires to leave their homes or unable to reach them.
More than 600 evacuees or displaced people have been registered by the RECOM units with that information being transmitted by digitally encrypted HF radio back to the Red Cross State Inquiry Centre in Melbourne.
The fires occurred during a once-in-a-century record three days heat-wave with temperatures topping 43 degrees Celscuis (109 Fahrenheit). Some 30 homes have been destroyed.
RECOM has advised Amateur Radio Victoria that its members involved are Bruce VK3BNK, Graeme VK3BXG, Peter VK3AUO, Donald VK3BPD, John VK3BQS, Warren VK3XSW, Graham VK3GBJ and John VK3ATQ.
A team of nine ZL operators will be activating Chatham Island (OC-038) from March 6-11th.
The team leaders are Lee ZL2AL and Morrie ZL2AAA. The rest of the team will be Lee ZL2LE, John ZL1BYZ, Mike ZL2CC, Phil ZL2RVW, Mark ZL3AB, Wayne ZL2WG and John ZL1ALZ. The Pilot will be Duncan ZL3JT in Christchurch zl3jt@paradise. net.nz.
The team will be hosted at the Chatham Fishing Lodge in the fishing village of Kaiangaroa on the north eastern tip of the Chatham Islands.
The ICOM four station setup with amplifiers will operate 160-10m with CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK modes. Wire loops will be used on 80m and 40m, a vertical on 30m and Yagis on 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10m.
We also will try 160m alternating with the 80m station from time to time. Frequencies will be in the usual SSB and CW DX haunts on each band with SSB split up 5 kHz and CW split up 3 kHz. The callsign will be announced at the beginning of the operation on March 6th.
The website will be up and running in a few weeks at: www.zl7t.com/. Logsearch will be available on the team's return. QSL via bureau or direct to ZL2AL CBA or QRZ.com.
Logs will be uploaded to LoTW in approximately 6 months and they will also QSL via the bureau.
Marion Island, ZS8
Petrus, ZS8T, showed-up on 20 meters last weekend for a few QSOs.
According to Rhynhardt, ZS6DXB, ZS8T Press Officer, "the ZS8T license has expired on the 31st of December 2008 with an expiry window period up and until 31 January 2009.
"Renewal and payment of the existing license has been made and Petrus, ZS8T, is licensed to operate from Marion Island up and until December 2009. All contacts made to date with the ZS8T callsign are legitimate and legal. The team is currently awaiting the paper copy off the new license that only expires in December 2009 Petrus can remain active with ZS8T for the remainder of his stay on Marion Island."
Petrus, ZS8T, has unveiled some more details about his operation from Marion Island in an interview which has been available this past week thanks to the South Africa Amateur Radio League (SARL). He states that he will be there three months before leaving and plans to be active as much as he can during this time.
The site shows real time satellite tracking for a range of satellites. The ISS is the default satellite tracked on the homepage and it gives you useful information such as speed, altitude, elevation and azimuth position as well as the current longitudes and latitude. The site automatically works out your location from your computer’s IP address, you can also choose to add the satellites footprint and direction line
At the top of the page you can find menus for most popular, most tracked and latest launches. If you click on All Categories you’ll find a list of satellites listed which includes Amateur Radio and Weather satellites. Click on the type of satellite you are looking for and you’ll find a list of information including launch dates and the options to either ‘Track it’ or ‘Passes.’ If you choose ‘track it’ it will show you the satellites current position on Google Maps. If you choose ‘passes’ you will get a list of all predicted satellite passes over your home location for the next 5 days.
The site is well worth checking out. I have a version attached to this page over here to the right but I will be giving it a more thorough test drive over the next few days to see how accurate it is, however it looks promising so far.
I'm a big fan of Google. Sure, they'll own all of my info and try to take over the world with it someday, but in the meantime, I'll continue to enjoy their cool little web services.
I've been a sometime-user of gmail and google docs (as well as blogger and youtube) and particularly like the docs feature that allows you access and edit your items offline. Basically if you have a laptop and are online, you can upload a document or start a new one within your web browser - see docs.google.com - and work away on it. Any changes you EVER make to that document will be saved. So you can revert back to a saved version from weeks ago, and you'll never lose a document again.
But here comes the offline-sweetness. If you only have internet access at work, you can take your laptop home, where there's no internet, edit your documents, and when you go back into work and online again, the changes will be saved. You'll always have your stuff.
So you can reply to emails, edit, delete, archive them on your laptop while you have no internet access and changes will be reflected as soon as you go back online again.
Pretty cool if you only get your lappy online once a day.
Chris St. Cyr of the Goddard Space Flight Center says that experienced ham radio operators can participate in the historic STEREO mission to see the far side of the sun by helping NASA capture STEREO's images.
St. Cyr notes that experienced ham radio operators can participate in this historic mission by helping NASA capture STEREO's images.
The busy Deep Space Network downloads data from STEREO only three hours a day. That's plenty of time to capture all of the previous day's data, but NASA would like to monitor the transmissions around the clock.
"So we're putting together a 'mini-Deep Space Network' to stay in constant contact with STEREO," says Bill Thompson, director of the STEREO Science Center at Goddard.
The two spacecraft beam their data back to Earth via an X-band radio beacon. Anyone with a 10-meter dish antenna and a suitable receiver can pick up the signals. The data rate is low, 500 bits per second, and it takes 3 to 5 minutes to download a complete image.
So far, the mini-Network includes stations in the United Kingdom, France and Japan—and Thompson is looking for more:
"NASA encourages people with X-band antennas to contact the STEREO team. We would gladly work with them and figure out how they can join our network."
THE 2008 DX MAGAZINE 100 MOST NEEDED COUNTRIES SURVEY
was conducted in September and October 2008.
The complete breakdown by continent is available in
January/February 2009 Issue of THE DX MAGAZINE.
A breakdown by mode will be published in the March/April 2009 issue.
Editor Carl, N4AA, states, "The listing shows the top 100 World-Wide 'weighted' mixed mode results. It also includes the ranking for 2007, for comparison. Some 2007 rankings are shown as 'NA' which only means that particular country was NOT on the list for 2007.
The Top 100 results, broken down by continent and NA time zone, are published in the January/ February 2009 issue of THE DX MAGAZINE. A further breakdown will be published in the March/April 2009 issue. That listing will include the top 50 for CW, SSB, Digital and this year a listing for Low Bands (160-30 meters.)"
The scouts in Swaziland will be running an International camp at their national camp site near Manzini from July 31st until 11th August 2009. They have requested that an amateur radio station be run at this camp. It appears that it may be possible to provide the station as requested but a team of operators would be needed to run the station.
The team would probably request the callsign 3DA0SS which was used for their JOTA station last October. The station would comprise a FT1000MP with IC2KL linear into a hf log periodic antenna on a mobile tower provided by African DX Safaris. Anyone interested in joining the team should make contact by email as soon as possible.
1904 The first military experiments with radio at the Eiffel Tower took place by French Army.
1912 First Act to Regulate Radio Communication in the USA.
1915 Bell opens the first US transcontinental telephone service.
Radio Rallies
The Spring Radio Rally season gets under way shortly, starting with the Coolmine Rally on Sunday 15th February. The venue is the Coolmine Community School, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, and doors open at 9.30 a.m.
Rallies during March include the Radio Hobbies and Electronics Fair in the Limerick Radisson SAS Hotel on Sunday 8th March, The Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society Rally in Hillsborough, Co. Down on Saturday 14th March and the Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club Rally in Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh on Sunday 29th March.
The big event in April is the IRTS AGM Weekend, on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th April. This takes place in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone. Weekend events include the IRTS Annual Dinner, a Radio Rally and the IRTS Annual General Meeting.
More details of these events are also available on the IRTS web site at www.irts.ie/rallies DXFC EI/GI Activation
The DXFC award differs from the DXCC award in that the letter F in means that scoring is made by setting FOOT in the DXCC entity and not by having a QSO with it. Extra points are scored by being active and completing at least one QSO from the DXCC listed entity. It is an informal friendly competition and scoring is based on trust and honesty
On Saturday 17th January, Roger (G3SXW) and John (G4IRN) activated EI and GI in the same day. They both arrived from the UK by Ryanair and were met by Declan (EI6FR) at Dublin airport and driven to Jonesboro where they operated /M from GI on HF.
Having completed a few CW contacts, Declan chauffeured the two operators to Howth where they both operated with an EI prefix using the radio equipment at EI0MAR in the Vintage Radio Museum. Pat Herbert, the museum curator, Tony (EI5EM) and Paul (EI5DI) were waiting to greet the two DXFC operators and assisted them in their operation. Having completed their QSOs, John and Roger were driven by Declan back to the airport for their return trip to the UK having successfully notched up a further two DXFC entities on their score sheet.
On January 16, Vic Kean Jr, K1LT, of Carroll, Ohio, uploaded four years' worth of logs -- about 25,000 QSOs -- to ARRL's Logbook of The World (LoTW). Somewhere in that batch, the LoTW counter crossed the 2 million mark. To celebrate Kean's submission of the 200 millionth QSO, the ARRL has awarded him lifetime free LoTW credits and free ARRL Awards as he qualifies for them.
"When I uploaded all of my contest logs since moving to my current location," Kean said, "I was really surprised at the number of the contacts that were immediately confirmed -- about 30 percent -- especially DXpeditions. I've been very laggard about responding to QSLs that I get. The last batch I did was by printing some card stock on a laser printer."
Kean, who mainly enjoys operating CW on 160 meters, said that he enjoys what he calls "success at contesting through technological superiority," as opposed to superior operating ability. "In other words," he said, "I work at improving my station with technology, and then test those improvements in a contest. I attempt to achieve awards by trying to get into one of the 'Top 10 boxes' in the contest results. Somewhere I have a Worked All States certificate from my youthful days. I worked about 160 countries but never got around to submitting any cards for DXCC." Kean said that he still intends to try and get at least one QSL card from every country.
"Even though we knew that Logbook of The World would explode in its popularity, 201 million QSOs in roughly the first five years of its existence show that LoTW's concept and ideas have worked beyond our expectations," said ARRL Membership and Volunteer Programs Department Manager Dave Patton, NN1N. "Vic's log contributes not only to the bottom line, but to the overall embrace of the technology and further bolsters our commitment to continue to improve and expand the system."
Kean said that he believes Amateur Radio will certainly continue to change as time goes on, "but I don't expect the hobby to ever completely go away. With cognitive radio coming, there is plenty of opportunity to experiment, even by just writing software. In the long run, I think the rules of spectrum allocation will change, but hopefully the change will benefit people in general, rather than corporations. If so, there will still be a role for communications experimenters. Man versus the ionosphere will still be interesting, no matter what the spectrum rules are."
When asked if he would encourage other hams to try Logbook of The World, Kean was enthusiastic: "If someone asked me about Logbook, I would tell them, 'Don't worry about it. Logbook of The World works, and it seems to be enjoying much greater popularity than you know.' At least, that's what I just found out!"
22 Jan 2009
DX News
EA5GVH will be on the air from Aruba as P40PZ from January 12th to the 28th. He will operate 80 through 6 meters using SSB and the digital modes only. QSL via EA5GVH.
G3NKC, G4XUM and MD0CCE will be active as MD4K from the Isle of Mann during the CQ 160-Meter CW Contest, on January 24-25.The trio will operate as a Multi-Op entry. QSL via G3NKC and be sure to include sufficient return postage with your QSL request.
Palestine update
The E44M Palestine operation is now QRT. you can either QSL direct or via the bureau. An online log search is available at: http://www.hamradioweb.org/e44mlogsearch.html
PLEASE NOTE: The QSL Manager for BUREAU QSL CARDS is SP3DOI. The QSL Manager for DIRECT QSL CARDS is IZ0BTV. Also, BUREAU QSL CARDS can be requested via E-mail at: QSLE44M /at/ gmail.com
Your request must be clear and complete with all the details (your callsign, time, RST, date, mode...). Please don't send them multiple E-mails for each QSOs, only one (with all your QSOs listed) will be enough. Any incomplete E-mails without these will be ignored. BUREAU cards will be managed after the direct ones. For updates, watch the following Web pages. The E44M Web page at: http://www.dxcoffee.com/e44m
Falkland Islands YL operation
An international group of YLs will activate the Falkland Islands (SA-002) between January 17-31st. Each operator will be signing with the callsign VP8YL*, where the third letter of the suffix will be assigned to each YL operator at beginning of the operation. YL operators mentioned at present include: Janet VP8AIB, Chantal PA3GQG, Unni LA6RHA, Jeanie WA6UVF, Mio JR3MVF, Liz M0ACL, Victoria SV2KBS*, Nicky M5YLO and Ruth IT9ESZ.
The YL team will fly into the Falklands on January 17th. Together with Janet, VP8AIB, and other YLs from Falkland will all activate VP8YL* for 14 days. All the YLs coming from around the world will be getting their VP8 callsign on Monday, January 19th.
During the first weekend they will operate as VP8YLC which is the YL club's callsign on Falkland.
Radio Rallies
The Spring Radio Rally season gets under way shortly, starting with the Coolmine Rally on Sunday 15th February. The venue is the Coolmine Community School, Clonsilla, Dublin 15, and doors open at 9.30 a.m.
Rallies during March include the Radio Hobbies and Electronics Fair in the Limerick Radisson SAS Hotel on Sunday 8th March, The Lagan Valley Amateur Radio Society Rally in Hillsborough, Co. Down on Saturday 14th March and the Lough Erne Amateur Radio Club Rally in Lisnaskea, Co. Fermanagh on Sunday 29th March.
The big event in April is the IRTS AGM Weekend, on Saturday 25th and Sunday 26th April. This takes place in the Shamrock Lodge Hotel, Athlone. Weekend events include the IRTS Annual Dinner, a Radio Rally and the IRTS Annual General Meeting.
More details of these events will be given in later bulletins, and are also available on the IRTS web site at www.irts.ie/rallies
Revised Bandplans now on RSGB site
The 2008 IARU Region 1 General Conference held in Cavtat resulted in some changes to the bandplans which are now available on the RSGB site. For further Information regarding Bandplans see the following website: www.rsgb.org/spectrumforum/bandplans/
Bermuda Anniversary Callsigns
2009 is the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Bermuda by Sir George Somers. Most local organisations are having an event of some kind during the year. The Radio Society of Bermuda has been issued with a special call sign that can be used all year, it is VP9400/xx.
The xx suffix is the operator's call sign, i.e. VP9400/LP. There are a few novice licence holders who have a 3 digit suffix, i.e. VP9400/NMT.Special pictorial postcards will be used to QSL.
New threat to Amateur Satellite operations on 24 GHz
There is potentially a new threat to Amateur and Amateur Satellite operations in the 24 GHz band.
The European Commission is undertaking this public Call for Input to collect views of interested stakeholders in order to prepare the fundamental review of EC Decision 2005/50/EC of 17 January 2005 on the harmonisation of the 24 GHz range radio spectrum band for the time-limited use by automotive short-range radar equipment in the Community.
The use of this band for automotive (car) Short Range Radars (SSR) was for a strictly limited period with the intention that they would be replaced by the use of more appropriate frequencies in 79 GHz band which had been identified by CEPT as the most suitable band for long term development and deployment of automotive short-range radar.
This review could provide an opportunity for commercial interests to extend, possibly indefinately, the inappropriate use of 24 GHz for SRR applications.
The closing date for comments is 2 February 2008. Comments are to be sent to the Radio Spectrum Committee Secretariat email: infso-rsc@ec.europa.eu
Masa JN1GKZ reports on the AMSAT Bulletin Board that the new launch date for five new Amateur radio satellites is Friday, January 23rd between 0354-0416z
