Son of Bernie

New tablet junkie

2011-12-28T21:58:00.001-05:00

Through the very thoughtful birthday gift from my bride today, I received a new Kindle Fire! I'm going to have a lot of fun with this as I join the ranks of tablet junkies!

Amazon had cranked up its Kindle Fire orders to more than 5 million units to meet the holiday season demand.

According to the sources, Amazon increased its volume to more than 5 million because it believes demand for the Kindle Fire became even stronger throughout December.

Amazon claims that the Kindle Fire tablet supports “thousands” of apps right out of the box. The tablet sports a customized version of Google’s Android 2.3 “Gingerbread” OS, meaning that most of the apps hosted by Amazon’s own Appstore for Android will be compatible with the device. Owners will also be greeted with a free app each day thanks to Amazon’s current Free-App-Of-The-Day promotion.

The Kindle Fire has a 7-inch IPS display with a 1024 x 600 resolution and 169 pixels per inch. It will also come packed with a dual-core Texas Instruments OMAP4 SoC clocked at 1 GHz, 512 MB of RAM, 8 GB of internal storage (but no SD card slot), 8 hours of continuous reading with Wi-Fi turned off, and more.

So far so good!

A Christmas Blessing

2011-12-24T10:00:00.000-05:00

Give us, O God, the vision which can see Your love in the world in spite of human failure.

Give us the faith to trust Your goodness in spite of our ignorance and weakness.

Give us the knowledge that we may continue to pray with understanding hearts.

And show us what each one of us can do to set forward the coming of the day of universal peace.

Apollo 8 Astronaut Frank Borman from lunar orbit, Christmas Eve, 1968

Good Old Days

2011-12-22T22:52:00.003-05:00

Ah, the "good old days" of ham radio...the "golden era" of the 1950's.

I don't know...I just like the pic!

"Hey honey, can you bring me another one? Honey...honey....?"

Ham Radio in Hollywood: Comedian Tim Allen stars as radio amateur on new TV show

2011-12-17T14:17:00.000-05:00

Tim Allen -- star of Home Improvement, Toy Story, The Santa Clause and Galaxy Quest, just to name a few -- stars in Last Man Standing, an ABC comedy airing at 8 PM (EST) on Tuesday nights. Allen plays Mike Baxter, KA0XTT, a married father of three and the director of marketing at an outdoor sporting goods store in Colorado whose life is dominated by women. While Amateur Radio has not been prominently featured in the first episodes, according to John Amodeo, NN6JA -- the producer of Last Man Standing -- it is a part of the show and an important part of Mike’s character. The episode that will establish Mike as a radio amateur is currently scheduled to air in mid-January.

“Tim’s character Mike is involved in creating the sales strategy for the store, including their catalog and Internet identity,” Amodeo told the ARRL. “The store is like Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas. There is a strong self-sufficiency overtone to Mike’s approach to life. Ham radio fits in the story as a means of emergency communication. It’s not directly featured in the foreground story, but at the moment, it’s a background element on the home set. Once I allow something to be put on the set, there’s a chance the writers will feature it. Now that we have actually established Mike Baxter as KA0XTT, we can do more things featuring Amateur Radio.”

To make Mike a ham, Amodeo needed Mike to have a call sign. So he contacted ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, to help him out. “In film and TV, we create fictitious telephone numbers, addresses and brands,” Amodeo explained. “We do this mostly to avoid being sued by real brands and to avoid complications with advertisers. As a producer and a ham, I was torn between wanting the show to be accurate and needing to keep my studios out of trouble. An accurate and positive portrayal of ham radio on TV would be a good thing.” Many TV shows and movies use telephone numbers with a 555 exchange (such as 555-1212), as that exchange is not valid.

Together with Pitts, and with input from Tim Allen, Amodeo created a call sign for Mike Baxter: KA0XTT. Since the show is set in Colorado, they wanted Mike to have a call sign with a 0 in it. “We wanted a call sign that sounded real, but was not valid,” Amodeo said. “The call sign is a 2×3 format with an X suffix. A call sign in this format is an experimental call sign and is not assignable to a radio amateur except in special circumstances. We especially liked the suffix, as it is a play on Tim’s character from his former show, Home Improvement: ‘ex-Tim Taylor.’”

Amodeo told the ARRL that both his studio (Fox) and ABC were “delighted to have a useable call sign. In the past, TV shows just made up some crazy call or used someone else’s without permission. And because we’ve had so much talk about Amateur Radio here on the show, a few of my production assistants took their Technician exam.” Amodeo applied to be an ARRL Volunteer Examiner so he could help administer the exams. On October 6, Amodeo and two other ARRL VEs administered the Technician exam to seven prospective hams. All seven passed, with two making perfect scores.

Since Mike Baxter is a ham, he needed a shack. So Amodeo and the set designers installed an Amateur Radio station in the corner of Mike’s set office. Allen, as Baxter, uses an ICOM IC-9100 HF/6 meter/2 meter transceiver and an IC-92AD handheld transceiver, both provided to the show courtesy of ICOM America. Amodeo told the ARRL that he has plans to add vintage equipment to the shack in the future. “The radio equipment was originally intended to be used as props and set dressing items,” Amodeo told the ARRL. “But since eight of the show’s staff members are radio amateurs, it didn’t take long before we made the radio equipment ‘practical,’ which is to say, actually capable of making radio calls live from the stage when we’re not shooting.” He said that radios will always be on and lit whenever they are shooting scenes in the office.

Pitts and ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, have been working with Amodeo to make sure that Amateur Radio is correctly portrayed in the show. Keane also provided ARRL and Amateur Radio-related materials that are used on the set, such as issues of QST, NCJ and QEX, as well as a call sign map, a 2012 ARRL Handbook, a 2012 ARRL calendar and various ARRL stickers (look for one on the HF rig). “We also sent fake versions of DXCC, Worked All States and Worked All Continents certificates, as well as a Morse Code Proficiency Certificate,” Keane explained. “Each certificate bears the name Mike Baxter and has KA0XTT as the call sign. All the certificates have issue dates of December 25, playing upon Tim Allen’s role in The Santa Clause movie series.”

Amodeo told the ARRL that he also installed a Comet CHV-5X HF dipole and GP-1 antenna for 2 meters and 70 cm (courtesy of NCG/Comet) “up high, about 50 feet, inside the sound stage. The ultimate goal is to have the hams on our staff make contacts from our stage during down times.”

Hero saint in process

2011-12-02T19:50:00.001-05:00

A Catholic priest, an Army chaplain and war hero from Kansas who died while a prisoner of war during the Korean War - and is being considered for canonization by the Catholic Church - may soon be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Father Emil Kapaun will receive the honor if the Defense Authorization Act of 2012 passes a Senate-House conference committee with amendments sponsored by Kansas lawmakers. The U.S. Senate Thursday night passed its version of the bill with an amendment co-sponsored by Senators Pat Roberts and Jerry Moran of Kansas. A similar measure passed by the house contained an identical amendment sponsored by Rep. Mike Pompeo.

"Father Kapaun inspired many with his unshakable faith," Roberts said in a prepared statement. "His story is an inspiration to all of what it means to be a true hero. We've taken a huge step forward towards finally recognizing Father Kapaun's countless acts of heroism on behalf of his fellow soldiers."

Kapaun, a native of Pilsen, Kan., was serving in Korea as an Army Chaplain when he was captured in November 1950. He died in a prison camp in April 1951. He continued to minister to his fellow prisoners of war until his death.

When all else looked hopeless, Father Kapaun uplifted the spirits of his fellow soldiers and helped them preserver in spite of great suffering," said a statement from Moran.

Father Kapaun was born in Pilsen, Kansas in the Diocese of Wichita, Kansas on Holy Thursday, April 20, 1916. He was ordained as a Priest for the Diocese on June 9, 1940 and entered the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps in 1944. Separated from the service in 1946, he re-entered the Army in 1948 and was sent to Japan the following year. In July of 1950 Father Kapaun was ordered to Korea. On November 2 of that same year he was taken as a prisoner of war. In the seven months in prison, Father Kapaun spent himself in heroic service to his fellow prisoners without regard for race, color or creed. Ignoring his own ill health, he nursed the sick and wounded until a blood clot in his leg prevented his daily rounds. Moved to a so-called hospital, but denied medical assistance, his death soon followed on May 23, 1951.

The Diocese of Wichita and the Vatican have begun the formal process that could lead to Father Kapaun's canonization. In 1993, it was announced that Fr. Kapaun would receive the title of "Servant of God".

Baby Grundig

2011-10-30T11:57:00.004-04:00

Just picked up a nifty little digital AM-FM-shortwave receiver, a Grundig Traveller II G8. All I can say is that they have come a long way since I last acquired a portable shortwave radio. This little radio has outstanding audio and selectivity. About the only things I really miss is the ability to tune sideband - but it's not intended as a ham band receiver. Other drawbacks are lack of an external antenna input (only needed for shortwave or world band listening (and I can always clip a wire on to the built in telescoping antenna if needed) and a direct entry keypad. Actually, the dual fast/slow tuning ability of the tuning wheel almost makes up for the lack of direct frequency entry.

The retail price of these babies is in the 50 buck range, but the best part for me is that I got it for no cash as part of a rewards program for a credit card that I don't use anymore (in partial response to a national super bank wanting to charge me a monthly fee for using my own debit card...don't even get me started on THOSE bastards, as I've already indicated my opinion to them by using my feet....). Anyway, I'm enjoying this little radio!

John Paul II will soon be a saint

2011-10-16T14:18:00.000-04:00

The recognition of Karol Wojtyla’s second miracle is near.

Karol Wojtyla will soon become a saint. Salesian Cardinal Angelo Amato is working on an evaluation of the second miracle attributed to John Paul II. Amato is in charge of following the process of canonization throughout the Catholic Church, and is trying to counter sceptics inside and outside the Curia who want to slow down a process begun as a result of overwhelming public pressure, by speeding things up.

And he stated he was closer to recognizing the second miracle to be attributed to Karol Wojtyla, the Polish Pope who was so loved across the entire Catholic spectrum. The case of scientifically unexplainable healing, was placed “under investigation” by the Vatican minister for the Causes of Saints. In order to be canonised, Karol Wojtyla needs to be receive the Holy See recognition of a second miracle.

A great number of miraculous healings attributed to John Paul II have already been closely examined by the Postulation of the former pope’s canonization cause. One, in particular, is considered to be ideal and especially important in order for Karol Wojtyla to be catapulted to sainthood, following the occurrence that allowed Benedict XVI to proclaim his immediate predecessor Blessed; that is, the healing of the French nun, Sister Marie Simon-Pierre form Parkinson’s disease, the same illness that the last phase of his Pontificate into a nightmare. The Vatican assured that the other miracle which took place after his beatification will be analyzed with no hurry and with usual scruple. The Vatican has also said the Pope's decision to elevate John Paul II to sainthood has been the cause of much joy among the Catholic community across the world. The second miracle attributed to the Blessed John Paul II, must be recognized by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints on behalf of the deceased pope. The dossier of miracles attributed to Karol Wojtyla is constantly being updated with new testimonies.

Before the beatification, the Holy See took numerous other miracles into account, for example that of a man who was saved in Cleveland in the United States, from a serious head wound caused by a firearm and a Polish child who was paralysed at the legs bust all of a sudden started walking again, after having prayed at the tomb of John Paul II.

The healing of the Polish child, also received the approval of Cracow’s Archbishop, Stanislao Dziwisz, Karol Wojtyla’s right hand man in Poland and in the Vatican for four years. Cardinal Dziwisz witnessed the little boy who had sat immobile in his wheelchair because of a tumour in his kidneys, “walk after visiting the tomb of John Paul II in the Vatican grottoes.” The cardinal affirmed: “I have born witness to so many acts of grace bestowed by John Paul II. Especially on people who were suffering from tumours. The Polish boy is 9 years old, he is from Danzica, and he could not walk because he had kidney cancer. He was taken to the tomb of John Paul II in his wheelchair. There, he prayed and when he came out of St. Peter’s Basilica, to the astonishment of his parents, he said: “I want to walk.” He got up and started walking.” On the day of his funeral, thousands of people called out: “John Paul II for saint.”

In Cleveland, Ohio a 26 year old boy who had suffered a serious head injury during a mugging was saved and regained his health just when doctors had started to give up hope. The hospital chaplain endorsed the fact that this prodigious act of healing was due to a blessed rosary used by John Paul II. In January 2006, a website was launched to gather the testimonies of Catholics who had witnessed or received acts of grace or miracles after the death of John Paul II, in support of the process of beatification of Karol Wojtyla.

Tens of thousands of messages were sent to the website, available in five languages. In order to assess the candidacy for beatification, the Catholic Church requires proof of “signs” witnessed following the death of a figure in the odour of sanctity. Thus, as of 13 May, when Pope Benedict XVI agreed a dispensation of a five year wait from the death of an individual, after which, the process of beatification could begin, it was decided that testimonies were to be collected via internet from across the world, in Italian, Polish, English, French and Spanish. Catholics were impatient and did not want to wait for ecclesiastical bureaucracy. Messages were posted on the website asking for Wojtyla to be made a saint immediately and the appeal was also made at his funeral on 8 April 2005. There are dozens of cases of people who were healed by the Polish pope: a 34 year old woman from Palermo was cured of breast cancer out of the blue; a little deaf boy from Baltimore, all of a sudden gained perfect hearing before his gobsmacked doctor; a Mexican bride who had wanted a child for a long time, finally gave birth, despite doctors saying that her state of health made this impossible.

--Giacomo Galeazzi, VaticanInsider.com

Arm of Gold

2011-08-31T18:08:00.000-04:00

Just got back from a spectacular week on Cape Breton, Nova Scotia and the Cabot Trail, courtesy of the extraordinarity generosity of friends who summer at their ancestral home in Middle Cape on the southern arm of Bras d'Or Lake (literally, "Arm of Gold").

To say that Cape Breton and the Cabot Trail are spectacular is an understatement- but the island's beauty is only eclipsed by the friendliness that we experienced from everyday Cape Bretons and "family". These people know how to live simply - and beautifully. One of the highlights was spending an evening on the front porch of an ancestral home watching the sun go down over Bras d'Or Lake in tiny Irish Cove (pop. 12).

I'm already planning on going back - and next time hope to press on even farther to see Harbor Grace and Placentia Bay in Newfoundland where my father's folks come from. About the only regret that I have from the trip is not stopping at the renowned RCI Canada broadcast and transmission facility in Sackville, New Brunswick, just before the Nova Scotia border. Well, there's always next time.

Easter Sunday: It’s not about the bunnies

2011-04-24T07:00:00.002-04:00

It’s not about bunnies. It’s not about coloring eggs. It’s not about chocolate. It’s not about flowers. It’s not even about spring or signs of “new life” in nature after a long winter. So what is Easter about?

It’s about something almost terrifyingly serious: Jesus rose from the dead.

That’s one reason why Easter hasn’t been completely subsumed by the consumer culture. (Though department stores and cheesy movies like “Hop” try their best to do so.) Christmas, which can be cast as the cozy story of Mary and Joseph and their little baby Jesus surrounded by cuddly animals in a manger, is easily domesticated. Easily tamed. More easily sold to the masses.

Easter, on the other hand, is untameable. The man whose followers imagined him to be the Messiah, the one who would forcefully, even violently, deliver them from the hands of their oppressors (For isn’t that what the Baptist said?) was tried, beaten and executed like a common thug. What’s more, after the crucifixion the Gospels portray the disciples not as stalwart stewards of their master’s legacy, but as abject cowards, cowering behind locked doors for fear of someone trying to arrest them.

Then on Easter Sunday everything changes. It changes so much that it’s hard for them to take it in. In one of his first of Jesus’s many “appearances,” one of the women doesn’t even recognize him. Several disciples refuse to believe the story—one until he actually touches the man. But Christians believe, and I believe, that it’s true: Christ has risen from the dead.

Sounds strange said so bluntly, doesn’t it? But the resurrection is the heart of the Christian message. If you don’t believe it, then you’re not Christian. Not really, as St. Paul would say elsewhere: “If Christ is not raised, your faith is in vain.”

About that new life: it is in fact “new.” Christ is not simply “resuscitated,” that is, brought back from the dead with the understanding that he’ll die some time in the future. No, he lives “forever and ever,” as the Bible (and Handel’s “Hallelujah” chorus) say. It’s a completely new kind of life. And a completely new kind of reality.

That may be one reason why the Gospel accounts of Jesus’s appearances after his resurrection are so confusing. As I said, in one passage he is mistaken for the gardener. But for the disciples he was the most important man in their lives: How could they not recognize him? In another account, he seems like a ghost—for he seems to pass through doors and suddenly appears before the disciples. And in another passage he is clearly physical. “Touch me and see; a ghost does not have flesh and bones,” Jesus says in the Gospel of Luke. What’s going on?

To my mind, the confusing accounts point out impossibility of describing what the disciples were seeing. What was it like? Well, he was like a ghost…but not really. He was flesh and blood…but something else. No one had ever seen anything remotely like this; no words could encompass the reality of what theologians call the “glorified body.”

So everything changes on Easter. And what Jesus said during his earthly ministry (love one another, pray for your enemies, give to the poor) now takes on added meaning for the disciples.

Easter is not about bunnies or chocolate or eggs. It is an event that makes a claim on you. Either you believe that Jesus did not rise from the dead (or his body was stolen, or the Gospels are made up, or the disciples simply “remembered” him and passed on his message). Or you believe he was raised from the dead. In which case everything changes for you, too.

-- thanks to Fr. James Martin, SJ

SOS for GPS

2011-04-11T12:09:00.004-04:00

GPS (Global Positioning System) has become an integral part of ham radio, as well as our culture. In the good old days, GPS was a stand-alone unit that could be carried in backpacks and purses, or mounted on dashboards. As their first GPS, many hams used a Garmin portable dash-mountable unit for APRS (Automatic Packet Reporting System) while hiking or mobiling. A lot of hams became acquainted with GPS via the APRS route. [In addition to assisting "on the air", GPS has saved my rear end "in the air" on more than one occasion! - W1WH]

Today, GPS is built right into many ham radios, as well as portable phones, vehicles and just about everything else. GPS is no longer limited to use by techies; everyone uses GPS and everyone has a huge investment in the technology.

So along comes something that may wreck havoc on our trusty friend, the GPS. A new nationwide broadband wireless network has received approval from the FCC to begin building a system that will use frequencies adjacent to those used for GPS.

GPS manufacturers believe that strong signals from this new system could jam GPS and make it next to useless for navigation. A fix could cost billions and no one has figured out who will be responsible for paying for that fix. Meanwhile, the FCC claims that it will block the implementation of the new network unless there are assurances that it will not interfere with GPS.

This potential threat is now making the rounds all over the Internet. An in-a-nutshell article on the subject was recently published by the Connecticut Post recently published. Here is GPS World's recent take on the matter and here’s another.

---thanks to Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU and ARRL

Apple said "Yes"

2011-03-21T16:01:00.014-04:00

Apple is apparently paying close attention to all iPad 2 returns during the first few weeks to make sure there are no major production defects. This policy has led to an amusing story that we thought was entertaining enough to share. The story comes by way of an individual close to Apple:

[Apple's] focus this week has been to troubleshoot all the iPad 2s that customers are returning to the stores. One iPad came back with a post it note on it that said “Wife said no.” It was escalated as something funny, and two of the VPs got wind of it. They sent the guy an iPad 2 with a note on it that said “Apple said yes.”

Mayan Equinox via ham radio

2011-03-21T13:00:00.006-04:00

Spring has sprung - and what better way to celebrate it than by ham radio. Today I worked a neat Special Event station, XE3MAYA/D on PSK31 (on 15 meters) in the Mexican Yucatan celebrating the 2011 Mayan Equinox. This was a neat one for me as I had majored in college in North and South American anthropology and many years ago I had visited the Mayan ruins at Chichen Itza (depicted in the XE3MAYA QSL card).

I'm going to enjoy this QSL card when it arrives!

Japan emergency frequencies

2011-03-14T21:55:00.006-04:00

After the 8.9 earthquake that struck near Sendai, Japan at 2:46 JST (0546 UTC) on Friday, March 11, the island nation is trying to recover. Soon after the earthquake -- which the US Geological Survey (USGS) is calling the largest to hit the island nation in 140 years -- Japan has been rocked by tsunamis and power outages caused by trouble at a nuclear power station. Reports from Japan tell of phone and Internet service still up in most parts of the country. The Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) -- that country’s IARU Member-Society -- has asked that 7.030 MHz be kept clear for emergency use. Other reports are asking that these additional frequencies be kept clear: 3.525, 7.030, 14.100, 21.200 and 28.200 MHz.

IARU Region 3 Secretary Ken Yamamoto, JA1CJP, said that at the request of Central Emergency Communication Committee, JARL is operating JA1RL -- its HQ station in Tokyo -- and regional HQ stations. He said that JA1RL is using 7 MHz SSB, 144 MHz SSB/FM and 430 MHz SSB/FM: “Many other radio amateurs are thanked for providing information and exchanging support to the rescue and disaster relief operations. Those who can operate in the affected areas are providing a lifeline for rescue teams and those at local shelters. Some stations are operating with car batteries and others with engine generators.”

Yamamoto said that Toru Tanaka, JR3QHQ -- the JARL Branch Manager in Osaka -- is monitoring 7.043 MHz, gathering incident information on the radio and forwarding this information via the Internet.

On its website, JARL advised radio amateurs in Japan that they may be called upon to be offered or used as a means of contacting emergency response headquarters and a nearby shelter. JARL also advised that depending on the operational status of the shelter and the emergency response headquarters, there might not be any electricity. JARL said that radio amateurs should volunteer to assist when and where needed “in good faith.”

The Hindu Business Line, a newspaper in India, reported that hams in India are contacting hams in Japan to get information concerning their loved ones. When a father in India could not get in touch with his daughter in Japan after the quake, he turned to a friend who was a radio amateur. In turn, the Indian amateur posted a message on an e-mail reflector where another ham relayed the message to a radio amateur in Japan. Through this method, the father learned that his daughter was safe.

In earthquake- and tsunami-hit Japan, ham radio operators and social networking sites have helped link families to loved ones in Japan. But according to the newspaper, connecting to Japanese ham radio operators is not easy. Sometimes messages are relayed from India to Thailand-based operators who, in turn, relay the messages to Japan. “Since most Indian operators do not know Japanese, communication is difficult and the airwaves are scanned for English-speaking Japanese operators,” the newspaper reported. “Nevertheless, Japanese ham radio operators are using their radio network and the Internet to relay messages.”

Japan has 1.3 million hams and according to Yamamoto, is not in need of external emergency communication help, although this has been kindly offered. “Basically the efforts being made are purely voluntary,” he said. “No organized emergency communications have been arranged.”

Yamamoto said that along with the after-effects of the earthquake and tsunami, “another problem is the nuclear power plant where the water supply system failure caused overheating of the nuclear fuel bar. That caused some radioactive gas release from the plant and people have been evacuated from the surrounding area.”

Yamamoto said that as of 10 AM (JST) on Monday, March 14, police in Japan have stated that the death toll has risen to 1627, with 1720 people still missing. “It is only the official count and the number is still expected to increase,” he said. “Thousands of bodies are reported to have been found on the coast of the tsunami-suffered area.” IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee Chairman Jim Linton, VK3PC, said that a source in the Miyagi prefecture reported that the death toll will be in the order of tens of thousands in that prefecture alone.

The earthquake also damaged electric power generation plants fuelled by oil or natural gas, resulting in a shortage of electricity. Linton said that Tokyo Electric Power Company plans to stop supplying power to certain parts of its service area on rotation basis to cut power consumption. This shortage of power may also stop or restrict the operation of the train systems around Tokyo.

Amateur Radio Response in the US

Tsunami waves reached Santa Cruz, California -- about 100 miles south of San Francisco -- around 8 AM (PST) on March 11. Early that morning, the Santa Cruz County ARES® Team activated the Santa Cruz County Tsunami Resource Net in advance of the anticipated 5-7 foot wave.

According to Santa Cruz County ARES® Public Information Officer Bill Conklin, AF6OH, more than 30 local ARES® members staffed various served agencies, including the Santa Cruz County Emergency Operations Center, the American Red Cross, Salvation Army Canteen Truck One, the Santa Cruz County Harbor Coast Guard Auxiliary and a number of local fire departments. In addition to the served agencies, a number of hams provided remote observation of the coast line and communications capabilities at the evacuation centers.

The tsunami waves impacted the coast and did an estimated $15 million of damage to the Santa Cruz Harbor. More than 100 boats -- including fishing vessels, pleasure boats and yachts -- were either damaged or sunk as a result of the waves.

Conklin told the ARRL that Santa Cruz was not alone in receiving significant damage as a result of the powerful waves. “Crescent City, located approximately 500 miles north of Santa Cruz, also received heavy damage, causing Governor Brown to declare these areas disaster zones. One person died as a result of being swept out to sea with the high waves.”

In Northern Nevada, hams spent the weekend preparing to handle health and welfare messages in and out of Japan. In a joint exercise, Storey County and Washoe County ARES® members spent two days establishing communications protocol on HF, VHF and on Internet-based voice and data communications systems. According to ARRL Storey County Emergency Coordinator Tom Taormina, K5RC, this was the first time that many of the ARES® members used HF communications to operate in a joint exercise with neighboring counties and foreign countries.

Taormina said that more than a dozen Japanese hams were contacted, all of who were outside the earthquake area. “We are now on standby, awaiting permission of the Japanese government to begin formal third party communications relays,” he said.

Maybe some things you didn't know...

2011-03-13T21:44:00.003-04:00

Let there be light

2011-03-12T21:49:00.005-05:00

It’s an annoying ritual to some: In most areas of the U.S. (except Arizona and Hawaii - where there's plenty of sunlight anyway), clocks go back in the fall and ahead for spring, but why do we do it, when did it start and how does it affect our lives?

Some answers before Sunday robs us of an hour of sleep:

Yeah, yeah, we understand that time shifting began as a way to conserve energy, but why is the middle of the night (2 AM) the official clock-tweaking time? It’s not like anybody sets an alarm to wake up so they can fix the clock and go back to sleep.

Jeanna Bryner, managing editor of Livescience.com, said the federal government wanted people to be safely at home for the switch — and bars and restaurants to be closed.

“They also didn’t want early shift workers and churchgoers to be impacted,” she said. “And they didn’t want it to change the day back to the day before, like if you did it at midnight and it became 11 p.m.”

In 1784, Benjamin Franklin lightheartedly suggested the idea to a Paris newspaper to conserve candles. In 1784, after noticing how many residents slept through sunny summer mornings, Franklin published an anonymous, satirical letter to Parisians suggesting they get up two hours earlier to conserve candles. Franklin did not suggest they adopt Daylight Saving Time (DST), although often mistakenly credited as doing so, but he did foreshadow a primary controversy that has followed DST around since its 1895 conception by New Zealand entomologist George Vernon Hudson (who enjoyed the extra daylight to scour for insects) – does DST actually save energy?

Germany was the first to introduce it, during World War I. Britain and the United States followed. Now, about 70 countries have some form of it, covering more than 1 billion people. Except for a handful of adjustments, DST as we know it in America has been around since the 1960s, when Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which did not force all states to adopt DST, but merely said that if adopted it must be done uniformly. At that time, it was thought DST would save energy on incandescent lighting, then the primary use of electricity, although now things are more complicated due to widespread heating and cooling.

Daylight Saving Time makes summer days longer, as well as a portion of spring and fall days. As it stands right now, Standard Time “springs forward” at 2:00am on the second Sunday of March, creating darker mornings and brighter evenings until, on the first Sunday in November, it “falls back” into Standard Time. The idea is that people will be happier and more active thanks to more after-work daylight hours to spend outdoors. It’s also believed to conserve energy because the sun is out later and homes are naturally warmer and well-lit until closer to the average person’s bedtime. Obviously, darker, potentially colder mornings would increase the need for light and heat before work, but the belief is that lower energy usage at night outweighs increased usage in the morning. Thus, energy and money is saved.

Well, the thing about it is…who the hell knows? No one can seem to agree whether DST saves or costs both energy and money, or whether it is simply obsolete.

Most of the world’s population does not adhere to DST. According to the California Energy Commission, some 70 countries worldwide embrace it and, while that may seem like a lot, note that most of Africa and Asia do not. So DST is definitely in the minority in terms of global population. In the United States, most of Arizona and all of Hawaii do not oblige the time change. Much of Indiana did not until the latest DST adjustment by the Bush administration, but more on that in a moment.

The recreation, retail, sports and tourism industries have historically supported DST because more time for consumers to be out and about means more money for these sectors. Farmers and the entertainment industry tend to oppose it because a farmer’s schedule is dependent on sunlight, and longer days cut into prime-time revenues for entertainment outlets. But none of that is here or there in terms of energy.

After World War I, daylight saving was left up to local governments in the U.S. It was reimposed nationwide to conserve energy during World War II and lifted again after the war ended in 1945.

Without a federal mandate, chaos ensued. In Iowa alone, 23 different pairs of start and end dates were used in cities and towns around the state.

“On one West Virginia bus route, passengers had to change their watches seven times in 35 miles,” Prerau wrote. “The situation led to millions of dollars of costs to several industries, especially transportation and communications. Extra railroad timetables alone cost the equivalent today of over $12 million per year.”

Now, the U.S. government doesn’t require that states mandate daylight saving but does demand those on board do it at the same time on the clock and for the same stretch of the year.

Daylight saving begins on the second Sunday in March and ends on the first Sunday in November, when clocks are turned back an hour.

For the record: Clocks spring ahead before spring, which doesn’t officially begin until March 20.

Sleep experts estimate millions of people are affected — however temporarily — by the return of daylight saving each spring. If the change proves troublesome long term, avoid reading, eating or watching TV in bed. Still awake? Go for complete quiet and darkness, and a slightly cooler temperature in the room.

Let there be light!

Missing sunspots explained

2011-03-07T12:45:00.005-05:00

In 2008-2009, sunspots almost completely disappeared for two years. Solar activity dropped to hundred-year lows; Earth's upper atmosphere cooled and collapsed; the sun’s magnetic field weakened, allowing cosmic rays to penetrate the Solar System in record numbers. It was a big event, and solar physicists openly wondered, where have all the sunspots gone?

Now they know. An answer is being published in the March
3rd edition of Nature.

In the artistic cutaway view of the sun shown above, the "Great Conveyor Belt" appears as a set of black loops connecting the stellar surface to the interior. "Plasma currents deep inside the sun interfered with the formation of sunspots and prolonged solar minimum," says lead author Dibyendu Nandi of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research in Kolkata. "Our conclusions are based on a new computer model of the sun's interior."

For years, solar physicists have recognized the importance of the sun's "Great Conveyor Belt." A vast system of plasma currents called ‘meridional flows’ (akin to ocean currents on Earth) travel along the sun's surface, plunge inward around the poles, and pop up again near the sun's equator. These looping currents play a key role in the 11-year solar cycle. When sunspots begin to decay, surface currents sweep up their magnetic remains and pull them down inside the star; 300,000 km below the surface, the sun’s magnetic dynamo amplifies the decaying magnetic fields. Re-animated sunspots become buoyant and bob up to the surface like a cork in water—voila! A new solar cycle is born.

For the first time, Nandi’s team believes they have developed a computer model that gets the physics right for all three aspects of this process--the magnetic dynamo, the conveyor belt, and the buoyant evolution of sunspot magnetic fields.

"According to our model, the trouble with sunspots actually began in back in the late 1990s during the upswing of Solar Cycle 23," says co-author Andrés Muñoz-Jaramillo of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. "At that time, the conveyor belt sped up."

The fast-moving belt rapidly dragged sunspot corpses down to sun's inner dynamo for amplification. At first glance, this might seem to boost sunspot production, but no. When the remains of old sunspots reached the dynamo, they rode the belt through the amplification zone too hastily for full re-animation. Sunspot production was stunted.

The blue curve in the above graph shows the cyclic variation in the number of sunspots over the last century. Red bars show the cumulative number of sunspot-less days. The minimum of sunspot cycle 23 was the longest in the space age with the largest number of spotless days.

Later, in the 2000s, according to the model, the Conveyor Belt slowed down again, allowing magnetic fields to spend more time in the amplification zone, but the damage was already done. New sunspots were in short supply. Adding insult to injury, the slow moving belt did little to assist re-animated sunspots on their journey back to the surface, delaying the onset of Solar Cycle 24.

"The stage was set for the deepest solar minimum in a century," says co-author Petrus Martens of the Montana State University Department of Physics.

Colleagues and supporters of the team are calling the new model a significant advance.

"Understanding and predicting solar minimum is something we’ve never been able to do before---and it turns out to be very important," says Lika Guhathakurta of NASA’s Heliophysics Division in Washington, DC.

Three years ago on March 2, 2008, the face of the sun was featureless--no sunspots. Credit: SOHO/MDI While Solar Max is relatively brief, lasting a few years punctuated by episodes of violent flaring, over and done in days, Solar Minimum can grind on for many years. The famous Maunder Minimum of the 17th century lasted 70 years and coincided with the deepest part of Europe's Little Ice Age. Researchers are still struggling to understand the connection.

One thing is clear: During long minima, strange things happen. In 2008-2009, the sun’s global magnetic field weakened and the solar wind subsided. Cosmic rays normally held at bay by the sun’s windy magnetism surged into the inner solar system. During the deepest solar minimum in a century, ironically, space became a more dangerous place to travel. At the same time, the heating action of UV rays normally provided by sunspots was absent, so Earth’s upper atmosphere began to cool and collapse. Space junk stopped decaying as rapidly as usual and started accumulating in Earth orbit. And so on….

Nandi notes that their new computer model explained not only the absence of sunspots but also the sun’s weakened magnetic field in 08-09. "It's confirmation that we’re on the right track."

Next step: NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) can measure the motions of the sun’s conveyor belt—not just on the surface but deep inside, too. The technique is called helioseismology; it reveals the sun’s interior in much the same way that an ultrasound works on a pregnant woman. By plugging SDO’s high-quality data into the computer model, the researchers might be able to predict how future solar minima will unfold. SDO is just getting started, however, so forecasts will have to wait.

Indeed, much work remains to be done, but, says Guhathakurta, "finally, we may be cracking the mystery of the spotless sun."

OK - now it's time for me to get working on my DXCC endorsements!

(Thanks to www.nasa.gov for the info)

And now they're gone

2011-02-28T13:44:00.008-05:00

Frank Buckles, who drove an Army ambulance in France in 1918 and came to symbolize a generation of embattled young Americans as the last of the World War I doughboys, died on Sunday at his home in Charles Town, W. Va. He was 110.

His death was announced by a family spokesman, David DeJonge, The Associated Press said.

He was a young corporal and he never got closer than 30 or so miles from the Western Front trenches, but Mr. Buckles became a national treasure as the last living link to the two million men who served in the American Expeditionary Forces in France in “the war to end all wars.”

Frail, stooped and hard of hearing, but sharp of mind, Mr. Buckles was named grand marshal of the National Memorial Day Parade in Washington in 2007. He was a guest at Arlington National Cemetery on Veterans Day 2007 for a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns. He was honored by Defense Secretary Robert Gates at the Pentagon and met with President George W. Bush at the White House in March 2008.

United States Senators played host to him at the Capitol in June 2008 for the impending 90th anniversary of the World War I armistice. And he appeared before a Senate subcommittee in December 2009 to support legislation named in his honor to bestow federal status on a World War I memorial on the National Mall built in the 1930s.

Sought out for interviews in his final years, Mr. Buckles told of witnessing a ceremony involving British veterans of the Crimean War, fought in the 1850s, when he was stationed in England before heading to France. He remembered chatting with General John J. Pershing, the commander of American troops in World War I, at an event in Oklahoma City soon after the war’s end.

And he proudly held a sepia-toned photograph of himself in his doughboy uniform when he was interviewed by USA Today in 2007. “I was a snappy soldier,” he said. “All gung-ho.”

Frank Woodruff Buckles was born Feb. 1, 1901, on a farm near Bethany, Mo. He was living in Oakwood, Okla., when America entered World War I and he tried to enlist in the Marine Corps at age 16, having been inspired by recruiting posters.

The Marines turned him down as under-age and under the required weight. The Navy didn’t want him either, saying he had flat feet. But the Army took him in August 1917 after he had lied about his age, and he volunteered to be an ambulance driver, hearing that that was the quickest path to service in France.

He sailed for England in December 1917 on the Carpathia, the ship that helped save survivors of the Titanic’s sinking in 1912. He later served in various locations in France, including Bordeaux, and drove military autos and ambulances. He was moved by the war’s impact on the French people.

“The little French children were hungry,” Mr. Buckles recalled in a 2001 interview for the Veterans History Project of the Library of Congress. “We’d feed the children. To me, that was a pretty sad sight.”

Mr. Buckles escorted German prisoners of war back to their homeland after the Armistice, then returned to America and later worked in the Toronto office of the White Star shipping line. He traveled widely over the years, working for steamship companies, and he was on business in Manila when the Japanese occupied it following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941. He was imprisoned by the Japanese, losing more than 50 pounds, before being liberated by an American airborne unit in February 1945.

After retiring from steamship work in the mid-1950s, Mr. Buckles ran a cattle farm in Charles Town, and he was still riding a tractor there at age 104.

In April 2007, Mr. Buckles was identified by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs as one of the four known survivors among the more than 4.7 million Americans who had served in the armed forces of the Allied nations between April 6, 1917, when the United States entered World War I, and the Armistice of Nov. 11, 1918.

Two of the four — J. Russell Coffey and Harry Landis — had served stateside in the American Army. Mr. Coffey died in December 2007 at 109; Mr. Landis, in February 2008 at 108. John Babcock, who was Canadian born, served in Canada’s army in Britain in World War I and held dual American and Canadian citizenship, died in Spokane, Wash., in February 2010 at 109. The last known veterans of the French and German armies in World War I, Lazare Ponticelli and Erich Kästner, respectively, died a few months apart in 2008; Harry Patch, the last British soldier, died in 2009. Claude Choules, who served in Britain’s Royal Navy and now lives in Australia, and Florence Green, a member of Britain’s Women’s Royal Air Force and who lives in England, are thought to be the only two people still living who served in any capacity in the war.

Mr. Buckles is survived by his daughter, Susannah Flanagan. His wife, Audrey, died in 1999.

More than eight decades after World War I ended, Mr. Buckles retained images of his French comrades. And he thought back to the fate that awaited them.

“What I have a vivid memory of is the French soldiers — being in a small village and going in to a local wine shop in the evening,” he told a Library of Congress interviewer. “They had very, very little money. But they were having wine and singing the ‘Marseillaise’ with enthusiasm. And I inquired, ‘What is the occasion?’ They were going back to the front. Can you imagine that?”

We can't forget them. We just can't.

Maybe we ARE special

2011-02-26T13:27:00.017-05:00

From Jennifer Fulwiller in the National Catholic Register:

The galactic census data is in! According to an Associated Press article released last weekend: “Scientists have estimated the first cosmic census of planets in our galaxy and the numbers are astronomical: at least 50 billion planets in the Milky Way.”

When I would hear that kind of thing when I was an atheist, I’d muster up my most condescending facial expression and turn to the nearest believer to say: “You still believe all that Bible stuff now?” To my way of thinking back then, the vastness of the universe debunked the Christian worldview. Obviously we’re nothing special in the grand scheme of things. Obviously there’s not some Creator out there who values us over everything else—otherwise, why would he have bothered messing around with making all this other stuff? Why create the Triangulum Galaxy and the Horsehead Nebula and the 50 billion other planets here in the Milky Way if you’re mainly concerned about the goings on at tiny little planet Earth?

It’s too bad I hadn’t read Chesterton. He addresses that kind of argument with his typical wit when he writes in Orthodoxy:

"Why should a man surrender his dignity to the solar system any more than to a whale? If mere size proves that man is not the image of God, then a whale may be the image of God; a somewhat formless image; what one might call an impressionist portrait. It is quite futile to argue that man is small compared to the cosmos; for man was always small compared to the nearest tree."

Exactly. What I was missing back then was an openness to contemplating just what kind of God we might be talking about. I pictured that Christians believed in a man with a flowing white beard who lived off in the clouds somewhere. Sort of like my uncle Ralph, but with magic powers. With this limited, facile view, it’s no wonder I couldn’t get past the vastness of the universe. Uncle Ralph wouldn’t waste his time creating a bunch of planets no one was ever going to use, so, presumably, neither would this supposed God.

What I see now is a universe that gives us an ever-present reminder of who and what God really is. The vastness of the universe is unfathomable; to try to contemplate every detail of every object in existence is an exercise in futility. The human mind has nowhere near that kind of capability, and that understanding should inspire us to humility about our own intellectual powers. And so it is when we contemplate God.

It’s a perfect plan, really: the smarter we get, the more we can know about the universe around us. Yet the more we study and measure and chart the heavens, the more we realize how incredibly tiny we are, how very much there is that we will never, ever know. We get a glimpse of the reality that the sum total of human learning cannot ever scratch the surface of what there is to know. We see that we are surrounded by an unfathomably wonderful creation; which points to an unfathomably wonderful Creator.

“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts”
(Isaiah 55:9).

Hams assist in New Zealand earthquake’s aftermath

2011-02-25T10:37:00.010-05:00

2/26/11 UPDATE: Reports out of New Zealand are saying that no HF frequencies are currently being used to handle earthquake traffic and that most amateur communications have been established on 2 meter VHF frequencies.

A 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck the Canterbury region in New Zealand’s South Island on Tuesday, February 22 at 12:51 PM local time (2351 on February 21 UTC). According to IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee Chairman Jim Linton, VK3PC, 10 radio amateurs are using their two emergency broadcast vans to keep rescue teams and Civil Defense staff in touch. One vehicle is providing portable communication so personnel can talk to Civil Defence officials and the other vehicle is en route to assist search and rescue teams in an area where communication is poor. Amateur radio operators from around New Zealand are volunteering to help out and others are sending updates on the disaster to the families of people in Christchurch who are overseas. “Richard, ZK4FZ, said Amateur Radio operators from around the country are volunteering to help out,” Linton said. “Others are sending updates on the disaster to families of people in Christchurch who are overseas.”

Meantime, Arnie Coro, CO2KK, the International Amateur Radio Union Region II Area C Emergency Coordinator, has issued a notice to hams in the Americas. Coro advises users of the 40 and 20 meter bands to be aware of possible earthquake emergency communications traffic taking place in and around the affected areas of New Zealand's South Island, where Christchurch is located. Coro continues that the propagation on 40 meters more likely to cause problems to the New Zealanders from unintentional QRM coming from the Americas in the window that starts about two or three hours before sunrise and lasts until sunrise on this side of the path. A similar pattern, with a slight time shift shows up on 20 meters as well.

There is no word yet on the frequencies being used.

As of February 24, the death toll from the earthquake stands at 98, with dozens yet to be rescued from beneath building rubble and hundreds of people still missing. The massive rescue effort now involves 300 rescuers -- boosted by urban experts from Australia -- and has rescued 20 people so far. Christchurch Mayor Bob Parker said a pocket of 15 had been found in the TV3 building, the heart of local television production.

Countries around the world have responded with personnel and materials to help the citizens of New Zealand in the aftermath of the earthquake, including the US. The Urban Search and Rescue California Task Force 2 -- a 74 member heavy rescue team consisting of firefighters and paramedics from the Los Angeles County Fire Department, emergency room physicians, structural engineers, heavy equipment specialists, hazardous materials technicians, communications specialists and logistics specialists -- with 26 tons of pre-packaged rescue equipment is now in Christchurch. This unit also responded to the 2010 Haitian earthquake, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing.

According to media reports, buildings collapsed around Cathedral Square in downtown Christchurch and the spire atop Christchurch Cathedral collapsed. The spire’s tip had also fallen in earlier earthquakes, but much more fell during the February 22 earthquake. Police believe 22 people died in the collapse of the cathedral’s tower. The Canterbury Television (CTV) building was severely damaged and caught fire. On February 23, police decided that the damage was not survivable and rescue efforts at the building were suspended. More than 100 people may have died in the building. Firefighting and recovery operations resumed that night, later joined by a Japanese search and rescue squad. Thirteen Japanese students from the Toyama College of Foreign Languages are missing, with some feared trapped in the rubble of the CTV building.

-- Thanks to the IARU's Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee Chairman Jim Linton, VK3PC, for information.

Revisiting the KofC Net

2011-02-20T15:23:00.004-05:00

This past Saturday, I did something that was long overdue: I checked into the KofC Net on 20 meters, something I had not done in many months.

I had originally started the ball rolling for a Knights of Columbus HF Net by having the following "Stray" published in the March 2007 issue of QST (the monthly journal of the ARRL): "I would like to get in touch with.Knights of Columbus members interested in forming a K of C HF net." At the time I had a few responses, but the ball slowly got rolling. Today, through the efforts of Ron, K0LMD and others, the KofC Net now meets on Saturdays on the 20 meter band on 14.243 MHz at 3pm ET (2000 UTC). It's not necessary to be a Knight to join the Net. Another session is listed for Saturdays at 9AM ET (1400 UTC) on the 40 meter band on 7.193 MHz, but I'm not yet sure how active the 40 meter session has been.

Conditions on 20 meters weren't great in New England this Saturday, in part due to rolling radio blackouts generated by the recent solar flares reported recently here. I was able to hear the net control station, K0LMD in Colorado (and considerably better once Ron pointed his Yagi beam antenna toward the northeast. What was really funny though was seeing my own call spotted by VA3BOO on the DX cluster, sort of commemorating my (up to now) rare appearance on the net. It made me feel like I was rare DX - thanks Joe!)

Stop by the KofC Net and say hello..I'm going to try and get on their more often myself.

(See the "Must Visit" pages on the right side of the blog for more info on the KofC Net.)

Sunspot 1158 produces largest flare yet of Solar Cycle 24

2011-02-17T22:59:00.005-05:00

Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) headed toward Earth

Over the past few days, there has been a lot of activity on the Sun. On Sunday, February 13 at 1738 UTC, sunspot 1158 unleashed an M6.6-level blast and on Tuesday, February 15, the same sunspot unleashed an X-class flare, the strongest solar flare in more than four years. On Monday, the solar flux index reached 113, the highest yet in Solar Cycle 24, dropping down to 112 for Tuesday. It is expected to continue to be at least 100 for the next few days.

The source of this activity -- sunspot 1158 -- is growing rapidly (click here to watch a video of the sunspot’s progression over a 48 hour period). Sunspot 1158 is in the Sun’s southern hemisphere, which has been lagging behind the northern hemisphere in activity for Solar Cycle 24. This active region is now more than 100,000 km wide, with at least a dozen Earth-sized dark cores in the group. More Earth-directed eruptions are likely in the hours ahead.

According to Spaceweather.com, Sunday’s eruption produced a loud blast of radio waves that was heard in shortwave receivers. That website reported that a New Mexico amateur radio astronomer recorded these sounds at 19-21 MHz, calling it “some of the strongest radio bursting of the new solar cycle.”

On Tuesday at 1516 UTC, the same sunspot unleashed an X2.2-class flare; X-flares are the strongest type of x-ray flare, and this is the first such eruption of Solar Cycle 24; the last X-class flare was December 13, 2006 (click here to watch a movie of this X-class solar flare). NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded an intense flash of extreme ultraviolet radiation. The expanding cloud may be seen in this movie from NASA’s STEREO-B spacecraft.

In addition to flashing Earth with UV radiation, data from NASA’s Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO) and its Solar Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) show that the explosion also hurled a coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth. Geomagnetic storms are possible when the CME hits the Earth’s magnetic field on or about February 16, and auroras are possible.

What does this mean to radio amateurs? When the CME hits the Earth’s atmosphere, the low bands will be depressed and signals will be weaker the lower the frequency. The absorption rate will be most severe on 160 meters, less on 80 and somewhat better on 40 meters. The maximum usable frequency (MUF) -- the highest frequency by which a radio wave can propagate between given terminals by ionospheric propagation alone, independent of power -- will be lower and auroral propagation on the VHF bands is quite possible.

“Sunspot 1158 is firing off all sorts of flares and causing disruptions to the geomagnetic field,” said H. Ward Silver, N0AX, who edits the ARRL Contest Update. “Depending on how active it remains over the next couple of days, there may be significant impact to HF propagation for the ARRL International DX CW Contest this weekend. The length of the disruption by the CME is unknown. A head-on collision with a lot of plasma will keep things unsettled all weekend, while the recovery from a glancing blow or smaller amounts of plasma may occur relatively quickly. Polar path propagation on Friday morning will be the best indicator of conditions before the contest begins. Those operating on 10 meters at all the multi-multi stations are holding their collective breaths!”

What Is a Solar Flare?

A solar flare occurs when magnetic energy that has built up in the solar atmosphere is suddenly released. Radiation is emitted across virtually the entire electromagnetic spectrum, from radio waves at the long wavelength end, through optical emission to x-rays and gamma rays at the short wavelength end. The amount of energy released is the equivalent of millions of 100-megaton hydrogen bombs exploding at the same time.

Solar flares extend out to the layer of the Sun called the corona. The corona is the outermost atmosphere of the Sun, consisting of highly rarefied gas. This gas normally has a temperature of a few million Kelvins. Inside a flare, the temperature typically reaches 10 or 20 million Kelvins, and can be as high as 100 million degrees Kelvin. The corona is not uniformly bright, but is concentrated around the solar equator in loop-shaped features. These bright loops are located within and connect areas of strong magnetic fields called active regions. Sunspots are located within these active regions and solar flares occur in active regions.

The frequency of flares coincides with the Sun’s 11 year cycle. When the solar cycle is at a minimum, active regions are small and rare and few solar flares are detected. These increase in number as the Sun approaches the maximum part of its cycle. According to NASA, the Sun will reach its next maximum this year, give or take one year.

Scientists classify solar flares according to their x-ray brightness. There are five categories of solar flares: X-class flares are big; these flares are major events that can trigger planet-wide radio blackouts and long-lasting radiation storms. M-class flares are medium-sized and can cause brief radio blackouts that affect Earth’s polar regions; minor radiation storms sometimes follow an M-class flare. Compared to X- and M-class events, C-class flares are small, with few noticeable consequences here on Earth. A- and B- class solar flares are not even noticeable on Earth. Each category for x-ray flares has nine subdivisions: C1-C9, M1-M9 and X1-X9. A brighter solar flare has a higher number, so an M6 solar flare is brighter than an M2 solar flare. Thanks to NASA, Spaceweather.com, SolarCycle24.com and ARRL for the information.

Just very funny stuff. What can I say?

2011-02-17T12:59:00.001-05:00

"Super Duplex:" A wireless radio that can send and receive signals at the same time

2011-02-17T11:08:00.001-05:00

From ZD Net comes news that Stanford researchers have developed a new technology that allows wireless signals to be sent and received simultaneously on a single channel. Their research could help build faster, more efficient communication networks, at least doubling the speed of existing networks.

Radio waves make the world go around. They make communication and navigation satellites possible, underpin modern aviation, and allow you to access the Internet without wires. One characteristic of radio technology is that traffic flows in only one direction at a time on a specific frequency. That’s why pilots, police, and other walkie-talkie users frequently use “over” as they take turns speaking.

But now Stanford researchers have developed a way that allows wireless signals to be sent and received simultaneously on a single channel. Their research could help build faster, more efficient communication networks, at least doubling the speed of existing networks.

“Textbooks say you can’t do it,” said Philip Levis, assistant professor of computer science and of electrical engineering. “The new system completely reworks our assumptions about how wireless networks can be designed,” he said in a university release.

Levis and his team made the discovery based on a seemingly simple idea. What if radios could do the same thing our brains do when we listen and talk simultaneously: screen out the sound of our own voice?

The main obstacle to two-way simultaneous conversation is that incoming signals are overwhelmed by the radio’s own transmissions, making it impossible to talk and listen at the same time.

“When a radio is transmitting, its own transmission is millions, billions of times stronger than anything else it might hear [from another radio],” Levis said. “It’s trying to hear a whisper while you yourself are shouting.”

The researchers reasoned that if a radio receiver could filter out the signal from its own transmitter, weak incoming signals could be heard. “You can make it so you don’t hear your own shout and you can hear someone else’s whisper,” Levis said.

Each radio knows exactly what it’s transmitting, and therefore what its receiver should filter out. The process is analogous to noise-canceling headphones.

Up next for the team is to increase both the strength of the transmissions and the distances over which they work before the technology can be of any practical use in WiFi networks.
But even more promising are the system’s implications for future networks. “Once hardware and software are built to take advantage of simultaneous two-way transmission, there’s no predicting the scope of the results,” Levis said.

Watch the following accompanying video:

W1WH log brought to you by HRD Log.net

2011-02-16T15:51:00.009-05:00

As I mentioned a few days ago, I've been playing around with the latest iteration of Ham Radio Deluxe, and I must say again, it is a tour de force piece of software. In addition to the fantastic computer control of my Icom 746 Pro, I've been using DM-780, HRD's digital interface, to work a variety of digital modes plus analog slow scan television (SSTV). What really impresses me though are the improvements made to the HRD logbook in the current beta version of HRD - to the point where HRD Logbook has become my main operating log. The tools (QSL records, etc.) available on this thing are amazing!

In addition to HRD Logbook, I've discovered HRD Log.net, a companion site offered by Claudio, IW1QLH which uses data linked from HRD Logbook.

Nice job, Claudio. Oh yeah, did I mention that HRD Log.net (like Ham Radio Deluxe) is free? Claudio does accept justly deserved donations through his site though, and yes - I did make a contribution!

If you scroll down to the bottom of the page on this blog, you should see some of my recent QSOs logged directly from my HRD Logbook through HRD Log.net.

BPL - a government screwup and bad idea that just won't die

2011-02-13T23:02:00.007-05:00

Long before there was a looming spectrum crises, there was broadband over power lines. BPL promised digital subscriber line data rates through electrical wall outlets. It was approved by the Federal Communications Commission seven years ago and has since languished. Why, especially now that broadband has become a priority such that the president is stumping for it?

The main reason is that BPL has few friends and determined enemies. There was no promise of a new device market, and therefore no interest from the consumer electronics industry. It represented competition to entrenched broadband providers, the cable and telephone companies. Enthusiasm never materialized from utilities, which probably cannot spell “competition,” much less perceive of it. The FCC’s BPL rules became embroiled in challenges long before the public ever got wind that broadband access could be had from a wall socket.

“FCC rules” and “embroiled” go together like “unleashing” and “spectrum,” the premise upon which the administration’s National Broadband Plan rests. Eschewing technological research for anecdotal economic assertions, the administration has determined that 500 MHz of spectrum must be designated for wireless broadband, or communist dogs will eat this country like a torn-open sack of hams. Never mind that less then one-third of the 547 MHz now designated for wireless broadband is built out.

Those airwaves lay fallow because there is more spectrum in the market than capital to develop it. New cell sites cost around $500,000 each, according to one FCC white paper. The estimated cost of the administration’s ultimate goal of 100 Mbps for every man, woman and child is $350 billion. A nationwide wireless broadband network will take years and the unlikely cooperation of competitive service providers to realize. The country is already wired for electricity. BPL could be deployed yesterday.

In the absence of champions, BPL effectively has been killed by its opponents, comprising some 700,000 ham radio licensees. The ham radio lobby, the American Radio Relay League, went after BPL with a vengeance, claiming it caused interference to their members’ operations. The FCC reaffirmed its rules in 2006, and the League sued. Two years later, a federal court ordered the commission to cough up previously redacted documents. Those were released in 2009 along with a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that commenced gathering dust. The ARRL in the meantime filed complaints against one of the few BPL providers in the country, alleging interference in four municipalities.

Thus the regulatory saga continues, even as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers this week published a third standard for the technology. Here’s what IEEE had to say about its BPL operating protocol and interoperability standard, No. 1901: Networking products that fully comply with IEEE 1901 will deliver data rates in excess of 500 Mbps in LAN applications. In first-mile/last-mile applications, IEEE 1901-compliant devices will achieve ranges of up to 1,500 meters. The technology specified by IEEE 1901 uses sophisticated modulation techniques to transmit data over standard AC power lines of any voltage at transmission frequencies of less than 100 MHz.

In the transportation sector, for example, the standard’s data rates and range make it possible to deliver A/V entertainment to the seats of airplanes, trains and other mass transit vehicles. Electric vehicles can download a new entertainment playlist to the A/V system while the car is charging overnight.

In the home, [power-line communication] will complement wireless LANs by providing a link through walls and other RF impediments as well as over distances beyond the normal range of wireless networks. It will complement wireless networks in hotels and other multistory buildings by carrying multimedia data over the longer distances and allowing wireless to complete the communication link over the last few meters.

What’s not to love if you’re one of the 240 million Internet users comprising 77.3 percent of the U.S. population? And why exactly is this technology being held hostage by 0.2 percent of the population? How is it possible that after nearly 10 years in development, BPL’s interference issues haven’t been fixed? Providers dismiss these resolutions, according to Ed Hare, W1RFI, manager of the ARRL lab and an executive member of the IEEE working group that helped developed the electromagnetic compatibility standard for BPL, No. 1775. That group ultimately withdrew its support for 1775 over “ technical flaws” that allowed continued interference to ham operations.“Putting radio signals onto power wiring is a recipe for interference, although as has been demonstrated with help from ARRL, there are ways to implement this technology so that its strong radio noise emissions do not cause widespread interference problems,” Hare said. “The industry creates it own controversy by not incorporating those techniques universally, and fiercely fighting against having its most successful models turned into good regulations and standards.”

The federal government is hell bent on broadband, so why has it all but abandoned BPL? The FCC’s final rules for the technology are pending. It’s hard to imagine the commission not being able to appease 700,000 people for the sake of 240 million, notwithstanding an agenda to hand the video market to the wireless industry on a silver platter.

(Excerpted from K1TP's As The World Turns)

Lessons in manliness from the Egyptian revolution

2011-02-13T13:10:00.009-05:00

(Note: This is a guest post by Yasser El Hadari which was published on The Art of Manliness site - which is well worth checking out on its own merits. Yasser's observations on character are timeless, and I wish him and his country well.)

If you’ve been watching the news, I’m sure you know that the Egyptian people have rocked the Middle East in their effort for self-rule and democracy. As I sit typing this, the newly appointed Vice President issued a statement of Hosni Mubarak’s resignation and his appointment of the Armed Forces Supreme Council to take power. It is the dawn of a new era. No delays, no lies, no half-solutions. We wanted our freedom. The temple of Corruption had to be toppled. No matter who supported it, be it the Army, thugs, the West, the East or even the planet Mars, the regime that has humiliated us and stole our rights and freedoms had to go. Period.

As I write this, the revolution has been on for eighteen days. During those eighteen days, my life has changed on a scale that I would have never imagined in my life. I am turning 24 in July, and in November 2010 I had just completed my dental internship, earning my license and Dental Union membership. Later on I opened an e-commerce business to make ends meet as I pursued higher studies. Who would have imagined that starting from the 25th of January, I would shift my activities to a neighborhood guard member, lumberjack and patrolman; then to an amateur online activist, protester, bodyguard and a small-scale speaker for the cause.

As I sit writing this, I look back at the past days, and have come to a conclusion: they have made a better man of me. Every stage I spent, from sitting at home watching the news and discussing the revolution, to guarding my neighborhood then actually participating in the protests, have taught me real-life lessons in being a better man. I seriously have felt a change in my character and perception, and this has inspired me to submit this article to one of my favorite sites, The Art of Manliness.

I have to admit, I was involved in the revolution quite late. In the beginning I thought it didn’t affect me, that some reforms would be introduced and the protesters would go home. But Friday the 28th came, around 300 protesters were killed by live ammunition and 5000 more injured, and prisons and detention centers were mysteriously opened as the police disappeared, flooding the streets with convicts, and Cairo and other cities were ablaze in riots. To add insult to injury, the government shut down the internet. Only one word resonated in our minds: scare tactics–submit or face chaos. We were determined to prove the government wrong. Saturday afternoon we were in the streets to protect our homes, armed with whatever we had and setting up checkpoints in the streets. We stood guard daily, only letting go when local businesses started operating at night again and the police were returning to the streets. These were my first lessons in the revolution’s school of manliness.

A man adapts. I never expected in my life to stand in a checkpoint, armed with a hatchet and a hunting knife, checking cars and the ID’s of the riders with a case of homemade Molotov cocktails beside me. Now that I look back, I’m actually surprised at the change. But my willingness to accept this change, in my opinion, helped me evolve for the better.

A man values his neighbors. The only reason the neighborhood patrols succeeded was the group effort. In my shifts, we caught nine criminals. We had it easy, since our middle class neighborhood was flanked by the Nile and surrounded by two other middle class districts near the center of Cairo. Those living in suburban areas and near prisons had it much worse: They caught tens and in some areas over a hundred criminals. We kept our homes safe, and most importantly we learned to look out for each other and each others’ homes.

A man respects others. Anyone passing our checkpoints had to be checked. We knew the criminals and hired thugs had hijacked sedans, police cars, ambulances, army vehicles and forged police ID’s and stole army uniforms. There were no exceptions. However, we had to appreciate the cooperation of those we searched. We weren’t policemen, nor did we have warrants; on pen and paper we were just concerned citizens. Showing respect helped us earn respect. And it wasn’t hard: it was as simple as saying thank you.

A man doesn’t think with his emotions. Like Mubarak’s speeches, anyone we caught tried to appeal to our emotions. They made up lies as to where their fake ID’s came from, acted dumb and sometimes begged on their knees not to be handed over to the military. I have to admit, sometimes I wanted to believe them, it was easier. But I had to remember the reality, and by reality meaning what he would do if he found his way into my house or my neighbor’s house. Cold hard reality: not everyone shares your good nature; it’s sad but you’ll have to accept it to do your duty.

On the other hand, a man shows compassion. People of all ages stood with me, some as young as nine and others in their seventies and eighties. The old ones were mainly war veterans, but the young ones were in an environment they never experienced in their lives. They acted tough and tried to talk like thugs, but the fear in their eyes appeared at the first cracks of gunfire in the distance. Lesser men made jokes about their age to hide what they lacked in grit. The best men I knew were the ones who gave a pat on the back.

A man is practical, not showy. I was armed with a hatchet and hunting knife, since I had read earlier that anything that couldn’t be used as a tool was dead weight. I used the hatchet to cut firewood to keep us warm at night and the hunting knife, well, cut things. Others were armed with butcher knives, clubs, sticks and swords. Some took it too far to look bad-ass: a man tied two butcher knives together, nunchaku style and hung them round his neck to look threatening. The man just made his neck an easy target. Another point, and I know many will not like to hear this, but a man who owns a gun who knows how to use it is a better man, period. Three men in our neighborhood had guns, and whenever we were on alert, we looked to them, since their reactions determined how the rest of us would respond.

A man doesn’t talk of things he wouldn’t do. No matter how manly I portray people who took part in these patrols, no one has the right to ask others to put their lives or the lives of their loved ones in danger. It also comes to actions: If you’re not willing to use your car as a roadblock, don’t talk about others doing it instead.

A man appreciates the efforts of others. Although I respected the opinions of those who genuinely feared the outcome of the revolution being negative, it was repulsive to hear lesser men belittling the efforts of others. I know of people who make fun of the protesters who were fighting for their rights. Celebrities came on national television to claim that protesters were getting paid and received free meals from Kentucky Fried Chicken to protest against Mubarak. Others had the audacity to belittle the neighborhood patrols, not admitting that our stand in the streets helped them sleep in their beds at night. The funny thing was, the people I expected the most manly stand from were the ones who belittled us. The better men I knew, even if they didn’t participate, appreciated what others were doing for them.

The first day I participated in protests, my Father and I took a taxi to the nearby Tahrir Square where the bulk of anti-Mubarak protests were taking place. The night before, Mubarak had made a speech promising reforms and fair elections, appealing to citizens’ emotions and staging an aggressive counter-revolution. Upon reaching Tahrir Square we noticed pro-Mubarak demonstrators approaching the area, and the weirder image of horse and camel riders approaching the square. Upon going back, we were continually harassed by plainclothes policemen and supporters of Mubarak who had left their protest area at Mohandesin to disturb the anti-Mubarak protesters. When we got home, the media had launched an all-out offensive on those calling for democracy, branding them as saboteurs and traitors. The Internet was re-linked, and I found posts by people suggesting stability and going back to their ordinary lives. Since then I have alternated between joining protests and rooting for the revolution on Facebook. So started the new lessons in manliness.

A man shouldn’t be afraid of confrontation. Returning from Tahrir square on Bloody Wednesday, a plainclothes policeman harassed my father and I, calling us names and shouting threats as he followed us on foot for three blocks. If I kept quiet, I think he’d have followed us to our house. He didn’t leave us alone until I personally got in his face and made a scene calling any nearby uniformed policemen to deal with him and to show us his ID. Returning home, fuming with anger, I saw my friends posting online about how they wanted things to go back to the way they were and how those fighting for their rights were making a mess and disrupting peoples’ way of life. I called them on how a week ago they wanted change and these people they were putting down were bringing them these changes. Sometimes telling the truth meant no compromises.

A man respects the views of others and doesn’t take them personally. Of course there were those who wanted the revolution to stop simply because they were afraid. And their fear was genuine: there was a threat of chaos, economic collapse, and now foreign military intervention. It was easier of course to dismiss these fears as cowardly or stupid, but the harder thing to do, that in the end gained respect, was appreciating these fears, and helping them understand that freedom came at a high price, and how any short-term losses were worth it. Their disagreement wasn’t a personal attack, and one of the best speakers I knew made a point of letting listeners know that the disagreement wasn’t personal.

A man is presentable under all circumstances. The protests were peaceful. This was what made the revolution powerful. The world had to see that it wasn’t a peasant uprising, class conflict or even a religious takeover: those in the revolution were educated, young, loved Egypt and had realistic expectations of a representative government and civil rights. I participated in two more protests; before deciding to participate I had a haircut. Before going down to the protests I had a shower, shave, and went down dressed as if for a business presentation. In the second protest that started with a march by doctors (which my father, an ob/gyn surgeon, joined with me), I wore my best white coat and carried myself in the most professional manner possible. I was interviewed twice by American and British journalists, and in both cases I spoke with my best English accent. I was representing millions of people calling for change. Being scruffy or speaking in slang was going to misrepresent them.

A man respects the opposite sex. The protests were free of sexual harassment. Men were being searched by men and women searched by women, a lesson airport authorities in some countries can learn. When women passed by we made way for them. If people thought that the protests were a place to meet women, we told them to stay home. It wasn’t a game. The whole world was watching us, and those opposing the revolution were looking for the tiniest speck of dirt to put us down. Acting like a horny teenager was such dirt.

A man respects people who are different. While Muslim protesters were attending Friday Prayers, Christians formed a human wall to protect them. On Sunday when Christian protesters performed Mass, Muslims stood watch to protect them. There was no slurring in the protests. People who attended were of different races, religions, and social backgrounds; black and white, Muslim and Christian, rich and poor, we stood together. If people deep down inside had a certain hatred for others due to these differences, the protests helped them replace this hatred with understanding. In the end we were all the same. We were all Egyptian, and we all wanted freedom.

A man isn’t afraid of putting his life at risk. In one of the protests I was in, an important online activist was released the night before after 12 days in detention by the secret police, and was coming to Tahrir Square for a speech and a press conference. His younger brother is my colleague, and I found myself going to pick him up from the subway station. My friends and I, for the duration of the journey to the stand, made a human shield around him to keep people from slowing him down, and more importantly, to protect him. After his speech, our human phalanx fought the crowds to take him to the press conference. Most of the people meant well, but I personally considered the possibility of a counter-revolutionary with a concealed weapon harming him to shatter the morale of the revolution. Of course I’m still surprised at taking part in this endeavor, but if I were to repeat it again, I would do it happily even if it would have ended badly. I admired the man, and he was the voice for our youth and presented us well with no personal agenda, a man worth defending.

A man isn’t afraid to admit his mistakes and willingness to change. When discussing the revolution, I’ve been faced with the question of why I didn’t go down to the streets from the first day of the protests, as a way of proving me wrong or proving the point that those supporting the revolution were all talk. Of course, saying I wasn’t politically inclined and was afraid of riots was incongruous and didn’t do justice to the others of my age and similar background who were fighting for my rights. Finally when I had enough I reached for the answer inside me and told the truth: I didn’t believe in myself enough to think my voice mattered, but now that I’ve changed there’s no use talking about the past, since I can’t change it like I’m changing myself. Watching whoever was arguing with me show his respect or shut up was proof enough that an honest answer, however effacing, was worth it.

To conclude this article, I am happy to welcome you to the dawn of a new era. As I type this people are still flocking to the streets, celebrating their new age of self-rule and freedom. I will be forever proud of my nationality as an Egyptian. I promise to be good to Egypt, to use my knowledge to grow her, repaint her picture in the eyes of others. I’m sorry I insulted her when I was younger, for thinking she wasn’t pretty like the others. I’m sorry I gave up on her, for wanting to leave her, and being ignorant of her history. I promise to be a better citizen to Her, a better Egyptian, a better Man.

I just want to impart a final word before I end: I am not the best person ever, and I have my faults, but never forget the value of freedom and dignity. Our people were deprived of those virtues for at least 30 years, and no words can describe how aggressively those in power tried to put us down. They sent hired thugs and plainclothes police to attack and disturb us; it didn’t stop us. They got celebrities to insult the protesters and praise the regime. National television called the protesters saboteurs and they shut down foreign news channels; we ignored them all. They shut down the internet; we promised to shut THEM down. Nearby dictators promised to support the regime. We heard rumors that the US Navy sent the fifth or sixth fleet and the Israeli Defense Force was grouping at the border. It didn’t matter. We were fighting for our rights, and we were ready to face anyone who interfered. The people weren’t afraid of losing what they had, they are winning something greater. When people aren’t afraid of losing, they are free, and great men can only be free men who build great countries.

Revisiting the ID-O-Matic

2011-02-12T23:30:00.011-05:00

OK, it's been over a year. I'm finally ready to try this again.

About a year or go, I built the ID-O-Matic, a fine little kit offered by Dale, N0XAS of HamGadgets.

What's an ID-O-Matic? It's a sophisticated timer that can be used in the shack to remind a ham to legally ID on the air every 10 minutes. Actually, it's a lot more than that...which I'll get into a little later.

I had actually built the original ID-O-Matic model, and it worked great off a 12 volt power supply for several hours...until I decided to go portable with it. I had disconnected the finished kit from my power supply and hooked it up to a 9 volt battery after double checking the my polarity. (As there is no protection diode at the power input, I made sure to take care to make sure my polarity was correct.) You can probably guess the rest of the story... as soon as I hooked up the battery, I 'let the smoke out" of my newly finished kit. Disgusted with myself, I vowed it would be the last kit I ever build.

Fast forward to today. N0XAS has since brought out a successor to the original kit, the "ID-O-Matic II". In Dale's words, "...the ID-O-Matic II is the original ID-O-Matic, combined with the features of the Connection Kit and a few more, all on one board. There's an audio amp, low-pass filtering to smooth out the sidetone, volume control and de-emphasis for external audio input, and input level converters all included on the board. In addition, all inputs and outputs are now available on a single header with a screw-clamp terminal block for quick and easy connections..."

The ID-O-Matic features an ID timer with Morse code output, keyed CW, audio and PTT outputs, PTT/audio combination for keying HTs, 2-channel audio mixer for repeater audio and ID, filtering and de-emphasis for repeater audio and simple serial port configuration.

The ID-O-Matic II is a multipurpose, PIC microcontroller based device that nearly everyone can use. Like the original ID-O-Matic featured in the 2008-2010 ARRL Handbook, it can act as a simple 10-minute timer with audio and visual outputs to remind you when it's time to ID. It also features a programmable delay timer that announces your call sign or any other message, in Morse code at a speed and audio tone you choose. It has CW keying and PTT outputs so you can attach it to a "fox" transmitter, or an emergency cross-band repeater. Squelch/COR inputs combine to make a repeater IDer that works the way you want it. If that wasn't enough, this little kit also has a serial interface to connect to your shack computer, laptop or terminal for quick and easy configuration

The ID-O-Matic II can meet a pretty wide range of needs. On it's basic level it will light up a green LED until nine minutes have passed. The LED then turns yellow, and at 9 minutes 30 seconds starts blinking yellow/red. At ten minutes the ID-O-Matic beeps at you until you reset it with a pushbutton or logic signal, then starts over.

Using the built-in RS232 serial interface you can connect the ID-O-Matic II to a terminal or a PC with a terminal emulation program (PuTTY, Hyperterminal, Minicom, etc) and you can use the simple menu to set your own delay from 1 to 65535 seconds (over 9 hours). You can control when (and if) the LED turns yellow and when it starts blinking. You can also choose between the default beep, or just type in your call sign or any other message up to 64 characters long to hear it in Morse code. When in CW ID mode the ID-O-Matic II will send the message, then automatically reset and start timing again. You can also select repeater mode for repeater operation. In repeater mode two additional inputs can be used to control when ID-O-Matic II sends your selected Morse code ID. You can use a squelch, COR, PTT or other signals of your choosing. Built-in input level converters let you use either active-high or active-low signals. You can optionally have the ID-O-Matic send a courtesy beep at the end of each transmission (with user-selected delay), and you can specify a PTT "hang time" to keep PTT active for a few seconds after the input stops. If you want a repeater to ID every so often when it's idle, there is a beacon timer and a separate message for that too. You can, for example, have the repeater ID with its call sign while being used, and a longer message every hour or two when it's idle. There's a PTT watchdog timer to keep your repeater from being "hung" by stuck mic buttons (or long-winded users). And, you can use the ALT MSG input to send a different ID message based on the state of an input signal - useful if, for example, your site switches to backup power.

Regardless of the mode used, the PTT output is active 100ms before and 100ms after the CW ID. Speed is variable from 5 to 40 words per minute, and the audio pitch for the CW ID and the courtesy beep is also variable via the menu. Both the CW and PTT outputs are equipped with robust 2N7000 MOSFETs that can handle up to 60V at up to 200 mA to key transmitters or other loads.

N0XAS also made improvements to the original ID-O-Matic's Morse audio output. Where the old chip used a square wave signal, the new one uses pulse-width modulation followed by a low-pass filter to generate a much smoother, much better sounding audio signal. The on-board Morse ID is filtered and fed to an LM386 audio amplifier. An input is provided for external audio from you r receiver or other source; this input is also amplified and mixed with the Morse audio. You can optionally install the parts for a simple R-C de-emphasis filter on the external audio input. On board trim pots adjust the volume of each audio source.

The kit is fairly easy to build, so I have no excuses. Great job Dale - I promise not to screw up this time.

And maybe this time I'll add that reverse protection diode while I'm at it.

And you thought '73' was just a number

2011-02-11T11:26:00.014-05:00

Any ham knows the significance of the number 73...which has long been used by hams...and even before radio, land line telegraphers...as an symbol for "best regards" - a traditional closing greeting used in amateur radio.

While the origin of '73' has always been somewhat shrouded in mystery, the April 1935 issue of QST had a short article on the origin of 73. The article was actually a summation of a December 1934 discussion that appeared in a bulletin from the Navy Department Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. The Navy stated: "It appears from a research of telegraph histories that in 1859 the telegraph people held a convention, and one of its features was a discussion as to the saving of 'line time'. A committee was appointed to devise a code to reduce standard expressions to symbols or figures. This committee worked out a figure code, from figure 1 to 92. Most of these figure symbols became obsolescent, but a few remain to this date...the symbol most often used now is 73, which means 'my compliments' [or as commonly understood today, "best regards"]. The other figures in between the forgoing have fallen into almost complete disuse."

According to the American Radio Relay League (ARRL), Huelbe Garcia, PU3HAG, wrote about the character Dr Sheldon Cooper on the CBS situation comedy The Big Bang Theory. Evidently Sheldon, played by actor Jim Parsons, has worn a shirt on the show with the number “73” emblazoned across the chest, leading some to wonder if Sheldon is a ham radio operator. Supposedly, Sheldon remarked that “73 is the best number. Why? "73 is the 21st prime number. Its mirror (37) is the 12th, and its mirror (21) is the product of multiplying, hold on to your hats, 7 and 3. In binary, 73 is a palindrome, 1,0,0,1,0,0,1 which backwards is 1,0,0,1,0,0,1.”

Jeez. Who knew?

Ham Radio Deluxe and HRD Log

2011-02-11T09:17:00.008-05:00

For several years now I've been using Ham Radio Deluxe a tour de force by Simon Brown, HB9DRV, as a poor man's SDR (software designed radio). This free program, while not perfect, is under constant revision and improvement and seems to do it all: rig control (works flawlessly with my Icom 746 Pro), logging (can't beat the QSL management tools), interfacing with just about all digital modes through it's companion program DM780 together with my trusty Tigertronics SignalLink USB interface. Recently, I've discovered the internet-based companion HRD Log written by Claudio, IW1QLH. HRD Log uses data from your HRD logbook and posts it on the internet for public viewing if desired - and so much more. In the process, it also creates a nice "cloud-based" backup for the logbook. What I really thought interesting though was the mapping of logged QSOs - it's great to see a pictorial rendering of just where your signal has been heard! (The "live" version of the map is interactive and will provide details of the displayed logged QSOs.) Check it out.

Platoon Sergeant Douglas A. Vibert, Jr., USMC - Killed In Action at Iwo Jima, March 1, 1945

2011-02-09T22:06:00.011-05:00

Long time readers of this blog know that much of my original motivation for starting this blog was as a means to memorialize my dad who was and will always be my personal hero. My dad never spoke at length about his experiences in the Pacific as a young Marine in World War II but occasionally talked about his best friend Doug Vibert, who enlisted in the Marines sometime after my father had already been overseas. I remember my father telling me that Doug had been the sole support of his mother prior to the war and because of that fact, Doug was apparently exempt from the draft - and didn't have to go to war. But, like many others of his generation, his duty to his country was unquestioned. I remember my dad telling me that he had begged his best friend Doug not to go, and that it wasn't "like the movies". Doug, who apparently admired and looked up to my dad, wouldn't have it any other way. He enlisted in the Marines and eventually left for the Pacific, just as my father had.

This month (February 19 to be exact) marks the 66th anniversary of the beginning of the Battle of Iwo Jima...and March 1 marks the 66th anniversary of Doug's Vibert's death on the hard rocky sands of Iwo Jima. Platoon Sergeant Douglas A. Vibert, Jr. was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for gallantry occurring in action of February 21, 1945 just days prior to his death. (He was also awarded the Purple Heart). Doug was buried at sea in honored glory. I remember, many years later, my father would very occasionally mention Doug to me, and then get very quiet with the thousand yard stare of a man who has seen too much and remembered too much.

Rest in peace Marine. Thank you for your courage and your duty to your country. Thank you for being my dad's friend. I never met you Doug, but I never forgot you.

King Hussein, the ham radio operator known As JY1

2011-02-09T18:47:00.012-05:00

Jordan's King Hussein died this week in 1999, after being in power for 47 years. King Hussein was proclaimed King of Jordan in 1952, and only 18 when he took the throne in 1953. He died of cancer at the age of 63.

King Hussein was an amateur radio operator. As a ham radio operator, King Hussein was known as JY1. I can remember hearing him occasionally on Providence area repeaters when he sometimes came to the United States to visit his son who was studying at Brown University at the time. (Unfortunately, I never got the chance to work him on the air.)

Below is a clip of King Hussein on the radio, talking with NASA astronaut Owen Garriott in 1983. Garriott, a ham radio fan, was the first astronaut to get an amateur radio gig up in space, on the Space Shuttle Columbia. While he was passing over the Red Sea, he made radio contact with King Hussein. Listen in as Hussein ("Juliet Yankee One") talks with Garriott ("W Five Lima Foxtrot Lima").

According to the American Radio Relay League (AARL) -- Hussein was a life member -- the conversation with the space shuttle was a high point in the king's ham radio career. You can read more background about it here from NASA.

JY1 was a classy guy both on and off the air.

Possibly the greatest obituary ever. R.I.P. Fred.

2011-02-08T15:42:00.003-05:00

The following obituary was published 2/8/11 in the Richmond Times Dispatch - possibly one of the greatest obituaries ever...

Frederic Arthur (Fred) Clark

Frederic Arthur (Fred) Clark, who had tired of reading obituaries noting other's courageous battles with this or that disease, wanted it known that he lost his battle as a result of an automobile accident on June 18, 2006. True to Fred's personal style, his final hours were spent joking with medical personnel while he whimpered, cussed, begged for narcotics and bargained with God to look over his wife and kids. He loved his family. His heart beat faster when his wife of 37 years Alice Rennie Clark entered the room and saddened a little when she left. His legacy was the good works performed by his sons, Frederic Arthur Clark III and Andrew Douglas Clark MD, PhD., along with Andy's wife, Sara Morgan Clark. Fred's back straightened and chest puffed out when he heard the Star Spangled Banner and his eyes teared when he heard Amazing Grace. He wouldn't abide self important tight *censored*. Always an interested observer of politics, particularly what the process does to its participants, he was amused by politician's outrage when we lie to them and amazed at what the voters would tolerate. His final wishes were "throw the bums out and don't elect lawyers" (though it seems to make little difference). During his life he excelled at mediocrity. He loved to hear and tell jokes, especially short ones due to his limited attention span. He had a life long love affair with bacon, butter, cigars and bourbon. You always knew what Fred was thinking much to the dismay of his friend and family. His sons said of Fred, "he was often wrong, but never in doubt". When his family was asked what they remembered about Fred, they fondly recalled how Fred never peed in the shower - on purpose. He died at MCV Hospital and sadly was deprived of his final wish which was to be run over by a beer truck on the way to the liquor store to buy booze for a double date to include his wife, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter to crash an ACLU cocktail party. In lieu of flowers, Fred asks that you make a sizable purchase at your local ABC store or Virginia winery (please, nothing French - the *censored*) and get rip roaring drunk at home with someone you love or hope to make love to. Word of caution though, don't go out in public to drink because of the alcohol related laws our elected officials have passed due to their inexplicable terror at the sight of a MADD lobbyist and overwhelming compulsion to meddle in our lives. No funeral or service is planned. However, a party will be held to celebrate Fred's life. It will be held in Midlothian, Va. Email fredsmemory@yahoo.com for more information. Fred's ashes will be fired from his favorite cannon at a private party on the Great Wicomico River where he had a home for 25 years. Additionally, all of Fred's friend (sic) will be asked to gather in a phone booth, to be designated in the future, to have a drink and wonder, "Fred who?"

Why ham radio endures in the world of Tweets

2011-02-05T21:26:00.007-05:00

From Wired UK comes an excellent article by David Rowan which captures the essence of why ham radio endures in the Age of the Internet:

"Somehow it makes little sense that amateur "ham" radio continues to thrive in the age of Twitter, Facebook and iPhones. Yet the century-old communications technology -- which demands such commitment that you must pass an exam to receive a license -- currently attracts around 350,000 practitioners in Europe, and about 700,000 in the United States, some 60 per cent more than 30 years ago. What is it about a simple microphone, a transmitter-receiver and the seductive freedom of the radio spectrum that's turned a seeming anachronism into an enduring and deeply engaging global hobby?

For a start, there is that thrill in establishing a magical person-to-person long-distance radio conversation that no commodified internet communication can compete with. In a world of taken-for-granted torrents of emails, instant messages and Skype video-chats, there is a purity and a richness in the shared experience of exchanging "73s" during a live "QSO" with strangers on another continent. Why, the very "ham slang" that defines the community -- 73 translating as "best regards", and QSOs as two-way conversations -- tells practitioners that they belong to a special, mutually curious and highly courteous club. And the fact that DXers -- long-distance amateur operators -- take the trouble to acknowledge received transmissions and conversations by sending their new contacts custom-designed postcards through the analogue postal service… well, that is charm itself in a world where it's considered excessive to end a communication with anything more effusive than a "bestest".

You only need study a handful of these cards to understand, even today, the old-fashioned excitement of connecting with a stranger who might be many thousands of miles away. The postcards -- known as QSL cards -- can be as quirky and personality-filled as the senders themselves. At times humorous and characterful, at others terse and geographically factual, they have naturally inspired their own subculture that has spurred DXers to collect and display them much as they would colourful foreign postage stamps. The cards invariably display as a minimum some basic factual information about the sender. This will generally include the radio operator's individual call sign, his (there are not too many hers) location, and a few details about the signal detected. And just to show that the Twitter generation did not invent the linguistic contractions exemplified in text-message-speak, QSL cards too rely on slang and abbreviations to pack information into a tight space. So cards will display the "RST" -- the received radio station's readability, signal and strength; perhaps details of the sender's "XMTR" (transmitter) and "ANT" (antenna); and occasionally a request to reciprocate, expressed as the shorthand "PSE QSL TNX" (please send an acknowledgement card, thanks) or the more chatty "hw abt a crd om?" (how about a card, old man?). Old man, by the way, is not a reference to the recipient's age -- just as, on the rarer occasions when the DXer is female, she is referred to as a "YL", a young lady, whatever her chronological age.

DXers have been exchanging QSL cards since at least 1916, when Edward Andrews of Philadelphia -- callsign 3TQ -- recorded the receipt of a card from 8VX of Buffalo, New York. Over the next decade, the hobby took off -- so much so that, by 1928, Paul Segal (W9EEA) had formulated an "amateur's code" setting out six key qualities to which practitioners must adhere: "The radio amateur is considerate… loyal… progressive… friendly… balanced… [and] patriotic," Segal specified, always ready for service to country and community.

Since then, the hobby has captivated royalty and celebrities alike. Among the most celebrated DXers have been the late King Hussein of Jordan (callsign JY1), Queen Noor (JY1H) and Juan Carlos, King of Spain (EA0JC). Had you picked the right moment, you could have chatted to Morocco's King Hassan II (CN8MH), the former Sultan of Oman (A41AA) or Bhumiphol Adulayadej, King of Thailand (HS1A). If monarchs have never appealed, you could instead have shot the breeze with Marlon Brando (FO5GJ), prime minister Rajiv Ghandi of India (VU2RG), or the US newsreader Walter Cronkite (KB2GSD) -- not forgetting the singer Cliff Richard (W2JOF), Joe Walsh of The Eagles (WB6ACU), and genuinely beyond-this-world DXers such as Yuri Gagarin and Helen Sharman.

It's little wonder that collectors describe the buzz of receiving a new exotic foreign card as akin to that of philatelists discovering a rare commemorative stamp. That explains why the late Jerry Powell, a New Jersey ham between 1928 to 2000 (W2OJW), proudly displayed the 369 cards he had gathered from Okinawa to Papua. Another obsessive collector, Thomas Roscoe of Brookfield, Ohio (K8CX), has created an awe-inspiring QSL museum where he displays his trophies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe (you can see his individual cards at hamgallery.com). Take a journey with Roscow to Wallis & Futuna Island and Western Kiribati, to Kyrgyzstan and Kerguelen Island; visit "states" whose international status is somewhat contentious, such as the Republic of Ichkeria and the Principality of Sealand; celebrate one-off events such as Operation Desert Storm in Saudi Arabia, or the Queen Mary's last voyage.

But it's not simply the romance of card-collecting that continues to inspire DXers, nor the blunt urge to communicate. Instead, hams talk proudly about belonging to a global "brotherhood", with few rules and little bureaucracy and the ability to transcend language, religion and race -- while never quite knowing with whom they might come in contact.

Plus, of course, the chance to be a genuine real-life hero. Days after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake devastated Haiti in January, amateur radio operators were busy at work connecting rescuers within the country and contacting survivors' families. When a magnitude 8.8 earthquake hit Chile the next month, and the phone network collapsed, a radio operator called Alejandro Jara broadcast the first information from the ground. Hams stepped in on September 11, 2001, and during Hurricane Katrina. Then there was Tony Pole-Evans, a bird-lover with a short-wave radio on Saunders Island, who famously risked his life during Argentina's 1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands to radio the first news back to Britain that 1,000 soldiers had landed on Goose Green. How exciting it must have been to intercept that particular radio call. And boy, what a QSL card to top one's collection.

You can tweet all you like, but this is the way to communicate."

Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club - not just another club!

2011-02-02T13:06:00.005-05:00

Just when I thought that I would never bother to join another radio club (primarily due to inactivity or non-interest exhibited by members), I've "discovered" a radio club practically in my backyard that stands the stale stereotype on its ears.

The Blackstone Valley Amateur Radio Club (BVARC) was established in 1953, and by all accounts has been going strong ever since. Headquarted in the Woonsocket, Rhode Island area (about a 25 minute ride from my Massachusetts QTH) the club is a bevy of activity with enthusiastic members both young and old. A lot of clubs talk about helping members achieve their potential in ham radio - BVARC lives it! A "Consortium" of free ongoing amateur radio teaching seminars has been ongoing for the past 18 months and shows no sign of slowing down.

I attended my initial meeting of the club the other night, and am looking forward to my next monthly meeting when I qualify for full membership with my attendance. The club boasts a very well designed website (http://w1ddd.org) and also operates a weekly simplex net (without going through a repeater) on Wednesday evenings at 7:00 pm local on 146.565 MHz. (And yes - just about everyone was booming in on the net).

Great job guys. I'm glad I found you!

Crisis in Egypt - and Ham Radio

2011-02-02T11:33:00.009-05:00

From a wiki site (http://werebuild.eu/wiki/Egypt/Ham_radio) covering Egypt and ham radio comes some interesting information on how the so-called "old technology" of ham radio - specifically CW, or morse code, is being used to get "the word out" from Egypt. Following are some verbatim quotes from the wiki site as well as intercepted messages from Egypt:

In line with Telecomix's mission of supporting communications whenever needed, we are currently attempting to provide ham to ham contacts for emergency assistance. Ham radio activists are receiving signals in morse code from Egypt. When countries block web, we evolve.

Receive: 40m band 7050-7100, 20m 1400-14050

We always listen on hamradio 7080.8 kHz CW transmit frequency. We may call CQ SU, best time 18h-20h UTC. Please spread.

Received messages

[2011-01-28 10:50]

"internet [not] working, police cars [burning]"

[00:30 UTC 7078.70 - 7079.88 kHz]

"test time" 7079.88 kHz

"net time, [...] dark skies, bloody [moon]" 7079.55 kHz
"didn't catch that, [repeat]" 7079.55 kHz
CW
"su32 will be [well] known" 7079.55 kHz
"all but one" 7080.23 kHz
"dial not working," 7080.23 kHz
"airports [being shut] down" 7080.23 kHz
"2 miles -- no, [1 miles] away" 7080.23 kHz
"have you been [able] to get a hold [of a] american?" 7080.23 kHz
"have you contacted [anyone] yet?" 7080.23 kHz
"americans, the americans" 7080.23 kHz
"everything is happening, everything we thought" 7080.23 kHz
"I got a contect [from] germany" 7080.66 kHz
"alert to germans" 7080.66 kHz (very faint)
"tomrrow [should] be interesting..." 7080.66 kHz
~00:30 UTC 7078.70 - 7079.88 kHz

[2011-01-29 15:09 UTC]

UNVERIFIED

hellow is anyone there?
americans, the americans
7072.0 khz
7072.00 khz?
104
104."

Interesting stuff!  This reminds of of the time - in 1979 I think - when I was in QSO with a Nicaraguan ham during their

revolutionary activity, and could hear gunfire in the background of the other ham's transmission.  Let's hope the current revolution

ends with a minimum of bloodshed.

QSL cards

2011-01-09T20:37:00.007-05:00

Part of the fun of amateur radio collecting cards, called QSL cards, from other amateurs that you've talked to on the radio. Some people like to collect stamps form various parts of the world but hams collect QSLs. If you are also a stamp collector you will find that often a card comes from a distant country with an interesting stamp on the envelope.

Another reason for collecting QSL cards is to participate in the many certificate programs available to amateurs. Whether it's getting your DXCC (DX Century Club) for getting cards confirming contacts with 100 or more DX countries, working all states in the U.S., all provinces in Canada, or the many other awards available, you need the cards to support your claim for the award.

Exchanging paper QSLs has in some respects been expanded by various computerized methods, but many of us older hams still prefer the tried and true method of exchanging paper QSLs, which can turn into a hobby by itself. Which reminds me: I received some interesting cards from the W1 call area QSL bureau (an economical way of mailing multiple cards) a while back and I have yet to respond to them. Shame on me! Somewhere, I'm sure, some ham in Lower Slobbovia is desperately waiting for a rare DX card from Milford, Massachusetts. OK, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little...

About my own QSL card design: no, I don't drive an Airbus - but my son does, and I'm pretty proud of him!

Good night Chesty, wherever you are

2011-01-03T19:55:00.004-05:00

Some men become legends after their deaths and others become legends while they are alive. Lewis Burwell Puller, forever known as “Chesty”, was in the latter category. Enlisting in the Marine Corps in 1918 he would serve until 1955, rising in rank from private to lieutenant general. Throughout his career he led from the front, never asking his men to go where he would not go. For his courage he was five times awarded the navy cross, a silver star, a distinguished service cross, and a bronze star with a v for valor, along with numerous other decorations. In World War II and Korea he became a symbol of the courage that Marines amply displayed in both conflicts.

His fourth navy cross citation details why the Marines under his command would have followed him in an attack on Hades if he had decided to lead them there:

“For extraordinary heroism as Executive Officer of the Seventh Marines, First Marine Division, serving with the Sixth United States Army, in combat against enemy Japanese forces at Cape Gloucester, New Britain, from 26 December 1943 to 19 January 1944. Assigned temporary command of the Third Battalion, Seventh Marines, from 4 to 9 January, Lieutenant Colonel Puller quickly reorganized and advanced his unit, effecting the seizure of the objective without delay. Assuming additional duty in command of the Third Battalion, Fifth Marines, from 7 to 8 January, after the commanding officer and executive officer had been wounded, Lieutenant Colonel Puller unhesitatingly exposed himself to rifle, machine-gun and mortar fire from strongly entrenched Japanese positions to move from company to company in his front lines, reorganizing and maintaining a critical position along a fire-swept ridge. His forceful leadership and gallant fighting spirit under the most hazardous conditions were contributing factors in the defeat of the enemy during this campaign and in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service.”

Stories began to cluster about him. When he was first shown a flame thrower he supposedly asked, “Where do you mount the bayonet?” Advised that his unit was surrounded he replied: “All right, they’re on our left, they’re on our right, they’re in front of us, they’re behind us…they can’t get away this time.” On an inspection tour of a Marine unit he became exasperated at the lack of spirit he saw and finally said,”Take me to the Brig. I want to see the real Marines!” During the Chosin campaign in Korea when the Marines were fighting their way to the coast through several Communist Chinese corps he captured the tactical situation succinctly: “Retreat! Hell, we’re just attacking in a different direction.” Little surprise that Marine Drill Instructors at Parris Island will have their boots sing good night to Chesty Puller some four decades after his death.

Puller was an Episcopalian. However he made no secret that he greatly admired Navy Catholic chaplains who served with the Marines, and had little use, with certain honorable exceptions, for the Navy Protestant chaplains sent to the Corps. His reasons were simple. The Catholic chaplains were without fear, always wanted to be with the troops in combat, and the men idolized them for their courage and their willingness, even eagerness, to stand with them during their hour of trial.

On New Guinea one Protestant chaplain complained to Puller that the Catholic chaplains were making converts among the Protestants. Puller told the chaplain that he should work harder and not come whining to him. Later, Puller encountered the Protestant chaplain again and Puller read him the riot act. Instead of being with his men while they were fighting the chaplain had remained behind at the battalion aid station. “They’ve got a chaplain of their own. Your place was with the fighting men — your own battalion. You remember our little talk about Protestant boys joining the Catholics? Well, conduct like yours is one reason for it. They see those priests doing their duty and see you evading it. I can’t work up much sympathy for you.”

Puller told his officers on another occasion that he had known only a few Protestant chaplains that were worth their ration cards.

He would receive letters from Protestant mothers concerned that their Marine sons had joined the Catholic Church. He would write back that if the Protestant chaplains had the guts to go where the Catholic chaplains did, where the bullets were flying, maybe their sons wouldn’t be converting.

After he had retired, Puller complained to his Episcopal bishop: “I can’t understand why our Church sends such poorly prepared men as chaplains when fighting breaks out — they look to me like men who can’t get churches, for the most part. The Catholics pick the very best, young, virile, active and patriotic. The troops look up to them.”

Small wonder that Puller sent his own kids to Catholic parochial school. Good night Chesty, wherever you are.

W1WH's New Years Resolutions

2011-01-02T14:14:00.013-05:00

Some of my New Year's resolutions for 2011: getting skinny and speedy...

1. I'm going to get serious about losing some weight. Going to start up with WeightWatchers (again) and am reading - and plan to put into practice - The Abs Diet by David Zinczenko. (Not sure if I was ever actually issued abs, but Zincenko assures me I was.)

2. Finally, finally, after over 30 years of hamming, I'm going to get serious about building my morse code receiving speed. Going to get down to basics using the Koch method in concert with the G4FON Morse Trainer. (For those interested, there are two primary schools of thought regarding the learning of Morse code. The Farnsworth method involves sending individual characters at a fairly high rate of speed, while using slower intervals between characters. The Koch method takes a different approach - it starts off with just two characters at predetermined speeds and gradually introduces an additional character after the user successfully copies 90% of the preceding set. Which one works best? That's an open debate and seems to depend upon the individual. I learned Morse code over 30 years ago, but am trying the Koch method (at least initially) to increase my speed...may switch to Farnsworh as I progress. By the way, if you're just beginning to learn the code, be sure to never, never, associate characters with visual dots and dashes - you must associate characters with their sounds, "dits" and "dahs".)

MacGyver and ham radio: 2011

2010-12-31T17:23:00.014-05:00

Ham radio has changed since the early days. In those days, the pioneers of wireless were inventing something that didn’t exist in any previous form. They were at a technological disadvantage compared to hams today, but they had a freedom that doesn’t exist today. They could innovate without someone saying, “that’s not real radio” because no one had any preconceived notions about what real radio was.

Imagine for a moment that instead of devising an HF radio relay network, Maxim had invented a personal computer and a software program called the CW Skimmer. No one would have said, “hey that’s not fair, that’s cheating, that makes radio contacts too easy, you can’t use that”. If he had invented the Internet and the personal computer and had found some clever way to merge ham radio with the Internet no one would have protested that making contacts with stations on the other side of the globe was “too easy”.

That would have been true because instant, global communication wasn’t available. Anything was better than nothing and few would have complained about easier communication methods and after all, that was precisely what these trailblazers were trying to achieve.

Now fast-forward to modern times. Personal communications are ubiquitous. For our generation, radio has truly become just a hobby. And since global communication is now cheap, easy, and reliable, we have to make a game of it for it to be interesting. We create our own challenges and try to overcome them. DXCC is the quest to confirm 100 entities via radio. These contacts can be absolutely banal with only the barest minimum of data exchanged to make it a legal contact — and we predetermined what legal means in this context.

A recently licensed ham captured the essence of the thing in four short sentences. He wrote that “the ham radio operator is like MacGyver. Bad guys put him in a tough situation, then he uses clever methods to get himself out of those tough spots. Except in ham radio, it is the radio operator who puts himself in these tough spots and then devises clever means to get himself out.”

Think about it – somewhere right now there is a guy carrying a three watt, battery-powered, CW transceiver to the park where he will launch a 33 foot hunk of wire over a tree limb and proceed to make six or eight contacts. He will shortly pack all that gear up and go home where he will update his blog with what a wonderful afternoon he just enjoyed. He put himself in a tough spot, what with the low power, the menial antenna and the contacts that were nothing more than “TKS 579 BCNU 73”. Yet his ability to prove to himself that he could do such a thing brings him joy.

And you know what? If that ever becomes too mundane for him, he will lower the power, use a smaller antenna, try a different band, work from a more remote and radio unfriendly location, bounce his RF off the surface of the moon – whatever it takes to put himself back in that tough spot just so he can claw his way out. After all, he is MacGyver and he is the master of the tough spots.

If you're a ham, it’s highly likely that you already understand this concept. The methods of personal communication that are available to everyone are wonderful and I won’t go anywhere without my BlackBerry. But there’s nothing “MacGyver” about it at all.

For that, you need ham radio.

(Excerpted from Smoke Curls by Jeff Davis, KE9V).

The De-Industrialization of America - The changes are a comin'...

2010-11-30T13:32:00.003-05:00

Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them.

But, ready or not, here they come.

1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.

2. The Check. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks
by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process
checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise
of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never
paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would
absolutely go out of business.

3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They
certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the
way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get
ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has
caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have
met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model
for paid subscription services.

4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in
your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading
music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I
discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving
home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can
browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And
the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience!
Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find
that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you
forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.

5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot
of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because
they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service.
All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell
provider for no charge against your minutes.

6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music
industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's
the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who
would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels
and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music
purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is
familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert
circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the
book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video
documentary, "Before the Music Dies."

7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because
of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers.
And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time
that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to
lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and
commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to
most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let
the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.

8. The "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own
are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may
simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store
your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD,
and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple,
Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That
means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the
operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into
the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet
cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a
monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider.
In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever
from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually
own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a
big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It
makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book
from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.

9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically,
it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There
are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your
computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are
and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street
View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your
ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy
something else. Again and again.

All we will have that can't be changed are Memories.

19 Facts About The De-industrialization Of America That Will Blow Your Mind

The United States is rapidly becoming the very first "post-industrial" nation on
the globe. All great economic empires eventually become fat and lazy and
squander the great wealth that their forefathers have left them, but the pace at
which America is accomplishing this is absolutely amazing. It was America that
was at the forefront of the industrial revolution. It was America that showed
the world how to mass produce everything from automobiles to televisions to
airplanes. It was the great American manufacturing base that crushed Germany
and Japan in World War II.

But now we are witnessing the de-industrialization of America . Tens of
thousands of factories have left the United States in the past decade alone.
Millions upon millions of manufacturing jobs have been lost in the same time
period. The United States has become a nation that consumes everything in sight
and yet produces increasingly little. Do you know what our biggest export is
today? Waste paper. Yes, trash is the number one thing that we ship out to the
rest of the world as we voraciously blow our money on whatever the rest of the
world wants to sell to us. The United States has become bloated and spoiled and
our economy is now just a shadow of what it once was. Once upon a time America
could literally out produce the rest of the world combined. Today that is no
longer true, but Americans sure do consume more than anyone else in the world.
If the de-industrialization of America continues at this current pace, what
possible kind of a future are we going to be leaving to our children?

Any great nation throughout history has been great at making things. So if the
United States continues to allow its manufacturing base to erode at a staggering
pace how in the world can the U.S. continue to consider itself to be a great
nation? We have created the biggest debt bubble in the history of the world in
an effort to maintain a very high standard of living, but the current state of
affairs is not anywhere close to sustainable. Every single month America goes
into more debt and every single month America gets poorer.

So what happens when the debt bubble pops?

The de-industrialization of the United States should be a top concern for every
man, woman and child in the country. But sadly, most Americans do not have any
idea what is going on around them.

For people like that, take this article and print it out and hand it to them.
Perhaps what they will read below will shock them badly enough to awaken them
from their slumber.

The following are 19 facts about the de-industrialization of America that will
blow your mind....

#1 The United States has lost approximately 42,400 factories since 2001. About
75 percent of those factories employed over 500 people when they were still in
operation. ( 75% x 42,400 x 500 = 15,900,000 jobs )

#2 Dell Inc., one of America ’s largest manufacturers of computers, has
announced plans to dramatically expand its operations in China with an
investment of over $100 billion over the next decade.

#3 Dell has announced that it will be closing its last large U.S. manufacturing
facility in Winston-Salem , North Carolina in November. Approximately 900 jobs
will be lost.

#4 In 2008, 1.2 billion cell phones were sold worldwide. So how many of them
were manufactured inside the United States ? Zero.

#5 According to a new study conducted by the Economic Policy Institute, if the
U.S. trade deficit with China continues to increase at its current rate, the
U.S. economy will lose over half a million jobs this year alone.

#6 As of the end of July, the U.S. trade deficit with China had risen 18 percent
compared to the same time period a year ago.

#7 The United States has lost a total of about 5.5 million manufacturing jobs
since October 2000.

#8 According to Tax Notes, between 1999 and 2008 employment at the foreign
affiliates of U.S. parent companies increased an astounding 30 percent to 10.1
million. During that exact same time period, U.S. employment at American
multinational corporations declined 8 percent to 21.1 million.

#9 In 1959, manufacturing represented 28 percent of U.S. economic output. In
2008, it represented 11.5 percent.

#10 Ford Motor Company recently announced the closure of a factory that produces
the Ford Ranger in St. Paul , Minnesota . Approximately 750 good paying middle
class jobs are going to be lost because making Ford Rangers in Minnesota does
not fit in with Ford's new "global" manufacturing strategy.

#11 As of the end of 2009, less than 12 million Americans worked in
manufacturing. The last time less than 12 million Americans were employed in
manufacturing was in 1941.

#12 In the United States today, consumption accounts for 70 percent of GDP. Of
this 70 percent, over half is spent on services.

#13 The United States has lost a whopping 32 percent of its manufacturing jobs
since the year 2000.

#14 In 2001, the United States ranked fourth in the world in per capita
broadband Internet use. Today it ranks 15th.

#15 Manufacturing employment in the U.S. computer industry is actually lower in
2010 than it was in 1975.

#16 Printed circuit boards are used in tens of thousands of different products.
Asia now produces 84 percent of them worldwide.

#17 The United States spends approximately $3.90 on Chinese goods for every $1
that the Chinese spend on goods from the United States .

#18 One prominent economist is projecting that the Chinese economy will be three
times larger than the U.S. economy by the year 2040.

#19 The U.S. Census Bureau says that 43.6 million Americans are now living in
poverty and according to them that is the highest number of poor Americans in
the 51 years that records have been kept.

So how many tens of thousands more factories do we need to lose before we do
something about it?

How many millions more Americans are going to become unemployed before we all
admit that we have a very, very serious problem on our hands?

How many more trillions of dollars are going to leave the country before we
realize that we are losing wealth at a pace that is killing our economy?

How many once great manufacturing cities are going to become rotting war zones
like Detroit before we understand that we are committing national economic
suicide?

The de-industrialization of America is a national crisis. It needs to be treated
like one.

(reprinted from K1TP's "As The World Turns" - check out Jon's site at: http://www.myrockport.com/world.htm)

The very best of us

2010-11-17T16:20:00.003-05:00

Yesterday something extraordinary happened. Staff Sergeant Salvatore Giunta, US. Army, became the first living recipient of the Medal of Honor since the Vietnam War. Sgt. Giunta received the Medal for his actions in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley in October 2007.

Sergeant Giunta's heroism has been well chronicled, and his actions and character represent the very best that this country - or any country - has to offer.

I found myself wondering yesterday how many Americans knew that their nation was honoring this extraordinary and genuine American hero as the Medal ceremony competed for media exposure with the news of Prince William's engagement - which actually received much more airtime than did the Medal ceremony.

Happy Birthday and Semper Fidelis to the Few and the Proud

2010-11-10T15:30:00.003-05:00

"The Marines I have seen around the world have:
The Cleanest Bodies,
The Filthiest Minds,
Highest Morale,
and Lowest Morals
of any group of animals I have ever seen.
Thank God for the United States Marine Corps"
attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, 1945

My youngest turned 35 today...

2010-10-23T21:59:00.000-04:00

Our youngest turned 35 today. While my own 35th birthday seems like it was yesterday (it obviously was not) I'm surprised how sobering this fact is.

Many happy returns today Christine! (I just hope I'm around to see a few of them!)

Attention air passengers: It’s perfectly safe (but not legal) to use your cellphones

2010-10-23T21:37:00.004-04:00

With more than 28,000 commercial flights in the skies over the United States every day, there are probably few sentences in the English language that are spoken more often and insistently than this: “Please turn off all electronic devices.

Asking why passengers must turn off their mobile phones on airplanes seems like an odd question. Because! With a sentence said so often there simply must be a reason for it. Or — is there?

Flight attendants are required to make their preflight safety announcement by the Federal Communications Commission because of “potential interference to the aircraft’s navigation and communication systems.” Perhaps this seems like a no-brainer: turning off your cellphone inside a piece of technology as sensitive as an airplane. In our civilized times, there are only a few things imaginable which more likely lead to direct physical conflict with the person in the seat next to you than turning on your cellphone during takeoff and nonchalantly calling your hairdresser to reschedule that appointment next Wednesday. In Great Britain, a 28-year-old oil worker was sentenced to 12 months in prison in 1999 for refusing to switch off his cellphone on a flight from Madrid to Manchester. He was convicted of “recklessly and negligently endangering” an aircraft.

Yet with people losing their freedom over the rule, it may come as a bit of a surprise that scientific studies have never actually proven a serious risk associated with the use of mobile phones on airplanes. In the late 1990s, when cellphones and mobile computers became mainstream, Boeing received reports from concerned pilots who had experienced system failures and suggested the problems may have been caused by laptops and phones the cabin crew had seen passengers using in-flight. Boeing actually bought the equipment from the passengers but was unable reproduce any of the problems, concluding it had “not been able to find a definite correlation between passenger-carried portable electronic devices and the associated reported airplane anomalies.”

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration released a study in 2003, stating that of eight tested cellphone models, none would be likely to interfere with navigation or radio systems of the aircraft — systems which are, of course, carefully shielded against all sources of natural or artificial radiation by design. Another study by the IEEE Electromagnetic Compatibility Society concluded in 2006 that “there is no definitive instance of an air accident known to have been caused by a passenger’s use of an electronic device.”

The same study also found that, on average, one to four calls are illegally made during every flight, meaning that there are tens of thousands of phone calls from American airplanes every day — and still no definitive evidence of a problem

What makes the ban of mobile phones in the United States look even more odd is that it doesn’t exist in other parts of world. The European Aviation Safety Agency lifted the ban in 2007. “EASA does not ban the use of mobile phones on board as they are not considered to be a threat to safety,” says EASA spokesman Dominique Fouda. Several airlines like Ryanair and Emirates have since allowed passengers to use their phones during flights. According to EASA, some American airlines will soon allow the use of cellphones outside of US airspace.

While the safety argument sounds like a neat story every passenger would understand, there seems to be a second, more important reason for the ban. According to the Federal Aviation Agency, the current ban by the Federal Communications Commission has not been issued for security concerns, but “because of potential interference with ground networks,” says FAA spokeswoman Arlene Salac. An airplane with activated mobile phones flying over a city could cause these several hundred phones to simultaneously log into a base station on the ground, perhaps overloading it and threatening the network.

Europeans seem to not worry about this problem, since European airlines allowing cellphones install base stations inside each aircraft, forwarding all calls through the plane’s satellite system, charging passengers by the minute. If all phones are logged into the base station on the airplane, they will not cause trouble on the ground.

But even if the FCC were to revoke the ban, the FAA’s current regulations for the certification of electronic equipment would apply. This would mean air carriers would have to show that every particular cellphone model is compatible with every particular airplane type. With hundreds of cellphone models released every year, this would mean a continuing source of cost for airlines, while the only benefit would be the convenience of passengers.

In the end, the ban of mobile phones on airplanes might not be a story about safety concerns, but about the psychology of governmental agencies. Bureaucracy, in theory, is designed to eliminate irrationality by replacing the biased judgment of individuals with a system of fixed requirements. Bureaucracies are machines to make judgments according to the best objective knowledge available. Given that, and the suspicion that the threat by mobile phones is indeed minor, how is it possible that two bureaucratic agencies, the FAA and the FCC, act with disproportionate caution? Is the apparatus not so rational after all?

“The point of bureaucracy is to have a less emotive discussion. But that doesn’t mean you get rid of that factor,” says Daniel Carpenter, professor of government at Harvard University.

When it comes to the question of allowing people to use their mobile phones, the bureaucratic incentive to do so could not be weaker. For any agency involved in this, two errors are possible. The first is what Carpenter calls an error of commission: The agency allows mobile phones and something bad happens, either an airplane crash or a network failure on the ground. The other possible error is one of omission: The agency fails to allow the use of mobile phones, though they are safe, and people subsequently cannot make phone calls while on the airplane.

“One of these errors is much more vivid and evocative. The error of not letting people talk on cellphones when they should — it’s hard to see people dying from that,” says Carpenter.

This suggests the most important reason mobile phones are still banned on airplanes might be the absence of anger — the fact that passengers are not organizing and demanding the right to make calls.

Still, there might be yet another way of thinking about the issue. Despite the current ban, Congress debated the “Halting Airplane Noise to Give Us Peace Act” (also known as the “Hang Up Act”) in 2008, prohibiting all voice communications on commercial flights. The bill was never voted on, but the reasoning behind it was simple: No calls in airplanes, not because the calls are dangerous — but because they are so annoying.

Some shameless self-promotion (sort of...)

2010-10-06T11:47:00.006-04:00

The Milford Knights of Columbus is sponsoring its annual holiday fund drive by selling tea cakes made by the Boston Tea Cake Company (located right in my little old town of Milford). If anybody's interested, I'm taking orders through Monday, November 12 with a delivery date after Monday, November 19. The tea cakes come in seven varieties:

Sour Cream Cinnamon
Apple Cinnamon
Blueberry
Chocolate Ecstasy
Cranberry Cream
Lotsa Lemon
Pumpkin Cream

All tea cakes are 1.5 lbs. (24 oz.) and are priced at $12.00 each. If you're interested, let me know. (Checks should be payable to "Milford KOC", but - no pressure!)

Pass this on to your friends, as they make nice gifts or are great for parties, etc. (For more info on the tea cakes, check out www.bostonteacakes.com)

Game Changer?

2010-10-06T11:24:00.007-04:00

OK, I admit it. It's been a "helluvalongtime" since my last post - hey, I've been busy! But news about a potential "game changing" Wi-Fi band has broken me out of my stupor. Some are calling it “super Wi-Fi,” or “Wi-Fi on steroids,” but whatever you call it, a recent ruling from the FCC that allows for unlicensed use of the “white space” between TV channels for wireless data service could signal changes for consumers and everyone else providing or using Wi-Fi networks. On September 23 the FCC, for the first time in over 20 years, gave the go ahead for the public to use a very desirable part of the radio frequency spectrum that should be able to send Wi-Fi signals farther, better, and faster than current implementations.

Farther, Better, Faster
Using the new white space spectrum, Wi-Fi signals will be able to travel many times farther than the 100 – 300 feet that current systems typically get. There are claims of over a kilometer or even a mile with this new super signal. Wi-Fi transmissions using this spectrum will also be much less susceptible to obstructions, penetrating walls and other barriers much better than current signals. We’ve also read claims of data rates of everything from 20 up to 800 Mbps for white space Wi-Fi but when you factor in capacity vs. coverage we imagine speeds will be closer to 50 -100 Mbps in practice, still impressively fast.

A Dose of Reality
White space Wi-Fi should be fairly straight forward to implement for places like university or corporate campuses where access to towers and pipes to the Internet are not an issue. Microsoft is already trying it out, what they are calling “White Fi” on their campus. Municipalities and public places, on the other hand, might have more difficulty finding a tower to place their antennas on and access to the “pipe” at the bottom of the tower. (Hmm...more work for me and the boys?) The carriers are going to give away high speed connectivity that might cut into their 3G business. In other words, who is going to pay for infrastructure for a potentially costly service that consumers are already used to getting for free? On the other hand, Google, with miles of dark fiber in their possession and the resources to create “hot spots” everywhere could start to look more like AT&T and Verizon.

What it Could Mean for You and Your Smartphone
Bigger “tubes” on the Internet could mean a much better experience and wider availability to the Internet. In the home a new white space Wi-Fi router might give you a stronger signal, and better Wi-Fi performance everywhere in the house although the Wi-Fi hardware in your laptop may need to be upgraded.

On corporate campuses or in public places and buildings you might also experience better networking. In some cases you may find using Wi-Fi on your smartphone might be all you need, allowing you to cut back or skip the 3G data plan. The bad news is you may have to buy a new phone with a new radio to handle the new frequencies.

City-wide access could be a different story unless tower owners and providers like the cell phone carriers get into the act, but you know that’s not going to mean free Wi-Fi. It’s too soon to know when we’ll see actual products and services but with the ruling in place we don’t think you’ll have to wait very long for products and services to start appearing.

The state of health care in America...

2010-08-24T15:19:00.002-04:00

Let me get this straight.

We're going to be "gifted" with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't, written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a Congress that hasn't read it and whose Speaker states we will pass it to see what it says, and by a Congress that exempts themselves from it, to be signed by a President who also smokes, with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes, to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and financed by a country that's broke. What the hell could possibly go wrong? (I'm just sayin'...)

(thanks to As The World Turns - Ham Radio News and K1TP)

New England Stand Up Paddle

2010-08-11T16:26:00.013-04:00

SOB readers are invited to check out and join the Meetup group for New England Stand Up Paddle which has been started by my son Erik in conjunction with his business, SUP Evolution. Stand Up Paddle is a growing paddle sport (reputed to be the fastest growing water sport in the world) which combines the best of surfing, kayaking and other paddle sports. Of particular interest is the upcoming Cape Cod Bay Challenge, a demanding 30 mile Boston to Provincetown race across Cape Cod Bay to benefit kids with cancer (scheduled for this weekend, August 14).

The Pacific

2010-08-05T16:56:00.005-04:00

Honor and courage continue. Since I'm posting video, I must include The Pacific as a special tribute to the thousands of men who served along with my Dad, Bernie and his very best buddy, Doug. My Dad made it through this hell somehow, but his buddy Doug...and thousands of others...didn't. This is for all of them. Words fail me here.

John Adams

2010-08-05T16:46:00.004-04:00

Every time I see and hear this I get emotional remembering the sacrifices of the men and women who came before us to make...and sustain...this great nation. If you haven't seen or read John Adams, you're due for a history lesson. (I once briefly corresponded with John Adams author and Pulitizer Prize winner David McCulloch, so this production was even more fascinating to me.)

A Max weekend

2010-07-18T20:50:00.009-04:00

This was a "Max" weekend for me. On Saturday, I had the honor of attending the baptism of Max Anthony, a beautiful 6 month old who was welcomed into the Faith. Congratulations to Max - and also to his big brother Frankie, and his mom and dad, Irene and Don!

I also had the pleasure of checking into the St. Maximilian Kolbe Net on the 75 meter band. I had been a frequent checkin to the net in years past but my "sked" had fallen by the wayside in the past year. It was a pleasure to resume my participation in the net for the second week in a row. (For any interested hams and short wave listners, the net meets on Sunday nights at 7:00 pm ET on 3.814 MHz).

Who was Maximilian Kolbe? He was a Catholic priest and a lot lot more - he is also a canonized 20th century saint and being former ham radio operator SP3RN, is regarded by many as the patron saint of amateur radio. Besides that, he was - and is - a whole lot more.

When the Germans invaded Poland in 1939, Saint Maximilian was ordered to cease his religious publishing efforts . Before long, the Gestapo arrested Father Kolbe and imprisoned him at Amtitz. He was released, but only to be arrested again on February 17, 1941. This time he was sent to the dreaded Auschwitz, and there under an inhuman monster of a commandant named Fritz, he became known as Prisoner Number 16670, just one more of the thousands of human statistics living in the terror of that vast horror chamber. Maximilian Kolbe would have been hated enough by his Nazi keepers just for being a Pole. But he was a Catholic priest as well, and his tormentors reserved their finest cruelty for that class of prisoner. In spite of his obviously wretched health, he was assigned the hardest and dirtiest tasks in the camp. Dogs were set upon him supposedly to make him work faster, but actually more to torture the poor man. And should he stumble or fall in his cruel work, as he did many times, he would be beaten and kicked till he lost consciousness. It was late in July 1941 that a prisoner in his own block escaped. By three o'clock the prisoner was still not found and Fritz selected his victims. One of them, a man named Francis Gajowniczek, cried out, "My poor wife, my poor children! What will happen to my family!"

At that moment Maximilian stepped forward. Fritz bellowed, "What does this Polish pig want?" The reply came: "I am a Catholic priest from Poland. I would like to take his place, because he has a wife and children." A witness recalls: "From astonishment, the commandant appeared unable to speak. After a moment, he gave a sign with his hand. He spoke but one word: 'Away!' Gajowniczek received the command to return to the row he had just left. In this manner, Father Max took the place of the condemned man." He was then sent to the starvation chamber. The secretary and interpreter for this bunker was so impressed by Father Kolbe's heroic actions that he kept an exact record of his last days, more detailed than the job required. Each day the guards would remove the bodies of those who had died. The sounds of screaming and crying were not heard from the starvation bunker. Instead, the sounds of Father Kolbe leading the Rosary and singing hymns to the Immaculata with the other prisoners in the bunker could be heard. While the guards were away, the secretary would go into the bunker to speak with and console the prisoners. When Father Kolbe could no longer speak from his hunger and lack of energy, he would whisper his prayers. After two weeks, the cell had to be cleared out for more prisoners. Only four prisoners were left, one of whom was Father Kolbe. The Nazis then injected a lethal dose of cabolic acid into each prisoner. Father Kolbe, the last prisoner left to be killed, raised his arm to the guard. On August 14, 1941, the eve of the feast of the Assumption, Father Kolbe was martyred. The next day, his body was cremated.

On October 17, 1971, Maximilian Kolbe was beatified. Like his Master Jesus Christ, he had loved his fellow-men to the point of sacrificing his life for them. "Greater love hath no man than this ..." and these were the opening words of the papal decree introducing the process of beatification. Fr Kolbe's canonization was not long delayed. It was the Pope from Poland, John Paul II, who had the joy of declaring his compatriot a saint on October 10, 1982.

So Max Anthony, you're in pretty good company. I'm proud to know you both.

"We're not perfect" - Steve Jobs

2010-07-16T16:52:00.015-04:00

In a press conference at Apple’s California headquarters today, CEO Steve Jobs admitted that his company isn’t “perfect,” argued that problems with the iPhone 4’s reception aren’t unique to the device, and concluded that Apple will offer a free case for all iPhone 4 owners.

Apple’s thin plastic bumper cases, which fit around the steel frame of the iPhone and insulate the device’s external antenna, should address reception issues, Jobs said. The cases had retailed for $29 at the Apple Store, even though analysts had estimated Apple's manufacturing cost for the cases to be between $1 and $2.

“We do this because we love our users, and if we screw up, we pick ourselves up and we try harder,” Jobs said. The free cases will be offered at least through September 30, and users who have already purchased an iPhone case will receive a refund. The company has said that it expects its bumpers to sell out and will offer a limited number of other third-party cases for free.

Apple’s flagship smartphone has been panned for weeks by the blogs, users, and even late-night television hosts because of a widely reported problem with its antenna design. Users who hold the phone on its lower-left hand corner — where the antenna is positioned on the iPhone 4 — have sometimes experienced poor reception and dropped calls when not using a protective case.

But Jobs insisted that only 0.55% of iPhone 4 users have called AppleCare, the company’s technical support service, with complaints about the phone’s reception. He also said that the number of people returning the iPhone 4 is only a third of the number of those who brought the previous model, the iPhone 3GS, back to the store.

Apple’s U.S. carrier partner, AT&T, has reported that, based on a preliminary review of call data, the iPhone 4 only drops about one call per 100 calls more than the 3GS.

Jobs, who later said that he doesn’t use a case for his personal iPhone and has no problems with its antenna, then showed off the company’s $100 million testing chamber for smartphones and boasted that a team of highly trained PhD’s and experts carefully test each iteration of the phone that the company markets.

Jobs also attempted to hold competing smartphones in ways that appeared to cause them to lose signal strength. During the question-and-answer session that followed Jobs’ presentation, though, an Apple antenna engineer hedged when asked why the iPhone would lose signal when it was simply touched in a certain area, rather than gripped.

“When you touch the phone, you put yourself between the signal and your phone, so when you touch that spot you can attenuate the signal — and if you grip it with your whole hand — you can attenuate it even more,” said Bob Mansfield, the company’s chief hardware executive.

Apple’s CEO also hit back at a Bloomberg report claiming that a senior antenna expert had warned Jobs about problems with the iPhone 4’s antenna at an early stage in development. “That’s a crock, and we’ve challenged them to show proof that of that,” Jobs said, adding that the report was in fact “bullshit.”

Take comfort, Steve. I've worked for a long line of "imperfect" companies, within and outside the wireless industry. Maybe it's time to ditch the Microsoft testing methods before rolling the product out the door though.

God help us: White House Budget Office Names FCC “Most Improved” Federal Agency

2010-07-13T13:30:00.005-04:00

The Federal Communications Commission is the “most improved” agency across the entire federal government, according to the 2010 OPM Viewpoint Employee Satisfaction Survey released Monday, July 12 by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB).

“I am delighted that the FCC has been recognized as the ‘most improved’ federal agency,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski. “The survey results reflect the hard work being done throughout the agency to make the FCC a model of excellence in government. The FCC’s reform agenda, which builds on the impressive strides made by Commissioner Copps as acting chairman, includes creating new opportunities for employees to provide feedback; improving employee communication through technology and new media; and focusing on leadership development and opportunities for employees. I applaud the work of the FCC management and staff and look forward to more great things to come.”

This survey is an annual online survey led by the OMB to gauge job satisfaction and motivation within federal agencies. The survey was distributed in March and reached more than half a million federal government employees.

Maybe the FCC should worry a little less about it's own employees and a little more about its constituency. And the White House...don't even get me started.

Hot radio

2010-07-12T10:23:00.010-04:00

Hams who read my 6/23/10 posting will remember that I was critical of my now defunct Yaesu FT1802 radio which recently "went south" after 13 months (i.e., one month beyond the warranty period). I've read a number of postings on the internet to conclude that a fairly significant number of hams have experienced early failure with the 1802 (and many, of course, have not). Still, it bears watching. Well, I nevertheless took the plunge and bought a replacement radio (you guessed it, Yaesu's successor to the 1802, an FT-1900. At $139.95 with free shipping from Ham Radio Outlet, it can almost be considered a "throw away" radio. Still, the idea is to have it last somewhat longer than it's one year warranty period.

Put the new radio in service the other day. The receive audio sounds very good and I'm getting good reports on the transmit audio. However, during one of my extended ragchews with K1KAR the other night, I noticed that the radio was almost too hot to touch! Another radio running hot...and the heat sink is not excessively large. The heat's gotta go somewhere, but having it run this hot is not good. I also noticed that the FT-1900 features an internal software setting that the old FT-1802 didn't have: a monitor for the internal chassis temperature. Well, "the doctor" quickly took the patient's temperature and found an internal temp of 139.1 degrees, just 0.9 degrees shy of the published upper operating limit of 140 degrees for this radio! I quickly backed the power down and shut the radio down about a minute later. It's obvious I'm going to have to add a muffin fan to help out, but it begs the question: is Yaesu's inclusion of the internal temperature sensor in the 1900 a de-facto admission of a thermal problem with the 1802 that they never owned up to? Heat is the enemy of all electronic components and frequently leads to premature failure. I'm not saying that I have a pending situation like the pic above, but who knows? I'm just sayin'...this one bears watching.

Night of Nights

2010-07-12T08:27:00.015-04:00

On 12 July 1999 what was thought to be the last commercial Morse message was sent. But every year since then the Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS) has held its Night of Nights event to keep the faith and maintain the tradition of maritime Morse communications. This year stations KPH, KSM, KFS, WLO, KLB, MNC and NMN are expected to be on the air. (Ham operators can join in on the fun at the KPH/KSM receive site! Bring your key and operate K6KPH.)

The Maritime Radio Historical Society (MRHS) is a small group of dedicated individuals who share the goals of documenting, preserving and restoring the artifacts of maritime radio history. MRHS' area of specialization is the coast stations, ships and companies of the west coast of the United States. But anything to do with maritime radio anywhere in the world is of interest to the Society. Projects are aimed at the restoration and actual operation of historic artifacts. The Society's largest project has been the restoration of ex-RCA coast station KPH which has been returned to operation under the call KSM.

While these projects keep MRHS busy restoring equipment and repairing antennas, this work forms the foundation on which the Society's real objectives rest. The purpose behind all our projects is to honor and commemorate all the men and women who came before us and, through their courage and dedication, made the profession of radiotelegrapher one of skill and respect. MRHS keeps their traditions and culture alive through actual use on the air so that new generations of listeners may still hear what a real marine coast and ship stations sounded like.

After providing reliable communications for most of this century commercial Morse code was officially laid to rest in North America in 1999. The final messages were sent from the Globe Wireless master station south of San Francisco. Read what it was like to be there on that final, emotional day. (excerpted from the MRHS web site):

The End of Morse - The day the keys in North America fell silent

by Richard Dillman

"The end came yesterday. We knew it had to come. But the end had been predicted so many times for so many years while Morse soldiered on, paying no attention, providing good, reliable service for decades after it was declared dead... maybe some of us thought the day would never come. But when KPH/KFS signed off the air for the last time yesterday it was the end of commercial Morse in North America.

It was a sad day but one I knew I couldn't miss.

Tom Horsfall and I were invited along with many others to be present at the Half Moon Bay master station of Globe Wireless from which the final messages would be sent. I held in my hand two messages I hoped to have transmitted. They were messages of greeting and farewell from the Maritime Radio Historical Society and the San Francisco Maritime Historical Park - typed of course with a mill on historically correct Mackay Radio radiogram blanks. I secretly dared hope that I myself might be permitted to send these messages. I brought along my favorite straight key in its carrying case and my radiotelegraph license just in case.

I have visited KFS many times over the years. On my first visit the operating room had nothing but Morse positions. Over the years the number of computers steadily advanced as the Morse positions retreated to the west end of the building. When we walked in yesterday both sides of the operating room were lined with racks holding sleek black computers and monitors. And way down at the end was the one remaining Morse operating position.

Tom spotted him first... Paul Zell, the Morse operator on duty. We knew him by his green eyeshade. All real radiotelegraph operators seem to wear green eyeshades. Pictures I have taken at KFS and KPH decades ago show men in green eyeshades at the key or the Kleinschmidt. Pictures taken at those stations decades before show the same thing. I am convinced there is a secret ceremony of the green eyeshade in which the distinctive headgear is carefully placed upon the head of the operator newly welcomed into the fraternity. This is of course a ceremony we have not been permitted to witness, a ceremony that will never again take place.

I sat down next to Paul Zell as we listened to Russian and Cuban ships calling their respective coast stations. I realized that true to its nature, Morse will carry on in other parts of the world even after the keys in North America are finally silent. I had to ask Paul the question... 'How are you feeling about today?' An impossible question to answer but he answered it. 'CW was my life,' he said and turned back to the receiver.

More people started to arrive, a surprising number of reporters among them. But the real dignitaries in my eyes were the radio men and women who knew they had to be here on this day. Jack Martini, manager of KPH when it shut down (he intentionally left the receivers on when he left). Ray Smith, the operator who sent the farewell message when KPH at Bolinas/Pt. Reyes shut down. John Brundage, manager of KFS in its golden age of Morse. Denise Stoops, the first female operator at KPH. Rex Patterson, chief engineer at KFS in its glory years. And many more. We swapped stories and I showed them my photo album. We ate from the delicious spread of food provided by Peter Kierans of Globe Wireless. But our eyes kept glancing at the clock. It was now less than two hours to the end.

I finally screwed my courage to the sticking place and asked Tim Gorman, Director of Operations, if my messages might be sent and if, perhaps, I might be permitted to send them. Tim had met me only that day. I might be a fumble-fisted lid for all he knew. And he was busy with the press and with all the details of the ceremony. "We'll see...", he said. And that was enough for me.

Now the final transmissions from WCC/WNU began. We copied them off the air. The room fell silent. I noticed one man in particular. He was probably the oldest person there but had a presence that we used to call 'spry'. He had a quick laugh and twinkling eye. I watched him now. He stood leaning forward, eyes closed, as the sound washed over him.... drinking in... the Morse. He was a pioneer operator, the genuine article, no doubt about it. I wanted to meet him, to ask his name at least. But of course I couldn't possibly interrupt his reverie.

Paul Zell sent the first of the KFS/KPH sign off messages from the local position. Again we were all silent and when he finished... there was a round of applause! Applause for a radiotelegraph operator! Well deserved applause, deserved by every radiotelegraph operator everywhere, applause unheard for 80 years. Paul made a small, embarrassed nod of his head, accepting the tribute for himself and for all the operators on all the ships and at all the coast stations over the years.

Then he copied the last commercial message KFS would receive, from the Liberty ship Jeremiah O'Brien/KXCH on 500kc. The op on the O'Brien said he would standby until 15 past the hour. Zell replied 'better make that 18 past, OM.' The operator on the O'Brien understood and said that yes, he would observe the silent period - which of course is no longer required by regulation but is absolutely demanded by tradition. Then Paul said that he'd standby 'on 600'. The crowd got a big kick out of that - 600 meters instead of 500kc. Subtle, but all the more meaningful for that.

I saw Tim approaching me across the room. 'Get your key...', he said. Get your key! Holy mackerel, they were going to let me do it! So I got out the key, gathered up my messages, and plugged in. But then I realized: the best Morse operators in the country... the best Morse operators in the world, probably... would be listening to every dot and dash I sent! They would be too polite to say anything if I flubbed it of course... but they and I and everyone else in the room and all the ships at sea would know! My palms started to sweat at that thought but there was no turning back now. I took Paul Zell's seat. I sent a couple if Vs to see if there was side tone in the 'phones. The knob on the key was loose! I tightened that up... and began to send.

I sent the first message from the Maritime Radio Historical Society and all went well. Then I signed the station calls.. 'de KPH/KFS'. Tom and a few others noticed that I sent KPH first and understood why. Then the second message from the San Francisco Maritime Historical Park. And the calls again... followed by my 'sine', RD, ... and AR. I had gotten through it! And there was a round of applause for me! Thoroughly undeserved but very much appreciated. Someone even said, 'Nice fist'. High praise indeed in that crowd.

Then the final messages from KFS/KPH began. Paul Zell sent the first ones. Then Tim Gorman sat down and proved himself to be much more than just a competent manager. He sent the final message in meticulous Morse using the chrome-plated Vibroplex, signed off with 'What hath God wrought'... then SK... and it was over.

There were wet eyes in that room, mine among them. I heard more than one tough-looking old timer mumble, 'I didn't think it would get to me, but...' and then turn away.

I had one further item on my agenda: to get my license endorsed showing me as an operator at KFS/KPH on the last day of North American Morse. Once again Tim Gorman showed himself to be a gracious and understanding man as he took pen in hand to write 'satisfactory' in the blank provided for operator evaluation on the back of the license and add his signature.

Finally it was time to go. I gathered up my key and my photos and my papers and shook hands once more with all the great men and women who were there. And finally we were heading north on highway 1 with the beautiful Pacific sunset on our left and the green coastal hills on the right. 'That was one helluva day,' Tom said. 'Yep,' I agreed.

Vy 73,

RD"

Spies...and more spies

2010-07-05T10:13:00.025-04:00

"Looking back, that did seem a little suspicious..."

Hope everyone had a great Fourth of July!

Still thinking about the about the 11 “illegals” rounded up this week and charged in the biggest international spy scandal in years. Got to thinking: how can you tell your neighbors are spies?

Here are some ways according to (of all sources), the New York Times:

When you ask where they went on vacation, they shoot you and bury your body upstate.

Instead of asking, “Can I borrow a cup of sugar?” they ask, “Do you know anyone in policy making circles?”

When your daughter tries to sell them Girl Scout cookies, they call her a capitalist cretin and order one lousy box of thin mints.

Use teeny-weeny camera to take family snapshots.

It’s a beautiful day — and again with the trench coat?

Only family in the neighborhood that drives a Lada.

Every spring, house festooned with elaborate May Day decorations.

They politely decline to answer questions about their matching Sputnik tattoos.

When you all got together to watch the “Sopranos” episode in which the Russian gets away in the woods, they cheered.

Rather than a lemonade stand, their kids sell shots of Stolichnaya out on the sidewalk.

The parents return any children’s birthday gifts that have a Rocky and Bullwinkle theme, leaving a note expressing their preference for Boris and Natasha.

When they’re away on vacation, you can hear small explosions and see smoke coming out of the mailbox from self-destructing letters.

They name their Russian wolfhound puppies Che and Fidel.

To get their backyard barbecue grill going, they use reams of microfilm.

Then there are those activities that seem perfectly normal to me, but may be suspicious to "normal people":

They knock at the front door in Morse code.

Their satellite dish not only receives signals from outer space, it also sends them.

Spies by the numbers

2010-06-30T08:48:00.029-04:00

It's being reported that the activities of the alleged Russian spies arrested by the US included the use of shortwave morse code numbers stations.

Want to listen to spies? According to a report by the UK's Southgate Amateur Radio Club, it's actually pretty easy to do. There are a large number of broadcasts each day. In fact, there's probably at least one going on right now.

Equipment Required

First, you'll need a suitable shortwave radio, since "spy number stations" almost exclusively transmit on shortwave frequencies. If you already have one, you're probably all set. The basic requirements are that it is a "general coverage" receiver, capable of tuning between the allocated shortwave broadcast bands, to what are commonly known as the "utility bands". Most inexpensive shortwave radios are capable of this, except for the very low end models. This is necessary because most spy number stations transmit outside of the broadcast bands, although often close to the edges of the bands. If possible, the radio should be capable of Single Sideband (SSB) reception. This is usually indicated by either the presence of USB and LSB modes, or a BFO (Beat Frequency Oscillator). Many spy number stations transmit in sideband, and most others are often best received in sideband mode. An outside antenna is always preferred for best shortwave reception. If this isn't possible (due to apartment or townhouse rules, for example), an indoor antenna can still be used.

Stalking Your Prey

In general, most spy number station broadcasts start on the hour, with very few starting at the half hour, or even quarter after or quarter till the hour. So the best time to listen is starting just before the hour. Why just before? Many spy number stations will put their carrier on the air before the broadcast begins. Some have been known to put a carrier on the air hours before a broadcast starts. So be suspicious of open carriers, especially on or near hot number frequencies. Here in North America, the most commonly heard spy number stations are probably the "SS/YL/5FG" stations.

Station nomenclature

A brief explanation about the naming nomenclature of these stations: the general format is language/gender/group size. The SS means Spanish, other possibilities are EE for English, or GG for German. Other less frequently heard languages include Chinese, Russian, Czech, Polish, etc. The YL refers to the sex of the voice, YL is female (a ham radio term, meaning Young Lady) and OM is male (another ham radio term, meaning Old Man). The 5FG means that the groups are transmitted in five figure words, that is a string of five numbers. Other common formats include 4FG for four numbers, and 3/2FG which is a particular case of five figure words with a pause between the third and fourth numbers. Some stations don't transmit numbers, but instead use Phonetics, which are words that stand for letters, such as Alpha for A, Bravo for B, etc.

Don't Tread On Me

2010-06-28T21:38:00.010-04:00

A group of retired Marines is asking Connecticut's attorney general to allow the "Don't Tread on Me" Gadsden flag to fly over the state Capitol on July 4 after Capitol Police refused the request saying it doesn’t fall within the state’s flag flying parameters. The group says the the yellow banner, which sports a coiled rattlesnake and its trademark motto, is the original flag of the U.S. Marine Corps and clearly fits into the section of the policy which states that the Connecticut State Capitol can fly “flags of recognized military organizations of the U.S.A.”

But Capitol Police have denied several requests to fly the flag -- which has become a favorite nationwide among the Tea Party movement and a popular alternative to the stars and stripes – saying it is not the official Marines flag. “The Gadsden flag was a personal standard used by one admiral during the Revolutionary War,” Capitol Chief of Police Walter Lee told FoxNews.com. “The Marine Corps never claimed that to be one of its organizational flags.”

Retired Marine Patrick Rubino says the Marines see it very differently. “I’d learned about in the Marine Corps. It’s one of the first, if not the first Marine Corps flag,” Rubino told FoxNews.com. “They even flew it over our bases in Afghanistan and Iraq while I was there.”

Having heard that the police had denied a previous request to have the flag displayed at the Capitol, Rubino wrote a letter to lawmakers to find out why. “I didn’t get any response from that so I just went down there and submitted a request to have it flown on Memorial Day because my brother was coming home from the Army so I thought it would be a great thing,” he said. “They denied it before I even filled out the form.” The reason given for the rejection, Rubino said, was that the “rules were going to be changed” so they were denying it preemptively. “And now I’m finding out they’re not even changing the rule so that the flag would be denied, they’re just denying it,” he said. A follow up request from Rubino’s mother, Katherine Brown, to fly it on July 4 was also denied.

But the policy wasn’t always so strictly interpreted. The Society of Cincinnati, a historic group dedicated to preserving the ideals of the American Revolution has flown its flag over the Capitol every July 4 since at least 1968. It was denied this year amid the Gadsden flag flap. Capitol Police even approved an earlier request to fly the Gadsden Flag over the Capitol in April, but reconsidered after lawmakers dubbed it a political symbol due to Tea Party connections to the request and said it didn’t fit the state’s requirements.

In hopes of settling the dispute, a group of former Marines and supporters plan to gather at the state attorney general’s office to issue a final decision on the issue. "We’re going to be going down on the 30th to put the paper work in,” retired Marine Tim McCall told FoxNews.com. “The Capitol Police are the ones in charge of granting or denying the request, so the idea for the 30th is to go to AG Blumenthal’s office and request that he issue a directive for the Capitol Police to comply with the law as written and stated just to get some resolution on the issue.” McCall added that if it's not in the cards to have the flag on display July 4, he hopes the matter is at least resolved in time to see it fly on October 23 to commemorate the 1983 barracks bombing of the Marines in Beirut, Lebanon, where he served.

“Historically, it’s like when you look at a picture of George Washington; he was the first president of the United States so as a patriotic American you look to George Washington as kind of representation as the forefather of the country,” McCall said. “The Gadsden flag is the original flag of the Marine Corps, so it’s the forefather standard of the Marine Corps.” Rubino says that’s what the Connecticut government needs to keep in mind above anything else. “I know the flag has been adopted by another group, but what it is and who decides to use it are two different things,” he said. “We know what it is and we know why we want it to be up there. ... It's a really important way to pay tribute to our history and that’s a great message.”

You can bet that flag would be flying proudly at Tun Tavern.

Semper Fidelis.

An Gorta Mor: The Great Hunger

2010-06-26T12:33:00.037-04:00

"It began as a plant fungus that traveled in a crate of potatoes from America to Belgium in 1843. Within one and one-half years the wind borne blight had converted Ireland's once abundant potato crop in countless acres of black, rotted vegetation, precipitating the worst social disaster of the 19^th century.

Between 1845 and 1850 more than one and one-half million Irish men, women and children died of starvation and disease. By 1855, more than two million Irish citizens had fled the country, most by crowding themselves into “coffin ships”, rickety vessels from which a large number of the sick and emaciated passengers would not leave alive. Fifty years after the start of the famine, more Irish-born people were living in America than in Ireland.

The Great Hunger was protracted by prejudice, ineptitude and gross human indifference.

At that time, Ireland was governed by Great Britain, the world's wealthiest empire, which had the resources to significantly lessen the effects of the crop failure. Instead, the British government, during all the years of the Great Hunger did everything in it's power to export tons of food and livestock out of Ireland. Their taxes and economic policies caused gross shortages of inexpensive food and resulted in the eviction of the already destitute Irish from their rented homes and land.

More than 160 years later, the effects of the Great Hunger are still evident. Millions of the survivors' descendants populate the globe, including over 40 million Americans who claim Irish ancestry.

We, the descendants of all those famine Irish immigrants who rest in this cemetery and in the main part of St. Mary's Cemetery proudly dedicate this memorial in their memory on October 1, 2007. Let us never forget An Gorta Mor."

The above words are inscribed in a 2007 memorial in St. Mary's Cemetery in my town of Milford, Massachusetts. (St. Mary's Cemetery also has the distinction of being the site of the only example of an Irish Round Tower in North America.) More importantly, however, is the fact that many of the original survivors of the Irish Famine (the Great Hunger or An Gorta Mor) who eventually settled in Milford rest in St. Mary's Cemetery.

The monument was the culmination of almost ten years of hard work by caring Milford residents who recognized the importance of remembering the sacrifice and suffering of the famine victims. Over 1,000 monuments were restored, hundreds more were cleaned, roadways were re-constructed...the list goes on. As the Friends of Old St. Mary's Cemetery eloquently state on the reverse side of the monument, “It is our hope that every Irish immigrant soul that lies in this sacred ground knows how proud we are of them and of the incredible legacy they have passed on to each of us”.

Top five most ridiculous regulations in Massachusetts

2010-06-25T22:14:00.024-04:00

Many people know my home state of Massachusetts as being a sanctuary for liberal moonbats. Let's just say that despite the many "normal" people living here, the state does deserve it's reputation for being over-regulated and over-taxed. While some of the Commonwealth's more arcane laws are remnants of the Colonial "blue laws", one doesn't have to look far for examples of laws and regulations that seem to set Massachusetts apart from the "other 49".

According to The Daily Caller, if you’re planning to spend the next New Year’s Day in Concord, Massachusetts, don’t get caught nursing your annual hangover with a plastic bottle of cool spring water — you might be breaking the law. The city of Concord passed a law in April banning all bottled water in plastic containers, effective January 1, 2011. Supporters of the law say ridding the town of bottled water is a first step toward a cleaner planet. Never mind that plastic water bottles only account less than one percent of landfill space. Who are we to let facts get in the way of a good regulation?

In commemoration of the successful campaign to rid Concord of bottled water, The Daily Caller decided to take a look at a few of the other laws that have come out of the Bay State, a land full of people who clearly think they are incapable of making personal decisions on their own accord.

1. A January 2010 law mandates that all children in Massachusetts daycare centers must brush their teeth after lunch — or else.
It is against the law for daycare providers to not help children brush their teeth after meals. While parents can opt out (either on libertarian principle or family tradition if they’re from some parts of Alabama), they can rest easy knowing that state bureaucrats are looking out for their children’s pearly whites. Heck, the state even provides toothpaste, brushes and holders! What? No floss?! There oughta be a law…

2. It is illegal in Massachusetts to deface a milk carton.
From what we can gather, there was once a rogue band of underground milkmen roaming the New England countryside defacing poor innocent milk cartons with giant Sharpie pens. The horror! The mayhem! The curdling! Well, the state put an end to that, slapping a $10 fine on anyone who dared to vandalize a container of 2 percent.

3. It is illegal in Dudley, Massachusetts to own more than three cats without government permission.
Here’s to you, Dudley, for finding a way to push that nice lady with kitty litter in her hair and all those pussycats even further into desperate reclusion. Residents of the town decided to impose a $100-per-day fine for owning too many cats after someone living next to the town cat lady complained about the felines ruining his yard. The cat lady promptly put her home up for sale, packed her 15 cats, and never looked back. Success!

4. Children in Attleboro, Massachusetts are forbidden from playing “tag” or other running games during playtime.
Heaven forbid an American child loses all that self-esteem his teachers worked so hard to build over the years. (Remember, everyone’s a winner!) A school in Massachusetts made national headlines in 2006 for issuing playground rules that restricted children from playing “chasing” games like tag and touch football because they were “dangerous” and “exclusionary.” In a rousing match of phone tag, a spokesman for the school refused to confirm or deny to The Daily Caller that tag is still allowed today. Guess that means we’re it.

5. A Massachusetts fisherman was fined for saving a whale caught in his net.
As Clare Boothe Luce once quipped, no good deed goes unpunished. A U.S. District Court fined fisherman Robert J. Eldridge $500 after he untangled a whale from his nets and set the giant sea mammal free. What he should have done, the court told him, was call state authorities and wait for them do it. Never mind that the whale may have suffocated if they didn’t arrive in time. But hey, Eldridge should consider himself lucky: He could have faced a $100,000 fine and up to a year in jail. That’ll teach him.

Honorable Mention: Group in Cambridge calls for a ban on all meat on Mondays.
The Cambridge Climate Congress, established to make recommendations for climate laws for the People’s Republic of Cambridge, recently proposed a ban on all meat sales once a week to curb the “climate emergency.” (It didn’t pass.) As the logic goes, meat comes from cows, and cows emit gas (farts) that heats up the planet. Let’s take a moment to thank the selfless citizens of Cambridge for making a good faith effort to rid the world of climate change and those smelly bovine backsides.

Vatican declares the Blues Brothers a "Catholic classic"

2010-06-25T19:30:00.019-04:00

On the 30th anniversary of the cult film's release, the official newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, has declared it a "Catholic classic". It points out that Jake and Elwood Blues battled police, a psychotic ex-girlfriend, country and western fans and neo-Nazis in order to raise enough money to prevent the closure of the church-run orphanage in which they grew up.

The newspaper, once a dour publication devoted to weighty matters of theology and Vatican appointments, has recently embraced popular culture and devotes an entire page to consider the movie's meaning and legacy. It praises the film as an "incredibly shrewd" work which is "rich with ideas", and recalls "the unforgettable John Belushi's sneer which remains, three decades after the movie's release, an icon of cinematography". Its approval of the 1980 film, starring John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd, is all the more surprising given some of the much-quoted lines from the film, including: "Curtis, I don't want to listen to no jive-ass preacher talking to me about Heaven and Hell." At one point in the film they are told: "Boys, you got to learn not to talk to nuns that way." On the other hand, who can forget Elwood's classic line: "You see, we're on a mission from God."

The plot revolves around a chaotic road trip involving spectacular pile-ups and police chases as the brothers try to reform their band and raise enough money to stop the orphanage from closing down.

The editor, Gian Maria Vian, who discerns a strong Catholic subtext in the comic caper, said: "For them, this Catholic institution is their only family – and they decide to save it at any cost."
He points out that a framed photograph of the young John Paul II hangs appears in one scene.

The paper's attempts to throw off its dusty image have not been welcomed by all Catholics. The Catholic National Register said that to an "increasing number" of Catholics, the newspaper's new-found enthusiasm for popular culture "appears to trivialise the Vatican and, ultimately, the Church".

A Passing

2010-06-25T19:17:00.002-04:00

The nurse whose celebratory V-J Day kiss with an exuberant sailor in 1945 Times Square was immortalized in an iconic photograph has died.

Edith Shain was 91 and passed away without ever really knowing for sure who planted the kiss on her while photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt captured the epic moment with his camera.

While Shain waited until the 1970s to come forward to say she was the woman in the Life magazine picture, the identity of the sailor remains in dispute.

“In retrospect, I should have said, ‘Hey, wait a minute!” and gotten his name and number, Shain said in 2008.

For the remainder of her life, Shain continued to honor World War II veterans by attending wreath layings, parades and other memorial events.

One day - relatively soon - they'll all be gone. God bless the memory of them and their generation..

Caveat Emptor

2010-06-23T17:01:00.003-04:00

It's not often that I bitch about radio equipment, but when a radio that I've owned slightly more than one year (read "just out of warranty") goes tango uniform, it's time for an SoB to do what he does best. I bought the radio in question, a Yaesu FT-1802 new back in May 2009. The radio ran slightly hot, but I was aware of that before I bought it. (Hey guys, how about re-thinking that heat sink design..) I also became aware that some of the radio's programming ergonomics didn't conform to the same ergonomics I've come to expect from it's bigger brothers, the Yaesu FT-7800 and FT-7900, which I also own. OK, what do you expect for a $120 radio?

Well for starters, what I expect is that a company like Yaesu - one of the long time "big three" in amateur radio wouldn't risk it's reputation on some Chinese crap. (I've read that this particular radio is manufactured in China for Yaesu - may or not be true, but it certainly fits my tale of woe.)

In the last couple of days, the radio's power output has diminished from 50 watts to zip, nada. Bad enough...blown final power amplifiers aren't exactly unknown. But when the problem is compounded with a receiver going from hearing great, to "Hey what's happened to the local repeaters?" to being as deaf as me listening to Jane's honey-do list while the radio's display indicates full output power...

As George W. said, "... fool me once, shame on ... shame on you. It fool me. We can't get fooled again."

Aurora observed from the International Space Station

2010-06-22T17:57:00.004-04:00

Among the views of Earth afforded astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS), surely one of the most spectacular is of the aurora. These ever-shifting displays of colored ribbons, curtains, rays, and spots are most visible near the North (aurora borealis) and South (aurora australis) Poles as charged particles (ions) streaming from the Sun (the solar wind) interact with Earth’s magnetic field.

While aurora are generally only visible close to the poles, severe magnetic storms impacting the Earth’s magnetic field can shift them towards the equator. This striking aurora image was taken during a geomagnetic storm that was most likely caused by a coronal mass ejection from the Sun on May 24, 2010. The ISS was located over the Southern Indian Ocean at an altitude of 350 kilometers (220 miles), with the astronaut observer most likely looking towards Antarctica (not visible) and the South Pole.

The aurora has a sinuous ribbon shape that separates into discrete spots near the lower right corner of the image. While the dominant coloration of the aurora is green, there are faint suggestions of red left of image center. Dense cloud cover is dimly visible below the aurora. The curvature of the Earth’s horizon (the limb) is clearly visible, as is the faint blue line of the upper atmosphere directly above it (at image top center). Several stars appear as bright pinpoints against the blackness of space at the top right of the image.

Auroras happen when ions in the solar wind collide with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere. The atoms are excited by these collisions, and they typically emit light as they return to their original energy level. The light creates the aurora that we see. The most commonly observed color of aurora is green, caused by light emitted by excited oxygen atoms at wavelengths centered at 0.558 micrometers, or millionths of a meter. (Visible light is reflected from healthy (green) plant leaves at approximately the same wavelength.) Red aurora are generated by light emitted at a longer wavelength (0.630 micrometers), and other colors such as blue and purple are also sometimes observed.

For a ham radio operator, aurora can affect propagation conditions over the polar routes and is often used to enhance VHF propagation, especially at 50 MHz and sometimes the 144 MHz Amateur bands. At times of auroral displays, HF radio signals traveling over the polar route will develop a distinctive warbling sound. You can often hear these effects on 14 MHz SSB signals that have followed the great circle route over the polar region. During intense auroral activity, HF propagation down to the 3.5 MHz band can be affected. And if you are lucky enough to be in the right place, you can watch the spectacular visible auroral displays in the night-time sky.

FCC strikes again: Bans 121.5 MHz ELTs, unfairly impacts General Aviation

2010-06-21T19:36:00.010-04:00

The Federal Communications Commission took the general aviation world by surprise when it said in a recent report it will prohibit the sale or use of 121.5 MHz emergency locator transmitters, effective in August. The Aircraft Electronics Association said it just learned of the new rule today, and has begun working with the FAA, FCC and others to allow for timely compliance without grounding thousands of general aviation aircraft. (The 121.5 ELTs are allowed under FAA rules.)

The FCC said its rules have been amended to "prohibit further certification, manufacture, importation, sale or use of 121.5 MHz ELTs." The FCC says that if the 121.5 units are no longer available, aircraft owners and operators will "migrate" to the newer 406.0-406.1 MHz ELTs, which are monitored by satellite, while the 121.5 frequency is not. "Were we to permit continued marketing and use of 121.5 MHz ELTs ... it would engender the risk that aircraft owners and operators would mistakenly rely on those ELTs for the relay of distress alerts," the FCC says.

AOPA said today it is opposed to the rule change. "The FCC is making a regulatory change that would impose an extra cost on GA operators, without properly communicating with the industry or understanding the implications of its action," said AOPA Vice President of Regulatory Affairs Rob Hackman. "There is no FAA requirement to replace 121.5 MHz units with 406 MHz technology. When two government agencies don't coordinate, GA can suffer." The AEA said dealers should refrain from selling any new 121.5 MHz ELTs "until further understanding of this new prohibition can be understood and a realistic timeline for transition can be established."

Way to go FCC. Thanks for the forward thinking...the same thinking you used in championing broadband over powerlines (BPL)...another FCC disaster which was overturned in last year's ARRL's suit against the FCC. It seems we can either count on the FCC to enforce issues against it's existing licensees (the BPL issue)...and also impact areas for which it is responsible. As if general aviation wasn't expensive enough as it is...

What's new at Dayton 2010?

2010-06-19T01:36:00.005-04:00

One of the many reasons amateurs come to Dayton Hamvention®, (the largest hamfest in the world) each May is to look over the new gear announced by many manufacturers. The number of vendors at Hara Arena can be mind boggling, especially on your first trip. The ARRL's Joel Hallas, W1ZR, summarizes the new offerings of most interest to hams. Click here for story

R.I.P. Trooper

2010-06-18T18:26:00.004-04:00

A veteran state trooper and beloved dad of four was fatally struck by a drunk driver after he had pulled over another suspected OUI motorist in Mansfield, MA early Friday morning. Trooper Doug Weddleton, 52, was in full uniform and wearing a safety vest at about 1:20 a.m. at the detail on I-95 in Mansfield when he pulled over the driver of an Acura who was weaving on the roadway. A few hours before the tragedy, Trooper Weddleton had attended the eighth grade graduation of his 14 year old son. This tragedy is beyond senseless and the loss is incalculable. Rest with God, Trooper.

Bright green comet streaking across early morning sky this week

2010-06-18T15:12:00.012-04:00

Comet McNaught's Superlong Tail Promises Flashy Show

Comet McNaught C/2009 R1 has been steadily gaining brightness and will be most brilliant through June 16, during its closest approach to Earth at about 105 million miles (170 million kilometers) away.

Some predictions say the comet—best seen from the Northern Hemisphere—could be at least as bright as the stars that make up the familiar Big Dipper constellation.

C/2009 R1, already visible to the naked eye as a faint, fuzzy ball low in the northeastern sky, is best seen in the hour before the sun rises, said Anthony Cook, an astronomical observer at Los Angeles's Griffith Observatory. "Because it has a hazy outline, it should be observed from as far away from light pollution as possible," Cook said.

"Between now and the 24th of June, it's visible in a moon-free sky, but after the 26th it will be too close to the sun to see."
The intensity of brightness seen in comet McNaught C/2009 R1—named after the Australian astronomer Robert McNaught who first spotted it in September 2009—only occurs once every four years or so, Cook said. (Learn about the "age of comets.")

Another comet also named by the astronomer, McNaught C/2006 P1, put on a spectacular show in 2007. It was later discovered to be one of the biggest and brightest known comets.

As C/2009 R1 nears the sun, its ice melts, releasing gas and dust that stream away into space.

This reaction forms a distinctive blue tail of ionized carbon monoxide stretching a million miles (about 1.6 million kilometers) long. Through binoculars, the tail appears about the same length as the width of the full moon in the sky.

Meanwhile, the comet's nucleus is only a few miles across, with a surrounding glowing greenish cloud of gas that is about 250,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) across—roughly the distance from Earth to the moon.
Cook predicts the especially bright C/2009 R1 will put on a worthy show for the unaided eye.

Crossing the Rubicon: Hams Help Coordinate Off-Road Rescue

2010-06-18T13:37:00.008-04:00

On Saturday, June 12 around 1:30 local time, Jim Siemons, AF6PU, of Walnut Creek, California, was checking his e-mail when he received a message from a friend who was concerned that his brother -- who, along with four friends had taken an off-road adventure along California’s famed Rubicon Trail -- had not come home when expected. Siemons’ friend told him that his brother’s group had left on Wednesday with four off-road vehicles in an attempt to cross the Trail.

Siemons forwarded the e-mail to several other club members; within five minutes, he received a phone call from fellow club member Jenny Ward, KI6YBQ, suggesting that he try Amateur Radio to attempt to locate the missing group. The Rubicon Trail connects Georgetown with the west side of Lake Tahoe. Although incredibly beautiful, it traverses some of America’s most challenging off-road trails as it meanders through peaks reaching upwards of 12,000 feet. There is no cell phone coverage on the Trail and very limited official agency radio coverage, making Amateur Radio the only effective means of communication in the area.

Siemons told the ARRL that he grabbed his ARRL Repeater Directory and looked for a repeater frequency and offset that might cover the Rubicon Trail: “I discovered the KA6GWY repeater on 146.805 MHz with a CTCSS tone of 123 Hz in Pollock Pines/Placerville, California, more than 100 miles away from my location. I knew that I was not going to be able to hit that repeater with my handheld transceiver, so I put out a call on Mt Diablo Amateur Radio Club’s W6CX repeater with a frequency of 147.060 MHz with a CTCSS tone of 100 Hz.”

When Siemons heard John Ronan, K3ZJJ, operating on the repeater, he asked for his assistance. “I knew he was at the top of the Oakland hills and would have a fair chance of hitting the Pollock Pines repeater,” Siemons explained. “He agreed to help out and was able to make contact with a couple of hams who were in the vicinity of the Rubicon’s trailhead who offered to help.” Merlin Scott, KC6BFV, was volunteering at the trailhead in the gatekeeper’s hut and had access to an El Dorado County Sheriff’s Office radio. Ronan was able to relay information to a pair of Sheriff Deputies who were on patrol in the area. Siemons said he also requested that a call be relayed via Citizen Band on channel 4, as many off-roaders also monitor and use it to communicate vehicle-to-vehicle.

“I was able to report our efforts back to the families of the lost off-roaders, letting them know that everything that could be done was occurring,” Siemons told the ARRL. “I knew one of the off-roaders was a ham, but I was not certain that he had his rig or knew the local repeater frequencies. All the drivers were experienced, but that only went so far, due to fact that the snow levels are still quite high and the trail is still considered impassible at this time of year.”

By 4 PM local time, Siemons said that hams and off-roaders on both ends of the trail were looking for the group, but due to the normal rough condition of the trail and the heavy snow, search and rescue efforts were slowed. By 7 PM, the Sheriff’s Department determined that it was time to launch a helicopter and search the Trail. “A ham using Citizen Band channel 4 made contact with the group and relayed this via Amateur Radio,” Siemons explained. “The helicopter spotted the missing crew and landed on the Trail at approximately 7:30 PM and determined that everyone was healthy. One of the group’s vehicles was abandoned on the Trail due to a broken drive line, making it impossible to drive through the tall drifts of snow.” Hams and the Sheriff’s Department monitored the group’s progress until their exit from the trail. Siemons said he kept the families updated as to the off-roaders’ progress.

“I want to thank the efforts of the Deputies and the dispatchers of the El Dorado County Sheriff’s Department, the amateurs of the Mt Diablo Amateur Radio Club (MDARC) and their W6CX repeater and the amateur operators of the Rubicon Trail and their KA6GWY repeater. This event ended well, but even if it had gotten a lot rougher, it would have been better than it otherwise would have been because of Amateur Radio!”

Cap-And-Trick

2010-06-18T11:02:00.006-04:00

President Obama says the oil disaster proves the need to get off fossil fuels. But before we save the planet, let's save the Gulf and stop exploiting crises to deny America the energy it needs.

Saving the planet is nice, but just how do we plug the hole again? With an abundance of hand gestures, the president didn't really say in his speech Tuesday night. He did say fossil fuels were bad and green energy is good, but the people of the Gulf states don't need wind turbines right now.

Contrary to Obama's assertions, our "addiction" to foreign oil no more caused the Deepwater Horizon oil spill than any addiction to nuclear energy caused the reactor accident at Three Mile Island. If we're addicted to anything, it's energy in all its forms. We also are addicted to jobs and economic growth, and nothing in the speech offered either. Instead we were told we have to forgo fossil fuels because they're dangerous — the same reason given after TMI to stop expanding clean and safe nuclear energy.

Never mind the dead zones for aquatic life in the Gulf of Mexico caused by agricultural runoff from the accelerated farming of corn to feed the mandated use of ethanol. Never mind the rain forests cleared worldwide to grow biofuel crops. Or the birds that will never be soaked in oil because they've been sliced and diced by wind turbines.

The irony is that if the incident at Three Mile Island had not similarly been exploited by environmentalists, we might not be so dependent on fossil fuels today. We'd have electricity for all those electric cars as billions of tons of carbon dioxide never entered the atmosphere.

The desire to make BP pay for the direct damage of the oil spill is understandable. The desire to exploit this crisis to make us all pay is not. The president noted that "the House of Representatives acted on these principles by passing a strong and comprehensive energy and climate bill — a bill that finally makes clean energy the profitable kind of energy for America's businesses."

Horsefeathers. The imposition of renewable energy standards, as cap-and-trade is now called, would raise electricity prices, lower GDP and eliminate jobs. The only thing that wouldn't be capped is the Deepwater Horizon well.

If the president's argument is that the Gulf oil disaster is traceable to our reliance on foreign oil, let's exploit our vast domestic resources. If the argument is that BP went too far and too deep, that its reach exceeded its grasp, then it's the administration and its green allies that forced them to do so.

courtesy of Investors' Business Daily

As the Sun Awakens, NASA Keeps a Wary Eye on Space Weather

2010-06-17T14:21:00.005-04:00

Richard Fisher, head of NASA's Heliophysics Division, explains what it's all about:

"The sun is waking up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years we expect to see much higher levels of solar activity. At the same time, our technological society has developed an unprecedented sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of these two issues is what we're getting together to discuss."

The National Academy of Sciences framed the problem two years ago in a landmark report entitled "Severe Space Weather Events—Societal and Economic Impacts." It noted how people of the 21st-century rely on high-tech systems for the basics of daily life. Smart power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications can all be knocked out by intense solar activity. A century-class solar storm, the Academy warned, could cause twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina.

Much of the damage can be mitigated if managers know a storm is coming. Putting satellites in 'safe mode' and disconnecting transformers can protect these assets from damaging electrical surges. Preventative action, however, requires accurate forecasting—a job that has been assigned to NOAA.

"Space weather forecasting is still in its infancy, but we're making rapid progress," says Thomas Bogdan, director of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado.

Bogdan sees the collaboration between NASA and NOAA as key. "NASA's fleet of heliophysics research spacecraft provides us with up-to-the-minute information about what's happening on the sun. They are an important complement to our own GOES and POES satellites, which focus more on the near-Earth environment."

Among dozens of NASA spacecraft, he notes three of special significance: STEREO, SDO and ACE.

STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) is a pair of spacecraft stationed on opposite sides of the sun with a combined view of 90% of the stellar surface. In the past, active sunspots could hide out on the sun's farside, invisible from Earth, and then suddenly emerge over the limb spitting flares and CMEs. STEREO makes such surprise attacks impossible.

SDO (the Solar Dynamics Observatory) is the newest addition to NASA's fleet. Just launched in February, it is able to photograph solar active regions with unprecedented spectral, temporal and spatial resolution. Researchers can now study eruptions in exquisite detail, raising hopes that they will learn how flares work and how to predict them. SDO also monitors the sun's extreme UV output, which controls the response of Earth's atmosphere to solar variability.
On April 19, 2010, SDO observed one of the most massive eruptions in years. Earth was not in the line of fire ... this time.

Bogdan's favorite NASA satellite, however, is an old one: the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) launched in 1997. "Where would we be without it?" he wonders. ACE is a solar wind monitor. It sits upstream between the sun and Earth, detecting solar wind gusts, billion-ton CMEs, and radiation storms as much as 30 minutes before they hit our planet.

"ACE is our best early warning system," says Bogdan. "It allows us to notify utility and satellite operators when a storm is about to hit.”

NASA spacecraft were not originally intended for operational forecasting—"but it turns out that our data have practical economic and civil uses," notes Fisher. "This is a good example of space science supporting modern society."

2010 marks the 4th year in a row that policymakers, researchers, legislators and reporters have gathered in Washington DC to share ideas about space weather. This year, forum organizers plan to sharpen the focus on critical infrastructure protection. The ultimate goal is to improve the nation’s ability to prepare, mitigate, and respond to potentially devastating space weather events.

"I believe we're on the threshold of a new era in which space weather can be as influential in our daily lives as ordinary terrestrial weather." Fisher concludes. "We take this very seriously indeed."

Flying the friendly skies: Southwest employee finds box of heads on plane

2010-06-17T10:53:00.014-04:00

A Southwest Airlines employee called police after finding 40 to 60 human heads in a package set to be transported to a Fort Worth medical research company, the airline said. "It wasn't labeled or packaged properly," said Ashley Rogers, a Southwest spokeswoman. "They called the local authorities."

The incident happened in Little Rock, Ark., last Wednesday, she said. Little Rock police turned the heads over to the county coroner, who questions where they came from and if they were properly obtained. "We've come to the conclusion that there is a black market out there for human body parts for research or for whatever reason," said Pulaski County coroner Garland Camper. "We just want to make sure these specimens here aren't a part of that black market and underground trade."

The heads were being transported to the Fort Worth office of Medtronic, a leading medical research and technology company based in Minnesota. Medtronic spokesman Brian Henry said it is common to ship body parts for medical education and research, but he said it is rare for a shipment to be seized. "We expect our suppliers to follow proper procedures," he said. He identified the supplier as JLS Consulting of Wynne, Ark.

JLS's business license was revoked in December, according to the Arkansas Secretary of State's online database. Company founder Janice Hepler did not return phone calls Wednesday. Her voice mail indicated it was full and no longer accepting messages. But in an earlier interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, she blamed the problem on the private courier she had hired to transport the body parts. "Nothing is wrong," the newspaper quoted her as saying. "We're providing the documentation." But the coroner said the paperwork has "discrepancies."

Federal law generally prohibits the sale of human body parts, although suppliers can be reimbursed for expenses in cases of legitimate medical education or research. "It is a lucrative business. There is money to be made," Camper said. "We're hoping that this isn't the case."

This must have messed up the flight attendants' head count .

Software Defined Radio for the iPhone

2010-06-16T12:49:00.019-04:00

First came Echolink for the iPhone. Now a software defined radio (SDR) application is available for the Apple iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. The iSDR app is a portable software-defined radio receiver designed for experimenters, shortwave listeners and Amateur Radio operators -- and get this - it's free! (One caveat: receiving live on-the-air signals with iSDR requires purchasing or constructing a quadrature sampling detector - QSD - an RF front-end device that connects between an antenna and the microphone input jack of the iPhone, iPod or iPad. Without the front-end, iSDR will play an internal audio file recording of actual radio signals recorded off the air during the 2008 CQ World Wide WPX contest.)

The iSDR developers list the following features of the app:

Three display modes: Spectrum, Waterfall and Oscilloscope
Frequency display with 100 Hz resolution with a touch to the display screen
Up to 44.1 kHz of available spectrum bandwidth
Monaural microphone input automatically adjusts display to 22 kHz bandwidth
Automatic display rotation
Recorded audio file built in for off-line use without external audio
Automatically detects if external audio is available
Five receive modes: USB, LSB, CW, DSB and Binaural
Reverse I/Q microphone input logic
User-adjustable center frequency setting

Time to scrap the old BlackBerry?

G.K. Chesterton (May 29, 1874 - June 14, 1936)

2010-06-15T15:00:00.007-04:00

"Never look a gift universe in the mouth." - GK Chesterton

Gilbert Keith Chesterton died on this day in 1936.

To be prolific and bad doesn't guarantee that your work will stand the test of time. But to be prolific and good and have trouble finding books written by that person, well let's just say it is baffling. (As Dale Ahlquist (President of the American Chesterton Society - and whom I had the pleasure of seeing at this year's Worcester Catholic Men's Conference) says, "Who is this guy and why haven't I heard of him?"

His writings – stories, essays, poems, books, journalism – are infused with an unequalled joy and love of truth.

In youth, he went through a crisis of nihilistic pessimism and it was his recovery from this that led him to God and ultimately to conversion. “The Devil made me a Catholic,” he said – meaning that it was the experience of evil and nothingness that convinced him of the goodness and sanity of the world and his creator. His poem “The Ballade of a Suicide” celebrates the salvific value of ordinary things; his novel, “The Man who was Thursday,” narrates the fight for sanity in an insane world and ponders the paradox of God; and “Orthodoxy”, written long before he became a Catholic, highlights orthodoxy not as a dead and static thing but as the only possible point of equilibrium between crazy heresies any one of which would drive us mad.

He took part in all the major controversies of his age, and was a lifelong adversary and friend of socialists and atheists such as George Bernard Shaw. These controversies were conducted with passion but with unfailing charity: he never sought to defeat his opponents, only to defeat their ideas. He would never cheat to score a point: and his love for the people he fought against is something that all controversialists should imitate, however hard it may be.

Excerpted from Why I Am Catholic

Sunspot 1081 unleashes flare

2010-06-14T17:12:00.009-04:00

Spaceweather.com reports that on June 12 at 0055 UTC, new sunspot 1081 unleashed an impulsive M1-class solar flare and Type II radio burst.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) recorded the blast in high-resolution.

The explosion hurled a billion-ton coronal mass ejection (CME) off the sun's western limb; the cloud will probably not hit Earth. The explosion also produced a Type II radio burst. "Although the Sun was setting here in New Mexico, I was able to record the burst at 28 MHz and 24 MHz," says amateur radio astronomer Thomas Ashcraft.

The M2-flare was followed at 0917 UT by an even more picturesque C6-flare which was also recorded by SDO. More flares seem likely as restless sunspot 1081 continues to grow. Readers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.

An audio clip, video and still frames can be see on the SpaceWeather website.

Breakfast of Champions

2010-06-12T12:17:00.023-04:00

Got together with my brother for breakfast this morning. It's become our monthly ritual. We live a couple of towns apart, and like everyone else, lead busy lives, so the opportunities to get together don't come as often as we'd like. He's nine years younger than I. The more I get to know the adult, the more I appreciate him. The kid brother I thought I knew didn't come close in preparing me for the friend I've found as an adult. It's a Good Thing whenever I can see the SOB who is my brother. Thanks for being my brother, Jack.

Stearman!

2010-06-12T08:19:00.029-04:00

Last week, an unlucky pilot flipped his yellow Stearman over on his landing roll at Reagan National Airport. The PT-17 Boeing Stearman, a 1943 Navy biplane built for World War II training, turned over as it was landing on the airport's main runway just after 10 a.m. The brightly colored plane, nicknamed the Yellow Mistress, was the second of eight Stearmans descending. The planes were publicizing the premiere of the 3-D IMAX film Legends of Flight at the Air and Space Museum.

Flying in from Manassas, the two-seater touched down at National and briefly rolled at 70 mph before flipping on its back. Both the pilot and his passenger were unharmed. The accident bent and curled two of the propeller's blades, and it damaged the plane's tail, rudder, vertical stabilizer, right wing and part of the engine.

Stearmans. I've always loved them. Check out Steve Coonts' classic The Cannibal Queen, a non-fiction account of Coonts' love affair with his own Stearman. It's a great read about a classic father-son cross country trip that Coonts made in his Stearman with his 12 year old son.

I always thought that was a trip that my son and I should have taken.

I gotta get me one of these!

2010-06-11T14:15:00.014-04:00

Spyder III Pro Arctic Laser by WickedLasers reportedly available for $200

Not only is this thing cool looking, it actually looks like a lightsabre. Make anything look like a lightsaber, and you can be sure that we'll want to zoom in on it. WickedLasers are no strangers to coming up with laser pointers, but the Spyder III Pro Arctic Laser looks awesome, costs about $200, and is dangerous enough to blind, set fire to skin and other body parts.

For the first time in history, direct blue laser diodes have now become available in the consumer market. WickedLasers took direct blue laser diode components and made the world's first 445nm direct blue diode laser, the Arctic. The $200 Spyder III Pro Arctic is reportedly the world's most powerful portable laser.

WickedLaser provides the following warning:

"Warning: Extremely dangerous is an understatement to the power of 1W of laser power. It will blind permanently and instantly and set fire quickly to skin and other body parts, use with extreme caution and only when using the included eye protection. Customers will be required to completely read and agree to our Class IV Laser Hazard Acknowledgment Form."

The Arctic emits a 445nm cool blue, ultra high power 1W beam which appears up to 4000% brighter than the Sonar's 405nm violet beam. This direct blue laser diode is the result of the evolution of laser technology. Less than one year ago, this laser would have cost thousands of dollars to build. WickedLasers cautions, "Don't let the Arctic name fool you, this laser possesses the most burning capabilities of any portable laser in existence. That's why it's also the most dangerous [hand held] laser ever created."

If,like me, you live in the People's Republic of Massachusetts, get your hands on one of these babies before the moonbats find a way to ban it. As we say in New England, "It's wicked awesome!!"

Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day

2010-06-10T13:51:00.008-04:00

Staff Sgt. Edward Rosa reads the Bible and extends a cigarette to Pfc. Jorge Rostra Obando, who was stunned by an explosion in Afghanistan’s Arghanab Valley. One comrade was killed and two injured in the blast. Pfc. Rostran asked the sergeant to read Psalm 91, a favorite from his childhood.

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.
Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence.
He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler.
Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day;
Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday.
A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked.
Because thou hast made the LORD, which is my refuge, even the most High, thy habitation;
There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling.
For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.
They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.
Because he hath set his love upon me, therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he hath known my name.
He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honour him.
With long life will I satisfy him, and shew him my salvation.

(photo courtesy of the Wall Street Journal)

From the other side of the pond: BBC Essex uncovers disgraceful state of former Marconi building

2010-06-10T10:12:00.009-04:00

An investigation by BBC Essex has found evidence that the first, purpose-built, wireless radio factory in the world is in a state of disrepair and is being abused by squatters and vandals, 90 years after a historic broadcast by renowned opera singer, Dame Nellie Melba.

In its time, the Marconi building in New Street, Chelmsford developed many products for radio and television, but nearly a century on from the historic broadcast by Dame Nellie Melba; journalists from BBC Essex have managed to gain easy access to the now abandoned building, which is currently in the hands of receivers.

A BBC journalist filmed pictures of a trail of destruction throughout the building, which is part-listed. Near the office of the founder of radio, Guglielmo Marconi, there was evidence of drug abuse inside a makeshift squat strewn with litter.

Alison Hodgkins-Brown, BBC Essex News Editor, was one of the four-strong team to go onto the site. She says: “We wanted to show people that behind the boarded up windows and doors, such an important building in broadcasting history is being torn apart inside. Anything of value – copper, brass, wiring – has been stripped out and vandals have sprayed the walls with graffiti.”

BBC Essex showed the pictures to the only surviving child of Marconi, Princess Elettra Marconi-Giovanelli, who said the state of the building was “disgraceful” and called on those looking after the former factory to restore it to its former glory out of respect for her father’s memory. She said: “I am very sad to see how the situation is… because I understand that they don’t care about the building, it’s abandoned… I’m very upset to see that this beautiful building is not appreciated.”

The chairman of the Marconi Veterans Association, Peter Turrell, told BBC Essex: “I am disgusted and annoyed – the world owes a lot to Marconi and we will be very, very upset if this building ever goes into real decay.”

A spokesman for the receivers, Zolfo Cooper, who are responsible for the building, told the BBC they have recently tightened security of the site – including round the clock monitoring – as they were so concerned about trespassers gaining access.

Visit bbc.co.uk/essex to view images taken inside the Marconi building, and watch the video.

The Manly Art of Ham Radio

2010-06-09T22:56:00.010-04:00

Looking to be a part of a tight knit community with a focus on radio and communication? Look no further than ham radio. While the internet has taken radio’s place as the dominant form of communication, a vibrant community of amateur radio enthusiasts still exists. Radio hobbyists enjoy communicating directly with people from all over the world while expanding their knowledge of radio theory. In addition, most ham radio operators provide a public service to their communities by acting as relays in the event of emergencies or natural disasters. Radio operation is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission, so you’ll have to be licensed to use a radio. Licensing isn’t difficult at all. You just have to take a multiple choice test that covers basic regulations, operating practices, and electronics theory. And of course you’ll need the equipment. Buying new will set you back a pretty penny, but you can find good deals on used radio equipment on eBay. For more info about getting started with ham radio check out the American Radio Relay League and stop by the Art of Manliness Community Group: The Manly Art of Amateur (Ham) Radio.

(originally appeared in the Art of Manliness)

At least I didn't shoot my eye out

2010-06-09T14:25:00.013-04:00

I have a digital picture in my ham shack of my very first radio - a Globe Electronics "Globe 'Ceiver, a/k/a the 65-320) a general coverage shortwave receiver that my dad bought for me in the early 60's. Apparently, these receivers are quite rare these days...and are obviously not known for their selectivity or sensitivity. This was special - my first radio. Just thinking about it still gets my blood pumping...just like Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun ("You'll shoot yer eye out, kid"). This radio was an example of the "All American Five"..using a complement of five tubes: 3BW4, 50C5, 12AVG, 12BA6 and a 12BE6. Sweet!

From the owner's manual:

"Your world wide Globe 'Ceiver is designed to bring you the finest in all-band radio reception. It's latest superheterodyne circuit will tune from 500 kilocycles to 30 Megacycles to bring you countless shortwave stations as well as standard broadcast programs. You will hear foreign and domestic broadcasts, ships at sea, police, amateurs and aircraft. A special CB band allows you to hear local two-way radio communications between homes, cars and trucks.Included in your receiver are such special features as a built-in , sensitive ferrite loop antenna for clear, broadcast band reception...a collapsible whip antenna for shortwave reception...an electrical Bandspread control for separating closely spaced amateur and shortwave stations...a BFO for CW reception...a headphone jack...a switch that permits you to silence the receiver without turning it off. All of these combined features will give you many hours of "World-Wide" listening pleasure."

I think the price new for this radio was about $64.95 or so. Universal Radio had one available a few months ago for about 120 bucks...I almost pulled the trigger on that one...but was afraid I'd shoot my eye out. One of these days, I hope I'll get to replace my digital picture with the real thing (but it wouldn't quite be the sae as having the VERY SAME ONE. About the only piece of gear from my childhood that would get me as excited is an American Flyer train...or my Flexible Flyer sled...but those are other stories for other times.

The best magic comes from early childhood...for us lucky ones.

How a man responds to the death of his father

2010-06-09T11:59:00.029-04:00

His heritage to his children wasn’t words or possessions, but an unspoken treasure, the treasure of his example as a man and a father. — Will Rogers Jr.

Excerpted from The Art of Manliness

While growing up, our fathers, whether for good or ill, are our earliest and strongest examples of manliness. Even for those who grow up fatherless his influence is a major one, conspicuous for its absence. It is therefore only natural that the death of a man’s father is an event that holds incredible and often very painful significance. When I last wrote for the Art of Manliness, I spoke to the ways in which men grieve. It is not surprising that many of the men who responded to that article alluded to the loss of their father. While a man grieving the loss of his father will go through an experience similar to what was previously discussed, the fact that the deceased is the man’s father makes the experience unique. Many men who have lost their fathers describe it as a loss like no other. They report that the way they grieved their father was different from any other grief that they experienced and often felt that the only people who could readily understand were other men that had also lost their fathers. I know that I certainly felt this way when my father passed in February 2009. It is that uniqueness, as well as the short and long term effects of losing a father, that I hope to address here.

In their book , When Your Father Dies: How a Man Deals with the Loss of His Father, Dave Veerman and Bruce Barton interviewed sixty men from all walks of life who had lost their fathers. While each man’s story was unique, the authors identified and described the common themes that readily emerged from these accounts.

Vulnerability. When our father dies, we frequently lose much more than the person of our father. It’s often surprising to men how the world doesn’t stop at his passing. Sons are acutely aware of their father’s passing, and when the world doesn’t share that same awareness it can leave the grieving son feeling terribly alone and isolated from a world that doesn’t seem to understand. Many men experience a sense of being an orphan even if their mother is still alive because they feel so alone in the world. This sense of vulnerability is compounded by the fact that for many of us our fathers served as a kind of shield. We knew that we could count on dad for help and advice when things turned against us. With his father gone, the son may not know where he can turn in a crisis and feel vulnerable and afraid. This holds true as well for men who had a negative or non-existent relationship with their fathers. While dad may not have been a protector or provider, men still feel vulnerable and alone, often feeling that they are the only ones that can break negative cycles in their families.

Awareness of Mortality. As I noted in my last article, we live in a culture that prefers to deny and avoid the reality of death. However when a man loses his father the reality that life is finite and that he too will someday die becomes inescapable. While this realization can come anytime death touches us, it is particularly potent when we lose our fathers. This is because many men see their father as part of themselves and a small part of them has died with their dad. Not only is the inevitability of death driven home, but also its finality. The son knows that he will never (at least in this life) see his father again, and that when he too dies it will be just as final. Some may say, “So what, death is an objective fact, why should losing a particular person make this fact so much more frightening?” The problem is the illusion of control. We as men all operate under the assumption that we are in command of our own destiny, that we are in control. In many cases this is more or less accurate; however, when it comes to death, this simply isn’t true. Having our protective illusion stripped from us is terribly emasculating since no amount of self-control or problem solving can bring back the dead. This leaves the surviving son grieving not only his father, but also the new understanding he has reached.

Loss of Audience. It’s a classic American image, the son playing sports and the father coaching and cheering him on. This dynamic between father and son isn’t limited to sports but extends to many areas of a son’s life. A son will often go out of his way to please his father, and he is one of the few people that it is acceptable to truly brag to. We can proudly bring home our trophies and A+ papers to show to dad, and this dynamic extends well in to adulthood as men share their accomplishments in college, their career, and family. When our father is gone it feels, not like the audience is missing a member, but the whole audience is gone. For sons who are also fathers themselves this loss extends to not being able to share the accomplishments of their children with the proud grandfather and not being able to seek out advice for parenting. Many sons miss dad not only when they need parenting advice, but when they need their old coach in any area of life that’s giving them trouble. For a man whose father was distant or absent, this loss of audience was felt long before his father’s death as he struggled in vain to earn his father’s approval. Now at his death the loss is doubled as the son realizes he can never gain the approval he craved when his father was alive.

Taking Up the Mantle. In many ways the death of a father serves as a right of passage, though a painful and difficult one. This is due to the fact that for many sons their inheritance is less about property and more about responsibility. Many men, regardless of their age when their father died, feel like they grew up suddenly and significantly when it happened. Their father’s death leaves a vacuum in the family dynamic, and sons often feel compelled to step up to try to fill their father’s role. This is especially true if the father had been the leader and protector of the family. Sons may feel a great deal of pressure and may not feel up to the task of protecting and leading the family. If Mom is still alive, then caring for her will often be a central focus of this sense of responsibility. At best this will lead to growth for the son, and the family will pull together and become closer as it adjusts to the new dynamics. However, this is not always the case. Family members may resist the son’s efforts to take a leadership role; siblings may even compete for leadership within the family. At worst this can lead to a family disintegrating without the presence of the father that had once held them together. For men whose fathers were absent or abusive, the idea of taking up their father’s mantle is sometimes frightening. These sons have no desire to fill the same dysfunctional role as their father and feel an intense pressure to break the painful cycles that their father had embodied.

A Long Shadow. As a boy grows, he learns many lessons and skills from his father who serves as his mentor and teacher. The son also quickly learns that in these circumstances it is often better to do things his father’s way both because he has more experience and because it is often not worth the hassle of disobedience. Sons long for the approval of their fathers and live to be told “good job.” This desire for a father’s approval and dislike of disapproval extends into adulthood and men are not free of it even after their father’s death. Sons will often feel the presence of their father when they use skills that they learned from him, visit places associated with him, or use his possessions. When it comes to these possessions many men report keeping a memento or two of their father that helps them stay connected to him. For me personally, it is my father’s drafting tools and his wedding band, which serves as my own. However, sons can find it difficult to get rid of or make changes to their father’s property. They often feel like they’re trespassing and feel the sting of their father’s disapproval. They may also feel this sense of disapproval when they choose to do things in a way other than “Dad’s way.” Conversely sons will still long for their father’s approval, holding up things they do to scrutiny and asking themselves “Would dad be proud?” In this way the long shadow of our fathers affects the way we live our lives long after his passing. This is superficially similar to the “loss of audience” experience because in both experiences the grieving son longs to interact with his dad again. The experience of the long shadow differs, however, in that it is less about having someone to watch and cheer and more more about seeking approval and avoiding disapproval.

Our Father’s Legacy. As the son progresses through the grieving process, one of the tasks he will inevitably work through is sorting through the legacy his father has left him. Men will often look at the life of their fathers and that of their grandfathers and great-grandfathers to try to take stock of their heritage and to see how their father’s values and lifestyle have influenced them. Some sons will look back happily on men of character and values that they admire and hope to emulate. Other sons will look back to see a chain of flaws, faults, and abuses-a legacy they’d rather leave behind. But even these sons usually seek some positive quality in their father’s legacy that they can hold onto. For the son who is also a father, examining the legacy also comes with the realization that they too are a link in this chain, that someday they will be passing the legacy on to their own children. Many men are inspired by this to forge stronger relationships with their children so that the legacy they leave is one that their children can be proud of when it is their turn to mourn their father.

While these themes are typical of men that have lost their fathers and lend the perspective and understanding that is an important part of healing, it is extremely difficult to effectively capture the uniqueness and complexity of this experience. I personally continue to struggle to understand the loss of my father. Even as I wrote this article I would at times have to stop as memories came flooding back and all I could do was sit there at my keyboard and cry. Even as I struggle though, I know that I have gained at least one thing from mourning my father, a determination to live a life that will find me worthy to be called my father’s son. For each reader who is a son who has lost their father I would encourage you to do two things. First I would encourage you to struggle. While this may seem odd, it is in working through the turmoil of mourning that we stand to gain the most as men. Second I would encourage you to seek out the company of other men in the same position. They can provide some of the strongest support. Fortunately for us, AoM is an excellent place to seek out the support of our fellow men.

excerpted from the Art of Manliness

Happy Father's Day. Appreciate him while you have him.

ARRL Field Day coming up on June 26-27, 2010

2010-06-09T09:46:00.007-04:00

ARRL Field Day is June 26-27, 2010.

ARRL Field Day is the single most popular on-the-air event held annually in the US and Canada...indeed, it is the largest on-air operating event in Amateur Radio. It draws tens of thousands to the airwaves each year, bringing new and experienced hams together for a weekend of fun. Each year over 35,000 amateurs gather with their clubs, friends or simply by themselves to operate.

ARRL Field Day is not a fully adjudicated contest, which explains much of its popularity. It is a time where many aspects of Amateur Radio come together to highlight the many roles of Amateur Radio. While some will treat it as a contest, most groups use the opportunity to practice their emergency response capabilities. It's an excellent opportunity to demonstrate Amateur Radio to local elected community leaders, key individuals with the organizations that Amateur Radio might serve in an emergency, as well as the general public. For many clubs, ARRL Field Day is one of the highlights of their annual calendar.

The objective is to work as many stations as possible on any and all amateur bands (excluding the 60, 30, 17, and 12-meter bands) and to learn to operate in abnormal situations in less than optimal conditions. Field Day is open to all amateur radio operators.

Boy Scouts of America Revive Signaling Merit Badge for 100th Anniversary

2010-06-09T08:21:00.017-04:00

In keeping with Boy Scouts of America’s centennial theme -- Celebrating the Adventure, Continuing the Journey -- four retired badges have been brought back for the group’s 100th anniversary. The effective date for earning these new merit badges -- Carpentry (1911-1952), Tracking (formerly Stalking, 1911-1952), Pathfinding (1911-1952) and Signaling (formerly Signaler, 1910-1992) -- is April 1, 2010; requirements must be completed no later than December 31, 2010.

Merit badges have been a fixture of the BSA since its inception in 1910. The requirements that generations of Scouts have completed have taught lifetime citizenship lessons, personal fitness habits and life skills, as well as serving as the beginnings of countless careers and lifetime hobbies. In the last 99 years, there have been many changes in the merit badge offerings. As society has changed, BSA has adapted by revising the requirements, implementing name changes, adding new merit badges and in some instances, eliminating some badges altogether.

The BSA said that the overall goal of the program is for a majority of registered Boy Scouts to earn one or more of the merit badges during the centennial year, 2010. “The badges offered have a history that can be traced back to the origins of the BSA,” said the BSA Web site. “The original requirements are being used, as well as supported by scanned pages of the early merit badge pamphlets, so a Scout can view what a Scout 100 years ago used, giving Boy Scouts the hands-on opportunity to experience the exciting past of Scouting while learning how our world has changed in that 100 years.”

The contemporary merit badges closely resemble the original designs of their counterparts, but with a gold border, immediately identifying it as a 2010 historic merit badge. These four historical merit badges may be used toward a Scout’s rank advancement.

“The Signaling merit badge is a great way to encourage hams who are already involved in Scouting to mentor this limited-time badge in their Troop and perhaps in other ways, such as camps,” said ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Director Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT; Mileshosky is the chairman of the ARRL’s ad hoc Committee on Scouting. “Hams -- and especially clubs, that have more resources and volunteers -- who are not involved in Scouting at the present time but want to assist a Troop with earning the Signaling merit badge -- should contact their local BSA Council to inquire about Scoutmasters in their area to contact and offer their assistance.”

Hams who offer assistance should be prepared with knowledge of the badge, the timeframe in which it is being offered, why it’s being offered and what the requirements are, Mileshosky advised: “Once the relationship between a club and a troop is established, it can evolve from offering the Signaling badge and then move to the Radio merit badge, then Jamboree On the Air (JOTA) and then a Technician licensing class.” Hams who volunteer to work with Scout troops can expect are required to submit to a criminal background check.

The requirements for the Signaling merit badge are the original requirements as written in 1911:

* Make an electric buzzer outfit, wireless, blinker or other signaling device.
* Send and receive in the International Morse Code, by buzzer or other sound device, a complete message of not less than 35 words, at a rate of not less than 35 letters per minute.
* Demonstrate an ability to send and receive a message in the International Morse Code by wigwag and by blinker or other light signaling device at the rate of not less than 20 letters per minute.
* Send and receive by Semaphore Code at the rate of not less than 30 letters per minute.
* Know the proper application of the International Morse and Semaphore Codes: when, where, and how they can be used to best advantage.
* Discuss briefly various other codes and methods of signaling which are in common use.

Kinda neat. Makes me wish I hadn't dropped out of the Boy Scouts back when they tried to make me do pushups.

Back in the saddle

2010-06-09T08:03:00.010-04:00

"A man's got to know his limitations." - Dirty Harry Callahan

Just returned to the gym this morning after being away from it for almost two weeks due to a bad cold (actually a little worse than that - I lost my voice for over a week but didn't hear any complaints). Remembering Dirty Harry's dictum, I was somewhat surprised it wasn't as bad as I thought, but the treadmill time was interminable and my usual strength machines were, well, unusually challenging. (No repeat sets this morning!) I should be fully back into it by Wednesday though so the worse part was just breaking the ice and going back in. Based on my current schedule, I expect I'm poised to stumble across my six pack in about, oh, 2020 or so. (No, the guy on the right isn't me.)

Scorpion Antennas

2010-06-08T17:35:00.022-04:00

I've been wanting for some time now to return to "those thrilling days of yesteryear" when I had an HF radio (back then, my old Atlas 210X and Hustler top loaded dummy load, um, I mean antenna...) installed in the vehicle. Had a lot of fun back in those days working HF mobile around the world. (Of course back then, we actually had sunspots, but I digress.) W1WM remembers us trying to re-cross the Canadian border all the while ragchewing with a ham friend on Cape Cod who just wouldn't stop yakkin'...

Anyway, times have changed and equipment has changed with them. I now have what I consider the perfect vehicle for a rolling HF station, my 2008 Jeep Wrangler JK. Unfortunately, mounting a "state of the art" screwdriver antenna on the Wrangler is challenging at best. As long as I'm in my long range planning (i.e., dreaming) for this project, I decided to go for the very best in antennas...which is arguable the Scorpion 680, an 18 lb. behemoth made by NI7J in Phoenix. Seeking to try and compile info on how others may have handled the installation of such a beast on their Wranglers, I gave Ron a call in Phoenix last week. Even after I explained to Ron that I was a step away (make that a year or more) from actually spending cold hard cash on additional mobile HF gear, Ron was exceedingly gracious and helpful, and took a genuine interest in my situation. This is a guy and company I can do business with.

By the way - if any reader has any experience in mounting a large screwdriver antenna to a late model Jeep Wrangler, get in touch, will ya?