Saturday, December 09, 2006

More Shuttle comms

13927.1 kHz USB: AWACS "Sentry 07"

Space Shuttle comms

Taken from: hfmilcom@yahoogroups.com

It is Thu, 8:26pm EST (Fri, 0126z).Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) retrieval boat Liberty Star is up on HF freq 7833 kHz USB now. Earlier they were up on 7765 kHz USB.AL STERN Satellite Beach FL
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FloridaMilcom
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrevardRadio
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CivilAirComms
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/MilRadioComms
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HFmonitors

It is Thu, 12:31pm EST (1731z).Space Shuttle Solid Rocket Booster (SRB) retrieval boat "Freedom Star" is up with Liberty Star on 10780.0 kHz USB. Freedom Star informs that he is transiting the river now. Freedom Star also IDs as "KRFB."

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Stonehenge Demystified December 6th, 2006

Stonehenge Demystified December 6th, 2006

Ever Wondered how Stonehenge was created? Watch the video

For centuries folks have marveled at Stonehenge. How did the ancients erect such a monument without modern technology? Did aliens perhaps! Nah… it turns out that moving and lifting big rocks isn’t as tough as we’ve been led to believe. This video seems to show that Stonehenge and probably the pyramids in Egypt could have been relatively simple projects — if the ancients were anywhere as sharp as this Michigan Grandpa

direct link to video





Credit: KE9V Blog




Contest Scores in real time!!!

Getscores.org - Realtime Contest ScoresGerry Hull (W1VE) on October 19, 2006 View comments about this article!
Fellow Contesters, Through the encouragement of many, I deceided to take on the project of creating a usable web portal for realtime score reporting. The result has been in alpha testing for the past couple of weeks. It will be fully functional for the CQWW SSB and SS CW contests. You can view the portal at http://www.getscores.org History The idea behind this site is based on prior work by Bruce, WA7BMN, with his contest XML dtd, with modifications by N1MMLogger creator, Tom, N1MM. Dave, K1TTT provided a lot of insight. Tested and Ready We have been testing the site with the N1MM logger. The latest version of N1MM fully supports score posting. Marios, 5B4WN/G0WWWW, is working on an upload module for Win-Test and has a beta of it on his site. Open, Programmable API Getscores.org supports a SOAP-based Web Service API. The success of the site will depend on participation and the support of software vendors. There are links on the live.getscores.org site for FAQs. Fun for Contesters and Non-Contesters Alike! The viewing site supports many filters, so that you can look at only what you want to look at. Filter by Class, Power, CQ Zone, IARU Zone, State/Prov and lots more. Your filter preferences are saved as a cookie by your browser for up to 7 days. The page automatically refreshes every 1,5 or 10 minutes -- your choice. You can look at overall score or detailed breakdowns, and see where you (or your best friend/worst enemy) stand in real time. Support for all the contests listed on the site will be fully operational soon, as well as an RSS feed. Stay tuned. If you have any questions or suggestions about the site, please send them to me at the email addresses provided on the site, or via gerry@w1ve.com As we get closer to CQWW, I'll be looking at the site to ensure it is fully operational under load. It is hosted at a very large facility with high burst-bandwidth capabilities. N1MMLogger (freeware): www.n1mm.com Win-Test: www.win-test.com Getscores.org, the Live Contest Scores Portal: http://www.getscores.org 73, Gerry, W1VE

credit: www.contesting.com

New Band Plan chart

If you want a copy of the new ham radio band plan allocation chart here is the http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/wt04-140/Hambands3_color.pdf

FCC Revised R&O Takes Effect Dec 15th 2006

REVISED Nov 22, 2006 11:49 ET
FCC "Omnibus" Amateur Radio R&O Published in Federal Register, Takes Effect December 15
NEWINGTON, CT (November 15, 2006) -- Just a little over a month after the Federal Communications Commission released the Report and Order (R&O) in the so-called "Omnibus" Amateur Radio proceeding, WT Docket 04-140 (FCC 06-149) to the public, a revised version appeared today in the Federal Register. The changes in the R&O will take effect Friday, December 15, at 12:01 AM EST, 30 days after its publication.
As expected, the Report & Order as published this morning clarified two items that had raised some concerns when it was first released last month: That the 80/75 meter band split applies to all three IARU Regions, and that FCC licensees in Region 2, which includes North America, can continue to use RTTY/data emissions in the 7.075-7.100 MHz band.
Some controversial aspects of the proceeding remain unchanged:
Expansion of the 75 meter phone band all the way down to 3600 kHz (thus reducing the privileges of General, Advanced and Amateur Extra class licensees, who had RTTY/data privileges in the 80 meter band, and CW privileges of General and Advanced class licensees)
The elimination of J2D emissions, data sent by modulating an SSB transmitter, of more than 500 Hz bandwidth. This will make PACTOR III at full capability illegal. Other digital modes effectively rendered illegal below 30 MHz include Olivia and MT63 (when operated at bandwidths greater than 500 Hz), 1200-baud packet, Q15X25 and Clover 2000. [Editor's Note: We are happy to report that the FCC is working on an erratum to correct the J2D error. While nothing is certain until the erratum is actually released, it is fair to say that the FCC recognizes the problem and intends to fix it prior to the December 15 effective date of the new rules. We will post further information on the erratum as it becomes available.]
The elimination of access to the automatic control RTTY/data subband at 3620-3635 kHz.
The ARRL Board is discussing the possibility of a petition to reconsider several items in the R&O.
ARRL Regulatory Information Specialist Dan Henderson, N1ND, commented: "The release of the R&O in the Federal Register has started the countdown clock. We are all looking forward to being able to use the refarmed frequencies starting on December 15. We are still anxiously awaiting the release of the Report and Order for 05-235, the Morse Code Proceeding. We are hopeful that the Commission will be able to move on that petition and address the outstanding issues in the Omnibus R&O soon."
For more information, see the band chart [917,715 bytes, PDF] and the Frequently Asked Questions on WT Docket No. 04-140. Both have been updated to reflect the R&O as it was published in the Federal Register.

Credit: ARRL

3 Hams part of the Discovery crew

Credit-ARRL:

Shuttle Discovery crew includes three radio amateurs (Dec 1, 2006) -- NASA has set Thursday, December 7, as the launch date for the next space shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Shuttle Discovery will carry three radio amateurs, one of whom -- US astronaut Sunita Williams, KD5PLB -- will join ISS Expedition 14 in progress. She'll replace European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, DF4TR, whose duty tour has spanned Expeditions 13 and 14 -- the first time that's happened in the history of the ISS. Williams is said to be eager to do ARISS school group contacts from NA1SS. Also aboard Discovery will be European Space Agency astronaut and mission specialist Christer Fuglesang, KE5CGR/SA0AFS, Sweden's first astronaut, who will be making his first journey into space. Plans are in place for Fuglesang to carry out an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school contact with students at Thunmanskolan in Knivsta, Sweden. The contact would be the first ARISS school QSO with Scandinavia. On November 20, Fuglesang attended an Amateur Radio training session at Johnson Space Center to prepare him for using the ARISS Phase 2 station for his school contact. Primary payloads on the 12-day mission are the P5 integrated truss segment, SPACEHAB single logistics module and an integrated cargo carrier. Mission specialist Nicholas Patrick, KD5PKY, also is on the seven-member STS-116 mission crew. This will mark the 20th shuttle flight to the ISS. -- NASA; ARISS

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