eHam.net News

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Ham Talk LIVE! Episode 9 -- YHOTA:

Posted: 12 Apr 2016 06:26 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/36554


Coming up this week on Ham Talk Live! Don
Wilbanks, AE5DW, returns to Ham Talk Live! to
talk about the upcoming Bill Pasternak Young
Ham of the Year Award. The nominating period
is now open until June 30. We talk about the
award and the nomination process, and take
your calls LIVE!


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Slovakia to Send its First Ever Satellite Into Space:

Posted: 11 Apr 2016 05:08 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/36552


Slovakia is gearing up to launch its first satellite to orbit with the aim
of demonstrating the country's ability to carry out scientific experiments
in space. The pocket-sized one-unit CubeSat, named skCUBE, is currently
slated for liftoff in June atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The central European state is one
of the last countries on the continent to have its own satellite. Weighing
about 2.2 lbs. (1 kg), skCUBE is a 4-inch (10-centimeter) cube that will
carry an onboard computer, a communications system and a small camera to
conduct experiments when orbiting Earth. The main goal of this project is
to demonstrate that Slovakia is capable of doing highly sophisticated space
research. SkCUBE will focus on ham radio experiments that will include
connection of two amateur radio operators via the satellite, sending of
basic telemetry data via Morse code for easy listening and high speed data
and image transmission via the 2.4 GHz band. Labajova noted that radio
amateurs from all over the world will have the possibility to receive a
picture, which will be marked with the skCUBE name, the call sign OM9SAT
and a timestamp. It will only contain information in accordance with
amateur radio regulations. Transport Protocol and possibilities for signal
reception will be published in advance on the project's website. The ham
radio research will also include a VLF receiver with frame magnetic loop
antenna, which allows recording of radio signals in the range 3 to 30 kHz,
spectral analysis and data transmission to the ground. The data will be
public, and can be used to further scientific analysis.


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The Vital Role of Disaster Response and Volunteers:

Posted: 11 Apr 2016 05:07 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/36551


You've seen it in the news: 'Severe weather destroys a town; cleanup will
take weeks' or 'Child missing in lake area'. When such events occur,
Emergency Management arrives on scene, determines a course of action, and
calls upon the appropriate support agencies to help. Highly trained and
well equipped medical, law enforcement, utility, search, and other
qualified response crews arrive as needed. Another group which usually
arrives at a disaster scene is called spontaneous volunteers. They
sincerely want to pitch in to clear debris, or help find the missing child.
Depending on how many show up, it will require one or more of the trained
professional responders to be transferred from active use to work with
them. Most spontaneous volunteers arriving on the scene do not have the
professional training and equipment to be safe, so keeping these volunteers
safe becomes a responsibility of the professional responders. This also
creates a shortage of trained personnel on the professional teams, which
affects their safety too. Ham radio enthusiasts play a big role in
Lancaster County, both during emergencies and by providing communication
for area events. Almost all Lincoln Amateur Radio Club members are storm
spotters. They spread out around the county when the storm spotter network
is activated by Lancaster County Emergency Management during severe weather
outbreaks. They watch for funnel clouds, wind, hail and report flooding,
washed-out roads or bridges, and other dangerous conditions across the
county.


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Huge Sunspot Turns Earthward:

Posted: 11 Apr 2016 05:06 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/36550


Our seemly placid host star is just full of surprises. Just one week ago,
it looked like we were set to enter the first spotless stretch of 2016, as
the Earthward face of Sol presented one lonely sunspot group going 'round
the limb, headed towards the solar far side. Ah, but a few days can make
all the difference when it comes to solar astronomy. Late Sunday night we
were flooded with new solar images taken by observers worldwide, showing
the emergence of sunspot active region AR 2529. This monster spot is easily
already number one with a bullet for 2016. How big will AR 2529 get? One
thing is for certain: it'll be turned directly Earthward in just a few
days. AR 2529 currently harbors the potential for C-class flares, and could
send some love our way in the form of solar flares, and just maybe a
coronal mass ejection or two. This also means we could be in for a fine
aurora display later this weekend for folks living in high latitudes. This
development certainly goes against the prevailing trend. One swallow
certainly does not make a spring, and AR 2529 appeared just as we were
sliding back towards another solar activity minimum for sunspot cycle 24.
The last solar minimum back in 2009 was the deepest in over a century, and
some heliophysicists speculate that Cycle number 25 may be absent all
together.


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Now Accepting Nominations for Bill Pasternak Young Ham of the Year Award:

Posted: 11 Apr 2016 02:24 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/36548


Amateur Radio Newsline is now accepting nominees for its 2016 Bill
Pasternak Young Ham of the Year Award. We confer this annual honor on the
best of the best: a young licensed radio amateur who has used ham radio for
public service, benefitting his or her community, or who has impacted
technological development affecting communications in some way. Nominees
must reside in the United States, Canada or Puerto Rico and be no older
than 19.