Category Archives: Education

Sun Spot & Space Weather

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HF RADIO COMMUNICATIONS

Space weather impacts radio communication in a number of ways. At frequencies in the 1 to 30 mega Hertz range (known as “High Frequency” or HF radio), the changes in ionospheric density and structure modify the transmission path and even block transmission of HF radio signals completely. These frequencies are used by amateur (ham) radio operators and many industries such as commercial airlines. They are also used by a number of government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Defense.

There are several types of space weather that can impact HF radio communication. In a typical sequence of space weather storms, the first impacts are felt during the solar flare itself. The solar x-rays from the sun penetrate to the bottom of the ionosphere (to around 80 km). There the x-ray photons ionize the atmosphere and create an enhancement of the D layer of the ionosphere. This enhanced D-layer acts both as a reflector of radio waves at some frequencies and an absorber of waves at other frequencies. The Radio Blackout associated with solar flares occurs on the dayside region of Earth and is most intense when the sun is directly overhead.

Another type of space weather, the Radiation Storm caused by energetic solar protons, can also disrupt HF radio communication. The protons are guided by Earth’s magnetic field such that they collide with the upper atmosphere near the north and south poles. The fast-moving protons have an affect similar to the x-ray photons and create an enhanced D-Layer thus blocking HF radio communication at high latitudes. During auroral displays, the precipitating electrons can enhance other layers of the ionosphere and have similar disrupting and blocking effects on radio communication. This occurs mostly on the night side of the polar regions of Earth where the aurora is most intense and most frequent.

More information on solar activity from an amateur radio operator’s perspective is available at https://www.qrparci.org/resource/FDIM81.pdf

CNN Article:
Sun’s activity is peaking sooner than expected

Signal Reports SSB/ CW/ FT-8

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From: vk5pas.com

The RST system.
The R-S-T system is used by amateur radio operators, shortwave listeners, and other radio hobbyists to exchange information about the quality of a radio signal being received. The RST system is a three digit number, with one digit each for conveying an assessment of the signal’s readability, strength, and tone.

R – Readability
S – Signal Strength
T – Tone

The first number in the RST report is the readability of the signal or how understandable a signal is. This ranges on a scale of 1-5, with 1 being ‘unreadable’ and 5 being ‘perfectly readable’. Factors which impact on readability include QRN (atmospheric noise, static crashes, QSB (fading), and QRM (man made noise, e.g. plasma TV noise).

The second number in the RST report is the strength of the signal. Remember, that the RST reporting system was created prior to introduction of S meters in transceivers. A signal strength of 1 is ‘faint signals, barely perceptible’, whilst a signal strength of 9 is an ‘extremely strong signal.’

The third number refers to Tone and applies to CW (Morse Code).


By: n3lrg

FT-8 Signal Reports
With FT-8 your PC clock is very important.  Please make sure you sync your PC clock with an time standard before operating FT-8.  Useful programs like Dimension 4 that will do it for you or manually you can do it by following this link. But what would happen if your out at a POTA site away from the internet well if you had a little USB GPS device you can use a program like GPStime to sync your clock.   If your looking at your receive window in WJST and see the “DT” column of is more than 0.3 +/- seconds off then your clock is in need a a resync.  If there just one station that has a time offset of more than 0.3 off don’t bother trying to connect to that station since there clock is way off. Time over 1.0 seconds will show in red.

Signal strength is also import for picking up stations.  With a minimum signal range between -21 dB and -24 dB  anything below -19 dB would be a hard station to work.  While a signal strength of 0 dB is a prefect level for an SSB signal.

On picking your transmit frequency in the water fall window try to find an clear frequency.  You can shift you transmit frequency by using your mouse on the WSJT-X waterfall to select a spot to transmit by right-clicking or shift-left-clicking. Also make sure your check mark “Hold Tx Freq.” is checked so that it stays at that frequency.  While your at it make sure “Auto Seq” and “Call 1st” are checked too.  So that it will handle automatically replying to their responds and it will automatically respond to other station answering your CQ’s.

THE LA6NCA TRANSCEIVER

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LA6NCA
THE LA6NCA TRANSCEIVER

I have designed a new 2 tube tranceiver. I think the way it is made is innovative. Both tubes are used in both receiver and transmitter. The sensitivity of the receiver is 5uV. Power output on the transmitter is 1-2 Watts.

This is something you can make yourself. It is very fun and easy to use. Only one setting. Volume. The frequency is exactly correct both on the transmitter and receiver with the help of a crystal.

LA6NCA Website
Hack A Day Article 

National Hurricane Center Amateur Radio Station Annual Test

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From The ARRL News Website

The amateur radio station of the National Hurricane Center, WX4NHC (NHC), located on the campus of Florida International University in Miami, will conduct their on-the-air Annual Communications Test on Saturday, May 27, 2023, from 9 AM – 5 PM EDT (1300z- 2100z).

This is the NHC’s 43rd year of public service. NHC Amateur Radio Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R/WX4NHC, reports that the purpose of this event is to test amateur radio equipment and antennas at the NHC as well as operators’ home equipment, antennas, and computers prior to this year’s hurricane season. The 2023 hurricane season begins June 1 and runs through November 30.

This event is good practice for amateur radio operators worldwide to practice amateur radio communications during times of severe weather.

Ripoll said WX4NHC will be on HF, VHF, UHF, 2- and 30-meter APRS, and Winlink, To contact the NHC’s amateur radio station send an email to wx4nhc@winlink.org. The subject of the email must contain //WL2K.

WX4NHC will try to stay on the Hurricane Watch Net frequency, 14.325 MHz, for most of the time, as well as 7.268 MHz depending on propagation. They may also change frequencies due to potential QRM.

You may be able to find WX4NHC on HF by using one of the DX spotting networks, such as the DX Summit website at http://www.dxsummit.fi.

The VoIP Hurricane Net will also be active from 4 PM – 5 PM EDT (2000-2100z), RLP node 9219/EchoLink WX-TALK Conference node 7203. Visit their website for more information.

WX4NHC will also make a few contacts on local VHF and UHF repeaters, as well as the Florida Statewide Amateur Radio Network (SARnet) system to test station equipment.

QSL cards are available via WD4R with a self-addressed stamped envelope. More information about the NHC is available at their website.

ACTION NEEDED TO PROTECT OUR BANDS

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ARRL Advocates for Radio Amateurs as FCC Proposes Changes to 60-Meter Band

04/28/2023The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is seeking comments about changing the secondary allocation available to radio amateurs on 60 meters. The FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on April 21, 2023, that deals with the band. In a prior petition, ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® urged protecting the existing use of the band by amateurs when adding a new allocation adopted internationally.

Currently, radio amateurs in the US have access to five discrete channels on a secondary basis: 5332 kHz, 5348 kHz, 5358.5 kHz, 5373 kHz, and 5405 kHz. Users of these channels are limited to an effective radiated power (ERP) of 100 W PEP.

The FCC proposes to allocate 15 kHz of contiguous bandwidth between 5351.5 – 5366.5 kHz on a secondary basis with a maximum power of 15 W EIRP (equivalent to 9.15 W ERP). This allocation was adopted at the 2015 World Radio Communication Conference (WRC-15).

READ THE FULL ARTICLE ON THE ARRL WEBSITE:
http://arrl.org/news/

Track a Weather Balloon

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Want to track a weather balloon here is a very neat website that tracks all the weather balloon across the country.  Here in Pittsburgh the NWS launch balloons at  7:00 AM and 7:00 PM. Some times at other times like during storms.

https://tracker.sondehub.org

The SondeHub Tracker provides live and historical view of the data contained within the SondeHub Radiosonde telemetry database. This data is openly available, and licensed under Creative Commons By-SA 2.0. While primarily designed to assist with the tracking, recovery and re-use of meteorological radiosondes, it also provides a view of the meteorological data gathered by these devices.

So who wants to go on a fox hunt?

NASA Need Ham Radio Operators

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The HamSCI Festivals of Eclipse Ionospheric Science will occur October 14, 2023 and April 8, 2024 during spectacular North American solar eclipses.

​The Festivals will consist of multiple events, each with a goal of increasing our understanding of sun-ionosphere-earth relationships. ​Participants will include volunteer amateur radio operators, short wave listeners and science researchers from multiple US universities.

HamSCI FoEIS Events in which you can participate

  • The Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP)
  • The Gladstone Signal Spotting Challenge (GSSC)
  • Learn how to participate by visiting the HamSCI FoEIS Contest Info Page
Planned Events – Details To Be Announced at a Future Time
  • Doppler Effects on the Reception of WWV and CHU Utilizing the Grape 2 Low-IF Receiver
  • The Use of Time Delay of Arrival (TDOA) Measurements to Profile Ionospheric Layer Height Changes During Solar Eclipses
  • Tracking Traveling Ionospheric Disturbances Using Doppler-shifts of AM Broadcast Stations
  • ​VLF Reception Exercise

Read More about this here:
https://science.nasa.gov
https://hamsci.org/eclipse

VE Testing Session – Feb 25th

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VE Testing Session

Steel City Amateur Radio Club will be conducting a VE testing session Public Demo at the Carnegie Library in Carnegie PA.  The testing session will start at 2:00 PM on Feb 25th and is open for new hams and upgrades.  Please check out our VE Testing Page for more information. Also please contact Chris K3PQ at k3pq@w3kwh.com for pre-registration to guarantee a spot for you at the testing location.  Walk in allowed but register people will be tested first.

Carnegie Library
300 Beechwood Avenue
Carnegie, PA 15106-2644
Google Map Link

Bill to Eliminate Private Land Use Restrictions on Amateur Radio

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FROM: ARRL.ORG

Congressman Bill Johnson (OH-6) introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R.9670) on Thursday, December 22, 2022, to eliminate private land use restrictions that prohibit, restrict, or impair the ability of an Amateur Radio Operator from operating and installing amateur station antennas on property subject to the control of the Amateur Radio Operator.

The exponential growth of communities subject to private land use restrictions that prohibit both the operation of Amateur Radio and the installation of amateur station antennas has significantly restricted the growth of the Amateur Radio Service. These restrictions are pervasive in private common interest residential communities such as single-family subdivisions, condominiums, cooperatives, gated communities, master-planned communities, planned unit developments, and communities governed by community associations. The restrictions have particularly impacted the ability of Amateur Radio to fulfill its statutorily mandated duty of serving as a voluntary noncommercial emergency communications service.

Congress in 1996 directed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to promulgate regulations (Public Law 104–104, title II, section 207, 110 Stat. 114; 47 U.S.C. 303 note) that have preempted all private land use restrictions applicable to exterior communications facilities that impair the ability of citizens to receive television broadcast signals, direct broadcast satellite services, or multichannel multipoint distribution services, or to transmit and receive wireless internet services. ARRL attempts to obtain similar relief for Amateur Radio were rejected by the FCC with a statement such relief would have to come from Congress.

ARRL Legislative Advocacy Committee Chairman John Robert Stratton, N5AUS, noted that Congress, in 1994 by Joint Resolution, S.J.Res.90/H.J.Res.199, declared that regulations at all levels of government should facilitate and encourage the effective operation of Amateur Radio from residences as a public benefit. He continued by stating that “H.R.9670, the Amateur Radio Emergency Preparedness Act, is intended to fulfill that mandate and preserve the ability of Amateur Radio Operators to continue to serve as a key component of American critical communications infrastructure.”

ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, and Mr. Stratton both extended on behalf of the ARRL, its Members, and the Amateur Radio community their thanks and appreciation for the leadership of Rep. Johnson in his tireless efforts to support and protect the rights of all Amateur Radio Operators.

For the full text of the bill, click here (PDF).

Become your own time lord

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INTRODUCTION
Twenty years ago it would have been unlikely for a private individual to have an atomic clock at home. With few exceptions, precise time technology was used exclusively by professionals at national scientific laboratories, the military, and a small number of specialized commercial companies. But in the past ten years an abundance of military, dot-com, and telecom surplus has made it possible for motivated individuals to obtain yesterday’s start-of-the-art timing technology for personal use today. High-end precise timekeeping instruments, such as atomic frequency standards and frequency counters,
VLF receivers and phase comparators, Loran-C and GPS disciplined oscillators can be hunted and purchased for cents on the dollar. Today hundreds of individuals own rubidium, cesium, or GPS-based frequency standards and are keeping time at home to fractions of a microsecond. Many of these people are ham radio operators who have a
technical appreciation of, and need for, precise frequency. Some are retired military personnel who are nostalgic for gear they used years ago in the service. A few are curious engineers who enjoy the challenge of building clocks with ever increasing accuracy. Others are clock and watch collectors who want to augment their mechanical collections with specimens of modern electronic timekeepers. Whatever the circumstances precise timekeeping is a historically rich, intellectually stimulating, and
technically challenging field. Amateur time enthusiasts join mailing lists such as time-nuts or TACGPS. The latter was started by Dr. Tom Clark about ten years ago to freely share his clever, low-cost, PC software controlled, Motorola VP GPS receiver-based precise timing solution. In short, some of us have caught the “time bug” and are on the slippery slope of ever greater frequency stability and more precise time.
The following sections are a view into my clock collection, time & frequency experiments, and home timing laboratory.

ATOMIC CLOCK COLLECTION
People collect just about anything: books, stuffed animals, postage stamps, cars, vacuum tubes, clocks  and watches. Some of us have a hobby of collecting modern and vintage electronic instruments related to precise time: oscillators, atomic frequency standards, phase comparators, time code displays, and radio (WWV, WWVB, Loran-C) or satellite time/frequency receivers (GOES, GPS). Over the years my collection has grown to include instruments from companies such as Austron, Astrodata, Berkeley, Bliley, Datum, Efratom, FEI, Fluke, FTS, General Radio, Hewlett-Packard/Agilent,
Kinemetrics, Odetics, Oscilloquartz, Sigma Tau, Stanford Research, Spectracom, Sulzer, Symmetricom, Systron-Donner, Tracor, Trak, True Time, TST, and Vectron. Photos of the collection may be found on my web site. There are frequency standards ranging from a vintage 1 kc General Radio tuning fork oscillator to a modern 100 MHz Sigma Tau hydrogen maser, representing stabilities from 10-3 to 10-15.

Read the full article here at: www.leapsecond.com