Monday, April 25, 2011

Space Weather Prediction Center to Discontinue Broadcasts on WWV and WWVH

Beginning Tuesday, September 6, the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) will cease broadcasting its geophysical alert message on WWV and WWVH. These messages inform listeners of the solar flux, the mid-latitude A and K indices and space weather storms, both current and predicted. Currently, the message is heard on minute 18 from WWV and minute 45 from WWVH. The information will still be available on the SWPC website. If you care to comment on this, or if you have any questions, the SPWC -- part of the National Weather Service (NWS) -- would like to hear from you.
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Lasers Instead of Spark Plugs in Car Engines

This is cool; It's not Amateur Radio related but it is amazing how technology keeps advancing.
Car engines could soon be fired by lasers instead of spark plugs.
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Every Single Minute; A 1959 movie

A historic amateur radio movie 'Every Single Minute', about Amateur Radio and emergency communications, is available on YouTube.

Originally released in 2007 on Google Video it has recently been re-posted to YouTube.

In 1955, The Phil-Mont Mobile Radio Club, an association of mobile amateur radio operators in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area in the US provided emergency communications during the devastating flooding along the Delaware River and in the Pocono Mountains following Hurricane Diane, the sixth costliest U.S. hurricane of the 20th century.. fifty years before Hurricane Katrina.

In 1959, the club produced this short film to explain amateur radio, and especially mobile communications as practiced by the club.

The main film begins after a three minute interview with Jim Spencer, W3BBB, produced by a local cable channel many years later (Jim was a very young man W3QQH in the original film, and is now SK. The W3QV/R VHF / UHF / Echolink repeater system is named in his memory).

Watch Every Single Minute



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My Stamp Collecting Blog

My Stamp Collecting Blog

Counter Added January 1, 2011

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HOW TO READ PROPAGATION NUMBERS

The A index [ LOW is GOOD ]

  • 1 to 6 is BEST
  • 7 to 9 is OK
  • 11 or more is BAD

Represents the overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere ("Ap" if averaged from the Kp-Index) (an average of the eight 3-hour K-Indices) ('A' referring to amplitude) over a given 24 hour period, ranging (linearly) typically from 1-100 but theoretically up to 400.

A lower A-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Ap-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

SFI index [ HIGH is GOOD ]

  • 70 NOT GOOD
  • 80 GOOD
  • 90 BETTER
  • 100+ BEST

The measure of total radio emissions from the sun at 10.7cm (2800 MHz), on a scale of 60 (no sunspots) to 300, generally corresponding to the sunspot level, but being too low in energy to cause ionization, not related to the ionization level of the Ionosphere.

Higher Solar Flux generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; Solar Flux rarely affects the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

K index [ LOW is GOOD ]

  • 0 or 1 is BEST
  • 2 is OK
  • 3 or more is BAD
  • 5 is VERY VERY BAD

The overall geomagnetic condition of the ionosphere ("Kp" if averaged over the planet) over the past 3 hours, measured by 13 magnetometers between 46 & 63 degrees of latitude, and ranging quasi-logarithmically from 0-9. Designed to detect solar particle radiation by its magnetic effect. A higher K-index generally means worse HF conditions.

A lower K-Index generally suggests better propagation on the 10, 12, 15, 17, & 20 Meter Bands; a low & steady Kp-Index generally suggest good propagation on the 30, 40, 60, 80, & 160 Meter Bands.

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