Venus and Jupiter at Sunset

The brightest planets in the night sky are aligning for a must-see show in late February and March 2012. You can start looking tonight.

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Livonia ARC's 41st Annual Swap & Shop; Hamfest/Convention

02/19/2012 |

Livonia ARC's 41st Annual Swap & Shop

Location: Livonia, MI
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Livonia Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://www.livoniaarc.com/Swap.htm
Learn More

The Self Destruction Button USB Hub

The Self Destruction Button USB hub comes with four ports in the back for all your USB-connectivity goodness, but the main draw comes from all the stuff on top. There's two flickable switches, a turnable key, and a protected self-destruct button!

But don't let your imaginations go wild ... all you get by pressing the middle button is a "Kill Kill Kill" audio file from your computer. Disappointing, huh? Believe me, it is better this way. You don't want someone purposly wipe out your hard drive by pressing this attractive and inviting button, do you?

The Self Destruct Button USB hub is available online at GeekStuff4U.com for $62 plus $25 shipping

Read Also:
Self-Destruct Button USB Hub (Gizmodo)
Self Destruct Button just hooks up extra game pad (SCHI FI Tech)
Self Destruction Button USB (GeekStuff4U.com)
Self Destruct Button USB Hub (Gadget Madness)

Ham Radio Deluxe 5.1

HRD Software, LLC announces the release of Ham Radio Deluxe 5.1. This version incorporates fixes and some new features for DXers.

"This is our first release since obtaining the source code about 90 days ago," said Mike Carper, WA9PIE. "My partner, Rick, W4PC has done an outstanding job at becoming familiar with the code and developing the applications. We were fortunate to have a few key resources like Chuck, K7PT and Terry, G4POP to help us QA the builds as they're developed."

The 5.1 release is being made available at no charge to users registered on the HRD website. The focus for this release was a few items from the ToDo list – bug fixes, added rig support, and a few enhancements.

Mike said, "I think we've taken a balanced approach to getting something out quickly that satisfies a broad range of needs. I hope hams will enjoy the improvements. Obviously, this is only the beginning. We've got big plans and high-expectations for HRD in the future."

Following the 5.1 release, HRD Software intends to focus on more fixes and significant feature enhancements for v6.x with a target release at the Dayton Hamvention 2012.

As promised, version 5.1 is FREE!

HRD Downloads: http://www.ham-radio-deluxe.com
HRD Forum: http://forums.hrdsoftwarellc.com
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Old News

Ham Radio Deluxe 5.1 is coming and yes, it's FREE.

New Digital Desktop for Alinco, Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu radios. Use just a USB cable for your interface with select radios or get the full version for your Kantronics or AEA/TNCs.

EmComm Ops for Packet TNCs, be ready.

The 25th anniversay PK-232 Software collectable CD, check it out at http://www.w4pcsoftware.com

Cherryland ARC Swap-N-Shop/ Hamfest/Convention

02/11/2012

Cherryland ARC Swap-N-Shop

Location: Traverse City, MI
Type: ARRL Hamfest
Sponsor: Cherryland Amateur Radio Club
Website: http://cherrylandarc.com
Learn More

Amateur Radio New February 9, 2012

• + FCC News: New Rules for 5 MHz (60 Meters) To Go Into Effect March 5
• + WRC-12: Agenda Item 1.23 Passes Committee, Moves to Plenary
• + WRC-12: How Are Agenda Items Processed at a WRC?
• + WRC-12: Proposed Maritime Mobile Allocation Gets First Reading at WRC-12 Plenary Session
• + WRC-12: Nobel Laureate Joe Taylor, K1JT, Addresses Plenary Session at WRC-12, Receives ITU Gold Medal
• On the Air: The 2012 ARRL International DX CW Contest Takes to the Air Next Weekend
• ARRL HQ: Save the Date! Take a Virtual Tour of W1AW on February 12
• + ARRL Field Day: 2012 Field Day Packet Now Available
• Solar Update
• This Week in Radiosport
• Be a Star! Deadline for Second Annual ARRL Video Contest is February 29
• + Silent Key: Former ITU-R Director Dick Kirby, W0LCT/HB9BOA (SK)
• + Silent Key: Astronaut Janice Voss, KC5BTK (SK)
• Silent Key: WorldRadio Founder Armond Noble, N6WR (SK)
• Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events

+ Available on ARRL Audio News.

Orlando HamCation Amateur Radio and Computer Show

The 66th annual Orlando HamCation Amateur Radio and Computer Show will take place on February 10th through the 12th at the Central Florida Fairgrounds, in Orlando, Florida. Presented by the Orlando Amateur Radio Club, HamCation 2012 will feature over 150 commercial vendors offering a wide variety of radio gear, antennas, accessories, test equipment, tools, software and books. There will also be over 400 swap vendors and a large outdoor tailgating area. More information on this fun winter get-away event in the Florida sun is on-line at www dot hamcation.com.

Twitter telegraph?

Just when you think you know about technology convergence, along comes the simple Arduino project.
It involves a Morse code key, somewhat an old switch, with a new use in the form of modern Twitter.
Becoming a Tworse key you can send standard Twitter messages through a LAN cable and decoder.
The Arduino project includes the source code, hardware schematics and building instructions.

Check out @tworsekey on Twitter to read some examples sent from the actual device.

Or visit Google at https://code.google.com/p/tworsekey/

NOAA Satellites Aid in the Rescue of 207 People in 2011

In 2011, NOAA satellites were critical in the rescues of 207 people from life-threatening situations throughout the United States and its surrounding waters. The satellites picked up distress signals from emergency beacons carried by downed pilots, shipwrecked boaters and stranded hikers, and relayed the information about their location to first responders on the ground.

NOAA’s polar-orbiting and geostationary satellites are part of the international Search and Rescue Satellite Aided Tracking System, called COSPAS-SARSAT. This system uses a network of satellites to quickly detect and locate distress signals from emergency beacons onboard aircraft and boats, and from smaller, handheld personal locator beacons called PLBs.

Of the 207 saves last year, 122 people were rescued from the water, 14 from aviation incidents, and 71 in land situations where they used their PLBs. Other rescue highlights from the year include:

• Alaska had the most people rescued on land last year with 39, followed by Florida with 11, and California with 8.
• NOAA SARSAT played a critical role in the rescue of a group of student hikers from a grizzly bear attack in Alaska by directing first responders to the scene.
• In the pitch of night, two people were rescued from a life raft after their boat sank 140 miles off the coast of Marco Island, Fla.
• An elderly hiker was rescued 74 miles south of Colorado Springs, Colo., during a heavy snowstorm.

“With each rescue, this system performs the way it was intended — as a real, life-saving network,” said Chris O’Connors, program manager for NOAA SARSAT.

When a NOAA satellite finds the location of a distress signal, the information is relayed to the SARSAT Mission Control Center based at NOAA’s Satellite Operations Facility in Suitland, Md. From there, the information is quickly sent to a Rescue Coordination Center, operated by either the U.S. Air Force for land rescues or the U.S. Coast Guard for water rescues.

Since 1982, COSPAS-SARSAT has been credited with supporting more than 30,000 rescues worldwide, including more than 6,700 in the United States and its surrounding waters.

By law, owners of emergency beacons are required to register them with NOAA at: http://www.beaconregistration.noaa.gov. That registration information often helps provide better and faster assistance to people in distress. It may also provide information about the location of the emergency, how many people need assistance, what type of help may be needed and other ways to contact the owner. At the end of 2011 NOAA’s registration database contained over 329,000 registrations.

NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the Earth's environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources. Join us on Facebook, Twitter and our other social media channels.

source

WorldRadio founder Armond Noble, N6WR, Silent Key

Armond Noble, N6WR, founder and publisher of WorldRadio magazine for 37 years, died February 1 in Sacramento, California after a short illness.

Noble, publisher of Sacramento-based International Travel News magazine, was hospitalized about two months ago, according to Editor David Tykol.

WorldRadio was published monthly from July 1971 until the end of 2008, when Noble sold the magazine to Hicksville, New York-based CQ Communications, Inc. With its February 2009 edition, it was renamed WorldRadio Online and became the first online-only major amateur radio publication.

Noble had a long and distinguished career in communications. From 1953 to 1955 he served in the U.S. Army with a VHF radio relay unit. He went on to positions at commercial radio and TV stations around the United States, including: KTWO-TV and KATI in Casper, Wyoming; KOOK-TV, Billings, Montana; KTVB, Boise, Idaho; KERO-TV, Bakersfield, California, WOOD-TV, Grand Rapids, Michigan, and KCRA Radio in Sacramento.

During the Vietnam War, Noble was a reporter-photographer for TIME magazine and the Milwaukee Journal. He also served in the TIME-LIFE bureau in Sacramento

source; http://www.southgatearc.org/

RS-39 Now in Orbit.; Reception Reports Needed

The Chibis-M microsatellite, also known as RS-39, was placed on-orbit from a Russian Progress M cargo spacecraft on Tuesday January 24th. The satellite is designed to study atmospheric phenomena such as Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes associated with lightning.

RS-39 also carries CW beacons on 435.215 and 435.315 MHz. Hams hearing these signals are being asked to submit reception reports via e-mail to the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences at amateur-rs39 (at) chibis (dot) cosmos (dot) ru. Each report will be acknowledged with a special QSL card.

We will have more ham radio space related news later on in this week’s Amateur Radio Newsline report.

SumbandilaSat Fails

South Africa’s Defence Web reports that the nations second satellite, SumbandilaSat also known as SO-67 is no longer fully operational.

Rob Olivier is the head of Business Development at SunSpace. He told Defence Web that although contact can still be made with the satellite, it cannot capture images. As such it is no longer fulfilling its main purpose.

Oliver added that chances of repairing the satellite on-orbit are virtually none. As such SunSpace has moved on to other projects.

SumbandilaSat was damaged during a solar storm in the June of 2011.
The power supply to its onboard computer stopped working and the satellite stopped sending back images.

In addition to its primary mission SumbandilaSat also carried an radio payload as well. This consisted of a voice beacon, a store and forward parrot repeater and VHF to UHF FM repeater.

Yaesu to Introduce New Digital Radios in 2012

Yaesu is hinting that they will be coming out with new digital amateur radios in 2012.

A new pamphlet discussing amateur digital radios shows the new Vertex Standard APCO P-25 commercial radios, as well as new amateur radios based on the C4FM FDMA digital audio system commonly known as MotoTrobo.

The pamphlet makes it appear that Yaesu will be offering amateur gear based on the MotoTrobo digital standard sometime this. The new vertex radios look identical to their Motorola counterparts.

Our guess is that any launch of such a project would likely take place at the Dayton Hamvention in mid-May.

InnovAntennas have come to North America

InnovAntennas have come to North America. According to Bill Hein, AA7XT, the full line of high performance British built High Frequency, VHF and UHF amateur radio antennas from InnovAntennas are now available to customers across the United States at R&L Electronics in Hamilton, Ohio.

By way of background, InnovAntennas was launched in 2011 by Justin Johnson, G0KSC. This after his hobby of designing antennas for his personal use led to a flood of make one for me requests from amateur radio operators who recognized that Johnson’s designs outperformed they could buy in any U-K store.

Today, InnovAntennas is building antennas at a former boat factory in Canvey Island, England and selling its products directly via InnovAntennas.com and via a network of dealers in Europe, Australia, and now, the United States. Designs include the Loop Fed Array and Opposing Phase – Driven Element System Yagis both of which have become very popular in the world of Moonbounce or E-M-E operations.

For more information on the introduction of InnovAntennas to the United States ham radio marketplace, you can e-mail AA7XT to bill (at) innovantennas (dot) com. You can also check the R and L website at www.RandL.com.