Friday, August 9, 2013

Louisiana Adopts Alert FM Statewide

If there’s ever another disaster like Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana will be in a far better position to advise its residents than back in August of 2005. This with the announcement by Louisiana’s Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness that it has adopted the Alert FM system as a way of notifying the state’s emergency managers in 64 parishes and 42 institutions of higher learning of an imminent threat to life or property.
According to the release, Louisiana’s Senator Mary Landrieu was an early supporter of the broadcast-based emergency alert systems. She is quoted as saying that with Alert FM, Louisiana has implemented a reliable method of distributing life-saving information to the citizens. She added that the dependability of broadcast transmissions can make the difference between life and death during an emergency.
As previously reported here on Newsline, Alert FM is an emergency notification system that delivers messages from state, local, and private sector officials to citizens, schools, businesses, and first responders using the Radio Data System or R-D-S sub- carrier of local FM radio stations. Messages are originated by designated officials and are then transported from a secure web-based portal to the data sub-carrier via GSS Net which is a secure satellite data delivery system. These alerts and messages are then received by FM stations and re-transmitted to Alert FM equipped receivers or to cell phones that have both active FM chips and properly installed software.
More about the Alert FM system is on line at alertfm.com. (Radio Weekly)

CHANCE OF STORMS

NOAA forecastesrs estimate a 65% chance of polar geomagnetic storms on August 10th when one and perhaps two CMEs are expected to hit Earth's magnetic field. The incoming clouds were propelled from the sun by a flurry of erupting magnetic filaments on Aug. 6-7. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. 

Source: SpaceWeather.com

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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