Big Eruption on the Sun 3/19/11

ICONIC ERUPTION: A huge filament of magnetism and hot plasma blasted off the sun's southwestern limb on March 19th around 1200 UT. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory recorded the action.
The eruption was not Earth-directed, but it did attract plenty of attention on our planet. Many amateur astronomers in Europe witnessed the blast and said it was the biggest one they'd ever seen. This event continues the recent trend of increasing solar activity, and shows anew that Solar Cycle 24 is gaining steam after a long period of relative quiet.
source

Super Moon; What's So Super?

Very cool e-mail I just got.

"On Saturday night, the moon will arrive at perigee at 19:09 UT (3:09 p.m. Eastern Time). Its distance from the Earth at that moment will be 221,565 miles. But just over three years ago, on Dec. 12, 2008, which was also the night of a full moon, the moon reached perigee at 21:39 UT (4:39 p.m. Eastern Time) at a distance of 221,559 miles, about 6 miles closer than Saturday night's perigee distance."
"Chester points out that on Dec. 12, 2008, the moon reached fullness at 16:37 UT, while perigee was at 21:39. That's a difference of just over five hours. So when the moon turned full that night, it was still five hours away from reaching its closest point to Earth; its distance at the moment it turned full was 221,587 miles.
In contrast, today's full moon occurs at 18:10 UT, while perigee occurs at 19:09; the difference being less than an hour. So today, when the moon officially turns full, its distance from Earth will be 221,566 miles.
So even though the moon actually came a little closer to Earth in December 2008, if we compare distances when the moon officially turns full, today's full moon wins out by a scant 21 miles. "
http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/...permoon-super/

This Weekends Contest.

10-10 Int. Mobile Contest Mar 19
BARTG HF RTTY Contest Mar 19-21
Feld Hell Sprint Mar 19
Russian DX Contest Mar 19-20
Oklahoma QSO Party Mar 19-20
AGCW VHF/UHF Contest Mar 19
Virginia QSO Party Mar 19-21
North Dakota QSO Party Mar 19-20
UBA Spring Contest, 6m Mar 20
Run for the Bacon QRP Contest Mar 21
Bucharest Contest Mar 21

Full Calendar; click here

Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant; UPDATE 3/19/11

I am encouraging everyone to avoid the media reports in regards to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.
I truly feel that the media is placing fear into those who do not understand what is going on.
I recommend the following sites.

IAEA; International Atomic Energy Agency
Click here
Japanese Earthquake Update (19 March 2011 12:00 UTC)

Contamination in Food Products around FukushimaJapanese Earthquake Update (19 March 2011 12:00 UTC)

Click here

NEI; Nuclear Energy Institute
click here

Fukushima Nuclear Plant Update 3/18/2011

I am avoiding the media reports covering the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants. I feel that the NEI and the IAEA provide better reports with out the drama and hype.

NEI-Nuclear Energy Institute

IAEA-International Atomic Energy Agency


Top Story | 18 March 2011
Japan Earthquake Update

18 March 10:15 UTC: Japanese authorities have informed the IAEA that new INES ratings have been issued for some of the events relating to the nuclear emergency at the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini nuclear power plants. Read more →

Information on the Japanese Earthquake and Reactors in That Region

ICOM & Kenwood Shutdown Factories Due to Events in Japan

Yesterday I posted an e-mail sent to me informing that Yaesu has shut down its factory in Japan due to last weeks Earthquake, Tsunami and Nuclear event.
Today I-Com and Kenwood have been added to the list.

From the Icom press release at
http://www.icomamerica.com/en/features/earthquake.aspx

On March 11, northern Japan was struck by one of the largest earthquakes ever recorded. Icom Inc. is an international company with its home base in Japan.

Fortunately, no one from Icom is known to be injured. There are no damages reported at Icom's headquarters in Osaka or at either of our two main factories in Wakayama. Both Osaka and Wakayama are located far south of the most severely affected areas. Icom did suffer some minor damage at our Tokyo and Sendai branch offices.

Most of Icom's facilities and systems are ready to get back to normal business. However, supplier logistics, commuting issues and future power disruptions will affect our company. It is too soon to tell how big an impact the earthquake and its aftermath will have on Icom. We appreciate your interest and concern for Icom Inc. and will update you as information becomes available.

We are fortunate that most of the Icom family has so far survived this crisis intact. Other families have not been so fortunate, and many lives have been lost. Crisis relief donations are requested through the American Red Cross at http://www.redcross.org/ . Google has also posted a helpful crisis response page on how to get involved.

The Kenwood statement says
http://www.kenwoodusa.com/NewsArchiv...1-bb97d0fff096

“Thankfully, our staff in Japan is safe due to earthquake preparedness and the special construction of our buildings,” said Junji Kobayashi, President of Kenwood USA Corporation. “Power outages and interruption of mass transit have kept most of Kenwood’s staff at home since the earthquake however we expect the infrastructure to improve in the coming week and our operations to fully resume accordingly. We appreciate the concern for our employees expressed by all those who have contacted us.”

Yaesu Fukushima Factory Shutdown

CQ Newsroom reports that production of Yaesu Amateur Radio equipment at Vertex Standard's factory in Fukushima, Japan, has been temporarily halted due to earthquake damage

In an open letter to the amateur radio community, Vertex Standard CEO and President Jun Hasegawa expressed his gratitude for the many "kind words and thoughts about us during this difficult time." He reports that all Vertex Standard employees and their families are OK, although the company has not been able to reach its many dealers and subcontractors located near the coast. "We just hope that they are alive," he writes.

Read the CQ Newsroom story at
http://cqnewsroom.blogspot.com/2011/...roduction.html

It is understood the factory is just 60km from the quake-stricken nuclear reactors.

Source; this was e-mailed to me by several and I also see it is posted on
Southgate Amateur Radio News and QRZ

Could the Next Major Earthquake Be in California?

I have read his book, "Krakatoa": The Day the World Exploded: Excellent book.


Here is a link to Amazon.com for Simon Winchester's
book, Krakatoa: The Day the World Exploded: click here

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant; How to Fix it

Chernobyl, USSR, April of 1986.
I remember the event being on the news and also remember talking about it with my teachers, I was in my senior year of High School.

I can remember hearing about the fires and the firefighters pumping water into the reactors and fighting the fires for days.

Now with what is going on in Japan at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, firefighters are dumping Sea water into reactor 2 after its fuel rods were fully exposed twice.

Is it time for Japan to consider what they did in Chernobyl?
YES IT IS!!!
What I see happening in Japan is they are going to screw around trying to save this plant and the situation will get away from them. They need to act NOW and seal it.

The reactors were entomb in concrete forever in Chernobly.
5,000 tons of boron compounds, dolomite, sand, clay, and lead were dropped onto the reactor. Boron was used because it strongly absorbs neutrons and thus stops a chain reaction. Lead melts easily, and they hoped it would flow over the top to keep air out and thus stop the burning. The dolomite, sand, and clay were to smother the fire. The helicopter pilots had to fly into the rising plume of radioactive dust, exposing many of them to heavy doses of radiation that later proved fatal. As a result of their heroism, the discharge of radioactive dust dropped sharply by May 6.

Related News Updates

ANOTHER PLANT EXPLOSION...
Firefighters battle blaze at reactor...
Rods fully exposed for 2.5 hours...
Spewing radiation...
Higher radiation recorded north of Tokyo...
RACE TO SAVE THE REACTORS...
Japan Asks USA To Help...
WRAP...
BBC LIVE... REUTERS LIVE... KYODO WIRE...
QUAKE MAPS, DETAILS...
PM Kan asks public to act calmly...

Japan Earthquake Frequencies

As Japan continues to weather the events of the last 5 day I sit here and continue to pray for the entire country as well as friends and family I have there.

Amateur Radio Operators are gathering and exchanging emergency information on the following frequencies.

Please keep DXing and Rag-chewing clear of these frequencies.
3525KHz+/-5KHz
7030KHz+/-5KHz
14.100MHz+/-10KHz
21.200MHz+/-10KHz
28.200MHz+/-10KHz
50.100MHz? 51.000MHz? 51.500MHz
144.100MHz? 145.000MHz? 145.500MHz
430.100MHz? 433.000MHz? 433.500MHz

Thank you for your cooperation.

March 19 Super Moon

With all that is happening in Japan I can not help as to wonder.............
There’s a Super-Moon on the rise next week, Saturday, March 19 and according to Internet buzz, it’ll bring a scary surge in natural disasters around the globe.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/03/12/supermoon-cause-moonquakes-scientist-says/#ixzz1GT1M5sec

Japan 3/11/11 Tsunami Video; Unbelievable

Unbelievable video of the Japan Tsunami, 2011

Japan Earthquake; Amateur Radio Modes

After reading the following article I sat back for a moment to reflect on what I just read.

An active amateur radio operator eventually makes friends via amateur radio from all around the world.
For instance, I have a friend who lives in Japan, he is an amateur radio operator and we have spoken many times via different modes to include Echo-Link, WiRES II, Skype and FaceBook. Within a few hours of the earthquake I received notice from him that he was well, Praise the Lord. Yes, he and his family live in effected areas.

What Amateur Radio Offers;
Now we have more options in hand other than analog. What is analog you ask?
* Amplitude Modulation (AM)
* Double Sideband Suppressed Carrier (DSB-SC)
* Independent Sideband (ISB)
* Single Sideband (SSB)
* Amplitude Modulation Equivalent (AME)
* Frequency Modulation (FM)
* Phase Modulation (PM)
* Continuous Wave (CW)

With the ever advancing technology we now have Voip and Digital Modes.

The most popular is Voice over Internet Protocol (Voice over IP, VoIP) is one of a family of internet technologies, communication protocols, and transmission technologies for delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. Other terms frequently encountered and often used synonymously with VoIP are IP telephony, Internet telephony, voice over broadband (VoBB), broadband telephony, and broadband phone.

The 2 I use most other than Yahoo IM and Skype are WiRES II and Echo-Link

WIRES II (Wide-Coverage Internet Repeater Enhancement System) is a comprehensive and easy-to-use system for linking repeaters and/or home stations together, using Internet voice technology. Now you can talk to old friends, or make new ones, around the world. . .using your hand-held or mobile radio via a WIRES-equipped node to talk to other Hams across the country or across an ocean.

Echo-Link is a computer based Amateur Radio system that allows radio amateurs to communicate with one another using Voice over IP (VoIP) technology on the Internet for at least part of the path between them.

Most amateur digital modes are transmitted by inserting audio into the microphone input of a radio and using an analog scheme, such as amplitude modulation (AM), frequency modulation (FM), or single-sideband modulation (SSB).

* ALE Automatic Link Establishment
* AMateur Teleprinting Over Radio (AMTOR)
* D-Star
* Echolink (VoIP)
* Hellschreiber, also referred to as either Feld-Hell, or Hell
* Discrete multi-tone modulation modes such as Multi Tone 63 (MT63)
* Multiple Frequency-Shift Keying (MFSK) modes such as
o FSK441, JT6M, JT65, and
o Olivia MFSK
* Packet Radio (AX25)

* Automatic Packet Reporting System (APRS)

* PACTOR
* Phase Shift Keying
o 31 baud binary phase shift keying: PSK31
o 31 baud quadrature phase shift keying: QPSK31
o 63 baud binary phase shift keying: PSK63
o 63 baud quadrature phase shift keying: QPSK63

* Spread spectrum
* Simplex Teletype Over Radio (SITOR)
* Radio Teletype (RTTY)
* 8FSK 8ary Frequency Shift Keying

We also have other modes such as
Image Modes
* Amateur Television, also known as Fast Scan television (ATV)
* Slow Scan Television (SSTV)
* Facsimile
These following 'modes' use no one specific modulation scheme but rather are classified by the activity of the communication.
* Earth-Moon-Earth (EME)
* Internet Radio Linking Project (IRLP)
* Low Transmitter Power (QRP)
* Satellite (OSCAR)

So after all that here is the article I was referring too.

When Ham radio, social networks provided the connect
For three hours after hearing about the tsunami in Japan, Delhi resident Dr A.P. Mishra tried to contact his daughter, Surabhi, a student of biology at the Hokkaido University. Unable to get through, he contacted Mr Sandeep Baruah, a Ham radio operator.

To Read more; Click Here

Japan Earthquake (Amateur Radio) JARL Info

It has been 24 hours since the worst earthquake for 140 years hit off north-eastern Sendai registering 9.1 (REVISED) on the Richter scale and triggering a tsunami.

The Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) Secretary Ken Yamamoto JA1CJP reports that the disaster appears to have resulted in more than 1,300 people killed or missing.

JARL Regional HQ station JA7RL is now involved in emergency communication to support rescue and disaster relief coordination.

Ken JA1CJP said they are using 7 MHz SSB, 144 MHz SSB/FM and 430 MHz SSB/FM.

The freqency 7043 controlled by JR3QHQ the Osaka branch manager of JARL.

He is gathering incident information on radio and forwarding this information on the internet.

The channel 7075 is operated by JL3YSP in Wakayama occasionally. While 7030 kHz is the JARL emergency communication frequency in their band plan is in use by JA7RL (JARL regional HQ station).

Japan has 1.3 million hams and is not in need of emergency communication help externally, although this has been kindly offered.

Ken JA1CJP said basically the efforts being made are purely voluntary. No organised emergency communication has been arranged.

Television coverage includes the heartbreaking stories of the quake hitting and the tsunami that swept away coastal towns and felt throughout the Pacific.

Occurring late afternoon on Friday, disrupting plans for travel, it was the worst in Japan for 140 years.

Caught up in the drama was IARU Regional 3 Chairman Michael Owen VK3KI who had earlier attended an IARU conference. He’s safe and well, and hopeful of being on a flight home.

Jim Linton, VK3PC
Chairman IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee.

Japan Earthquake Updates & Info

With images of yesterday’s earthquake and events in Japan I want to continue to share info I get to help those looking for valuable information. However, at this time with every major media outlet and the fact that the people of Japan have done such a great job at provided the rest of the world information, I will only be sharing links from this point forward unless new events warrant addressing.
I want to thank those of you who took the time to contact me with your comments and concerns.

Media Sites
NHK...
KYODO WIRE...
BBC LIVE...
REUTERS LIVE
Fox News

USGS Magnitude 5 and greater earthquakes

Articles of interest.
Quake's Magnitude Hiked to 9.1...
Radiation leaking, pressure in core unstable...
Caesium detected; points to nuke fuel melt...
'MAY BE EXPERIENCING NUCLEAR MELTDOWN'...
Japan nuke officials: 'High probability'...
'No immediate health hazard,' officials say -- while evacuating 45,000...
REPORT: Evacuation widened to 20 km...
Japan declares emergencies at 5 nuclear units...
Evacuations at Fukushima II...
Building Housing Fukushima I Reactor Blows Up...
VIDEO...
Top official: There was no explosion...
Quake moved Japan coast 8 feet; shifted Earth's axis...