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The Radio Amateur Who Miniaturized the 20th Century:

by AB7RG  2023-03-05
W9GTY(SK) is an acronym, and this acronym is about our history. Its meaning, most likely, is unknown to you but we will be able to find out shortly. This breaking latest news begins in Kansas, an area where a very young Jack Kilby, the actor of our article, takes his first steps into the world of work. More precisely in his father’s company. A local company whose mission was: maintenance services for other companies. Engaged in carrying out ordinary maintenance operations in a local industrial complex, he was surprised, together with his father, by a storm. Bad weather created damage to the telephone network making it unusable so they had to use amateur radio to keep in touch with their office. This was the circumstance that brought a very young Jack Kilby closer to what will be his two main passions: radio and electronics. Later he studied for his amateur radio license and the Call Sign (identification code) assigned to him was precisely W9GTY.

Rusk County Emergency Managers, Storm Spotters Prepare for Severe Weather:

by AB7RG  2023-03-04
HENDERSON, Texas (KLTV) -- Inside the Rusk County Office of Emergency Management, it was truly the calm before the storm on Wednesday. They spent the day looking at the latest forecast, preparing radio equipment, and briefing authorities ahead of Thursday's severe weather threat. When the storms roll in, the OEM's Michael Searcy will be on the road tracking storms. Searcy will have his eyes to the sky and will report what he sees back to the National Weather Service in Shreveport, which issues storm warnings. "What the radar sees at 10,000 feet versus what we see on the ground is two totally different things," said emergency manager Patrick Dooley. "Basically, what it (storm spotting) does is just quantify the data that the radar is sending them and we're saying, 'yes, what you're seeing on the radar is exactly what we're seeing here on the ground.'" Searcy will not be alone when it comes to watching the skies in Rusk County. The Rusk County Office of Emergency Management also depends on a team of about 25 amateur radio operators who are also trained storm spotters, plus dozens of SkyWarn certified first responders.

Solar Storm Coming as Average Sunspot in February Breaks 10 Year Record:

by AB7RG  2023-03-04
Another solar storm coming as average sunspot in February breaks 10 year record, says NOAA." As a result of Earth-directed CME, a solar storm is expected to hit our planet between March 4 and 5. This comes after NOAA revealed that the average number of sunspots observed in February has broken a 10 year record."

RSGB: 2022 -- A Year in Numbers:

by AB7RG  2023-03-03
As we all adjusted to more normal levels of activity after the restrictions of Covid, we were delighted that during 2022, radio amateurs and clubs started meeting more frequently and enjoying amateur radio together.

BARC Seeking Hams for the The New River Trail 25K and 50K Marathon:

by AB7RG  2023-03-05
The Region 4 AUXCOMM ham radio team in conjunction with the Briarpatch Amateur Radio Club (BARC) is seeking ham radio operators and non-operators to support two concurrent events to be held on April 15.

Radio Interference from Satellites is Threatening Astronomy: Zone Proposed:

by AB7RG  2023-03-04
Visible light is just one part of the electromagnetic spectrum that astronomers use to study the universe. The James Webb Space Telescope was built to see infrared light, other space telescopes capture X-ray images, and observatories like the Green Bank Telescope, the Very Large Array, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array and dozens of other observatories around the world work at radio wavelengths. On Oct. 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched Sputnik into orbit. As the small satellite circled the globe, amateur radio enthusiasts all over the world were able to pick up the radio signals it was beaming back to Earth. Since that historic flight, wireless signals have become part of almost every aspect of modern life -- from aircraft navigation to Wi-Fi -- and the number of satellites has grown exponentially. The more radio transmissions there are, the more challenging it becomes to deal with interference in radio quiet zones. Existing laws do not protect these zones from satellite transmitters, which can have devastating effects. In one example, transmissions from an Iridium satellite completely obscured the observations of a faint star made in a protected band allocated to radio astronomy.

Propagation Forecast Bulletin #9 de K7RA:

by AB7RG  2023-03-03
This was a busy week for geomagnetic storms. A solar wind stream from an equatorial hole and a CME blew geomagnetic numbers seemingly off the scale, with the planetary A index on Monday hitting 94. Aurora was visible as far south as 40 degrees latitude. Imagine a line running from Reno, Nevada through Provo, Utah then Denver, then the Kansas-Nebraska state line, Quincy, Illinois, Dayton, Ohio and Philadelphia.

DX News -- ARRL DX Bulletin #9:

by AB7RG  2023-03-02
This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by G0TLE, WB2REM, The Daily DX, 425 DX News, DXNL, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all.