News
Radio Club Sharpens Their Skills During 'Fox Hunt':
by AB7RG 2024-11-21BERKELEY -- Somewhere in the vicinity, there is a fox, and it was up to the Holiday City Amateur Radio Club to find it. Of course, it wasn't a real fox. The members called this exercise a "fox hunt" because it entails a group of people tracking down their prey. One member of the club goes off on their own and starts broadcasting a signal. The club members gathered at the Holiday City South Clubhouse to begin their search. They held their antenna aloft, pointing in different directions until they found a signal. The antenna were fashioned with PVC pipes and tape measures hooked up to receivers. Amazingly, these makeshift devices were able to tune in on the right frequency. Whereas antennas that used to sit atop televisions needed to be aimed at the broadcast towers, these antennas need to be pointed toward the fox. Once they got a signal, they went to another location, just outside the Robert J. Miller Airpark. There, they took more readings. The process continued until they found the transmitter.
World's First Wooden Satellite, Lignosat, Launched on Spacex Mission:
by AB7RG 2024-11-21LignoSat, the world's first wooden satellite, has been launched into space on the 31st SpaceX International Space Station resupply mission on November 4, 2024. The satellite was created by researchers and students at Kyoto University in collaboration with Sumitomo Forestry under the LignoStella (space timber) project. The goal was to investigate the use of more ecological woods to help reduce the generation of unhealthy metal particles in the atmosphere during reentry of end-of-life satellites. For amateur radio operators, the LignoSat has two dipole antennas that can receive and broadcast RF signals. Operators can send a FM message to the satellite with their call signs, then receive decoded CW messages containing the call signs and SSIDs. Additionally, messages such as QTH encoded ones will be decoded, then downloaded over a FM downlink to be displayed on the project website.
2024 SKYWARN Recognition Day -- Saturday, December 7th:
by AB7RG 2024-11-20The National Weather Service (NWS) will be hosting our annual SKYWARN Recognition Day on Saturday, December 7th. The La Crosse NWS office will be active from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm that day via amateur radio. We will be hosting the event at our forecast office just outside of La Crosse, WI for amateur radio operators that wish to assist in making contacts. Amateur radio operators comprise a large percentage of the SKYWARN volunteers across the country. The Amateur radio operators also provide vital communication between the NWS and emergency management if normal communications become inoperative.
Teen Turns Hobby into Way to Save Lives in Monroe County:
by AB7RG 2024-11-19MONROE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) -- In this week’s Here's to You Kid, we revisit a teenager who turned a hobby into a way of helping save lives. The high school student is a Ham Radio Operator. 28/22 News re-introduces us to the teen and his role at the Monroe County Public Safety Center. Samuel Thrall is not seated at a Pleasant Valley School desk where you would usually find him. Instead, he is lending a hand at the Monroe County Public Safety Center. The 14-year-old McMichaels teen can help behind the mic in the event of an emergency. "So say a blizzard happened, we would be deployed to various Red Cross centers through the county to establish communications, and therefore, relay any needs that the stations might need," stated Thrall.
Scouts Connect with International Space Station:
by AB7RG 2024-11-21Last Saturday was a big day for area scouts! The 2nd Cottam scouts along with their friends and fellow scouts of 1st Leamington and 3rd Essex came together to speak with American astronaut Sunita Williams who currently works aboard the International Space Station (ISS). This exciting experience happened as a result of a chance meeting between the scouts and a local Veteran last year. It was November 2023 and the 2nd Cottam Scouts were busy with one of their Veteran gravestone cleaning events in Kingsville. Scouter Dan Ireland of Cottam put out a request to the Royal Canadian Legion for Veterans to come out and meet the youth.
Cracking the Code: A Halifax Radio Club Helps Maritimers Send a Signal:
by AB7RG 2024-11-21A Halifax radio club is keeping the skill of Morse code relevant by teaching Maritimers how to send their names. "We ensure the ways of the past of Morse code are still brought on to today's generations," said Gord Young of the Halifax Amateur Radio Club. "We give them a certificate of code proficiency indicating that we have taught them how to send their name and they have sent it properly."
Inovato Closing Operations:
by KE7FD 2024-11-20Mike of Inovato is compelled to close operations due to dire health issue. See his website for more info:
Astronaut Sunita Williams Speaks to Essex Co. Students from Space Station:
by AB7RG 2024-11-19American astronaut Sunita Williams told students at an Essex County school on Monday that astronauts quarantine before going into space to avoid getting sick on the International Space Station (ISS) -- and that she's not sure what would happen if someone threw a boomerang in space. Williams was answering questions live from the space station for students at Erie Migration District School in Kingsville, Ont. Over the course of the approximately 10-minute exchange, students asked Williams about her background and interest in space travel, the possibility of inhabiting other planets, the realities of life aboard the space station and what her scariest experiences have been in space. But Williams assured the students that astronauts are trained for such unexpected events. The exchange was facilitated by the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program, which allows students from around the world to talk to astronauts aboard the ISS.
