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VK7AX > NEWS 06.09.09 09:23l 414 Lines 21579 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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From: VK7AX@VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
To : NEWS@WW
VK7 REGIONAL NEWS BROADCAST
FOR SUNDAY 6TH SEPTEMBER 2009
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A great big happy Father's Day to all the Dads listening out there. The VK7 Broadcast team hopes you have a great day.
Someone got a nice present during last week as the IC781 that Al, VK7AN was advertising has been sold…HIHI.
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VK7 EVENTS CALENDAR
A summary of the events across VK7 over the coming months:
REAST - September 9, 16, 23, 30 – ATV experimenter's nights – Queen's Domain Clubrooms – around 7:30pm.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ATVnights
NTARC – September 9 – Talking on AR Contesting by Norm VK7AC – Alanvale Polytechnic – Block B – 7:30pm
RD CONTEST – September 15 – Due date for RD Contest logs.
http://www.wia.org.au/members/contests/rdcontest/
WICEN Tasmania (South) – September 19 - Meeting and muster at QTH of VK7TPE - Meeting at 11:00 am followed by BYO BBQ. Also BYO XYL. Various activities after lunch.
http://tas.wicen.org.au/
CCARC – September 26 – Meeting at the Penguin lions Club rooms starts 1:30pm.
http://www.my-x15.net/ccarc
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Northern News
Northern Tasmanian Amateur Radio Club
NTARC will be holding the next monthly meeting at Alanvale campus of Tasmanian Skills Institute, this Wednesday evening at 7.30pm. Norm VK7AC will be giving a passionate presentation on contesting and in particular focusing on computer logging programs to aid in maximising your contacts. Just think of how much better your numbers could look in next year's Remembrance Day contest after taking some clues from NTARC's Mister DX himself!
With August's Special General Meeting and the issue of the Clubs Incorporation decided by the attending members, you might be wondering "what happens now?" Well an application has just been sent off to the Tasmanian Consumer Affairs, and we should be receiving our Certificate of Incorporation soon after that. In the time being, Bill has placed the amended rules as agreed upon at the August meeting on the NTARC yahoo group website for all to view.
In October, we hope to arrange a fascinating presentation from the Bureau of Meteorology, with particular emphasis on that feared phenomena of all amateurs who have towers & antennae: Lightning! Thanks to Peter VK7PL for arranging this for us.
Lastly, Bill has no more of the compression trimmer capacitors remaining, hope you got your antenna project finished before they all disappeared.
Thanks from
(Jason VK7ZJA, NTARC Secretary)
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NORTH WEST News
North West Tasmania Amateur Television Group
http://www2.vk7ax.id.au/atvgroup
10 Metre Activity
From one our our recently acquired Foundation Licenced amateurs, Mark VK7FZZZ , comes the following note…
Mark states he is very interested in DX on 10 metres - has purchased a new Deltaforce Magnum antenna and is working to make it perform better. - Is there anyone in Tassie interested in 10 metres?
If there is any one interested in contacting or working Mark on 10 Metres, they can advise the ATV Group and the relevant contact information will be passed on to Mark.
73's until next time.
(Tony VK7AX, News Officer NWT-ATV Group)
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Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club (CCARC)
CCARC News
http://www.my-x15.net/ccarc
On Saturday the 19th August the Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club held its social meeting. A good roll-up of 15 members and one special visitor made for an interesting afternoon.
A brief business session was followed by a special presentation by Bruce Dykstra, VK7KDY, who gave a very informative and entertaining session on radio controlled model air planes.
The interesting part was that these particular planes are powered by batteries driving hi-tech electric motors capable of producing a peak of one horsepower. The motors featured rare earth magnets and motor windings are capable of carrying upwards of 50 amps.
The battery technology was just as impressive with Bruce outlining the construction methods and the particular charging requirements for these batteries and the inherent dangers of misusing them.
If anyone is interested, the Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club website photo page has some photos and also a short video of one of the aeroplanes being powered up to full rpm in the meeting room with one of the members being used as an anchor.
The members thanked Bruce for taking the time and effort to bring the two aeroplanes and put on the display.
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The next meeting of the Cradle Coast Amateur Radio Club has been scheduled for 1:30 pm on the 26th of September at the Penguin lions Club rooms.
(David Cleland, VK7DC, CCARC Secretary)
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Southern News
Radio and Electronics Association of Southern Tasmania
World Moon Bounce Day Presentation
It was also great to catch-up with Paul K2PH/VK7 who was visiting his son who is studying at UTAS.
Paul attended REAST's September presentation last Wednesday night which was a talk and video by Rex VK7MO and Justin VK7TW on the activities during World Moon Bounce Day back on June 27th at the Mt Pleasant 26m Radio Telescope. Thanks also to Paul VK7FPAH who produced a beginner's guide to EME video around the activities on the day.
We had a great roll-up of people and the big screen provided the stage to present the day with two videos and an illustrated explanation using Doug VK3UM's EMEcalculator which showed the different variables that need to be overcome to actually be successful at EME.
Having the use of a 26m dish at 1296MHz was a definite advantage and we thank UTAS and especially Dr Jim Lovell and Eric Baynes VK7BB.
This day saw many amateurs around the world bouncing both side band and digital mode signals off the moon.
We will be re-running these videos on future ATV nights.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#WMBD
(73, Justin, VK7TW and Rex VK7MO)
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REAST ATV Experimenters Night
This Wednesday night we get back underway with a couple of great presentations.
The first is courtesy of Roger VK7ARN and is a demonstration video on how you can use a standard AM radio to track down electrically noisy power supplies and equipment.
There will also be demonstration using the technique for the ATV viewers. The other presentations will be a short AR Contesting demonstration that was taken during the recent RD contest and a few episodes from the Labrats series on Digital TV and DSLR Lenses.
It should be another great night of ATV and experimentation.
So, we get underway around 7:30pm in the Queen's Domain clubrooms ATV studio, see you there.
http://reast.asn.au/events.php#ATVnights
(73, Justin, VK7TW)
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Propagation News
Are Sunspots Disappearing?
The following article is sourced from the Science(AT)NASA website and is very topical for the Radio Amateur and was written by Dr TonyPhillips.
The sun is in the pits of the deepest solar minimum in nearly a century. Weeks and sometimes whole months go by without even a single tiny sunspot. The quiet has dragged out for more than two years, prompting some observers to wonder, are sunspots disappearing?
"Personally, I'm betting that sunspots are coming back," says researcher Matt Penn of the National Solar Observatory (NSO) in Tucson, Arizona. But, he allows, "there is some evidence that they won't."
Penn's colleague Bill Livingston of the NSO has been measuring the magnetic fields of sunspots for the past 17 years, and he has found a remarkable trend. Sunspot magnetism is on the decline:
"Sunspot magnetic fields are dropping by about 50 gauss per year," says Penn. "If we extrapolate this trend into the future, sunspots could completely vanish around the year 2015."
This disappearing act is possible because sunspots are made of magnetism. The "firmament" of a sunspot is not matter but rather a strong magnetic field that appears dark because it blocks the upflow of heat from the sun's interior. If Earth lost its magnetic field, the solid planet would remain intact, but if a sunspot loses its magnetism, it ceases to exist.
"According to our measurements, sunspots seem to form only if the magnetic field is stronger than about 1500 gauss," says Livingston. "If the current trend continues, we'll hit that threshold in the near future, and solar magnetic fields would become too weak to form sunspots."
"This work has caused a sensation in the field of solar physics," comments NASA sunspot expert David Hathaway, who is not directly involved in the research. "It's controversial stuff."
The controversy is not about the data. "We know Livingston and Penn are excellent observers," says Hathaway. "The trend that they have discovered appears to be real." The part colleagues have trouble believing is the extrapolation. Hathaway notes that most of their data were taken after the maximum of Solar Cycle 23 (2000-2002) when sunspot activity naturally began to decline. "The drop in magnetic fields could be a normal aspect of the solar cycle and not a sign that sunspots are permanently vanishing."
Penn himself wonders about these points. "Our technique is relatively new and the data stretches back in time only 17 years. We could be observing a temporary downturn that will reverse itself."
The technique they're using was pioneered by Livingston at the McMath-Pierce solar telescope near Tucson. He looks at a spectral line emitted by iron atoms in the sun's atmosphere. Sunspot magnetic fields cause the line to split in two—an effect called "Zeeman splitting" after Dutch physicist Pieter Zeeman who discovered the phenomenon in the 19th century. The size of the split reveals the intensity of the magnetism. Astronomers have been measuring sunspot magnetic fields in this general way for nearly a century, but Livingston added a twist. While most researchers measure the splitting of spectral lines in the visible part of the sun's spectrum, Livingston decided to try an infra-red spectral line. Infrared lines are much more sensitive to the Zeeman effect and provide more accurate answers. Also, he dedicated himself to measuring a large number of sunspots—more than 900 between 1998 and 2005 alone. The combination of accuracy and numbers revealed the downturn.
If sunspots do go away, it wouldn't be the first time. In the 17th century, the sun plunged into a 70-year period of spotlessness known as the Maunder Minimum that still baffles scientists. The sunspot drought began in 1645 and lasted until 1715; during that time, some of the best astronomers in history (e.g., Cassini) monitored the sun and failed to count more than a few dozen sunspots per year, compared to the usual thousands.
"Whether [the current downturn] is an omen of long-term sunspot decline, analogous to the Maunder Minimum, remains to be seen," Livingston and Penn caution in a recent issue of EOS. "Other indications of solar activity suggest that sunspots must return in earnest within the next year."
Whatever happens, notes Hathaway, "the sun is behaving in an interesting way and I believe we're about to learn something new."
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/03sep_sunspots.htm?list1098418
(Sourced from the Science(AT)NASA website and was written by Dr. Tony Phillips)
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Space News
Shuttle Mission STS-128
Discovery's flight will deliver supplies and equipment to the International Space Station. Inside the shuttle's cargo bay is the Leonardo Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), a pressurized "moving van" that will be temporarily installed to the station. The module will deliver science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. The 13-day mission will include three spacewalks to replace experiments outside the European Space Agency's Columbus laboratory, and install a new ammonia storage tank and return the used one. Ammonia is used to move excess heat from inside the station to the radiators located outside. Discovery also will deliver a new crew member and bring back another after almost two months aboard the space station.
At the time of this broadcast Discovery will be on the 8th of the 9 day stay at the International Space Station.
Commander Rick Sturckow used the main thrusters to dock at the orbiting platform because the smaller manoeuvring ones were out of action.
Its astronauts will also carry out a range of repairs and installations before returning to Earth.
Their schedule includes three spacewalks to replace exterior science experiments, prepare the platform for the arrival of a new module next year, and to install a new ammonia storage tank and return the used one.
Discovery will also drop off US astronaut Nicole Stott for a three-month stay on the ISS and pick up colleague Tim Kopra for the ride home.
The shuttle will spend a total of 13 days in space.
http://www.nasa.gov/pdf/380837main_STS128_MissionSummary.pdf
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8229977.stm
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html
(Sourced from the NASA Shuttle website and the BBC Science Website)
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Satellite News
Reminder – AMSAT-VK Net
The AMSAT-VK National Satellite net takes place again on Tuesday 8 September 2009 from 20:30 - 21:30 local or 9:30-10:30Z and repeats every month on the second Tuesday.
Operators may join the net via Echolink by connecting to either the *Amsat* or *VK3JED* conferences. Past experience has shown that the VK3JED server offers clearer audio.
The net is also available via IRLP reflector numbers 9509 and 9500.
http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/amsatvk/
(73, AMSAT-Australia via the AMSAT-VK mailing list)
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Distance Records
NEW NZ 3cm 10368 MHz SSB record verified
Hello from NZART VHF/UHF/SHF Records.
Recently Stephen ZL1TPH and Ted ZL2IP re-submitted their record claim that was declined earlier this year.
The claim errors have been corrected. The claim now complies with the published NZART claim rules.
Confirmed as a new New Zealand record and a milestone record. It is to date the longest terrestrial distance contact at 551kms made on the 3cm microwave band.
ZL1TPH was operating from Cape Reinga at 175 M ASL and ZL2IP was operating from North Egmont at 960 M ASL.
The actual frequency used was 10368.1 MHz and the signal path used a Troposphere Duct.
Congratulations to Stephen ZL1TPH and Ted ZL2IP.
http://www.nzart.org.nz/vhf/index.html
(Sourced from the NZART Mailing List)
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International SK
Packet Pioneer now Silent Key
Den Connors, KD2S (SK) - The first president of Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR).
Den Connors, KD2S, of Pepperell, Massachusetts, passed away September 3 from lymphoma. He was 58. Connors, an ARRL Life Member, conducted the first amateur packet radio contact with all-American hardware and software, using the Tucson Amateur Packet Radio Terminal Node Controller (TNC) with Lyle Johnson, WA7GXD (now KK7P), at 9:12 PM (PST) on June 25, 1982.
The tests were conducted at 146.55MHz, with both stations sending plain-text ASCII messages. "Den was instrumental in the early PACSAT work, and as TAPR's first president, led that organization from a local club he co-founded into an international organization," Johnson said in an e-mail. "His was a very cheerful, positive, can-do influence."
http://www.tapr.org/
http://www.arrl.org/?artid=9159
(Sourced from the ARRL website)
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Technology News
Nanospears promise to supercharge solar cells
According to researchers at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Rolla) in the USA, the efficiency of solar cells can be increased by studding the tops of the cells with nanospears of zinc oxide (ZnO) to enlarge their light absorption spectrum. Since the hybrid material both absorbs and emits light, it may also find applications in ultraviolet lasers, wide-spectrum solid-state lighting, and in new types of piezoelectric devices, according to the researchers.
Previous attempts to grow zinc oxide atop silicon have achieved only limited success, due to the lattice mismatch between the two materials. The problem was resolved by tilting the axis of the zinc oxide lattice so that it precisely matched that of silicon.
Due to the unconventional angle at which the zinc oxide was grown, the material studs the surface with nanoscale spears that absorb long UV wavelength while allowing the shorter IR wavelengths to pass on to the silicon, thus combining both UV and IR absorption
The zinc oxide nanospears are grown atop a silicon wafer by flooding its surface with an alkaline solution saturated with zinc ions. The nanospears measure from 100 to 200 nanometres in diameter with a length of around 1 micron. An auto-aligning process causes the nanospears to self-assemble on the crystalline silicon surface at the right angle to minimize lattice mismatch.
The next step is making solar cells, where the main challenge is making contact to the zinc oxide nanospears. According to the researchers, a possible approach is to use solution contacts to form photo-electrochemical solar cells.
http://www.elektor.com/news/nanospears-promise-to-supercharge-solar-cells.1061682.lynkx?utm_source=UK&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=news
http://visions.mst.edu/2009/08/growing_tiny_nanospears_big_br.html
(Sourced from the Elektor Website)
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Web & Email Edition Extra Bits!!
Ben VK7BEN went for a drive during the big rains and took some pics and video (thanks to 7BEN for the links:
http://gallery.me.com/chageaus#100214
and the video…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BMx5xX-yBMU
Bodily Spare Parts
http://abcmail.net.au/t/612310/957242/12241/0/
Lightning Strike at Cape Canaveral
http://mediaarchive.ksc.nasa.gov/detail.cfm?mediaid=43019
All you want to know about Nanotechnology
http://trynano.org/index.php
Moon is target for high-energy cosmic rays
http://www.cosmosmagazine.com/news/2968/moon-target-high-energy-cosmic-rays
ArmyMars Net – AAT3BF
http://www.armymars.net./
Government Jobs – Cool???
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/08/what-the-obama-administration-is-learning-from-facebook-google-and-ideo/
Can't Hack the Twitter – get out of the blog room!!
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.9ff28a1eef8d05583032886c1af82a73.621&show_article=1
Our best defence against space debris!!
http://gizmodo.com/5352210/space-fence-to-defend-astronauts-and-satellites-against-orbital-debris
The World Rally Championship is in VK currently
http://www.wrc.com/
This week is the Internet's 40th Birthday
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9137515/At_40_years_old_what_s_next_for_the_Internet_?source=rss_news
Do you have some interesting amateur related sites you have some across in the last week – send them in to justingc(AT)ozemail.com.au
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VK7 Regional News Group Email Addresses
Post message: vk7regionalnews(AT)yahoogroups.com
Subscribe: vk7regionalnews-subscribe(AT)yahoogroups.com
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List owner: vk7regionalnews-owner(AT)yahoogroups.com
VK7 Virtual BPL Tours Update
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdcY0Eetvsw - Mt Nelson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gsxpya3CnQ - North Hobart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G7DfdxjRkpU - RU ready for BPL?
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If you are interested in becoming an amateur radio operator or upgrading your licence then we suggest you contact your local club for details and/or take a look at what the Radio and Electronics School has to offer. They have a range of courses that can be delivered through a variety of methods.
They can be found at: www.radioelectronicschool.com
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Finally today, a reminder to those people rostered for next week's broadcasts:
Newsreader: VK7TW
160m: VK7DM
80m: VK7ZK
40m: VK7RO
20m: VK7IL
10m: VK7ZGK
UHF CB: VK7HGO
HF CB: VK7TED
Thanks to all people and organisations who assisted with this broadcast.
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THAT CONCLUDES OUR VK7 REGIONAL NEWS BROADCAST FOR THIS WEEK.
YOU HAVE BEEN LISTENING TO OR JUST MISSED VK7WI. NEXT WEEK THE NATIONAL WIA NEWS CAN BE HEARD AT 0900 FOLLOWED BY THE VK7 REGIONAL NEWS AT 0930 HOURS.
DETAILS TO SEND NEWS FOR THIS BROADCAST CAN BE FOUND AT REAST.ASN.AU AND THE DEADLINE FOR ITEMS IS 21:00 ON FRIDAY PRIOR TO THE SUNDAY OF THE BROADCAST.
VK7 Regional Broadcast & News Coordinator
Justin Giles-Clark, VK7TW
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- NEWS POSTING TO PACKET -
Courtesy Tony VK7AX VK7AX(AT)VK7AX.#ULV.TAS.AUS.OC
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