The Beginning Of Radio And The Wireless Era

Not everyone can travel to Bellingham, Washington to visit The Spark Museum of Electrical Invention but a visit to their web site may be almost as much fun.

The web site is full of awesome photos and the site design lends itself to easy navigation. Of course if you are fortunate enough to make an in-person visit, you may see the Telsa coil in operation which can emit 10 foot sparks. Reminds me of the props Hollywood used in the old monster movies!

Why not take a quick spin over to The Spark Museum of Electrical Invention’s Photo Collection ....

A Bright Spark

IARU Region 3 Conference

The IARU Region 3 (Asia/Pacific) Directors have submitted a band plan paper concerning amateur satellite allocations for consideration at the IARU Region 3 Conference which takes place October 12-16 in Bali, Indonesia 

This is the 16th Conference and it will be hosted by the Amateur Radio Organisation of Indonesia (ORARI). 60 Premier and 12 Suite hotel rooms have been booked at the Sanur Paradise Plaza Hotel which is described as being situated in Sanur, the secretly sophisticated side of Bali.

ORARI plans to run a special event station YB16IARU from October 11-16 from the conference and the delegates will be taken on a tour of Bali.

The President of ORARI, Sutiyoso YB0ST, says: “It’s an exciting time for us as we continue to grow and thrive, remaining always adaptable, motivated and responsive. The world of amateur radio is an exciting area in which to work and play, and we’ll continue to meet and bring inspired people together in forums like this, to ensure IARU Region 3 remains at the cutting edge.”

YB16IARU

K6QQQ - On The Air Again After Decades

Is North Korea really going on the air? The most wanted ham radio entity.

Persistent optimism continues to prop up the hopes of several individual radio amateurs and groups to mount a DXpedition to the most-wanted and elusive DXCC entity on the globe — the Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea (P5). To date, no recent efforts have succeeded. The latest to announce that plans for a P5 operation are on the verge of success are Antonio Gonzalez, EA5RM, and Manuel German, EA7AJR, both DXpedition veterans. On their fourth trip to North Korea since 2013, Gonzalez and German met on August 17 with what they described as “high-level officials” in North Korea’s telecommunications ministry. In an August 17 news release, Gonzalez and German said that the officials in Pyongyang — North Korea’s capital — “were very kind, receptive, and cooperative. They knew everything about ham radio, so it was really easy to talk with them about our ham radio operation project.” The pair began efforts to secure permission for a North Korea operation more than 2 years ago.

“If everything goes as it is going up [until] today, I can tell that we are very close to get[ting] permission,” the news release concluded.

Gonzalez and German are not alone in attempting to be the next to activate North Korea since Ed Giorgadze of the Republic of Georgia operated as P5/4L4FN in 2001 and 2002, making more than 16,000 contacts before being asked abruptly to cease transmitting and pack up his gear. The ARRL subsequently accredited his SSB and RTTY operation for DXCC. Giorgadze, who was working for the UN World Food Program in Pyongyang at the time, had tried for more than 2 years before obtaining oral permission from North Korean authorities to operate......

North Korea DX

STARS Report Decline In Requests

Support to the Amateur Radio Service (STARS) have reported to IARU Region 3 (Asia/Pacific) that only Nepal has requested assistance in the past 3 years 

The objective of STARS is to defend, protect, extend, develop and promote the amateur radio service. The work of STARS is specifically directed to those areas of the Region where amateur radio activity is low or non existent. 

The STARS paper submitted for the 2015 IARU Region 3 Conference, October 12-16, says that only the Nepal Amateur Radio League (NARL) responded to a 2013 STARS Questionnaire sent to Afghanistan, Cambodia, Iran, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar and Nepal. They had a requirement for handheld radios, but it was not realized due to the high import custom duty of 43%

However, later in 2014, another request for assistance was received from the Nepal Amateur Radio Operator Society (NAROS) who said they could negotiate for a reduced import custom duty for handheld radios. They had a requirement for several tens of 144/430 MHz dual-band handheld radios........

Read More Here....

IRTS Counties Contest

The 2 metres Counties Contest takes place on Sunday next, 30th August from 2pm to 4pm local time. There are separate sections in this contest for portable and fixed stations, low power and high power, as well as an
FM Only section for single ops and an SWL section.

To ensure everyone gets a fair chance of calling CQ, there is a special 'QSY Rule' to the effect that after any QSO that is initiated by you making a CQ call, you must QSY to another channel (FM), or by at least 3 kHz (SSB), before calling "CQ" again, while the station answering the CQ call has the frequency for one more contact.

Over the weekend of 5th and 6th September, we have the SSB Field Day, which runs from 13:00 UTC Saturday to 13:00 UTC Sunday.

This year, for the first time, there are a 6 hour section in this contest in addition to the 24 hour Open and Restricted sections.
Note that pre-registration is required for the 24 hour sections,
but not for the new 6 hour section.......

EI Hams On The Air

Solar Activity Is Declining

Please click link to read the full article.

Source:  http://www.sciencetimes.com/articles/7146/20150823/scientists-find-that-the-solar-activity-is-declining.htm.  Accessed on 24 August 2015, 20:40 hrs, UTC.

Despite a rather active sun this year, including the current sunspot AR2304, some scientists now believe that solar activity will decline in the decades ahead, producing lower worldwide temperatures over the next 30 years.  Whether this predicted change will herald another “Maunder Minimum” which left much of Europe shivering in 1645, is unknown.  Scientists at Moscow State University are designing climate models to interpret the expected drop in sunspot numbers and its effect on world climate.  If the models are accurate, the 10 meter amateur radio band may become a local or regional band again......

Drop In Sunspot Numbers

Two Australian Pico Balloons Head East

Pico balloon PS-48 launched from VK3 on Saturday August 8 has been heard over South America, albeit with a suspected fault, and another,
PS-49 put up last Saturday is tracking behind it.

Both carry Amateur Radio payloads transmitting HF data that includes
altitude, position and temperature, with solar powered 25 mW transmitters.

Launched by Andy VK3YT, one recently floated 110,800km going around the southern hemisphere twice. Its third circumnavigation bid ended in inclement weather over the Indian Ocean.

Meantime, PS-48 left Melbourne headed to Queensland leaving the mainland at the Gold Coast, then it turned southerly over New Zealand’s north island to drift over the Pacific.

After days of silence William Schauff PY2GN reported it from his Brazilian
farm famous for Atemoya, or custard apple fruit.

Andy VK3YT thinks that balloon's payload may have a damaged antenna, although there is a small chance of it making the flight to Australia, where the balloon may be heard again........

PS-48/49 'In The Air'

50th Anniversary of Otley Amateur Radio Society

Weekend beginning 29th August, Otley Amateur Radio Society celebrate their 50th anniversary.

The home of the Society – “The Shack” at Clifton Village Hall on Newall Carr Road, Otley will be open to the public from 10.00 – 17.00 on both days.

The venue will be hosting a special event station, using the callsign GB5ORS, which will be operating over the whole weekend making contacts worldwide (band conditions permitting). There will be displays depicting the history of the society together with a wealth of information about what the society does and amateur radio in general. There will also be, at times, the opportunity for visitors to go “on air” and use a radio for themselves.

Here's the link for more information..........

Otley ARS Anniversary