EPC PSK DX Contest this weekend

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Created on Friday, 18 May 2012 14:07

Don't forget that this weekend is the EPC PSK DX Contest for those that are interested.

It should make an interesting event and lets hope the band conditions improve a little so we can see some 'DX' and not just the run of the mill stuff.

Listen out for 'MQ0OXO', he may make an appearance!

GB2HI Hilbre Island IOTA EU-120 Qrv this week

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Created on Monday, 14 May 2012 14:12

GB2HI will be QRV again later this week from Hilbre Island IOTA EU-120.

The team consisting of Kev M0TNX and Martin M3POG aim to be active from Thursday 17th May until Sunday 20th May, times dependant upon Tides at the location.

They will be using Vertical and Wire Dipole antennas, an Icom IC-7400 and a KL500ZC Amplifier. The Rig Interface they will be using has kindly been donated by M0AQC.

Please listen for the guys and give them your support, lets hope the good old British Weather stays OK for them too!

Transit of Venus 2012

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Created on Monday, 14 May 2012 08:51

On 15th June, 2012, a unique celestial event will take place, never to be repeated in our lifetimes.

The planet Venus will align itself perfectly between the Earth and the Sun. This rare alignment will allow Venus to be visible as it passes directly across the face of the Sun in an event that astronomers call a transit.

The 2012 Transit of Venus will last nearly 7 hours, and it will provide an extraordinary viewing event for observers around the world. Venus is 47 degrees from the Sun at its greatest elongation and is much easier to see than Mercury. Its closer to Earth and reflects more Sunlight as it is covered in Cloud and has a radius of 6050Kms.

Its often referred to as the Morning Star or Evening Star. Look to the Western Skies right after Sunset for the best views.

HM Queen Special 'Q' Callsigns popular

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Created on Monday, 14 May 2012 08:25

Well its just over a week since the NOV's began allowing UK Amateurs to use the 'Q' in their Callsigns to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of HM Queen Elizabeth. Both John GQ4RCG (G4RCG) and myself MQ0OXO (M0OXO) have been qrv when time allowed and despite very poor band conditions we seem to be very popular which is always good news!

Conditions are definately a lot poorer than they were early last week so all we can do is call and hope for a response. 20M on Friday was different with short skip allowing inter-G to be worked. personally I spoke to Stations in Ireland, Norfolk, Scotland, Exeter and Devon & Cornwall. All the stations (including those using low power) we very strong. the biggest signal was from Finland and he was 60db over with me.

So far GQ4RCG and MQ0OXO have logged just under 2300 callsigns. Please call us whenever you wish, multiple bands and all modes are available should you need 'MQ0' or 'GQ4' on other band slots. For Qsl information click here.

JY9ET Qsl Cards - slight delay

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Created on Monday, 14 May 2012 08:11

JY9ET cards are designed and gone to the Printer.

Sadly the Printer is away on holiday until the 22nd of this month so there will be a slightly longer delay before they are printed and dispatched.

I apologise for any inconvenience, cards will be dispatched with 24 hours of receipt. If you have any questions the please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and send me an email. Again, my apologies,

Charles

NASA Telescope Sees Light from Alien Super-Earth

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Created on Sunday, 13 May 2012 15:19

NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope has detected light emanating from a "super-Earth" beyond our solar system for the first time. While the planet is not habitable, the detection is a historic step toward the eventual search for signs of life on other planets.

The planet, called 55 Cancri e, falls into a class of planets termed super Earths, which are more massive than our home world but lighter than giant planets like Neptune. The planet is about twice as big and eight times as massive as Earth. It orbits a bright star, called 55 Cancri, in a mere 18 hours.

The 55 Cancri system is relatively close to Earth, at 41 light-years away. It has five planets, with 55 Cancri e the closest to the star and tidally locked, so one side always faces the star. Spitzer discovered the sun-facing side is extremely hot, indicating the planet probably does not have a substantial atmosphere to carry the sun's heat to the unlit side.

Hubble using Moon as mirror to see Venus

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Created on Wednesday, 09 May 2012 14:07

Mottled landscape showing the impact crater Tycho is among the most violent-looking places on our moon. Astronomers didn't aim NASA's Hubble Space Telescope to study Tycho, however. The image was taken in preparation to observe the transit of Venus across the sun's face on June 5-6.

Hubble cannot look at the sun directly, so astronomers are planning to point the telescope at the Earth's moon, using it as a mirror to capture reflected sunlight and isolate the small fraction of the light that passes through Venus's atmosphere. Imprinted on that small amount of light are the fingerprints of the planet’s atmospheric makeup.

This image, taken with Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys, reveals lunar features as small as roughly 560 feet (170 m) across. The large "bulls-eye" near the top of the picture is the impact crater, caused by an asteroid strike about 100 million years ago. The bright trails radiating from the crater were formed by material ejected from the impact area during the asteroid collision. Tycho is about 50 miles (80 km) wide and is circled by a rim of material rising almost 3 miles (5 km) above the crater floor. The image measures 430 miles (700 km) across, which is slightly larger than New Mexico.

MQ0OXO now on LOTW

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Created on Tuesday, 08 May 2012 08:10

MQ0OXO log, (currently with 700 qso's), now uploaded to ARRL LOTW. Please advise if you have any problems with your Qso's not being verified.

Email me with enquiries This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

'Q' callsigns make their debut...

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Created on Sunday, 06 May 2012 07:11

The long awaited 'Q' Callsigns made their debut on the bands today.

'MQ0OXO' fired up at 0535 local on 17M RTTY. The first station in the Log was Gen JA3WLN from Osaka, Japan. This was followed by a small pile of JA and BY stations, with 28 JA logged after an hour or so. DX was sporadic with the propagation but between 17 and 15m (SSB & RTTY) 300 q's logged before I closed down when the ARI contest started.

UK Stations have been granted the facility to mark 60 years of The Queen's reign (the Diamond Jubilee) by adding the letter 'Q' to their Callsigns for a 5 week period. MQ0OXO will be active all modes between 05th May and 10th June 2012.  More info;

http://www.m0oxo.com/special-callsigns/mq0oxo.html

7O6T - Update & Political Issues?

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Created on Friday, 04 May 2012 07:00

Well this operation is turning out to have some potential issues surrounding Ham Radio, their respective licences and legitimacy.

Apparently, the 7O6T team has received strict orders not to work 4X/4Z stations from Israel. This was part of the licence conditions. This is turning out to be an interesting thread/topic. have a look here at Qrz.Com, it makes some interesting albeit disturbing issues as far as Ham radio is concerned.

http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?344624-Is-7O6T-operation-legitimate

7O6T Qrv

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Created on Wednesday, 02 May 2012 08:51

7O6T are now qrv from Socotra Island (IOTA AF-028; CQ Zone 37), Yemen.

Well it was a rare one for me, in fact an all time new one. I camped out on 15m and called at various places on the band......for 3 hours....and not a knock, the pile-ups were immense. Finally I gave in, totally fed up. I qsy'd to 12M CW and worked them after about 5 minutes, amazing!

Socotra - is a small archipelago of four islands. It lies 240 kilometers east of Horn of Africa and 380 kilometers south of the Arabian Peninsula. The island recognized by the UNESCO as a World Natural Heritage site and Environmental Heritage

Socotra is considered the jewel of biodiversity in the Arabian Sea. Isolation of Socotra archipelago and its fierce heat and drought have combined to create a unique and spectacular endemic flora. 37 percent of plant species on Socotra are found nowhere else on Earth. The entire flora of the Socotra Archipelago has been assessed for the IUCN Red List

Socotra is one of the most isolated landforms on Earth of continental origin.

Socotra is a part of Hadhramaut Governorate, Republic of Yemen.

YJ0VK - Vanuata logged on RTTY

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Created on Sunday, 29 April 2012 07:50

YJ0VK had a great signal yesterday and of course the pile-up matched it.

I set out to try and work them on 15m RTTY and successfully logged them after about 10 minutes calling.

It was only the second 'qso' with this team so happy to log them for a new slot.

JY9ET now Qrv

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Created on Friday, 27 April 2012 09:23

Paolo JY9ET is now QRV from Amman, Jordan.

He is using a Hi-Gain vertical Antenna for the moment and running barefoot. Paolo is very active in his spare time so please listen out for him.

Qsl cards are in the process of being designed, make your request for Direct or Bureau via M0OXO

'Dreamlifter' in at Manchester

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Created on Wednesday, 25 April 2012 07:40

The Boeing 747 Dreamlifter (formerly Large Cargo Freighter or LCF) is a wide-body cargo aircraft arrived and yesterday it arrived at Manchester Airport.

Cargo is placed in the aircraft by the world's longest cargo loader. Constructed by drastic modifications to an existing Boeing 747-400, it is used exclusively for transporting 787 aircraft parts to Boeing's assembly plants from suppliers around the world. Boeing Commercial Airplanes announced on October 13, 2003 that, due to the length of time required by land and marine shipping, air transport will be the primary method of transporting parts for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner (then known as the 7E7). Initially, three used passenger 747-400 aircraft were to be converted into an outsize configuration in order to ferry sub-assemblies from Japan and Italy to North Charleston, South Carolina and then to Washington for final assembly, but a fourth was subsequently added to the program.

The Large Cargo Freighter has a bulging fuselage similar in concept to the Super Guppy and Airbus A300-600ST Beluga outsize cargo aircraft, which are also used for transporting wings and fuselage sections. It can hold three times the volume of a 747-400F freighter. The 747 LCF main cargo compartment has a volume of 65,000 cubic feet (1,840 cubic meters). Of the four 747 Dreamlifters Boeing planned to acquire, three were complete and operational by June 2008, and the fourth became operational in February 2010.

Crescent Moon Alert!

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Created on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 11:03

When the sun goes down tonight, step outside and look west into the twilight and you may see something similar to this image.

The slender crescent will be beaming through the twilight for the next few evenings.

This evening however, Tuesday 24th April, it will glide by Venus for a spectacular sunset conjunction.

You will also be able to see Jupiter (shown beneath the bridge in this image).

Don't miss it!

WFF - GFF up for grabs....

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Created on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 10:08

Hi All, It may have filtered through by now but if not, just a quick note to say that I have withdrawn from GFF representative of WFF.
 
For a few reasons I made the decision and last week dropped WFF HQ an email to inform them. I hope the new Committee that has been formed makes some serious changes to many things within WFF not least the hierarchy at the top who continue to make decisions without consulting the WFF group as a whole. This can only get better.
 
Max IK1GPG and Betty IK1QFM have been friends of mine for many years and I wish them success with their new project which I am sure will benefit all of the WFF community as a whole.
 
I have left some of the information on my website and it will stay there in the short term at least. Can I ask that if you have any logs that require sending for the Database then please send them Direct via the links on their website to WFF HQ pending any advice to the contrary from them.
 
Thanks to all of you who have supported me over the last few years as your help, activations and advice were most appreciated.
 
73 for now

DV1UD - LOTW

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Created on Tuesday, 24 April 2012 08:13

Dindo DV1UD logs are now uploaded to ARRL LOTW. Dindo is very active on the bands from Luzon island, Philippines IOTA OC-042. here are a few lines from him;

''I like CW, followed by digital modes and SSB. For contest I use N1MM logger, and DXLab suite for general logging. Ham Radio is one of my most satisfying hobby. I get to know people around the world, sometimes whose names I can't even pronounce. I get to talk to strangers from countries I didn't even heard of before. Thank you very much. 73 and mabuhay (long live) from the Philippines.''

If you hear Dindo on the bands then be sure to give him a call. Qsl Cards can be requested by other ways, see here for the details. Any queries regarding his LOTW qso's pls drop me a line (contact M0OXO)

Spectacular Explosion...

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Created on Wednesday, 18 April 2012 13:18

Magnetic fields on the sun's northeastern limb erupted around 17:45 UT on 16th April,
producing one of the most visually-spectacular explosions in years.

QRZCQ - New Callsign Database launched....

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Created on Tuesday, 17 April 2012 07:27

April is the cruelest Month - NASA

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Created on Monday, 16 April 2012 08:13

You might agree if you live in the southeastern United States.

Last April, a historic outburst of 202 tornadoes turned broad swaths of that part of the country into a disaster zone. "The event of April 27th and 28th 2011 was the costliest convective storm in U.S. history," said Kevin Knupp, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Alabama-Huntsville. And he doesn't just mean costly in terms of property damage -- 316 people lost their lives.

Of the 202 twisters that day, 62 tore through Alabama (Photo above/left) where Knupp works. Ten of them were ranked EF 4 and 5 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.  Three tornadoes churned paths more than 120 miles long, and a large number of the twisters cut swaths more than a half mile wide (Image below). Knupp saw the results first-hand, and he’s been studying them ever since. Aided by a team of graduate students and colleagues, he’s sifted through gigabytes of data1 collected by NASA and NOAA satellites and local ground sensors.   A year later, they have drawn some interesting conclusions.

One discovery was how rapidly an EF-5 spun up near the small town of Hackleburg, Alabama.
"The Hackleburg storm got its act together really quickly," says Knupp.  This particular twister formed only 50 minutes after the underlying thunderstorm appeared. For comparison, the average time for tornado formation is 2 hours. The twister blasted through north Alabama with winds over 200 mph, killing 72 people.

Knupp’s team believes that something called a "thermal boundary" set the stage for the birth of the killer. Cool, moist air on one side of the boundary formed a low cloud base –“kind of like a wall,” he explains.  Warm air from the storm ran into the wall and swept upward. Updrafts are a key ingredient of tornadoes.  In this case, updrafts as swift as 75 feet per second were recorded.

They also noticed that many of the tornadoes seemed to cluster in space and time.  Knupp offers the example of Arab and Guntersville, neighboring communities not far from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center: "16 tornadoes touched down in the area -- 13 of them in a half hour period."

DV1UD Qsl Cards at Printshop..

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Created on Tuesday, 10 April 2012 06:37

Qsl Cards for Dindo DV1UD are now at the UX5UO Print Shop.

I expect the cards to be a few weeks before they arrive but as soon as they are, Direct/OQRS will be processed within a few hours and bureau cards will follow.

Thanks for you patience guys es GL to Dindo!