Geomagnetic storm incoming !

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Created on Friday, 18 January 2013 14:10

Two Coronal Mass Ejections (CME’s) are expected to impact the earth in the next 24 hours and a G1-Class Geomagnetic storm will be possible shortly after.

Solar activity is expected to go quiet again after these active regions rotate off the earth-facing disk over the next 36 hours.

Click the image to see the YouTube video.

IIØXMAS cards in the mail

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Created on Thursday, 17 January 2013 14:58

The Qsl Cards for II0XMAS arrived from IZ0VHY this afternoon.

Cards have been processed;

105 Cards to the Bureau,

7 SWL cards processed...

and a further 22 Direct cards will go with my next mailing on Monday 21st January 2013.

Any questions or enquiries contact me here.

Former Air Ambulance Pilot killed in Helicopter crash

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Created on Thursday, 17 January 2013 11:30

Two people were killed and 12 were hurt when a helicopter crashed into a crane on a building in central London yesterday.

The helicopter hit the crane on top of The Tower, One St George Wharf beside the Thames at about 08:00 GMT. Cars and two buildings caught fire after the burning wreckage fell into Wandsworth Road in South Lambeth. Eighty firefighters tackled the blaze.

The pilot, Capt Pete Barnes from charter firm Rotormotion, was killed, along with a person on the ground. The Pilot was one of the best respected Helicopter Pilots in the UK and was the former Pilot of the local Yorkshire Air Ambulance (which M0OXO.com donate to as regular as possible). Mr Barnes, 50 and who lived near Reading, Berkshire, had asked to be diverted to a nearby heliport because of bad weather.

Pete Barnes had worked as a pilot on action films including Die Another Day and other 'James Bond' movies.

• Crash pilot was 'highly skilled'

Metropolitan Police Commander Neil Basu told BBC News it was "miraculous" the crash was not much worse. Five people were taken to hospital with minor injuries. Seven people were treated at the scene.

It is thought some of the injured were hit by falling debris.

The Civil Aviation Authority said a warning about the crane involved in the crash had been issued to pilots in October and again on 7 January. But it confirmed that red aviation warning lights on tall structures only need to be turned on at night - and not during bad weather in daylight hours - because they are not visible in fog or low cloud.

47th (last) Japan Prefecture worked !!

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Created on Thursday, 17 January 2013 09:06

It's taken a while but finally got there!

Good conditions again this morning allowed a brief spell QRV on SSB. After a good session on 12m yesterday, today I took the plunge on 17M.

The first call in the log was Yuu JA1OCC, a regular on 17m with a good signal. Shortly after him I was called by Barry ZL1BWL. Qsb was evident and not too easy but 57 in the clear and no problem with the qso at all.

Then, at around 0820 I was called again from Japan by Takahide JA6CDC. We had a brief qso and I was delighted when he gave his QTH as Takeo City in Saga Prefecture, Japan. This was #47 of the 47 Prefectures I needed to claim the Worked All Japan Award! I had been chasing this Prefecture for well over 18 months so what a great morning to finally log it and wrap up that particular goal.

Thanks Takahide san!

Sunspot 1654 still dominates the visible Solar Disk

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Created on Wednesday, 16 January 2013 15:07

Active Region 1654 has travelled half across the Earth facing side of the Sun and now is squarely facing Earth. On the 13th of January, this huge sunspot reached its maximum size measured as more than 193 000 km (120, 000 miles) wide long or 15 Earth diameters) from end to end.  

This large sunspot was even visible with the naked eyes from Earth when the sun was dimmed by clouds or mist.

Read more about Sunspots by clicking the green banner

Read more: Sunspot 1654 still dominates the visible Solar Disk

ZL9HR....sadly the saga continues......

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Created on Tuesday, 15 January 2013 10:34

This information has been posted on the ZL9HR website as a result of the bitternesss that has occurred with certain Team members after the event.

''As you know, the ZL9HR DX-pedition to Campbell Island was successfully completed on Dec. 9, 2012. In the aftermath of the DX-pedition, a dispute occurred over the disposition of the funds that were donated by the DX community. The team leaders who are the President and Treasurer of the “Hellenic Amateur Radio Association of Australia” (HARAOA), misled the rest of the team, who are not members of HARAOA, as to how those funds would be used. This controversy spilled onto the Internet, as you have no doubt seen.

The attached explains the issues from the perspective of the eight ZL9HR team members who are not members of HARAOA. We are requesting your direct assistance in pressuring HARAOA and its officers to act in a responsible manner. We believe these events have cast a dark shadow upon what was a successful DX-pedition and wish to ensure this does not happen again.

Since we have not heard from HARAOA’s President, Mr. Tommy Horozakis, VK2IR, at any time since returning to New Zealand on December 11, 2012 we decided to go directly to the major Club and Foundation donors to seek your input and assistance.

In closing we want to state publicly that we did not anticipate this behavior, and to let you know that those of us who assisted HARAOA with the ZL9HR fundraising are shocked and embarrassed by the actions of HARAOA’s President and Treasurer. We assure you that none of us had any idea about what was to unfold.

Please feel free to contact any of the listed team members or reply to the above e-mail address if you have any questions, concerns, or require additional information.

Sincerely,

Les Kalmus, W2LK
Gene Spinelli, K5GS
David Lloyd, K3EL
Glenn Petri, KE4KY
Jacky Calvo, ZL3CW
John Plenderleith, 9M6XRO
Pista Gaspar, HA5AO
Don Studney, VE7DS''

This is a big entry - Read the full article by clicking the green banner

Read more: ZL9HR....sadly the saga continues......

32 X Scam 12m Masts for sale

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Created on Tuesday, 15 January 2013 07:02

This message received from Mark Hammond yesterday evening;

''I am the holder of the UK MoD surplus contract for the next 4 years. I have taken possession of 32 x SCAM 12m masts today. All are fully serviced and are available for sale''.

If you are interested or have further questions about these items, please contact Mark direct on this email address;

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

Please note that the photo above is a mast I purchased a few Years ago and is not included in this sale. I have no connection with the MOD Sales, I am merely passing on the message which I hope some of you may find to your advantage.

Observatory captures aircraft in front of the Sun

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Created on Monday, 14 January 2013 14:52

Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBSO) recorded an interesting image of the Sun on the 12th January 2013 at 07:57 UTC.

Using Kanzelhoehe H-alpa filters to spot the active regions of the Sun, BBSO telescope captured a plane and contrail flying in front of the Sun as seen from the Earth.

Red Dust Storm in OZ !

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Created on Saturday, 12 January 2013 06:36

While fires burn across southeastern Australia and the northwest braces for Tropical Cyclone Narelle, Australia's volatile weather has produced a spectacular red dust storm.

Striking images have emerged of a massive dust storm, which rolled across northwestern Australia and out to the Indian Ocean just before sunset on Wednesday evening.

Bureau of Meteorology duty forecaster Austen Watkins told the West Australian the phenomenon was created as wind and rain caused the thunderstorm to dump sand and dust it had picked while passing over the coastal town of Onslow, in the Pilbara region.

The phenomenon is known as a "haboob" by meteorologists.

VK5PAS - new Website launched

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Created on Saturday, 12 January 2013 05:44

Take a tour of the new website from Paul VK5PAS.

The site holds some nice information and photographs from his QTH in Mount Barker in South Australia of his family and also on the hobby we share.

It also contains some good facts and information about Australia, Kangaroo Island, ILLW. Check out the ''just for laughs'' page which will put a smile on your face for sure. Click here to see website.

Well done Paul - good job mate!

New Island emerges from North Sea

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Created on Saturday, 12 January 2013 05:22

An island ground composed of sandbanks emerged in North Sea, 24 km (15 miles) off the coast of Schleswig-Holstein in Germany’s far north.

This is the area of a shallow body of water with tidal flats and wetlands. A discernible landmass composed of sandbanks grew gradually over the past few years in a stretch of coastline near marine national park Wattenmeer, mostly created by tidal actions.

The new island was named Bird Island after seabirds population which nest and feed on the sand dunes. Some of the inhabitants of an islands are the gulls, grey geese, eider ducks, common ringed plovers, peregrine falcons and more. Various seeds were blown by winds from all across the Europe and so far 49 species of plants have been detected on sandy landmass that is up to 4-5 meters high.

Active Sunspot

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Created on Saturday, 12 January 2013 05:06

One of the biggest sunspots of the current solar cycle is now turning toward Earth.

Named AR1654, the active region is crackling with medium-sized (M-class) flares and could be poised to break the recent spell of calm space weather around our planet.

AR1654 is getting bigger as it turns toward Earth. Not only is the chance of flares increasing, but also the chance of an Earth-directed eruption.This could be the sunspot that breaks the recent lengthy spell of calm space weather around our planet.

Click image to see movie.

Latest bureau posting....

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Created on Saturday, 12 January 2013 04:57

Ths week I have mailed several packages to the Bureau;

1.95 Kilo of cards have been sent direct to the JARL (Japan Amateur Radio League) Bureau. a total of 3.4 Kilo of cards have also been sent direct to various bureau around the World (not via the RSGB) and a seperate package of 1.7 Kilo is prepared and ready to go the RSGB Bureau.

That's just over 7 Kilo of cards gone out this week. I also expect newe cards to arrive from Italy and from Australia in the coming days for both IIØXMAS and VK3HF respectively. I will advise on those mailings when appropriate.

South Sudan DXCC #316

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Created on Wednesday, 09 January 2013 14:54

Well, after a few months trying, South Sudan isfinally in the log today for DXCC #316.

Z81Z was on 10M CW for several hours today and with band conditions being pretty good, he had a huge pile up. He wasn't too strong either so i tried several times over his session before his signal (and mine!) were both good enough to get the contact after 2 hours.

South Sudan is officially The Republic of South Sudan previously known as Southern Sudan, is a landlocked country in east-central Africa that is part of the United Nations subregion of Eastern Africa.

A happy end to a busy day for a change ;-)

Temperature off the Charts in VK land

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Created on Tuesday, 08 January 2013 08:17

The Bureau of Meteorology's (Australia) interactive weather forecasting chart has added new colours – deep purple and pink – to extend its previous temperature range that had been capped at 50 degrees as intest heat causes havoc in Australia.

Logbook Of The World (LOTW) delays

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Created on Monday, 07 January 2013 10:17

LOTW seems to have a few problems again which is apparent from this website post;

''Logs are being received OK and the website remains functional.  IT staff will need to clear some problems with the new hardware before log processing will continue.  Thanks for your patience''

As they ask, lets please be patient !

If you drink when you fly, be warned !!

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Created on Sunday, 06 January 2013 09:47

Let this be a warning to all passengers who drink on their Flights;

The passanger drank all of his duty free liquor on the flight from Iceland to JFK yesterday. When he became unruly, (i.e. trying to choke the woman next to him and screaming the plane was going to crash), fellow passengers subdued him and tie him up for the rest of the flight.

He was escorted off the flight by police when it landed.

Full story on CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/04/travel/iceland-disruptive-passenger/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

V55A currently Qrv

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Created on Saturday, 05 January 2013 13:24

Michael is currently active as V55A from Windhoeck in Namibia.

V55A is the call sign for the new Boyscout / Radioamateur Clubstation in Windhoeck.

Qsl Cards are printed and available from MØOXO OQRS (but not the image shown on the Qrz.Com page).

V31MA Belize

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Created on Friday, 04 January 2013 13:08

Marc will be QRV as V31MA from San Ignacio in the Cayo District of Belize from tomorrow 5th January 2013.

This is not a major Dxpedition just a 'holiday-style' operation so the Callsign will be on air as and when Marcs other duties allow it. Main mode of operation will be SSB but also possibliity of CW and DATA.

Logs will be uploaded to Clublog during his stay and traditional Qsl Cards are available via M0OXO OQRS. LOTW will follow as and when possible after the event.

10th AAW in February...

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Created on Friday, 04 January 2013 10:33

The 10th Antarctic Activity Week (AAW) will soon be upon us running from 18th - 24th February 2013.

Don't lose the opportunity and apply on time for your Special event Callsign to celebrate the 10th edition of the Antarctic Activity Week with us! 

VK2ANT, 1st Australian Station to join the AAW. Congrats to John VK2FR ! Read more about WAP and their events here WAP

GB0ANT wil be QRV as usually on PSK, RTTY, SSB and CW - Qsl via M0OXO OQRS

Northern Cross Rally cancelled

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Created on Friday, 04 January 2013 06:32

From the Committee of the Wakefield & District Radio Society;

''It is with regret that it was decided that due to circumstances beyond our control we have decided to cancel this years' Northern Cross Rally which was scheduled for Sunday the 17th of February.