Archive - March 2013

A fast moving Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that left the Sun on Friday morning swept past Earth early Sunday morning. The ACE Spacecraft detected a solar wind increase to near 700 km/s.

A geomagnetic sudden impulse measuring 48 nT was detected by the Boulder, Colorado magnetometer at 06:01 UTC and this signalled the moment of Earth impact. A moderate G2 Level Geomagnetic Storm (KP=6) is now in progress following the impact. Be on the lookout for aurora at very high latitudes.

The moderate to strong geomagnetic storm has finally subsided following an initial CME impact early Sunday morning .

The XR0YG team of G3TXF, G3ZAY, G4IRN, G7VJR left London on time this afternoon and connected in Madrid to their flight heading to Santiago, Chile. That has also left on time.

If all continues to go to plan they will arrive on Easter Island Wednesday afternoon, GMT time.

The team will run all HF bands but we also plan to work challenging paths on the low bands, emphasis on Europe. They are using Elecraft K3s, small PAs and vertical antennas. Electricity on Easter Island is subject to frequent blackouts which can be lengthy, so their operating times may be restricted. The trip will be CW only.

Region 1692 erupted with long duration M-class solar flare peaking at 06:50 UTC as M1.2 solar flare on 15th March, 2013. The event started at 05:52 and ended at 07:30 UTC. A Full-Halo Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) was observed and it looks to be Earth directed.

A 10cm Radio Burst was associated with the event indicating significant radio noise in association with a solar flare. This noise is generally short-lived but can cause interference for sensitive receivers including radar, GPS, and satellite communications. Region 1692 was still classified with Alpha magnetic configuration at 0:30 UTC today. The fast moving cloud should directly impact Earth today.

Description: A 10cm radio burst indicates that the electromagnetic burst associated with a solar flare at the 10cm wavelength was double or greater than the initial 10cm radio background. This can be indicative of significant radio noise in association with a solar flare. This noise is generally short-lived but can cause interference for sensitive receivers including radar, GPS, and satellite communications.

T2GM team are now qrv from Tuvalu. The team are operating from the Vaiaku Lagi Hotel on the lagoon side of the Island.

The team consists of 4 seasoned DXers, Contesters and Expeditioners
Gavin – GM0GAV (previous VP8GAV, VP8SDX, IOTA Contest Winner – GM5A, S79GM and 7Q7GM etc), Clive – GM3POI (previous 3B7C and T32C), Rob – GM3YTS (member of the Voodoo Contest Group – previous winners CQWW CW – VP8SDX, S79GM,YK9G,7Q7GM – etc and Tom – GM4FDM (previous IoTA Contest winner Expedition Section, VP8SDX, T33C, 3D2DM, V8FDM etc).

They are operating 2 x 500w stations using the Elecraft K3 and Microham Interface Units, using vertical antennas placed either in or at the edge of the lagoon.

Good signals into the UK from 0830 local on 20M.

For a comet, visiting the sun is risky business. Fierce solar heat vaporizes gases long frozen in the fragile nucleus, breaking up some comets and completely destroying others.

That’s why astronomers weren’t sure what would happen in early March when Comet Pan-STARRS, a first-time visitor to the inner solar system, dipped inside the orbit of Mercury. On 10th March , NASA’s STEREO-B spacecraft watched as the comet made its closest approach to the sun only 28 million miles away. At that distance, the sun loomed 3 times wider and felt more than 10 times hotter than it does on Earth.

The comet survived.

Still intact, Comet Pan-STARRS is emerging from the Sun’s glare into the sunset skies of the northern hemisphere. Solar heating has caused the comet to glow brighter than a first magnitude star. Bright twilight sharply reduces visibility, but it is still an easy target for binoculars and small telescopes 1 and 2 hours after sunset. As of March 15th, people are beginning to report that they can see the comet with the unaided eye. Click image to see You Tube video.

Listen out from this weekend (16th-17th March) for more special event stations on air celebrating the RSGB Centenery.

Following from their successful operations of GR2HQ and GO2HQ, starting this weekend the teams will activate on HF the Callsign ”GW1ØØC” from Wales. We have already seen ”GM1ØØC” from Scotland, ”GD1ØØC” from Isle of man and ”GJ1ØØC” from Jersey also take to the air so another new one to add to your collection!. You can keep an eye on who is operating and from where by clicking here.

Please keep an eye on this blog entry and I will post more information when I have it along with the website which will hold all information for these events.

Qsl route is via MØOXO OQRS (Your Qsl Cards are not required so please do not send them!). GL !!

An analysis of a rock sample recently collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover shows ancient Mars could have supported living microbes.

Last month, Curiosity drilled into a sedimentary rock near an ancient stream bed in Gale Crater. In the powder from the drill sample, scientists have identified sulphur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon — some of the key chemical ingredients for life.

These clay minerals are a product of the reaction of relatively fresh water with igneous minerals, such as olivine, also present in the sediment. The reaction could have taken place within the sedimentary deposit, during transport of the sediment, or in the source region of the sediment. The presence of calcium sulphate along with the clay suggests the soil is neutral or mildly alkaline.

Scientists plan to work with Curiosity in the “Yellowknife Bay” area for many more weeks before beginning a long drive to Gale Crater’s central mound, Mount Sharp. Investigating the stack of layers exposed on Mount Sharp, where clay minerals and sulphate minerals have been identified from orbit, may add information about the duration and diversity of habitable conditions.

You will see that an addition has been made to the menu Bar on the left of this page.

The reason for the addition of the ”Paypal Donate” button was in a direct response to a question from a Ham yesterday. He asked how he could donate to the printing costs of Qsl cards as I didn’t have facility to do that through the normal M0OXO OQRS page.

I added the button today but don’t be worried. The button shows several currencies that can be selected and also ANY amount can be added to the ‘amount’ field, not just the £5.00GBP shown, that is merely the default setting!!

Personally its a great idea. I have seen this on many sites but its not always practical to do. It is true to say though that with the increasing costs of labels, cards, ink and envelopes, donations are a very good idea in helping us to provide a continued service as efficient and as cheap as is possible to our customers.

Listen out from this weekend (9th-10th March) for more special event stations on air celebrating the RSGB Centenery.

Following from their successful operations of GR2HQ and GO2HQ, starting this weekend the teams will activate on HF the Callsign ”GD1ØØC” from the Isle of Man (IOTA EU-116). We have already seen ”GM1ØØC” from Scotland, ”GW1ØØC” from Wales and ”GJ1ØØC” from Jersey also take to the air so another new one to add to your collection!. You can keep an eye on who is operating and from where by clicking here.

Please keep an eye on this blog entry and I will post more information when I have it along with the website which will hold all information for these events.

Qsl route is via MØOXO OQRS (Your Qsl Cards are not required so please do not send them!). GL !!

Two radio amateurs will be part of the over wintering team and will be active on Marion Island from May 2013 to April 2014.

ZS8C Carson (ZR6CWI) has been appointed as the Space Weather Engineer and is employed for the next year by the SA National Space Agency (SANSA). ZS8Z David (ZS1BCE) has finally been appointed as the radio technician. His appointment was delayed due to a clerical error.

Important info: Expected modes will mainly be SSB and digital modes, They may only use the existing commercial broadband HF antenna, and their QSL Manager is ZS1HF. More info will be posted on their respective qrz.com sites once they have been created. We expect this info to be made available within the next 2 weeks.

All enquiries via ZS1HF at this stage.