Gaia Magnetosphere

including SETI???

Mike! Aloha! Off to do a google search for a good diagram to show what we (YOU?!) are talking about! (Yippee!!!)

SETI? Ya, sure... Makes it more easy to sneak in comments from the radio astronomy side.... Mike

Excellent! *delighted grin* Love the name you chose, Mike! Perfect!

http://www.agu.org/sci_soc/cowley.html It begins: A Beginner's Guide to the Earth's Magnetosphere Earth in Space Vol. 8, No. 7, March 1996, p.9. � 1996 American Geophysical Union. Permission is hereby granted to journalists to use this material so long as credit is given, and to teachers to use this material in classrooms. The magnetosphere is the region of space to which the Earth's magnetic field is confined by the solar wind plasma blowing outward from the Sun, extending to distances in excess of 60,000 kilometers from Earth. Much has been learned about this dynamic plasma region over the past 40 years, since the first direct measurements were made by the early Sputnik and Explorer spacecraft. by Stanley W. H. Cowley, Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Leicester, Leicester, United Kingdom The Earth's magnetosphere is formed from two essential ingredients. The first is the Earth's magnetic field, generated by currents flowing in the Earth's core. Outside the Earth this field has the same form as that of a bar magnet, a dipole field, aligned approximately with the Earth's spin axis. The second ingredient is the solar wind, a fully ionized hydrogen/helium plasma that streams continuously outward from the Sun into the solar system at speeds of about 300�800 kilometers per second. This wind is therefore composed of protons and alpha particles, together with sufficient electrons that it is electrically neutral overall. The solar wind is also pervaded by a large-scale interplanetary magnetic field, the solar magnetic field transported outward into the solar system by the solar wind plasma. There is a third ingredient that also plays an important role: the Earth's ionosphere. The upper atmosphere is partially ionized by far-ultraviolet and X rays from the Sun above altitudes of about 100 km. The resulting ionosphere forms a second source of plasma for the magnetosphere, mainly of protons, singly charged helium and oxygen, and the requisite number of electrons for electric charge neutrality.

The Earth's Magnetic Field The Earth has a magnetic field with north and south poles. The Earth's magnetic field reaches 36,000 miles into space. The magnetic field of the Earth is surrounded in a region called the magnetosphere. The magnetosphere prevents most of the particles from the sun, carried in solar wind, from hitting the Earth. Some particles from the solar wind can enters the magnetosphere. The particles that enter from the magnetotail travel toward the Earth and create the auroral oval light shows. The Sun and other planets have magnetospheres, but the Earth has the strongest one of all the rocky planets. The Earth's north and south magnetic poles reverse at irregular intervals of hundreds of thousands of years. Lots of links on this url - all are worth a look http://www.windows.umich.edu/cgi-bin/tour_def/earth/Magnetosphere/overview.html

*Whew* Ok. Mike, it's your sand box. I'll try to stay out of it as much as possible. Enjoy! (Isn't that a killer diagram? I liked it so much I had to delete the post with the pix from the web and save it on my space on Spring's hard drive...)

Greetings all Well thats a good start! An interesting tool that is available for the analysis of whistlers is a FFTDSP program that runs on your PC. Check out www.webcom.com/af9y/ for information on this application. Also on this page is some good info on Earth Moon Earth communications and other weak signal applications. Mike

Mike, I think you're gonna have to write out what FFTDSP means (I'm gonna look it up 'cause I don't remember. About the EME communications, there is a rather lively group on the 14 MHz band which sets up schedules for folks to work in pairs so they know to listen very carefully. One sends the signal (often CW or Morse Code) to the moon at such an angle that the other guy with a calculated amount of time lapse for the signal to travel can receive the bounced signal. I think that is truly amazing. I have listened for it, but my antenna is all wrong for those frequencies they work. Going to check out the program you suggest.

http://www.webcom.com/af9y/ is a totally amazing place. That one little program ($32 US to get by email) will allow you to "see" signals from NASA's Lunar Prospector, EME signals(see above), And has SETI applications. There is a month's free trial also available. Kew Features are available on http://www.webcom.com/af9y/radio10.htm Check it out! Thanks, Mike!

Solar Flux is on the rise! This morning it was 137. This just came in: SFI=150 | A=10 down from 11 | K=1 down from 2 at 0000 on 10 May. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: quiet to unsettled Aurora Level: 7 More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

Check out posting http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/geo/2.180 I wonder how much of that stuff will interefere with our global well-being and wave propagation. Never heard of ejecta from anything but out Sun having an effect on terrestrial matters. Mike, do you know? SFI=179 | A=3 | K=1 down from 2 at 1800 on 11 May. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: quiet to active Aurora Level: 5

Mike, gotta few questions for you since you are going to be making the array to detect these things and please let us know what you are doing and how it is progressing. It will be like being at Genesis 1:1 You must not live in an urban stetting if a radio-telescope dish is in your future. What size are you planning and is it gonna be one of those altasimuth mounts or are you opting for a U-shaped movable yoke? Clock drive is imperitive, of course. This will be for the Project SETI observations. What sort of antennas are you going to need for the ELF and EME listening? You must be building the world's most amazing antenna switch! Please let us hear your thinking and planning for these prohjects. That is almost the most exciting part - aside from actually capturing the signals themselves!

Space Weather News for May 11, 2000 Material from a coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on May 8 is expected to pass by our planet late on May 11 or early May 12. Depending on the characteristics of the magnetic field within the disturbance, it could trigger minor geomagnetic storms on Earth. There is a slim chance of aurorae at mid-latitudes, but auroral activity will more likely be concentrated over high latitude regions including northern Europe, Canada and Alaska. Visit http://www.spaceweather.com for more information and updates. SpaceWeather.com ---

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 19 - May 12, 2000 Solar flux and sunspot numbers were sharply lower over the past ten days, but are now heading higher. Solar flux reached a low on Saturday, May 6, when the three readings for the day were 126.3, 126.8 and 126.7. The noon 126.8 reading is the official flux for the day. Daily solar flux values have not been this low since October 2, 1999, when it was 126.3. Average solar flux for the past week was off by over 30 points when compared to the previous week, and average sunspot numbers were down by nearly 13. Another interesting number to look at is the total sunspot area visible on the solar disk. These numbers are expressed as millionths of a hemisphere, and you can see the daily value along with the solar flux and sunspot numbers online at gopher://sec.noaa.gov/00/indices/DSD. We reached a low of 130 for visible sunspot area on May 7. Sunspot area has not been this low since September 30 and October 1, 1999. This value represents a nearly spotless sun, and is actually equivalent to .013 percent of the visible surface. Contrast this with a short time back, April 23, when the sunspot area number was 2860, representing 22 times the visible area of the May 7 value. All of this does not mean that we have passed the peak of the solar cycle, however. Activity jumps around quite a bit, even during a peak year of the cycle such as this one. It is only later when viewing smoothed numbers on a graph that the progress of a cycle looks steady. For more information, read Solar Ups and Downs at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast09may_1m.htm. As this bulletin is written on Thursday evening, the solar flux seems to be ramping upward. It is measured three times per day in Penticton, British Columbia at 1700, 2000 and 2300z, and the last four values measured, from 2300z Wednesday through 2300z Thursday are 167.7, 177.7, 177.7 and 186.5. The predicted solar flux for the next five days, Friday through Tuesday, are 190, 195, 200, 200, and 205. Solar flux is expected to peak for the short term around 220 on May 18, then drop down around 130 from June 1-3. Unfortunately, this weekend there may be effects from a coronal mass ejection that occurred on May 8. Predicted planetary A index for Friday through Tuesday is 20, 20, 15, 8, 8 and 8. Sunspot numbers for May 4 through 10 were 105, 122, 111, 130, 131, 149 and 174 with a mean of 131.7. 10.7 cm flux was 134.5, 129.8, 126.8, 130.9, 137, 149.5 and 179.2, with a mean of 141.1, and estimated planetary A indices were 8, 14, 12, 7, 6, 11 and 7, with a mean of 9.3.

Mike! Look!!! You should get all sorts of stuff tonight on short wave. Pop the BFO and enjoy! I plan to SFI=190 up from 178 | A=15 up from 5 | K=2 at 2100 on 12 May. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: quiet to active Aurora Level: 7

Of course, it'll be really noisy with the A index so high. The lower the better with that and the K.

The Cosmos Was Alive With the Sound of Matter By K.C. COLE When the universe speaks, astronomers listen. When it sings, they swoon. That's roughly what happened late last month when a group of astronomers led by Caltech's Andrew Lange published the most detailed analysis yet of the cosmos' primordial song: a low hum, deep in its throat, that preceded both atoms and stars. It is a simple sound, like the mantra "Om." But hidden within its harmonics are details of the universe's shape, composition and birth. So rich are these details that within hours of the paper's publication, new interpretations of the data had already appeared on the Los Alamos web for new astrophysical papers. "It's stirred up a hornet's nest of interest," said UCLA astronomer Ned Wright, who gave a talk to his colleagues on the paper the next week. So what is all the fuss about? Why are astronomers churning out paper after paper on what looks to a lay person like a puzzling set of wiggly peaks--graphic depictions of the sound, based on hours of computer analysis? Because there's scientific gold in them there sinusoidal hills. The peaks and valleys paint a visual picture of the sound the newborn universe made when it was still wet behind the ears, a mere 300,000 years after its birth in a big bang. Nothing existed but pure light, speckled with occasional subatomic particles. Nothing happened, either, except that this light and matter fluid, as physicists call it, sloshed in and out of gravity wells, compressing the liquid in some places and spreading it out in others. Like banging on the head of a drum, the compression of the "liquid light" as it fell into gravity wells set up the "sound waves" that cosmologist Charles Lineweaver calls "the oldest music in the universe." * * * Then, suddenly, the sound fell silent. The universe had gotten cold enough that the particles, in effect, congealed, like the salad dressing left in the fridge; the light separated and escaped, like the oil on top. The rest is the history of the universe: The particles joined each other to form atoms, stars and everything else, including people. "The universe was very simple back then," said Lange. "After that, we have atoms, chemistry, economics. Things go downhill very quickly." As for the light, or radiation, it still pervades all space. In fact, it's part of the familiar "snow" that sometimes shows up on broadcast TV. But it's more than just noise: When the particles congealed, they left an imprint on the light. Like children going after cookies, the patterns of sloshing particles left their sticky fingerprints all over the sky. The pattern of the sloshes tells you all you need to know about the very early universe: It's shape, how much was made of matter, how much of something else. The principle is familiar: Your child's voice sounds like no one else's because the resonant cavities within her throat create a unique voiceprint. The large, heavy wood of the cello creates a mellower sound than the high-strung violin. Just so, the sounds coming from the early universe depend directly on the density of matter, and the shape of the cosmos itself. Astronomers can't hear the sounds, of course. But they can read them on the walls of the universe like notes on a page. Compressed sound gets hot, and produces hot splotches, like a pressure cooker. Expanded areas cool. Analyze the hot and cold patches and you get a picture of the sound: exactly how much falls on middle C, or B flat. What they've seen so far is both exciting and troubling. The sound suggests that the universe is a tad too heavy with ordinary matter to agree with standard cosmological theories; it resonates more like an oboe than a flute. Something's going on that can't be explained. The answers may come when an even more ambitious probe launches into space later this year. Lest you think these sounds are music only for astronomers' ears, consider: The same wrinkles in space that created the gravity wells that gave rise to the sounds also blew up to form clusters, galaxies, stars, planets, us. Even Hare Krishnas murmuring: Om. ....and Mike and we are listening, too *grin*

SFI=190 | A=17 up from 15 | K=4 up from 2 at 0000 on 13 May. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: quiet to active, Aurora Level: 8

FFTDSP - Fast Fourier Transform Digital Signal Processing Spectral Analysis using software algorithms.... Re the SETI, EME, and ELF stuff EME calls for very large (for lower frequencies) antenna arrays althogh some single yagi type arrays have been used at 144mhz. At 1.2ghz, some EME antennas are yagi type antennas but the dish starts coming into play - a large dish however..... My initial dish is a reinforced solid aluminum 9ft dish that came from a nondisclosed defense contractor antenna test range. It is currently residing behind a garage covered with decaying leaves... My goal would be to put up a 5meter or larger dish but the backyard would be obscured - I was told to just put the thing up and quit asking about it. The neighbors couldnt tell an L-band feed from a hole in the ground.... As far as steering the antenna goes, I plan to use an AZ-EL although the cheap alternative is to fix the position and just do drift scan. Its ok as long as I do not clutter too much of the yard - kind of interferes with summer parties. The VLF antenna is actually quite small - just a short whip connected to a high gain amplifier. Other experimenters have used long wires. The design I have will get by with a small vertical.

How nice - you already have the Big stuff in the back yard, and what a conversation piece for your summer parties! Just a short whip? Not a rubber duckie coiled miles of antenna wire into a little space? A real little whip? That must be some high-gain amplifier you have (and I have no reason whatever to question you on it - you are the expert and I am the novice in here). How are you going to record the stuff - rolls of paper like seismographs, autio tape, other I cannot imagine? Ummm...I like the idea of the 5 meter dish (or larger!) Your less with-it neighbors are gonna want to know what TV programs you get on that dish! EME stuff is line-of-sight... How many of the others you are planning depend on propagation rather than line-of-sight? I wish I knew more to ask more intelligent questions. But, I'll work on it! Thanks, Mike!

Off to find an english (simple, hopefully) explanation of "FFTDSP - Fast Fourier Transform Digital Signal Processing Spectral Analysis using software algorithms.... " I've heard it discussed often enough between two people who already knew what they were talking about. Off to try to teach myself a few new things...!

SFI=217 up from 190 | A=14 down from 17 | K=3 at 2100 on 13 May. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: quiet to active, Aurora Level: 7

SFI=233 up from 217 | A=16 up from 14 | K=2 at 2100 on 14 May. SAF: moderate, GMF: quiet to unsettled, Aurora Level: 5 More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

SFI=244 up from 233 | A=13 down from 15 | K=2 down from 3 at 2100 on 15 May. SAF: high, GMF: quiet to active, Aurora Level: 7

How's the radio telescope project, Mike?

SFI=259 up from 244 | A=15 up from 12 | K=2 down from 3 at 2100 on 16 May. SAF: moderate, GMF: quiet to active, Aurora Level: 6 Ok guys, how high can this go? Another coronal outburst is due to hit May 17-18

Please check post http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/Geo/34.66

Radio JOVE -- NASA helps students tune in to radio bursts from Jupiter Jupiter is a source of powerful radio bursts that can produce exotic sounds on common ham radio receivers. NASA scientists are helping students tune in to the giant planet as part of an innovative educational program called Radio JOVE. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast22may_1.htm?list Radio JOVE

Greetings all Back from the bog..... Well, some of the obnoxious distractions are behind me so I can focus on the more important things like building equipment - as far as the ELF monitoring equipment goes, the antenna is a 57 inch steel whip that is part of an E-field preamp - this was a construction project in the July 1999 'Lowdown' publication (Longwave Club of America). This might take a back seat to my 24ghz transmit/receive system which I need to get to building. I will post more info as time allows - also check out: www.triax.com/vlfradio/ which is a webpage dedicated to VLF monitoring along with actual recordings of whisters. Finally, regarding the radio telescope project - I need to come up with some designs for the down converter and receiver assembly then how to log the data - plus have to get that 8ft dish moved over.... The first stage is (other than the dish, feed, LNA, AZ EL, etc...) is to build a stable L band (1.4ghz) down converter which will feed some type of analogue to digital converter which then feeds the PC doing data logging. This is a very long term project with the end not in sight at the moment. Not to say that components will not be built up and integrated - the dish will allow for some satellite or EME experiments as well. Re the Jovian experiments - listening to Jupiter is one of the initial steps in radio astronomy and can be copied on radio receivers that tune 21Mhz. The next would be a simple 12ghz solar observatory using available ku band satellite tv components. With the arrival of new surplus components, the 24ghz project beckons... radio free cosmo

Yay! Mike is back. Terry and I were about to send out a posse to rescue you! Now to read what you posted. We thought mebbe a DXpedition or a swap meet had taken you hostage...*grin* It is great to have you back. Now, I'm gonna read what you wrote...!

Have the receiver with the 21 MHz band right beside me - surely not in SSB or is it? Know any freq's off hand for the Jovian listening (or I could hunt at the url I posted above - which is what I should be doing...) It is really great to have such great long-term projects which will interface. I know Terry is eager to know what you are doing and I am sure you will be seeing his posts in here. The propagation was out of sight last week and weekend - and I could get stations in daylight which I normally do not get. It was interesting and not too noisy - something of a surprise!

Check out Mike's suggested url http://www.triax.com/vlfradio/ Lots of what he will be talking about is there and a terrific photo of an Aurora over Canada. Too bad it is black and white!

but keep going...http://www.triax.com/vlfradio/sndbites.htm is the sound page and it is in color there! Absolutely spectacular. Thanks for the URL !

The sounds are phenomenal. Have you ever heard Aurora sounds, Mike? How loud are they and how much like this wav file do they sound?

Testing

Coming in loud and clear. Welcome!

Mike, I am downloading and installing SETI@home software http://setiathome.ssl.berkeley.edu/windows.html There is a topic concerning this software and what it does http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/software/172/new

I am up and running! I signed in and now it is data crunching. I feel joined to the cosmos!

Im still here for the moment but will have to observe radio silence for a bit - no need to call out the rescue units (grin) Will try to check in if possible. Re Aurora - a popular mode of communcating amongst the VHF and up crowd is Aurora scatter - point the antenna at the aurora and use it as a giant reflector - have not heard cw signals from aurora propagation but I think it has a raspy note to it (?) I have listened to microwave signals using rain scatter - once during the June VHF contest, I listened to 5ghz ssb signals from a station 35 miles to the west (off the back of my dish) talking to a station across the lake in central Michigan - neat stuff. This type of propagation also can happen in snow blizzards. The mode I want to work on is tropo-ducting where the hot and cold air near the lake surface form a 'duct' that acts as an excellent propagation medium. For 24ghz, I will have to rely on dry days with little humidity due to the absorption problems caused by moisture. Anyway, be back sometime in the near future.... Mike AA9IL

Good business, Mike. I have heard tropr-ducting across a small lake in upper NY State. We could hear quite plainly the voices and allied noises of the people across the lake who were making breakfast and using china plates. It is amazing how loud and clear it is. How is skip doing these days? It has been years since it was worth the effort. My SETI software is still crunching numbers from Arecibo. This is the most fascinating program I ever downloaded! Take care - we await your next post 3's n 8's Marcia

Here's another interesting monitoring and data crunching possibillity: From: Glenn Thompson - glenn@mvomrat.com With a single PC workstation it is now possible to compute plots (e.g. spectrograms) of continuous seismic data for dozens of stations and display these on the World-Wide Web within minutes. Web-based seismic monitoring of volcanoes offers several advantages, perhaps the main one being that a person on beeper duty can respond to an alarm without having to leave home in the middle of the night. It also makes it easy to share data with other scientists and schools. I spent the last two years developing a Web-based system to monitor the seismicity at Alaskan volcanoes. I am curious to learn what other systems exist out there. I would be very grateful if the creators of such systems would get in touch with me and give me a short (a paragraph would be fine) description of your system (would be helpful if you included URL and related publications if any). I would also be happy to hear from anyone who is currently developing (or thinking about developing) such a system, or anyone's views on the future of Web-based monitoring of volcanoes (including web-cams, satellite data etc.). Many thanks, Glenn Thompson (glenn@mvomrat.com) Seismologist Montserrat Volcano Observatory

Lack of coronal outbursts lately caused the solar flux to plummet. They are recovering nicely, now - and they have added another parameter to their reports: SFI=166 | A=11 | K=2 down from 3 at 0300 on 4 June. SAF: moderate to high, GMF: quiet to unsettled Aurora Level: 4 Solar Wind: 443.1 km/s at 3.5 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

First Light for a Space Weather Satellite NASA Science News for June 5, 2000 NASA's IMAGE mission, a unique satellite dedicated to the study of space storms, has returned its first pictures of electrified gas surrounding our planet. Using antennas as large as the Empire State Building, IMAGE is taking an unprecedented look at Earth's magnetic environment and its response to fierce gusts of solar wind. FULL STORY at http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast05jun_1m.htm?list __

Ok, back again.... The seismic monitoring seems tres kewl - have to dig up that web page and give it a look-see. First on the list is some goofy microwave stuff but I need to build up the final parts for a project INSPIRE receiver to take out into the country for Whistler monitoring. Free time, what is that? Let Chaos Reign! Hail Eris! Mike

Mike! There you are! Another solar burst is on its way - use your cosmic umbrella this week. I am just about finished crunching my 8th block of SETI data. Welcome home. Of course, Chaos reigns... and there is even order in Chaos!

Solar Storm Warnings Date: Wed, 7 Jun 2000 12:30:08 -0500 From: NASA Science News NASA Science News for June 7, 2000 An interplanetary shock wave from a solar coronal mass ejection is expected to pass our planet this Thursday, possibly triggering aurora at middle-latitudes. This story includes animations of the solar eruption as well as aurora borealis observing tips. Note: Science@NASA readers who capture photos of the aurora are invited to send them as email attachments to phillips@spacescience.com for possible inclusion in a follow-up web story. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast07jun_1m.htm?list __

Anyone going out tonite to watch for the Aurora? - In the VLF communications area, another organization that is doing research in VLF communications is AMRAD - the Amateur Radio Research and Development Corporation. See their web page at www.amrad.org 73's de Mike

Thanks mike - my ex is gonna try!!! I posted the coronal storms on Geo 34 I'll try but we are pretty far south...

June 8-9 Aurora Update Space Weather News for June 8-9, 2000 Geomagnetic disturbances are finally subsiding after an interplanetary shock wave struck Earth's magnetosphere around 930 UT on June 8. The event triggered intense aurora over sparsely-inhabited regions of northern Asia and the Pacific. However, by nightfall over North America conditions had quieted. There is still a chance for isolated auroral substorms that might be visible tonight (June 8-9) at middle latitudes. The next opportunity for viewing aurora borealis may arrive as soon as June 10, when another solar wind disturbance is expected to reach Earth. For more information and updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 23 - June 9, 2000 A large coronal mass ejection on June 6 is raising havoc with HF propagation. Geomagnetic conditions were rough on Wednesday, with K indices of 3 and 4, but the big effect was measured on Thursday, when the planetary K index was 7 at 0900 and 1200z, followed by 6 at 1500z. The planetary A index for Thursday was 53, while the College A index (in Alaska) was 79. This indicates a severe geomagnetic storm, which should disrupt HF communications but may provide interesting auroral communication opportunities for VHF enthusiasts. Regarding visible aurora effects, the chances over North America are declining on Friday morning, although earlier in the day there was an intense aurora visible over Asia. To add to the excitement, there was another coronal mass ejection on Wednesday, June 7. The latest word has solar wind providing another disruption on Saturday, June 10. Planetary A index should rise on Friday to 75, then drop to 40 on Saturday, 25 on Sunday, 18 on Monday and 15 on Tuesday. Solar flux is expected to rise over the same period, to 185 on Friday, 190 on Saturday, 200 on Monday and 210 on Tuesday. Solar flux is expected to peak over the short term around 245 on June 16. Last week's bulletin mentioned monitoring WWV for the latest solar and geophysical numbers, and both WB6RIB and W9LYN wrote to suggest the URL of ftp://ftp.sel.noaa.gov/pub/latest/wwv.txt for the latest text of the WWV bulletin that appears at 18 minutes after every hour.

No aurora here but plenty of mosquitos. Took the high tech scooter around the neighborhood and barely made it to the door alive. Oh well, see what happens on 6-10 with the solar wind blast. de Mike Radio Cosmo International

Thanks for reporting in, Mike. My respondants reported city light glare, clouds and rain but no aurora. Don't think my message got to the European contingent. I had a transfusion when I got back as well. Eruptions are much nicer. They smell bad enough and are hot enough to discourage mosquitoes. Maybe you need to burn mosquito coils on your high-tech scooter?!

The solar storm has hit us: SFI=180 up from 169 | A=25 up from 7 | K=3 at 2100 on 10 June. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: quiet to active Aurora Level: 9 Solar Wind: 460.7 km/s at 1.6 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

Well, did some VHF/UHF operating during the June ARRL contest. Worked across the lake into Michigan on 144Mhz and heard some bursts on 223Mhz. Someone else was working 6 meters (50Mhz) but the band did seem open - most likely sporadic E propagation although maybe F??? No Aurora but plenty of storm clouds to the North. Brought the 5.7ghz transverter out for show and tell - need to hook that thing up and operate! 73 de Mike AA9IL

Let me know when you are GOING to be on (rather than after it) - would love to hear your voice... the 14 MHz is sort of dead but there is a huge pile up on 14.204. Pretty quiet, actually!

A solar flare, a CME, and a solar wind disturbance -- all in one day! Space Weather News for June 10, 2000 The prolific flare-producing sunspot group #9026 unleashed another moderately strong solar flare today. The eruption was accompanied by a partial halo coronal mass ejection (CME) that might be Earth-directed. If so, material from the CME would arrive in the vicinity of our planet on June 12 or 13. A SOHO coronagraph animation of the event shows a beautiful billowing CME peppered by speckles and meteor-like streaks resulting from energetic particles hitting the spacecraft's camera. Earlier in the day, as predicted, a solar wind disturbance from a CME on June 7 struck Earth's magnetosphere. Active geomagnetic conditions were observed for about nine hours, but have since subsided. For more information and pictures, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com

This rare red-colored aurora over North Carolina was photographed by Chuck Adams on April 6, 2000. The bright object near the horizon is the Moon. Also visible in the background are the Pleiades, Taurus, and Orion. The photographer used a Nikon FM2 camera equipped with a 28mm f/2 lens. The exposure time was one minute on Kodak Elite 100 slide film. (Copyright 2000, Chuck Adams, all rights reserved.)

The storm is approaching: Date: Sun, 11 Jun 2000 14:31:21 -0700 SFI=187 up from 180 | A=25 up from 23 | K=5 up from 4 at 2100 on 11 June. SAF: moderate, GMF: at unsettled to minor storm levels Aurora Level: 9 Solar Wind: 569.3 km/s at 7.2 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

Wonder how high its going to go.... Date: Mon, 12 Jun 2000 14:30:44 -0700 SFI=193 up from 187 | A=16 down from 24 | K=3 down from 4 at 2100 on 12 June. SAF: moderate, GMF: at unsettled to minor storm levels Aurora Level: 7 Solar Wind: 466.1 km/s at 1.5 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

Greetings all In the most recent Lowdown (Long Wave Club of America), there was a short description of a ELF/ULF/SLF receiver built by John WB7TQT. - frequency range 0.03 to 300Hz - 47000 turn loop. John has tapes available of the signals heard at these frequencies. I will post the address once I find it. 73 de AA9IL Mike

Great news. The last ones you posted the urls for were spectacular!

Supposedly the solar storm has passed us (see Geo 34 today) but the numbers keep going up. The latest: SFI=199 | A=16 | K=3 up from 2 at 0000 on 14 June. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: quiet to unsettled Aurora Level: 6 Solar Wind: 433.5 km/s at 8.5 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

Date: Wed, 14 Jun 2000 14:32:20 -0700 SFI=201 up from 199 | A=17 up from 16 | K=4 at 2100 on 14 June. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: quiet to active Aurora Level: 6 Solar Wind: 447.0 km/s at 41.7 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

Note the increase of velocity of the solar wind. I think it is not over yet...

Check the sunspots with this amazing little updating image:

Howdy all Well, just finished a neat book - 'Boffin' which was a historical account of early radar during WWII. Also some neat info about the early experiments at Jodrell Bank and design work on interferometers. I know book reviews should be in the Books section but this should appeal to the Geo crowd. BTW, the author is R Hanbury Brown. Currently plodding through 'Gravity's Rainbow' and will also be starting up on the history of the crypto group at Bletchley Park that cracked the Enigma Cipher. 73 de Mike Radio Cosmo International

HanaHou...... Mike! Been there and seen them. Amazing stuff Gotta get that book. Was at your webpage today. Really great antenna you have and it is widely used here with palm trees at the corner posts and the ubiquitous chain link fence below. Check AA9IL http://www.qsl.net/aa1ll/

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 25 - June 23, 2000 Average solar flux and sunspot numbers rose slightly this week, and geomagnetic indices were lower. Planetary and mid-latitude A indices have been mostly in the single digits. Unfortunately, geomagnetic conditions may be a bit more active for Field Day this weekend. The predicted planetary A index for Friday through Tuesday is 15, 15, 20, 20 and 12, but no major disturbance is likely. Solar flux for the same period is expected to be around 175, 175, 170, 165 and 165, and should begin rising again around July 1. The short term outlook is for flux values to slowly rise and then peak around 200 before the middle of next month. NASA has an article this week on a proposed model for better predicting the arrival time of the effects from Coronal Mass Ejections. You can see the NASA article at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast22jun_1m.htm?list and see more info from a solar physics meeting at http://www.lmsal.com/spd/Press/ .

Greets to all Well, back again after another week of silliness. Did pick up some microwave goodies tho and visit with a fellow radio op regarding mysterious signals on the HF bands - primarily Numbers Stations and bizarre digital modes. Also, discussion on a cw 'beacon' that transmits at intervals on 10.106 Mhz in the 30 meter band. Strange slow cw text that could be a prank or a coded message? (ooooh...) No luck hearing it now since it is early afternoon - will have to try again at sunset due to propagation. Speaking of propagation, an interesting book to read is 'Beyond Line of Sight' by Emil Pocock and is published by the ARRL. This is a series of reprints from QST covering VHF and up progagation studies. Kewl Stuph Also, checked out the web page listed above (AA1LL) - not mine but does have some interesting links plus a picture of a bug semi auto key similar to one that I have. 73 de Mike Radio Cosmo International

No wonder I had trouble connecting it with you.....you are AA1IL......sigh. I did note the big brass bug and though it would be an object of envy for sure. Ever catch those voice 'number stations' which recite two number units on and on?? It has been suggested that it is the method of choise to covey covert information - I have heard all accents but the numbers are always in English.

Ok, looks like another hot thread with number stations - will have to move that to the 'Radio' page. I have listened to Spanish speaking number stations - might have heard some in English as well in my far distant past... The ones I remember the best are the Spanish ones tho... There are many theories regarding the purpose of the stations - most likely a means of passing secret info to operatives in the field. Not likely a hoax...? It is just about nitefall here where there will be a peak in grey line propagation - the HF rig is tuned to 30M but all I hear is static - the HF bands were kind of poor today to begin with. Well, back to the listening post. 73 de Secret Agent Mike

I kept a list of frequencies a few years ago...must dig it out and post it. Wow, I wonder what reminded of them... No hoax... You are right about to operatives in the field and every country did it... Read an article a few years back by an ex CIA operative writing in a Ham-trade magazine (not sure now which one) The code changes daily and an hour which varies from day to day.

Please create the new topic in radio while I hunt for my list... Meet you there!

50291 39710 71002 52983 47016 84392 91023 62091 89015 39102 75223 97738 ..... Well, I can see that even my pseudo random key strokes are hardly pseudo random - you can notice a distinct frequency of 1-0's plus a pattern of upper 5 digits alternating with lower 5 digits. The Cray's do have job security, dont they..... Thought I heard some possible traffic of interest on the target frequency but was just someone calling CQ. Shades of the monitoring stations in the Mediterranean that would copy diplomatic traffic up and down the coast along with a bit of intercept of North African signals to liven things up a bit. Ok, back to the static - will have to move this to the radio page if this keeps up. RYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRYRY

You have a pretty good fist and you came up with those results? Amazing! It is very funny that the guy calling CQ was so bad you mistook it for something else. Talk about Novice Class...! Hey, we can topic drift right here. All that stuff was bounced off the Kennelly-Heavyside Layer, anyway.....

RY? aa9il, what is RY? (I'll get your call right one of these days...sorry!)

Howdy again RY harkens back to ye olden days of teletype where commercial stations would send a string of RY's on their channel in between traffic. Also, (not quite memorized the Baudot) I think the letters R and Y mirror themselves - kind of like 73 which would be: _ _ ... ... _ _ Have to look up the baudot sheet for that. Also, regarding the chap sending CQ - heard a faint cw signal down in the noise floor - got my attention never the less... Probably the same effect of trying to pull cw signals out of the noise on microwave or EME. During the June contests years ago, I could have sworn I was hearing CW down in the noise floor on 5.7 GHz. Sleep depravation more likely. 73 de Mike Radio Cosmo International

Sleep Depravation can make for interesting notes in the log book, never again to be duplicated. I remember doing it for my Dad when I was the little kid in the family. But, never do I recall anything like in the GHz range. The old HRO just did not have that capacity and I don't think anyone was broadcasting in that range in any case. Not when I was a little kid. Oh Yeah, *That* RY... Yes! I think you are correct about the mirror image call

Regarding Number Stations (I recall hearing them in the 6MHz band) Number Stations Timothy Lehto 1. Introduction When listening around the lower frequencies of the international shortwave bands, one may hear stations, usually weak, reciting endless groups of numbers (usually groups of five, with a letter at the end of each group). These stations, dubbed "number stations" have been found to be radio stations, operated by foreign governments for the purpose of communicating to their field agents. Yes, folks, spy radio, and you can listen in! The first thing you must realize is that, there is no given frequency for certain number stations. They do change frequency when they feel that security is being compromised. However, they do tend to stay in the lower frequencies for two reasons. One reason is that at night, an enormous amount of range can be achieved with low power output on low frequencies. Another is that, for the most part, international broadcasts are above 7 MHz (giving ham operators headaches). 2. Where and when to look The best range of frequencies to hunt in is anywhere from 2 MHz to 6.5 MHz. And the best time of day to go hunting for them is at night. However, it is not impossible for you to hear these clandestine broadcasts during the day -- you just have to look harder. 3. Listening tips It is useful to write down the beginning and the end of the broadcasts. Some people are saying that there is a form of identifier for the station, and it is usually at the beginning or end. Keep a careful log of where you heard the station, and at what time. Over a period of a few weeks, you may notice a pattern that will make monitoring easier. And you will be able to determine what part of the world they are communicating with, the day of the week and time at which they communicate, and if you are lucky, figure out a frequency pattern so that you can make listening regular. more at: http://www.tdyc.com/archive/radio/number.html

The Ultimate Frequency list for the Number Stations: http://www.btinternet.com/~simon.mason/page51.html This guy thinks they're fake http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hall/5751/what.html And, if you are truly interested in this subject, I did a google.com search and they came up with 421,997 hits for Number stations.

I guess the secret on number stations is out judging from the number of hits. But has anyone cracked the code yet? Most likely one time pad ciphers... Anyway, working back towards earth science, saw a nice picture of the Aurora in the July issue of CQ. This was a red one. The only Aurora I ever saw was out a plane window on the way to Seattle. Looked out and saw this powder blue curtain in the sky - a few seconds later, the captain announced over the PA that the Aurora was visible - seconds later after that it was gone. Just thought of another interesting theory about whistlers - there was an article in a book titled RadioText(e) published by Semiotext(e) about an experiment to correlate whistlers with the Marfa lights. The Marfa lights was a strange visible phenomenon that occurred in Marfa, Tx (natch...) - strange orbs of light that would jet across the ground. Speculation ranged from ball lightning, to ghosts, to strange plasma balls formed from intense geological pressure on rocks (quartz fissures perhaps?). No end conclusions but interesting none the less. Closest I ever came to ball lightning was once witnessing the plasma dissipation after a close lightning strike. Sort of like strings of lightning pearls. 3's de Mike radio cosmo international p.s. - never saw the Marfa lights but did see hundreds of jack rabbits along the road side during one night of an epic road trip through West Texas....

Interesting and nice try, Mike! (random coeds no cracking re number stations) Your near-ball lightning reminds me of my experience with it. Purple sheet lightning succeeded by these odd plasma pearls (good name for them). Don't ever want to be that close to them again. The best aurora pix from the latest coronal ejections I posted the best on http://www.spring.net/yapp-bin/restricted/read/geo/35.59

Make that Random CODES not coeds......*grin*

Random coeds - ah yes, shades of my college days.... :-)

anyway... Another interesting form of lightning that has been more in the news in the past decade are the 'sprites' and 'jets'. These were observed by astronauts and pilots as upward charges that flare up from the top of a cloud during a strike. These can be seen as red tendrils and white bursts - must have to do a search on these as to what is the theoretical (or actual) cause. One other interesting form of lightning I had a chance to witness (although, given the circumstances, rather had not...) was some of the cloud to cloud bursts that would light up the night sky while viewed from an airplane window. Intense beauty but rather un-nerving - flying by storms aint much fun. 73 de mike radio cosmo....

You're right about flying in storms. Ain't fun. Did that landing in Tucson once. Blind lighning everywhere. Have NO idea how the pilot landed the place but we gave him a hearty ovation when he emerged from the cockpit! I've seen NASA footage of Elfs and Sprites and jets. Truly amazing - and colors too. Wonder if I can find pix of them to post...going hunting!

And howdy once again.... Got the latest Lowdown yesterday - why is it when I finally hunker down to work on one project - I get some info on something completely different that distracts me. This issue had a discussion on SLF continuous and irregular pulsations. Frequency range is in the 0 to 3hz range. I guess I'll have to do some web searches and find some design criteria for receivers or tunable amplifiers that work at that low frequency. Then, off to the surplus store to by a 10lb spool of #30awg copper wire to wind up a 50000 turn pickup loop. Until then, packaging on the 10ghz transverter will continue.... Talk about interests at the opposite ends of the spectrum. At least I have not decided to move up to the THz range and experiment with long range laser communications and optical cloud bounce. Stay tuned.... 73 de Mike Radio Cosmo International

No middle of the road for you, Mike! 10 GHz is WAY up there! I have wound transformers with my Dad - that is a really laborious task. How tedious is winding that loop?

Hi Marcia and Geo-ites I need to do some web research on these loops - I remember from an old Scientific American book that included a chapter on amateur seismology that the pickup loop was wound on a large bobbin which was balanced between the polls of a magnetron magnet. The balance was fixed to a large concrete pier which picked up the activity by moving the coil up and down between the magnet poles - awesome book - wished I could find a copy. The coil for this receiver will probably be wound on a good dielectric former - not sure if it is an air coil or has a ferro-magnetic core - probably does. Needless to say, 50000 turns will require automation! 73 de Mike radio cosmo international

Aloha Mike! Wow!!! 50000 turns....indeed! I shall hunt too for that book. One of us should find what you are looking for. They are reissuing those old but great Scientific American books. Gotta check on the web to see what is available. I would like it as well to make the seismology loop. When my son was young we looked everywhere for that book, but have not looked recently... And, if it as elaborate as you say, it is not a job for a novice former transformer winder!

The title of the book is: "The Scientific American Book of Projects for the Amateur Scientist" or something close to that - the book was written by CL Stong and sadly it is out of print. This was one of those 'mad scientist' books which included articles on model rocketry (not Estes!), building Van de Graff generators, particle accelerators, X Ray machines and other way cool gadgets that, if printed today, would cause litigation jittery folks to excrete bricks. This is hard core science in the classic sense and not for the weak of heart. - I.e. you could either get a cool project up and running or kill yourself in the process. Now, this is what I call a science book. The lilly livered can stick to making plaster of paris volcanos that use baking soda and vinegar. Anyway, there was a whole section on amateur seismology including mechanical and electrical designs. Of course, today, you can build up the system using OP Amps but the pickup coil and pivot/balance should still apply. Speaking of cool old books - there is an outfit called Lindsay Publications that puts out books on lost technology - stuff like how to build steam engines, lathes, tesla coils, and other weird science stuff. They seem to have quite a bit on Tesla - would like to build up something that generates a couple of MEV and throw lightning bolts around the basement. I found a perfect corona discharge orb at a ham fest once and just need to get a large plexiglass pipe to wind the coil. Kewl stuff. 73 de Mike radio cosmo international

For out of print books and rareties: http://abebooks.com/ The things of which dreams are made - Mine, anyway...Van de Graf Generator, Tesla Coil, wood-panelled library with a ceiling orerary. Never mind the rest of the house...I definitly need to find that book! Particle accellerators?! Mike, if you have not been the British Museum of Science off Cromwell Road in London, get thee hither and watch the lightning in there. What a show - and what a bang! oh, I also need a full length Foucault Pendulum...and...and...

Coronagraphs on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) recorded a full halo coronal mass ejection (CME) on July 7 at 1030 UT (6:30 a.m. EDT). Forecasters estimate that material from the CME, which was expanding away from the Sun at 455 km/s, will arrive in the vicinity of Earth on July 11, 2000.

And the propagations rises: SFI=210 up from 187 | A=7 | K=2 down from 3 at 2100 on 8 July. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: quiet to unsettled Aurora Level: 5 Solar Wind: 368.6 km/s at 3.4 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

Got a chance to go to the Science Museum last time I was in London. Way cool stuph. Only had a short time and focused on the space section and the telecom/wireless section. Even got to see an Enigma machine and did also see the pendulum. Missed the lightning show. Anyway, I'll have to do some rare book searches for the Sci American book. Probably alot of updated info already exists on the web. Still need to do some searches on ELF and SLF monitoring and the integration and/or DSP methods used to extract data. Mike radio cosmo international

Mike, you gotta to the the top floor and look at the old boat anchors - there is my dad's HRO there!!! On the same floor and room as the Enigma Machine!!! The lightning generator was in the next building back I think - science and technology. Really great stuph in there!!! Good luck on your searches!!!

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 28 - July 14, 2000 Solar activity rose substantially this week. Average sunspot numbers compared to the previous week rose nearly 68 points to 244.6, and average solar flux rose nearly 39 points to 207.5. A strong solar flare around 1037z on Wednesday sent a bubble of electrified gas, or plasma, toward the earth at more than 2 million miles per hour. Effects of the blast are being felt on Thursday, and a second more powerful wind is expected to arrive on Friday. This could be bad news for the Pacific 160 Meter Contest this weekend, although possible aurora could prove interesting for the 6 Meter Sprint. There is a good chance that any geomagnetic upset may decline through the weekend though. These flares originate in sunspot group 9077, which is large and magnetically complex. It harbors energy for powerful solar flares which could erupt on Thursday or Friday. For late updates, visit www.spaceweather.com. Another URL that bears checking is www.qsl.net/w3df. Dan has put together some great links of interest to propagation and sun watchers, including a chart which compares solar cycles 19 through 23. Go to http://www.qsl.net/w3df/sol_f0.html and click on ''Cy 19-23 Comparison.'' You will see that the current cycle is not as bad as cycle 20, but weaker than cycles 21 or 22, and of course nowhere near the biggest one of all, cycle 19. The author suffered through cycle 20 as a teenaged ham in the 1960s, but as a small child heard the effects of cycle 19, which peaked in the late 1950s. Father's low band VHF FM business radio in the company car brought in unfamiliar voices from all over the country to our home in California's San Joaquin Valley. The three daily 2000z flux values reported by the Penticton observatory for July 10-12 were 244.5, 241.6 and 314.6. Because they were flare enhanced, the NOAA Space Environment Center and the U.S. Air Force collaborated to come up with more realistic solar flux numbers, which were 215, 225 and 230. The lower numbers are the ones used here in our weekly summary. The latest prediction shows solar flux peaking on Friday around 230, then drifting down below 200 by July 18, and reaching a short term minimum around 165 from July 23-26. The next expected peak in solar flux is around August 6-9. Expect geomagnetic conditions to remain active. Based on the previous solar rotation, there are no predicted days over the next month when the planetary A index is expected to be in the single digits. Sunspot numbers for July 6 through 12 were 210, 226, 260, 262, 232, 281 and 241 with a mean of 244.6. 10.7 cm flux was 174.3, 187.1, 210, 211.3, 215, 225 and 230, with a mean of 207.5, and estimated planetary A indices were 7, 8, 7, 7, 19, 31 and 12, with a mean of 13.

Powerful Solar Flare Triggers Radiation Storm Space Weather News for July 14, 2000 This morning an X5-class solar flare, one of the most powerful flares of the current solar cycle, triggered a proton storm in the neighborhood of our planet. Just after the eruption, coronagraphs on board the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a full halo coronal mass ejection heading toward Earth at greater than 1000 km/s. Please visit http://www.spaceweather.com for details and updates on this developing story.

The following Alerts and Warnings are in effect: sr@hfradio.org The following Alerts and Warnings are in effect: Magnetic A-Index greater than 50 Watch for 15 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic A-Index greater than 50 Watch for 16 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic A-Index greater than 50 Watch for 17 Jul 2000 UT Comment: K-indices of greater than 6 are possible beginning at 1800 UT on 15 July Magnetic K-Index of 6 Observed 14 Jul 2000 from 15:00 to 18:00 UT Comment: None More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

An Extreme Geomagnetic Storm is Underway Space Weather News for July 15, 2000 A powerful shock wave from the fast-moving July 14th coronal mass ejection has arrived in the neighborhood of Earth. An extreme geomagnetic storm was underway at 1900 UT (3:00 p.m. EDT) on July 15th. If conditions persist as they are now, aurora could be visible at middle (and possibly even equatorial) latitudes. The best time to view aurora is usually near local midnight. In this case, sky watchers are advised to look for aurora as soon as night falls. For more information and updates please visit http://www.spaceweather.com Readers are invited to send pictures of tonight's aurora and the July 16, 2000, total lunar eclipse (visible across the Pacific Ocean) as an email attachment to phillips@spacescience.com for possible posting on spaceweather.com and/or spacescience.com. For more information about the lunar eclipse: Pacific Lunar Eclipse http://spacescience.com/headlines/y2000/ast14jul_1m.htm

SFI=213 up from 204 | A=118 up from 29 | K=9 up from 8 at 2100 on 15 July. SAF: moderate to high, GMF: at minor to severe storm levels Aurora Level: 10 Solar Wind: 257.2 km/s at 0.7 protons/cc More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

SEVERE GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Kp Index is at 9. A Index is 118. We are in a catagory G5 Storm. NOAA's Space Weather scale indicates the following effects: Power systems: grid systems can collapse and transformers experience damage. Spacecraft operations: extensive surface charging, problems with orientation, uplink/downlink, and tracking satellites. Other systems: pipeline currents reach hundreds of amps, HF (high frequency) radio propagation impossible in many areas for one to two days, satellite navigation degraded for days, low-frequency radio navigation out for hours, and the aurora seen as low as the equator. The Proton Monitor on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory is registering solar wind speeds in excess of 900 km/s The wave of solar particles - known as a solar proton event - is already four times more intense than any other event detected since the launches of SOHO in 1995 and ACE in 1997. At mid-afternoon (UT) on July 14th, the storm of particles from the Sun was still intensifying. More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 29 - July 21, 2000 This has been quite a week for solar activity, with blasts of solar wind dominating space weather news. Saturday was the big day for HF radio blackouts and aurora, with the planetary A index jumping to an incredible 152 and the mid-latitude A index at 148. The planetary K index, updated every three hours, was at 9 for three readings on Saturday. A K index reading of 9 over a 24-hour period would be equivalent to an A index of 300. This is big, really big. These numbers are associated with an extreme geomagnetic storm that was nearly off the scale. On Friday one of the most powerful solar flares of the current cycle triggered a storm of protons directed toward earth. The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory recorded a full halo coronal mass ejection heading toward earth at greater than one-million meters per second. Check out animations of this event at http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/CME/. There are only a few events of this magnitude in the average solar cycle. The only factor that probably impeded a spectacular aurora visible far down into the U.S. was that this is the summer season. A dark evening sky would reveal a rich tapestry of northern lights. Of course, it being winter in the southern hemisphere, bright displays were reported in Australia and New Zealand. The author made a weak attempt Saturday night, walking barefoot into the middle of the street and trying to peer north past city lights, but no auroral glow was visible. Seattle is north of the 47th parallel, and although there were no local reports of aurora, there were observations as far south as 40 degrees in Europe, Asia, and parts of Eastern North America. If you point your web browser toward http://www.sec.noaa.gov/info/kp-aurora.html you will see a nice map from the June, 1968 issue of Sky and Telescope which shows how far south aurora may be visible depending on the planetary K index. What is not clear from this map is whether it shows how far south the edge of the aurora extends, or how far south it is visible when looking north. Another coronal mass ejection emerged on Wednesday, July 19, but the predicted effect is uncertain because the ejection may not be aimed squarely at earth. On Thursday the planetary K index went up to 6 for several hours, but by the end of the UTC day it was 3. The planetary A index for Thursday was 43, and the College A index, recorded in Alaska, was 57. The latest forecast shows the planetary A index rising to 50 on Friday, then dropping to 20 and 15 and then 10 on Saturday through Monday. Solar flux peaked for the recent short term at 252.9 on Thursday, and is expected to drop to 245, 235, 230 and 225 on Friday through Monday. The next short term minimum is predicted around July 28 at 170, followed by another peak above 200 around August 6-9. The author has received many more inquiries recently asking for explanations of the various parameters reported in this bulletin. Although the explanations were repeated six weeks ago, it is probably time to run them again, and they follow this paragraph. Feel free to send questions to the author via k7vvvarrl.net. Amateur Radio operators who use HF generally like increased sunspots because they correlate with better worldwide radio propagation. When there are more sunspots, the sun puts out radiation which charges particles in the earth's ionosphere. Radio waves bounce off of these charged particles, and the denser these clouds of ions, the better the HF propagation. When the ionosphere is denser, higher frequencies will reflect off of the ionosphere rather than passing through to space. This is why every 11 years or so when this activity is higher, 10 meters gets exciting. 10 meters is at a high enough frequency, right near the top of the HF spectrum, that radio waves propagate very efficiently when the sunspot count is high. Because of the wavelength, smaller antennas are very efficient on this band, so mobile stations running low power on 10 meters can communicate world wide on a daily basis when the sunspot cycle is at its peak. There are also seasonal variations, and 10 meters tends to be best near the spring or fall equinox. The sunspot numbers used in this bulletin are calculated by counting the sunspots on the visible solar surface and also measuring their area. Solar flux is measured at an observatory in British Columbia using an antenna pointed toward the sun tuned to 2.8 GHz, which is at a wavelength of 10.7 cm. Energy detected seems to correlate with sunspots and with the density of the ionosphere. Other solar activity of concern to HF operators are solar flares and coronal holes, which emit protons. Since the charged ions in the ionosphere are negative, a blast of protons from the sun can neutralize the charge and make the ionosphere less reflective. These waves of protons can be so intense that they may trigger an event called a geomagnetic storm. The Planetary A index relates to geomagnetic stability. Magnetometers around the world are used to generate a number called the Planetary K index. You can hear the Boulder K index updated every three hours on WWV, or by calling 303-497-3235. A one point change in the K index is quite significant. A K index below 3 generally means good stable conditions, and above 3 can mean high absorption and poor reflection of radio waves. Each point change reflects a big change in conditions. Every 24 hours the K index is summarized in a number called the A index. A one point change in A value is not very significant. A full day with the K index at 3 will produce an A index of 15, K of 4 means A of 27, K of 5 means A of 48, and K of 6 means A of 80. You can find an explanation of these numbers on the web at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/GEOMAG/kp_ap.html. The number reported here is the Planetary A index, which is a worldwide average based on the K readings from a number of magnetometers. The numbers reported on WWV are the Boulder K and A index, measured in Colorado. Generally the higher the latitude of the measuring station, the higher the K and A indices reported. This is because the effects of geomagnetic instability tend to concentrate toward the polar regions of the globe. Currently we are near the peak of the solar cycle, so conditions are generally better because of the increased ionization of the ionosphere. But along with the increased sunspots come more solar flares and coronal holes, producing disturbed conditions. Sunspot numbers for July 13 through 19 were 240, 243, 229, 268, 335, 343 and 342 with a mean of 285.7. 10.7 cm flux was 231.9, 203.9, 213.1, 218.9, 228.3, 261.9 and 249.9, with a mean of 229.7, and estimated planetary A indices were 33, 35, 152, 46, 9, 13 and 15, with a mean of 43.3.

And, back again.... No real activity during the last geo storm - there was supposedly band openings in TX but I didnt work any and no contacts on 2m SSB. when is the next one? de AA9IL

Soon, Mike, and I shall let you know as soon as I do!! I stayed up looking for both Comet Linear and the Aurora and saw nothing.

(If I could predict the next coronal mass ejection (CME) I would be a wealthy and classified person!)

If you could predict CME's, Id think you were working on the HAARP project. Or, at least simulating geo storms in the upper atmosphere. Back down on earth, the need to do the across the lake propagation experiments is high on the list. The weather just seems right for such stunts. Just need to schedule with someone on the Michigan side. Speaking of HAARP and such, ever heard of the International Tesla Society - used to publish a magazine on weird science stuff including those govt conspiracy projects. There is probably a web page covering this group. Needless to say, a good place to look for info on Scalar Waves and generating signals at the earth's resonant frequency. de Mike radio cosmo international

Yup....plenty of weird stuff in the "real" world about Tesla including "the Philadelphia project. Protecting my identity by assuming the guise of a mild-mannered Geo conference host...Maaarcia

Mike, here's one for you, or did you know about this frequency?! Unknown Submarine Volcano Volcano Islands, Japan 22-27 N, 138-141 E Robert Dziak at the NOAA/Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory in Newport, Oregon reported that 10 Hz band-limited tremor was detected from the Volcano Islands area after a 6 month hiatus (Bulletin, v. 24, nos. 11 and 12). The current episode of signals began at 0800 UTC on 13 June, but were loudest at 0100-0200 UTC on 14 June. The tremor tracks to presumed submarine volcanism at an uncertain volcano. Information Contact: Robert P. Dziak, Oregon State University/NOAA, Hatfield Marine Science Center, 2115 SE OSU Drive, Newport, OR 97365 USA (Email: dziak@pmel.noaa.gov; URL: http://newport.pmel. Noaa.gov/).

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 31 - August 4, 2000 Solar activity for last week (July 28 - August 3) was mostly at low levels. A minor M-class flare from region 9090 occurred on July 28. Several new regions (9110, 9111, 9112, 9113, 9114, and 9115) emerged later in the week. Region 9114 produced a C7 flare and associated CME on August 2. The 10.7 cm solar flux, following the sun's 27-day rotation period, decreased to a minimum of about 155 at the beginning of last week. Solar flux is forecasted to steadily climb to a maximum of about 240 around mid-August. A comment about 10.7 cm solar flux - although 10.7 cm solar flux is easy to measure because the Earth's atmosphere is transparent at that wavelength, energy at 10.7 cm is about 1 million times less energetic than the true ionizing energy. Thus 10.7 cm solar flux contributes nothing to the formation of the ionosphere. But it is an indicator of the general activity level of the sun, and smoothed solar flux values (a 12 month running average) correlate very well with smoothed sunspot numbers (SSN). Solar activity for next week (August 4 - August 10) is expected to be at moderate to high levels. Isolated M-class flares are expected, along with a chance for an isolated major flare. Historically the equinox months (September and March) give us the greatest amount of magnetic storms due to the orientation of the Earth at these times with respect to the solar wind. Thus expect an increase in storms up to mid-September, then a gradual decrease after that to a minimum in December. Cycle 23 continues its march upward, with a peak forecasted by the end of the year. For details, see the web site referenced in last week's bulletin (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/index.html). The latest SSN data is 113 for January 2000. The estimated SSN for the month of August is 120. Cycle 23 appears to be similar to, but just a bit higher than, Cycle 20, which peaked at an SSN of 110. This level of activity, while not approaching that of Cycles 22 and 21, will still give us excellent conditions on the higher HF bands as we progress from Summer to Fall and into Winter. Sunspot numbers for July 27 through August 2 were 174, 163, 183, 138, 123, 139 and 153 with a mean of 153.3. 10.7 cm flux was 162.4, 157.8, 153.2, 149.9, 147.9, 149.4 and 150.6, with a mean of 153, and estimated planetary A indices were 9, 30, 27, 10, 19, 15 and 14, with a mean of 17.7.

Greetings All I would suspect the SLF crowd and earthquake monitoring bunch got some good integration signals from that volcano. New web page - check oug www.vlf.it No new info otherwise on this end - started pulling out parts for a 5.7ghz transverter that is close completion. Weird weather info tho - we have been having some strong thunder storms pass through the area. One day, it was very balmy and hot prior to a big storm front pushing through. Went driving and watched the outside temp shoot from the 80's to 101 in one area - some kind of heat cell? Of course, after the storm hit, the temp dropped down to the 70's. Have to do some research on that. 73 de Mike

WOW!!! The conspiracy theorists would have a field day with temperature inversions like that! Let us know what you discover! You do know about the mass coronal emissions headed this way?! Posted it next door on 34 today.

and yet another one... SFI=187 up from 181 | A=49 up from 26 | K=3 at 2100 on 11 August. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: at active to minor storm levels Aurora Level: 9 Solar Wind: 645.3 km/s at 4.0 protons/cc SFI=187 | A=56 up from 49 | K=6 up from 3 at 0000 on 12 August. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: at active to major storm levels Aurora Level: 10 Solar Wind: 627.8 km/s at 10.8 protons/cc

Ham Radios in Space NASA Science News for August 21, 2000 Ham radio operators are notorious for their love of long-distance radio chats. Now, thanks to NASA's SAREX program, hams and students on Earth can enjoy the ultimate long-distance radio experience by contacting astronauts in orbit. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast21aug_1.htm?list

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 34 - August 25, 2000 Solar activity took a big dive over the past week, with sunspot numbers dropping to 84 on August 22 and 23. Although NASA's Spaceweather.com reported that the Boulder sunspot number has not been this low in this calendar year, our records from past bulletins show that it has been lower than this several times in January. Boulder sunspot numbers, which are the ones reported weekly in this bulletin, were 69 on January 1 and 2, 77 on January 3, 81 on January 29 and 82 on January 31, 2000. Does this drop mean that the peak for the current cycle has passed? Not at all. There are many wild variations in solar activity over the course of the average 11 year cycle, and the only real way to determine the peak or the minimum is to look back at a moving average many months later. The quieter sun did present some advantages for HF operators, because while the activity was lower, the earth's geomagnetic conditions were quieter as well. The College A index, from Fairbanks, Alaska, was mostly in the single digits, and there were 19 three-hour periods over the week when the College K index was actually 0, lower than the planetary K index at any time. This is significant because the higher latitudes have greater geomagnetic instability at times of heightened solar activity. During this week the area near the Arctic Circle, at least in Alaska, was quieter than the average for the entire planet. Conditions look quieter for the near term as well. Solar flux is probably bottoming out over the next few days, with predicted values for Friday through Tuesday at 128, 128, 130, 132, and 135. Predicted planetary A index looks quiet as well, with unsettled conditions possible for August 30 through September 3. Solar flux for the next few weeks is expected to peak at only 175 near September 7-9. This is based only on what is known about activity during the previous rotation, and any new activity could change this. The fall equinox is less than one month away (September 22), and soon we should see a transition from summer to fall conditions. Daytime absorption on the upper bands and atmospheric noise on lower frequencies should be lessened, and stronger signals should be the rule for this equinox at the peak of solar cycle 23. AE4TM sent along a web link for his experiments using Pactor with ionospheric observations. Check out his web page at http://home.earthlink.net/~ae4tm/hamradio.html and send him your feedback. Another interesting link was received this week. Check http://www.discovery.com/cams/sun/uv.html to see a live webcam from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory which is updated every 12 minutes with a new ultraviolet solar image. Sunspot numbers for August 17 through 23 were 252, 231, 209, 150, 132, 84 and 84 with a mean of 163.1. 10.7 cm flux was 177.1, 169.5, 157.1, 152.4, 151.4, 144.2 and 136.9, with a mean of 155.5, and estimated planetary A indices were 11, 6, 6, 7, 12, 5 and 11 with a mean of 8.3.

Ok, and back again.... Another part of the radio telescope has been found - a 1.1 to 1.2 GHz phase locked brick oscillator - this requires an external source to get lock. Hopefuly this is a 'quiet' oscillator (i.e. low phase noise) otherwise I will have to resort to 'plan B' whatever that is.... This oscillator will be good for a hydrogen line receiver (1.4ghz). With fall/winter coming up, plenty of time to be cooped up in the house to work on projects. 73 de Mike p.s. - most recent Sky and Telescope has an interesting article on detecting gravity waves - more details to follow....

How fantastic that progress is by leaps and bounds now rather than by things measured by micrometers! You will know soon enough if you are doing your searching "silently" - neighbors seldom suffer in silence! I found another site to listen to some of the goodies Mike will be hearing in his quest of things not normally discernable by the human ear... http://216.156.129.123/home/

Howdy howdy Yea, it will be interesting to see the reaction to the 8 foot solid aluminum dish in the back yard. Thats scheduled for after the spring thaw tho... (2001 - an appropriate year to start the search) Until then, all the work will be indoors - building receivers and such - I might try to whip together a VLF loop antenna for winter listening. BTW, there is quite a bit of VLF activity in the UK on 137khz. There has also been research on VLF beacons conducted by AMRAD - dont have their URL but a search on AMRAD will turn up the pages. Finally, a couple of good articles on the Magnetosphere in CQ magazine. 73 de Mike radio cosmo international

Aloha Mike, the man from RCI, Thanks for the heads-up on the activity in the UK (from whence commeth your latest hernia and boat anchor...) I think I need to climb back onto the roof with emery paper, sharp knife, wire strippers and soldering iron plus a bunch of shrink tubing and duct tape to fix the corroded antenna downlead connection to the rooftop trap dipole. It has gotten to the point where wiggling does not work and I am sure the next time I wiggle it will disconnect it altogether. Marcia, fluxing my way to aural fulfillment....

Hey Marcia I take it that you are crunching for seti@home? Might be phun to post what part of the sky you are doing analysis on. Oy - forget what its like to have salt air to corrode the antenna - we just have acid rain from Chicago. Get hold of some RTV cement and liberally coat the solder connections. That should help. 73 de Mike radio cosmo international currently crunching: from 18hr 23' 56" RA 13deg 35' 24" 1.419472626Ghz (splish splash in the water hole...)

Well, judging how fast the old P90 is cranking, this data reduction will take a while.... Good reason to get a Beowulf cluster up and running.... crunch crunch crunch pull back mechanical tabulation handle crunch crunch.... de Mike

Currently crunching my 76th block of data (1193 hours on...) 5 hr 3' 7" Right Assention, +10� 13' 47" Declination recorded on Fri, June 16th 16:15:03 GMT Thanks for the tip on protecing the new solder joint... Yeah not only do we have salt air, we also have mother nature's very own acid rain when the volcano fumes are wafted in this direction and it rains. Cannot believe how it corrodes glass! I hate to think of metals which are so much more reactive...

sigh...Ascention...

Base Frequency: 1.420556641 GHz Doppler drift rate: -6.7730 Hz/sec Best Gaussian: power 1.49, fit 5.172 (have no idea what that last refers to... what is a fit??!) I gather you are also receiving data from Arecibo?!

Yep, the data is from Arecibo. Just started crunching on data again but this is gonna take a while. I figure it will be nice to analyze data parallel to building my system. Of course, the frequency stability and sensitivity will be a far cry from the big dish but it should collect some good sky data (given I overcome drifty receivers, man made noise, internal system noise, dish pointing, etc. etc. etc....) Should be fun! 73 de Mike radio cosmo international

Looking forward to seeing how your dish data compares with Arecibo's...hardly in the same league of course. Not eveyone has has a bunch of mountains in their back yard into which to set a super-sized radio telescope dish...!!! Please let us know how it progresses. I am salivating at the thought and I can see atleast 7 world class telescopes from my front yard!!! If only they'd build one closer to the house...

Howdy howdy Marcia and Geo-ites Well, still cranking on the FFT's - so far no unique modulation patterns although there is some distinct noise sources that are showing up - have to take the RA/DEC coordinates from Arecibo and see what part of the sky they are pointing at. I wonder what the data display looks like for folks who are actually pointing at galactic noise sources. Seven telescopes? Tres cool. One of the neat things about living near a major research site. Lots of inspiration. Next on my 'to buy' list will be an A to D converter to collect data to load on my PC. The ones with low resolution are not too expensive - have to check out the radio astronomy parts web pages. Then, get a feed horn for the dish - I could build one if I had some reasonable metal working skills but I dont... I could solder a couple of coffee cans together since they are at about the right frequency. Major inspiration for me today was driving around and listening to Pink Floyd's 'Astronomy Domine' and 'A Saucerful of Secrets'. Appropriate space music.... 73 de Mike Radio Cosmo International

Pink Floyd ain't all that bad, but I am giving Napster a real go through getting my stock of 80's rock from Moody Blues to Arrowsmith and Elton John. They can inspire the most primal and lofty urges depending on the company I am keeping and the job at had at the moment....=) Arecibo is sending me 6hr 34min 22 sec RA..... +9 degrees 6 minutes 35 seconds Declination at the moment. How odes that compare with yours??? Wonder if my low latitude matters compared with yours...!

The 'Floyd is for those spacey pondering moments. Tonite I picked up some techno and dance remix stuff plus some rowdy garage punk at a Chicago northside cd store before going to the local used book place to sift through astronomy text books and chess strategy tutorials. Guess I shift on musique tastes quite a bit... BTW, the date on my data block was June 15 04:38:03 2000 - still crunching the same block from a couple of postings ago. One thing Im going to save some extra $$ for is a faster CPU! If you check out the Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers home page, there is a link to a radio astronomy supplies to get an idea of some of the components available. These include hydrogen line receivers and Jupiter receivers. I will probably buy the feed horn and A-D converter but will build up the receiver from scratch. The LNA will be in kit form if I can find it otherwise will have to go with factory built. Rock On! de Mike radio cosmo international

You sound as eclectic in music as I am. I used be entirely classical - Bach and Telemann up reluctantly through Stravinsky and Copland. Lately I have discoverd how great some of that 80's stuff really is..and since I also love baseball I have Dan Fogarty's Centerfield Hey, the Moody Blues used the London Symphony Orchestra for their background music!!! Will be eager to know when you get higher power for your CPU. 700 MHz sucks the data out of the air. Tis a wonderful thing, power!!!

I had the hardest time with classical music of the Early Twentieth Century, such as Schoenberg and Charles Ives. To me it sounded, at first, like a cross between a jackhammer and sewer backing up. It is what can be termed an "acquired taste".

Spectacular Solar Eruption on Sept 12, 2000 Space Weather News for Sept 12, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com On Tuesday, Sept. 12, less than 24 hours after the sunspot number plunged to its lowest value of the year, the Sun unleashed a surprising full-halo coronal mass ejection (CME). The leading edge of the CME could reach Earth on Thursday, Sept 14. Forecasters estimate a 30% chance of severe geomagnetic disturbances (possibly including aurora) at middle latitudes when the shock front arrives. For more information and images, please visit http://spaceweather.com

Cheryl, that is hilarious!!! My thoughts exactly. I was offended by the composer who wrote "7 minuites of silence" until I heard "avant guarde" music. Oxymoron of the most nasty sort. I was offended more by the noise than the silence!

Oops! Not sending you my composition 'noise and misunderstanding' then. definitely a child of the 60s!

The CME has entered the Ionosphere! Look for Aurura tonight!!! SFI=151 up from 133 | A=7 down from 9 | K=1 at 2100 on 14 September. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: at quiet to major storm levels Aurora Level: 7 Solar Wind: 333.2 km/s at 1.7 protons/cm3 More Info and Unsubscribe at http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

There was supposed to have been a geomagnetic storm within the last 24 hours. Does anybody know anything about it?

Yup....read the above two posts. the was a major CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) on the 12th...

Check for Aurora tonight!!! SFI=175 up from 159 | A=18 up from 12 | K=3 down from 4 at 2100 on 16 September. SAF: moderate to high, GMF: unsettled to active Aurora Level: 8 Solar Wind: 386.0 km/s at 10.4 protons/cm3 More Info and Unsubscribe at http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

16 September, 2000 Two full-halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs) occurred on September 15, 2000, and a third CME on September 16, 2000 has been observed as the brightest of the three. These were associated with solar flares (M5-class for the latest of the three CMEs). Due to the complex delta magnetic field in the Sunspot group 9165, there is a good chance for further eruptions. Those who wish to experience Aurora (visual as well as the radio propagation mode) should be on the lookout from this point forward. At the time of writing, the Aurora index is 10, the highest level. :ALERTS: Magnetic K-Index of 4 Warning valid from 16 September, 2000 1800Z to 17 September, 2000 1500Z. Magnetic A-Index greater than=30 Watch for 19 September, 2000Z. Magnetic A-Index greater than=30 Watch for 20 September, 2000Z. Report by NW7US More: http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

All I can tell you from the Latitude of Hawaii is that Radio Australia was almost intelligible last night (listening to the Olympics) due to the "noise" Aurora level is down but the solar flux is higher than ever...! SFI=204 up from 182 | A=33 up from 28 | K=2 down from 5 at 2100 on 18 September. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: at active to minor storm levels Aurora Level: 5 Solar Wind: 667.8 km/s at 0.8 protons/cm3 More Info and Unsubscribe at http://hfradio.org/propagation.html

Mike, how's your Seti@home doing? Mine is working on its 92nd block of data (almost finished) in 1406 hours 57 minutes 22hr 15' 10" RA + 25 deg 45' 0" Dec 1.420800761 GHZ Be sure you are running the 2.04 version - is is much speedier!

Does anyone know how or if the current Geomagentic storm affects these transmissions? It certainly must...!

A Whale of a Sunspot Space Weather News for Sept. 21, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com The biggest sunspot to come along in 9 years is now rotating toward the center of the Sun's disk. Visit http://www.spaceweather.com to find out how this huge spot compares to other sunspots in history and how to safely view the sunspot for yourself. SpaceWeather.com

check it out here

or.... http://sec.noaa.gov/solar_images/current_fdha_stamp.gif

Aloha Mike...I need you input. I get a guy in California running Seti@home now and he has a few questions - some a little tongue-in-cheek, but I told him I'd ask the resident expert. Will you let me know what to tell him...Please? * What makes them think ET transmits on normal frequencies... I mean even Star Treck uses sub space... a feasible concept. * Ask him why the Seti's think ET would use technology we are familiar with * If someone shot a standard radio signal into space, I think it would decay before it got out of the galaxy *I would think that cosmic radiation would fairly much wipe out a signal Mahalo for thinking about it...

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 38 - September 22, 2000 Last week's bulletin reported that the sun was almost spotless, with one day's sunspot number the lowest since February of last year. Now this week we can report the appearance of sunspot 9169, the largest observed in nine years. The area of this spot is a dozen times the area of the earth's surface, and what should make it interesting for HF radio is that it is rotating toward the center of the sun's earth-facing hemisphere, which aims its effects right toward us. A large sunspot such as this can produce big solar flares, but so far this one, although magnetically complex, seems quiet. This week's big one measures 2,140 millionths of the visible solar disk. The largest sunspot recorded in the twentieth century was in 1947, and it measured 6,132 millionths of the solar disk. You can see more information about big sunspots at http://www.spaceweather.com/sunspots/history.html . Solar flux has been much higher this week than predicted. Last week's bulletin projected a solar flux around 170, but by Sunday it was above 180 and the next day over 200. The projected solar flux for the next five days, Friday through Tuesday, is 230, 235, 235, 230 and 225. Planetary A index for those same days is expected to be around 10, 10, 10, 15 and 12. So for this weekend we not only have the autumnal equinox, which is a great time for HF propagation, but solar flux and sunspot numbers are increasing as well. This means good conditions, as long as geomagnetic activity stays low. Geomagnetic activity was anything but low on Sunday and Monday, when the effects of several solar flares were felt. Planetary A index for both days was 40 and 45, and K indices were as high as 7. The College A index, recorded in Alaska, was 59 on September 17, and the College K index was 8 during one period. This was indicative of a severe geomagnetic storm as well as an aurora at that time. Over the next few weeks expect the higher frequencies, especially 10 meters, to improve as we change to fall conditions. Last week's bulletin mentioned a chart showing solar cycle progress. Check out another chart showing activity over the past few months on Jan Alvestad's Solar Activity Report at http://www.dxlc.com/solar/ , or the past year of Daily Effective Sunspot Numbers at the NW Research Associates site at http://www.nwra-az.com/spawx/ssne-year.html . For an explanation of Effective Sunspot Numbers, which are based on ionospheric F-layer observations rather than solar observations, see http://www.nwra-az.com/spawx/ssne.html . Sunspot numbers for September 14 through 20 were 109, 113, 148, 146, 154, 140 and 171 with a mean of 140.1. 10.7 cm flux was 150.8, 159.4, 174.6, 181.5, 203.8, 207.1 and 211.4, with a mean of 184.1, and estimated planetary A indices were 6, 10, 21, 40, 45, 27 and 13 with a mean of 23.1.

Possible aurora this week Space Weather news for Sept. 26, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com A solar coronal mass ejection that left the Sun on Sept. 25th could strike Earth's magnetosphere on Wednesday and trigger mid-latitude aurora. The timing is good because the Moon will reach its new phase on Sept. 27th, affording dark skies for aurora watchers. For more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com SpaceWeather.com

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 39 - September 29, 2000 Solar flux and sunspot numbers were up over the past week, while average geomagnetic indices were lower, which is always a happy condition for HF radio enthusiasts. Solar flux peaked at 232.2 on Friday and sunspot numbers peaked at 255 on Sunday. Average sunspot numbers for the week were up nearly 87 points, and average solar flux rose by almost 39 points, when compared to the previous week. The sunspot number is calculated by counting the visible sunspots and factoring in their size, so a significant factor was sunspot 9169, reported in last week's Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP038 as one of the largest seen in many years. It is now fading as it rotates off of the visible solar disk. We were lucky not to have a great deal of flare activity from this magnetically complex spot. K4WY sent a web reference concerning this particular sunspot. Check http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap000925.html . The most active geomagnetic day over the past week was Tuesday, when the planetary A index was 21. Planetary K index was 4 during most of the day, but Alaska's College K index, which is usually higher because of the polar region proximity, was as high as 6. College A index was 37 for the day. Friday and Saturday were the quietest geomagnetic days, with A indices in the single-digits, Planetary K indices at 2 and 3, and mid-latitude K indices at 1 and 2. Fortunately for HF enthusiasts, this was also the period when the sunspot count and solar flux were the highest, which often is not the case. Geomagnetic indices should remain stable over the next few days, with planetary A indices predicted at around 10. On Monday through Wednesday the A index is forecast at 12, 15 and 12, probably based on the previous solar rotation. This indicates an unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions, with higher absorption of HF radio signals, particularly in the higher latitude or polar paths. Solar flux is expected to decline over the next few days, with Saturday at 190 and Sunday around 180. For the short term, flux values should reach a minimum near 155 around October 7-9, then head above 200 again around mid-month. We have now passed the autumnal equinox, and are experiencing Fall HF conditions. 10 and 12 meter operators should expect great propagation, at least when the K index as reported by WWV is 3 or less. Openings follow the sunlight, with propagation to the east in the morning and toward the west later in the day. 15 meters should offer plenty of worldwide openings as well, but also later into the evening after 10 meters has closed. Worldwide 20 meter openings should be available around the clock. As the northern hemisphere moves further from the summer season, 160 and 80 meters should improve with shorter days and less of the static commonly associated with summer. Judging by recent email, it is time to repeat the occasional explanation of the various numbers and indices that are cited in this weekly bulletin, which appears below. Questions and comments are always welcome at k7vvv@arrl.net. Amateur Radio operators who use HF generally like increased sunspots because they correlate with better worldwide radio propagation. When there are more sunspots, the sun puts out radiation which charges particles in the earth's ionosphere. Radio waves bounce off of (refract from) these charged particles, and the denser these clouds of ions, the better the HF propagation. When the ionosphere is denser, higher frequencies will refract from of the ionosphere rather than passing through to space. This is why every 11 years or so when this activity is higher, 10 meters gets exciting. 10 meters is at a high enough frequency, right near the top of the HF spectrum, that radio waves propagate very efficiently when the sunspot count is high. Because of the wavelength, smaller antennas are very efficient on this band, so mobile stations running low power on 10 meters can communicate world wide on a daily basis when the sunspot cycle is at its peak. There are also seasonal variations, and 10 meters tends to be best near the Spring or Fall equinox. The sunspot numbers used in this bulletin are calculated by counting the sunspots on the visible solar surface and also measuring their area. Solar flux is measured at an observatory in British Columbia using an antenna pointed toward the sun tuned to 2.8 GHz, which is at a wavelength of 10.7 cm. Energy detected seems to correlate with sunspots and with the density of the ionosphere. Other solar activity of concern to HF operators are solar flares and coronal holes, which emit protons. Since the charged ions in the ionosphere are negative, a blast of protons from the sun can neutralize the charge and make the ionosphere less refractive. These waves of protons can be so intense that they may trigger an event called a geomagnetic storm. The Planetary A index relates to geomagnetic stability. Magnetometers around the world are used to generate a number called the Planetary K index. You can hear the Boulder K index updated every three hours on WWV, or by calling 303-497-3235. A one point change in the K index is quite significant. A K index reading below 3 generally means good stable conditions, and above 3 can mean high absorption and poor reflection of radio waves. Each point change reflects a big change in conditions. Every 24 hours the K index is summarized in a number called the A index. A one point change in A value is not very significant. A full day with the K index at 3 will produce an A index of 15, K of 4 means A of 27, K of 5 means A of 48, and K of 6 means A of 80. You can find an explanation of these numbers on the web at http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/GEOMAG/kp_ap.html. The number reported here is the Planetary A index, which is a worldwide average based on the K readings from a number of magnetometers. The numbers reported on WWV are the Boulder K and A index, measured in Colorado. Generally the higher the latitude of the measuring station, the higher the K and A indices reported. This is because the effects of geomagnetic instability tend to concentrate toward the polar regions of the globe. Currently we are near the peak of the solar cycle, so conditions are generally better because of the increased ionization of the ionosphere. But along with the increased sunspots come more solar flares and coronal holes, producing disturbed conditions. Sunspot numbers for September 21 through 27 were 198, 248, 216, 255, 215, 223 and 233 with a mean of 226.9. 10.7 cm flux was 225.1, 232.2, 225.2, 224.5, 225.6, 223.6 and 204.7, with a mean of 223, and estimated planetary A indices were 9, 7, 7, 10, 16, 21 and 11 with a mean of 11.6.

Aurora Watch + An Unusual Asteroid Space Weather News for Oct. 3, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com Ongoing geomagnetic activity could intensify on Wednesday or Thursday when an Earth-directed solar coronal mass ejection arrives in the neighborhood of our planet. With the Moon just past New, it may be a good time for stargazers to watch for dark-sky aurora. In other news, a Near-Earth Asteroid that passed our planet in September appears to be a binary space rock. See http://spaceweather.com for amateur video of the asteroid racing through the sky on October 2nd. For more information and images, please visit http://SpaceWeather.com

A Geomagnetic Storm on October 5th Space Weather News for Oct. 6, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com An interplanetary shock wave buffeted Earth's magnetosphere on October 5th and triggered a strong geomagnetic storm. Skywatchers in Canada and the northern tier of US states spotted red- and green-colored aurora for hours before local dawn on Thursday. The disturbance subsided after nearly 21 hours of high activity. For more information about the event and pictures of the aurora, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com.

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 40 - October 6, 2000 Average solar flux and sunspot numbers were off for the week, while geomagnetic indices were up, the result of coronal mass ejections and the subsequent solar wind. Average sunspot numbers were off by nearly 43 points and solar flux was down nearly 28 points. A series of coronal mass ejections kept things lively, with two days (Saturday and Wednesday) when the planetary A index reached 45. This is an indication of a geomagnetic storm. Until daybreak on Thursday, October 5, auroral lights were spotted as far south as latitude 43 degrees. This was probably the result of a solar coronal mass ejection on October 2. The NASA ACE spacecraft recorded an interplanetary shock wave at 0240z on October 5. Effects are expected to fade over the next few days, with the planetary A index predicted for Friday through Wednesday at 35, 15, 10, 10, 12 and 12. Solar flux is expected to reach a minimum during this period with a 10.7 cm flux value at 150. Predicted flux values for Friday through Wednesday are 170, 160, 150, 150, 150 and 160. Solar flux is expected to rise above 200 again after October 16, and peak around 215 from October 18-22. Because September 30 marked the end of the third calendar quarter of 2000, it is time to review quarterly averages of solar flux values. The average daily solar flux for July 1 through September 30 was 181.9, one point lower than the earlier quarter, 182.9. The first quarter of this year had an average daily solar flux value of 180.5. This seems to indicate a fairly flat average solar flux value for this year, which was predicted to be the peak year for this solar cycle. These values are higher than the solar flux levels for 1999. Average solar flux for September was 182.1, which is an improvement over August, which was 163.1. Average monthly solar flux values since the beginning of this year were 159, 174.1, 208.2, 184.2, 184.5, 179.8, 200.5, 163.1, and 182.1. Readers who use Scott Craig's Solar Data Plotting Utility noticed that it would not suck up data from last week's Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP039. This is because of wording in the bulletin that confused the automatic data gathering feature in the software. Scott is writing a revision to the code so that it will not have that problem in the future, if ever that particular sequence of words that caused the problem is used again. Of course you can manually edit the data file to update the solar flux and sunspot numbers. You can also check http://edge.net/~scraig/index.html or specifically http://edge.net/~scraig/sol.htm for an update. Look for something beyond the current version, which is 3.08w. G3LDI wrote to inquire about a source for solar flux, A index and K index data over the past year. To get this data, go to the Space Environment Center's FTP server at http://sec.noaa.gov/getftp.cgi , then click on the Indices, Events and Region Data line, then click on Solar, Particle and Geomag Indices beginning Jan 1994. Sunspot numbers for September 28 through October 4 were 211, 164, 155, 157, 190, 196 and 216 with a mean of 184.1. 10.7 cm flux was 202.3, 192, 193.6, 201.6, 202.6, 192 and 184.1, with a mean of 195.5, and estimated planetary A indices were 12, 7, 45, 13, 11, 37 and 45 with a mean of 24.3.

Here Comes the Sun (again) Space Weather News for Oct. 10, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com Early this morning magnetic fields around sunspot AR9182 became unstable. A nearby solar filament explosively collapsed and a coronal mass ejection is now heading toward Earth. There could be aurora and other geomagnetic disturbances later this week when the leading edge of the CME hits our magnetosphere. For more information and animations, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com -

Greetings Marcia and the Geoites Sorry for falling off the face of the Earth but have been slightly distracted with work (annoying but it does pay the bills...), grad school, and a trip to PA for Microwave Update 2000. Got lots of neat mmWave components to fuel the passion and projects. Anyway, to answer your questions... Why the frequencies we use.... When the search started years ago, it was logically decided to check around the 'water hole' frequencies (1.4ghz) bounded by the resonant frequency of hydrogen and hydroxyl. Plus, the available dishes/receivers were already set up for those frequencies. Why would 'ET' use technology we are familiar with? Well, we are using the technology we have available for galactic monitoring - microwave, mmWave, Xray, UV, optical. Would the radio wave diminish in the galaxy? No - The radio astronomy community has equipment that monitors signals light years away. If signals faded within the bounds of a galaxy, then we would never see any stars or other sources beyond our own. Would the signal be lost in cosmic noise? Thats one of the interesting things about radio astronomy. You are basically listening to -Noise-. Thus, one has to differentiate between man made and terrestrial noise sources and those that are galactic. You are listening to noise on top of noise.... But since the noise sources are 'loud' against a 'cold' sky, one can pick them out, so to speak... These are ultra distilled answers to complicated questions. I would suspect checking with web sites such as the seti league and seti.org as well as the NRAO and Society for Amateur Radio Astronomers web pages for a more complete (and probably enlightening) discussion. Anyway, glad to be back into the fray - will try to be a bit more frequent in the future - plus have some results on the 24ghz system and another distraction - the interface of a GPS engine to a PC for various and arcane experiments.... 73 de Mike Radio Cosmo International

I knew you'd come up with all the Right Stuff! Thanks, Mike... Some answers I knew but could not have put as well, and others escaped me. Now were all sitting at your enlightened feet (ow wherever they sit for enlightenment...) Many thanks! Grad school and you are NOT at Penn State??? *gasp* Oh well, if you are brilliant (as I know you to be) any source of degree will stand you in good stead. Wondering what the advanced work entails... MS in some sort of Engineering would be my guess. PhD? Go, Mike!

Howdy Marcia and the Geo-ites Boy - kinda wish I was going for the PHd now... but the MS CS is keeping me busy ;) After looking at my hastily compiled answers, I realized I didnt adequetly answer a couple of them. So, anyway - some more mumbo jumbo... If someone did shoot a regular radio signal, would it ever get out of the galaxy? Well, depends on what you mean by a 'regular' signal - Watts, Kilowatts, Megawatts, etc.... Humans have been sending signals into space since the invention of radio. Now, radio signals do diminish over distances. Lets treat space as a perfect medium for the propagation of radio signals (which, it does a pretty good job....) Anyway, what you get into is what type of receiver on the other end is there to pick up that signal? What is its MDS (minimum discernable signal) it can hear - this will depend on several things - the noise figure of the receive system, the gain of the antenna, integration times, etc. I think we are still getting signals back from Pioneer - it should be out of our solar system by now. I think the power output is 10 watts in the X band (9-10ghz). What this is all leading to is if 'ET' is transmitting a beacon - would they use very high power and a substantial antenna. Is it omni directional or tightly focused in a beam from a cluster of dishes? If the answer is yes to both, and the signal originates reasonably close star clusters, then our largest dishes could possibly pick up a signal. If the signal originates from 'close in' (in space terms) and the power was significant, then maybe even the smaller SETI dishes will pick it up as well. I once read an article about what distances an Arecebo dish could communicate with a comparable system - have to look that up sometime.... Of course, then you get into all the unknowns - what is the modulation scheme, what frequency is it on, etc. A nice fantasy would be that Pulsar stars were 'created' for the sole purpose of being a beacon using natural materials..... How do you tell that the signal is intelligent and extraterrestrial? Well, you have to look at the pattern of the signal - does it have a fast or slow doppler shift, can it be confirmed by multiple stations in different parts of the world that can also confirm the signal characteristics and origin from their respective locations. If you search the Seti League page, there should be an article on 'Anatomy of a SETI Hoax' where there are good discussions with example data of what an ET signal is NOT. So, a little more data or mumbo jumbo for what its worth.... 73 de Mike radio cosmo international

Oh Mike!!! You did it!!! Thank you! *gratutde by the bucketsful* and a big *HUG* for your attention to details. THanks (knew most of that but cvould not have put it so well...) Onem ust MS the CS before he can PhofD...one step at a time, m'dear, and all good wishes!

Holy cow...been at this for far too long today... Mike, One must MS the CS before he can Ph of D... and I am stll trying to get voice on line...

Sun Sample Return Mission Nears Launch NASA Science News for October 12, 2000 The science payload for NASA's Genesis spacecraft, which will collect samples of the solar wind and return them to Earth, is now complete. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast12oct_1.htm?list89800

Interplanetary Shock Wave Passes Earth -- Aurora Likely Space Weather News for Oct 12, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com NASA's ACE spacecraft recorded an interplanetary shock wave heading toward Earth on October 12th at 2145 UT (5:45 pm EDT). Sky watchers should be on the alert for aurora between the times of local sunset on Oct. 12th and sunrise on Oct 13th. The bright full Moon will likely outshine faint aurora, but intense geomagnetic storms can produce auroras that are visible in spite of lunar interference. For more information, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com

Cool an aurora! I saw them when I lived up in Ettrick Wisconsin many years ago. It was an awe inspiring sight. We lived up on a ridge in a 16 by 32 army tent way out in the woods. And the sky was so incredibly clear that far out in the boonies.

I saw red and green aurora in Ohio when I was just out of college - and out in the boonies visiting my sister. Amazing to see! Would love to hear the booming noises they make (audible not radio interference)... maybe some time...

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 42 - October 20, 2000 The rise in solar flux for that was predicted this week in last week's Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP041 did not happen. Last week's bulletin stated that by October 18 and 19 we should see a short term peak in solar flux around 220. Instead, solar flux rose slightly over the weekend, then dropped below 160, and on October 18 and 19 it was 151.1 and 157.8. These short range predictions are based upon the previous solar rotation, plus what sunspot regions can be seen rotating toward the center of the solar disk, as well as a bet placed upon whether the activity in each region is increasing or decreasing. The current outlook is for a slowly and modestly rising solar flux, with the values for Friday through Monday at 160, 160, 165 and 170. The latest best guess is for solar flux to peak for the short term at only 190 on October 29 and 30, then decline to 145 around November 5. Geomagnetic conditions are expected to remain fairly stable on Friday and Saturday, but planetary A index my rise to 20 and 25 on Sunday and Monday. Geomagnetic indices are expected to calm down after that, but become unsettled to active around October 30 through November 1. It has been some time since Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP032 on August 11 when we last presented a path projection. This weekend we have two. One is for the VK/ZL Oceania CW Contest, and the other is for the RSGB 21/28 MHz CW Contest. The points of origin for each path will be pretty general, one for the center of the continental U.S.A, one for the East Coast, the other for the West Coast. The solar flux value used will be 160, which represents an average of values over ten days, including the projected values for October 20 and 21. The date used for the prediction is October 21.

And, back again.... Finally tested out the new 10ghz transverter on receive - next comes packaging and hopefuly a test before the winter winds blow off the lake and no more outdoor radio foolishness until 2001. 24ghz is next on the complete list - just need to kit out the oscillator and start bolting waveguide. And, just crunching away on Seti data.... 73 de Mike radio cosmo international

You...me too re SETI... Wheee!! Amazing what 700MHz will do for your crunching!!! Great to hear you are getting data with you 10 ghz lashup. What does winter have to do with it? I know it affects transmissions but I never noticed the difference here. Is that because I am in the tropics and therefore hopeless?! Watch out for the CME.

700mhz would be very cool. Ok, big debate question - more radio parts or a faster computer? Thats a tough one. re winter: -40 degree windchill is enough to keep me away from the lake. Although.... 24 and 47ghz are great bands during low humidity days (especially when all the moisture is frozen out) Enjoy those warm january days - I'll be huddled in front of the fire bottle gear listening to 160 and 75 meter AM. Of course, there will be plenty of time to build up the rest of the microwave gear. There IS a contest in January for VHF and up - roving during that one is kind of like the Iron Man and Iditarod of the vhf-microwave radio world. 73 de Mike radio cosmo international

decisions...decisions... Yes..alas Why does it have to be OR instead of AND?! Reality check dictates such things. Let's see, one trip across the pond and a nice boat anchor...hmmm.... no, would have done as you did. I did not have the other choice. Enjoy your bottle gear and let us know how the sensitivity to aurorae is. should be really active tomorrow... What is this stuff about negative figues as regards wind chill temperatures? Another planet? Will my warm thoughts help? You have them!

Geez, you roam in wx like that? I'll be listening and running ice cubes down my arms trying to 'feel your pain'...

I'm glad he clarified this: Thought for Friday, Oct 27, 2000 TFTD-L@TAMU.EDU * Albert Einstein, when asked to describe radio, replied: "You see, wire telegraph is a kind of a very, very long cat. You pull his tail in New York and his head is meowing in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? And radio operates exactly the same way: you send signals here, they receive them there. The only difference is that there is no cat."

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 43 - October 27, 2000 Average solar flux for the past week was exactly the same as the previous week. It was 160.9 for the past week, and 160.2 for the week previous. Average sunspot numbers dropped about ten points. Solar flux is rising, and is expected to peak on November 2 around 190. But the main interest among many radio amateurs is the forecast for this weekend, when the CQ Worldwide DX Phone Contest commences. Unfortunately, on October 25 a full halo coronal mass ejection was detected blasting away from the sun, and effects may be felt this weekend. The predicted planetary A index for Friday through Monday is 10, 15, 15 and 12. This does not signal terrible conditions, but the outlook for Saturday and Sunday is for unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions. Solar flux for the same four days is predicted at 175, 175, 180 and 180. After the November 2 peak in activity, solar flux is expected to bottom out around 155 on November 6 or 7.

We are into the initial stages of the CME. These two arrived almost simulatneously! SFI=182 up from 176 | A=12 up from 4 | K=2 down from 3 at 2100 on 28 October. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: unsettled to active Magnetic K-Index of 4 Warning valid from 28 Oct 2000 0700 to 29 Oct 2000 1500 UT Aurora Level: 7 Solar Wind: 400.9 km/s at 15.1 protons/cm3 More Info http://hfradio.org/propagation.html SFI=182 | A=17 up from 12 | K=5 up from 2 at 0000 on 29 October. SAF: low to moderate, GMF: at active to minor storm levels Magnetic K-Index of 4 Warning valid from 28 Oct 2000 0700 to 29 Oct 2000 1500 UT Aurora Level: 7 Solar Wind: 402.4 km/s at 10.2 protons/cm3

All-Ham Crew is ISS-Bound A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying the all-ham International Space Station Expedition 1 crew blasted off October 31 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Amateur Radio operation from the ISS is expected to debut by mid-month. The crew will spend four months aboard the ISS. On board the Soyuz are US astronaut and Expedition 1 Commander William ''Shep'' Shepherd, KD5GSL, and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR. The Soyuz is expected to dock with the ISS November 2. Shepherd, 51, is only the second US astronaut to go into space aboard a Russian launch vehicle. The Soyuz lifted off from the same launch pad where the space race began 43 years ago this month with the launch of the Sputnik 1 satellite. The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station--or ARISS--initial station gear already is aboard the space station. It will be installed temporarily in the Zarya Functional Cargo Block of the ISS and will permit operation on 2 meters--FM voice and packet. Tentative operating frequencies are: Worldwide downlink for voice and packet, 145.80 MHz: worldwide packet uplink, 145.99 MHz; Region 1 (Europe) voice uplink: 145.20 MHz; Region 2 and 3 voice uplink, 144.49 MHz. Crew members may use their personal call signs or one of the ''club station'' call signs issued for ISS use--NA1SS, RZ3DZR, or DL0ISS. For ARISS information and updates, visit the ARISS Web site, http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov/.

Cool, I'll be listening on 145.55, the freq the astronauts use. And the ones you mention of ours. 145.2 and 144.49. Wow! Good stuff Marci!

Thanks! I'll be listening, too! Thanks also for the additional frequency!

For those wishing to watch live coverage http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/countdown/video/video45m.html

Previous article posted in Radio Conference of interest here: Get your ears on! ISS ham gear cleared for takeoff The way has been cleared for the Amateur Radio gear destined for use aboard the International Space Station to be launched into space. The initial amateur gear is scheduled go up to the ISS on mission STS-106 aboard the shuttle Atlantis on September 8. As part of the multinational Amateur Radio on the International Space Station project, the gear will be stowed aboard the ISS for use by the Expedition 1 crew, set to come aboard in late October. ''We have been working for years to bring the first ISS hardware to fruition,'' ARISS Administrative Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, said this week. ''It looks like the final issues that have held us back are now over, and we are moving ahead toward the launch of the initial hardware on STS-106.'' Bauer said three events over the past couple of weeks were key to moving the ARISS project forward. The first was the launch and docking of the Russian-built Zvezda Service Module that eventually will house the ARISS gear. In addition, Bauer said, a series of RF, power-up and other tests on the amateur equipment were successfully completed in Russia, thanks to Lou McFadin, W5DID, of ARISS and AMSAT and Carolynn Conley, KD5JSO, of NASA. He said NASA also signed off on the required flight safety package, giving the go-ahead to release the amateur hardware for flight aboard the upcoming shuttle mission. The Expedition 1 crew will consist of three amateurs: US astronaut Bill Shepherd, KD5GSL, and Russian Cosmonauts Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, and the recently licensed Yuri Gaidzenko, whose call sign was not available. To be available to the first crew, the ARISS initial station gear will be installed temporarily aboard the ISS Functional Cargo Block. It will use an existing antenna that's being adapted to support FM voice and packet on 2 meters but not on 70 cm. Eventually, the ARISS gear will find a more-permanent home aboard the Zvezda Service Module. A Russian call sign, RZ3DZR, has been issued for the ISS ham radio station. The ARRL and AMSAT have been providing leadership and consulting services for ARISS. ARRL Field and Educational Services Manager Rosalie White, K1STO--a member of the Space Amateur Radio EXperiment Working Group--says this is an exciting moment for the project, which has one goal of letting students on Earth communicate with the ISS inhabitants via Amateur Radio. ''All of the hard work from the many volunteers is starting to pay off,'' she said. ''We have so many people to thank--all of the AMSAT volunteers, ARRL people, the NASA folks--so many of whom are hams. But seeing the youth of the United States and other countries benefit is our reward.'' Bauer says the astronauts and cosmonauts plan to take some time off for educational outreach contacts with schools, even during the busy years of ISS construction that lie ahead. Bauer says access to Amateur Radio also is considered a morale booster for ISS crew members who will be in space many weeks at a time. As the International Space Station takes its place in the heavens,'' Bauer said, ''the Amateur Radio community is prepared to do its part by helping to enrich the experience.''

Asteroids Galore (and a coronal mass ejection) Space Weather News for Nov. 2, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com While asteroid Toutatis garnered plenty of attention as it passed by Earth on Halloween, a newly-discovered space rock named 2000 UK11 glided by almost 10 times closer than Toutatis during the early morning hours of Nov. 1st. Asteroid 2000 UK11, which was briefly visible through amateur telescopes, is rapidly fading. But if you missed it, don't worry. There's an even brighter near-Earth object (NEO) on the way: 2000 UG11. Like Toutatis and 2000 UK11, there is no danger of a collision with 2000 UG11, which will pass 6 times farther from Earth than the Moon. Amateur astronomers with 8 inch or larger telescopes and CCD cameras can spot the fast-moving NEO early next week as it grows brighter than 14th magnitude. In other news for sky watchers, SOHO coronagraphs recorded a solar coronal mass ejection yesterday that could strike Earth's magnetosphere and trigger geomagnetic activity this weekend. For images and animations of the asteroids and yesterday's CME, please visit http://www.spaceweather.com.

These are not colorful names like Lowell-Biederman or something. I thought they named them after the discoverers.

They name them after prominent astronomers...living or dead. Comets are always named after their discovers.

Howdy howdy A good investment (or freeware if you can find it...) is a satellite tracking package. One such is Instantrack which is described at the AMSAT web page www.amsat.org With this application, you can track satellites including MIR, the ISS, and the amateur satellites. The amsat board also has the kep elements to load into the tracking software. I have used this software to track low earth orbit satellites - nothing like watching the satellite footprint cross into my geographic area and hearing the satellite beacon coming in on the downlink - then 15 minutes of high speed QSO's with other hams on the satellite. This would comprise of sending a burst of 'dits' and spinning around the frequencies until finding my signal - then calling CQ. This madness would go on until loss of signal. Anyway, once the ISS is operational, the tracking software will come in handy for predicting when the space station will make a flyover. Since the station will be line of sight, signals will be very strong - simple 5/8 wave verticals on 2 meters will provide a good signal. 73 de mike radio cosmo international

Thanks Mike!!! Here are a few satellite tracking URLs to try out for your area http://spacelink.nasa.gov/Instructional.Materials/Multimedia/Satellite.Tracking/.index.html and this killer site: http://www.nlsa.com/

Good point you made about listening to the frequencies I listed above. They are FM frequencies and are strictly line of sight. If you cannot see the satellite or space station, neither can your radio.

http://www.amsat.org and I will post the Keplerian data here from now on: Keplerian Bulletin 84 - November 3, 2000 Decode 2-line elsets with the following key: 1 AAAAAU 00 0 0 BBBBB.BBBBBBBB .CCCCCCCC 00000-0 00000-0 0 DDDZ 2 AAAAA EEE.EEEE FFF.FFFF GGGGGGG HHH.HHHH III.IIII JJ.JJJJJJJJKKKKKZ KEY: A-CATALOGNUM B-EPOCHTIME C-DECAY D-ELSETNUM E-INCLINATION F-RAAN G-ECCENTRICITY H-ARGPERIGEE I-MNANOM J-MNMOTION K-ORBITNUM Z-CHECKSUM AO-10 1 14129U 83058B 00305.01290756 -.00000384 00000-0 10000-3 0 7100 2 14129 26.7222 303.7829 6009247 97.2062 330.5402 2.05870124102757 UO-11 1 14781U 84021B 00308.21668696 .00004235 00000-0 66836-3 0 3452 2 14781 98.0013 268.9945 0011412 24.6167 335.5585 14.72865666892769 UO-14 1 20437U 90005B 00308.55830010 .00000606 00000-0 24845-3 0 5650 2 20437 98.3934 10.8160 0010847 159.4099 200.7553 14.30555357562796 AO-16 1 20439U 90005D 00307.76197337 .00000716 00000-0 29008-3 0 3636 2 20439 98.4332 17.1082 0010810 165.7762 194.3728 14.30645995562702 LO-19 1 20442U 90005G 00306.74375718 +.00000738 +00000-0 +29718-3 0 03696 2 20442 098.4510 019.6823 0011630 168.3007 191.8450 14.30881732562644 FO-20 1 20480U 90013C 00306.91012867 -.00000005 +00000-0 +53304-4 0 02819 2 20480 099.0728 051.6432 0540584 103.4921 262.6980 12.83282019502947 RS-12/13 1 21089U 91007A 00306.90858958 +.00000191 +00000-0 +18565-3 0 02877 2 21089 082.9188 083.6059 0030180 100.0802 260.3761 13.74228202488592 UO-22 1 21575U 91050B 00306.93976715 +.00000803 +00000-0 +27934-3 0 00946 2 21575 098.1424 327.2835 0008109 138.8672 221.3129 14.37885820487716 AO-27 1 22825U 93061C 00308.51819640 .00000562 00000-0 24218-3 0 8502 2 22825 98.3892 0.2506 0007834 208.6031 151.4723 14.28261526370364 IO-26 1 22826U 93061D 00308.16976623 .00000645 00000-0 27451-3 0 8435 2 22826 98.3929 0.6094 0008033 214.4539 145.6118 14.28417132370349 KO-25 1 22828U 93061F 00306.69662848 +.00000676 +00000-0 +28480-3 0 08284 2 22828 098.3880 359.3791 0009012 197.6165 162.4707 14.28826398338309 RS-15 1 23439U 94085A 00308.12578659 -.00000024 00000-0 52829-3 0 4992 2 23439 64.8185 315.7925 0167904 265.3795 92.7930 11.27539717241179 FO-29 1 24278U 96046B 00306.76524319 +.00000076 +00000-0 +11585-3 0 04018 2 24278 098.5742 196.4603 0350592 230.7887 126.1640 13.52745288207899 TO-31 1 25396U 98043C 00308.56470039 -.00000044 00000-0 00000+0 0 4043 2 25396 98.7105 22.5581 0003023 57.0700 303.0771 14.22799728120473 GO-32 1 25397U 98043D 00306.90738260 -.00000044 +00000-0 +00000-0 0 03773 2 25397 098.7091 020.6270 0002514 087.1820 272.9655 14.22480512120241 ISS 1 25544U 98067A 00308.81250000 .00018454 00000-0 21627-3 0 2454 2 25544 51.5723 149.6973 0005972 139.0991 37.7385 15.61556636111818 SO-35 1 25636U 99008C 00307.92723670 .00001347 00000-0 36786-3 0 2489 2 25636 96.4517 118.4091 0153521 102.3162 259.5272 14.41540289 89076 UO-36 1 25693U 99021A 00308.38529108 -.00000140 00000-0 24524-6 0 3558 2 25693 64.5616 45.8793 0050460 277.5124 82.0271 14.73543462 82812 Keplerian bulletins are transmitted twice weekly from W1AW. The next scheduled transmission of these data will be Tuesday, November 7, 2000, at 2330z on Baudot and AMTOR.

ok...next time just posting the ISS and the decoder....

Propagation Forecast Bulletin - November 4, 2000 Solar activity was up for the past week. During the CQ Worldwide DX Phone Contest, geomagnetic activity rose through the weekend, reaching storm levels on Sunday. Both the mid-latitude and planetary K indices reached 5, and the A indices were 24 and 26, respectively. The Alaskan College K index, which is higher during high geomagnetic activity due to its high latitude, was 6 over two periods and the A index was 41 for Sunday, indicating a severe geomagnetic storm. No doubt contest operators in Fairbanks experienced dead HF conditions. Average sunspot numbers were up nearly 19 points and average solar flux was up nearly 26 points compared to the previous week. Last week's Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP043 mentioned a predicted solar flux peaking around 190 on November 2. The noon flux reading at Penticton on Thursday was 196.3, but flux values are now expected to peak around 200 on November 3 or 4. Solar flux is expected to decline below 190 by November 8, then reach a broad minimum around 160 between November 11-17. A coronal hole has been developing in the center of the solar disk facing earth, and this could cause some unsettled geomagnetic conditions over the next few days. Currently the planetary A index is predicted at 20 for November 4 and 15 for the next day, followed by quiet conditions until November 10 when it may be 15 again. A planetary A index of 15 is also predicted for November 13 and 15, and on November 17 and 18 the projected A index is 20 and 25, based on the previous solar rotation. Average solar flux for October was 167.7. For June through September it was 179.8, 200.5, 163.1 and 201.7.

Leonid Meteor Balloon Rises Again NASA Science News for November 9, 2000 A team of NASA scientists and ham radio amateurs will loft a weather balloon toward the stratosphere on Nov. 18th to record the sights and sounds of the 2000 Leonid meteor shower. Readers can follow the balloon flight thanks to a live webcast at LeonidsLive.com. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast09nov_1.htm?list89800

Hey Marcia and Geoites Another cool balloon site to check out is EOSS Edge of Space Sciences - there is a whole ham radio subsect interested in balloon launches, transmitting environmental data, video, and gps tracking information. This page will lead to other interesting balloon topics/pages as well. Mike radio cosmo international

Thanks, Mike! http://www.eoss.org/ Check out the links! There is great stuff in there!

Mike, I have been remiss. Now you are properly Lei'd. My gratitude expressed in flowers fragrant and fresh from Hawaii to the cold north He'e (red) Muck Orange (green) Tuberose (white)

ISS crew completes installation of Amateur Radio hardware According to Will Marchant, KC6ROL, the International Space Station crew has completed installation of the Amateur Radio hardware in the Functional Cargo Block. With the successful execution of engineering tests today, the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) project has passed a significant milestone. The initial two passes were tested at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) ham shack R3K in Star City near Moscow. The control operators were Sergej Samburov, RV3DR, and Vladimir Zagainov, UA3DKR. Sergej is the Russian delegate to the ARISS team. Subsequent tests at the NN1SS station at the Goddard Space Flight Center (Greenbelt, MD) and the W5RRR station at Johnson Space Center (Houston, TX) were equally successful. Engineering tests with the packet rig still need to be organized. The crew, while still very busy, expressed their interest and support of Amateur Radio activities on the ISS. It seems likely that over the next few weeks, as the crew's schedule settles out, amateurs may be able to look forward to more Amateur Radio activity from humanity's latest foothold in space.

Phase 3D Launch Slipped By One Day The highly anticipated launch of the AMSAT Phase 3D Amateur Radio satellite has been delayed by a last-minute technical glitch. Acting Phase 3D Project Leader Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, reported from the launch site at the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, that a problem with a microwave link has delayed the launch for 24 hours. The satellite was to go into space early on November 15 UTC. The troublesome link only affected the telemetry between the PanAmSat PAS 1R commercial payload and the ground facility. It had nothing to do with the operation of Phase 3D. PAS-1R is the mission's primary payload. Guelzow said the telemetry link problem was promptly repaired, but by then, it was too late to resume the countdown to make the required launch window. The launch agency Arianespace described the problem as an ''anomaly in the ground-based telemetry system'' for the PanAmSat PAS-1R satellite, which is installed atop the Ariane 5. Jean-Charles Vincent, the head of Arianespace's Kourou facility, said the problem was pinpointed in the umbilical mast on the Ariane 5 mobile launch table. ''We detected the anomaly this afternoon, and decided on the one-day postponement to provide sufficient time to resolve it,'' he said Tuesday. The decision to delay happened before Arianespace crews began fueling the main stage. Also aboard the launch vehicle with P3D and the huge PAS-1R communications satellite are the smaller British STRV-1C and 1D mini-satellites. Vincent said both the launcher and its multisatellite payload are in a safe mode, enabling the countdown to begin again Thursday. The launch window remains the same--opening at 0107 UTC and closing at 0203 UTC (10:07 PM until 11:03 PM Kourou time) on November 16. In the planning, design and construction phases for the past several years, Phase 3D promises to usher in a new era in Amateur Radio communication. Once in its final orbit high above Earth, Phase 3D--the largest Amateur Radio satellite ever built--will offer capabilities unavailable on current amateur satellites.

Anyone heard the ISS Hams yet? I have not....

W1AW to participate in meteor scatter/APRS experiment ARRL Maxim Memorial Station W1AW again will participate in a meteor-scatter experiment by attempting to bounce APRS packets off the ionized particles resulting from the Leonids meteor shower. Beginning at 2100 UTC on November 17 through November 20, W1AW will operate WinAPRS-equipped stations on 6 and 2 meters. W1AW will monitor and beacon on 53.530 MHz and 147.585 MHz continuously, transmitting its grid square. On 6 meters, W1AW will use an ICOM IC-756 running 100 W with an MFJ-1278 TNC. On 2 meters, W1AW will use an ICOM IC-271 at 45 W with a AEA PK232 Multimode controller. An article ''Leonids Meteors for the Regular Guy'' by Ev Tupis, W2EV, is available to ARRL members on the ARRL Web site, http://www.arrl.org. Also see ''An Automated Meteor-Scatter Station'' by Tupis in November 1999 QST. QSLs will be available for all stations receiving W1AW's APRS beacons. An SASE is requested.

WOO HOO! Phase 3D is up! For the complete scoop, check out www.amsat.org Its going to be a bit of time before the transponders are switched on (talking months) since the satellite has to be positioned into its proper orbit. Then the systems will have to be activated and tested out. Now time to get the mode S (2.4ghz) and mode L (1.2ghz) transverters up and running. de AA9IL Mike

Yes indeedy!!! Phase 3D is In Orbit! In what was described as a ''spectacular nighttime launch,'' the next-generation AMSAT Phase 3D Amateur Radio satellite blasted off from Earth on schedule November 16 at 0107z. Hitching a ride aboard an Ariane 5 vehicle, Phase 3D was among four satellite payloads heading off into orbit from the European Spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana--just five degrees north of the equator. ''It was a textbook launch,'' said Phase 3D Mission Director and AMSAT-DL Executive Vice President Peter Guelzow, DB2OS. Guelzow, who's filling in for Phase 3D Project Leader Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, said that from launch through separation about 45 minutes later, ''all received telemetry indicates the launch went perfectly, and our satellite appears to be in very good health.'' When Phase 3D was successfully deployed by the Ariane 5 launcher at 0153z, cheers erupted from the AMSAT team monitoring the flight's progress from the Arianespace control room. Newly elected AMSAT-NA President Robin Haighton, VE3FRH, hailed the news of the launch. ''You know, this really is the start of a new era in ham radio,'' Haighton said. He called the design, building and financing of P3D by international volunteers ''a great achievement.'' A ''general beacon'' was said to be transmitting on approximately 435.450 MHz. Earlier today, the Phase 3D PSK beacon turned up on 145.898 MHz--slightly different from the expected frequency. It was monitored by Norbert Nothoff, DF5DP, transmitting telemetry--including text blocks. ''We had some concern earlier this morning because the satellite didn't show up on the expected frequencies and hence missed any sign of life from the bird,'' Nothoff said. The Ariane 5 placed Phase 3D into geostationary transfer orbit, from where it will be nudged into its final elliptical orbit. It was the last of the four payloads to be ejected into orbit by the launch vehicle. The satellite is not expected to be ready for general use for about nine months. Initial housekeeping tasks were under way in the hours following the launch and separation. To move P3D from the geostationary transfer orbit, the satellite's onboard arcjet motor will burn intermittently at perigee over a 270-day period, with final inclination and apogee adjustments made by the spacecraft's 400 Newton motor. Once these maneuvers are completed and three-axis stabilization is achieved, the solar panels will be deployed. At that point, Haighton said, it's anticipated the satellite will be fully operational for use by Amateur Radio operators around the world. The satellite's initial orbit puts it some 585 miles above Earth at the closest point. Phase 3D's final elliptical orbital configuration will put the satellite some 2500 miles away from Earth at its nearest point, and some 29,500 miles at its farthest. At 630 pounds and some 20 feet across when the solar panels are deployed, Phase 3D is the largest Amateur Radio satellite ever put into space. The launch culminates years of planning, design and construction as well as an ambitious fundraising campaign. The ARRL was among the major contributors to the Phase 3D project. Three other satellites--the giant PanAmSat PAS-1R communications satellite and the smaller STRV-1C and 1D satellites--joined AMSAT Phase 3D for the ride. Haighton's immediate predecessor as AMSAT-NA president, Keith Baker, KB1SF, told AMSAT News Service that he was ''delighted'' by the news of the Phase 3D launch. ''I have no doubt that today will be regarded as one of the greatest days in the history of Amateur Radio,'' he said. AMSAT-NA Board Chairman and past AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan, W3XO, was among those keeping a close ear on the launch activities and participating in the AMSAT Launch Information Service. ''I can't begin to tell you how happy I am to see P3D in orbit,'' said Tynan. ''It's been a long time, a long road--a bit rough at times,'' Tynan observed. For more information, visit the AMSAT-NA Web site, http://www.amsat.org.

Yes indeed-ie! I guess I can wait a few more months to get the transverters built up (have almost all the parts...) Getting too cold to do anything outside anyway - today, the WX was 31 deg F with snow flurries. The one neat thing is that there will be some great nights for sky watching when the temp goes sub zero (usually -25 degrees without the windchill). All the moisture and gunk in the sky just seems to vanish and the stars look incredible. Aside from LEO satellite contacts, the last major DX I did was on AO-13 several years ago. Using mode B, I was able to hear some interesting (and work as well) DX. Cant wait till P3D is fully functional. The portable sat microwave station can finally be realized. 73 de Mike radio cosmo international

Did anyone DX the Leonids last night?? Good on ya, Mike! Toast those marshmallows and hunker down by the bottle rig!

Listen to the Leonids Tonight Space Weather News for Nov. 17, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com Scientists at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama are operating a radio meteor detection system that records audible echoes as meteors streak by. During the Nov. 18th Leonid meteor shower (Friday night and Saturday morning) sounds from the system will be available live on the web at http://www.spaceweather.com and http://www.leonidslive.com. Every ping you hear corresponds to a meteor over the Eastern U.S.! For more information visit SpaceWeather.com.

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 46 - November 17, 2000 Sunspot numbers and solar flux were down over the past week. Average sunspot numbers were down over 40 points and average solar flux was off by 36 points relative to the previous week. The expected geomagnetic disturbance arrived earlier than predicted, with Friday being the worst day, with a planetary A index of 41. Planetary K indices reached 6 for several periods on Friday. Saturday was fairly quiet, and Sunday was fairly active with the planetary K index at 20. Following the weekend the geomagnetic conditions have been quiet. Solar flux probably reached a short term minimum of 143.7 on Monday, and is now rising. Flux values for Friday through Tuesday are expected to be 155, 155, 160, 160 and 165. Solar flux is expected to peak around 200 from November 27-29. Expected planetary A index values for Friday through Tuesday are 12, 10, 20, 12 and 10, so the current predicted value for this Sunday is nearly identical to last Sunday. The unsettled conditions on Sunday will probably be due to a solar flair that occurred early Thursday. Beyond the weekend, the next predicted unsettled day is November 29, and December 5 looks like an active geomagnetic day, as well as December 8 and 9. Of course this is based upon the previous solar rotation. Look at the chart at http://www.wm7d.net/hamradio/solar/. It looks as if solar flux and sunspots generally declined over the past six months. Sunspot numbers for November 9 through 15 were 149, 141, 128, 112, 99, 131 and 144 with a mean of 129.1. 10.7 cm flux was 166.2, 153.4, 149.6, 146.6, 143.7, 148.6 and 146.5, with a mean of 150.7, and estimated planetary A indices were 11, 41, 12, 21, 8, 5 and 5 with a mean of 14.7.

Did you catch any, Mike? Anyone? We caught raindrops...! NASA Science News for November 21, 2000 The art of predicting Leonid meteors officially became a science this weekend as sky watchers around the globe enjoyed three predicted episodes of shooting stars. This story includes video and some unusual pictures of Leonid fireballs. FULL STORY at http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2000/ast21nov_1.htm?list89800

Shepherd makes first casual QSOs from ISS The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program has announced that Commander William ''Shep'' Shepherd, KD5GSL, has made the first casual Amateur Radio contacts from Space Station Alpha. Shepherd reports that he was able to take a few minutes out of his busy schedule on Friday, November 17, to engage in contacts with a few lucky hams. Before then, the only Amateur Radio contacts involved engineering test passes between the ISS and Russian and US amateur facilities. ARISS spokesman Will Marchant, KC6ROL, says that with the recent arrival at ISS of a Progress cargo craft, the crew will have to redouble its work pace. The space shuttle Endeavour STS-97 mission to the ISS will launch November 30, so the Expedition 1 crew will continue to put in some long hours preparing for its arrival. Endeavour is carrying a large new solar panel for the ISS that will permit the station to be fully powered for the first time. More information about Amateur Radio on the International Space Station is available on the ARISS Web site, http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov/.

Limited AO-40 use possible in near future Plans are in place to make AO-40 available for a limited period of general amateur use ''possibly within a week or two,'' says AMSAT-NA President Robin Haighton, VE3FRH. Launched November 16, the next-generation Amateur Radio satellite formerly known as Phase 3D remains for now in a geostationary transfer orbit while initial housekeeping and checkout procedures are under way. Just when and how the ''limited operation'' will occur is up to the ground controllers, Haigton said. The provisional operation would involve ''one or two bands at a time.'' Since the satellite's solar panels will not be deployed until AO-40 is in its final orbit, full power will not be available. Haighton said the most likely configurations for the limited test period would be 70 cm up and 2 meters down and 1.2 GHz up and 2.4 GHz down, SSB and CW. Details of the limited test period will be announced. AMSAT has stressed that the Phase 3D/AO-40 controllers are closely monitoring the power budget and the satellite's current orbital parameters. ''These two areas will be among the most important factors that determine what happens with P3D in the near future,'' AMSAT said this week. From all indications, most AO-40 systems are working properly at this point, with the possible exception of the 70-cm transmitter. Phase 3D Project Manager Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, says ''a problem with the 70 cm transmitter'' led controllers to shift the telemetry downlink from 70-cm to 2 meters, 145.898 MHz. Phase 3D will not be opened for full amateur use until it's been placed in its final orbital configuration. That's expected to take about nine months. For more information, visit the AMSAT-NA Web site, http://www.amsat.org/.

Interplanetary shock wave hits Earth; more to come.... Space Weather News for Nov. 26, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com The first of several coronal mass ejections now heading toward Earth hit our planet's magnetosphere between 0500 and 0600 UT on Nov. 26th. Geomagnetic activity could become severe during the next 48 hours as one shock wave after another reaches Earth. We encourage sky watchers to be alert for auroras at middle- and perhaps even low-latitudes. The new Moon will afford dark skies for spotting faint Northern Lights. Visit http://www.spaceweather.com for details and updates.

Howdy All Sorry for falling off the face of the earth but those ledges at the prime meridian are not well marked and there is NOT a guard rail either.... Anyway, with grad skool complete for this semester, I actually have time to do stuff including finally bolting my 24 and 47 ghz up/down converters to their respective antenna switch assemblies. The main reason for this post is that I finally got the address for the SLF/ELF audio recordings - these are time compressed onto a 90 minute cassette and cover signals below 3 Hertz. The tape costs $10 money order mailed to John M. Lauerman 26810 S.E. Duthie Hill Road Issaquah, WA 98029 73 de Mike Radio Cosmo International

Mahalo Mike! Welcome out of your Ivory Tower Dungeon for the holidays.

Howdy Marcia and Geo-ites Yea, Ivory Tower Dungeon is an apt term - good thing I like going to school. Now, if I could just figure out how to do school full time and not have to work... Anyway, no exciting signal reports as of yet since I have not been listening to the radio much. The R390A got shipped off for restoration and the SP600 has been pressed into backup duty. It fired right up despite sitting dormant for a year. (No telling how long it sat dormant in a surplus warehouse... I plugged it in and it came right back to life. Ah, good ol tube gear....) Right now, catching up on microwave stuff which seems to have piled up again (and again and again...) Cheers from the radio room de Mike radio cosmo international

wishing I were a mouse in the corner so I could listen, too... I'd even share my cheese with you!!!

Propagation - December 8, 2000 Average solar flux was down and sunspot numbers were up this week. At least there weren't any major geomagnetic disturbances. Quiet and stable conditions prevailed, with A indices in the single digits. Solar flux probably reached a short term minimum at 1800z on December 6 of 140.2, and at the 1800z reading the next day it was 140.8. The official daily readings are at 2000z, which is why you won't see those numbers reported here in the summary at the end of this bulletin. After the low flux numbers for the previous two days, solar flux is expected to rise to a peak near 200 around December 20-23. Current prediction shows flux values for Friday through Tuesday, December 8-12 at 145, 150, 150, 155 and 160. The next short term minimum for solar flux is predicted for after the new year. Unfortunately for hams looking forward to the 10-Meter contest this weekend, the quiet conditions will probably not continue. The predicted planetary A index for Friday through Tuesday is 15, 25, 15, 12 and 10. The active conditions in this weekend's forecast are probably due to a coronal hole in the center of the visible solar disk. This will be a problem for high latitude and east-west propagation. There was also a solar flare toward the end of the UTC day on December 6. Sunspot numbers for November 30 through December 6 were 191, 157, 141, 186, 120, 90 and 99 with a mean of 140.6. 10.7 cm flux was 192.3, 184.5, 167, 163.6, 152, 147 and 141, with a mean of 163.9, and estimated planetary A indices were 6, 6, 4, 12, 10, 4 and 7 with a mean of 7.

Listen to the Geminids Space Weather News for Dec. 11, 2000 http://www.spaceweather.com GEMINID METEOR SHOWER: Scientists at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center have established a radio meteor detection system to monitor this week's Geminid meteor shower. Although the shower doesn't peak until December 13th, plenty of Geminid meteoroids are already streaking through Earth's atmosphere. You can listen to their eerie-sounding radio echoes in realtime at http://www.spaceweather.com. SUBMIT YOUR PHOTOS: The glare from this week's nearly-full Moon will substantially reduce the number of visible Geminid meteors. Nevertheless, sky watchers in rural areas will likely spot 20 or more shooting stars per hour -- a fairly pleasing shower. We invite photographers who capture images of Geminid meteors to submit their photos for display on spaceweather.com. Simply send your files as email attachments to webmaster@spaceweather.com.

PROJECT SETI@HOME UPDATE PROJECT STATUS Halfway through our second year of operation, SETI@home has processed over 7000 hours of digitally-recorded signals from the Arecibo radio telescope, using the power of millions of Internet-connected computers. As this processing continues, SETI@home's own computers are doing the next phase, in which we separate man-made radio signals from those originating outside our solar system. Our goal is to detect signals from other civilizations. By using the Internet to form the world's most powerful computer, SETI@home has inspired other scientific computing projects, and is often credited (along with Napster) with defining a new generation of computer system design, called "peer-to-peer". Because of the strong continued interest in SETI@home, the project will continue for at least a year beyond its original ending time. Plans are not finalized, but we hope to expand our search to the southern-hemisphere sky, and to search new frequency bands. We will also try to make SETI@home more fun and interesting by adding new content and features to our web site. Our small but hard-working staff (5 part-time members) has had little time to work on this area, but we're expanding our efforts. -------------------------- RELEASE OF VERSION 3 SOFTWARE After almost a year of testing and debugging, we recently released a major new version of our screensaver program. The new version does much better signal analysis; it looks for two new types of signals (pulses and triplets) and it covers a wider range of drift rates. As a result, it takes more time to process each work unit. The old version of SETI@home should automatically notify you when it's time to upgrade to the new version. You can download and install it from our web site: http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/download.html -------------------------- NEW SPONSORSHIP FROM ONE COSMOS NETWORK AND THE PLANETARY SOCIETY We're proud to announce an alliance of SETI@home with One Cosmos Network and The Planetary Society. This alliance will give us the financial support necessary to continue and expand SETI@home, as well as enabling us to provide a richer Web experience. Founded by Internet executive Joe Firmage and Ann Druyan, Carl Sagan's wife and collaborator of 20 years, One Cosmos Network is dedicated to carrying on Sagan's effort to humanize science and bring it to people everywhere. Toward this end, One Cosmos is constructing an Internet portal, OneCosmos.net, and a production studio, Cosmos Studios, which will create compelling science-based entertainment for television and film. Their first release is an updated, digitally remastered Collector's Edition of the Emmy and Peabody Award winning 13-hour television series, "Cosmos." The series is currently available for purchase in DVD or VHS format, with "The Music of Cosmos" available separately in a double-CD format; find them at http://OneCosmos.net. The Planetary Society is the founding sponsor of SETI@home, and its membership is open to anyone who shares the goals of exploring our solar system and searching for extraterrestrial life. In fact, the Society supports six different SETI efforts, along with many other projects in space exploration. We encourage you to join The Planetary Society and help advance their many worthy programs at http://planetary.org/html/member/JoinUs.html We are also extremely grateful to our other sponsors, including the University of California Digital Media Innovation Program, Sun Microsystems, Fuji Film Computer Products, Quantum, and the SETI Institute. Thanks also to the hundreds of individuals who have made contributions to SETI@home. Their names are listed at http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/donorlist.html SETI@home is free for everyone, but if you can consider making a tax-deductible donation to SETI@home, please visit http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/donor.html. -------------------------- NEW SETI@HOME GEAR IS HERE While our goal is to detect life in outer space, we can't do that without the support of our fellow Earthlings. Last year, we introduced several SETI@home products in our online store. The response was so great that this year we've expanded the product line. There are great new sweatshirts, mugs, T-shirts, jackets, desk clocks, lapel pins, patches, and even a heat-sensitive mouse pad. Want more? How about your very own, very elegant, blown-glass globe? Or (our personal favorite) a stylus, red and black pens, and mechanical pencil packed into one very cool gravity-fed tool. You'll find them all online at http://www.exploratoriumstore.com/setihome.html. The profits from each sale help fund the SETI@home project.

AMSAT OSCAR-40 remains silent, and command stations on the ground still have been unable to reestablish contact with the Amateur Radio satellite. It had been hoped that an onboard computer timeout expected on or about December 16 would restart the beacon telemetry and give the ground crew some clues as to why AO-40 suddenly stopped transmitting on December 13. AMSAT-Germany's Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, of the AO-40 team, said nothing was heard over the weekend, and command stations tried to re-establish communication by sending blind commands. If the reset had occurred, the satellite would have been restored to its post-launch configuration and attempt to transmit on 70 cm. However, the 70-cm transmitter has been problematic, and the satellite likely still would need to be reconfigured for 2-meter transmission at that point to be heard on Earth. The AO-40 team is continuing to investigate reports of weak signals on the 2-meter downlink frequency of 145.898 MHz that seem to be coming from AO-40, but it has discounted reports of telemetry heard there as a hoax. Other reports persist of a weak, unmodulated carrier, however. Guelzow said today that the AO-40 team is encouraged by a report from the North American Air Defense Command--NORAD. The report indicates that AO-40 was found to be in one piece, that the orbit was exactly were it should be, that the radar cross-section was as expected, and that no other pieces were found. Guelzow said the NORAD data counter rumors ''which no one on the inner team believed'' that AO-40 might have exploded. AMSAT-NA President Robin Haighton said ground controllers were exploring several options. When and whether the satellite will be heard from again depends, in part, on whether AO-40 has picked up any of the ''blind commands'' sent by ground controllers. Guelzow says that if no commands were accepted by the IHU-1 onboard computer since contact was lost December 13, then a ''command-assist'' watchdog routine on December 21 will cycle the satellite through various receive, transmit, high-gain and low-gain antenna modes. If AO-40 did pick up some commands, Guelzow said, the command-assist watchdog will be reset for another 10 orbits. That could extend the wait until sometime after Christmas. Guelzow says the ''watchdogs'' are software resets. Ground controllers want to avoid doing a hard re-boot of the main computer, which is considered a last resort. ''There is no need to hurry, and the command team doesn't want to miss any option,'' he said.

Propagation Forecast Bulletin 51 - December 22, 2000 Average solar flux and sunspot numbers were up sharply this week. The solar flux average for the week was up over 47 points and sunspot numbers rose over 85 points. It has been a quiet week geomagnetically, with planetary A indices in the single digits. Solar flux probably peaked at 2200z on December 20, when it reached 207.7. Solar flux is predicted over the next few days, Friday through Monday at 195, 195, 190 and 190. The planetary A index for those days is predicted at 12, 15, 15 and 12. The reason for the unsettled geomagnetic condition is a coronal mass ejection on December 18 that is expected to cause a weak disturbance. Beyond this weekend look for solar flux to drop to a short term minimum of 140 around January 3-5. The next peak is expected from January 16-19. Check the bottom of Jan Alvestad's Solar Terrestrial Activity Report at http://www.dxlc.com/solar/ . He has a table showing monthly averages of solar flux and sunspot numbers, as well as a smoothed sunspot number. According to his table, the highest average monthly solar flux was in March of this year, although July was almost as high. The highest sunspot number was in July, and during April he shows a smoothed sunspot number of 120.8, which may be the peak of this solar cycle. The peak of cycle 23 has probably passed, although we could get an increase in activity which would extend the peak. Fortunately, sunspot cycles seem to go up faster than they decline. Sunspot numbers for December 14 through 20 were 157, 181, 217, 229, 174, 163 and 183 with a mean of 186.3. 10.7 cm flux was 182.2, 187.8, 190.5, 196.7, 198, 198.6 and 201.3, with a mean of 193.6, and estimated planetary A indices were 4, 3, 4, 8, 10, 5 and 4 with a mean of 6.3.

Space Bulletin 027 - December 22, 2000 It was a historic moment for Amateur Radio. Some 200 youngsters, teachers, parents, and news media representatives were on hand at Luther Burbank Elementary School near Chicago December 21 to witness the first successful Amateur Radio on the International Space Station school contact. Several pupils plus one teacher got to chat with Space Station Alpha Commander William ''Shep'' Shepherd, KD5GSL, via ham radio. Earlier attempts by the school on December 19 were unsuccessful, despite the extensive technical preparations. On December 21, however, Shepherd, using the special NA1SS call sign, came right back to a call from veteran SAREX/ARISS mentor Charlie Sufana, AJ9N, at the school. Sufana and his ARISS team had spent the better part of two weeks setting up gear and antennas for the scheduled contact. Antenna setup was hampered by repeated snowstorms and frigid temperatures, but the efforts paid off. ''I'm happy that we were able to pull it off,'' Sufana said. ''The kids were bouncing off the walls.'' During the 10-minute pass, 14 first through eighth graders plus science and math teacher Rita Wright got a chance to pose questions about life aboard Space Station Alpha to Shepherd. Shepherd said he especially enjoyed being able to float around in the space station. He said the crew is keeping detailed logs about life on the space station, and that the crew was enjoying taking pictures of Earth from space, ''because you can see things that you can't see from the ground.'' Shepherd also explained that about 90 percent of water in the air inside the space station is recovered and reused. At the conclusion of the successful contact, the grateful crowd applauded loudly and offered up a hearty ''thank you!'' and ''73!'' to Shepherd and his Russian crewmates. Shepherd said he was looking forward to future school contacts. Another two dozen schools are under consideration for ARISS school contacts. Schools in Virginia and New York are tentatively scheduled for contacts next month. More information about requesting dedicated contacts is available on the ARISS web pages, http://ariss.gsfc.nasa.gov/.

That's great, I'd like to find the frequencies they're on and post them here. Or maybe you know the recent schedule, Marci?

I'll see what I can find Terry! FCC Requests Voluntary Communications Emergency in and around TEXAS The FCC has requested that Amateur Radio operators in and around Texas voluntarily relinquish the use of 3870 to 3878 kHz to enable the handling of emergency traffic. Ice storms have disrupted power and communication and made for hazardous travel conditions in the region. Amateur Radio operators have activated the Emergency and Tactical Traffic Net to handle traffic related to the weather emergency. At the request of ARRL South Texas Section Manager Ray Taylor, N5NAV, Leroy Pittman of the FCC has asked the amateur community to cooperate in recognizing the existence of a voluntary communications emergency and to stay clear of the specified 75-meter frequencies. Taylor reports that Amateur Radio operators already have helped with hospital communications after hospital telephones were knocked out. A net on 7285 kHz has been handling much of the winter storm-related traffic during daylight hours. A copy of Pittman's request to voluntarily relinquish use of the specified 75-meter frequencies was sent to the FCC's HF Direction Finding facility in Columbia, Maryland.

Howdy All Well, one very good bit of news. Control stations were able to jump start AO40 and its transmitting with its mode S (2.4ghz) beacon. There is hope for the satellite future! Of course, way too busy as of late but progress has been made on the 5.7ghz system and some tests were run on a cobbled together 24ghz receive system. Plus playing with the new Christmas toy - a Garmin GPS receiver. Anyway, back to the lab. Happy Holidays from the Radio Cosmo Collective

Yes, Mike!!! Good show and great news about AO40. Much concern about that. Happy New Year *hugs* for keeping us up to date

AO-40 Recovery Continues - January 4, 2001 Efforts continue to assess the status of AO-40 following a resumption of telemetry transmissions. AO-40 went silent December 13, but ground controllers successfully reset the main computer on Christmas Day and got the satellite transmitting again. Ground controllers now are analyzing the telemetry sent via the S2 beacon on 2401.305 MHz. AMSAT-NA President Robin Haighton, VE3FRH, says the command team worked through the holidays in an effort to determine just what went wrong aboard AO-40. Among other things, ground controllers would like to know what actually happened on December 13 and why, as well as which telemetry functions are known to be correct and which data are suspect and why. The satellite went silent during maneuvers to test its onboard 400-Newton propulsion system following an earlier orbit-shifting burn. Ground controllers also want to know the spacecraft's actual attitude with respect to Earth--and if it has changed attitude. Other parameters they'll be examining include spin velocity, the status of batteries, battery chargers and regulators, and what happened to the onboard computers, IHU-1 and IHU 2, and why. The AO-40 command team also wants to find out if all the antennas are operational and what can be done next to improve communications, and if there are any risks involved in attempting to restart onboard systems. So far, the 2-meter beacon transmitter has remained off the air since AO-40 was returned to ground control on Christmas Day. It's believed that problems with the 70-cm transmitter developed shortly after launch. The 2.4 GHz transmitter appears to be operating ''nominally,'' however. ''When questions such as these--and others--are answered, it may be possible to determine the working capability of the spacecraft, and, if appropriate, to start to try operation on other bands,'' Haighton said. He said critical decisions will be made over the next week or two ''based on the results of the analysis and much discussion among the command team.''

AO-40 Could Be Leaking AO-40 team member Peter Guelzow, DB2OS, says a small leak on AO-40 could account for the higher spin rate ground controllers have noticed since the satellite resumed telemetry transmissions on Christmas Day. Guelzow called on the amateur community to be patient during the AO-40 recovery. ''The good thing is that AO-40 seems to be in a very stable condition, and there are no signs of further damage,'' Guelzow said today in a posting to the AMSAT bulletin board. ''However, there is a sign of a small leak.'' Ground controllers continue to look into the reason for the higher spin rate as well as into other items under investigation, Guelzow said, and the results will be reported when the AO-40 team reaches its final conclusions. He said the priority for now is to get AO-40 back to normal as soon as possible. AO-40 went silent December 13 while ground controllers were testing the onboard 400-newton propulsion system. Guelzow's posting did not indicate whether he thought that propulsion system fuel or some other substance was escaping through the suspected leak. A computer reset command Christmas Day brought the satellite back to life, but telemetry data suggest that AO-40 suffered some damage. Since Christmas, the AO-40 ground team has been analyzing telemetry sent via the 2.4 GHz beacon--the only transmitter now operating--to determine the status of AO-40's onboard systems. Guelzow said that once the AO-40 team has a handle on the antenna situation it might attempt to get the 2-meter and possibly the 70-cm transmitters working. Until then, he said, AO-40 will continue to use the 2.4 GHz downlink. Guelzow said that because of the currently limited downlink capabilities, uploading of new commands and analyzing the results is taking somewhat longer than it would under normal circumstances. The AO-40 team also is evaluating the satellite's magnetorquing attitude control system and wants to spin down the spacecraft and adjust AO-40's attitude for better sun and squint angles. In addition, ground controllers will be taking a close look at various other systems and experiments onboard, including the arcjet and the stabilization wheels. ''Once this is completed and we have a complete overview, then we can declare the spacecraft to work normally and perhaps think about re-defining the mission of AO-40, whatever it will be,'' Guelzow said.

Hey Kids Well, still waiting for the AO40 reports to trickle in. The way things are looking, I will have plenty of time to cobble bits together in time for the spring thaw. (Got up to 32 deg today - yow!) Playing with some new toys from the most recent ham fest. One step closer to amateur television with the new CCD camera unit (in CosmoVision, of course....) Also picked up a Delorme Tripmate GPS unit very cheap. Hooked it up to the pc and ran a terminal emulator - after goofing around for a bit, got the unit to come to life by sending over the correct init code which resulted in the unit spewing over raw GPS data. Finally, a multimode RF data modem so I can play with Packet, Amtor, RTTY, APRS, etc.... enuf stuff to keep me humored/annoyed for a while.... 73 de AA9IL Mike radio cosmo international

Mike! Fantastic - now just hook up your little computer tv cam and we can watch you do all this stuff! Seems as though cabin fever is held in abeyance by your soldering finger together and fluxing... thanks for sharing! Seti settings currently for me: 179 blocks of data crunched 16 hr 45' 28" RA +9� 3' 36" Dec 1.420664063 Ghz

Yow! 179 blocks? I wont say what my piss weak P90 has finally completed. I guess there is justification for shelling out some bucks for a 1GHz system. Either that, or hit all the local garage sales, buy a bunch of P90's and build up a Beowulf cluster. While I was at the last ham fest, I saw P90 boards with CPU -and- memory for less than $50. You can guess what I payed for mine all those years ago. Sort of like back in ye olden daze when 386's were being taken over by the 486 and folks spend a couple thousand for that tricked out 386 that was destined to be a big paperweight for the desk.... Oh well, progress.... 73 de AA9IL Mike radio cosmo international

Yup...technology has struck again - I started out on a Commodore which we upgraded to 64! Before that we had to load programs via tape - it HAD no memory. Uh huh...this is my 6th genereation computer is about 10 years... I have a thief to thank for one upgrade...

183 blocks completed now...