AmateurRadio.com

Wow… what a day. Judy and I hiked to Knox Mountain. I worked Paul W0RW who was walking on Pike’s Peak. I also worked KM0U/P/QRP, Canary Islands and Mexico. The color was amazing.

Every day is a surprise. We expect November weather to set in, but it’s sunny and warm. It was a bit over 50F today, so we headed to the Knox Mountain cabins. We took an old logging road. This is not the charming trail we usually take along the brook. Loggers have changed that landscape and so we’ll avoid that route. Actually this was beautiful.

We hiked in about a mile and a half and came to the pond and the cabins. The loggers have not been anywhere near here.

I tossed my 30 foot wire over a cherry tree between the cabins and set up the KX3. I was a half hour late for Paul’s starting time on Pike’s Peak, but I tuned up on 14.342.5 anyway. What a thrill to hear him… I had no microphone so I set up cross-mode with a split… VFO B in CW mode up 600 Hz. Paul came right back to me and it was a real thrill. Just imagine working Paul who had a backpack PRC319 military radio walking on the north side of Pike’s Peak at 13,000 feet. It’s plain magic! Anyway Paul copied everything I sent and gave me a 599. His SSB signal was 55. He said the cold was “bone chilling.”

After I signed and tuned down the band. KM0U Terry was calling CQ. Little did I know that he was operating QRP portable with a KX3. We had a long chat. It was pretty cool to work QRP /P between New Hampshire and Minnesota. He was 589 and gave me a 569.

Next I worked XE2HOE in Mexico. Mode gave me a 449 and he was 599. It was a quick exchange and then I tuned down a bit and answered EC8AUZ Pedro in the Canary Islands. We gave each other 599s and signed. I packed up to leave. What a day… a perfect hike, great radio and fall scenery at its best.

Jim Cluett, W1PID, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Hampshire, USA. Contact him at [email protected].

Here is this week’s space weather and geophysical report, issued 2015 Nov 02 0132 UTC.

Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 26 October – 01 November 2015

Solar activity was at low levels on 26-30 October and 01 November with numerous C-class events, primarily observed from Region 2443 (N07, L=316, class/area Fkc/650 on 01 Nov). An isolated M1/Sf (R1-Minor) flare was observed on 31 October at 1752 UTC from Region 2443. On 29 October, Type II (estimated 972 km/s shock velocity) and Type IV radio emissions were detected at 0219 UTC and 0230 UTC, respectively. SOHO/LASCO C2 imagery observed a non Earth-directed CME off the SW limb at 29/0236 UTC, believed to be associated with the Type II and Type IV radio activity.

A short-lived greater than 10 MeV at greater than or equal to 10 pfu proton event was observed on 29 October. The event began at 29/0550 UTC, reached a maximum of 23 pfu at 29/1000 UTC and ended at 29/1700 UTC. Coincident with this event was a short-lived greater than 100 MeV at greater than or equal to 1 pfu event. This event began at 29/0435 UTC, reached a maximum of 2 pfu at 29/0610 UTC and ended at 29/0930 UTC. Both of these events were most likely associated with activity just beyond the SW limb described above.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal levels on 26, 30-31 October and 01 November with moderate levels obsered on 27-29 October.

Geomagnetic field activity was predominately at quiet levels with some unsettled periods observed on 30-31 October and 01 November. Solar wind parameters reflected a mostly nominal environment with wind speeds ranging from a high of 483 km/s at 26/1145 UTC to a low of 287 km/s at 29/0746 UTC. Total field strength ranged from 1-10 nT while the Bz component did not vary much beyond +/- 7 nT. Phi angle was in a positive (away) orientation from the beginning of the period through early on 28 October when a switch to a negative (towards) sector was observed. Phi switched back to a positive sector at about 29/1915 UTC and remained so through the balance of the summary period.

Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 02 November – 28 November 2015

Solar activity is expected to be at predominately low levels with moderate levels (R1-R2.Minor-Moderate) likely through the outlook period. Region 2443, through 10 November, and the return of old Regions 2434 (S09, L=165) on 07 November and 2437 (S18, L=098) on 12 November are likely to produce M-class activity through the outlook period.

No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit in the absence of any siginifcant flare activity.

The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high to very high levels on 02-13 November due to an enhanced solar wind environment as a recurrent, trans-equatorial coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS) becomes geoeffective. Normal to moderate levels are expected from 14-28 November.

Geomagnetic field activity is expected to began the period at G1 (Minor), G2 (Moderate) and G3 (Strong) levels on 02 November followed by G1 to G2 levels on 03 November as a recurrent, trans-equatorial CH HSS impacts Earth. Unsettled to active levels are expected on 04-06 November as CH HSS effects wane. Unsettled to active levels are expected on 13-14 November and 16-17 November due to periods of southward Bz and a weak positive polarity CH HSS. Quiet to unsettled levels are expected for the remainder of the outlook period.

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It is a known fact that China has been cutting through import red tape for many years now. We have all purchased Baofeng's, cheap electronic components, tablets, computer hardware and many other items that we all have bought directly from China to benefit our radio hobby.


Ticking the CN22 as a gift, or marking down the value of items, is in effect deceiving the import rules. It appears that this activity has not gone unnoticed by the UK VAT man, and some traders are complaining about this practice too, saying that they cannot fairly compete. Could the door be about to close!








There are quite a few articles on this doing the rounds today, this is the best one I have found that sums it all up:  http://www.pressexaminer.com/uk-troubled-by-chinese-sellers-on-ebay-and-amazon-as-christmas-approaches/77476



Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].

It is a known fact that China has been cutting through import red tape for many years now. We have all purchased Baofeng's, cheap electronic components, tablets, computer hardware and many other items that we all have bought directly from China to benefit our radio hobby.

It appears this activity has not gone unnoticed by the UK VAT man, and some traders are complaining about this practice too that they can't fairly compete, could the door be about to close!








There are quite a few articles on this doing the rounds today, this is the best one I have found that sums it all up:  http://www.pressexaminer.com/uk-troubled-by-chinese-sellers-on-ebay-and-amazon-as-christmas-approaches/77476



Steve, G1KQH, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from England. Contact him at [email protected].

30m WSPRing

On Sunday I found some time to get on the radio and I found there was not to much happening on the bands. I had some other things I could do while on the PC so I started up WSPR just to see how the bands were doing. I gave 30m a go starting around 3pm local time and really there were no spots of my signal. At around 5pm local things began to pickup and I was being heard across the pond. I was using 5 watts and I understand that is very high for WSPR but I wanted to see how the loop antenna would do with that type of power. I would like to use WSPR to see when each of the bands peaks in my area and this would mean a few weekends of WSPRing from morning to evening to see if I can pickup a pattern for good propagation from my location. Just as a side note I'm not sure where W0AY is located.....seems to be out in the ocean?? I did look his call up on QRZ.COM and found his home QTH to be in Montana so not to sure why he is out in the ocean.........maybe M/M?? I did email Laurence to see if in fact he was M/M or if WSPR was just a bite confused last evening.  
Mike Weir, VE9KK, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from New Brunswick, Canada. Contact him at [email protected].

“The starship hypothesis is a very interesting one, and the one which seems to be the most popular one on the internet,” said Sverre Holm, a professor of signal processing at the University of Oslo. “Such theories always excite our imagination, but it builds on a very poor data set. Unfortunately I believe it says more about human imagination than anything else.”

Although scientists have yet to settle on a final explanation for these mysterious echoes, Holm believes this is has less to do with a lack of scientific knowledge than a lack of willpower.

“I think that with today’s satellites and sensors, the mystery of Long Delayed Echoes (LDEs) could probably be solved,” he said. “What’s holding us back is most likely the problem is not considered important enough—it doesn’t occur often enough and doesn’t affect important enough forms of communications.”

These are excerpts from an interview in an article entitled “Radio Ghosts Have Haunted the Airwaves for Nearly a Century” on Motherboard Vice written by Daniel Oberhaus. It builds on a web page that I created some years ago after having spent days studying the archives from the 20’s of professor Carl Størmer at the National Library in Oslo.

Sverre Holm, LA3ZA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Norway. Contact him at [email protected].

“The starship hypothesis is a very interesting one, and the one which seems to be the most popular one on the internet,” said Sverre Holm, a professor of signal processing at the University of Oslo. “Such theories always excite our imagination, but it builds on a very poor data set. Unfortunately I believe it says more about human imagination than anything else.”

Although scientists have yet to settle on a final explanation for these mysterious echoes, Holm believes this is has less to do with a lack of scientific knowledge than a lack of willpower.

“I think that with today’s satellites and sensors, the mystery of Long Delayed Echoes (LDEs) could probably be solved,” he said. “What’s holding us back is most likely the problem is not considered important enough—it doesn’t occur often enough and doesn’t affect important enough forms of communications.”

These are excerpts from an interview in an article entitled “Radio Ghosts Have Haunted the Airwaves for Nearly a Century” on Motherboard Vice written by Daniel Oberhaus.

Sverre Holm, LA3ZA, is a regular contributor to AmateurRadio.com and writes from Norway. Contact him at [email protected].