AmateurRadio.com

In case anyone has seen weird behavior in the RSS feeds or on the Web sites, let me explain:  I have renumbered episodes after #018.  Back then I recorded a couple of updates from OSCON 2010 and called them Episode #018A and Episode #019A.  Not long after that, the discrepancy in numbering started to eat at me.  Now a couple of years later, I have decided to do something about it.  All of the episodes have been renumbered, meaning that we’re a couple of episodes ahead of where we were.  This will probably cause a little bit of confusion in the short term but overall I am happy that it is done.  Nothing else has changed, just the numbering scheme. Thank you for your patience while we go through this brief transition period.

73 de Russ, Linux in the Ham Shack

The Black Sparrow Media mobile application which lets you see all kinds of content related to programs on the BSM Network, is now available in iTunes.  Simple search for “black sparrow” on your Apple mobile device and you can download it for free.  The application was previously released for Android and is available for any device with access to the Android Marketplace.  You can even use the app to listen to live stream shows of Linux in the Ham Shack! New programs are coming to the Black Sparrow Media Network in the very near future, so stay tuned for that as well.

While doing my usual trolling of the internet, I found a quick little media hit from a Fresno, CA, Fox news station, on the number of licensed Hams in the US. I figured I would share this one.

Sorry for the recent Web site downtime. It was a stupid error on my (K5TUX’s) part. Also, it drives home the need for me to separate the production Web server from the development one. Hopefully that will be accomplished in the near future and downtime like was experienced over the last few days will not happen again. Thank you for hanging in there and welcome back to the site.

73 de K5TUX

If you’re wondering why I am posting this instead of an Amateur Radio story, then please read the full article and you will understand. But for now, I am posting a clip and a link to my full article on the Q103Albany website, and it has already been picked up by the station I used to work at in Utica as well. Here is a clip:

I have been trying to write this story for hours now. It’s not hard to talk about someone like Steve Jobs and recite facts about him. Yes, he pioneered how we consume digital content and how we buy our digital music as well as how we use computers and much more. And while it could be considered corny by some for me to say this, he touched lives all over the world. Just look at Twitter and Facebook. One of those lives he touched, is mine.

To read the full article, check out my Tech Thursday story for today.

73.

Courtesy of Gawker.com

I’m not a fan of New Kids on the Block, but this title just jumped out at me when I saw the story over at ARRL.ORG that NASA is looking for more astronauts. Currently there are only 59, where a decade ago, there was 150. Since the retirement of the Shuttle, the numbers have been going down.

Photo Courtesy of NASA/APOD

It takes 2 and a half years to train to be an astronaut, on top of the years of college getting a degree. Then there is the 31 weeks of working in Russia to learn how the Soyuz craft work and learning Russian. It’s a pretty big commitment, but from what I can see, it has some big payback and perks. I mean, who wouldn’t want to fly a few hundred nautical  miles above the Earth in micro gravity?

But currently, the Soyuz is grounded because of the crash of a supply ship in August, while Russian space agency investigators troubleshoot what went wrong. This could lead to a short abandonment of the International Space Station if Russian officials find the problem quickly. But still, the need for astronauts for the manned space flight program is still there.

From the ARRL.ORG story:

NASA has said that it expects to send four to six astronauts to the ISS each year for six-month rotations. But the August crash of a Russian re-supply rocket has grounded the Soyuz, the only vehicle capable of flying crew members to the station. NASA noted that the Russian crash might lead the agency to temporarily abandon the ISS this fall unless the Russians quickly troubleshoot the problem. “We will understand, to our satisfaction, the anomaly, what is believed to be the cause and how they resolved it,” said NASA ISS Program Manager Michael Suffredini in a press conference after the crash. “If we’re not happy, we won’t put our astronauts on the Soyuz.” In April, NASA awarded $269 million to four companies developing craft to deliver cargo and crew to the space station.

This along with the time needed to train, could lead to a shortage in 5 years. So NASA is looking now. But I doubt you’ll find a posting for the job on Monster.com or Regionalhelpwanted.com. Still, if you possess  a pretty hefty degree and are in good physical shape, you could be the next NASA astronaut. And having a Ham Radio license is also a plus. Right now there are 4 Hams on the Space station. Ron Garan, KF5GPO (NASA), Mike Fossum, KF5AQG (NASA), Sergei Volkov, RU3DIS (RKA), and Satoshi Furukawa, KE5DAW (JAXA). And you can check out AMSAT or the ISS Fanclub for more info on working the ISS.

The Ukrainian government has confirmed new rules for its radio amateurs. Since 11th March 2011 Ukrainian amateurs may no longer use the following frequencies: 10100-10150kHz, 14250-14350kHz, 1240-1300MHz, 2300-2450MHz, 5670-5850MHz, 10-10,1 GHz, 10,15-10,5GHZ, 24,05-24,25GHz,76-77,5 GHz , 78-81GHz, 122.25-123.0 GHz, 134-136 GHz, 136-141GHz, 241-248GHz, 248-250GHz. Note the first two – that is all of 30m and half of the phone portion of 20m the Ukrainians can no longer use!

This is very sad for a country whose amateurs are among the most active on the HF bands. What is the point of denying the use of frequencies that will still be used throughout the world including by Ukraine’s neighbours? If it is intended to give these frequencies to other services (in defiance of ITU frequency allocations) then these services will find them unusable because of activity from elsewhere.

It is crazy. As my Ukrainian-born wife Olga would agree, surely the Ukrainian government has more important things it could be doing than meddling with amateur frequency allocations?

I’m hoping that this is just an April Fool that has got out of hand. I cannot find any information confirming this other than a few forum posts. Certainly someone in Ukraine kept enough of a sense of humour to make this little video about it in English. Hopefully some comments to this post will provide more details.