Just in case you're heading to the Caribbean this fall for the CQWW DX
Contest (or just a DX vacation) and haven't noticed the newspaper reports, it
looks like there may be serious volcanic activity on Montserrat/VP2M (see
below). Based on the situation reports I've read in addition to this one,
nearby islands will be dealing with refugees if things get much worse. Trip
insurance anyone?
Those with WWW access can find more info at HTTP://volcano.und.nodak.edu
(and earthquake info is available several places, my favorite is
www.civeng.carleton.ca/cgi-bin/quakes )
73 Tom
MONTSERRAT- VOLCANIC ACTIVITY
DHA- GENEVA INFORMATION REPORT NO. 9
15 AUGUST 1995
1. THE CARIBBEAN DISASTER EMERGENCY RESPONSE AGENCY (CDERA) REPORTS
THAT OVERALL VOLCANIC ACTIVITY HAS BEEN SLIGHTLY LOWER OVER THE PAST WEEK.
SOME EARTHQUAKES FELT ON FRIDAY 11 AUGUST ON ANTIGUA, GUADALOUPE AND
ST.MAARTEN AND NEARBY ISLANDS WERE, ACCORDING TO SCIENTISTS, NOT RELATED TO
THE VOLCANIC ACTIVITY IN MONTSERRAT.
2. ON SATURDAY 12 AUGUST A GAS VENTING EPISODE TRIGGERED A
SERIES OF SMALL EARTHQUAKES. THE SCIENTISTS REPORTED THAT OVER 100
EARTHQUAKES WERE DETECTED DURING THE PERIOD UP TO 7:00 AM ON SUNDAY
13 AUGUST. OF THESE ONLY 37 WERE FELT BY THE RESIDENTS, THE LARGEST
OCCURRING AT 2:22 AM ON THE 13TH AND RECORDING A MAGNITUDE OF 3.5
ON THE RICHTER SCALE. THE EPICENTRE OF THE CLUSTER OF QUAKES PLACED
THEM BELOW THE ST. GEORGES HILL, NORTH EAST OF THE VOLCANO. EXPERTS
HAVE STATED HOWEVER THAT THIS DOES NOT REPRESENT VOLCANIC ACTIVITY
AT ST. GEORGES HILL.
3. THE CURRENT ALERT REMAINS AT THE ORANGE LEVEL (MOBILIZATION
OF PERSONNEL AND EQUIPMENT FOR POSSIBLE EVACUATION), WHICH IS
CONSIDERED TO BE ADEQUATE AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER THE TEAM OF US AND
CARIBBEAN SCIENTISTS BASED AT A LOCALLY ESTABLISHED OBSERVATORY
CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE SITUATION ON A 24 HOUR BASIS. IN ADDITION
TO MONITORING INSTRUMENTS THAT HAVE BEEN INSTALLED, DAILY
RECONNAISSANCE OVERFLIGHTS OF THE VOLCANO HAVE BEEN TAKING PLACE.
4. THE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS CENTRE (EOC) IS ALSO MONITORING
THE SITUATION ON A 24 HOUR BASIS. RESIDENTS ARE BEING UPDATED
THROUGH FREQUENT NEWS RELEASES AND BY STATEMENTS FROM THE GOVERNOR
AND CHIEF MINISTER.
5. ON AUGUST 9TH, JUST OVER 400 PERSONS WERE REPORTED HOUSED
IN 9 SHELTERS IN THE NORTH OF THE ISLAND. THE REDUCTION IN ACTIVITY
HAS SINCE THEN PERMITTED THE GOVERNMENT TO REDUCE THESE NUMBERS
SIGNIFICANTLY. MEANWHILE CONTINGENCY PLANS FOR POSSIBLE FURTHER
EVACUATION CONTINUE TO BE REFINED AT THE LOCAL AND REGIONAL LEVELS.
PREPARATION OF AN EVACUATION SITE IN THE NORTH OF THE ISLAND IS
UNDERWAY. AN ALTERNATE EOC HAS ALSO BEEN ESTABLISHED AND AN ADVANCE
LIAISON TEAM HAS BEEN STATIONED IN THE NORTH.
6. AT THE REGIONAL LEVEL AN INTERAGENCY COORDINATING TEAM
(IACT) BASED IN ANTIGUA HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED TO COORDINATE
PREPARATIONS FOR A POSSIBLE EVACUATION TO ANTIGUA. THE GOVERNMENT
OF ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA CONTINUES TO DEVELOP ITS PREPAREDNESS PLAN
FOR HOSTING EVACUEES. THE CDERA COORDINATING UNIT AND THE NATIONAL
DISASTER ORGANISATIONS (NDOS) OF PARTICIPATING STATES HAVE BEEN
ACTIVELY INVOLVED IN PREPAREDNESS MEASURES.
7. THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN PLAYING A LEAD ROLE IN THE
RESPONSE AND HAS PROVIDED OR FINANCED MOST OF THE EXTERNAL
ASSISTANCE. SEVERAL OTHERS ARE ON STANDBY TO ASSIST IF NECESSARY.
TELEPHONE NO: +41-22-917-1234
IN CASE OF EMERGENCY ONLY: TELEPHONE +41-22-917-2010
DESK OFFICER: ERIK HAEGGLUND, DIRECT TEL: +41-22-917-32.99
PRESS TO CONTACT: MRS. MOULIN-ACEVEDO, TEL: +41-22-917-28-56
TELEX: 414242 DHA CH
FAX: +41-22-917-0023
ELECTRONIC MAIL: INTERNET DHA GVA AT UN.ORG
= DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS +
distributed by
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Volunteers in Technical Assistance gopher: gopher.vita.org
Disaster Information Center web: www.vita.org
lists: listproc@vita.org
sitreps appeal
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
------------------------------------------------------
E-mail: frenaye@pcnet.com
Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box 386, West Suffield CT 06093
Phone: 203-668-5444
>From George Cook <george@epix.net> Wed Aug 23 03:23:39 1995
From: George Cook <george@epix.net> (George Cook)
Subject: NAQP Disqualifing myself
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950822222209.2167B-100000@grape.epix.net>
I was unaware that the power limit in the NAQP was 150 watts. Since this
has been pointed out I am disqualifing myself. Will send log as check
log only.
Score 0
*************************************************
* George Cook AA3JU Bangor, PA FN21 *
* george@peach.epix.net AA3JU@N3IQD.EPA.USA.NA *
* If you're not FRC remember:............... *
* .......There's no shame in being 2nd best! *
*************************************************
>From Frank Donovan <donovanf@sgate.com> Wed Aug 23 03:50:08 1995
From: Frank Donovan <donovanf@sgate.com> (Frank Donovan)
Subject: Q re Bev. kit
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.950822223837.20276B-100000@jekyll.sgate.com>
Hi Dave and Barbara!
Great to hear from u again!
In fact, I believe you could have run the resonant trrminations in-line
with the Beverage and at the same height, and it have also worked fine!
Beezley suggested some additional resonant terminations in his recent
Beverage modelling article in QEX. Still another viable alternative,
widely used by commercial and military Beverage installations is a
counterpoise. This is particularly valuable when broadband (ie
non-resonant) terminations are needed, and ground conductivity is
extremely poor. A very simple but completely effective counterpoise in
such situations consists of chicken wire laid flat on the ground under
the last 1/4 to 1/2 wavelength of the Beverage (at the lowest frequency
of intended operation).
EZNEC is an inexpensive model that seems to handle Beverage modelling
reasonably well (certainly much better than MININEC!)
73!
Frank
W3LPL
donovanf@sgate.com
On Tue, 22 Aug 1995, David & Barbara Leeson wrote:
> K5GN asks why not just run the terminating radials on the ground, and do
> they screw up the F/B? Operating in haste and ignorance (typical contest
> condx, no?) I figured that the radials should be closer to the ground so
> they would have substantially less signal pickup, but should not be so close
> as to be lossy enough not to show any resonant behavior. I ran them in the
> same direction as the beverage at both ends, trying not to have pickup in
> some other direction.
>
> Although signals didn't rise out of the noise like magic, they did the
> job, both at P40V and HC8A. It would be worth modelling or experimenting,
> but antennas close to the ground require more than MININEC, of course. It's
> hard to model the wild donkeys and goats, but the electromagnetic part should
> be interesting.
>
> 73 de Dave, W6QHS
>
>
>From Frank Donovan <donovanf@sgate.com> Wed Aug 23 03:58:34 1995
From: Frank Donovan <donovanf@sgate.com> (Frank Donovan)
Subject: contest writeup; CQ (fwd)
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.950822225142.20276C-100000@jekyll.sgate.com>
Yes indeed, kudos to the CQ team for another top flight CQ WW Contest
writeup! Its obvious why the CQ WW consistently earns its reputation as
the best contest in the world, both on the air and in the magazine too!
Congrats and see u in October!
Frank
W3LPL
donovanf@sgate.com
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Douglas S. Zwiebel <0006489207@mcimail.com>
To: contesters <cq-contest@tgv.com>
Subject: contest writeup; CQ
Wow...let's hear it for those great COLOR pictures in the CQWW 'test
writeup. What a NICE change!!!! AR...was this your's? FB OM!
de Doug KR2Q@mcimail.com
>From Randy Thompson <k5zd@iconics.com> Wed Aug 23 04:28:53 1995
From: Randy Thompson <k5zd@iconics.com> (Randy Thompson)
Subject: K5ZD cover tour
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.91.950822232447.8228A-100000@genesis.iconics.com>
Thanks to those of you who have commented on my picture on the
cover of September CQ Magazine. Several people have requested more
information on the station -- and that's one thing I need little
encouragement to expound on! Pick up the magazine and let's take a
little tour...
---
My station is located in a room built on the back of my garage. Designed
just for radio, it features two big windows looking out on the forest in
the back yard. Unfortunately, the morning sun comes in right over the
top of the monitor. Can't sleep through sunrise at this station. The
best feature is a ceiling fan just above me. Slow RPM keeps the room
from becoming too stuffy.
I have two stations.
Main Station (left)
Icom IC-765 and Alpha 76PA.
Second Station (right)
Kenwood TS-930S and Drake L-4B
The radios are elevated off the table about 4 inches. This is done so
the keyboard can be pushed under the radios. I also slide the keyer
paddles and log book in there too.
K1ZX commented on the lack of table space. I do this on purpose. I found
that I was having minor back pain when I had the radios further back.
In a talk by W3LPL, I remember his commenting that bringing the radios
closer would require less effort to reach them. He's right!
The switch boxes under the monitor are for antenna switching. Two
DX Engineering relay boxes are out on the towers. Another switch chooses
which set of antennas is connected. This will all be automated by the
end of the winter so that the antennas automatically follow the radio.
It doesn't hurt to have the antenna switching at a place with such high
visibility. It has saved me more than once!
All of the inside antenna switching and connection is done in a closet
behind the wall to my right. That keeps the radio room looking neat!
All coaxes and control cables enter the house through an aluminum panel
that is well grounded. I ALWAYS disconnect all coaxes and control cables
when I am not using the station.
The switch under my left hand selects the beverage. The box contains a
relay to isolate the Beverage from the receiver during transmit (lots
of watts come back down the Beverage!). Typical Radio-Shack-components
and the-day-of-a-contest construction!
The switch box next to the keyer selects which radio the headphones and
keyer are connected to. It uses simple A-B switches for the right ear,
left ear, and keyer. Dirt simple, but perfectly functional!
Notice the keyer is at the far left, and the paddles are to the right of
the keyboard. This is so I can change the keyer speed with my left
hand while sending with my right. Same reason all the rotator boxes
are on the left side of the station.
And yes, for those of you who remarked, it does always look this clean!
Just don't look at the desk at the other end of the room. This is a
paperless contest station.
---
Outside:
Tower 1 -- 100 feet of Rohn 45G about 300' from the house
Cushcraft 40-2CD at 110'
Hygain 205CA at 100' and 50' (upper, lower, both stack)
LTA 5-ele 15m at 70' on rotating sidemount
LTA 6-ele 10m at 80' fixed south
80m inverted vee (top at 95')
160m 1/4-wave GP hanging off from top of tower
Tower 2 -- 70 feet of Rohn 25G about 250' from the house
Hygain TH7DXX at 70'
40m 1/2-wave sloper
80m 1/4-wave GP hanging from top of tower
Other
500' Beverage to Northeast
---
I am 36 years old. I work as the Director of Marketing at a small Factory
Automation software company. My other expensive and frustrating hobby
is Golf!
I have been married 12 years. My son is 5 years old (I have found him
sitting at the radio with the headphones pretending to make QSOs -- look
out!).
---
I hope you enjoyed the tour. See you in the contests.
Randy Thompson, K5ZD
k5zd@iconics.com
>From becker@shell.portal.com (Tony and Celia Becker) Wed Aug 23 01:44:41 1995
From: becker@shell.portal.com (Tony and Celia Becker) (Tony and Celia Becker)
Subject: AOL Attached Files Attack Alleviated
Message-ID: <199508230348.UAA22711@nova.unix.portal.com>
To slash the 0 or not to slash ...
A sharp eyed reader responded to one of my messages:
>> AE=D8M, Tony Becker
> ^^^
>I wonder why this happens. Is that perhaps hex 0xD8 for the
>scandanavian oh-with-slash?
By golly, he was correct, and in pointing this out helped me solve a problem
which I have been having with my email!
Whenever I sent a message directly to anyone at AOL, the message got
converted to an attached file. AOLers were flaming me and honest, I didn't
originate any message with any embedded encoded stuff, just plain text, or
so I thought.
But, I did change my signature line last week to use the scandanavian
oh-with-slash:
" _ / "
/ \
| / |
\_/
/
In hexidecimal, this character is eight bit code D8.
As an experiment, I sent two copies of the same message one with the "0xD8"
and one with the "0" to both my AOL account and my Netcom account.
When the "0xD8" one got to my AOL account, the body had been converted to an
attached file. I then bounced the Netcom received copy to my AOL account,
and it was fine. The "0" message was OK on both Netcom and AOL.
AOL must be scanning each message body for 8-bit bytes and if it finds one
it converts the entire body to an attached file.
Sorry for the bandwidth, but this ham related for those of us with old black
hole callsigns. Where _IS_ that new form 610V, anyway?
AE0M, Tony Becker - becker@shell.portal.com - Silicon Valley, U.S.A.
>From Frank Donovan <donovanf@sgate.com> Wed Aug 23 04:58:06 1995
From: Frank Donovan <donovanf@sgate.com> (Frank Donovan)
Subject: Modeling and reality
Message-ID: <Pine.OSF.3.91.950822230134.20276D-100000@jekyll.sgate.com>
Hello Pete!
I know u have visited my station and observed the extensive variety of
antennas available, particularly on 20 meters. I'm sure many of the
readers will agree that the W3LPL multi-multi normally performs well
within the competitive range on 20M...
On 20M, we use five exactly identical 5 element monobanders on 48 foot
booms, located on two towers 300 feet apart. We have the following choices:
5 elements at 50 feet
5 elements at 100 feet
5 over 5 at 50 and 100 feet
5 elements at 200 feet.
These combinations provide about every useful antenna pattern one could
ever desire on that band (well... allright... some day we're gonna
install a sixth identical 5 element monobander at 150 feet so we can run
4/4/4/4)
These are my observations; however, KF3P and K3RA are the real 20M gurus
at W3LPL so their input would be more valuable and accurate...
First, I must emphatically state that I am not (NOT !!!) in the camp of
engineers who believe in antenna design magic... If u can't describe
physical basis for the performance of your antenna system, in all
likelyhood your claims will be without merit and you will have great
difficulty reproducing the magic performance on each band and with each
new antenna installation...
The gain of an antenna (assuming 100% efficiency, not a bad assumption
for monobanders) is determined by the geometric shape of its radiation
pattern as observed in the far field. For HF antenna, this pattern
INCLUDES the effects of its interaction with the Earth. Well designed
stacked Yagi arrays concentrate nearly all of the available power in a
single lobe and the formula for calculating its gain is amazingly simple:
D = 41253/(BW-H x BW-E)
Where 41253 is the number of square degrees in a sphere.
BW-H is the H-plane beamwidth
BW-E is the E-plane beamwidth
This formula contains a very powerful message: To produce 3 dB gain (twice
the gain) you MUST reduce either H-plane or E-plane beamwidth to 50% of
its original beamwidth or alternatively the product of the two beamwidths
MUST be reduced to 50% of the original product. To produce 6 dB gain,
then you must reduce beam width to 25% of the initial beamwidth and to
produce 10 dB gain you MUST reduce beam width to 10%, etc... The
purveyors of magic stacked arrays never seem to be able to describe the
beamwidths that produce their 10-20 dB gains...
With respect to on the air performance of the LPL antennas, the LPL team
obtains significant competitive advantage from a wide diversity of antenna
patterns (ie angles of radiation, and simultaneous geographic coverage
opportunities). During some contests (or paths) the Yagi at 200 ft is pure
dynamite, and during other conditions the 5 over 5 is the real workhorse,
and on other occasions a single monobander at 100 feet is unbeatable. To
the Carribean the monobander at 50 feet really does the job... To
Asia... well, these's no feet like 200 feet!
In comparing any one antenna to another, 10 dB or more variation may be
frequently be observed. This observation should not be confused with
"gain" however! Large signal strength differences are likely to be
observed when comparing two antennas with significantly different H-plane
patterns, such as a comparison between a 50 and a 100 foot monobanders or
between a 100 and 200 foot monobanders. A quick look at an antenna model
will quickly reveal why this is so: An antenna at half the height
of a higher antenna will have a maxima in its H-plane radiation
pattern exactly at the minima in the H-plane pattern of the higher
antenna! This will predictably create situations of 10 or
more dB of apparent gain when a signal is arriving in the null of
the higher antenna but at the maxima of the lower antenna (or stack).
Does this mean that a stack is always better??? Absolutely not!
Pete, u have made an excellent choice in placing the first antenna at ur
new QTH at 100 feet! From the experiences of the LPL contest team, if we
were forced to keep only one of the five monobanders here, I think we'd
elect to keep the one at 100 feet! It works well under a wide range of
conditions, both good and bad, long distance paths and shorter ones.
Until such time; however, I think we'll keep all five!
73!
Frank
W3LPL
donovanf@sgate.com
>From pfeuffer@on-ramp.ior.com (Joe Pfeuffer (KW1K)) Wed Aug 23 06:30:20 1995
From: pfeuffer@on-ramp.ior.com (Joe Pfeuffer (KW1K)) (Joe Pfeuffer KW1K
)
Subject: Help Me Improve Contest Skills
Message-ID: <m0sl8WR-000RniC@on-ramp.ior.com>
Hi:
I am looking for an opportunity to join a team effort for the CQWW (CW or
SSB) so I can improve my contest skills. Will go anywhere in USA, but prefer
the south and especially Florida (lived 10 years in Melbourne).
If you need another op - please let me know.
Tnx es 73
-----
Joe Pfeuffer KW1K
Spokane, WA
dit dit
>From kf3p@cais.cais.com (Tyler Stewart) Wed Aug 23 07:19:33 1995
From: kf3p@cais.cais.com (Tyler Stewart) (Tyler Stewart)
Subject: Modeling and reality
Message-ID: <199508230619.CAA25801@cais.cais.com>
> Let me stir the pot a bit concerning antennas and modeling.
>
> Just the other day, I was talking to a pretty well-known antenna designer
> (who shall remain nameless). I mentioned that I had opted for a high (100
> ft.) single-tribander rather than a stack on a significantly shorter tower
> (ca. 70/40 ft), on advice that the high antenna would be better than the
> lower stack for DX contest operating for the next several years. He opined
> that, contrariwise, on HF a stack would almost always outperform the high
> single antenna, and that models severely underestimate the gain to be
> realized by stacking. Experience showed, he said, that HF stacking gains on
> the order of 6-12 dB are achieved in the real world, while modeling
> indicates a maximum of 3dB. He went on to say that he had asked around, and
> some antenna gurus said that other phenomena were at work in the case of HF
> stacks, having to do with ground interactions and increased effective
> aperture. Do any of you stack owners or antenna folk out there want to
>comment?
>
> On another tangent, I had read (and maybe misunderstood) what Dave Leeson
> had to say in his book about smoothness in the Fresnel zone, and had assumed
> that minor irregularities (say +/- 10 ft. at 14 MHz) in the altitude of the
> surface in that zone should have little effect on the antenna pattern. My
> foreground profile to Europe has the base of the antenna at 550 ft.ASL, with
> the terrain rising to 560 ft.ASL at 1000 ft. from the base, then dead flat
> out to 15000 ft. or more. To my surprise, though, when I run YTAD for a
> single antenna at 100 ft. aboce ground, that 1/100 slope is responsible for
> a 3 dB. notch in the modeled vertical pattern at 5 degrees elevation. Can
> this be right?
>
> 73, Pete Smith N4ZR
> n4zr@ix.netcom.com *** note new e-mail address ***
>
> No, no, no, that's 59 WEST Virginia.
>
>
>73, Pete Smith N4ZR
>n4zr@ix.netcom.com *** note new e-mail address ***
>
>No, no, no, that's 59 WEST Virginia.
>
Pete, I think a lot of that depends on where you are and where you are trying
to go, as well as what part of the cycle we are in. I will tell you that
in my experience from here and W3LPL, I'd almost guarantee that a single
beam at 100 ft on 20 meters is going to outperform the lower stack to EU
about 50% of the time under current conditions, and it will ALWAYS be louder
into the far east... There's nothing new here...it's all a matter of angles.
When the openings are just starting or are marginal, they tend to be at very
low angles. As a general rule, the higher the antenna, the lower the radiation
angle of the first lobe, and this first lobe is the one that works under these
conditions. The stack will create a fatter first lobe and attenuate the upper
lobes, but it wont lower your radiation angle. This stack may kick butt and
take names during a GOOD EU opening, but how many of those are we getting these
days? Of course the ultimate is to have all different heights in a stack of
beams and be able to select all different combinations.
If you can wait a few weeks, I'll be able to tell you first hand. I'll be
finishing off my 3 stack of KT34XA's with the top one at 112'. I already have
2 up at 38 es 75 feet. I think the next one is going to make a BIG difference!
Of course if we lived in New England, we could run a TH6 at 40 feet and
run EU all day long! ;)
73, Tyler KF3P
>From kf3p@cais.cais.com (Tyler Stewart) Wed Aug 23 07:19:37 1995
From: kf3p@cais.cais.com (Tyler Stewart) (Tyler Stewart)
Subject: Re New Radios
Message-ID: <199508230619.CAA25809@cais.cais.com>
>K8DO wrote
>
>>Hey Randy....
>>
>>Is your shack ALWAYS that neat? And, how about telling us what each of those
>>little switch boxes do.... :)
>>
>And is anybody THAT young?
>
>73, Pete Smith N4ZR
>n4zr@ix.netcom.com *** note new e-mail address ***
>
>No, no, no, that's 59 WEST Virginia.
>
It's that cute baby face and no eye glasses!
(Ahh the price of fame and fortune!)
73, Tyler KF3P
>From kf3p@cais.cais.com (Tyler Stewart) Wed Aug 23 07:47:46 1995
From: kf3p@cais.cais.com (Tyler Stewart) (Tyler Stewart)
Subject: Fiberglass Guy Rod
Message-ID: <199508230647.CAA27255@cais.cais.com>
I'd like to hear from anyone that has experience using fiberglass guy cable
and/or knows of an experienced manufacturer for it. ( This is NOT Phillystran)
73, Tyler
KF3P
>From morpheus@kuwait.net () Wed Aug 23 16:06:21 1995
From: morpheus@kuwait.net () (morpheus@kuwait.net ())
Subject: IRC & US Dollar
Message-ID: <m0slEas-0001BZC@access.kuwait.net>
hi all
many of stations sending IRC to the Kuwaiti stations, and as I know that the
IRC in Japan and some other countries is more expensive than one US dollar,
and in our country the US dollar is much much better than the IRC, then please
for all stations in these countries send to us US dollar better than the IRC
and chieper for them. in this way we will help both side.
thank you for reading
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
9K2HN | E-Mail: morpheus@kuwait.net |
Hamad Al-Nusif |--------------------------------------------------<
Kuwait City | This space is intentionaly left empty |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>From Rick Niswander <AONISWAN@ECUVM.CIS.ECU.EDU> Wed Aug 23 13:05:46 1995
From: Rick Niswander <AONISWAN@ECUVM.CIS.ECU.EDU> (Rick Niswander)
Subject: Sunspot good news
At last.....the light at the end of the tunnel.
NPR news this morning had a short interview (7:30 am local) with
someone from a California lab (can't remember the name since I was listening
to the report while, at the same time, was carrying on a conversation
with a student who came by....running 2 radios has a practical application).
He said that they had detected a certain type of sunspot on the sun. This
spot is not just any kind of spot, but is, in fact, the first spot of
the next sunspot cycle!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just hold on. We are on our way up.
Rick, K7GM
aoniswan@ecuvm.cis.ecu.edu
>From millersg@dmapub.dma.org (Steve Miller) Wed Aug 23 13:41:48 1995
From: millersg@dmapub.dma.org (Steve Miller) (Steve Miller)
Subject: Modeling and reality
Message-ID: <m0slF7t-00028PC@dmapub.dma.org>
<N4ZR says>
>
> Let me stir the pot a bit concerning antennas and modeling.
>
> Just the other day, I was talking to a pretty well-known antenna designer
<snip>
> He opined
> that, contrariwise, on HF a stack would almost always outperform the high
> single antenna, and that models severely underestimate the gain to be
> realized by stacking.
He is wrong about the gain however a well researched & designed stack
will usually (but not always) perform better.
> Experience showed, he said, that HF stacking gains on
> the order of 6-12 dB are achieved in the real world, while modeling
> indicates a maximum of 3dB.
What does experience mean - is it a study of carefully measured signal
strengths and arrival (elevation) angles for each mode of propagation?
It is certainly possible (and predictable via modeling) for a stack to have a
6-12 dB advantage over a single antenna - especially when the arrival
angle is near a null of the single antenna. I've also operated contests
where the low antenna will beat the stack by several dB - It's dependent on
arrival angles (and local terrain).
> He went on to say that he had asked around, and
> some antenna gurus said that other phenomena were at work in the case of HF
> stacks, having to do with ground interactions and increased effective
> aperture. Do any of you stack owners or antenna folk out there want to
> comment?
The second antenna increases effective aperture. Ground interactions
alter antenna patterns (compared to free space).
<snip>
> My foreground profile to Europe has the base of the antenna at 550 ft.ASL,
> with the terrain rising to 560 ft.ASL at 1000 ft. from the base, then dead
> flat out to 15000 ft. or more. To my surprise, though, when I run YTAD
> for a single antenna at 100 ft. above ground, that 1/100 slope is
> responsible for a 3 dB. notch in the modeled vertical pattern at 5
> degrees elevation. Can this be right?
It could be - depends how accurate the model is. The major problem with
computer modeling is twofold, first, you have to model the geometry
accurately (YTAD is a 2D model, your antenna is in a 3D world) second,
you have to understand the limitations/accuracy of the model (something
which most people don't bother learning). Examples of the latter would be
using MININEC to model beverages, or trying to see an effect on yagi
performance with or without the boom. The model will give you an answer
but the formulation or implementation of the model may be inadequate for
certain situations.
--
Steve Miller
millersg@dmapub.dma.org
WD8IXE - Ridin' the aethereal waves
>From Cain, Jim, K1TN" <jcain@arrl.org Wed Aug 23 13:51:00 1995
From: Cain, Jim, K1TN" <jcain@arrl.org (Cain, Jim, K1TN)
Subject: Sunspot good news
Message-ID: <303B24E0@arrl.org>
Sunspot may be start of new cycle
Astronomers at the California Institute of Technology say they have
identified the first new sunspot in the next sunspot cycle.
Scientists at Caltech's Big Bear Solar Observatory in Big Bear City,
California, photographed the spot on August 12,
"This makes us happy," said Hal Zirin, professor of astrophysics at
Caltech and director of the Big Bear facility. "The sun is a lot more
interesting to study when things are going on."
Early in the 11-year sunspot cycle, sunspots appear rarely and at relatively
high solar latitudes around 30 to 35 degrees, then increase in frequency and
appear at lower latitudes until they reach sunspot maximum, Caltech said.
After this peak in activity, the number of sunspots slowly declines, and
they appear ever closer to the sun's equator until they reach a relatively
quiet phase called sunspot minimum.
The sun has been in a quiet period through much of 1994 and this year, with
a few spots showing up near the equator. The new sunspot found on August 12
appeared at a solar latitude of 21 degrees, and its magnetic polarity is
opposite to that seen over the last decade, a key to identifying it as the
manifestation of the start of a new cycle, Caltech said.
Scientists at Caltech said they expected an early beginning to Cycle 23, but
not this early. Sunspots in the new cycle should rapidly become more
common and reach a high level of activity in 1998 or 1999, Caltech said.
----------
From: Rick Niswander
To: cq-contest
Subject: Sunspot good news
Return-Path: <AONISWAN@ECUVM.CIS.ECU.EDU>
Message-Id: <m0slEuM-000EKhC@mgate.arrl.org>
X-ListName: Amateur Radio Contester's discussion list <CQ-Contest@tgv.com>
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Errors-To: owner-cq-contest@tgv.com
Sender: owner-cq-contest@tgv.com
From: Rick Niswander <AONISWAN@ECUVM.CIS.ECU.EDU>
Reply-To: Rick Niswander <AONISWAN@ECUVM.CIS.ECU.EDU>
Subject: Sunspot good news
To: cq-contest@tgv.com
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
At last.....the light at the end of the tunnel.
NPR news this morning had a short interview (7:30 am local) with
someone from a California lab (can't remember the name since I was listening
to the report while, at the same time, was carrying on a conversation
with a student who came by....running 2 radios has a practical application).
He said that they had detected a certain type of sunspot on the sun. This
spot is not just any kind of spot, but is, in fact, the first spot of
the next sunspot cycle!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just hold on. We are on our way up.
Rick, K7GM
aoniswan@ecuvm.cis.ecu.edu
>From Douglas S. Zwiebel" <0006489207@mcimail.com Wed Aug 23 13:52:00 1995
From: Douglas S. Zwiebel" <0006489207@mcimail.com (Douglas S. Zwiebel)
Subject: good news for contesters
Message-ID: <30950823125203/0006489207PK3EM@MCIMAIL.COM>
Here is a tidbit I pulled from the QRP reflector. Thought we could
all use some good news.....de Doug KR2Q@mcimail.com
------------------------------
From: Paul Harden <pharden@aoc.nrao.edu>
To: qrp-l@netcom.com
Subject: [2735] NEXT SOLAR CYCLE BEGINS!
Message-ID: <199508222047.OAA06258@zia.aoc.nrao.edu>
NEXT SOLAR CYCLE BEGINS
There is not much an observatory has to offer ham radio, but
this is too pertinent to ignore.
As we all know, we are sitting at dead bottom of the solar cycle ... a
period of extreme solar "quiet" (minimum) conditions. From a
communications standpoint, you plot solar activity (various indexes or
sunspot counts) to determine when the next cycle begins, but this
method identifies the next solar cycle months after the fact.
>From an astronomy and observational standpoint, there are two distinct
conditions that identify the end of one cycle and the beginning of the
next:
1. During a solar MINIMUM - sunspots are rare and when they do occur,
are located along the sun's equator within +/- 7 degrees.
2. During a solar MAXIMUM - sunspots become numerous and are located at
much higher latitudes on the solar disk, above 30 degrees.
3. The magnetic polarity of sunspots reverses from one cycle to the next.
The first sunspot above the equator since early 1994 was observed
Saturday, August 12, 1995 at the Big Bear Solar Observatory, operated by
Cal Tech. The sunspot was observed at 21 degrees north latitude and was
of OPPOSITE magnetic polarity from all sunspots since 1984 ... identifying
the start of the new solar cycle.
Thus, the next solar cycle began August 12, 1995, a bit ahead of most
forecasts. This suggests that improved HF propagation could be evident
as early as next spring and summer, depending upon the rate of increase
in solar activity.
You heard it here first ... from the world's largest radio telescope
in Socorro, NM (humbly referred to as the *center of the universe*).
Good DX, Paul NA5N
----NATIONAL RADIO ASTRONOMY OBSERVATORY ----- Socorro, New Mexico -----
| VLA - Very Large Array Observatory - Worlds largest radio telescope |
|VLBA - Very Long Baseline Array - even larger |
--------(pharden@zia.aoc.nrao.edu) --- (73 de NA5N) --------------------
|