///////////////////////////////////////////
Wattsburg Students Speak with Astronaut in Space:

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 05:30 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/29195

WATTSBURG -- Astronaut Sunita Williams might have been more than 200 miles  
away from the surface of the Earth on Friday, but that didn't mean she  
couldn't answer questions from students at Seneca High School. A dozen  
Wattsburg Area School District students had the chance to talk directly to  
Williams for just over 10 minutes Friday through the Amateur Radio on the  
International Space Station -- or ARISS -- program. The event was organized  
locally by Paul Semrau, an English and biology teacher at Seneca. The 12  
students chosen to ask questions were from Seneca, Wattsburg Area Middle  
School and Wattsburg Area Elementary Center. Those students were picked  
from a pool of almost 60 who applied to ask questions based on their  
questions and a project they completed. Those projects could be essays,  
collages or some other way of representing why their question was important.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Scouts Take To Airwaves to Make Friends, Share Ideas and Learn New Skills:

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 05:29 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/29194

More than 500,000 young people take part in the event worldwide, which was  
set up in 1957 to give international Scout groups the chance to get in  
contact with each other. In the past, local groups had talked to others in  
countries as far away as Australia, Russia and America, and this year,  
Scouts found friends in Sweden and Germany within an hour of being on air.  
Andy Carlile, manager of the Grimsby and Cleethorpes District Scouts Active  
Support radio scouting team, said: "The event gives Scouts a chance to  
connect with people from the other side of the world, make friends, share  
ideas and learn a skill, which is what scouting is all about." Scouts  
talked on the radio but also transmitted television images and Morse code,  
as well as learning secret codes and ciphers, how to make an emergency  
telephone call and sign language.

///////////////////////////////////////////
A Radio for All Frequencies to Rule the Airwaves:

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 05:30 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/29193

Zap-happy channel-surfers could soon control a lot more than cable TV from  
their remotes. Michael Ossmann, co-founder of Great Scott Gadgets, is  
developing HackRF, a software-defined radio (SDR) that lets you switch  
between radio frequencies on the fly. Most wireless gadgets, like the 3G  
antenna in a phone, operate using a fixed radio frequency band. But. HackRF  
could potentially receive and transmit any radio frequency from 100  
megahertz to 6 gigahertz - a range that includes broadcast and amateur  
radio, GSM, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and remote garage-door openers. Ossmann  
presented the device at ToorCon in San Diego, California, last weekend.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Major Solar Flare Erupts from the Sun:

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 05:29 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/29192

The sun unleased a powerful solar flare late Monday (Oct. 22), releasing  
waves of radiation into space that have already caused a short radio  
blackout on Earth. The flare erupted from the sunspot AR 11598 (short for  
Active Region 11598), and reached peak brightness at 11:22 p.m. EDT (0322  
GMT this morning, Oct. 23), according to scientists working on NASA's Solar  
Dynamics Observatory (SDO), a space telescope that constantly monitors the  
sun with high-definition cameras. It ranked as an X1.8 solar flare, one of  
the strongest types of solar flares, according to the U.S. Space Weather  
Prediction Center (SWPC) run by NOAA and the National Weather Service. The  
same sunspot produced three strong flares before this one in just the two  
days since it became visible from Earth's perspective. "This means more  
flares are probably in the offing, and they will become increasingly  
Earth-directed as the sunspot turns toward our planet in the days ahead,"  
astronomer Tony Phillips wrote on Spaceweather.com, a website that tracks  
skywatching and space weather events. Solar flares are caused when magnetic  
activity ramps up in certain patches, called sunspots, on the surface of  
our star. Scientists measure the strength of solar flares in terms of  
energy classes, with X-class flares the most powerful sun storms. Moderate  
flares rank as class M storms and can supercharge Earth's northern lights  
displays when aimed at our planet. Class C solar flares are the weakest of  
the bunch and have little effect on Earth.

///////////////////////////////////////////
Cobb Confident it Could Win Suit Over Radio Tower:

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 05:28 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/29191

WEST COBB -- Rob Hosack, director of Cobb's community development agency,  
thinks the county would prevail if a west Cobb amateur radio operator sues  
to keep his 140-foot tower. "Given that this is a very, very specialized  
area of the law, we just decided to get a recognized expert to kind of  
chime in," Hosack said. "We've had three different hits now kind of get  
together and say 'here's our position,' so if this ends up where I think  
it's going to end up, I think we're going to be in a good position."  
Amateur radio operator Ritner Nesbitt, a grandfather of 10 who lives down  
the road from Dominion Christian Schools, was cited after neighbors  
complained about his tower. He applied for a special land use permit, which  
the county's Planning Commission unanimously recommended denying on Oct. 2.  
Hosack said Nesbitt would be in the clear if his tower stopped at the  
county's 70-foot height limit -- "We would just wish him good luck and send  
him on his way" -- but to have one higher than that requires a special land  
use permit.  Nesbitt, who has spent between $30,000 and $40,000 on the  
tower, said he'll take the county to court before taking the tower down.  
The county paid attorney Anthony LePore of CityScape Consultants, Inc. $500  
to render an opinion on the matter. LePore concluded that federal  
regulations "would not preclude Cobb County from processing this  
application in accordance with its existing wireless communications  
regulations."

///////////////////////////////////////////
Hurricane Watch Net Activated for Hurricane Sandy:

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 09:58 AM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/29190

The Hurricane Watch Net is being activated for Hurricane Sandy.    The net  
will activate on  14.325 MHz  to report observed conditions to the National  
Hurricane Center.  Net operations will begin at 0700 Eastern (1100 UTC)  
Wednesday, October 24, 2012. Operation on lower frequencies (40 or 80  
meters) will be considered depending on propagation during evening and  
night hours.  We will try to monitor Cuban stations, but would appreciate  
your helping us on 14.325.