Blue Hill Observatory radio projects

rusty moore

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Feb 1, 2021, 2:54:39 PM2/1/21

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Hello everyone,

I've been following the progress of HamSCI for some time now and have corresponded with Nathaniel since the 2020 HamSCI Workshop about the projects I'm working on at Blue Hill, but I thought others might be interested to know what we're up to before this year's Workshop.

A little background on the Observatory: Blue Hill Observatory is the oldest continually-operated meteorological observatory in North America, having begun observations 136 years ago today, February 1st, 1885 (Happy Birthday to us!) Along with the expected weather observations, the Observatory also did a variety of work in areas of interest to hams: in 1885, experiments were performed to measure atmospheric electricity, essentially replicating Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment with the latest measuring equipment; in 1899, at the request of the Smithsonian Institution, BHO did a series of experiments using kites to raise wire antennas for the purpose of testing the effects of elevation on radio transmission and reception; in the early 1930s BHO was involved in the development of radiosondes, culminating in 1935 with the first successful flight of a radiosonde in the U.S.; and in 1933 radio amateurs at Blue Hill made the first radio contact with Mount Washington Observatory, 142 miles distant, the first over-the-horizon link at VHF frequencies (60MHz, which was then referred to as UHF).

I'm currently developing a new educational tour for the Observatory that will cover a fairly broad range of topics under the heading of space weather : solar physics and the effects of solar activity on Earth, the sun's connection to radio propagation, Transient Luminous Events, natural atmospheric radio emissions and the electrical nature of our atmosphere. The teaching tools I hope to deploy on this tour include a solar telescope, radio gear for VLF, HF and above, and the Personal Space Weather Station. I'm particularly excited about the prospect of putting the PSWS into operation here as, in addition to its educational value, it represents an affordable way of getting Blue Hill Observatory back into basic scientific research, something that's been missing from our operations for generations now.

I'm also planning for an in-house amateur radio club and station. After an absence of perhaps 60 years radio will be returning to Blue Hill and I'm hoping to kick things off with an on-air special event this spring to commemorate the 1933 Blue Hill/ Mt. Washington success. Stay tuned!

73,

Rusty Moore K1FVK

Ward Silver

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Feb 1, 2021, 3:18:01 PM2/1/21

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Rusty,

Thanks for the update on Blue Hill - that is all news to me! Where, by the way, is Blue Hill? From the final paragraph, I guess it's close to Mt Washington?

73, Ward N0AX

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Lanzerotti, Louis J.

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Feb 1, 2021, 3:21:11 PM2/1/21

to ham...@googlegroups.com, Louis Lanzerotti

I recall when Richard Goody was director of Blue Hill when I was a graduate student at Harvard in the early '60s.

Pleased to see it is still thriving.

Lou Lanzerotti

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rusty moore

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Feb 1, 2021, 4:24:32 PM2/1/21

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Sorry Ward, I should have included that bit of information! Blue Hill Observatory is 10 miles south of Boston, on top of the highest (635' ASL) hill in the Blue Hills Reservation.

Cheers,

Rusty K1FVK

Pierre Fogal

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Feb 1, 2021, 5:07:49 PM2/1/21

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Is Richard Goody the R.M. Goody that wrote Atmospheric Radiation?

73,

Pierre VE3KTB

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Pierre F. Fogal, Ph.D.

Site Manager

Polar Environment Atmospheric Research Laboratory (PEARL)

Canadian Network for Detection of Atmospheric Change (CANDAC)

http://www.candac.ca

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Department of Physics, University of Toronto

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From: ham...@googlegroups.com <ham...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Lanzerotti, Louis J. <louis.j.l...@njit.edu>
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Cc: Louis Lanzerotti <l...@njit.edu>
Subject: Re: [HamSCI] Blue Hill Observatory radio projects

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Lanzerotti, Louis J.

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Feb 1, 2021, 5:14:35 PM2/1/21

to ham...@googlegroups.com, Louis Lanzerotti

Yes. The book is a true classic.

He is 99 now.

Lou Lanzerotti

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Aidan Montare

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Feb 2, 2021, 12:00:23 AM2/2/21

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Rusty,

Thanks for sharing this bit of history! Happy birthday!

Hope we get to go on the tour soon!

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