eHam.net News for Saturday 2 September 2017

[eHam.net via rec.radio.info Admin]

eHam.net News

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Clermont Man One of First to Take Radio Call from Space:

Posted: 01 Sep 2017 05:04 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/39988


CLERMONT, Fla. -- Andrew Feldman has the energy of a teenager, a passion
for electronics and the story of a ham radio conversation for the ages. For
22 minutes back in the fall of 1983, the now 70-something ham radio
operator received a shout out from space delivered by STS-9 mission
specialist Dr. Owen Garriott. Garriott was a ham radio buff and had NASA's
blessing to make radio calls on his down time from an oddly fashioned ham
radio contraption that was able to transmit to earth. "W5FL was the call
sign of Owen Garriott aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia," Feldman told News
6. According to NASA, Dr. Garriott operated the world's first Amateur Radio
Station from space, W5LFL, "which has since expanded into an important
activity on dozens of Shuttle flights, Space Station MIR and now the
International Space Station with scores of astronauts and cosmonauts
participating." Feldman, who lives in Clermont by way of Long Island, New
York, is an avid ham radio operator and to this day serves as Lt. Colonel
with the Civil Air Patrol. During an interview in his home office, Feldman
recalled the adrenaline rush when the call from Garriott came through loud
and clear. "This is WB2FXN Calling W5LFL Boom!" Feldman recalled the reply
from space crackling over his speaker. "Oh my gosh, I mean my heart sunk,
it must have skipped four beats when that took place. You could not imagine
the thoughts that were raging through me at that point."


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Radio Hams to the Rescue:

Posted: 01 Sep 2017 05:03 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/39987


AMATEUR radio operators provided a vital lifeline for a 12-year-old
Dulverton girl who became unconscious with an epileptic seizure. They were
able to alert the emergency services when all mobile phones failed on a
remote Exmoor campsite near Wimbleball Lake. And while an ambulance was
searching for the site at midnight, first-responder Garry Austin-Thompson -
who made a 20-minute blue-light dash from Williton - spent 45 minutes
administering vital emergency medication until paramedics arrived. The
critically ill young girl has since recovered in hospital. Station
commander at Williton fire station and one of its two first responders,
Garry was paged by the ambulance service shortly before midnight on August
20 to help the girl, who was desperately in need of oxygen. "Had help been
delayed the consequences could have been very serious or worse," Garry told
the Free Press. "And the radio hams played a vital part. "When I got the
call I was told the girl's name was May and her family, from Dulverton,
were camping near Wimbleball Lake.


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Totally Active: Eclipse Photos Reveal Sunspots, Solar Flares:

Posted: 01 Sep 2017 05:03 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/39986


The sun put on quite a show on Aug. 21 -- and not just the "total solar
eclipse" kind. Photos snapped from the path of totality during the solar
eclipse reveal a flurry of activity, ranging from sunspots to solar flares,
on Earth's closest star. The shots were taken by amateur photographer (and
this writer's father-in-law) John Mitchell from the path of totality just
south of Thermopolis, Wyoming. In the early stage of the partial eclipse,
Mitchell captured a series of dark smudges on the face of the sun. These
are sunspots, regions of the sun's surface that are cooler than the rest of
the surface. The sun's activity waxes and wanes on an 11-year cycle, and
the number of sunspots visible on the star's surface depends on timing
within this so-called solar cycle. The sun is now near the minimum in its
current cycle, which started in 2008. That cycle is Solar Cycle 24, so
named because it's the 24th since regular recording of sunspots started, in
1755.


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MARS in Harvey:

Posted: 01 Sep 2017 05:05 PM PDT
http://www.eham.net/articles/39985


Mother Nature
didn't pull any punches while battle-
testing the new wrinkles at Army and Air
Force MARS. It was their first response to
real crisis under DoD's revised guidelines
but even so, the upgraded military support
mission and streamlined resources unfolded
smoothly, at least in this writer's
estimation. Of course, what remained to
be measured could be most crucial:
endurance.