July 9, 2007 by kb3ljm.

NASA has agreed to pay $19 million for a Russian-built toilet system for the international space station. The figure may sound astronomical for a toilet in space, but NASA officials said it was cheaper than building their own. “It’s akin to building a municipal treatment center on Earth,” NASA spokeswoman Lynnette Madison said Thursday, explaining the cost of the new toilet system. Also, astronauts are familiar with how it works since it’s similar to one already in use at the space station. The new system will be able to transfer urine to a device that can produce drinking water.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2007-07-06-nasa-pricey-toilet_N.htm?csp=34

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July 9, 2007 by kb3ljm.

Earlier this week, the FCC filed its reply brief with the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The FCC attempted to rebut the ARRL’s challenge to the FCC’s Broadband over Power Line (BPL) rules enacted in late 2004 and affirmed by the agency in 2006. According to ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, “The FCC’s brief does not accurately describe ARRL’s arguments concerning harmful interference.”

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/07/06/104/?nc=1

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July 9, 2007 by kb3ljm.

Great interest is being expressed worldwide in the Irish Radio Transmitters Society’s 75th Anniversary Contest - CQIR , which will take place on the last weekend in September. The contest is a celebration of Ireland and the Irish, throughout the world and with 40 million people in the United States alone claiming Irish forefathers; we expect that CQIR will be one of the largest ‘one off’ contests ever aired on the Amateur Bands. It is a 24-hour single operator contest with the emphasis on participation rather than winning and to this end every participant gains an entry ticket for a spectacular draw for every 75 QSO’s made during the Contest. The ticket drawn out of the EI/GI drum will win an all expenses paid long weekend in New York City for two people. ARRL have confirmed that this will include a visit to their national headquarters hosted by ARRL. Kinnitty Castle in Offaly will host the international winners for a week with flights for two from anywhere in the world. The prizes have been fully sponsored at no cost to the Society and this is really an excellent opportunity to celebrate the Society and its 75 years of service to Irish experimenters. (IRTS)

http://www.irts.ie/cgi/cqir.cgi

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July 9, 2007 by kb3ljm.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Space Environment Center (SEC) released their monthly forecasts of sunspot number and 10.7 cm radio flux, including high and low bounds to their forecasts. The SEC forecasts that the smoothed sunspot number reached its low value of 11.7 in March 2007, and predicts that the solar flux will reach its low of 75.4 this month. This is the fourth month in a row that the SEC predicts the solar flux will bottom out in July. Based on the SEC predictions, this is probably at the bottom of Cycle 23 and extremely close to the beginning of Cycle 24. Two events will mark the beginning of the next sunspot cycle: The observation of the first opposite magnetic polarity sunspots compared to Cycle 23 sunspot polarity, and the observation high solar latitude sunspots — the Cycle 23 sunspots are now very near the solar equator. The SEC predictions table and sunspot number and solar flux prediction graphs are available on the SEC’s Web site — The Daily DX

http://www.arrl.org/?artid=7568

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July 9, 2007 by kb3ljm.

The 2007 Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Conference (GAREC-07) is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, August 16-17 in Huntsville, Alabama. GAREC-07 registrants will participate in emergency communications-themed presentations, discussions and demonstrations. The conference will be held just before the 2007 ARRL National Convention and annual Huntsville Hamfest, which take place on Saturday and Sunday, August 18-19.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/07/06/105/

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July 9, 2007 by kb3ljm.

Get ready for e-mail and text messaging aboard U.S. flights — but no voice calls. The Toronto Star/Bloomberg News writes JetBlue “will detail plans by year’s end to let passengers send free e-mail or text messages from wireless handheld devices. No U.S. airline (currently) offers such a service. New York-based JetBlue is developing the technology through its LiveTV subsidiary, spokeswoman Jenny Dervin said in an interview.” Devin says: “We think that is what customers want. They have told us in no uncertain terms that they do not want cellphone usage allowed onboard. So we’re looking at silent options.” However, there currently are no plans for wireless Internet access, Dervin says.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/sky/2007/07/jetblue-to-deta.html

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