September 20, 2007 by kb3ljm.

The sun has been blank, no visible sunspots, for the past seven days, September 7-13. We may not see another spot until September 22, just before the autumnal equinox. Thursday evening, September 13, Spaceweather.com mentioned a coronal wind hitting earth this evening, September 14. The Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF) points south, which makes the Earth vulnerable to solar wind, but other sources don’t call for an increase in geomagnetic activity today. We might assume that a solar wind from 27 to 28 days ago could return at this time, based on the rotation of the Sun relative to Earth. But looking back four weeks does not reveal any heightened activity. Of course, it could be that the IMF pointed north, protecting earth from the coronal wind.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2007/09/14/102/?nc=1

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September 20, 2007 by kb3ljm.

• Hotel reservations in the reserved block of rooms for the AMSAT Symposium in Pittsburgh are being quickly booked up. This is a reminder to visit the Symposium web page and make your reservation.
• Robert, G8ATE and John, G7HIA will be using the special call sign GB5OSO starting on the 4th October for one month to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the launch of the first earth orbiting satellite SPUTNIK ONE on that date in 1957. All of the available analogue satellites will be used as time permits. A special QSL card will be available after the event.

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September 20, 2007 by kb3ljm.

The ARISS system aboard the International Space Station has frequently enabled its packet digipeater for APRS on 145.825 using the path of “VIA ARISS”.

Additionally, by mid-September PCSAT-1 should enter a FULL SUN OPERATING PERIOD. This may present a period of a few weeks when we will have THREE APRS satellites flying in constellation: ISS, PCSAT-1, and ANDE, all operating 145.825 MHz.
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