January 15, 2008 by kb3ljm.

It looks like Delfi-C3 and five other other Amateur Radio cubesats will launch on March 7th.

The new Mission status page at www.delfic3.nl/missionstatus/ gives a launch date of March 7th at 09:20 local time (04:50 UT)

The Defi-C3 launch team are scheduled to leave for India on February 14th.

Details of the other Cubesats on the launch can be found at
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2008/cubesat_launch_postponed.htm

Delfi-C3 Mission Status
http://www.delfic3.nl/missionstatus/

http://www.southgatearc.org/news/january2008/delfi_c3_launch_date.htm

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January 15, 2008 by kb3ljm.

A Macedonian radio amateur has claimed the largest number of QSOs as a single operator in
the 21st century. Vladimir Kovacesci, Z35M has submitted a proposal to Guinness World
Records to add a new category of ‘Largest number of contacts for 5 years in a row’. He claims
140,000 QSOs in the period 2001 to 2005. His all-time total since 1984 is a massive 320,000
contacts. His best year was 2001, when he made 43,300 QSOs, a European single year record.
[RSGB via QRZ]

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January 15, 2008 by kb3ljm.

The State of Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management (OEM) received $250,000 from Governor Ted Kulongoski’s Strategic Reserve Fund to further develop and enhance a statewide Amateur Radio digital communications network, announced ARRL Oregon Section Manager Bonnie Altus, AB7ZQ.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/01/08/100/?nc=1

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January 15, 2008 by kb3ljm.

Despite the fact that sunspots have been virtually non-existent, the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service is doing a brisk business. “We are seeing bigger numbers this year as compared to last year,” says ARRL Outgoing QSL Service Manager Sharon Taratula. “It’s amazing, considering where we are in the sunspot cycle.” In 2007, the Outgoing QSL Service sent out 1,035,225 QSL cards, she says, compared with 1,000,475 cards sent during 2006 — a difference of 34,750 QSLs. The volume of outgoing QSL cards reflects the trend, although not all cards received — especially those destined for rarer DXCC entities — go out right away in the monthly mailings to foreign bureaus. In 2005, the Bureau sent out 1,137,550 cards. “Now that the new solar cycle is here, we should see even more cards,” Taratula said. In the last solar cycle (Cycle 23), the number of cards shipped via the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service topped 1.9 million cards in the 2001-2002 period. The Outgoing QSL Service sorts and forwards QSLs received from US radio amateurs to bureaus in more than 220 countries.

http://www.arrl.org/?artid=7943

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January 15, 2008 by kb3ljm.

The NarrowBand Emergency Messaging System (NBEMS) development team announced earlier this week that a Windows NBEMS software suite for beta testing is now available. NBEMS for Windows is a suite of software programs designed for point-to-point, error-free emergency messaging up to or over 100 miles distant. According to developers Skip Teller, KH6TY and Dave Freese, W1HKJ, the NBEMS system is designed primarily for use on VHF and up, or on HF with Near Vertical Incidence Skywave (NVIS) antennas. The system uses the computer soundcard as the modem. Other than a simple interface connection between the computer and transceiver, no additional hardware is needed. Composing and sending emergency messages on NBEMS is no more difficult than sending e-mail via the Internet. All forwarding is done by stations manned by live operators on both ends who can confirm that a frequency is clear locally, or negotiate a frequency change to avoid causing interference. The NBEMS software can also be used for daily casual communications on PSK31, PSK63, RTTY or MFSK16 and is capable of sending flawless, high resolution, passport photo-sized color images in less than 10 minutes over any path that can sustain PSK250 without excessive repeats. Radio amateurs are invited to participate in the beta test of the NBEMS. The NBEMS suite can be downloaded for beta testing from the NBEMS Web site. Send comments and bug reports via e-mail.

http://www.arrl.org/?artid=7933

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January 15, 2008 by kb3ljm.

Carroll C. (Charlie) Tiemeyer, W3RMD
January 1, 2008
(Husband of Bettye, (K3VRZ, SK)

Alan M. Chedester, N3AC
January 13, 2008

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