Archive for January 27, 2008

WA7BNM Contest Calendar

Feb. 24-
High Speed CW Club Contest

Feb. 24-25
North Carolina QSO Party

March 1-2
ARRL Int’l DX Contest, SSB
Wake Up! QRP Sprint

March 2
DARC 10-Meter Digital

March 3
RSGB Club Championship, Data

March 8-9
RSGB Commonwealth Contest
Oklahoma QSO Party
Idaho QSO Party
EA PSK 31 Contest

March 8
AGCW QRP Contest

March 9
NA Sprint, RTTY
UBA Spring Contest, CW

March 9-10
Wisconsin QSO Party

March 12
RSGB 80-m Club
Championship, CW

March 15-16
Russian DX Contest

March 15-17
Virginia QSO Party

March 15
10-10 Int. Mobile Contest

March 16
9K 15-meter Contest

March 20
RSGB 80m Club
Championship, SSB

March 22-24
BARTG Spring RTTY Contest

March 23
UBA Spring Contest, 2m.

March 29-20
CQ WW WPX Contest, SSB

April 4-6
YLRL DX to NA Contest, CW

April 5-6
SP DX Contest
EA RTTY Contest
QCWA Sprint QSO Party
Missouri QSO Party
Yuri Gagarin Int’l DX Contest

http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html

6m frees up in Germany [RSGB]

Following in the switching off of the last two German analogue TV-transmitters on VHF channel 2, German telecommunications regulators have now officially lifted the 200km six metre protection zones around these stations. This gives all German class A licensee holders free and undisturbed access to the 6 meter band.

Swedish study methane from burping cows

A Swedish university has received 3.8 million kronor ($590,000) in research funds to measure the greenhouse gases released when cows belch.

About 20 cows will participate in the project run by the Swedish University for Agricultural Sciences in Uppsala, about 40 miles north of Stockholm, officials said Monday.

Cattle release methane, a greenhouse gas believed to contribute to global warming, when they digest their food. Researchers believe the level of methane released depends on the type of food the eat.
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Air Force working on cheaper plug-and-play satellites

Satellites represent an extremely impressive technological achievement, serving as communications relays in orbits as high as 22,600 miles above the Earth or providing precise location information to handheld Global Positioning System receivers priced at as little as $100.

At the same time, satellite development and manufacturing seems stuck in the pre-automation age, with each bird laboriously handcrafted in a process that takes years and with costs for new Defense Department satellite systems routinely measured in the billions of dollars.

The Transformational Communications Satellite (TSAT) system for example, intended to serve as the next-generation space-based communications hub for Defense and capable of transmitting huge amounts of data in seconds rather than minutes using current systems, won’t go into service until 2016 and has a price tag of $16 billion.
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Elderly radio amateur dies in fall

A 71-year-old Briton died tragically yesterday afternoon when he fell a height of three storeys in George Borg Olivier Street, Rabat, the police said.

Alan Wright, a radio amateur, fell off a ladder while fixing the aerial of his transmitter. Police sources said he was rather unfortunate not to fall onto his own roof but into a shaft, ending up on the roof of a residence below. The accident happened at about 4 p.m.

Mr Wright was married and had been living in Malta for over five years. He moved to Rabat only recently.

On Sunday mornings he often frequented the Malta Amateur Radio League in Attard and was last seen there on January 13. His call sign was 9H1AW.

An on-site inquiry was held. An autopsy will be held this morning. Police Inspector Nezren Grixti is heading investigations.

www.timesofmalta.com

RADIO RECORDS: WA1ZMS AND W4WWQ GO 114 KM ON 241 GHZ

A pair of United states hams are now the likely distance holders for a contact on the 241 Gigahertz band.

At 01:24 U-T-C on January 31st, Brian Justin, WA1ZMS portable 4 operating from Grid Square FM07 made contact with Peter Lascell, W4WWQ, also operating portable 4 from Grid Square EM96. That’s a distance of 114.4km and beating out the old record of 79 km by 35.4 Km.

WA1ZMS says that the QSO was over 2 years in the making with several failed attempts at even shorter distances during that time period. He says that the key to success this time was the very driest of winter air that may only take place one day a year in his part of the country. The mode used for the contact was CW. (WA1ZMS)

www.arnewsline.org

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