March 21, 2009 by kb3ljm.

NIGERIA, 5N.

Bodo, DL3OCH is QRV as 5N0OCH from Abuja. Activity is mostly during his evenings and weekends on all HF bands. He will try to be active on 160 meters as well. He is using CW, SSB, RTTY and EME. QSL to home call.

CROATIA, 9A.

Special event station 9A09P is active until December 31 in celebration of the city of Djurdjevac. Activity is on all bands and modes. QSL via bureau.

http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/dx/2009-arld011.html

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March 21, 2009 by kb3ljm.

You can view live Space Station video that includes Earth views from external cameras on the International Space Station during crew off-duty periods. Also available form the NASA website are selected in-cabin views of crew activities during the crew on-duty periods and a graphical world map that depicts the station’s location in orbit above the Earth using real-time telemetry sent to Mission Control from the station. The video stream is accompanied by audio of communications between Mission Control and the astronauts when available. During times when the shuttle is docked to the station, the stream will include video and audio of those activities.

Since the station orbits the Earth once every 90 minutes, it sees a sunrise or a sunset every 45 minutes. When the station is in darkness, the external camera video may appear black, but also may provide spectacular views of city lights below. In addition, satellite coverage may be intermittent and result in a display of colour bars. Colour bars or a black screen do not necessarily indicate a problem with the video stream. The streaming video is being webcast as part of NASA’s celebration of the 10th anniversary of the space station in orbit. See www.nasa.gov/station.

http://www.rsgb.org/news/

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March 20, 2009 by kb3ljm.

The revised first edition of Experimental Methods in RF Design is now available from the ARRL. Co-written and updated by Wes Hayward, W7ZOI, Rick Campbell, KK7B, and Bob Larkin, W7PUA, Experimental Methods in RF Design explores wide dynamic range, low distortion radio equipment, the use of direct conversion and phasing methods and digital signal processing. Use the models and discussion included in the book to design, build and measure equipment at both the circuit and the system level.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/03/16/10704/?nc=1

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March 20, 2009 by kb3ljm.

Last month we mentioned the cancellation of the Frederick Hamfest. Hopefully they will find a lower priced venue and come back next year. We have had to cut back on table sales at our hamfest for a number of reasons, making it essentially a tailgating hamest. But we need your help, participation and support, so we too don’t have to cancel in the future….
Call 410-461-1212 and volunteer to help. Now!
Thanks and 73, Mayer, W3GXK

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March 15, 2009 by kb3ljm.

The AO-7 UHF Beacon at 435.100 MHz has been reported as becoming operational. Satellite telemetry in RTTY format is being copied. The AO-7 70-cm beacon was monitored with very strong signals during February 28 passes and also since then. Some reported the beacon initially sounded as if it was in a two-state mode that sounded a bit like RTTY in idle. Successful RTTY decodes have been accomplished using “reverse, 45, 85″ parameters.

AO-7 Command Operator, Mike, N1JEZ says, “This is a pretty significant development. Every time I’ve tried to activate the RTTY system, all I would get is a solid carrier then the bird has reset indicating a lack of power.”

[ANS thanks Mike, N1JEZ for the above information]

http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/news/

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March 10, 2009 by kb3ljm.

In December, 2008 AO-27 went off the air. The control team members pursued a strategy to drain the batteries in the hopes of resetting the locked up modem. As of a week ago, the bird has rebooted into the primary bootloader.

During February, 2009 the control team has managed to upload the high level software (EOS) to AO-27 after several attempts. They took a week to collect data to check on the battery status and conduct an on-orbit checkout before returning to analogue mode.

As of March 1, 2009 the AO-27 control team reports that telemetry is looking good. During several passes over the US they turned on the Analogue Repeater. This week the control team will continue the data download schedule to collect as much whole orbit data to check on the health of the batteries. So far, it is looking like AO-27 will return to normal operations on or around March 7th.

AO-27 Uplink: 145.850 MHz FM
AO-27 Downlink: 436.795 MHZ FM
http://www.ao27.org

http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/news/

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March 9, 2009 by kb3ljm.

Following proposals from the RSGB, Ofcom have extended existing NoVs (NOVs =Notices of Variation = temporary license) for 501 to 504kHz until 28 February 2010. Letters are being set to all NoV holders. The extension of the NoV also authorises an ERP of up to +10dBW.

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March 9, 2009 by kb3ljm.

On February 25 — 10 months to the day that the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit released its decision on the ARRL’s Petition for Review of the FCC’s Orders adopting rules governing broadband over power line (BPL) systems — ARRL General Counsel, Chris Imlay, W3KD, sent a letter to FCC Acting Chairman Michael Copps, requesting that the Commission “revisit the BPL rules without further delay, and to comply with the obligations placed on it by the Court.” In its April 2008 decision, the Court agreed with the ARRL on two major points and remanded the rules to the Commission. According to Imlay, “to date, literally nothing has been done by the Commission to comply with these instructions.”

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/03/04/10685/?nc=1

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March 9, 2009 by kb3ljm.

On Tuesday, March 3, President Barack Obama nominated Julius Genachowski as FCC Chairman. Genachowski, 46, is a technology executive and a former classmate of Obama’s from Harvard Law School. Upon Senate confirmation, Genachowski will replace Acting FCC Chairman Michael Copps; Copps took over the Commission on January 22, 2009, two days after then-Chairman Kevin Martin resigned. Genachowski has been widely praised by industry executives and consumer-activist groups — two groups often at odds — for his wide-ranging experience and intimate knowledge of technology issues.

http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/03/03/10684/?nc=1

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March 9, 2009 by kb3ljm.

NIGERIA, 5N.

Bodo, DL3OCH is QRV as 5N/KT3Q until July 24 while on business. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters, including EME. QSL to home call.

CHAD, TT.

Franck, F4BQO is QRV as TT8CF until July 1. Activity is on all bands using CW and SSB. QSL direct to home call.

http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/dx/2009-arld009.html

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