Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Jul 22 2022 08:48 am
US LAB'S SOLAR CELL BREAKS EFFICIENCY RECORD
PAUL/ANCHOR: Scientists in a US military lab have announced that a newly
developed solar cell has broken a record for efficiency. Kent Peterson,
KC0DGY, has more on that story.
KENT: You might call it the brightest world record under the sun. You
wouldn't be wrong, either: A US Department of Energy laboratory has
broken the record for solar-cell efficiency, creating a solar cell that
is 39.5 percent efficient under lighting conditions equivalent to that of
the sun.
The achievement was reported in a recent issue of the journal Joule.
Scientists in the department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory are
also testing the solar cell for its usefulness in powering such devices
as communications satellites which require high cell efficiency. Under
those conditions, efficiency dropped somewhat to 34.2 efficiency.
Although a 41.1 efficiency has been reported with other experimental
solar cells, those levels were reached by cells using highly concentrated
light.
In an article on the website Interesting Engineering, the principal
investigator, Myles Steiner, said: [quote] "The new cell is more
efficient and has a simpler design that may be useful for a variety of
new applications, such as highly area-constrained applications or low-
radiation space applications." [endquote]
For now, however, the bright light of promise is overshadowed by one
factor that cannot be overlooked: Production costs are prohibitive.
Researchers are apparently working on that too.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson, KC0DGY.
(INTERESTING ENGINEERING)
**
SILENT KEY: MENTOR, EDUCATOR HERB COLEMAN, W4AVX
PAUL: The ham radio community in Alabama is grieving the loss of an
amateur who was considered an educator, an inspiration and a friend. The
Birmingham Amateur Radio Club announced the death of Herb Coleman, W4AVX,
on July 18th. Licensed in 1953, Herb is credited with the establishment
of the first net for teenage amateurs in Alabama in 1955. He taught Morse
Code to many amateurs in the early 1960s and played a major role in
getting Birmingham's first 2m repeater on the air. A public posting on
the club's Facebook page said [quote] "He was a patient and encouraging
Elmer for many of us." [endquote]
We here at Newsline send our condolences.
(BIRMINGHAM AMATEUR RADIO CLUB)
**
AMATEUR NUMBERS DECLINE IN AUSTRALIA
PAUL/ANCHOR: There are discouraging numbers reported for the amateur
radio population in Australia. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has that story.
GRAHAM: While hams are reported to be growing steadily in numbers in the
United States and the UK, here in VK, the Australian amateur radio
population appears to be getting smaller. The Wireless Institute of
Australia, which issued the report on July 17th, cited no numbers or
percentages of decline but said that during a recent board meeting,
members noted that the number of exams and licences had dropped. Figures
from the Ham Radio DX channel showed, however, that in early 2022, the
numbers stood at just over 13,400, down steadily over the years. In 2016,
there were 14,619 licence holders.
This trend was noted just as the board announced it was preparing to
receive a batch of updated manuals for the Foundation licence level. The
board also made a commitment to continue working with ham radio
organisations around the world to ensure that Australian amateurs
visiting outside the country have expediated processing for their
applications to get temporary reciprocal licences.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB.
(WIA, ARRL, HAMRADIODX PODCAST)
**
HF PROPAGATION PROJECT GOING FORWARD
PAUL/ANCHOR: A US project that makes use of sensors on satellites in very
low Earth orbit is looking for proposals that will help develop a better
way to predict HF propagation in the ionosphere in real-time. The program
is known as Ouija (wee-Jah) and is being undertaken by the Defense
Advanced Research Project Agency, or DARPA, which is part of the United
States military. The agency wants to monitor the ionosphere locally and
continuously and believes that it will achieve its stated goal. The
program focuses on the section of the ionosphere that is between 125
miles and 185 miles in altitude, or 300 to 400 kilometers high. In
announcing the project this past spring, DARPA said a more predictable
environment for communications will be an aid for military communication
which includes among its obstacles solar flares and the 11-year solar
cycle.
(IARU REGION I, SPACE.COM)
**
BREAK HERE:
Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline,
heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the WB0QXW Repeater
System in Saint Louis, Missouri on 145.210 Mhz Mondays after the World
Friendship Net, beginning at 7 pm Central time.
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* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (432:1/112)
