Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (A)
To : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Fri Mar 05 2021 09:18 am
Amateur Radio Newsline Report 2262 for Friday March 5 2021
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2262, with a release date of Friday,
March 5, 2021, to follow in 5-4-3-2-1.
The following is a QST. Wyoming students finally get their space QSOs. A
solar panel promises more energy for Earth -- and a new video tells the
story of a classic broadcast transmitter's rescue. All this and more, as
Amateur Radio Newsline Report Number 2262 comes your way right now.
***
BILLBOARD CART
***
WYOMING STUDENTS GET QSO WITH ISS AT LAST
DON/ANCHOR: We begin this week with the story of a promise fulfilled: In
the language of space, Perseverence isn't just the name of a rover on
Mars. It's a quality that paid off among students in Wyoming who - after
a failed attempt in January - finally got their QSO with the International
Space Station. Here's Mike Askins, KE5CXP, with the details.
MIKE: Students at Wyoming's Newcastle High School were flying high, at
least in spirit, on Monday, March 1st. Their amateur radio contact with
ISS Commander Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG, was a success at last, after their
first try failed as a result of technical troubles with the U.S. astronauts'
radio. With that radio down for repairs, the QSO took place via the
Russians' 2-meter rig instead and the students' questions rolled in fast,
making the most of their precious 10-minute window for contact.
After hearing how bok choy and mustard is grown in space, how astronauts
gently toss a football around for amusement and how a microgravity
environment can cause fluid in the ears, the students wrapped things up
by saying 73.
The contact, accomplished with the help of a multi-point telebridge
network, was a triumph for the high school as much as the ARISS program:
It marked the first time in the ARISS program's 20-year history, that it
has organized a QSO with students in Wyoming.
To hear the QSO, visit the YouTube site that appears in the printed
version of this week's script.
[FOR PRINT ONLY, DO NOT READ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2EYvX27Ujo]
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Mike Askins, KE5CXP.
DON/ANCHOR: In the meantime, ARISS chair Frank Bauer, KA3HDO, announced
that efforts were under way to identify the issue that caused the radio
to fail in January, and a team is working with NASA and the European
Space Agency on a solution.
(ARISS, YOUTUBE)
**
SPACEWALKING AMATEURS PREP FOR POWER UPGRADE
DON/ANCHOR: Meanwhile, big things have been happening OUTSIDE the ISS,
too. Paul Braun, WD9GCO, picks up the story from here.
PAUL: For two amateur radio operators aboard the International Space
Station, it was their moment in the sun. Literally. NASA flight engineers
Kate Rubins, KG5FYJ, and Victor Glover, KI5BKC, took the first moves
toward a power upgrade for the space station, during a seven-hour and
four-minute spacewalk to outfit the new solar arrays with modification
kits.
If the view for observers was a little more spectacular than usual,
consider that Rubins' helmet held a high definition video camera for the
first time and was streaming the action live. Videos had been taken
previously using a helmet cam, of course, but only with standard
definition.
NASA was quick to point out that the present solar arrays on the ISS are
working fine but they're degrading and are approaching the end of their
useful life. The spacewalk was designed to prepare for the installation
of new solar arrays which are expected to be sent to the ISS aboard a
SpaceX vehicle starting in June.
Meanwhile, there is still work to be done. NASA officials said that the
upgrade is to be completed by Friday March 5th, with Rubins returning
accompanied by another amateur radio operator: Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency astronaut Soichi Noguchi, KD5TVP.
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Paul Braun, WD9GCO.
(CNN, SPACE.COM)
**
RF INTERFERENCE REPORTS DRAW RAPID RESPONSE FROM OFCOM
DON/ANCHOR: In the UK, the telecommunications regulator recently
delivered a rapid response to a report of radio interference - but this
wasn't exactly an amateur radio crisis. Jeremy Boot, G4NJH, explains.
JEREMY: It took barely a half-hour as Ofcom, the telecommunications
regulator in the UK, responded swiftly to an urgent report of widespread
RF interference, calling it a high priority case. Even the local police
got involved and awaited the arrival of a spectrum engineer dispatched
from Ofcom's Spectrum Management Centre, which operates around the clock.
The crisis at hand wasn't jammed signals reported by radio operators but
the failure of shoppers at a Hertfordshire superstore to use their key
fobs to unlock their vehicles in the car park. Because the key fobs use
radio spectrum at very low power they are subject to interference issues
the same as other radio equipment.
Using his spectrum analyser, the engineer was unable to pinpoint the
source of the interference, which could have been simply lightbulbs or a
malfunctioning doorbell. The situation had already resolved itself by the
time he arrived.
Hams in the UK should report any and all interference to Ofcom, via the
web address given in the text version of this report at
arnewsline.org.... even if their vehicle's key fob is working fine.
[PRINT ONLY: Don't read out:
https://ofcomforms.secure.force.com/formentry/ ]
For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.
(SOUTHGATE, OFCOM)
--- SBBSecho 3.13-Win32
* Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - tbolt.synchro.net (432:1/112)
