| |
N9PBY > ARRL 31.12.99 16:08l 170 Lines 7804 Bytes #-9636 (0) @ WW
BID : ARLV18N50-2
Read: DL8FA DJ7XU DL9MFI GUEST
Subj: The ARRL Letter V18, N50 (Part 2)
Path: DB0AAB<DB0PV<OE2XOM<OE5XBL<OE6XAR<OE3XPR<OE3XPR<HA1VH<S50BMS<S50MBR<
S50BOX<IW3GRX<I3KUH<IW2KTL<IK5CKL<IW5BFZ<IK2QCA<I1YLM<I1YLM<WU3V<
K3IR<WD9ESU<KA9ZZK<N9BQM<KA9JAC<KB9ALN<KG9BO<N9PBY
Sent: 991224/2319z 581@N9PBY.EN63BI.WI.USA.NA
connected him to the whole length and breadth of Wisconsin," said
Daniel Gomez-Ibanez, W9NXE, who was among those on hand for the occasion.
Gomez-Ibanez said equipment used was a Kenwood TS-440 and a vertical
antenna.--thanks to Bette Kratz, KF9ZU; Daniel Gomez-Ibanez, W9NXE, and
Jim Romelfanger, K9ZZ
HAMS HELP SOLO ATLANTIC ROWER
Hams in Barbados and on the high seas assisted solo Atlantic rower
Diana Hoff last month.
Hoff, an eye doctor from Scotland, and Tori Murden, a lawyer from
Kentucky, both left Tenerife in the Canary Islands September 13 trying to be the
first woman to row solo across the Atlantic to Barbados. Murden, 36, in her
boat American Pearl, arrived in Guadeloupe December 3--the first woman and
the first American to complete the solo row. When she reaches her
destination, Hoff, 55, will become the oldest person to ever row an ocean solo. As
of December 19, Hoff had another 500 miles to go on the approximately
3000-mile transatlantic journey in her 22-foot boat Star Atlantic II. Early this
year, Hoff's daughter Elisabeth failed in her attempt to make the solo
crossing in a similar vessel.
On November 12 and still 1000 miles from her goal, bad weather, wind
and sea conditions forced Hoff to put out her sea anchor and remain almost
stationary. Hoff's husband, Stein, in Norway sent her position to Trudi
Smyth, 8P6QM, who runs the Transatlantic Maritime Mobile Net. 8P6QM
relayed the information to Geoff Green, G3ZNV/mm, who was crossing the Atlantic
aboard the 617-foot luxury MSY Wind Surf, also bound for Barbados.
By November 22, Wind Surf was in position to rendezvous with the
still-marooned Hoff. "Despite heavy swell conditions a boat was lowered
from Wind Surf and a line established with Diana to enable her to take on
fresh supplies, also a replacement 'world radio' and cassette player,
together with Christmas greetings, papers and books," Green recounted.
Green said that following an emotional farewell, Wind Surf hoisted her
26,000 square feet of sail and continued under way, wishing Diana and
Star Atlantic II "every success and Godspeed" in her quest.
"It certainly was an experience meeting up with her in mid-Atlantic,"
he said.
For more information on Hoff's transatlantic progress, visit
http://www.oceanrowing.com. This site contains links to other sites
with updated information on Hoff's journey.--Geoff Green, G3ZNV
AMAZON QUEEN 2000 AMATEUR RADIO EXPEDITION READY TO SAIL
Phil Gonzales, HK3SA, reports his Amazon Queen 2000 ham radio
expedition is nearly ready to get under way. Gonzales says the four to five-month
long journey aboard the 47-foot wooden Amazon Queen will cover almost 3000
miles--from Iquitos, Peru, to the Atlantic Ocean near Belem, Brazil.
Gonzales told the ARRL he expects the expedition to begin the second
week of January, but crew members might be on the air as early as the first of
the year. The expedition hopes to use the call sign 5K9AQ, although
Gonzalez said that was not certain, and the actual call sign could be different.
Gonzales says the purpose of the voyage is to bring the world together
through the use of Amateur Radio and the Internet. "We will be
transmitting daily photographs from the voyage," he said.
The crew will be active primarily on HF SSB and plans to check into the
Intercontinental and Maritime Mobile Net on 14.300 MHz "every few
hours."
The expedition will maintain schedules with several other nets as well.
The primary operating frequency will be 14.347 MHz. Other frequencies
include 7.0935 (Amazon Net frequency and outside the US phone band--Ed),
21.287, and 28.400 MHz.
The Amazon Queen 2000 Expedition is interested in setting up schedules
with schools on SSB or other modes. Gonzalez said he hopes to have CW,
AMTOR, and SSTV capabilities on board, and may even have 6-meter capability. Cliff
Clark, KZ9E, is coordinating phone patches from US schools to the
Amazon Queen. He is active on 14.300 MHz. He also may be contacted at
kb9ksl@midwest.net or call 618-648-2499. Teachers seeking additional
information about Amateur Radio in the classroom should visit
http://www.arrl.org/ead/teacher/ .
For more information, visit the Expedition's Web site,
http://www.amazonqueen2000.com. Contact Gonzales via e-mail to
philincolombia@openway.com.co. QSL via Roberto Rey, HJ3PXA, and include
an SASE or IRC for return postage.
THE Y2K SONG
(with apologies to "Santa Claus is Coming to Town")
You better watch out,
The lights might go out,
The TV shuts off,
Then everyone shouts
Y2K is coming to town
They say that we'll be
Safe as can be
But don't drink the water, naturally
Y2K is coming to town
If everyone is ready
Why do we hold our breath
They're telling us to hoard water
And it's scaring folks to death!
So you'd better prepare
Your grab-and-go kit
If everything fails guys
Looks like we're it
Get those batteries charged!
Y2K is looming!
Amateurs are ready for Y2K!
--Kim Paquette, N8YWX (Asst EC, Adams County, Ohio)
SOLAR UPDATE
Solar seer Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: HF radio
conditions improved over the past week, with solar flux and sunspot
numbers higher than the previous period, and geomagnetic indices more stable.
Average planetary A index declined from 9.7 to 3.7, and average solar
flux was up over 40 points. This is a happy combination, because often
higher solar indices are coupled with less stable geomagnetic conditions. Look
for solar flux to remain around 200 for Thursday and Friday of this week,
and slip just below 200 on Christmas day. Planetary A indices are predicted
at seven for all three days.
Beyond this weekend look for solar flux to decline to around 150 by the
end of the year, rising above 160 after the first week in January. Solar
flux should top 200 again by the middle of next month. Look for unstable
geomagnetic conditions returning around December 31 through January 2.
Sunspot numbers for December 16 through 22 were 146, 179, 190, 154,
149, 129 and 130 with a mean of 153.9. The 10.7 cm flux was 194, 200.7, 205.5,
206.9, 209.2, 217.2 and 201.7, with a mean of 205. The estimated planetary A
indices were 5, 5, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 2, with a mean of 3.7.
__________________________________
IN BRIEF:
* This weekend on the radio: ARRL Straight Key Night and the 14th
Internet CW Sprint are December 31-January 1. Just ahead: the PSK31 Millennium
Contest, the SARTG New Year RTTY Contest, and the Y2K QRP Contest are
January 1-2. The ARRL RTTY Roundup, the Japan International DX Contest
(CW), Meet the Novices and Technicians Day, and the North American QSO Party
(CW) are January 7-9. See December QST, page 88, and January QST, page 100,
for details.
* AMRAD LF beacon heard in Ontario: The second Amateur Radio Research
and Development Corporation experimental LF beacon, WA2XTF/12, has been
heard in Canada. Mitch Powell, VE3OT, recently e-mailed a report to AMRAD from
London, Ontario. The WA2XTF/12 beacon on 136.745 kHz is a part of
AMRAD's experiments to gain LF experience in anticipation that the FCC may
allocate an amateur band at 136 kHz. AMRAD obtained its Part 5 experimental
license for the project earlier this year. Powell said the signal was so strong
he was able to hear it coming his headphones ten feet away and was easily
able to copy the e-mail address to file the report. He said the signal
ranged from 459 to 559. VE3OT's receiver is a Drake R8, operating in upper
sideband mode, with a 500 Hz filter followed by a 600 Hz audio filter (SCAF).
His antenna is a 12-foot loop using a homebrew preamplifier. "WA2XTF/12 is
right at the noise level but 100% readable," he said. AMRAD's Andr'
Kesteloot, N4ICK, says the report from VE3OT was the best DX received since the
beacon went on the air in mid-November. Reports go to Kesteloot at
n4ick@amrad.org
Read previous mail | Read next mail
| |
