NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter is just a few hours away from making humanity’s first attempt at powered, controlled flight of an aircraft on another planet.
If all proceeds as planned, the 4-pound (1.8-kg) rotorcraft is expected to take off from Mars’ Jezero Crater Sunday, April 11, at 12:30 p.m. local Mars solar time (10:54 p.m. EDT, 7:54 p.m. PDT), hovering 10 feet (3 meters) above the surface for up to 30 seconds.
Mission control specialists at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California expect to receive the first data from the first flight attempt the following morning at around 4:15 a.m. EDT (1:15 a.m. PDT). ... Читать дальше »
The website Inverse has an interesting article on Amateur Radio direction finding:
Radio direction finding has existed for nearly as long as radio itself (the late 19th century). The military uses it for practical reasons, utilizing it to 'triangulate,' or locate, hidden military bases, transmitters, and submarines that would otherwise be a secret. (The basic technique, with different technological adaptations, was used in both World War I and World War II.) Now, radio direction finding has become a sport that combines the geeky charm of ham radio, the outdoor skills of orienteering, and the endurance of cross country.
Bob Frey is an ARDF athlete who has competed since 1999
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AMSAT SA has announced the date for the 2021 Space Symposium. In view of the continuing uncertainty about the Covid - 19 pandemic the conference will be a virtual event on the BlueJeans platform. The date is Saturday 10 July 2021 starting at 08:00 UTC.
The theme of the symposium is "Unlocking Amateur Space Technology." The symposium will focus on amateur satellites, weak signal communication, space weather and allied sciences.
This is the first call for paper proposals. Prospective authors are invited to submit proposals in the form of a brief description of the subject to be covered in their paper by no later than 15 May 2021. Submit proposals in word format to admin@amsat
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If you have the opportunity to build your shack, it might start off as a table in the corner where you plonk down a radio, plug into nearby power and run coax to. That's pretty much how most shacks start, mine included.
For me the step of running coax was an activity that took weeks of planning and procrastination and days of climbing on the roof. After actually completing that and getting two runs of coax to my planned shack, one for HF and one for UHF and VHF, the shack building itself was pretty simple.
The patron of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, KG, KT, passed away on April 9, aged 99
He had been the RSGB’s patron since 1952 and joined the Society on several occasions. These included special event stations, anniversary events and exhibitions.
NewsWest for Sunday 11th April 2021 is the Contesting edition, and we’re full of it this week. Full of Contesting information that is, including fantastic Aussie results in the recent Commonwealth Contest, there’s news of an international YLs contest, and loads more besides.
Frank Howell, K4FMH, followed up his two-part National Contest Journal (NCJ) series, 'The Demographics of Contesting,' with a post to his Social Circuits blog, called 'Lemmings over a Demographic Cliff?' (His original articles appeared in the July/August and September/October 2020 issues of NCJ.) Howell points to data showing that radio contesters are older than the average ARRL member. Taking into account information from the Bureau of Labor and Statistics on Leisure Time Use, Howell opines that this should be expected.
"Leisure pursuits are highest during youth and young adulthood but dramatically taper off about ages 25 – 34 until age 55 and over,” Howell said. "This hollowing out of leisure and sport time is a predictable outcome of competing and more important activities.”
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The next free amateur radio Foundation Online training course run by volunteers from Essex Ham starts on April 18 - Register Now
The RSGB's introduction of online exams that can be taken at home has led to a surge in demand for free online amateur radio training courses such as that run by Essex Ham.
The internationally allocated 60 metre amateur band 5351.5 - 5366.5 kHz has been cleared of formerly licensed users in New Zealand. This can be confirmed by a public search of the New Zealand register of radio frequencies. There is now a clear path for New Zealand amateur radio operators to gain access to all of the internationally allocated amateur band 5351.5 - 5366.5 kHz.
Background: I independently liaised with New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) to implement a plan I formulated in January to clear a 60 metre band for amateur radio. NZDF liked my plan and it has relevance to other NZDF radio projects. As I'm an Approved Radio Engineer I can modify radio licences
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NewsWest for Sunday 11th April 2021 is the Contesting edition, and we’re full of it this week. Full of Contesting information that is, including fantastic Aussie results in the recent Commonwealth Contest, there’s news of an international YLs contest, and loads more besides.