WEEKEND EDITION: FBI "scraps" social network spying program *wink wink, nudge nudge* ....Overpaid public servant (another Kennedy Project) accidentally emails reporter instead of publicist looking for advice on concealing her salary .....
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NASA's amazing high
definition image of
Earth
NASA have released a
'Blue Marble' image of
the Earth taken from the
VIIRS instrument aboard
their most recently
launched Earth-observing
satellite - Suomi NPP.
This composite image
uses a number of swaths
of the Earth's surface
taken on January 4,
2012. The NPP satellite
was renamed 'Suomi NPP'
on January 24, 2012 to
honor the late Verner E.
Suomi of the University
of Wisconsin.
Suomi NPP is NASA's next
Earth-observing research
satellite. It is the
first of a new
generation of satellites
that will observe many
facets of our changing
Earth.
Suomi NPP is carrying
five instruments on
board. The biggest and
most important
instrument is The
Visible/Infrared Imager
Radiometer Suite or
VIIRS.
Download the full size
16.4 MB 8000 x 8000
pixel image
Image Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi
NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/618486main_earth_full.jpg
NASA - Image of the Day
Gallery
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_2159.html
INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATION TAKES WHITE
NOISE OFF METERS
Interference from All
India Radio to the 40
meter band has
been eliminated. Amateur
Radio Newsline's Cheryl
Lasik,
K9BIK, has the details:
Wolfgang Hadel, DK2OM,
in Siegbach, Germany,
reports via the
I-A-R-U Region 1 website
that back last December
1st he and
Peter Jost HB9CET of
Zurich, Switzerland,
noticed a band of
white noise like
interference on 40
meters. This from 6 dot
960 to 7 dot 040MHz and
also on 7 dot 820 MHz
and showing up
every evening.
Calculation by DK2OM
showed the center of the
spurious
emissions was expected
to be on the center 7
dot 410 MHz.
From this point the
German and Swiss
Departments of Post and
Telecommunications
became involved.
Both offices filed
official complaints to
their counterpart
in India. VU2GMN
assisted by filing a
personal complaint.
On January 13th the
transmitter located near
the city of New
Delhi was reported as
having been repaired,
and all traces
of this source of
interference to 40
meters was gone.
FLORIDA LPFM FINE
LOWERED TO $1500
A low power FM station
that
interfered with FAA
frequencies in Florida
will only have to
pay a $1,500 fine for
operating without an FCC
certified
transmitter. This after
it successfully
convinced the
commission to slash the
penalty from the
original $12,000.
Power Ministries is the
licensee of low power
station WRLE
in Dunnellon, Florida.
As reported here on
Newsline, last
September the
Enforcement Bureau
issued a notice of
apparent
liability, saying the
station had operated
with a non-
certified transmitter
for about three months
in 2010. This
action came after an
investigation prompted
by a complaint
of interference it
received from the
Federal Aviation
Administration's
Jacksonville Center to
Air Traffic Control
on133.75 MHz.
The proposed fine was
$12,000 but the station
appealed in a
letter from Power
Ministries owner Anthony
Downes. The FCC
now has rejected his
arguments that the fine
should be
waived on the grounds
that he had acted
promptly and had not
been aware of
interference. But the
commission has accepted
the station's
documentation of
inability to pay, and it
cut
the penalty to the $1500
level. (FCC)
UNKNOWN ANIMAL TAKES KENTUCKY TV STATION OFF THE AIR
A TV station went dark
for a short time due to
damage from
one of the creatures of
the wild. Amateur Radio
Newsline's
Fred Vobbe, W8HDU, has
the details:
An unidentified animal
has been blamed for
taking a Kentucky
television station off
the air. Lexington CBS
affiliate
WKYT announced on its
Facebook page Wednesday,
January 11th
that it was in the midst
of broadcasting a
University of
Kentucky basketball game
when a power outage shut
it down.
It turns out that the
power interruption was
caused by an
animal gnawing through a
power line on the
station's
property. Mike Kanarek,
WKYT's vice president of
operations, told the
Lexington Herald-Leader
newspaper that
the station switched to
a back-up generator
almost
immediately after the
animal cut off
electricity but it took
a few minutes for the
transmitter to resume
broadcasting.
K5B TO COMMEMORATE
THE BATAAN DEATH MARCH
The Mesilla Valley Radio
Club of Las Cruces, New
Mexico will
be operating special
events station K5B on
March 25th.
This, in conjunction
with the 23rd annual
Bataan Memorial
Death March Marathon to
be held at the near-by
White Sands
Missile Range.
K5B will operate from
1000 to 2300 UTC on or
near 21.337,
14.330, 7.225, and 3.893
megahertz. A
commemorative card
will be available by
request. If you make
contact please
QSL with a self
addressed stamped
business sized envelope
to
Special Events Station
K5B, in care of the
Mesilla Valley
Radio Club, P. O. Box
1443 Las Cruces, NM
88004-1443. All
QSL requests must be
received by Friday,
April 20th. More
information is on-line
at www.n5bl.org/bataan.
(Mesilla
Valley ARC)
NASA AND W5KWQ WORKING
ON RELEASE OF FIRST
MOVIE SHOT IN SPACE
The first science
fiction film shot in
space could be coming
to viewers here on
Earth. This after
NASA confirms it's
almost ready to give
approval for the
project.
Titled Apogee of Fear,
the film was shot by
space tourist
Richard Garriott, W5KWQ,
during his 2008 trip to
the
International Space
Station. Garriott shot
the basic footage
for the film, using
astronauts as his cast.
He then added
scenes and visual
effects after his return
to Earth.
The film was privately
shown at Dragon*Con last
year, but
has been in legal limbo
since then. This
is because it
wasn't included in
Garriott's deal with
NASA. Now the space
agency confirms that it
is working with W5KWQ to
facilitate
the video's release.
The complete story is
on-line at
tinyurl.com/movie-in-space.
(The UK Register,
Wired,others)
EMERGING TECHNOLOGY:
THE IPAD PASSPORT
A Canadian man traveling
by car to Vermont
claimes that his
iPad helped save the
day. This after he
realized he left
his passport, which is
required to cross into
the United
States, at his home in
Quebec.
According to news
reports, Martin Reisch
said that on
December 30th he arrived
at Canada's Stanstead
crossing and
proceeded to the U.S.
border post. He
then showed the U.S.
officer his Canadian
driver's license, his
Medicaid card and
a digital scan of his
passport he had on his
iPad. At that
point says Reisch he was
permitted to enter the
United
States.
But the U.S. Customs and
Border Protection agency
says that
it did not happen that
way calling Reisch's
story false. In
a statement the agency
said that in this case,
the
individual had both a
driver's license and
birth
certificate, which the
CBP officer used to
determine
identity and citizenship
in order to admit the
traveler into
the country.
But Reisch isn't backing
down from his story.
He told the
press that he does not
even know where his
paper birth
certificate is. He
added that his
experience does however
make him think about how
technology can be used
for
identification purposes
when traveling at some
point in the
future. (Various
published news sources)
E-volvo, a German firm,
has totally redesigned
the helicopter. Its
multicopter boasts 16
electrically powered
propellers divided into
four groups of four.
Power for up to 20 min
of flight comes from a
lithium battery pack.
The 175-lb manned
prototype measures about
16 × 16 ft and can carry
a payload equal to its
own weight. Unlike
conventional
helicopters, the
multicopter rotors are
permanently positioned.
They do not move or
change pitch, which
should greatly reduce
wear compared to
conventional helicopter
rotors. Instead, each
set of rotors has its
own motor and the amount
of lift each rotor
generates depends on how
much electricity it
receives. Several
onboard computers take
pilot inputs from a
throttle and joystick to
calculate power signals
for each of the 16
rotors that, in turn,
change their speed to
carry out the commands.
The computers also
continually strive to
keep the copter upright.
This relieves the pilot
of having to think about
minimum speed, stalling,
gas mixtures, pitch
control, and the other
issues that complicate
helicopter flight.
The aircraft also has a
few safety features
designed in. For
example, because there
are no overhead rotors,
the multicopter can be
outfitted with a
parachute that could
bring a failed
multicopter safely to
the ground. Plus, the
multicopter can safely
land with up to four of
its rotors totally
disabled.
Read All About It:
"OSCAR-1 Launched 50
Years Ago
A new, highly
informative
article
on how the world's first
Amateur Radio satellite,
OSCAR-1, came to be
designed, built and
launched has been posted
to the ARRL's
Space
Communication
web page (see the
"Articles" section).
Written by Andreas
Bilsing, DL2LUX,
"OSCAR-1 Launched 50
Years Ago" was first
published in the German
magazine Funkamateur.
It is reprinted with
their permission.
OSCAR-1 was launched
just over 50 years ago,
on December 12, 1961.
SumbandilaSat beyond
repair
The defenceWeb site
reports that South
Africa’s second
satellite, SumbandilaSat
(SO-67), is no longer
fulfilling its main
purpose due to technical
problems.
Rob Olivier, head of
Business Development at
SunSpace, told
defenceWeb that although
contact can still be
made with the satellite,
it cannot capture images
and is thus “not
fulfilling its main
purpose”.
He said that chances of
repairing the satellite
are virtually zero and
that SunSpace has moved
on to other projects.
SumbandilaSat was
damaged during a solar
storm in the June
last year.
The power supply to
SumbandilaSat’s onboard
computer stopped working
and the satellite
stopped sending back
images.
Read the full story at
http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=22870:sumbandilasat-beyondrepair&catid=90:science-a-technology&Itemid=204
Marine
Corps
Captain
Exterminates
Lego
World
Record
with
Extreme
Prejudice
Captain
Kyle
Ugone
isn't
just a
Navy
bruiser—he's
a man of
finesse,
and a
lover of
small
plastic
bricks.
So much
so that
he's
erected
a
staggering
1,091
Lego
sets,
earning
him the
title of
world
champion.
According to American Forces Press Service, "Rooms in his Yuma home look as if they belong in a Lego Land theme park, containing hundreds of completed Lego sets separated by genre, such as space, trains, castles and 'Star Wars' sets, displayed on tables and shelves."
You wouldn't think he'd have the time to do all of this while also being a Marine Corps Captain, but hey, the best and the brightest! Now what's he going to do? Destroy it all. His post-record move is extremely zen: "Ugone is slowly taking the sets apart for storage to regain some of the square footage in his home. He's taking a break from collecting Lego sets, planning instead to focus more of his attention on restoring a classic muscle car." Dust to dust. [DoD]
THURSDAY
EDITION:Navy
Seals rock....RS-39
heard. On the AMSAT
bulletin board Jakub
Hruska reported
receiving signals from
RS-39 shortly after
deployment. Chibis was
heard during short pass
(6deg max EL) over
central Europe.
Both frequencies
(435.315 and 435.215
MHz) seems to be active,
with lower one modulated
with some data/voice and
upper one first just CW
beacon, then switched to
modulated as well.....K1MAN
NEWS.....
Coast radio group
celebrates 40 years
BILOXI -- The
Mississippi Coast
Amateur Radio
Association celebrated
its 40th anniversary
Saturday with
demonstrations at
Edgewater Mall.
The organization, which
is part of the Amateur
Radio Relay League, has
more than 60 members who
use their radios to
communicate with people
on every continent.
“It’s the first form of
digital communication,”
said Harry Samuelson,
head of public relations
for MCARA and an amateur
or “ham” radio operator
since age 17.
Although it may seem
like an outmoded form of
communication with the
invention of Internet
chat rooms and Skype,
ham radio enthusiasts
are still very relevant
today and number nearly
3 million worldwide.
Mississippi alone has
about 4,000 users.
Before hitting the
waves, ham radio users
are required to pass a
basic FCC test.
“It’s open to everybody.
If you can read, you can
pass the test,” said
Samuelson, adding there
are children as young as
5 who operate their own
radios.
Samuelson said he hopes
more young people will
get into the hobby.
“Ham radio is a good way
to learn different
languages and about
different parts of the
world,” he said.
Although many
international radio
operators speak English,
Samuelson said many
MCARA members speak
other languages.
And “with international
Morse code you can talk
to anybody,” he said.
But ham radios aren’t
just a hobby. In
emergencies, ham radios
can still reach other
parts of the state,
country and world.
Several MCARA members
have FEMA emergency
certification and were
instrumental in
establishing
communication in the
wake of Hurricane
Katrina.
“When other
communications systems
are out, we’re there,”
Samuelson said.
WINTER FIELD DAY
Not only during Field
Day in June, do the
bands come alive with
improvised signals
proving the ability to
respond to emergencies.
Since emergencies and
natural disasters don't
always happen in the
summer, during Winter
Field Day, frigid winds,
icy limbs and bitter
cold replace the
thunderstorms and
blistering heat of
summer. In 2007 SPAR
established a Winter
Field Day event and
invited all Amateur
Radio operators to
participate. The event
was repeated in 2008 and
was considered a
success, so it was then
designated an annual
event to be held the
last full weekend each
January. In 2007 - 2011
the event was enjoyed by
many, but it is time to
issue the invitation for
the Sixth Annual SPAR
Winter Field Day!
The 2012 Winter Field
Day will be held from
1700 UTC (12:00 noon
EST) Saturday January
28, 2012 through 1700
UTC (12:00 noon EST)
Sunday January 29, 2012.
The object of the event
is familiar to most
Amateur Radio operators:
set up emergency-style
communications and make
as many contacts as
possible during the 24
hour period. The rules
encourage as many
contacts on as many
bands and modes as
possible, because during
a real emergency, the
most important factor is
the ability to
communicate, regardless
of band, mode or
distance.
WEDNESDAY
EDITION: Build a
GeetMotor......Kriss
sounded very good today
on 75 with his remote
control setup. I bought
the OMNI VII to do the
same thing and haven't
got around to doing it
yet...maybe this is the
push I need to get it in
gear!.....I have been
collecting parts to
build a little sampler
device with a
demodulator to view my
signal on the
oscilloscope. I hope to
get the aluminum case
punched out for bnc and
so239 connectors and
wire it up tomorrow. Pix
to follow.....
How many gallons of
gasoline would it take
to charge an iPhone?
This may seem like a
strange question to ask,
considering iPhones
obviously are charged
with electricity, not
gasoline.
But the answer speaks to
why gasoline and other
liquid fuels will remain
an important part of the
energy mix in the
future.
In ExxonMobil’s recently
released Outlook for
Energy, we predict that
by 2040, about 90
percent of the global
transportation fleet
will still be powered by
liquid petroleum fuels –
that is, gasoline,
diesel, and jet fuel.
When asked why that’s
the case, Bill Colton,
ExxonMobil’s vice
president for Corporate
Strategic Planning,
often starts the
discussion using this
fact to put it in
perspective:
All of the energy
concentrated in one
gallon of gasoline is
enough to charge an
iPhone once a day for
almost 20 years.
Clearly, there’s a lot
of energy in a gallon of
gasoline. And energy
density is one of the
key factors behind the
reliability,
affordability,
versatility and
convenience of any fuel.
These are key elements
that drive consumer
choices today and will
continue to drive
consumer choices in the
future.
So, let’s take a look at
the role energy density
plays in fuel choices,
and how it affects
consumer convenience and
choice.
Energy Density
Consumers typically want
to pay the least amount
of money for the most
amount of any product,
energy included. So, the
energy content of any
fuel is a critical
component of consumer
choice. When it comes to
transportation, though,
another factor comes
into play – namely that
the energy to power a
vehicle must be carried
on the vehicle.
One of our top
scientists uses the
analogy of backpacking
when talking about the
importance of energy
density: You want to buy
the lightest, most
easily carried food for
backpacking, but it also
needs to contain a lot
of energy to keep you
going. Likewise,
gasoline and diesel are
the lightest and most
energy-dense fuels to
carry for
transportation. A
typical car’s gasoline
tank contains less than
100 pounds of gasoline
but can power a 3,000
pound car for 400 miles
at 60 miles per hour.
This performance sets a
high standard, and there
are few transportation
fuels currently on the
market that are as
light, energy dense and
portable as gasoline or
diesel.
Convenience
The energy density of a
fuel also contributes to
its convenience.
For example, contrast
the 300 to 400 miles
that a gasoline vehicle
can take you with what
it would take to do the
same in an electric
vehicle. Electric
vehicle batteries have
just a fraction of the
energy density of
gasoline, meaning they
would have to be charged
multiple times during a
400-mile trip. There’s
currently no major
infrastructure for
charging electric
vehicles on the road,
and it can take hours
for an electric vehicle
battery to charge.
Consumers at times may
take for granted the
convenience and
time-savings offered by
the existing fuel
station network. The
technological processes
that recover crude oil
from the earth,
transport it to
refineries, refine it
into gasoline and
diesel, transport it to
fuel stations and store
it over time are so
incredibly advanced that
consumers can fill up
with gasoline 24 hours a
day, seven days a week,
in as many quantities as
necessary. That’s a
convenience that does
not currently exist with
other transportation
fuels.
Affordability
The energy density of a
fuel also contributes to
its affordability.
When gasoline prices are
high, you may hear more
discussion about
introducing more
biofuels, especially
ethanol, as a means to
reduce price. After all,
some consumers see the
lower E85 price at the
station and
(understandably) think
it’s more affordable
than regular gasoline.
But a gallon of E85
contains roughly 25
percent less energy than
a gallon of gasoline,
meaning you end up
paying more because you
fill up more often –
even though the E85
price per gallon at the
pump is lower.
A few years ago,
Edmunds.com did an
interesting test on a
flex-fuel SUV, driving
it from San Diego to Las
Vegas and back first on
gasoline and then on E85
to find out the
difference in fuel
economy and cost. They
found that fuel economy
was 26.5 percent worse
when using E85. That
means having to buy more
fuel to go the same
distance, meaning this
sort of trip using E85
could cost a consumer
about $20 more than
using gasoline.
Looking to the Future
Even though I talked
about the current
challenges of fueling
vehicles with
electricity and biofuels
here, that doesn’t mean
we don’t expect further
technology advances in
this area that will
greatly expand the use
of such vehicles. In
fact, you might be
interested to know that
in our Outlook for
Energy, we actually
predict that hybrids and
other advanced vehicles
will account for nearly
50 percent of the
vehicles on the road in
2040, compared to just 1
percent today.
More efficient vehicles
will mean that global
demand for fuels to
power the light-duty
vehicle fleet is likely
to actually plateau and
gradually start to
decline about 10 to 15
years from now, while
still meeting the needs
of consumers.
There’s a lot more
information about the
future demand for
transportation fuels,
advances in vehicle
efficiency and more in
our 2012 Outlook for
Energy – download a copy
at exxonmobil.com or
visit our interactive
website for more data.
It’s Official: Google
Is Evil Now
In a radical privacy
policy shift, Google
announced today that it
will begin tracking
users across all
services—email, Search,
YouTube and more—sharing
information with no
option to opt out.
The change was announced
in a blog post today,
and will go into effect
March 1. After that, if
you are signed into your
Google Account to use
any service at all, the
company can use that
information on other
services. As Google puts
it:
Our new Privacy Policy
makes clear that, if
you're signed in, we may
combine information
you've provided from one
service with information
from other services. In
short, we'll treat you
as a single user across
all our products, which
will mean a simpler,
more intuitive Google
experience.
What this means for you
is that data from the
things you search for,
the emails you send, the
places you look up on
Google Maps, the videos
you watch in YouTube,
the discussions you have
on Google+ will all be
collected in one place.
It seems like it will
particularly affect
Android users, whose
real-time location,
Google Wallet data and
much more could be up
for grabs. And if you
have signed up for
Google+, odds are the
company even knows your
real name, as it still
places hurdles in front
of using a pseudonym,
although it no longer
explicitly requires
users to go by their
real names.
All of that data history
will now be explicitly
cross-referenced.
Although it refers to
providing users a better
experience (read: more
highly tailored
results), presumably it
is so that Google can
deliver more highly
targeted ads. (There
has, incidentally, never
been a better time to
familiarize yourself
with Google's Ad
Preferences.)
Google's philosophy
speaks directly to
making money without
doing evil. And its
quite explicit in
calling out advertising
in that section. But
while it emphasizes that
ads should be relevant,
obvious, and "not
flashy," what seems to
have been forgotten is a
respect for its users
privacy.
Among its privacy
principles, number four
notes:
People have different
privacy concerns and
needs. To best serve the
full range of our users,
Google strives to offer
them meaningful and
fine-grained choices
over the use of their
personal information. We
believe personal
information should not
be held hostage and we
are committed to
building products that
let users export their
personal information to
other services. We don‘t
sell users' personal
information.
Yet, as The Washington
Post notes, there is no
way to opt out from this
new program. And much
worse, it is an explicit
reversal of its previous
policies. As Google
noted in 2009:
Previously, we only
offered Personalized
Search for signed-in
users, and only when
they had Web History
enabled on their Google
Accounts. What we're
doing today is expanding
Personalized Search so
that we can provide it
to signed-out users as
well. This addition
enables us to customize
search results for you
based upon 180 days of
search activity linked
to an anonymous cookie
in your browser. It's
completely separate from
your Google Account and
Web History (which are
only available to
signed-in users). You'll
know when we customize
results because a "View
customizations" link
will appear on the top
right of the search
results page. Clicking
the link will let you
see how we've customized
your results and also
let you turn off this
type of customization.
The changes come shortly
after Google revamped
its search results to
include social results
it called Search plus
Your World. Although
that move has drawn
heavy criticism from all
over the Web, at least
it gives users the
option to opt-out.
TUESDAY
EDITION: Today is
supposed to hit 50
degrees, what a mild
winter so far.....What
if?.....Russian
scientist claims signs
of
life spotted on Venus.
Wal-Mart immediately
plans opening of store
#8403 ....Maine man
builds the "Phantom." A
homemade snowmobile
with a heater, a CD
player, and a rearview
TV monitor. His
inspiration is " the old
game from PlayStation,
'Spy Hunter,' because I
think it is cool".....RS-39
Chibis-M deploys tonight
RS-39
will be deployed at
around 23:18:30 UT on
Tuesday, January 24, and
radio amateurs are asked
to send reception
reports.RS-39 has CW
beacons on 435.315 and
435.215 MHz that can be
received directly by
schools and colleges for
educational outreach
purposes ....ARISSat-1
Voice Messages
Mike
DK3WN
has collected and posted
the audio files that we
heard from the ARISSat-1
project. This is a
wonderful piece of
amateur satellite
history!
History This Week
1807 London's Pall Mall
became the first street
of any city to be
illuminated by gaslight.
1839 Michael Faraday
publicly announced for
the first time the
existence of
photography.
1851 The first trial
trip of an electric
locomotive was made in
Washington, D.C.
1878 The first
commercial telephone
exchange in the U.S. was
installed at New Haven,
Connecticut.
1880 Thomas Edison
received a patent
(#223,898) for his
electric incandescent
lamp he invented on 21
Nov 1879.
1886 Karl Benz applied
for a patent for his
Benz Patent Motorwagen,
a three-wheeler with
one-cylinder four-stroke
gasoline engine.
1896 Wilhelm Roentgen
first made a public
lecture-demonstration of
his X-ray device, in
Würzburg, Germany.
1911 Glenn Curtiss
piloted the first
hydroplane flight at
North Island, San Diego,
California.
1939 The uranium atom
was split for the first
time using the cyclotron
at Columbia University
in New York City.
How The Biggest Solar
Storm Since 2005 Is
Going to Affect You
There's a solar Coronal
Mass Ejection travelling
towards us at 1,400
miles per second, the
largest solar storm
since 2005. It will hit
Earth around 9am Eastern
Time, causing
fluctuations on the
power grid and
disruptions to the
Global Positioning
System.
There's something else,
a strong proton
storm—ranking S3 on a
5-level scale—which is
in full rage now and
gradually increasing.
While CMEs are
normal—about 2,000 every
11-year solar
cycle—proton storms are
very rare. Only a couple
of dozen happen per
solar cycle. And this
one can be dangerous.
The storm has already
affected aircraft
traffic and may affect
satellites' computers.
On a telephone
interview, NOAA's Space
Weather Prediction
Center physicist Doug
Biesecker told me that,
fortunately, there are
measures to avoid most
dangers.
"Many airliners have
been avoiding the North
Pole routes because they
are more exposed to the
proton storm, which
disrupts High Frequency
radio communications,"
he said on a telephone
interview. HF datalinks
are crucial to modern
airflight, as they keep
aircraft connected to
Air Traffic Control. Due
to the structure of the
magnetic field that
surrounds Earth, the
polar cusps have very
little protection
against outbursts of
solar radiation, so any
airplane crossing that
area could be exposed to
this mayhem.
We're experiencing
technical difficulties
He also said that
satellites may be
affected, causing
reboots on onboard
computers as well as
noise in imaging systems
and interferences in
telemetry caused by
something called single
event upsets. These
events may change the
values of the telemetry
data. Since we are aware
of these interferences
in advance, engineers on
ground bases can take
them into account and
make corrections before
firing any commands that
may jeopardize the life
of the spacecraft.
The only real
unpredictable danger is
a total hardware
failure, with a proton
hitting an electronic
component and killing
it. But according to
Biesecker, this "is a
very remote
possibility."
Global positioning
systems are also
affected—and will be
even more affected
tomorrow. Regular humans
will not notice this.
You will be able to keep
using your GPS normally,
but people using high
precision GPS
equipments—like oil
drilling, military,
engineering and mining
operations—will
definitely notice the
problems.
According to Karen Fox
at NASA Goddard Space
Center, "NASA alerted
operators of their
satellites that the CME
was coming, so those
operators can take
whatever shielding
precautions they can."
The biological danger
NOAA's scale says that
an S3 proton storm may
pose danger to
passengers in
high-flying aircraft at
high latitudes, which is
why some airplanes below
the 65th parallel north
are now actually flying
at lower altitudes to
avoid any kind of
radiation nastiness.
They also recommend for
astronauts to stay home
and avoid space walks
but—according to
Biesecker—this type of
storm is "far below the
level needed for the ISS
to take any
extraordinary protection
measures." If it's ok
for them, you can be
sure it's perfectly fine
for you and me down here
on good old planet
Earth.
What will happen when
the CME hits tomorrow
morning?
When the Coronal Mass
Ejection arrives to
Earth at 1,400 miles per
second, we will have a
geomagnetic storm and a
radio blackout. This,
apart from the
possibility of awesome
auroras at latitudes as
low as New York, means
several things.
Full sizeFirst, the
radio blackout will be
level R2, which is
moderate. According to
the NOAA scale, it will
cause "limited blackout
of HF radio
communication on the
sunlit side and loss of
radio contact for tens
of minutes," as well as
"degradation of
low-frequency navigation
signals for tens of
minutes." Nothing that
you should worry about.
The geomagnetic storm
will only be "strong G2
with possibilities of
G3," according to
Bisecker. In the best
case scenario, only
power lines will be
affected. You will not
notice it because any
power fluctuations will
be handled by companies
at the grid level. If
the storm is long
enough, however, it may
damage power grid
transformers.
Other than all this, and
unless something
extraordinary happens,
you shouldn't worry
about the world ending
tomorrow. It won't. But
keep your eyes open for
auroras happening near
you. Those living up
north in particular will
have a great show today
and tomorrow.
InnovAntennas Now
Available in US
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
British Antenna Company
InnovAntennas Appoints
First American Dealer
Glade Park, Colorado –
January 23, 2012 –The
full line of high
performance HF, VHF and
UHF amateur radio
antennas from
fast-growing British
company InnovAntennas
are now available to
customers across the
United States via
Hamilton, Ohio’s R&L
Electronics.
“Our customers have been
hearing about the
outstanding performance
of InnovAntennas’
designs from their
amateur radio friends
overseas, reading about
them in European
journals such as DUBUS
and from a handful of
‘early adopter’ American
hams who couldn’t wait
and purchased
InnovAntennas products
direct from the UK,”
said R&L Electronics’
Roger Smallwood. “We are
proud to be the first
American retailer to
represent this exciting
new brand.”
InnovAntennas was
launched in 2011 by
Justin Johnson, G0KSC,
after his hobby of
designing antennas for
his personal use led to
a flood of requests to
“make one for me” from
amateur radio operators
who recognized that
Johnson’s designs
outperformed they could
buy in a store. Today,
InnovAntennas is
building antennas at a
former boat factory in
Canvey Island, England
and selling its products
directly via
InnovAntennas.com and
via a network of dealers
in Europe, Australia,
and now, the United
States.
InnovAntennas’ highly
regarded designs include
LFA (Loop Fed Array) and
OP-DES (Opposing Phase
–Driven Element System)
Yagis. Performance of
GOKSC designs routinely
top the charts in their
boom-length class on the
survey of ‘moonbounce”
antennas –“EME-ers” are
among the ham world’s
most demanding operators
–compiled by VE7BQH and
available online.
InnovAntennas America’s
William Hein said “We
selected R&L as our
first American dealer
due to their commitment
to customer service,
deep inventory, high
order fill rate, great
history, product
knowledge and enthusiasm
for InnovAntennas’
approach to design and
construction. We look
forward to a long,
productive relationship
with the gang from
HAMilton OH!”
R&L’s Roger Smallwood
added “We work hard to
have all ham radio
products in stock and
ready for immediate
shipment. From a 50 cent
connector to the
thousand dollar radio,
our customers will
receive the same fast
service at a great
price. No one likes to
hear that an item is out
of stock or it will be
drop shipped from the
manufacturer. We already
know InnovAntennas are
high quality products
and will be very well
known in the USA in a
short period of time.
Our goal is to have it
in stock when you are
ready for it!”
MONDAY
EDITION: I sure am not
gloating about the
Patriots win, I am just
glad the other team blew
it for us....I will
update this later in the
day, have baby sitting
duty this morning....
Amid recent protest, US
already able to shut
websites
Google, Wikipedia, and
the millions of
Americans who joined
last week’s protest
against giving the
government new authority
over the Internet may
have missed something:
Federal agencies already
have that kind of power,
at least over websites
registered in the United
States.
Under a 2008 law called
the Pro-IP Act, federal
authorities can seize
the assets of a company
charged with copyright
violations. The Justice
Department exercised
that muscle on Thursday,
when it shut down one of
the Internet’s most
popular file-sharing
sites: Megaupload.com,
accused of distributing
illegal copies of music,
movies, and books.
A company’s assets
include its Internet
address, or domain name.
Under the Pro-IP Act,
the government can seize
that domain name from
organizations that
violate copyrights as
long as the online
address ends in .com,
.org, or .net. Those
addresses are issued by
a registry based in the
United States and are
subject to US law.
The Justice Department
used “an authority that
was [originally]
intended for seizing a
drug dealer’s cars as a
method for shutting down
an entire website,’’
said Julian Sanchez, a
research fellow at the
Cato Institute, a
libertarian think tank
in Washington.
Sanchez said the same
power could be used
against other major
websites implicated in
allegations of data
piracy. One potential
example: the Swedish
site thepiratebay.org,
which offers users links
for downloading illicit
content, and which has a
US-registered domain
name.
A Justice Department
spokeswoman said the
agency would not comment
on any pending
investigations.
Although the Pro-IP Act
was a major expansion of
the government’s power
to regulate the
Internet, opposition was
muted at the time it was
passed.
“I think there was
generally just less
attention to these
issues of Internet
freedom,’’ Sanchez said.
He said he believes it
would be a different
story if the law were
put up for a vote today.
One reason is the
fallout from last year’s
“Arab Spring’’ protests.
Reports that embattled
Middle Eastern
regimes tried to cut off
Internet access within
their countries alarmed
Americans who wouldn’t
want their own
government to have such
power.
