Geomagnetic storm warning - Saturday 3/23/19

From Spaceweather.com,  link: http://spaceweather.com/

GEOMAGNETIC STORM WARNING: NOAA forecasters say there is a 75% chance of geomagnetic storms on March 23rd when a coronal mass ejection (CME) is expected to sideswipe Earth's magnetic field. Storm levels could reach category G2, which is moderately strong. During G2-class storms, auroras may be seen in northern-tier US states as far south as New York and Idaho. Aurora alerts: SMS text, email.

BIG CRACKLING SUNSPOT: A few days ago, sunspot AR2736 didn't exist. Now, the rapidly-growing active region (movie) stretches across more than 100,000 km of the solar surface and contains multiple dark cores larger than Earth. Moreover, it has a complicated magnetic field that is crackling with C-classsolar flares. The sunspot is inset in this magnetic map of the sun from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory:

Ham Radio for Kids - Newark NY - March 23rd

‘Light up 2 Meters Night’ – an FM simplex event - March 24th

by W5KV

It’s time for ‘Light up 2 Meters Night’ – an FM simplex event that encourages ham radio operators to get out portable or operate from home and light up the 2 meter airwaves with some FM Simplex! Taking place on March, 24, 2019, from 6-8pm local time. This event encourages new & seasoned ham radio operators to enjoy a band that is all too often left quiet and to encourage communication within your community.

Learn more at: http://www.w5kv.com/light-up-2-meters-night-an-fm-simplex-event-2/


(forwarded from Barry; KD4MCB - Thanks Barry! )

Mentors Needed for New ARRL Emergency Communications Course

More Mentors Needed for New ARRL Emergency Communications Course Sessions

(From the ARRL 03/11/2019)

High interest in the recently announced updated ARRL Introduction to Emergency Communications (EC-001) course is prompting a call for additional class mentors to help meet the demand, which ARRL Lifelong Learning Manager Kris Bickell, K1BIC, says “exceeded our projections.” As Bickell explains, the course is designed to be interactive, with volunteer mentors guiding each session.

“We appreciate the work of the mentors to make EC-001 an interactive experience for the participants. The real-world emergency communications experience they bring to the course is very important to the learning process,” Bickell said. “We look forward to bringing in more mentors to help ARRL expand the reach of this valuable emergency communications training.” Bickell has developed a waiting list for prospective EC-001 students, who will be notified as additional sessions are scheduled.

Why Radio Amateurs are called Hams

(Original story from Florida Skip Magazine - 1959) 

Have you ever wondered why radio amateurs are called "HAMS?"

Well, it goes like this: The word "HAM" was the station CALL of the first amateur wireless station that was operated by some amateurs at the Harvard Radio Club. They were ALBERT S. HYMAN, BOB ALMY and POOGIE MURRAY. In the early pioneer days of unregulated radio amateur operators picked their own frequency and their own call-letters. At first they called their station "HYMAN-ALMY-MURRAY". Tapping out such a long name in code soon became tiresome and called for a revision. They changed it to "HY-AL-MU," using the first two letters of each of their names. Early in 1901 some confusion resulted between signals from amateur wireless station "HYALMU" and a Mexican ship named "HYALMO." They then decided to use only the first letter of each name, and their station CALL became "HAM" Then, as now, some amateurs had better signals than commercial stations. The resulting interference came to the attention of congressional committees in Washington and Congress gave much time to proposed legislation designed to critically limit amateur radio activity.

Balloon tracker - falling near Utica NY (3/8/19 - 11:30am)

(a message from our Balloon enthusiast friend Jim....if you are near Utica please keep an eye (or ear) out for it)

Launched a experimental balloon this morning and appears to have failed and is dropping near Utica,NY. Seen here as U3S29 - https://tracker.habhub.org/#!mt=roadmap&mz=8&qm=1_day&f=U3S29&q=!RS_*;

Balloon is large and shiny,maybe someone will find it?

Tracker uses 20m band WSPR / QRSS @ 14095.60 mhz USB.

Maybe someone will see it in a tree somewhere.. :)

Jim,N2NXZ

RARA Workshop - Electronic Components — March 9th

RaRa Academy Workshops

Electronic Components

March 2019 — Electronic Components — March 9th (10AM to Noon)

For the March Academy we will have a jam-packed discussion of the basic properties of common electronic components.

The goal is to give participants a basic understanding of common parts for kit building and basic repair.

We will cover the basic components, their characteristics, schematics symbols, uses, how to read them and how to test some of them. Types will include:

•   Passive Components such as: resistors, capacitors, inductors, diodes, relays, lamps and indicators, wire gauges & ratings, connectors etc.

•   Active Components such as: transistors, ICs, tubes, opto-couplers etc.

•   Assemblies and Modules, such as: displays, controllers, RF modules, etc.

•   Basic Testing of Components - Using DVM, LCR Meter and Transistor Testing Techniques

This Session will be hosted by Scott Theis, W2LW, with Karl Heinz Kremer, K5KHK assisting.

New Location: Session will be held at the Pittsford Community Center, 35 Lincoln Avenue, Room 19, Pittsford, NY 14534.

You can sign up for Academy Workshops by emailing education@rochesterham.org. You can also sign-up at the General Meeting on March 6th.

Please take advantage of the RaRa sponsored training and operating opportunities.

Timothy Brown,
FCC Callsign: WB2PAY
RaRa Education Coordinator

Chenango Valley Hamfest - 4/6/19

more info at: https://cvara.net/bullthistle-hamfest/

Swap Fest - Ballston Spa - 3/9/19

More info at: https://www.k2dll.org/

Bear Bait Tech Class - Syracuse 4/27-28

RARA Academy - Get the Most From Your Antenna Real Estate - 2/23

Antennas and Antenna Basics

Here are a few of the topics we will discuss:

•  Antenna Fundamentals

•  Horizontal vs. Vertical Polarization

•  NVIS vs. DX Antennas

•  Antenna Modeling Using 4NEC

•  Antenna Supports and Hardware

•  Feeding and Nurturing of an Antenna

•  Baluns and Transmatch

•  Grounds and Counterpoise

•  Restricted Space and Stealth Antennas

•  The UGLY HOA Dilemma

Latest Academy information is available at https://www.rochesterham.org/rara_academy.htm

Time and Location:   Saturday 2/23/19, 10am - noon

Session will be held at the Ogden Public Library, 269 Ogden Center Road @ Rt. 259, Spencerport, NY 14459. Note the location change!

You can sign up for Academy Workshops by emailing education@rochesterham.org.

Please take advantage of the RaRa sponsored training and operating opportunities.

Timothy Brown,
FCC Callsign: WB2PAY
RaRa Education Coordinator

cell: 585 750 2087

email: education@rochesterham.org

email: tjbrown@rochester.rr.com

A Fun Night at the Wireless Museum in Bloomfield! - March 20

Treat the XYL or a friend to a FUN night with the Bloomfield Home Companion Players at the AWA Museum. 

I've seen the players three times and it's different each time...you simply cannot stop laughing and enjoying yourself the entire time!  These guys rehearse hard and are professionals.   Ask anyone who attended last year.

The date is Wednesday, March 20 (7:30pm).

This time, they will put on a Live Old Time Radio Show with Music.  Reminiscent of pre-TV days, there will be sound effects, great comedy, and outstanding songs and live music.  There will be tasty refreshments too!  You will leave with a big smile on your face for sure.

Plan a night out and gather up some friends and family.  It's well worth the price of admission (5 bucks for AWA members, 10 bucks for non-member adults).  Purchase tickets in advance at the Museum on Tuesdays or Saturdays or send a note to (education.awam@gmail.com) if you'd like to use PayPal for your purchase or if you have any questions.

Get ready for some laughs! 

Details are here:  http://www.antiquewireless.org/after-hours-at-the-museum.html

FCC planning to mandate all Licensees to have FRN; FCC Registration Number

The FCC has recently notified VEC's of upcoming Commission Registration System (CORES) changes and its impact to new radio operators.  In the near future the FCC will require all FCC Registrants to establish an FCC account containing an FCC Username (a valid email address), which will be linked to their FCC Registration Number (FRN). In the past, use of a licensees Social Security number was allowed instead of the FRN. This will also affect amateurs upgrading or renewing their license.

Learn more details of this change on the Anchorage ARC webpage:
https://kl7aa.org/fcc-to-mandate-frn-establishment-prior-to-license-application-submission/

Recent repeater updates/changes in CNY

Several CNY repeaters have updated capabilities for Echolink and AllStar:

Auburn, 147.00 now has Echolink restored, (W2QYT-R), node 9188
Syracuse, 53.67 KD2SL, has AllStar node 47460 and Echolink (N2DOW-L), node 99177
Syracuse, 224.12 KD2SL, has AllStar node 47463 and Echolink (N2DOW-R), node 324784
Syracuse, 146.67 KD2SL, Echolink (KD2SL-R), node 9177

See other Recent Repeater Changes at: https://www.upstateham.com/p/recent.html

(send us your repeater changes at: UpstateHam@gmail.com)

Save the Date! CNY Ham Breakfast! Sat. May 11th

The next breakfast is scheduled and the event is open to ALL local Hams. It will be Saturday, May 11th, 2019 at 8:00 am. This is a great chance to meet up with some of the folks you talk to on the air, but possibly have never met in person. Come on all you drive time radio jockeys, "6M QCWA Netters", 220mhz NET, CNY SWAP and Hobby Net check-ins - we hope to see you all there.

Location: The "Finally Ours Diner" is at 3788 West Seneca Turnpike, at the corner with Cedarville Rd. in the Onondaga Hill area of Syracuse (see directions here: http://finallyoursdiner.com/hours-contact ).

Thanks to K2WOP; Curt for his continuing efforts to put together this excellent get together.

Questions? contact Curt; K2WOP on the 146.67 repeater.

Finally Ours Diner link: http://finallyoursdiner.com