La capsula Apollo 7

Ho trovato questo svolgimento in un vecchio quaderno di scuola, all'epoca delle elementari. Adesso capisco il perchè di tutto il mio interesse per satelliti e spazio! "La capsula Apollo 7 sta per finire il suo viaggio (e ciò avverrà esattamente domani 22 ottobre). Schirra, Eisele e Cunningham sono i tre astronauti lanciati in cielo da Cape Kennedy l'11 ottobre. Capitan Schirra con questo viaggio potrà dire che è stato già il terzo. Domani quando la capsula tornerà sulla Terra sarà pericoloso: per superare la pressione atmosferica terrestre i tre astronauti dovranno avere le vie respiratorie ed auditorie libere, perchè la pressione vuole e cerca di chiuderle ma, con le compresse di Aspirina speriamo riescano a passare "indisturbati", come si suol dire. Come sarà il loro rientro ? Duro o senza preoccupazioni ? Domani, giorno decisivo, lo sapremo finalmente ed attenderemo con ansia il ritorno dell'Apollo 7. Domani, quindi, io sarò puntuale all'appuntamento con il rientro della capsula; prego solo che il satellite Tele-Star riceva e trasmetta come se io fossi là, in America, a vedere il riceupero della navicella tuffatasi in mare dolcemente. Se fossi stato ben undici giorni lassù sarei stato contento per la vicinanza alle stelle ma non a proposito della fifa. Schirra, Eisele e Cunningham, tre grandi astronauti americani molto ma molto coraggiosi. Preghiamo solo che la navicella "cada" in maniera giusta."

Svolgimento di Maurizio Bertolino 21 ottobre 1968 (10 anni)

L'equipaggio dell'Apollo 7, Eisele, Schirra e Cunningham.
Da Wikipedia

Forvik island: new DXCC ?

From the Stuart Hill's website (the owner of Forvik island, Shetland islands, Scotland): "I hereby invite residents of Shetland to join with me to set up a true and just administration, based on principles of democracy that will ensure the elected representatives carry out the wishes of the people and that will serve as a model which the rest of Shetland could adopt if it so wished. Further, I hereby invite residents of Shetland to join their properties with that of Forvik in a federation under such new administration. Further, I also invite anyone from any country in the world, who supports these aims, namely to become free of liars, thieves and tyrants in government, to become a citizen of Forvik. It is my earnest desire that Forvik will provide an example for Shetland to follow and that Shetland in turn will provide an example for other countries and regions, the people of which would prefer a system where their politicians represent, rather than rule them." Another Seborga ? Read more here.

source

Papua New Guinea IOTA dxpedition

The team is complete and comprises: AD6E, CT1AGF, G3KHZ, K6HFA, W5GAI + one non-ham traveller. P29VLR will be QRV from OC-181; P29NI will be QRV from OC-041. The MV Barbarian II will leave Kokopo, New Britain on 18 October and the team plan to be QRV from Garove Island, OC-181 from 20 - 26 October. The boat then sails to the Hermit Islands (OC-041). Operation from there is expected to be from 28 October – 3 November. The final leg will be to Manus Island from where the team will fly home. There may be some operation from Manus (OC-025).
73 de Derek, G3KHZ, P29NI

STS103-733-68 26 December 1999 02:25 UTC (credit NASA)

More on Hermit island here.

Ci rileggiamo il 25 giugno

Grazie alla festività patronale del 24 giugno qui a Torino (ecco il programma della manifestazione), potrò fare il weekend lungo, ci rileggiamo da mercoledì 25. Buon ponte a chi lo fa.

L'orologio dell'astronauta

Photo credit NASA

Dal blog degli orologi trovo una curiosità sull'orologio indossato da Steve frick durante la missione Shuttle STS-122. Si tratta del modello INCA del Brand YES watch. Come cita il suddetto blog "in un’occhiata l’orologio YES rivela gli orari dell’alba e del tramonto, il sorgere e il tramonto della luna, le fasi lunari, ore, minuti e secondi ovunque uno sia. L’orologio è pre-programmato per circa 600 città in tutto il mondo e regola automaticamente l’ora legale. Questo orologio, ricco di caratteristiche particolari, incorpora la formula “Mission Elapsed Time” (il tempo trascorso) insieme ad una serie di altre uniche applicazioni riferite al tempo e a dati." Per vedere questi modelli visitate il sito marinaoro.

Midsummer in Aland Islands

OH0B - Midsummer in Aland Islands, June 19-22

Not many people have probably thought about the meaning of Midsummer for the folks up in Northern Europe and specifically those rituals that are related to Aland Islands. Maybe not even about the reason why OH0 ranks as another DXCC counter. Simply, Aland is a highly modern society of some 27.000 people and a dozen or so active hams. Also, it is home to three super stations stuck away at different points of the archipelago.

To reach Aland Islands one needs to take a ferry from mainland Finland. See more details HERE

It was 28 years ago when Martti, OH2BH and Leena, OH2BE visited the easternmost island of the Aland group - Brando - and fell in love with its beauty and remoteness plus the instant pileups always created from there. And that marked the beginning of what is now one of the well-known super stations frequently active with several callsigns. In terms of hardware, the latest addition there was an 80M beam that was put up last autumn.

That particular occasion almost thirty years ago was the Midsummer celebration which is very special to these islands. This weekend Martti and Leena will be on that same mission, and you will hear OH0B activated mostly on 20M SSB. QSL via OH2BH.

http://www.visitaland.com/en

DStar TV

1) What is DStar TV ?
In its simplest terms, DStar TV is Slowscan TV for DStar digital radios.

2) Why not call it DStar SSTV then ?
Bit of a mouthful that....

3) What can I do with it then ?
You can send pictures using the digital data stream on a DStar radio, either by loading a picture from a file on your PC or capturing an image from a Webcam (or any video capture device, TV card etc)

Read more here.

Source

Eleuthera, Bahamas, dec 1996

This is a pic of me during my first "holiday style" DXpedition. Tanning in Eleuthera, (NA-001) Bahamas, Dec 1996, with my FT900 and a dipole, listening for calls on 11 mtr band (yep!) Twelve years ago, long hair, moustaches and still single ! (24° 57' 13.6" N, 76° 9' 36,1" W). Complete set.

OC-248: 779 new photos

Here is a fantastic new set of 779 photos from the 2007 Hisayuki Kubota's trips in Southwest islands (Sonsorol Tobi, Merir, Pulo Anna, Helen Reef they all count as OC-248 for IOTA). At the same link you will find the entire collection of thousands of pics from those islands.

Tag Technorati: sonsorol island, tobi, merir, pulo anna, helen reef, oc-248, t88si

Corail Vivant

Lets save the colour of the oceans.

To encourage the protection of New Caledonian coral reefs and associated ecosystems in their entirety. To make available means for observation and protection. To improve the quality of life for New Caledonian inhabitants and their environment by means of this action. To favour the creation of an international foundation with the same title and objectives. To obtain inclusion of the New Caledonian coral reefs and associated ecosystems on UNESCO’s World Heritage Listing. Welcome on the web site of Corail Vivant

FK is the New Caledonia DXCC prefix and there are five references in the IOTA program, OC-032, (New Caledonia Island), OC-033 (Loyalty Islands), OC-058 (D'Entrecasteaux Reefs), OC-079 (Belep Islands), OC-218 (Matthew and Hunter Islands)

Firefox3 - Download day 2008

Constellation Spacesuit

La Oceaneering International Inc. di Houston si è aggiudicata un contatto con la NASA per il disegno, lo sviluppo e la produzione delle nuove tute astronautiche. Le tute avranno il compito di proteggere gli astronauti durante i prossimi viaggi verso la stazione ISS e, dal 2020, sulla Luna. Images credit: NASA. read more from the source. Curiosa è anche la galleria delle tute, ovvero l'evoluzione delle stesse nell'arco degli anni, da quella di Gordon Cooper del 1959 ad oggi

Beijing 2008 Special Event QSL cards

http://www.bj2008ses.com.cn/qsl.html

Best Islands to Live On

A part from IOTA DXpedition, here is a list (from Islands magazine) of the best islands to live on. The 2008 list includes:

Ambergris Caye, Belize - Bequia, St. Vincent the Grenadines - Culebra, Puerto Rico - Eleuthera, Bahamas - Gozo, Malta - Kangaroo Island, Australia - Kauai, Hawaii - Orcas Island, Washington - Palawan, Philippines - Singapore - St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands - Vanua Levu, Fiji

The 2007 list included: Aruba - Big Island, Hawaii - Carriacou, Grenada - Cedar Key, Florida - Dominica - Gozo, Malta - Grand Cayman - Isla Colon, Panama - Long Island, Bahamas - Negros Oriental, Philippines - New Zealand - Norfolk Island, Australia - Penang, Malaysia - Pico, Azores, Portugal - St. Kitts - Taveuni, Fiji - Union Island, St. Vincent & the Grenadines - Utila, Bay Islands, Honduras - Vanuatu - Vieques, Puerto Rico

PickMyRig

Il SouthGate ARC è sempre una miniera di informazioni e questa riguarda un sito web nuovissimo creato da Peter M3PHP e Paul M0TZO chiamato PickMyRig. L'idea è semplice: immettete i parametri del vostro RTX ideale e PickMyRig troverà l'apparato ideale. Ho fatto una prova ricercando un transceiver HF, con massima potenza 50W, mobile e di qualunque casa. I risultati: Elecraft K3, Icom IC-703, MFJ 9320W e Yaesu FT-817. Come dice uno degli autori c'è ancora molto da sviluppare ma l'inizio è incoraggiante. Come al solito l'SWL è pèenalizzato: niente RX nella lista, peccato.

Roskilde 1658 Award

Roskilde 1658 Award is established by Kristianstads Radioamatörer, SK7BQ. The award recognizes the 350 year anniversary of the Treaty of Roskilde, signed on February 26, 1658. Roskilde 1658 Award is available for both licensed radio amateurs and SWLs. Rules and more here.

UA3DBP/1

During the period from June 16 to July 24 2008, UA3DPB plans to work with the White Sea islands callsign UA3DPB/1, EU-147, IOTA EU-066, EU-153,RRC islands, and from the yacht "White Night" (31 ") water area of the White Sea callsign UA3DPB/mm. QSL via home call or buro.

Vacancy for IOTA Checkpoint

From the IOTA website: Jim Smith VK9NS has informed the IOTA Committee that he wishes to relinquish the post of IOTA Checkpoint for the West Pacific area as soon as a replacement can be appointed. The Committee considers that the new checkpoint should be resident preferably on the Australian mainland, have a registered score on the IOTA database and be conversant with and be prepared to work within the programme's rules. As IOTA application is now an on-line process, would-be applicants for this volunteer post should understand that the task does not just involve checking of cards but requires a reasonable level of competence in computer skills and above average attention to detail. If you think you are qualified and wish to take it on, please apply to g3kma@dsl.pipex.com by 10 July 2008. We would like to thank Jim for all his service and strong support of IOTA over the last 10 or more years.

G3KMA, 10 Jun 2008

From http://www.k1qs.com/dx_pics/index_20045.html

The Komodo dragon on OC-151

Scuba divers swept away in strong currents survived 12 hours in
shark-infested waters before scrambling onto a remote Indonesian island (Rinca on the Tenggara Timur Islands group, OC-151) where they faced yet another threat: a Komodo dragon. Read more.

http://www.britannica.com/ebc/art/print?id=55817&articleTypeId=0

u n c o n t a c t e d t r i b e s

Over one hundred tribes around the world choose to reject contact with outsiders. They are the most vulnerable peoples on the planet.

Many of them are living on the run, fleeing invasions of their land by colonists, loggers, oil crews and cattle ranchers. They have often seen their friends and families die at the hands of outsiders, in unreported massacres or epidemics.

This is their story.
Choose a special report (Peru, Brazil, Andaman Islands) and
watch the Survival's short film ‘Uncontacted Tribes’

8 June - World Ocean Day

Target:

United Nations

Sponsored by:

The Ocean Project

To United Nations and World Government Leaders:

Help make a difference for our ocean planet!

• Whereas everyone on our planet is connected and affected by the oceans;
  
  
  
• Whereas the world's ocean covers 70% of our planet, yet less than 1% of our ocean habitat is protected;
  
  
  
• Whereas the ocean plays a critical role in maintaining the planet's ecosystems and is essential to human health and well being;
  
  
  
• Whereas it is critical to educate the public, and promote stewardship among children and adults alike;
  
  
  
• Whereas ocean environments around the world are collapsing,
  primarily due to over-fishing, pollution, and unsustainable coastal
  development;
  
  
  
• Whereas the ocean's rich diversity of life belongs to all citizens of the world; and
  
  
  
• Whereas on June 8 there has been an unofficial celebration of the oceans around the world for 12 years...
  

signature
goal: 1,000,000

CW Skimmer.. and next ?

From the N6TV presentation on WinRad and CW Skimmer given at the 2008 Visalia DX Convention Contest Forum (here is my previous post) there is an interesting slide, called What's next ?

• RTTY Skimmer? SSB Skimmer?
• A “robot” – a totally automated op? (“Z80 OP” – developed by N6TR, in 1986!)
• Let’s sponsor an “X-Prize”(First totally automated op. to make Top Ten box in the CW NA Sprint)
• Competition encourage advancements in the radio arts (Don’t write rules that stifle innovation)

So which are the pros and cons of a totally automated op ? What is the sense to have a robot making contact to achieve a good place in the major contests ? Will we reach the limit installing a remoted robot station on Heard or Bouvet to make QSOs without human control ? How exciting is the fantasy to obtain the DXCC while we sleep or spending vacations ? My readers know I'm not into eQSL neither in LOTW. I'm probably too tied to old times style but I'm really worried about the big steps technology is doing. Gosh !

Visitors to my blog (map)

I'm proude to have visitors from so many remote places.

World Environment Day 2008

VARESE 2008 award

“VARESE 2008-UCI ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS” AWARD

INSUBRIA RADIO in cooperation with the Italian Ham Radio Association A.R.I. local branch of Gallarate invites all YL, OM and SWL of the world to take part in the “VARESE 2008-UCI ROAD WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS” Award and has the honour to announce it to celebrate this event, which will take place in Varese from Sep. 23rd 2008 to Sep. 28th 2008. This Award also will commemorate the 75th first victory’s anniversary of Alfredo Binda, who was born in Varese area and won three times this competition.

Read the rules here.

Adding a SDR to an SO2R station

Here is a nice presentation by N6TV: adding a Software Defined Radio to an SO2R Station. And here the presentation on WinRad and CW Skimmer given at the 2008 Visalia DX Convention Contest Forum.

Near Vertical Incidence Skywave

Wikipedia dice: "Near Vertical Incidence Skywave, or NVIS, is a radio-wave propagation method that provides usable signals in the range between groundwave and skywave distances (usually 30 to 400 miles, or 50 to 650 km). It is used mainly for military and paramilitary communications and by radio amateurs. The radio waves travel upwards into the ionosphere, where they are refracted back down and can be received within a circular region up to 650 km from the transmitter. If the frequency is too high, refraction fails to occur and if it is too low absorption reduces the signal strength." Proseguendo nella lettura della definizione di NVIS leggo "The most common bands used in amateur radio are 3.5 MHz and 7 MHz" ed allora la prima cosa che mi viene in mente è il Contest 40&80 dove si soffre terribilmente dello skip in certe condizioni (troppo lungo non consente QSO con le stazioni italiane). Qualche altra ricerca mi porta anche ad uno scritto di Attilio I1BAY e, conoscendo la sua passione per il suddetto Contest, mi chiedo se ha effettuato qualche test proprio durante la competizione di dicembre. Come punto di partenza per approfondire l'argomento vi suggerisco il link dell'Athens ARC ma sarei veramente curioso di stimolare qualche OM in vista del prossimo appuntamento del 40&80 alla luce anche dell'allargamento dei 40 metri. In fin dei conti, riuscire a far qualche QSO in più con un dipolo e subire meno rumore non dispiace a nessuno vero ?

This dipole antenna system is 110 feet long, similar in length to a "G5RV" dipole, and is fed with 3/4-inch plastic ladder-line. This photo shows a total of 3 of the AB777 masts which are fully-extended.

From the Patricia Gibbons WA6UBE site http://www.tactical-link.com/field_deployed_nvis.htm

2007 DXCC Challenge DeSoto Cup Winner

As previously announced on this post:

DXCC is pleased to announce the new winner for 2007 for the DXCC Challenge DeSoto Cup!

Fausto Minardi, I4EAT has achieved the #1 spot with 3,129 band points. Bob, W4DR is the second place winner at 3,124 and Leif, OZ1LO hold the 3rd place spot at 3,119.

As you may remember Fausto pulled ahead of Bob briefly in 2006 so the competition was getting close and now Fausto takes the lead! Congratulations to Fausto and I wonder who will be next?

Editors note: Showing no mercy, Fausto has recently increased his lead even more achieving a new level of 3,139! Fifteen band points now separate the number 1 and number 2 spots!

73 es DX!

Bill Moore

DXCC Manager

source

STS, Phoenix and Kibo patches

You can find them here.

Ogasawara photos

Here is a nice set of photos from JI1CYX/JD1 in Ogasawara Isl.

WFF - World Flora Fauna Award

WORLD-WIDE PROGRAMME FOR NATIONAL PARKS AND NATURE RESERVES of International Tourist/DX Association “National Card”, and International Amateur Radio Travelers Club “Russian Robinson” (RRC) .

Slogan of the Programme: “Lets Save the Green Planet Earth!”

WFF is an International Award Programme (an International nature conservation action on supporting of protected areas), organized to attract attention of the world community to the problems of protected areas, to provide them with feasible practical support, to waken a feeling of pride in the minds of the Earth’s inhabitants for natural and cultural heritage, for visiting National Parks and Nature Reserves and making QSO contacts with them.

The Programme was launched in 2008 under the auspices of International Tourist/DX Association “National Card” and RRC. For you to get a WFF Award you need to contact locations possessing an official status of National Parks or Nature Reserves listed in the WFF Programme.

WFF website

Thanks Valery RW3GW

Sherbro Isl. AF-056 DXpedition

DXpedition to Sherbro Is. (AF056) from 25/Jan/2009 to 13/Feb/2009 announced here. Operators: I1HJT, I2YSB, IK1AOD, IK2CIO, IK2CKR, IK2DIA, IK2HKT. QSL direct to I2ySB, bureau to G6BMY. All sponsoring Foundations and Associations will receive a DVD of the DXpedition, an article for their magazines and a QSL for their collections displaying their logo. All OMs contributing 30$ or more will receive a CD with the PowerPoint presentation of the DXpedition, a sample QSL(not valid for DXCC) and their call sign will be printed on the QSL cards.

Beijing 2008 Olympic Games Award

Award Rules

The award is issued base on how many "slots" the applicants worked. The "slots" worked can be found in "Log Search" page. Only CW/SSB/RTTY mode and 160m - 10m band (9 band for each callsign) worked for the 5 callsigns are eligible for "slots". Other band/mode (such as 6m, 2m, 0.7m, 23cm, AM, FM, psk, SSTV, satellite, EME, etc) are not eligible for award application but no problem for QSL cards exchange.

For BY Applicants:

Bronze Award: 5 slots
Silver Award: 10 slots -- Must consist of all 5 special callsigns
Golden Award: 20 slots -- Must consist of all 5 special callsigns

For non-BY Applicants (XX9, BV, VR2 applicants applied in this category):

Bronze Award: 5 slots
Silver Award: 8 slots -- Must consist of all 5 special callsigns
Golden Award: 12 slots -- Must consist of all 5 special callsigns

For SWL Applicants:
10 slots SWL report

The detailed application fee and address will be published later on the website.