Most Amazing High Definition Image of Earth Ever - Blue Marble 2012

Photostream here
Credit: NASA/NOAA/GSFC/Suomi NPP/VIIRS/Norman Kuring

HAMs Asked to Listen for RS-39 Sat

The Chibis-M microsatellite, also known as RS-39 (RadioSputnik 39), was jettisoned from the Progress M-13M cargo spacecraft Tuesday evening (UTC). The satellite is designed to study atmospheric phenomena such as Terrestrial Gamma Ray Flashes (TGFs) associated with lightning. RS-39 has CW beacons on 435.315 and 435.215 MHz and amateurs are asked to submit reception reports via email to the Space Research Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences at amateur-rs39@chibis.cosmos.ru. Each report will be acknowledged with a special QSL. The CW telemetry format is available here. Telemetry decoding software written by Mike Rupprecht, DK3WN, can be downloaded here.

This is a sample of the signal (Record made Gustavo Carpignano)

source ARRL

How to See the Moon: Telescope Viewing Tips

Here on Space.com

IO5ANT: Antarctic Activity Week

Per la 9° Settimana Attività Antartica 2012 La sezione ARI di Siena installerà una stazione radio all interno del Museo Nazionale dell Antartide sito nella nostra città. Il nominativo speciale sarà IO5ANT WAP-210. Nuova QSL 100% via Bureau a IW5EFX.

425 toolbar..5800 and counting !

toolbars have been installed so far !

Powered by Conduit

5800 installazioni della 425 toolbar

Powered by Conduit

Oggi abbiamo raggiunto le 5800 installazioni della 425 toolbar. Per chi non avesse letto i miei post precedenti la toolbar che ho disegnato grazie alla Conduit permette di semplificare le ricerche di informazioni nel nostro hobby radioamatoriale prevedendo già alcuni comandi ridondanti. Ad esempio oltre alle ricerche qrz, bollettini 425, spot dx, si possono vedere il webcluster dxwatch, gli rss feed aggiornati, il link diretto ai maggiori siti ham, la dxpedition map, una chat, yahoo e msn messenger e molto altro ancora. Si installa per browser Explorer e Firefox. Ben 623000 sono le operazioni fatte tramite la toolbar da chi l'ha installata finora. Non male vero ? Per installare questo utilissimo strumento gratuito andate qui.

Orbital Debris Quarterly News

The Orbital Debris Quarterly News (ODQN) is a quarterly publication of the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office. The ODQN publishes some of the latest events in orbital debris research, offers orbital debris news and statistics, and presents project reviews and meeting reports, as well as upcoming events. Illustrating graphs, charts, photographs, and drawings support the articles and provide a detailed understanding of the topics.
Each issue is available as a downloadable PDF file. HERE is the January 2012 issue.

SA-024/SA-071 IOTA DXped

A Brazilian and Italian team will activate both Comprida Island (SA-024) and Peruhibe Island (SA-071) between January 30th and February 9th. All the team will operate with the call PR2I. Operators will be : Leopoldo/I8LWL, Paki/IZ8GDO, Vespe/IW8EZV, Angelo/PY2VA and Toni/PY2YW. The team need sponsors, supporters, individual contributors. Info and log on line : http://www.i8lwl.it  QSL via IK7JWX (not I8LWL).

Twisst - tweeting ISS passes near you

Seeing the International Space Station fly over your head is a magical experience.

It crosses your sky often, but if you want to see it, you'll need to know when exactly to look up. Twisst sends you an alert on Twitter when you will be able to see ISS. Twisst uses the location you entered in your Twitter bio.

Start following @twisst

CG3B - Special Event callsign

CG3B- Special Event callsign,Niagara Peninsula ARC , for the 200th Bi-Centennial of Friendship between Canada and the United States of America. Between 2012 and 2014 there will be different special event callsigns active. Special QSL cards will be printed for each station, QSL manager is VE3FOI, Dave Digweed, all contacts will receive QSL via Bureau system , If you want a direct QSL card, pse send $2.00 USD for non-Canadian Contacts, Canadian Contacts send SASE. The time period for this operation is from July 01-to July 31st 2012, we will be taken part in the Canada Day Contest on July Ist, special location will be at Fort George Niagara on the Lake, Ontario, Canada.73 Dave VE3FOI

Life is simple

Thanks I5JHW

FK/I5JHW the QSL

Thank you John, I5JHW

Building a Three-Penny Radio

A crystal radio is nice because it needs no power, and the materials can all be home-made or at least found around the house. But the crystal radio needs a big antenna, and a good ground, and so is not very portable.

To get away with using a much smaller, portable antenna, we will need to amplify the tiny signal it receives. This requires a portable power supply, such as a battery.

Our next toy is a portable radio. It can be powered from a tiny 1.5 volt battery, or from a battery made from copper wire and aluminum foil sitting in a glass of lemonade, a soft drink, or a beer, or by a few small commercial solar cells.

READ MORE

The top 100 easiest IOTA

The top 100 easiest IOTA based on the % claimed (in order by REF). Source IOTA

Ref. No.	Group Name	DXCC
AF-003	Ascension Island	ASCENSION ISLAND
AF-004	Canary Islands	CANARY IS
AF-006	Diego Garcia Island	CHAGOS
AF-007	Comoro Islands	COMOROS (D6)
AF-013	Madagascar	MADAGASCAR
AF-014	Madeira Archipelago	MADEIRA IS
AF-016	Reunion Island	REUNION
AF-017	Rodrigues Island	RODRIGUEZ IS
AF-018	Pantelleria Island	ITALY
AF-019	Pelagie Islands	ITALY
AF-022	St Helena Island	ST HELENA IS
AF-023	Sao Tome Island	SAO TOME & PRINCIPE
AF-024	Seychelles - Inner Islands	SEYCHELLES
AF-027	Mayotte Island	MAYOTTE
AF-049	Mauritius Island	MAURITIUS IS
AN-010	South Shetland Islands	SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS
AN-016	Antarctica	ANTARCTICA
AS-003	Sri Lanka Island	SRI LANKA
AS-004	Cyprus Island	CYPRUS
AS-007	Honshu Island	JAPAN
AS-013	Maldive Islands	MALDIVE IS
AS-015	Pinang State group	WEST MALAYSIA
AS-018	Sakhalin Island	ASIATIC RUSSIA
AS-019	Singapore Island	SINGAPORE
AS-020	Taiwan Island	TAIWAN
AS-076	Shikoku Island	JAPAN
AS-078	Hokkaido Island	JAPAN
EU-001	Dodecanese	DODECANESE
EU-002	Aland Islands	ALAND IS
EU-003	Eastern Azores group	AZORES
EU-004	Balearic Islands	BALEARIC IS
EU-005	Great Britain	ENGLAND
EU-009	Orkney	SCOTLAND
EU-012	Shetland and Fair Isle	SCOTLAND
EU-013	Jersey	JERSEY
EU-014	Corsica Island	CORSICA
EU-015	Crete Island	CRETE
EU-016	Dalmatia South group	CROATIA
EU-018	Faroe Islands	FAROE IS
EU-019	Franz Josef Land	FRANZ JOSEF LAND
EU-021	Iceland	ICELAND
EU-022	Jan Mayen Island	JAN MAYEN
EU-023	Malta group	MALTA
EU-024	Sardinia Island	SARDINIA
EU-025	Sicily Island	ITALY
EU-026	Spitsbergen Island [ AKA Svalbard Island ]	SVALBARD IS
EU-028	Toscana (Tuscany) Region group	ITALY
EU-031	Campania Region group	ITALY
EU-032	Poitou-Charentes Region group	FRANCE
EU-053	Market Reef	MARKET REEF , SWEDEN
EU-057	Mecklenburg-Vorpommern State group	FED REP OF GERMANY
EU-114	Guernsey group	GUERNSEY
EU-115	Ireland (Ireland / Northern Ireland)	IRELAND , NORTHERN IRELAND
EU-116	Isle of Man	ISLE OF MAN
EU-117	Malyy Vysotskiy Island	MALYJ VYSOTSKI IS (R1MV)
NA-002	Caicos Islands	TURKS & CAICOS IS
NA-005	Bermuda Islands	BERMUDA
NA-015	Cuba (main island and coastal islands not qualifying for other groups)	CUBA ADIF:CM , GUANTANAMO BAY
NA-016	Cayman Islands	CAYMAN ISLANDS
NA-018	Greenland (main island and coastal islands not qualifying for other groups)	GREENLAND
NA-021	Barbados	BARBADOS
NA-022	Anguilla	ANGUILLA
NA-023	British Virgin Islands	BRITISH VIRGIN IS
NA-024	Grenada	GRENADA
NA-027	Newfoundland Island (main island and coastal islands not qualifying for other groups)	CANADA
NA-029	Prince Edward Island (include satellite islands)	CANADA
NA-032	St Pierre and Miquelon Islands	ST PIERRE & MIQUELON
NA-033	San Andres Island	SAN ANDREAS & PROVIDENCIA
NA-096	Hispaniola	HAITI , DOMINICAN REPUBLIC
NA-097	Jamaica	JAMAICA
NA-099	Puerto Rico	PUERTO RICO
NA-100	Antigua and Barbuda	ANTIGUA & BARBUDA
NA-101	Dominica	DOMINICA
NA-102	Guadeloupe	GUADELOUPE
NA-103	Montserrat	MONTSERRAT
NA-104	St Kitts and Nevis	ST KITTS & NEVIS
NA-105	St Martin [ AKA Sint Maarten ]	SINT MAARTEN
NA-106	Virgin Islands	VIRGIN IS
NA-107	Martinique	MARTINIQUE
NA-108	St Lucia	ST LUCIA
OC-001	Australia	AUSTRALIA
OC-005	Norfolk Island	NORFOLK IS
OC-013	Rarotonga Island	S COOK IS
OC-019	Hawaiian Islands	HAWAII
OC-021	Java Island	INDONESIA
OC-026	Guam Island	GUAM
OC-032	New Caledonia Island	NEW CALEDONIA
OC-036	North Island	NEW ZEALAND
OC-038	Chatham Islands	CHATHAM IS
OC-042	Luzon Island	PHILIPPINES
OC-086	Northern Mariana Islands	MARIANA IS
OC-088	Borneo (East Malaysia / Brunei / Indonesia Kalimantan)	BRUNEI , INDONESIA
OC-134	South Island	NEW ZEALAND
SA-001	Easter Island	EASTER IS
SA-002	Falkland Islands	FALKLAND IS
SA-003	Fernando De Noronha Archipelago	FERNANDO DE NORONHA
SA-004	Galapagos	GALAPAGOS
SA-006	Bonaire Island [ AKA Remnant Leeward Netherlands Antilles ]	BONAIRE
SA-011	Trinidad	TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
SA-036	Aruba	ARUBA

On the situation with the spacecraft "Phobos-Grunt"

Possible area of ​​the fall - "strip" of 51.4 degrees north latitude to 51.4 degrees south latitude, is shown in the diagram. Press Service of the Russian Space Agency

LZ1818MOG and "ALL BULGARIAN SAINTS" award

Between 1-st and 31-st of January 2012, Bulgarian Radio Club BLAGOVESTNIK LZ1KCP, will use the special callsign LZ 1818 MOG which has been created in honour of Bulgarian Saint Martyr Onufrii Gabrovski.

LZ 1818 MOG counts for "All Bulgarian Saints" awardand 10 points towards "St. Teodosii Tyrnovski" award.

http://www.balkanclub.org/awards.htm

DIPLOMA „ALL BULGARIAN SAINTS - 2012”

To obtain the Diploma it is necessary to establish:

For European stations 10 QSO (SWL reports), and for stations outside Europe - 5 QSO (SWL reports) with different memorial callsigns dedicated to Bulgarian Orthodox Saints.

For 2012, these callsigns are 12:

LZ 1818 MOG from 01.01.2012 till 31.01.2012

LZ 1401 SET from 01.02.2012 till 29.02.2012

LZ 1784 SIB from 01.03.2012 till 31.03.2012

LZ 1437 MGS from 01.04.2012 till 30.04.2012

LZ 907 SKB from 01.05.2012 till 31.05.2012

LZ 1515 PSB from 01.06.2012 till 30.06.2012

LZ 1822 MIT from 01.07.2012 till 31.07.2012

LZ 916 SS from 01.08.2012 till 31.08.2012

LZ 1737 SSS from 01.09.2012 till 30.09.2012

LZ 1814 MIS from 01.10.2012 till 31.10.2012

LZ 1620 PPZ from 01.11.2012 till 30.11.2012

LZ 1500 PNB from 01.12.2012 till 31.12.2012

The cost of the Diploma is 10 IRC (or 5 EUR) and it can also be obtained free of charge in electronic form by e-mail. Please send applications to: lz3ga@abv.bg

For paper version of the Diploma please send: 10 IRC to P.O. Box 36, Karlovo, 4300 BULGARIA, or 5 EUR to the PayPal account: lz1zf@abv.bg

QSL cards are not necessary, only an extract from the log.

For each year Diploma will be issued with a separate numbering: No / 2012and etc.

Only memorial callsigns will be changed and Diploma can be obtained every year for QSO’s within period from January 01 till December 31 for the relevant year.

TM10E special event station

TM10E is a special event station commemorating the 10thanniversary of new currency in Europe since the 1st of January 2002. Working TM10E, gives you a wild card for the EURO AWARD.

EURO AWARD RULES

EURO award By F5KTU Tulle Radio Club Manager F5RBB

The EURO Diploma is edited by the Tulle Radio Club to commemerate the10thanniversary of new currency in Europe since the 1st of January 2002. Rules : Contact or listen to one station from each of the member countries of the Euro zone in total 17 countries.

5B: Cyprus, 9H : Malta, CT : Portugal, EA : spain, EI : Eire, ES : Estonia, DL : germany, F : France, I : Italy, LX : Luxemburg, OE : Austria, OM : Slovak Rep., ON : Belgium, OH : Finland PA : Holland, S5 : Slovenia, SV : Greece,

A contact with the station TM10E counts as a wild card in the case where you are missing two countries. All bands and modes are accepted except via repeater. QSOs to take place between 01 january 2012 and 31 december 2012 midnight GMT. Applications for the diploma to be sent before 31 december 2013. Send only a qso list ; no QSLs are required. A lovely aluminium plaque is awarded (23x18cms). Cost : 20 € or 25 IRCs or 25 $. Paypal Accepted . Award manager : F5RBB (f5rbb@wanadoo.fr ) VERVECHE Patrice, F5RBB les gouttes19800 GIMEL LES CASCADES France

HA100CGCDH special callsign

This is a special callsign running by HA0MO from January 1st to December 31 in 2012. The occassion is the Centenarian Greek Catholic Diocese of Hajdudorog. Take a virtual walk in the cathedral: http://www.digicart.hu/vs_photos/krpano/hajdudorog-tour.html

5P12EU award

Denmark is from 1 January to 30 June 2012 chairman of the European Union. There are present 27 countries in the European Union.

Danish amateur radio stations will be active with the call sign 5P12EU during the leadership, and the call will only be active in the period between 1 January and 30 June 2012.

Gold award: QSO on 7 different bands regardless the mode

Silver award: QSO on 5 different bands regardless the mode

Bronze award: QSO on 3 different bands regardless the mode

All QSOs must be worked from the same call sign to get the award.

If you have worked us and want the award, you can get the award by:

- Sending an e-mail to Award Manager OZ4CG (E-mail award@5p12eu.dk). Then you will get an e-

mail back with the requested award attached which you can print it out yourself. This is free of

charged.

- Send a letter to QSL Manager OZ0J to get the award by letter and mentioned with award you want.

First award to one address cost USD 10 or 3 IRC to cover our costs for printing the award and for

envelope and return postage. You can also pay via Paypal on our homepage www.5p12eu.dk If you

have any questions about our award please contact us at award@5p12eu.dk

Please check that you are in our log before you send your award request.

If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us at info@5p12eu.dk

New island in the IOTA AS-009 group

A new island is forming in the Red Sea. About 60 kilometers (40 miles) from the coast of Yemen, an undersea eruption began in mid-December 2011.

source

NASA image by Robert Simmon, using ALI data from the EO-1 Team.

The UK Space Agency is seeking a motivated graduate

The UK Space Agency is seeking a motivated graduate for work placement as a press officer to cover a 6 month maternity leave. The post is based at the Agency's offices at Polaris House in Swindon, and will start in late January/early February 2012.

source

Top DX spots/spotters (December 2011)

SPOTS
Rank Spots Callsign
----- ----- ----------
  1    859  V31NB
  2    852  EM0RSE
  3    820  GJ6UW
  4    782  ZK2V
  5    658  E44PM
  6    607  9L0W
  7    574  W5CW
  8    483  SX100A
  9    467  VK0TH
 10    456  SU9VB


SPOTTERS
Rank Total Callsign
----- ----- ----------
  1   6158  W3LPL
  2    736  K6III
  3    726  N4VN
  4    632  R3RT
  5    561  VA2GU
  6    538  HA6VH
  7    528  AA5AU
  8    521  RK9UE
  9    503  UA9UDX
 10    416  ES4RX


source

CryoSat app: ice data at your fingertips

Discover ESA’s ice mission, track it in real time and obtain the latest measurements with the new CryoSat application. CryoSat is measuring the thickness of polar sea ice and monitoring changes in the ice sheets that blanket Greenland and Antarctica.

The CryoSat iPhone and iPad application – or CryoSatApp – is now available at Apple's App Store.

Credits: ACS/ESA