March 19, 2024 Weekly This & That Newsletter
This Thursday: SCHH ARC Presentation at Meeting of Civil Air Patrol Cadet Cadre
The SCHH ARC will provide a presentation on amateur radio to the local cadet squadron of the Civil Air Patrol on Thursday, March 21st. The meeting starts at 6:30 PM sharp.
The squadron has 22 cadets and 20 senior members.
The meeting will be conducted at the Hilton Head Christian Academy, which is located along Bluffton Parkway.
Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW, is working to modify Ken Finke’s (KN8F) PowerPoint that he used to present on ham radio to the SCHH Computer Club. Harve plans to deliver the presentation but certainly welcomes help, especially during the Q&A session after the presentation.
If you want to be at the meeting, you are welcome! Email Harve (hnat463@gmail.com) for directions to the presentation. Plan to arrive between 6:20 and 6:25 PM that evening.
CARS Hamfest/Swap Meet
CARS Swap Meet April 27, 2024
It’s creeping up on us! Time to Spring clean your shack and find some stuff to sell. The event is free as always but you can help us out by purchasing some raffle tickets. The online purchase link for the swap meet tickets is live. Use your credit or debit card and stock up on chances to win.! Top Prizes: Yaesu FT 710 AESS,. FT 891, & the new FTM 6000R VHF/UHF rig.
You can order your raffle tickets online at the following site: https://square.link/u/nj5EjVlv?src=sheet
Additional information on the hamfest/swap meet including directions can be found here: https://coastalamateurradiosociety.net/wpW4LHSblog/?page_id=1357
Did Amateur Radio Find Malaysian Airlines Flight 370?
by Dennis Hopkins, AC4DH
Ten years ago a Boeing 777 with 239 people aboard left Kuala Lumpur destined for
Beijing and was never seen again. Radar contact was lost about an hour later and no
one knows where the flight ended although it is known that it left it’s planned route just
after leaving Malay airspace. The largest search mission in history failed to find the
wreckage, although pieces of an airplane, later identified as being flight MH370 were
found floating in the South Indian Ocean, and later along east facing shorelines of
Africa.
Now, thanks to Amateur Radio Operators around the world, and some very persistent
data mining activity by a British Aeronautical Engineer and his team there may be a new
charted track of MH370’s movement until its demise in the ocean.
Weak Signal Propagation Reporter (WSPR-pronounced ‘whisper’) is a digital radio
mode developed by Joe Taylor and included in WSJT-X, the software that drives FT8
and other digital modes. WSPR is a one way protocol designed to send small payloads
of data with extreme accuracy. Basically, 13 characters containing call sign and location
are sent over a two minute period using an extremely aggressive error correcting
scheme, and received using the same error correcting scheme. Signals as weak as -30
dB signal to noise are routinely decoded correctly. It is quite common to have WSPR
signals readable across continents or around the world with power outputs measured in
milliwatts. Importantly, WSPR receivers upload their ‘spots’ to WSPR Network where
they are recorded in a world wide data base.
By examining the WSPR Database, Richard Godfrey a British engineer and his team,
determined that perturbations in the data could be used to indicate that an object had
passed through the signal’s path. Using WSPR data from 2014, Godfrey believes he
has determined the actual path of MH370, and has accurately charted the flight’s final
location. Godfrey has successfully tracked other aircraft across the Southern Ocean.
Mentour Pilot has just released a YouTube video looking at the history of MH flight 370,
and starting at about minute 46, describing Godfrey’s use of Amateur Radio’s WSPR
Database in charting the path and final resting place of the mystery aircraft.
The video can be found here. Although the video is quite long, it is informative and very well produced, and is well worth the investment of time. At a minimum, view the video from minute 46 onward to see how Amateur Radio may have
found the mystery flight.
Upcoming Meeting and Events
April 4th – Next Membership Meeting: Beginning with Elmer Presentation by Ken Finke, KN8F, at 6:45 PM in the Lakehouse Bayside Room.7 PM presentation by Bob Officer, WA6WAY, on his solar-panel charged golf cart battery and inverter power system. Monthly “business and updates meeting” will follow Bob’s presentation.
April 20th – Hidden Transmitter Hunt: Meet up at 8:45 AM in the Courtyard rear of Pinckney Hall. Hunt begins at 9 AM. Russ Treadwell, N1ZK, notes that there are three YouTube videos on typical fox hunting practices on the homepage of the Club website, KE4HAM.org. This will provide some ideas about how you might prepare for the hunt. And, the videos demonstrate some techniques for finding the fox. Knowledge is power, right?
April 20th – Lunch at Jameson’s: 12 Noon at Jameson’s at Hidden Cypress. All are invited to come to the lunch…not just participants in the Transmitter Hunt that morning!
More details will be provided in upcoming editions of “This & That”.
Club Website
Click here to get to the Club’s website: https://www.ke4ham.org.
If you notice any errors or have site-related questions, please email the webmaster; email: webmaster@ke4ham.org.
Net Activity Remains Strong
Great to hear so many stations checking into our nets.
Thanks to all who participate.
These are our nets. Enjoy them. They are very special and give us the opportunity to connect with each other while testing our equipment’s connectivity capabilities.
Let’s keep our nets alive and well by checking in when we can.
Weekly Nets
Sunday NET (8 PM) operates on 147.550 MHz simplex and EchoLink node: KE4HAM – L except on the Sunday after our club’s membership meeting. On the Sunday after our club membership meeting, the Sunday Net will be on the KE4HAM repeater (147.135 + with a tone of 91.5 on both the input and the output). The KE4HAM Repeater Net can also be accessed via EchoLink at KE4HAM-R.
Wednesday Nets (8 PM) operates from KK4ONF/Jasper repeater, 147.060+ and EchoLink node: KE4HAM-R
Net Control Stations and EchoLink Coordinator
Thanks to our regular Net Controls: Bob Officer, WA6WAY; Russ Treadwell, N1ZK; and Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW.
Thanks to Ron Frick, AI4HH, for keeping the nets on EchoLink.
Net Control Schedule:
— Wednesday, March 20 @ 8 PM ET: Harve Hnatiuk, KB3FW (JASPER COUNTY REPEATER)
— Sunday, March 24 @ 8 PM ET: Bob Officer, WA6WAY (147.55 SIMPLEX)
If you are interested in being a Net Control, please let Ron or Harve know.
SCHH ARC Net Reports:
Thanks to ALL who checked in to our SCHH ARC nets last week.
If you have the time, please check into our club’s nets on a regular basis.
Last week’s check-ins and traffic:
— Wednesday, March 13 : KE4HAM/N1ZK, AI4HH, KJ4BSM, N8TPW, KN4VWQ, WB4KSG, WB1DXN, KB3FW, KQ4LNB, KQ4JKI. QNI=10, QTC=0.
— Sunday, March 17: KE4HAM/WA6WAY, AI4HH, AA4KK, AD5EN, KB3FW. KJ4BSM, K2ITZ, K2OS, N1ZK, KQ4KOO.. QNI=10 QTC=0.
Note – QNI = Number of Check-ins to the net, including Net Control; QTC = Traffic handled (Radiograms).
Other Operating:
Daily — Monitor the new KE4HAM Repeater: 147.135 MHz + with a tone of 91.5. You may get some good DX spots from time to time and other members may be there if you want to connect/chat.
