CCARC NEWS 14-34
THE PERIODIC NEWSLETTER OF THE CENTRAL COAST AMATEUR RADIO CLUB
ISSUE No 14-34 10th October 2014
In this Issue:
- Upcoming Meetings
- Jota
- Alarameet 2014
- Smoke Signals
- Tim Allen Gets His Ham Ticket For Real
- Amateur Radio is “Communications Superpower”
- Send Your Name to Mars
- ISS Expedition 42 poster released
- History This Week
- Broke & fixed
- Reminders
1. Upcoming Meetings
The next Two Monthly Wicen Meeting will be on this Saturday the 11th October starting at 1300 hrs.
There will be a show and tell on Saturday the 25th October starting at 1300 hrs.
There will be a number of events on Saturday the 1st November. There will be a Field Day planning meeting starting at 1100 hrs, then a BBQ lunch at 1200 hrs, then a Special General Meeting at 1300 hrs followed by the Monthly Business Meeting.
2. JOTA
JOTA this year is on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th October.
Once again this year the CCARC will be operating amateur radio station VK2EH at the local Jamboree On The Air event.
Andrew VK2PAM and Doug VK2MDC will be operating in the 2014 JOTA for 24hrs at the Scout camp at Kariong. All scouts will be camping in over night. Keep a listen out for VK2EH/p on all bands & modes.
In the area and interested in helping? All equipment is provided. Just bring your skill as an amateur radio operator.
Previous experience at JOTA is not essential as seasoned JOTA operators will be on hand to give you support.
3. Alarameet 2014
Planning is underway for the next Alarameet in beautiful Nelson Bay NSW, 24th to 27th October, 2014.
ALARAmeet is a wonderful way to meet other YLs of our organisation and their OMs are welcome too. Approximately 80 people attend our meets now and YLs have come from England, Sweden, America, Germany and a big group from New Zealand.
http://www.alara.org.au/alarameet/alarameet-nelson-bay-2014/
4. Smoke Signals
Our Smoke Signals Editor, Leonie VK2LCP is busily preparing for the next issue (November) and is asking nicely for articles, photos, etc. New items are to be sent to: smokesignalseditor at fsparker.com.au please. The cut-off date is 17th October.
5. Tim Allen Gets His Ham Ticket For Real
Actor and comedian Tim Allen now not only plays an Amateur Radio operator on television, he is one! Allen got his Technician license on September 4, but did not release the news until this week. In his weekly ABC comedy TV show “Last Man Standing,” Allen’s character Mike Baxter, is supposed to be KA0XTT, and the show has featured ham radio in some episodes.
“Last Man Standing” producer John Amodeo, NN6JA, told ARRL that the agreement with Allen was that “we would not publicize his license until he approved it.” Allen revealed to Tom Medlin, W5KUB, for one of Medlin’s webcasts that he had passed his Technician license test but did not mention his call sign, Amodeo said. “Obviously, most hams are capable of finding Tim’s call sign, if they feel the need,” he conceded.
http://www.arrl.org/news/actor-tim-allen-gets-his-ham-ticket-for-real
6. Amateur Radio is “Communications Superpower”
European Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response Kristalina Georgieva told delegates to the International Amateur Radio Union Region 1 (IARU Region 1) General Conference on September 22 that Amateur Radio is a reliable information tool that can save lives in disasters. In a statement read to the conference attendees on her behalf by the EC’s Encho Gospidinov, Georgieva laid out a scenario in which all modern telecommunications and electrical power are knocked out, and no one can help the victims, because no one knows what has happened.
“Luckily, there is a last resort: The radio amateurs, the people who are the eyes and the ears of the world in time when all other information channels are silent,” she said. “In short, you are the last technical miracle, which is independent, reliable information channel, which can transmit an important piece of news from any place in the world, any time, by anyone who knows how to operate this wonderful creature, called radio.”
The 24th IARU Region 1 General Conference opened on September 21 in Albena, Bulgaria. It will continue through September 26.
She said Amateur Radio’s advantage is that it is independent of the conventional communications infrastructure. “A well-trained radioman with good equipment and ever-charged batteries can be a fantastic link between two villages, two countries or two continents,” she said. “When organized in a Union, you are a communication superpower in time of total electronic darkness.”
http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-is-communications-superpower-iaru-region-1-delegates-are-told
7. Send Your Name to Mars
If only your name could collect frequent flyer miles. NASA is inviting the public to send their names on a microchip to destinations beyond low-Earth orbit, including Mars.
Your name will begin its journey on a dime-sized microchip when the agency’s Orion spacecraft launches Dec. 4 on its first flight, designated Exploration Flight Test-1. After a 4.5 hour, two-orbit mission around Earth to test Orion’s systems, the spacecraft will travel back through the atmosphere at speeds approaching 20,000 mph and temperatures near 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit, before splashing down in the Pacific Ocean.
But the journey for your name doesn’t end there. After returning to Earth, the names will fly on future NASA exploration flights and missions to Mars. With each flight, selected individuals will accrue more miles as members of a global space-faring society.
NASA is pushing the boundaries of exploration and working hard to send people to Mars in the future,” said Mark Geyer, Orion Program manager. “When we set foot on the Red Planet, we’ll be exploring for all of humanity. Flying these names will enable people to be part of our journey.”
The deadline for receiving a personal “boarding pass” on Orion’s test flight closes Friday Oct. 31. The public will have an opportunity to keep submitting names beyond Oct. 31 to be included on future test flights and future NASA missions to Mars.
To submit your name to fly on Orion’s flight test, visit:
http://mars.nasa.gov/participate/send-your-name/orion-first-flight/
Join the conversation on social media using the hashtag #JourneyToMars.
For information about Orion and its first flight, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/orion
8. ISS Expedition 42 poster released
Radio amateur and astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti IZ0UDF has put the final touches to the official crew poster for the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 42. It is now available to download.
The poster parodies the popular The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and is without doubt the best ISS crew poster yet released.
USA’s Terry Virts and Russia’s Anton Shkaplerov portray the two-headed Zaphod Beeblebrox, Russia’s Alexander Samokutyaev is Humma Kavula, USA’s Butch Wilmore is Arthur Dent, Russia’s Elena Serova is Ford Prefect with Italy’s Samantha Cristoforetti as Trillian. NASA’s Robonaut 2 guest-stars as Marvin the Paranoid Android.
Samantha should launch from Baikonur in Kazakhstan on November 23, 2014 at 2059 UT (3:59pm EST) also flying with her in the Soyuz will be Anton Shkaplerov and Terry Virts. She is expected to return to Earth in May 2015.
Samantha Cristoforetti IZ0UDF on Twitter
https://twitter.com/AstroSamantha
ISS Expedition 42
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition42/
AMSAT-UK http://amsat-uk.org/
9. History This Week
A look back at events that made history this week – compiled by the Summerland Amateur Radio Club of Lismore, NSW
Monday, 6 October, 2014
2136 BC Chinese make first record of a solar eclipse
1811 The Juliana, the first steam-powered ferryboat, begins operation
1823 Charles Macintosh of Scotland begins selling raincoats (Macs)
1860 Telegraph line between LA & SF opens.
1865 John Hyatts patents the billiard ball.
1876 First 2-way telephone conversation, first over outdoor wires.
1927 “Jazz Singer,” first movie with a sound track, premieres (NYC)
1959 Far side of Moon seen for first time, compliments of USSR’s Luna 3
1982 Mt Palomar Observatory first to detect Halley’s comet on 13th return
1984 US govt closes down due to budget problems
BROKE & FIXED
No items for Broke & Fixed this week – all CCARC infrastructure is operational.
REMINDERS
This section lists important announcements and possibly items from previous CCARC NEWS editions that are still current and may need your input:
If you experience any problems with any of the repeaters not working, please report to Repeater Chairman, Don VK2ZCZ. Do not assume that he already knows about it. As soon as problems are brought to Don’s attention, they will be fixed ASAP.
Jaycar Tuggerah & Erina will give CCARC members a trade discount – approx 10% on purchases over $25. Make sure you ask for it. Thanks Rod VK2LAX and Col VK2ZCO.
Anyone reading this on the website who is not yet a member of the CCARC, please consider joining by emailing ccarc at ccarc dot org dot au for full details.
For submissions to this newsletter from CCARC club members please email the editor news-editor at ccarc dot org dot au
For what’s coming up in the next few months at the CCARC, please check the club calendar, accessible from the header on any page on the website.
Dave VK2DLS … News & Publicity Officer …
