On the Web : July 2005

If you enjoy reading 'On the Web', your ham radio club can publish this column on an exchange basis with SJRA. Contact Ted, , for the exchange details.		Our contributions to the South Jersey Radio Association club bulletin "Harmonics" includes lengthy Web addresses. As the URL's can be difficult or a nuisance to type into your Web browser, the postings here should make it easier to get to the Web sites SJRA members are interested in. Look for the posting at w2xq.com at the time "Harmonics" is scheduled for delivery in the south Jersey area. Questions, suggestions or contributions are always welcome.
		Solar X-rays  Geomagnetic Field  N 3 K L

The 2006 Field Day Rules
The SJRA Field Day Site entrance is on Lower Main Street, Marlton, opposite the Indian Springs Golf Course.
GPS (Global Positioning System) coordinates are N 39° 53.162', W 74° 53.486', or use these maps.
Mapquest is almost a 'net standard, but the newer beta Google map looks very good.

Willingboro 146.925

Did you know that Willingbor has repeaters on 220 and 440 MHz? If you answered "no" that is no surprise, neither did anyone else. The Web page -- w2xq.com/warg -- has been changed to make public the PL (ChannelGuard) frequencies for 220 and 440. Further, the guidelines on use of the repeater system have been simplified. Check out the page for other changes; the swap net continues on Thursdays, 8 p.m.

The antennas for all three repeaters are atop a water tank; the coverage is fairly uniform in all directions subject to local terrain issues at the receiver location. The repeater on 223.880 has no PL on it as there are no co-channel problems in any direction. The 440 repeater on 442.050 has a PL tone of 118.8 decode only. If I pick my street corners in Trenton, I can access the 440 repeater without difficulty. Some SJRA members have expressed an interest in an SJRA repeater; test your equipment performance on this single-site repeater that is clearly not so busy as Bears/Bensalem..

Fireworks on the fourth!

Did you watch the fireworks on the fourth? I am not referring to the mundane gunpowder stuff launched by local governments on planet Earth, always predictable. NASA treated us to a show of lighting up a comet far reaches of our solar system. The results were so spectacular that the light show was seen by telescopes orbiting the sun and earth and by telescopes on earth. Read all about the 0552 UT impact on 2005-07-04, and view the films and photographs. Links open in a new browser window:

NASA : nasa.gov
JPL : jpl.nasa.gov
Space : space.com

If you see this in time, remember that NASA Television broadcast the launch of the USA's return to manned space flight on July 13. NASA TV is not on our Comcast cable TV package, so I resort to watching NASA on the Internet. Whereas the networks will do the obligatory bits and pieces in its newscasts, try these link for your viewing pleasure. The connection speed for video should be something better than dial up:

NASA TV Feeds : www.napacomfort.com/mars/nasa_feed.html

Read the Houston Chronicle's special report "Return to Flight" for an in depth look at the activities each day. It is interesting reading, and it takes a look at the Columbia accident and investigation. Dial up www.chron.com/content/chronicle/special/05/rtf/ and have a read.

Aruba

Contesters know Aruba as a 3-point entry because it is classified as South America rather than NA, easy to get to and a friendly place to contest and DX from. Aruba exhibited a different face to a young 18-year girl on a high school graduation trip about a month ago. Natalie Holloway disappeared on May 30, and USA news services have been closely following the story.

I wrote a brief article for Monitoring Times -- see "Baudwalking... Aruba Media Links" at monitoringtimes.com -- to highlight media in Aruba; it gives us a perspective of how that country views the US and our media. When the USA press leaves Aruba, you can continue to follow events.

While you are on Monitoring Times web site, poke around a bit and look at the other interesting stories.

Communicate

Do you want to ask a question or comment on something in these columns? I'm easy enough to find as mentioned in past months' columns. Don't forget that the current and past columns are posted at w2xq.com for your reading and review. The advantage? The Web links are live. You do not have to type in the URL's.

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Revised 10 July 2005

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