On the Web : January 2006

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 Google map looks very good.

Happy New Year

We wish all readers a safe, healthy and happy 2006. Be careful out there when installing antennas or other skyhooks.

Listening on the Web

Listening around the world can get boring. In the morning, Australia and New Zealand show up on 75 and 40, and Africans pop in at sunset. But there is out of this world DX available on the ‘net.

Closer to the planet you can listen to meteors pinging away as the chunks of material plow into the earth’s atmosphere. It’s best at dawn, after 08 UT or so for about 6 hours as the earth rotates into the daylight. Tune your browser to "Radio Meteor Listening" at www.spaceweather.com/glossary/nasameteorradar.html and pick either one of the two mp3 audio streams and you’ll hear about a ping a minute (higher rates during meteor showers).

If the outer edge of the atmosphere is too close, listen to the sun and Jupiter instead. The radio receivers at the University of Hawaii at jupiter.wcc.hawaii.edu offers options of listening real time or plotting the data. There are pages of information to explain how it al works, interesting indeed.

Let’s talk about real DX and put this tiny planet into perspective. While you are listening to transmissions from out of this world, look at the "Atlas of the Universe" at www.anzwers.org/free/universe with nine maps, each one about ten times the scale of the previous one.

Back on this planet, The Voice of Russia streams audio onto the Web, but it was not of much interest to this writer as the programming was limited to languages other than English and only was on during the European daylight hours. When checking links in late December, in preparation to listen to New Year’s Eve celebrations around the world, I found audio is on during the later North American evening hours... in English. I have not found the start and end times yet, but I think English starts at 03 UT. Enter the URL mms://193.159.244.27/live/st_ru/Stimme_Russl_2 into the Windows Media Player. The programming does not appear to be parallel to 7180 kHz (the best frequency for reception on the east coast of NA).

Share Your Bookmarks (Favorites)

In recent weeks I have found two interesting Web sites that enable the Web user to track bookmarks. If you use more than one computer, there is a disadvantage of capturing Web sites by bookmarking the address in the Web browser. You cannot use the bookmarks on another computer without first transferring the data by copying or e-mailing the file(s). These two Web sites solve the problem nicely.

There are common traits shared by del.icio.us and Furl.net. Both enable capturing the Web site with the click of a mouse. More interestingly, the bookmarks you capture can be seen by other users and you can see what other users are also noting. In this way I have found similar sites to the those I have found. The first three sites above were found in Furl when I looked at the archive pages of users who had also bookmarked some of the astronomy Web sites I "furled". It is, in my opinion, an interesting way to explore a subject as an addition to using a search engine.

Both del.icio.us and Furl require user registration (free), and provide simple instructions to set up your Web browser to enable the one-click capture of URL to be bookmarked. Both sites offer the user to describe and categorize the site. Furl.net is owned and operated by Looksmart, a search engine firm. Although I prefer the Furl site's design and searchability to del.icio.us, Furl requires a bit more data (and time) to describe the bookmarked page -- but the benefits in later search and retrieval is, in my opinion, worth the effort.

Furl additionally has the capability to prepare and send e-mail a message at the same time you save the selected Web site. I often will send the Furl data to a friend at the same time I add the site to my Furl account's page; the dual action of the mouse click can be a time saver if you are in the habit of sharing bookmarks with friends.

If you like the concept of flagging your bookmarked pages on a Web site for later use no matter what computer you use, I suggest you explore both del.icio.us and Furl. Create the accounts, experiment, and perhaps use just the one you prefer. Just remember the captured data may be viewed by others, so do not record user names and passwords in the descriptive information.

Quickies

If you have access to NASA TV through a satellite or via the Web, watch for a replay of a program on space weather. (I found it in progress on 4 January, a Wednesday evening after 9 pm.) I didn't find its title, but the video of the aurora from the ground and space, and the effects of the solar wind, was simply astonishing.

A search engine with a twist is kartoo.com and well worth an exploratory visit. Kartoo is a visual meta search engine using Macromedia's Flash (a free download) to display a graphical picture of the search results. Lines are drawn, as you move the mouse over key words or sites, showing the relationships. Is it a replacement for Google, Yahoo or one of the larger search engines? No, but the visual presentations of the "maps" offer a different insight to the results returned. If you use a dial-up modem to connect to the 'net, Kartoo will be a performance disappointment.

If you enjoy listening to signals outside the amateur bands anywhere in the radio frequency spectrum, the Winter SWL Festival is coming up on March 3/4. More than 225 attendees from around the world assemble in Kulpsville, PA, each year to meet others interested in tuning in broadcast, utility, pirate, and satellite stations. There are a variety of forums and lots of people to talk to, and sometimes there is a sneak peak of new technology. Check out the details at swlfest.com and join me at the 19th gathering of the faithful.

The "ShortURL" service at the eb.cx Web site, reviewed in the August 2005 column, has vaporized without warning. Links using the service in past columns will be repaired shortly, or send an e-mail if you need help locating a site.

And I'll close this column with a special thanks to Ted, W2TAG, for putting W2XQ back on the air from the car. I changed vehicles in early December, and installing radios is not on my "can-do" list due to the RSD disease that I cope with.

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Revised 9 January 2006

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