On the Web : December 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

Winter, and a reminder

It looks like Winter is finally here. The colder temperatures have turned our bird baths into ice skating ponds for the little critters out in the back yard. While you are indoors check out the Web version of this column. I have not mentioned the Web version of this column in a while; please remember that there are active links — no typing necessary — and updates and corrections. Last month's column also included comments on the new Windows iteration called "Vista" that didn't make it into the print version of Harmonics due to space constraints. Dial up the link at http://w2xq.com/sjra/sjra_2006-11.html and have a read.

Earth, continued...

One of the unheralded "secrets" of Google Earth is there is an inexpensive "Plus" version for the small sum of $20. The significant advantage of subscribing is access to a separate, faster server. The response time is significantly less, and the painfully slow redrawing of the screen is replaced with a seemingly snappy, almost immediate response to the mouse click or move of the pointer. But be warned should you install the license key on too many different computers. Google will flag the multiple log-ins on different systems and disable Earth until the user contacts customer service.

Google Earth helpful hint #97. Save your favorite entries by e-mailing yourself a Google Earth Placemark. Rather than send yourself separate e-mails for each placemark you've saved, right-click on the "My Places" line and follow the instructions to create the e-mail. Google Earth creates a single file attachment that includes all of the entries within the "My Places" file tree.

Stops on the Web

I found some interesting Web sites this past month. Do you have a computer with a too-small fixed disk or you cannot justify the investment in a Microsoft Office? Google has a free service called "Docs & Spreadsheets" that enables you to write or crunch numbers online and access them from anywhere; it looks like and works like the Microsoft Office's Word and Excel. The only software you'll need is a Web browser (Firefox and Internet Explorer work well, Mac's Safari does not). Google also has a full text search of books, a news search that now includes archive search, a calendar that is shareable with friends, e-mail alerts on the topics of your choice, and its own instant messenger (Talk) that works well and doesn't have the baggage of the IM products from AOL and Yahoo! All of this comes from "Labs", a playground unto itself. Go to the Google home page and drill down through the pages by clicking on "more" (atop each page) until you reach the page that shows all of the offerings.

Watch hundreds of free live and on-demand television broadcasts from all around the world at wwiTV (wwwitv.com) with bandwidth requirements of 28.8 Kb/s to 2000 Kb/s. The program standards RealPlayer, Media Player, and Quicktime are the only requirements. Are you interested in astronomy? Take a tour of the universe with the freeware Celestia (www.shatters.net/celestia), for Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. I have previously written about Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and the many ham radio-related chat rooms, but now check out the new freeware IceChat (www.icechat.net, Windows) or X-Chat Aqua (xchataqua.sourceforge.net, Mac OS X). A significant advantage of both applications is that the single client can access multiple IRC servers at once, whereas mIRC (Windows) can only access one server at a time. Looking for a really good text editor that opens lots of large files simultaneously (think copy and paste among documents and runs on Windows, Mac OS X, Unix, OS/2 and VMS? Check out the freeware jEdit (jedit.org) and the many marvelous plugins, then toss the weak-kneed Notepad and other one-file-at-a-time text editors cluttering your fixed disk.

Tracking the Lincolnshire Poacher

The mysterious numbers stations heard across the shortwave spectrum have been topics of radio enthusiasts' conversations for more than half a decade. QRZ (qrz.com) has a current message thread bearing this name, telling of a BBC Radio 4 program that aired on 24 November 2006. Unfortunately the information was useless as the program, once aired, did not slide into the BBC replay library. I traced down the audio file, and here's the rest of the story (sorry, Paul Harvey). The recent airing was a repeat of the program, narrated by Simon Fanshawe, that aired on BBC Radio 4 on 23 April 2005, and this page — www.simonmason.karoo.net/page485.htm — includes a link to the half-hour show. Do have a listen. It is a fascinating piece of radio history.

Listener's Convention

Do you listen to the radio spectrum outside of the amateur bands? If the answer is "yes" then mark your calendar for 8, 9 and 10 March 2007 and take a drive to Kulpsville, just north of Philadelphia off the northeast extension of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. The 20th annual gathering of the faithful should be quite a party. (About 40% of the attendees also have amateur radio licenses; HT's weigh down the belts of many.) Topics cover the spectrum from longwave to satellite. Check out the details at swlfest.com or contact me on the BEARS W3BXW 70 cm repeater network (best), K2AA or K2AX (145.150, PL 91.5).

Shorts

SJRA member N2EAC is on the Internet. Rather, Ed is not on the 'net (he wouldn't fit) but his Web site is. It is the practice of law, at cienki.com, protecting us from the evils of the world, jumping over tall buildings, more powerful than a locomotive, with truth, justice and the American way. Actually, I haven't seen his red cape... (sorry for my humor, the men are coming with the white jackets and straps, I'll go quietly...)

I'm going to be politically incorrect and wish everyone a Merry Christmas. To those who would neuter the religious observance, bah, and a lump of coal... -grin-

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Revised 6 December 2006

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