swmopacket.org

This week’s Surfin’ discusses the variety of Amateur Radio services related to the National Weather Service.

Richard Garriott, W5KWQ, will be attending the 2009 ARRL National Convention – hosted by the Dayton Hamvention® — as a special guest of the ARRL and AMSAT. Garriott, who took off for the International Space Station (ISS) on October 12, became the sixth private citizen to fly with the Russian Federal Space Agency (RKA) for [...]

We saw a sunspot on February 11-13, then it was gone. Typical of sunspots recently, it was only seen briefly; this one was a relic of Solar Cycle 23, according to its magnetic signature. For at least a couple of years now, we’ve been expecting Solar Cycle 23 to bottom out and new Solar Cycle [...]

This week’s Surfin’ visits public service Web sites that should be on everybody’s short list.

John Kanzius, K3TUP, of Erie, Pennsylvania, passed away February 18 in Florida from pneumonia. He was 64. Kanzius was best known for his research into finding a cure for cancer using radio waves, specifically 13.56 MHz.

In the Australian state of Victoria, Amateur Radio operators have been activated to provide communications links into towns that have had their normal communications destroyed by the bushfires that have decimated the state. Members of the Wireless Institute Civil Emergency Network in Victoria (WICEN (Vic)) — Australia’s version of ARES® — were activated on February [...]

Registration remains open through Sunday, February 22, 2009 for these online course sessions beginning on Friday, March 6, 2009: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1; Radio Frequency Interference; Antenna Design and Construction; Technician License Course; Analog Electronics, and Digital Electronics.

Each year on April 18, radio amateurs celebrate World Amateur Radio Day. On that day in 1925, 84 years ago, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) was founded. In 2009, the theme of the event is Amateur Radio: Your Resource in Disaster and Emergency Communication.

Even though the mandatory conversion date for television stations to switch from analog signals to digital has been delayed by four months, hams are still assisting the FCC and their communities by providing technical support to those who need assistance. Although many TV stations won’t turn off their analog signals until the new deadline, the [...]

They say that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. In fact, that seems to be the whole premise of many hamfests. But just how true is the expression?

Apple iPhone amateur radio software, call sign search,ham radio logbook, grid square Locator for the iPhone mobile device.

Radio Scanning/NatureA page about fascinating Very Low Frequency and natural radio, with lots of streaming audio links from remote receivers. Some experimental stereo pairs around the world.

Software/MacintoshFreeware SDR for macintosh by DO8SEM Sebastian

Software/MacintoshAnalog S-Meter for the Elecraft K3 for Windows and MacOSX

DX Resources/DX PeditionsKP5 2009 DXpedition to Desecheo island, at the KP1-5 web site