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Foundations of Amateur Radio - Episode 94

Discussion in 'Amateur Radio News' started by VK6FLAB, Mar 25, 2017.

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  1. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    Carrington was a keen observer of sunspots, who maintained written drawing just before the advent of photography rendered that a moot approach.

    Mr. Carrington had nothing to do with any ‘event’. Instead he showed emergence of a solar flare which, we now know as space weather, impacted the Earth , likely directly. The most peculiar result of which was telegraphs made operational without batteries.

    He did champion the hypothesis that the profound aurorae of the Fall of his discovery resulted from such bursts from the otherwise, apparently, immutable Sun.

    Carrington was a brewer who ditched the business in his thirties, fell in love with a kept women, who then deceived him as she orchestrated a cuckolded rip roaring menage a trois, with one of the men being Carrington, summarily taken advantage of.

    The usual violence ensued. Suicide (for her), and so on.

    Carrington was held in contempt by competitor astronomer George Airy.

    The usual ‘violence’ ensured.

    Carrington got screwed. His death...well...you can look that up.

    His house was adjacent to a large earth mound used to keep thermal isotropy for his telescope. It was below ground level.

    Carrington—the very first astrophysicist. RIP.
     
    Last edited: Mar 29, 2017
  2. 4S7LP

    4S7LP Ham Member QRZ Page

    I 2 love QRP & as an ex-merchant marine Radio-Operator from 1977-2000 it gave me great pleasure when working with old, tube
    transmitters + tube receivers for all marine bands. Those were the Days!!!!!
     
    AD5KO and VK6FLAB like this.
  3. G8ADD

    G8ADD Ham Member QRZ Page

    That is a controversial claim!

    Other contenders include Joseph von Fraunhofer who mapped the absorption lines in the solar spectrum in the 1800s, Kirchhoff and Bunsen in the 1850's who determined what these lines meant, William Huggins who in 1864 recognised that some nebulae had an emission spectrum so could not be unresolved clouds of stars, but the recognition of astrophysics as a specific subject came with the appointment of Norman Lockyer as the world's first professor of astronomical physics in 1868.

    My apologies for imprecision. The question should have been what are your specialisms in astrophysics?

    Brian
     
  4. W4HM

    W4HM XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    I love QRP also. Just this Wednesday morning at 1117 UTC from central Florida I worked VK5PO on 1839.241 kHz via the JT65A mode. I was using 4 watts and received a -21 signal report. He was a -14.

    The antenna is a 130 ft long 1/4 wave inverted L with a 60 foot vertical section over 26 1/4 wave radials.

    The Kp index was a 4.
     
    AD5KO and KF4ZKU like this.
  5. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    In no particular order--
    • Gravitational Lensing
    • Cosmology
    • Star formation
    • Binary variables
    • Active Galaxies
    • Radio interferometry
    • Radio Spectrometry
    • Planetary radio astronomy
    Nowadays I do (astronomical)arrays but hams know me for fractal antennas.
     
    AD5KO likes this.
  6. W1YW

    W1YW Ham Member QRZ Page

    I am sure you had a long and meaningful ragchew on JT65 ;-)
     
    VK6APZ/SK2022 likes this.
  7. N8DAH

    N8DAH XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    QRP or QRO who cares have fun with it. Only thing I don't like about QRO is the ones who use 100+ watts on a digital mode that doesn't need it and wipes out the band while they TX. 1w or 1k5w who cares as long as you enjoy it and play by the real rules (part 97).

    I build and do QRP I love it. Max I use a 50w amp which is rare but was purchased only because of the coming cycle. I don't understand why people get so upset about all this or why people give two shakes about what others think of the setup they choose to use.

    Have fun with the hobby.

    73
    David
    N8DAH
     
  8. K2FI

    K2FI Ham Member QRZ Page

    I've usually done barefoot for NPOTA and WWFF, but I love, love, LOVE my Mountain Topper.

    And, yes, the hobby is supposed to be fun!
     
    AD5KO likes this.
  9. KG6LI

    KG6LI XML Subscriber QRZ Page

    Well, I run only QRP secondary to a host of HOA induced limitations. QRP is about reasonable expectations based on current conditions. When I look at the current K/A index, and the SFI, it typically sets my mental expectations for the day. That being said, rarely does a day go by when I don't have a QSO that exceeds those expectations. I love QRP as it puts my operation outdoors which is an environment I love. So even a bad day on the air was a great day in the sun and fresh air.

    But I too often scratch my head with some of the compromise antennas that low power operators use. My best performing antenna is a simple inverted vee cut to the resonant frequency. I've used verticals, end fed slopers, and I keep coming back to the simple wire antenna. So yes, QRP'ers need to think antenna first, radio second. But the argument of QRO vs. QRP is just stupid. Everyone finds their niche in the vast radio spectrum, so this quickly becomes an argument about nothing....

    73/72
    Mark
    KG6LI
     
    KC3EPI and AD5KO like this.
  10. KG7VTO

    KG7VTO Ham Member QRZ Page

    Howdy Chip, I completly agree with your comments but I think some of the credit ham with the "ears".
    It takes two to QSO. 73 OM
     
  11. W9EBE

    W9EBE Subscriber QRZ Page

    Greetings, Bob! Absolutely. That's why I wrote, " Thank-you to all the stations whose antennas and receivers (and operator skills) were able to copy my flea power." It's definitely a 2-way street. :)
     
    AD5KO likes this.
  12. G8ADD

    G8ADD Ham Member QRZ Page

    I agree, some of these compromise antennas are silly, things like the "Miracle Whip", where the miracle is a contact!;) Yet they do get some contacts...

    Simple inverted V dipoles are popular in SOTA, as are multi-band link dipoles, but I favour the W3EDP since it allows me to change bands without leaving the operating position - this not only saves time, it saves me from having to pick my way repeatedly around rocky summits with loose rubble (clitter) under foot. Yes, there is probably some loss in the tuner, but I still get plenty of contacts!

    Well a good beam or a sharp pair of ears at the other end can be a help, of course, but the frequency of summit to summit contacts with QRP both ends show that this is not really necessary. I do my SOTA chasing from home with a 102-foot doublet at 30 feet and I have scored over 20,000 points from over 5,500 contacts with QRP stations on summits, and probably for about half of those contacts I, too, was using QRP, an FT817.

    QRP may not suit the tastes of some hams, but it undoubtably works and has thousands of followers - over 5,000 SOTA activators for a start.

    Brian
     
    OH2FFY likes this.
  13. G3NYY

    G3NYY Ham Member QRZ Page

    The signal reports you receive on JT65 are meaningless. They are entirely subjective and depend upon the noise levels (both internal and external) at the receiving station.

    The most that can be said is that they will give you some indication of your relative signal-strength compared to other stations being received at the distant site.

    73,
    Walt
     
  14. G3NYY

    G3NYY Ham Member QRZ Page

    Hello, Brian! LOL! I thought Miracle Whip was a kind of sundae (dessert).
    I am old enough to remember its predecessor some decades ago - the "Joystick". That, too, functioned as a loading coil to enable you to radiate a signal from the feedline.
    ;)

    73,
    Walt
     
  15. G3NYY

    G3NYY Ham Member QRZ Page

    They are running deaf receivers.
    :)

    73,
    Walt
     
    AD5KO likes this.

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