Amateur Radio Weekly – Issue 191
AO-92 commissioned, open for Amateur use
Initially, the U/v FM transponder will be open continuously for a period of one week. After the first week, operations will be scheduled among the U/v FM transponder, L-Band Downshifter, Virginia Tech Camera, and the University of Iowa’s High Energy Radiation CubeSat Instrument (HERCI).
AMSAT
Blinded by the light: The solar panel tariff
There are a few things off grid amateur radio operators need to know about the solar panel tariff.
Off Grid Ham
PicSat requests Ham Radio assistance to capture telemetry
The CubeSat PicSat carrying an amateur radio FM transponder was launched on the same PSLV-C40 flight from India that delivered AO-92 to orbit.
AMSAT UK
A better antenna for dualband handhelds
Recently, I wondered how well the antenna is really performing so I did a side-by-side comparison with the Smiley 2m halfwave.
AmateurRadio.com
Massive 78-year-old transmitter for sale
A piece of radio history could be yours for $5,000. A 1940 RCA 50 kW shortwave transmitter, located at the decommissioned Radio Canada International Site in Sackville, is up for sale.
CBC
A grave threat to GPS
In the coming months, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) may allow high-powered, ground-based, communication transmitters to broadcast at a frequency near GPS L1.
GPS World
Visualizing satellite doppler shift
Doppler Shift is experienced as the satellite (wave source) is moving relative to you, the observer (or receiver) of the transmitted wavelength.
N1AAE
Do shortwave ‘Numbers Stations’ really instruct spies?
Today, numbers stations remain a reality on shortwave radio, even in the Internet Age.
Radio World
Video
Pre-planning for the ARRL VHF Contest
KB1HQS
Indoor attic dipole antenna
Trying out an antenna for Ham Radio in the attic.
K5ACL
The 50 kW RCA hfbc tx is the same model as Radio Australia’s first HF tx at Shepparton where it was in service from May 1944 to early 1990’s. Unusually, it was equipped with pulse modulation circuitry and used for successful Moon sounding transmissions on 17 & 21 MHz in the late 1940’s. Yup, moonbounce on HF.
Reading a caption in the CBC article I nearly choked on my Weeties,
“A cathode tune, part of the RCA 50 KW transmitter on the former RCI radio tower site.”
That’s what you get when you let a journalist write about technical stuff beyond their ken.
The photo shows, of course, part of the polyphase HV rectifier with 857B Hg vapour rectifiers visible.