Hi everyone & Happy New Year!

I hope you had a safe and happy holiday season. Santa was good to me with James Bond DVDs and LOTS to eat, which seeing that my New Year’s Resolution was to become the Fat of The Land, worked out perfectly.

I usually don’t make New Years Resolutions as they are a recipe for failure. Sometimes I wlll make “anti-resolutions”, resolving to do things I wouldn’t do in a million years, and failing to achieve these anti-resolutions, I remain on the “straight and narrow” path.

I prefer “goals”.

Some of my goals for 2023 in no particular order are:

1. Make a dent in the mountain of books which are causing my house to tilt to the east.
2. Go camping
3. Get on the air more often.
4. Take time for ME, as I am the worst to burn the candle at both ends and the middle too.
5, Finally figure out the mystery which is LOTW – Logbook Of The World. Which has me stymied thus far.

I know there are many videos covering LOTW on YouTube, but, then we come back to Resolution #4 and finding that elusive beast called time.

One thing I have learned is that whatever you do don’t suggest that the LOTW logging program is anything but the greatest invention since air on antisocial media, or as James Spann calls it “Facebag”, or you will surely catch grief.

Some folks take this hobby way too seriously. It is a hobby. A hobby. One of many.

There is a term that has come into vogue called “sad hams” – hams that find fault with anything or everything under the sun. This term is totally inaccurate. They aren’t sad at all, they are happy. Very happy making everybody else miserable.

So what do you do? You act like a duck, and let it run off your feathers, realizing that social media paints an inaccurate version humanity. Most people are not turnip heads.

And, most importantly of all, don’t become like them.

What are your goals for the New Year?

Whatever your goals, I hope 2023 is kind, peaceful and prosperous for you!

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Ham Radio Contests

Ham radio contests can be a divisive issue.

On the one hand there are those who, like me have limited time they can get on the air as life and its responsibilities have a habit of eating away at my “play time”, get on the air and find every frequency occupied by “CQ Contest, CQ Contest”. Which can be totally annoying if you are just wanting to “chew the rag”.

Contesters counter with the true statement that 60, 30, 17 & 12 meters are intentionally contest free. And, those are very good bands.

Though I am “not a contender” and never submit a log, I actually enjoy contests & see the usefulness of them.

For one thing, they amuse me. They confirm what I have seen in 45 years of hamming. Many times, you can tune above and below a ham band and hear those frequencies literally crawling with “utility” and Shortwave broadcasters, but, the ham band in between is “dead”. A black hole in the RF spectrum.

Contest time comes, a switch is flipped and that black hole that was sucking all RF from, say 14.000 – 14.350 MHz disappears and an anthill of operators is stirred up. The contest’s time ends and suddenly crickets rule the world of 20 meters again.

The band was open the entire time, everyone just assumes it is dead and stay off the air.

Another reason I like contests is the fact that the multitudes of humanity piling in one on top of another help dispel the persistent myth that “ham radio is dying because {insert your favorite whine}”. It’s been dying since I first heard of the realm since 1973, for various versions of the same reason you hear today, but the persnickety beast just refuses to die.

With contests you get to hear states and especially rare DX stations that you otherwise might not ever hear or hear so rarely that it is a miracle, and 1000 stations are clawing through a pileup the size of Mt. Everest trying to reach them.

With contests DX stations that might ordinarily pass you by because your signal is putrid & puny, like mine, WANT to work you and so you can rack up contacts for the DXCC and other various awards.

I like contests because even if you have to repeat your callsign nine times before they get it right your signal report is always “59”, which for our non-ham readers means “a perfect readability strong signal”. Even if I know the report is a total illusion, it stokes my ego, making me and my station feel like a Big Dawg, even if it is a chihuahua.

Contests help give you an idea of the effectiveness and quirks of your station. For instance, I know that 15 meters is my best bet to reach Europe, 10 meters for western stations and South America, 20 meters is for the Midwest and so on. It gives me an idea of the actual antenna pattern I am encountering, as opposed to the theoretical pattern I would have if I had a “by the book” antenna setup, which due to my treeless yard and city restrictions, I do not have.

Because over the years all the trees in my yard have come down, either due to storms, safety reasons or woodpeckers, I am treeless. To compensate, I have a G5RV antenna that is shaped like the letter L with the feedline connected to the longer leg of the letter and a 170 foot random wire antenna strung along a privacy fence shaped like a large question mark.

 

As to city restrictions, I live in Homewood.

How many ham or CB towers do you see in Homewood? None. Why is that?

Per the City of Homewood Ordinances:

“Sec. 18.5-5. – Towers.

(a)Minimum area. The area for the antenna support structure shall be of a minimum area that can contain the tower in the event of a storm or structural failure. The tower shall not endanger the public or adjacent property owners. The minimum area of an antenna support structure site shall be defined as follows: From the outer perimeter of the base of the tower a distance equal to one hundred fifty (150) percent of the height of the tower shall be extended in all directions. The site area must be contained within the property boundaries of the site owner.”

I don’t know of any yard in Homewood that can contain even a 50 foot tower, because they can’t fit basically a 150 foot (75 feet either side of the tower) dead zone into their lots. In my case I could probably put a 15 foot tower up and wear a hard hat for when I bump and impale myself on the droopy radials.

So, I have a chihuahua station.

I envy the 1000 watt mastiffs I hear. Maybe someday I’ll be able to let my inner dog out.

Contests give life to lesser used bands such as 160 & 6 meters and the VHF & UHF bands, which usually are thought of in terms of repeaters not distant contacts.

So, if you find a contest in progress, you might check online for the rules or exchange requirements, or just listen a while and you generally will get the gist of what is going on and just hop in.

The following lists are my Target List of contests that particularly interest me, usually due to DX opportunities, as in “non-Continental US stations” and state contests for those needing a particular state.

In case you didn’t know, there is currently a debate that the term “DX” should not include Canada, since supposedly Canadians don’t consider the United States as DX. That’s news to me and the ARRL DXCC list.

It doesn’t really matter to me, as I don’t chase awards and am not really sure how many “DX” stations I have actually worked. Someday I will dig out 45 years’ worth of logbooks and find out. They are paper logs and should be ok. If I had computerized them way back when, the oxide from the floppy disks would have corroded into powder long ago, even if I found a computer still compatible with the operating system used in those days. This is why I recommend that if you use a logging program, use a paper log too also as a backup. Operating systems change, storage systems become obsolete and eventually they are no longer supported. Paper and pen last decades and doubles as a journal of your ham radio journey. Something you will value in years to come.

My definition of “DX”, by the way, according to Mark’s Rule #3 is “if I can’t see the other stations antenna, it’s ‘DX’”, therefore Arizona is DX to me. And, since Mark’s Rule #2 is “ My Station My Rules”, there ya go.

What is Mark’s Rule #1? “Don’t act like a jabroni”.
The following list is by no means a complete list. For an in-depth list of the various contests and the homepages of the contests I will be listing, go to the WA7BNM Contest Calendar WA7BNM Contest Calendar: Home

Also, the dates given should be confirmed at the above address and Contest Calendar (arrl.org) as some were marked “tentative” while researching this article.

Mark’s Contest Calendar

January 1 Straight Key Night
January 7 ARRL Kids Day
January 14 North American QSO Party – CW
ARRL VHF Contest
January 25 Australia Day
January 27 CQ 160 Meter Contest – CW
ARRL Winter Field Day
February 4 10-10 International – Winter – USB
British Columbia QSO Party
North American Sprint – CW
February 11 Asia-Pacific Sprint – CW
February 18 ARRL International DX – CW
February 24 CQ 160 Meter Contest – LSB
March 4 ARRL International DX
March 11 Idaho QSO Party
March 25 CQ Worldwide WPX Contest – SSB
April 9 New Mexico QSO Party
North Dakota QSO Party
April 16 ARRL Rookie Roundup – SSB
Quebec QSO Party
Ontario QSO Party
May 6 10-10 International – Spring – CW
7th Call Area QSO Party
New England QSO Party
May 14 Canadian Prairies QSO Party
CQ Worldwide WPX Contest – CW
June 10 Asia-Pacific Sprint – SSB
ARRL June VHF Contest
June 17 SMIRK Contest (6 Meters)
ALL Asia DX Contest – CW
June 24 ARRL Field Day
July 1 RAC Canada Day
July 8 International Amateur Radio Union HF Worldwide
July 15 CQ Worldwide VHF
August 5 10-10 International – Summer – USB
European HF Contest
ARRL 220 & Up Contest
North American QSO Party – CW
August 19 North American QSO Party – SSB
August 26 Hawaii Contest Party
W/VE Island QSO Party
September 2 All Asia DX Contest – SSB
Colorado QSO Party
September 9 ARRL September VHF Contest
North American Sprint – CW
Alabama QSO Party
September 16 Washington State Salmon Run
New Hampshire QSO Party
New Jersey QSO Party
September 18 144 MHz Fall Sprint
September 23 Maine QSO Party
October 1 California QSO Party
October 7 Oceania DX – Phone
Arizona QSO Party
South Dakota QSO Party
Nevada QSO Party
Arizona QSO Party
October 10 10-10 International 10-10 Sprint
October 14 Oceania DX – CW
Asia Pacific Sprint
October 21 10-10 International – CW
October 28 CQ Worldwide – SSB
November 4 ARRL Sweepstakes – CW
November 18 ARRL Sweepstakes – SSB
November 25 CQ Worldwide – CW
December 2 ARRL 160 Meter Contest
Skywarn Appreciation Day
December 9 ARRL 10 Meter Contest
December 16 ARRL Rookie Roundup – CW

2023 State & Province QSO Parties

Alabama Alabama QSO Party Sep 9 – 10
Alaska (None – just pray a lot) X
Alberta Canadian Prairies QSO Party May 13 – 14
Arizona 7th Call Area QSO Party May 6 – 7
Arizona QSO Party Oct 7 – 8
Arkansas Arkansas QSO Party May 20 – 21
British Columbia British Columbia QSO Party Feb 5 – 6
California California QSO Party Oct 7 – 8
Colorado Colorado QSO Party Sep 2 – 3
Connecticut New England QSO Party May 6 – 7
Delaware Delaware QSO Party May 6 – 7
Florida Florida QSO Party Apr 29 – 30
Georgia Georgia QSO Party Apr 8 – 9
Hawaii Hawaii QSO Party Aug 26 – 28
Idaho Idaho QSO Party Mar 11 – 12
7th Call Area QSO Party May 6 – 7
Illinoi Illinois QSO Party Oct 22 – 23
Indiana Indiana QSO Party May 6 – 7
Iowa Iowa QSO Party Sep 16 – 17
Kansas Kansas QSO Party Aug 26 – 27
Kentucky Kentucky QSO Party Jun 3 – 4
Louisiana Louisiana QSO Party Apr 1 – 2
Maine New England QSO Party May 6 – 7
Maine QSO Party Sep 23 – 24
Manitoba Canadian Prairies QSO Party May 13 – 14
Maryland Maryland-DC QSO Party Aug 12 – 13
Massachusetts New England QSO Party May 6 – 8
Michigan Michigan QSO Party Apr 15 – 16
Minnesota Minnesota QSO Party Feb 4
Mississippi Mississippi QSO Party Apr 1 – 2
Missouri Missouri QSO Party Apr 1 – 2
Montana 7th Call Area QSO Party May 6 – 7
Nebraska Nebraska QSO Party Apr 8 – 9
Nevada Nevada QSO Party Oct 14 – 15
7th Call Area QSO Party May 6 – 7
New Hampshire New England QSO Party May 6 – 7
New Hampshire QSO Party Sep 16 – 17
New Jersey New Jersey QSO Party Sep 16 – 17
New Mexico New Mexico QSO Party Apr 8 – 9
Nevada Nevada QSO Party Oct 14 – 15
New York New York QSO Party Oct 21 – 22
North Carolina North Carolina QSO Party Feb 26 – 27
North Dakota North Dakota QSO Party Apr 8 – 9
Nova Scotia NSARA Contest Mar 5
Ohio Ohio QSO Party Aug 26 – 27
Oklahoma Oklahoma QSO Party Mar 11 – 12
Ontario Ontario QSO Party Apr 15 – 16
Oregon 7th Call Area QSO Party May 6 – 7
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania QSO Party Oct13 – 14
Quebec Quebec QSO Party Apr 16
Rhode Island New England QSO Party May 6 – 7
Saskatchewan Canadian Prairies QSO Party May 13 – 14
South Carolina South Carolina QSO Party Feb 25 – 26
South Dakota South Dakota QSO Party Oct 14 – 15
Tennessee Tennessee QSO Party Sep 3 – 4
Texas Texas QSO Party Sep 16 – 17
Utah 7th Call Area QSO Party May 6 – 7
Vermont New England QSO Party May 6 – 7
Vermont QSO Party Feb 4 – 5
Virginia Virginia QSO Party Mar 18 – 19
Washington Washington State Salmon Run Sep 16 – 17
7th Call Area QSO Party May 6 – 7
West Virginia West Virginia QSO Party Jun 17 – 18
Wisconsin Wisconsin QSO Party Mar 12 – 13
Wyoming 7th Call Area QSO Party May 6 – 7

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Mark’s Almanac

January is named for the Roman god Janus, the god of gates and doors, and so openings and beginnings.

January receives more sunlight than December, but the equilibrium between incoming solar heat and the heat radiated into space by the northern snowfields does not peak until late January and early February, six weeks after winter solstice. So, the weather continues to cool, with January 8 – 20 being the coldest part of the year.

Typically, in January there is a 53% chance of up to one inch of snow and a 25% chance of over one inch of snow.

There is has been less snowfall this year than normal, as usually we see except for the southern tip of Nova Scotia, all of Canada and roughly one half of the Continental US, or “CONUS”, are usually covered with snow. Canada’s Hudson’s Bay is frozen, as is the ocean water between Baffin Island and Greenland.

https://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/snow_model/images/full/National/nsm_depth/202112/nsm_depth_2021122205_National.jpg

Barometric pressure is highest in January.

Though the Atlantic Hurricane Season officially ended November 30, every now and then Mother Nature will give us a surprise as there have been 5 tropical storms and 3 Category 1 hurricanes from 1851 to 2022. This includes an unnamed hurricane in 1938 in the Eastern Atlantic & Hurricane Alex which in 2016 effected Bermuda and the Azores.

Birmingham January climatology per Intellicast is monthly rainfall 5.45” inches and snowfall 0.7”. Average high temperature is 53 degrees and the average low 32 degrees. Record high of 81 degrees occurred in 1941 and a record low of -6 degrees in 1985.
Barometric pressure is highest in January.

Days grow longer as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily increases from 33.5 degrees at the beginning of the month to 39.2 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight increases from 9 hours 59 minutes on January 1 to 10 hours 33 minutes on January 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

January 1 Sunrise 6:52 AM Sunset 4:50 PM
January 15 Sunrise 6:51 AM Sunset 5:02 PM
January 31 Sunrise 6:44 AM Sunset 5:17 PM

Looking skyward, at the beginning of the month, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Sagittarius, The Archer.

At the beginning of the month Mercury, magnitude –0.7, in Sagittarius. The Archer, is hidden in the glow of the Sun.

Mercury will pass between the Earth and The Sun, of be in “Inferior Conjunction” on January 7.

By mid-month he will have emerged into the predawn morning sky and will reach his highest altitude in the sky on January 24, and his greatest angle above the eastern horizon or “Greatest Elongation West” on January 30, when he will be 25.0° above the eastern horizon.

This is the best time to view Mercury since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the morning sky. Look for the planet low in the eastern sky just before sunrise.

Venus, magnitude –3.9, in Sagittarius, The Archer, is emerging from behind the Sun and will become visible around 5 PM CST, a low 8° above the south-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness.

She then sinks toward the horizon, setting an hour later at 6 PM.

Venus will pass and exceedingly close 0.3°South of Saturn on January 22 and just 3.5°North of Moon on January 23.

Earth, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in the Constellation Cancer, The Crab.

Earth will reach her closest distance to the Sun on January 4, when the planet will be 0.98329 Astronomical Units or 91,403,000 miles from the Sun.

Mars, magnitude -1.3 in Taurus, The Bull is visible as a morning object. He becomes visible at 5 PM 30° above the eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness.

He will reach his highest point in the sky around 9:30 PM CST, 81° above the southern horizon and will continue to be observable until around 4 AM, when he sinks below 7° above the north-western horizon.

Mars will pass a close 0.5° North of the Moon on January 3 and an even closer 0.5° North of Moon on January 30.

Mars will pass behind the Moon at 10:27 PM CST.

Mars is currently 250 times farther from us than the Moon. Physically, Mars is twice as large as the Moon in diameter.

Time Matters…

As on Earth, time on Mars is divided into days based on its rotation rate and years are based on its completed orbits. Sols, or Martian solar days, are only 39 minutes and 35 seconds longer than Earth days, and there are 668 sols (687 Earth days) in a Martian year.

For convenience, Sols are divided into a 24-hour clock. Each landed Mars mission keeps track of “Local Solar Time,” or LST, at its landing site, because Local Solar Time relates directly to the position of the Sun in the sky and thus the angle from which camera views are illuminated. The time of day, Local Solar Time, depends upon the lander’s longitude on Mars.

Unlike Earth, there is no large leisurely-orbiting moon to give Mars “months,” and while there have been many imaginative calendars suggested for Mars, none is in common use.

The way that scientists mark the time of Mars year is to use solar longitude, abbreviated “Ls”.
Ls is 0° at the vernal equinox, the beginning of northern spring, 90° at summer solstice, 180° at autumnal equinox, and 270° at winter solstice.

So what is the date on Mars?

1/1/2023 on Earth is 1/5/0037 on Mars.

Scientists chose Year 1 to correspond with the year of a global dust storm widely observed in 1956. A more recent paper defined the existence of a Mars Year 0, starting on May 24, 1953, and defined previous years as having negative numbers.

An online calculator for converting Terran time to Martian time is available at Convert Earth Date to Martian Solar Longitude Ls (jussieu.fr)

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude 8,2, is in Virgo, The Virgin.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.4, in Pisces, The Fish, is an early evening object, now receding into evening twilight. He becomes visible at 5 PM CST, 55° above the southern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. Being at his highest point in the sky at 5 PM, he will continue to be observable until around 10:30 PM, when he sinks below 7° above the western horizon.

Jupiter will be at his closest distance from the Sun, or Perihelion, on January 20, when he will be 4.95101 Astronomical Units, or 460,225,131 miles from the Sun.

Jupiter will pass within 1.8° North of the Moon on January 25.

Saturn, magnitudes at +0.9, in Capricorn, The Sea Goat, will soon pass behind the Sun at solar conjunction. He becomes visible around 5:30 CST, 28° above the south-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting around 8:00 PM.

Saturn will pass 3.8° North of the Moon on January 23.

Uranus, magnitude 5.7, in Aries, The Ram, is an early evening object. He becomes visible around 6 PM CST, 56° above the south-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will reach he highest point in the sky at 8PM CST, 72° above the southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 1 AM, when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

Neptune, magnitude 7.8, at the Aquarius-Pisces border about 8° west of Jupiter, is an early evening object. He becomes accessible around 6 PM CST, 49° above the south-western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting by 11 PM.

Dwarf Planet Pluto, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.5 in Sagittarius, The Archer.

Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, her ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint magnitude of 17.4 in Bootes, The Herdsman.

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) faintly shines at magnitude 17.2 in Coma Berenices or “Berenices Hair”.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 18.7 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

At least five additional bodies with the preliminary criteria for identifying dwarf planets, and though not “officially” declared as such, are generally called dwarf planets by astronomers as well.

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 between Hydra and Serpens, The Snake.

50000 Quaoar,and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Ophiuchus, The Serpent Bearer.

90377 Sedna, the coldest, and at one time, the most distant known place in the Solar System, glows faintly at magnitude +20.9 in Taurus, The Bull.

225088 Gonggong, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Aquarius, The Water Bearer.

2014 UZ224 nicknamed “DeeDee” for “Distant Dwarf” is 8.5 billion miles from the Sun, at magnitude +23.1 in Eridanus, The River.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, Asteroid 2018 AG37, nicknamed “FarFarOut”, which is 12.4 billion miles or 18.5 light hours from Earth, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.
.
5235 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of December 20, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

The Quadrantids Meteor Shower will occur Tuesday & Wednesday, January 3 & 4. This is an above average shower producing between 40 to 100 meteors per hour radiating from the constellation Bootes, in the area near the end of the handle of the Big Dipper and the head of Draco the Dragon.

The shower runs annually from January 1-5. It peaks this year on the night of the 3rd and morning of the 4th. This year the nearly full moon will block out most of the fainter meteors. But if you are patient, you may still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Bootes but can appear anywhere in the sky.

This shower favors the Northern Hemisphere because its radiant point, or the point where the meteors appear to originate in the sky, is so far north on the sky’s dome.

This shower is believed to be produced by dust grains from burnt out comet 2003 EH1, which may also be the remainder of comet c/1490 Y1, which was lost to history after a prominent meteor shower was observed in 1490, possibly due to the breakup of the comet.

Full Moon will occur Friday, January 6, at 5:09 PM CST or 23:09 PM UTC. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be fully illuminated.

January’s Full Moon is “Wolf Moon” in Native American folklore. This was also called “Wulf-Monath” or “Wolf Month” by the Saxons, because at this full Moon, packs of wolves howled in hunger outside of the villages.

It has also been called “Old Moon” and “Moon After Yule”.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on January 8, when she will be 252,562 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur January 14, at 8;13 PM CST or 02:13 UTC, January 15.

During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.
New Moon occurs January 21 at 2:55 PM CST or 20:55 UTC when the Moon will on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on January 21, when she will be 221,562 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur December 28 at 9:20 AM or 15:20 UTC. During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.
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This month’s meeting will be on January 10 at 7PM at the National Weather Service Forecast Office at the Shelby County Airport.

I hope to see you there!

Mark Wells
Editor / ALERT Newsletter

Hi Everyone,

I hope this finds everyone well as we look forward to the Christmas Season.

Do you know where you stand on the Naughty and Nice List?

I find it’s getting harder to trick Old Saint Nick, especially with Alexa and Siri snitching on me, for you do know they are listening, don’t you? I heard them talking about me just the other day.

Will I get a nice new antenna, good gooey chocolate or that large sack of coal, as the mechanical sounding heifers were saying just yesterday?

Only time will tell.

But, I trust you are all on the Nice list and are safe from unpleasant surprises.

So, I from the House of Mark and Teresa, we wish you all a very safe and Merry Christmas!

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ALERT Happenings!

Good evening everyone!

We have a few important breaking news, items/events coming up this holiday season, that will need some coordination. Big email ahead! :: deep breath ::

But first, just a thought from Casey:
Let’s keep our brothers and sisters in the hobby in our thoughts. There are a few folks going through a rough time, health-wise, or other-wise. It’s easy to get caught up in our own thought processes, or to-do list at this time of year, that we might miss what’s really important.

The holidays are awesome, fun, but it is rough for some. Be sure to remember to check on our friends, and remember that we are all imperfect human beings. If you can do something small to make someone’s day when things are rough, don’t hesitate, just do it. It is always better to be a light in the dark, than a back-pew criticizer.

Let’s talk about…
• Christmas Party
• Skywarn Recognition Day
• New BMXSpotterChat

Christmas Party and Dinner
When: Tuesday, December 13, 2022, at 6:30PM
Where: National Weather Service, in Calera, in person!

The meat voted on this year at the November meeting was BBQ, and will be provided.

Please RSVP ASAP to Johnnie Knobloch wxjohnnie@gmail.com , with how many and what you’re bringing. Be sure to include your phone number, so that Johnnie can coordinate/ensure that it’s a good mix.

Skywarn Recognition Day – #Skywarn2022

When: Saturday, December 3, 2022, 0Z-24Z (6PM – 6PM the following day.)
Where: National Weather Service in Calera, and… At Home, Out and About.

What is Skywarn Recognition Day? A celebration of the contribution to public safety made by Skywarn Spotters and Amateur radio during threatening weather.
• Amateur Radio stations exchange information/messages with as many NWS stations as possible, on 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6, 2 meter bands, and 70 centimeter bands. Contacts via repeater, and other digital means is permitted!
• Skywarn Spotters who are not amateur radio licensed would exchange weather information/conditions as often as possible via social media with NWS offices. Maybe, even use BMXSpotterChat to make contact!

ALERT Members: If anyone would like to come to the NWS office to operate the radio, please reply back, so that we can inform NWS.
There’s nothing that says we have to be there for the full 24 hours, but we are welcome to operate the station for as long as we wish, as an activation. We are also able to represent NWS remotely.

If we choose to have some operators representing ALERT/K4NWS remotely, and you want to use a shared log, so that people in different places can see updates to the log in real-time, and avoid duplicate contacts, I would recommend using this log:
Skywarn Recognition Day Contact Log.xlsx

* Home Participants: If you log in to Teams, you can edit that.
If you do not have a login, please email casey@alert-alabama.org
for the password to edit. I can give you a password.

Links:
Skywarn Recognition 2022 Page: https://www.weather.gov/crh/skywarnrecognition
Skywarn Recognition on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/srd2021
(Yes, this is for 2022 as well)
Amateur Radio Operating Procedures: https://www.weather.gov/crh/skywarn_operating_procedures
Zulu/UTC Time to Local Time Conversion Table: https://www.weather.gov/iwx/wsr_88d#utc

 

New BMXSpotterChat Server!!!

Remember when BMXSpotterChat was on Weather.IM, and we monitored that?
At least a year ago, the owners/administrators of Weather.IM made ALL chats read-only, which meant that BMXSpotterChat became unusable for everyone.

What did we do when Weather.IM’s BMXSpotterChat became unusable/obsolete/extinct?
We had replaced BMXSpotterChat with Microsoft Teams. Adoption of Teams wasn’t as strong/well-accepted, because not everyone had (or remembered) their Microsoft account login. People who use Teams for work found that you can’t be logged into both ALERT and Work at the same time… That means, participation in Microsoft Teams was a bit low.

Introducing….. BMXSpotterChat (New, easier software – Slack.)
The National Weather Service is working on retiring NWSChat, and replacing it with Slack. To simplify things, we are doing the same thing!
You can use this on your Android/iPhone, PC/Linux/Mac, or a web browser. You can be in as many Slack workspaces as you wish.

Log-ins are simple, you can use your email and password, OR have it send a link to your email, which will log you in automatically when clicked.
New Users Sign Up: https://join.slack.com/t/bmxspotterchat/signup

Existing Users: https://bmxspotterchat.slack.com
Users of ALERT or NOAA email addresses will be auto-approved.

Name Guidelines: Required for All Users.
ALERT Member:
Format: County-ALERT-Callsign-Full Name
Example: ALERT-Jefferson-NZ2O-Casey Benefield

Amateur Radio:
Format: HAM-County-Callsign-Full Name
Example: HAM-Jefferson-NZ2O-Casey Benefield

Skywarn Spotter:
Format: SKYWARN-County- Full Name
Example: SKYWARN-Jefferson-Casey Benefield

Does Microsoft Teams go away?
No, at least not yet. Microsoft Teams is still a great tool for video conferencing, file storage/training, shared/collaboratively editing documents in real-time. It is vastly superior to Slack video calling, in terms of how many people can be on a meeting/conference at a time.
Additionally, in Slack, messages and files will go away after 90 days, but Teams does not have this limitation, and we have plenty of licenses. It’s a good back-up, if Slack ever went down.
If you aren’t in Teams, but want to be, let me know. I can still add you.

Existing “ALERT-K4NWS Skywarn Operations” Slack Users: I owe you an explanation!
Some of you may have already received an invite to a Slack group called “ALERT-K4NWS Skywarn Operations.” This was our attempt to test it out, and give Slack for Nonprofits a try.
For those of you in that group, we are changing it again! Slack for Nonprofits is not free, when you exceed 250 users. The free version actually supports more users.
I will try and get everyone invited to the new one, but this particular group will be renamed, and probably only used for internal Ops Member/Moderation purposes. We haven’t decided how we might use this one.


Thank you for your time – I know this was a lot to unpack!

Best regards, and 73,

Casey Benefield, NZ2O

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Mark’s Almanac

December was the tenth Roman Month, from whence it gets its name, “decem” meaning “ten”. Among many Native American tribes it was called “the Moon of Clacking Rocks”, as it was the time when they prepared and manufactured stone tools, implements and weapons, since the growing season was over, and bad weather prevented them from hunting.

December is the cloudiest month of the year, with only 40 to 60% of possible sunshine poking through the clouds. It is also the stormiest month of the year for the Continental US & the Gulf of Mexico. By “stormy” meaning large-scale storms, not necessarily the tornadic storms that they bring, even though we are still in our Second Tornado Season.

A region of heavy rainfall usually forms from Texas to Northwest Florida to Tennessee and Arkansas. Cold waves bringing rain, snow, ice and occasionally tornadoes, sweep across the region.

Average precipitation in Birmingham is 4.47” of rainfall and 0.1” of snowfall.

December can be cloudy and cold, and, then it can swing into spring like warmth, luring plants to bloom early, only to have the frosts and freezes return and the plants are “nipped in the bud”.

Hurricane season is now “officially” over, however Mother Nature sometimes throws a surprise in to make life interesting.

From 1851 – 2020 there have been 19 Tropical Storms and from 1822 to 2021 there have been 8 Category 1 hurricanes, but none have ever struck the United States.

Two notable December hurricanes are:

Hurricane Alice of 1954, which is the only known Atlantic hurricane to span two calendar years and one of only two named Atlantic tropical cyclones, along with Tropical Storm Zeta of 2005, to do so.

Alice developed on December 30, 1954 from a trough of low pressure in the central Atlantic Ocean in an area of unusually favorable conditions. The storm moved southwestward and gradually strengthened to reach hurricane status. After passing through the Leeward Islands on January 2, 1955, Alice reached peak winds of 90 mph before encountering cold air and turning to the southeast. It dissipated on January 6 over the southeastern Caribbean Sea.

The last December hurricane to occur was Hurricane Epsilon during the 2005 season, the year in which we ran out of hurricane names. The year also featured Tropical Storm Zeta, the latest forming Tropical Storm which formed on December 30, 2005 and lasted until January 7, 2006.

Days continue to grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 34.6 degrees at the beginning of the month to 33.0 degrees at Winter Solstice on December 21 and then the angle begins to lift reaching 33.4 degrees on New Year’s Eve,

Daylight decreases from 10 hours 6 minutes on December 1 to 9 hours 56 minutes at Winter Solstice and then increases to 9 hours 58 minutes on December 31

Sunrise and Sunset times for Birmingham are:

December 1 Sunrise 6:33 AM Sunset 4:39 PM
December 15 Sunrise 6:43 AM Sunset 4:40 PM
December 21 Sunrise 6:47 AM Sunset 4:43 PM
December 31 Sunrise 6:51 AM Sunset 4:49 PM

Looking skyward, at the beginning of the month, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Scorpius, The Scorpion.

Mercury, magnitude -0.7, in Ophiuchus, recently passed behind the Sun at Superior Conjunction
and is lost in the glow of the Sun as the month begins. As the month progresses, he will emerge into the evening sky and will reach his highest point above the western horizon or “Greatest Eastern Elongation” on December 21.

This is the best time to view Mercury. Look for the planet low in the western sky just after sunset

Venus, magnitude –3.9, in Ophiuchus, The Serpent Bearer, is hidden in the glow of the Sun.

Earth and her Moon, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in Orion, The Hunter.

Mars, with his moons Phobos and Deimos, magnitude -1.8, in Taurus, The Bull, becomes visible around 6 PM, 7° above the north-eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky around 1 AM, 81° above the southern horizon. He will be lost in the dawn twilight around 6 AM, 19° above the western horizon.

Mars will pass very close to the Moon or vice versa on December 7, when they will be 0.5° apart.

The red planet will be at his closest approach to Earth, or “Opposition” on December 8 and his face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. He will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view and photograph Mars. A medium-sized telescope will allow you to see some of the dark details on the planet’s orange surface.

On December 26 Vernal or Spring Equinox will greet the Northern Hemisphere of Mars.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +8.6, is in Leo the Lion.

Jupiter, and his 79 moons and ring, magnitude -2.6, is in Pisces, The Fish, dominates the night sky, becoming visible around 7 PM 40° above your south-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness.

He will reach his highest point in the sky around 7:30, 54° above your southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 12:30, when he sinks below 7° above the western horizon.

Saturn, his 82 moons and extensive debris ring system, shining at magnitude +0.8, in Capricornus, The Sea Goat, is an early evening object, becoming visible a little after 5 PM, 40° above the southern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting around 10 PM.

Uranus, his 27 moons and ring, glow at magnitude, +5.7, in Aries, The Ram, is approaching “Opposition” or directly opposite the Earth and Sun and is visible as a morning object.

He becomes visible around 6 PM, 26° above the eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at around 10 PM, 72° above the southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 3 AM, when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

Neptune, his 14 moons and ring, at magnitude, magnitude +7.7, on the border of Aquarius, The Water Bearer and Pisces, the Fish, is an early evening object, now receding into evening twilight.

He becomes visible in telescopes around 6 PM, 48° above your south-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will reach his highest point in the sky around 7 PM, 52° above your southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 11 PM, when it sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

Dwarf Planet Pluto, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.5 in Sagittarius, The Archer.

Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, her ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint magnitude of 17.4 in Bootes, The Herdsman.

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) faintly shines at magnitude 17.2 in Coma Berenices or “Berenices Hair”.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 18.7 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

At least five additional bodies with the preliminary criteria for identifying dwarf planets, and though not “officially” declared as such, are generally called dwarf planets by astronomers as well.

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 between Hydra and Serpens, The Snake.

50000 Quaoar,and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Ophiuchus, The Serpent Bearer.

90377 Sedna, the coldest, and at one time, the most distant known place in the Solar System, glows faintly at magnitude +20.8 in Taurus, The Bull.

225088 Gonggong, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Aquarius, The Water Bearer.

2014 UZ224 nicknamed “DeeDee” for “Distant Dwarf” is 8.5 billion miles from the Sun, at magnitude +23.0 in Eridanus, The River.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, Asteroid 2018 AG37, nicknamed “FarFarOut”, which is 12.4 billion miles or 18.5 light hours from Earth, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

5211 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of November 14, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

Full Moon occurs at 10:09 PM CST on December 7 or 4:09 UTC on December 8 when the Moon, being on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun will be fully illuminated. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Cold Moon because this is the time of year when the cold winter air settles in and the nights become long and dark. This moon has also been known as the Moon Before Yule and the Full Long Nights Moon.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on December 11, when she will be 252,195 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur December 16 at 2:59 AM or 8:59 UTC.

During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.
The Geminid Meteor Shower peaks on December 13-14. Geminids are one of the year’s best meteor showers. It is my favorite meteor shower and considered by many to be the best shower in the heavens. It’s a consistent and prolific shower, and usually the most satisfying of all the annual showers, even surpassing the more widely recognized Perseids of August. This shower typically produces 50 or more multicolored meteors an hour, or about one every minute, and at the peak 120 meteors per hour.

As a general rule, the dazzling Geminid meteor shower starts around mid-evening and tends to pick up steam as evening deepens into late night. No matter where you live worldwide, the greatest number of meteors usually fall in the wee hours after midnight, or for a few hours centered around 2 a.m. local time, as the Earth plows headlong into the stream. If you’re game, you can watch the Geminid shower all the way from mid-evening until dawn.

The Geminids are produced by debris left behind by an asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon, which was discovered in 1982. The shower runs annually from December 7-17. It peaks this year on the night of the 13th and morning of the 14th. The morning of the 15th could also be nearly as active this year.

The waning gibbous moon will block many of the fainter meteors this year. But the Geminids are so numerous and bright that this should still be a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Gemini but can appear anywhere in the sky.

Winter Solstice will occur on December 21 at 5:40 PM CST or 21:40 UTC. The South Pole of the earth will be tilted toward the Sun, which will have reached its southernmost position in the sky and will be directly over the Tropic of Capricorn at 23.44 degrees south latitude. This is the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere and the first day of summer in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Ursid meteor shower, a minor meteor shower, which runs annually from December 17-25 will peak on the night and morning of December 21 – 22 producing about 5-10 meteors per hour. It is produced by dust grains left behind by comet Tuttle, which was first discovered in 1790.

This year, the nearly new moon will leave dark skies for what should be a good show. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Ursa Minor but can appear anywhere in the sky.

New Moon occurs December 23 at 4:17 AM CST or 10:17 UTC. The Moon will on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on December 24, when she will be 2212,619 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur again December 29 at 7:22 PM or 01:22 UTC on December 30. During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’’

Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.

Christmastime is a time of wonder & mystery. A time of bright lights, shining trees and the time of hide and seek, as presents are hidden from inquiring minds and fingers.

It is a time when one’s mind and memories drift back to days of childhood, and Christmases now long gone by. Remembering friends and family, some here, some now gone & longing that they were near once again, as it was once upon a time not so long ago.
And it is a time when, if we allow ourselves and don’t choose to “Grinch out” and be sour pusses, we can become kids once again.

Most importantly though, it’s a time to remember that the true “reason for the season” occurred in a manger, long ago on that first cold and chilly “Silent Night.”

So, as you go about your Christmas preparations remember the magic that was there when you were a child & don’t let that magic die. Make it magic once again

For Christmas truly is “the most wonderful time of the year”.

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This month’s meeting will feature the ALERT Christmas Party on December 13 at 7:00 PM at the National Weather Service Forecast office at the Shelby County Airport.

Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter

Hi everyone,

I hope this finds you well, and untouched by the hobgoblin attack of the 31st. We had no trick or treaters this year, so you know what that means. Yes, I have to eat ALL of the candy. Which is a tough job, but someone has to do it.

As we enter November, we also enter the Fall tornado season. The Fall season is often more severe than the Spring Season.

Just as in the Spring, you need to review your plans and procedures for the storms to come.

Take this time brush up on your skills, check and prepare your equipment and make sure that you have reliable methods to receive timely watches and warnings. This includes NOAA Weatheradio and phone Apps from local broadcast media. This does not include social media posts, as the medium’s algorithm can accidently “bury” a warning in the newsfeed. Also, beware of good meaning “amateur weather experts”, including myself. Instead trust the REAL experts at our NWS. They have the training, knowledge and expertise, which you can place confidence in.

Hopefully we will have a calm Fall as we look forward toward Thanksgiving and the Holiday Season.

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Toys For You To Play With

Have you ever heard of or played with a WebSDR?

What is a WebSDR you might ask?

A WebSDR is a Software-Defined Radio receiver that is connected to the internet. It allows you to tune and explore the radio spectrum as if you had a top of the line all mode receiver at your fingertips. With them you can explore the world of CLF, MF, HF and VHF radio even if you don’t have access to a traditional radio & antenna setup. For example, at work, on vacation or at home dealing with overzealous HOAs.

Depending on the receiver location, you can even tune in your own transmissions as received at that location, which is valuable if someone says you have terrible audio, or your signal is pure mush. You can see if it is true or not and get an idea of what others are hearing.

In an emergency they could be used to receive information by listening to HF nets in areas out of range of your receiver. For example, an earthquake strikes California and you want to listen to the 75 meter emergency nets, but being 2000 miles away they are far out of range. If you could access a WebSDR in, say Arizona, Nevada or Oregon, they would be well within range of those nets.

Online receivers are not new, they have been available for many years, but they were hampered technologically and limited the site to one user at a time and usually with a time limit.

A WebSDR is different in that they allow many listeners to listen and tune simultaneously and independently, and thus listen to different signals and different bands.

Before I list my favorite WebSDRs sites I will mention a website, which is also available as an App called “Radio Garden”.

Radio garden is not a true WebSDR, but a cleverly designed directory you can use to access AM & FM broadcast feeds worldwide. A globe is displayed with little green dots. Click a dot and that radio station will appear.

Want to listen to surf music from Adelaide Australia? Just click the dot on the map. Want to hear Jamaica? No problem Mon, everything will be copacetic.

Think of it as IHeart Radio on a grand scale.

Their website is Radio Garden – Birmingham AL

Here are my favorite WebSDR sites:

N4DKD Online Receiver KiwiSDR (asuscomm.com)
NA5B WebSDR Reciever System NA5B
WebSDR Directory websdr.org,
KiwiSDR Directory kiwisdr.com/public/
DX Zone WebSDR : WebSDR Software Defined Radio Online – The DXZone.com

While there are WebSDR Apps for smartphones, they are not free and I am cheap. So I just go to the websites and created shortcuts for my phone.

If there are sites that you frequently visit, if you use an iPhone or iPad, it’s easy to add shortcut icons to you Home screen using Safari to allow you quick access your favorite sites and I’m here to tell you how to do it!

Open Safari and go to the website you wish to save, once there look at the bottom of the screen and you should see the “share button”, which looks like a rectangle with an upward arrow. Click the share button and scroll upward until you see “Add to Home Screen”.

Tapping this will bring up a menu that will allow you to name the shortcut icon whatever you wish.

The simply press “Add” and clear out of the screen. Your shortcut will be on your Home screen!

Just tap it and Safari will automatically take you to that website.

For an iPad the process is similar.

Open Safari and go to the website you wish to save and tap once near the bottom of the screen to make the navigation toolbar appear.

Locate the “share button “(the rectangle with an upward arrow) and tap it.

The Share menu will appear on the right side of the screen. Tap “Add to Home Screen.”

“Add to Home Screen” will pop up and you can name the shortcut icon whatever you wish.

The press “Add” and clear out of the screen. Your shortcut will be on your Home screen.

Tap it and Safari will automatically take you to that website.

What of Androids?

On an Android both Google Chrome and Mozilla Foxfire will allow you to place quick access links of your Home screen.

With Chrome go to the website you wish to add, and once there open the Chrome’s Settings menu by tapping the three vertical dots in the top right hand corner.

An “Add to Home Screen” option should appear, which you will select.

On this “Add To Home Screen” screen, there will be a preview of the shortcut’s icon. Tap the “Add Automatically” button to place the new icon to you Home Screen wherever space is available.

If you want to place the icon somewhere different on your Home Screen, just touch and hold the icon, and drag it to your desired location.

IF you use Firefox, go to the website you wish to add. Touch and hold the website’s URL in the address bar until a popup menu appears.

Select “Add Page Shortcut” option.

A new window will open and you will see a preview of the Icon.

Press the “Add Automatically” button to add the icon on the Home Screen.

To configure the exact location as to where the shortcut is placed on the Home Screen, touch and hold the icon, and drag it to your desired Home screen location.

Try these sites out. There is a learning cure involved, as they are sophisticated receivers, but, once you learn how to use them, they are addictive!

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Mark’s Almanac

With the arrival of November we enter our second tornado season. Alabama and the Southeast are “blessed” by being the only area on Earth having two tornado seasons. The cause of the second season is the same as the spring season – clashes of cold and warm air masses. The cold air of winter is invading and trying to push the warmth of the summer back into the sea, which is the same process of springtime.

This second season is often more destructive than the spring season. From 1950 to 2020 there have been 279 November tornadoes in Alabama resulting in 52 fatalities and 1069 injuries. The third largest tornado outbreak occurred on November 24 – 25 2001 when 36 tornadoes occurred and 21 tornadoes occurred during the outbreak of November 23 – 24 2004.

November was Alabama’s leading tornado month from 2001 to 2011 until the dual outbreaks of April 15 and April 27 2011 erased that record.

So beware of a warm & muggy November day. Especially one with a south wind, as something may really be “in the air”.

The Hurricane threat greatly diminishes, with hurricane activity occurring mainly in the open Atlantic, threatening the Eastern Seaboard, but usually veering off into sea as cold fronts off the East Coast deflect them. Hurricanes can still form in the Caribbean, which usually visit the Yucatan, but can enter the Gulf.

From 1851 – 2021 there have been 101 Tropical Storms and 48 hurricanes, 5 of which made landfall in the United States.

Some notable November hurricanes are:

The 1932 Cuba hurricane, known also as the Hurricane of Santa Cruz del Sur or the 1932 Camagüey Hurricane. Although forming as a tropical depression on October 30, it became the only Category 5 Atlantic hurricane ever recorded in November, and was the deadliest and one of the most intense tropical cyclones in Cuban history. On November 6, the tropical cyclone reached its peak intensity as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. The storm weakened to Category 4 intensity as it came ashore in Cuba’s Camagüey Province on November 9 with winds of 150 mph. The storm took 3,033 lives.

Hurricane Ida, in 2009 was the strongest land falling tropical cyclone during the 2009 Atlantic hurricane season. Ida formed on November 4 in the southwestern Caribbean, and within 24 hours struck the Nicaragua coast with winds of 80 mph. It weakened significantly over land, although it restrengthened in the Yucatán Channel to peak winds of 105 mph. Ida weakened and became an extratropical cyclone in the northern Gulf of Mexico before spreading across the southeastern United States. The remnants of Ida contributed to the formation of a nor’easter that significantly affected the eastern coast of the United States.

1985’s Hurricane Kate was the latest Hurricane in any calendar year to strike the United States.
Kate formed on November, 15 and reached hurricane intensity on November 16, and reached Category 2 intensity three days later. Kate struck the northern coast of Cuba on November 19. Once clear of land, she strengthened quickly, becoming a Category 3 storm and reached its peak intensity of 120 mph. On November 21 Kate came ashore near Mexico Beach, Florida, as Category 2 hurricane with winds of 100 mph.

Hurricane Lenny, or Wrong Way Lenny, occurred in 1999. It is the second-strongest November Atlantic hurricane on record, behind the 1932 Cuba hurricane. Lenny formed on November 13 in the western Caribbean Sea and moved retrograde from the West to East passing South of Hispaniola and Puerto Rico. He reached hurricane status south of Jamaica on November 15 and rapidly intensified over the northeastern Caribbean on November 17, attaining peak winds of 155 mph near Saint Croix in the United States Virgin Islands. It gradually weakened while moving through the Leeward Islands, eventually dissipating on November 23 over the open Atlantic Ocean.

1994’s Hurricane Gordon claimed 1122 lives in Haiti when it passed just west of the country as a tropical storm on November 13, 1994.

Figure 2 – November Tropical Cyclone Breeding Grounds

Both the Atlantic and Pacific Hurricane seasons ends November 30.

Days rapidly grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 40.9 degrees at the beginning of the month to 34.8 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight decreases from 10 hours 40 minutes on November 1 to 10 hours 07 minutes on November 30.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

November 1 Sunrise 7:06 AM Sunset 5:55 PM
November 15 Sunrise 6:19 AM Sunset 4:45 PM – After Daylight Savings Time Ends
November 31 Sunrise 6:33 AM Sunset 4:39 PM

The blooms of summer have faded, but you may find yourself still sneezing, due to ragweed and mold.

Mold is a fall allergy trigger. You may think of mold growing in your basement or bathroom – damp areas in the house – but mold spores also love wet spots outside. Piles of damp leaves are ideal breeding grounds for mold.

Oh, and did I mention dust mites? While they are common during the humid summer months, they can get stirred into the air the first time you turn on your heat in the fall. Dust mites can trigger sneezes, wheezes, and runny noses.

November welcomes the peak of fall colors. For Birmingham the peak occurs around November 15, but the date can vary depending on your elevation & latitude.

Indian Summer and Squaw Winter continue to battle it out, but the cool or cold weather will eventually win, with the first average frost being on November 11.

The usual fall effects occur in North America with Canada’s Hudson Bay becoming unnavigable due to pack ice & icebergs. Navigation in the Great Lakes becomes perilous due to storms bringing the “Gales Of November” made famous in the Gordon Lightfoot song “The Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald”.

And, don’t be surprised if you hear ducks overhead & see wedges of Canadian geese heading south for the winter. And if you see strange birds appearing in your front yard, remember that for 336 species of birds Alabama IS south for the winter.

Looking skyward, at the beginning of the month, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Virgo, The Virgin.

Mercury, magnitude -1.7, in Virgo, The Virgin is lost in the glow of the Sun and will pass behind our parent star or be in “Superior Conjunction” on November 8.

He will then emerge into the morning sky.

Venus, magnitude –3.9, Virgo, The Virgin is lost in the glow of the Sun.

Earth and her Moon, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in Cetus, The Sea Monster.

Mars, with his moons Phobos and Deimos, magnitude -1.1, in Taurus, The Bull, is visible in the wee hours of the morning becoming visible around 10 PM above the northeastern horizon and reaches his highest point in the sky at around 4 AM. He disappears into the western twilight around 7 AM.

Dwarf Planet Ceres shines at magnitude +8.7 in Leo.

Jupiter, and his 79 moons and ring, magnitude -2.8, is in Pisces, The Fish. He is visible in the evening sky 20 degrees above the eastern horizon as dusk fades into darkness. He reaches his highest point in the sky around 10:30 PM above the southern horizon and sinks below the western horizon around 2 AM.

Saturn, his 82 moons and extensive debris ring system, shining at magnitude +0.7, in Capricornus, The Sea Goat, is an early evening object.

He becomes visible around 6:30 PM above the southeastern horizon. He reaches his highest point in the southern sky around 8 PM and remains visible until midnight when he sinks below the southwestern horizon.

Uranus, his 27 moons and ring, glow at magnitude, +5.7, in Aries, The Ram, is approaching “Opposition” or directly opposite the Earth and Sun and is visible as a morning object. He becomes visible around 8:30 PM above the eastern horizon and reaches his highest point in the sky at 1:30 AM, in the southern sky. He becomes lost in the dawn twilight around 6 AM.

Uranus reaches Opposition on November 9. The blue-green planet will be at its closest approach to Earth and its face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view Uranus. Due to its distance, it will only appear as a tiny blue-green dot in all but the most powerful telescopes.

Neptune, his 14 moons and ring, at magnitude, magnitude +7.7, in Aquarius, The Water Bearer,
is an early evening object, becoming accessible around 7 PM above the southeastern horizon and reaches the highest point in the southern sky 10 PM. He will sink below the western horizon around 2 AM.

Dwarf Planet Pluto, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.5 in Sagittarius, The Archer.

Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, her ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint magnitude of 17.4 in Bootes, The Herdsman.

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) faintly shines at magnitude 17.2 in Coma Berenices or “Berenices Hair”.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 18.6 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

At least five additional bodies with the preliminary criteria for identifying dwarf planets, and though not “officially” declared as such, are generally called dwarf planets by astronomers as well.

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 between Hydra and Serpens, The Snake.

50000 Quaoar,and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Ophiucus,, The Serpent Bearer,

90377 Sedna, the coldest, and at one time, the most distant known place in the Solar System, glows faintly at magnitude +20.9 in Taurus, The Bull.

225088 Gonggong, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Aquarius, The Water Bearer.

2014 UZ224 nicknamed “DeeDee” for “Distant Dwarf” is 8.5 billion miles from the Sun, at magnitude +23.0 in Eridanus, The River.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, Asteroid 2018 AG37, nicknamed “FarFarOut”, which is 12.4 billion miles or 18.5 light hours from Earth, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

5190 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of October 18, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur November 1 at 12:37 AM or 05:37 UTC

During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

The Southern Taurids Meteor Shower. The Taurid Meteor shower is an unusual shower in that it consists of two streams – the Southern and Northern Taurids. The first, the Southern Taurids, is produced by dust grains left behind by Asteroid 2004 TG10. The first stream reaches Earth on November 4th and peaks at 18:00 UTC, which is 1 PM our time. So, it is a daylight shower, but the nights before and after you might can catch a few despite a waxing gibbous Moon.

The second stream comes later in the month.

Full Moon will occur November 8. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 6:03 AM CST or 11:03 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Beaver Moon because this was the time of year to set the beaver traps before the swamps and rivers froze. It has also been known as the Frosty Moon and the Dark Moon.

A Total Lunar Eclipse will occur November 8 . A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes completely through the Earth’s dark shadow, or umbra. During this type of eclipse, the Moon will gradually get darker and then take on a rusty or blood red color. The eclipse will be visible throughout eastern Russia, Japan, Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and parts of western and central North America.

In Birmingham the eclipse timings are:

Eclipse Begins 2:02 AM
Partial Eclipse Begins 3:09 AM
Total Eclipse Begins 4:16 AM
Maximum Eclipse 4:59 AM
Total Eclipse Ends 5:41 AM (Moon close to horizon, make sure you have a clear WNW horizon)
Moonset 6:19 AM
Partial Eclipse Ends 6:49 AM (below horizon)
Eclipse Ends 7:56 AM (below horizon)

The Northern Taurid Meteor Shower, the second of the two Taurid streams, will occur November 11 & 12. The Northern Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. This shower is, however, famous for producing a higher than normal percentage of bright fireballs. The second stream is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke.

The shower runs annually from September 7 to December 10. It peaks this year on the night of the 11th and morning of the 12th. Unfortunately, the nearly full moon will dominate the sky this year, blocking all but the brightest meteors. But if you are patient, you should still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be just after midnight from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus but can appear anywhere in the sky.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on November 20, when she will be 251,608 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur November 16 at 7:27 AM or 12:27 UTC

During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

The annual Leonid meteor shower occurs from November 6 – 30 and peaks on the night of November 17 & the morning of the 18th. Though the Leonids are an “average shower”, producing only an average of 15 meteors per hour, they are well known for producing bright meteors and fireballs.

This shower is also unique in that it has a cyclonic peak about every 33 years where hundreds of meteors per hour can be seen. That last of these occurred in 2001. The Leonids are produced by dust grains left behind by Comet Tempel-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1865.

Its productivity varies per year, but it can deposit 12 to 13 tons of particles across the planet. Which is why having an atmosphere to shield us is such a nifty thing.

The second quarter moon will block many of the fainter meteors this year. But the Leonids can be unpredictable so there is still potential for a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Leo but can appear anywhere in the sky.

New Moon will occur November 23. The Moon will be located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This phase occurs at 22:58 UTC or 5:58 PM CDT. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on November 5, when she will be 225,450 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur again November 30 at 8:38 AM or 01:38 UTC

During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

Finally, don’t forget to set your clocks back one hour at 2 AM, Sunday morning November 6th, as Daylight Savings Time ends and the clock goes back to the way the Good Lord intended.

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This month’s meeting, due to it being on Election Day, will be on November 8 at 7PM via Microsoft Teams.

Look for the meeting announcement for online access details.

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter

Mark’s Weatherlynx
Weather Resource Database
www.freewebs.com/weatherlynx/

 

Hi everyone and welcome to the October ALERT Newsletter.

As we enjoy the cool clear weather of early fall, our hearts and minds turn to our neighbors to the South and East as they deal with the destruction left by Hurricane Ian.

While we work with weather and have a fascination and grudging admiration of the power of nature, we absolutely loath the heartaches that these storms, whether hurricanes or tornadoes, cause.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of Florida and South Carolina.

And, our eyes still look towards the Gulf, as this season is far from over.

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ALERT & National Night Out

National Night Out is an annual community-building event that brings together local law enforcement agencies, other first responders, and neighborhoods for a night of fun and camaraderie.

ALERT is planning to have a presence Sylvan Springs event at the Sylvan Springs Community Center the evening of October 4 at 5:30pm.

This is a free event, family friendly, and you get to see the “cool stuff” that will be on site at the community center.

ALERT’s Objectives / Scope for this event are:

1. Participate as a Weather Ready Nation Ambassador, promoting weather preparedness in our community.

2. Promote Skywarn Storm Spotter Training.

3. Promote Amateur Radio, especially to existing storm spotters who might not have a way to contact NWS when other communications might fail.

4. Make friends in our community and have some fun!

At the ALERT table there will be a candy bowl, crayons for kids and coloring items for the kids, from NWS materials.

Middle school age kids get a book and smaller kids get coloring sheets.

Ronnie King’s Hambulance will be there and is providing support for marketing to the public and will have a looping presentation display.

Expect more information on the ALERT email loop and on ALERT’s Facebook page.

Hope to see you there!

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Birmingham NWS Fall 2022 Spotter Courses

The Birmingham NWS will be offering several online and in person Basic and Advanced Spotter Courses this fall. These classes are FREE and allow individuals to complete these courses in the comfort of their own home or office as well as in a traditional format.

By attending any course, which runs about 2 hours, an individual or a group of individuals will become SKYWARN Spotters.

In following COVID-19 guidelines, the NWS is not conducting in-person classes at this time.

Unless you’d like to or are in need of a refresher, you do not need to attend more than one Basic SKYWARN Course, as the material covered is the same; however, it is required that you attend at least one Basic SKYWARN Course before taking the Advanced SKYWARN Course. These courses are two-way, meaning you will be able to interact with the meteorologist leading the training. You will be muted while training is in-progress, but you may use the built-in chat feature to ask questions.

To attend the Online Spotter Class:

1. Via the schedule below, register by clicking the link
corresponding to the class you’d like to attend.
2. Select the ‘join webinar’ button on the registration page or
in your confirmation email and follow the prompts.
3. Enjoy the class and ask questions.

To avoid being hurried, give yourself at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the class to complete the above process.

The current schedule is as follows:
Online:

Basic Class Tuesday, October 18 at 1:00 PM Class Registration Link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/574936154743649803
Basic Class Wednesday, October 19 at 6:30 PM Class Registration Link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6526067029337090059
Basic Class Monday, October 24 at 6:30 PM Class Registration Link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7418981521765621259
Basic Class Thursday, November 3, at 6:30 PM Class Registration Link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/929822224306089231
Advanced Class Tuesday, November 8 at 6:30 PM Class Registration Link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/3483737046983672077

In Person:

Basic Class Tuesday, October 25 at 2:00 PM Auburn University Campus
Campus Safety & Security Building
543 W. Magnolia Avenue, Auburn, AL
Basic Class Tuesday, October 25 at 6:00 PM Opelika Fire Department Training Center
1601 Talladega St. Opelika, AL
(Located in the red building at the end of
Talladega Street)
Basic Class Tuesday, November 3, at 6:00 PM Northport Public Safety Building
3721 26th Avenue, Northport, AL

These classes will help you provide the NWS the vital “ground truth” information they need to verify radar indications, target their attention and help you relay reports in a clear manner to the NWS, either directly via 205-664-3010 and pressing 2, online at https://www.weather.gov/bmx/submit_storm_report
or via chat or amateur radio. This knowledge helps Skywarn Net Control stations filter reports, by giving them knowledge of what reporting stations are trying to describe. This way they can tell if the report is a valid report, an invalid report by an overly excited operator or a valid, but poorly described report, which without this knowledge would be mistakenly dismissed.

For further information on these classes visit: http://www.weather.gov/bmx/skywarnschedule

A PDF of the September 20, 2018 Basic presentation may be found at:
https://www.weather.gov/media/bmx/skywarn/BasicSpotterGSAT.pdf

A PDF of the April 4, 2019 Advanced presentation may be found at:
https://www.weather.gov/media/bmx/skywarn/Gerald_Satterwhite_Advanced_WEBPAGE.pdf

The NWS in Norman, OK have numerous YouTube videos worth exploring at:
https://www.youtube.com/user/NWSNorman/playlists

Other useful resources:

ABC33/40 Basic Storm Spotter Training
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_MzKUTfUKA

ABC 33/40 Storm Spotter Extreme Part 1 – April 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOE69nsaKWE

ABC 33/40 Storm Spotter Extreme Part 2 – April 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8hT7gCCQB0

ABC 33/40 Storm Spotter Extreme Part 3 – April 2016
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKHsAxNzqEM

For information on online training visit:
https://www.meted.ucar.edu/training_course.php?id=23

Note this online course IS NOT intended to replace the courses offered by the NWS offices. The local meteorologists will know factors and variations in the area microclimate that may need to be considered in assessing the observed phenomena. Consider this online course as supplemental information.

 

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Ham Radio Testing Opportunities

Radio has always held a fascination for me. That I can hear signals from hundreds if not thousands of miles away or that someone far away can hear my puny signals sent from an antenna that could easily double as a clothesline, never ceases to amaze me.

As a child I remember hearing strange bleeps, blurps and voices from my brother’s ham radio. He, K4FHX, was getting out of the hobby, his interest fading after serving in the Air Force and he gave me his equipment. But I was 5 years old, and I did what any normal 5 year old would do – I tore everything to pieces. Everything except a Speed-X Morse code key which somehow survived my shenanigans and is what I use at WD4NYL today.

Three years later Santa brought me an AM transistor radio & I accidently discovered that after dark distant stations would drift in. That radio led to a three band AM/FM/Police radio, and then an 11 band Shortwave radio.

One stormy day in 1973, I rediscovered Amateur Radio as I listened to hams handling a tornado outbreak on the “police band” radio. Soon I found that they talked during sunny weather also. I remember it was 1973 because everyone would say “73” at the end of a conversation. I figured there was some sort of strange rule requiring you to give the year when signing off. Stranger laws do exist, you know, such as it being illegal in Alabama to put an ice cream cone in your back pocket. I was even more mystified when 1974 came in and everyone still said “73”.

The more I listened the more I wanted to become a ham operator. I told my mom so, and she said, “that’s fine, just promise me you don’t go chasing tornadoes.” This was easy to promise since I was 14 and had no car.

I ordered a ham radio course book from AMECO and later the ARRL Novice course. But that was as far as I could go, for I had no idea how or who could help me get a license. In 1975 the Internet did not exist and “google” was Encyclopedia Britannica and though I did know there was a club in Birmingham, I didn’t know where or when it met or how accepting they would be to some random kid just showing up.

My brother got a CB radio and soon my sister had one also and since I didn’t know how to get into ham radio, but did know how to get into CB radio, in 1976 I finally got on the air.

The first callsign the FCC required you to use, until they granted the permanent call, was “K” followed by your initials and ZIP Code. So, in November 1976 I became KMW35224. A few weeks later the FCC dubbed me KAJD8693.

Technically, per the current FCC rules I can still claim to be KAJD8693, for I never left CB radio when I became a ham. I never “misbehaved” either. I always have used legal power, legal frequencies and tried to go by the book. I believe most people do behave, but as in most cases in life, the those who don’t behave always get the attention.

Some hams mercilessly ridicule CBers, lumping them all as ne’re-do-wells, and some CBers loath hams, for acting schmucky towards CBers. Truth be told, an awful lot of hams have, use, and appreciate both realms, enjoying the best of both worlds.

I still wanted to become a ham. But, how?

In the fall of 1977, I was at UAB and saw a car parked which sported a ham tag. I was and am an Introvert, yet here I was leaving a note on his car “CBer needs help becoming a ham. Please call Mark 787-6304” and halfway hoping he would tear the note up.

But he, Sam WA4LVC, didn’t. He called, encouraged me and recommended Jim Bonner K4UMD who become my Elmer or mentor, who explained the world of ham radio and how I could become licensed.

To get a Novice license in 1977 the volunteer examiner would write to the FCC in Gettysburg, and they would send the test. I passed (barely) the 5 WPM Morse Code exam. I then took the written test and Jim looked it over and said he “thought” I had passed and then mailed it back to the FCC so they could grade it and then the waiting period began. Did I pass or did I fail? Only time would tell.

One month later on December 26, 1977 an oblong envelope from the FCC arrived and on the outside it said “WD4NYL”, and WD4NYL I remain to this day.

To upgrade you had to sit before the Angelo Ditty’s FCC staff from Atlanta. They would come to Birmingham three times a year. At the Birminghamfest, which then was in May, and some undisclosed date in March and September.

We knew the May date, but since they would not publish the March and September dates until a week or two before the test, either you studied too quickly and grew cold, or you had to cram like crazy and hoped you passed. If you failed, you had to wait 30 days before testing anywhere and neither the tests nor the answers were published.

Sometimes hams would go to the Atlanta FCC field office to take the test. The Atlanta office staff was unusual in one regard. I took exams with the New Orleans and Dallas FCC examiners and whether you passed or failed they were always upbeat and encouraging. “Aw man, you almost passed. Try again in 30 days. You’ve got this! You can do it!” “You passed your General, here try the Advanced too. You never know till you try!”

With the Atlanta staff, however, there was a young dark haired lady I called Lucy, for reasons which I will explain. She seemed to get enormous pleasure out of telling folk they failed. Practically saying “how pathetic you are…remove yourself from my presence, worm!” If you passed though, she seemed to take it personally. “You pass…..wait, SIT BACK DOWN!” Then she would reread the answers twice before angrily stamping the forms and sighing “ you…passed.”

But that was Lucy…Lucifer’s twin sister.

Thankfully this is no longer the case. Today there are many testing opportunities given by sympathetic encouraging hams and getting into ham radio is easier than ever.

If you have never gotten your ham radio license, which you need to legally transmit on a ham radio, and to gain the knowledge of how things do and do not work and how to communicate effectively, there are several opportunities which are available to you.

Amateur radio license examinations will be held on the following dates, with more details to follow:

October 1, by LAUREL VEC & the Central Alabama Radio Club in Columbiana.
October 8, ARRL/VEC and Walker County ARES in Jasper, AL
October 9, by the Amateur Radio Advancement Group in Hoover.
October 15, LAUREL VEC & the KF4IOC Fellowship ARC in Helena.
October 15, Pell City VEC Team, Pell City AL.
October 22, by CAVEC in Pinson.
November 5, by LAUREL VEC & the Central Alabama Radio Club in Columbiana
November 12, ARRL/VEC and the Blount County Amateur Radio Club in Snead, AL.
November 12, ARRL/VEC and Walker County ARES in Jasper, AL
November 13, by the Amateur Radio Advancement Group in Birmingham.
November 19, LAUREL VEC & the KF4IOC Fellowship ARC in Helena.
November 19, Pell City VEC Team, Pell City AL.
November 26, by CAVEC in Pinson.
December 11, by the Amateur Radio Advancement Group in Hoover.
December 17, by CAVEC in Pinson.
December 17, LAUREL VEC & the KF4IOC Fellowship ARC in Helena.
December 17, Pell City VEC Team, Pell City AL.
December 19, ARRL/VEC and Walker County ARES.

The Amateur Radio Advancement Group will hold tests October 9 at their Hoover location, November 13 at their Birmingham location and December 11 at their Hoover location.

For more information go to:
Amateur Radio Advancement Group Calendar of Events (aragroup.org)

ARRL/VEC and the Blount County ARC will hold an exam November 12 in Snead AL. For more information go to: https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/snead-al-35952-9643-11

ARRL/VEC and Walker County ARES will hold exams October 8, November 12 & December 19 in Jasper. For more information go to:
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/jasper-al-35501-5425-211 for the October 8 session.
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/jasper-al-35501-5425-212 for the November 12 session
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/jasper-al-35501-5425-213 for the December 19 session.

CAVEC will be holding tests on October 22, November 26, & December 17 at their Pinson exam site.

For more information go to:
Pinson, AL Exam Site Info – CAVEC TESTING INFORMATION (cavechamexam.com)

CAVEC also hold exams in Huntsville, Mobile, Tennessee and Georgia. See: Testing Schedule – CAVEC TESTING INFORMATION (cavechamexam.com)

LAUREL VEC and the Central Alabama Radio Club will hold exams on October 1 & November 5 in Columbiana. For more information
visit: https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/columbiana-al-35051-19 for the October 1 session &
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/columbiana-al-35051-20 for the November 5 session

LAUREL VEC and the KF4IOL Fellowship ARC will hold exams October 15, November 19 & December 17 at the Helena Spots Complex. For more information see: https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/helena-al-35080-18 for the October 15 session
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/helena-al-35080-19 for the November 19 session
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/helena-al-35080-20 for the December 17 session

The Pell City VEC Team will hold tests October 15, November 19 & December 17 in Pell City. For more information go to:
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/pell-city-al-35128-3211-57 for the October 15 session.
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/pell-city-al-35128-3211-58 for the November 19 session.
https://www.arrl.org/exam_sessions/pell-city-al-35128-3211-59 for the December 17 session.

The Tuscaloosa County VE Group (not affiliated with TARC) is currently scheduling test sessions on an “as needed” basis.

If you are interested in testing, whether to obtain a new Technician license or to upgrade your existing license, contact us Allan or Bridget Thompson via email ks4yt@yahoo.com or telephone at 205-919-7505.

For information on exams near you if you are not in the Jefferson Shelby County areas see:
Find an Amateur Radio License Exam in Your Area (arrl.org)

Becoming a ham operator is one of the wisest decisions I made.

Whether you become a ham due to interests in radio technology, severe weather or emergency preparedness, I invite you to join the fun.

And, with all these testing opportunities available why wait?

For more information see:

Getting Licensed (arrl.org)

I hope to see you on the air!

 

 

 

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Mark’s Almanac

The tenth Month, October is so named because it is the eighth month on the Roman calendar. To the Slavs of Eastern Europe it is called “yellow month,” from the fading of the leaves, while to the Anglo-Saxons it was known as Winterfylleth, because at this full moon (fylleth) winter was supposed to begin.

By whichever name you call it, October is a mild and dry month, the driest of the year, in fact. And it is a sunny month with the amount of possible sunshine reaching the ground in the 60% or greater range.

Weather shifts from autumn pattern to revisiting the summer pattern and back again. The Azores-Bermuda High shifts eastward into the Atlantic, but leaves weakened high pressure centers over the Virginias, which still try to block out approaching fronts.

October is usually a quite month for tornadoes, with a 40% decrease in activity. Nationwide an average of 28 tornadoes occur in October and those tornadoes are usually weak.

Our Hurricane threat continues, with hurricane activity increasing during the first half of the month, concentrating in the Caribbean, both from formation in the Caribbean and from the long track Cape Verde hurricanes, which enter the Caribbean. And, we still have the little “gifts” that the Gulf of Mexico occasionally will provide.

Florida, due to its low latitude, becomes especially vulnerable to hurricanes. Since 1851, Florida has endured 31 October hurricane landfalls, nearly triple the next highest state — Louisiana, which has had eight. Also, about 60 percent of all U.S. hurricanes that made landfall after September 26 have done so in Florida. One factor being the cold fronts of Fall penetrating the Gulf and then deflecting storms towards the West coast of Florida.

Luckily after the second half of the month the activity will begin a steady decrease.

28% of the year’s hurricanes occur in October.

From 1851 – 2021 there have been 364 Tropical Storms and 217 hurricanes, 60 of which made landfall in the United States.

Some notable October hurricanes are:

The Great Hurricane of 1780, also known as Huracán San Calixto, the Great Hurricane of the Antilles, and the 1780 Disaster, the deadliest Atlantic hurricane, which killed between 20,000 to 22, 000 people in the Lesser Antilles as it passed through from October 10 – 16, 1780. It is possible that it had winds in excess of 200 MPH when it reached Barbados.

Hurricane Hazel struck the Carolinas in 1954. Weather satellite did not yet exist, and the Hurricane Hunters were unable to observe the core of the storm until it neared land on October 15. Hazel made landfall just west of the North Carolina/South Carolina border slightly northeast of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina with a Category 4 intensity of 130 mph.

Hurricane Wilma still holds the record as the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin. In 24 hours, Wilma went from a Category 1 storm on October 18 to a Category 5 storm with 185 MPH Maximum Sustained Winds. She weakened to Category 4 and struck the Yucatan, then restrengthened and struck Cape Romano Florida as a Category 3 storm on October 24, 2005.

Hurricane Mitch became a Category 1 hurricane on October 24, 1998, and within 48 hours grew to Category 5 intensity, and though he weakened to Category 1 before making landfall, he became the second deadliest hurricane on record killing over 11,000, with nearly that number missing in Central America due to intense rainfall and mudslides. He would eventually reach the United States making landfall near Naples Florida on November 5.

Hurricane Michael formed near the Yucatan Peninsula on October 7, 2018, and in 72 hours grew from a Tropical Depression to a Category 5 hurricane striking struck Mexico Beach Florida.

Beware of October hurricanes, for as Wilma, Mitch and Michael have demonstrated, they can experience explosive growth.

 

October Tropical Cyclone Breeding Grounds

This is the month for Alabama’s version of “Indian Summer’s” arrival.

Technically speaking Indian Summer doesn’t occur until “Squaw Winter” or the first frost arrives, but exact date when Indian Summer arrives varies with latitude.

We live in Alabama, and while the earliest frosts have been known to occur by October 17, they usually wait until November. So, we, in our milder climate call the first warm up after the first cool down “Indian Summer”.

The Yellow Giant Sulphur Butterflies are very noticeable as they continue to drift South-Southeast on their migration towards Florida. They prefer red things & if you have red flowers, they will zero in on them.

The Monarchs also will be seen gliding by in their migration towards Central America.

Fall colors will become prominent & by late October & early November the leaves will be reaching their peak fall colors.

Days rapidly grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 53.2 degrees at the beginning of the month to 42.3 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight decreases from 11 hours 50 minutes on October 1 to 10 hours 51 minutes on October 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

October 1 Sunrise 5:41 AM Sunset 6:32 PM
October 15 Sunrise 6:51 AM Sunset 6:14 PM
October 31 Sunrise 7:05 AM Sunset 5:56 PM

Looking skyward, at the beginning of the month, the Sun, magnitude -26.7 is in Virgo, The Virgin.

Mercury, magnitude 2.4 in Virgo, The Virgin, is emerging from the glow of the Sun, having just passed in front of the Sun at inferior solar conjunction and will reach his highest point in the morning sky, or “Greatest Western Elongation” on October 8.

Venus, magnitude –3.9 in Virgo, The Virgin, is lost in the glow of the Sun and will pass behind the Sun or be at “Superior Conjunction” on October 22.

Mars, with his moons Phobos and Deimos, magnitude -0.6 in Taurus, The Bull, is approaching “Opposition”, or his closest approach to the Earth and is a morning object. He rises around 11 PM and reaches his highest point in the sky around 5:30 AM and then fades into the twilight 45 minutes later above south-western horizon.

Dwarf Planet Ceres shines at magnitude 8.8 in Leo, The Lion.

Jupiter, and his 79 moons and ring, at magnitude –2.9, is in Pisces, The Fish, just passed Opposition and dominates the Eastern sky after sunset and is highest around midnight and is at his maximum width.

Saturn, his 82 moons and extensive debris ring system, shining at magnitude +0.5, in Capricornus, is an early evening object becoming visible around 7 PM in the Southeastern sky and riches the highest point in the sky around 10 PM and will be observable until around 2 AM, when he below the Southwestern horizon.

Uranus, his 27 moons and ring, glow at magnitude 5.7, in Aries, The Ram as a morning object. He becomes visible around 10 PM and reaches his highest point in the sky around 3 AM.

Neptune, his 14 moons and ring, at magnitude 7.7 in Aquarius, The Water Bearer, is approaching opposition and is visible as a morning object, becoming visible around 8 PM and reaches his highest point in the sky at midnight

Dwarf Planet Pluto, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.4 in Sagittarius, The Archer.

Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, her ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint magnitude of 17.4 in Bootes, The Herdsman.

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) faintly shines at magnitude 17.2 in Coma Berenices or “Berenices Hair”.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 18.6 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

At least five additional bodies with the preliminary criteria for identifying dwarf planets, and though not “officially” declared as such, are generally called dwarf planets by astronomers as well.

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 between Hydra and Serpens, The Snake.

50000 Quaoar,and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Ophiucus,, The Serpent Bearer,

90377 Sedna, the coldest, and at one time, the most distant known place in the Solar System, glows faintly at magnitude +20.9 in Taurus, The Bull.

225088 Gonggong, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Aquarius, The Water Bearer.

2014 UZ224 nicknamed “DeeDee” for “Distant Dwarf” is 8.5 billion miles from the Sun, at magnitude +23.1 in Eridanus, The River.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, Asteroid 2018 AG37, nicknamed “FarFarOut”, which is 12.4 billion miles or 18.5 light hours from Earth, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

5171 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of September 21, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur October 2 at 7:17 PM CDT or 00:17 UTC October 3.

During a Quarter Moon the Moon’s magnitude is -10.0.

The Moon will be at Perigee or her closest approach to Earth on October 4, when she will be 229,494 miles from Earth

The Draconid Meteor Shower will peak on October 7. This minor shower is produced by dust grains left behind by Comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner, which was discovered in 1900. This shower, which runs from October 6 – 10, is unusual in that it is best observed in the early evening, instead of the early morning hours as with most other showers.

A near full moon will block out all but the brightest meteors this year. If you are patient, you may still be able to catch a few good ones. Best viewing will be in the early evening from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Draco but can appear anywhere in the sky.

October’s Full Moon will occur October 9. The Moon will be directly opposite the Earth from the Sun and will be fully illuminated as seen from Earth. This phase occurs at 20:55 UTC or 5:55 PM CDT. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Hunters Moon because at this time of year the leaves are falling, and the game is fat and ready to hunt. This moon has also been known as the Travel Moon and the Blood Moon. This full moon is also known as the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the September equinox each year.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on October 17, when she will be 251,239 miles from Earth.

The Orionid Meteor Shower peaks on October 21 & 22. The Orionids is an average shower producing up to 20 meteors per hour at its peak This shower, which runs from October 2 to November 7, is produced by the broad debris trail of Halley’s Comet.

The thin, crescent moon will leave mostly dark skies for what should be a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Orion, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

New Moon occurs October 25 at 5:49 AM CDT or 10:49 UTC, when the Moon will on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

There will be a Partial Solar Eclipse on October 25.

A partial solar eclipse occurs when the Moon covers only a part of the Sun, sometimes resembling a bite taken out of a cookie. A partial solar eclipse can only be safely observed with a special solar filter or by looking at the Sun’s reflection. This partial eclipse will be best seen in parts of western Russia and Kazakhstan. It will be best seen from central Russia with over 80% coverage.

Southern Taurids Meteor Shower occurs October 29 & 30. The Southern Taurids is a long-running minor meteor shower producing only about 5-10 meteors per hour. This shower is, however, famous for producing a higher than normal percentage of bright fireballs. The Southern Taurids is produced by debris left behind by Comet 2P Encke. The shower runs annually from September 10 to November 20. It peaks this year on the night of the 29th and morning of the 30th.

The thin, crescent moon will leave mostly dark skies for what should be a good show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Taurus but can appear anywhere in the sky.

This is the time of year when the rich star clouds of the Milky Way in Cygnus crosses the zenith, looking like a ghostly band overhead in the hour after nightfall is complete. The Milky Way now rises straight up from the southwest horizon, passes overhead, and runs straight down to the northeast. Later at midnight, Orion the Hunter and the stars of winter rise over the eastern horizon, reminding us to enjoy the mild weather while it is here, for this season, as all seasons, is but a fleeting moment in the never-ending waltz of time.

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This month’s meeting will be on October 11 at 7PM at the NWS Forecast Office in Calera.

Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter