ALERT Newsletter

ALERT NEWSLETTER – October 2022

Published 10/03/2022 | By WD4NYL

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.

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

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ALERT NEWSLETTER – September 2022

Published 08/31/2022 | By WD4NYL

Hi everyone,

I hope this newsletter finds you well.

During our last meeting, the subject of elections was discussed.

When in person meetings were moved to online meetings, due to COVID, the election cycles were by necessity interrupted. Now that in person meetings have been resumed the question of when to hold the elections naturally needed to be discussed.

It was decided that the current officers will remain in place until the elections can be held in the spring at their normal times. This will provide a “fresh start” with all positions, including the one and two year Board members.

I wish to thank our President, Johnny Knobloch for steering ALERT through these stormy times. He has remained at his post far beyond his original term. This dedication is much appreciated.
As is true with all of our Officers.

ALERT thanks you.

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NOAA Atlantic Hurricane Outlook Updated

With the lack of tropical activity in the Atlantic basin the National Hurricane Center has adjusted its seasonal outlook, while pointing out the peak of the season is yet to come.

They are still calling for an above normal season, but have slightly decreased the likelihood of an to 60%, which is lower than the May outlook which gave a 65% chance. The likelihood of near-normal activity has risen to 30% and the chances remain at 10% for a below-normal season.

They predict 14 to 20 named storms, 6 to 10 hurricanes 3 to 5 of which will be major, Category 3 or higher, hurricanes.

The last tropical system was Tropical Storm Colin, which dissipated on July 3. 2022 joins 1961 and 1997 as Augusts without tropical activity. 1997 remained a quiet season while 1961 became very active with 4 Tropical Storms and 7 Hurricanes including 3 Category 4 and 3 Category 5 Hurricanes.

So keep your eyes towards the seas.

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Aerials, Antennae & Feelers

As I type this article, I am looking at an HT. In this case a Midland GXT1000G for the General Mobile Radio Service or GMRS. I carry it to work along with a ham HT and listen to them as I sit at my desk. GMRS is interesting because you never know what you will hear. Sometimes I will hear construction crews, a middle school, a hospital, football coaches at cursing a storm because the place kicker stinks, with GMRS using the same frequencies as the Family Radio Service or FRS two little kids talking about needing to go potty, and at night, two young guys who apparently have just discovered cursing, and sound silly since they don’t know how to cuss correctly, or as a lady sweetly told a young guy at work who seemed to use an F word every fifth word “you don’t have much of a vocabulary do you?” Which left him speechless.

As I look at this HT, there is a pointy little gizmo on the top called a “rubber duck”. We are all familiar with them, but have you ever wondered what mysteries that black casing is covering? Well, I am here to enlighten you!

Underneath that casing is – wait for it – a coil of wire. That’s all.

With the Icom UHF commercial radios we use at work it is a tightly wound coil about 7 inches long. My Motorola FRS radio has a loosely wound coil 3 inches long. All standard rubber ducks are coils. Optional higher gain antennas have a whip attached. They provide more gain but present the danger of overstressing the antenna connector and breaking the wire leading to the center conductor.

IF one can access the connector, it is possible to resolder it, but, with everything so microminiaturized reaching it is nigh unto impossible.

But, if one is very careful, you can replace standard antenna with a higher gain antenna or even better yet run coax to an outside antenna. Using an outside antenna, you can achieve the same distances with an HT as you would with a “base” station. Unless you tell someone, no one will know the difference.

The following tables give the dimensions for various common HF, VHF & UHF antennas, that do not require an electrical engineering degree to build. Included are quarter wave, half wave, full wave, G5RV and Yagi dimensions.

A few hints and notes:

A good antenna has much more signal impact than an increase of transmitter power. Pouring a kilowatt into an antenna that doubles as a dummy load will not get you very far. On the other hand, a flea power radio on a decent to good antenna will “make you a contender”.

People tend to obsess over wire and wire diameter. This is a recent development. The truth is that for most applications a wire is a wire is a wire. I have made usable antennas out of actual “antenna wire”, zip cord, test leads, clothes hangers, fence wire, window screen wire and especially wire salvaged from junked TV’s.

To salvage TV wire, you would take the transformer out (and anything else salvageable), remove any case or screws holding the transformer together and then take a sledgehammer and beat the stew out of it until the laminations started falling apart. Then you would uncoil the wire, roll it up and use it for 10,000 projects.

The radio does not know, or particularly care what kind of wire you are using. It conducts electricity, and that is what matters. For building a cheapo antenna, if it works, it works.

Concerning “true” antenna wire, it generally is available in two varieties – enamel covered solid single strand, and multistrand.

Long runs of single strand wire will “grow” or stretch over time due to exposure to the elements and especially the sun’s heat. Single strand wire has poor tinsel strength, and the “growth” causes the resonant frequency and SWR to change downward in frequency over time. Every now and then you may have to trim the antenna a little to tweak the SWR back into range.

Multi strand wire is stronger and has better tinsel strength but will corrode over time and become brittle. If there has been a kink in the wire at any point in time this will become a weak spot and eventually may break strand by strand.

When cutting antenna wire to the desired length always cut an antenna slightly too long. You can always trim it; but you cannot make it grow longer.

Measure twice, cut once (initially)

If the SWR is higher on the low end of the band, the antenna is too short.

If the SWR is higher on a high end of the of the band, the antenna is too long.

For me VHF and UHF antennas are the best antennas to experiment with because they are smaller, use smaller material and are less dramatic if they fail completely. Remembering Wernher Von Braun saying that “success comes in private, failure in full public view”, the evidence of failure is more easily disposed of when it is a 2 meter antenna rather than a failed 160 meter Yagi the size of an aeroplane.

With the antennas I have built over the years I used RG58 coax for ¼ wave antennas, 450 ohm ladder line for ½ wave dipoles and Yagi’s, while a G5RV uses a specific length of open wire, ladder line or TV twin lead. Coax is spliced onto the end of this line and a RF choke is made by winding 8 turns of the coax around a 6 inch form. I used a high tech form. I used a plastic flowerpot.

Open wire, Ladder line and TV twin lead must remain at lead 20 feet above ground level for best results. Coax does not care.

Ladder line has the distinct advantage in the it is easily repairable. Not so with coax.

If you are trimming the hedges near where ladder line goes into the house and you accidently chop it to pieces with hedge clippers, after doing the required crying, you just solder it back together, make sure the spacing is the same, wrap it in electrical wire and go on about your business. Coax is less forgiving.

It is said by some you cannot splice coax. They are full of malarkey. I have spliced coax by trimming the ragged ends, soldering the center conductor of the two strands, wrapping insulation around the center conductor and then as neatly as possible intermeshing the braid shielding and soldering that, and then taping it all together. The radio said it worked. Of course, we routinely splice coax anyway using two PL-259 connectors and a barrel connector and no one argues with you about it online. Online by graduates of YouTube University and The University of Facebook “Where experts are born.”

RG58 cable was the mainstay for cable for generations of hams. A newer cable that has gained popularity is LMR400. Its main selling point is that it has less signal loss than RG58. But, RG58 still has its place.

For long runs of cable, I would opt for LMR400, assuming I am not in a cheap mood. For, I am a tightwad. For short runs, 40 – 50 feet of RG58 or RG8 will work just fine.

The craziest antenna that I made was one featured in QST 40 years ago called a Quagi. It was a mix of a cubical quad and a Yagi. I built one for 2 meters using old straight branches I found in the field across from the house that I was living in at that time, and old junk wire. It worked great. That is until I saw something move on the post and spreaders and realized it was infested with termites. I took it and threw it as far as I could in the field.

I am probably the only person who can say they have had an antenna eaten by termites.

I currently use a G5RV antenna. It doesn’t like 60 or 30 meters, but 30 I can use with a tuner, as well as 6 meters. This antenna is a “compromise antenna” designed for limited space, seeing that I have no useable trees for a decent antenna. I use manufactured antennas for VHF and UHF and a home brew quarter wave for GMRS, which was featured in the February 2021 Newsletter, “The Great Cat Food Can Quarter-wave.”

The following chart includes measurements for ham, CB, MURS and GMRS antenna lengths. Note that GMRS frequencies are not in numerical order, since they are placed by the FCC “interstitially”, broken up into 22 channels, which are shared with FRS. So, I listed what some call Channel 15, which is the lowest frequency and the input to repeater “channel 22”, which is the highest.

The quotation marks are used because while FRS channels are defined by FCC rules, GMRS frequencies are not specified by channel, but by frequency. Most GMRS radios “channel” numbers agree with the FRS designations, but a few don’t, which is why some say “use ‘frequency’ instead of ‘channel’ when discussing GMRS.”

My Midland GMRS radios agree with my Motorola FRS radios, so I say “channel”.

Here is a rough guide using approximate measurements. Links are provided for further information.

Radio Antenna Length Chart

Band Frequency ¼ Wave ½ Wave Full wave
Meters MHz Feet Feet Feet

160 1.800 130’0” 280’0” 558’4”
160 1.850 126’6” 253’0” 543’3”
160 1.900 123’2” 246’4” 528’11”
160 1.950 120’0” 240’0” 515’4”
160 2.000 117’0” 234’9” 502’6”
80 3.500 66’0” 133’9” 287.2”
80 3.600 65’0” 130’0” 279’2”
80 3.750 62’5” 124’10” 268’0”
75 3.900 60’0” 120’0” 257.3”
75 4.000 58.6” 117’0” 251’3”
60 5.330 43’9” 87’8” 188’5”
60 5.403 43’2” 86’6” 186’0”
40 7.000 33’5” 66’10” 143’7”
40 7.150 32’9” 65”5” 140’7”
40 7.300 32’1” 64’1” 137’8”
30 10.000 23’2” 46’4” 99’6”
30 10.150 23’1” 46’1” 90’0”
20 14.000 16’9” 33’5” 71’9”
20 14.150 16’6” 33’1” 71’0”
20 14.300 16’4” 32’9” 70’3”
20 14.350 16’4” 32’7” 70’0”
17 18.068 12’11” 25’11” 55’7”
17 18.168 12’11” 25’9” 55’4”
15 21.000 11’2” 22’3” 47’10”
15 21.200 11’0” 22’1” 47’5”
15 21.450 10’11” 21’10” 46’10”
12 24.890 9’5” 18’10” 40’5”
12 24.990 9’4” 18’9” 40’3”
CB 26.965 8’8” 17’4” 37’3” CB CH 1
CB 27.205 8’7” 17’2” 36’11” CB CH 20
CB 27.405 8’6” 17’0” 36’4” CB CH 40
10 28.000 8’4” 16’9” 35’11”
10 28.500 8’3” 16’5” 35’3”
10 29.700 7’11” 15’9” 33’10”
6 50.000 4’8” 9’4” 20’1”
6 52.000 4’6” 9’0” 19’3”
6 54.000 4’4” 8’8” 18’7”
2 144.000 1’8” 3’3” 7’0”
2 148.000 1’7” 3’2” 6’9”
MURS 151.820 1’6” 3’0” 6’7” MURS CH 1
MURS 154.600 1’6” 3’0” 6’6” MURS CH 5
1.25 222.000 1’0” 2’1” 4’6”
1.25 225.000 1’0” 2’0” 4’5”
70 CM 420.000 6” 1’1” 2’4”
70 CM 450.000 6” 1’0” 2’2”
GMRS 462.550 6” 1’0” 2’2”
GMRS 467.725 6” 1’0” 2’1”
33 CM 902.000 3” 6” 1’1”
33 CM 928.000 3” 6” 1’0”
23 CM 1240.000 2” 4” 9”
23 CM 1300.000 2” 4” 9”

G5RV Dimensions

Double Size Full Size Half Size aka “Jr”

Band Coverage 1.8 – 28 MHz 3.5 – 28 MHz 7 – 28MHz
Length Of Antenna 204 feet 102 feet 51 feet

Matching Section Length:

Open Wire 67.5 feet 33.7 feet 16.9 feet
Ladder Line 62.6 feet 31.2 feet 15.6 feet
TV Twin Lead 57.0 feet 28.5 feet 14.3 feet

https://www.hamuniverse.com/g5rv.html

Yagi Dimensions Examples

Frequency Reflector Driven Element Director Element Spacing

50.125 10’0” 9’6” 9’0” 2’5”
146.520 3’6” 3’3” 3’1” 10”
223.500 2’3” 2’2” 2’1” 7”
446.000 1’2” 1’1” 1’1” 4”
467.600 1’1” 1’1” 12” 4”

https://www.wireantennas.co.uk/yagi-antenna-calculator

The figures given in the first chart are based on the formulae ¼ wave = 234/frequency in MHz,
½ wave = 468/ frequency in MHz and full wave = 1005/frequency in MHz. Using these formulae will give you a result that does not agree with the chart. You must convert decimal feet into feet and inches

For those who have trouble converting decimal feet into feet and inches, as I, being as dumb as they come math wise do, here is a convenient calculator.

https://www.spikevm.com/calculators/decimal-feet.php

Try your hand at “homebrewing” an antenna. It is extremely useful during emergencies, if your primary antenna is damaged, and you need to get back on the air, is educational, and is just plain fun!

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Mark’s Almanac

September is the ninth month of the year and the seventh month of the Roman calendar, which is where the month gets its name.

Temperatures are still hot at the beginning of the month, but, by months end, fall will definitely be felt.

Noticeable in September will be the thickening of the cat’s fur, as she begins growing her winter coat & the drift of Yellow Giant Sulphur Butterflies as they migrate towards Florida.

Weather starts shifting from the summer to autumn pattern and then back again. Storm activity resembles the August pattern, but the Bermuda High starts shifting southward and begins weakening, which weakens the blocking effect that has hampered fronts attempting to invade from the northwest.

September is the peak of the hurricane season, the actual peak being on September 10. This peak coincides with the time of “syzygy”, when the effects of the solar and lunar gravity and autumnal equinox combine to provide the highest astronomical tides of the year. Add a hurricane’s storm surge on top of this and you can have incredibly destructive flooding.

From 1851 – 2020 there have been 630 Tropical Storms, 2 Subtropical Storm and 416 hurricanes, 110 of which made landfall in the United States.

Some notable September hurricanes are:

The Galveston Hurricane of 1900, which was a Category 4 Storm whose storm surge overwhelmed Galveston Island, killing 8000 people, and is still the deadliest weather disaster in US history.

The Labor Day Hurricane of 1936, the most intense storm to strike the US, was a Category 5 storm which moved through the Florida Keys and along West Florida, overturning trains and literally sandblasting people to death.

Ivan, the category 3 storm which struck Alabama & Florida in 2004, caused tremendous damage to Gulf Shores and extensive damage to the state’s electrical grid. At the height of the outages, Alabama Power reported 489,000 subscribers having lost electrical power—roughly half of its subscriber base.

Rita, a category 3 storm which struck the Texas – Louisiana border in 2005, and, despite the distance, dropped 22 tornadoes over Western Alabama.

Days continue to grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 64.9 degrees at the beginning of the month to 53.6 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight decreases from 12 hours 52 minutes on August 1 to 11 hours 53 minutes on August 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

September 1 Sunrise 6:21 AM Sunset 7:13 PM
September 15 Sunrise 6:30 AM Sunset 6:55 PM
September 31 Sunrise 6:41 AM Sunset 6:33 PM

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

Mercury, 0.3 in Virgo, The Virgin, is hidden in the slow of the Sun. He will emerge in the morning sky near the sunrise point around the last few days of the month.

He will be in “inferior conjunction” or pass between the Earth and the Sun on September 23.

At closest approach, Mercury would appear at a separation of only 2°51′ from the Sun, but he is totally unobservable since he is lost in the Sun’s glare.

Mercury will also pass perigee, the time when he is closest to the Earth, at around the same time since he will lie on exactly the same side of the Sun as the Earth in the Solar System.

Venus, Earth’s moonless sister, shines at magnitude –3.9 in Leo, rising about a half hour after dawn begins. As dawn brightens, she disappears into the glare of the Sun.

Venus’s 225 day orbit around the Sun will carry her to her closest point to the Sun, or perihelion, on September 4.

Earth, magnitude -4.0, and her moon, is in the constellation Capricornus, The Sea Goat.

Some might wonder since Venus and the Earth are so very similar in size and mass, why does the Earth have a moon while Venus does not.

There have been four theories as to why the Earth has a moon:

1. A single body split to form the Earth and Moon.
2. The Earth’s gravity captured the Moon.
3. The Earth and Moon were formed at the same time from the same debris ring.
4. The Earth was struck by an object, partially destroying the Earth and the debris from the Earth and the object formed the moon

Lunar rock samples from the Apollo missions found that the Moon’s composition is very similar to the Earth’s crust and so were likely removed from Earth in some violent event.

The current theory is that in the early Solar system, an ancient Mars sized planet, now called Theia, collided with the early Earth around 4.5 billion years ago, with the resulting ejected debris gathering to form the Moon.

The Earth and Theia’s, core and mantle fused together resulting in the Earth’s core being larger than expected for a body its size.

Evidence published in 2019 suggests that Theia might have formed in the outer Solar System rather than the inner Solar System, as originally believed and that much of Earth’s water originated on Theia.

Venus had no such collision, and therefore the poor old gal is pretty, but moonless.

Mars, with his moons Phobos and Deimos, magnitude 0.0 in Taurus, The Bull, is currently a morning object, rising around midnight, and reaching an altitude of 73° above the south-eastern horizon before fading from view at dawn.

Dwarf Planet Ceres shines at magnitude 8.6 in Cancer, The Crab,

Jupiter, and his 79 moons and ring, at magnitude –2.9, is in Cetus, The Sea Monster, rising due east in twilight, and stands highest in the south around 2 or 3 AM.

He is currently approaching opposition or the point when he is opposite the Earth from the Sun, which is the best time to observe him, as this is when he is nearest Earth and is visible as a morning object, when he will be 57° above the southern horizon. He drops to 35° above the south-western horizon before becoming lost in the dawn twilight around 6 AM.

He will reach opposition on September 26, 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 Jupiter and its moons. A medium-sized telescope should be able to show you some of the details in Jupiter’s cloud bands. A good pair of binoculars should allow you to see Jupiter’s four largest moons, appearing as bright dots on either side of the planet.

Saturn, his 82 moons and extensive debris ring system, shines at magnitude +0.4, in Capricornus, The Sea Goat, becoming visible in the south-east around 8 PM as dusk fades into darkness. He will reach his highest point around midnight when he will be 40° above the southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until the beginning of dawn.

Saturn’s rings appear roughly as wide, end to end, as Jupiter’s globe.

Uranus, his 27 moons and ring, glow at magnitude 5.8, in Aries, The Ram, west of Mars before dawn, rising around 11 PM and reaches an altitude of 73° above the southern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks.

Neptune, his 14 moons and ring, at magnitude 7.7 is at the Aquarius-Pisces border, rising in the evening twilight west of Jupiter.

He is currently approaching opposition and is visible as a morning object. Around 11 PM he
reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and will then reach his highest point in the sky at 2 AM, 53° above the southern horizon and then will be lost in the dawn twilight on the south-western horizon.

The blue giant planet will be at its closest approach to Earth or “opposition”, on September 16. He will be fully illuminated and brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long.

However, due to his extreme distance from Earth, he will only appear as a tiny blue dot in all but the most powerful telescopes.

Dwarf Planet Pluto, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.3 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.

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.

5071 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of June 16, 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 September 3 at 1:08 PM CDT or 06:08 UTC.

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

The Moon will be at Perigee or her closest approach to Earth on September 7, when she will be 226,484 miles from Earth

September’s Full Moon will occur September 10 at 4:58 AM CDT or 09:58 UTC.

The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be fully illuminated. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the “Corn Moon” because the corn is harvested around this time of year.

This 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 name “Harvest Moon” dates from the time before electricity, when farmers depended on the Moon’s light to harvest their crops late into the night. The Harvest Moon was especially important since it coincided with the largest harvest of the year.

During a Full Moon, the Moon’s magnitude is -12.7.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur September 17 at 4:52 PM CDT or 9:52 UTC.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on September 19, when she will be 251,379 miles from Earth.

Fall begins at Autumnal Equinox on September 22 at 8:55 PM CDT or 00:55 UTC September 23, when the Sun crosses directly over the equator and night and day is approximately the same length throughout the world. For the Southern Hemisphere it is Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring.

One term that occasionally pops up is “equinoctial storms”. Which are severe storms in North America and the UK that supposedly accompany the vernal and autumnal equinoxes. Where this belief originated is obscure. Some say perhaps from the 1700’s when sailors were greeted by West Indies hurricanes, or due to the coincidence of the first fall severe storms sometimes coming in the latter half of September. At any rate, statistics show no evidence to support the belief.

On this date, if there is sufficient solar activity, and you are away from city lights, the aurora may possibly be seen, as the Equinox dates are the two most favored times of the year for auroral sightings.

At this time of year, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) can link up with Earth’s magnetic field, prying open cracks. Solar wind pours in to fuel displays of the aurora borealis with no geomagnetic storm required. Researchers call this the “Russell-McPherron” effect after the space physicists who first described it in the 1970s.

New Moon occurs September 25 at 4:54 PM CDT or 21:54 UTC on September 8, 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.

High in the Southern night sky an asterism or a group of stars appearing clustered together, but not actually gravitationally bound, will be seen that resembles a teapot. This is the Teapot of Sagittarius.

To the naked eye, the Teapot is roughly the size of your fist at arm’s length. Above the spout of the Teapot lies a band of light, emerging like steam from the spout of the Teapot, which is the Large Sagittarius Star Cloud. A pair of binoculars will reveal a sea of stars and faint grayish patches, the largest of which is the Lagoon Nebula. When you look upon these nebulae you are seeing stars in the process of being born.

The spout, which is tilting and pouring to the right, also points towards the galactic center of the Milky Way, located just beyond the Large Sagittarius Star cloud, but largely hidden by the dust clouds, which lie along the plane of the Sagittarius arm of the galaxy.

While we sweat through Summer, do you want at sneak peek at the Winter sky? Step out before the first light of dawn, and the sky displays the same starry panorama it does at dinnertime around New Year’s. With Orion the Hunter striding up in the southeast, Taurus the Bull with Aldebaran and then the Pleiades high above it. Sirius the Dog Star sparkles far down below Orion, and Gemini The Twins are lying on their sides well up in the east, left of Orion.

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Comments, suggestions, articles and items for YOUR Newsletter are welcome!

This month’s meeting will be on September 13 at 7 PM at the NWS Forecast Office in Calera.

The Board of Directors will meet prior to the regular meeting at 6:30 PM.

Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter

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ALERT NEWSLETTER – August 2022

Published 07/30/2022 | By WD4NYL

Hi everyone,

I hope this finds you safe and well as we enter these midsummer days. As you bake and broil in the sun, remember that fall is just a little over a month away, and eventually the heat and humidity will retreat towards the tropical realms from whence it came and in about 6 months we will be griping and wishing we could borrow one of these days for a welcomed winter thaw.

Until then hug an air conditioner and remember to stay hydrated.

As mentioned in last month’s newsletter ALERT dues are due.

For information on where to send the dues and also for the form if you are not a member and would like to join, visit our blog at https://alert-alabama.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/Documents/alertapp.pdf

I must admit, I let it slip my mind and was reminded in a dream, of all things. Taking it as a Divine reminder, I will be coughing some dough.

Our next ALERT meeting will be on August 9.

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Television In The 21st Century

When I was a child, back in the Lincoln administration, or perhaps the 1960s, there were three TV stations in Birmingham. WAPI, formerly WABT and formerly WAFM and now WVTM Channel 13, which signed on May 29, 1949, which operated as the primary CBS and secondary NBC affiliate. WBRC, at that time the ABC affiliate, debuted July 1, 1949, on Channel 4 from 1949 – 1953 and then on Channel 6 and WBIQ, Alabama Public Television, which went on the air on April 28, 1955.

For a time, most TV sets only carried VHF TV Channels 2 through 13. Channels 2 – 4, which stretches from 54 – 72 MHz, Channels 5 – 6, at 76 – 88 MHz and Channels 7 – 13, which are located at 174 – 216 MHz. Channel 1, which was moved around as TV was experimented with was finally located at 44 – 50 MHz and removed from use in 1948. It took the passage of the All Channel Receiver Act or 1962 to force manufacturers to include a UHF tuner.

The UHF band originally stretched from Channel 14 to Channel 83, from 470 – 890 MHz. In 1983 the FCC reassigned Channels 70 – 83 to the Land Mobile Service. In 2009 Channels 52 to 69 were reassigned to the 700 MHz Cellular Phone service. Channel 51 was removed in 2011 to prevent interference from cell phones. Channels 38 – 50 were reassigned to the cell phone service in 2019, and Channel 37, 608 – 614 MHz, was removed and reserved for radio astronomy.

So, the current North American TV frequencies are Channels 2 – 35.

Here are a few items you might find interesting:

Did you know that old analog TV’s supposedly can detect tornadoes?

It is said that tornados create an electrical disturbance in the 55 MHz range, close to TV channel 2.

Newton Weller, an electronics technician, supposedly devised the following method for using your old analog TV set as a tornado warning device.

Tune to channel 13 and turn the brightness control down to the point where the image is nearly, but not completely black. Then turn to channel 2. Lightning will register as horizontal streaks on the screen. When the picture becomes bright enough to be seen, or when the screen glows with an even light, supposedly there is a tornado within 20 miles, and it is time to find to for the basement.

Did you know than in Europe, there is an amateur radio band, the 4 meter band? This band lies roughly from 70 – 70.5 MHz, depending on the country, which is inside our TV channel 5.

This is not an “official” ITU recognized band, and most equipment is either home brew or modified commercial radios.

The gap between Channels 4 & 5, 72 – 76 MHz is utilized for linking, paging, and radio controlled boats and aircraft, with a radio astronomy window located at 73.000 – 75.460 MHz.

In the early days of cellphones, during the 1G-Analog cellular days, before the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 made it illegal to do, if you tuned carefully in the upper UHF TV channels you could eaves drop on cellphone calls. Most of the traffic was mundane “pick up a loaf of bread” type conversations, some tended to be pornographic and a significant percentage of calls you heard were clearly drug related.

Everything is now digital and encrypted, so drug dealers can feel safe, and by law scanners and broadband receivers have the cellular frequencies, 824 – 849 & 869 – 894 MHz blocked.

Now, you may wonder if the current TV channel allocations are channels 2 to 36, how do you explain that WBMG is still on Channel 42 and WABM is still on channel 68?

It’s simple – they aren’t.

The channel numbers in the digital ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) do not correspond to RF frequency ranges, as they did with NTSC (National Television System Committee) analog television.

In the process of converting from analog to digital transmissions the FCC “repacked” all the TV stations into the 35 remaining channels to make more frequencies available for cellular and land mobile use.

Some stations went up the dial, some stations went down and some stations went round and round until they could find an interference free channel somewhere on the TV dial.

When you see “channel 68” that is just a label or “virtual channel”.

“Virtual channel” labels are sent as part of the metadata along with the programs, to allow channel numbers to be remapped from their physical RF channel to any other number 1 to 99. This helps avoid confusion when a station which has been called channel 13 forever and a day is suddenly channel 7. Where did my channel 13 go?

So, since WBRC is known as Channel 6, HDTVs identify it as “virtual channel” 6, even though it is actually transmitting on digital channel 29. Likewise, WVTM “channel 13” is on digital channel 7, WAIT “channel 42” is on digital channel 30, WBMA “ABC33/40” is on digital channel 32 & WABM “channel 68” is on digital channel 20. WBIQ “channel 10” and WTTO “channel 21” actually are on digital channels 10 and 21.

This may be totally confusing, but, as long as the HDTV tuner understand it, I guess it is all ok.

Another interesting feature is that over the air digital TV signals are “multiplex” signals capable of carrying multiple channels of information on a single stream, and it is common for there to be a single high-definition signal and several standard-definition signals carried on a single 6 MHz channel allocation. So, you have, for example with WBRC, channels 6.1, which is crystal clear high definition, and standard definition channels on 6.2, 6,3, 6,2 and so on.

All of this leads to the following listing, which is what you may be able to receive as a backup or alternative for cable or satellite TV, should these fail you or prove not to be worth the expense. Many have “cut the cable” and switched to over the air reception, since there are so many FREE viewing options available.

Using a $10 “rabbit ear” antenna, a HDTV converter box and an analog TV, and the same type antenna on an true HDTV, I can receive 66 channels. A friend of mine in Vance Alabama using an outdoor antenna picks up 92 channels. Another friend who is heavily into RVing took a defunct Dish antenna, replaced the LNA or “low noise amplifier” which is at the dishes “focal point” with rabbit ears and just points the antenna to a nearby city and gets crystal clear reception in the middle of nowhere.

No special ”HDTV antenna, with specially patented High Definition enhancing paint” is needed.
Just as the same antenna you use on HF for phone works with CW and digital modes also, so it is true with TV antennas. RF is RF and rabbit ears, or your old TV antenna will work just fine. Retailers that tell you different are the same ones that will advertise “tactical” toothpicks and handheld “no license to use ham radio in emergency” radios with 5000 mile range.

It sort of reminds me of the 1970’s when they came out with the “Channel Master CB Power Wing Electronic Mobile Antenna.” It’s selling point was that it picked less noise than other antennas. And they were telling the truth. It picked up less noise, less signal, less anything. Dummy loads tend to do that

The following is what I can pick up with minimal equipment and even less effort. I know if I put a halfway decent outside antenna, I will pick up more stations. And, at some point I may make that effort. But this gives a decent idea of what is out there.

Channel Description

6.1 WBRC – HD -Birmingham – FOX6
6.2 Bounce TV
6.3 Circle TV
6.4 LAFF TV
6.5 Grit
6.6 Quest
10.1 WBIQ – HD -Birmingham – Alabama Public Television
10.2 PBS Kids
10.3 Create
10.4 World
13.1 WVTM – HD – Birmingham – National Broadcasting Company
13.2 MeTV
13.3 Story
13.4 The Grio
13.5 GET TV
21.1 WTTO – HD – Birmingham – The CW
21.2 Antenna TV
21.3 Comet TV
21.4 TBD or “TBD TV”
22.1 WSWH – LD – Tuscaloosa – Heartland
22.2 Retro TV
22.3 REV’N
22.4 The Action Channel
22.5 The Family Channel
22.6 Revival
22.7 HSN
23.1 WVUA – CD – Tuscaloosa
23.2 This-TV
23.3 Local Now
23.4 WVUA Radarscope
24.1 WBXA – CD – Birmingham – Biz TV
24.2 Sonlife
24.3 Infomercials
24.4 Color bars aka “test pattern”
24.5 Circle TV
28.1 WBUN – HD – Birmingham – Daystar
28.2 WBUN Española
35.1 W18ET-D – Birmingham – HSN
35.2 QVC
35.3 HSN-2
35.4 QVC-2
35.5 QVC-3
35.6 Dabl
35.7 ITK
42.1 WIAT – HD – Birmingham – Columbia Broadcasting System
42.2 ION Mystery
42.3 True Crime Network
42.4 TruReal
46.1 WUOA – LD – Tuscaloosa
46.2 BUZZR
46.3 BeIN Sports Xtra
46.4 GET TV
46.5 Novelisma
46.6 Shop LC
46.7 Classic Reruns
47.1 W16DS-D – Birmingham – WAY TV – Glen Iris Baptist Church
47.2 WGIB 91.9 FM Simulcast with nature scenes
60.1 WTJP-TV – Gadsden – Trinity Broadcasting Network
60.2 TBN Inspire
60.3 Smile
60.4 Enlace
60.5 Positiv
68.1 WABM – Birmingham – My68
68.2 WBMA-LD – Birmingham – simulcast ABC33/40 American Broadcasting Company
68.3 James Spann 24/7 Weather
68.4 Dabl

This article, along with the articles in the April and July Newsletters, covering the AM and FM Broadcast bands, were intended to remind you of the options available to you should your primary sources of news information be disrupted, either due to a disaster or a squirrel using your cable provider’s wiring as a latrine.

I will mention that there are those who say, “I’ll get a scanner or a ham radio so I will know what’s REALLY happening”, since there is among some, a distrust of the news media in general. I will say that when it comes to coverage of a disaster or emergency, I trust what our local news media are reporting.

The danger of using scanner reports or ham radio reports as a source of information is that the traffic you hear is unverified and sometimes completely bogus.

Currently you cannot listen to the Birmingham or Homewood Police departments on any scanner due to them being using digital and fully encrypted transmissions. Not that long ago you could listen in, and a couple of calls will illustrate what I am talking about.

“157”
“157”
“were getting a report that a UFO has landed in in the middle of Eastlake”
“Uh, ok….I’ll…check it out.”

“214”
“214”
“we’ve had a call from a lady on 19th Street and 3rd Avenue North stating that the killers are in the Loveman’s Building killing people again.”

Both calls, of course proved false, but in today’s society it would have been all over social media that Birmingham had a UFO landing or that there has been a mass killing and that “the government is trying to keep it quiet to avoid panic.”

With ham radio you might get a report from an overexcited fellow or in some cases someone showboating for friends that he sees “a tornado on the ground and has lots of leaf debris”. The report is passed to the NWS and they quickly look at the radar to see if there is even a storm in the area. The report may be true, or the guy may be seeing the smoke plume from a brick refractory and has a neighbor with a leaf blower. Or it could be someone who has seen Twister one time too many. Or they could simply be nuts.

This is why the NWS does not want scanner reports and depends largely on experience ham Net Control Stations to filter reports so that actual usable information is passed on.

They are cautious what they listen to and and pass on, as we should be also.

……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Mark’s Almanac

August was originally named “Sextilis”, the sixth Roman month. It was renamed August in honor of Caesar Augustus and lengthened to 31 days, to equal Julius Caesar’s month of July.

August is hot and humid and summer temperatures remain at or near their summer peak.

The rapid vegetation growth of spring is over, and, since conditions are now perfect for the growth of mold, fungi & germs, plants have a “used” look, which is enhanced if rainfall is scarce.

In August the choir of cicadas whine in the afternoon & towards the end of the month the big Yellow Sulphur Butterflies will begin heading to the South-Southeast, giving hints of their soon upcoming fall migration & cats will begin to hint of growing their winter coats.

Hurricane breeding grounds in August are the Atlantic, with Low Latitude “Cape Verde” storms forming off Africa crossing the Ocean and either threatening the Eastern Seaboard or striking the Leeward Islands, entering the Caribbean and then striking the Yucatan, or the Western or Northern Gulf coast. Breeding grounds also include the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico.

August is second only to September in the number of Tropical Storms and Hurricanes. From 1851 to 2020 there have been 402 Tropical Storms and 252 Hurricanes, 82 of which made landfall in the United States, the most notable storms being Hurricanes Camille, Katrina and Ida in 1969, 2005 and 2021, which devastated Mississippi and Louisiana and Hurricane Andrew which ravaged South Florida in 1992.

21% of a year’s Hurricanes occur in August, however, 85 to 95% of land falling Hurricanes have not occurred by August 15.

Days grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 74.4 degrees at the beginning of the month to 65.0 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight decreases from 13 hours 48 minutes on August 1 to 12 hours 54 minutes on August 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

August 1 Sunrise 6:00 AM Sunset 7:47 PM
August 15 Sunrise 6:09 AM Sunset 7:34 PM
August 31 Sunrise 6:20 AM Sunset 7:14 PM

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

Mercury, magnitude -1.1 is in Cancer The Crab.

Mercury recently passed behind the Sun at Superior Conjunction. He is emerging into the evening sky very low in the glow of sunset.

He will reach his furthest point from the Sun, or Aphelion, on August 23.

On August 27 Mercury reaches his highest point above the horizon in the evening sky or “Greatest Eastern Elongation” of 27.3 degrees from the Sun. 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 Gemini, The Twins, rises just as dawn begins and reaches an altitude of 17° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks.

She is closing in on the Sun.

Earth, magnitude -4.0, and her moon, sometimes called “Luna”, “Selene” or “Cynthia”, but to most, just the plain old “Moon”, as viewed from the Sun, is in the constellation Capricornus.

Mars, magnitude 0.3, with his moons Phobos and Deimos are in Aries, The Ram, rises around midnight or 1 AM and shines high in the east-southeast as dawn begins.

Phobos and Deimos bear more resemblance to asteroids than to Earth’s moon. Both are tiny. The larger, Phobos, is only 14 miles across, while the smaller, Deimos, is only 8 miles, making them some of the smallest moons in the solar system.

From the surface of Mars, they don’t look like moons, using our Moon as a standard.

The more distant moon, Deimos, appears more like a star in the night sky. When it is full and shining at its brightest, it resembles Venus as seen on Earth.

Phobos has the closest orbit to its host planet of any moon in the solar system, but still only appears a third as wide as Earth’s full moon.

Orbiting at only 3,700 miles above the surface, it travels around the planet three times a day, zipping across the Martian sky approximately once every four hours from west to east.

Deimos orbits much farther away at 12,470 and takes about 30 hours, a little over a Martian day, to travel around the Red Planet.

A Martian day is 24 hours, 37 minutes and 22 Earth or if you are into sci-fi, Terran seconds.

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Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude 8.4, is in Cancer The Crab.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.6, and his 79 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring, in Cetus, rises in the east around 10 or 11 PM and reaches his highest point in the sky above the southern horizon around 5 AM.

The four largest moons of Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are easily visible in small telescopes and change their positions nightly as they waltz around the giant planet.

Io, with 400 active volcanos, is the most geologically active object in the solar system. So much so that it is not heavily cratered, as it is constantly resurfacing itself with a frosty coating of sulfur and sulfur dioxide. Io is truly a world of fire and brimstone.

Europa is slightly smaller than the Earth’s moon, is Ice water covered and has a thin oxygen atmosphere. Some believe a water ocean lies beneath the icy surface.

Planet sized Ganymede is the largest moon and ninth largest object in the solar system, larger than Mercury, yet has no atmosphere. It is a 50/50 world – 50 percent silicate rock and 50 percent water.

Heavily cratered Callisto is the third largest moon in the solar system. She shares a characteristic with the Earth’s moon in that they are both “tidally locked” with their rotations being the same duration as its orbit, so only one side ever faces the planet.

Some assume our moon does not rotate, but She does. She takes exactly one month to do it.

Saturn, magnitude 0.4, and his 82 moons and extensive debris ring system, is in Capricornus, is very low in the east-southeast in late twilight, higher in the southeast in late evening, and at its highest and best in the south around 1 AM. Saturn’s rings appear roughly as wide, end to end, as Jupiter’s disk.

The ringed planet will be at its closest approach to Earth, or Opposition on August 14 and his 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.

Saturn’s largest moon, Titan is easily seen in backyard telescopes.

Titan is the only moon with a dense atmosphere, which is 97% nitrogen. Titan is the only object besides the Earth with surface liquid, having lakes and tributaries of liquid ethane and methane.

Titan is the only other moon to have been landed on, The European Space Agency’s Huygens probe touched down on Titan on January 14, 2005 and returned pictures revealing a surface strewn with rocks and globules probably made of water ice.

Uranus, magnitude 5.8, and his 27 moons and ring, in Aries, is emerging from behind the Sun high in the east-southeast before dawn begins.

Uranus’s five major moons, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon are heavily cratered and comprised of approximately equal amounts rock and ice, except Miranda, which is made primarily of ice.

Neptune, magnitude 7.7, and his 14 moons and ring in Pisces, is high in the south before the first light of dawn,

Neptune’s largest moon, Triton is unique among moons of planet sized mass in that its orbit is retrograde or backwards to Neptune’s rotation and inclined to Neptune’s equator, leading to the theory that he was gravitationally captured by Neptune.

He has a substantial atmosphere, primarily nitrogen and his surface is covered by nitrogen, methane, carbon dioxide and water ices.