Hi Everyone,

I hope this finds you safe and well.

Our hearts go out to those affected by the recent tornado outbreaks. These tragic events go to underscore the danger and vulnerability we all face from a tornado that season is far from over.

Seeing that the threat is real and ongoing, make sure you have a plan in place and a safe place in mind, both at home, school and at work should a tornado threaten you or your loved ones.

Pay attention to forecasts – possible tornado threats are usually forecast days in advance.

Pay attention Watches and Warnings – have multiple reliable ways to receive them wherever you
may be located.

Pay attention to the conditions around you – brief spin up tornados can occur between radar
scans or in areas of problematic radar coverage, either due to the distance from the radar, signal obstructions or atmospheric conditions affecting the radar returns.

Do understand that with the exception of the NWS, state and local authorities, and local news media, not everyone will give you good instructions as to what to do in an emergency and social media is perhaps one of the worst sources, as everyone is an “expert”.

Also, be aware of well-meaning misinformed people.

For example, I was talking to a friend who said that he was in a major department store when the tornado warning was issued. They made everyone get into the center of the store.

Similarly, when I worked for another major department store, their tornado action plan to take time to count down cash registers (which would probably be have blown away anyway) and also to put us in the center of the store, where the kitchen knives and forks sat waiting to be sailed into us by the wind.

In both cases they were actually putting people in one of the most vulnerable parts of the building. The center of the store, which is the weakest point of the building, for the roof is subject to collapse due to weight of the accumulated rain load, not to mention the winds tearing at the roof.

When I pointed out to my manager that this was not the best idea, I was confidently, if not smugly assured that “this is what our experts recommend”.

Another group of experts, namely the Storm Prediction Center recommends “In a shopping mall or large store: Do not panic. Watch for others. Move as quickly as possible to an interior bathroom, storage room or small enclosed area, away from windows.”

A small room, against an interior wall, or under a staircase is much safer than sheltering under
the center of a large freestanding roof.

 

My recommendation is that you learn for yourselves the proper precautions are and take the necessary steps for protecting the lives of you and your loved ones.

Heed the advice of learned authorities and reliable sources, as they know what is or may be about to happen and any overriding circumstances and conditions that may be present that may alter the usual recommended actions.

See: Tornado Safety (Online Tornado FAQ) (noaa.gov)

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Important Changes To The Amateur Radio Service

Perhaps you have heard of the recent FCC decision regarding the future of Amateur Radio.

If you have heard, I am sure that you are just as disturbed by this troubling news as I am.
But, just in case you have not heard this most distressing news, I will repeat their statement here in its entirety:

“In response to unrelenting complaints by the certain of the amateur community regarding the easing of amateur radio testing requirements, and to enable the continued education and certification processes needed to ensure that the national pool of amateur radio operators possess the technical and operational skills and knowledge necessary to provide effective communications during emergencies, effective September 31, 2021 the Federal Communications Commission will require all licensed amateurs to begin taking remedial examinations. To maintain current license class or to remain licensed, all US amateur radio operators must complete the reexamination process by September 31, 2022. Retesting will also be required for all license renewals and must be completed within one year prior to submitting the renewal application.

For further information, contact James X. Shorts, Assistant Liaison to the Deputy Chief of Public Relations for the FCC at (202) 555-1212 or jim.shorts@fcc.gov. For more news and information about the FCC, please visit www.fcc.gov“

I must admit that this has me troubled and perplexed.

I would be even more troubled and perplexed if it was actually true.

In other words….

APRIL FOOL!

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Tornado Terminology

During the recent outbreaks I found that there is still much confusion with the general public concerning tornado terminology, and you may find yourself having to explain the differences in meaning to others.

A TORNADO WATCH means “Weather conditions could lead to the formation of severe storms and tornadoes. BE PREDARED: Know your safe location. Be ready to act quickly if a Warning is issued or you suspect a tornado is approaching.”

A TORNADO WARNING means “A tornado has been spotted or indicated by weather radar, meaning a tornado is occurring or expected soon. TAKE ACTION: There is imminent danger to life and property. Immediately seek refuge in the safest location possible.”

A TORNADO EMERGENCY means “An exceedingly rare situation with a severe threat to human life and catastrophic damage due to a confirmed violent tornado. TAKE ACTION. There is imminent danger to life and property. Immediately seek refuge in the safest location possible”

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The Jefferson County ARES Net New Frequency

The Jefferson County ARES Net has made a major change as it will be operating on the Healthcare Community Amateur Radio Club – HCARC repeater system on 146.760 MHz – KK4BSK.

This change was made due to 76 having several advantages over the BARC 146.880 MHz repeater which had been in use, such as having a much wider footprint, multiple inputs, Echolink capability and the absence of the beacon interference which hampered weak signals from being heard.

While the 76 repeater will be the Primary ARES repeater, 88 will maintain a vital role as the secondary frequency and may be used as a tactical frequency for damage reports, flooding reports, logistical support and as the backup repeater should 76 become disabled.

Like 88, 76 has a minus 600 kHz offset.
The main repeater pl tone is 88.5 Hz
The Southwestern remote pl is 94.8 Hz
The Eastern remote pl is 114.8 Hz
The Western remote pl is 131.8 Hz

I suggest you program them all, that way if one remote goes down, you probably can hit another.
I also would program 146.760 simplex. That way if the repeater goes down, or you are unable to reach one of the remotes it may still be possible for someone to hear you after the repeater carrier drops. It’s an old emergency trick of the trade.

There are some things you can do to help make this transition easier. One is to check in to the ARES Net on Tuesday night at 8 PM. Two, if you are listening to 88 during an emergency and someone come on the repeater looking for the Net, advise them of the frequency change so they can find the Net. Thirdly, if they have emergency or priority traffic or storm reports and cannot reach 76, then take their report or traffic verbatim and relay it to the Net on 76.

I say verbatim so that details which may not seem important, but in fact are aren’t lost in the translation. If something, such as a location or name has an uncommon spelling, it should be spelled out and street / cross-street locations should be used to avoid confusion.

A special thanks is to be given to the Healthcare Community Amateur Radio Club HCARC for making this resource available.

The 146.76 repeater is a repeater of historical significance. It is one of the oldest, if not the oldest repeater in the Birmingham area. It was operated for decades by the H & H Repeater Organization run by Hop Hays, K4TQR and Henry Wingate, K4HAL. They donated the repeater to HCARC to help further their mission of providing emergency communications assistance to the Jefferson County Health Care Coalition -JCHCC and surrounding HCC’s using amateur radio during emergencies and for promoting, participating in, and providing emergency/disaster-based communications training.

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Generational Tornadoes

Every year the United States sees tornadoes and tornado outbreaks. The US leads the world in tornadoes and the southeast has the distinction of being the only place on the planet with two distinct tornado seasons, or perhaps a single season from November to April with two distinct peaks in the spring and fall.

Many factors must come together correctly for an outbreak to occur, but occasionally all the textbook ingredients of shear, moisture, temperatures, jet stream location and instability occur in a perfect combination. When this happens, you have a super outbreak. Because this happens usually once a generation, it is called a ”generational outbreak”

The earliest recorded tornado outbreak in the United States was the “Four-State Tornado Swarm” which occurred in New England on August 15, 1787, dropping at least 5 tornadoes. Whether the system that produced this outbreak was part of a larger system that may have dropped tornadoes in what would become the Southeastern US is impossible to tell, for this area was sparsely populated and there was virtually no communications with the region other than frontier dispatches, rumors, legends and tall tales.

As time progressed there are scattered reports of tornadoes in Alabama, but, no definite indications of outbreaks, though perhaps there are hints with the tornadoes of May 6, 1866 which struck Perry & Talladega Counties & the tornadoes of May 5, 1869 which struck Pickens, Tuscaloosa, and Talladega Counties. These occurring on the same day give hints of a broader organized event.

A larger outbreak occurred on November 22, 1874 affecting Greene, Shelby, Hale, Dallas. Colbert & Lauderdale Counties.

Pike, Chambers and Lee Counties were affected by tornadoes associated with the March 10 – 20 1875 Southeast Tornado Outbreak which dropped at least 19 tornadoes over the Southeast. The Chambers-Lee County tornado was posthumously rated as F4 and crossed the Chattahoochee River into Harris County Georgia. This tornado, which was possibly a multiple vortex tornado was the last “violent” tornado to strike Lee County until March 3, 2019.

Either due to much better reporting or the quirks of nature there seems to have been a serious uptick in activity in the 1880’s. Outbreaks occurred on March 27-28. 1882, affecting Dallas, Henry, Marengo, Pike, Butler, Washington, Madison, Lee and Barbour Counties and April 22-23, 1884 affecting Talladega, Jefferson, St. Clair, Randolph and Cherokee Counites all leading to 1884.

The first definitive “generational” tornado outbreak occurred on February 19-20, 1884 – the “Enigma Outbreak” – so called because the exact number of tornadoes and fatalities are unknown. There were at least 51 confirmed tornadoes and possibly over sixty during the 15-hour event.

The outbreak began during the late morning in Mississippi, preceded by severe thunderstorms in Louisiana. Shortly thereafter, the outbreak widened and intensified, progressing from Alabama to Virginia between noon and midnight with wave after wave of tornado families.

The Alabama outbreak consisted of the following tornadoes:

F2 – Lowndes County, MS & Pickens County from a storm originating in Columbus MS at 11:30 PM CST
F? – Pickens County at 12:00 PM CST
F2 – Coosa County at 12:30 PM CST

F4 – Jefferson & St. Clair Counties at 1:20 PM CST. This tornado produced over 13 deaths, the storm moved from Oxmoor, in what is now the Homewood area, Northeast through the Cahaba Valley. Most intense damage was in the industrial area of Leeds, where new, well-constructed homes were destroyed, some of them swept away along with their foundations

F4 – Talladega, Calhoun, Cherokee Counties & Floyd County GA at 2:30 PM CST. This tornado produced 10 deaths just north of Piedmont, 14 deaths in a school at Goshen, and additional deaths and severe damage in the Rock Run area. Large homes destroyed near Cave Spring, Georgia. Years later another F4 tornado, closely following the path of this one, would hit the Piedmont–Goshen area and killed 20 people at the Goshen United Methodist in Piedmont on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1994.

F2 – Talladega & Calhoun Counties at 2:45 CST
F? – Perry County, time Unknown
F? – Cullman & Marshall Counties at 8:00 PM

Just 3 three weeks later another “nongenerational” outbreak would drop 5 more tornadoes on Alabama.

After an active 1895 season, except for an active April of 1899, tornado occurrences flatten out until 1908.

On April 23, 1908 a “generational” outbreak began that would be called the “Dixie Tornado Outbreak” which is tied with the 2011 Super Outbreak for the fourth deadliest tornado outbreak killing 320 people. Though Alabama was struck by only 4 of the 29 tornadoes spawned, one was an F4 or a family of long track tornadoes that stayed on the ground for 105 miles for nearly an hour and a half from Walker & Jefferson County, though Blount, Marshall and Dekalb Counties killing 35 and injuring 188.

This was before satellites, radar or radios. In fact, in those days forecasters were forbidden to try to predict tornadoes or even use the word “tornado” “to avoid public panic.”

Muggy weather, green skies, a roar, and a “cyclone” tearing up everything and everyone was about as much warning as was available.

Things weren’t much improved when the next “generational” outbreak, the 1932 Deep South Tornado outbreak occurred March 21-22, 1932, producing at least 36 tornadoes which killed 330, including 15 tornadoes and 268 deaths in Alabama. Alabama withstood eight F4 tornadoes.

The next “generational” outbreak would be called the “Day of 100 Tornadoes” or the 1974 Super Outbreak of April 3 – 4, 1974, which killed 315, including 86 in Alabama, which endured 8 of the 148 tornadoes spawned. Of particular note was the F5 tornado that devastated the town of Guin. This was the longest-duration tornado recorded in the outbreak at one hour forty minutes, travelling 79 miles, and is considered to be one of the most violent tornadoes ever recorded.

The detestation was so complete in one six block area that NWS damage surveyor Bill Herman, remarked that “It was just like the ground had been swept clean. It was just as much of a total wipeout as you can have”. J.B. Elliot noted that the destruction was so complete, that even some of the foundations were “dislodged, and in some cases swept away.”

It is possible that more tornadoes occurred than are recorded in the official tally. What was then “state of the art” radar for that time was now available, but it was very limited in its capabilities as compare to today’s Dual Pol Radar.

The one radar site in Alabama was at Centerville. This was the old WSR57, which had a CRT like a sonar screen in old submarine movies. Someone had to watch the screen constantly when storms were possible to make sure nothing important was missed and the storms were tracked using grease pencils, and the forecasters had to manually turn a crank to adjust the radar’s scan elevation.

Tornadoes were suspected if a thunderstorm displayed a hook shaped configuration, hence the term “hook echo”. So, without todays velocity display analyzing the storm wind fields and correlation coefficient displays indicating lofted debris, there may have been tornadoes in remote locations that were missed. But the forecasters did an admirable job considering with what they had to work with.

April 25-28, 2011 would see the next and latest “generational” outbreak producing 360 tornadoes, peaking with 217 on April 27. 29 of Alabama’s 62 tornadoes occurred in central Alabama in two distinct waves.

With modern “wall to wall” TV coverage viewers watched with morbid fascination and fear as tornado after tornado were tracked and watched as Cullman, Tuscaloosa & Birmingham were struck on live television.

So, we have seen that “generational outbreaks” occurred in 1884, 1908, 1932, 1974 and 2011, or roughly every 32 years, plus or minus 9 years or so. So, when will the next Super Outbreak occur? Logically somewhere between 2034 – 2052 centering on the year 2043.

But that is all tea leaves and elf smoke. As March of 2021 has displayed “normal outbreaks”, for lack of a better word, can occur at any time from November through March. It was a “normal” outbreak that produced the F5 “Smithfield” tornado that struck Jefferson county April 4, 1977, one of seven tornadoes that day and the April 8, 1998 outbreak which produced five tornadoes including the F5 “Oak Grove Tornado”.

Tropical systems can also produce tornado outbreaks, such as Hurricane Rita, which produced 21 tornadoes on September 25, 2008, 10 of which struck Tuscaloosa County.

It only takes one tornado to rearrange your life forever, and Isolated tornadoes can occur at any time of the year, as the single F4 tornado which destroyed McDonald’s Chapel on of April 15, 1956 demonstrates.

So, as we enter another April. keep these examples in mind, don’t live in fear, but do keep your eyes to the skies and have a reliable source for forecasts, watches and warnings.

For sooner rather than later, the skies will grow angry again.

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Mark’s Almanac

The Romans called April “Aprilis”, probably from the word “aperire”, which means, “to open”. This time of year being when buds open. It was originally the second month of the Roman calendar, before Roman King Numa Pompilius added January & February in 700 BC.

Freezing weather comes to an end as Birmingham’s average last freeze is April 1, while Tuscaloosa’s is March 26. The record for the latest freeze date is April 21, 1953 for Tuscaloosa and April 23, 1986 for Birmingham.

Snowfall is still possible though, as April 3, 1987’s 5 inches proves. The latest trace of snow was April 25, 1910.

April is less wet than March & rain becomes more localized and less widespread in nature. The sun heats the lower atmosphere near the ground and since the upper atmosphere is still cold, the warm air rises, reaches the dew point line, forms clouds & then it may rain. April is the first time in the spring season that favors local convective activity, which is why you have “April Showers”.

North Atlantic Tropical activity remains at a minimum. From 1851 to 2020 there has never been a Hurricane and only two Tropical Storms – Ana in 2003 and Arlene in 2017 which affected only shipping.

April is peak tornado month, with wide scale outbreaks possible. There are 2 ½ times the number of tornadoes as in March. 25% of the year’s tornadoes will have occurred by April 28.

From April 1950 to 2020, 9499 tornadoes were reported causing, as of 2020, 1820 deaths and as of 2013, 29,090 injuries.

As of 2017, Oklahoma leads the nation in killer violent tornados, having had 64, followed by Iowa with 54, Texas with 53, Kansas with 48 and Alabama 44.

As of 2015, Alabama ranks fourth in the number of April tornadoes, following Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. They along with Illinois belong to the “over 400 club” having had over 400 tornadoes since 1950.

As of 2017 Alabama leads the nation in F5 & EF5 tornadoes, having had 9, followed by Oklahoma and Kansas with 8, and a two-way tie for third between Iowa and Texas with 6.

As of 2016 Alabama leads the nation in tornado deaths with 633, followed by Texas with 552 and Mississippi with 477.

The counties most likely to be struck by violent EF5 tornadoes are Lawrence, Limestone, Morgan, Madison and Marion, all of which have been struck three times.

Tuscaloosa has been stuck by four F4 & EF4 tornadoes including 1932, 1975, 2000 & 2011.

The suburbs of Birmingham, including Oak Grove, Pleasant Grove, McDonald Chapel and Smithfield have been struck by two F4 & EF4 tornadoes in 1956 & 2011 and by two F5 tornadoes in 1977 & 1998.

My Grandfather, who passed away in 1958, once said “someday a big tornado is going to go right up Jones Valley and tear everything up”.

Indeed, there is no logical or climatological reason why and an EF4 or EF5 tornado hasn’t struck or won’t strike the densely populated areas of Birmingham, including the high rises of downtown.

Whether it is due to “Divine Providence” or “random chance” otherwise known as “luck”, Birmingham has been spared.

When will that luck run out?

From 1950 to 2020 the top ten counties for tornadoes are:

Jefferson – 100
Mobile – 98
Baldwin – 97
Cullman – 92
Madison – 80
Tuscaloosa – 77
Marshall = 72
Limestone & Dekalb – 65
Walker – 57
Blount – 53

There is no basis to the myth that mountains can block tornadoes, and yet there is the strange coincidence that from the southern terminus of the Appalachian Mountains at Tannehill State Park in Tuscaloosa & Bibb Counties northeastward through Jefferson, Shelby, Blount, St. Clair, Marshall, Etowah, Dekalb and Cherokee Counties there are roughly twice as many tornadoes on the windward side of the Appalachian mountain range than on the leeward side.

 

bycounty2020.jpg (893×692) (weather.gov)

But, no matter where you might be reading this, always beware of the storms of April.

Days continue to grow longer as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon rapidly increases from 61.1 degrees at the beginning of the month to 71.3 degrees at the end. Daylight increases from 12 hours 32 minutes on April 1 to 13 hours 29 minutes on April 30.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

April 1 Sunrise 6:35 AM Sunset 7:08 PM
April 15 Sunrise 6:17 AM Sunset 7:18 PM
April 30 Sunrise 6:00 AM Sunset 7:29 PM

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Pisces.

At the beginning of the month Mercury, is hidden in the glare of the Sun.

He will pass behind the Sun or be in “Superior Conjunction” on April 18 and he will reach “Perihelion” or his closest distance to the Sun on April 26.

Venus is lost in the glare of the Sun.

Earth, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in the constellation Virgo

Mars, magnitude 1.2, in Taurus, will pass exceedingly close to the Moon, or be in “Occultation” on April 17, passing within 0.1°North of Moon at 6:09 AM CST. If you were in Asia, you would see Mars pass directly behind the Moon.

Total lunar occultations are only visible from a small fraction of the Earth’s surface. Since the Moon is much closer to the Earth than other celestial objects, its exact position in the sky differs depending on your exact location on Earth due to its large parallax. The position of the Moon as seen from two points on opposite sides of the Earth varies by up to two degrees, or four times the diameter of the full moon.

Also, since the Moon is passes along the ecliptic, the apparent track of the solar systems objects beyond Earth, from our perspective the Moon is in a southerly direction, if you were in the southern hemisphere you would look north and so the Moon would appear upside down as compare to our view.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude 9.0, is in Cetus.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.1, in Capricorn and Saturn, magnitude +0.8, in Capricorn, have been slowly emerging into the dawn. You can spot them low in the southeast about 50 or 40 minutes before sunrise. Saturn is the higher of the two, but it’s much dimmer. Look for Jupiter some 12° to Saturn’s lower left, roughly a fist at arm’s length.

Saturn has entered his version of September.

Uranus, magnitude 5.9, is in Aries, is disappearing into the glow of the Sun. On April 30 he will pass behind the Sun or be in “Conjunction”.

Neptune, is lost in the glare of the Sun.

Except for the Earth and Mars, all the major planets are on the opposite side of the solar system.

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

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

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon faintly shines at magnitude 17.2 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 18.8 in Cetus the Sea Monster

4367 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of March 15, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur April 4.

New Moon will occur on April 11 at 9:32 PM CST or 2:42 UTC on April 12. 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 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 Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on April 14, when she will be 252,351 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur April 20.

The Lyrid Meteor Shower which, runs annually from April 16 – 25, peaks on the evening of April 22 and morning of April 23. This is a minor shower, with only 12 to 24 meteors per hour. These meteors sometimes produce bright dust trails that last for several seconds.

This shower is produced by dust particles left behind by comet C/1861 G1 Thatcher, which was discovered in 1861.

The waxing gibbous Moon will block out all but the brightest 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 Lyra but can appear anywhere in the sky.

April’s Full Moon will occur on April 26 at 10:33 PM CST or 03:33 UTC April 27. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as “Worm Moon”. So called because the rains disturb the earthworms & they are seen wiggling around after the rains.

This moon has also been known as the Full Crow Moon, the Full Crust Moon, the Full Sap Moon, and the Lenten Moon.

This is also the first of three supermoons for 2021. The Moon will be near its closest approach to the Earth and may look slightly larger and brighter than usual.

The Moon will be at her closest distance from Earth or perigee at 222,060 miles on April 27.

Evenings in early April offer an excellent opportunity to view the zodiacal light. Zodiacal light is a faint, roughly triangular whitish glow seen in the night sky which appears to extend up from the vicinity of the sun along the ecliptical plane. It is caused by sunlight scattered by space dust in the orbital plane of the Earth.

From the Northern Hemisphere, early spring is the best time of year to observe this elusive glow after sunset. It appears slightly fainter than the Milky Way, so you’ll need a clear moonless sky and an observing site located far from the city. Look for the cone-shaped glow, which points nearly straight up from the western horizon, after the last vestiges of twilight have faded away.

This is the time of year when the dim Little Dipper – Ursa Minor – juts to the right from the North Star, Polaris, which is the end of the Little Dipper’s handle, during late evening. The much brighter Big Dipper curls over high above it, “dumping water” into it. They do the reverse in the fall.

Now that it’s spring, the signature fall-and-winter constellation Cassiopeia is retreating down after dark. But for mid-northern latitudes Cassiopeia is circumpolar, never going away completely. Look for it fairly low in the north-northwest these evenings. It’s standing nearly on end.

Cassiopeia appears to have a new 7.8 magnitude star. On March 18 Yuji Nakamura of Japan discovered Nova Cassiopeiae 2021, also known as V1405 Cassiopeiae.

How long this dying star, visible only in telescopes, will remain visible no one knows.

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This month’s meeting will be on April 13 at 7PM.

The meeting will be done remotely as was last month’s meeting. Details and instructions will be issued as the time nears.

I hope to see you there!

Mark Wells
WD4NYL & WRJE893
Editor
ALERT Newsletter
Wd4nyl@bellsouth.net

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

Hi Everyone,

The Birminghamfest is almost here, and I hope you can attend.

Due to the Covid-19 situation, this year’s Birminghamfest will be an outdoor tailgating event.

This will be held in one of the parking lots at the Trussville Civic Center on Saturday, March 6 from 8 AM to 2 PM.

There will be no admission charges, though donations to the BARC will be welcome.

You will need to bring your own tables and chairs and canopies as well as any food and drink. No electricity will be provided. Inside restrooms will be available.

For more information go to http://birminghamfest.org/

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Helpful Ham Hints From An Old Goat

Amateur Radio is an ever changing, ever evolving hobby. Change is normal and desirable if our hobby is to remain relevant and keep pace with 21st century needs, circumstances and technology

Changes are not always pain free nor welcome by all and as is the case in any area of life, there will always be those who have been involved in the hobby longer who will assure the newcomers that everything is now miserably mushy compared to “the good old days when we had to slog uphill through the snow during the August blizzards to take our tests, make our own vacuum tubes, wire and that WE had to prove that WE knew actually something, blah, blah and blah”.

Truth is we barely knew anything after studying for the tests and everything we learned we learn afterwards over the months and years. The test is merely the key that unlocks the door. What you do after entering is largely up to you. Some enter ham radio for one reason and gravitate toward other interests. Someone getting into the hobby “strictly for emergency communications” may eventually end up being the DX King of Kilowatt Alley on 20 meters. Or, those entering wanting to work the world may end up running the club repeaters and experimenting with new digital modes instead. It’s all good.

My fellow Old Goat hams oftimes moan and groan about the licensing procedures of today. But, what are prospective hams to do? They have to take the test that the FCC mandates TODAY, not the one it mandated in 1977. If you go to the examiner and say “give me a test from the 1970’s, when the REAL hams were passing REAL tests”, well, at the least it won’t work, and at the most security or the sheriff may escort you out.

While some of my fellow Old Goats gain some sort of glee by telling new hams that they know less than nothing, they seem to forget that day when they were new a new ham and some crusty old codger gave them the exact same left hand of fellowship that they are now giving, and that they really should be behaving on a higher plane and setting a better example.

One problem that has been expressed by both old and new hams is that with the current “one day ham cram and test” method is there is no mentoring or Elmering resources available for new hams. There is no one to lead newcomers in how or why things do and don’t work or how to effectively take advantage of the new opportunities of the new world they are entering.

Now, due to the consequence of Covid-19, online testing has been implemented. On online forums many of the new hams that have used this method, which is perfectly valid according to the FCC by the way, have never had any actual personal contact with an experienced ham radio operator. Every step has been done remotely. They have no examples to follow, just a test study guide. They want to learn, but, who will teach them?

So, we come to this month’s article. The following are hints, hopefully helpful, to give a little guidance to hams, new and old.

Let’s go back in time for a moment to the fall of 1977. A teenager named Mark was sitting in the radio room of a graying ham he had just met named Jim Bonner, K4UMD. We talked and I explained that I wanted to become a ham, and he explained how he would help me.

Jim showed me his equipment and began explaining the world of ham radio. The very first thing he said was “if you are going to be ham radio operator, you will need to have thick skin.”

One thing that new hams discover to their dismay is that ham operators are the same cross-section of humanity as you will find any other arena of life. You have nice hams, helpful hams and friendly inclusive hams. You also have grouchy hams that are having a bad day, crotchety hams that will tell you to get off their radio grass, a few nuts and a few vocal jerks, aka “Lids”. In other words, hams are just a regular sample of normal sorry humanity, warts, pickles and all.

Early in my 43 years of ham radio I quit the hobby four times. In each case it was due to some nitwit giving me the “treatment” on the air, and in each case my absence was not more than 24 hours in length, after Jims words would reverberate in the back of my mind “have thick skin,” and I reminded myself that psych evals are not part of the amateur radio licensing process. I quit quitting about 30 years ago when I decided that the opinions of the mentally infirmed carried little weight and realizing that jerks are equal opportunity offenders. Red, yellow, black and white, they are jerks to all in sight and that it was just my turn to be pummeled. And, that it could be worse, as some poor soul was married to the schlub.

It actually became funny – with a few occasional exceptions.

So to new hams I say: “Life has never claimed to be fair, so don’t be surprised if you run into a creep along the way.”

To older hams I say: “Don’t be that creep.”

So let’s begin by talking about operating procedures.

To initiate a contact on VHF or UHF normally an operator will not call CQ on a repeater as on HF, though on simplex a very brief CQ is considered acceptable.

On a repeater you simply give your call sign or using my call as an example, you can say “WD4NYL, anyone around?” If someone is listening and is free to talk, they will answer.

If you are calling a specific station, you give his or her call sign and then yours. “KZ4XYZ from WD4NYL. You around Bill?” Or, if you hear someone saying “KZ4XYZ listening”, just give your call sign and if he is still there he will answer. You do this in that order, not the other way around, by giving your call sign and then his. There is a station I hear occasionally calling a KF4 call and then giving a WD4### call. I know the gentleman with the WD4### call and it isn’t him. Is he bootlegging a call or does he just have the process confused and is calling bassackards? I don’t know, and since I am at work when I hear this, I can’t get on the air and ask.

At this point I will also mention that occasionally I hear people give their call sign and getting no response they make some snarky remarks as if it is a personal insult that no one will talk to them and they sign off in a huff.

Why were they unsuccessful?

It could be they are fishing in the wrong pond, or in the right one, but, at the wrong time.

Just because there is a repeater and just because you can hit that repeater it is absolutely no guarantee that you will ever contact someone. There are repeaters, especially on UHF that are some of the best deserted repeaters you will ever find. No one uses them. Haven’t for years, but, there they are, faithfully IDing away. This that always been the case, and as popular as the myth is, it is not a sign that “oh woe is us ham radio is dying” as some would joyfully have you to believe.

The most active repeaters in Jefferson County are 147.140 MHz and 146.880 MHz. In Shelby County it’s 146.980 MHz. The most active simplex frequencies are 146.520 MHz, 146.555 MHz and 146.580 MHz.

The most likely times to find stations to talk to are during the morning and evening drives to work and possible midday at lunch. This is simply because, with the exception of retirees, everyone is either at work or in school.

Also, know that where the Birmingham and Shelby county ham populations are by and large friendly, there are some cities, particularly those with warring ham clubs, where that may not be the case. It’s political, not personal. Just be forewarned.

Club repeaters and repeaters and frequencies where ARES, Skywarn and other Nets meet are usually good hunting grounds.

Now let’s talk HF.

Occasionally on HF I will hear “CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, from WD4NYL” and then resumes “CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, from WD4NYL”

The guy never contacts anyone, no matter how long he calls or frustrated he becomes. Why? Because the dummy won’t stifle himself long enough to give anyone a chance to answer, that’s why.

What should you do? The recommended procedure is call CQ 5 to 10 times, give your call sign twice and then LISTEN – carefully. I’ve had stations call me 30 seconds or more after I quit and frankly had given up. He was waiting to see if anyone else called and it took him a couple of seconds to switch some switches, tweak and tune. We had a very long enjoyable chew of the rag, which we never would have if I had tried the Woody The Woodpecker method of calling CQ endlessly as demonstrated above.
Now one difference between VHF and HF is the way you should call a station. On HF if you want to call a particular station ALWAYS give their call first and then yours. Don’t just give your call sign and assume he knows that you are calling him. He doesn’t know if you are calling him or if he is hearing the tail end of a contact that he didn’t realize was in progress.

What if you wish to call CQ? First call “QRZ is this frequency in use” or simply “is this frequency in use” and LISTEN for a couple of seconds and repeat. Then if you hear nothing blast away.

One thing I have always found interesting about HF is how many times a band will appear dead, yet the maritime, shortwave or aeronautical bands just above and below the band are crawling with activity. How can there be that one big dead spot? Simple, the band isn’t dead at all; just everyone assumes it is since they hear nothing. Start blasting some CQs and see if you can stir up attention.

Don’t be quick to give up either. You want to make yourself obnoxiously obvious so people can find you. To totally misquote survival teacher John “Lofty” Wiseman, who discussed dressing in bright colors so rescuers can find you, “you want to stick out like poop on a pool table.”

Here are some other hints, while I am preaching:

Sermon 1# – Learn the band.

If you are trying a new band, listen to the band for a while. Learn the band’s characteristics. What signals are usually there? When does it “open” and to what direction?

Learning these things will give you an edge DX wise by letting you know what to expect and when to expect it.

Are you on the right frequency? Try calling a net on the wrong repeater or the wrong day, both of which I have done and you quickly learn not to expect too much success.

Sermon 2# – Key the microphone and take a breath before you speak.

Stated somewhat weirdly, radio and repeaters can be thought of as a collection of valves, switches, relays and constrictors which control a flow of current, much like the flow of a river. All of these components take a certain amount of time to do their job of controlling the flow, force and direction of current. The more complicated the system becomes, the longer this time delay becomes.

A transmitting station has to determine the correct transmitting frequency, the proper power level, control the audio rate, insert the proper tones or subtones and switch from receive to transmit mode.

This takes time.

The receiving station has to determine the correct frequency, switch between transmit to receive, decode the tones or subtones to release the squelch, and activate the audio amplifiers that feed sound into the speakers and the speakers have to vibrate to produce the sound.

This too takes time.

If you go through a repeater or a linked system, the equipment has to do all of the above, at each stage of the link, adding yet more time delay.

The net result is, if you simply key the microphone and speak, you may not be allowing these systems enough time to activate and do their jobs, which will result in the first part of your transmission being clipped out.

Every radio has a certain amount of lag time. The amount of time will vary with each radio. Some models are faster, some slower and there is nothing you can do to speed up the process.

Thankfully the “workaround” to this problem is simple.

Just key the microphone, take a breath and then talk. This will allow enough time for the chain reaction to take place

At my place of work they never remember this. The company radio will blurb out “phfft…come in” and various departments have to call and say “who was that for?”

Learn by bad example, key & take a breath. It will work better that way.

Sermon 3# – Don’t “quick key”, but, leave a second or two pause between transmissions.

Someone may have an emergency and desperately need to access the repeater, and may not be able to wait all day until someone finally runs out of steam. You can actually be endangering someone’s life by being, as our CB brethren used to say, a “ratchet jaw” or “bucket mouth”.

Also, don’t assume that because there is a “courtesy tone” on a repeater that the repeater timer resets when the tone sounds. On some repeaters it does reset, on others it simple means the other station has stopped transmitting. If in doubt, let the carrier drop completely. This way you won’t “time out the repeater” and it automatically shut down.

Keeping transmissions reasonably short will help also.

Sermon 4# – Don’t monopolize conversations in a “roundtable” or group.

Let the other operators have a chance to join in the conversation. They may want to add something to the discussion also.

There are numerous times I have been in a group conversation and two of the eight stations start monopolizing everything, not letting a word in edgewise and after numerous times of trying to speak and no one letting me, I usually just give up and mosey on to other more interesting things and let them have their budding romance to themselves.

Sermon 5# – Learn how to politely break into a conversation.

Unless it is an emergency, don’t just interrupt a conversation, call some station, and then take over the frequency starting a new conversation.

Instead ask if you can make a call, make your call, and then either go to another frequency or arrange to talk to the person once the frequency is clear.

If you want to join the conversation, give your call sign in the break between transmissions, they SHOULD acknowledge you and let you join.

If you are one of the stations in the conversation and another station attempts to join in, DO NOT do as I recently heard on a repeater. A conversation was ongoing, another station gave his call sign and the two stations completely ignored him and five minutes later at the end of their contact when he called again one of the operators said “we heard you; we just wanted to finish our conversation.”
That not only was the epitome of rudeness and poor operating procedure, but, also potentially tragic, as the person breaking in could have had an emergency and by them not acknowledging him lifesaving help would have been delayed or denied.

As it is, the ham, who has been on the air many years, simply said “well, okay” and being a patient soul, ignored the slight and continued talking to him.

Sermon 6# – Make sure that your audio level is correct.

Some stations have audio so loud that it punctures your eardrums. Others are so faint that you have to turn the volume wide open and then a station with normal audio comes on and again you ears take a beating.

This is especially prevalent with users operating multiband radios, where the operator turns the audio up to get more power while using SSB and forgets to turn it back down for FM operations.

You might, when talking to two or more stations ask them what audio level sounds the best. Remember that this depends on both the volume of you voice and the way you hold your microphone.

This too will vary with each radio make and mode, and sometimes you have to experiment to get it right.

Sermon 7# – Avoid “CBisms”

Why don’t we step on some toes for a moment? 146.88 MHz isn’t the “Eighty Eight”, 146.555 MHz is not “The Triple Nickle”, you have a name not a “handle” or “a personal”, and please don’t “ten four” me.

On the other hand, I’m not going to jump on someone if they say 10-20 or 10-4. The gent may be the police officer who is driving behind me and debating whether my busted taillight is worth the trouble of a stop and a ticket or not.

Plus, I don’t get any sadistic satisfaction in being the Radio Police anyway. Whether that is a good attitude to have or a bad one, I don’t know. It does help prevent ulcers though.

Sermon 8# – Use “standard ITU phonetics”.

Net control stations become trained to quickly recognize ITU phonetics. Let someone “get cute” by saying “this is Witch Doctor Four Nice Yeller Lemons” and it will completely derail the net control’s thought processes and bring the flow of net operations to a screeching halt, forcing the net control to stop and to get the guy to repeat his call the right way.

Some nets will not acknowledge you if you don’t adhere to the standard phonetics.

Sermon 9# – Avoid “Old Goat-isms”.

I remember back in 1980 when some old soak “gave me the treatment” for having passed the Extra exam, 20 WPM code and all. “Why, when I took my test back in 1962 you had to build a radio, smelt the wire, mine the ore, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

I remember thinking “Yeah, but they’ve invented dirt since then, you old goat”.

I was very discouraged. Was this what I had studied so hard for? Then I looked up his call and he had a “Conditional Class” license, which was the equivalent of a General Class, but, given by a volunteer examiner. Then I was steaming mad and wanted to find him again and ask if indeed “any idiot could pass todays tests” and he did could not upgrade, what did that make him?

I never hear him again and he passed away a few months after.

To our new hams just know that every one of us has “gotten the treatment”, at one time or the other. So if someone calls you a “No Code Digital Weather Wacko” don’t worry about it. It just goes with the territory.

To the older hams I say, whether you agree with the current testing methods or not, make new hams “feel at home”. Let them know that they “belong”. Remember that YOU were a “brand new” ham once yourself.

If they make a mistake or two, just remember when YOU did (and still do) a masterful job of messing up every now and then and just smile and help them.

Maybe someday they will help you also.

Sermon 10# – Avoid “Young Squirt-isms”.

This is a “trial and error” hobby. Some of us Old Goats do know a thing or two, based on past experience, successes and failures. Some folk can gently point things out that need pointing out, some are just gruff and irritating but still completely right.

I remember getting hacked off when someone nastily said my audio “sucked pond bottom”, then after I got over my mad spell, I checked things out and found that the sorry old coot was right.

Also, there is an old saying “sell the sizzle, not the steak”. Just because something is advertised with flashy pictures, supposed rave reviews and is touted as “the newest cutting edge technology”, it doesn’t mean they are telling the truth.

That antenna may look like it was designed for Moonbase Alpha, but, the truth is that Old Goat telling you to put up an antenna designed for World War I zeppelins instead may be giving you good advice.

That’s why it’s good to have a mentor.

These are just a few things we can work on. Just as we have to “tweak” a knob every now and then to make a radio operate better, we need to tweak ourselves every now and then also, so we will become better operators.

Then we can, as the preacher in the old country church once said, teach our “brethren and cistern” also.

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Mark’s Almanac

Originally called Martius, March is the third month & first month of the Roman calendar. March is named for Mars, the god of war, and was the start of the military campaign season.

The beginning of “Meteorological Spring”, which is based on changes in temperature and precipitation, not the solar angle, is March 1

March is a wet month. Most floods occur in March and rainfall averages around 6 inches.
Tornadic activity sharply increases in March with there being an increase of 2.2 times the number of tornadoes over the February amount. The focal point for this tornadic activity is the Gulf States.

March is the hail maximum for the Deep South. This is due both to the number of thunderstorms & due to the freezing level still being near the surface. This allows hail to form at lower altitudes and reach the ground intact, as opposed to summer months, when the freezing level is higher and near surface level temperatures are higher melting the hail into liquid before impact.

North Atlantic Tropical activity remains at a minimum. From 1851 to 2020 there has been only one Hurricane to occur. A 100 MPH unnamed Hurricane which affected the Lesser Antilles in March 6- 9, 1908. Some sources also cite a pre-Civil War Tropical Storm also occurring, but others do not.

South Atlantic Tropical activity doesn’t have a sharp peak as the North Atlantic season does in September, however currently March has a thin lead in activity, as from 1957 – 2019 there have been 11 identified Tropical Systems, including the only known South Atlantic Hurricane – Hurricane Catarina which struck Brazil March 28, 2004.

Brazilian authorities at first were unwilling to admit that Catarina was a hurricane, for up until that time is was considered impossible for the South Atlantic to generate a tropical system, due to wind shear, cold sea surface temperatures and the lack of storm systems from which a storm could develop. With extensive damage from an impossible storm looking at them, they finally reluctantly agreed that maybe NOAA’s opinion was right.

Meanwhile, back in Alabama…

Killing frosts are gone and the last average frost is on March 16.

March is a snow month for Alabama & there is a 45% chance of snow up to one inch, and an 8% chance of one inch or more.

The good news is that there is hope on the horizon as Spring will arrive at Vernal Equinox on March 20 at 9:37 UTC or 4:37 AM CDT.

The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of fall, or Autumnal Equinox, in the Southern Hemisphere.

Remember to get the eggs out, as it is said that you can stand eggs on their ends at the hour of equinox.

You might also think about the Aurora, for Auroras love equinoxes. At this time of year, the interplanetary magnetic field or IMF can link up with Earth’s magnetic field, prying open cracks. Solar wind then pours in to fuel displays of the aurora borealis with no geomagnetic storm required. Researchers call this the Russell-McPherron Effect, named after the physicists who first described it in the 1970s

If you do see them be cautioned though, for among some northern Native American tribes it is said that as you are looking at the northern lights do not wave sing or whistle at them. Alerted to your presence the spirits of the lights will come down and take you away.

This month sees the return of Ruby Throated Humming Birds and the Giant Yellow Sulfur Butterflies that migrated south during the Fall.

Days grow longer as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon rapidly increases from 49.0 degrees at the beginning of the month to 60.7 degrees at the end. Daylight increases from 11 hours 28 minutes on March 1 to 12 hours 30 minutes on March 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

March 1 Sunrise 6:16 AM Sunset 5:44 PM
March 15 Sunrise 6:58 AM Sunset 6:55 PM
March 31 Sunrise 6:36 AM Sunset 7:07 PM *Daylight Savings Time

Why the sunrise is later midmonth as opposed to the first and the last of the month is due to a combination of the quirks in the Earth’s orbit, it’s axial tilt and it being near equinox affecting the length of day based on sunlight as opposed to the measurement of time based on the Earth’s rotation.

Daylight Savings Time begins at 2 AM on March 14. So remember to “spring forward” one hour. This, of course means I will lose one hour of “beauty sleep”, which is something I desperately need.

I don’t particularly care for Daylight Savings Time. I share the same opinion I found on the “Republic Of Lakotah” website:

When told the reason for daylight saving time the old Native American said…
“Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket.”

Saint Patrick’s Day is Tuesday March 17, and you better participate by wearing a Touch O’ The Green or you will be plagued by leprechauns and gnomes. Not a pleasant experience, I can assure you.

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Aquarius.

At the beginning of the month Mercury, magnitude 0.5 in Capricorn, is very low in the bright dawn and is fading rapidly.

On March 2 Mercury will be at “dichotomy” or half phase and on March 5 he will pass within 0.6 degrees of giant Jupiter, who is eight times as bright.

On March 6 will reach his highest point in the sky or Greatest Western Elongation, when he will be 27.3 degrees 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.

He will reach his furthest distance from the Sun, or Aphelion on March 13, when he will be 43.4 million miles from our parent star.

Venus, magnitude –3.9 in Capricorn, is hidden in the glare of the Sun.

On March 26 she will pass behind the Sun, or be in “Superior Conjunction”.

Earth, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in the constellation Aquarius.

Mars, magnitude +0.8, in Taurus, will be near the Pleiades Star Cluster on March 4th, and will lie between the Pleiades and Hyades Star Cluster, which makes up the head of Taurus The Bull, on March 5 high in the west in early evening.

Upper left of Mars shines Aldebaran, which appears to be essentially the twin of Mars in brightness and color. It is a good chance to demonstrate the truism that “stars twinkle, planets don’t”.

In a telescope Mars, which is currently being invaded by human space probes, is a tiny bright blob.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude 9.3, is in Aquarius.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.0 and Saturn, magnitude 1.4, in Capricorn are very low in bright dawn, but rising a little higher and becoming less difficult to see each morning. Look very low in the east-southeast about 30 minutes before sunrise and plan to use binoculars.

Uranus, magnitude 5.8, in southwestern Aries, is far below Mars in early evening.

Neptune, magnitude 8.0 in Aquarius, is lost in the western evening twilight and will pass behind the Sun on March 10.

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

Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, its ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint magnitude of 17.3 in Bootes.

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon faintly shines at magnitude 17.2 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 18.8 in Cetus the Sea Monster

4352 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of February 8, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

The Moon will be at Perigee or her closest approach to Earth on March 1, when she will be 227,063 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur March 5.

New Moon will occur on March 13 at 4:23 AM CDT or 10:23 UTC. 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 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 Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on March 17, when she will be 251,812 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur March 21.

March’s Full Moon will occur on March 28 at 12:49 CST or 18:49 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as “Worm Moon”. So called because the rains disturb the earthworms & they are seen wiggling around after the rains.

This moon has also been known as the Full Crow Moon, the Full Crust Moon, the Full Sap Moon, and the Lenten Moon.

The Moon will be at her closest distance from Earth or perigee at 223,887 miles on March 30.

Celestial carnivores are emerging from hibernation. After dinnertime at this time of year, five carnivore constellations are rising upright in a ragged row from the northeast to south. They’re all seen in profile with their noses pointed up and their feet (if any) to the right. These are The Great Bear, Ursa Major in the northeast, with the Big Dipper as its brightest part, Leo the Lion in the east, Hydra the Sea Serpent in the southeast, The Lesser Dog, Canis Minor higher in the south-southeast, and The Greater Dog, bright Canis Major in the south.

Sirius, shining at magnitude −1.46, the brightest night time star, blazes high in the south on the meridian, in Canis Major by about 8 or 9 p.m. Using binoculars, you will find a fuzzy spot 4 degrees south of Sirius, directly below it when the constellation is directly South. Four degrees is somewhat less than the width of a typical binocular’s field of view.

That dim little patch of gray haze is open star cluster Messier 41, a small gravitationally bound group of 100 stars about 2,200 light-years away, and moving away from us at 869 miles per second. Sirius, by comparison, is only 8.6 light-years away.

Canopus, shining at magnitude -0.72, making it the second-brightest star after Sirius, lies 36° almost due south of Sirius. That’s far enough south that it never appears above the horizon if you are above latitude 37° N, such as southern Virginia, southern Missouri and central California. Luckily we lie south of that latitude, with our horizon lying, in the case of Central Alabama, around latitude 33°.

Canopus is located in the southern constellation Carina, The Keel, part of the defunct constellation Argo Navis, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts who searched for the Golden Fleece.

The constellation of Argo was introduced in ancient Greece. However, due to the massive size of Argo Navis and the sheer number of stars that required separate designation, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided Argo into three sections in 1763, including Carina, the Hull or Keel, Puppis, the Poop Deck, and Vela the Sails.

In the 19th century, these three became established as separate constellations, and were formally included in the list of 88 modern IAU constellations in 1930.

Canopus, 313 light years away, crosses low above the horizon, due south just 21 minutes before Sirius and is worthy of a peak.

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This month’s meeting will be on March 9 at 7PM.

The meeting will be done remotely as was last month’s meeting. Details and instructions will be issued as the time nears.

I hope to see you there!

Mark Wells
WD4NYL & WRJE893
Editor
ALERT Newsletter
Wd4nyl@bellsouth.net

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

Hi Everyone,

The Birminghamfest is almost here, and I hope you can attend.

Due to the Covid-19 situation, this year’s Birminghamfest will be an outdoor tailgating event.

This will be held in one of the parking lots at the Trussville Civic Center on Saturday, March 6 from 8 AM to 2 PM.

There will be no admission charges, though donations to the BARC will be welcome.

You will need to bring your own tables and chairs and canopies as well as any food and drink. No electricity will be provided. Inside restrooms will be available.

For more information go to http://birminghamfest.org/

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Helpful Ham Hints From An Old Goat

Amateur Radio is an ever changing, ever evolving hobby. Change is normal and desirable if our hobby is to remain relevant and keep pace with 21st century needs, circumstances and technology

Changes are not always pain free nor welcome by all and as is the case in any area of life, there will always be those who have been involved in the hobby longer who will assure the newcomers that everything is now miserably mushy compared to “the good old days when we had to slog uphill through the snow during the August blizzards to take our tests, make our own vacuum tubes, wire and that WE had to prove that WE knew actually something, blah, blah and blah”.

Truth is we barely knew anything after studying for the tests and everything we learned we learn afterwards over the months and years. The test is merely the key that unlocks the door. What you do after entering is largely up to you. Some enter ham radio for one reason and gravitate toward other interests. Someone getting into the hobby “strictly for emergency communications” may eventually end up being the DX King of Kilowatt Alley on 20 meters. Or, those entering wanting to work the world may end up running the club repeaters and experimenting with new digital modes instead. It’s all good.

My fellow Old Goat hams oftimes moan and groan about the licensing procedures of today. But, what are prospective hams to do? They have to take the test that the FCC mandates TODAY, not the one it mandated in 1977. If you go to the examiner and say “give me a test from the 1970’s, when the REAL hams were passing REAL tests”, well, at the least it won’t work, and at the most security or the sheriff may escort you out.

While some of my fellow Old Goats gain some sort of glee by telling new hams that they know less than nothing, they seem to forget that day when they were new a new ham and some crusty old codger gave them the exact same left hand of fellowship that they are now giving, and that they really should be behaving on a higher plane and setting a better example.

One problem that has been expressed by both old and new hams is that with the current “one day ham cram and test” method is there is no mentoring or Elmering resources available for new hams. There is no one to lead newcomers in how or why things do and don’t work or how to effectively take advantage of the new opportunities of the new world they are entering.

Now, due to the consequence of Covid-19, online testing has been implemented. On online forums many of the new hams that have used this method, which is perfectly valid according to the FCC by the way, have never had any actual personal contact with an experienced ham radio operator. Every step has been done remotely. They have no examples to follow, just a test study guide. They want to learn, but, who will teach them?

So, we come to this month’s article. The following are hints, hopefully helpful, to give a little guidance to hams, new and old.

Let’s go back in time for a moment to the fall of 1977. A teenager named Mark was sitting in the radio room of a graying ham he had just met named Jim Bonner, K4UMD. We talked and I explained that I wanted to become a ham, and he explained how he would help me.

Jim showed me his equipment and began explaining the world of ham radio. The very first thing he said was “if you are going to be ham radio operator, you will need to have thick skin.”

One thing that new hams discover to their dismay is that ham operators are the same cross-section of humanity as you will find any other arena of life. You have nice hams, helpful hams and friendly inclusive hams. You also have grouchy hams that are having a bad day, crotchety hams that will tell you to get off their radio grass, a few nuts and a few vocal jerks, aka “Lids”. In other words, hams are just a regular sample of normal sorry humanity, warts, pickles and all.

Early in my 43 years of ham radio I quit the hobby four times. In each case it was due to some nitwit giving me the “treatment” on the air, and in each case my absence was not more than 24 hours in length, after Jims words would reverberate in the back of my mind “have thick skin,” and I reminded myself that psych evals are not part of the amateur radio licensing process. I quit quitting about 30 years ago when I decided that the opinions of the mentally infirmed carried little weight and realizing that jerks are equal opportunity offenders. Red, yellow, black and white, they are jerks to all in sight and that it was just my turn to be pummeled. And, that it could be worse, as some poor soul was married to the schlub.

It actually became funny – with a few occasional exceptions.

So to new hams I say: “Life has never claimed to be fair, so don’t be surprised if you run into a creep along the way.”

To older hams I say: “Don’t be that creep.”

So let’s begin by talking about operating procedures.

To initiate a contact on VHF or UHF normally an operator will not call CQ on a repeater as on HF, though on simplex a very brief CQ is considered acceptable.

On a repeater you simply give your call sign or using my call as an example, you can say “WD4NYL, anyone around?” If someone is listening and is free to talk, they will answer.

If you are calling a specific station, you give his or her call sign and then yours. “KZ4XYZ from WD4NYL. You around Bill?” Or, if you hear someone saying “KZ4XYZ listening”, just give your call sign and if he is still there he will answer. You do this in that order, not the other way around, by giving your call sign and then his. There is a station I hear occasionally calling a KF4 call and then giving a WD4### call. I know the gentleman with the WD4### call and it isn’t him. Is he bootlegging a call or does he just have the process confused and is calling bassackards? I don’t know, and since I am at work when I hear this, I can’t get on the air and ask.

At this point I will also mention that occasionally I hear people give their call sign and getting no response they make some snarky remarks as if it is a personal insult that no one will talk to them and they sign off in a huff.

Why were they unsuccessful?

It could be they are fishing in the wrong pond, or in the right one, but, at the wrong time.

Just because there is a repeater and just because you can hit that repeater it is absolutely no guarantee that you will ever contact someone. There are repeaters, especially on UHF that are some of the best deserted repeaters you will ever find. No one uses them. Haven’t for years, but, there they are, faithfully IDing away. This that always been the case, and as popular as the myth is, it is not a sign that “oh woe is us ham radio is dying” as some would joyfully have you to believe.

The most active repeaters in Jefferson County are 147.140 MHz and 146.880 MHz. In Shelby County it’s 146.980 MHz. The most active simplex frequencies are 146.520 MHz, 146.555 MHz and 146.580 MHz.

The most likely times to find stations to talk to are during the morning and evening drives to work and possible midday at lunch. This is simply because, with the exception of retirees, everyone is either at work or in school.

Also, know that where the Birmingham and Shelby county ham populations are by and large friendly, there are some cities, particularly those with warring ham clubs, where that may not be the case. It’s political, not personal. Just be forewarned.

Club repeaters and repeaters and frequencies where ARES, Skywarn and other Nets meet are usually good hunting grounds.

Now let’s talk HF.

Occasionally on HF I will hear “CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, from WD4NYL” <he waits ¼ of a second> and then resumes “CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, CQ, from WD4NYL”

The guy never contacts anyone, no matter how long he calls or frustrated he becomes. Why? Because the dummy won’t stifle himself long enough to give anyone a chance to answer, that’s why.

What should you do? The recommended procedure is call CQ 5 to 10 times, give your call sign twice and then LISTEN – carefully. I’ve had stations call me 30 seconds or more after I quit and frankly had given up. He was waiting to see if anyone else called and it took him a couple of seconds to switch some switches, tweak and tune. We had a very long enjoyable chew of the rag, which we never would have if I had tried the Woody The Woodpecker method of calling CQ endlessly as demonstrated above.
Now one difference between VHF and HF is the way you should call a station. On HF if you want to call a particular station ALWAYS give their call first and then yours. Don’t just give your call sign and assume he knows that you are calling him. He doesn’t know if you are calling him or if he is hearing the tail end of a contact that he didn’t realize was in progress.

What if you wish to call CQ? First call “QRZ is this frequency in use” or simply “is this frequency in use” and LISTEN for a couple of seconds and repeat. Then if you hear nothing blast away.

One thing I have always found interesting about HF is how many times a band will appear dead, yet the maritime, shortwave or aeronautical bands just above and below the band are crawling with activity. How can there be that one big dead spot? Simple, the band isn’t dead at all; just everyone assumes it is since they hear nothing. Start blasting some CQs and see if you can stir up attention.

Don’t be quick to give up either. You want to make yourself obnoxiously obvious so people can find you. To totally misquote survival teacher John “Lofty” Wiseman, who discussed dressing in bright colors so rescuers can find you, “you want to stick out like poop on a pool table.”

Here are some other hints, while I am preaching:

Sermon 1# – Learn the band.

If you are trying a new band, listen to the band for a while. Learn the band’s characteristics. What signals are usually there? When does it “open” and to what direction?

Learning these things will give you an edge DX wise by letting you know what to expect and when to expect it.

Are you on the right frequency? Try calling a net on the wrong repeater or the wrong day, both of which I have done and you quickly learn not to expect too much success.

Sermon 2# – Key the microphone and take a breath before you speak.

Stated somewhat weirdly, radio and repeaters can be thought of as a collection of valves, switches, relays and constrictors which control a flow of current, much like the flow of a river. All of these components take a certain amount of time to do their job of controlling the flow, force and direction of current. The more complicated the system becomes, the longer this time delay becomes.

A transmitting station has to determine the correct transmitting frequency, the proper power level, control the audio rate, insert the proper tones or subtones and switch from receive to transmit mode.

This takes time.

The receiving station has to determine the correct frequency, switch between transmit to receive, decode the tones or subtones to release the squelch, and activate the audio amplifiers that feed sound into the speakers and the speakers have to vibrate to produce the sound.

This too takes time.

If you go through a repeater or a linked system, the equipment has to do all of the above, at each stage of the link, adding yet more time delay.

The net result is, if you simply key the microphone and speak, you may not be allowing these systems enough time to activate and do their jobs, which will result in the first part of your transmission being clipped out.

Every radio has a certain amount of lag time. The amount of time will vary with each radio. Some models are faster, some slower and there is nothing you can do to speed up the process.

Thankfully the “workaround” to this problem is simple.

Just key the microphone, take a breath and then talk. This will allow enough time for the chain reaction to take place

At my place of work they never remember this. The company radio will blurb out “phfft…come in” and various departments have to call and say “who was that for?”

Learn by bad example, key & take a breath. It will work better that way.

Sermon 3# – Don’t “quick key”, but, leave a second or two pause between transmissions.

Someone may have an emergency and desperately need to access the repeater, and may not be able to wait all day until someone finally runs out of steam. You can actually be endangering someone’s life by being, as our CB brethren used to say, a “ratchet jaw” or “bucket mouth”.

Also, don’t assume that because there is a “courtesy tone” on a repeater that the repeater timer resets when the tone sounds. On some repeaters it does reset, on others it simple means the other station has stopped transmitting. If in doubt, let the carrier drop completely. This way you won’t “time out the repeater” and it automatically shut down.

Keeping transmissions reasonably short will help also.

Sermon 4# – Don’t monopolize conversations in a “roundtable” or group.

Let the other operators have a chance to join in the conversation. They may want to add something to the discussion also.

There are numerous times I have been in a group conversation and two of the eight stations start monopolizing everything, not letting a word in edgewise and after numerous times of trying to speak and no one letting me, I usually just give up and mosey on to other more interesting things and let them have their budding romance to themselves.

Sermon 5# – Learn how to politely break into a conversation.

Unless it is an emergency, don’t just interrupt a conversation, call some station, and then take over the frequency starting a new conversation.

Instead ask if you can make a call, make your call, and then either go to another frequency or arrange to talk to the person once the frequency is clear.

If you want to join the conversation, give your call sign in the break between transmissions, they SHOULD acknowledge you and let you join.

If you are one of the stations in the conversation and another station attempts to join in, DO NOT do as I recently heard on a repeater. A conversation was ongoing, another station gave his call sign and the two stations completely ignored him and five minutes later at the end of their contact when he called again one of the operators said “we heard you; we just wanted to finish our conversation.”
That not only was the epitome of rudeness and poor operating procedure, but, also potentially tragic, as the person breaking in could have had an emergency and by them not acknowledging him lifesaving help would have been delayed or denied.

As it is, the ham, who has been on the air many years, simply said “well, okay” and being a patient soul, ignored the slight and continued talking to him.

Sermon 6# – Make sure that your audio level is correct.

Some stations have audio so loud that it punctures your eardrums. Others are so faint that you have to turn the volume wide open and then a station with normal audio comes on and again you ears take a beating.

This is especially prevalent with users operating multiband radios, where the operator turns the audio up to get more power while using SSB and forgets to turn it back down for FM operations.

You might, when talking to two or more stations ask them what audio level sounds the best. Remember that this depends on both the volume of you voice and the way you hold your microphone.

This too will vary with each radio make and mode, and sometimes you have to experiment to get it right.

Sermon 7# – Avoid “CBisms”

Why don’t we step on some toes for a moment? 146.88 MHz isn’t the “Eighty Eight”, 146.555 MHz is not “The Triple Nickle”, you have a name not a “handle” or “a personal”, and please don’t “ten four” me.

On the other hand, I’m not going to jump on someone if they say 10-20 or 10-4. The gent may be the police officer who is driving behind me and debating whether my busted taillight is worth the trouble of a stop and a ticket or not.

Plus, I don’t get any sadistic satisfaction in being the Radio Police anyway. Whether that is a good attitude to have or a bad one, I don’t know. It does help prevent ulcers though.

Sermon 8# – Use “standard ITU phonetics”.

Net control stations become trained to quickly recognize ITU phonetics. Let someone “get cute” by saying “this is Witch Doctor Four Nice Yeller Lemons” and it will completely derail the net control’s thought processes and bring the flow of net operations to a screeching halt, forcing the net control to stop and to get the guy to repeat his call the right way.

Some nets will not acknowledge you if you don’t adhere to the standard phonetics.

Sermon 9# – Avoid “Old Goat-isms”.

I remember back in 1980 when some old soak “gave me the treatment” for having passed the Extra exam, 20 WPM code and all. “Why, when I took my test back in 1962 you had to build a radio, smelt the wire, mine the ore, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

I remember thinking “Yeah, but they’ve invented dirt since then, you old goat”.

I was very discouraged. Was this what I had studied so hard for? Then I looked up his call and he had a “Conditional Class” license, which was the equivalent of a General Class, but, given by a volunteer examiner. Then I was steaming mad and wanted to find him again and ask if indeed “any idiot could pass todays tests” and he did could not upgrade, what did that make him?

I never hear him again and he passed away a few months after.

To our new hams just know that every one of us has “gotten the treatment”, at one time or the other. So if someone calls you a “No Code Digital Weather Wacko” don’t worry about it. It just goes with the territory.

To the older hams I say, whether you agree with the current testing methods or not, make new hams “feel at home”. Let them know that they “belong”. Remember that YOU were a “brand new” ham once yourself.

If they make a mistake or two, just remember when YOU did (and still do) a masterful job of messing up every now and then and just smile and help them.

Maybe someday they will help you also.

Sermon 10# – Avoid “Young Squirt-isms”.

This is a “trial and error” hobby. Some of us Old Goats do know a thing or two, based on past experience, successes and failures. Some folk can gently point things out that need pointing out, some are just gruff and irritating but still completely right.

I remember getting hacked off when someone nastily said my audio “sucked pond bottom”, then after I got over my mad spell, I checked things out and found that the sorry old coot was right.

Also, there is an old saying “sell the sizzle, not the steak”. Just because something is advertised with flashy pictures, supposed rave reviews and is touted as “the newest cutting edge technology”, it doesn’t mean they are telling the truth.

That antenna may look like it was designed for Moonbase Alpha, but, the truth is that Old Goat telling you to put up an antenna designed for World War I zeppelins instead may be giving you good advice.

That’s why it’s good to have a mentor.

These are just a few things we can work on. Just as we have to “tweak” a knob every now and then to make a radio operate better, we need to tweak ourselves every now and then also, so we will become better operators.

Then we can, as the preacher in the old country church once said, teach our “brethren and cistern” also.

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Mark’s Almanac

Originally called Martius, March is the third month & first month of the Roman calendar. March is named for Mars, the god of war, and was the start of the military campaign season.

The beginning of “Meteorological Spring”, which is based on changes in temperature and precipitation, not the solar angle, is March 1

March is a wet month. Most floods occur in March and rainfall averages around 6 inches.
Tornadic activity sharply increases in March with there being an increase of 2.2 times the number of tornadoes over the February amount. The focal point for this tornadic activity is the Gulf States.

March is the hail maximum for the Deep South. This is due both to the number of thunderstorms & due to the freezing level still being near the surface. This allows hail to form at lower altitudes and reach the ground intact, as opposed to summer months, when the freezing level is higher and near surface level temperatures are higher melting the hail into liquid before impact.

North Atlantic Tropical activity remains at a minimum. From 1851 to 2020 there has been only one Hurricane to occur. A 100 MPH unnamed Hurricane which affected the Lesser Antilles in March 6- 9, 1908. Some sources also cite a pre-Civil War Tropical Storm also occurring, but others do not.

South Atlantic Tropical activity doesn’t have a sharp peak as the North Atlantic season does in September, however currently March has a thin lead in activity, as from 1957 – 2019 there have been 11 identified Tropical Systems, including the only known South Atlantic Hurricane – Hurricane Catarina which struck Brazil March 28, 2004.

Brazilian authorities at first were unwilling to admit that Catarina was a hurricane, for up until that time is was considered impossible for the South Atlantic to generate a tropical system, due to wind shear, cold sea surface temperatures and the lack of storm systems from which a storm could develop. With extensive damage from an impossible storm looking at them, they finally reluctantly agreed that maybe NOAA’s opinion was right.

Meanwhile, back in Alabama…

Killing frosts are gone and the last average frost is on March 16.

March is a snow month for Alabama & there is a 45% chance of snow up to one inch, and an 8% chance of one inch or more.

The good news is that there is hope on the horizon as Spring will arrive at Vernal Equinox on March 20 at 9:37 UTC or 4:37 AM CDT.

The Sun will shine directly on the equator and there will be nearly equal amounts of day and night throughout the world. This is also the first day of fall, or Autumnal Equinox, in the Southern Hemisphere.

Remember to get the eggs out, as it is said that you can stand eggs on their ends at the hour of equinox.

You might also think about the Aurora, for Auroras love equinoxes. At this time of year, the interplanetary magnetic field or IMF can link up with Earth’s magnetic field, prying open cracks. Solar wind then pours in to fuel displays of the aurora borealis with no geomagnetic storm required. Researchers call this the Russell-McPherron Effect, named after the physicists who first described it in the 1970s

If you do see them be cautioned though, for among some northern Native American tribes it is said that as you are looking at the northern lights do not wave sing or whistle at them. Alerted to your presence the spirits of the lights will come down and take you away.

This month sees the return of Ruby Throated Humming Birds and the Giant Yellow Sulfur Butterflies that migrated south during the Fall.

Days grow longer as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon rapidly increases from 49.0 degrees at the beginning of the month to 60.7 degrees at the end. Daylight increases from 11 hours 28 minutes on March 1 to 12 hours 30 minutes on March 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

March 1 Sunrise 6:16 AM Sunset 5:44 PM
March 15 Sunrise 6:58 AM Sunset 6:55 PM
March 31 Sunrise 6:36 AM Sunset 7:07 PM *Daylight Savings Time

Why the sunrise is later midmonth as opposed to the first and the last of the month is due to a combination of the quirks in the Earth’s orbit, it’s axial tilt and it being near equinox affecting the length of day based on sunlight as opposed to the measurement of time based on the Earth’s rotation.

Daylight Savings Time begins at 2 AM on March 14. So remember to “spring forward” one hour. This, of course means I will lose one hour of “beauty sleep”, which is something I desperately need.

I don’t particularly care for Daylight Savings Time. I share the same opinion I found on the “Republic Of Lakotah” website:

When told the reason for daylight saving time the old Native American said…
“Only a white man would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket and sew it to the bottom of a blanket and have a longer blanket.”

Saint Patrick’s Day is Tuesday March 17, and you better participate by wearing a Touch O’ The Green or you will be plagued by leprechauns and gnomes. Not a pleasant experience, I can assure you.

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Aquarius.

At the beginning of the month Mercury, magnitude 0.5 in Capricorn, is very low in the bright dawn and is fading rapidly.

On March 2 Mercury will be at “dichotomy” or half phase and on March 5 he will pass within 0.6 degrees of giant Jupiter, who is eight times as bright.

On March 6 will reach his highest point in the sky or Greatest Western Elongation, when he will be 27.3 degrees 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.

He will reach his furthest distance from the Sun, or Aphelion on March 13, when he will be 43.4 million miles from our parent star.

Venus, magnitude –3.9 in Capricorn, is hidden in the glare of the Sun.

On March 26 she will pass behind the Sun, or be in “Superior Conjunction”.

Earth, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in the constellation Aquarius.

Mars, magnitude +0.8, in Taurus, will be near the Pleiades Star Cluster on March 4th, and will lie between the Pleiades and Hyades Star Cluster, which makes up the head of Taurus The Bull, on March 5 high in the west in early evening.

Upper left of Mars shines Aldebaran, which appears to be essentially the twin of Mars in brightness and color. It is a good chance to demonstrate the truism that “stars twinkle, planets don’t”.

In a telescope Mars, which is currently being invaded by human space probes, is a tiny bright blob.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude 9.3, is in Aquarius.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.0 and Saturn, magnitude 1.4, in Capricorn are very low in bright dawn, but rising a little higher and becoming less difficult to see each morning. Look very low in the east-southeast about 30 minutes before sunrise and plan to use binoculars.

Uranus, magnitude 5.8, in southwestern Aries, is far below Mars in early evening.

Neptune, magnitude 8.0 in Aquarius, is lost in the western evening twilight and will pass behind the Sun on March 10.

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

Dwarf Planet 136108 Haumea, its ring and moons Hiʻiaka and Namaka, shines at a faint magnitude of 17.3 in Bootes.

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon faintly shines at magnitude 17.2 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 18.8 in Cetus the Sea Monster

4352 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of February 8, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

The Moon will be at Perigee or her closest approach to Earth on March 1, when she will be 227,063 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur March 5.

New Moon will occur on March 13 at 4:23 AM CDT or 10:23 UTC. 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 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 Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on March 17, when she will be 251,812 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur March 21.

March’s Full Moon will occur on March 28 at 12:49 CST or 18:49 UTC. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as “Worm Moon”. So called because the rains disturb the earthworms & they are seen wiggling around after the rains.

This moon has also been known as the Full Crow Moon, the Full Crust Moon, the Full Sap Moon, and the Lenten Moon.

The Moon will be at her closest distance from Earth or perigee at 223,887 miles on March 30.

Celestial carnivores are emerging from hibernation. After dinnertime at this time of year, five carnivore constellations are rising upright in a ragged row from the northeast to south. They’re all seen in profile with their noses pointed up and their feet (if any) to the right. These are The Great Bear, Ursa Major in the northeast, with the Big Dipper as its brightest part, Leo the Lion in the east, Hydra the Sea Serpent in the southeast, The Lesser Dog, Canis Minor higher in the south-southeast, and The Greater Dog, bright Canis Major in the south.

Sirius, shining at magnitude −1.46, the brightest night time star, blazes high in the south on the meridian, in Canis Major by about 8 or 9 p.m. Using binoculars, you will find a fuzzy spot 4 degrees south of Sirius, directly below it when the constellation is directly South. Four degrees is somewhat less than the width of a typical binocular’s field of view.

That dim little patch of gray haze is open star cluster Messier 41, a small gravitationally bound group of 100 stars about 2,200 light-years away, and moving away from us at 869 miles per second. Sirius, by comparison, is only 8.6 light-years away.

Canopus, shining at magnitude -0.72, making it the second-brightest star after Sirius, lies 36° almost due south of Sirius. That’s far enough south that it never appears above the horizon if you are above latitude 37° N, such as southern Virginia, southern Missouri and central California. Luckily we lie south of that latitude, with our horizon lying, in the case of Central Alabama, around latitude 33°.

Canopus is located in the southern constellation Carina, The Keel, part of the defunct constellation Argo Navis, the ship of Jason and the Argonauts who searched for the Golden Fleece.

The constellation of Argo was introduced in ancient Greece. However, due to the massive size of Argo Navis and the sheer number of stars that required separate designation, Nicolas Louis de Lacaille divided Argo into three sections in 1763, including Carina, the Hull or Keel, Puppis, the Poop Deck, and Vela the Sails.

In the 19th century, these three became established as separate constellations, and were formally included in the list of 88 modern IAU constellations in 1930.

Canopus, 313 light years away, crosses low above the horizon, due south just 21 minutes before Sirius and is worthy of a peak.

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This month’s meeting will be on March 9 at 7PM.

The meeting will be done remotely as was last month’s meeting. Details and instructions will be issued as the time nears.

I hope to see you there!

Mark Wells
WD4NYL & WRJE893
Editor
ALERT Newsletter
Wd4nyl@bellsouth.net

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

Hi Everyone,

I hope this finds you well, as we glide through these winter days. As the tornado which recently struck North Jefferson County reminds us, our spring tornado season is just around the corner and now is the time to review your plans and procedures for those 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 a NOAA Weatheradio and phone Apps from local broadcast media and other weather sources. This does not include social media posts; as the medium’s algorithm can accidently “bury” a warning in the newsfeed or let long defunct warning mysteriously bubble up. 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 your confidence in.

Not to be forgotten are the broadcast meteorologists that serve our community. Whether your favorite meteorologist is James Spann, Jerry Tracey, J-P Dice or Ashley Gann, realize that not every area has the caliber of broadcast meteorologists that we have.

In fact Birmingham is spoiled.

So as the storms of spring approach, let us take stock of our level of preparedness, fill any gaps that appear, and hope we don’t have to use a single resource that we have.

Stay safe!

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Birmingham NWS Spring 2020 Storm Spotter Courses

The Birmingham NWS office will present several online Basic Spotter Courses and a single online Advanced Spotter Course this spring. These online classes allow individuals to complete the courses in the comfort of their own home or office using GoToMeeting.

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

Unless you are in need of or just want to attend a refresher Course, you do not need to attend more than one Basic SKYWARN Course, as the material covered is the same; however it is required you to 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, and unmuted when applicable (e.g., for questions); or, you can use the built-in chat feature.

How do you Attend an Online SKYWARN Spotter Class?

To avoid being hurried, give yourself at least 15 minutes prior to
the start of the class to complete the following steps:

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.

The current online schedule is as follows:

Basic Class Thursday, February 25 at 6:30 PM https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/358972267323457548
Basic Class Tuesday, March 2 at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8696081857097779212
Basic Class Thursday, March 4 at 1:00 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8615870284828282380
Basic Class Monday, March 22 at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/857366594543231756
Advanced Class Wednesday March 31, at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/102440811400622348

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 the 1-800-856-0758 Storm Reporting Hotline, online at http://www.weather.gov/bmx/submit_storm_report 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

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The Great Cat Food Can Quarter-Wave

Recently I put the finishing touches on a project I called the “Great Cat Food Can Quarter-Wave” for my General Mobile Radio Service or GMRS setup. The design I used can easily be used for 2 meters, 220 MHz or 440 MHz. The only differences are the dimensions used.

Most of the material used was from parts lying around in the garage or from the trash bin. I took two used and cleaned cat food cans, carefully took the labels off and using an oversized thumbtack made a hole in the center of Cat Can #1, which I then carefully reamed out with a multitool until an SO239 antenna connector could fit snugly when mounted on the bottom of the can.

I then made four more holes for where small #6 bolts holding the antenna connector would fit. I then made four equidistant holes on the outer edge of the can where some larger # 10 bolts and washers would eventually hold the ground radials, which would be made from spare Romex wire.

Actually, I tore Cat Can #1 to smithereens trying to figure out how to do all of this without reaming dime sized holes that made it look like a goat had chewed up the poor can.

Having learned the lessons with Cat Can #1, I proceeded with Can Cat #2, and eyed a third can “just in case”.

The antenna would eventually be cut for the center of the GMRS band or 465.1375 MHz, so it would be as resonant as possible from Channel 1 – 462.5625 MHz, to the repeater input of Channel 22 – 467.7250 MHz. The exact measurements would be 6.03 inches for the vertical radial and 6.75 inches for the ground plane.

I cut the wire to 7 inches, knowing that it is easier to trim a wire that is too long, than to grow a wire that is too short. Also, based on previous projects, wires cut to exact lengths can mysteriously grow shorter when everything is soldered and all of the screws are turned.

If I were making this antenna for the amateur bands I would use different measurements. Being mathematically challenged, I used the following website to obtain my dimensions:

1/4 Wave Ground Plane Antenna Calculator

Using 2 meters as an example:

For 146.520 simplex cut the vertical to 19.14 inches and the radials to 21.44 inches.
For 146.580 simplex cut the vertical to 19.14 inches and the radials to 21.43 inches.

For 144.810, the 41 repeater’s input cut the vertical to 19.37 inches and radials to 21.70 inches.
For 146.160, the 76 repeater’s input cut the vertical to 19.19 inches and radials to 21.50 inches.
For 146.280, the 88 repeater’s input cut the vertical to 19.18 inches and radials to 21.48 inches.
For 146.380, the 98 repeater’s input cut the vertical to 19.16 inches and radials to 21.46 inches.
For 147.740, the 14 repeater’s input cut the vertical to 18.99 inches and radials to 21.27 inches.

For 449.975, the 444.975 repeater’s input cut the center conductor to 6.23 inches. and radials to
6.98 inches.

You get the idea.

Remember you are cutting this for the repeater input frequency, not the output frequency, as the transmitter is more persnickety about resonance than the receiver is. 2 Meter repeaters usually have a minus 600 kHz input below 147.000 MHz, a positive input above 147.000 MHz and a plus 5 MHz input with 70 Centimeter repeaters.

Continuing on, after making the large hole for the SO239 connector, I placed the connector in the hole and using it as a template I marked where the holes for the four #6 bolts would be placed.

I then measured and made four equidistance opposing holes near the outer rim of the Cat Can where the #10 bolts would be placed to secure the ground radials.

Having made these holes, I mounted the SO239 connector to the base side of the Cat Can.

I soldered a 7 inch vertical radial into the SO239 connector and mounted the four 7 inch radials, which had the inside ends curled so they could wrap around the bolts after being sandwiched between two washers on the top of the Cat Can, the third washer being on the inside of the can to provide support when I tightened the bolts up. I then bent the radials to a 45 degree slope and trimmed everything to the correct length.

The finished product gave a 1.2:1 SWR band wide.

Then I put the label back on, with the cat right-side up for artistic effect.

The good thing about this design is that can be scaled up or down size wise and frequency wise using the dimensions that the calculator spits out.

Don’t want to use a cat food can? Use a tuna can, the time honored traditional pie pan, or any other flat piece of metal. All it is used for is a mounting platform for the radials. I’ve made quarter-waves that didn’t even use a mounting plate; I just soldered the radials directly to the holes of a SO239 connector,

So you really don’t need the can or the nuts and bolts.

You don’t really need a SO239 connector either. Just as long as the dimensions and configurations are right and the center conductor of the coax isn’t shorted to the braid, if the SWR is good, you are good.

This is good to know in an emergency when the storm is raging, rain and hail is pelting the windows, the wind has an ominous roar and for some reason two meter reception suddenly becomes as scratchy as sand paper.

When it is safe to do so, with no lightning flashing and no power lines having been blown down, you go to look at the end of your coax cable. After a few minutes you find exactly that – the ragged end of the cable and no antenna in sight.

Not to worry, you read in Mark’s crazy newsletter how to make an emergency antenna.

If you have an SWR meter trim for the proper SWR. But, what do you do in an emergency if you don’t have an SWR meter?

If it is an emergency, not just an inconvenience, the antenna is “probably close enough”. To be safe you should transmit at the lowest possible power that will reach the repeater, (which is what you are supposed to be doing normally anyway) and transmit in short bursts.

“Short bursts” means just that – a couple of words, unkey, pause, a couple of words, unkey, pause, etc.

This will help protect the radios final amplifier. But, it is not a guarantee that they still won’t go up in smoke.

But, remember that if you are in a dire emergency situation trying to get an emergency message out, you are basically shooting off an RF flare. If it’s your best shot at rescue, so go for it!

Remembering again that this is an emergency solution for an emergency situation, not a case of “a temporary solution that becomes a permanent cure”, you are back on the air!

Don’t get all OCD over the materials, as some do, either. Some of my die hard old goats may say “you need this or that kind of wire”, but, the truth is that wire is wire and if it can carry electricity, it will work.

In my “ham career” I have used clothes hangers, “true” antenna wire, speaker wire, lamp cords, transformer wire, test leads, anything that could carry current and it worked.
Possibly the simplest and goofiest answer to the “no antenna problem” I had was when I was a brand new teenage ham, had a radio, but no mobile antenna. I cut a vertical rod the right length, mounted it on a SO239 connector and armed with an SWR meter and a friend at the wheel we would drive around, I would hand the antenna out of the car window and by using my thumb as an insulator and capacitor I would find that one sweet spot where the SWR dipped and would talk to people.

It was 1978 in the peak of the CB boom and I would see CBers looking down at their radios, apparently trying to figure how where in the world I was on the band and I got various and sundry weird looks, But, I was solid copy into the BARC repeater, which was all that mattered and I had a ball.

I did what I had to do.

Don’t be afraid to experiment, to fail and succeed. Everyone has a right to fail, by the way. In life most people, whether they admit it or not got it wrong before they got it right. Things probably will work out fine, but, if they don’t, remember that with each attempt you will learn more and more and eventually you WILL get it right. Then you can teach others.

That’s how young goats learn what will become old goat knowledge.

(Editor’s Note: There are four pictures of this wonder of technology included. If you do not see them, as the internet does strange things, and wish to see them, you can email me at wd4nyl@bellsouth.net and I will send them to you.)

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Mark’s Almanac

February, or Februarius, as the Romans called it, is named after the Latin term februum, which means “purification”. Ancient Rome celebrated the Februa purification ritual on February 15, which was Full Moon on the old lunar based Latin calendar.

February was not originally included in the Roman calendar, which began in March, but was added, along with January by Numa Pompilius around 713 BC, and until 450 BC was considered the last month of the year.

February was originally 29 days long, but one day was taken and added to August, so the that Emperor Augustus’s month would be equal to Julius Caesar’s month of July. Now only Leap Year, which will next occur in 2024, has 29 days.

Ground Hog Day is on February 2 & believers will watch that flea bitten danged old Yankee Punxsutawney Phil and (if he hasn’t gone to the Great Burrow In The Sky), True Southern Gentleman Birmingham Bill, to see if they see their shadows. If so, prepare for six more weeks of winter.

How did we come up with Groundhog Day anyway?

It is said by one theory that the first day of Spring is about six weeks after Groundhog Day, on March 20 or 21. 1000 years ago when the world used the Julian calendar, Spring Equinox fell on March 16, which is exactly six weeks after February 2. So, if the groundhog saw his shadow on Groundhog Day there would be six more weeks of winter. But, if he didn’t, there would be only 42 more days of winter left instead. Get the calculator out and you will find that 42 days equals six weeks, so Groundhog Day may have started out as a practical joke.

The modern 21 Century version blurs this into saying that if a groundhog emerges from its burrow and fails to see its shadow, winter will soon end. If not, it will return into its burrow, and the winter will continue for 6 more weeks.

It is believed that the Germans in Pennsylvania brought Groundhog Day with them.

Morgantown, Pennsylvania storekeeper James Morris’ diary entry for Feb. 4, 1841 states “Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.”

So, how accurate is the little goomer?

Well, Groundhog Day believers claim a 75% to 90% accuracy rate. The National Climatic Data Center, on the other hand, says it’s more like 39%.

But, you know how Heathens can be.

If the NCDC is right, maybe they can still use the critter anyway, by flipping the theory around, so if he predicts warmth, you go with winter & vice versa.

I think this is called “Inverse Forecasting”. Or it should be anyway.

In the Southern Hemisphere February is the equivalent of August. But, for us, February is a cold month with more snow falling in February than in any other month.

Statistically speaking, there is a 70% chance of snow flurries, and a 57% chance of snow up to one inch. There is a 13% chance of over one inch, and a 3% chance of 4 inches or more.

There is hope on the horizon though, as the worst of winter weather is usually over by February 15.

North Atlantic Tropical activity is at a minimum. From 1851 to 2020 there has been only one Tropical Storm to occur, 70 MPH Tropical Storm #1, which affected Florida on February 2 & 3, 1952.

Days grow longer as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon rapidly increases from 39.5 degrees at the beginning of the month to 48.6 degrees at the end. Daylight increases from 10 hours 35 minutes on February 1 to 11 hours 26 minutes on February 28.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

February 1 Sunrise 6:44 AM Sunset 5:18 PM
February 14 Sunrise 6:33 AM Sunset 5:31 PM
February 28 Sunrise 6:17 AM Sunset 5:43 PM

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Capricorn.

At the beginning of the month Mercury, magnitude –0.7 in Capricorn, is sinking fast and rapidly fading as he slips below the western horizon. He will not reappear in the evening sky until May.

On February 8 he will move between the Sun and the Earth or be in “Inferior Conjunction” and then will reappear in the morning sky reaching magnitude +1.0 on February 19 and will continue brightening to magnitude +0.05 by February 23.

Venus is hidden deep in the glow of sunrise. Expect her back in the evening twilight in late spring.

Venus will reach aphelion, her farthest distance from the Sun, February 20 when she will be 67,693,000 miles from the Sun.

Earth, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in the Constellation Leo.

Mars, magnitude +0.5, in Aries, shines pale yellow-orange high in the southwest after dark. He sets in the west-northwest around 1 AM. In telescopes Mars is still an 89% sunlit gibbous globe,

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude 9.3, is in Aquarius.

Jupiter magnitude is out of sight behind the glare of the Sun.

Saturn also is out of sight behind the glare of the Sun.

Saturn will pass behind the sun or be at “Conjunction” on February 4, and will emerge very low in the east-southeast morning twilight in mid-February in Capricorn at magnitude +0.7.

Uranus, magnitude 5.8, is in Aries. In binoculars Uranus is a little pinpoint “star” and in small telescopes with sharp optics, high power a spell of good seeing, a tiny, fuzzy ball.

Neptune, magnitude 7.9, in Aquarius, is sinking out of sight into the west-southwestern twilight.

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

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

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon faintly shines at magnitude 17.3 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 18.8 in Cetus the Sea Monster

4331 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of January 11, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

The Moon will be at Perigee or her closest approach to Earth on February 3, when she will be 229,986 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur February 4.

During the Quarter Moons the Moon is only 10% as bright as a Full Moon.

New Moon occurs February 11 at 1:08 PM CST or 19:08 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.

As the Moon becomes a thin crescent in the predawn sky approaching her disappearance at New Moon and then reappears in the evening sky as a thin crescent, you may see the darkened portion of the Moon being faintly illuminated.

This phenomenon sometimes called the “Ashen Glow”, “The Old Moon in the New Moon’s arms” or the “Da Vinci glow”.

The actual name is “Earthshine” and it is caused by the light of the Earth being reflected off of the Earth’s clouds and surface reaching the Moon..

Since the light that generates Earthshine is reflected twice, being Sunlight reflected once off the Earth’s surface and then off the Moon’s surface, this light is much dimmer than the lit portion of the Moon.

Only when the Moon is a thin crescent does its sunless portion receive the brilliance of a virtual full Earth. This is partly because there’s less of the bright, sunlit surface to compete with the dimmer Earthshine-lit portion, and partly because the phases of Earth and the Moon are complimentary: when the Moon is a slim crescent in our sky, the Earth seen from the Moon looks nearly full and much brighter.

Though the Moon seems so bright, the Moon only reflects about 12% of the sunlight that reaches its surface. The Earth on the other hand, reflects about 30% of all the sunlight that hits its surface. Because of this, and the fact that the Earth is four times larger in the Lunar sky, the Earth, when seen from the Moon would look about a 100 times brighter than a full Moon does seen from the Earth.

Another interesting note is that the portion of the crescent Moon that is illuminated by Earthshine appears to be part of a smaller orb than the sunlit crescent. This is a mirage caused by our eyes’ response to the differing light levels. It vanishes when you view the crescent through binoculars.

The best time of the year to experience this phenomenon is in late winter and early spring.

This phenomenon also occurs with the outer planets and their moons. In this case it is called Planetshine”.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on February 18, when she will be 251,324 miles from Earth.
First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur February 19.

Full Moon will occur February 27 at 2:19 AM CST or 8:19 UTC. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. February’s Full Moon is “Full Snow Moon” in Native American folklore, since the heaviest snows usually fall at this time of year. Since the harsh weather made hunting difficult, some tribes called it “Full Hunger Moon”.

The February sky is alit with bright stars. Orion the Hunter is overhead, along with his faithful hunting dogs, Canis Major & Canis Minor, the Large & Lesser Dogs. In Canis Major is the blue star Sirius, The Dog Star, which 8.6 light years away, is the brightest star in the night sky.

February and March are the best times of the year for seeing the Zodiacal Light. In the evening away from city lights and after twilight has faded you might see a faint, roughly triangular, whitish glow near the sunset point. This is Zodiacal Light, which is formed by the sunlight reflecting off millions of minute particles of cosmic dust aligned with the Earth’s orbital plane.

A kindred, but much fainter glow is the “Counterglow” or “Gegenschein”. This is a glow in the night sky directly opposite the Sun caused by sunlight being reflected by dust and particles in the disk shaped interplanetary dust cloud which lies along the plane of the Solar System. These particles are the debris from comet and asteroid collisions.

To see the Gegenschein you must look around midnight in very dark, non-light polluted skies. In February it is located near base of the head of Leo The Lion.

You will probably have to use “averted vision”, a trick astronomers use to see faint objects.

Averted vision is a technique for viewing faint objects which uses your peripheral vision instead of looking directly at the object.

This technique compensates for fact that the retina of the human eye has virtually no rods, the cells which detect dim light in black and white near the focal point of the eye, but, has mostly cone cells, which serve as bright light and color detectors and are not as useful during the night.
This situation results in a decrease in visual sensitivity in central field of vision at night.

But by looking as an object a little off to the nasal side of the field of view, which avoids the possibility that the object will be imaged on the blind spot, which everyone has at approximately 15 degrees on the cheek side of the field of vison, you can use the most light sensitive part of the eye, which is around 20 degrees off the center of vision.

For right-eyed observers it is best to shift to the right, and for left-eye observers it is best to shift to the left.

I have used this technique for many years and though it can be frustrating not being able to look directly at an object, as they tend to disappear from view when you look directly at them, it does work, and the object appears brighter. This is especially useful for observing diffuse objects such as galaxies, comets and nebulae.
You should give your eyes time to adapt to the dark. It can take typically 7 minutes for your eyes to become used to darkness and up to 30 minutes to become totally adjusted to the dark conditions of observing.

Care should be taken not to ruin this dark adaptation by being exposed to bright lights, such as headlights from passing cars, flashlights or moonlight. Lights with red filters will not harm the eyes sensitivity.

Relaxing your eyes also helps. By straining at objects or squinting eyes we place stress on them which makes it harder for the eye to refocus on objects. By relaxing our eyes when we look through a telescope or by using an eye patch we can improve our vision.

An eyepatch also helps preserve dark adapted eyesight. There is a theory that the reason so many pirates are depicted as wearing eyepatches isn’t that they typically had the worst of luck in combat with all of them losing an eye, but rather they were preserving their “night eye” so that when they went below the deck, which was very poorly lit, they could still see.

Very few people have actually seen the Gegenschein, for finding a dark enough sky can be a challenge. The least light polluted skies in Alabama are in a crescent shaped area of west Alabama from west of Tuscaloosa to near the Mississippi border and north and south of that line. An especially good area is southwest Alabama from south of Tuscaloosa to north of Mobile. Another area is southeast of Montgomery towards Eufaula.

Light Pollution Map – DarkSiteFinder.com

For the Gegenschein’s position for other months see:

https://earthsky.org/upl/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-02-at-11.19.39-AM-e1583166166450.png

Another sight to look for which is much more common is the Earth Shadow. At sunset, on very clear days, as the sun goes farther below the horizon, you will see what appears to be a layer of gray cloud rising along the eastern horizon. This is actually the silhouette of the earth’s shadow being cast against darkening sky, sometimes with a pinkish glow along the edge. It fades as twilight fades into darkness.

The pink fringe, which is technically called an “anti-twilight arch” was called in Victorian times “The Belt of Venus” or “Venus’s Girdle” and the shadow itself being “the dark segment”.

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This month’s meeting will be on February 9 at 7PM.

The meeting will be done remotely as was last month’s meeting. Details and instructions will be issued as the time nears.

I hope to see you there!

Mark Wells
WD4NYL & WRJE893
Editor
ALERT Newsletter
Wd4nyl@bellsouth.net

 

Hi Everyone & Happy New Year.

I hope that Santa treated you well and that Father Time will be kind to you also.

What does 2021 hold in store for us? Hopefully peace, prosperity, good health and good DX!

I am glad to say that ALERT is alive and well.

While we cannot respond personally to K4NWS for callouts due to COVID restrictions, we are uniquely suited to provide offsite coverage. I would expect this to continue and to grow.

We have perfected distance meetings, or shall we say that I finally figured out how to make the blessed thing work, after a few misfires and mishaps.

New Years is the time of resolutions and the tweaking of lifestyles. I’ve always made a point of making resolutions I know will fall flat, like gain 300 pounds, take up cliff diving and never taking my meds (I won’t say what they are for) again. That way when I break all the resolutions it is a positive rather than a negative situation.

But, I will say I “hope” to be more active on the air, more active in ALERT, to go hiking and camping and as always keep embracing positivity, which I usually drift towards anyway, and keep leaving negativity in the dust.

So as we enter 2021 I wish you and yours the best.

Happy New Year!

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A Layman’s Guide To The New NWS Radar Site

In mid-December the NWS radar site changed to a new format. This new format has met with mixed reviews, as the older version was fairly simple to navigate and the new one definitely isn’t.

To be fair though, the older site was fairly limited feature wise. It did feature composite reflectivity, base reflectivity, storm relative velocity, base velocity, 1 hour rainfall total, storm total rainfall and long range base reflectivity, all of which could be looped.

You could also choose regional radar and from those sites a full nationwide mosaic.

The newer version, is slower, much slower, very much slower, excruciatingly slower, did I mention it’s slow? It also has many more advanced features available; however, a user guide is not one of them.

But, never fear, Mark is here to reveal some of the closely guarded secrets of “radar.gov”.

The easiest way to access the new radar site, until you bookmark it, is go to your local NWS page which for the Birmingham area is NWS Birmingham, Alabama (weather.gov). Scrolling down the page you will come to a radar display appropriately named “local radar”. Clicking this display will take you to the radar image of the radar site serving the area covered by that NWS office, in this case Shelby County.

To the upper left of the display is a menu. If you click the icon which is three horizontal lines you can change the background. Standard is the default, but, you can change it to topographic, satellite, ocean or dark canvas. At the bottom of this menu is an icon called “advanced” which deals with event logging. I just use the default basic option.

Below the three horizontal lines you will find three dots. By clicking these three dots you can adjust the type of warnings displayed, either storm based or all hazard, the display transparency and whether the radar site icon is on or off.

The most interesting option here is that you have the option of using the NWS WSR-88D radar system or the FAA’s Terminal Doppler Weather Radar system.

The Terminal Doppler Weather Radar (TDWR) is a Doppler weather radar system of 45 radar sites covering airports in major metropolitan areas across the United Stated and Puerto Rico. It is used
primarily for the detection of hazardous wind shear conditions, precipitation, and winds aloft.

The closest TDWR sites to Birmingham are Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis and New Orleans. If you choose the TDWR system and click on these sites, by going to the option “BNET (Net)” you can see the height of the thunderstorm tops, or Echo Tops, Long Range Base Reflectivity, Short Range Base Reflectivity, Vertical Integrated Liquid and Composite Reflectivity.

Though Birmingham is out of range in the Short Range Reflectivity mode, if you choose Long Range Reflectivity on the Atlanta, Nashville and Memphis sites the coverage will reach the Birmingham area, though due to the curvature of the Earth it will be limited to the upper levels of the storms displayed.

Of particular interest to me are the sites at Houston, New Orleans, Orlando and Miami, as they can provide additional radar coverage of tropical systems in addition the standard NWS WSR-88D sites that form the coastal radar picket.

Going back to our three dots and choosing WSE-88D, the map will have light blue dots which are the individual NWS radar sites. By clicking the dot to go to that site a disturbing thing happens – namely nothing. The dot just disappears and you sit waiting some seconds, sometimes more than a few, until anything happens. You sit there thinking you have killed the display, but, then suddenly voila! You have radar!

Looking at the menu you will see “BTRF-RAW”. By clicking this you can access advanced radar tools.

These are:

Super Resolution Base Reflectivity – Base Reflectivity is a display of echo intensity or reflectivity at a given radar beam angle. Base reflectivity images in Precipitation Mode are available at four radar “tilt” angles, 0.5°, 1.45°, 2.40° and 3.35° above the horizon. These angles are slightly higher when the radar is operated in Clear Air Mode. In Severe Mode there are up to 14 angles.

Super Resolution Base Reflectivity is an improvement as it shows reflectivity at a much higher resolution than the older site, giving you the ability to see storms at greater detail. You can zoom the map, but, to a limited degree. If one could zoom just one step closer you would have street level mapping, albeit with a very pixelated display

Super Resolution Base Velocity – this mode provides a picture of the wind field of the storm which is useful in determining areas of strong wind from downbursts, derechos or detecting the speed of cold fronts.

One caution in reading this is that it only depicts surface winds in areas close to the radar sight. So if you are 50 miles from the site, a display of high winds does not necessarily mean those elevated winds are actually reaching ground level.

This display provides the highest-resolution velocity available from NEXRAD radars to a distance of 230 kilometers or 143 miles from the radar site.

Dual-Pol Precipitation Type – the radar “best guesses” what type of precipitation it is seeing.

There are twelve possible types:

BI – Biological, such as bug, birds and bats.
GC – Ground Clutter, such as hills, tree and buildings.
IC – Freezing rain
DS – Dry snow –snow with low water content, such as the West and Midwest receive.
WS – Wet snow – snow high water content, as seen with Lake Effect or Gulf enhanced snow.
RA – Rain
HR – Heavy Rain
BD – Big Drops
GR – Graupel, aka “soft hail”
HA – Hail
UK – Unknown – “officially” the radar can’t make up its mind as to what it is seeing. But….my cousin Donnie Ray told me that his uncle Wilbur told him that he saw an expert on the internet revealing the truth about the radar picking up those shape shifting lizard people from Neptune that have been spraying us with chemtrails. Since its online, we know it must be true. But…..shhhh….it’s a secret.
RF – Range Folding – WSR-88D radars can clearly see out to 143 miles. If the radar pulse goes beyond this distance and bounces back off a target, it can return after another pulse has already been sent out causing the radar to see two images at the same time, one of which is correct and one, which is being detected at the wrong time, and therefore interpreted at the wrong distance.

Which one is real?

In my mental imagery I think of the old days of analog TV when because of signals being received at slightly differing times, one directly from the transmitter and the other being reflected off of some object, you would see two images at once. The true image and the “ghost image”. If they are of equal strength and you are trying to associate them with a location, which one would you use?

Crude example perhaps, but you get the idea.

Dual-Pol Differential Reflectivity – a simple explanation I can’t offer, but, let’s just say it compares whether targets are larger in a horizontal or vertical aspect. It is used to help identify hail shafts, detect updrafts, determine rain drop size, and identify the gathering of dry snow within a storm.

High Resolution Echo Tops – this displays an estimate of the highest altitude where the echo signal strength exceeds a specified threshold. The threshold adopted by the NWS and most providers of radar imagery on the Internet is 18.5 dBZ.

“Echo tops” should not be confused with the actual height of the storm. The detectable threshold may be at 50,000 feet, but the actual top at 55,000 feet, remembering that clouds are not solid. The rest of the cloud is still there, just less dense, and therefore not displayed. Not unlike setting a radios squelch to mute a distant signal. The signal is still there, but, you can’t hear it because it is too weak to break the squelch.

One Hour Precipitation Accumulation – this displays accumulated rainfall observed in the last hour.

Storm Relative Motion – this is a measure of the winds in the storm as compared to, for lack of a better word, “background winds” or base velocity. Let’s say that the winds in a storm or system are consistently from the Southwest at 30 MPH. The radar looks for distortions in this wind field. If it starts showing winds moving towards the radar at 70 MPH and right beside this the winds are going away from the radar at 40 MPH (which is the speed you would get after a 70 MPH wind overcomes a 40 MPH headwind from the opposite direction) then it is a good indication that you have a rotation within this wind field.

Storm Total Precipitation – this is the estimated total precipitation accumulation which has occurred since the storm began. It is continuously updated and is used to locate flood potential over urban or rural areas, estimate total basin runoff, and provide rainfall data 24 hours a day.

Base Velocity – this is a measure of the wind direction either toward the radar, which is considered a negative value and displayed in green or away from the radar, which is considered a positive value and displayed in red. This product is used to estimate wind speed and direction, locate boundaries, locate severe weather signatures, and identify suspected areas of turbulence.

Composite Reflectivity – this is a display of the maximum echo intensity detected at any of the radars different angles at a given time. When compared with Base Reflectivity, the Composite Reflectivity can reveal important storm structure features and intensity trends of storms.

One caution when using this product is that, as compared to Base Reflectivity, which normally scans at the lowest radar angle, the Composite Reflectivity, since it includes scan information from all radar elevation angles, may appear to indicate more widespread rain than is actually reaching the ground.

This could indicate one of two things:

It could be detecting Virga: the precipitation, rain or snow, is probably not reaching the ground but evaporating as it falls from very high in the atmosphere. This is a regular situation in winter as snowflakes can easily sublimate in dry air near the ground.

It could be due to strong updrafts: air rising in a thunderstorm updraft will saturate at a higher level than the rest of the cloud forming an overhang region. In case of a very strong updraft, a Bounded Weak Echo Region (BWER) will form and lead to the possibility of severe weather.

High Resolution Vertical Integrated Liquid – this is an estimate of the concentration of liquid water vertically in a cloud. This is used to locate most significant storms, and to identify areas of heavy rainfall. The higher the indicated concentration, the heavier the precipitation potential. If it is nearly off the scale, it is probably a hail shaft.

You will not find Correlation Coefficient, which detects solid objects aloft, which some of our broadcaster friends call “Debris Tracker” nor can you adjust the radar tilt, as you can on some sites.

But, regardless, that a lot of tools at your fingertips to choose from.

 

Here are a few radar hints for you.

1. During severe weather the NWS radar site can become intermittent due to so many viewing the site at one time. I use a different source, College of Dupage COD NEXRAD: BMX as my primary site. It’s from the same source, but, doesn’t get overwhelmed like the NWS site. Plus it does offer the Correlation Coefficient mode, the ability to look at different radar angles and has more flexibility as to looping.

2. All local broadcast stations, one exception, uses the NWS radar information for their broadcasts. They may tinker with it by inserting imitation radar sweep lines, why I’m not sure, call products clever names, or use catchphrases such as “switching our quad Doppler 48 storm vison radar to deep scan mode”, but, when all is said and done, the NWS is the source of their radar data.

3. There is one exception to the above. If the NWS weather site becomes disabled, there is another local weather radar source independent of the NWS. WVTM Channel 13 operates their own radar. In 2017, WVTM constructed a new dual pole Doppler radar in western Tuscaloosa County in Vance, known as “WVTM 13 Live Doppler Radar”. This replaced a one megawatt radar installation they operated on Bald Rock in St. Clair County.

This can be viewed at Central Alabama Interactive Weather Radar – WVTM 13

There is an old saying that the best radar site is the closest radar site. So remember WVTM.

Otherwise switch to another NWS radar site, though it will not be a near ground level image.

4. There will be times you will see inbound intense storms over western Alabama. As time progresses and they near Birmingham they may seem to weaken substantially, pass over and then reintensify over eastern Alabama.

Two things may have happened:

A. The storms, due to the wacky world of inflows and outflows may have actually momentarily weakened and then restrengthened after leaving Birmingham.

Also I’ve seen lines of doom divide once they hit the Warrior River like Moses at the Red Sea and pass North and South of Birmingham,

B. The radar beam is seeing the mid-levels of the distant storm, which is experiencing heavy rain, but, much of this has dissipated by the time it reaches the lower levels, and so when the radar is able to see these lower levels, there is nothing much there. There may still be intense activity 10,000 feet overhead, but, it won’t be detectable until the storm is once again at a distance where the radar beam is once again hitting those mid-levels. It looks like a reintesification, but, it really isn’t.

5. NEXRAD can occasionally show some interesting non-weather returns, such as “bird rings” where hundreds of birds suddenly take off at once in every direction. This usually occurs along rivers at dawn. Smoke from forest fires. UHF band openings, either due to a cold front causing a temperature inversion, or a daily temperature inversion at dawn, cause by the Sun heating the upper atmosphere and the lower levels still being cold, can cause ground clutter to blossom in every direction.

For more information on the new NWS radar site check out the following link:
New Radar Webpage (RIDGE2) Frequently Asked Questions (weather.gov)

The WSR-88D is considered by many to be the most powerful radar in the world, transmitting at 750,000 watts. This power enables the signal to travel long distances, and detect many kinds of weather phenomena. It also allows energy to continue past an initial shower or thunderstorm near the radar, thus seeing additional storms farther away.

Many other radar systems do not have this kind of power, nor can they look at more than one “slice” of the atmosphere. During severe weather, the NWS WSR-88D is looking at 14 different elevations every 5 minutes, generating a radar image of each elevation. That’s about 3 elevations per minute, or one radar image every 20 seconds.

Before this system was established there was only one radar site in Alabama and it was at Centerville. This was the old WSR-57, which had a CRT like a sonar screen in old submarine movies. Someone had to watch the screen constantly when storms were possible to make sure nothing important was missed and the storms were tracked using grease pencils, and the forecasters had to manually turn a crank to adjust the radar’s scan elevation. Any archiving of the imagery was done by taking a picture of the screen using a Polaroid camera.

Back then, in the Stone Age, there were only 66 radar sites nationwide. By the mid 70’s Mobile, Montgomery and Huntsville were added as three of the 62 WSR-74C radar sites. These were designed to help fill in the gaps in WSR-57 coverage.

Today we are blessed with a transcontinental network of WSRD88’s. Every weather office has a NEXRAD radar unit – 159 of them. Though experiments continue with at the National Severe Storm Laboratory with Phase Array Doppler Radar, (See:

NSSL EXPERIMENTAL PHASE ARRAY DOPPLER RADAR – Oklahoma Coverage Only

http://wdssii.nssl.noaa.gov/web/wdss2/products/radar/nwrt_ref_loop.shtml Reflectivity
http://wdssii.nssl.noaa.gov/web/wdss2/products/radar/nwrt_vel_loop.shtml Velocity
http://wdssii.nssl.noaa.gov/web/wdss2/products/radar/nwrt_et_loop.shtml Echo Tops
http://wdssii.nssl.noaa.gov/web/wdss2/products/radar/nwrt_azshr_loop.shtml AzShear)

The WSR-8-D system is the most sensitive, most detailed radar network on the planet.

No other nation has this resource that we have. Australia has a good radar picket of their coast, but nothing inland over the deserts. Even our deserts are radar covered. Britain has decent radar system now, but, it only updates every 15 minutes & Europe has radar, but Birmingham’s WVTM radar is a better radar system than they have.

Think of Birmingham for a moment. At any given time we are being painted by radar from Shelby County, Columbus AFB, Montgomery, Hytop/Huntsville & Atlanta/Peach Tree City. Not to mention the TDWR sites & WVTM.

So, next time you are looking at these radar image, just remember how unique it is and realize how totally rotten we are spoiled

 

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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.

With the exception of the southern tip of Nova Scotia, all of Canada and roughly one half of the Continental US, or “CONUS”, are now covered with snow. Canada’s Hudson’s Bay is frozen, as is the ocean water between Baffin Island and Greenland.

http://www.natice.noaa.gov/pub/ims/ims_gif/DATA/cursnow_usa.gif
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 2019. 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 Sun is the beginning stages of Solar Cycle 25, and there should be an increase in solar activity and good HF radio propagation.

At the beginning of the month Mercury, magnitude –1.0, in Sagittarius, is hidden in the glare of the Sun.

He then emerges in the evening sky passing by Saturn on the 9th and Jupiter on the 11th.

Mercury reaches his highest point in the evening sky, or “Greatest Eastern Elongation” of 18.6 degrees from the Sun on January 23. This is the best time to view Mercury since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening sky. Look for the planet low in the western sky just after sunset.

He will be at “Dichotomy” or at half lit phase on January 25.

He will reach his closest distance to the Sun or Perihelion on January 28.

Venus, magnitude –3.9, in Ophiuchus, near the head of Scorpius, is very low in the Southeast during dawn.

Earth, magnitude -4.0, as viewed from the Sun, is in the Constellation Gemini.

Earth will reach her closest distance to the Sun on Jan 2, when the planet will be 0.98324 Astronomical Units or 91,399,000 miles from the Sun.

Mars, magnitude –0.3, in Pisces, shines very high in the South in early evening. The bright yellow-orange globe is fading and shrinking into the distance. Telescopes will reveal it is gibbous, being
89% sunlit from Earth’s point of view..

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude 9.3, is in Aquarius.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.0, in Capricorn, is low in the southwest during and after twilight; he will soon disappear below the horizon and pass behind the Sun on January 28.

Saturn, magnitudes +1.4, in Capricorn, still shines with Jupiter, though their separation is increasing, in the southwest during and after twilight, and like Jupiter will soon disappear from the night sky. Saturn will pass behind the Sun on January 23.

Uranus, magnitude 5.7, in Aries, is high in the south in early evening.

Neptune, magnitude 7.9, in Aquarius, is lower in the southwest just after dark.

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

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

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon faintly shines at magnitude 17.3 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 18.8 in Cetus the Sea Monster

4323 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of December 17, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

The Quadrantids Meteor Shower will occur Saturday & Sunday, January 2 & 3. 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 2nd and morning of the 3rd. The waning gibbous moon will block out most of the faintest meteors this year. But if you are patient, you should 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 originated 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.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur January 6.

The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on January 9, when she will be 228,285 miles from Earth.

New Moon occurs January 12 at 11:02 PM CST on January 12 or 5:02 UTC January 13 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.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur January 20.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on January 21, when she will be 251258 miles from Earth.

Full Moon will occur Thursday, January 28, at 1:18 PM CST or 19:18 PM UTC. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be 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”.

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This month’s meeting will be on January 12 at 7PM.

The meeting will be done remotely as was last month’s meeting. Details and instructions will be issued as the time nears.

I hope to see you there!

Mark Wells
WD4NYL & WRJE893
Editor
ALERT Newsletter
wd4nyl@bellsouth.net

Mark’s Weatherlynx
Weather Resource Database
https://weatherlynx.webs.com/