Hi everyone and welcome to the October ALERT Newsletter!

Fall has arrived and with it we can look forward to the changing of the fall leaves, the occasional nip in the air, and the Hobgoblins that will visit us at the end of the month.

October is a fun time of the year, usually being not too hot and not too cold – the “Goldilocks” of seasons.

It is a time to enjoy Fall football, the baseball playoffs which my Cubs are in, and the last outdoor adventures of the year, as the pretty weather October lets you get tanned, rested and ready for the storms of the Fall.

If you are into DXing on the HF bands, the good news is that they are awakening from their Summer slumber, as my recent voice and CW contacts with Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Canada, the Canary Islands, Croatia, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, Panama, Russia, Sardinia, Serbia, Sint Maarten & Slovenia would demonstrate.

This reawakening of the HF bands coincides with the fall ham migration. You see, hams are like birds. We migrate in the fall. Birds migrate towards the equator, hams driven in by the cold, rain and lack of competing outdoor activities migrate towards the knobs.

So, dust off that radio, check and see if you still have an antenna in the air, and let the world know you are still on the sunny side of the daisies.

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Birmingham NWS Fall 2025 Spotter Courses

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

By participating in these courses, which run about 2 hours, an individual or a group of individuals will become SKYWARN Storm Spotters.

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

To attend the Online Spotter Classes:

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

To avoid being hurried, give yourself at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the class to complete the above process and to get your note taking materials ready.

The current schedule is as follows:

Basic Class Thursday, October 2 – 6:30 – 7:30 PM Class Registration Link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7773998457518567512

Basic Class Tuesday, October 7 – 6:30 – 7:30 PM Class Registration Link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5549842565178907995

Basic Class Thursday, October 9 – 1:00 – 2:00 PM Class Registration Link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6269801679535021146

Basic Class Thursday, October 16 – 6:30 – 7:30 PM Class Registration Link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6825914869654835288

Advanced Class Tuesday, October 21 – 7:00 – 8:00 PM Class Registration Link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/303442568896945244

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

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

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

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

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

Other useful resources:

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

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

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

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

The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research – UCARS – offers numerous courses on various aspects of meteorology. visit: Public Dashboard | MetEd

Registration is required, but all courses are free.

Note these videos and UCARs online courses ARE NOT intended to replace the courses offered by the NWS office. The local meteorologists will know factors and variations in the area microclimate that may need to be considered when assessing the observed phenomena. Consider these online courses as supplemental information.

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How Dark Is Your Sky?

I have been an Amateur Radio Operator for nearly 48 years. My interest in the hobby grew from an interest in Meteorology, which was inspired by listening to hams taking severe storm reports on VHF ham nets. My interest in Meteorology in turn is an offshoot of an interest in Astronomy, as I learned by watching the skies I could decipher the clouds meanings. My interest in Astronomy dates to the night a six year old version of me watched with wonder the total Lunar Eclipse of December 19, 1964.

I have lived in or near a city all my life and to me the milky looking night sky I see is “normal”. I am used to a sky illuminated by a few hundred thousand streetlights, lights from stores, cars and other sources. The darkest skies I have ever seen in Birmingham was in February 1976, when a power blackout darkened the western suburbs of Birmingham, which coincided with the passage Comet West. With an unhindered sky, not only did I have a beautiful view of the comet, but saw the Milky Way for the first time and a bewildering number of stars.

Being an amateur astronomer in a city is a challenging prospect, as the sky is never truly dark. As a teenager, for a few days I thought I might have found a cure for the problem. Since all the streetlights then were mercury vapor lights, I saved up and bought a filter specifically designed to filter out the wavelengths of mercury vapor lights. Life was good for about a week, then Alabama Power came and replaced all the mercury vapor lights with sodium vapor lights, which cannot be filtered and then for pure meanness they installed so many new lights in the neighborhood that the Barons could have easily played night games there.

The neighbors thought it was great since it would “keep the burglars away”, which proved to be wrong, as since the burglars didn’t need flashlights now, the beams of which would normally have aroused suspicion, they just happily cranked up operations.

The best I could do is find the darkest shadows and try my best to observe, while being keenly aware of the activity around me, which by habit I always did anyway, and still do today.

Before I continue I will quickly say that this article is not going to be a sermon about the evils of light pollution, but is leading to a guide to help you find the darkest skies in Alabama for stargazing.

That said, we live in an increasingly light polluted world. Light pollution is caused by inefficient or unnecessary use of artificial light, especially lights which shine into the night sky rather than using a shield or reflector to concentrate the light towards the intended direction.

It has been estimated that 83% of the world’s people live under light polluted skies and that 23% of the world’s land area is affected by “skyglow”, which is the diffuse glow of the night sky caused by the combined lights of human civilization.

To help measure light pollution levels and help skywatchers evaluate and compare the darkness of possible night sky observing sites, Amateur Astronomer John E Bortle created the “Bortle Dark-Sky Scale” . The Bortle Scale is a nine level numeric scale that measures the night sky’s brightness at a particular location, based on celestial objects that can be observed and the lights effects on the night sky and the surrounding area.

There are dark skies to be found in Alabama. Naturally the further away from a city you go, the better the sky becomes, to varying degrees. Some recommend driving two hours or more from a city. The only problem is, in the Southeastern US if you drive two hours away from a city, what usually happens? You find yourself in another city.

So, where are the darkest skies in Alabama?

Using the Bortle Scale as our guide, let’s go for a trip!

The brightest lit city in Alabama is Birmingham, so it will be our epicenter.

Class 9 – Inner City Skies – In downtown Birmingham, from a point centered roughly at 4Th Ave South & 20th Street South radiating outward one mile in every direction in a circle reaching 5 Points South, to an area a few blocks just west of I-65 downtown, then northward to the BJCC and then eastward to Avondale.

Here the entire sky is brightly lit and discolored, with light pollution reaching to the zenith. Stars are weak and washed out and only the brightest constellations are visible, and they are missing stars. Dimmer constellations such as Cancer and Pisces are not seen at all. The Pleiades star cluster is visible if you know where to look for it, but stars fainter than magnitude 4 are invisible. Most people don’t even look up, except perhaps to notice the Moon.

Class 8 – City Sky – In the Birmingham Metro area, from the edges of the Class 9 area one mile to the southeast and to the northwest, and two miles to the southwest and the northeast, this shape is due to Birmingham being an elongated city on a southwest/northeast axis. This area includes Homewood, West End, Ensley, North Birmingham, Shuttlesworth Airport and Woodlawn. Incidentally, downtown Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery and Tuscaloosa are also Class 8 locations.

Here the sky glows whitish gray or orangish, with bright light pollution reaching to 35° above the horizon. You can read newspaper headlines without difficulty. Some of the stars making up the familiar constellation patterns are difficult to see or are absent entirely. The naked eye can pick out stars down to magnitude 4.5 at best, if you know just where to look.

Class 7 – Suburban / Urban Transition – From the edges of the Class 8 area stretching to Vestavia Hills, Hoover, Bessemer, Fairfield, Fultondale, near Center Point, Irondale and Mountain Brook.

Here the entire sky has a grayish white glow, and clouds are brightly lit, with strong light sources seen in every direction. The Milky Way is invisible and using a telescope only the brightest nebula and star clusters are seen, and they are unimpressive. M31, the Andromeda Galaxy is just barely visible to the naked eye using averted vision, but is visible as an elongated rice shaped smudge in small telescopes. The naked eye limit is magnitude 5.

Class 6 – Bright Suburban Sky – From the edge of the Class 7 areas stretching to the northern slope of Oak Mountain, down the I-65 corridor to Calera, I-59 to McCalla, Hueytown, Pleasant Grove, Minor, Forestdale, Gardendale, Center Point, Trussville, the I-20 corridor to Leeds and then to Lake Purdy.

Here skies are dominated by light pollution making the sky within 35° of the horizon glow grayish white. Clouds appear fairly bright, with even cirrus clouds brighter than the sky background.
Zodiacal light, which is the glow from sunlight reflected by objects along the Earth’s orbital plane is invisible, but faint indications of the Milky Way may be seen towards the Zenith. Viewing the area with binoculars can be impressive. Galaxy M31 is modestly apparent to the unaided eye, but the Triangulum Galaxy, M33 is invisible. Your surroundings are easily visible. The naked-eye limit is about magnitude 5.5.

Class 5 – Suburban Sky – From the edges of the Class 6 area stretching down I-65 to the Shelby/Chilton County line, down the I-59 corridor to just east of Tuscaloosa, Tannehill State Park, Sylvan Springs, Graysville, Warrior, the Jefferson/ Blount County line, Springville, along the I-20 corridor into St. Clair County and beyond and the southern slope of Oak Mountain.

Light pollution is significant, and light sources are evident in most, if not all directions. Clouds are noticeably brighter than the sky. Hints of the zodiacal light are seen on the best spring and autumn nights. The Milky Way is very weak or invisible near the horizon and looks rather washed out overhead and delicate detail is lost. Though to a city dweller, who has never seen it before, it is magnificent. Galaxy M31 is easily visible, as is the Great Nebula in Orion, but Galaxy M33 is invisible.
The naked-eye limit is about magnitude 6.

Class 4 – Rural / Suburban Transition – Western Jefferson County along the Warrior River, Walker County, except near Jasper, Rickwood Caverns State Park, Smokerise and most of Blount County.

Class 4 skies are a mix of rural and suburban characteristics. Domes of light are apparent over population centers in several directions extending to 55º above the horizon. Clouds in the direction of light-pollution sources are slightly illuminated but have only a grayish look overhead, and surroundings are clearly visible, with your car clearly visible in the distance. The zodiacal light is seen on the best nights and the Milky Way is brilliant overhead, showing the dark dust lane structure of the Great Rift and extends in a washed out form near the horizon. Galaxy M31 is easily visible, and Galaxy M33 is now a barely detectable using averted vision and then only when it is 55º above the horizon. The maximum naked-eye magnitude is 6.1 to 6.5.

Intermediate between Class 4 & 3 would include Cheaha State Park, Briarfield Ironworks State Park, the Bankhead National Forest & the Sipsey Wilderness in Winston County and the Talladega National Forest – Oakmulgee District, in Bibb County. Here the skies are so clear and the stars so bright that I find it can be disorienting, as there are too many stars and they blur out the familiar stars that outline the constellations. Cool, but slightly creepy.

Class 3 – Rural Sky – Western Clarke County and a sizable area including Western Montgomery County, Dallas, Wilcox and Monroe County.

There is indication of light pollution along the horizon. Clouds may appear faintly illuminated in the brightest parts of the sky near the horizon but are dark overhead. You lose visibility and your surroundings are only vaguely visible at 20 to 30 feet. The zodiacal light is striking in spring and autumn, when it extends 60° above the horizon after dusk and before dawn, and it begins to show hints of color. The sky is crowded with stars, appearing large and close, extending to the horizon in all directions. The Milky Way still appears complex, showing structures, but is losing its contrast due to the multitude of stars. The galactic bulge is visible and the galaxy appears three dimensional. Globular star clusters such as M4, M5, M15, and M22 are all distinct naked-eye objects, as is Galaxy M31. Galaxy M33 is easy to see with averted vision. The naked-eye magnitude is 6.6 to 7.0.

Class 2 – Typical Truly Dark Skies – The Conecuh National Forest, and a rough north – south corridor covering central Dallas, Wilcox and Monroe County, curving west and southwestward over Wilcox County. Roland Cooper State Park in Wilcox County is within this area. Highway AL10 from Greenville to Pineapple and County Road 106 from Georgiana to the intersection of County Roads 47 & 83 cut though this area. The small unincorporated communities of Carlowville on County Road 89 in Dallas County, Snow Hill & Furman on County Road 21 in Wilcox County, sit nestled near the center of this corridor. This isn’t in the Middle Of Nowhere, but you can see it from there.

There are no light domes on the horizon, Airglow, a glow in the night sky caused by radiation from the upper atmosphere, may be weakly apparent along the horizon. Clouds and surroundings are barely visible. Any clouds in the sky are visible only as dark holes or voids in the starry background and your surroundings are seen only vaguely, except where they project against the sky. The zodiacal light can be annoyingly bright, able to cast weak shadows just before dawn and after dusk, and its color can be seen as distinctly yellowish when compared with the blue-white of the Milky Way. The Gegenschein, a faint light about 20° across in the night sky opposite the sun, probably caused by backscatter of sunlight by dust in the solar system, is visible. The summer Milky Way is highly structured to the unaided eye, and its brightest parts look like veined marble when viewed with ordinary binoculars. The rising Milky Way is so bright that it has confused some into thinking it’s dawn, and like Zodiacal light, it can cast faint shadows on white objects. The Milky Way has faint lateral extensions making it’s bulge 50° thick. Galaxy M33 is easily seen. The maximum naked-eye magnitude is as faint as 7.1 to 7.5.

Class 2 sites are almost as good as Class 1 sites, with only a slight increase in skyglow.

Intermediate between Class 2 & 1, the closest area to Alabama is the Apalachicola National Forest in Florida, on an east-west line from Sumatra to Sopchoppy or between Apalachicola and Tallahassee.

Class 1 – Excellent, Truly Dark Skies – The western deserts and 300 miles and beyond south of Gulf Shores.

Class 1 skies are theoretically darkest terrestrial skies, limited only by airglow, starlight and the bright glare from Jupiter and Venus, which spoil can spoil your night vision. Airglow is readily apparent, as is the colorful zodiacal light and it’s extension the zodiacal band, which spans the entire sky. If you are observing on a grass covered field bordered by trees, your surroundings are almost totally invisible, close objects being only indistinct silhouettes. The Milky Way’s core in Scorpius and Sagittarius casts obvious diffuse shadows on the ground. Both Galaxies M31, M33 and numerous star clusters and nebulae are easily visible to the unaided eye. The maximum naked-eye magnitude is as faint as 7.6 or fainter.

The only more pristine skies to be found are those seen from the International Space Station and the Tiangong Space Station, which are above the Airglow and the pollution and turbulence of the atmosphere.

To see your locations condition, see:

Map – Dark Site Finder
Alabama Dark Sky Parks & Places | Stargazing & Astrotourism
Stellarium Web Online Star Map

The best times for observing the central regions of the Milky Way are moonless nights, either before moonrise, after moonset or during a New Moon, between March and October, with July, August and September being the prime time as the Milky Way will be vertical as opposed to crooked in the sky.

During the winter months, though the stars of the constellations are brighter, the parts of the Mily Way you will see are looking towards the outer arms of the galaxy, since the Earth will be facing away from the center. It’s still worth looking at though.

When you go stargazing, let your eyes adjust to the dark for several minutes, 30 minutes is best. If you use a light, use a red filter as it won’t spoil your “night vision”. There are few things in life that are more annoying than having your eyes dark adapted and having some dolt shine a flashlight in your eyes or having a cars headlights blinding you. Then you must start the adaptation process all over again.

The term “averted vision” was used starting with Class 7 skies. If you look slightly above or to the sides a diffuse object, such as a galaxy or nebula instead of looking directly using the center of your vision, it will appear brighter. This is called the “averted vision”.

This technique helps overcome a quirk in the human eye. The center of our eyes has virtually no rods, the cells that detect dim light in black and white. This situation results in a decrease in visual sensitivity in central vision at night.

The density of the rod cells usually reaches a maximum around 20 degrees off the center of vision, so as you look away, dim objects will suddenly brighten or pop into view.

So, since we know where to go and what to do, lets grab the Sasquatch and mosquito repellent and go stargazing!

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Mark’s Almanac

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

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

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

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

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

Florida, due to its low latitude, and the way it projects into the ocean separating the Atlantic and The Gulf makes it especially vulnerable to hurricanes. From 1851 – 2024, Florida there have been 35 October hurricane landfalls, nearly triple the next highest state – Louisiana, which has had 12. About 60 percent of all U.S. hurricanes that made landfall after September 26 have done so in Florida. One factor being the cold fronts of Fall penetrating the Gulf and then deflecting storms towards the west coast of Florida.

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

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

From 1851 – 2024 there have been 367 Tropical Storms and 222 hurricanes, 60 of which made landfall in the United States.

Some notable October hurricanes are:

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

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

Hurricane Wilma still holds the record as the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded in the Atlantic Basin. In 24 hours, Wilma went from a Category 1 storm on October 18 to a Category 5 storm with 185 MPH Maximum Sustained Winds and a Minimum Pressure of 882 millibars or 26.05 inches. She weakened to Category 4 and struck the Yucatan, then restrengthened and struck Cape Romano Florida as a Category 3 storm on October 24, 2005.

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

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

Hurricane Milton became a Category 1 Hurricane on October 6, 2024, and explosively strengthened to a 180 MPH Category 5 the next day. He weakened to a 115 MPH Category 3 storm as he struck Fiesta Key, near Sarasota Florida on October 10.

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

October Tropical Cyclone Breeding Grounds

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

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

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

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

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

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

Days rapidly grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 53.2 degrees at the beginning of the month to 42.3 degrees at the months end. Daylight decreases 58 minutes from 11 hours 52 minutes on October 1 to 10 hours 53 minutes on October 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

October 1 Sunrise 6:40 AM Sunset 6:32 PM
October 15 Sunrise 6:51 AM Sunset 6:14 PM
October 31 Sunrise 7:04 AM Sunset 5:57 PM

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.7 is in Virgo, The Virgin.

Mercury, magnitude -0.2 in Libra, The Scales, is hidden in the glow of the Sun.

Venus, magnitude -3.9 in Virgo, The Virgin, is a predawn object moving ever closer to the Sun.

At the first of the month, she will rise at 4:44 AM CDT – 1 hour and 55 minutes before the Sun and reach an altitude of 19° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks around 6:23 AM CDT.

Venus will reach her closest distance to the Sun, or Perihelion, on October 5.

At midmonth she will rise at 5:11 AM CDT – 1 hour and 38 minutes before the Sun and reach an altitude of 16° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:34 AM CDT.

At month’s end she will rise at 5:42 AM CDT – 1 hour and 20 minutes before the Sun and reach an altitude of 12° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:47 AM CDT.

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

Mars, magnitude +1.5, with his Moons Phobos and Deimos in Libra, The Scales, is hidden in the glow of the Sun.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +7.7, is in Cetus, The Sea Monster.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.1, and his 97 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring, in Gemini, The Twins,
is a morning object.

At the first of the month, he rises at 12:36 AM CDT, and reaches an altitude of 69° above the south-eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:23 AM CDT.

By midmonth he rises at 11:48 PM CDT, and reaches an altitude of 77° above the southern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:34 AM CDT.

At months end he comes visible around 11:35 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 7° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 5:53 AM CDT, 77° above the southern horizon. He will be lost in the dawn twilight around 6:47 AM CDT, 72° above the south-western horizon.

Saturn, magnitude +0.7, and his 274 moons and extensive debris ring system, in Aquarius, The Water Bearer, is an evening object.

At the first of the month, he becomes visible around 7:01 PM CDT, 11° above the eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will reach his highest point in the sky at 11:56 PM CDT, 53° above the southern horizon. It will continue to be observable until around 4:53 AM CDT, when he sinks below 11° above the western horizon.

By midmonth he becomes visible around 6:44 AM CDT, 19° above the eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will reach his highest point in the sky at 10:58 PM, 52° above the southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 3:53 AM CDT, when he sinks below 11° above the western horizon.

At month’s end he becomes visible around 6:38 PM CDT at an altitude of 28° above the south-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will reach his highest point in the sky at 9:51 PM CDT, 52° above the southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 2:45 AM CDT, when he sinks below 11° above the western horizon.

Uranus, magnitude +5.6, and his 29 moons and ring, in Taurus, The Bull, is a morning object.

At the first of the month, he becomes visible around 8:52 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will reach his highest point in the sky at 4:00 AM CDT, 76° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:40 AM CDT, 64° above the south-western horizon.

By midmonth he becomes visible around 9:55 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. he will reach his highest point in the sky at 3:04 AM, 76° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:50 AM, 50° above the western horizon.

At months end he becomes visible around 8:50 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will reach his highest point in the sky at 1:59 AM CDT, 76° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 6:02 AM CDT, 34° above the western horizon.

Neptune, magnitude 7.7, and his 16 moons and ring, is in Pisces, The Fish, is visible using a telescope in the evening sky.

At the first of the month, he becomes visible at 7:59 PM CDT at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 55° above the southern horizon at 12:09 AM CDT and fades into the dawn twilight around 4:18 AM CDT, 31° above the western horizon.

By midmonth he becomes visible at 7:11 PM CDT, 24° above the eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will reach his highest point in the sky at 11:08 PM CDT, 55° above the southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 3:18 AM CDT, when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

At months end he becomes visible, at 6:55 PM CDT at an altitude of 33° above the south-eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 55° above the southern horizon at 10:04 PM CDT and will continue to be observable until around 2:13 AM CDT, when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

Pluto, the largest Dwarf Planet, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.5 in Capricornus, The Sea Goat.

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

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) 1, nicknamed MK1 by the discovery team, shines faintly at magnitude +17.1 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris, the second largest Dwarf Planet, and her moon Dysnomia, originally referred to as Xena and Gabrielle, is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude +18.6 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

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

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 near Pegasus, The Winged Horse.

50000 Quaoar, his two rings and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Orion, The Hunter.

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

225088 Gonggong, the third largest Dwarf Planet, originally nicknamed Snow White by the discovery team, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Pegasus, The Winged Horse.

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

120347 Salacia, and her moon Actaea glows at magnitude 20.7 in Hydra, The Sea Serpent. Salacia is considered a “borderline” Dwarf Planet. Some astronomers saying she “most certainly is a Dwarf Planet”, while others disagreeing based on her size, saying she is too small to have compressed into
a fully solid body, to have been resurfaced, or to have collapsed into “hydrostatic equilibrium”, that is to assume spherical shape like a planet.

“Dwarf Planet Candidate” 2017 OF201, magnitude 23.2 is in the constellation Triangulum, the Triangle.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, an asteroid unofficially called Asteroid 2018 AG37, and nicknamed FarFarOut, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

FarFarOut is currently 12,361,431,335 miles or in Light Time, 18 hours, 25 minutes and 58 seconds from Earth.

The most distant man-made object, Voyager 1, still operating after 48 years, 14 month and 7 days is 15,656,667,801 miles, or in Light Time, 23 hours, 20 minutes 48 Seconds from Earth as of 3:01 PM CDT, September 19, 2025, sailing 38,027 miles per hour through Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.

Near Earth Object, asteroid 99942 Apophis, is expected to pass within 19,794 miles of the Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029.

Apophis, magnitude +21.2, in Virgo, The Virgin, is 185724785 miles or 1303 days from the Earth as of 3:11 PM CDT, September 19, 2025.

Asteroid 2024 YR4, which will pass though the Earth – Moon system on Wednesday, December 22, 2032, dimly glows at magnitude +29.7, in Virgo, The Virgin. It currently is 378,128,373 miles or 2756 days from the Earth as of 3:17 PM CDT, September 19, 2025.

There are 1,463,453 known asteroids and 4,034 comets as of September 19, 2025, per NASA/JPL Solar Dynamics Website

6,007 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of September 17, 2025 per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive.

October’s Full Moon will occur October 6. The Moon will be directly opposite the Earth from the Sun and will be fully illuminated. This phase occurs at 10:49 PM CDT or 03:49 UTC October 7. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes as the Full Hunters Moon because at this time of year the leaves are falling, and the game is fat and ready to hunt. This moon has also been known as the Travel Moon and the Blood Moon.

This is the first of three Supermoons for 2025. The Moon will be near its closest approach to the Earth and may look slightly larger and brighter than usual.

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

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

Unfortunately, the glare from the nearly full moon will block most of the meteors this year. Best viewing will be in the early evening from a dark location far away from city lights. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Draco, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

The Moon will be at Perigee or her closest approach to Earth on October 8, when she will be 223,581 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur on October 13 at 1:14 PM CDT or 06:14 UTC.

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

New Moon will occur at 7:25 AM CDT or 12:25 UTC on October 21. 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.

This New Moon occurs near Apogee, or the Moon’s farthest point from the Earth, so this will be a Micromoon. A Micromoon is the opposite of a Supermoon. Where a Supermoon appears slightly larger than normal, a Micromoon, if it were visible, would appear smaller.

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

This is an great year for the Orionids, as the moon will be absent all night long, leaving dark skies for what should be an excellent show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Orion, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on October 23, when she will be 252,553 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur October 29 at 11:22 AM CDT or 16:22 UTC.

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

Astronomers are watching a comet, Comet C/2025 A6 (Lemmon), which was discovered in January. The comet is currently in the dawn sky in Lynx, at magnitude 8.

During August it brightened quickly from magnitude 16.5 to 11 (the lower the number, the brighter).
Japanese comet expert Seiichi Yoshida estimates that if Comet Lemmon continues this trend, it might reach magnitude 5 or 4, which means it could become visible to the naked eye from dark sites. Or it could only be a temporary outburst, and some say it will only reach magnitude 7.5. This means it would be a good object for small telescopes in dark skies, but would not reach naked eye visibility.

On October 11 the comet will be located below the ladle of the Big Dipper in the northeastern sky after sunset. As the nights progress it will drift westward and by the 21st, it will be the closest to the Earth and will be behind the Big Dipper, looking Northwest towards the bright star Arcturus and then head towards the setting Sun. Will it be spectacular or just a fuzzy blob in binoculars? Only time will tell.

But that’s not all folks, there is a second comet!

On September 10, 2025, Vladimir Bezugly of Dnipro, Ukraine was examining low resolution online images from the Solar Wind Anisotropies (SWAN) camera on the Solar and Heliospheric Observer (SOHO) spacecraft and discovered a moving object, resembling a bright blob, close to the Sun. That blob has turned out to be comet C/2025 R2 (SWAN).

Brightness forecasts issued by Seiichi Yoshida and Dutch comet expert Gideon Van Buitenen indicate that the comet will peak somewhere between magnitude +6 and +7, probably placing it just out of naked-eye visibility under dark, moonless skies. But, good binoculars should bring it into view.

Daniel W.E. Green at the Central Bureau for Astronomical Telegrams suggests that comet SWAN will hover near magnitude of +6, from Oct. 2 to 20, and perhaps becoming a few tenths of a magnitude brighter for a few days around Oct. 12, meaning it might become faintly visible with the unaided eye.
Comet SWAN will slowly climb in the southwest sky during the first ten days of October, reaching an altitude of 12 degrees above the horizon at the end of evening twilight, about 90 minutes after sunset.

By October 28, the comet will have climbed to 30 degrees above the south-southwest horizon by nightfall and by Oct. 25 it will stand halfway up in the southern sky when twilight ends, and not set until after midnight.

During October, Comet SWAN will move along a path taking it across the constellations of Libra, Scorpius, Ophiuchus, Serpens, Scutum, Sagittarius, Aquila and Aquarius.

Give these comets a try!

As you look at the October night skies, take a peek at the rich star clouds of the Milky Way in Cygnus as she crosses the zenith. These will appear as a ghostly band overhead in the hour after nightfall is complete. The Milky Way now rises straight up from the southwest horizon, passes overhead, and runs straight down to the northeast.

Later at midnight, Orion the Hunter and the stars of winter rise over the eastern horizon, reminding us to enjoy the mild weather while it is here, for this season, as all seasons, is but a fleeting moment in the never-ending waltz of time.

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This month’s meeting will be on October 14 at 7 PM at the NWS Forecast Office in Calera.

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter

Hi everyone, and welcome to the 219th Alert Newsletter!

I hope this finds you doing well as we see the first hints of Fall, with the air is a little less humid and the temperatures with a foretaste of the coolness to come.

This all helps to remind you that football season has arrived!

Hopefully Alabama and Auburn will do well. Though being biased, I’m hoping that Alabama does a just little better, than the Tigers, Roll Tide. I always say I hope Auburn wins every game except that pesky little one on November 29.

I hope you have a good month, and I hope to see you at our next meeting, which will be on September 9.

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A Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Radio Frequency Spectrum – Part 7

Having left the 10 Meter band and reached 30 MHz we leave the world of HF and enter the land of VHF.

Between the 10 Meter and the 6 Meter ham Bands is the 20 MHz wide VHF Low Band, which is used by Land Mobile, Public Service, Military and businesses.

One of the best ways to explore this region is with an analog scanner that includes “VHF Low”, and by scanning a smallish range of frequencies, for example from 30.000 to 35.000 MHz, rather than programming random channels and hoping and praying some blip will be heard or scanning too large an area. I find that scanning smaller ranges repetitively gives a greater chance of intercepting brief random transmissions, which would otherwise be missed if you scanned an area too large, such as with an entire band scan or hit and miss scanning by channel.

If you don’t have a scanner, you are not out of luck. Many or most modern or modernish HF ham transceivers will easily reach into this realm without any modification or “tinkering”. For instance, my Yaesu FT-817 & FT-450 both have continuous coverage up to 56 MHz. The FT-450 covers from 100 kHz to 56 MHz and the FT-817 cover from 30 kHz to 56 MHz.

Incidentally, the little 817 also has an advantage for AM and low frequency DXing in that it doesn’t kick in a 20 dB attenuator below the 160 Meter band, as does the FT-450, the Kenwood TS-570 and others which spoils AM and low frequency DXing.

And here’s a little secret with the FT-817 that you may not know. Due to a design quirk with the FT-817 (and probably the FT-818 also), if you normally have a strong signal from a NOAA Weatherradio, you can receive NOAA Weatherradio transmissions on an FT-817, though the radio is not designed to receive those frequencies. Simply tune in a frequency 136.66 MHz below the strongest local NOAA frequency. For example, in Birmingham 162.550 MHz would be tuned in at 25.890 MHz using FM mode (162.550 – 136.660 = 25.890). In Montgomery you would tune to 25.740 MHz (162. 400 – 133.660 = 25.740), and so on. Give it a try!
As we move on, one of the more interesting areas to explore in the VHF Low Band is between 30.000 to 37.000 MHz.

When the 10 Meter band is open, more times than not, this area will be open also. Here you will find military communications using unencrypted FM, which is why Humvees and other military vehicles have those long CB like whip antennas. You can listen to training and actual military operations, which is perfectly legal to eavesdrop on.

Some specific ranges for military communications are:

30.000 – 30.550 MHz
32.000 – 32.990 MHz
34.000 – 34.990 MHz
36.000 – 36.990 MHz

Above 37 MHz I have heard veterinary clinics in California, reminiscent of TV’s Dr, Pol, and the California Highway Patrol operating between 39.000 – 40.000 MHz.

40.000 – 41.990 MHz is used by the military. And, though not available in North America and not an “official” Amateur Radio band, 8 Meters, or roughly 40.000 – 41.000 MHz is seeing Amateur Radio use in Europe and Africa, as the International Amateur Radio Union in Region 1 is encouraging member societies to obtain propagation beacon permissions for experimental use.

Current allocations, some of which are temporary, are as follows:

Belgium 40.660 – 40.690 MHz
Ireland 40.000 – 45.000 MHz
Italy 40.660 – 40.700 MHz
Slovenia 40.660 – 40.700 MHz
South Africa 40.675 – 40.685 MHz
Spain 40.650 – 40.750 MHz

There have been requests made to the FCC to open these frequencies to US Amateur use, but so far they have been declined.

The California Highway Patrol operates between 42.000 – 43.000 MHz and 44.000 – 45.500 MHz.

49.610 – 49.990 MHz is used by the Military, but nestled within that range there’s a little secret.

In 1977, the FCC created 5 channels for “toy” walkie talkies just beneath the 6 Meter ham band on 49.830, 49.845, 49.860, 49.875 and 49.890 MHz. With 49.860 MHz being the most commonly used frequency.

These new $7.95 100 mw units touted “up to ¼ mile range” and the “toy” Channel 14 CB walkie talkies were phased out and no longer sold after 1978, although a few not considered “toys” continued for a while, and full power 40 channel CB handhelds, like the Midland 75-785 are available today.

Curious as to what activity I might hear, in 1978 I bought one of these 49 MHz walkie talkies and I never heard another set drift in. But I heard something else, quite by accident.

As it turned out these frequencies were also shared with cordless telephone handset channels 6, 2, 3, 5 & 7, in that order and that baby monitors also used these same 5 channels along with 49.300 MHz. Investigating further I found phone handsets were sprinkled from 48.760 to 49.970 MHz and bases from 43.720 to 46.970 MHz.

So, I accidently found that basically my entire neighborhood had “bugged” itself, and during the very short time I listened, which was perfectly legal incidentally, I learned that my little version of Mayberry was more like a bad Maury Povich episode instead.

Learning that 87 year old “Me Maw Johnson” was once an exotic dancer and “entertainer” on Bourbon Street was certainly interesting, as were other “things”, which I cannot discuss in a family forum.

I didn’t listen very long though, for the more I heard, the more shocked I became, and I decided it was unwise to corrupt my innocent teenage mind any further. So, I moved on up the dial. Though my Mom rather enjoyed “learning all those ‘snooty old biddies’ secrets”.

But, what I heard I will never tell. For what happened in Mayberry stays in Mayberry.

Walkie talkies have now migrated to the FRS frequencies and cordless phones and baby monitors to 800 & 900 MHz. But…if anyone is still using the old 49 MHz cordless telephones and baby monitors in your neighborhood, well you might not want to listen. You don’t want to corrupt your innocent mind either.

Next we come to the first VHF ham band – 6 Meters.

6 Meters is sometimes called “The Magic Band”, as during the sunspot maximum, it can exhibit propagation characteristics similar to the HF bands, and give worldwide coverage.

Six meters, which is a band I enjoy exploring, is a weird band in a good way, as it offers nearly every type of propagation known.

The band can go from frustratingly quiet to a stirred up anthill of activity and then dead quite again, varying from minutes to hours.

6 Meter openings can be quite brief. Open now, closed 15 minutes from now and then reopening a half hour later….or maybe not. They can be very isolated also, open in Atlanta, but closed in Birmingham. Sometimes signal strength will vary rapidly up and down like a buoy in choppy seas. Sometimes there will be one station booming for an hour, while others are bobbing and fading. Invariably he will be in an endless QSO with someone you can’t hear, and though you dearly want to contact him, you feel hesitant to break in and since he never finishes the conversation, after an hour or more he just fades away into the mist.

If you hear a station, work them quickly, giving a factual signal report and your Maidenhead Grid Square, which is your location on the earth with either a four or six character string of letters and numbers. For example, mine is EM63ol. Yours may be obtained at GridMapper by QRZ Ham Radio. Work them quickly because they may fade in seconds, or last for an hour. You have no way of knowing.

1.Ground Wave

Ground Wave propagation is generally 50 miles or more, which is great for simplex operations.

2.Sporadic-E propagation.

Sporadic-E propagation is the most common propagation mode available for six meter DX (which by my definition is “if you can’t see the other fella, it’s DX”). The E layer of the ionosphere, which is about 12 miles thick, and its base is about 56 to 93 miles above ground level, is present mainly during the day, from dawn to dusk, and is responsible for most of the 6 meter ham band activity, and can provide contacts from a few hundred to a couple of thousand miles on a single hop, or even more with a double hop or triple hop into Europe or Asia.

Little is known about how or why these “clouds” of intense ionization form. Fortunately, Sporadic-E propagation is not sunspot cycle dependent, and comes back every year, even during the sunspot minimum.

The prime 6 Meter E skip season begins in May, peaks in June and finally fades out in August. A shorter peak occurs in December and early January, but it can appear at any time of the year.

3. F2 layer:

Near the peak of the sunspot cycle, which occurred late last year, solar activity can ionize the F2 layer of the ionosphere, 125 to 250 miles above ground level, sufficiently to raise the Maximum Usable Frequency enough to reach 50 MHz and allow communications similar to the upper HF bands.

When the solar flux rises to between 150 and 200, the F-layer skip can provide worldwide contacts on six meters. If the flux goes significantly above 200, DX work on six meters can even become fairly reliable.

4. Trans-Equatorial Propagation:

TEP provides North – South propagation across the equator to about 1,500 miles or more. Typically, it occurs in the late afternoon or early evening during spring and fall. As on 10 Meters, the station south of you will typically be at a similar latitude, just south, in our case, Brazil, Ecuador and Peru.

5. Auroral Propagation:

The Aurora Borealis is capable of reflecting signals from the HF bands through the 70 centimeter band. Interestingly, if the aurora is strong enough, a form of sporadic-E also develops, which is known as Auroral-Es.

CW or digital modes, such as FT8 and others are favored under these conditions, as they can squeeze out every ounce of a watt, or should I say, “operate at maximum signal efficiency”, while
sideband is inherently weaker, as the peak power only occurs momentarily on voice peaks and can be strongly distorted by the shifting aurora.

6. Meteor Scatter or Meteor Burst:

When meteors travel through the ionosphere, they leave behind ionized trails which can be used to reflect radio signals. This ionization takes place in the E Layer of the ionosphere. On 6 Meters this ionization will cause signals to suddenly appear out of a dead band, persist for a short time, then disappear, and can last anywhere from 30 seconds to several minutes. If one is lucky, a meteor shower can produce several overlapping ionized trails that may be reflecting radio waves at the same time, making communications possible for several minutes to several hours

Using USB, CW or digital modes, meteor scatter is best around dawn almost any morning, but especially from 2 AM to sunrise during meteor showers, such as the Leonids, Orionids, Perseids, etc.

This timeframe is preferred, both for radio and visual observation because at those hours the Earth is heading directly into the meteor stream. The velocity of the Earth’s rotation increases the effective velocity of inbound meteors. Conversely, the evening hours around 9 PM local time, is usually the worst time for observations or meteor scatter, as the Earth is rotating away from incoming meteors

On 6 meters, activity usually starts at 50.130 MHz and moves up, with many operators listening around 50.200 MHz. Contacts are fast, so one must keep their ears perked!

A beam antenna, such as a three element Yagi will help, especially during a meteor shower, by beaming in the general direction of where you hope to make contact. But, many Meteor Scatter contacts can be made with dipole, vertical and even mobile antennas, using 50 to 100 Watts. So, you don’t need a NASA grade setup to do this.

In North America, most meteor-scatter work is done on USB, although there is some activity on CW. In Europe, high-speed CW contacts are the norm using 200 to 400 WPM. With this method operators on each end use tape recorders or computers to transmit high-speed messages during the short meteor bursts.

As to voice, there is an informal daily gathering of meteor operators, “Meteor Scatter Mornings”, on 50.145 MHz every morning, from 11:00 – 12:00 UTC or currently 5:00 – 6:00 AM CDT (time can vary +/- an hour as this is not a formal net, but rather a gathering of like-minded operators).

This group covers from Wyoming to the East Coast, Florida, Texas, and “everything in between” using SSB and CW.

The procedure for working general meteor scatter is to call CQ for a few seconds and then listen for a few seconds. “CQ CQ CQ scatter WD4NYL WD4NYL”—spoken fast and clearly, without pausing for syllables. A quick reply might be “WD4NYL WD4NYL W3EP.” Contacts are complete when call signs and one other piece of information, usually the grid locator or state, is exchanged and acknowledged by “rogers.” Repeats are often required. Sometimes you may have to wait for the next burst to complete the contact. Keep the transmissions short and stay with a station until a full exchange of information is made.

Many use and promote digital mode MSK144, which was developed for Meteor Scatter, with good success. But, as I am not knowledgeable in that area, I’ll leave that for your own research, and remind folk that long before modern digital modes were invented, USB and CW was proven effective for this endeavor.

Some references are:

ARRL – The MSK144 Protocol for Meteor-Scatter Communication: FrankeTaylor.pdf
Meteor Scatter: Getting on the Air — How it Works | K5ND
Meteor Scatter For Amateur Radio Communications – By G7RDX

7.Tropospheric Ducting:

Just as with 2 meter band openings, a temperature inversion – warm air laying over colder air, can trap signals between layers and shoot them far over the horizon. This is common during summer months and especially at sunrise and during evenings in periods of stable and nice weather. Fall through Spring cold fronts are also a major player.

8. Warm Front Refraction:

The imminent arrival of a warm front will sometimes, under certain conditions, help create a well-defined temperature and humidity inversion at the lower levels of the atmosphere a few hours before the arrival of a warm front.

This may occur at the leading edge of a warm front, usually at night in the Spring or Fall, under cloudless skies, when the air is relatively warm and dry, overcoming relatively cooler, more humid air.

9. Backscatter:

Backscatter is caused by a small portion of a signal being reflected or scattered back in the direction of the originating station from the F2 layer or a sporadic E cloud.

Backscatter signals are usually “weak and watery”, much weaker than signals coming in simultaneously from longer distances via the usual paths. Backscatter signals often suffer from considerable multipath distortion, sometimes described as a slight echo or hollow sound.

Antennas generally should be pointed south of the direct path, toward the area of highest MUF, for the most effective use of backscatter in the northern hemisphere.

10. Sidescatter:

Sidescatter uses strange signal paths, reflecting off areas that shouldn’t be reflecting at all, but are anyway. For instance, the East Coast to Europe while beaming towards a scattering region off the west coast of Africa during the morning. Or California to Japan and the Pacific in early afternoon local California time. In those cases, the US stations beam to the southwest, while the Japanese beam to the southeast.

The best chances are for stations beaming south of the direct path around noon local time to a angle toward the midpoint of the path.

One of the best hints of 6 Meter activity (and other bands) is by referring to the site DXMaps.com
https://www.dxmaps.com/spots/mapg.php?Frec=50

The signal paths of contacts are color-coded so that you can immediately see which propagation mode was used for the QSO and you can choose which transmission modes to hide or display. For instance, if it is showing tons of activity, and you are wondering if it is FT8 or CW & SSB, you can exclude those FT8 contacts from the map or vice versa.

Another way of finding out about 6 meter band conditions is to use a map of WSPR or Weak Signal Reporter signals reported.

Map | WSPRnet

To display the 6 meter ham band activity on the map you must set a minimum of parameters, which are located below the map:

1. Set the band to 6 Meters – the default is 30 Meters
2. Set desired time period, as the default is 1 hour
3. Day/Night overlay – check the box if you want to display it
4. Go back to just below the map and click ‘Update’.

Another useful indication of band activity are beacons found from 50.060 to 50.080 MHz and though I can’t work FT8 (yet) I listen for FT8 activity on 50.313 MHz and use it for the same purpose.

Before we proceed I should mention antenna polarity. On VHF & UHF FM and Digital voice operations using simplex or repeaters, generally use vertically polarized antennas. For CW, USB, AM or FT8 distance communications, horizontally polarized antennas are used. If you use a vertically polarized antenna to reach a station using horizontally polarized antenna or vice versa, you will lose between 3 to 20 dB of signal.

The 6 Meter Band plan is as follows:

50.000 – 50.100 MHz CW, beacons
50.060 MHz QRP CW Calling Frequency
50.060 – 50.080 MHz Beacon sub band
50.060 MHz W3NH Beacon – Warrior, AL
50.080 – 50.100 MHz Main CW area
50.090 MHz CW Calling Frequency (some say 50.095 & others 50.100 MHz)
50.100 – 50.300 MHz SSB & CW, but usually USB
50.110 MHz DX window
50.125 MHz SSB calling frequency
50.145 MHz Meteor Scatter Morning Group – USB – 11:00 – 12:00 UTC 5:00—6:00 AM
CDT (time varies +/- an hour as it is a gathering, not a formal net)
50.150 MHz European SSB Calling Frequency
North East Alabama Six Meter Net – 8:30 PM – Mon – Fri
50.185 – 50.195 MHz Digital Earth-Moon-Earth
50.250 MHz Northern Colorado AM Calling Frequency
50.260 MHz WSJT Meteor Scatter Calling Frequency
50.265 MHz Meteor Scatter
50.272 MHz Yankee 6 Meter Net – New England 8:30 Sunday
50.300 – 50.600 MHz All modes
50.300 MHz West Coast FM Calling Frequency
50.313 MHz FT8
50.323 MHz FT8 Atlantic DX Window
50.400 MHz AM Calling Frequency
North East Alabama Six Meter AM Net – 7:00 PM Friday
50.415 MHz 6 Meter AM Net – 8:00 PM Friday
50.600 – 50.800 MHz Nonvoice communications
50.620 MHz Digital (packet) Calling Frequency
50.700 MHz RTTY Calling Frequency
50.800 – 51.000 MHz Radio remote control (20-kHz channels)
50.885 MHz QRP SSB Calling Frequency
51.000 – 51.100 MHz Pacific DX window
51.120 – 51.480 MHz Repeater inputs (19 channels)
51.120 – 51.180 MHz Digital repeater inputs
51.500 – 51.600 MHz Simplex (six channels)
51.620 – 51.980 MHz Repeater outputs (19 channels)
51.620 – 51.680 MHz Digital repeater outputs
52.000 – 52.480 MHz Repeater inputs (except as noted; 23 channels)
52.020 MHz FM Simples
52.040 MHz FM simplex
52.200 MHz TEST PAIR (input)
52.500 – 52.980 MHz Repeater output (except as noted; 23 channels)
52.525 MHz Primary FM simplex Calling Frequency
52.540 MHz Secondary FM simplex Calling Frequency
52.700 MHz TEST PAIR (output)
53.000 – 53.480 MHz Repeater inputs (except as noted; 19 channels)
53.000 MHz Remote base FM simplex
53.020 MHz Simplex
53.090 MHz Bessemer, Jefferson County, AL – minus 500 kHz input – no tone
53.100 MHz Remote Control
53.110 MHz Warrior , Jefferson County, AL – minus 1 MHz input – 131.8 Hz tone
53.200 MHz Remote Control
53.210 MHz Huntsville, Madison County, AL – minus 1 MHz input – 100.00 Hz tone
53.300 MHz Remote Control
53.310 MHz Battleground, Cullman County, AL – minus 1 MHz input – no tone
53.330 MHz Cullman, Cullman County, AL – minus 1 MHz input – 100.0 Hz tone
53.400 MHz Remote Control
53.500 – 53.980 MHz Repeater outputs (except as noted; 19 channels)
53.500 MHz Remote Control
53.520 MHz Simplex
53.600 MHz Remote Control
53.700 MHz Remote Control
53.750 MHz Pelham , Shelby County, AL – minus 500 kHz input – 100.00 Hz tone
53.800 MHz Remote Control
53.900 MHz Simplex
54.000 MHZ End of 6 Meter Band

The repeaters listed are those given by Repeaterbook. I can’t hear them or I verify their status, as I am located between two mountains and in a city that has tower restrictions, so using a beam is not an option. Based on conversations I have had, some are definitely operational and some may be iffy.

I have included the 50.272 MHz Yankee 6 Meter Net because when the band is open it is often open to New England. Depending on the band conditions, terrain and luck, you may or may not hear anything.

But, you never know until you try.

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Mark’s Almanac

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

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

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

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

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

From 1851 – 2025 there have been 652 Tropical Storms, 3 Subtropical Storms and 430 hurricanes, 114 of which made landfall in the United States.

Some notable September hurricanes are:

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

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

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

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

Ian, a category 4 storm which struck Florida in 2022, following the exact path of Hurricane Charley in August 2004.

Helene, a Category 4 storm which struck Florida in 2025, the most intense cyclone to hit the Big Bend area of Florida, which caused catastrophic flooding in the Appalachians.

Days continue to grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 64.9 degrees at the beginning of the month to 53.6 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight decreases from 12 hours 22 minutes on August 1 to 11 hours 51 minutes on August 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

September 1 Sunrise 6:21 AM Sunset 7:12 PM
September 15 Sunrise 6:30 AM Sunset 6:53 PM
September 31 Sunrise 6:41 AM Sunset 6:32 PM

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.7 is in Leo, The Lion.

Mercury, magnitude -0.3 in Cancer, The Crab, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

Mercury will pass behind the Sun, or be in Superior Conjunction on September 13.

Venus, magnitude -3.9 in Gemini, The Twins, is growing ever closer to the Sun in the predawn sky.

At the first of the month, she rises at 3:48 AM CDT, 2 hours and 30 minutes before the Sun and reaches an altitude of 26° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:03 AM CDT.

At midmonth she rises at 4:14 AM CDT, 2 hours and 14 minutes before the Sun and reaches an altitude of 23° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:12 AM CDT.

Venus will pass 0.8° South of Moon on September 19.

At month’s end she rises at 4:44 AM CDT, 1 hour and 55 minutes before the Sun and reaches an altitude of 19° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:23 AM CDT.

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

Mars, magnitude +1.6, with his Moons Phobos and Deimos in Virgo, The Virgin, is hidden in the glow of the Sun.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +8.3, is in Cetus, The Whale.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.0, and his 97 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring, in Gemini, The Twins, is visible in the early morning sky.

At the first of the month, he rises 2:13 AM CDT and reaches an altitude of 45° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:03 AM CDT.

By midmonth he rises at 1:29 AM CDT and reaches an altitude of 56° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:12 AM CDT.

At months end he rises at 12:36 AM CDT and reaches an altitude of 69° above the southeastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:23 AM CDT.

Saturn, magnitude +0.7, and his 274 moons and extensive debris ring system, is in Pisces, The Fish, is an evening and early morning object.

At the first of the month, he becomes visible around 9:07 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 11° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 2:07 AM CDT, 54° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:47 AM CDT, 26° above the southwestern horizon.

By midmonth he becomes visible around 8:09 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 11° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 1:08 AM CDT, 53° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:57 AM CDT, 12° above the western horizon.

He will be exactly opposite the Sun in the night sky or be in “opposition” on September 21.

At month’s end he becomes visible around 7:01 PM CDT, 11° above the eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 11:56 PM CDT, 53° above the southern horizon. He will continue to be observable until around 4:53 AM CDT, when he sinks below 11° above the western horizon.

Uranus, magnitude +5.7, and his 29 moons and ring, in Taurus, The Bull, has into the predawn sky.

Near the first of the month, he rises at 11:00 PM CDT and reaches an altitude of 73° above the south-eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:18 AM CDT.

Uranus enters “retrograde motion” or appear from Earth as tracking backwards against the night sky on September 6.

By midmonth he becomes accessible around 11:56 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 5:04 AM CDT, 76° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:28 AM CDT, 75° above the southwestern horizon.

At months end he becomes accessible around 10:52 AM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 4:00 AM CDT, 76° above the southern horizon. He will be lost in the dawn twilight around 5:40 AM CDT, 64° above the southwestern horizon.

Neptune, magnitude 7.7, and his 16 moons and ring, is in Pisces, The Fish, is visible using a telescope in the late evening and early morning sky.

At the first of the month, he becomes accessible around 9:59 PM CDT, when he reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach his highest point in the sky at 2:10 AM CDT, 55° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:18 AM CDT, 34° above the southwestern horizon.

By midmonth he becomes accessible at 9:03 PM CDT at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 55° above the southern horizon at 1:13 AM CDT. He will become inaccessible at around 5:24 AM CDT when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

He will be exactly opposite the Sun in the night sky or be in “opposition” on September 23.

At months end he becomes accessible at 7:59 PM CDT at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 55° above the southern horizon at 12:09 AM CDT. He will become inaccessible at around 4:18 AM CDT when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

Pluto, the largest Dwarf Planet, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.5 in Capricornus, The Sea Goat.

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

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) 1, nicknamed MK1 by the discovery team, shines faintly at magnitude +17.2 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris, the second largest Dwarf Planet, and her moon Dysnomia, originally referred to as Xena and Gabrielle, is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude +18.6 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

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

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 near Equuleus, The Small Horse.

50000 Quaoar, his two rings and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Taurus, The Bull..

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

225088 Gonggong, the third largest Dwarf Planet, originally nicknamed Snow White by the discovery team, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Pegasus, The Winged Horse.

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

120347 Salacia, and her moon Actaea glows at magnitude 20.7 in Hydra, The Sea Serpent. Salacia is considered a “borderline” Dwarf Planet. Some astronomers saying she “most certainly is a Dwarf Planet”, while others disagreeing based on her size, saying she is too small to have compressed into a fully solid body, to have been resurfaced, or to have collapsed into “hydrostatic equilibrium”, that is to assume spherical shape like a planet.

“Dwarf Planet Candidate” 2017 OF201, magnitude 23.2 is in the constellation Triangulum, the Triangle.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, an asteroid unofficially called Asteroid 2018 AG37, and nicknamed FarFarOut, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

FarFarOut is currently 12,391,417,487miles or in Light Time, 18 hours, 28 minutes and 39 seconds from Earth.

The most distant man-made object, Voyager 1, still operating after 47 years, 11 month and 15 days is 15,593,792,775 miles, or in Light Time, 23 hours, 15 minutes 10 Seconds from Earth as of 7:29 PM CDT, August 20, 2025, sailing 38,027 miles per hour through Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.

Near Earth Object, asteroid 99942 Apophis, is expected to pass within 19,794 miles of the Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029.

Apophis, magnitude +21.4, in Cancer, The Crab, is 190,270,151miles or 1333 days from the Earth as of 7:33 PM CDT, August 20, 2025.

Asteroid 2024 YR4, which will pass though the Earth – Moon system on Wednesday, December 22, 2032, dimly glows at magnitude +29.7, in Virgo, The Virgin. It currently is 349,109,939 Miles or 2786 days from the Earth as of 7:40 PM CDT, August 20, 2025.

There are 1,448,463 known asteroids and 4,028 comets as of August 20,, per NASA/JPL Solar Dynamics Website

5,983 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of August 14, 2025 per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive.

September’s Full Moon will occur September 77 at 1:10 PM CDT or 18:36 UTC.

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

This moon is also known as the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the September equinox each year.

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

There will be a Total Lunar Eclipse on September 7. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes completely through the Earth’s dark shadow, or umbra. During this type of eclipse, the Moon will gradually get darker and then take on a rusty or blood red color. The eclipse will be visible in Asia, Australia and the central and eastern parts of Europe and Africa. But, not in Birmingham.

The Moon will be at Perigee or her closest approach to Earth on September 10, when she will be 226,664 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur September 14 at 5:35 AM CDT or 10:00 UTC.

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

New Moon will occur at 2:55 PM CDT or 19:55 UTC on September 21. 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.

There will be a Partial Solar Eclipse September 21. A partial solar eclipse occurs when the Moon covers only a part of the Sun, sometimes resembling a bite taken out of a cookie. A partial solar eclipse can only be safely observed with a special solar filter or by looking at the Sun’s reflection. This partial eclipse will only be visible in New Zealand, Antarctica, and the southern Pacific Ocean.

Fall begins at Autumnal Equinox on September 22 at 1:17 PM CDT or 18:17 UTC, when the Sun crosses directly over the equator and night and day is approximately the same length throughout the world. For the Southern Hemisphere it is Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring.

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

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

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on September 26, when she will be 251,998 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur September 29 at 6:54 PM CDT or 23:54 UTC.
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If you have articles for the newsletter or suggestions for articles, or are dreading more installments of the current series or wish for it to continue, please let me know. I need your input and feedback to help me guide the Newsletter’s direction.

Thanks!

Mark

Editor ALERT Newsletter

Hi everyone,

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

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

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

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

Our next ALERT meeting will be on August 12.

Hope you can attend!
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A Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Radio Frequency Spectrum – Part 6

As we continue our Grand Tour of the radio dial, we cross 25.000 MHz, possibly hearing the experimental time and frequency signals of WWV in Fort Collins, Colorado.

From 25.010 to 25.550 MHz is the Business Radio Service, with 25.020 to 25.320 MHz being used for oil spill cleanup.

The 11 Meter Shortwave Broadcast Band stretches from 25.670 to 26.100 MHz. The 11 Meter Shortwave band is seldom used.

In the United States, this band is also shared with remote pickup units (RPUs), from 25.870 to 26.100 MHz in FM mode. RPUs are used by commercial broadcasters to send program material from remote locations to the broadcast station or network.

Being near the 11 Meter Citizens Band, pirate CB radio users have been heard operating as low as 25.615 MHz. Not all transmissions heard in this area are illegal, however, as New Zealand’s CB band begins below the US CB band at 26.330 MHz and stretches 40 channels to 26.770 MHz. While nearby Australia’s CB band mirrors the US band plan from 26.965 – 27.405 MHz.

Which brings us to the delicate subject of the Citizens Radio Service Band, Class D Citizen Band, or just plain “CB”.

CB can be very useful for mobile to mobile, mobile to base and base to base communications.

That said, operationally CB is like the Wild West of Radio, wild and wooly, sometimes annoying, but seldom boring.

There is a love-hate relationship between hams and CBers. For some it is just innocent rivalry, not unlike rival sports teams or people just saying things and swapping barbs because it is the “popular thing to do”, but there is no real hatred is involved.

Some, however, especially online, take it to a more serious, much darker level, with some CBers despising hams for pointing out the hooligan aspects of some CBers conduct and some hams despising CBers in general, though a very large percentage of hams are CBers also.

For some hams this friction is due in part to vague memories passed down of where and how CB was created in the first place.

We will explore this first.

In 1958, the FCC wishing to create a short range, non-technical communications service, created the Class D Citizens Radio Service aka Citizens Band.

Much to the chagrin of the hams of that day, the frequencies for this new service were taken from the lightly used 11 Meter Amateur Radio band, which stretched from 26.960 to 27.230 MHz.

The 11 Meter ham band, which existed for only eleven years from 1947 to 1958, (after being used by German and American tanks in World War II), was never a popular band.

This band was assigned to hams at the 1947 Atlantic City ITU conference, where other Amateur bands were trimmed, with the top 300 kHz 10 Meters being removed, which is why it stops at 29.700 MHz, along with the top 50 kHz of 20 Meters, 14.350 – 14.400 MHz. In turn they gained the 15 Meter band and as a consolation prize to make up for the 10 and 20 Meter losses, hams were granted secondary access to the 11 Meter ISM or Industrial, Scientific and Medical device band, which had been created in 1945.

This band was never popular, in part because it was not harmonically related to the other Amateur bands, such as 160, 80, 40, 20 15 or 10 Meters, with each band being based on the harmonics of the frequencies below it. For example, many radios were crystal controlled, using plug in domino like crystals. If you had a crystal with a primary frequency of, say 3.5025 MHz, it could also be used on other bands, in this case at 7.005, 14.010, 21.015 and 28.020 MHz, which are the harmonic frequencies of that crystal.

Since 11 Meters was not harmonically related to any of the other ham bands, it meant that stand alone equipment either had to be homebrewed, modified or new equipment which included that band had to be purchased, which then as today, could be a pricey proposition.

The other cause of 11 Meters unpopularity was due to chronic heavy interference from the medical diathermy machines of the primary ISM users, which created hellacious broadband interference stretching from coast to coast.

When the FCC announced that 11 meters would be reallocated to the CB service, “Save 11 Meters” contests were hurriedly organized to show the FCC that there really was life in the 11 Meter band and about 400 stations participated, which in the grand scheme of things was a light turnout, and at any rate it was too little, too late, for the FCC had already made up their minds.

It was a classic case of “use it or lose it”, which we should beware of today, as our bands are looked at with lustful eyes by business and industry.

Though 67 years have passed, the “we was robbed” sentiment has helped encourage the love/hate relationship that some hams have with CBers, and by consequence, that some CBers have with hams.

But today’s CBers aren’t responsible for Great, Great Grandpa losing 11 Meters due to lack of use. While it could be argued that WE ARE responsible for losing a third of the 220 MHz band to the Land Mobile service in 1988 for the exact same reason. And, if we are not careful, other bands may fade into memory also, as there is a thirst for our frequencies.

As to the “hooligan” or should we say, “operational deficiency” angle, originally CB operations were quite different than they are today.

The Christmas of 1966, when I was 8 years old, I was given a pair of General Electric walkie talkies. These sets operated on CB Channel 14. While being crystal controlled for transmission, they had very wide open receivers, receiving anything in or near the 11 Meter band, because they were basically junk.

My friends and I played with them for a season, talking from house to house, fencing with the 3 foot long antennas, or 3 feet long until we broke them trying to put each other’s eyes out and finally we laid these sets aside and moved on to other things.

During the brief time we used them, I only heard one other station beside ours come through the ether, some guy who called himself “the Georgia Bulldog”, which I recall thinking was an odd thing to be calling himself.

Ten years later, in 1976, I found one of these sets in the closet and out of curiosity, I plopped in a 9 volt battery and thought the receiver must have been shot, as there were dozens upon dozens of people doubling, tripling, quadrupling, cussing and screeching on top of each other.

The CB Boom was booming.

Earlier, in 1973 I had found ham radio operators handling a tornado warning on a the “VHF police band” of a multiband radio. I listened to them regularly and I wanted to become a ham and studied whatever books I could find on the subject. But, remembering that the Internet and Google did not yet exist, I had no idea where or how to be tested and licensed,

But, my brother had a CB, so I got one and soon most of my family had a CB radio. I would talk to my sister as she drove to work at night to make sure she arrived safely and I talked to many people as I ploughed through the noise with my puny, but fun station.

Everyone was required to have an FCC license. While you waited for the license to arrive, per FCC instructions, you would make your own callsign using “K”, your initials and Zip Code. So, in late 1975 or early 1976 I became KMW35224. About a month later the FCC officially dubbed me KAJD8693, which was good for five years, and which I renewed once.

Though the FCC abolished CB licensing in 1983, current FCC rule Part 95.417 states “You are encouraged to identify your CB communications by any of the following means: 1. Previously assigned CB call sign”. So, I say, the old clunky thing is still valid.

In the 1960’s through early 70’s CB was much more “legalistic” than it is today, sounding not unlike 2 Meters. On some channels there would be someone on the channel who would try to maintain some control of the radio traffic on a channel, reminding them of the rules and proper procedures. This person was called the “Channel Master”. How he got that position I don’t know. One theory being that they simply had the most powerful station on the channel. People respected this and they abided by his directions. There was no misbehaving allowed.

I lived in western Birmingham at that time and there were Channel Masters on Channels 22 and 23. We teenagers would avoid Channels 22 & 23, as they were sort of strict operating wise and short fused temper wise, and we were teenagers, and we acted like teenagers. We were doing nothing illegal, immoral or rotten, we were just kids having fun “being kids”. So, we chose to be elsewhere, usually on Channel 19, which was the unofficial calling channel. It was also the trucking channel, and the truckers seemed to like talking to us. Usually, we would call our friends and move to another channel.

Two factors worked to make the CB Boom the disaster that it proved to be. The oil shortage of the 1970’s, movies such as Smokey and The Bandit and songs by CW McCall and Red Sovine came along and it became a fad with 20 million people pouring into 23 channels, soon to be increased to 40.

The second factor was that the boom hit just as Solar Cycle 21 was heading towards its peak. So not only did you have to deal with the local free for all, but you also had a few hundred thousand intimate friends from California dumping in on you via the ionosphere as well.

Though the fad ended long ago, today, as in the late 1970’s & 80’s, it seems anything goes. Vile language, excessive power, out of band activity, various bleeps, bloops, annoying echo mics and sometimes mindless gibberish that only residents of an insane asylum could understand.

It should be remembered though, that not every CBer runs excessive power, transmits out of band or acts like a nutcase – though some certainly do. In all the years I have been on CB I’ve always kept everything legal.

I never stopped being a CBer. I just became a ham also.

That road started one fall day in 1977, when I happened upon a car in the UAB parking deck with a ham tag with the callsign WA4LVC. I took a chance and left a note on the windshield “CBer needs help becoming a ham. CW killing me. Please call Mark – 747-7424”, (not my current number, by the way).

Being then, as now, a shy introvert, I halfway hoped he would toss the note in the trash. But he did call, and directed me to Jim Bonner, K4UMD who tutored or “elmered” me and gave me my Novice test, which led to teenage Mark becoming WD4NYL on December 27, 1977, the same callsign I have today.

The Class D Citizens Band is allocated for AM and FM at 4 Watts and SSB at 12 watts, with no distance restrictions. AM and LSB are the most popular modes. The band stretches from 26.965 to 27.405 MHz. Nestled among the CB Channels are Radio Control channels, formerly referred to as Class C Citizens Band. The only shared channel being RC Channel 6 & CB Channel 23.

If you wonder “ok your mentioning Class C & D, what about Class A & B?” Created in 1948, Class A & B were UHF services in the 460 – 470 MHz range. Class A is the predecessor of today’s GMRS. Class B was similar to today’s FRS, though there’s no direct connection between the two. Class B was used mainly by farmers and the US Coast Guard and proved to be ahead of its time, being neither affordable or practical and faded into disuse. Also, a Class E CB service was proposed in 1973 that would have been created from the 220 MHz ham band, but was successfully batted down.

CB & RC Channel allocations by frequency and normal and “wishful thinking” usage are as follows:

26.965 MHz Channel 1 – AM
26.975 MHz Channel 2 – AM
26.985 MHz Channel 3 – AM
26.995 MHz Radio Control Channel 1 “Brown”
27.005 MHz Channel 4 – AM – Off-roading
27.015 MHz Channel 5 – AM
27.025 MHz Channel 6 – AM – aka the “Super Bowl”
27.035 MHz Channel 7 – AM
27.045 MHz Radio Control Channel 2 “Red”
27.055 MHz Channel 8 – AM
27.065 MHz Channel 9 – AM – Emergency Channel (sporadically monitored)
27.075 MHz Channel 10 – AM – Truckers on regional roads
27.085 MHz Channel 11 – AM
27.095 MHz Radio Control Channel 3 – “Orange”
27.105 MHz Channel 12 – AM
27.115 MHz Channel 13 – AM – Boating and recreational vehicles
27.125 MHz Channel 14 – AM – Vintage walkie-talkies
27.135 MHz Channel 15 – AM
27.145 MHz Radio Control Channel 4 – “Yellow”
27.155 MHz Channel 16 – AM – Off-roading / old LSB Calling Channel
27.165 MHz Channel 17 – AM – Truckers on west coast traveling north or south
27.175 MHz Channel 18 – AM
27.185 MHz Channel 19 – AM – Trucker Channel – Truckers on west coast traveling east or west
27.195 MHz Radio Control Channel 5 – “Green”
27.205 MHz Channel 20 – AM
27.215 MHz Channel 21 – AM
27.225 MHz Channel 22 – AM
27.235 MHz Channel 24 – AM
27.245 MHz Channel 25 – AM
27.255 MHz Channel 23 – AM
Radio Control Channel 6 – “Blue”
27.265 MHz Channel 26 – AM
27.275 MHz Channel 27 – AM
27.285 MHz Channel 28 – AM
27.295 MHz Channel 29 – AM
27.305 MHz Channel 30 – AM
27.315 MHz Channel 31 – AM – FM DX Calling Channel – suggested, but not widely accepted
27.325 MHz Channel 32 – AM
27.335 MHz Channel 33 – AM
27.345 MHz Channel 34 – AM
27.355 MHz Channel 35 – AM
27.365 MHz Channel 36 – LSB
27.375 MHz Channel 37 – LSB
27.385 MHz Channel 38 – LSB – SSB Calling Frequency
27.395 MHz Channel 39 – LSB
27.405 MHz Channel 40 – LSB

If you notice that Channel 23 is located between Channels 25 and 26, this is not a misprint. There used to be a two channel gap between Channels 22 & 23, one theory being that since Channel 23 was also used for Radio Control devices, the space was to prevent interference with Channel 22.

This theory always sounded fishy to me, since I wondered why one RC Channel would be more prone to interfering with a channel while the other embedded RC channels apparently did not.

The old 23 Channel CB’s have a blank spot on the rotary dial between Channel 22 & 23, which some enterprising ne’er-do-wells figured out how to bypass to get on the “hidden channels”. When the FCC expanded the band to 40 channels they just plopped Channel 24 and 25 in between Channels 22 & 23.

Another theory to explain the gap is that 24 position switches were cheaper to use, but since there were only 23 channels, rather than custom designing a 23 position switch, the manufacturers used the cheaper option and just left it blank. There may be some logic to this, for if you serviced CB’s “in the day” you quickly found that many units of different names were exact duplicates of each other inside. They may have said Kraco, Cobra, Regency, etc and have different meters and knob positions, but the innards we’re all the same.

That gap was useful when driving as you would locate it by ear since there was no static and just turn the dial counterclockwise four clicks to get on Channel 19 and never take your eyes off the road. Something that seemed more important in the “olden days”, as opposed to the constantly distracted driving of today.

Today, I program the NOAA weather radio frequency into my 2 Meter handie-talkies and mobile radios to serve the same purpose – as a marker so I can find where I am on the dial to either tune while driving or to quickly find the Net frequency, which is always in the next channel position.

On a sidenote, when CBs increased from 23 to 40 channels, some hesitated switching, thinking that the 40 channel radios had less power, since the power “had to be spread over a larger area”. Likewise, some hams believed they should program their radios with the frequencies in sequential order, not mixed up, as with the frequencies being mixed up “it put a strain on the circuitry, since it has to bounce back and forth up and down the band.” Which was also wrong. The also believed repeater PL tones “we’re intended to exclude operators they did not like”, which is also untrue.

Leaving the CB Band, the realm between 27.410 to 27.540 MHz is allocated to business and industry use on 27.430, 27.450, 27.470, 27.490, 27.510, and 27.530 MHz

27.540 to 28.000 MHz is allocated to the US Government and is generally considered a “military” band, and has several MARS frequencies as well as the US Coast Guard Auxiliary.

Within this spread – 27.410 to 28.000 MHz is the realm of illegal operators variously called “Pirates”, “Bootleggers”, “Freebanders” or “Muppets”.

In the old days operators wishing to bootleg on these frequencies would get or built a “slider” or VFO. Now they just buy ham gear and do a “MARS/CAP mod” on it to expand the transmit range below 10 Meters or buy “10 Meter Ham Radios” which are basically CB’s which transmit above and below the legal CB Band.

I don’t endorse doing so, and have never been tempted to do so, but, for completeness I will mention 27.555 MHz aka “The Triple Nickle”, which is considered the “Freeband calling frequency” & 27.805 MHz which some have been dubbed the “FM calling frequency”. Both, of course being illegal frequencies for US CBers.

To help complicate matters a little, several countries including Germany, Russia, the UK & Brazil have CB like services which in addition to 40 Channels similar to the US band plan, have 40 additional channels with varying band plans and channel spacing, stretching from 27.410 to 27.99625 MHz.

So, if you hear traffic within this frequency range it could very well be perfectly legal activity.

But, if they say they are in Phoenix or Detroit – then Book’em Danno, Bootlegging One!!!

Having given you everything you ever wanted to know about CB radio, whether you knew you wanted it or not, we will move on to the largest HF Amateur Band – 10 Meters.

10 Meters, which is one of my favorite bands, is an unusual band in that it can exhibit both HF and VHF characteristics. During the sunspot minimum, except for transequatorial propagation at noon, it is a local only band. During the sunspot maximum Europe will come pouring in during the morning, and as the afternoon arrives, South America fades in and after sunset as the band in fading the Pacific, Asia and Australia may be heard.

Occasionally signals will arrive with a flutter, letting you know it is bouncing off the aurora and with transequatoral skip, more times than not the South American station will be at the same latitude as you are, just south.

Sometimes signals will develop a “pipeline” into a specific region, with the rest of the band dead. I had a pipeline into Sydney, Nova Scotia for days. Every signal I heard was from Sydney and then later in the week it was gone.

Sometimes stations boom in, but they can’t hear your and sometimes the other station says you are booming in, but you can barely hear them.

Perhaps due to the Alligator vs Elephant theory. An “Alligator Station” has a great signal, but poor receiver – big mouth and tiny ears. Where an “Elephant Station” is the opposite. Great receiver, but a poor signal – big ears, tiny mouth.

10 is unique as it has the only HF voice band available for Novices and Technicians, 28.300 to 28.500 MHz, which is the heart of the band.

The 10 Meters Band Plan is as follows:

28.000 MHZ Begin Novice, Technician, General, Advanced & Extra CW/Data Sub band
28.000 – 28.070 MHz CW
28.074 MHz FT8
28.070 – 28.150 MHz RTTY
28.150 – 28.190 MHz CW
28.200 – 28.300 MHz Beacons
28.200 MHz NCDXF Beacons
28.300 MHz Begin Novice, Technician, General, Advanced & Extra Voice Sub band
28.400 MHz USB Calling Frequency
28.500 MHz End Novice, Technician, Voice Sub band, continue General, Advanced & Extra Voice Sub band
28.680 MHz SSTV
29.000 – 29.200 MHz AM
29.300 MHz Supposedly popular simplex frequency in Japan.
29.300 – 29.510 MHz Satellite Uplinks or Downlinks
29.400 – 29.500 MHz Supposedly popular simplex frequencies in Britian
29.520 – 29.590 MHz Repeater Inputs. 10 kHz spacing
29.600 MHz FM Simplex Calling Frequency
29.610 MHz Repeater Output
29.620 MHz Repeater Output
29.630 MHz Repeater Output
29.640 MHz Repeater Output
29.650 MHz Repeater Output
29.660 MHz Repeater Output
29.670 MHz Repeater Output
29.680 MHz Repeater Output
29.690 MHz Repeater Output
29.700 MHz End 10 Meter Amateur Band

Above the 10 Meter band 29.710 to 30.000 MHz is allocated to Business, Industry and Government use.

Reaching 30.000 MHz, the High Frequency / Shortwave Bands end and the Very High Frequency Bands begin.

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

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

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

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

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

August is second only to September in the number of Tropical Storms and Hurricanes. From 1851 to 2024 there have been 407 Tropical Storms and 256 Hurricanes, 85 of which made landfall in the United States, the most notable storms being Hurricanes Camille, Katrina and Ida in 1969, 2005 and 2021, which devastated Mississippi and Louisiana and Hurricane Andrew which ravaged South Florida in 1992.

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

Days grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 74.4 degrees at the beginning of the month to 65.0 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight decreases 54 minutes from 13 hours 49 minutes on August 1 to 12 hours 55 minutes on August 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

August 1 Sunrise 5:59 AM Sunset 7:48 PM
August 15 Sunrise 6:09 AM Sunset 7:34 PM
August 31 Sunrise 6:20 AM Sunset 7:15 PM

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.7 is in Leo, The Lion.

Mercury, magnitude +0.7 in Cancer, The Crab, is hidden in the glow of the Sun as the month begins.

At midmonth he becomes visible in the dawn sky, rising at 4:42 AM CDT – 1 hours and 27 minutes before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 11° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:42 AM CDT.

He will reach his widest separation from the Sun, or “Greatest Western Elongation” on August 19 and his highest point in the sky on August 20 when he reaches 17° altitude, shining brightly at
-0.2. He will then steadily recede back towards the Sun as the month progresses.
Mercury’s 88 day orbit around the Sun will carry it to its closest point to the Sun – its perihelion on August 27.

By months end he is visible in the dawn sky, rising at 5:16 AM CDT – 1 hours and 2 minutes before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 8° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:02 AM CDT.

Venus, magnitude -3.9 in Gemini, The Twins, is the brilliant “Morning Star” above the predawn western horizon.

At the first of the month, she becomes visible at around 3:04 AM CDT – 2 hours and 53 minutes before the Sun and reaching an altitude of 30° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:40 AM CDT.

At midmonth, she is visible in the predawn sky, rising at 3:20 AM CDT – 2 hours and 46 minutes before the Sun and reaching an altitude of 29° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:50 AM CDT.

At month’s end she is visible in the predawn sky, rising at 3:46 AM CDT – 2 hours and 32 minutes before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 26° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:02 AM CDT.

Earth, magnitude -4.0 as viewed from the Sun, and her Moon is in Aquarius, The Water Bearer.

Mars, magnitude +1.5, with his Moons Phobos and Deimos is in Virgo, The Virgin, and is an early evening object low above the western horizon.

At the first of the month, he becomes visible at 8:31 PM CDT, 17° above the western horizon as dusk fades into darkness. He then descends towards the horizon setting 2 hours and 13 minutes after the Sun at 9:59 PM CDT.

At midmonth he becomes visible at 8:15 PM CDT, 13° above the western horizon as dusk fades into darkness. He then descends towards the horizon setting 1 hour and 54 minutes after the Sun at 9:26 PM CDT.

On August 18 he will disappear as he descends into the glow of the Sun and remain invisible through the end of the month.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +9.8, is in Cetus, The Whale.

Jupiter, magnitude –1.9, and his 95 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring, in Gemini, The Twins is visible in the dawn sky
At the first of the month, he rises at 3:46 AM CDT, 2 hours and 11 minutes before the Sun and reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:40 AM CDT.

By midmonth he rises at 3:05 AM CDT, 3 hours and 1 minute before the Sun and reaches an altitude of 32° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:50 AM CDT.

At months end he rises at 2:16 AM CDT, and reaches an altitude of 44° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6:02 AM CDT.

Saturn, and his 274 moons and extensive debris ring system, magnitude +0.7, in Pisces, The Fish, is a morning object.

At the first of the month he becomes visible 11:13 PM CDT, 11° above the eastern horizon. He will reach his highest point in the sky at 4:14 AM CDT, 54° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:22 AM CDT, 51° above the southwestern horizon.

By midmonth he becomes visible around 10:17 PM CDT at an altitude of 11° above the eastern horizon. He will reach his highest altitude of 54° above the southern horizon around 3:17 AM CDT. He fades into the dawn around 5:34 AM CDT at 42° above the southwestern horizon.

At month’s end he becomes visible around 9:11 PM CDT at an altitude of 11° above the eastern horizon. He will reach his highest altitude of 54° above the southern horizon around 2:11 AM CDT. He fades into the dawn around 5:46 AM CDT, 27° above the southwestern horizon.

Uranus, magnitude +5.7, and his 28 moons and ring, in Taurus, The Bull, is an early morning object.

At the first of the month, he rises at 1:00 AM CDT, and reaches an altitude of 46° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 4:51 AM CDT.

By midmonth he rises at 12:06 AM CDT, and reaches an altitude of 59° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:03 AM CDT.

At months end he rises at 11:04 PM CDT, and reaches an altitude of 73° above the southeastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:17 AM CDT.

Neptune, magnitude 7.7, and his 16 moons and ring, is in Pisces, The Fish, is an early morning object.

At the first of the month, he becomes accessible at 12:02 AM CDT at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 55° above the southern horizon at 4:14 AM CDT and fades into the dawn twilight around 04:51 AM CDT, 54° above the southern horizon.

By midmonth he becomes accessible at 11:07 PM CDT at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 55° above the southern horizon at 3:18 AM CDT and fades into the dawn twilight around 5:03 AM CDT, 47° above the southern horizon.

At months end he becomes accessible at 10:03 PM CDT at an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon and reaches an altitude of 55° above the southern horizon at 2:14 AM CDT and fades into the dawn twilight around 5:17 AM CDT, 34° above the southern horizon.

Pluto, the largest Dwarf Planet, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.4 in Capricornus, The Sea Goat.

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

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) 1, nicknamed MK1 by the discovery team, shines faintly at magnitude +17.2 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris, the second largest Dwarf Planet, and her moon Dysnomia, originally referred to as Xena and Gabrielle, is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude +18.7 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

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

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 Between Aquarius, The Water Bearer and Aquila, The Eagle.

50000 Quaoar, and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Taurus, The Bull..

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

225088 Gonggong, the third largest Dwarf Planet, originally nicknamed Snow White by the discovery team, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Pisces, The Fish.

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

120347 Salacia, and her moon Actaea glows at magnitude 20.7 in Cancer, The Crab. Salacia is considered a “borderline” Dwarf Planet. Some astronomers saying she “most certainly is a Dwarf Planet”, while others disagreeing based on her size, saying she is too small to have compressed into a fully solid body, to have been resurfaced, or to have collapsed into “hydrostatic equilibrium”, that is to assume spherical shape like a planet.

“Dwarf Planet Candidate” 2017 OF201, magnitude 23.2 is in the constellation Triangulum, the Triangle.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, an asteroid unofficially called Asteroid 2018 AG37, and nicknamed FarFarOut, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

FarFarOut is currently 12,400,835,347.5 miles or in Light Time, 18 hours, 29 minutes and 30 seconds from Earth.

The most distant man-made object, Voyager 1, still operating after 47 years, 10 month and 12 days is 15,527,434,023 miles, or in Light Time, 23 hours, 09 minutes 13 Seconds from Earth as of 3:29 PM, July 17, 2025, sailing 38,027 miles per hour through Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.

Near Earth Object, asteroid 99942 Apophis, is expected to pass within 19,794 miles of the Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029.

Apophis, magnitude +21.6, in Cancer, The Crab, is 189,654,827 miles or 1367 days from the Earth as of 3:35, July 17, 2025.

Asteroid 2024 YR4, which will pass though the Earth – Moon system on Wednesday, December 22, 2032, dimly glows at magnitude +29.5, in Leo, The Lion. It currently is 301,186,945 Miles or 2720 days from the Earth as of 3:39, July 17, 2025.

There are 1,455,703 known asteroids and 4,027 comets as of July 17, 2025, per NASA/JPL Solar Dynamics Website JPL Solar System Dynamics (nasa.gov).

5,933 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of July 17, 2025 per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur August 1 at 7:41 AM or 13:41 UTC.

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

The moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on August 1, when she will be 251,136 miles from Earth.

August’s Full Moon will occur August 9 at 2:57 PM or 01:57 UTC. August’s Full Moon was called “Fruit Moon” in Cherokee Folklore, “Women’s Moon” among the Choctaw, “Sturgeon Moon” by the Algonquin because the large sturgeon fish of the Great Lakes and other major lakes were more easily caught at this time of year. This moon has also been known as the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon and at one time was called “Dog Days Moon” by the Colonial Americans.

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

Incidentally, do you know what the Moon smells like?

The 12 Apollo Astronauts who walked on the Moon (and yes I believe they actually did walk on the Moon, if you don’t, bless your heart, it’s ok) all agree that after they reentered and repressurized the Lunar Module, the smell of the Moon dust that lingered on their suits and on the rocks brought back into the ship, smelled like burned gunpowder.

Apollo 17 Astronaut Jack Schmitt said: “All I can say is that everyone’s instant impression of the smell was that of spent gunpowder, not that it was ‘metallic’ or ‘acrid’. Spent gunpowder smell probably was much more implanted in our memories than other comparable odors.”

Apollo 16 Astronaut Charles Duke also said it tasted like burnt gunpowder.

Why the dust and sample had this odor is unknown, as is why by the time the samples reached the Earth, all odors were gone.

Space itself seems to have an odor, as astronauts aboard the International Space Station have reported that they notice a metallic aroma, like the smell of welding fumes on the surface of their spacesuits, after spacewalks, once the airlock has repressurized and they remove their helmets, and their crewmates also notice this scent wafting in when the airlock doors are opened.

Astronaut Don Pettit who spent an accumulated 590 days in space described the smell of space saying, “The best description I can come up with is metallic: a rather pleasant sweet metallic sensation. It reminded me of my college summers where I labored for many hours with an arc welding torch repairing heavy equipment for a small logging outfit. It reminded me of pleasant, sweet smelling welding fumes. That is the smell of space.”

Other Astronauts compare the smell of space to “hot metal, burnt meat, burnt cakes, spent gunpowder and welding of metal,” according to Steve Pearce, a biochemist and CEO of Omega Ingredients, who combed through astronaut interviews to help him craft a NASA commissioned scent to help make astronaut training more realistic. The aim was to eliminate surprises astronauts might experience in orbit.

Comets, if we could directly smell them would prove stinky, as Rosetta spacecraft detected the compounds responsible for the smell of rotten eggs, bitter almonds and cat urine, boiling off from the surface of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko in May 2014.

Meteors are said to smell like hot metal, similar to a cast-iron skillet that has over-heated, or the metal heating elements when you first turn on an electric heater. Or burned gunpowder.

Speaking of meteors…

The Perseid Meteor Shower peaks on the night of August 12 & 13, with 50 to 60 meteors per hour. This shower, produce by debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle, which was discovered in 1862, ranks as the best of the best, famous for producing bright meteors. The shower runs annually from July 17 to August 24. It peaks this year on the night of August 12 and the morning of August 13.

The waning gibbous moon will block out all but the brightest meteors this year. But if you are patient, you may still be able to catch quite a few good ones. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Perseus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

The moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on August 14, when she will be 229,464 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur August 16 at 12:14 AM CDT or 06:14 UTC.

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

New Moon will occur at 12:06 AM CDT or 06:06 UTC on August 23. The Moon will be located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This 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 August 29, when she will be 251,477 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur on August 31 at 1:25 AM or 07:25 UTC.

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

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This month’s meeting will be on August 12 at 7PM at the NWS Forecast Office in Calera.
Hope to see you there!

Mark

WD4NYL
Editor – ALERT Newsletter

Hi everyone & an early Happy 4th of July!

Guess what? Yes! It’s time for ALERT dues! Yay!!!

To maintain roster records, according to ALERT’s constitution and bylaws, members who have not paid their 2025/2026 dues (which are due on July 2025’s meeting date, per Article IV), will be removed from the roster. After this point, these members may re-apply.

Members who are not currently in good standing may be ineligible for Callouts, NWSchat access, officer positions and the right to vote in the monthly meetings.

In special cases/hardship, members may submit a confidential request to be considered by the board. Such a request will be kept ultra-hush-hush, and can be brought to any board member.

More on dues, including payment address, can be found in the ALERT Bylaws, on the ALERT-Alabama.org website under Join/Documents.

Join ALERT/Documents

The direct link to the application can be found at https://alert-alabama.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/Documents/alertapp.pdf

Existing members who are renewing can also use PayPal option via billrodgers1973@gmail.com

Also, if anyone would rather use Venmo, route it via @William-Rodgers-73

Until next month, everyone stay safe and cool!

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A Hitch Hiker’s Guide To The Radio Frequency Spectrum – Part 5

As we continue our Grand Tour of The Radio Frequency Spectrum, we enter the upper realm of the HF spectrum. A realm that is highly influenced by the whims of solar activity. Sometimes the Sun grants worldwide propagation, other times nothing but ear crunching static. As someone said, “The Sun giveth, and the Sun taketh away.”

We are currently (July 2025) in the downward slope of Solar Cycle 25, which began in December 2019 and peaked in October 2024. It was predicted that this would be a weak cycle, but, the Sun had other ideas and produced a strong cycle instead. It is predicted that the cycle will remain near the peak for a year or two more, providing good propagation and then steadily decrease until it ends in 2030, and the new cycle will begin in 2031.

So, enjoy the good conditions while they last, for lean times are coming, when activity on the higher HF bands die out to rare band openings and ham activity migrates to the lower HF bands.

Do you like mysteries?

The “radio dial” has a few, one of which I will unravel.

On HF you will hear many strange sounds. Besides static crashes from thunderstorms, you may hear a popcorn sound which is from the Sun, a fluttering sound which may mean the aurora is active and an occasional sweeping tweet that sounds like someone is moving their VFO while transmitting.

If you are looking at the waterfall display, you will occasionally see a signal displayed that slowly moves obliquely up the entire display from, let’s say from 5 MHz to 25 MHz. This is the “tweet” you hear on your radio.

What you are seeing & hearing are called “sweepers”. Sweepers are sounder systems, or Ionosondes, also called chirpsounders.

An Ionosonde is a type of radar that examines the Ionosphere and monitors HF propagation conditions by sweeping the HF band and receiving the echoes. They are used by the military and researchers to determine the current Maximum Usable Frequency.

A sounder system consists of a transmitter that transmits signals sequentially on several frequencies, and a distant receiver which is programmed to follow the transmitter frequency and measure the signal strength of each channel or frequency.

One example is the Stanford Research Institute Granger Associates Model 900 sounder, which covers the 4 to 64 MHz range in four bands of 40 linearly spaced channels. The Granger sounders are high power, transmitting 30 kW peak pulses of 0.1 ms or 1.0 ms. The scan sequence takes 29 seconds to complete, and is repeated every 20 minutes.

The US Navy uses a system of several shore-based sounder transmitters and shipboard and land based AN/UPR-2 receivers to determine propagation conditions.

Known as the Navy Tactical Sounder System (NTSS), the FPT-11 transmits a double, biphase pulse sequence every minute on each of 80 frequencies between 2 and 32 MHz. The 80 frequencies are spaced in 100 kHz increments between 2 and 4 MHz, 200 kHz increments between 4 and 8 MHz, 400 kHz increments between 8 and 16 MHz, and 800 kHz increments between
16 and 32 MHz. The equipment is synchronized to WWV so the receivers can follow the transmitter frequency sequence.

Some systems, such as the C-3 ionosonde transmits 0.1 ms pulses and is swept linearly
between 2 and 25 MHz.

The BR Communications HF Chirpsounder System takes 5 minutes to sweep between 2 and 30 MHz, and the sweep is repeated every 15 minutes.

All of these readings result in an “ionogram” chart, which I must confess I can’t make head nor tail of.

Ionosonde – Wikipedia

I mentioned “waterfall” displays. None of my equipment sports these nifty signal “fish finders”, as I run older equipment.

Not to worry, I have found a way to access a waterfall display, while not actually having one.

“How” you may ask?

Online there is a resource called “KiwiSDR”s & “WebSDR”s. These are online receiver feeds that hams and SWLs place on the Internet.

Shortwave Radio Receiver Map | KiwiSDR & WebSDR | Listen to Internet SDRs

These receivers, which are scattered all over the globe, cover from 0 to 30 MHz and typically have wide band waterfall displays, the ability to switch transmission reception modes, good filtering and many other features using an easy to use interface.

Some things you can do with online SDRs are, using a station near you, you can see real-time band conditions at a glance, from VLF, LF, MF to the end of the HF spectrum. You can choose a frequency and listen to your own transmitted signal to check your audio and signal purity. And, if nothing else, you have access to a world class general coverage radio receiver at your fingertips.

Two WebSDRs located near Birmingham are:

http://n4dkd.asuscomm.com:8901/ Courtesy of Brian Wingard N4DKD
http://cahabatechnology.com:8073/ Courtesy Of Pat Griffin AA4PG

One thing you may run into, especially with pirate broadcast stations below 40 Meters, are images embedded in their signals, visible on waterfall displays.

Some enterprising souls found that by carefully transmitting a signal consisting of multiple frequencies and amplitudes, they can draw shapes and pictures on the waterfall or spectrogram.

Known as “spectrum painting” or “RF paint”, it is a form of slow scan television, SSTV.

Sometimes it is used to advertise the station or program, and it has been known to be used to jam Russian military transmissions.

Example:

In addition to WebSDRs, another “toy” I like to play with is “Radio Garden” https://radio.garden/search

This site will display a globe with dots representing AM & FM radio stations all over the world.

Would you like to listen to music or news from Australia? Just click on one of the dots in Australia and eventually you will find the station with the format you are looking for.

If you wish to listen to a ballgame being carried on an AM or FM station from a city, say Chicago, it will be blacked out on Radio Garden due to the League of that sport wanting you to subscribe to their internet feed in$tead. Since Radio Garden is using the internet feed directly from the station they can do this.

However, if you use a WebSDR you can listen directly to the station carrying the game unimpeded, since it is being received over the air at the SDR’s location, not via an internet feed. So, just pick an SDR near Chicago, for instance and tune in the station carrying the ballgame

We now, before we get sued, we will continue with our radio journey.

Leaving 15 MHz we find the 15 MHz Aeronautical Band which lies from 15.010 to 15.100 Mhz.

The 19 Meter Shortwave Broadcast Band stretches from 15.100 to 15.830 MHz. On 19 Meters daylight reception good and nighttime reception is variable. But usually there are Shortwave stations to be found. This band is best during summer.

The Fixed / Mobile Band lies from 15.600 to 16.460 MHz overlapping portions of the 19 Meter Shortwave Band and the Marine Band which lies above it.

The Marine Band lies from 16.360 to 17.460 MHz

The Fixed / Mobile Band lies from 17.360 to 17.550 MHz overlapping portions of the Marine Band and the 16 Meter Shortwave Band which lies above it.

The 16 Meter Shortwave Broadcast Band stretches from 17.480 to 17.900MHz. On 16 Meters daytime reception is good, and night reception varies seasonally, with summer being the best.

The 17 MHz Aeronautical Band lies from 17.900 to 18.030 Mhz.

Air Traffic Control calls to aircraft over the Gulf and South America 17.907 MHz.
LDOC or Long Distance Operations Control phone patches to aircraft from is at 17.925 MHz

Air Traffic Control calls to aircraft over the Eastern Atlantic may be heard on 17.946 MHz

The Fixed / Mobile Band lies from 18.030 kHz to 18.068 MHz.

Next we will come to the 17 Meter Amateur Band.

17 Meters, which is available to General, Advanced and Extra class operators lies from 18.068 to 18.168 MHz, which seems like a squirrely frequency assignment. But, if it works it works.

17 Meters daylight propagation is similar to 20 Meters, but tends to fade out at night. It is less crowded than 20 Meters, sometimes painfully so, for you know the band should be open, after all the digital signals you hear are whispering loudly “I’m open” and yet not a non-digital signal is to be heard. Sometimes I think it’s the best kept secret in ham radio.

When on the air, Caribbean stations come booming in stronger than on 20 Meters and one morning recently I talked to Japan using CW and, except for FT8 signals, he was the only signal to be heard on the band. And, for those who loathe ham radio contests, the WARC Bands, 30, 17 & 12 Meters are kept contest free.

The 17 Meter Band plan and usage is as follows

18.068 – 18.110 MHz – CW & Data
18.074 MHz FT8
18.100 – 18.105 MHz – RTTY
18.105 – 18.110 MHz – Packet
18.110 MHz NCDXF Beacons
18.110 MHz Begin Voice Sub band
18.680 MHz End 17 Meter Band

The Fixed / Mobile Band stretches from 18.168 to 19.990 Mhz.

This band is shared with the Marine Band from 18.780 to 18.900 and the 18 Meter Shortwave Broadcast Band, from 18.900 to 19.020 MHz.

The 18 Meter band is lightly used and may become a Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) band in future.

Also, within the Fixed / Mobile Band is the 19.680 – 19.800 Marine Band

At 20.000 MHz, you find WWV in Fort Collins Colorado & WWVH – Kekaha, HI broadcasting Time & Frequency Standard signals.

The Fixed / Mobile Band lies from to 20.010 kHz – 21.000 MHz.

Next we will come to the third largest HF Amateur Band, the 15 Meter Amateur Band.

15 Meters stretches from 21.000 to 21.450 MHz and during the peaks of the sunspot cycle can provide worldwide coverage, and certainly transoceanic and coast to coast coverage during the day. After nightfall, the band fades away.

15 has a unique characteristic in that you can be talking to someone for half an hour and them blasting your speaker out and then suddenly they just fade out never to be heard again. On other bands they may fade out and then fade back in, but, not on 15. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

As with 20 Meters, you will hear Canadian voice stations using 21.150 to 21,200 MHz, which is part of the non-voice section for US stations. This is normal. Just don’t make the mistake of talking to them here, as you will be out of band.

The Band plan for 15 Meters is as follows:

21.000 MHz Begin Extra CW/ Data Sub band
21.025 MHz Begin Novice, Technician, General & Advanced CW / Data Sub band
21.040 – 21.110 MHz RTTY / Data
21.074 MHz FT8
21.150 MHz NCDXF Beacons
21.200 MHz End Novice, Technician, General & Advanced CW / Data Sub band
Begin Extra Voice Sub band
21.225 MHz Begin Advanced Sub band
21.275 MHz Begin General Sub band
21.240 MHz SSTV Window
21.350 MHz End 15 Meter Amateur Band

The 13 Meter Shortwave Band stretches from 21.450 to 21.850. 13 Meters has long distance daytime reception, with very little night reception and is used in the Asia-Pacific region.

An Aeronautical Band lies from 21.870 – 22.000 MHz.

A Marine Band stretches from 22.000 – 22.850 Mhz

Another Aeronautical Band lies from 23.200 – 23.350 MHz.

The Fixed / Mobile Band lies from 23.350 kHz – 24.890 MHz.

Next we will come to the 12 Meter Amateur Band.

12 Meters, which is available to General, Advanced and Extra class operators, stretches from 24.890 to 24.990 MHz and has the same characteristics as 15 Meters.

The Band plan for 12 Meters is as follows:

24.890 – 24.930 MHz – CW & Data
24.920 – 24.925 MHz – RTTY
24.925 – 24.930 MHz – Packet
24.930 MHz NCDXF Beacons
24.930 MHz Begin Voice Sub band
24.990 MHz End 12 Meter Band

At 25.000 MHz, at times you find experimental signals from WWV in Fort Collins Colorado As these are on an experimental basis, there are times it will be silent.

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Mark’s Almanac

Originally called “Quintilis”, the fifth Roman month, Quintilis was renamed “July” in 44 BC in honor of Julius Caesar.
July is miserably hot, as land temperatures reach their peaks in late July through early August – the Dog Days of Summer.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac lists the traditional period of the Dog Days as the 40 days beginning July 3 and ending August 11.

The Romans on the other hand said that the Dog Days ran from July 24 through August 24, or, alternatively, from July 23 through August 23, coinciding with the Sun and the Dog Star Sirius rising at the same time & their combined heat supposedly adding to the summer misery.

As you endure this heat, remember to drink lots of fluids, hug the shade & avoid the afternoon sun.

Also please resist the temptation to take Fido for a walk during the heat of the day. Remember that the “official” temperature readings are taken 6 feet above ground level. It’s much, much hotter on the ground where Fido & Puss must walk with bare paws, where it could easily be 150 degrees.

Before taking Muttley for a walk, place your hand on the pavement and see how hot it is. If it’s miserable to you, it will be miserable to him also. Just walk him in the morning or wait until the sun is setting and it cools off to a tolerable level and try to stick to grassy areas. Then go have a good time together.

The last week of July is usually the hottest week of the year. Tropical conditions are dominant, with conditions similar to that of the Amazon Valley.

One thing that our little rainforest seems to be in short supply of this year are bugs.

I see the usual mosquitoes, which would survive a nuclear winter, but except for one small bee, the insects seem missing. I hear a few crickets, but see very few wasps, butterflies, bees and dragon flies. The birds are thinning out also, probably due to the shortage of bugs.

I remember back in the 60’s and 70’s if you drove 100 miles your windshield would be gross and disgusting from bug splat and the radiator would be plastered every type of bug on the planet.

But not today. Drive 500 miles and scarcely a splat you will see. One explanation is that “cars are more aerodynamic today and the bugs just go around the car”. Well, my car is about as aerodynamic as an oven and still no splat.

Since bugs make up 90% of the animal species on this planet, I have to wonder if it is due to pesticides, habitat destruction, climate change, pollution, or other invasive species killing them off?

So, I ask you to consider , “Where have all the bugs gone?”

July and August is the time to test the “Brown Grass Theory”. According to this theory, if the grass remains green the temperature will probably not reach 100, but, if the grass turns brown, get set for triple digits. This is a local Birmingham rule, which the Old Timers at the Birmingham NWS, such as Frank Makosky and J.B Elliott used for years.

In July, the least rainfall falls in the Northern Hemisphere.

Tornado activity drops sharply, with a 47% decrease nationwide. July has an average of 103 tornadoes.

Hurricane activity increases, but major hurricanes are not yet frequent. By months end, one hurricane will have occurred. Seven percent of a year’s hurricane total occurs in July.

Long track hurricanes are possible, forming off the African coast and crossing the Atlantic, either to threaten the US East Coast, then eventually veering off towards Bermuda. Or in the case of “Low Latitude” storms, cross the Atlantic, strike the Leeward Islands; enter the Caribbean and then striking the Yucatan, or the Western or Northern Gulf coast.

From 1851 to 2024 there have been 130 Tropical Storms and 62 Hurricanes, 29 of which made landfall in the United States.

Among notable storms are 2005’s Hurricane Emily, the only Category 5 storm to form in July, reaching 160 MPH and striking Mexico.

Hurricane Bertha, a 125 MPH storm holds the record for the longest lifespan for a July hurricane, churning for 17 days.

July Tropical Cyclone Breeding Grounds

Days grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon decreases from 79.6 degrees at the beginning of the month to 74.7 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight decreases from 14 hours 20 minutes on July 1 to 13 hours 49 minutes on July 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

July 1 Sunrise 5:41 AM Sunset 8:01 PM
July 15 Sunrise 5:48 AM Sunset 7:58 PM
July 31 Sunrise 5:59 AM Sunset 7:48 PM

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.7 is in Taurus, The Bull.

Mercury, magnitude -0.5 in Cancer The Crab, is an evening object.

At the first of the month, he becomes visible at around 8:32 PM CDT, 11° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting 1 hour and 33 minutes after the Sun at 9:33 PM CDT.

Mercury will disappear into the glow of the Sun on July 3 and be invisible the rest of the month.

Mercury will reach his furthest point from the Sun, or “Aphelion” on July 14 and will pass between the Sun and the Earth or be in “Inferior Conjunction” on July 31.

Venus, magnitude -4.6 in Taurus, The Bull, is a morning object.

At the first of the month, she is visible in the dawn sky, rising at 2:55 AM CDT – 2 hours and 43 minutes before the Sun and reaching an altitude of 28° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:20 AM CDT.

At midmonth is visible in the dawn sky, rising at 2:54 AM CDT – 2 hours and 51 minutes before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 30° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:28 AM CDT.

Venus will reach her highest point in the sky, 34° above the eastern horizon, shining brightly at magnitude -4.3 on July 26.

By months end she is visible in the dawn sky, rising at 3:03 AM CDT – 2 hours and 53 minutes before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 30° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:39 AM CDT..

Earth, magnitude -4.0 as viewed from the Sun, is in the constellation Sagittarius, The Archer.

Earth will reach her farthest distance from the Sun or Aphelion on July 3 at 2:55 PM CDT or 20:55
UTC, when the distance from the Sun’s center to Earth’s center will be 94,502,939 miles from our home star, as she and the Moon wobble through space, the Moon tugging on the Earth like an unruly pup on a leash.

Mars, with his moons Phobos and Deimos, magnitude +1.5, in Leo, The Lion, is an early evening object receding into evening twilight.

At the first of the month, he becomes visible around 8:47 PM CD, 29° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting 3 hours and 13 minutes after the Sun at 11:13 PM CDT.

At midmonth he becomes visible around 8:43 PM CDT, 23° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting 2 hours and 42 minutes after the Sun at 10:39 PM CDT.

By months end he becomes visible around 8:32 PM CDT, 17° above the western horizon, as dusk fades to darkness. He will then sink towards the horizon, setting 2 hours and 14 minutes after the Sun at 10:01 PM CDT.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude +9.1 is in Cetus, The Whale.

Jupiter, and his 95 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring magnitude –1.9, in Gemini, The Twins, is lost in the glow of the Sun, at the first of the Month.

At midmonth he returns to the dawn sky, becoming visible around 4:39 AM CDT, 8° above the eastern horizon, rising 1 hour and 5 minutes before the Sun and then fading into the dawn at 5:27 AM CDT.

By months end he becomes visible in the dawn sky, rising at 3:49 AM CDT – 2 hours and 7 minutes before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 20° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:39 AM CDT.

Saturn, and his 274 moons and extensive debris ring system, magnitude +0.9, in Pisces, The Fish, is an early morning object.

At the first of the month, he rises at 12:18 AM CDT, reaching an altitude of 50° above the south-eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:00 AM CDT.

On July 12 Saturn will enter a period called “retrograde motion”, where he stops his usual eastward movement through the constellations, and starts moving westward instead. This apparent reversal of direction is a phenomenon that all the of the outer planets periodically undergo, a few months before they reach opposition, or the point exactly opposite from the Sun.

This retrograde motion is caused by the Earth’s own motion around the Sun. As the Earth circles the Sun, our view or perspective changes, and this causes the apparent positions of objects to move from side to side in the sky during a one year period. This nodding motion is super imposed on the planet’s long-term eastward motion through the constellations, causing them to appear to be moving backwards in their orbits.

A terrestrial example would be passing a car on the highway. Both are moving forward, but the car you are passing looks as if it were going backwards as you look at it through the side window.
This motion was known to ancient observers, and it troubled them to no end, as they could not reconcile this motion with their models which had the planets moving in uniform circular orbits around the Earth, since they believed that the Earth was the center of the solar system.

By midmonth he rises at 11:23 PM CDT, and reaches an altitude of 54° above the southern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 5:09 AM CDT.

At months end he rises at 12:17 PM CDT, at an altitude of 11° above the eastern horizon and will reach an altitude of 54° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 5:21 AM CDT, 51° above the southwestern horizon.

Uranus, and his 28 moons and ring, magnitude +5.8 in Taurus, The Bull, is hidden in the glow of the Sun at the start of the month.

He emerges into the morning sky on July 7

By midmonth he rises at 2:05 AM CDT – 3 hours and 40 minutes before the Sun – and reaching an altitude of 29° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 4:36 AM CDT.

At months end he rises at 1:04 AM CDT and reaches an altitude of 45° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 4:50 AM CDT.

Neptune, and his 16 moons and ring, magnitude 7.7 in Pisces, The Fish, has emerged into the predawn sky.

At the first of the month, he rises at 12:15 AM CDT and reaches an altitude of 47° above the southeastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 4:27 AM CDT.

Neptune enters retrograde motion, like Saturn on July 4.

By midmonth he rises at 11:20 PM CDT and reaches an altitude of 54° above the southern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 4:36 AM CDT.
At months end he rises at 12:06 AM CDT, and reaches an altitude of 55° above the southern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 4:50 AM CDT.

Pluto, the largest Dwarf Planet, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.5 in Capricornus, The Sea Goat.

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

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon S/2015 (136472) 1, nicknamed MK1 by the discovery team, shines faintly at magnitude +17.1 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris, the second largest Dwarf Planet, and her moon Dysnomia, originally referred to as Xena and Gabrielle, is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude +18.7 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

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

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude 19.1 in Sagittarius, The Archer.

50000 Quaoar, and his moon Waywot shines at magnitude +18.6 in Cetus, The Whale.

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

225088 Gonggong, the third largest Dwarf Planet, originally nicknamed Snow White by the discovery team, and his moon Xiangli glows dimly at +21.5 magnitude in Pisces, The Fish.

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

120347 Salacia, and her moon Actaea glows at magnitude 20.7 in Cancer, The Crab. Salacia is considered a “borderline” Dwarf Planet. Some astronomers saying she “most certainly is a Dwarf Planet”, while others disagreeing based on her size, saying she is too small to have compressed into a fully solid body, to have been resurfaced, or to have collapsed into “hydrostatic equilibrium”, that is to assume spherical shape like a planet.

“Dwarf Planet Candidate” 2017 OF201, magnitude 23.2 is in the constellation Triangulum, the Triangle.

Currently the most distant observable known object in the Solar System, an asteroid unofficially called Asteroid 2018 AG37, and nicknamed FarFarOut, glows at a barely detectable +25.5 magnitude in Lynx.

FarFarOut is currently 12,384,346,993 miles or in Light Time, 18 hours, 28 minutes and 1.6 seconds from Earth.

The most distant man-made object, Voyager 1, still operating after 47 years, 9 month and 11 days is 15,483,809,478 miles, or in Light Time, 23 hours, 05 minutes 20 Seconds from Earth as of 4:25 PM, June 16, 2025, sailing 38,027 miles per hour through Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.

Near Earth Object, asteroid 99942 Apophis, is expected to pass within 19,794 miles of the Earth on Friday, April 13, 2029.

Apophis, magnitude +21.5, in Gemini, The Twins, is 184,316,098 miles or 1397 days from the Earth as of 4:22, June 16, 2025.

Asteroid 2024 YR4, which will pass though the Earth – Moon system on Wednesday, December 22, 2032, dimly glows at magnitude +29.1, in Leo, The Lion. It currently is 248,419,694 Miles or 2750 days from the Earth as of 4:15, June 16, 2025.

There are 1,452,646 known asteroids and 4,021 comets as of June 16, 2025, per NASA/JPL Solar Dynamics Website JPL Solar System Dynamics (nasa.gov).

5,921 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of June 11, 2025, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur July 2 at 2:30 PM or 19:49 UTC.

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

The moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on July 4, when she will be 251,424 miles from Earth.

July’s Full Moon occurs July 10 at 3:38 PM CDT or 20:38 UTC, when the Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be fully illuminated.

July’s Full Moon is called “Buck Moon” in Native American folklore. This moon gets its name because the male buck deer begin to grow their new antlers at this time of year. It has also been called “Full Thunder Moon” & “Hay Moon”.

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

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur July 17 at 7:39 PM CDT or 1:39 UTC on July 18.

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

Though it won’t peak until the night and morning of August 12 & 13, the Perseid Meteor Shower begins July 17, and lasts until August 24. This shower, associated with comet Swift-Tuttle will peak at 60 meteors per hour in August.

The moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on July 20, when she will be 228,694 miles from Earth.

New Moon will occur at 2:12 PM CDT or 20:12 UTC on July 24. 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 Southern Delta-Aquariid Meteor shower peaks on the night of July 28th into the morning of the 29th. This shower annually occurs from July 12 through August 23 is made up of debris from Comet Marsden Kracht and produces a ZHR or Zenith Hourly Rate of 20 meteors per hour.

The crescent moon will set early in the evening, leaving dark skies for what should be an excellent show.

Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Aquarius, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

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This month’s meeting will be on July 8 at 7PM at the National Weather Service Forecast Office at the Shelby County Airport,

Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter