Hi everyone,

I hope all are doing well. As I write this, I see the first signs of Fall. The air is a little less humid and the temperatures just a tad less oppressive. Most notable is the view out of my window as bright yellow spots go flapping and gliding by as the butterflies have started migrating, taking an exact South-southeast course to who knows where.

Oh, and are you ready for some football?

I hope you have a good month, and I hope to see you at our next meeting, which will be on September 12.

Roll Tide & War Eagle.

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How Far Is Up?

If one “reads the traffic”, as they say, on various online radio forums, one question which persistently appears is the question of radio range. “I want to be able to keep in touch with Granny who is 75 miles from me when (insert ones favorite disaster scenario) hits. My Baofeng UV-5R that I got off of Amazon should do this shouldn’t it? The ad said so anyway.”

Then when someone answers that in all probability the answer is “no” and that both he and Granny would need ham licenses anyway, the usual collection of Kooks, Knuckleheads and Chuckleheads appear, assuring him that they talk to folk in Honolulu on 2 meters using simplex every day and “you don’t need no stinkin’ license in an emergency anyway. These folk sayin’ that you do are just gatekeepin’ Sad Hams. And, after all, why should man license what God created anyway? Don’t be spineless sheeple. Just transmit.”.

This isn’t exaggeration, there are folk out there with that mindset – far too many.

Radios can be complicated beasts. IF one is getting a radio for emergency use, one would think one would want to learn everything they could about the device they will be depending on for life and death situations. One would want to know how it works, where it works, where it doesn’t work and why and how to overcome the problems that may arise, along with which repeaters really working and are actually populated, not “RF Ghost Gowns” and when folk are most likely to be listening if you needed to call for help.

You learn all of this by first learning the material you need for passing the FCC exam, passing the exam and then learning through experience as you use the radio. Using it regularly and learning it’s quirks and perks. Using it so frequently that it becomes just a natural part of life. Switch to RF? No big deal, for you do so all the time. Also, I believe in having and using multiple options. I have ham, CB, GMRS/FRS and MURS capability. Not, just because I’m addicted to radios, which I am, but, because I like having the flexibility and redundancy.

You would also want to know how not to sound like a nut or someone on a bootleg or stolen radio. After all, if you sound like nut, folk will generally avoid you, since encouraging nuts and bootleggers is usually not a desirable action.

Plus, there is a huge credibility gap with unlicensed transmissions. Do they really have an emergency or are they just playing games?

I’ve heard bogus distress calls before. One was so realistic and well done that the Birmingham Fire & Rescue was summoned to a house with someone hemorrhaging, only to find it was a vacant field and another dramatic episode which resulted in the Birmingham Police being sent on a wild goose chase.

A callsign lends to credibility.

Also, consider this. If you are truly investing in equipment that you may be depending on for possible life and death use, then maybe you don’t want to rely on the cheapest piece of gear you can find. Save a little money and invest in quality. Think this through.

After all, and with apologies to those who own and love Baofeng and similar radios, which I also have, would you really want to go skydiving with the cheapest parachute from Bubba’s Thrift Store? If you or your loved one’s lives may someday depend on a piece of equipment – any equipment – one should choose wisely, opt for dependability and not just go the cheapest route available.

But, back to the question of radio range and why it is actually a difficult question to give an honest answer to, let’s journey for a while to the bustling metropolis of Mayberry, which is nestled in the shadow of the Appalachians.

To the west of Mayberry is Campbell Mountain, which has three repeaters – 146.720 MHz, 146.860 MHz and 147.100 MHz.

146.720 has been damaged by lightning. It’s transmitter is at full power and can be heard for 50 miles, but the zapped receiver is very weak. One trying to reach the repeat might wonder why, with such a strong signal they can’t hit it. It’s because the repeater is basically deaf. Or as they say, it is an “Alligator Station” – big mouth, tiny ears.

146.860 has the exact opposite problem. It has a great receiver, but the transmitter’s final amplifier is fried, and it is putting out 1/10th of a watt. One trying to get into the repeater can’t hear it, though the repeater is hearing and faithfully retransmitting a wisp of a signal. It has become an “Elephant Station” – big ears, tiny mouth.

147.100 has been off the air for years. The owner has every intention of reviving it, but currently can’t afford the replacement parts. Repeater databases still show it as on the air, but for actual use, it doesn’t exist. And since these databases are voluntary efforts, it may not have been updated for weeks, months or even years and is still shown as active. It is a “Paper Repeater”. Listed, but not only an illusion.

The best repeater is on Mount Pilot. 147.340, which has a 70 mile footprint, except to the northeast, as the antenna is side mounted on the southwestern side tower, and there is a RF shadow to the northeast. Anyone in that shadow may hear the repeater but, they won’t be able to hit it.

This is why Emmett on Bass Mountain 50 miles to the northeast can’t hear the repeater, but can contact his fishing buddy Floyd, who has a cabin on Mount Pilot, regularly on simplex, having no obstructions, and it being from mountain peak to mountain peak,

In the valley to the west of Mayberry, is the Pyle National Forest, named after a military hero. Camping there are Barney and Thelma Lou. The area is heavily forested, and Barney, who goes hiking gets deep into woods and loses contact with Thelma Lou on simplex after only 1000 feet. Barney also loses cellphone and GPS coverage as the forest canopy is blocking all signals.

Thelma Lou, who is camped by Darling Creek can’t hear Barney, but can see Mount Pilot and easily reach the repeater which is 15 miles away.

Meanwhile in town, Howard and Sam were talking to each other on simplex, but lost each other after going beyond one half mile separation, due to buildings blocking the signal, so they switched to the Mount Pilot repeater.

Thelma Lou, incidentally, could hear Sam faintly on simplex from 5 miles away as his signal was being reflected off of the sheer sides of Taylor Cliff on the southern side of Mount Pilot.

She switches to the Mount Pilot repeater and informs Howard and Sam that Barney has “done it again” and they call 911 to have Engine 3 and Sheriff Opie Taylor come out and find him yet again, as he is lost somewhere in the woods, something she has been trying to nip in the bud for years.

So…what radio range can an HT have around Mayberry?

Depending on who you talk to 1000 feet, half a mile, 50 miles or anywhere in the 70 mile repeater footprint (except in that northeastern shadow).

It’s exactly like cellphones, where you can have 5 bars of signal in the kitchen and none in the den. Can’t hit a repeater? Move over 5 feet and try it again.

This is why answering questions about range is as easy as asking “how far is up?” There are just too many variables. It is literally “in the eyes of the beholders” or in this case, the radio users.

This is why one needs to learn these variables long BEFORE an emergency, and not during, when lives are at stake and times is not on your side.

Learn today so you don’t regret later,

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Mark’s Almanac

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

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

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

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

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

From 1851 – 2022 there have been 637 Tropical Storms, 3 Subtropical Storm and 423 hurricanes, 112 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 storms which struck Florida in 2022, following the exact path of Hurricane Charley in August 2004.

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

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

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

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

Mercury, magnitude +0.3 in Leo, The Lion, is lost in the glow of the sun and will pass between the Sun and the Earth or be in “Inferior Conjunction” of September 6.

He will remain too close to the Sun for observation until September 19, when he will emerge into the predawn sky rising at 5:09 AM, 1 hour and 21 minutes before the Sun, reaching an altitude of just 10° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks around 6 AM.

He will reach peak altitude of 17° above the horizon at sunrise on 24 Sep 2023 and then will start sinking back towards the sunrise

By month’s end he will rise at 05:29 AM, 1 hour and 9 minutes before the Sun and reach an altitude of just 10° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as the dawn breaks, a little after 6 AM.

Venus, magnitude -4.1 in Cancer, The Crab, is an early morning object, rising, at the first of the month, at 4:24 AM, nearly two hours before the Sun, and reaching an altitude of 19° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks at around 6 AM.

She rises earlier and earlier as the month progresses, rising at 03:13 AM, nearly 3 hours 30 minutes before the Sun and reaching an altitude of 38° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks.

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

Mars, magnitude +1.8, with his Moons Phobos and Deimos in Virgo, The Virgin, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude 8.9, is in Virgo, The Virgin, is lost in the glow of the Sun.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.5, and his 95 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring, in Aries, The Ram,
dominates the early morning skies becoming visible at the first of the month around 11PM at an altitude of 7° above the eastern horizon.

He will reach his highest point around 5 AM, 71° above the southern horizon and sink to only 66° above the south-western horizon when he is lost in the dawn twilight around 6 AM.

By months end he becomes visible by 9 PM at an altitude of 7° above the eastern horizon and reaching his highest point in the sky at 3 AM, 71° above the southern horizon. He will be lost in the dawn twilight around just before 6:30, 39° above the western horizon.

Saturn, magnitude +0.5, and his 146 moons and extensive debris ring system, is in Aquarius, The Water Bearer, is an early morning object, rising at the first of the month becoming visible around 8 PM 10° above the eastern horizon.

He will reach its highest point in the sky at around 12:20 AM, 44° above the southern horizon. It will become inaccessible at around 5 AM when he sinks below 10° above the south-western horizon.

By months end he will rise at 8 PM, 23° above the south-eastern horizon, as dusk fades to darkness.

He reaches its highest point in the sky around 10:20 PM, 43° above the southern horizon. He
Will then sink towards the horizon, disappearing from view around 3 AM.

Uranus, magnitude +5.8, and his 27 moons and ring, in Aries, The Ram, is a morning object becoming visible around 10:30 PM and reaching his highest altitude of 74° above the southern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks a little after 5 AM.

At mid-month he becomes visible around 11:30 PM and by months end he becomes visible around
10:30 PM reaching an altitude of 21° above your eastern horizon and then reaching highest point in the sky around 3:30 AM, 74° above the southern horizon. He will be lost to dawn twilight around 6:AM, 56° above the western horizon.

If the timing of when he becomes visible seems strange, 10:30,11:30 and then 10:20, it is because he has entered a “retrograde motion”, halting his usual eastward movement through the constellations, and turning to move westwards instead.

This reversal of direction is a phenomenon that all the solar system’s outer planets periodically undergo, a few months before they reach “Opposition”, when it lies opposite to the Sun in the sky.

The retrograde motion is caused by the Earth’s own motion around the Sun. As the Earth circles the Sun, our viewing perspective changes, and this causes the apparent positions of objects to move from side-to-side in the sky with a one-year period. This nodding motion is super-imposed on the planet’s long-term eastward motion through the constellations. He will complete this retrograde cycle in January.

Neptune, magnitude 7.7, and his 14 moons and ring, is in Pisces, The Fish, is visible using a telescope in the morning sky, becoming accessible around 10 PM, when it reaches an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will then reach its highest point in the sky at 2 AM, 53° above the southern horizon. It will be lost to dawn twilight around 05:17, 30° above your south-western horizon.

He will reach Opposition on September 19.

By months end he will become observable around just before 8 PM, when he rises to an altitude of 21° above the eastern horizon. He will reach its highest point in the sky at midnight, 53° above the southern horizon. It will become inaccessible at around 4 AM when he sinks below 21° above the western horizon.

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

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

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

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris 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 five additional bodies with the preliminary criteria for identifying dwarf planets, and though not “officially” declared as such, are generally called dwarf planets by astronomers as well.

90482 Orcus, and his moon Vanth shines at magnitude +19.1 between Hydra, the Sea Monster and Serpens the Snake.

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

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

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

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

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

FarFarOut is currently 12,396,145, 283 miles or in Light Time, 18 hours, 29 minutes and 4.8 seconds from Earth.

The most distant man-made object, Voyager 1, still operating after 45 years, 11 months and 15 days is 14,930,222,731 miles, or in Light Time, 22 hours, 15 minutes and 48 Seconds from Earth as of 3:05 PM, August 20, 2023, sailing 38,027 miles per hour through Ophiuchus the Serpent Bearer.

There are 1,301,184 known asteroids as of August 20, 2023 per NASA.

5496 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of August 10, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur September 6 at 5:21 PM CDT or 10:21 UTC.

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

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on September 12, when she will be 252,456 miles from Earth.

New Moon occurs September 14 at 8:39 CDT PM or 1:39 UTC on September 15, when the Moon will on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur September 22 at 2:31 PM or 7:31 UTC.

Fall begins at Autumnal Equinox on September 23 at 1:50 AM CDT or 6:50 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.

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

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

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

The Moon will be at Perigee or her closest approach to Earth on September 28, when she will be 223,638 miles from Earth.

September’s Full Moon will occur September 29 at 4:59 AM CDT or 09:59 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.

This is the last of four Supermoons for 2023. 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.

Comet C/2023 P1 (Nishimura) is a long-period comet which was discovered by amateur astronomer Hideo Nishimura on 12 August 2023.

It is possible that it could be bright enough to be observed with binoculars in the first days of September before sunrise.

Comets are notoriously unpredictable, with faint ones flaring brilliantly, anticipated bright ones never brightening at all or being melted into rubble by the Sun.

If you want to see this new comet, you’ll need to rise early in the morning, between one and half to two hours before sunrise. You’ll also need good binoculars, say a 7 X 35 mm pair, but, not a telescope, as binoculars give you maximum light gathering capability, and two light detectors – your eyes – where telescopes overmagnify and lose definition when looking at defuse objects and provide one eyes worth of visual data.

You will need to find a dark sky, well away from any bright lights and a clear and unobstructed view of the east-northeast sky.

At the beginning of the month, it will be tracking through the faint stars of Cancer, The Crab and moving into Leo, The Lion across a star grouping known as “The Sickle” – the backward question mark star pattern marking the head and mane of Leo, The Lion.

He will be low above the horizon, and lowering each passing day. He will brighten to magnitude 5, just borderline naked eye visibility, but will be only 10°, or one outstretched fist width, above the horizon as the twilight sky brightens. He will then drop into the Sun’s glare, and if he survives the passage near the Sun, he will reappear in the evening sky, but, only in the skies of the Southern Hemisphere.

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

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

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

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

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

Send to Mark

This month’s meeting will be on September 12 at 7 PM at the NWS Forecast Office in Calera.

Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
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