Hi Everyone,

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

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

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

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

Only time will tell.

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

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

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ALERT Happenings!

Good evening everyone!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Skywarn Recognition Day – #Skywarn2022

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

New BMXSpotterChat Server!!!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

Best regards, and 73,

Casey Benefield, NZ2O

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Mark’s Almanac

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Two notable December hurricanes are:

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

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

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

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

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

Sunrise and Sunset times for Birmingham are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Christmas

Christmas is my favorite time of the year.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter

Hi everyone,

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

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

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

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

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

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Toys For You To Play With

Have you ever heard of or played with a WebSDR?

What is a WebSDR you might ask?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Think of it as IHeart Radio on a grand scale.

Their website is Radio Garden – Birmingham AL

Here are my favorite WebSDR sites:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

For an iPad the process is similar.

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

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

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

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

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

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

What of Androids?

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

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

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

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

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

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

Select “Add Page Shortcut” option.

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

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

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

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

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Mark’s Almanac

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some notable November hurricanes are:

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

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

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

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

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

Figure 2 – November Tropical Cyclone Breeding Grounds

Both the Atlantic and Pacific Hurricane seasons ends November 30.

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

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He will then emerge into the morning sky.

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

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

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

Dwarf Planet Ceres shines at magnitude +8.7 in Leo.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The second stream comes later in the month.

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

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

In Birmingham the eclipse timings are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Look for the meeting announcement for online access details.

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter

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

 

Hi everyone and welcome to the October ALERT Newsletter.

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

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

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

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

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ALERT & National Night Out

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

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

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

ALERT’s Objectives / Scope for this event are:

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

2. Promote Skywarn Storm Spotter Training.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Hope to see you there!

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Birmingham NWS Fall 2022 Spotter Courses

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

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

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

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

To attend the Online Spotter Class:

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

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

The current schedule is as follows:
Online:

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

In Person:

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

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

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

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

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

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

Other useful resources:

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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Ham Radio Testing Opportunities

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But that was Lucy…Lucifer’s twin sister.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And, with all these testing opportunities available why wait?

For more information see:

Getting Licensed (arrl.org)

I hope to see you on the air!

 

 

 

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Mark’s Almanac

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some notable October hurricanes are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

October Tropical Cyclone Breeding Grounds

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

There will be a Partial Solar Eclipse on October 25.

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

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

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

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

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

Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter

Hi everyone,

I hope this newsletter finds you well.

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

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

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

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

ALERT thanks you.

 

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NOAA Atlantic Hurricane Outlook Updated

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

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

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

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

So keep your eyes towards the seas.

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Aerials, Antennae & Feelers

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A few hints and notes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Measure twice, cut once (initially)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Radio Antenna Length Chart

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

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

G5RV Dimensions

Double Size Full Size Half Size aka “Jr”

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

Matching Section Length:

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

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

 

 

 

 

Yagi Dimensions Examples

Frequency Reflector Driven Element Director Element Spacing

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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Mark’s Almanac

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

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

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

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

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

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

Some notable September hurricanes are:

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

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

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

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

 

 

 

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

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He will reach opposition on September 26, and his face will be fully illuminated by the Sun. He will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long. This is the best time to view and photograph Jupiter and its moons. A medium-sized telescope should be able to show you some of the details in Jupiter’s cloud bands. A good pair of binoculars should allow you to see Jupiter’s four largest moons, appearing as bright dots on either side of the planet.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Dwarf Planet Pluto, with his five moons shines at a dim 14.3 in Sagittarius, The Archer.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

5071 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of June 16, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur September 3 at 1:08 PM CDT or 06:08 UTC.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

New Moon occurs September 25 at 4:54 PM CDT or 21:54 UTC on September 8, when the Moon will on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

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

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

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

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

 

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

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

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

Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter