ALERT NEWSLETTER – March 2018

Hi Everyone,

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

I remember well my first Birminghamfest back in 1978 at the BJCC. I had been on the air for about five months and suddenly found myself in a wonderland of equipment old and new. I met people I had met on the air, and quickly discovered the closely guarded secret that in many cases what people look like in person in no way matches what their voices sound like on the air. Guys with deep voices that I had imagined to be big beefy dudes were in fact 80 years old and guys with high pitched squeaky voices looked like they could bench press Volkswagens. I don’t recall if I bought anything that year except a Kenwood MC-50 microphone. The biggest achievement of that day was me upgrading to Technician Class.

My biggest hamfest equipment haul was one year in the 1980’s when the hamfest was held at the Boutwell Auditorium – rent free courtesy of the Jefferson County EMA. It was a little crowded, complaints of which is why the BARC declined to accept the same offer of this free venue the next year, and the hamfest was relocated to its current home. But, perhaps that crowding worked in my favor as I hauled heavy armloads of equipment including a not so old Radio Shack DX-300 shortwave receiver. This is the only receiver I’ve seen that went below 10 kHz, which, along with the 1000 foot antenna I strung, that a fireman mistook for an electric fence, allowed me to hear the old Omega navigation beacons on 10.2 kHz, 13.6 kHz & 11.33 kHz, along with the Soviet Alpha navigation beacons on 11.9 kHz, 12.6 kHz and 14.8 kHz. Add to this RTTY being sent to US Navy strategic submarines, Air Force CW and weird atmospheric phenomena such as “whistlers”, which sound just as the name implies, I found the VLF – Very Low Frequency realm an interesting place to explore.

Someday when I retire and actually have time to spare, I may give it another try.

So if you have the chance, I hope you can attend and hope that you will find the Birminghamfest as enjoyable as I do.

Our next ALERT meeting will be on Tuesday, March 13 at 7PM at the National Weather Service Forecast office at the Shelby County Airport.

Hope to see you there!

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ALERT’s PLACE IN THE DIGITAL WORLD

The heart of ALERT’s operations has and always will be via VHF & UHF analog FM modes. For this is the most common, most populated, most affordable and easiest mode which hams can operate.

However FM voice is just one of the tools we have in our toolkit.

Two other arenas of operation in which we are present, use and will continue to expand are Social Media and Amateur Digital Modes.

Social Media is a major part of ALERT’s operations. In 2008 – 2009 the Birmingham NWS Office and ALERT were the testbed for the Spotterchat system which is in use today, as we experimented with, tweaked and helped make the system, which is now a national NWS resource, an operational reality. This system has proven to be a vital tool for ALERT operations, fitting hand in glove with our RF operations at K4NWS.

In addition to the NWSchat via the BMXEMACHAT and the Central Alabama Spotter Chat via BMXSpotterChat (see https://alert-alabama.org/blog/?page_id=521), ALERT also has a presence on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and an ever expanding list of other social media outlets.

As to digital modes, ALERT has from its early days had a digital presence in Amateur Radio. Packet was utilized at K4NWS with success and was only ended as post 911 NOAA security protocols restricted that option. D-Star followed and has been a mainstay at K4NWS for over a decade.

This month Russell KV4S will detail some of our activities using digital modes.

Admittedly, some of this is beyond my current level of knowledge, but, then that is the case with any new subject or activity until you research, study and learn.

Which is fine, for I firmly believe in the saying “It’s never be too late to learn”.

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ALERT & AMATUER DIGITAL MODES
BY
RUSSELL KV4S

ALERT is further embracing Amateur Digital Modes. It’s our job to find you and your Nets when the Weather Service in Birmingham is asking for locations specific reports. We also know that we can’t be everywhere at once. Digital Modes allows us to distribute the load to multiple control operators at remote locations (home/mobile/portable) to help get storm reports.

The following is information on what digital options we monitor.

D-STAR:

Our first and longest digital mode. We have a radio at our station at the NWS with our primary point of contact being the K4DSO repeater and Reflector 58 B.

What’s new? Hotspots, and in particular Pi-STAR based Hotspots which are more kin to a personal repeater gateway on the network. Thanks to the ircDDBGateway protocol, which is built into the Pi-STAR image, a Gateway’s IP address is automatically on the network for easy Callsign and Gateway routing. What this means is 2 stations that have a Pi-STAR hotspot conversation off the reflector and/or repeater. Each ham uses the other hams callsign in the UR/To: field and ircDDB does the magic. You can also utilize one hotspot as the conversion point and several hams can connect to the one person’s hotspot gateway and have a conference hotspot to hotspot. This also brings in QuadNet (https://www.openquad.net) They have used the ircDBB system to create group routing which is similar in thinking about DMR talk groups which they call Smart Groups. To operate, you put a defined UR/To: group name in your radio and you can have a group conversation with anyone that’s subscribed to the Smart Group. ALERT’s Smart Group is QK4NWS.

Additional D-STAR Information:

Call routing (UR/To: field): QK4NWS (Smart Group from QuadNet)
Repeater Gateway: K4DSO C
Reflector: REF058B
If you need to unsubscribe from the SmartGroup use QK4NWS Z in ur UR/To: field. It also times out and logs you out after 5 hours.
For information on Routing Groups and who’s logged in visit: https://www.openquad.net/node/8

DMR:

ALERT currently does not have a DMR radio at the NWS. However, KV4S is acting as our DMR Liaison to utilize this mode to gather storm reports to relay to ALERT and/or the NWS. He has access to both DMARC and Brandmiester networks. From a repeater perspective in Alabama, we have a split between the 2 DMR networks and while this split is not preferable from a spotting perspective we hope to still be able to utilize both modes for maximum coverage. Mobile Hotspots is also driving DMR as a whole but something ALERT sees value in a storm spotting perspective. Hotspots are connected to the Brandmeister network which we see as an advantage because more and more hams and storm spotters use mobile internet hotspots or there phone’s for anywhere internet access. The internet is not the end all be all of connectivity especially, for hams so that’s where repeaters, portable repeaters, simplex, and ham internet through HamNet or ARDEN could get you connected if the normal internet backbone is down. Some Hams part of Emergency Services and first responders are put on priority networks which are restored before the general public internet. We will attempt to have a presence on the Alabama Statewide TG (TalkGroup) 3101 for both DMARC and Brandmeister. The Alabama Link is another powerful TG (31010) will be utilizing and has added benefits as a cross mode and mobile first. Cross mode means there are access points for D-STAR, DMR, Fusion, Analog, Mobile apps such as EchoLink and Teams speak to get the message out. ALERT will also have it’s own TG on Brandmeister 31013 which may be used for more internal operations of the club but an additional way to get us if other methods fail. While Private calls are a strong part of DMR it is likely not something we will utilize for passing reports as to it’s one on one nature.

Additional Information on DMR TalkGroups:

ALERT-K4NWS (Brandmeister): 31013
Alabama (DMARC and Brandmeister): 3101
Alabama Link (Multimode): 31010
Central Alabama (Brandmeister): 31015

73
Russell
KV4S

(Editors note: One feature of the Alabama Link site that I like is that you can actually monitor DMR QSO’s and get a “feel” of what the mode is like during “normal operations”, which has always been desire of mine with D-Star. I know D-Star’s worth during severe weather, but, I’ve always wondered what about “normal times?” Is it an interesting, fun mode, with friendly patient people, realizing that newbies will make newbie mistakes? As opposed to “giving them the treatment”, as I have seen done. Because I can guarantee you, I will be making some mistakes.

Since you can’t monitor D-Star communications unless you have already invested in D-Star equipment, to me it always felt like investing “sight unseen” for an unknown realm. Being stingy to begin with, I found that discouraging me from participating. Maybe now, being able to “taste” what the Digital world is really like, I will be much more willing to take that Digital plunge.)

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Birmingham NWS Spring 2018 Storm Spotter Course Schedule Updated

In last month’s Newsletter we discussed the Birmingham NWS office online Storm Spotter Courses.

This month we will cover On-Site Classes.

The current schedule is as follows:

Lee County
Basic Class
Tuesday, March 20 at 1:00 PM
University Campus Safety & Security
543 West Magnolia Avenue
Auburn, Alabama

Etowah County
Basic Class
Wednesday, March 21 at 10:00 AM
Gadsden/Etowah County EMA
Gadsden City Hall Basement
90 Broad Street

Tuscaloosa County
Basic Class
Thursday, March 22 at 6:30 PM
Alabama Fire College
2501 Phoenix Drive
Tuscaloosa Alabama

Dallas County
Basic Class
Wednesday, April 18 at 5:00 PM
Wallace Community College Selma
3000 Earl Goodwin Parkway
Selma, Alabama

These classes, which are around two hours long, will help you provide the NWS the vital “ground truth” information they need to verify radar indications, target their attention and help you relay reports in a clear manner to the NWS, either directly via the 1-800-856-0758 Storm Reporting Hotline, online at http://www.weather.gov/bmx/submit_storm_report or amateur radio. This knowledge helps SKYWARN Net Control stations filter reports, by giving them knowledge of what reporting stations are trying to describe. This way they can tell if the report is a valid report, an invalid report by an overly excited operator or a valid, but, poorly described report, which without this knowledge would be mistakenly dismissed.

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

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Mark’s Almanac

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

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

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

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

North Atlantic Tropical activity remains at a minimum. From 1851 to 2015 there has been only one Hurricane to occur. A 100 MPH unnamed Hurricane which affected the Lesser Antilles in March 6- 9, 1908. Some sources also cite a pre-Civil War Tropical Storm also occurring, but others do not.

South Atlantic Tropical activity doesn’t have a sharp peak as the North Atlantic season does in September, however currently March has a thin lead in activity, as from 1957 – 2017 there have been 10 identified Tropical Systems, including the only known South Atlantic Hurricane – Hurricane Catarina which struck Brazil March 28, 2004.

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

Another area where Tropical Cyclones are not supposed to develop is the Mediterranean Sea.

However, there have been instances, 100 instances, in fact, from 1947 to 2011, where tropical like systems have formed, some including eye-like features, which some refer to as “Medicanes”.

The only “officially recognized” Mediterranean Tropical Cyclone was 2011’s Tropical Storm Rolf, a storm which NOAA named Tropical Storm 01M and was then dubbed “Rolf” by the Free University of Berlin.

These storms, which can last from 12 hours to 5 days and have 89 MPH maximum sustained winds, are perhaps the type storm that caused St. Paul’s shipwreck as described in Acts 27:10-44.

Meanwhile, back in Alabama…

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

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

The good news is that there is hope on the horizon as Spring will arrive at Vernal Equinox on March 20 at 16:15 UTC or 11:15 A.M. CDT.

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

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

Days grow longer as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon rapidly increases from 49.1 degrees at the beginning of the month to 60.8 degrees at the end. Daylight increases from 11 hours 29 minutes on March 1 to 12 hours 31 minutes on March 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

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

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

For other locations go to http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php and input the locations and dates you are interested in.

Daylight Savings Time begins at 2 AM on March 11. So remember to “spring forward” one hour. This, of course means I will lose one hour of “beauty sleep”, which is something I desperately need.

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

Looking towards the sky, Mercury, magnitude –1.4 emerges from deep in the sunset, close to Venus. On March 3rd and 4th the two planets will appear closest, with Mercury 1.1° to Venus’s right.

On March 15 Mercury will be at Greatest Eastern Elongation, or his highest point in the sky at an angle of 18.4° from the Sun. This is the best time to view Mercury since it will be at its highest point above the horizon in the evening sky. Look for the planet low in the western sky just after sunset.

Venus emerges low in the afterglow of sunset. Look for it just above the horizon nearly due west about 20 minutes after sunset. Venus is beginning an “Evening Star” apparition that will continue through next summer. On March 19 Venus will be 3.8° from Mercury giving you a good chance to spot both planets in the evening sky and on March 18, she will be 3.7° North of the Moon.

Mars, magnitude +0.8 in the feet of Ophiuchus rises around 2 AM, some 25° to the lower left of Jupiter. On March 9, Mars will be 3.8° South of the Moon

Nearby is the red star Antares, about 10° to Mars’s left or upper left in the early-morning hours. By dawn, Mars and Antares are approaching the meridian in the south and are at very nearly the same height.

The name “Antares” is said to come from the Greek word Ἀντάρης,, meaning “equal to Ares”, Ares being the Greek equivalent to Mars, since they have the same reddish appearance. Though some think the comparison actually began with the ancient Mesopotamian astronomers a thousand years before.

Jupiter, magnitude -2.2, in Libra rises around midnight and is high in the south-southeast before the beginning of dawn. On March 6, he will be 4.1° South of the Moon.

Saturn, magnitude +0.6 in Sagittarius above the Teapot of Sagittarius, is in the southeast, about 15° or 20° lower left of Mars. On March 10, Saturn will be 2.2° South of the Moon.

The Teapot of Sagittarius is an asterism, or a popular known pattern or group of stars, and it looks just as the name suggests – like a teapot. The Teapot is significant for two reasons; one is that the “spout” points towards the galactic center and because it also points toward where the sun is located on Winter Solstice around December 21.

Uranus, shinning at magnitude +5.9 in Pisces, is sinking in the west after nightfall.

Neptune is hidden in the glow of the Sun

3704 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of February 22, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

March’s first Full Moon will occur on March 1 at 6:51 PM CST or at 00:51 UTC March 2. This full moon was known by early Native American tribes “Worm Moon”. So called because the rains disturb the earthworms & they are seen wiggling around after the rains.

They are edible, nutritious and yummy by the way, or so I have been told, but I think I’ll let you have my share. Incidentally slugs are edible also. Just think of them as snails without the shell.

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

The Moon will be at her greatest distance from Earth or perigee at 251,457 miles on March 11,

New Moon will occur March 17 at 13:12 UTC or 8:12 AM CDT. The Moon will be located on the same side of the Earth as the Sun and will not be visible in the night sky. This is the best time of the month to observe faint objects such as galaxies and star clusters because there is no moonlight to interfere.

The Moon will be at her closest distance from Earth or apogee at 229,350 miles on March 26,

March’s second Full Moon or Blue Moon will occur March 31 at 12:37 UTC or 7:37 AM CDT. This year is particularly unique in that January and March both contain two full moons while February has no full moon.

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

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

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

Canopus, the second-brightest star after Sirius, lies 36° almost due south of Sirius. That’s far enough south that it never appears above the horizon if you are above latitude 37° N, such as southern Virginia, southern Missouri and central California. Luckily we lie south of that latitude, with our horizon lying, in the case of Central Alabama, around latitude 33°. So give Canopus, which crosses low above the horizon, due south just 21 minutes before Sirius does, a peak.

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The Birmingham Hamfest http://birminghamfest.org/ is days away, March 2 & 3.

As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, this it will be a Friday & Saturday affair; instead of the Saturday & Sunday dates of years past.

This month’s ALERT meeting will be on March 13 at 7PM at the National Weather Service Forecast office at the Shelby County Airport.

If for some reason you cannot attend the meeting in person, you can still participate via telephone. The teleconference number is 1-877-951-0997 & and the participant code is 741083.

Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter