ALERT NEWSLETTER – August 2020

Hi everyone,

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

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

We are in the process of updating our roster and databases. If you have not paid your dues by
September 1 you will be dropped from our membership rolls and will have to reapply for membership.

We don’t want this to happen, so if you haven’t paid your dues, I urge you to do

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

Our next ALERT meeting will be on August 14

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Cellphones And Emergency Communications

Cellphones have become society’s primary mode of communications. What was once an expensive luxury item is now just a part of everyday life. There is the joke that for the first time in human history we have at our fingertips access to the entirety of human knowledge and with this capability we share pictures of cats and call each other dogs. A fact which is, especially considering the times in which we live, painfully true.

As common as this technology is, the infrastructure which makes cellular communications possible is exceedingly fragile.

Physical damage to the towers, either due to an accident, severe weather or a deliberate act of man, or a failure of the T-1 line, which is the network digital channels that allow transmission of voice and data, and the cellular network is basically dead.

Even someone having a bad day with a backhoe in Dallas accidentally digging up the fiber optics lines can disable communications here in Alabama.

Even without damage to the system sometimes just the sheer number of calls being processed can jam communication lines, especially during and after an emergency or disaster. A prime example of this being during the Winter Storm of 2014 when “all circuits are busy” greeted those trying to make calls as the circuits were overwhelmed.
Also frequently we see the skies dotted with chubby cumulus clouds and a radar that showing plenty of nothing and calls mysteriously drop into some sort of RF vortex from whence they never return.

In these cases sometimes even though voice signals cannot make it through the circuits, text messages with their narrow bandwidth can worm their way through the logjam. A good example of this was during Hurricane Irma when I was in a continuous exchange of texts with my sister as the Category 4 storm’s eye passed directly over her house in September 2017.

Perhaps an even more dramatic example was the earthquake and tsunami which struck Japan in 2011.

Here we had, for that type disaster, the most prepared nation on Earth & yet with all that technology and knowledge, once the event began the population were helpless as they gazed into the eyes of a tragedy.

Yet with the communications infrastructure demolished, a flood of messages emerged. Not via voice communications, but via the internet with tweets & texting.

Texting is one of the most popular forms of communications. It’s handy & annoying. Just try talking to someone & them never ceasing to click away. It makes you want to grab both them and their phone and pitch both out of the window.

But, texting can be extremely useful for emergency communications.

For emergency preparedness it could be of value to have a set of brief emergency messages stored on your phone that you could copy, paste and send letting a contact person know of your status.

Everyone should have an emergency contact person, preferably out of town that everyone can coordinate their information with.

The list I concocted, which are saved in my “notes” folder are:

1. We have had to evacuate area due to ________________. Will contact you ASAP.
2. Tornado hit neighborhood, no damage, we are safe.
3. Tornado hit neighborhood, some damage, but, we are safe.
4. Tornado hit neighborhood, heavy damage, but we are ok.
5. 911…call me ASAP at ________.
6. ________ is in _________ hospital. Will call when able.
7, Departed at _______ ETA _________.
8. What’s your ETA?
9. Can’t reach you. Is everything ok?

These examples can be customized and tweaked to meet your own needs.

I all I have to do is go to the “notes” folder, click on the message, until it says “select all”, which sometimes takes more than one attempt, then click “copy” and then paste it in a text message.

Of course you can try to adlib and just type what you wish, but, the human body tends to lose its fine motor skills, such as those used for typing, during a crisis. So, having the messages ready to send is a definite advantage.

One additional little suggestion would be:

Make sure to sign the message!!!
Imagine getting a message from an unfamiliar number saying “Grandma is in ICU, probably won’t make it through the night, come ASAP”, with no signature. Is it your Grandma? Someone else’s Grandma? Is it a wrong number? Did someone borrow a phone to send the text? How do you know?

Many years ago I had an answering machine, but, no caller ID. I came home from work and on Monday I had a message from an elderly gentleman “We’ve left Chicago and are heading your way!” On Tuesday there was the message. “We spent the night in Louisville and are pulling out now.” On Wednesday I was greeted by “We spent some time in Nashville, but should be there in a couple of hours.”

No name, no number, no clue and no visitors arriving either.

I have this happen in group emails also and see it with callouts. “I can come in for a few hours Saturday”. That’s great, but who are you?

That’s why you should always sign your message!

You may have other ideas on how to better use this resource during emergencies.

Feel free to share them with us!

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Why Ham Radio Died

Periodically, in fact quite frequently, I have read either in magazines or online the reasons that ham radio is supposedly dying. This seems to be a common belief and in fact I have seen it used as an odd recruitment tool. Why “come and join our dying hobby” is supposed to attract people I never have figured out.

In 1975 I was a teenager and was researching and studying how to get in to amateur radio. The entry level license was the Novice license, which was good for two years. If you did not upgrade during that time period you would lose your license and would have to wait a year before you took the test again. You were issued a WN prefix to indicate that you were a Novice, which would be replaced with a WB callsign when you upgraded and you had to use a crystal controlled radio, as VFO’s were not allowed.

Ham radio, as I then read, had been dying since the FCC created the “incentive licensing” scheme in the late 1960’s. True there were 175,000 ham licenses, but, how many were actually active operators or even still alive? “A graying hobby, made up of old men…with no young people being attracted to keep it alive” was the common lament. Sound familiar?

Yep, the hobby was dying.

Just for fun, let’s look at the causes of death in rough chronological order from 1975 to 2020.

1. Novice Licenses are made renewable (no one will ever upgrade now}
2. Novices allowed can use VFO’s (now they will invade and bootleg in the General bands)
3. Novices get permanent callsigns, like mine WD4NYL (now you won’t know when they are
bootlegging in the General bands)
4. CB Radio (……boooooo…..hisssss)
5. Crotchety old men (sort of useful though, since they are the only ones who know how to keep
the repeater, which they financed and built, working}
6. Young whipper snappers just “given licenses”
7. KA callsigns are issued (they are making way for the 20 million CBers they are about to let in)
8. Volunteer Exams initiated (yep just say that all your fishing buddies passed the test)
9. That mystical lure of a ham that causes that uncontrollable urge to cheat (you know its true)
10. CW Exam eliminated (we are truly doomed)
11. KB callsigns (woe is us)
12. 300,000 hams (but, but, how many are active, how many dead?)
13. Crotchety Old Men
14. Know it all young whipper snappers
15. Mushy tests. (they should be made to walk through a blizzard like I did)
16. Commodore 64, TRS-80 and IBM computers (everyone will playing and no one will be
interested in ham radio)
17. Mobile telephones (if don’t need an autopatch, what’s to keep folk interested?)
18. KC callsigns (a sign of the times)
19. Cable TV (with 50 channels to choose from who will have time for hamming?)
20. 400,000 hams (how come I never hear em on?)
21. Low sunspots (it’s going supernova anyway. THEN see how far HF will get you, buddy)
22. Young whipper snappers becoming crotchety old men
23. Y2K (means QRT)
24. No code digital weather whackos (aka as ALERT)
25. D-STAR and any other digital mode (can’t afford it and FM will be dead soon)
26. Mayan Calendar (we dead)
27. Baofeng Radios (cheap n dirty)
28, Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood radios (too expensive for newbies)
29. FT8 (get a DXCC in 30 minutes while you mow the grass)
30 No one joining the ARRL (freeloaders!!!)
31. People joingin the ARRL (sheeple!!!).
32. Baotleg Boofang, er, I mean bootleg Baofeng Users
33. Preppers getting radios, but, not a license. (we don’t need no stinkin’ license)
34. Preppers getting radios and a ham license. (they ain’t in it fer the hobby!!!)
35. The price of pickles in Poughkeepsie.
36. Facebook (why get on the air when you can whine online about people not getting on the air
on Facebook instead?)
37. Auburn cheating, er I mean beating Alabama (Roll Tide anyway)
38, Covid-19
39. KO callsigns
40. 812,550 hams as of 7/29 (but, but, but, how many are really active, or dead?)

Ham radio changes, as it should and must to remain relevant. We may not always agree with the changes that occur, but, to butcher a quoe from Mark Twain:

“The reports of our death are greatly exaggerated.”

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Mark’s Almanac

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

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

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

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

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

August is second only to September in the number of Tropical Storms and Hurricanes. From 1851 to 2019 there have been 396 Tropical Storms and 245 Hurricanes, 78 of which made landfall in the United States, the most notable storms being Hurricanes Camille and Katrina in 1969 and 2005, which devastated Mississippi and Louisiana and Hurricane Andrew which ravaged South Florida in 1992.

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

Days grow shorter as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon steadily decreases from 74.4 degrees at the beginning of the month to 65.0 degrees at the month’s end. Daylight decreases from 13 hours 48 minutes on August 1 to 12 hours 54 minutes on August 31.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

August 1 Sunrise 6:00 AM Sunset 7:47 PM
August 15 Sunrise 6:09 AM Sunset 7:34 PM
August 31 Sunrise 6:20 AM Sunset 7:14 PM

Looking skyward, at the beginning of the month, the Sun, magnitude -26.7 is in Cancer.

Mercury, magnitude -0.9 in Gemini, glimmers low in the east-northeast during dawn. He will grow brighter, growing from magnitude –0.9 to –1.3 this week, but it gets a little lower each morning. He is about 30° lower left of brilliant Venus.

Mercury will be at his closest approach to the Sun or Perihelion on August 5.

Mercury then will slip beneath the Sunrise and pass directly behind the Sun or be at “Superior Conjunction” on August 17.

Venus, magnitude –4.5, is moving from eastern Taurus into the top of Orion’s Club and rises in deep darkness more than 1½ hours before the very beginning of dawn an shines brightly as the “Morning Star” at dawn.

At the beginning of the month Venus is a very thick crescent, as is moving away from the Earth. As she moves away its phase is increasing and will be nearly half lit, similar to a First Quarter Moon’s phase, also called “dichotomy” on August 12.

Venus will reach at Greatest Western Elongation or the highest point above the eastern horizon on August 13, when she will be 45.8 degrees from the Sun.

Venus along with Jupiter are the only two planets that can be spotted with the naked eye in broad daylight. Can you spot her as she passes south around 11 AM?

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

Mars, magnitude -1.2 in Pisces, rises in the east around 11 PM.

Mars will reach his closest approach to the Sun or Perihelion on August 3.

On August the 9th Mars will pass within 0.8 degrees of the Moon on August 9 just after moonrise.

Mars is growing larger in telescopes as the Earth, in its faster inner orbit speeds towards their closest approach in Early October.

Mars is 87% sunlit and his South Polar Cap is in good position for viewing.

With the Earth heading for Mars, the Earthlings are taking advantage of the opportunity by sending a flotilla of three craft towards the Red Planet. The United Arab Emirates spacecraft “Hope”, China’s “Tianwen-1” and the United States’ “Perseverance”.

And, to think, all these years we thought it would be Mars invading the Earth and it turns out to be us invading them instead…

Jupiter, magnitude –2.7 in Sagittarius, is bright in the southeast at twilight with Saturn nearby.

Saturn, magnitude +0.2 in Sagittarius, along with Jupiter 8 degrees to the right, loom in the southeast in twilight and pass highest in the south around midnight.

Uranus, magnitude 5.8, in Aries, is high in the east after midnight.

Neptune, magnitude 7.8, in Aquarius, is high in the south-southeast also after midnight.

August’s Full Moon will occur August 3 at 15:59 UTC or 10:59 AM CDT. August’s Full Moon was called “Fruit Moon” in Cherokee Folklore, “Women’s Moon” among the Choctaw, “Sturgeon Moon” by the Algonquin because the large sturgeon fish of the Great Lakes and other major lakes were more easily caught at this time of year. This moon has also been known as the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon and at one time was called “Dog Days Moon” by the Colonial Americans.

The moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on August 9, when she will be 251,443 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon will occur August 11, with the visible portion of the Moon pointing East.

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

The Last Quarter moon will block many of the fainter meteors this year. But if you are patient, you should still be able to catch a few of the brighter ones. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Perseus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

New Moon will occur on August 19 at 10:42 PM CDT or 2:42 UTC on August 18. 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 Perigee or her closest approach to Earth on August 21, when she will be 225,888 miles from Earth.

First Quarter Moon will occur August 25, with the visible portion of the Moon pointing West.

4197 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of July 23, per NASA’s
Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

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This month’s meeting will be on July 11 at 7PM

The meeting will be done remotely as was last month’s meeting.

Details and instructions will be issued as the time nears.

Hope to “see” you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter
wd4nyl@bellsouth.net