ALERT NEWSLETTER – September 2020

Hi everyone,

I hope this newsletter finds you well.

We begin our newsletter on a sad note as we mark the passing of ALERT member Michael Lamb KK4OHW and a friend of ALERT Bobby Best WX4ALA. Both were active on the ALERT Sunday Night Net and were strong believers in ALERT and her mission. Our prayers go out to their families

They will be missed.

Fall is soon approaching as the lengthening shadows betray and soon we will enjoy the not too hot, not too cold days of the Goldilocks of seasons, hopefully with the prospect of football, camping, cookouts and a slight crispness in the air.

Let’s have a fun safe healthy Late Summer / Early Fall Season.

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Changes On The Horizon?

There are two proposals that the FCC will be considering which would significantly affect the world of Amateur Radio as we know it.

In the first, the ARRL Board of Directors has accepted the final recommendations for realigning the HF Amateur radio spectrum which would grant Technicians expanded HF voice privileges and other changes. The FCC has yet to rule in this matter,

The major changes would be as follows:

160 Meters:
None.

80 Meters:
Technician voice privileges from 3.900 – 4.000 MHz
Amateur Extra voice privileges would be reduced by 50 kHz with 3.600 – 3.650 MHz being reallocated for RTTY, Narrowband and Wideband data and Automatically Controlled Digital Stations or ACDS modes.
The remaining 8,515 Novice’s band would grow from 3.525 to 3.650 MHz. This would also be an increase for the Technician, General and Advanced classes.

60 Meters:
None.

40 Meters:
Technician voice privileges from 7.225 – 7.300 MHz
7.100 – 7,125 MHz, which is currently allocated for RTTY and Narrow Band data would now allow Wideband data and Automatically Controlled Digital Stations or ACDS modes.

30 Meters:
10.135 – 10.150 MHz, which is currently allocated for RTTY and Narrow Band data would now allow Wideband data and Automatically Controlled Digital Stations or ACDS modes.

20 Meters:
14.035 – 14.150 MHz, which is currently allocated for RTTY and Narrow Band data would now allow Wideband data and Automatically Controlled Digital Stations or ACDS modes.

17 Meters:
18.105 – 18.110 MHz, which is currently allocated for RTTY and Narrow Band data would now allow Wideband data and Automatically Controlled Digital Stations or ACDS modes.

15 Meters:
Technician voice privileges from 21.350 – 21.450 MHz
21.150 –21.200 MHz, which is currently allocated for RTTY and Narrow Band data would now allow Wideband data and Automatically Controlled Digital Stations or ACDS modes.

12 Meters:
24.925 – 24.930 MHz, which is currently allocated for RTTY and Narrow Band data would now allow Wideband data and Automatically Controlled Digital Stations or ACDS modes.

10 Meters:
28.120 – 28.189 MHz, which is currently allocated for RTTY and Narrow Band data would now allow Wideband data and Automatically Controlled Digital Stations or ACDS modes.
29.200 – 29.300, which is allocated for voice would add an NB and WB data in “Experimental Data Band” and Automatically Controlled Digital Stations or ACDS modes.
Current Novice and Technician voice privileges from 28.300 – 28.500 would remain as is.

CW would continue to be authorized on all Amateur Frequencies..

My Thoughts:

I wasn’t too thrilled by the voice proposal at first, as upgrading to General isn’t THAT grievous an undertaking. The more I thought on it, going on the assumption that the FCC will update the Technician examination to include at least Novice level HF material so applicants will be knowledgeable about the realm they are entering, it could be very useful during emergencies, for instance it could eliminate having to have a relay an emergency message from VHF to HF or vice versa.

20 Meter voice privileges will remain a very large carrot which will provide an incentive to upgrade to General.

I am NOT thrilled at all that the Amateur Extra voice privileges in 80 Meters would be reduced due to 3.600 – 3.650 MHz being removed and reallocated for data use. From my selfish point of view, it just means a loss of usable spectrum which I went through an intense degree of grief and misery to gain.

Walking through that August blizzard and fighting off wolves to reach the FCC office to take that test to get to use that precious 50 kHz is a memory I shall not soon forget.

For more information see:

Click to access Doc%2025A%20Band%20Plan%20Final-1b.pdf

In second event of note, the FCC, in an effort to implement portions of the “Repack Airwaves Yielding Better Access for Users of Modern Services Act” of 2018 — the so-called “Ray Baum’s Act”, has proposed to reinstate Amateur Radio Service fees,

Amateur radio licensees would pay a $50 fee for each amateur radio license application including:

Applications for new licenses
Renewals
Upgrades to existing licenses
Vanity call sign requests

Excluded are applications for administrative updates, such as changes of address, and annual regulatory fees.

The Ray Baum Act requires that the FCC switch from a Congressionally-mandated fee structure to a cost-based system of assessment. In its proposal, the FCC proposes application fees for a broad range of services that use the FCC’s Universal Licensing System (ULS).

The FCC also proposes to assess a $50 fee for individuals who want a printed copy of their license. “The Commission has proposed to eliminate these services — but to the extent the Commission does not do so, we propose a fee of $50 to cover the costs of these services,” the FCC said.

Deadlines for comments and reply comments will be determined once the NPRM appears in the Federal Register. File comments by using the FCC’s Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS), posting to MD Docket No. 20-270. This docket is already open for accepting comments even though deadlines have not yet been set.

Incidentally, those of us who hold a General Mobile Radio Service – GMRS license would see the existing $70 license fee dropped to $50 for a ten year license.

CB, MURS and FRS radios would remain license free and cost free.

My thoughts:

For existing Amateurs saving up $50 for renewing their license, or whatever they are trying to do is not that objectionable, skinflint that I am, I think the license is worth it.

If it were put in place and the monies collected went towards enforcement I would readily say “go for it”. But, I suspect it will just be deposited into the treasury for general use.

For prospective hams it will definitely be a detriment to recruiting.

We hams currently are battling a situation in which the market is being flooded with radios, cheap, inexpensive or both, where merchants either give the briefest cursory mention of the word “license” or no mention at all. One advertiser even went as far as to say “license not needed” with the advertised radio clearly showing the two meter band on the radio’s display.

Preppers and others wanting “communications capabilities” are buying these radios by the dozens. Hams in various forums try to encourage them to get a license.
The old “FCC will get you if you transmit without one” approach doesn’t work, whereas saying “you want to get a license so you can learn how to use your radio effectively and not cause more harm than good. You want to practice and perfect your skills before “The Event”, because if you wait and then try to learn when everything has fallen apart and your life depends on it working, then your ship is always sunk”.

Though there will always be those who feel they are “putting their Big Boy Pants on” as they tell hams what they can do with their stinkin’ licenses, this approach does seem to have a positive effect.

I suspect telling them “you will need a $50 license to use your $29 radio” may not be particularly effective and will just encourage those leaning towards joining the Baofeng Bootleg Brigade to ignore the requirements and just do whatever they want to do as “everything is legal in emergencies”.

Emergency uses apparently including the power twins, Karen the Soccer Mom from Hades keeping up with the kids, and good old Cooter and Donny Ray talking as they drive from the lake on an emergency run for more beer, bait and tater chips.

The one comforting thought is that though I have heard stations bootlegging on two meters, especially on 146.420 MHz, I suspect that 90% of the radios bought will never be used due to them being bought and being stuck and forgotten in a Bug Out Bag, along with the “tactical shovel/flashlight combo” with its corroded batteries and the camouflage Kevlar underwear.

I have read postings by people buying them and saying “I have no clue why I did or what to do with them”. They bought them because they were “tacticool” as they say, or as another item checked off of the “whew I‘ve got that covered” checklist. Some try once and give up saying “they are just too complicated”. Those who don’t give up use them on simplex as one would use an FRS radio, when an FRS radio would actually have been the better choice for the purposes for which they have in mind.

For more information on this proposal see:

Click to access FCC-20-116A1.pdf

Specifically page 9 which concerns Amateur radio.

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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 – 2019 there have been 620 Tropical Storms and 409 hurricanes, 108 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.

At the beginning of the month Mercury, in Leo is hidden in the glare of the sunset. As the month progresses he emerges into the evening sky.

On September 18 Mercury reaches his furthest distance from the Sun, or aphelion when he will be 43, 689,000 miles from the Sun.

On September 22 he will reach his highest point in the sky, or “Greatest Eastern Elongation” and will be 0.3° North of Spica, the brightest star in Virgo.

Venus, magnitude –4.3 in Gemini, rises in deep darkness two hours before dawn and by dawn is blazing brightly high in the east.

Venus, currently appears slightly gibbous or 59% sunlit, in telescopes, and sinks a little lower each morning, while the background stars move rapidly to the upper right as the days progress.

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

Mars, magnitude -1.8 in Pisces, rises in the east about a half hour after the end of twilight and reaches his highest altitude in the southern sky around 4 AM

In a telescope the gibbous 92% sunlit globe is already as big as it appears at its average close approaches to Earth, or “oppositions”. As Earth catches up with him in early October he will be much larger and shine at a bright magnitude of -2.6.

He will NOT, as the perennial social media meme proclaims, be “as large as the Full Moon.” If he ever does, there is a serious problem, as either Mars or Earth has slipped out of orbit. Which in our case would be bad mojo indeed.

Martian northern winter and southern summer solstice will occur September 3.

Mars will pass behind the Moon on September 5 at 11:42 PM.

Dwarf Planet Ceres shines at magnitude 7.7 in Aquarius.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.6, in Sagittarius, shines in the South in the early evening.

Saturn, magnitude +0.3, in Sagittarius, is the steady, pale yellowish “star” in the south in early evening.

Jupiter and Saturn provide a fine view in the late evening sky. Jupiter is the brightest; with Saturn is 8° to his left.

Uranus, magnitude 5.8, in Aries, is well up in the east by midnight, east of Mars.

Neptune, magnitude 7.8, in Aquarius, is higher in the southeast at midnight, and is highest in the south by 2 to 3 AM.

The blue giant planet will be at its closest approach to Earth or “Opposition”, 2,689,200,000 miles, on September 11. It will be brighter than any other time of the year and will be visible all night long.

Due to its extreme distance from Earth, it 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.

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

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon faintly shines at magnitude 17.0 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 19.0 in Cetus the Sea Monster.

When Eris was discovered is 2005 it was undecided whether it was a planet or a dwarf planet. It was popularly nicknamed “Xena”, for TV’s “Xena the Warrior Princess”. Then her moon was discovered, so it was nicknamed “Gabrielle”, who was Xena’s sidekick.

However, when the International Astronomical Union gave its official names in 2006, they chose “Eris”, the Greek goddess of strife and discord, and “Dysnomia”, which sounds like a medical condition, who was Eris’s daughter, the Greek goddess of lawlessness.

I always have felt they should have kept it Xena and Gabrielle, as it had a “cool factor” and since when I was much younger I felt that they, along their distant cousin, Buffy The Vampire Slayer truly rocked.

Now I’m so old soon it will be “Betty White – Ninja Warrior”.

September’s Full Moon will occur September 2 at 12:23 AM CDT or 05:23 UTC.

This month’s moon is “Full Corn Moon” in Native American folklore because corn is harvested this time of year.

This year’s September Moon will not be “Harvest Moon”

Most believe that Harvest Moon is always in September; however this isn’t always the case. Harvest Moon is actually the full moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox, and so it will occur at October’s “Hunters Moon”.

Since this month’s Full Moon occurs near Apogee, it will be a “Micromoon”, which is opposite of a Supermoon. Also called “Minimoon”, “Micro Full Moon” or “Apogee Moon”, this Full Moon will appear slightly smaller than a normal Full Moon.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on September 6, when she will be 252,032 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon occurs September 10.

New Moon occurs September 17 at 6:00 AM CDT or 11:00 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.

The Moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on September 7, when she will be 223,123 miles from Earth.

Fall begins at Autumnal Equinox on September 22 at 8:30 AM CDT or 13:30 UTC when the Sun crosses directly over the equator and night and day is approximately the same length throughout the world. For the Southern Hemisphere it is Vernal Equinox, the first day of Spring.

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

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

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

First Quarter Moon will occur on September 23.

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, 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.

4201 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of August 13, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/.

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This month’s meeting will be on September 8 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 Hope to see you there!
Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter

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