ALERT NEWSLETTER – February 2021

Hi Everyone,

I hope this finds you well, as we glide through these winter days. As the tornado which recently struck North Jefferson County reminds us, our spring tornado season is just around the corner and now is the time to review your plans and procedures for those 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 a NOAA Weatheradio and phone Apps from local broadcast media and other weather sources. This does not include social media posts; as the medium’s algorithm can accidently “bury” a warning in the newsfeed or let long defunct warning mysteriously bubble up. 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 your confidence in.

Not to be forgotten are the broadcast meteorologists that serve our community. Whether your favorite meteorologist is James Spann, Jerry Tracey, J-P Dice or Ashley Gann, realize that not every area has the caliber of broadcast meteorologists that we have.

In fact Birmingham is spoiled.

So as the storms of spring approach, let us take stock of our level of preparedness, fill any gaps that appear, and hope we don’t have to use a single resource that we have.

Stay safe!

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Birmingham NWS Spring 2020 Storm Spotter Courses

The Birmingham NWS office will present several online Basic Spotter Courses and a single online Advanced Spotter Course this spring. These online classes allow individuals to complete the courses in the comfort of their own home or office using GoToMeeting.

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

Unless you are in need of or just want to attend a refresher Course, you do not need to attend more than one Basic SKYWARN Course, as the material covered is the same; however it is required you to 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, and unmuted when applicable (e.g., for questions); or, you can use the built-in chat feature.

How do you Attend an Online SKYWARN Spotter Class?

To avoid being hurried, give yourself at least 15 minutes prior to
the start of the class to complete the following steps:

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.

The current online schedule is as follows:

Basic Class Thursday, February 25 at 6:30 PM https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/358972267323457548
Basic Class Tuesday, March 2 at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8696081857097779212
Basic Class Thursday, March 4 at 1:00 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/8615870284828282380
Basic Class Monday, March 22 at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/857366594543231756
Advanced Class Wednesday March 31, at 6:30 PM
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/102440811400622348

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 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 visit: http://www.weather.gov/bmx/skywarnschedule

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The Great Cat Food Can Quarter-Wave

Recently I put the finishing touches on a project I called the “Great Cat Food Can Quarter-Wave” for my General Mobile Radio Service or GMRS setup. The design I used can easily be used for 2 meters, 220 MHz or 440 MHz. The only differences are the dimensions used.

Most of the material used was from parts lying around in the garage or from the trash bin. I took two used and cleaned cat food cans, carefully took the labels off and using an oversized thumbtack made a hole in the center of Cat Can #1, which I then carefully reamed out with a multitool until an SO239 antenna connector could fit snugly when mounted on the bottom of the can.

I then made four more holes for where small #6 bolts holding the antenna connector would fit. I then made four equidistant holes on the outer edge of the can where some larger # 10 bolts and washers would eventually hold the ground radials, which would be made from spare Romex wire.

Actually, I tore Cat Can #1 to smithereens trying to figure out how to do all of this without reaming dime sized holes that made it look like a goat had chewed up the poor can.

Having learned the lessons with Cat Can #1, I proceeded with Can Cat #2, and eyed a third can “just in case”.

The antenna would eventually be cut for the center of the GMRS band or 465.1375 MHz, so it would be as resonant as possible from Channel 1 – 462.5625 MHz, to the repeater input of Channel 22 – 467.7250 MHz. The exact measurements would be 6.03 inches for the vertical radial and 6.75 inches for the ground plane.

I cut the wire to 7 inches, knowing that it is easier to trim a wire that is too long, than to grow a wire that is too short. Also, based on previous projects, wires cut to exact lengths can mysteriously grow shorter when everything is soldered and all of the screws are turned.

If I were making this antenna for the amateur bands I would use different measurements. Being mathematically challenged, I used the following website to obtain my dimensions:

1/4 Wave Ground Plane Antenna Calculator

Using 2 meters as an example:

For 146.520 simplex cut the vertical to 19.14 inches and the radials to 21.44 inches.
For 146.580 simplex cut the vertical to 19.14 inches and the radials to 21.43 inches.

For 144.810, the 41 repeater’s input cut the vertical to 19.37 inches and radials to 21.70 inches.
For 146.160, the 76 repeater’s input cut the vertical to 19.19 inches and radials to 21.50 inches.
For 146.280, the 88 repeater’s input cut the vertical to 19.18 inches and radials to 21.48 inches.
For 146.380, the 98 repeater’s input cut the vertical to 19.16 inches and radials to 21.46 inches.
For 147.740, the 14 repeater’s input cut the vertical to 18.99 inches and radials to 21.27 inches.

For 449.975, the 444.975 repeater’s input cut the center conductor to 6.23 inches. and radials to
6.98 inches.

You get the idea.

Remember you are cutting this for the repeater input frequency, not the output frequency, as the transmitter is more persnickety about resonance than the receiver is. 2 Meter repeaters usually have a minus 600 kHz input below 147.000 MHz, a positive input above 147.000 MHz and a plus 5 MHz input with 70 Centimeter repeaters.

Continuing on, after making the large hole for the SO239 connector, I placed the connector in the hole and using it as a template I marked where the holes for the four #6 bolts would be placed.

I then measured and made four equidistance opposing holes near the outer rim of the Cat Can where the #10 bolts would be placed to secure the ground radials.

Having made these holes, I mounted the SO239 connector to the base side of the Cat Can.

I soldered a 7 inch vertical radial into the SO239 connector and mounted the four 7 inch radials, which had the inside ends curled so they could wrap around the bolts after being sandwiched between two washers on the top of the Cat Can, the third washer being on the inside of the can to provide support when I tightened the bolts up. I then bent the radials to a 45 degree slope and trimmed everything to the correct length.

The finished product gave a 1.2:1 SWR band wide.

Then I put the label back on, with the cat right-side up for artistic effect.

The good thing about this design is that can be scaled up or down size wise and frequency wise using the dimensions that the calculator spits out.

Don’t want to use a cat food can? Use a tuna can, the time honored traditional pie pan, or any other flat piece of metal. All it is used for is a mounting platform for the radials. I’ve made quarter-waves that didn’t even use a mounting plate; I just soldered the radials directly to the holes of a SO239 connector,

So you really don’t need the can or the nuts and bolts.

You don’t really need a SO239 connector either. Just as long as the dimensions and configurations are right and the center conductor of the coax isn’t shorted to the braid, if the SWR is good, you are good.

This is good to know in an emergency when the storm is raging, rain and hail is pelting the windows, the wind has an ominous roar and for some reason two meter reception suddenly becomes as scratchy as sand paper.

When it is safe to do so, with no lightning flashing and no power lines having been blown down, you go to look at the end of your coax cable. After a few minutes you find exactly that – the ragged end of the cable and no antenna in sight.

Not to worry, you read in Mark’s crazy newsletter how to make an emergency antenna.

If you have an SWR meter trim for the proper SWR. But, what do you do in an emergency if you don’t have an SWR meter?

If it is an emergency, not just an inconvenience, the antenna is “probably close enough”. To be safe you should transmit at the lowest possible power that will reach the repeater, (which is what you are supposed to be doing normally anyway) and transmit in short bursts.

“Short bursts” means just that – a couple of words, unkey, pause, a couple of words, unkey, pause, etc.

This will help protect the radios final amplifier. But, it is not a guarantee that they still won’t go up in smoke.

But, remember that if you are in a dire emergency situation trying to get an emergency message out, you are basically shooting off an RF flare. If it’s your best shot at rescue, so go for it!

Remembering again that this is an emergency solution for an emergency situation, not a case of “a temporary solution that becomes a permanent cure”, you are back on the air!

Don’t get all OCD over the materials, as some do, either. Some of my die hard old goats may say “you need this or that kind of wire”, but, the truth is that wire is wire and if it can carry electricity, it will work.

In my “ham career” I have used clothes hangers, “true” antenna wire, speaker wire, lamp cords, transformer wire, test leads, anything that could carry current and it worked.
Possibly the simplest and goofiest answer to the “no antenna problem” I had was when I was a brand new teenage ham, had a radio, but no mobile antenna. I cut a vertical rod the right length, mounted it on a SO239 connector and armed with an SWR meter and a friend at the wheel we would drive around, I would hand the antenna out of the car window and by using my thumb as an insulator and capacitor I would find that one sweet spot where the SWR dipped and would talk to people.

It was 1978 in the peak of the CB boom and I would see CBers looking down at their radios, apparently trying to figure how where in the world I was on the band and I got various and sundry weird looks, But, I was solid copy into the BARC repeater, which was all that mattered and I had a ball.

I did what I had to do.

Don’t be afraid to experiment, to fail and succeed. Everyone has a right to fail, by the way. In life most people, whether they admit it or not got it wrong before they got it right. Things probably will work out fine, but, if they don’t, remember that with each attempt you will learn more and more and eventually you WILL get it right. Then you can teach others.

That’s how young goats learn what will become old goat knowledge.

(Editor’s Note: There are four pictures of this wonder of technology included. If you do not see them, as the internet does strange things, and wish to see them, you can email me at wd4nyl@bellsouth.net and I will send them to you.)

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Mark’s Almanac

February, or Februarius, as the Romans called it, is named after the Latin term februum, which means “purification”. Ancient Rome celebrated the Februa purification ritual on February 15, which was Full Moon on the old lunar based Latin calendar.

February was not originally included in the Roman calendar, which began in March, but was added, along with January by Numa Pompilius around 713 BC, and until 450 BC was considered the last month of the year.

February was originally 29 days long, but one day was taken and added to August, so the that Emperor Augustus’s month would be equal to Julius Caesar’s month of July. Now only Leap Year, which will next occur in 2024, has 29 days.

Ground Hog Day is on February 2 & believers will watch that flea bitten danged old Yankee Punxsutawney Phil and (if he hasn’t gone to the Great Burrow In The Sky), True Southern Gentleman Birmingham Bill, to see if they see their shadows. If so, prepare for six more weeks of winter.

How did we come up with Groundhog Day anyway?

It is said by one theory that the first day of Spring is about six weeks after Groundhog Day, on March 20 or 21. 1000 years ago when the world used the Julian calendar, Spring Equinox fell on March 16, which is exactly six weeks after February 2. So, if the groundhog saw his shadow on Groundhog Day there would be six more weeks of winter. But, if he didn’t, there would be only 42 more days of winter left instead. Get the calculator out and you will find that 42 days equals six weeks, so Groundhog Day may have started out as a practical joke.

The modern 21 Century version blurs this into saying that if a groundhog emerges from its burrow and fails to see its shadow, winter will soon end. If not, it will return into its burrow, and the winter will continue for 6 more weeks.

It is believed that the Germans in Pennsylvania brought Groundhog Day with them.

Morgantown, Pennsylvania storekeeper James Morris’ diary entry for Feb. 4, 1841 states “Last Tuesday, the 2nd, was Candlemas day, the day on which, according to the Germans, the Groundhog peeps out of his winter quarters and if he sees his shadow he pops back for another six weeks nap, but if the day be cloudy he remains out, as the weather is to be moderate.”

So, how accurate is the little goomer?

Well, Groundhog Day believers claim a 75% to 90% accuracy rate. The National Climatic Data Center, on the other hand, says it’s more like 39%.

But, you know how Heathens can be.

If the NCDC is right, maybe they can still use the critter anyway, by flipping the theory around, so if he predicts warmth, you go with winter & vice versa.

I think this is called “Inverse Forecasting”. Or it should be anyway.

In the Southern Hemisphere February is the equivalent of August. But, for us, February is a cold month with more snow falling in February than in any other month.

Statistically speaking, there is a 70% chance of snow flurries, and a 57% chance of snow up to one inch. There is a 13% chance of over one inch, and a 3% chance of 4 inches or more.

There is hope on the horizon though, as the worst of winter weather is usually over by February 15.

North Atlantic Tropical activity is at a minimum. From 1851 to 2020 there has been only one Tropical Storm to occur, 70 MPH Tropical Storm #1, which affected Florida on February 2 & 3, 1952.

Days grow longer as the Sun’s angle above the noonday horizon rapidly increases from 39.5 degrees at the beginning of the month to 48.6 degrees at the end. Daylight increases from 10 hours 35 minutes on February 1 to 11 hours 26 minutes on February 28.

Sunrise and sunset times for Birmingham are:

February 1 Sunrise 6:44 AM Sunset 5:18 PM
February 14 Sunrise 6:33 AM Sunset 5:31 PM
February 28 Sunrise 6:17 AM Sunset 5:43 PM

Looking skyward, the Sun, magnitude -26.8 is in Capricorn.

At the beginning of the month Mercury, magnitude –0.7 in Capricorn, is sinking fast and rapidly fading as he slips below the western horizon. He will not reappear in the evening sky until May.

On February 8 he will move between the Sun and the Earth or be in “Inferior Conjunction” and then will reappear in the morning sky reaching magnitude +1.0 on February 19 and will continue brightening to magnitude +0.05 by February 23.

Venus is hidden deep in the glow of sunrise. Expect her back in the evening twilight in late spring.

Venus will reach aphelion, her farthest distance from the Sun, February 20 when she will be 67,693,000 miles from the Sun.

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

Mars, magnitude +0.5, in Aries, shines pale yellow-orange high in the southwest after dark. He sets in the west-northwest around 1 AM. In telescopes Mars is still an 89% sunlit gibbous globe,

Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude 9.3, is in Aquarius.

Jupiter magnitude is out of sight behind the glare of the Sun.

Saturn also is out of sight behind the glare of the Sun.

Saturn will pass behind the sun or be at “Conjunction” on February 4, and will emerge very low in the east-southeast morning twilight in mid-February in Capricorn at magnitude +0.7.

Uranus, magnitude 5.8, is in Aries. In binoculars Uranus is a little pinpoint “star” and in small telescopes with sharp optics, high power a spell of good seeing, a tiny, fuzzy ball.

Neptune, magnitude 7.9, in Aquarius, is sinking out of sight into the west-southwestern twilight.

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

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

Dwarf Planet 136472 Makemake with his moon faintly shines at magnitude 17.3 in Coma Berenices.

Dwarf Planet 136199 Eris and her moon Dysnomia is barely visible in the most powerful telescopes at magnitude 18.8 in Cetus the Sea Monster

4331 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of January 11, per NASA’s Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

The Moon will be at Perigee or her closest approach to Earth on February 3, when she will be 229,986 miles from Earth.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur February 4.

During the Quarter Moons the Moon is only 10% as bright as a Full Moon.

New Moon occurs February 11 at 1:08 PM CST or 19:08 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.

As the Moon becomes a thin crescent in the predawn sky approaching her disappearance at New Moon and then reappears in the evening sky as a thin crescent, you may see the darkened portion of the Moon being faintly illuminated.

This phenomenon sometimes called the “Ashen Glow”, “The Old Moon in the New Moon’s arms” or the “Da Vinci glow”.

The actual name is “Earthshine” and it is caused by the light of the Earth being reflected off of the Earth’s clouds and surface reaching the Moon..

Since the light that generates Earthshine is reflected twice, being Sunlight reflected once off the Earth’s surface and then off the Moon’s surface, this light is much dimmer than the lit portion of the Moon.

Only when the Moon is a thin crescent does its sunless portion receive the brilliance of a virtual full Earth. This is partly because there’s less of the bright, sunlit surface to compete with the dimmer Earthshine-lit portion, and partly because the phases of Earth and the Moon are complimentary: when the Moon is a slim crescent in our sky, the Earth seen from the Moon looks nearly full and much brighter.

Though the Moon seems so bright, the Moon only reflects about 12% of the sunlight that reaches its surface. The Earth on the other hand, reflects about 30% of all the sunlight that hits its surface. Because of this, and the fact that the Earth is four times larger in the Lunar sky, the Earth, when seen from the Moon would look about a 100 times brighter than a full Moon does seen from the Earth.

Another interesting note is that the portion of the crescent Moon that is illuminated by Earthshine appears to be part of a smaller orb than the sunlit crescent. This is a mirage caused by our eyes’ response to the differing light levels. It vanishes when you view the crescent through binoculars.

The best time of the year to experience this phenomenon is in late winter and early spring.

This phenomenon also occurs with the outer planets and their moons. In this case it is called Planetshine”.

The Moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on February 18, when she will be 251,324 miles from Earth.
First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur February 19.

Full Moon will occur February 27 at 2:19 AM CST or 8:19 UTC. The Moon will be located on the opposite side of the Earth as the Sun and its face will be will be fully illuminated. February’s Full Moon is “Full Snow Moon” in Native American folklore, since the heaviest snows usually fall at this time of year. Since the harsh weather made hunting difficult, some tribes called it “Full Hunger Moon”.

The February sky is alit with bright stars. Orion the Hunter is overhead, along with his faithful hunting dogs, Canis Major & Canis Minor, the Large & Lesser Dogs. In Canis Major is the blue star Sirius, The Dog Star, which 8.6 light years away, is the brightest star in the night sky.

February and March are the best times of the year for seeing the Zodiacal Light. In the evening away from city lights and after twilight has faded you might see a faint, roughly triangular, whitish glow near the sunset point. This is Zodiacal Light, which is formed by the sunlight reflecting off millions of minute particles of cosmic dust aligned with the Earth’s orbital plane.

A kindred, but much fainter glow is the “Counterglow” or “Gegenschein”. This is a glow in the night sky directly opposite the Sun caused by sunlight being reflected by dust and particles in the disk shaped interplanetary dust cloud which lies along the plane of the Solar System. These particles are the debris from comet and asteroid collisions.

To see the Gegenschein you must look around midnight in very dark, non-light polluted skies. In February it is located near base of the head of Leo The Lion.

You will probably have to use “averted vision”, a trick astronomers use to see faint objects.

Averted vision is a technique for viewing faint objects which uses your peripheral vision instead of looking directly at the object.

This technique compensates for fact that the retina of the human eye has virtually no rods, the cells which detect dim light in black and white near the focal point of the eye, but, has mostly cone cells, which serve as bright light and color detectors and are not as useful during the night.
This situation results in a decrease in visual sensitivity in central field of vision at night.

But by looking as an object a little off to the nasal side of the field of view, which avoids the possibility that the object will be imaged on the blind spot, which everyone has at approximately 15 degrees on the cheek side of the field of vison, you can use the most light sensitive part of the eye, which is around 20 degrees off the center of vision.

For right-eyed observers it is best to shift to the right, and for left-eye observers it is best to shift to the left.

I have used this technique for many years and though it can be frustrating not being able to look directly at an object, as they tend to disappear from view when you look directly at them, it does work, and the object appears brighter. This is especially useful for observing diffuse objects such as galaxies, comets and nebulae.
You should give your eyes time to adapt to the dark. It can take typically 7 minutes for your eyes to become used to darkness and up to 30 minutes to become totally adjusted to the dark conditions of observing.

Care should be taken not to ruin this dark adaptation by being exposed to bright lights, such as headlights from passing cars, flashlights or moonlight. Lights with red filters will not harm the eyes sensitivity.

Relaxing your eyes also helps. By straining at objects or squinting eyes we place stress on them which makes it harder for the eye to refocus on objects. By relaxing our eyes when we look through a telescope or by using an eye patch we can improve our vision.

An eyepatch also helps preserve dark adapted eyesight. There is a theory that the reason so many pirates are depicted as wearing eyepatches isn’t that they typically had the worst of luck in combat with all of them losing an eye, but rather they were preserving their “night eye” so that when they went below the deck, which was very poorly lit, they could still see.

Very few people have actually seen the Gegenschein, for finding a dark enough sky can be a challenge. The least light polluted skies in Alabama are in a crescent shaped area of west Alabama from west of Tuscaloosa to near the Mississippi border and north and south of that line. An especially good area is southwest Alabama from south of Tuscaloosa to north of Mobile. Another area is southeast of Montgomery towards Eufaula.

Light Pollution Map – DarkSiteFinder.com

For the Gegenschein’s position for other months see:

https://earthsky.org/upl/2020/03/Screen-Shot-2020-03-02-at-11.19.39-AM-e1583166166450.png

Another sight to look for which is much more common is the Earth Shadow. At sunset, on very clear days, as the sun goes farther below the horizon, you will see what appears to be a layer of gray cloud rising along the eastern horizon. This is actually the silhouette of the earth’s shadow being cast against darkening sky, sometimes with a pinkish glow along the edge. It fades as twilight fades into darkness.

The pink fringe, which is technically called an “anti-twilight arch” was called in Victorian times “The Belt of Venus” or “Venus’s Girdle” and the shadow itself being “the dark segment”.

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This month’s meeting will be on February 9 at 7PM.

The meeting will be done remotely as was last month’s meeting. Details and instructions will be issued as the time nears.

I hope to see you there!

Mark Wells
WD4NYL & WRJE893
Editor
ALERT Newsletter
Wd4nyl@bellsouth.net