ALERT NEWSLETTER – August 2022

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 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.

Until then hug an air conditioner and remember to stay hydrated.

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

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

I must admit, I let it slip my mind and was reminded in a dream, of all things. Taking it as a Divine reminder, I will be coughing some dough.

Our next ALERT meeting will be on August 9.

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Television In The 21st Century

When I was a child, back in the Lincoln administration, or perhaps the 1960s, there were three TV stations in Birmingham. WAPI, formerly WABT and formerly WAFM and now WVTM Channel 13, which signed on May 29, 1949, which operated as the primary CBS and secondary NBC affiliate. WBRC, at that time the ABC affiliate, debuted July 1, 1949, on Channel 4 from 1949 – 1953 and then on Channel 6 and WBIQ, Alabama Public Television, which went on the air on April 28, 1955.

For a time, most TV sets only carried VHF TV Channels 2 through 13. Channels 2 – 4, which stretches from 54 – 72 MHz, Channels 5 – 6, at 76 – 88 MHz and Channels 7 – 13, which are located at 174 – 216 MHz. Channel 1, which was moved around as TV was experimented with was finally located at 44 – 50 MHz and removed from use in 1948. It took the passage of the All Channel Receiver Act or 1962 to force manufacturers to include a UHF tuner.

The UHF band originally stretched from Channel 14 to Channel 83, from 470 – 890 MHz. In 1983 the FCC reassigned Channels 70 – 83 to the Land Mobile Service. In 2009 Channels 52 to 69 were reassigned to the 700 MHz Cellular Phone service. Channel 51 was removed in 2011 to prevent interference from cell phones. Channels 38 – 50 were reassigned to the cell phone service in 2019, and Channel 37, 608 – 614 MHz, was removed and reserved for radio astronomy.

So, the current North American TV frequencies are Channels 2 – 35.

Here are a few items you might find interesting:

Did you know that old analog TV’s supposedly can detect tornadoes?

It is said that tornados create an electrical disturbance in the 55 MHz range, close to TV channel 2.

Newton Weller, an electronics technician, supposedly devised the following method for using your old analog TV set as a tornado warning device.

Tune to channel 13 and turn the brightness control down to the point where the image is nearly, but not completely black. Then turn to channel 2. Lightning will register as horizontal streaks on the screen. When the picture becomes bright enough to be seen, or when the screen glows with an even light, supposedly there is a tornado within 20 miles, and it is time to find to for the basement.

Did you know than in Europe, there is an amateur radio band, the 4 meter band? This band lies roughly from 70 – 70.5 MHz, depending on the country, which is inside our TV channel 5.

This is not an “official” ITU recognized band, and most equipment is either home brew or modified commercial radios.

The gap between Channels 4 & 5, 72 – 76 MHz is utilized for linking, paging, and radio controlled boats and aircraft, with a radio astronomy window located at 73.000 – 75.460 MHz.

In the early days of cellphones, during the 1G-Analog cellular days, before the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 made it illegal to do, if you tuned carefully in the upper UHF TV channels you could eaves drop on cellphone calls. Most of the traffic was mundane “pick up a loaf of bread” type conversations, some tended to be pornographic and a significant percentage of calls you heard were clearly drug related.

Everything is now digital and encrypted, so drug dealers can feel safe, and by law scanners and broadband receivers have the cellular frequencies, 824 – 849 & 869 – 894 MHz blocked.

Now, you may wonder if the current TV channel allocations are channels 2 to 36, how do you explain that WBMG is still on Channel 42 and WABM is still on channel 68?

It’s simple – they aren’t.

The channel numbers in the digital ATSC (Advanced Television Systems Committee) do not correspond to RF frequency ranges, as they did with NTSC (National Television System Committee) analog television.

In the process of converting from analog to digital transmissions the FCC “repacked” all the TV stations into the 35 remaining channels to make more frequencies available for cellular and land mobile use.

Some stations went up the dial, some stations went down and some stations went round and round until they could find an interference free channel somewhere on the TV dial.

When you see “channel 68” that is just a label or “virtual channel”.

“Virtual channel” labels are sent as part of the metadata along with the programs, to allow channel numbers to be remapped from their physical RF channel to any other number 1 to 99. This helps avoid confusion when a station which has been called channel 13 forever and a day is suddenly channel 7. Where did my channel 13 go?

So, since WBRC is known as Channel 6, HDTVs identify it as “virtual channel” 6, even though it is actually transmitting on digital channel 29. Likewise, WVTM “channel 13” is on digital channel 7, WAIT “channel 42” is on digital channel 30, WBMA “ABC33/40” is on digital channel 32 & WABM “channel 68” is on digital channel 20. WBIQ “channel 10” and WTTO “channel 21” actually are on digital channels 10 and 21.

This may be totally confusing, but, as long as the HDTV tuner understand it, I guess it is all ok.

Another interesting feature is that over the air digital TV signals are “multiplex” signals capable of carrying multiple channels of information on a single stream, and it is common for there to be a single high-definition signal and several standard-definition signals carried on a single 6 MHz channel allocation. So, you have, for example with WBRC, channels 6.1, which is crystal clear high definition, and standard definition channels on 6.2, 6,3, 6,2 and so on.

All of this leads to the following listing, which is what you may be able to receive as a backup or alternative for cable or satellite TV, should these fail you or prove not to be worth the expense. Many have “cut the cable” and switched to over the air reception, since there are so many FREE viewing options available.

Using a $10 “rabbit ear” antenna, a HDTV converter box and an analog TV, and the same type antenna on an true HDTV, I can receive 66 channels. A friend of mine in Vance Alabama using an outdoor antenna picks up 92 channels. Another friend who is heavily into RVing took a defunct Dish antenna, replaced the LNA or “low noise amplifier” which is at the dishes “focal point” with rabbit ears and just points the antenna to a nearby city and gets crystal clear reception in the middle of nowhere.

No special ”HDTV antenna, with specially patented High Definition enhancing paint” is needed.
Just as the same antenna you use on HF for phone works with CW and digital modes also, so it is true with TV antennas. RF is RF and rabbit ears, or your old TV antenna will work just fine. Retailers that tell you different are the same ones that will advertise “tactical” toothpicks and handheld “no license to use ham radio in emergency” radios with 5000 mile range.

It sort of reminds me of the 1970’s when they came out with the “Channel Master CB Power Wing Electronic Mobile Antenna.” It’s selling point was that it picked less noise than other antennas. And they were telling the truth. It picked up less noise, less signal, less anything. Dummy loads tend to do that

 

 

The following is what I can pick up with minimal equipment and even less effort. I know if I put a halfway decent outside antenna, I will pick up more stations. And, at some point I may make that effort. But this gives a decent idea of what is out there.

Channel Description

6.1 WBRC – HD -Birmingham – FOX6
6.2 Bounce TV
6.3 Circle TV
6.4 LAFF TV
6.5 Grit
6.6 Quest
10.1 WBIQ – HD -Birmingham – Alabama Public Television
10.2 PBS Kids
10.3 Create
10.4 World
13.1 WVTM – HD – Birmingham – National Broadcasting Company
13.2 MeTV
13.3 Story
13.4 The Grio
13.5 GET TV
21.1 WTTO – HD – Birmingham – The CW
21.2 Antenna TV
21.3 Comet TV
21.4 TBD or “TBD TV”
22.1 WSWH – LD – Tuscaloosa – Heartland
22.2 Retro TV
22.3 REV’N
22.4 The Action Channel
22.5 The Family Channel
22.6 Revival
22.7 HSN
23.1 WVUA – CD – Tuscaloosa
23.2 This-TV
23.3 Local Now
23.4 WVUA Radarscope
24.1 WBXA – CD – Birmingham – Biz TV
24.2 Sonlife
24.3 Infomercials
24.4 Color bars aka “test pattern”
24.5 Circle TV
28.1 WBUN – HD – Birmingham – Daystar
28.2 WBUN Española
35.1 W18ET-D – Birmingham – HSN
35.2 QVC
35.3 HSN-2
35.4 QVC-2
35.5 QVC-3
35.6 Dabl
35.7 ITK
42.1 WIAT – HD – Birmingham – Columbia Broadcasting System
42.2 ION Mystery
42.3 True Crime Network
42.4 TruReal
46.1 WUOA – LD – Tuscaloosa
46.2 BUZZR
46.3 BeIN Sports Xtra
46.4 GET TV
46.5 Novelisma
46.6 Shop LC
46.7 Classic Reruns
47.1 W16DS-D – Birmingham – WAY TV – Glen Iris Baptist Church
47.2 WGIB 91.9 FM Simulcast with nature scenes
60.1 WTJP-TV – Gadsden – Trinity Broadcasting Network
60.2 TBN Inspire
60.3 Smile
60.4 Enlace
60.5 Positiv
68.1 WABM – Birmingham – My68
68.2 WBMA-LD – Birmingham – simulcast ABC33/40 American Broadcasting Company
68.3 James Spann 24/7 Weather
68.4 Dabl

This article, along with the articles in the April and July Newsletters, covering the AM and FM Broadcast bands, were intended to remind you of the options available to you should your primary sources of news information be disrupted, either due to a disaster or a squirrel using your cable provider’s wiring as a latrine.

I will mention that there are those who say, “I’ll get a scanner or a ham radio so I will know what’s REALLY happening”, since there is among some, a distrust of the news media in general. I will say that when it comes to coverage of a disaster or emergency, I trust what our local news media are reporting.

The danger of using scanner reports or ham radio reports as a source of information is that the traffic you hear is unverified and sometimes completely bogus.

Currently you cannot listen to the Birmingham or Homewood Police departments on any scanner due to them being using digital and fully encrypted transmissions. Not that long ago you could listen in, and a couple of calls will illustrate what I am talking about.

“157”
“157”
“were getting a report that a UFO has landed in in the middle of Eastlake”
“Uh, ok….I’ll…check it out.”

“214”
“214”
“we’ve had a call from a lady on 19th Street and 3rd Avenue North stating that the killers are in the Loveman’s Building killing people again.”

Both calls, of course proved false, but in today’s society it would have been all over social media that Birmingham had a UFO landing or that there has been a mass killing and that “the government is trying to keep it quiet to avoid panic.”

With ham radio you might get a report from an overexcited fellow or in some cases someone showboating for friends that he sees “a tornado on the ground and has lots of leaf debris”. The report is passed to the NWS and they quickly look at the radar to see if there is even a storm in the area. The report may be true, or the guy may be seeing the smoke plume from a brick refractory and has a neighbor with a leaf blower. Or it could be someone who has seen Twister one time too many. Or they could simply be nuts.

This is why the NWS does not want scanner reports and depends largely on experience ham Net Control Stations to filter reports so that actual usable information is passed on.

They are cautious what they listen to and and pass on, as we should be also.

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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 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 2020 there have been 402 Tropical Storms and 252 Hurricanes, 82 of which made landfall in the United States, the most notable storms being Hurricanes Camille, Katrina and Ida in 1969, 2005 and 2021, 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, The Crab.

Mercury, magnitude -1.1 is in Cancer The Crab.

Mercury recently passed behind the Sun at Superior Conjunction. He is emerging into the evening sky very low in the glow of sunset.

He will reach his furthest point from the Sun, or Aphelion, on August 23.

On August 27 Mercury reaches his highest point above the horizon in the evening sky or “Greatest Eastern Elongation” of 27.3 degrees from the Sun. 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 Gemini, The Twins, rises just as dawn begins and reaches an altitude of 17° above the eastern horizon before fading from view as dawn breaks.

She is closing in on the Sun.

Earth, magnitude -4.0, and her moon, sometimes called “Luna”, “Selene” or “Cynthia”, but to most, just the plain old “Moon”, as viewed from the Sun, is in the constellation Capricornus.

Mars, magnitude 0.3, with his moons Phobos and Deimos are in Aries, The Ram, rises around midnight or 1 AM and shines high in the east-southeast as dawn begins.

Phobos and Deimos bear more resemblance to asteroids than to Earth’s moon. Both are tiny. The larger, Phobos, is only 14 miles across, while the smaller, Deimos, is only 8 miles, making them some of the smallest moons in the solar system.

From the surface of Mars, they don’t look like moons, using our Moon as a standard.

The more distant moon, Deimos, appears more like a star in the night sky. When it is full and shining at its brightest, it resembles Venus as seen on Earth.

Phobos has the closest orbit to its host planet of any moon in the solar system, but still only appears a third as wide as Earth’s full moon.

Orbiting at only 3,700 miles above the surface, it travels around the planet three times a day, zipping across the Martian sky approximately once every four hours from west to east.

Deimos orbits much farther away at 12,470 and takes about 30 hours, a little over a Martian day, to travel around the Red Planet.

A Martian day is 24 hours, 37 minutes and 22 Earth or if you are into sci-fi, Terran seconds.

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Dwarf Planet Ceres, magnitude 8.4, is in Cancer The Crab.

Jupiter, magnitude –2.6, and his 79 moons and (invisible from Earth) ring, in Cetus, rises in the east around 10 or 11 PM and reaches his highest point in the sky above the southern horizon around 5 AM.

The four largest moons of Jupiter, Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto are easily visible in small telescopes and change their positions nightly as they waltz around the giant planet.

Io, with 400 active volcanos, is the most geologically active object in the solar system. So much so that it is not heavily cratered, as it is constantly resurfacing itself with a frosty coating of sulfur and sulfur dioxide. Io is truly a world of fire and brimstone.

Europa is slightly smaller than the Earth’s moon, is Ice water covered and has a thin oxygen atmosphere. Some believe a water ocean lies beneath the icy surface.

Planet sized Ganymede is the largest moon and ninth largest object in the solar system, larger than Mercury, yet has no atmosphere. It is a 50/50 world – 50 percent silicate rock and 50 percent water.

Heavily cratered Callisto is the third largest moon in the solar system. She shares a characteristic with the Earth’s moon in that they are both “tidally locked” with their rotations being the same duration as its orbit, so only one side ever faces the planet.

Some assume our moon does not rotate, but She does. She takes exactly one month to do it.

Saturn, magnitude 0.4, and his 82 moons and extensive debris ring system, is in Capricornus, is very low in the east-southeast in late twilight, higher in the southeast in late evening, and at its highest and best in the south around 1 AM. Saturn’s rings appear roughly as wide, end to end, as Jupiter’s disk.

The ringed planet will be at its closest approach to Earth, or Opposition on August 14 and his 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.

Saturn’s largest moon, Titan is easily seen in backyard telescopes.

Titan is the only moon with a dense atmosphere, which is 97% nitrogen. Titan is the only object besides the Earth with surface liquid, having lakes and tributaries of liquid ethane and methane.

Titan is the only other moon to have been landed on, The European Space Agency’s Huygens probe touched down on Titan on January 14, 2005 and returned pictures revealing a surface strewn with rocks and globules probably made of water ice.

Uranus, magnitude 5.8, and his 27 moons and ring, in Aries, is emerging from behind the Sun high in the east-southeast before dawn begins.

Uranus’s five major moons, Miranda, Ariel, Umbriel, Titania, and Oberon are heavily cratered and comprised of approximately equal amounts rock and ice, except Miranda, which is made primarily of ice.

Neptune, magnitude 7.7, and his 14 moons and ring in Pisces, is high in the south before the first light of dawn,

Neptune’s largest moon, Triton is unique among moons of planet sized mass in that its orbit is retrograde or backwards to Neptune’s rotation and inclined to Neptune’s equator, leading to the theory that he was gravitationally captured by Neptune.

He has a substantial atmosphere, primarily nitrogen and his surface is covered by nitrogen, methane, carbon dioxide and water ices.

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.

First Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Western side illuminated, will occur August 5 at 6:07 AM CDT or 11:07 UTC.

The moon will be at Perigee or its closest approach to Earth on August 10, when she will be 223,588 miles from Earth.

August’s Full Moon will occur August 12 at 01:26 UTC or 8:26 PM CDT, August 11. 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.

This is the last of three Supermoons for 2022. The Moon will be near its closest approach to the Earth and may look slightly larger and brighter than usual.

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

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.

Unfortunately, the nearly full moon this year will block out all but the brightest meteors. But the Perseids are so bright and numerous that it could still be a decent show. Best viewing will be from a dark location after midnight. Meteors will radiate from the constellation Perseus, but can appear anywhere in the sky.

Last Quarter Moon, or when the moon has only the Eastern side illuminated, will occur August 18 at 11:36 PM CDT or 04:36 UTC.

The moon will be at Apogee or its farthest distance from Earth on August 22, when she will be 251,916 miles from Earth.

New Moon will occur at 3:17 AM CDT or 08:17 UTC on August 27. 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 solar system is currently moving through a cloud of interstellar gas called the Local Interstellar Cloud or “Local Fluff”, about 30 light years across, on the edge of the Milky Way galaxy, and has been for about 10,000 years.

The sun’s motion through the cloud creates an apparent wind of interstellar particles that slams into the heliosphere, a giant magnetic bubble blown by charged particles streaming from the sun.

This bubble shields Earth from much of the interstellar wind, so the wind has little effect here on the ground.

Most of the wind’s particles are charged and so are deflected around the heliosphere by the sun’s magnetic field. But some heavier, neutral atoms, mostly helium, make it inside. These helium atoms scatter off the charged particles coming from the sun and create a diffuse glow in extreme ultraviolet wavelengths that is visible across the entire sky.

We should clear this cloud in no more 1,900 years and then enter another cloud, the “G Cloud” which the Alpha Centauri and Altair star systems are currently passing through.

5063 planets beyond our solar system have now been confirmed as of July 18, per NASA’s
Exoplanet Archive http://exoplanetarchive.ipac.caltech.edu/

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This month’s meeting will be on August 9 at 7PM at the NWS Forecast Office in Calera.

Hope to see you there!

Mark / WD4NYL
Editor
ALERT Newsletter