The Canadian CAScade, Smallsat and Ionospheric Polar Explorer (CASSIOPE) spacecraft once again eavesdropped in on the 2018 ARRL Field Day. Onboard CASSIOPE is the Enhanced Polar Outflow Probe (e-POP), a suite of eight science instruments studying spaceweather. The Radio Receiver Instrument (RRI), one of e-POP’s eight instruments, was tuned to 7.005 MHz (40 m), during 6 passes over the North American continent during the Field Day activities. “We’re really happy with our results this year” remarked Dr.
The question, “Will anybody participate in the Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP)?” Was answered loud and clear on eclipse day, August 21st. The HF bands were busy from the first minute of the SEQP at 1400 UTC to the closing bell at 2200 UTC. Logs were received from 566 stations. Some operated on all bands, others concentrated on one or two. In total, the SEQP generated over 618,000 RBN spots, 630,000 WSPRNet spots, 1.2 million PSKReporter spots, and 29,000 logged QSOs. The Sun may have taken a lunar nap but the bands were full of life!
HamSCI will again be at the Dayton Hamvention, this year as part of the new Ham Radio 2.0: Innovation and Discovery area sponsored by the Yasme Foundation. Come visit the HamSCI Booth and Forum to learn about projects on the cutting of ham radio science and engineering research, including initial science results of the Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP), the status of the Arecibo Observatory, the latest in understanding the causes of 6 meter sporadic E propagation, and how an inexpensive software defined radar for ionospheric studies works. Hamvention will be held May 18-20, 2018 at the Greene County Fairgrounds in Xenia, Ohio.
Microwave Update (MUD) is an international conference dedicated to microwave equipment design, construction, and operation. It is focused on, but not limited to, amateur radio on the microwave bands. The Midwest VHF/UHF Society is pleased to host this year's event. The conference will be held at the Holiday Inn, 2800 Presidential Drive, Fairborn, Ohio 45324 from October 11 - 14, 2018.
The 2018 HamSCI Workshop held at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) February 23-24, 2018 brought together hams and space scientists from across the United States, Canada, and Great Britain. With over 60 people in attendance, presentations included results from the 2017 Great American Eclipse, ideas for a personal space weather station, and other amateur radio-space science experiments and projects.
Registration for the 2018 HamSCI Workshop is now open! The workshop will be held February 23-24, 2018 at the New Jersey Institute of Technology in Newark, NJ and seeks to bring together the amateur radio community and professional scientists. Anyone interested in this workshop is invited to join. This year, the workshop will focus on results of the 2017 Great American Eclipse ham radio ionospheric experiments (including SEQP results) and the development of a Personal Space Weather station.
Using 6-meter QSO spot data from www.dxmaps.com, HamSCI member Joe Dzekevich, K1YOW, has found correlations of 6-meter sporadic E and Upper-Level Low pressure systems. His findings are now published in the December 2012 QST (reprinted with permission from the ARRL).
In his article, amateur radio is used to explore possible correlations between weather storm systems and sporadic E clouds to see if they are collocated. While some of the main causes of sporadic E propagation are wind shear, meteor strikes and upper atmospheric tides (ultimately coming from solar EUV energy inputs), radio operators have noticed that sporadic E propagation is also changed significantly by hurricanes and storms. Specific cases where K1YOW used amateur radio to investigate the effects of low pressure weather storms on the formation and/or enhancement of 6 meter sporadic E clouds are presented. DX Maps and earth wide weather model charts combined with operations on 6 meters are used to examine possible correlations between the location of the sporadic E clouds and the low pressure weather storm systems. Initial findings show a high degree of correlation when magnetic field strength is taken into consideration.
The Yasme Foundation announced this past week that Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF and Magda Moses, KM4EGE are winners of the 2017 Excellence Award for their role in starting HamSCI and organizing and promoting the Solar Eclipse QSO Party. From Yasme's Website, "The Yasme Excellence Awards are presented to individuals who through their own service, creativity, effort and dedication have made a significant contribution to amateur radio. The contribution may be in recognition of technical, operating or organizational achievement as all three are necessary for amateur radio to grow and prosper. These awards shall be given from time to time as the board feels appropriate."
