RamSat
Deployed from ISS on June 14:
RamSat, the CubeSat project developed
by the Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge, TN, was
successfully deployed from the International Space Station
on Monday June 14th. Post deployment activation occurred,
and we have been receiving telemetry transmissions
indicating nominal conditions. In the next week we expect to
receive our first set of Keplerian elements, allowing
accurate tracking by ground stations across the world.
We have an excellent blog detailing
the efforts, including the fantastic videos of the actual
deployment. Check it out at:
https://sites.google.com/view/ramsat/home
Additionally, we are working to create
an online dashboard to view current and historical telemetry
with visual trending. Stay tuned for additional details.
de N1ESK
May
2021 Meeting: "All About POTA"
Our in-person general club meeting for
May was conducted in the open pavilion at the Toqua Golf
Club in Tellico Village. The meeting's feature
presentation, delivered by Sam Howard KV4XY and Robert
Howard WW4WTF, overviewed their Parks On The Air (POTA)
operating experience out in the fields, mountains and trees
of East TN. More photojournalism coming soon, but for now
click the photo below for a shot of the larger group in
attendance!
Museum Ships Weekend Event:
More than 80 ships were on the air
over June 5-6 weekend, each with separate callsign! See
this link below (click image) and see the K4MFJ message
below it.
Starting Friday at 6pm, it's Museum
Ships Weekend! All you Ham Radio operators tune in for this
48 hour continuous broadcast from the historic naval fleet.
This year, 75 ships have signed up to participate in the
program. The Deep South Amateur Radio Club will be
broadcasting out of the USS ALABAMA's Radio Central, using
the ships original antenna. Call letters are: K4DSR. The USS
DRUM will be activated too. Call letters are: K5LDA. Radios
operating between 20 and 40 mm frequency. Museum Ships
Weekend broadcast will go through Sunday afternoon at 5:00
p.m. Tune in!
~k4mjf
SpaceX launches Robertsville Middle School students'
satellite to ISS
David N1ESK
reported live from Cape Canaveral yesterday with the team of
Oak Ridge middle school students.
After five years of work, Robertsville Middle
School students got to see their satellite blast off into
space.
RamSat, a nanosatellite designed and built by
students, successfully launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9
rocket on Thursday. 50 middle schoolers who worked on
RamSat traveled to Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday to
watch the launch.
N1ESK:
“Successful launch Busy day. The kids were interviewed via
remote by WBIR Knoxville, then food, then walk to the beach.
Rain and wind had us concerned, but it cleared and launch
went well. Lots of pics. Kids are all smiles.”
When does the
team’s CubeSat go live with telemetry?
“Hopefully
soon. We need to wait until we have visibility, but the
system is configured to activate 30 minutes after deployment
and immediately start relaying telemetry.”
Congratulations
to active TLARC member N1ESK and the student team that he
and other teachers has been mentoring for more than a year!
See
details of this huge adventure in the
WBIR coverage
See also
NASA coverage of SpaceX CRS-22.
Space
Weather for a Modern World
Take a look at this interesting video
in which Tabatha Skov (she's a ham too) describes how the
Sun stirs up "space weather" that directly affects
communications here on Earth. I think you'll like this one,
as well as Tabatha's semi-regular Space Weather Updates that
we post here in the TLARC website for all to enjoy. Hope
you like this space weather backgrounder - I know I did!
~n2apb
The
Great Geomagnetic Storm of May 1921
A fascinating read
on the geomagnetic storm’s impacts 100 years ago and the
potential effects of a similar event today.
~ Chuck N4CSF
Retired
cryptologist traces former naval base’s history
Another
interesting part of radio history from the
perspective of an ex-Navy cryptologist's tour at The
Elephant Cage in northern Alaska. (See prior article
about this site further down on this page.)
Contributed by Jim Jenkins AA1J
The Basics of
Soldering
N2APB recently
produced a short video demonstrating the basics of
soldering, in concert with a professor from the EE
department at the University of Tennessee. It might be
interesting if you are new to homebrewing and kit building!
The Sounds of Ham Radio
This is way cool. It’s a 10-band audio
equalization filter, in which all modes of communication are
‘hidden’ in the audio stream – just dial up/down the
respective control to hear the data being transmitted.
Quite amazing. Read more on it on its web page – love it!
(Thanks to David KF4DKW for spotting this gem.)
Results of the TLARC
Fox Hunt
2021
Rain didn't
stop us this time and on April 24th TLARC's second Fox Hunt
was successfully conducted and the results are in! (See
lots more details and photos!)
So
... "WHAT THE HECK IS A FOX HUNT?!"
Check
out the great presentation done by our very own Fox
Hunt Wizard: Dave Andrews N1ESK
April 2021 TLARC Meeting
... in-person and a blast!
We had our first in-person general
club meeting last night at the Countryside Restaurant in
Vonore - over 25 members were in attendance ... almost half
the club! Good country-style food was served in the large
room in the back, interesting officer/committee reports were
delivered and discussed
A terrific "Fox
Hunt Overview" presentation was given by David
Andrews N1ESK, just in time for the TLARC
Fox Hunt being held this Saturday. View the N1ESK
presentation in its entirety, and see the full
photo report of the meeting
HERE.
Our newest ham: Robin
Monserrat, KO4PNC
Please welcome Robin Monserrat into
the wonderful world of amateur radio. Robin attended the
SMARC ZOOM study session for the Technician Class License
last month and took the test Saturday. She passed with all
35 correct exam responses and is just received her new
callsign from the FCC! Congratulations Robin, we are looking
forward to hearing you on the air SOON!
HF
Ionospheric Propagation
Het, instead of sitting
around at the end of the day and watching the boob
toob for an hour, why not watch something really
interesting to us hams: “HF Ionospheric Propagation”.
The presenter is the famous
Frank Donovan, W3LPL and I guarantee you'll learn
something about how the Sun affects the Earth's ionosphere
... and hence how we hams are able to communicate! Let us
know if you do watch this and what you think about it!
Juan AC6ZM
and Randy WK9M do it again!
The records are in for the 2020 160
Meter Contest and AC6ZM and WK9M took first
place for TN *and* took DIVISION HONORS for
the four states in our Delta Division. They operated out of
K0EJ (Mark) station in Soddy Daisy, TN and they traveled
home for daytime break and drove back to the shack for the
evening hours since 160 meters is primarily a night time
band. They missed a clean sweep, but logged 57 of 63
sections, working all 49 states (missed ND) and missed the
following VE-land sections LB, NF, NT, NU, and YT.)
Rig: TS-590S Kenwood
Amp: Alpha 78
Xmit Antennas: Inverted-L with 120 radials
RCV Antennas: Four 800 ft. beverage antennas
Logging: N1MM+
Way to go guys! TLARC contesting team
shines!
... by Brad KM4OJK
At one of our meetings, these
upcoming events were mentioned. Mark your calendars
now!
The
TLARC T-Shirts are here!
Contact Mike KK6OKU 
to pickup your order or to see if there are any leftovers
yet to purchase.
AC6ZM
and WK9M score big in 2020 RTTY Contest
The results are in and AC6ZM &
WK9M came in third place for this annual event, operating as
a 'Multi-2' station. They missed 1st place by 7 country
multipliers ... So close yet so far! Juan reports that they
were in the lead many times throughout the 48-hour contest.
The contest was hosted by WV4P (Ron)
and N4RL (Trina) in Savanah, TN. The team used a pair of
Flex 6600 SDR transceivers with phased verticals, two
tribanders for 20,15,10; dipoles for 40/80 and K9AY receive
antennas for the low bands. Linears were an AL1200 and Alpha
99. Way to go Juan and Randy!
TLARC
Meeting of Feb 17, 2021
"Here we sit, broken hearted, wanted to meet but
only ... ZOOMED!"
Good meeting this month - click on photo below for bigger
view. Chuck N4CSF voted in as club secretary and N2APB
presented on the Nostalgic-Yet-Still-Alive Joys of QSL
Cards - click on presentation below that as well.
God's Cozy Acres now on
the map!
... by David KF4DKW
The once-hidden operating
outpost at God's Cozy Acres is now on the map!
With some help from your club President, we placed a
permanent marker at the site.
Look for the blue and white reflective street numbers on a
post at the entrance to the driveway.
The address is:
2315 Big Sandy Road
Philadelphia, TN 37846
Google Maps doesn't route you to the correct address.
Program the information below in your GPS or cell phone
for future contests, picnics and get togethers:
35°41'21.9"N 84°31'12.1"W
https://goo.gl/maps/oChkVUfiSP3JAXgW8
East Tenn. middle school first in country
to send satellite into orbit with NASA
by David Andrews, N1ESK
For
some time now I’ve been involved with the STEM
program at Robertsville Middle School in Oak Ridge
and their efforts to construct a 2U CubeSat. The project
is about to complete a major milestone. On March 8th,
Dr. Peter Thornton and I will hand deliver the satellite,
known as RamSat, to our launch integrator contractor in
Houston. We will place the satellite into the PPOD
(Poly-Picosatellite Orbital Deployer) which will then be
integrated into a Cargo Dragon capsule atop a SpaceX
Falcon 9 rocket for delivery to the International Space
Station in May.
Further details here.
WVLT-TV produced a video segment recently on the
program. I’ve also included a link to the RamSat project
website. Start at the bottom of the page and work your way
up to work forward in time. Lots of detailed descriptions
and photos. We have an operational ground station at the
school, and a backup ground station for redundancy and
after-hours access.
Here's
a handy chart!
TLARC assist in annual Whitestone 30k road race
Loudon County ARES assisted Roane
County ARES for the fifth year with the Whitestone 30k road
race (18.6 miles) on Sunday, Feb 21 in Paint Rock (Roane
County). This joint public service event helps strengthen
our relationship with our neighboring agencies and helps to
practice our skills as communicators.
The communications volunteer duration was from about 07:00
to 13:00. The race began at 08:00 and ended around 12:00. A
pre-operational briefing was conducted at the old (vacant)
Paint Rock Grocery at the corner of Highway 72 and Paint
Rock Road. Each communications member was paired with a
Roane County or Loudon County ARES member.
We operated on a portable repeater. The backup was simplex,
which means you needed a mobile radio with a mobile antenna.
The event is also designed as an exercise to practice skills
such as relaying messages when other stations are out of
simplex or repeater range. A dual-band HT with an extended
range antenna will probably work just fine. Bring a backup
battery or radio.
The
Last Elephant Cage
A must-see
video from the NSA regarding some fascinating radio
history. And for those thinking Morse code is irrelevant!
Sit back and enjoy the video.
de N1ESK
The
Smoky Mountain Amateur Radio Club is offering an entry
level ham radio technician class. This course will be
offered online via Zoom. Licensing exams will be offered
following the last class. Each session will offer a review
of the previous class and then introduce a new topic.
For further info:
Flyer and the
Course Goals
Winter
Field Day & 160 Meter Contest at God's Cozy Acres
2 The contesting
sub-group of the TLARC club activated the club call KN4DUA
for this annual event on Jan 29-31, with good participation,
great food and lots of fun! Preliminary Scores
show really impressive year-to-year performance. Click below
for all the photos!
New
TLARC Officers for 2021
Welcome to the new board for
2021. Meet them more personally here:
President: Mike
Wagner KK6OKU
Vice President: Mike
Foley, K4MJF
Secretary: Chuck
Ferguson, N4CSF (interim)
Treasurer: George Sifnotis, WB9TFR
And meet them more personally
here
Raising
the new satellite antennas at N1ESK on Jan 16
Brush
Clearing at God's Cozy Acres by
Randy WK9M
Randy WK9M, Mike KK6OKU and David
KF4DKW doing a little cleanup work out at the club's "field
location" in late December for improved
Beverage antenna installation.
Programming
your FT3 to use the ISS Repeater by
K4MJF
Here
is a
YouTube video on how to program your radio to use
the repeater on the International Space Station. Many have
tried to do this with some success, and others have asked
how to do it. Maybe this video will help explain it. I
know that I'll program my FT3 and use my dual band
handheld beam to see if I can make contact..... how about
you?!?? Good luck and talk to you "on the air" soon!
73, Mike, K4MJF
Increased
Solar Activity Ahead! (click on
image)
Final
Club Net & Meeting of 2020 (Dec 16)
If you missed our final meetings on Dec 16,
they were quite fun! The weekly
TLARC radio net on the 442.100 repeater, expertly hosted by Sam
KV4XY, had some 15** check-ins and we each reached out to welcome the
newest club member:
Tim, KO4JLL. After the net meeting our
weekly Zoom session
main topic of discussion and hilarity was "Where
and how to use an ATU with an external power amplifier." Recommendations for use of the
Alpha-Delta coax switch were quite valuable.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all
TLARC members and their families!
Stay safe until we next meet you individually and/or at
the next TLARC radio net meeting on January 13.
** A new
feature of 2021 will be an ongoing list of the check-ins
for each net meeting!
Saturn-Jupiter
'Christmas Star' Conjuntion! (click
on image)
Jupiter and Saturn will form rare
"Christmas Star" on winter solstice
On December 21, Jupiter and Saturn will appear closer in
Earth’s night sky than they have since 1226 A.D. You can
watch the event live
here, courtesy of Lowell Observatory.
TLARC
gathered in cool November evening for monthly meeting!
Lots accomplished at this month's
in-person meeting at the Toqua Pavilion, including election
of next year's officers and discussion of annual dues,
disposition of the 442.100 repeater and the upcoming Holiday
Party. Details on all forthcoming!
October
Meeting Features An Auction!
So many good items auctioned off
for the benefit of TLARC during the October meeting! ...
NorCal 40 QRP CW transceiver, a Morse code key, a Sinclair
Scientific TMS 1000 microcomputer and printer, a magnified
'third hand' pcb vise for the homebrewer's bench, and a
Shortwave Regen Receiver (featured in QST circa 2000 and
built by a Boy Scout back then), and more. What can you
bring to the next meeting to auction off for the benefit
of TLARC?!
Juan AC6ZM has been presenting a
three part presentation on HF Contesting during the TLARC
weekly Zoom sessions.
Part 1 was on October 7. Part 2 was on
October 14. Part 3 on Nov 4th. These presentations
overview HF contesting for the licensed ham who wants to
explore one of the most fun aspects of ham radio - also
known as Radio Sport. (We'll soon have Part 3 available
for download.)
TLARC October Meeting
Recap
This month's meeting was
a hoot, held in-person beneath the (open) pavilion at the
Toqua Golf Club. We received the slate of officers for 2021
from the Nominating Committee. Voting to come in a
forthcoming meeting. Nominations so far include:
President: Mike Wagner KK6OKU
Vice President: Mike Foley, K4MJF
Secretary: Eric Ressler, KD8LHZ
Treasurer: George Sifnotis, WB9TFR
The Financial Review
Committee was also appointed, and a couple of impromptu
"special entertainers" took the floor: one to auction off
some cool, vintage and eclectic items (N2APB), and the other
gave a demonstration of numeric mental prowess (KM4TUY).
After these acts it's hard to imagine what will come next
month!
'TEAM TLARC" Scores
big in 160-Meter contest at God's Cozy Acres last weekend
Another TLARC member
gets on the HF bands for the first time ... KM4TUY !!
Congratulations to Ralph
Monserrat (KM4TUY) for his first ever HF contact!
At 23:13 local last night, Ralph logged his first contact
with KW4Z in Florence Alabama.
The Earth gets a new
'mini-moon' mid-November
Around mid-month in November,
Earth will have a new temporary moon. Designated Asteroid
2020 SO, the object is instead manmade. In 1966, the
failed Surveyor 2 moon mission was powered to the
moon by a Centaur upper rocket stage which was discarded
near the moon. The rocket body went into orbit around the
sun and after 54 years, is returning home.
Here is the link to Phys.org
article:
https://phys.org/news/2020-10-fake-asteroid-nasa-expert-ids.amp
Amateur astronomer Kevin Heider
said on Twitter that around the time of closest approach on
December 1, 2020, 2020 SO will only brighten to about
apparent magnitude 14.1, and would require a telescope with
roughly a 150mm (6?) objective lens to see visually.
(Thanks to TLARCer Space Cadet
Ben Edwards AD4BE for this heads-up reporting.)
TLARCers joined in on SMARC's October Foxhunt
SMARC conducted
their foxhunt on a sunny Saturday Oct 17th morning in
Everett Park, Maryville.
It was an "on-foot" hunt for two (2) small battery-operated
"Fox" transmitters hidden somewhere in the park. Click on
the photo to search for participants from TLARC, including
K4MJF and KK6OKU.
ISS SSTV Experiments by TLARC Members
Several
TLARC Space Cadets have been attempting to receive and
display the SSTV images from the International Space
Station, as transmitting during the SSTV this month. Images
are downlinked at 145.800 MHz using an FM HT coupled to an
Android app or the MMSSTV app on a computer. See
this good backgrounder. The latest image is shown
below, courtesy of KF4DKW. Great fun!
TLARC Meeting - A
September Evening @ Tugaloo Beach
What fun! An in-person meeting after some 7
months via Zoom! Awesome turnout. And we had a Unicorn
leading people in from the road. The 19th is the big Sevier
County Hamfest and the 26th is the Sweetwater Hamfest. We
had a non-ham visiting from Lenoir City.(Name?) Ralph,
KM4TUY was introduced. Nominating committee volunteers
stepped up. DJ Unicorn brought his equipment for music and
meeting audio.
On Solar Flares
-- CfA Scientists and Team Take a Look Inside the
Central Engine of a Solar Flare for the First Time.
Using
a Software Defined Radio (SDR) on the FM Broadcast Band to
Foretell 2-Meter Band Openings
(Click photo for larger view)
Solar Storm Forecast 08.10.2020
--
Three Bright Regions and a
Storm Generator
TLARC Officers at Work
The
Perseids are Here Again!
The
annual
Perseid Meteor Shower peaks from August 11 to 13.
The Perseids are considered the best meteor shower of the
year—thanks to meteors streaking across the sky every
couple minutes and pleasant summer temperatures. Find out
when to watch for the Perseids in 2020 and how to maximize
your chance of seeing a shooting star!
TLARC
Space Cadets News:
Starlink: SpaceX's satellite internet project
Starlink is the name of a satellite network that the private spaceflight company SpaceX is developing to provide low-cost internet to
remote locations. While SpaceX eventually hopes to have as
many as 12,000 satellites in this so-called
megaconstellation, the size and scale of the project have
flustered astronomers and amateur skywatchers, who fear
that the bright, orbiting objects will interfere with
observations of the universe.
TLARC
Online Meeting: July 15
Brief Summary from Secy' N1ESK ...
- K4MJF stated the Sevierville Hamfest is
scheduled for September 19; see
www.seviercountyars.com for updates.
- KV4XY reminds all to complete their 2020 FD logs before
the deadline in two weeks.
- KV4XY reported great participation in the 13 Colonies
event. Please send pictures of your 13 Colonies awards to
N2APB for the website.
- No responses yet to the club flyer mailing. Time will
tell if these efforts yield any fruit.
- KK6OKU seeking volunteers for NCS and logging duties for
the weekly TLARC Radio Net.
- Revisions to the current Constitution and By-Laws
discussed and questions answered. No objections heard. Vote
to approve the new documents will be held on August 15.
- Full minutes here.
Solar
Dynamics Observatory -- A Decade of Sun
June 2, 2010 -- June 1, 2020
Every second is a day in the video
below ...
As of June 2020, NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory
— SDO — has now been watching the Sun non-stop for over a
full decade. From its orbit in space around the Earth, SDO
has gathered 425 million high-resolution images of the Sun,
amassing 20 million gigabytes of data over the past 10
years. This information has enabled countless new
discoveries about the workings of our closest star and how
it influences the solar system. (More at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3QQQu7QLoM&feature=emb_rel_pause)
13
Colonies Special Event
On-air activity was like cannon blast!
TLARC participation included: KV4XY,
WW4WTF, AC6ZM, WK9M, KK6OKU, N2APB and a few more!
New
QRP Radio Makes Big Splash in Ham Market
MCARC Hamfest held
in Athens, TN on 7/18/2020
It was a hot one for about six
TLARC members who were able to make it down to Athens for
the annual MCARC Hamfest this year. Everyone was wearing
a mask and some were even wearing gloves. The usual hamfestalia
were hanging out, including some nice boat anchor
sightings, so I heard! Even had some unicorn sightings
...
Jumping Off The Grid
(Contributed
by TLARC Anonymous)
A lot of amateurs want
to go off grid.
The demand and desire to take
amateur radio off grid is absolutely there. The problem is
that information about off grid radio is sprinkled around.
It’s hard to find straight answers. Many radio and
survival blogs occasionally address the issue, but to my
knowledge, Off
Grid Ham
and OH8STN
are the only two outlets that deal with off grid radio
radio exclusively.
For readers who are not
off the grid, or seek to expand off grid capabilities,
I’ve put together this “off grid radio guide” for
beginners that will answer the most common questions in
one compact package. This is not a comprehensive guide;
we’re just going to summarize main points. At the end of
this article there will be links to additional information
on the topics covered
here.
// Lots of great resource links
are at the end of this article. Thanks to Anon for
submitting! - n2apb
Field Day 2020
is now in the history books. It was a great event for those
that operated. Many operated from their QTH and many opted
for portable operations somewhere in their own back yard,
mobile or nearby location. Social distancing has definitely
changed things but one thing that didn’t change is the great
participation during field day. I personally operated for
21 hours. I participated in a Distributed M/M with the
Tennessee Contest Group http://k4tcg.org/ and the
Deep Dixie Contest Club
http://www.john-mcvey.com/ddcc1/ in preparation for
the HF IARU Radio Championship
https://www.iaru.org/on-the-air/iaru-contests/rules/
July 11-12, 2020. We are representing the U.S. IARU HQ
Society and will be using the callsign W1AW/4.
...
Submitted by Juan Lopez, AC6ZM
Follow the SpaceX Program ...
KV4XY
wows SMARC with WSPR
Sam KV4XY presented
on the digital mode called WSPR to the Smoky
Mountain ARC gang April 27. Over 24 people in attendance on Zoom!
The
Great Geomagnetic Storm of May 1921...
Contributed by David Andrews, N1ESK
Ninety-nine years ago this week, people around the
world woke up to some unusual headlines. They didn’t know it
at the time, but those newspapers were covering the biggest
solar storm of the 20th Century. Nothing quite like it has
happened since. [Read
more about this fascinating event]
Held on June 14,
2020 @ Chota Wellness Center
The first ever TLARC Fox Hunt was
deemed a success, according to those in attendance on Sunday
morning, June 14th. Eleven licensed amateurs
participated in the event, assisted by the first and second
harmonics of Jacob KN4WAV and Kayla KO4DEG Lindsey. Two
foxes were laying in wait at the Tellico Village Wellness
Center. The group was split into two groups and set out for
two hours of frustration and learning. Most everyone found
the hidden transmitters, which were hiding in plain sight.
With the first effort completed,
participants have some data points to improve their
techniques and equipment for the second TLARC fox hunt.
Early planning has already begun. Now is the time to start
building your portable antennas, attenuators, and other
tools to find those foxes.
How
To Build a 20m Dipole
Spot the
Station ... N1ESK reels in the ISS on a clear
& cool April morning!
Dave N1ESK
says: "Your post [Mike] got my juices flowing. Sunday
morning was overcast, so scratch that attempt. Looking at
the prediction table and the weather forecast, Monday
morning had potential. Set the alarm for an obscene time,
pack everything up and head to a dark hill (back of the
wellness Center). Take a few test shots, make final
adjustments, then wait and freeze. Finally she appeared. 15
second exposure."
Way to go
ESK!
Spot the Station (Sign-up for email
notifications like this here.)
Long-Lost U.S. Military Satellite Found By Canadian
Amateur Radio Operator
(From
the
Daily Timewaster)
There are more than 2,000 active
satellites orbiting Earth. At the end of their useful
lives, many will simply burn up as they reenter the
atmosphere.
But some will continue circling as "zombie"
satellites — neither alive nor quite dead.
Scott Tilley,
an amateur radio operator living in Canada, has a
passion for hunting them down.
Recently, Tilley got interested in a
communications satellite he thought might still be alive —
or at least among the living dead. LES-5, built by the Massachusetts Institutehe found a
paper describing the radio frequency that LES-5, an
experimental military UHF communications satellite, should be operating on — if it was still alive.
So he decided to have a look.
"This required the building of an antenna,
erecting a new structure to support it. Pre-amps, filters,
stuff that takes time to gather and put all together," he
says.
British
Columbia, where Tilley lives, was on lockdown. Like many
of us, suddenly Tilley had time on his hands. He used it
to look for LES-5, and on March 24, he hit the ham radio
equivalent of pay dirt.
"The
reason this one is kind of intriguing is its telemetry
beacon is still operating," Tilley says.
In
other words, says Tilley, even though the satellite was
supposed to shut down in 1972, it's still going. As long
as the solar panels are in the sun, the satellite's
radio continues to operate. Tilley thinks it may even be
possible to send commands to the satellite.
The
MIT lab that built LES-5 still does a lot of work on
classified projects for the military. NPR contacted its
news office to ask if someone could say more about LES-5
and whether it really could still receive commands.
But
after repeated requests, Lincoln Laboratory finally
answered with a "no comment." It seems that even elderly satellites still might have a few secrets
they want to keep.
<
Thanks to Barry K8NWB for this contribution. >
Newest
Hams in the Maryville, Tellico Lake and Lenoir City
areas
The TLARC Volunteer Examiner (VE) had a successful
test session on Saturday April 25 at the Toqua Pavilion in
Tellico Village.
-
Our very own Greg Wilde
KO4CYX passed his General AND Extra exams in a
single session. Greg passed his Technician exam just two
weeks ago.
-
Jacob Lindsey KN4YAV
passed his General exam. Kayla Lindsey passed
the Tech exam and is now
KO4DEG. They are
members of Smoky
Mountain Amateur Radio Club in Maryville.
-
Stanley Swanson, W4SSF,
passed his General. Stanley lives in Lenoir City.
Here's the note we received today April 25, 2020
from the newest ham in TLARC - Greg KO4CYX:
"I had to share I passed my General and
Amateur Extra tests today. David, Alan, Brad, Joyce,
and Larry (sorry if Larry isn't the right name, I am
horrible with names) thank you all so so much. I am
looking forward to meeting everyone eventually and truly
start learning.
"If anyone is interested here are my study sources. I
used 4 sources for study and wanted to share in case you
have anyone that this might help. HAM College is
excellent if you or someone you know is struggling.
1. ARRL study guides --
Hand-delivered to my house by David Andrews, lol
2. Ham Radio Prep https://hamradioprep.com/ --
This is great to get into the course but not really
necessary if you do the HAM College. It is more about
teaching you to pass the test.
3. Ham College on youtube.com --They have
courses for Technician, General and Amateur Extra. I
did not know about them for my Technician.This is a
fantastic course. They don't just teach you to pass
the test. They have handouts, study tips, exact steps
to process formulas on a calculator, formula sheets,
sources for the many avenues with HAM, etc. The Extra
course expires at the end of June so if someone wants
to do it, START NOW. There are about 30 hours of
video just for the Extra ... https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI3DKjqB4OLY2UXm2KqDpwQ
4. Finally HamStudy.org for practice tests. They
have great apps for phones, tablets and a website. It
tracks every question and shows your weaknesses. When
you take a test you can immediately study the question
pool where you were week. Each question has a detailed
explanation you can open with hints. Invaluable in my
opinion. https://hamstudy.org/"
Congratulations
on all our new hams! Please join us in welcoming
these folks when you hear them on the repeater, see them on
Zoom, or actually meet face-to-face at a club meeting or
event.
Updated
Prediction of Solar Cycle 25
Early this month SWPC published their official updated
prediction of Solar Cycle 25 in a new user-interactive graph
format. Their updated prediction is based on the results of
NOAA's Solar Cycle 25 Prediction Panel.
ISES
Solar Cycle Sunspot Number Progression
See the fully-interactive
graphs
SWPC forecasts a solar maximum between 105 and 125 with the
peak occurring between November 2024 and March 2026. There
is broad consensus that Solar Minimum is ongoing this year
-- or may have already occurred -- and that Cycle 25 will
have no major change in the level of solar activity compared
to Cycle 24.
For many years SWPC's solar cycle predictions have used the
Royal Observatory of Belgium's International Sunspot Number.
SWPC's official solar cycle prediction now uses the SWPC
sunspot number. The International Sunspot Number is
typically about one third lower than the SWPC sunspot
number.
While this is SWPC's official Cycle 25 prediction, its
important to notethere is still divergence among various
forecasting methods and members of the space weather
forecasting community. Most forecasts and forecasters agree
that the Cycle
25 is likely to be within plus or minus 20 percent of
Cycle 24 and is likely to occur between 2024 and 2027.
< Thanks to Juan AA6ZM for contributing this news item
>
In
World War I, British Biplanes Had Wireless Phones in the
Cockpit.
Pilots
on reconnaissance missions could immediately call in
their findings.
As soon as the first humans went
up in hot air balloons in the late 1700s, military
strategists saw the tantalizing possibilities of aerial
reconnaissance. Imagine being able to spot enemy
movements and artillery from on high—even better if you
could instantly communicate those findings to colleagues
on the ground. But the technology of the day didn’t
offer an elegant way to do that.
[More
...]
Courtesy:
IEEE Spectrum
International Space Station (ISS)
sightings in Loudon County -- Interest
has peaked in viewing the daily ISS orbits, as reminded by
Mike KK6OKU by his occasional postings of times and
directions to observe. On the evening of April 5 an
number of TLARCers saw the Space Station streak across the
dark and near-cloudless skies on a NW-to-SE vector in less
than 6 seconds! David KF4DKW snapped this shot
below as its path was near a brilliant full moon and added
some data. Ben AD4BE collected some interesting
background on the ISS in his attached
PDF. Our next goal will be to QSO with the
astronauts on the ISS. One can easily determine when the
next pass is coming at Spot
The Station. Lots of additional ISS information can
be found by searching on "International Space Station".
My favorite go-to site is at N2YO.
(Click on the images below
for a larger view.)
New
ham in the village: Greg Wilde KO4CYX -- Yes,
it's true, our newest TLARC member GREG WILDE passed the
Technician license exam administered by our VE team on
Saturday April 4 and we officially have a new ham in the
world!
Sasquatch
Stomp 2020 -- Results to be reported soon for
this fun QRP CW event on the evening of April 3. Jim K0RGI,
George N2APB and Juan AC6ZM participated along with maybe
100 other QRPers around the country. [And George was
designated a 'Yeti', which gave a huge number of bonus
points to those contacting him!]
Mobile Operation: An Experiment
by Juan AC6ZM
-- Juan recently
tried operating "on the road" mobile on a trip driving from
TN to OH. He says "results were great and much better than
expected" ... Read all about it here
in his presentation documenting those results!
March Meeting Recap
-- We
tried something new this time by virtually conducting
our meeting on the club repeater by having members check in
at the normal meeting time. David N1ESK conducted some
normal TLARC business, and the mic was then given over to
Sam
Howard KV4XY
who expertly walked us through his
slide
deck
telling us all about WSPR (pronounced "whisper"), the
"Weak Signal Propagation Reporter". This digital
communications protocol was designed and first implemented
by Nobel laureate Joe Taylor, K1JT for weak-signal radio
communication between amateur radio operators and for
sending and receiving low-power transmissions to test
propagation paths on the MF and HF bands.
February Meeting Recap
-- If you
missed the February TLARC meeting, you missed a good one.
Goals for 2020 were presented, and a grant of $2500 was
received. Click to view the Meeting
Minutes and the presentation: TLARC
Vision 2020. You will see that we’re looking for
several volunteers to help with the efforts. Specifically,
we need a few people to step forward to assist with:
-
Creating a club flyer, to be
mailed to area hams who aren’t yet members of TLARC;
-
Designing a club logo for
T-shirts, hats, etc; and
-
Reviewing the current
Constitution and By-Laws for proposed updates and for
compliance with IRS rules.
If
interested, please contact me (David
N1ESK). Time moves fast, so we need to get started on
these projects ASAP.
Hooray to TLARC's CQ World-Wide
160-meter Contest Team! --
Randy KG9M reports that the TLARC "Team 160" (KF4DKW,
KK6OKU, KV4XY, KE4OTZ, KG9M) had record results this
year: Contacts 333, Score ~49,980. (Last year: ~23,688)
... Quite the improvement, and they had lots of fun doing
it at our club's remote site: God's Cozy Acres. Randy and
David did a few things at the end of the contest to make
setup easier next time. (The contest was held over the
weekend of Jan 24-26.)
Operating Time: 34 Hours!
Total op time: 19:02
Total op time: 19:34
Avg Qs/Hr:: 17.5
Solar
Wind Animation -- I found this and thought it
was pretty cool ... n2apb
A
NASA animation of the solar wind and the Earth's
magnetosphere, and how the solar wind can reach Earth's
atmosphere near the poles. [NASA/CILab/Josh Masters]
Tribander Trap Experimentation --
Juan AC6ZM has been doing some trap work and came across
this excellent presentation that may also be of interest to
others ,,, All
You Need To Know About Tribander Antennas and Traps
...
December 2019 Meeting is History!
... The 2020 Officers slate
was voted on and approved! President DavidS KN4LMM, VP
Sam KV4XY, Secretary David N1ESK, and Treasurer Brad
KM4OJK. 'Thank you' guys for stepping up to lead TLARC in
the coming year! TLARC Team RunLoCo recognized (see item
below). Great presentation by Randy WK9M on keeping
*really* good accurate time using the Network Time
Protocol (NTP) and his Raspberry Pi-based GPS hardware. Randy's
NTP presentation file and all meeting details coming
shortly. Thanks to members for attending, and especially
to those who paid their 2020 dues.
TLARC
Team RunLoCo Recognized at December Meeting ...
Seven TLARC members were recognized for their
gracious and capable communications support during the
RunLoCo Marathon on December 7. Coordinator Tim KE4OTZ
formally thanked team members: Brad KM4OJK, Mike K4MJF,
David KF4DKW, Jim K0RGI, Randy WK9M and Alan A1AT.
(Missing from photo: Brent K4BNN and Tom W8MKL.) Thank
you guys!
Secret TLARC Workshop Project
Unveiled ... The
Phaser ... A
single-board, 4-watt Digital Mode SSB Transceiver for 80,
40, 30 or 20 Meters. Specifically designed for using digital
modes with computers running WSJT-X and FLDIGI applications.
All information and kit ordering info is at the Phaser
website.
Solar Storm Forecast: October 24 ... A
Coronal Hole in the Strike Zone & A Meteor Explodes
Over Wisconsin
(This
is a regular installment also found on www.QRZ.com.
Let me know if you enjoy this accessing this on our
TLARC website ... de n2apb)
2nd TLARC Workshop: The Secret
Project
... 8 club members
participated in
our club's 2nd workshop held at chez
N1ESK
- this time building a secret digital mode transceiver
project of N2APB. The kitbuilding skillsets ranged from
novice-to-medium, and construction was straightforward
while following a good assembly guide and some personal
guidance. We had reserved two afternoons this past
weekend to complete the kits, and by the end of the second
session five hams had successfully completed and tested
their boards and immediately got on-the-air getting to
achieve their first digital mode contacts! The others needed some extra time to finish
their assemblies, but plan to be on the air
soon. Soldering skills were honed and everyone came away
with newfound talents for winding toroids!
October 2019 Meeting
-- Huge success! This is just one man's opinion, but this
was the BEST meeting we've had since I came down here 18
months ago. The "project show 'n tell" was of such great
great interest and I was intently listening and taking
notes throughout the entire meeting. AND when coupled
with it being a PIZZA MEETING, well ... giddyup!!
Detailed notes and project photos are at our Show
n' Tell web page.
On
Being an ARRL-Affiliated Club ... If you
have attended recent club meetings, you no doubt have heard
discussions about us becoming an ARRL-Affiliated Club.
Here's some more information
and several documents describing the process and
benefits. We'll be making a decision on this shortly.
Please consider the topic and information, and let me know
your thoughts or concerns ...
David N1ESK
TLARC Happenings
... Fall
is here, and with it comes the start of contesting and
general club activities again after the long hot Summer.
Our TLARC leadership team highlighted a number of
contests (and
other club activities) for each month of
2019 that best reflects the interests of its membership ...
whether it be taking to the field with QRP, hiking up a
mountain to do some QRO work, working from a homebrew or
boatanchor station, or just operating from a nice and comfy
position there in your own shack!
==> Take a look at
the ones listed on our Fall
Happenings page and circle your calendar. Maybe
plan to get together with another like-minded ham for a
combined or instructive "adventure" of using CW, phone, or
even the newest cool digital mode: FT8.
Smoky Mountain ARC
...
Info on our neighboring club, as reported recently by Mike
K4MJF and Sam KV4XY ...
- Club repeater: 146.655, -600 offset, PL tone: 100
- Location: Maryville, TN
- Website: http://w4olb.org/home
- Daily net: 9am (excluding Fridays)
- Tech Lunch on Thursdays: Midland Restaurant
- Friday breakfasts: 9am, TC's Grill
- Club meetings: Last Monday of the month, 7pm, basement
of Union Steel Workers of America Hall
** Note: Monday, Sept. 24, meeting will start at 6:00 pm
with a swap meet followed by a BBQ dinner!
September
Meeting was a Winner!
... Discussion of new antenna rules, the DXCC convention
in Pigeon Forge this coming weekend. and various website
additions: For Sale pages, Solar Storm Forecasts and
Propagation curves for September. Oh yeah, and watch your
glucose readings too ;) Take a look at the Meeting
Minutes.
Tennessee
QSO Party
... Our
participation results from this Sept 1st event are
coming shortly. .
W4DXCC ... "Hello
from W4DXCC 15
DX and Contest Convention.
We are mere
days days away from the Best DX and Contest
Convention in the South East. We have the best equipment
manufacturers at the convention ready to speak with you.
For the latest News Go Here W4DXCC."
TN Section
winner: ARRL DX CW 2019 ... Our
very own pres, Juan Lopez AC6ZM, teamed up with buddy
K4OWR at Bill's
QTH in Oakdale to operate a multi-single
station ... to take FIRST PLACE in the Tennessee
Section! Over a 16-hour period, they used a Zero5
full size vertical with 35 radials, and two 160 meter band
full size dipoles oriented east-west and north-south, and
ran 1500 watts from an Ameritron AL-82 using an ICOM 7600,
and N1MM+ logging software. Kudo's to Juan!!
East
Tennessee 2 Meter Nets and Repeaters Directory
... An amazing resource of
clubs and repeater frequencies within a 114 mile radius of
Knoxville!
==> Mission: "To facilitate Ham Radio licensees
getting full use and benefit of the 2 meter repeaters in
ETN and to inform non Ham licensees of the possibilities
with Ham Radio and motivate them to get their license."
==> Value And Purpose Of This Directory:
> To help people get active in ETN Ham Radio
> To Facilitate the finding of nets to listen to and
clubs to attend.
> Protect nets from interference.
> Help new Hams to get a quick start in understanding
and use of the 2 meter band.
> Help non Ham (listeners) to get interested in the Ham
Radio world by listening to nets. The hope is they will
get
interested enough to get their license.
==> Who? This is a work in progress (and will
always be) and we need a lot of help. This directory was
developed using Rtsystem radio programing software,
RepeaterBook and SERA. For questions, corrections, and
additions,
contact: Bob Hill at 
(Thank you Bob!! ... n2apb)
August 2019 Meeting: "Surge
Protection, Isolation, Grounding & Bonding (Whew!)",
as presented by Randy WK9M. See the cool and informative
presentation slides, photos and resources here!
TLARC For
Sale Page -- Check out our latest
website feature ... the new TLARC For Sale Page
... What a way to move your ham-related gear! Only
available for TLARC members to post items for sale (though
our webmaster) for up to 3 months. Sellers accept all
responsibilities for claims and ownership. Buyers purchase
independently from TLARC and assume all risks.
Minutes
from July 2019 Meeting
-- It was all about the wrap-up of our Field Day
adventures! The presentation made by Sam KV4XY will be
available here soon. And here are the Meeting
Minutes.
ARRL
Field Day 2019 ... with
TLARC! ... Success! Click
here to see all the details of our big event of
the year!
Minutes
from June 2019 Meeting
-- It was a good one at which we brushed up our plans for
the coming Field Day event. Read the Meeting Minutes here!
Waterproof logbooks for rugged
field ops adventures
We recently came
across a really handy collection of pocket logbooks that
are rugged and waterproof ... and just right for wet &
wild field operations. You
need to give these guys a looksee!
Recap: A QRP Field Ops Adventure
by K0RGI and N2APB on June 1, 2019 -- Jim
K0RGI and George N2APB took to the field on a fine and
sunny 83-deg, low-humidity day ... Why? Because we could,
and it was the most glorious spring day we've had yet this
year! We went to the TVA Park on Tellico Lake, located
near on the boat launch area one normally sees on the right
when you turn left onto the ramp heading to
Maryville. (See map below - click for larger view.)
Birds in-air, boats lazily en route to some swimming hole
and a mini-park with picnic benches, parties happening
under shelters and kids splashing in a roped-off area.
Click on the video below to get a flavor that only
scratches the surface of our outing. (Video will download,
then double-click the .mov file to play it.) We had our
usual antennas set up unobtrusively (Jim's PAC-12 mini
vertical and George's 4'-diameter magnetic loop) and
nobody bothered us. Not even bugs! Over the course of
about 2-3 hours we made a large handful of contacts,
ranging from PA to CA (and even an LA8 in
Czechoslovakia!), then we packed up to go home. A fine
outing it was indeed!
Minutes
from May 2019 Meeting
-- You didn't come? Well, read all about it here!
Membership Survey Results
-- Click here
to see the very interesting results of our first-ever
Membership Survey, presented at the April meeting by David
N1ESK, TLARC Secretary.
The Great Tower Drop of April 27,
2019 --
A
team of TLARC members went out to Oakdale TN (Morgan
County) to take down a huge tower and antenna array that
was generously donated to the club by Bill Radice K4OWR.
See
the photo essay within!
Left to right: David KF4DKW, Bill K4OWR, Tim KE4OTZ,
Randy WK9M, Emily KB1NXN, David N1ESK
TLARC
Field Nuts did it again on April 20
-- Saturday, April 20, 2019 marked the traditional
first major QRP field event of the year - QRP To The Field.
This year's theme was "Any Ole Park" and the TLARC Field
Nuts set up our KN4DUA club station at the Tellico Family
Park pavilion on Tugaloo Dr. Recap to come soon!
72, Juan AC6ZM and Randy WK9M
SOTA Gang I Stumbled Into On My
Last Vacation To Roan Mountain TN On The AT
-- from David KF4DKW. If
you haven't heard about Summits On The Air field ops,
you're in for a treat. "Grassy Ridge
Bald shares the same trail head as Roan High Knob.
Getting to the Grassy Ridge Bald trail head is a two hour
drive from my house to Carvers Gap. I left my house at
6:45 AM and went to the old law office of Scott, in
Asheville (about halfway) to meet and carpool up to
Carvers Gap. We arrived at Carvers Gap about 9 AM. We
got out of the car and the wind was a steady 25mph or so
with higher gusts." ... Read
the entire blog.
GPS
Clock Workshop -- Wow, what a time we had on
Saturday, April 6. Some 14 members gathered at
N2APB's home and assembled their GPS Clock Kits in the
first-ever TLARC Workshop! Eight of us got the kit built
and working without a flaw, while 3 others had some
repairable issues, and 3 others had time-crunch issues in
completing theirs. See
more pics inside.
Adventures of the TLARC Fantastic Five in Episode 4:
The Great
Tower Retrieval
(Click on image)
Hello?
Hello? Anybody out there? --
A
February without sunspots :( See details at https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html.
Thanks to Mike Henry KM4H for the find. The good news is
that propagation is all uphill from here for the next 11
years!
Images Credit & Copyright: Alan Friedman (Averted
Imagination)
TLARC February 2019 Meeting
--
Sumptuous dinner beforehand (at
Lorenzo's) and a great meeting right after, with a
presentation from David N1ESK covering his recent trip to
2019 HamCation the week before in Orlando ... slides below
and meeting minutes coming shortly!
Download and view: as PDF
... or as PowerPoint
slides with embedded video on slides 18 &
46)
KN4DUA
now a bonefide QRP member of NAQCC -- It's
official, we are now a member of this very cool-and-fun
national QRP group that sponsors a month-long "contest" ...
every month! The NAQCC events (called "challenges")
throughout the year are based on using the letters in the
stations contacted to fill out a "bingo card-like" grid to
construct a set of words related by the monthly theme. See
the RULES
paragraph to learn how these wacky challenges work! (The
bingo card worksheet is a way to track progress, as shown in
the tutorial.)
CQ
RTTY WPX Contest ... our biggest score so far! -
We activated KN4DUA with a big Team effort on Feb 9-10 and
recorded the BIGGEST score of our recorded history! All the
member activity in the events leading up to this point are
sure paying off, with team members this time including David
KF4DKW, Mike KK6OKU, Brad KM4OJK, Sam KV4XY, Randy WK9M and
Juan AC6ZM racking up the sweet score. Full details and
photos coming soon ... including those about the portabella
mushroom & cheese steakburgers on the grill. (Those
who participate are learning that partying, eating and
drinking are wonderful side benefits of on-the-air
activities with TLARC :)
Stealth Antennas
...
New section for our website, exploring and discussing "stealthy
ways" for TLARC members to get on the bands in
HOA-sensitive communities. For now just click on the
desired antenna type below to learn more about that
one. Soon, we'll have a dedicated Stealth
Antennas page full of additional
tried-and-true antennas, references and guidance to
enable us all to be on the air from 160m-70cm!
KN4DUA
activated for FBYO Winter 2019 QRP Sprint
... It
was rather short notice, but it was SO nice outside on
Saturday Feb 2 that we activated the TLARC club call for
the annual FYBO
("Freeze Your Butt Off") QRP Winter Field Day event!
This event occurs each year on the first Saturday of
February, which is usually a cold winter day .. but we
got a wonderful gift that day with a break from our cold
temperatures so we grabbed our field antenna and headed
for the hills! George N2APB was located up at the Ft.
Loudon Dam Overlook "grassy knoll" by the power station,
and made enough contacts to (hopefully) get a
certificate.
George N2APB working
the "KN4DUA Station" with a W4OP
Loop antenna and an FT-817
on his belly.
CQ World
Wide 160-Meter Contest (CW)
... KN4DUA
scores big at host WK9M QTH !!! Operators this time
included: WK9M, AC6ZM, N2APB, KF4DKW and KK6OKU.
Click on any of the pics: (L-R) "Master Juan",
"Sustenance", KK6OKU aka "The Man!", N2APB, and "The
Score!"
Post-Holiday
Club Dinner 2019
... What a blast on Jan 19th at Classico's!
Great fellowship, great food and great fun ...
North
American SSB QSO Party (Jan 19)
--
Great results from the KN4DUA club station on Jan 19th,
operated at N2APB, with participating club members:
Randy
WK9M, Juan AC6ZM, George WB9TFR, David KN4LMM, David KF4DKW,
Mike KK6OKU, and Sam KV4XY. (Click on the photo!)
January
2019 TLARC Meeting
... Minutes
and the Program: "Online HF Prediction Tools,"
presented by Juan AC6ZM. Refer to the Voice of America
Coverage Analysis Program (VOACAP).
Another
"first" ... TLARC participated in the North American CW
QSO Party on Jan 12-13 ... as a distributed
team! Randy (WK9M), George (N2APB) and Juan
(AC6ZM) each operated from their own home stations under
the registered name of TLARC Gold, and their impressive
combined score have already been submitted. Look for
TLARC Gold in an upcoming issue of National Contest
Journal!
ARRL RTTY Round Up contest ...
We activated the KN4DUA club station from Juan's
QTH, from 6pm Saturday Jan 5 onward into the night and
during Sunday. Seven members
helped us get a score of 17,892 ... nearly triple of
what we did last year! Great Going TLARC Team!
(Operating time: 13 hrs 43 mins)
Results
now posted for last month's
160 Meter Contest
and KN4DUA
scored in the top of our operating category!
TLARC Club Station KN4DUA ... was activated for
ARRL
Straight Key Night
on Jan 1, 2019 ... (score coming shortly)
December
2018 Meeting Minutes
...
It was a good meeting! Read all about it here.
ARRL
160m CW Contest -- Some of our TLARC Field Nuts setup
shop at WK9M on Dec 1-2 to work the club station KN4DUA
in this annual Top Band contest! Read all about our adventure here:
Run
LoCo Marathon
-- TLARC
assisted with checkpoint communications in the recent
(Dec 1st) marathon
in Loudon County. It was a chilly and wet day,
but a good number of hearty members braved the elements
to provide rest stop runner status via the club
repeater. "Thank You" to those participating:
N4RPR, KF4DKW, KM4OJK, K4BNN, W8MKL, WK9M, KK6OKU,
KN4LMM, K4XZT, K4TYS, K4MJF+Karen, and especially to
communications organizer/director KE4OTZ. And BTW, the
Lenoir City's News-Herald reported "Marathon
runs without hitch!"
(Click images below for higher res views.)
November
2018 Club Meeting
--
What a blast! See
the presentations by clicking the image below ...
NEW
... Please enjoy "A Tail of Three Antennas" ...
It
was a cold-yet-sunny November 17th afternoon atop the
Overlook Park at Fort Loudon Dam. High tension power
lines abounded leading in/out of the power generation
facility, yet the airwaves were clear of that
characteristic buzzing and the noise floor was low. It
was destined to be a good Field Nut day.
[Read
more]
======================================================================
