Doing a little hammy ham ham research during the solar eclipse at the Ole Farm-O-La…Welcome to the first Technical Bulletin of the KM1NDY – Secret Amateur Radio Journal.

I’ve been falling a bit behind in my “amateur radio in the news” posts. These are from the beginning of April, but still worth blogging about, I think……Dan

STEM Club Members Earn HAM Radio Licenses

[GREENVILLE, IL] Members of the Greenville Junior High School STEM Club have obtained their Amateur HAM Radio licenses, after attending sessions led by the Okaw Valley Amateur Radio Club.

The students immersed themselves in learning radio communications principles, regulations, and practical skills. Okaw Valley members believe the partnership by the two groups showcases the importance of community collaboration in enriching educational experiences.

Attainment of the licenses not only equips students with valuable skills, but also opens doors to opportunities in emergency communication and public service.

Earning their licenses were Milan Hustedde, Jay Neer,  Ryder Johnson, Nolan Prater, Lukas Simmonds,  Ezra Van Middendorp,  Jackson Wood.

…read more

Tooele students have out-of-this-world conversation with astronaut

TOOELE, Utah — Excitement filled the air as students from the Tooele County School District had the extraordinary opportunity to connect directly with astronauts aboard the International Space Station.

Thanks to the amateur radio on the stations, students from the district gathered at Blue Peak High School and posed questions Monday to astronaut Mike Barratt in live ham radio contact.

…read more and watch video

see also “Utah students use ham radio to connect with astronaut during eclipse”

BBC – Total solar eclipse: The 4-minute window into the Sun’s secrets

About halfway down is this section:

Radio listening party

The Sun’s activity can disrupt almost all our communications, including the humble long-wave radio. Energy from the Sun charges a region in the upper atmosphere called the ionosphere, which helps radio transmissions whizz around the planet. But when the Moon blocks the Sun, the ionosphere is affected.

To test what that does to radio, hundreds of amateur radio operators will join a listening party and send signals to each other across the world, competing for the most connections. They might communicate in Morse code or even speak.

The results could help scientists better understand radio communications used by emergency workers, airplanes, and ships, as well as GPS, according to Nathaniel Frissell at University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, who is running the party.

…read more

The following info came in via the RAC Bulletin Service but for me at least it was a bit difficult to cut and paste the info as my newly improved mail software insists on giving me adverts in the middle of the long messages. I guess you do get what you pay for….

Here is the link to the site with the information:

HamSCI Presents the Solar Eclipse QSO Party: April 8, 2024 – Radio Amateurs of Canada (rac.ca)

I will be listening around and participating…. especially if the sky is cloudy during the event. But seeing that Kingston is right in the path…. maybe not

Above graphic courtesy of : https://eclipse2024.org (its worth visiting their site)

73bob

The last total solar eclipse across North America for twenty years will occur on Monday, April 8. HamSCI is asking hams across North America to participate in learning more about how the ionosphere functions by getting on the air to help scientists in a series of ionospheric experiments.

• Solar Eclipse QSO Party (SEQP)
• Gladstone Signal Spotting Challenge (GSSC)
• Medium Wave Recording Event
• Time Delay of Arrival (TDOA) Event
• Grape 1 Doppler Receiver project
• …and more!