1 >
 |
 |
 |
| The award-winning monthly publication of The Baltimore Radio Amateur Television Society P.O.Box 5915 Baltimore, MD 21282-5915 |
1 >
| |
|
|
| The award-winning monthly publication of The Baltimore Radio Amateur Television Society P.O.Box 5915 Baltimore, MD 21282-5915 |
2007 BRATS HAMFEST SCHEDULED!
Sunday, July 22, 2007 at the Howard County Fairgrounds.
Save the date and plan to join us. Contact Les, W3GXT to volunteer -- not just on the day of the hamfest;
There is plenty to be done NOW. E-mail Les at lesmcclure@comcast.net to volunteer. We need YOU!
Attention All Amateurs ...
It's Official! Morse Code Requirement Ends Friday, February 23
Circle Friday, February 23, on your calendar. That's when the current 5 WPM Morse code requirement
will officially disappear from the Amateur Radio Service Part 97 rules in accordance with the FCC's
Report and Order (R&O)
in the "Morse code proceeding," WT Docket 05-235. Beginning on that date,
applicants for a General or Amateur Extra class Amateur Radio license no longer will have to
demonstrate proficiency in Morse code. They'll just have to pass the applicable written examination.
Publication
of the new rules in the January 24 Federal Register started a 30-day countdown for the
new rules to become effective. Deletion of the Morse requirement -- still a matter of controversy
within the amateur community -- is a landmark in Amateur Radio history.
New initiative aims to detect alien radio broadcasts
Astronomers from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the US have unveiled a new initiative
aimed at detecting extraterrestrial life. The project, which is due to kick off in early 2008, will use a new radio
telescope to search other planets for radio transmissions similar to those that are generated on Earth. At
present, most attempts to find alien life look for radio signal that are deliberately beamed across space.
But the new initiative by the Harvard-Smithsonian Center is different in that it will look for the residue of
radio transmissions sent from one place in a planet to another. It will search the part of the electromagnetic spectrum
that is used on Earth for radar, television and FM radio broadcasts. David Aguilar, director of communications
at the Center for Astrophysics, said: "We may pick up spurious signals from people that never meant for us to
hear them and get an inkling that something’s going on." A new low-frequency telescope is currently been built
in the Australian outback to detect these weak signals. The outback was chosen because it is remote enough
to avoid most radio interference. The researchers behind the project believe that they will be able to detect
Earth-like radio signals within a distance of 30 light years. There are more than 1,000 stars within this area.
[GB2RS / RSGB]
| March, 2007 |  |
Page 1 Next > |