We’re truly grateful to all who’ve paid their 2021 dues. If you haven’t yet sent your dues in, please accept this gentle reminder. We continue to need and appreciate your support. The member application form is on this site or you can use Member Application.
—————————————–
Time for Field Day. Yes, Winter Field Day!
By now, many of us are going stir crazy or just plain bonkers. So, this might be the time for you to check out Winter Field Day! A couple of years ago I participated in a WFD at a local ham’s home. It was an amazing amount of fun and the food was great, too. Here’s the scoop:
From Winter Field Day Association
Winter Field Day Association (WFDA) is a dedicated group of Amateur Radio Operators who believe that emergency communications in a winter environment is just as important as the preparations and practice that is done each summer but with some additional unique operational concerns.
We believe as do those entities of ARRL Organizations like ARES & RACES that maintaining your operational skills should not be limited to fair weather scenarios. The addition of Winter Field Day will enhance those already important skills of those that who generously volunteer their time and equipment to these organizations. This is why WFD is open to all licensed amateur radio operators worldwide.
more, including WFD rules at www.winterfieldday.com
Detectors aboard the International Space Station are helping solve mysteries about our bizarre radio propagation
In the illustration above, blue jets zip upward from thunderclouds into the stratosphere, reaching altitudes up to about 50 kilometers in less than a second. Whereas ordinary lightning excites a medley of gases in the lower atmosphere to glow white, blue jets excite mostly stratospheric nitrogen to create their signature blue hue.
Blue jets have been observed from the ground and aircraft for years, but it’s hard to tell how they form without getting high above the clouds. Now, instruments on the International Space Station have spotted a blue jet emerge from an extremely brief, bright burst of electricity near the top of a thundercloud, researchers report online January 20 in Nature.
more info at https://www.sciencenews.org/article/space-station-detectors-found-source-weird-blue-jet-lightning