Ormond Beach Radio Club

10/02/2024

New projects with Leonardo DRS Naval Electronics!

DRS LARGO

Nine Thermal Chambers, including an 8’x8’x6’ Walk-in Chamber
Seven vibration tables

Outdoor test range including a 40’ tower with calibrated optical delay line

A Compact Antenna Test Range (CATR) and 103K square feet of space for the material management activities, plus nine vertical storage units

Radar and sensing test equipment

Orbit FR 959 software for our anechoic chamber
A full complement of test equipment, incorporating network/signal analyzers and signal generators

Circuit Cards
Numerous custom designed and fabricated test fixtures
Two Teradyne test units

Facility Highlights:

The Largo 113,000 sq-ft facility is fully updated and houses a rigorous test and development environment for our microwave and RF integration expertise including L, S, C, X, K, Ka, Ku Radar and Sensor Assembly.

Anechoic Test Chamber – Near Field Range and Compact Antenna Test Range

Outdoor Test Range – 3 Node Comms network, RF Transponder(s), and Optical Alignment

Environmental stress screening

The Leonardo DRS Naval Electronics business unit is the largest and most successful complex manufacturing supplier to the U.S. Navy, providing engineering, assembly & testing, logistics, and depot support in addition to our manufacturing services.

We have over 600,000 square feet of manufacturing and test space across eight locations. All of our naval electronics manufacturing facilities are low-cost, high-quality production centers with a lean management and engineering teams providing on-time deliveries.

There is over 403K Sq-ft of flexible space dedicated to the management, production, and repair of electronic equipment. The Leonardo DRS facilities are designed to be reconfigurable to allow flexibility in layout for production orders. These facilities are segregated into lean work cells designed to produce specific product types, supporting each step of the production process. Furthermore, industrial engineers configure work cells to create efficient product flow and minimize product handling and movement.

08/14/2024

START OF RESEARCH

The hydrogen line, 21 centimeter line, or H I line[a] is a spectral line that is created by a change in the energy state of solitary, electrically neutral hydrogen atoms. It is produced by a spin-flip transition, which means the direction of the electron's spin is reversed relative to the spin of the proton. This is a quantum state change between the two hyperfine levels of the hydrogen 1 s ground state. The electromagnetic radiation producing this line has a frequency of 1420.405751768(2) MHz (1.42 GHz), which is equivalent to a wavelength of 21.106114054160(30) cm in a vacuum. According to the Planck–Einstein relation E = hν, the photon emitted by this transition has an energy of 5.8743261841116(81) μeV [9.411708152678(13)×10−25 J]. The constant of proportionality, h, is known as the Planck constant.
The hydrogen line frequency lies in the L band, which is located in the lower end of the microwave region of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is frequently observed in radio astronomy because those radio waves can pe*****te the large clouds of interstellar cosmic dust that are opaque to visible light. The existence of this line was predicted by Dutch astronomer H. van de Hulst in 1944, then directly observed by E. M. Purcell and his student H. E. Ewen in 1951. Observations of the hydrogen line have been used to reveal the spiral shape of the Milky Way, to calculate the mass and dynamics of individual galaxies, and to test for changes to the fine-structure constant over time. It is of particular importance to cosmology because it can be used to study the early Universe. Due to its fundamental properties, this line is of interest in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. This line is the theoretical basis of the hydrogen maser.

During the 1930s, it was noticed that there was a radio "hiss" that varied on a daily cycle and appeared to be extraterrestrial in origin. After initial suggestions that this was due to the Sun, it was observed that the radio waves seemed to propagate from the center of the Galaxy. These discoveries were published in 1940 and were noted by Jan Oort who knew that significant advances could be made in astronomy if there were emission lines in the radio part of the spectrum. He referred this to Hendrik van de Hulst who, in 1944, predicted that neutral hydrogen could produce radiation at a frequency of 1420.4058 MHz due to two closely spaced energy levels in the ground state of the hydrogen atom.
The 21 cm line (1420.4 MHz) was first detected in 1951 by Ewen and Purcell at Harvard University, and published after their data was corroborated by Dutch astronomers Muller and Oort, and by Christiansen and Hindman in Australia. After 1952 the first maps of the neutral hydrogen in the Galaxy were made, and revealed for the first time the spiral structure of the Milky Way.

07/24/2024

Autonomous Flight Vehicle Termination

NEW PROJECT

The SG901-1229 AFTU is an autonomous flight vehicle termination system designed to support the July 2017 Congressional mandate of automated range safety systems. It utilizes configurable software-based rules and data redundant GPS/IMU navigational inputs to make flight termination / destruct decisions using redundant units. It provides a lower cost, more flexible flight safety system usable at all ranges and non-range locations.

07/24/2024

In Search for Amelia Earhart, Finding the Last Signal

LULU Worldwide Publication Available Now!

This book presents an analysis of using radio direction finder bearings obtained by Pan American Airways (PAA) direction finder (DF) sites, at Wake Island, Midway Island, and Mokapu Point at Oahu, Hawaii, and by a temporary U. S. Coast Guard DF site at Howland Island, during the search for Amelia Earhart in July 1937.

All bearings were taken on signals heard at night, on or near 3105 kHz, Known as the Earhart night frequency.

06/18/2024

The amateur radio event of the year is just a few short days away, June 22-23. Hundreds of thousands of hams around North America and beyond will participate in the beloved operating event. If you’re still looking for a place to go, use the Field Day locator tool at www.arrl.org/field-day-locator.

As clubs and individual operators make their last-minute checks on gear (have you checked all of your cables and jumpers?) ARRL Contest Branch Manager Paul Bourque, N1SFE, wants to remind organizers to check on the human factors in a good operation. “This is a good time to call everyone who said they wanted to come out and operate at Field Day and make sure they can still come,” he said.

Bourque noted that June is a busy time of year for family obligations and a reminder check-in could be helpful to both clubs and operators. “You also want to make sure you have enough water and sunscreen around, or to have people bring some. It could be very hot depending on where you are, and you’ve got to take care of the most important aspect of the event: the people,” he said.

The June 2024 issue of QST magazine has a special Field Day section, which includes a checklist of all of the ARRL and Radio Amateurs of Canada Sections that count. “Print that out and take it with you. Use it as a fun checklist,” said Bourque.

There’s always a debate as to the purpose of ARRL Field Day. “It is part emergency communications exercise, part social gathering, part open house for ham radio – it is what the local club makes of it. No matter what goal your activation has, ARRL hopes it is a safe, fun, and rewarding event for each club,” said ARRL Radiosport and Regulatory Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ.

Find more information, the complete rules packet, and information on submitting logs at www.arrl.org/field-day.

05/03/2024

Field Day
JUNE 22-23

is ham radio's open house. Every June, more than 40,000 hams throughout North America set up temporary transmitting stations in public places to demonstrate ham radio's science, skill and service to our communities and our nation. It combines public service, emergency preparedness, community outreach, and technical skills all in a single event. Field Day has been an annual event since 1933 and remains the most popular event in ham radio.

LOCATION: 29° 9'58.16"N 81° 9'45.59"W

Ormond Beach Radio Club

04/30/2024

NEW MESH RADIO DEVELOPMENT

SOL8SDR2x1W-U (CLAMSHELL) 1.98-2.70GHz Dual 1W
Tx/Rx Transceiver

The SOL8SDR2x1W-U is a compact single-board Software Defined Radio Transceiver with 2x1W RF output power. Leveraging DTC’s industry-leading MeshUltra MANET Mesh waveform and also capable of operating as a unidirectional COFDM Transmitter or Receiver, the SOL8SDR2x1W-U is ideally suited for integration into long range UxV applications. The SOL8SDR2x1W-U also includes a rich set of interface options incuding Ethernet, serial and dual USB as well as an on-board headset audio interface. The SOL8SDR2x1W-U also offers the option of USB-C powering direct from a suitable end user device or USB-C battery (USB PD compliant).

04/18/2024

World Amateur Radio Day!

Every April 18, radio amateurs worldwide take to the airwaves in celebration of World Amateur Radio Day. It was on this day in 1925 that the International Amateur Radio Union was formed in Paris.

Amateur Radio experimenters were the first to discover that the short wave spectrum — far from being a wasteland — could support worldwide propagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, Amateur Radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” the IARU’s history has noted. Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU to support Amateur Radio worldwide.

Just two years later, at the International Radiotelegraph Conference, Amateur Radio gained the allocations still recognized today — 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 meters. Since its founding, the IARU has worked tirelessly to defend and expand the frequency allocations for Amateur Radio. Thanks to the support of enlightened administrations in every part of the globe, radio amateurs are now able to experiment and communicate in frequency bands strategically located throughout the radio spectrum. From the 25 countries that formed the IARU in 1925, the IARU has grown to include 160 member-societies in three regions. IARU Region 1 includes Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Northern Asia. Region 2 covers the Americas, and Region 3 is comprised of Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific island nations, and most of Asia. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recognized the IARU as representing the interests of Amateur Radio.

Today, Amateur Radio is more popular than ever, with more than 3,000,000 licensed operators!

World Amateur Radio Day is the day when IARU Member-Societies can show our capabilities to the public and enjoy global friendship with other Amateurs worldwide.

04/18/2024

TODAY IS "World Amateur Radio Day"

2024 World Amateur Radio Day is April 18
ARRL_WARD_Poster_8.5x11_English.jpgWhat: 2024 World Amateur Radio Day

Who: All amateur radio operators worldwide

When: Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 0000 UTC until Friday, April 19, 2024 at 0000 UTC

Where: A global event covering all regions of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)

Why: World Amateur Radio Day, held on April 18 each year, is celebrated worldwide by radio amateurs and their national associations which are organized as member-societies of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). It was on this day in 1925 that the IARU was formed in Paris. American Radio Relay League (ARRL) Co-Founder Hiram Percy Maxim was its first president.

The theme for 2024 is "A Century of Connections: Celebrating 100 years of Amateur Radio Innovation, Community, and Advocacy"

Amateur radio experimenters were the first to discover that the short-wave spectrum could support long-distance radio signal propagation. In the rush to use these shorter wavelengths, amateur radio was “in grave danger of being pushed aside,” the IARU’s history has noted. Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and created the IARU to promote the interests of amateur radio worldwide and to protect and enhance its spectrum privileges. Today, the IARU is a federation consisting of more than 160 national amateur radio organizations in as many countries and separate territories. The International Secretariat of the IARU is ARRL The National Association for Amateur Radio® in the United States.

On World Amateur Radio Day, all radio amateurs are invited to take to the airwaves to enjoy our global friendship with other amateurs, and to show our skills and capabilities to the public.

How: World Amateur Radio Day is not a contest but rather an opportunity to “talk” about the value of amateur radio to the public and our fellow amateur colleagues. It is also a great opportunity to talk about your radio club and amateur radio in local media as a lead-up to ARRL Field Day (held each year during the fourth full weekend in June) and another ham radio related activity in your community – such as volunteers who serve in local emergency communication readiness including the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Service®.

04/16/2024

04/11/2024

A poster promoting 2024 ARRL Field Day has been released on the Field Day web page, www.arrl.org/field-day. The two-sided informational poster features this year's theme "Be Radio Active". It includes a space for clubs to fill in information about their planned activation so that members of their community can come visit the site.

More resources for promoting 2024 ARRL Field Day are being developed and will be available soon. ARRL Field Day always occurs on the fourth full weekend in June.

This year, it happens on June 22 - 23.

04/10/2024

B-21

Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) received the Aviation Week Grand Laureate Award in the defense category for its role as the prime contractor delivering the B-21 Raider to the United States Air Force. Aviation Week announced the Grand Laureate winners at its 66th Annual Laureate awards in Washington, D.C.

Northrop Grumman's B-21 Raider Receives Aviation Week Grand Laureate Award!

The B-21 Raider received the Grand Laureate award within the defense space at Aviation Week’s 66th Annual Laureate Awards. (Photo Credit: Northrop Grumman)

“On behalf of the entire nationwide B-21 Raider team, Northrop Grumman is honored to receive this prestigious award,” said Tom Jones, corporate vice president and president, Northrop Grumman Aeronautics Systems. “The Grand Laureate represents the pioneering spirit, innovative technology and trailblazing approach to contract management that has brought the world’s first sixth-generation aircraft to life.”

In the fall of 2023, the Air Force confirmed the first B-21 test vehicle had entered flight test, followed by low-rate initial production award. The aircraft is currently undergoing a robust flight test campaign executed by the B-21 Combined Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California. The program continues to meet all DoD technical, schedule and affordability requirements on its path to operational capability.

Developed with the next generation of stealth technology, advanced networking capabilities and open systems architecture, the B-21 Raider will serve as the backbone of America’s bomber fleet. Capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear payloads, the B-21 will be one of the most effective aircraft in the sky, with the ability to use a broad mix of stand-off and direct attack munitions.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global aerospace and defense technology company. Our pioneering solutions equip our customers with the capabilities they need to connect and protect the world, and push the boundaries of human exploration across the universe. Driven by a shared purpose to solve our customers’ toughest problems, our employees define possible every day.

04/08/2024

FYI

​The Festivals will consist of multiple events, each with a goal of increasing our understanding of sun-ionosphere-earth relationships.

04/08/2024

Ham Radio's Many Roles During Solar Eclipse



In one of nature's most spectacular visual displays, on April 8, 2024, the sun will align with the moon and the Earth, casting a shadow that will transit much of North America.

Spectacular Display and Gathering

Millions will gather along the path of totality - the section where the sun is fully blocked by the moon - to witness something that happens, on average, once every 375 years for any place on our planet. The moon's shadow path will begin over the South Pacific Ocean, and then it will cross into North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada. Weather permitting, the first location in continental North America that will experience totality is Mexico's Pacific coast, at around 11:07 a.m. PDT. The shadow will exit continental North America on the Atlantic coast of Newfoundland, Canada, at 5:16 p.m. NDT.

Ham radio will be there - operators will participate in scientific experiments, serve local communities that will be overrun with hundreds of thousands of visitors, and provide a valuable tool for communicating if the mobile phone networks become overloaded.

Science

Regular sun and moon watchers will be out in force while many scientists, astronomers, and amateur radio operators will be "working" the eclipse. ARRL has partnered with Ham Radio Science Citizen Investigation (HamSCI), a NASA citizen science project, to encourage hams to send and receive signals to one another before, during, and after the eclipse. The project will be led by Nathaniel Frissell, W2NAF, a professor of Physics and Engineering at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania. HamSCI participants will share their radio data to catalog how the sudden loss of sunlight during totality affects their radio signals. All radio amateurs are welcome to participate in the ionospheric research that is being conducted. Information is available at the Solar Eclipse QSO Party on the HamSCI website.

NASA plans to point a large telescope at the eclipse and broadcast the entire event across North America. The agency will host live coverage of the eclipse from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. EDT (17:00 to 20:00 UTC) on April 8 on the NASA YouTube channel. There will be live views of the eclipse from watch parties across the country, and even from NASA's Glenn Research Center in Ohio, which happens to be inside the path of totality.

In addition to NASA's plans, the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN), a collection of radars located at sites around the world, will bounce radio waves off of the ionosphere and analyze the returning signals. Their data will reveal changes in the ionosphere's density, temperature, and location.

There is also the Radio JOVE project, which is made up of a team of citizen scientists dedicated to documenting radio signals from space, and especially from Jupiter. During the total solar eclipse, Radio JOVE participants will focus on the sun. Using radio antenna kits that they set up themselves, they'll record solar radio bursts before, during, and after the eclipse.

EmComm

Emergency communications groups, including those affiliated with the Amateur Radio Emergency Service® (ARES®), will be active in the areas near totality. National Weather Service (NWS) offices are closely watching weather patterns in and around the eclipse path for any severe weather that could impact watchers and increase traffic. Many first responders, including law enforcement, medical personnel, and fire departments, will be ready to respond to any emergency that might occur during the eclipse. Those officials represent some of the served agencies that radio amateurs work to support.

Most ARRL Sections within the path of totality have been working with their local served agencies to provide communications volunteers through amateur radio. In New Hampshire, for example, where cell phone and road networks are expected to be overwhelmed, New Hampshire ARES has local groups activated in many communities.

Public Information Coordinator of the ARRL New Hampshire Section Skip Camejo, AC1LC, said members across the state are ready. "A small team pulled from several NH-ARES groups will be providing limited communications support for the American Red Cross, using both HF and VHF. We will have an RV-based station in Lancaster, NH, and another in Pittsburg, both at locations provided by the New Hampshire Department of Transportation," he said.

In the event of a mass-casualty incident or a need for emergency sheltering, the teams will travel to the scene with a state police es**rt. They're expecting 10,000 to 50,000 visitors on Monday in that community alone.

Other ARES groups have been preparing and drilling over the last few months. In the ARRL North Texas Section, a set of criteria has been established as reportable to the local served agencies' emergency operations centers. Look for more details on ham radio involvement during the eclipse in next week's The ARRL Letter.

Outreach

Many groups are holding eclipse festivals. Some amateur radio groups and clubs are taking advantage of these gatherings to get radio in front of the curious public. Vice Director of the ARRL Hudson Division Ed Wilson, N2XDD, is preparing an informational display for an event at his local library.

The Suffolk County Radio Club on Long Island, New York, will be participating in the Solar Eclipse QSO Party from the Moriches Branch Library.

Wilson saw radio as a perfect addition to the library's eclipse activities. "Another club member and I went down to the librarian and spoke to her about the HamSCI event. We asked if we would be able to set up a ham radio station during the course of the day. They loved the idea and approved it, and they invited us to some other events that they're having in the next few months," he said.

For clubs that may have a public presence during the eclipse, there are resources on the ARRL website detailing how to help explain the hobby to the uninitiated.

The total solar eclipse will be the last of its kind for more than two decades in the contiguous U.S. The next total solar eclipse on U.S. soil won't occur until March 30, 2033, and it will be viewable only in Alaska.

04/05/2024

A Legacy Built on Advanced Thermal Imaging Components and High-Performance Systems.

With over a half of a century pioneering infrared detector development, advanced sensor suites and robust targeting systems, Leonardo DRS has built a reputation for providing the innovative EO/IR systems that U.S. and allied military forces have come to rely on. With a continuous aim to push the limits of its cutting-edge technology and capabilities, the future of EO/IR is boundless with Leonardo DRS.

An established portfolio of EO/IR imaging systems for ground vehicles, such as the Driver’s Vision Enhancer (DVE), has helped improve situational awareness for countless warfighters on mobile patrol in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Leonardo DRS’ Soldier Imaging and Targeting Systems have evolved from the Thermal Weapon Sight (TWS) II program that fielded over 65,000 systems, to the next generation Family of Weapon Sights: Individual (FWS-I) that combines rugged, lightweight, modular construction with Leonardo DRS’ superior thermal imaging technology.

Driver’s Vision Enhancement

Next Generation DVE’s for Military Combat Vehicles
Leonardo DRS’ Driver’s Vision Enhancement products improve survivability and mission capability by maintaining the driver and crew’s awareness of their environment.

Leonardo DRS offers a complete suite of products that provide armored vehicle users with visibility from their vehicle whilst under armor. By providing drivers a wider field of view (FOV), they can safely maneuver combat vehicles in convert missions and in times of limited visibility through battlefield obscurants.

Leading the industry with both ground-breaking technological development and clever, user-specific solutions, our EO/IR capabilities serve a wide variety of applications and services.

04/05/2024

FOR ALL THOSE HAMS

SECRET SPY RADIO Secret Spy Radio Stations
73s

ABOUT NUMBER STATIONSThere are actually several types of number stations, but the prototypical one is simply someone on the air reading lists of numbers (or sending them via Morse code). Some read off other coded messages (like phonetic alphabet letters) or have sounds in the background that may ...

04/05/2024

GET THE BOOK!

SECRET SPY RADIO STATIONS

AMAZON WORLDWIDE PUBLICATION

Secret Spy Radio Stations

There are actually several types of number stations, but the prototypical one is simply someone on the air reading lists of numbers (or sending them via Morse code). Some read off other coded messages (like phonetic alphabet letters) or have sounds in the background that may or may not be digitally-encoded messages. One even used a sound clip from a Yosemite Sam cartoon to separate bursts of data! According to the Conet Project, number stations were heard as early as World War I. In most cases, no one knows for sure what the purpose of the stations are, but there are dedicated groups that try to locate them and even decode what they are saying.

However, it is thought that most of them use some form of one-time pad cryptography which makes trying to decode them a very long shot. It is pretty widely accepted, though, that the purpose of most (if not all) of these stations is to deliver clandestine messages.

For example, suppose I wanted to send you secret messages so I give you a shortwave receiver. I tell you to listen to a certain frequency at a certain time and I read off a series of numbers. To decode my message, you treat the numbers I read as a page number followed by a word number in, for example, a newspaper that is a day or two old. As long as you keep a copy of the newspaper and you have the radio, I can send you messages that would be very hard to decipher unless someone told you what newspaper we agreed to use.

This is a form of one time pad, and if you keep the secrets, the method is practically unbreakable. The key, though, is that when they search your hotel room and find a shortwave receiver and a few days of newspapers, that’s not particularly suspicious.

There’s a group called ENIGMA 2000 that catalogs and analyzes number stations, producing the Enigma Control List (although the latest one is a few years old). They have a naming scheme that identifies stations based on language or other characteristics of the signal. For example, stations starting with E broadcast in English, while stations starting with S broadcast in a Slavic language.

M stations use Morse code. Naturally, these are just handy designations (like E22). In most cases, we don’t know what the stations call themselves.

In 1998, the FBI arrested five Cuban intelligence officers. The spies received messages via a numbers station (using Sony shortwave radios) and the coded messages were a big part of the FBI’s court case. The FBI acquired the software the spies used to decode the messages and were able to read them (and present them in court). This may be the only time that a government has admitted that these stations are tied to covert operations.The Cuban Five, also known as the Miami Five (Gerardo Hernández, Antonio Guerrero, Ramón Labañino, Fernando González, and René González) were tried and convicted of conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to commit murder, acting as an agent of a foreign government, and other charges.

WHY NOW? Numbers Station.. You have to wonder, in this day of Internet and satellite phones, why these stations still operate. After all, a shortwave receiver is a bit more unusual today than it used to be. Maybe the receivers are camouflaged as standard radios and need some James Bond-style gadget to put them on the shortwave band. After all, a satellite phone implies you are talking to someone and Internet usage is traceable. Short of being caught in the act (or using software like the Cubans), there’s no proof of what you are listening to on a radio. Still, it seems incredible that there are apparently still operatives somewhere right now copying encoded instructions from these number stations. You can only wonder what they are up to.

HOW CAN I HEAR THEM?

If you have a software defined radio setup, that’s perfect. Of course, a general coverage receiver or a ham radio that has a wide receiver range will do the trick too. An easy way to find common stations!