Report from India: Ham Radio Aids Rescue of Two Fishermen: According to a December 6 report in the Deccan Chronicle newspaper in India, members of the Ham Radio and Emergency Communication Society in Idukki assisted in the rescue of two fishermen, identified only as Maniyan and Anil from Veli. They had been stranded in the Indian Ocean for 2 days as a result of Cyclone Ockhi, when a small boat with a VHF radio, in touch with the group's wide-range Calvary Mount
repeater (VU2HEN), sailed into the area. "We relayed the latitude and longitude
to rescue vessels, which reached out to the duo," said T. R. Manoj, VU2DTH, the
Society's secretary. The Quilon Amateur Radio League (VU2QAR) was said to already be active in helping in communication. Manoj said the hams also were able to communicate with a few lost boats that had managed to find safe harbor during the high seas generated by the cyclone. Cyclone Ockhi, which struck in early December, was reported to have been the strongest storm of the 2017 North
Indian Ocean cyclone season.
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The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Over the December 7-13 reporting week, we saw
3 days with zero sunspots -- December 8, 9, and 13. Compared with the previous 7 days, average daily sunspot numbers more than doubled to 6.9, and average daily solar flux increased from 69.6 to 71. One new sunspot group (2691) emerged on December 10 with one spot, which increased to three over the next 2 days, but by December 13, it had disappeared.
Geomagnetic numbers were low, with the average planetary A index declining from
11.6 to 7.4, and the mid-latitude A index from 8.1 to 5.6.
The latest forecast from the USAF and NOAA shows solar flux at 72 on December 14-16; 74 on December 17-23; 72 on December 24-26; 70 on December 27-January 5;
72 on January 6-8; 74 on January 9-19; 72 on January 20-22, and 70 on January 23-27.
Predicted planetary A index is 5 on December 14-15; 12, 20, 18, and 10 on December 16-19; 8 on December 20-21; 5 on December 22-26; 12 and 8 on December 27-28; 5 on December 29-30; 10, 26, 14, and 10 on December 31-January 3; 5 on January 4-6; 14, 16, 14, and 8 on January 7-10; 5 on January 11-12; 8, 25, 10, 8, and 8 on January 13-17; 5 on January 18-22, and 12, 8, 5, 5, and 10 on January 23-27.
Send me your reports or observations.
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Just Ahead in Radiosport
* December 15 -- Russian 160-Meter Contest (CW, phone)
* December 15 -- AGB-Party Contest (CW, phone, digital)
* December 16 -- Feld Hell Sprint
* December 16 -- OK DX RTTY Contest
* December 16 -- Padang DX Contest (Phone)
* December 16-17 -- Croatian CW Contest
* December 17 -- ARRL Rookie Roundup (CW)
* December 18 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)
* December 21 -- NAQCC CW Sprint
See the ARRL Contest Calendar for more information. For in-depth reporting on Amateur Radio contesting, subscribe to The ARRL Contest Update via your ARRL member profile e-mail preferences.
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Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
* January 6 -- New York City-Long Island Section Convention, Brookville,
New York
* January 13 -- Georgia ARES Convention, Forsyth, Georgia
* January 19-20 -- North Texas Section Convention, Forest Hill, Texas
* January 20 -- GARS TECHFEST Convention, Lawrenceville, Georgia
* January 21-27 -- Quartzfest Convention, Quartzsite, Arizona
* January 26-27 -- Delta Division Convention, Jackson, Mississippi
* February 3 -- South Carolina State Convention, North Charleston, South
Carolina
* February 3 -- Virginia State Convention (Frostfest), Richmond, Virginia
* February 9-11 -- Florida State Convention (HamCation), Orlando, Florida
* February 16-17 -- Southwestern Division Convention, Yuma, Arizona
* February 24 -- TECHCON Conference, Winter Haven, Florida
* February 24 -- New Mexico TechFest, Albuquerque, New Mexico
* February 24 -- Vermont State Convention, S. Burlington, Vermont
Find conventions and hamfests in your area.
____________________________________________________________________________
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Always Mount a Scratch Monkey
Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it wrong...
... To any objective person it'd be obvious that I'm right.
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* Origin: (1:3634/12.73)