Australian prop forecast

frenaye at pcnet.com frenaye at pcnet.com
Wed Dec 7 23:39:07 EST 1994


I don't think I've seen the Internet aus.radio (Australian radio) newsgroup 
mentioned as a source of propagation forecast information.  I've included the 
one that was issued December 6th at the bottom of this message.   There have 
been a few other types of messages recently, including a W1AW-like bulletin 
from VK2WI.

Newsgroups: 
aus.radio,ips.solar.activity,rec.radio.amateur.misc,rec.radio.info
Path: 
pcnet.com!pagesat.net!internet.spss.com!hermes.oc.com!news.unt.edu!cs.utexas.
edu!swrinde!howland.reston.ans.net!news.moneng.mei.com!uwm.edu!msunews!harbin
ger.cc.monash.edu.au!news.cs.su.oz.au!metro!ipso!rwc
From: rwc at flare.syd.ips.oz.au (Regional Warning Centre)
Subject: IPS Daily Report - 06 December 94
Message-ID: <1994Dec6.232522.10795 at ips.oz.au>
Followup-To: aus.radio,rec.radio.amateur.misc
Sender: news at ips.oz.au (Usenet News)
Nntp-Posting-Host: flare.syd.ips.oz.au
Organization: IPS Radio and Space Services.  Sydney, Australia.
Date: Tue, 6 Dec 1994 23:25:22 GMT
Approved: rec-radio-info at ve6mgs.ampr.ab.ca
Lines: 83
Xref: pcnet.com aus.radio:1132 rec.radio.amateur.misc:46369 
rec.radio.info:6312


SUBJ: IPS DAILY SOLAR AND GEOPHYSICAL REPORT
ISSUED AT 06/2330Z DECEMBER 1994 BY IPS RADIO AND SPACE SERVICES
FROM THE REGIONAL WARNING CENTRE (RWC), SYDNEY.
SUMMARY FOR 06 DECEMBER AND FORECAST FOR 07 DECEMBER - 09 DECEMBER
-----------------------------------------------------------
1A. SOLAR SUMMARY
Activity: very low

Flares: none.

Observed 10.7 cm flux/Equivalent Sunspot Number :  78/17

GOES satellite data for 05 Dec
       Daily Proton Fluence >1 MeV:   NA
       Daily Proton Fluence >10 MeV:  1.1E+04
       Daily Electron Fluence >2 MeV: 1.5E+08 (moderate)
       X-ray background: A4.7
Fluence (flux accumulation over 24hrs)/ cm2-ster-day.

1B. SOLAR FORECAST
             07 Dec             08 Dec             09 Dec
Activity     Very low           Very low           Very low
Fadeouts     None expected      None expected      None expected

Forecast 10.7 cm flux/Equivalent Sunspot Number for 07 Dec:  80/20

-----------------------------------------------------------
2A. MAGNETIC SUMMARY
Geomagnetic field at Learmonth: unsettled to active, with a minor
storm period 06-09UT.

Estimated Indices : A   K           Observed A Index 05 Dec      
    Learmonth       22  3354 4432
    Fredericksburg  15                           7
    Planetary       14                           7       

Observed Kp for 05 Dec: 1113 3212
2B. MAGNETIC FORECAST 
DATE      Ap    CONDITIONS
07 Dec    15    Mostly unsettled to active, with brief minor storm
periods possible.
08 Dec    10    Quiet to unsettled
09 Dec     8    Quiet to unsettled
COMMENT: The disturbances noted on 6 Dec and expected on 7 Dec may 
be due to a coronal hole, which was not geoeffective in previous
rotations.
-----------------------------------------------------------
3A. GLOBAL HF PROPAGATION SUMMARY
	            LATITUDE BAND
DATE        LOW            MIDDLE         HIGH 
06 Dec      normal         normal         fair-normal    
PCA Event : None.

3B. GLOBAL HF PROPAGATION FORECAST
	            LATITUDE BAND
DATE        LOW            MIDDLE         HIGH 
07 Dec      normal         fair-normal    fair          
08 Dec      normal         fair-normal    fair          
09 Dec      normal         normal         fair-normal   

-----------------------------------------------------------
4A. AUSTRALIAN REGION IONOSPHERIC SUMMARY
       Observed 
DATE   T-index  MUFs at Sydney
06 Dec    31    near predicted to slightly enhanced until 19UT,
                15-30% depressions observed thereafter.

Predicted Monthly T-index for December: 15

4B. AUSTRALIAN REGION IONOSPHERIC FORECAST
DATE   T-index  MUFs
07 Dec   -10    15 to 20% below predicted monthly values
08 Dec     0    Depressed 15 to 20%/near predicted monthly values
09 Dec    10    Near predicted monthly values

COMMENT:  IPS HF communications Warning 13 will be issued today for
interval 07-08 December.
-- 
IPS Regional Warning Centre, Sydney       |IPS Radio and Space Services
RWC Duty Forecaster   tel: +61 2 4148329  |PO Box 5606
Recorded Message      tel: +61 2 4148330  |West Chatswood NSW 2057
email: rwc at ips.oz.au  fax: +61 2 4148331  |AUSTRALIA

-------------------------------------
E-mail: frenaye at pcnet.com

Tom Frenaye, K1KI 
P O Box 386
West Suffield CT 06093
-------------------------------------



>From Steve Sample <aa9ax at iglou.com>  Thu Dec  8 05:05:56 1994
From: Steve Sample <aa9ax at iglou.com> (Steve Sample)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 00:05:56 -0500 (EST)
Subject: AA4NC ARRL 160
Message-ID: <Pine.SOL.3.91.941208000429.4689A-100000 at iglou>

On Wed, 7 Dec 1994, Clark wrote:

> 
> 
As you can see, Clark wrote nothing.  There was a msg header and no 
text.  I'm always interested in reading my personal mail, so can you send 
it again?  Thanks & 73...Steve/AA9AX

>From D.C. Henderson" <n0dh at comtch.iea.com  Thu Dec  8 06:48:29 1994
From: D.C. Henderson" <n0dh at comtch.iea.com (D.C. Henderson)
Date: Wed, 7 Dec 1994 22:48:29 -0800 (PST)
Subject: 160 2nd night
Message-ID: <Pine.SV4.3.91.941207224050.10469A-100000 at comtch>

On Wed, 7 Dec 1994 fish at crl.com wrote:

> Regarding the DX window:  Blaaaaa!!!  
> ---
> Bill Fisher, KM9P   -    Concentric Systems, Inc.  
>

There's a special place in Hell for you Bill and it's sounds a whole lot 
like trying to work DX on 160 from WA,OR or BC in an eternity of the ARRL 
160 meter contest.

All kidding aside N6TR said it best from my point of view as well, good 
call Tree!

Dave
N0DH/7
Sokane,Wa
n0dh at comtch.iea.com

"The bad news...life is hard
  The good news...life is short
   The moral...contest often, chase Dx and women, eat desert first".

>From Field, Don" <field at btq2ec.igw.bt.co.uk  Fri Dec  9 09:39:00 1994
From: Field, Don" <field at btq2ec.igw.bt.co.uk (Field, Don)
Date: Fri, 09 Dec 94 09:39:00 GMT
Subject: 160 Window
Message-ID: <2EE6D3AA at smtpgate.agw.bt.co.uk>

I sent the following to N0DH who made the suggestion about Europeans using 
1880-1890. However, as several folks have asked for comments from our side of 
the pond I will post it here as well. As it happens, and despite one message 
I saw on here, there was no problem at all in hearing US stations on 160 from 
Europe last weekend. We do NOT have BC QRM here - 1830-1850 is now exclusive 
to amateurs, though the rest of 160 is shared with other services. The 
problem was making ourselves heard.

Quite frankly, it doesn't bother me. As was stated, this is not a DX to DX 
contest, so I find it quite frustrating hearing Caribbean stations, 5T5CJ, 
PY0FF, etc, and not being able to work them. And I can work the US anytime. 
So don't clear the DX window for our benefit - I'd just as soon stay in bed. 
But if you folks want to work Europeans, then you do need to think seriously 
about how you should do it, because it was very frustrating calling stations 
who were S8 and endlessly CQing, and not getting any replies. I run 400 watts 
out in that part of the band where we are allowed to, and was using an 
inverted-L at 55ft, with a couple of thousand feet of radials. In CQWWCW I 
worked 68 countries, and about 100 W/VE, so I reckon my signal is getting 
across there, but just isn't as loud as all the W/VE on the band. Next year I 
may just give it a miss!

Will be passing briefly through San Antonio, Chicago & Washington next week, 
but probably no time to meet contesters. Maybe Dayton or Visalia next year 
(anybody have the dates yet?).

 73 Don G3XTT

=========

Message as sent to N0DH:

The problem is that many European countries have only 1830-1850, as the rest 
of the band is used by other services (ship to shore, navigation beacons, 
etc.). Here in the UK we have 1810-2000, but the power limit for most of that 
remains at 10 watts. The power limit is now 400 watts between 1830-1850, as 
there are now no other services in that segment with which we might interfere.

When I first started operating on 160 in 1968, the usual arrangement was for 
European stations to transmit in the 1825-1830 segment, and listen 1800-1810 
for DX. Once receivers started to improve, the trend was to work DX co-
channel (a bad idea in my view, but the trend has been inexorable) in the 
1820-1830 range - in other words this became traditionally reserved for 
intercontinental QSOs. However, as more European countries were licensed for 
160 (back in 1968 it was only G, 9H, ZB, OK, HB9, OE, DL as I recall), many 
had only narrow allocations above 1830 (or, when USSR stations came back on 
in the 70's, only above 1850 at first), so band-planning became a nightmare. 
Eventually, IARU region 1 recommended a split at 1840, with CW below and SSB 
above. This works reasonably well (except in contests), though DL stations 
were for many years restricted to a small slot around 1835 for SSB, and still 
tend to congregate there. However, it meant that intercontinental QSOs have 
tended to take place wherever a country has an allocation, leading to the 
present chaos. The only realistic place to reserve as a DX window for 
Europeans to transmit, to cater for most countries' allocations, would be 
somewhere in the 1830-1840 range, but I simply can't see the guys at your end 
buying that one. 

It's certainly hard work - I called many US stations at the weekend who were 
S7/8 here, but very few came back - I worked only about 30 W/VE in the end. 
Much easier in CQWW CW, presumably because there are far fewer QSOs taking 
place WITHIN N.America.

73 Don G3XTT

>From Karl-Heinz Merscher" <Karl-Heinz.Merscher at uvw.uni-bayreuth.de  Thu Dec  8 09:59:07 1994
From: Karl-Heinz Merscher" <Karl-Heinz.Merscher at uvw.uni-bayreuth.de (Karl-Heinz Merscher)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 10:59:07 +0100
Subject: Scores CQWW CW SO/SB DL6RDE
Message-ID: <C3243C6C7B at btv0g2.nov.uni-bayreuth.de>

                   CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST  1994


      Call: DL6RDE                 Country:  Fed. Rep. of Germany
      Mode: CW                      Category: SO/SB low power

      BAND     QSO   QSO PTS  PTS/QSO   ZONES COUNTRIES


      160       0        0     0.00      0       0
       80        0        0     0.00      0       0
       40        0        0     0.00      0       0
       20        0        0     0.00      0       0
       15      183      322     1.76     29      68
       10        0        0     0.00      0       0
     ---------------------------------------------------

     Totals    183      322     1.76     29      68  =>  31,234



>From p_casier at eunet.be (Peter Casier)  Thu Dec  8 13:44:37 1994
From: p_casier at eunet.be (Peter Casier) (Peter Casier)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 14:44:37 +0100
Subject: multi/multi hardship hi
Message-ID: <199412081344.OAA03133 at box.eunet.be>


> Dearodearodear.... At ZM2K, the only running water is from a plastic 
> container, or you can stick your head in the trough outside if you are 
> game enough.

>Hrumph. Luxury! This time of year at VE7ZZZ we have to chip through the 
>ice in the rain barrel to get at the wet stuff. By mid-January even that 
>doesn't work as the whole lot is frozen solid.
>

Let me share our smiley from over the pond: OT4A is the Belgian m/m site,
located on an old fortress near Lier. The fort, dated early 1800's or so
once was part of a defense belt to protect Antwerp from the French resp.
Germans.
3 rows of 300 ft long brick buildings, walls 6-7 ft thick, roof with 7 ft of
concrete, nothing helped much stopping the Germans. During WW1, with their
new artillery reaching further than the defense guns of the fort, they
bombed the damned place until it surrendered.
 
So parts of the roof are blown away (quite impressive!), but a lot of it is
still intact. Though the fort was abandonned and forgotten, the hams of Lier
spent years trying to turn the ruins into a good contest site. This involved
taking down trees and scraping 10 ft of earth from the roofs (roofs were
covered with earth as a camouflage). They installed 8, 9 selfsupporting 75
ft and 100ft towers, anchored into the roof (the roof being already 30 ft high).

Of course the last thing to be refurbished were the shacks. The first year
they were just in time for the cqww in cleaning two machine gun outposts,
for two shacks. The main kitchen was in a red cross tent, 2 bands were
sheltered in real small caravans. Mark, ON4WW and I run 10m (remember when
10 was still hot, 4 years ago?) from a van.

That first cqww contest weekend, it rained cats and dogs the whole time,
turning the area into a marsh. Water roose to 10 inches around our van. If
we wanted to go to the shacks sheltered on top of the roof, we had to climb
30 ft up a real steep mud hill, sliding down more than going up (have you
seen the movie 'Hamburger hill'? Well...). At that time, we had not
discovered computers nor networking yet, so every mult passed to another
band, had to be 'handcarried' up the hill. By the end of the contest, we
were all covered with mud, tired from belly sliding down the hill, but happy.

The next year, it was a priority to get the shacks straightened out. Mark
and I were going to run 10m again, and found what looked a pretty dry old
gun powder storage room. Preparing for the contest, we dug our way in, as
the place was filled with 3 ft of earth and cleaned it up. One week before
the contest, it started raining, and the water leaked through the roof. We
installed wooden palets on the floor, and hang thick large plastic tarps
against the walls and under the roof. By the time the contest started, 200
liters of water was stacked on the tarps, hanging above our heads, ready to
come down any time... hi. 
The same weekend as the cqww, the indoor shooting range in the same
building, had a contest too. The shooting was soo loud it triggered our
voxes and kept us from sleeping.
The worse part nevertheless was that we did not get our high power license
in time, so that contest, we run m/m with 100 Watts. Imagine that. Low power
m/m.

The next year was better. 10m run from an old shack, once used to sell
french fries on the streets (what a smell!). 40m run from a tent inside the
building, and 20m had a new shack, heated by a woodstove, spitting out ashes
all over the equipment. Had a high power licence then, but 3 amps and 5 rigs
were taken out when lightning hit the area at T minus 5 minutes. This must
have been around the same time when the 80m crew was sitting in an
inflatable dingy, in the middle of the ditch, surrounding the fortress,
trying to get some beverages over the water. The guys got so scared because
of the lightning, that they cut through the rubber and found themselves in
the water in no time.

A few years have gone by, and by now the OT*A gang all have decent shelters.
I even heard they have toilets now, and running water. And we, we run OT*T
from a warm and comfortable home with the only inconvenience being 'getting
too hot because of the amps'...

Those were the days.

Are we having fun yet? Am curious to read more war stories from other sites. hi.

Peter
ON6TT.

p_casier at box.eunet.be


>From Wirzenius Jari <HATJWI at HATMAIL.HATFI1.msgw.kone.com>  Thu Dec  8 23:51:00 1994
From: Wirzenius Jari <HATJWI at HATMAIL.HATFI1.msgw.kone.com> (Wirzenius Jari)
Date: Thu, 08 Dec 94 15:51:00 PST
Subject: ARRL 160 m contest
Message-ID: <2EE79C71 at msgw.kone.com>


I feel a lot same as did G3XTT. Although I run only 100 W to N4KG special I 
have made many contacts with JA with strong signals, but US seems very hard 
to work. This may partly indicate that my antenna is radiating best towards 
JA and the reason maybe the good grounding towards JA. As I have abt 30 
straight groundwire towards my house which is to the JA direction from the 
tower and around the house I have 60 m loop of ground wire.

But when the band is not too crowded I have made so far few state side QSO's 
on 160 m. In the both CQ WW and ARRL contest I tried to call the loudest US 
stations with S 7-9 sigs (I listen with my N4KG special too, no beverages or 
small loops yet). They would not answer. Normally  the signals should go 
through, but I think most of US stations with loud signals would need a 
hearing aid. I know stations from OH who worked with full legal (600W) 
power, and they did not get through either. So there must be some serious 
problems with hearing.

There was no trouble for me to copy the loudest signals. PY0FF was booming 
to EU as well as 9X5EE in CQ WW, but my little pistol was not enough.

73's Jari, OH2BVE
jari.wirzenius at kone.com

>From Fred Cady ieefc at msu.oscs.montana.edu" <fred_c at ece.ee.montana.edu  Thu Dec  8 12:51:02 1994
From: Fred Cady ieefc at msu.oscs.montana.edu" <fred_c at ece.ee.montana.edu (Fred Cady ieefc at msu.oscs.montana.edu)
Date: Thu, 08 Dec 1994 07:51:02 EST
Subject: C6AHX CQWW SCORE
Message-ID: <009889F8.E97B8220.2 at ece.ee.montana.edu>

Sorry it's so late.  
                    CQ WORLD WIDE DX CONTEST -- 1994
 
 
      Call: C6AHX                    Country:  Bahamas
      Mode: CW                       Category: Multi Single
 
      BAND     QSO   QSO PTS  PTS/QSO   ZONES COUNTRIES
 
 
      160      272      562     2.07     14      37
       80      730     1607     2.20     21      72
       40     1433     3401     2.37     29     101
       20     1287     2945     2.29     32      91
       15     1019     2615     2.57     25      92
       10      255      627     2.46     19      64
     ---------------------------------------------------
 
     Totals   4996    11757     2.35    140     457  =>  7,018,929
 
Operator List: _WM2C, WS4E, NF6S, K0PP, N7HKW, KE7X _______________________
 
 
QSL FOR C6AHX WA4WTG
 
 

>From Morao Esteban <z801183a at bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us>  Thu Dec  8 14:53:37 1994
From: Morao Esteban <z801183a at bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us> (Morao Esteban)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 09:53:37 -0500 (EST)
Subject: X-mas!
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9412080932.A16078-0100000 at bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us>

		 *
		***
	       *****
	      *******
	     *********
	    ***********			
 	   *************
          ***************
		***
		***	
		***	Merry Christmas
		***	      And 
		***       Happy 1995 
		    From: Steve W4/YV5DTA
		 
		z801183a at bcfreenet.seflin.lib.fl.us



>From Bob McGwier <n4hy at ccr-p.ida.org>  Thu Dec  8 16:08:26 1994
From: Bob McGwier <n4hy at ccr-p.ida.org> (Bob McGwier)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 11:08:26 -0500
Subject: N2RM Operation
Message-ID: <199412081608.LAA00402 at wahoo.ccr-p.ida.org>



>rather than operate with that clique-ish N2RM crowd. I'm sure any more
>operators there 

I didn't notice any smiley's here so I can only assume you are serious.  Are
you really kidding?  Every time I have operated there, more than one operator
is there that has not operated a contest before, and is not a member of
a contest club.  If you mean they give some preference for FRC folks (so
the score for the FRC is bolstered), then you're probably right, but so what?

Bob

Dr. Robert W. McGwier              | n4hy at ccr-p.ida.org: ham radio, scouts,
Center for Communications Research | astronomy, golf (o yea, & math!) ASM
Princeton, N.J. 08520              | Troop 5700, ACM Pack 53, Sanhican #2 WWW,
(609)-279-6240(v) (609)-924-3061(f)| District and Council Activities Chair.
(609-443-8963 (h)                  | I used to be a Buffalo . . . NE III-120
                                   | proud parent in Brownie Troop 196


>From Dick Dievendorff" <dieven at almaden.ibm.com  Thu Dec  8 17:36:23 1994
From: Dick Dievendorff" <dieven at almaden.ibm.com (Dick Dievendorff)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 09:36:23 -0800
Subject: Dayton/Visalia dates?
Message-ID: <9412080936.ZM24131 at penguin.almaden.ibm.com>

A friend in the UK wants the dates for the Visalia DX convention and the Dayton
Hamvention in 1995.  All I know is "April".  Can someone provide the correct
dates?

Dick Dievendorff, dieven at almaden.ibm.com
AA6MC


>From sellington" <sellington at mail.ssec.wisc.edu  Thu Dec  8 13:43:10 1994
From: sellington" <sellington at mail.ssec.wisc.edu (sellington)
Date: 8 Dec 94 13:43:10 U
Subject: ARRL 160 m contest
Message-ID: <9412081945.AA22021 at ns.PacBell.COM>

The stateside QRM level during the contest was incredible.  One thing
that's really important is accurate zero-beating.  About the best one
can hope for is a 400 Hz clear spot centered on the transmitter, and
there was always a loud station calling CQ right next door.  So, if
the station calling is 200 Hz off, he's buried under a very loud 
signal.  That happened to me many times.

Every once in a while, I check my transceiver with a separate receiver to
make sure it transmits exactly on the receive frequency, as most of 
them can drift around a bit.

Scott  K9MA
sellington at ssec.wisc.edu

>From jholly at hposl42.cup.hp.com (Jim Hollenback)  Thu Dec  8 20:29:46 1994
From: jholly at hposl42.cup.hp.com (Jim Hollenback) (Jim Hollenback)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 12:29:46 -0800
Subject: Callsigns
References: <Pine.SGI.3.90.941208130240.1463F-100000 at eagle>
Message-ID: <9412081229.ZM12539 at hpwsmjh.cup.hp.com>

On Dec 8,  1:09pm, Steve Harrison wrote:
> Subject: Re: Callsigns
> On Wed, 7 Dec 1994 W7NI at delphi.com wrote:
> 
> > Anyway, on 27MHz there are no offical callsigns these days.  You can 
> > use just about anything you want including your ham call.  In fact, you
> > can use anybody's ham call you want.  I wonder how long it would take
> > to change that rule if N4RH started showing up a lot on 27 MHz?
> > 
> WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!! Somewhere, I can't remember exactly where, the FCC 
> regulations specifically PROHIBIT the use of US ham calls in anything 
> other than a ham band. This question came up just a couple of months ago 
> in connection with another thread, I mentioned I had read in one of the 
> beginner's columns of QST that you cannot use your call on any other 
> telecommunications service, 
  ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Ahhh, then it should be okay to use your ham call on CB frequencies. CB
is not a telecommunications service. It is a sewer pipe.

Don't you have a copy of part 97? Should be able to look up the revelent
section yourself, right?

Jim, WA6SDM
jholly at cup.hp.com

>From Samoian, Richard J" <rsamoian at msmail2.hac.com  Thu Dec  8 20:33:01 1994
From: Samoian, Richard J" <rsamoian at msmail2.hac.com (Samoian, Richard J)
Date: 8 Dec 1994 12:33:01 -0800
Subject: Virus Warning
Message-ID: <9412082033.AA22884 at igate1.hac.com>

Just got a note at work to watch out for a new Virus that has been going
around America Online, and by now could be on other services also.  Beware,
if you receive anything that's called "Good Times" don't read or store it,
delete it!!!!!  It is a virus that will erases your hard drive. 
This is not a joke!!!!!!!!!!! 

>From oo7 at astro.as.utexas.edu (Derek Wills)  Thu Dec  8 20:38:30 1994
From: oo7 at astro.as.utexas.edu (Derek Wills) (Derek Wills)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 94 14:38:30 CST
Subject: Virus Warning
Message-ID: <9412082038.AA07395 at astro.as.utexas.edu>

	Just got a note at work to watch out for a new Virus that has 
        been going around America Online, and by now could be on other 
        services also.  Beware, if you receive anything that's called 
        "Good Times" don't read or store it, delete it!!!!!  It is a 
        virus that will erases your hard drive. This is not a joke!!!!!!!!!!! 

Of course it's a joke.  Ask Craig Shergold. 

Dave Rhodes, posting from the account of
Derek AA5BT, G3NMX - oo7 at astro.as.utexas.edu

>From Victor Burns-KI6IM <vburns at netcom.com>  Thu Dec  8 20:56:33 1994
From: Victor Burns-KI6IM <vburns at netcom.com> (Victor Burns-KI6IM)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 12:56:33 -0800 (PST)
Subject: Callsigns CB'ers etc.
Message-ID: <Pine.3.89.9412081253.A1884-0100000 at netcom16>

On Thu, 8 Dec 1994, Steve Harrison wrote:

> On Wed, 7 Dec 1994 W7NI at delphi.com wrote:

> > Anyway, on 27MHz there are no offical callsigns these days.  You can 
> > use just about anything you want including your ham call.  In fact, you
> > can use anybody's ham call you want.  I wonder how long it would take
> > to change that rule if N4RH started showing up a lot on 27 MHz?

> WRONG, WRONG, WRONG!!! Somewhere, I can't remember exactly where, the FCC 

[STUFF DELETED]

> reference in Part 97. Irrespective of WHATEVER other services do or are 
> allowed to do, YOU ARE, BY HAVING ACCEPTED YOUR HAM OPERATOR'S LICENSE, 
> REQUIRED TO FOLLOW THE RULES AND REGULATIONS UNDER WHICH THAT LICENSE IS 
> GRANTED!

But that would only apply to a licensed amateur using (his) callsign, so 
in theory you could use someone elses or some shmo CB'er could sign 
whatever he wants, as he has NOT accepted an amateur license!  Perhaps a 
contest on 11 Meters would be fun, we could all sign the same call 
(WN4KKN for example), with of course a 4 watt output limitation.

>From Joel B Levin <levin at BBN.COM>  Thu Dec  8 21:02:17 1994
From: Joel B Levin <levin at BBN.COM> (Joel B Levin)
Date: Thu, 08 Dec 94 16:02:17 -0500
Subject: Virus Warning
Message-ID: <5332.786920537 at bbn.com>

Sorry to fill the CQ-C airwaves, but this needs to be quashed.  I'll
try to excerpt.

             U.S. DOE's Computer Incident Advisory Capability
           ___  __ __    _     ___           __  __ __   __   __
          /       |     /_\   /       |\ |  /  \   |    |_   /_
          \___  __|__  /   \  \___    | \|  \__/   |    |__  __/

Number 94-04                                                December 6, 1994
...
Welcome to the fourth issue of CIAC Notes!  This is a special edition to
clear up recent reports of a "good times" virus-hoax.  Let us know if you
have topics you would like addressed or have feedback on what is useful and
what is not.  Please contact the editor, Allan L. Van Lehn, CIAC,
510-422-8193 or send E-mail to ciac at llnl.gov. 
...
THE "Good Times" VIRUS IS AN URBAN LEGEND

In the early part of December, CIAC started to receive information requests
about a supposed "virus" which could be contracted via America OnLine, simply
by reading a message.  The following is the message that CIAC received: 

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
| Here is some important information. Beware of a file called Goodtimes.    |
|                                                                           |
|  Happy Chanukah everyone, and be careful out there. There is a virus on   |
| America Online being sent by E-Mail.  If you get anything called "Good    |
| Times", DON'T read it or download it.  It is a virus that will erase your |
| hard drive.  Forward this to all your friends.  It may help them a lot.   |
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------

THIS IS A HOAX.  Upon investigation, CIAC has determined that this message
originated from both a user of America Online and a student at a university
at approximately the same time, and it was meant to be a hoax. 

CIAC has also seen other variations of this hoax, the main one is that any
electronic mail message with the subject line of "xxx-1" will infect your
computer. 
...
As of this date, there are no known viruses which can infect merely through
reading a mail message.  For a virus to spread some program must be executed.
Reading a mail message does not execute the mail message.  Yes, Trojans have
been found as executable attachments to mail messages, the most notorious
being the IBM VM Christmas Card Trojan of 1987, also the TERM MODULE Worm
(reference CIAC Bulletin B-7) and the GAME2 MODULE Worm (CIAC Bulletin B-12).
 But this is not the case for this particular "virus" alert. 

If you encounter this message being distributed on any mailing lists, simply
ignore it or send a follow-up message stating that this is a false rumor. 

Karyn Pichnarczyk
CIAC Team
ciac at llnl.gov
...
This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of
the United States Government.  Neither the United States Government nor the
University of California nor any of their employees, makes any warranty,
express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the
accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product,
or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately
owned rights.  Reference herein to any specific commercial products, process,
or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not
necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation or favoring
by the United States Government or the University of California.  The views
and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect
those of the United States Government or the University of California, and
shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes. 

>From mraz at maverick.aud.alcatel.com (Kris I. Mraz)  Thu Dec  8 21:22:42 1994
From: mraz at maverick.aud.alcatel.com (Kris I. Mraz) (Kris I. Mraz)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 94 15:22:42 CST
Subject: Virus Warning
Message-ID: <9412082122.AA00750 at maverick.aud.alcatel.com>

> 
> Just got a note at work to watch out for a new Virus that has been going
> around America Online, and by now could be on other services also.  Beware,
> if you receive anything that's called "Good Times" don't read or store it,
> delete it!!!!!  It is a virus that will erases your hard drive. 
> This is not a joke!!!!!!!!!!! 
> 

FYI. [I've deleted the attributions for clarity]:

> >Welcome to the fourth issue of CIAC Notes!  This is a special edition to
> >clear up recent reports of a "good times" virus-hoax.  Let us know if you
> >have topics you would like addressed or have feedback on what is useful and
> >what is not.  Please contact the editor, Allan L. Van Lehn, CIAC,
> >510-422-8193 or send E-mail to ciac at llnl.gov.

> >THE "Good Times" VIRUS IS AN URBAN LEGEND
> >
> >In the early part of December, CIAC started to receive information requests
> >about a supposed "virus" which could be contracted via America OnLine, simpl
y
> >by reading a message.  The following is the message that CIAC received:
> >
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >| Here is some important information. Beware of a file called Goodtimes.
|
> >|
|
> >|  Happy Chanukah everyone, and be careful out there. There is a virus on
|
> >| America Online being sent by E-Mail.  If you get anything called "Good
|
> >| Times", DON'T read it or download it.  It is a virus that will erase your
|
> >| hard drive.  Forward this to all your friends.  It may help them a lot.
|
> > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> >THIS IS A HOAX.  Upon investigation, CIAC has determined that this message
> >originated from both a user of America Online and a student at a university
> >at approximately the same time, and it was meant to be a hoax.
> >
> >CIAC has also seen other variations of this hoax, the main one is that any
> >electronic mail message with the subject line of "xxx-1" will infect your
> >computer.
> >
> >This rumor has been spreading very widely.  This spread is due mainly to the
> >fact that many people have seen a message with "Good Times" in the header.
> >They delete the message without reading it, thus believing that they have
> >saved themselves from being attacked. These first-hand reports give a false
> >sense of credibility to the alert message.
> >
> >There has been one confirmation of a person who received a message with
> >"xxx-1" in the header, but an empty message body.  Then, (in a panic, becaus
e
> >he had heard the alert), he checked his PC for viruses (the first time he
> >checked his machine in months) and found a pre-existing virus on his machine.

>From tree at cmicro.com (Larry Tyree)  Thu Dec  8 21:04:07 1994
From: tree at cmicro.com (Larry Tyree) (Larry Tyree)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 94 13:04:07 PST
Subject: Crowded bands
Message-ID: <9412082104.AA24698 at cmicro.com>

I K9MA writes:

> So, if
> the station calling is 200 Hz off, he's buried under a very loud 
> signal.  That happened to me many times.

Something that I had happen about 5 times is calling someone and having
two people answer me (the intended station and the station once "channel"
away).  This is something you should try to fix by sending the callsign of
the person you are working (I cheat and send his name most of the time).

That way when you call the other station, he won't think you are a dupe.

> Every once in a while, I check my transceiver with a separate receiver to
> make sure it transmits exactly on the receive frequency, as most of 
> them can drift around a bit.

This is an excellent idea.  The modern rigs have a sidetone that tracks
the offset, but if the alignment isn't perfect, it will be off.  One of
the things I really enjoy with my Drake C line is knowing for sure what
my offset sounded like.

Tree N6TR
tree at cmicro.com

>From k3lr <k3lr at telerama.lm.com>  Thu Dec  8 22:01:35 1994
From: k3lr <k3lr at telerama.lm.com> (k3lr)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 17:01:35 -0500
Subject: WW CW
Message-ID: <199412082201.RAA13330 at asia.lm.com>

 
 
K3LR 1994 CQ WW CW Multi-Multi 
 
Notes following my all time favorite contest:
 
160 meters:  IC-765 with 8877 amp.  3 ele vertical inline beam
 W3YQ op
 
        Nice EU run the 1st night. No VK or JA QSO this year.
        It was hard to keep YQ's interest after European sunrise.
        I think we can improve the front-to-back of the
        antenna by tuning the relectors.
 
 
 80 meters:  IC-781 with 8877 amp.  4 square vertical array
 K8CX op
 
        1st time for CX on 80 at LR. Band was pretty poor so
        no real runs this time.  5X came back to a CQ and nice  
        Sunday QSO with A71CW.  New double stubs (-68 dB) 
        allowed 40 meters to get very close to the 80 meter 
        2nd harmonic. 
        
 40 meters:  IC-781 with 8877 amp.  4 ele/ 4 ele @ 190'/100'
 K3LR op                            2 ele @ 140'
 
        My 2nd year as the 40 meter op.  I love this band!
        Nice hours at the start.  1st 4 hours were 63, 91, 87, 61.
        At 0900z the 1st day the top 4 element 40's rotor breaks.
        The antenna is now stuck at 290 degrees.  So the 100' and
        140' beams pick up the slack.  After a rest for a few hours,
        I went up to 190'and had WR3G release the brake, then pushed
        the beam to 45 degrees where it sat for the rest of the
        weekend.  This year we are not 400 qsos behind the other 
        multi multi operations.  I am happy with the new antennas!
        At least KR0Y can't say "Who was the shmuck on 40?" again
        this year.
 
 20 meters:  IC-781 with 8877 amp  5 el/5 el/5 el @ 170'/110'/50'
 NA8V op                           5 el @ 120'
 
        Greg wore his red stocking cap the entire 48 hours. Nice
        2nd hour of 72 into JA.  Best hours to Europe were 
        16Z (86) and 17Z (87) the 1st day. No hour was better than
        39 during the 2nd day.  
 
 15 meters:  IC-765 with 8877 amp  6 el/6el/6 el @ 120'/80'/40'
 WR3G op                           5 el @ 50'
 
        Scotty started off with a nice JA run the 1st hour.  
        Shame condx were punk to Europe.  Best hour to EU
        the 1st day was 25.  2nd day best hour was 117 with 
        one hand tied to the amplifier. Problems with the 
        blower in the amplifier meant Scotty had to keep
        his left hand on top of the amp. the entire contest.   
        Otherwise all RX sigs had AC buzz on them.  
        Very strange! Replacing a bypass capacitor and the 
        blower fixed the problem! (After the contest!)
 
 10 meters:   IC-765 with 8877 amp  7el/7el/7 el @ 99'/66'/33'
 K3KO op 1st day                    6 el @ 199'
 WD8IXE op 2nd day
         
        1st time at a multi multi for K3KO.  Brian did a nice
        job on the dead band.  Small EU opening gave us 23 qsos
        during the 15Z hour the 1st day.  FB op, Steve WD8IXE, 
        fresh from his trip to J6DX during WW Phone drove in 
        for 2nd day action and worked 25 new mults.
 
Band   QSOs   Zones   Countries
 
160    166     18      59
 80    347     25      88
 40   1020     38     128
 20   1343     38     134
 15    633     33     111 
 10    125     19      59
 
      3634    171     579  =  7.6 meg
 
      Nice 20 meter score from K1KI!  We are having lots of fun
      and I think we are getting better.  CU in Feb. ARRL DX CW.
 
73,
Tim K3LR
 
K3LR at telerama.lm.com
 

>From Kim Culhan <kimc at w8hd.org>  Thu Dec  8 22:11:35 1994
From: Kim Culhan <kimc at w8hd.org> (Kim Culhan)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 17:11:35 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Good Times
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.941208170452.17147C-100000 at w8hd2.w8hd.org>


Hmm.. just heard about the Good Times virus:


 	Just got a note at work to watch out for a new Virus that has 
        been going around America Online, and by now could be on other 
        services also.  Beware, if you receive anything that's called 
        "Good Times" don't read or store it, delete it!!!!!  It is a 
        virus that will erases your hard drive. This is not a joke!!!!!!!!!!! 

Have been watching for virus activity for some time now.. nothing so far.

The drive has been modified with a vacuum relay across the
record current generator for full-breakin-speed response.

Please report any more sightings and let me know if you need the schematic
for the relay circuit.

kim

--
kimc at w8hd.org


>From sellington" <sellington at mail.ssec.wisc.edu  Thu Dec  8 16:15:26 1994
From: sellington" <sellington at mail.ssec.wisc.edu (sellington)
Date: 8 Dec 94 16:15:26 U
Subject: Crowded bands

>Something that I had happen about 5 times is calling someone and having
>two people answer me (the intended station and the station one "channel"
>away).

Sometimes, of course, one can work them both at once.  (As long as the 
exchange doesn't have a serial number, of course.)  On the other hand,
there are always a few times I call someone, he says I'm a dupe, but
he's not in my log.  So I wonder how many of those are stations I didn't
even hear, but who thought I was working them earlier.  I usually just assume I
copied the call wrong the first time, or whatever, but the sensible 
thing would be to just work him again.  It's to his advantage too, as the
first "contact" may not be valid.

>From k8mr at barf80.nshore.org (Jim Stahl)  Thu Dec  8 20:33:02 1994
From: k8mr at barf80.nshore.org (Jim Stahl) (Jim Stahl)
Date: Thu, 08 Dec 94 15:33:02 EST
Subject: VHF FM Contest Times & Freqs
Message-ID: <R081wc1w165w at barf80.nshore.org>

 
The December 1994 QST contains two items promoting the use of FM
in VHF contests: "FM Contesting on Taylor Mountain" (P.71) and a
description in the June VHF QSO Party results of the K6MEP effort
to encourage FM contacts with members of its unnamed club (p.
114).  I applaud such efforts to expand awareness of and
participation in contests.
 
But these two reports, as well as the recent K3MQH/Gaithersburg
Hamfest controversy, highlight a fundamental consideration in FM 
contest operation: that some planning and promotion of
frequencies and times is needed to sort the potential contest
activity from the much larger volume of casual contacts and dead
air.  It's not enough just to say try FM.  Specific frequencies
and suggested times need to be established.
 
Just as all smaller HF contests publish suggested frequencies and
in some cases suggested times (for example for 160 meter
operation) the QST VHF contest announcements should list several
suggested FM frequencies per band and times to check them. The
frequencies should be spaced across the band to minimize adjacent
channel interference. (For example, 146.43, 146.58, one or two in
the 147 slot, and perhaps one in the 145.5-145.8 slot).  Specific
times to check FM should be included (such as even GMT hours, on
the hour).  
 
Such recommendations appearing with the contest announcements
would do much to promote FM QSOs with contest participants other
than those connected with large clubs or with friends hanging out
at conveniently located hamfests.  
 
It's too late to publish any information for the VHF SS, but this
idea could be tried in January by timely use of the ARRL Official
Bulletin System.  There is nothing to lose except the likeihood
of keeping a lot of FM only hams ignorant of the fun of VHF DX
and contests.

Jim Stahl  K8MR     k8mr at barf80.nshore.org

----------------------------
Jim Stahl
InterNet: k8mr at barf80.nshore.org
Basic Amateur Radio Frequency, BARF-80 +1 216/237-8208
"Totally devoted to Amateur Radio" - 24 Hrs a day 8/N/1 14.4k-300 baud

>From Steven Affens <k3sa at access.digex.net>  Thu Dec  8 22:33:22 1994
From: Steven Affens <k3sa at access.digex.net> (Steven Affens)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 1994 17:33:22 -0500 (EST)
Subject: Virus Warning
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.941208173147.7387A-100000 at access4.digex.net>

There was a story in the Washington Post here today about this.  The 
conventonal wisdom is that reading a TEXT file can not cause any problems 
that are virus related.  So just ignore it.

Steven C. Affens
K3SA at ACCESS.DIGEX.NET


On Thu, 8 Dec 1994, Derek Wills wrote:

> 	Just got a note at work to watch out for a new Virus that has 
>         been going around America Online, and by now could be on other 
>         services also.  Beware, if you receive anything that's called 
>         "Good Times" don't read or store it, delete it!!!!!  It is a 
>         virus that will erases your hard drive. This is not a joke!!!!!!!!!!! 
> 
> Of course it's a joke.  Ask Craig Shergold. 
> 
> Dave Rhodes, posting from the account of
> Derek AA5BT, G3NMX - oo7 at astro.as.utexas.edu
> 

>From k2mm at MasPar.COM (John Zapisek)  Thu Dec  8 23:19:34 1994
From: k2mm at MasPar.COM (John Zapisek) (John Zapisek)
Date: Thu, 8 Dec 94 15:19:34 PST
Subject: VHF FM Contest Times & Freqs
Message-ID: <9412082319.AA05553 at greylock.local>

> [Jim/K8MR]  QST VHF contest announcements should list several suggested
> FM frequencies per band . . .  For example, 146.43, 146.58 . . .

Here in the SF-Bay area, 146.58 is a coordinated PacketCluster frequency.
Strange but true.  With the current huge differences among regional
bandplans, I think suggesting specific simplex frequencies on a national
basis could be problematic.

73.  --John/K2MM



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