Amateur Radio Mesh Network Brought into Mix as Volunteers Assist in South
African Fire Disaster: An intense winter storm and severe drought in South
Africa's Western Cape region earlier this month resulted in devastating fires
that ravaged parts of the Southern Cape Area, with the city of Knysna being the
 worst affected. Some fires were reported still burning, but contained, this
week after winds subsided over the weekend. Johan Terblanche, ZS1I, in Mossel
Bay, who administers the Amateur Radio Emergency Data Network (AREDN) Mossel
Bay Mesh Network, said the call for volunteers went out on June 8, after
cellphone, internet, and landline telephone service was disrupted in many
areas. A half-dozen volunteers reported, an emergency net was activated, and
message traffic was handled via the AREDN, as well as on HF, VHF, and UHF.
Disaster communication links remained active until normal telecommunication
service was restored on June 11, but the AREDN remained on high alert,
Terblanche said. The fire disaster resulted in several fatalities, the
destruction of more than 430 dwellings, and thousands of evacuees remain
displaced. Disaster relief efforts continue. -- Thanks to Johan Terblanche,
ZS1I, via Southgate Amateur Radio News


Radio Amateur Hears Cassini Spacecraft: Paul Marsh, M0EYT, has confirmed
reception of the Cassini spacecraft, now in orbit around Saturn. "I copied
Cassini on 8,429.247035 MHz during its last radio occultation experiment, where
 the TX is carrier-only mode on S, X, and Ka bands," Marsh told ARRL. "I was
using my 2.4-meter antenna at the time." Marsh said his homebrew downconverter
is locked to a 10-MHz station reference, and SDR processing is done with the RF
 Space kit. Launched in 1997, Cassini will crash into Saturn in early
September. The research spacecraft, which carried the European Space Agency's
Huygens probe now on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan, currently is executing
 about 2 dozen dives through Saturn's rings. The Huygens probe separated from
the orbiter
in 2004 and transmitted data to Earth using the orbiter as a relay. This was
the first successful landing in the outer solar system. Marsh is heavily
involved with satellite tracking and monitoring activities and is a contributor
 to the Amateur Deep Space Network (Amateur-DSN) Yahoo! Group.



The K7RA Solar Update

Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: At 2311 UTC on June 14 the Australian Space
Weather Forecast Centre issued a geomagnetic disturbance warning, predicting
geomagnetic activity to reach active levels -- with isolated minor storming
possible -- on June 16. A very fast-moving stream of solar wind from a coronal
hole is expected to arrive on June 16, possibly sparking G1-class geomagnetic
storms as well as auroral displays at high latitudes.

We saw four zero-sunspot days over the past week, so the average daily sunspot
number declined from 19.3 to 4.9 from the previous 7 days. Average daily solar
flux for the June 8-14 reporting week
dipped from 77.1 to 74.4.

Average daily planetary A index increased from 5.6 to 7.3 and average
mid-latitude A index went from 5.6 to 6.9. Over the June 1-7 reporting week,
the mid-latitude and planetary A indices were both 5.6.

Predicted solar flux is 74 on June 15-21; 72 on June 22-24; 70 on June 25; 75
on June 26-July 7; 78 on July 8; 78, 77, 78, 76, and 74 on July 8-12; 72 on
July 13-21; 70 on July 22-23, and 75 on July 24 and beyond.

Predicted planetary A index is 15, 25, 15, 12, and 10 on June 15-19; 5 on June
20-July 8; 15, 12, 8, 15, 25, and 15 on July 9-14; 12 on July 15-16, and 5 on
July 17 and beyond.

Sunspot numbers for June 8 through 14, 2017 were 12, 0, 0, 0, 0, 11, and 11,
with a mean of 4.9. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 74, 73.7, 74.7, 74.3, 75.2,
74.9, and 74.1, with a mean of 74.4. Estimated planetary A indices were 4, 5,
4, 17, 8, 8, and 5, with a mean of 7.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were
5, 6, 5, 14, 6, 6, and 6, with a mean of 6.9.

Send me your reports and observations!

____________________________________________________________________________


Just Ahead in Radiosport

 *  June 17 -- Feld Hell Sprint
 *  June 17 -- AGCW VHF/UHF Contest (CW)
 *  June 17-18 -- All Asian DX Contest (CW)
 *  June 17-18 -- SMIRK Contest (CW, phone)
 *  June 17-18 -- Ukrainian DX Classic RTTY Contest
 *  June 17-18 -- ARR BPSK63 Contest
 *  June 17-18 -- IARU Region 1 50 MHz Contest (CW, phone)
 *  June 17-18 -- Stew Perry Topband Challenge (CW)
 *  June 17-18 -- West Virginia QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)
 *  June 18 -- WAB 50 MHz Phone
 *  June 18 -- Kids Day Contest (phone)
 *  June 19 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)
 *  June 22 -- NAQCC CW Sprint
 *  June 22 -- RSGB 80-Meter Club Championship (SSB)

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.

____________________________________________________________________________


Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions

 *  June 16-18 -- Utah State Convention, Garden City, Utah
 *  June 17 -- Tennessee State Convention, Knoxville, Tennessee
 *  Jul 7-8 -- Northern Florida Section Convention, Milton, Florida
 *  July 14-16 -- Montana State Convention, Essex, Montana
 *  July 21-22 -- Oklahoma State Convention, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
 *  July 27-30 -- Central States VHF Society Conference, Albuquerque, New
    Mexico
 *  August 4-5 -- South Texas Section Convention, Austin, Texas
 *  August 4-6 -- Pacific Northwest DX Convention, Spokane, Washington
 *  Aug 11-13 -- New Mexico State Convention, Albuquerque, New Mexico
 *  August 12 -- Delta Division Convention, Shreveport, Louisiana
 *  August 18-20 -- West Virginia State Convention, Weston, West Virginia
 *  August 19-20 -- Alabama State Convention, Huntsville, Alabama
 *  August 20 -- Kansas State Convention, Salina, Kansas
 *  September 1-3 -- North Carolina State Convention, Shelby, North Carolina
 *  September 8-10 -- New England Division Convention, Boxboro,
    Massachusetts
 *  September 9 -- Virginia Section Convention, Virginia Beach, Virginia
 *  September 10 -- New Jersey State Convention, Mullica Hill, New Jersey
 *  September 15-16 -- W9DXCC Convention, Schaumburg, Illinois
 *  September 15-17 -- Southwestern Division Convention, Torrance,
    California
 *  September 23 -- Iowa State Convention, Sergeant Bluff, Iowa
 *  September 23 -- Washington State Convention, Spokane Valley, Washington
 *  September 30 -- North Dakota State Convention, West Fargo, North Dakota

Find conventions and hamfests in your area.

____________________________________________________________________________


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)\/(ark

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Do you manage your own servers? If you are not running an IDS/IPS yer doin' it
wrong...
... Never *ever* attack the United States. - 3nd Law of War
---
 * Origin:  (1:3634/12.73)