Thursday, March 31, 2011

UK Ofcom Caught Lying on BPL/PLT (No April Fool)

Ofcom, the UK "FCC," has been caught in a lie, or at least a strong political spin, regarding the legality of a popular device used widely in that country for in-home Broadband over Power Lines/ Power Line Telecomm (BPL/PLT).

On the record, Ofcom has long maintained the position that the equipment operates within the law as it exists in that country. However, a legal request for documents has recently turned up a test result commissioned by Ofcom, which was apparently suppressed when it came back showing the units well in excess of electromagnetic compatibility standards.

At present, it strongly appears that a major UK regulatory agency developed a policy for political rather than engineering reasons, and then spent years intentionally covering up data in conflict with this policy. There, as here, the word for this is corruption.

Here's the first part of a story in The Register UK:

Ofcom forced to publish tests on dodgy radio kit
FOI request prompts action
By Bill Ray
Posted in Wireless, 31st March 2011 12:07 GMT

Ofcom has been forced to disclose its own tests showing that powerline networking kit does breach the European EMC Directive, but still won't do anything to enforce compliance.

Despite claiming there was no evidence that PLT kit built by Comtrend and supplied by BT was breaching EU rules on electromagnetic emissions, the regulator has now been forced by a Freedom of Information request to publish independent research, commissioned by them, which shows exactly that.

The request was pursued by Peter Walker, a radio amateur who eventually had to take Ofcom to an ICO Tribunal to get the regulator to hand over the study - which appears to contradict Ofcom's line in stating that the equipment tested, which was supplied by Ofcom, does not comply with the standards required by EU legislation.

...

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Recent FEMA ALE Hits, by Frequency

4780.0 -- FC8FEM002
5402.0 -- FR7FEM
7348.0 -- FC8, FM8FEM
8050.0 -- FC8
9462.0 -- FC0FEM, FC0FEM008, FC8, FC8FEM, FC8FEM004, FR3FEM, FR5FEM
10194.0 -- FC0FEM, FC0FEM008, FC6FEM001, FC8, FC8FEM, FC8FEM004, FM8FEM, FR7FEM
10493.0 -- FC8
10588.0 -- FC0FEM, FC6FEM001, FC8, FM8FEM, FR1FEM, FR7FEM
11108.0 -- FC0FEM008
12216.0 -- FC0FEM008, FC6FEM001, FC8FEM004
13446.0 -- FC0FEM, FC8, FC8FEM, FM8FEM, FR5FEM
13894.0 -- FC0FEM002
14776.0 -- FC0FEM, FC1FEM, FC4FEM, FC6FEM001, FC8, FC8FEM, FM8FEM, FR4FEM
15708.0 -- FC0FEM, FC8, FC8FEM004, FR1FEM, FR5FEM
16201.0 -- FC0, FC0FEM, FC0FEM008
19969.0 -- FC0FEM008, FC6FEM001, FR4FEM, FR5FEM, FR7FEM
21866.0 -- FC4FEM, FR1FEM, FR5FEM

Friday, March 11, 2011

E10 is QRT!

First, an apology.

I work hard at keeping up with all this. I have sniffed out fishery frequencies at a time when that operation has good reason to be as secretive as any military. I have followed Libyan air ops via remotes. I have kept up with 11 other trouble spots.

At the same time, I have run daily cruises through 10 MHz of suddenly active HF spectrum looking for whatever changes have occurred in the past 6 spotless years.

It would appear, however, that I didn't try hard enough. My only excuse is that the human brain has its limits. In this case, it meant that I got behind on the ENIGMA 2000 list.

Today I just saw something that everyone else has known about for 10 days. E10, the Israeli Intelligence Phonetic Alphabet Station, the largest or second largest "numbers" operation in the world, has not transmitted since March first. The extensive network of ENIGMA members, which has followed every photon coming from E10 for years, reports only nil.

The shutting down of E10, even if it comes back eventually, is huge utility news. No one knows why this has happened, and probably no one ever will. The timing appears superficially to be interesting, but then this could also be simply looking for connections that don't exist. There is no information upon which to base a conclusion at this time.

More when I stop watching tsunami activity in CA.

Heads up! CONUS West Coast Now Tsunami Warned!

http://1.usa.gov/b0bOUt

TSUNAMI MESSAGE NUMBER 4
NWS WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER PALMER AK
1244 AM PST FRI MAR 11 2011

THIS MESSAGE UPDATES THE ALERT STATUS TO WARNING AND ADVISORY.

...A TSUNAMI WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE
COASTAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA AND OREGON FROM POINT
CONCEPCION CALIFORNIA TO THE OREGON-WASHINGTON BORDER...

...A TSUNAMI WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE
COASTAL AREAS OF ALASKA FROM AMCHITKA PASS ALASKA/125 MILES
W OF ADAK/ TO ATTU ALASKA...

...THE TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS EXPANDED TO INCLUDE THE COASTAL
AREAS OF CALIFORNIA FROM THE CALIFORNIA-MEXICO BORDER TO
POINT CONCEPCION CALIFORNIA...

...THE TSUNAMI ADVISORY IS EXPANDED TO INCLUDE THE COASTAL
AREAS OF WASHINGTON - BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA FROM THE
OREGON-WASHINGTON BORDER TO CHIGNIK BAY ALASKA...

...THE TSUNAMI ADVISORY CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTAL
AREAS OF ALASKA FROM CHIGNIK BAY ALASKA TO AMCHITKA PASS
ALASKA/125 MILES W OF ADAK/...

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED WHICH IS EXPECTED TO CAUSE DAMAGE
TO THE WARNING AND/OR ADVISORY REGIONS LISTED IN THE HEADLINE.
PERSONS IN LOW-LYING COASTAL AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT TO
INSTRUCTIONS FROM THEIR LOCAL EMERGENCY OFFICIALS. EVACUATIONS
ARE ONLY ORDERED BY EMERGENCY RESPONSE AGENCIES.
- PERSONS IN TSUNAMI WARNING COASTAL AREAS SHOULD MOVE INLAND TO
HIGHER GROUND.

- PERSONS IN TSUNAMI ADVISORY COASTAL AREAS SHOULD MOVE OUT OF
THE WATER... OFF THE BEACH AND OUT OF HARBORS AND MARINAS.

MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI ACTIVITY

LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL
------------------------ ----- ------ ------- -----------
TOSASHIMIZU JAPAN 32.8N 132.9E 0747UTC 00.9FT/00.27M
TOKAI JAPAN 33.8N 137.6E 0645UTC 00.8FT/00.25M
OFUNATO JAPAN 39.0N 141.8E 0605UTC 10.8FT/03.29M
HANASAKI JAPAN 43.3N 145.6E 0643UTC 09.3FT/02.82M
BOSO JAPAN 34.8N 140.8E 0609UTC 02.6FT/00.78M

TIME - TIME OF MEASUREMENT
AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDES ARE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL.
IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT.
VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT).

DEEP OCEAN SENSORS INDICATE A LARGE TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED.

PRELIMINARY EARTHQUAKE PARAMETERS
MAGNITUDE - 8.9
TIME - 2046 AKST MAR 10 2011
2146 PST MAR 10 2011
0546 UTC MAR 11 2011
LOCATION - 38.3 NORTH 142.4 EAST
- NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU JAPAN
DEPTH - 12 MILES/20 KM

TSUNAMI WARNINGS MEAN THAT A TSUNAMI WITH SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD
INUNDATION IS IMMINENT OR EXPECTED. WARNINGS INDICATE THAT
WIDESPREAD DANGEROUS COASTAL FLOODING ACCOMPANIED BY POWERFUL
CURRENTS IS POSSIBLE AND MAY CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS AFTER THE
INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL.

TSUNAMI ADVISORIES MEAN THAT A TSUNAMI CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
STRONG CURRENTS OR WAVES DANGEROUS TO PERSONS IN OR VERY NEAR THE
WATER IS EXPECTED. SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD INUNDATION
IS NOT EXPECTED FOR AREAS UNDER AN ADVISORY. CURRENTS MAY BE
HAZARDOUS TO SWIMMERS... BOATS... AND COASTAL STRUCTURES AND MAY
CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS AFTER THE INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL.

PACIFIC COASTAL REGIONS OUTSIDE CALIFORNIA/ OREGON/ WASHINGTON/
BRITISH COLUMBIA AND ALASKA SHOULD REFER TO THE PACIFIC TSUNAMI
WARNING CENTER MESSAGES FOR INFORMATION ON THIS EVENT AT
WWW.WEATHER.GOV/PTWC.

THIS MESSAGE WILL BE UPDATED IN 60 MINUTES OR SOONER IF
THE SITUATION WARRANTS. THE TSUNAMI MESSAGE WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT
UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. REFER TO THE INTERNET SITE
WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV FOR MORE INFORMATION.

PZZ530-CAZ034-035-529-530-006-505>509-002-001-ORZ021-022-002-
001-111014-
/O.CAN.PAAQ.TS.A.0006.000000T0000Z-000000T0000Z/
/O.NEW.PAAQ.TS.W.0006.110311T0844Z-000000T0000Z/
COASTAL AREAS BETWEEN AND INCLUDING POINT CONCEPCION
CALIFORNIA TO THE OREGON-WASHINGTON BORDER
1244 AM PST FRI MAR 11 2011

...A TSUNAMI WARNING IS NOW IN EFFECT WHICH INCLUDES THE
COASTAL AREAS OF CALIFORNIA AND OREGON FROM POINT
CONCEPCION CALIFORNIA TO THE OREGON-WASHINGTON BORDER...

PERSONS IN TSUNAMI WARNING COASTAL AREAS SHOULD MOVE INLAND TO
HIGHER GROUND.

TSUNAMI WARNINGS MEAN THAT A TSUNAMI WITH SIGNIFICANT WIDESPREAD
INUNDATION IS IMMINENT OR EXPECTED. TSUNAMIS ARE A SERIES OF
WAVES POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SEVERAL HOURS AFTER INITIAL ARRIVAL
TIME. ESTIMATED TIMES OF INITIAL WAVE ARRIVAL FOR SELECTED
SITES IN THE WARNING ARE PROVIDED BELOW.

CHARLESTON-OR 0715 PST MAR 11 SEASIDE-OR 0724 PST MAR 11
CRESCENT CITY-CA 0723 PST MAR 11 SAN FRANCISCO-CA 0808 PST MAR 11

FOR ARRIVAL TIMES AT ADDITIONAL LOCATIONS SEE
WCATWC.ARH.NOAA.GOV

$$

Most of Pacific Ocean is Tsunami Warned

000
WEPA40 PHEB 110730
TSUPAC
TSUNAMI BULLETIN NUMBER 003
PACIFIC TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER/NOAA/NWS
ISSUED AT 0730Z 11 MAR 2011
THIS BULLETIN APPLIES TO AREAS WITHIN AND BORDERING THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND ADJACENT SEAS...EXCEPT ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA... WASHINGTON...OREGON AND CALIFORNIA.
... A WIDESPREAD TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT ...
A TSUNAMI WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR
JAPAN / RUSSIA / MARCUS IS. / N. MARIANAS / GUAM / WAKE IS. /
TAIWAN / YAP / PHILIPPINES / MARSHALL IS. / BELAU / MIDWAY IS. / POHNPEI / CHUUK / KOSRAE / INDONESIA / PAPUA NEW GUINEA / NAURU / JOHNSTON IS. / SOLOMON IS. / KIRIBATI / HOWLAND-BAKER / HAWAII / TUVALU / PALMYRA IS. / VANUATU / TOKELAU / JARVIS IS. / WALLIS-FUTUNA / SAMOA / AMERICAN SAMOA / COOK ISLANDS / NIUE / AUSTRALIA / FIJI / NEW CALEDONIA / TONGA / MEXICO / KERMADEC IS / FR. POLYNESIA / NEW ZEALAND / PITCAIRN / GUATEMALA / EL SALVADOR / COSTA RICA / NICARAGUA / ANTARCTICA / PANAMA / HONDURAS / CHILE / ECUADOR / COLOMBIA / PERU

THIS BULLETIN IS ISSUED AS ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AGENCIES. ONLY NATIONAL AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AGENCIES HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO MAKE DECISIONS REGARDING THE OFFICIAL STATE OF ALERT IN THEIR AREA AND ANY ACTIONS TO BE TAKEN IN RESPONSE.
AN EARTHQUAKE HAS OCCURRED WITH THESE PRELIMINARY PARAMETERS
ORIGIN TIME - 0546Z 11 MAR 2011
COORDINATES - 38.2 NORTH 142.5 EAST
DEPTH - 10 KM
LOCATION - NEAR EAST COAST OF HONSHU JAPAN
MAGNITUDE - 8.8
MEASUREMENTS OR REPORTS OF TSUNAMI WAVE ACTIVITY
GAUGE LOCATION LAT LON TIME AMPL PER
DART 21413 30.5N 152.1E 0659Z 0.76M / 2.5FT 32MIN
HANASAKI HOKKAIDO J 43.3N 145.6E 0657Z 2.79M / 9.2FT 76MIN
DART 21401 42.6N 152.6E 0643Z 0.67M / 2.2FT 40MIN
DART 21418 38.7N 148.7E 0619Z 1.08M / 3.5FT 06MIN
LAT - LATITUDE (N-NORTH, S-SOUTH)
LON - LONGITUDE (E-EAST, W-WEST)
TIME - TIME OF THE MEASUREMENT (Z IS UTC IS GREENWICH TIME)
AMPL - TSUNAMI AMPLITUDE MEASURED RELATIVE TO NORMAL SEA LEVEL. IT IS ...NOT... CREST-TO-TROUGH WAVE HEIGHT. VALUES ARE GIVEN IN BOTH METERS(M) AND FEET(FT). PER - PERIOD OF TIME IN MINUTES(MIN) FROM ONE WAVE TO THE NEXT. NOTE - DART MEASUREMENTS ARE FROM THE DEEP OCEAN AND THEY ARE GENERALLY MUCH SMALLER THAN WOULD BE COASTAL MEASUREMENTS AT SIMILAR LOCATIONS.

EVALUATION
SEA LEVEL READINGS CONFIRM THAT A TSUNAMI HAS BEEN GENERATED
WHICH COULD CAUSE WIDESPREAD DAMAGE. AUTHORITIES SHOULD TAKE
APPROPRIATE ACTION IN RESPONSE TO THIS THREAT. THIS CENTER WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR SEA LEVEL DATA TO DETERMINE THE EXTENT AND SEVERITY OF THE THREAT.
A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE FIRST WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. TSUNAMI WAVE HEIGHTS CANNOT BE PREDICTED AND CAN VARY SIGNIFICANTLY ALONG A COAST DUE TO LOCAL EFFECTS. THE TIME FROM ONE TSUNAMI WAVE TO THE NEXT CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO AN HOUR, AND THE THREAT CAN CONTINUE FOR MANY HOURS AS MULTIPLE WAVES ARRIVE. FOR ALL AREAS - WHEN NO MAJOR WAVES ARE OBSERVED FOR TWO HOURS AFTER THE ESTIMATED TIME OF ARRIVAL OR DAMAGING WAVES HAVE NOT OCCURRED FOR AT LEAST TWO HOURS THEN LOCAL AUTHORITIES CAN ASSUME THE THREAT IS PASSED. DANGER TO BOATS AND COASTAL STRUCTURES CAN CONTINUE FOR SEVERAL HOURS DUE TO RAPID CURRENTS. AS LOCAL CONDITIONS CAN CAUSE A WIDE VARIATION IN TSUNAMI WAVE ACTION THE ALL CLEAR DETERMINATION MUST BE MADE BY LOCAL AUTHORITIES.
ESTIMATED INITIAL TSUNAMI WAVE ARRIVAL TIMES AT FORECAST POINTS WITHIN THE WARNING AND WATCH AREAS ARE GIVEN BELOW. ACTUAL ARRIVAL TIMES MAY DIFFER AND THE INITIAL WAVE MAY NOT BE THE LARGEST. A TSUNAMI IS A SERIES OF WAVES AND THE TIME BETWEEN SUCCESSIVE WAVES CAN BE FIVE MINUTES TO ONE HOUR.
LOCATION FORECAST POINT COORDINATES ARRIVAL TIME
JAPAN KATSUURA 35.1N 140.3E 0635Z 11 MAR
KUSHIRO 42.9N 144.3E 0642Z 11 MAR
HACHINOHE 40.5N 141.5E 0700Z 11 MAR
SHIMIZU 32.8N 133.0E 0756Z 11 MAR
OKINAWA 26.2N 127.8E 0912Z 11 MAR
RUSSIA URUP_IS 46.1N 150.5E 0714Z 11 MAR
SEVERO_KURILSK 50.8N 156.1E 0834Z 11 MAR
PETROPAVLOVSK_K 53.2N 159.6E 0836Z 11 MAR
UST_KAMCHATSK 56.1N 162.6E 0840Z 11 MAR
MEDNNY_IS 54.7N 167.4E 0903Z 11 MAR
MARCUS IS. MARCUS_IS. 24.3N 154.0E 0757Z 11 MAR
N. MARIANAS SAIPAN 15.3N 145.8E 0853Z 11 MAR
GUAM GUAM 13.4N 144.7E 0909Z 11 MAR
WAKE IS. WAKE_IS. 19.3N 166.6E 0925Z 11 MAR
TAIWAN HUALIEN 24.0N 121.7E 0932Z 11 MAR
HUALIEN 24.0N 121.6E 0933Z 11 MAR
TAITUNG 22.7N 121.2E 0936Z 11 MAR
CHILUNG 25.2N 121.8E 1004Z 11 MAR
YAP YAP_IS. 9.5N 138.1E 0944Z 11 MAR
PHILIPPINES PALANAN 17.1N 122.6E 0955Z 11 MAR
LEGASPI 13.2N 123.8E 1026Z 11 MAR
DAVAO 6.8N 125.7E 1053Z 11 MAR
MARSHALL IS. ENIWETOK 11.4N 162.3E 1013Z 11 MAR
KWAJALEIN 8.7N 167.7E 1044Z 11 MAR
MAJURO 7.1N 171.4E 1124Z 11 MAR
BELAU MALAKAL 7.3N 134.5E 1025Z 11 MAR
MIDWAY IS. MIDWAY_IS. 28.2N 182.6E 1026Z 11 MAR
POHNPEI POHNPEI_IS. 7.0N 158.2E 1027Z 11 MAR
CHUUK CHUUK_IS. 7.4N 151.8E 1034Z 11 MAR
KOSRAE KOSRAE_IS. 5.5N 163.0E 1043Z 11 MAR
INDONESIA GEME 4.6N 126.8E 1049Z 11 MAR
BEREBERE 2.5N 128.7E 1058Z 11 MAR
WARSA 0.6S 135.8E 1110Z 11 MAR
MANOKWARI 0.8S 134.2E 1118Z 11 MAR
PATANI 0.4N 128.8E 1124Z 11 MAR
JAYAPURA 2.4S 140.8E 1135Z 11 MAR
SORONG 0.8S 131.1E 1135Z 11 MAR
PAPUA NEW GUINE MANUS_IS. 2.0S 147.5E 1124Z 11 MAR
KAVIENG 2.5S 150.7E 1124Z 11 MAR
VANIMO 2.6S 141.3E 1134Z 11 MAR
WEWAK 3.5S 143.6E 1146Z 11 MAR
RABAUL 4.2S 152.3E 1154Z 11 MAR
KIETA 6.1S 155.6E 1205Z 11 MAR
AMUN 6.0S 154.7E 1211Z 11 MAR
MADANG 5.2S 145.8E 1215Z 11 MAR
LAE 6.8S 147.0E 1254Z 11 MAR
PORT_MORESBY 9.3S 146.9E 1429Z 11 MAR
NAURU NAURU 0.5S 166.9E 1149Z 11 MAR
JOHNSTON IS. JOHNSTON_IS. 16.7N 190.5E 1202Z 11 MAR
SOLOMON IS. PANGGOE 6.9S 157.2E 1221Z 11 MAR
FALAMAE 7.4S 155.6E 1222Z 11 MAR
MUNDA 8.4S 157.2E 1239Z 11 MAR
GHATERE 7.8S 159.2E 1248Z 11 MAR
AUKI 8.8S 160.6E 1309Z 11 MAR
HONIARA 9.3S 160.0E 1314Z 11 MAR
KIRAKIRA 10.4S 161.9E 1318Z 11 MAR
KIRIBATI TARAWA_IS. 1.5N 173.0E 1228Z 11 MAR
KANTON_IS. 2.8S 188.3E 1329Z 11 MAR
CHRISTMAS_IS. 2.0N 202.5E 1443Z 11 MAR
MALDEN_IS. 3.9S 205.1E 1518Z 11 MAR
FLINT_IS. 11.4S 208.2E 1613Z 11 MAR
HOWLAND-BAKER HOWLAND_IS. 0.6N 183.4E 1243Z 11 MAR
HAWAII NAWILIWILI 22.0N 200.6E 1259Z 11 MAR
HONOLULU 21.3N 202.1E 1313Z 11 MAR
KAHULUI 20.9N 203.5E 1320Z 11 MAR
HILO 19.7N 204.9E 1339Z 11 MAR
TUVALU FUNAFUTI_IS. 7.9S 178.5E 1330Z 11 MAR
PALMYRA IS. PALMYRA_IS. 6.3N 197.6E 1346Z 11 MAR
VANUATU ESPERITU_SANTO 15.1S 167.3E 1407Z 11 MAR
ANATOM_IS. 20.2S 169.9E 1502Z 11 MAR
TOKELAU NUKUNONU_IS. 9.2S 188.2E 1409Z 11 MAR
JARVIS IS. JARVIS_IS. 0.4S 199.9E 1427Z 11 MAR
WALLIS-FUTUNA WALLIS_IS. 13.3S 183.8E 1427Z 11 MAR
FUTUNA_I. 14.3S 181.8E 1440Z 11 MAR
SAMOA APIA 13.8S 188.2E 1445Z 11 MAR
AMERICAN SAMOA PAGO_PAGO 14.3S 189.3E 1452Z 11 MAR
COOK ISLANDS PUKAPUKA_IS. 10.8S 194.1E 1452Z 11 MAR
PENRYN_IS. 8.9S 202.2E 1525Z 11 MAR
RAROTONGA 21.2S 200.2E 1626Z 11 MAR
NIUE NIUE_IS. 19.0S 190.0E 1526Z 11 MAR
AUSTRALIA CAIRNS 16.7S 145.8E 1528Z 11 MAR
BRISBANE 27.2S 153.3E 1620Z 11 MAR
SYDNEY 33.9S 151.4E 1651Z 11 MAR
GLADSTONE 23.8S 151.4E 1730Z 11 MAR
MACKAY 21.1S 149.3E 1811Z 11 MAR
HOBART 43.3S 147.6E 1826Z 11 MAR
FIJI SUVA 18.1S 178.4E 1528Z 11 MAR
NEW CALEDONIA NOUMEA 22.3S 166.5E 1531Z 11 MAR
TONGA NUKUALOFA 21.0S 184.8E 1557Z 11 MAR
MEXICO ENSENADA 31.8N 243.2E 1644Z 11 MAR
PUNTA_ABREOJOS 26.7N 246.4E 1732Z 11 MAR
CABO_SAN_LUCAS 22.8N 250.0E 1809Z 11 MAR
SOCORRO 18.8N 249.0E 1819Z 11 MAR
MAZATLAN 23.2N 253.6E 1858Z 11 MAR
MANZANILLO 19.1N 255.7E 1924Z 11 MAR
ACAPULCO 16.9N 260.1E 1959Z 11 MAR
PUERTO_MADERO 14.8N 267.5E 2134Z 11 MAR
KERMADEC IS RAOUL_IS. 29.2S 182.1E 1648Z 11 MAR
FR. POLYNESIA PAPEETE 17.5S 210.4E 1706Z 11 MAR
HIVA_OA 10.0S 221.0E 1744Z 11 MAR
RIKITEA 23.1S 225.0E 1913Z 11 MAR
NEW ZEALAND NORTH_CAPE 34.4S 173.3E 1714Z 11 MAR
EAST_CAPE 37.7S 178.5E 1814Z 11 MAR
AUCKLAND(W) 37.1S 174.2E 1814Z 11 MAR
GISBORNE 38.7S 178.0E 1821Z 11 MAR
MILFORD_SOUND 44.6S 167.9E 1839Z 11 MAR
WELLINGTON 41.3S 174.8E 1845Z 11 MAR
AUCKLAND(E) 36.7S 175.0E 1856Z 11 MAR
NEW_PLYMOUTH 39.1S 174.1E 1900Z 11 MAR
NAPIER 39.5S 176.9E 1908Z 11 MAR
WESTPORT 41.8S 171.6E 1929Z 11 MAR
DUNEDIN 45.9S 170.5E 2021Z 11 MAR
LYTTELTON 43.6S 172.7E 2055Z 11 MAR
BLUFF 46.6S 168.3E 2113Z 11 MAR
NELSON 41.3S 173.3E 2206Z 11 MAR
PITCAIRN PITCAIRN_IS. 25.1S 229.9E 2000Z 11 MAR
GUATEMALA SIPICATE 13.9N 268.8E 2150Z 11 MAR
EL SALVADOR ACAJUTLA 13.6N 270.2E 2156Z 11 MAR
COSTA RICA CABO_SAN_ELENA 10.9N 274.0E 2209Z 11 MAR
PUERTO_QUEPOS 9.4N 275.8E 2235Z 11 MAR
CABO_MATAPALO 8.4N 276.7E 2237Z 11 MAR
NICARAGUA CORINTO 12.5N 272.8E 2217Z 11 MAR
PUERTO_SANDINO 12.2N 273.2E 2223Z 11 MAR
SAN_JUAN_DL_SUR 11.2N 274.1E 2233Z 11 MAR
ANTARCTICA CAPE_ADARE 71.0S 170.0E 2222Z 11 MAR
THURSTON_IS. 72.0S 260.0E 0121Z 12 MAR
PANAMA PUNTA_BURICA 8.0N 277.1E 2248Z 11 MAR
PUNTA_MALA 7.5N 280.0E 2334Z 11 MAR
PUERTO_PINA 7.4N 282.0E 2344Z 11 MAR
BALBOA_HTS. 9.0N 280.4E 0155Z 12 MAR
HONDURAS AMAPALA 13.2N 272.4E 2253Z 11 MAR
CHILE EASTER_IS. 27.1S 250.6E 2255Z 11 MAR
ARICA 18.5S 289.7E 0244Z 12 MAR
IQUIQUE 20.2S 289.9E 0249Z 12 MAR
ANTOFAGASTA 23.3S 289.6E 0254Z 12 MAR
CALDERA 27.1S 289.2E 0314Z 12 MAR
GOLFO_DE_PENAS 47.1S 285.1E 0315Z 12 MAR
COQUIMBO 29.9S 288.6E 0323Z 12 MAR
VALPARAISO 33.0S 288.4E 0338Z 12 MAR
CORRAL 39.8S 286.5E 0352Z 12 MAR
TALCAHUANO 36.7S 286.9E 0359Z 12 MAR
PUERTO_MONTT 41.5S 287.0E 0552Z 12 MAR
PUERTO_WILLIAMS 54.8S 291.8E 0855Z 12 MAR
PUNTA_ARENAS 53.2S 289.1E 1700Z 12 MAR
ECUADOR BALTRA_IS. 0.5S 269.7E 2331Z 11 MAR
ESMERELDAS 1.2N 280.2E 0003Z 12 MAR
LA_LIBERTAD 2.2S 278.8E 0024Z 12 MAR
COLOMBIA BAHIA_SOLANO 6.3N 282.6E 2347Z 11 MAR
TUMACO 1.8N 281.1E 0012Z 12 MAR
BUENAVENTURA 3.8N 282.8E 0030Z 12 MAR
PERU TALARA 4.6S 278.5E 0033Z 12 MAR
PIMENTAL 6.9S 280.0E 0138Z 12 MAR
LA_PUNTA 12.1S 282.8E 0139Z 12 MAR
CHIMBOTE 9.0S 281.2E 0144Z 12 MAR
SAN_JUAN 15.3S 284.8E 0153Z 12 MAR
MOLLENDO 17.1S 288.0E 0226Z 12 MAR
BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED HOURLY OR SOONER IF CONDITIONS WARRANT.
THE TSUNAMI WARNING WILL REMAIN IN EFFECT UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE.
THE JAPAN METEOROLOGICAL AGENCY MAY ALSO ISSUE TSUNAMI MESSAGES
FOR THIS EVENT TO COUNTRIES IN THE NORTHWEST PACIFIC AND SOUTH
CHINA SEA REGION. IN CASE OF CONFLICTING INFORMATION... THE
MORE CONSERVATIVE INFORMATION SHOULD BE USED FOR SAFETY.
THE WEST COAST/ALASKA TSUNAMI WARNING CENTER WILL ISSUE PRODUCTS
FOR ALASKA...BRITISH COLUMBIA...WASHINGTON...OREGON...CALIFORNIA.

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Solar Flux Hits 143, SSN is 118!


hfradio.org via NW7US

Cycle 24 has done its predicted fast vertical rise. In maybe two months, it's gone from peaks around 88 to today's levels which are respectable by any standards. The daily WWV (Penticton) uncorrected solar flux for March 6 is 143, highest since January of 2005! The Smoothed Sunspot Number is 118, highest since July of that year.

Band conditions have improved dramatically just in the past few days. For example, the band around 17 MHz did not close from California to Japan until 0400 UTC, or two hours later than it did Friday. The 9-10 MHz SWBC band is wide open from California to the Middle East at 0440, and shows no sign of changing any time soon. This afternoon, some MUFs probably went clear out of HF, with good, steady 10 meter signals from the Eastern US all day.

This is obviously game on for Cycle 24. It's late, but it's here, and now it's hard to turn off the radio.

Friday, March 04, 2011

NASA's Glory Satellite Fails

March 4, 2011

George H. Diller
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
george.h.diller@nasa.gov

Steve Cole
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0918
stephen.e.cole@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 11-065

NASA CREATES GLORY SATELLITE MISHAP INVESTIGATION BOARD

WASHINGTON -- NASA's Glory mission ended Friday after the spacecraft failed to reach orbit following its launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

NASA has begun the process of creating a Mishap Investigation Board to evaluate the cause of the failure. Telemetry indicated the fairing, a protective shell atop the satellite's Taurus XL rocket, did not separate as expected.

The launch proceeded as planned from its liftoff at 5:09 a.m. EST through the ignition of the Taurus XL's second stage. However, the fairing failure occurred during the second stage engine burn. It is likely the spacecraft fell into the South Pacific, although the exact location is not yet known.

NASA's previous launch attempt of an Earth science spacecraft, the Orbiting Carbon Observatory onboard a Taurus XL on Feb. 24, 2009, also failed to reach orbit when the fairing did not separate.

NASA's Orbiting Carbon Observatory Mishap Investigation Board reviewed launch data and the fairing separation system design, and developed a corrective action plan. The plan was implemented by Taurus XL manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corporation. In October 2010, NASA's Flight Planning Board confirmed the successful closure of the corrective actions.

The Glory Earth-observing satellite was intended to improve our understanding of how the sun and tiny atmospheric particles called aerosols affect Earth's climate.


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