Spooky moon - NOT amateur radio

 

It is almost Halloween. This was the moon rising over a neighbours' house.

Amateur beacon on the moon?

 Amateur Radio Weekly reports that the Japanese hope to put a UHF beacon on the moon.

See https://www.isas.jaxa.jp/home/omotenashi/JHRCweb/jhrc.html .

If successfully deployed, this could be a good test for receivers. I am not sure what it will send or when the launch is planned.

Full moon - NOT amateur radio

 

This was the full moon last night. I think craters are more obvious when it is not full moon.

Moon journey - NOT amateur radio

There is a video about the Chinese satellite orbiting the moon. Some people dislike the Chinese, but they will be even more of a super-power this century.

Amateur signals from the Moon?

Southgate News reports on an AMSAT and ARISS initiative to get amateur involvement in the next NASA visits to the moon. They calculate path losses will be about 30dB higher than low earth orbit stations.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2019/august/amsat-and-ariss-designing-amateur-radio-system-for-lunar-gateway.htm

Moon landing - NOT amateur radio

Like most people of a certain age, I can remember precisely where I was when Man first landed on the Moon 50 years ago tomorrow. In some ways it feels like yesterday, although it was before I had started work.

And to think how little computing power they had! Looking back, these were very very brave men. It seems amazing that we have not been back to the moon since 1972.

The Moon this afternoon - NOT amateur radio

This was the Moon at about 1430z this afternoon near Viseu, Portugal. And to think men walked on here in 1969.

Super blood moon - NOT amateur radio

At about 0315z, I awoke very briefly. I said to myself that if I awoke again at 0400-0500z I would take a photo of the moon. What happened? I slept until about 0730z. So, no photos of the moon. The next time it is this good is in 10 years' time. Of course, then it will be cloudy! There are lots of photos on the linked page.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46943592

China Moon probes - NOT amateur radio

Apparently a couple of probes on the far side of the Moon have taken photos of each other. Being on the Moon's far side, all images have to be relayed by lunar orbiting satellites.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-46836047

Manned lunar missions - NOT amateur radio

It seems amazing to me that the first manned landing on the moon was in 1969 when I was still at university! Looking back, it all seemed so routine, whereas we had no real idea how dangerous these missions were. Just think of the computing "power" we had back then. The fact that no-one has been back since the early 1970s speaks volumes.

I well remember that photo of earthrise taken by the crew of Apollo 8 in December 1968. It was stunning. Apollo 8 was the first manned trip around the moon. It did not land.

When will the next manned mission to the moon be and when will man go to Mars?

The Moon and Mars - NOT amateur radio

It seems amazing that man first went to the Moon in 1969, even before I had started work. Whether I will ever again see man on the Moon, or even Mars, in my lifetime is uncertain. It would not surprise me if the Chinese did it first!

I see the USA is looking for commercial companies to get involved, presumably to save money.

See https://www.nasa.gov/press-release/nasa-announces-new-partnerships-for-commercial-lunar-payload-delivery-services

Amateur radio from the Moon?

Southgate News carried a report about 2 Chinese satellites due for lunar orbits in June. These will transmit amateur radio data on 70cms and 13cms.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/april/dslwp-lunar-satellites-will%20transmit-wsjt-jt4g-mode.htm#.WsXni0xFzIU

Moon based amateur radio?

According to Southgate News, China is to launch a couple of lunar satellites which will send data on 70cms. The Chinese also plan a lunar rover.

See http://southgatearc.org/news/2018/march/satellites-to-transmit-amateur-radio-data-from-the-moon.htm#.Wq5Bgkx2vIU

The Moon - NOT amateur radio

This was the view of the Moon when we had tea in the garden yesterday. It seems incredible that man walked on the Moon in 1969, a year before I started work! Now, I have been retired for 9 years!

Web SDR locations

There are now a number of places on the internet where one can find and operate on-line software defined radios (SDRs). For a list of these go to http://www.websdr.org/. One of the best, now streaming 7 different bands, is http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ which is located at Twente in The Netherlands. I have used this one to hear my QRP signals on 40m from the UK. There is a very slight delay but I was able to hear my 400mW signal very well. Another has a recording of the 23cms band during an ARRL EME (moonbounce) contest using a 25m dish: you can tune the band and hear some amazingly strong CW QSOs via the moon.