Date: Wed, 16 Mar 94 19:36:23 PST
From: Info-Hams Mailing List and Newsgroup <info-hams@ucsd.edu>
Errors-To: Info-Hams-Errors@UCSD.Edu
Reply-To: Info-Hams@UCSD.Edu
Precedence: Bulk
Subject: Info-Hams Digest V94 #297
To: Info-Hams


Info-Hams Digest            Wed, 16 Mar 94       Volume 94 : Issue  297

Today's Topics:
               2 meter use in London, England? (2 msgs)
                            Chest Harness
       Daily Summary of Solar Geophysical Activity for 15 March
                 Diesel or Taurus fr HF/VHF mobile??
                        Info Req. Vintage Gear
    WARNING: Potential Satellite Anomaly Warning Update - 16 March

Send Replies or notes for publication to: <Info-Hams@UCSD.Edu>
Send subscription requests to: <Info-Hams-REQUEST@UCSD.Edu>
Problems you can't solve otherwise to brian@ucsd.edu.

Archives of past issues of the Info-Hams Digest are available 
(by FTP only) from UCSD.Edu in directory "mailarchives/info-hams".

We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text
herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official
policies or positions of any party.  Your mileage may vary.  So there.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: 16 Mar 1994 16:55:46 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!agate!usenet.ins.cwru.edu!cleveland.Freenet.Edu!cw400@network.ucsd.edu
Subject: 2 meter use in London, England?
To: info-hams@ucsd.edu

Most repeaters in Europe, including the UK, require a 1750 Hz
tone burst at the beginning of your transmission to access the
repeater.  European ham gear usually include the tone burst as
a standard feature, but your american gear will not have this
feature.

Prehaps you could install the burst encoder in a speaker/mic,
eliminating the need to perform surgery on your HT.  Communication
Specialists of California sells a sutiable tone burst board,
you can get their 800 number out of any of the ham mags.    

Another method is to access the repeater during the hang time,
after someone else has transmitted.  Of course this requires
that the repeater is in use, not very useful if a repeater
is used little or has a very short hang time.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 17:43:19 +0000
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk!pavo.csi.cam.ac.uk!pipex!demon!g8sjp.demon.co.uk!ip@network.ucsd.edu
Subject: 2 meter use in London, England?
To: info-hams@ucsd.edu

In article <CMrFLs.G8u@oasis.icl.co.uk>
           prs@oasis.icl.co.uk "Peter Swynford" writes:

> well if you guys stopped funding the IRA, the airport would be a bit
> safer....  
> 

[assorted drivel deleted]

> 73 G0PUB
> Peter.

I tried *very* hard to find a 'smiley' in this message. In my opinion, I'm
ashamed for British radio amateurs that such a person should appear to be
representative of the breed. Makes my flesh crawl, just thinking about it.

-- 
Iain Philipps

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 16:38:07 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!sdd.hp.com!hp-cv!hp-pcd!hpcvsnz!mcross@network.ucsd.edu
Subject: Chest Harness
To: info-hams@ucsd.edu

I bought a chest harness from:
                  ----------------------------------
     GREEN WOODS
     960 Sunmist Ct SE
     Salem, OR 97306  (503)378-0148
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL9.4]

Prices as of a couple of years ago were:
  Std model with Cordura backing   $19.
* Std model with Mesh backing    $20.
  Two radio model with Cordura backing   $25.
  Two radio model with Mesh backing   $26.
-OPTIONS------
* Spare battery holder     $ 1.
* Penlight holder (for mini mag lite, AA batt)  $ 1.
* Bunting neck protector    $  .50
  customer supplied emblems      N/C
  other custom work      CALL

PLEASE CALL HER to confirm latest prices and options.
                  ----------------------------------

I marked the price list with an * for what I have.  The mesh allows the air
to circulate so you don't get to warm wearing the harness.  The front is
a piece of mesh folded in half forming a large pouch which is good for
a map.  Anne also added an additional pocket inside for my compass.  The
radio/battery/penlite pockets are sewn on the front.  Very handy system.  

I choose black mesh and bright orange for pocket for radio and penlite.  
Velcro straps hold radio into the pocket and also the spare battery.  You must 
tell her what radio you want the pocket for(and also battery) so she can
cut the material to the correct size.

The harness looks like this:
                          ____________                 
                         /___________ \      
                        //            \\     
     Loops around      //              \\
      Neck/(bunting)-> ||               ||
                      _||_______________||_
: : Compass pocket   |:   :                 |
:.: inside pouch --->|: ||:                 |
                     |: ||:     / o         | 
  || is penlite----->|:.||.    / i /        | 
      pocket         |  ||    / d /     b   | 
                \\   |       / a /     |a | |   //
  Loops around-> \\  |      / r /      |t | |  //
    waist         \\ |         /       |t | | //
                   \\|                 |__| |//
   Clips to front-> \|______________________|/

73
Minor
--
Insert Standard Disclaimer notice here: 
NO connection to compnay other than a very satisfied customer.
           ___
   /  /                            Minor Cross     KD7YJ
  /  / Hewlett-Packard  Integrated Circuits Business Div. - Corvallis
 /  /_____          _________    1050 NE Circle Blvd.
       /  ___   /  ____   /  ___   /     Corvallis, OR   97330-4299
      /  /  /  /  /___/  /  /__/  /   --------------------------------
     /__/  /__/         /  ______/    AT&T:  (503) 750-2044
                       /  /         HP telnet  750-2044  FAX (503) 750-3221
                      /__/        }!hplabs!cv.hp.com!mcross

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 22:22:23 MST
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!dog.ee.lbl.gov!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!news.intercon.com!panix!zip.eecs.umich.edu!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!alberta!ve6mgs!usenet@network.ucsd.edu
Subject: Daily Summary of Solar Geophysical Activity for 15 March
To: info-hams@ucsd.edu

                /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

                 DAILY SUMMARY OF SOLAR GEOPHYSICAL ACTIVITY

                                 15 MARCH, 1994

                /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

                  (Based In-Part On SESC Observational Data)


SOLAR AND GEOPHYSICAL ACTIVITY INDICES FOR 15 MARCH, 1994
---------------------------------------------------------

SESC NOTICE:  Planning for future solar optical and solar radio
      observations is in progress. Consideration is being given to
      having no regular solar activity patrol in the optical and radio
      wavelengths. There is also a possibility of no daily synoptic
      images. Can you describe to us any critical impacts such actions
      would have on your operations or research? Please reply to SESC
      no later than 23 March 1994. Contact by phone or FAX:
      Phone: (303) 497-5127 or FAX: (303) 497-7392

NOTE: Minor stratospheric warming over eastern Siberia, Alaska, and the
      Canadian Arctic continues.  Temperature gradient remains reversed
      between 60N and the pole at 10 HPA and above.

!!BEGIN!! (1.0) S.T.D. Solar Geophysical Data Broadcast for DAY 074, 03/15/94
10.7 FLUX=087.4  90-AVG=106        SSN=041      BKI=5554 4543  BAI=036
BGND-XRAY=A5.6     FLU1=1.4E+07  FLU10=2.3E+04  PKI=5655 5544  PAI=042
  BOU-DEV=084,110,075,053,050,096,058,021   DEV-AVG=068 NT     SWF=00:000
 XRAY-MAX= B4.0   @ 1133UT    XRAY-MIN= A4.2   @ 1833UT   XRAY-AVG= A8.3
NEUTN-MAX= +003%  @ 0120UT   NEUTN-MIN= -003%  @ 1835UT  NEUTN-AVG= +0.0%
  PCA-MAX= +0.2DB @ 0135UT     PCA-MIN= -0.3DB @ 0935UT    PCA-AVG= +0.0DB
BOUTF-MAX=55361NT @ 0128UT   BOUTF-MIN=55284NT @ 1727UT  BOUTF-AVG=55323NT
GOES7-MAX=P:+000NT@ 0000UT   GOES7-MIN=N:+000NT@ 0000UT  G7-AVG=+065,+000,+000
GOES6-MAX=P:+127NT@ 1539UT   GOES6-MIN=N:-133NT@ 0339UT  G6-AVG=+087,+025,-053
 FLUXFCST=STD:090,095,095;SESC:090,095,095 BAI/PAI-FCST=018,015,010/025,015,010
    KFCST=2214 5222 3224 3111  27DAY-AP=015,008   27DAY-KP=3433 3332 2233 2222
 WARNINGS=*GSTRM
   ALERTS=**MINSTRM
!!END-DATA!!

NOTE: The Effective Sunspot Number for 14 MAR 94 was  30.8.
      The Full Kp Indices for 14 MAR 94 are: 4- 5- 5- 4o   4+ 4o 4- 4o 
      The 3-Hr Ap Indices for 14 MAR 94 are:  24  37  39  26  34  28  21  30 
      Greater than 2 MeV Electron Fluence for 15 MAR is: 1.3E+09


SYNOPSIS OF ACTIVITY
--------------------

             Solar activity was very low. Regions 7691 (N07W05) and
       7692 (N15E72) were numbered.

            Solar activity forecast:  solar activity is expected to be
       very low to low. Region 7688 (N18E08) has the best chance of
       producing an occassional C-class flare.

            The geomagnetic field has been at active to minor storm
       levels for the past 24 hours. High latitude stations reported
       unsettled to severe storm levels throughout the period.
       Energetic electron fluxes (GT 2 MeV) ranged from moderate to
       very high levels during the period.

            Geophysical activity forecast:  the geomagnetic field is
       expected to be unsettled to active for the next 24 hours then
       mostly unsettled for the remainder of the period.

            Event probabilities 16 mar-18 mar

                             Class M    01/01/01
                             Class X    01/01/01
                             Proton     01/01/01
                             PCAF       Green

            Geomagnetic activity probabilities 16 mar-18 mar

                        A.  Middle Latitudes
                        Active                30/25/15
                        Minor Storm           20/15/10
                        Major-Severe Storm    05/05/01

                        B.  High Latitudes
                        Active                35/30/35
                        Minor Storm           20/20/15
                        Major-Severe Storm    10/10/05

            HF propagation conditions remained degraded over the last
       24 hours.  Renewed geomagnetic storming has kept conditions
       below-normal over the high and polar latitudes to many middle
       latitude paths (particularly night-sector paths).  Similar
       degraded conditions will likely persist through most of 16
       March before improving on 17 and 18 March.


COPIES OF JOINT USAF/NOAA SESC SOLAR GEOPHYSICAL REPORTS
========================================================

REGIONS WITH SUNSPOTS. LOCATIONS VALID AT 15/2400Z MARCH
--------------------------------------------------------
NMBR LOCATION  LO  AREA  Z   LL   NN MAG TYPE
7688  N19E08  224  0100 CAO  07  009 BETA
7691  N07W05  237  0000 AXX  01  001 ALPHA
7692  N17E72  160  0040 HSX  01  001 ALPHA
REGIONS DUE TO RETURN 16 MARCH TO 18 MARCH
NMBR LAT    LO
NONE


LISTING OF SOLAR ENERGETIC EVENTS FOR 15 MARCH, 1994
----------------------------------------------------
BEGIN  MAX  END  RGN   LOC   XRAY  OP 245MHZ 10CM   SWEEP
NONE


POSSIBLE CORONAL MASS EJECTION EVENTS FOR 15 MARCH, 1994
--------------------------------------------------------
 BEGIN        MAX      END     LOCATION   TYPE   SIZE  DUR  II IV
15/ 1132              1151       S15W90   EPL    B4.0   11
15/B1742             B1847       S06W23   DSF


INFERRED CORONAL HOLES. LOCATIONS VALID AT 15/2400Z
---------------------------------------------------
               ISOLATED HOLES AND POLAR EXTENSIONS
      EAST   SOUTH  WEST   NORTH  CAR  TYPE  POL  AREA   OBSN
70   N35E87 S19E46 S06E26 N38E87  192  ISO   POS   018 10830A


SUMMARY OF FLARE EVENTS FOR THE PREVIOUS UTC DAY
------------------------------------------------

 Date   Begin  Max   End  Xray  Op Region  Locn    2695 MHz  8800 MHz  15.4 GHz
------  ----  ----  ----  ----  -- ------ ------  --------- --------- ---------
14 Mar: 0200  0207  0220  B1.4                                         


REGION FLARE STATISTICS FOR THE PREVIOUS UTC DAY
------------------------------------------------

                C   M   X     S   1   2   3   4   Total   (%)
               --  --  --    --  --  --  --  --    ---  ------
Uncorrellated: 0   0   0     0   0   0   0   0    001  (100.0)

 Total Events: 001 optical and x-ray.


EVENTS WITH SWEEPS AND/OR OPTICAL PHENOMENA FOR THE LAST UTC DAY
----------------------------------------------------------------

 Date   Begin  Max   End  Xray  Op Region  Locn    Sweeps/Optical Observations
------  ----  ----  ----  ----  -- ------ ------   ---------------------------
                            NO EVENTS OBSERVED.

NOTES:
     All times are in Universal Time (UT).  Characters preceding begin, max,
     and end times are defined as:  B = Before,  U = Uncertain,  A = After.
     All times associated with x-ray flares (ex. flares which produce
     associated x-ray bursts) refer to the begin, max, and end times of the
     x-rays.  Flares which are not associated with x-ray signatures use the
     optical observations to determine the begin, max, and end times.

     Acronyms used to identify sweeps and optical phenomena include:

          II        = Type II Sweep Frequency Event
          III       = Type III Sweep
          IV        = Type IV Sweep
          V         = Type V Sweep
          Continuum = Continuum Radio Event
          Loop      = Loop Prominence System,
          Spray     = Limb Spray,
          Surge     = Bright Limb Surge,
          EPL       = Eruptive Prominence on the Limb.


**  End of Daily Report  **

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 17:00:33 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!dog.ee.lbl.gov!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!emory!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary@network.ucsd.edu
Subject: Diesel or Taurus fr HF/VHF mobile??
To: info-hams@ucsd.edu

In article <CMrDCs.3Bn@hpqmoea.sqf.hp.com> dstock@hpqmoca.sqf.hp.com (David Stockton) writes:
>   Another guess....    spoke to dad last night, he said he'd seen
>sparks from toothed-belt cam drives sometimes.
>
>   Could you possibly have an inintentional Van de Graaf zapping away ?
>or was it chain/gear drive ?

Chain and gear.

>  A long shot, but then so is magnetohydrodynamics in the combustion
>chamber...  although I'd still machine up a set of dummy heater plugs..

I might be tempted if I hadn't unloaded the turkey. Note though that
the glow plugs were grounded directly to the block when we disconnected 
the power wiring. If we were getting hash out of those short loops, the
currents must have been huge.

Gary

-- 
Gary Coffman KE4ZV          |    You make it,     | gatech!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary
Destructive Testing Systems |    we break it.     | uunet!rsiatl!ke4zv!gary
534 Shannon Way             |    Guaranteed!      | emory!kd4nc!ke4zv!gary 
Lawrenceville, GA 30244     |                     | 

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 12:55:42 -0500
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!news.cac.psu.edu!psuvm!rohvm1!rohvm1.mah48d@network.ucsd.edu
Subject: Info Req. Vintage Gear
To: info-hams@ucsd.edu

In article <1994Mar15.053911.21931@dal1>, giddy@ac.dal.ca wrote:
>
> I'm new here. Are there people around this group who might be knowledgable
> about older communications receivers?
>
> I am interested in starting to collect some of the gear I and many of my
> contemporaries started out with. (Hammarlund, Hallicrafters, National etc.)
>
> I am concerned about availabiliy of service info and not paying too much
> (I would not pay HRO-60 prices for a Knight Ocean-Hopper :-) )

Check out the hamfests.  I'm always seeing older gear that makes me wish I
_were_ a collector--but collectors need space to put the stuff.  Prices are
_very_ reasonable during the transition period between when gear is just
old and obsolete, and when it becomes classic. :-)  At a lot of hamfests
sellers don't know that their gear has suddenly gone classic, so they price
it in the "boatanchor" range.  Besides, hamfests are fun!

--
John Taylor    (W3ZID)     |  "The opinions expressed are those of the
rohvm1.mah48d@rohmhaas.com |   writer and not of Rohm and Haas Company."

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 15 Mar 1994 22:40:33 MST
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!dog.ee.lbl.gov!agate!howland.reston.ans.net!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!newsxfer.itd.umich.edu!nntp.cs.ubc.ca!alberta!ve6mgs!usenet@network.ucsd.edu
Subject: WARNING: Potential Satellite Anomaly Warning Update - 16 March
To: info-hams@ucsd.edu

                    /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

                      POTENTIAL SATELLITE ANOMALY WARNING

                         UPDATED: 05:00 UT, 16 MARCH

                    /\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\


ATTENTION:

     Energetic electrons at greater than 2 MeV continue to exist at levels
capable of producing charging effects on geosynchronous satellites.  Total
electron fluence for this event thus far is 1.28E+10 el/cm^2-ster-day.  Peak
electron fluence occurred on 12 March at 2.4E+09 el/cm^2-ster-day.  Since
then, fluence levels have been hovering around 2.0E+09.  Moderate to
occasionally very high populations of energetic electrons at greater than 2
MeV can be expected over the next 24 hours.

     Electrons are expected to begin falling back toward background levels
over the next 3 to 5 days.


**  End of Warning  **

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 16:24:32 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!galaxy.ucr.edu!library.ucla.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!emory!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary@network.ucsd.edu
To: info-hams@ucsd.edu

References <CMpoo5.3MK@cbnewsm.cb.att.com>, <POPOVICH.94Mar15103708@prince.cs.columbia.edu>, <189@ted.win.net>
Reply-To : gary@ke4zv.atl.ga.us (Gary Coffman)
Subject : Re: noise blankers

In article <189@ted.win.net> mjsilva@ted.win.net (Michael Silva) writes:
> 
>In article <POPOVICH.94Mar15103708@prince.cs.columbia.edu>, Steve Popovich (popovich@prince.cs.columbia.edu) writes:
>>
>>Well, the noise blanker on the old Kenwood TS-830S is definitely a
>>"decorative knob".  No matter how much I twiddle the one our club has,
>>it doesn't do a thing about the static crashes on 40 and 80 meters at
>>night.  Isn't that the kind of noise they're supposed to be FOR?
>>       -Steve
>>
>
>I don't know how good or bad the 830's noise blanker is, but a general
>answer to your question "isn't that the kind of noise..." is that
>blankers work best on the noise that's the most dissimilar to a
>signal.  High amplitude, short duration noise, aka impulse noise, is
>the easiest for circuitry to distinguish and eliminate.  On the other
>hand, any noise that's in the audio band and is roughly the same
>amplitude as the desired signal is impossible for normal circuitry to
>remove.  I know DSP can help here, but I don't know enough about it to
>say how effective it is.

Mike's right. A noise blanker works by detecting impulse edges, good
ones operate outside the normal IF channel because the filters tend
to round off the edges and lengthen the pulses. Static crashes on
HF are ionosphere propagated lightning stroke RF. If you remember
pulse theory, the rapid risetime of a pulse is made up of odd order
harmonics of the fundamental frequency, in lightning that's somewhere
between DC and light. :-)  So the sharpest part of the edge is VHF or
above. The ionosphere doesn't propagate VHF the same as it does HF,
so what you hear at your receiver is a "rounded" and stretched version
of the original pulse. The blanker can't do anything with that. If it
tried, it would also cut speech components, or the rising edges of CW
elements. 

If you've ever been near a lightning strike, you've heard the characteristic
click-BOOM of the strike. The "click" part is the sharpest part of the edge.
A noise blanker could remove *that*, but what are you doing operating that
close to a thunderstorm? :-) Local impulse noise, like ignition noise and
dimmer noise, will have a sharp risetime that the blanker can get a hold of,
and will be suppressed. That's what a blanker does for you.

Another method, called a *noise limiter* can be of help with static
crashes and other strong noises. What it does is *clip* the waveform
above a certain threshold. It doesn't remove the noise, but it limits
its magnitude to a more tolerable level. Unfortunately, it will also
clip the peaks of a desired signal unless receiver RF gain is set just
right, and that will cause signal distortion. Noise limiters are no
longer common on today's radios with few knobs and AGC.

Gary
-- 
Gary Coffman KE4ZV          |    You make it,     | gatech!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary
Destructive Testing Systems |    we break it.     | uunet!rsiatl!ke4zv!gary
534 Shannon Way             |    Guaranteed!      | emory!kd4nc!ke4zv!gary 
Lawrenceville, GA 30244     |                     | 

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 15:56:33 GMT
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!library.ucla.edu!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!emory!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary@network.ucsd.edu
To: info-hams@ucsd.edu

References <CMo7GF.4sy@srgenprp.sr.hp.com>, <1994Mar15.145856.8336@ke4zv.atl.ga.us>, <2m4rsv$mba@bigfoot.wustl.edu>
Reply-To : gary@ke4zv.atl.ga.us (Gary Coffman)
Subject : Re: Grounding and lightning protection

In article <2m4rsv$mba@bigfoot.wustl.edu> jlw3@cec3.wustl.edu (Jesse L Wei) writes:
>Gary Coffman (gary@ke4zv.atl.ga.us) wrote:
>
>: Mobile Radio Technology had a series in the April and October 1988,
>: and January 1989 issues about lightning prevention systems. They
>: tried to give both sides equal time, but it's clear that the dissipation
>: arrays are at best only minimally preventative, if at all.
>
>Now I have no technical expertise here, but I'd like to ask a couple
>of questions: 1) Does the Corona effect prevent strikes, 2) do spline
>balls work, 3) what about "feeler" charges?  The reason I ask is that
>Richardson Wireless Klub (K5RWK) had a meeting last night in which
>a Richardson ham (I think) who works for TU Electric came and gave a
>~1.5 hour lecture on lightning, prevention, and RF grounding.  He
>brought up some of the above-mentioned issues, and also said at the
>end that he submitted an article to "one of the ham magazines."
>Your thoughts???

First I want to note that I'm coming from the perspective of someone
involved in protecting broadcast transmission systems, and as someone
with lightning simulator experience. Also the local area has a thunderstorm
frequency second only to Florida in the US. So I've seen a lot of strikes,
and have a feel for what works and what doesn't. What I can't supply is
much in the way of formal theory on the subject, only my reading of the
trade press and a fair bit of other literature on the subject.

With that disclaimer out of the way, I'll give you my thoughts on your
questions.

1) Corona, or point dischargers, are limited to about 20-60 microamps
   before streamer production begins. Streamers are the main mechanism
   by which near Earth lightning strikes are guided. So if corona breaks
   over into streamer production, you're going to attract lightning.

   That's the principle on which lightning rods are founded. They generate
   streamers so that they are the preferred target of lightning bolts. Since
   they are installed with low impedance paths to ground, they are able to
   *divert* strike currents from harming other nearby structures. This is
   called the "cone of protection". It's diameter is equal to about 1/3
   the HAAT of the lightning rod in most installations. (High towers have
   other problems, and a "rolling sphere" method of estimating the protective
   zone must be used.)

2) The idea behind "spline balls", and other dissipation systems, is 
   to multiply the number of point dischargers so that currents can be 
   shared so as to keep any one point's current below the streamer 
   threshold. It's a good idea in theory, but in practice if the points 
   are close together, their corona merges and forms streamers.

   Remember that a typical strike is powered by about 20 coulombs of
   charge, and that individual points can't exceed about 60 ua without
   breaking into streamer production. So even if you have widely
   separated points to prevent merger, you still need an incredibly
   large number of them, especially if the cloud is capable of multiple
   strikes, which is the usual case. Also remember that cloud charge
   zones are in constant motion, and constantly inducing "mirror"
   charges in the ground below, so you don't have much *time* to discharge
   the currents safely.

   The idea of a "protective space charge" is pure hokum IMHO. The winds
   in a storm are going to blow away any ions formed by corona as quickly
   as they can be produced.

3) I'm not familiar with the term "feeler charge" so I'll have to defer
   a response on that subject.


I'll add one more thought. There's a theory that if you can cause a
*lot* of *little* lightning bolts, you can avoid the big dangerous
ones. These "mini" bolts are supposedly so small that you can't see
their strikes with the naked eye, but can measure them on a surge
counter. This idea *may* work if the storm clouds aren't very energetic,
and take *minutes* to build up to a strike, but I don't think it works 
in practice with the big thunderboomers we typically see.

Gary
-- 
Gary Coffman KE4ZV          |    You make it,     | gatech!wa4mei!ke4zv!gary
Destructive Testing Systems |    we break it.     | uunet!rsiatl!ke4zv!gary
534 Shannon Way             |    Guaranteed!      | emory!kd4nc!ke4zv!gary 
Lawrenceville, GA 30244     |                     | 

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 16 Mar 1994 17:39:59 +0000
From: ihnp4.ucsd.edu!dog.ee.lbl.gov!agate!doc.ic.ac.uk!lyra.csx.cam.ac.uk!pavo.csi.cam.ac.uk!pipex!demon!g8sjp.demon.co.uk!ip@network.ucsd.edu
To: info-hams@ucsd.edu

References <2lqka5$8k3@news.iastate.edu>, <2m09j7$4i@apple.com>, <2m78pf$5kh@news.iastate.edu>8
Reply-To : ip@g8sjp.demon.co.uk
Subject : Re: 1x1 Callsigns?

In article <2m78pf$5kh@news.iastate.edu>
           wjturner@iastate.edu "William J Turner" writes:

> In article <2m09j7$4i@apple.com> kchen@apple.com (Kok Chen) writes:

[snip]

> >Geez, perhaps I can move to the UAE and use A6TY :-).
> 
> That call wouldn't be leagal there, as A6 is the *prefix*, and the prefix does
> *not* include the mandatory number.  Thus for my call, N0RDV, the prefix is N,
> not N0.  Therefore, calls in UAE could be A6#XX, but not A6XX.
>
> Understand?

Ummm .... I think there is a lack of understanding about just who it is that
is failing to understand :-)

Calls is UAE *COULD* be anything that the competent authority decides to issue
that *begin with* A6. Who said that there HAS to be a number following the
prefix? 'Mandatory number' is something that you appear to have invented.

Yes, your callsign prefix is 'N', and the reason it's followed by a '0' is
simple beacuse the FCC decided it should be that way. According to callsign
allocations for the USA, if the FCC had decided to issue you with the call
'NOTWITHSTANDING', then that would have been perfectly legal and acceptable,
although perhaps not to you :-)

Understand?

-- 
Iain Philipps

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End of Info-Hams Digest V94 #297
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