Category: DSES posts

Plishner Open House Weekend August 21, 2016

K0PRT20160814KL7YY6mSSBOpen-HouseCOrev1

I set up our eQSL account and created an eQSL card for us. I then uploaded our log file from our weekend QSOs. I attached an example of our eQSL that goes out to our contacts. (In this case it is to Myron, who gave me a call from his radio.) We had 86 QSOs. 9 eQSLs from the weekend were already waiting for us in the eQSL inbox.

I will attempt to set up an ARRL Logbook of the World account for us this week. And when I have a chance I will provide an update to Steve for the QRZ page, now that our weekend activity completed.

Also when I get a chance, I’ll email my photos from the weekend to Bill.

73, Gary

DSES Open House 8/12 & 13

DSES will conduct its first open house this weekend, Friday, August 12 and Saturday August 13, starting at 5 PM on Friday. The Perseids Meteor Shower event should be at its peak this weekend (after midnight) with an estimated 200 to 300 meteor’s per hour.

We should have several optical telescopes on site for viewing of the skies. We will have radio equipment on site for all our working science projects. A ham radio station using the new DSES club call sign K0PRT (Plishner Radio Telescope), will be on the air on several High Frequency radio bands. We also hope to have an amateur radio Oscar satellite station working as well. Our big project for this weekend will focus on installing the new tri-band dish feed. If all goes well with this installation we hope to bounce a 1.2 Ghz radio signal off the moon and be able to hear our echo 3 seconds later.

For those who may want to spend the night, please bring your own sleeping needs. We should have floor space in the bunker for your cot/bed. WE DO NOT recommend sleeping on the floor in the bunker at this time. We have lots of parking space for RV’s, trailers, or trucks/cars. We will start grilling hot dogs around 6PM Friday. Be prepared for hot temps during the day and thunderstorms, rain, wind and maybe hail during late afternoon or evening. Mud boots may be nice to have if it rains.

The Plishner site is located at 9301 County Road 20, Haswell, CO or 4.8 miles south of the town of Haswell, CO.

Call me if you need directions or further information on this weekend’s events. Hope to see you there!!

Myron Babcock

Pilsner 8/12-13/2016 Weekend Science Trip Projections

Data for the moon:
     date: 12 Aug            Rises: 15:32    Sets: 01:16 (13 Aug)
     date: 13 Aug            Rises: 16:25    Sets: 02:01 (14 Aug)
=============================================
Data for radio sources:
Data for Sgr-A (RA: 17h 47m   DEC: -28d 42m):
     12 Aug  21:17  ALT: 21.9deg  AZ: 180deg(meridian)
                             Rises: 17:04    Sets: 01:14 (13 Aug)
     13 Aug  21:21  ALT: 21.9deg  AZ: 180deg
                             Rises: 17:08    Sets: 01:18 (14 Aug)
Data for Cyg-A (RA: 19h 59.5m  DEC: 40d 44m):
     12 Aug 23:30   ALT: 88.3deg   AZ: 360deg(due north)
                             Rises: 14:41    Sets: 08:00 (13 Aug)
     13 Aug 23:34   ALT: 88.3deg   AZ: 360deg
                             Rises: 14:45    Sets: 08:04 (14 Aug)
Data for Cas-A (RA: 23h 23.4m  DEC: 58d 49m):
     12 Aug 02:50  ALT: 69.9deg  AZ: 360deg(due north)
     13 Aug 02:54  ALT: 69.9deg  AZ: 360deg
     NOTE: Cas-A is circumpolar and never drops below the local horizon.
Data for Tau-A (RA: 05h 34.5m  DEC: 22d 01m):
     12 Aug 09:00  ALT: 73.0deg  AZ: 180deg(meridian)
                              Rises: 02:01    Sets: 16:01
     13 Aug 09:04  ALT: 73.0deg  AZ: 180deg
                              Rises: 02:05    Sets: 16:05
Data for Vir-A (RA: 12h 30.8m  DEC: 12d 23m):
     12 Aug 15:54  ALT: 63.4deg  AZ: 180deg(meridian)
                               Rises: 09:26   Sets: 22:21
     13 Aug 15:58  ALT: 63.4deg  AZ: 180deg
                               Rises: 09:29   Sets: 22:25
Provided by WD0CUJ

Science Update 8-1-16

Plishner Radio SuperSID Results – July 2016

  • Here is my analysis of the SuperSID Data: DSES SuperSID Results July 2016
  • There were a number of C1+ flares last month.
  • There was an M1.9 flare on July 24.
  • The system is barely detecting C flares and rarely detects B flares.
  • I plan on taking to Plishner – this should increase sensitivity.

Plishner Radio Jove Results – July 2016

    • Here is my analysis of the Radio Jove data for July 2016 from the Plishner site: DSES Plishner Radio Jove Results July 2016
    • There was a significant improvement in detection results this month. This corresponds to the new antenna cabling.

Rich

Dr. Rich Russel
drrichrussel@netscape.net

DSES Participation in the Annual Eads Bash

DSES will have two or three tables at the 10th annual Maine Street Bash on Maine Street in Eads, Colorado on Saturday, July 30, 2016. Please come join us. This will be our 7th time as a part of this fundraiser that benefits the Crow-Luther Cultural Events Center, which is this event’s organizer. The Crow-Luther Cultural Events Center is a dynamic non-profit that that has saved the historical Plains Theater in Eads. They are giving DSES the foyer of the theater for the duration of the Bash, along with use of the stage and their big screen projector for up to 1 ½ hours of presentations between 5:00 p.m. and 6:30.

Festivities run from 5:00 p.m. until midnight. The vendor fee is waived for DSES and entrance to the theater is free for DSES members. Our display area is in air conditioned space in the theater’s foyer, where we will display our photos, drone videos, and various Power Point based presentations.

Summertime in Eads means the Maine Street Bash, a street festival on Maine Street in front of the Plains Theater. This festival gets bigger every year. It includes live music, both local and professional, a beer garden, a movie festival, the Kidz Zone, a Food Court, vendors, a horseshoe tournament, and a street dance that starts when the sun goes down!

We can gain access to the Bash as early as 4 p.m. and you can stay as till late as you want. We will pay individually for our entry tickets, cost is $10 each.

PLEASE, will some members come over to Eads for the Bash? You don’t have to worry about a big clean up — maybe a dry shirt if it is typically hot. Lots of good food on sale on the street – rock and roll band on a 40″ flat bed – Good old small town, fun street fair. Some of our friends there are going to bring some County Commissioners and, hopefully, a couple of the Power COOP board members by to say hi. Now that we have made such tremendous progress out at the site, and with all the work on the science program, it could really help us to show off some of that hard work and the people behind it all, to these officials.

I will go to the dish Saturday morning for a while, and John Doran is flying Wayne Green and our presenter down from Denver to Eads around 1 pm. We will get the display set up before the event opens. They will start our presentation at 5 p.m. and will fly out around 8:30 p.m., assuming the weather fits. I am planning to stay at Dolores Eickenbergs guest house and spend at least most of Sunday at the site. If bad weather comes in, they will stay there and I will get them to the airport in Eads in the morning.

Thanks and see you Saturday, the 30th. Please call or text me if you can come for at least part of the show.

Michael

Upcoming Plishner Weekend trips 7/30 ~ 8/13 2016

The next trip to the Plishner site will be this Saturday, July 30, 2016. Folks wishing to join in this trip should be at the Ellicott Fire Station by 8AM. Ed Corn, Steve Plock, Rich Russel, Gary Agranat, Bill Miller and Myron Babcock are planning on making this trip. If you are going and want to add your name to the list, please email me.

The annual Kiowa County, Eads, Colorado Main Street Bash is this Saturday, July 30, 2016 from 5PM to Midnight. DSES is listed once again as one of the vendors that will be present. Michael Lowe will have a display table with lots of DSES information. Michael Lowe would like to have other DSES members join him. Call Michael, at 719-337-2112 if you can make the trip.

During the weekend of the August Perseid meteor showers, August 12 & 13, 2016, DSES will be having an open house for the purpose of educating DSES members and non-members in our current ongoing science projects. We also hope to bounce a 1296 Mhz signal off the moon and hear our echo. If all goes well with that we hope to make a few contacts with other amateur radio stations around the country or world. A few members will be going to the site on Thursday, August 11 and staying through Sunday, August 14. We also hope to have several optical telescopes available for all to use during the dark evening skies. More details to follow.

Myron Babcock

Report of July 4, 2016 Plishner Site Trip

David Molter and Steve Plock went to the Plishner site on July 4th to work on the Radio Jove antenna and to measure the length of the Azimuth data cable. They report:

When we first entered the bunker, the lights did not come on. We found the batteries sitting at 11.6 volts and the inverter cut off because of low battery voltage. There was standing water in the bunker up to 2 inches deep. The charge controller showed zero amps of current. We went out to the Solar array and saw that the solar panel wiring was disconnected from the feedline. The wire nut showed evidence of arcing and the insulation was burnt back on the feedline. We stripped the wires back and put on a new wire nut. Note: this connection needs to be in a weatherproof box.

We saw that the reconnected charge controller was reading 11 amps. We reset the inverter and it kicked off in 10 seconds. We looked into the inside sump and saw it was full. We unplugged the sump pump and the inverter stayed up when reset.

We checked the outside sump pump and heard it running. There was no water coming out of the discharge, so we unplugged the outside sump pump. After a couple of minutes of scooping water off the floor, we plugged-in the inside sump pump, which pumped the sump down and stopped.

We opened the cover to the outside sump and found it full of water. The pump would run but no water showed at the discharge outlet. We jury rigged the spare sump pump and got 2 feet of water out of the outside sump before the inverter kicked off because of too low battery voltage. We did not have enough battery power to: (1) vacuum up the standing water in the bunker, or (2) get enough water out of the outside sump to figure out why the pump will not empty the sump. We suspect that the hose came off the pump outlet.

We measured the Azimuth data cable. We also drove in the last pipe for the radio Jove antenna, but we did not pour cement around the post. The outside sump cover is not completely covering the sump. The spare sump pump is still in the outside sump, jury rigged to a hose.

The outside sump needs to be pumped out and the regular pump recovered and fixed. The bunker needs to be emptied of water.

Submitted by Dave and Steve, edited by Dan Martin.

Plishner Perseids Meteor Shower Expedition 12-13 August 2016

DSES will have its first major observing expedition at the Plishner site on 12 – 13 August in conjunction with the Perseid Meteor Shower.

The following radio telescopes will be set up for observing:
1) Hydrogen – on 60 ft dish using Ray’s new feed
2) Radio Jove
3) Meteor Scatter
4) SuperSIDS
5) Itty Bitty Telescope

Also a number of optical telescopes will be set up to watch the meteor shower + planet and star observations.
We are also trying to get a solar telescope to do some daytime observations.

Ham radio operators will use the new DSES Club call sign, K0PRT, to make radio contacts. We will have HF antennas plus SHF, UHF, and VHF using the 60 ft dish available.

The setup team will arrive about 1200 on the 12th and start observations around 1700 and throughout the night. Observers should bring thumb drives and observer journals.

Anyone participating should bring sleeping gear and food for the overnight event. The clearing next to the communications van will be available for camping or campers. Recommend anyone sleeping in the bunker bring a cot and sleeping bag.

The event will end at 1600 on 13 August.

Please RSVP to Rich Russel.

Rich
Dr. Rich Russel

Science Update 6-3-16

The Radio Jove system picked up lightning strikes very clearly on 20.1 MHz during the storm that passed through Colorado Springs on 29 May 2016, as evidenced by Figure 1. The second jpeg, Figure 2, is zoomed-in showing what lighting looks like on the strip chart.

As you can see, it is important to recognize if your radio telescope is detecting Jupiter or lightning.

CoSprings_StormLightningRcrd_5-29-16_650w
Figure 1. Radio Jove data record of 5-29-16

CoSprings_StormLightningRcrdDetail_5-29-16_650w
Figure 2. Detail of Lighting data 5-29-16

Rich
Dr. Rich Russel