Adventure science...

Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him and calls the adventure science. — Edwin Powell Hubble

Edwin Powell Hubble

All you need in this life...

All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence, and then success is sure. -- Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Empires of the mind...

The empires of the future are the empires of the mind. -- Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill

December 13-14, 2014, Geminids

Cast your eyes toward the heavens this December 13-14, 2014 for a peak at the Geminids meteor showers.

Good DX and 73, NJ2X

Get your facts first..

Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please. -- Mark Twain

Mark Twain

Investment in knowledge...

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest. -- Benjamin Franklin

Beware of trying to build a society...

We must beware of trying to build a society in which nobody counts for anything except a politician or an official, a society where enterprise gains no reward and thrift no privileges. -- Sir Winston Churchill

Sir Winston Churchill

America's quiet warriors...

America's quiet warriors are the legion of ham radio operators, 700,000 of them, who are always at ready for backup duty in emergencies – amateur, unpaid, uncelebrated, civilian radio operators, during and after floods and fires and tornadoes. After the 9/11 attacks, hams were indispensable in reuniting friends and families. Most recently it was they who expedited the search for debris after the Columbia Explosion , and right now, at this moment, they are involved in homeland security to a greater degree than you would want me to make public. — Paul Harvey

ARRL Centennial QSO Party - NJ2X standing as of November 1, 2014

We have been enjoying the ARRL Centennial QSO Party since getting our station on the air August 15, 2014 after being off the air since the beginning of January 2014.  You can check your current standing on-line.  It is fun to watch your statistics grow.  Wish we would have been able to operate all year - would have made a big difference score-wise.

Working the W1AW portable stations is really fun.  Planning to pick up as many as possible between now and the end of the year.  NJ2X is in the top 32% for the Centennial Points Challenge (left) and the top 19% on the W1AW portable stations leader board (right).

Good DX and 73, NJ2X

On this day (November 1) in science history...

On this day in science history, November 1st, 1878, the first telephones are installed on the trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

Alexander Graham Bell

Good DX and 73, NJ2X

Difficulties in mathematics...

Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater. — Albert Einstein

Albert Einstein

Massive solar flare disrupts worldwide HF radio communication

Hams worldwide were having a great time today in the CQ WW SSB Contest (2014.10.25) on HF until about 17:00 UTC when a massive X-class solar flare caused radio blackout worldwide.  The sound of all the HF bands closing down was remarkable.  The only HF communication remaining active was via ground wave propagation.  The HF radio blackout started to lift about 18:30 UTC with the re-opening of the 10m and 12m bands and then the other bands over time.

X-class solar flare erupting 2014.10.25
Photo by NASA/SDO

Massive X3.1 Class Solar Flare 2014.10.24
Photo by NASA/SDO

So what does X3.1 solar flare mean?  Solar flares are classified as A, B, C, M or X according to the peak flux in watts per square meter (W/m2) X-rays near Earth, as measured on the GOES spacecraft.

Classification	Peak Flux Range picometre (W/m2)
A	< 10−7
B	10−7 - 10−6
C	10−6 - 10−5
M	10−5 - 10−4
X	10−4 - 10−3
Z	> 10−3

Within each class there is a linear scale from 1 to 9.n (apart from X), so an X2 flare is twice as powerful as an X1 flare, and is four times more powerful than an M5 flare.  X class flares up to X28 have been recorded.

Good DX and 73, NJ2X

Inventions have been the product of experiment and work based on physical reasoning...

Anyone who has had actual contact with the making of the inventions that built the radio art knows that these inventions have been the product of experiment and work based on physical reasoning, rather than on the mathematicians' calculations and formulae.  Precisely the opposite impression is obtained from many of our present day text books and publications. — Edwin Armstrong

Edwin H. Armstrong

Edwin H. Armstrong invented the regenerative circuit, superheterodyne circuit, superregenerative circuit, and FM radio.