I’ve been running late! It’s not easy to stop watching the video feed from SpaceX and from NASA TV today.
Our June 2nd, 2020, club meeting will feature a program written by Jerry Buxton, N0JY, and delivered by Tom Schuessler, N5HYP. Titled “AMSAT’s Future in the Microwave Bands” It will go into a little history on previous uses of microwaves on Amateur Satellites, look at what is being designed for the GOLF satellites and the design efforts to fulfill the ARISS International goal of putting Amateur Radio on the Lunar Gateway.
UPDATE: The DARC will also have two virtual meetings during June to talk about best practices and tips for Field Day. The first one is at 7:00 PM on Thursday, June 4th, and the second is at 7:00 PM on Thursday, June 18th.
The contest calendar is full of events which I have not read about, because space stuff is just so cool. Have a look, and remember that you might want to find small events to participate in to get ready for Field Day, like the Phone Fray or the ARRL June VHF Contest.
If you’re like me and have never participated in a Field Day on your own before, then Anthony Luscre, K8ZT would like to help by sharing a fun presentation with useful tips and links. He’ll be giving a live version of the presentation this Wednesday, June 3rd, at 7:00 PM Dallas time.
In news from the world of amateur radio:
The biggest news item from the ARRL is that some tweaks have been made to the 2020 FIeld Day rules. Class D stations can now work one another, and club aggregate scores will be published that combine the scores of all of us operating from home. Remember, if we all send a message to the Section Manager, the DARC could end up with 20,000 extra points instead of the usual 100. Plus, either his phone or radio will melt, which would be amusing.
A COVID-19 “STAY HOME” radio special event is planned next weekend, organized by amateurs in Finland and Brazil.
And of course, we shouldn’t forget that one of the astronauts launched today, Bob Behnken, is better known as KE5GGX.
In news from the world of science:
The dinosaur that rode on the Demo-2 mission is an Apatosaurus named “Trimmer.”
Unfortunately, more murder hornets have been found in the Pacific Northwest. I don’t think anyone knows what to do about them. Running away probably won’t work; they’re fast. Some people whack them with tennis rackets, apparently. But the good news is that they’re probably not quite as apocalyptic as we think, especially because they’ve been found in the U.S. before.
Most of the matter in the universe is dark matter, but even for regular matter, half of it was missing until recently. Radio waves from fast radio bursts show that there’s much more matter in between galaxies than was previously thought.
We’ve all heard of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, but that’s apparently not all there was back in the very, very old days.
You might have seen surveillance traps for the emerald ash borer scattered around your neighborhood. Scientists have recently found genes in ash trees that promote ash borer resistance. Even without genetic engineering, this means that it will be relatively easy to breed resistant trees by following the genes as they move from parents into offspring.