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   When amateur radio pioneers first gathered in Paris on 18 April 1925,   
   they created the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) to support their   
   activities worldwide. Since then, the IARU has worked tirelessly to defend   
   and expand the official frequency allocations for amateur radio.   
      
   Thanks to the support of enlightened administrations in every part of the   
   globe, radio amateurs can experiment and communicate in frequency bands   
   that are strategically located throughout the radio spectrum.   
   >From 25 countries in 1925, the IARU has grown to include over   
   160 member-societies today.   
      
   In the meantime, the IARU is kicking off its centenary celebrations on   
   18 April  World Amateur Radio Day. Our theme for this year is   
   A Century of Connections: Celebrating 100 years of Amateur Radio   
   Innovation, Community and Advocacy.   
      
   As an advocate and representative for the amateur services, the IARU is a   
   proud and active member of the International Telecommunication Union   
   (ITU). They were first admitted into the work of the Consultative   
   Committee on International Radio (CCIR), the forerunner to todays   
   ITU Radiocommunication Sector in 1932. IARU have continued contributing   
   to ITUs radiocommunications and emergency response activities ever since.   
      
   The RSGB has announced that Peter Bowyer, G4MJS is to take on the new role   
   of RSGB Board Vice Chair.   
      
   The current Board Chair, Stewart Bryant, G3YSX said that the role of   
   RSGB Board Chair has always been a busy one and, as the RSGB has taken on   
   more commitments, the demands of this position have continually grown.   
   Being able to share those duties is in the best interests of both the   
   Society and the incumbent, and he is grateful to Peter for volunteering   
   for this new role.   
      
   How bad can a solar storm be?   
      
   Just ask a tree.   
      
   Unlike human records, which go back hundreds of years, trees can remember   
   solar storms for millennia. Nagoya University doctoral student Fusa Miyake   
   made the discovery in 2012 while studying rings in the stump of a   
   1900-year-old Japanese cedar. One ring, in particular, drew her attention.   
   Grown in the year 77475 AD, it contained a 12-percent jump in radioactive   
   carbon-14, about 20 times greater than ordinary fluctuations from cosmic   
   radiation.   
      
   Other teams confirmed the spike in wood from Germany, Russia,   
   the United States, Finland, and New Zealand.   
      
   Whatever happened, trees all over the world experienced it.   
      
   Most researchers think it was a solar storm -- an extraordinary one.   
   Often, we point to the Carrington Event of 1859 as the worst-case scenario   
   for solar storms. The 774-75 AD storm was at least 10 times stronger; if   
   it happened today, it would floor modern technology.   
      
   Since Miyake's initial discovery, she and others have confirmed five more   
   examples. Researchers call them "Miyake Events."   
      
   WPTFs Transmitter Site Is Host to a Radio Time Capsule   
      
   While the site is operational, its accompanying building has long been   
   sealed off.   
      
   radioworld.com recently connected with Heather Leah, aka the   
   Hidden Historian.   
      
   Heather spends her time traversing crumbling buildings, forgotten   
   hideaways and underground tunnels to share with her followers the   
   hidden history right under your feet.  Based in North Carolina, she has   
   explored abandoned theme parks, watery graves and, now, an AM stations   
   historic transmitter building.   
      
   During the day, the main tower stands tall and proud, wrote Leah in her   
   blog post.  In the 1950s, the building was staffed around the clock, with   
   a department of 15 people.   
      
   Adorned with rounded windows and curved edges, the building may appear   
   small from the outside, but it extends deep underground into a shelter   
   that provided a safe haven for announcers to broadcast through tumultuous   
   events such as hurricanes or even potential wars,   
      
   Nearly 80 years old and sealed off from the outside world, it holds onto   
   dusty secrets that time has forgotten, resembling a living time capsule.   
   The basement was home to WPTFs disaster/bomb shelter. In cases of   
   emergency, WPTF was prepared to maintain open lines of communication.   
      
   Leah said the shelter is stocked with turntables from the 1950s and a   
   couple of old-timey albums along with old McDonalds wrappers and coffee   
   cups.   
      
   YOU CAN VISIT VIA THE WEB BY CLICKING THE URL WE LIKE IN THE TEXT EDITION   
   OF THIS YOUR WIA NATIONAL NEWS SERVIC, BEST READ on wia.org.au   
      
   tinyurl.com/yt5tucnb   
      
   Taylorator Makes Mischief On The Airwaves.   
      
   This story comes with a caveat.. DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS AT HOME.   
      
   In Hackaday recently "[Stephen]" wrote in to share his experiments with   
   using the LimeSDR mini to conduct a bit of piracy on the airwaves, and   
   though we cant immediately think of a legitimate application for spamming   
   the full FM broadcast band simultaneously, we cant help but be fascinated   
   by the technique.   
      
   Called the Taylorator, as it was originally intended to carpet bomb the   
   FM dial with the collected works of Taylor Swift on every channel,   
   the code makes for some interesting reading if youre interested in the   
   transmission-side of software defined radio.   
      
   The write-up talks about the logistics of FM modulation, and how quickly   
   the computational demands stack up when youre trying to push out   
   100 different audio streams at once. It eats up nearly 4 GB of RAM.   
      
   As [Stephen] touches on at the end of the Hackaday post, this is almost   
   certainly illegal no matter what country you happen to live in.   
      
   scd31.com/posts/taylorator   
      
   WEIRD BUT WONDERFUL   
      
   When is 'RADIO' not RADIO?   
      
   At the height of the Cold War, those of us here on the western side of the   
   wall had plenty of choice over our radio listening, even if we stuck with   
   our countrys monolithic broadcasters.   
      
   On the other side in the Soviet Union, radio for many came without a   
   choice of source, in the form of wired radio systems built into all   
   apartments.   
      
   In a Soviet apartment, usually in the kitchen, there would be a Radio   
   socket on the wall, it carried an audio signal. The box which plugged into   
   it was referred to as a radio, but instead contained only a transformer,   
   loudspeaker, and volume control.   
      
   These carried the centralised radio station, piped from Moscow to the   
   regions by a higher voltage line, then successively stepped down at   
   regional, local, and apartment block level. A later refinement brought a   
   couple more stations on separate sub-carriers, but it was the single   
   channel speakers which provided the soundtrack for daily life.   
      
   The decline of the system came over the decades following the end of   
   communism, and now the speaker boxes survive as affectionate curios for   
   those who grew up with them.   
      
   youtube.com/watch?v=AvTaNVXGR0w   
      
   (TWIAR)   
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   OPERATIONAL NEWS -   
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   NOW CONTEST WISE:- 2025   
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   The CQ World Wide WPX RTTY Contest started Saturday and runs until   
   2359UTC today Sunday the 9th of February. Using RTTY on the 80 to 10m   
   bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and   
   serial number.   
      
   (rsgb)   
      
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   In Holland their PACC Contest started Saturday runs until 1200UTC   
   today Sunday the 9th of February. Using CW and SSB on the 160 to 10m   
   bands, where contests are permitted, the exchange is signal report and   
   serial number. PA stations also send their province.   
      
   (rsgb)   
      
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   CQ 160 METER CONTEST   
      
   SSB February 21 - 2200Z February 23.   
      
   (cq)   
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   The IARU 100th Anniversary Centennial QSO Party.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)