Next-gen spacecraft stops at Holloman

NASA's next generation of manned spacecraft leaves Holloman Air Force Base, N.M. Aug. 21 enroute to White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The module was escorted on base by 49th Security Forces Squadron Airmen and off base by officers from the New Mexico State Police and the New Mexico Department of Public Safety Motor Transportation Division along with deputies from the Otero County Sheriff's Department. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Michael Means)

HOLLOMAN AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. (AFNS) -- NASA's next generation of a manned-spacecraft made a stop at Holloman AFB on its way to White Sands Missile Range, N.M. where launch abort tests will be performed.

The Orion Program's Pad Abort One Crew Module arrived here Aug. 19 via a C-17 Globemaster III and left aboard a tractor-trailer Aug. 21 for WSMR. The crew module has a launch abort system used to for the crew to escape from the launch rocket should something go wrong on the pad or during the ascent to orbit.

Holloman AFB was a vital stop because of the base's close proximity to WSMR and its ability to receive aircraft with heavy cargo.

"It would have been pretty much impossible to get this capsule out here if we were unable to land at Holloman," said Jeff Doughty, the Pad Abort One Flight Test Vehicle crew chief.

The base's reliable support also helped in the decision to bring the module through here.

"We've received excellent support from (Holloman)," said David McAllister, the Dryden Flight Research Center lead of operations for the abort flight test. "We feel like we're at home when we're here."

Holloman AFB was just one leg in the spacecraft's journey to WSMR. It was built at NASA Langley, Va., and flown to Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., to have the avionics and instrumentation installed. When installation was complete, the spacecraft was flown to Holloman AFB, then driven to to its final destination at a launch site on WSMR for testing.

Mr. Doughty said the module is going to WSMR to demonstrate that it can be taken away from the launch pad, ensuring astronauts can get away from the pad in the event of an emergency.

Billed as the shuttle replacement program for NASA, the Orion Program is designed to take the next generation of astronauts to space.

NASA is expecting the Orion to be sent into orbit toward the end of 2014 or early 2015.

Russian Domestic Networks - Update

Per a recent thread on the UDXF group here is a profile of one of the Russian Aero HF networks from my Grove Shortwave Directory, v2 ©2009 by Teak Publishing, Brasstown North Carolina. This list may NOT be reprinted in any form on any newsgroups, or on other info sources, but may be linked freely. For private use only.

Russian Domestic Networks

RF Commission for Airspace Use and Air Traffic Control (RosAeroNavigatsia)
RosAeroNavigatsia Airport Radio Domestic Network (airport names are coded). This is a point-to-point network between airports.

Nightime Nets 2770.0 3245.0 3255.0 3520.0 3595.0 3658.0 3815.0 4045.0 4405.0 4728.0 4755.0 4765.0 5025.0 5085.0 kHz.

Daytime Nets 6405.0 6820.0 6895.0 6945.0 7545.0 7870.0 8095.0 kHz.

According to some sources these RosAeroNavigatsia networks are suppose to be organized by geographic areas, but some main airports are heard on several or even all four networks at various times. The geographic areas for the RosAeroNavigatsia networks are:

Net 1 North, Net 2 Central European, Net 3 South, and Net 4 East.

Call City (Airport) Network
ADULIAR Ukhta, Russia 1
AGURCHIK Moscow (Sheremetyevo), Russia 1, 2, 3, 4
ALENKI Yekaterinburg (Koltsovo), Russia 1, 4
AMBA Samara (Kurumoch), Russia 2, 3, 4
AMBARCHIK Aktyubinsk, Kazakhstan 4
AMPIR Ufa , Russia 3, 4
ARBAT Moscow (Vnukovo), Russia 1, 2, 3, 4
ARIM Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan 4
ASSISTENT, Mosdok, Russia
ATLANT Lugansk, Ukraine 2
ATRAPIN Yerevan, Armenia 2, 3
AVRORA Volgograd, Russia 2
AZARIN Nukus, Uzbekistan 3
BEREZHNY Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia 4
BEZBREZHNOST-DVA Uray, Russia 1
BRASHKA Chelyabinsk, Russia 1, 4
DRABILKA Tbilisi, Georgia 2, 3
DRUZHINNIK Batumi, Georgia 2
DUNIS Kustanay, Kazakhstan 4
ELEKTRICHKA Donetsk, Ukraine 3
EMBA Kirov, Russia 1
FABRIKAT Salekhard, Russia 1
FANERKA Minsk-1, Belarus 1, 2
FASSIMETR-DVA Nizhnevartovsk, Russia 4
GERCEG-DVA Novy Vasyugan , Russia 4
GNEDOY Vorkuta, Russia 1
IZBRANNY Petropavlovsk, Kazakhstan 4
KAPEL Omsk, Russia 2 ,4
KARSAK Almaty, Kazakhstan 3, 4
KASTIANKA Uralsk (Podstepnyy), Kazakhstan 4
KATIUSHA Novosibirsk (Tolmachevo), Russia 4
KAVRIGA Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan 4
KAYOMKA Syktyvkar, Russia 1
KAZACHOK Nizhni Novgorod, Russia 2
KHRIZANTEMA Minsk-2, Belarus 2
KIPAZH Odessa, Ukraine 2
LAPATOK-DVA Aktau, ex-Shevchenko (Akshukyr), Kazakhstan 3
LATYSHKA Akmola (ex-Tselinograd), Kazakhstan 4
MAKHAVIK Kurgan, Russia 4
MEKHANIKA Kishinev, Moldavia 2
MELODIYA-DVA Kazan, Russia 2, 4
OKISEL Ulyanovsk, Russia 1, 3
PAYEDINOK Guryev, Kazakhstan 3
POYMA Ashgabat, Turkmenistan 3
PRALIF Tashkent, Uzbekistan 4
RADAN St Petersburg (Pulkovo), Russia 1
RIDAN Makhachkala, Russia 3
SANTIM Pechora, Russia 1
SARDINA Baku, Azerbaijan 3
SERIOZHKA Astrakhan, Russia 3
SHPORA Rostov-na-Donu, Russia 2, 3
SHTAT Sochi-Adler, Russia 2
SHTEPSIL Tobolsk, Russia 4
SISINA Simferopol, Ukraine 2
TAKHTA Orenburg, Russia 3 ,4
TIURIK Krasnodar, Russia 1 ,3
TORBA Saratov, Russia 2
TRENOGA Kharkov, Ukraine 2 ,3
TSADIK-DVA Surgut, Russia 4
TURKMENBASHI Turkmenbashi (ex-Krasnovodsk/ex-POLZA), Turkmenistan 3
TVARETS Penza, Russia 2
UBEZHISHCHE Mineralnye Vody, Russia 3, 4
UCHTIVY Lvov, Ukraine 2
UKLAT Sukhumi, Georgia 2
UVERTIURA Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad 1
VYEROCHEK Beloyarski, Russia 1
YAROK Kiev (Borispol), Ukraine 1, 2, 3
YELOVY Karaganda, Kazakhstan 4
ZADORNY Voronezh, Russia 1, 2
ZOOTEKHNIK Tyumen (Roshchino), Russia 4

As always, any additions or corrections are always appreciated to the eqmail address in the masthead.

New! MTXtra - All Languages All The Time

FREE to MTXPRESS Subscribers - Complete Shortwave Broadcast Schedules

Starting with the September issue of MTXpress, your full-color, faster-than-print electronic edition of Monitoring Times magazine will contain, in addition to its comprehensive listings of English language broadcasts, an expanded 24 hour listing of foreign and English language broadcasts in one convenient electronic file.

This exclusive MTXtra Shortwave Broadcast Guide is available only to MTXpress subscribers - it’s not in the print edition. The new grid is a fully searchable, Adobe Acrobat portable document file (pdf), allowing instant access to shortwave stations’ times, languages, frequencies and target areas!

Broken down by hour then station and frequency, this is the only listing of shortwave radio stations in this format available anywhere. Foreign language students and teachers, expatriates, and radio hobbyist outside of the United States and Canada will especially appreciate our new expanded foreign language format. If you are interested in shortwave programming, then our exclusive MTXtra Shortwave Broadcast Guide is your ticket to the world of shortwave broadcast listening.

Our downloadable, printable, and searchable pdf is FREE each month with your paid subscription to MTXpress. The September edition of the MTXtra Shortwave Broadcast Guide has 114 pages of 24-hour listings for hundreds of broadcasters in all languages.

And what will you get with an electronic subscription to MTXpress? You get more with our digital magazine than is possible with print. The entire magazine is full color. All of the web links are clickable, so if you see a link to a website that you want to visit, just click on it! Want to email an author? Just click on their email address at the top of their column, and MTXpress opens your email program, drops in their address, and is ready for your input! Print out any pages you need for handy access. MTXpress is the perfect delivery and cost effective magazine format for subscribers outside the United States.

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Sample page of the new MTXtra Shortwave Broadcast Guide.

30 Meter AR Band Digital Activity Weekend

It has been announced by several digital mode speciality groups that there is going to be a 30 meter multimode weekend August 22-23, 2009. This ham activity is designed to promote experimentation and the use of different amateur radio digital modes on the 30 meter band. A number of digital mode groups will be participating during this weekend event, so if you wanted to try out an ham digital mode, here is your chance to get on the 30 meter band and have a go at it. This is not a contest, there are no set times, no rules, no set exchanges and no winners.

During this special event you will have a chance to try out the 30 meter ham band and maybe a new mode or two; experiment with and chat with hams who are already using the band; and have some fun. For more details of this event and other 30 meter activity, check out http://www.30mdg.net/.

You can get more information on operating digital modes on the 30 meter ham bands by downloading this free pdf courtesy of the 30MDG at
http://30mdg.net/files/30%20Meter%20Band%20INFORMATION[1].pdf

You can get specific information on this August weekend event in a free pdf download at http://30mdg.net/files/30M%20DIGITAL%20MULTI%20MODE%20WEEKEND%20AUG%2022-23.pdf

This is one of my favorite bands to work in and I will probably be hanging around that weekend. So if you need North Carolina or Clay County on a digital mode in the 30 meter ham band, drop me a note and let's see if we can schedule something, I QSL in all forms (conventional, LOTW and eqsl (AG)), and will be glad to help those that need NC or Clay Co for their logbooks.

So plan ahead and if you have a computer with a soundcard, download some free software and give the ham digi world a shot. I hope to see some of my readers of this blog in two weeks during this special weekend activity on the 30 meter digi bands.

73 de Larry, N5FPW

New HiFer Beacon

From HF beacon Newsgroup via UDXF Newsgroup

Hi All:

I wanted to announce that I have placed on the air a new HiFer beacon on 13.563 MHz. I do have some issues with RF properly coupling to the antenna as I am not seeing the results I would expect so I will be working to improve what little RF is coming out reaches the antenna.

Since a HiFer beacon is a part 15 transmitter and call signs are not intended for this operation the beacon is identifiing itself as "SZX" and will operate 24/7 unless it is down for work.

Mark Garrett, KA9SZX ka9szx@hotmail.com
9885 E 950 th ST
Macomb, IL 61455

Latitude: 40.425008 (40° 25' 30'' N)
Longitude: -90.723732 (90° 43' 25'' W)
Grid Square: EN40pk