We start with the usual list of alerts for a litany of tropical storms that are threatening the Caribbean, the east coast of India, and the South China Sea, with all its coastal countries.

By Sunday last week there were orange alerts out for tropical depression NADINE, in the bay of Mexico, and threatening Guatemala, Mexico, Belize, Honduras and Nicaragua. Wind speeds of 83km/h at that stage.

There was also an orange alert out for tropical cyclone OSCAR, also at the mouth of the Caribbean, affecting Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas and Cuba. Maximum wind speeds measured there were 139km/h.

Its passage over south-eastern Cuba caused heavy rainfall and resulted in casualties and damage. Media reports, as of 22 October, six fatalities across the San Antonio del Sur community, Guantanamo province. Several municipalities received more than 300 mm of rain, causing heavy flooding, severe damage to infrastructure and the blocking of roads and highways. Cuba kept schools closed and non-essential workers at home until today Sunday as a precaution.

That same Sunday Greg G0DUB relayed a message from Carlos, CO2JC who is IARU region 2 Emcomm coordinator, reporting that, on October 18th shortly after 11:00 EDT (15:00 UTC) a breakdown occurred that caused the total disconnection of the national electrical power system throughout the country. For that reason and at the request of the Ministry of Communications, we activated the National Emergency Network of the Federation of Radio Amateurs of Cuba from 16:30 EDT (20:30 UTC) of that same day. The network has been active in all provinces but in different ways, depending on the communication needs in each territory and also suffering from the lack of batteries.

In addition to this situation with the electricity deficit in the country, we have the proximity of Hurricane Oscar, which will be affecting the eastern region of the archipelago today, so the emergency networks in these provinces have greater activity.

We remind you of the emergency frequencies of the amateur radio service in Cuba in the 40 m band: 7110 kHz (primary) and 7120 kHz (secondary). However, most of the communication is being carried out on local VHF frequencies.

We appreciate the protection of these frequencies and the cooperation of all colleagues.

Thank you, Greg and Carlos. Please note these frequencies and stay away from them.

On Monday GDACS warned of a tropical depression named TWENTYTWO, (and later renamed to TRAMI) in the Northwest Pacific, with winds of about 110km/h, and threatening Philippines, Taiwan and China, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand

There was also a warning on Tuesday, for tropical cyclone KRISTY, active in the East Pacific, close to the west coast of Mexico, but not affecting the population yet. Wind speeds of 185km/h had been measured.

Finally, on Wednesday, an orange alert was issued for tropical Cyclone DANA, with maximum wind speeds of 102km/h, active in the Bay of Bengal, moving north west, to threaten India only. By Thursday GDACS had raised the alert level to RED, forecasting winds of up to 130km/h on the eastern coast of India.

While all of these storms seem to be relatively mild, there is no way of predicting how they will turn out.

In the meantime, the SA Weather Service was talking about severe weather in KZN, Gauteng, and the eastern part of the Eastern Cape, affecting the areas from Sunday onwards. This had an effect on the Amashova race in KZN, which I will mention further down.

The Western Cape Repeater Working Group made a very successful visit to our main Emcomms, 145.700MHz, on Constantiaberg in the Western Cape this last Tuesday. We use the repeater to transmit our weekly HAMNET bulletin for the Western Cape, but for the last few weeks, we have experienced intermittent transmissions, with lots of chopping and loss of signal.

The group went up to the Sentech site, and, accompanied by Sentech officials, climbed to the first platform where our rather battered antenna was found to have had its matching stub chafed away by movement in the wind. Then when it rained, water got in to the matching stub and the signal died completely. Our chaps were able to replace the antenna with a new one, waterproof it effectively and confirm that SWR’s down in the repeater room, using the antenna and its hardline coax, were 1.2:1 or less. All is now fixed, and our bulletins can carry on unimpeded. Thanks to the members of the WCRWG.

Thursday saw a simulated Koeberg Nuclear Power Station Disaster Exercise, run from the Disaster Risk management Centre in Goodwood. Usually the exercise involves accidental release of radioactive clouds, and the exercises differ according to which way the wind might blow the cloud. HAMNET was represented by Danie ZS1OSS and Shaun ZS1LED, who sat in and monitored, but were not called in for any comms requirement.

From Keith Lowes ZS5WFD, we hear that HAMNET-KZN deployed twelve members in wet and misty weather conditions to provide communication for the Amashova Durban Classic Cycle Race held on Sunday 20th October 2024

A Level 6 Weather Warning for Disruptive Rain had been issued by the S.A. Weather Service on Saturday.  This seems to have had a major impact on participants as out of 3148 entrants, 1474 did not start the race although they had registered.  This was likely due to family members not prepared to take unnecessary risks with potholes hidden underwater and slippery road conditions.

This year saw a new 132Km stage being included which started at 05H30 outside the Nelson Mandela Capture Site Museum in Howick, travelled through Hilton and joined up with the 106Km event in Pietermaritzburg. This stage attracted 272 entrants.  Due to wet and misty conditions the stage was declared a “Neutral Zone” and cyclists were escorted by a race lead vehicle into Pietermaritzburg.

The 38Km from Hillcrest and 65Km from Cato Ridge started at 05H00 whilst the 106Km from Pietermaritzburg started at 06H00.

Communications were via the 145.7625 Highway and 145.750 Midlands Club repeaters with the Joint Operations Centre (JOC) at Suncoast Casino in Durban being manned by Keith ZS5WFD. Willem ZS5WA was situated in the Pietermaritzburg JOC situated at the Fire Station.

Operators were situated at Six Water Points along the route with One  Roving Patrol crewed by Deon ZS5DD and Troy ZS5TWJ which had full route access. They used APRS to plot their position on the route which I was able to monitor on the APRS.fi website.

An initial report of a cyclist down on the M13 Freeway at Kloof was reported by Shaun ZS5SM at 05H48. Shaun responded from his Water Point with 2 medics to the scene.  At 05H55 he reported “On scene at M13/Village Road Kloof —CPR In Progress” Advanced Life Support paramedics and an ambulance were dispatched by Durban JOC.  These units arrived at 06H05, but despite their best efforts, the 79-year-old gentleman was declared deceased on the scene. According to competitors who stopped to assist and administer CPR, they suspect he suffered a heart attack and subsequently lost control and crashed into the centre median of the freeway. The scene was left in the care of SAPS Pinetown and Metro Police.

“Rover 1” reported a cyclist down on Old Main Rd Monteseel at 08H23, SAPS Search and Rescue Unit was on scene at 08H30. Patient had a suspected fractured collar-bone and was uplifted by ambulance at 08H41.

Approximately 35 medical cases were logged in the Durban JOC ranging from cuts and bruises, cramps, broken nose, fractured collar-bone, hyperthermia and suspected heart attack.

Thank you to the HAMNET-KZN team on behalf of the organizers and myself, who braved the miserable weather to ensure the successful outcome of the event. We extend our sincere condolences to family and friends of the cyclist who passed away.

With apologies for a gravelly voice, this is Dave Reece ZS1DFR reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

In a strange turn to last week’s research telling us that Emma Kindstrom had proved that the pain signal from hair-pulling travelled the fastest of all pain signals, we have received an email from Emma, telling us she was delighted to see our mention of her research in the HAMNET Bulletin, because she is in fact also a radio amateur! So I am now going to append her call-sign to last week’s paragraphs, and tell you she is Emma Kindstrom, SA5NOX. Thanks for the email, Emma.

GDACS notified us of a magnitude 6 earthquake at a depth of 10km in the province of Malatya, Turkiye, at 07h46 UTC on Wednesday the 16^th. This is in roughly the same area as the magnitude 7.7 and 7.6 quakes of 20 months ago, in which 56000 people lost their lives. A population of over 100000 was exposed to severe shaking, and about 200 injured souls reported on, but luckily so far no fatalities reported.

The ARRL letter of Thursday the 17^th says that a team of 161 amateur radio operators from five Midwest states assisted the 2000 medical personnel volunteering for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 13, 2024. Some 52,000 runners entered the event that featured a chilly, windy, day and saw many personal best times and a world record time for the women. More than 100 countries were represented.

This is the 16th year that amateur radio operators have partnered with the medical teams to help coordinate responses, arrange for medical re-supplies, and provide situational awareness for the organizers. This year, Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) was used by the pre-finish team, a group of 25 hams who are staged with medical personnel on a line about every 200 yards on the last mile of the course. The medical people had automated external defibrillators (AEDs) and other supplies, while the hams radio for ambulance support. DMR allowed the hams to have two channels on one frequency and permitted them to manage the traffic better when patient load was higher.

There were more than 35 newly-trained ham radio operators, and all were new to the event as well. Online training events were offered and then the new operators were paired with more experienced personnel for the event. Organizers said that amateur radio is important to the marathon, but it is just one small component of a very complex event that requires 10,000 volunteers to be successful. Amateur radio has a unique role and works alongside the other many specialty service groups required to support an event of this magnitude.

“We are grateful to the many hams who have shared their expertise, time, and resources over the years,” said Robert Orr, Volunteer Lead for the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. “This event has shown that ham radio is very much alive and doing well.”

The big weekend for Scouts around the world is here. The ARRL also notes that Jamboree On – The – Air (JOTA) and Jamboree On – The – Internet (JOTI) is the world’s largest Scouting event. The three-day event has run from October 18 until today, using amateur radio and the internet to connect Scouts worldwide for a full weekend of on-air and online activities that promote friendship and global citizenship. In 2023, JOTA/JOTI had a record 600,000 registered participants, a 40% increase compared to 2022, and included 7000+ Scout groups and tens of thousands of individual participants from 149 countries.

When Scouts contact each other by amateur radio, the stations are operated by licensed amateur radio operators. Many Scouts and their leaders hold licenses and have their own stations, but the majority participate in JOTA through stations operated by local radio clubs and individual radio amateurs. Some operators use television or computer-linked communication. This technology offers Scouts the exciting opportunity to make friends in other countries without leaving home.

Participating using JOTI, Scouts of any age can take part, from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts and Venturers. Scouts may participate at home with the help of an adult, or they can participate in a Scout group at a council event. JOTI is an economical way to participate in an international jamboree and participation fulfils requirements for Tiger and Arrow of Light adventures, the Citizenship in the World merit badge, and the International Spirit Award.

Thanks to the ARRL for both these sets of inserts.

A nearby star system has just served as the proving ground for a new technique to search for signs of extra-terrestrial life.

As detailed in a study set to be published in The Astronomical Journal, astronomers have developed a method that allows alien hunters to listen for much smaller bandwidth radio signals, resembling what we use to communicate with our own spacecraft.

To test it, they set their sights on the TRAPPIST-1 star system, which is only 41 light years away. At its centre is a cool red dwarf, surrounded by seven rocky, Earth-sized exoplanets, three of which orbit within their star’s habitable zone, which means they could harbour water and support life.

While they didn’t pick up on any alien techno-signatures, they successfully demonstrated that their technique worked. If applied elsewhere in the cosmos, it could be used to pick up on communications that weren’t intended to reach deep space.

“Most searches assume a powerful signal, like a beacon intended to reach distant planets, because our receivers have a sensitivity limit to a minimum transmitter power beyond anything we unintentionally send out,” said study lead author Nick Tusay, an astronomer at Penn State University, in a statement about the work. “But, with better equipment, like the upcoming Square Kilometre Array, we might soon be able to detect signals from an alien civilization communicating with its spacecraft.”

If an alien civilization was like ours, they might be sending plenty of radio signals between their system’s planets, perhaps to off-world probes and rovers. These communications would be made over narrowband radio signals, which require less power to send out. Because they’re smaller, however, they’re also much harder to detect at great distances.

To compensate for this, the team waited for what’s known as planet-planet occultations to occur. This is when one planet passes in front of another from our perspective on Earth (like a solar eclipse), providing a rare chance to catch radio “spill-over” of a signal being sent from the further world to the nearer one.

In hopes of snagging one of these communications, the researcher used the Allan Telescope Array, a large series of radio telescopes, to scan TRAPPIST-1 for an impressive 28 hours — the longest single-target search in the star system.

During this window, around seven possible planet-planet occultations were predicted to have occurred, producing around 2,200 candidate radio signals that coincided with the astronomical events.

None of these turned out to be the work of little green men. The fact that they were able to identify promising signals at all, however, is proof enough that their technique could pick up on day-to-day radio signals in other stellar neighbourhoods.

“The TRAPPIST-1 system is relatively close to Earth, and we have detailed information about the orbit of its planets, making it an excellent natural laboratory to test these techniques,” Tusay said. “The methods and algorithms that we developed for this project can eventually be applied to other star systems and can increase our chances of finding regular communications among planets beyond our solar system, if they exist.”

This is Dave Reece, ZS1DFR, struggling to get a WhatsApp message to his daughter 15km away, and reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

I had hardly put my proverbial pen down last weekend, when news of the next flood started to arrive. Central Europe, Bosnia in particular, was almost being swept away in heavy flooding. Alen, E71AR, Bosnia Emcomm Coordinator, reported on Saturday the 5^th of unprecedented floods in Bosnia, and parts of Herzegovina, and emergency frequencies of 3.612 and 7.150 MHz being utilized, as well as their central repeater 2000m above sea level, on 145.675, with a 103.5 CTCSS tone.

Neighbouring Croatia was monitoring their repeater, and providing Web SDR support from across the border. Rescue teams were already active in the field, and support was received from Croatia, Serbia, North Macedonia, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia.

By Tuesday, GDACS reported 18 fatalities, dozens of people still missing and an uncertain number of injured people across the area of Jablanica town, Konjic town and Donja Jablanica village (in the Herzegovina-Neretva canton, approximately 70 km south-west of Sarajevo city). The Government of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina declared a state of emergency on 5^th October for the territory of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

By Sunday, GDACS was issuing an Orange Alert for Tropical Cyclone MILTON, which had arisen very suddenly in the middle of the Bay of Mexico, with maximum wind speeds of 194Km/h, and aimed at Florida’s waist as it travelled North East out of the Bay and into the Atlantic. At least 6.5 million people were in the path of 120km/h winds.

By Monday the Alert Level had been raised to RED, and wind speeds of 231km/h were being forecast. Greg, G0DUB, our Region One Emmcomm Coordinator, had monitored requests from Carlos, CO2JC, Region Two Emcomm Coordinator, to keep the emcomm frequencies of 7.268 and 14.325MHz clear to facilitate emergency traffic there.

Greg also reported that, due to the proximity of Hurricane Milton to Mexican territory, the Mexican Federation of Radio Experimenters A.C. was asking for protection of their emergency frequency 7.128 MHz currently in use.

The hurricane was expected to move near or over the northern Yucatan Peninsula on Monday and Tuesday before crossing the Gulf of Mexico to approach the west coast of the Florida Peninsula on Wednesday.

By Tuesday, MILTON was expected to increase in strength to a category 4 Hurricane, making landfall over the central Florida peninsula, just south of the Tampa city area, on 9^th October late in the afternoon (UTC), with maximum sustained winds of up to 213 km/h.

Heavy rainfall was forecast over the northern Yucatán peninsula on 7-8^th October, and very heavy rainfall, strong winds and storm surges were forecast over the whole Florida peninsula starting from 8^th October.

In the following days, MILTON was classified as a category 5 to 6 Hurricane, on a scale of 1 to 5, it was so strong. By Wednesday afternoon, wind speeds of 287km/h were being forecast. Inhabitants of the west coast of the length of Florida were being advised to evacuate the area, particularly, with advisements that their survival could not be guaranteed during the passage of the storm.

MILTON made landfall at 8.30pm local time on Wednesday evening, with life-threatening storm surge, powerful winds and flooding rains. By Thursday morning, the ARRL was reporting more than 3 million residents of Florida without power.

As of 11^th October, more than 12 deaths had been identified, there were more than 83,000 evacuated people in 149 shelters, and 27 counties were under evacuation orders across the Florida peninsula.

The actual Hurricane was preceded by many tornadoes, springing up unpredictably, and affecting the breadth of the Florida panhandle, and causing widespread destruction and deaths. There were 19 confirmed tornadoes in Florida by the time Milton made landfall on Wednesday. Some 45 tornadoes were reported throughout the day.

The American ‘Hurricane Watch Net’ was activated on Tuesday, using 14.325MHz and 7.268MHz through to Thursday to collect and forward storm reports to the US National Hurricane Centre as well as handling any Emergency or Health & Welfare Traffic. The VOiP Hurricane net was also active until at least Thursday afternoon.

I am starting to feel like a stuck record, as I report these severe weather instances repeatedly, and wonder where and when the next one will strike.

Meanwhile, the sun, not to be outdone in this race to claim the most notoriety for the most severe geographic and meteorological disturbance, threw us a curved ball as it blasted us with a Geomagnetic Storm, when we didn’t really expect it.

Having provided us last week with an X9 class Solar Flare, the sun did not dish us the expected associated geomagnetic storm last weekend. Yes, the Planetary K index was up at 4 or 5 over the weekend, and HF conditions were poor, but nothing like what had been forecast.;

Instead, the sun created an X1.8 class solar flare on Monday or Tuesday, with an associated Coronal Mass Ejection (CME), which generated a severe (G4) geomagnetic storm on Thursday, which impacted Earth at 15h15 UTC on Wednesday the 10^th. The K index almost made it to the maximum of 9, signalling a G5 storm, the maximum of 8.5 being recorded midnight UTC on the night of 10-11^th October. The K index sagged very slowly, and finally reached a more bearable level of 4 at 18h00 UTC on Friday evening. Until then the shortwave (HF) bands were to all intents and purposes closed, and unusable!

I think all we need now is a pestilence of locusts, and 2024 will have reached rock-bottom! It’s enough to tear your hair out.

Which is not a good idea, actually, because sciencenews.org tells us this week that scientists have found the sensors that signal the painful zing of a hair pull. And this pain message can rip along a nerve fibre at about 100 miles an hour, placing it among the fastest known pain signals.

Laboratory tests showed a hair pull to be about 10 times as painful as a pinprick, neuroscientist Emma Kindström of Linköping University in Sweden and colleagues found. The pain of the pull relies on a large, propeller-shaped protein called PIEZO2, further tests showed. A hair-pull-signal moves along nerve fibres much faster than other sorts of pain, Kindström says, traveling in bursts along an insulated conduit called an Aβ nerve fibre. Other kinds of pain signals, such as a burn from a hot stove, travel more slowly along different kinds of fibres.

So, if you must get your own back on your sister, the hair-pull is the way to go.

This is Dave Reece ZS1DFR, thankfully bald as a coot, and reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.

Hurricane HELENE has turned out to be second only to Hurricane KATRINA, in terms of casualties reported in the US this century. By Friday evening, HELENE, which swept up from Florida, through northern Georgia, South and then North Carolina, and even had a touching effect on Tennessee, had claimed 200 lives. Flooding was particularly severe in western North Carolina

It is expected that damage to roads, power, water and sewage reticulation, will take a while to restore to all the affected areas, and rebuilding communities a lot longer.

In its Letter for 3^rd October, the ARRL says that widespread devastation has damaged the power grid and roads, and many residents are without cell phone service and other utilities. For several days, radio communications were the only means of passing information. Ham radio continues to play a significant role in this situation.

In North Carolina, all official emergency radio communications are done through NC AUXCOMM. NC Division of Emergency Management Senior External Affairs Specialist Brian Haines says hams are deployed. “Amateur radio operators are working side by side with first responder communications personnel all over Western North Carolina. Needless to say, we are interested in highlighting all they are doing but at this point they are heavily involved in response efforts, which is where we need to focus,” he said.

Winlink, which provides email over amateur radio, has been used significantly in the recovery. ARRL Director of Emergency Management Josh Johnston, KE5MHV, says the recent FCC removal of symbol rate restrictions has allowed a streamlined response using modern technology. “Winlink is an example of how modern tools work well within the Amateur Radio Service. Not having to petition the FCC for a waiver of the old rules allowed Winlink to be used immediately during this emergency,” he said. ARRL had advocated for the change, which was implemented in 2023.

Significant stories of the response from individual hams are emerging, particularly from those who have created pop-up nets to pass health and welfare traffic. Using mountaintop repeaters that have robust power backups, HF frequencies, and Winlink, ham radio operators are putting their time, talents, and personal gear to good use.

By last Sunday, GDACS was issuing Orange Alerts for Tropical Cyclone KRATHON, arising in the northwest Pacific, and threatening Philippines, Taiwan and the coast of mainland China, with maximum wind speeds of 213km/h, and with 6,885 million people threatened by a cone of winds with speeds of at least 120km/h.

On Monday, a RED Alert was issued for Taiwan, as KRATHON veered away from a course directed at Philippines, and moved due North, expected to strike Taiwan between Wednesday and Thursday, as it moved northeast over the island.

I received a report from our rally support group, written by Ian Bradley, ZS1BR, regarding the Klipdale Rally which took place last Saturday the 28^th September. Ian writes:

“With weather warnings issued for high winds and rain, radio operators headed out to Klipdale, somewhere between Stormsvlei and Bredasdorp, to assist with communications for the Klipdale Rally. With the wind already howling Control was established at Rûens Kollege just before 09:00. However, the antenna and mast became horizontally polarized twice (i.e. it fell over) before some large concrete blocks were found to add some extra weight [to the base]. Communication was all done via the Jonaskop repeater (145.675MHz), and, despite the distance, was easily accessed with a handheld radio in most cases.

“Operators were placed at the start and end of each stage, as well as with the Clerks of the Course. Cell phone coverage was particularly patchy around Klipdale so good radio communications was key, as the officials were rarely at HQ for very long.

“The first stage of the rally was delayed slightly as the high winds had displaced many of the route markers which the Zero Car had to fix before clearing the stage. Once given the green light, the first stage was opened at 10:40 and the somewhat sparse field of 11 competitors took off at two-minute intervals.

“No serious incidents occurred; however, the first two stages did claim several cars, knocking the number of competitors down to eight for the remaining stages. While clearing the final stage, the Zero Car also suffered a breakdown when a coolant hose ruptured. (In passing, we do wonder whether the early breakdowns were planned so that the teams could knock off and be back home in time for the rugby! HI.)

“The final stage completed at 15:30 and we quickly packed up and headed home just as the first drops of rain started to come down.

“Special thanks to Johann ZS1JM, Andre ZS1ATX, Jannie ZS1JFK, Thys ZS1WV, Okko ZS1OKO, Rassie ZS1YT, Johan ZR1JL, and Davy ZR1FR.

“We encourage you to volunteer your time and expertise,” says Ian, “even if you are new to amateur radio or sports communication, to assist in making these events safer, while also making some noise on the air and honing your skills.”

And special thanks to Ian for his own efforts during the rally, and for writing the report.

I end off with a report about the X9.0 major solar flare which was detected around sunspot region 3842 at 12h18 UTC on Thursday the 3^rd. This is the strongest X-ray event of the current solar cycle.

A coronal mass ejection with a halo signature became evident later on Thursday, and is aimed directly at us, because 3842 was directly facing earth at the time. The CME was expected to take about 48 hours to reach earth, which meant a geomagnetic storm flaring up yesterday (Saturday), with high planetary K indices, which tend to blank out shortwave radio propagation severely. Don’t be surprised if your HF radio reception sounds like solid static.

A second M6.7 solar flare erupted from sunspot group 3843 on Thursday evening, UTC, but was directed slightly west of our planet, and is expected to deliver only a glancing blow to our magnetosphere.

On the positive side, a geomagnetic storm such as this can result in wonderful auroral displays, and areas like southern Africa might experience auroras similar to those experienced a few months ago. There’s no harm in hoping!

This is Dave Reece, ZS1DFR, eating a carrot and sitting outside in the dark, attempting to improve his night vision, reporting for HAMNET in South Africa.