Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (C)
To   : All
From : Daryl Stout
Date : Thu Jan 27 2022 19:51:09

SILENT KEY: SPACE ADVOCATE CHUCK BIGGS SR., WA5GNB/KC5RG

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: A Texas amateur known for his devotion to NASA programs 
and to the Military Auxiliary Radio System, or MARS, has become a Silent 
Key. Chuck Biggs Sr., WA5GNB and KC5RG, died on January 18th in hospice 
care in Houston. The Arkansas native was a US Air Force veteran who took 
a civilian position with NASA's then-new Manned Spacecraft Center, which 
was later to be renamed the Johnson Space Center. His three decades of 
effort with NASA led him to ultimately become vice president of the 
Manned Space Flight Education Foundation. Chuck had also been involved 
in SAREX, the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment and OSCAR, the Orbiting 
Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio programs. The Space Center named him 
ham radio operator of the year in 1987.

A bronze plaque hangs at the Space Center today, bearing his name and 
likeness. Chuck was 84.

(LEGACY.COM)

**

RESEARCHERS' TRANSISTORS OPERATE USING SOUND WAVES

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Imagine a transistor that uses sound waves. Researchers 
have done more than imagine it: they've created it. Andy Morrison, 
K9AWM, explains.

ANDY: They're called acoustic topological transistors and unlike devices 
presently in use, they operate using sound waves, not electrons. 
Researchers say that one of the transistors' key assets is its ability 
to function with almost no dissipation of energy. The electrons are 
designed to flow with no resistance.

According to a January 19th post on the IEEE Spectrum website, the 
creation of these transistors was made possible with the use of 
acoustical topological insulators. This follows the development in 2007 
of something related: electronic topological insulators. These 
insulators protect electrons' flow from any disturbances. Oxford 
University researcher Harris Pirie said the development of these newest 
transistors will find applications in such fields as one-way acoustic 
propagation, ultrasound imaging, acoustic noise reduction, echolocation, 
acoustic cloaking and acoustic communications.

He said that because the physics of sound waves and the physics of light 
waves are so alike, the same design principles that scientists used for 
creating acoustic topological transistors would be useful as well for 
similar devices using light.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Andy Morrison, K9AWM.

(IEEE SPECTRUM)

**

CYBERATTACK HITS GERMANY RADIO CLUB WEBSITE

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: Hams in Germany are being reassured that their personal 
data has not been affected by a cyberattack on the DARC website. Ed 
Durrant, DD5LP, tells us more.

ED: The Deutscher Amateur Radio Club is reassuring hams in Germany that 
a cyberattack on the group's website, which exploited the vulnerability 
of a plug-in, does not appear to have compromised any members' data. The 
DARC said it successfully halted the January 15th attack and will not 
restore the full website to online status until it is convinced the site 
is completely secured again. A statement by the DARC board reaffirmed to 
members that their personal data is kept in folders that are distinct 
from the website and members' passwords to the website itself are stored 
encrypted. The board said it believed the attack was automated and was 
not launched specifically to collect members' data. Meanwhile, an IT 
company has been asked to conduct a forensic investigation.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Ed Durrant, DD5LP.

(DARC)

**

NORDIC RADIO SOCIETY PLANS FOR LATEST HF CONFERENCE

STEPHEN/ANCHOR: The Nordic Radio Society's HF Conference promises to be 
an international event, as we hear from Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

JEREMY: Thirty-three years after their first HF Conference, the Nordic 
Radio Society is preparing to host a return to F†r”, [pronounced: 
Foor-“ ] the small Swedish island in the Baltic Sea where all previous 
such events have taken place.

This year's conference is scheduled from 15th to 17th August and should, 
as usual, draw a substantial international attendance; they have been 
held consistently every three years. Organisers note on their webpage 
that the popularity of the programme has grown substantially since the 
first in 1986, the agenda now including exhibits and talks, with 
participants from all around the world. The society encourages 
interested attendees to submit presentation papers now, the deadline 
being 15th February. Previous conferences have addressed such subjects 
as propagation, building resiliency for HF networks, achieving higher 
efficiency using low bandwidth links, and robust communications through 
HF skywave channels using a filter bank spread spectrum technique.

To learn more about the conference, visit the link that appears in the 
text version of this week's newscast.

For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Jeremy Boot, G4NJH.

(NORDIC RADIO SOCIETY)

[Note: link is missing - will be re-added later -- the editor has been
emailed. DS]
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