Subj : Amateur Radio Newsline (B) To : All From : Daryl Stout Date : Fri Jul 22 2022 08:48:28 US LAB'S SOLAR CELL BREAKS EFFICIENCY RECORD PAUL/ANCHOR: Scientists in a US military lab have announced that a newly developed solar cell has broken a record for efficiency. Kent Peterson, KC0DGY, has more on that story. KENT: You might call it the brightest world record under the sun. You wouldn't be wrong, either: A US Department of Energy laboratory has broken the record for solar-cell efficiency, creating a solar cell that is 39.5 percent efficient under lighting conditions equivalent to that of the sun. The achievement was reported in a recent issue of the journal Joule. Scientists in the department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory are also testing the solar cell for its usefulness in powering such devices as communications satellites which require high cell efficiency. Under those conditions, efficiency dropped somewhat to 34.2 efficiency. Although a 41.1 efficiency has been reported with other experimental solar cells, those levels were reached by cells using highly concentrated light. In an article on the website Interesting Engineering, the principal investigator, Myles Steiner, said: [quote] "The new cell is more efficient and has a simpler design that may be useful for a variety of new applications, such as highly area-constrained applications or low- radiation space applications." [endquote] For now, however, the bright light of promise is overshadowed by one factor that cannot be overlooked: Production costs are prohibitive. Researchers are apparently working on that too. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Kent Peterson, KC0DGY. (INTERESTING ENGINEERING) ** SILENT KEY: MENTOR, EDUCATOR HERB COLEMAN, W4AVX PAUL: The ham radio community in Alabama is grieving the loss of an amateur who was considered an educator, an inspiration and a friend. The Birmingham Amateur Radio Club announced the death of Herb Coleman, W4AVX, on July 18th. Licensed in 1953, Herb is credited with the establishment of the first net for teenage amateurs in Alabama in 1955. He taught Morse Code to many amateurs in the early 1960s and played a major role in getting Birmingham's first 2m repeater on the air. A public posting on the club's Facebook page said [quote] "He was a patient and encouraging Elmer for many of us." [endquote] We here at Newsline send our condolences. (BIRMINGHAM AMATEUR RADIO CLUB) ** AMATEUR NUMBERS DECLINE IN AUSTRALIA PAUL/ANCHOR: There are discouraging numbers reported for the amateur radio population in Australia. Graham Kemp, VK4BB, has that story. GRAHAM: While hams are reported to be growing steadily in numbers in the United States and the UK, here in VK, the Australian amateur radio population appears to be getting smaller. The Wireless Institute of Australia, which issued the report on July 17th, cited no numbers or percentages of decline but said that during a recent board meeting, members noted that the number of exams and licences had dropped. Figures from the Ham Radio DX channel showed, however, that in early 2022, the numbers stood at just over 13,400, down steadily over the years. In 2016, there were 14,619 licence holders. This trend was noted just as the board announced it was preparing to receive a batch of updated manuals for the Foundation licence level. The board also made a commitment to continue working with ham radio organisations around the world to ensure that Australian amateurs visiting outside the country have expediated processing for their applications to get temporary reciprocal licences. For Amateur Radio Newsline, I'm Graham Kemp, VK4BB. (WIA, ARRL, HAMRADIODX PODCAST) ** HF PROPAGATION PROJECT GOING FORWARD PAUL/ANCHOR: A US project that makes use of sensors on satellites in very low Earth orbit is looking for proposals that will help develop a better way to predict HF propagation in the ionosphere in real-time. The program is known as Ouija (wee-Jah) and is being undertaken by the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency, or DARPA, which is part of the United States military. The agency wants to monitor the ionosphere locally and continuously and believes that it will achieve its stated goal. The program focuses on the section of the ionosphere that is between 125 miles and 185 miles in altitude, or 300 to 400 kilometers high. In announcing the project this past spring, DARPA said a more predictable environment for communications will be an aid for military communication which includes among its obstacles solar flares and the 11-year solar cycle. (IARU REGION I, SPACE.COM) ** BREAK HERE: Time for you to identify your station. We are the Amateur Radio Newsline, heard on bulletin stations around the world, including the WB0QXW Repeater System in Saint Louis, Missouri on 145.210 Mhz Mondays after the World Friendship Net, beginning at 7 pm Central time. --- SBBSecho 3.15-Win32 * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (618:250/33) .