The NW7US Beacon

Big Dog to Little Dog:

“They say that SOPA will end our ability to watching Kitty Videos!”

(Source: thefluffingtonpost)

The FISTS International Morse Code Preservation Society Celebrates 25 Years In 2012

FISTS is an international group of individuals and clubs that support the use, preservation and education of Morse code. Practically speakinking, the club is devoted exclusively to the use of Morse code by way of radio, usually through the mode known as “CW”. CW operators, CW operating and people who are passionate about Morse code are welcome to be members.

FISTS is a well established and recognized Morse code (CW-mode on the radio) organization in the world of amateur radio. Founded in 1987 by Geo Longden, G3ZQS, it now has a membership in the thousands, is world-wide, and growing daily.

What FISTS wants to accomplish:

1. To further the use of CW on the amateur bands.
2. To encourage newcomers to the CW mode.
3. To engender friendship within the membership.

The International Morse Code, sometimes referred to as ‘CW’ in Amateur Radio jargon because a continuous wave is turned on and off with the long and short elements of the morse code characters, is a type of character encoding that transmits telegraphic information using rhythm. Morse code uses a standardized sequence of short and long elements to represent the letters, numerals, punctuation and special characters of a given message. The short and long elements can be formed by sounds, marks, or pulses, in on off keying and are commonly known as “dots” and “dashes” or “dits” and “dahs”. The speed of Morse code is measured in words per minute (WPM) or characters per minute, while fixed-length data forms of telecommunication transmission are usually measured in baud or bps.

Why is it called ‘Morse Code’? This character encoding was devised by Samuel F. B. Morse, the creator of the electric telegraph. This ‘Morse Code’ came in two flavors, in the beginning. One was in use by the railroads of America, and is known as ‘American Morse Code’. And, there was a unified, internationally-used version (adopted by radio operators), now known as the ‘International Morse Code’. Now, when most people refer to ‘Morse Code’ or ‘CW’, they mean, ‘International Morse Code.’

The most popular current use of Morse code is by amateur radio operators, although it is no longer a requirement for amateur licensing in many countries. In the professional field, pilots and air traffic controllers are usually familiar with Morse code and require a basic understanding. Navigational aids in the field of aviation, such as VORs and NDBs, constantly transmit their identity in Morse code. Morse code is designed to be read by humans without a decoding device, making it useful for sending automated digital data in voice channels. For emergency signaling, Morse code can be sent by way of improvised sources that can be easily “keyed” on and off, making Morse code one of the most versatile methods of telecommunication in existence.

More information:
+ My CW / Morse code website - http://cw.hfradio.org/
+ The FISTS Website - http://FISTS.org

Extreme rock climber Alex Honnold tackles cliff faces around the globe

In this photograph, Alex Honnold is on the northwest face of Half Dome in Yosemite. About the photo, Alex says:

“There is a famous image of me standing on a ledge around 1700 feet up on the Northwest Face of Half Dome,” explained Alex, seen here reenacting that photograph. “My back is to the cliff wall and below is a sheer drop. It is part of the route to the top and has to be traversed by all climbers of Half Dome, with or without rope. Some climbers wade down and edge themselves across with their arms along the ledge. Some climbers sit on their backsides and edge themselves across that way. I felt though, that walking across it was cooler. It is around a foot wide at the start, but narrows to six inches by the end. By the end, the cliff wall bows out and pushes your back forwards so that you are literally peering over the sheer drop” (source: Telegraph.co.UK)

Here us an insane 23-minute documentary about him climbing that wall as well as other climbs he’s done:

Men fixing the antenna on top of the Empire State Building.

The photographer Vincent Laforet tells the story of taking this picture: http://g.nw7us.us/u5B5T8

Quote:

In 2000, I climbed to the top of the Empire State Building. It was an AWESOME experience.

The kicker is: I didn’t have any harness; they simply didn’t bother to give me one and I didn’t need one for the most part, as I was climbing up INSIDE the antenna to get to the top.

BUT, when I got to the top - I should of had one as I was out in the open, on a 3-foot wide crow’s nest - again with no harness - leaning on my stomach, with my shoes hooked in on the gap near the needle - looking straight down to see this image.

Read more: http://g.nw7us.us/u5B5T8

What a Weta!

Adventurer Mark Moffett has found the world’s biggest insect — which is so huge it can eat carrots. The former park ranger discovered the giant weta up a tree, and this specimen is being declared the largest ever found.

He came across the cricket-like creature, which has a wing span of seven inches, after two days of searching on a tiny island. The creepy crawly is only found on Little Barrier Island, in New Zealand. The species was wiped off the mainland by rats accidentally introduced by Europeans.

(The above picture and story are from here.)

However, not everyone is agreeing with the Bug Doctor, Mike.

According to Stuff.co.nz:

An American tourist has claimed he’s found the world’s biggest insect during a two-day hunt on Auckland’s Little Barrier Island - but the experts aren’t buying his tall tale.

Mark Moffett, a former park ranger from Colorado, found the Little Barrier giant weta up a tree and snapped it nibbling a carrot.

Moffett’s photos have been published on Britain’s Daily Mail and Sun news websites where he claims to have found the largest ever specimen.

“The giant weta is the largest insect in the world, and this is the biggest one ever found, she weighs the equivalent to three mice,” he told the Daily Mail.

“She enjoyed the carrot so much she seemed to ignore the fact she was resting on our hands and carried on munching away.

“She would have finished the carrot very quickly, but this is an extremely endangered species and we didn’t want to risk indigestion.”

The nocturnal creature, known as wetapunga or “god of ugly things”, is the largest sub-species of the giant weta, weighing the same as a small bird.

But Landcare Research entomologist Dr Thomas Buckley says, based on Moffett’s photos, the weta’s size looks about average for its species.

“The species itself is the heaviest in the world but whether that individual is the heaviest you couldn’t really say.

“From the picture it’s a female, but it just looks like an average sized one of that species.”

The largest ever recorded weighed 71 grams - larger than the average sparrow.

Buckley says, while the species is endangered, they are fairly easy to find on the island.

“On Little Barrier they’re reasonably common, you can go out at night and see them on the trunks of trees, but you won’t see them on the mainland. They disappeared years ago from the mainland.

“During the day they’ll be wedged away in rotten trees and hollows, and at night you’ll see them out walking around and looking for mates and feeding and so on.”

The wetapunga can grow up to 10 centimetres long and its leg span can reach 20 centimetres.

- Auckland Now

Either way, this is one strange, and unique little (little!?) creature.