1709: The year that Europe froze (even the Mediterranean iced over)

New Scientist ^ | 07 February 2009 | Stephanie Pain

[afraidfortherepublic]

Unfortunately, one of the GW proponents is a Physics Nobelist. His Nobel was in trapping atoms in laser beams, so the purported mechanism of GW will be "close enough" to his area of specialty. NO cheers, unfortunately.

And now he is our new Secretary of Energy, Dr. Steven Chu. And he's a fanatic.

[Nowhere Man]

The sun is currently devoid of spots and has been since Jan 2008. Check out http://www.solarcycle24.com to track the daily observations. It has info on ham band openings as well.

Thanks. I remember having lots of fun DX on shortwave and talking DX on CB during Cycles 21 through 23 (1979 - 2000) but things have been quiet this time around. My main SW radio needs a new transistor and adjustment so I'm back to using my first SW radio I got in 1978, my Sanyo RP8700. There are times I wonder if that thing is busted but in reality, sometimes the sunspots are not around, it seems like shortwave can be dead or weak at times.

[Nowhere Man]

I’m just going by the maps I’ve seen, but it was below the great lakes, into PA and OH, across to the Pacific Northwest. In California, there were glaciers that extended from the Sierras, and I think even from the southern California mountains at Big Bear. That would put a damper on Obama’s stimulus!

IIRC, it went past Chicago, so it would even have Obama's criminal buddies running for cover. B-)

[Nowhere Man]

What is so strange about that. I remember the same things happening in the middle and late 1970's. We live in North Central Penna. Saw and heard it first hand. Our roosters experienced their combs freezing and falling off. It did not kill them. Yes the coop was heated with low hanging light bulbs in cages. And trees really do freeze and let out a loud cracking sound. You can still see where the tree crack and closed back up in the Spring.

Yeah, I think that was what my friend was talking about at that time where he told us that he read a story about trees exploding. This was around 1977/78, I was 11 years old then.

[Myrddin]

I got my first ham license in 1976. A couple months later, I passed my 2nd class radiotelephone license. A year later, I took a job where I needed the license. At that time, I upgraded to 1st class plus a Ship's RADAR endorsement.

Early on, I enjoyed 2m FM mobile. I had an HF rig, but I was dependent on a 5BTV vertical in the side yard. The transmitter got into my dad's stereo. That put a halt to any HF transmissions. VHF was kind to the stereo gear. In time, I jumped into packet radio. That spurred a strong interest in networking over the radio. I've made a great living doing specialized data communications since then. It's amazing how a hobby morphs into a career direction.

[ODC-GIRL]

1709 was the year my Palatine ancestors fled Germany and made it to England before heading on as refugees to New York. The cold and the religious persecution were the last straws that drove them out.

[wildbill]

Wasn’t there another global freezing around 1200 a.d.?

[happygrl]

It’s 21st Century Lysenkoism!

Apt description!

[happygrl]

nyone remember Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in 1986?

Yes. It was the coolest summer I remember in California. We had few days that were in the 90s, much less 100s.

[Nowhere Man]

I got my first ham license in 1976. A couple months later, I passed my 2nd class radiotelephone license. A year later, I took a job where I needed the license. At that time, I upgraded to 1st class plus a Ship's RADAR endorsement.

Early on, I enjoyed 2m FM mobile. I had an HF rig, but I was dependent on a 5BTV vertical in the side yard. The transmitter got into my dad's stereo. That put a halt to any HF transmissions. VHF was kind to the stereo gear. In time, I jumped into packet radio. That spurred a strong interest in networking over the radio. I've made a great living doing specialized data communications since then. It's amazing how a hobby morphs into a career direction.

I got my first license in 1990, Novice, and upgraded to Tech Plus in 1998. So far, I enjoy 2 meters a lot. One time I chatted to Canada from Lake Erie suing only 1 watt and the rubber ducky antenna. My main SW radio I think has blown a FET and might need replaced and realigned, wish I had the equipment, at least a signal generator so I'm using my old SW radio I got when I was 12, a Sanyo RP8700, I'd like to add a BFO to it.

[Myrddin]

My first handheld was a Standard crystal set. It had a rubber duck. I was able to chat with a guy in Santa Barbera, CA from a hilltop in south Chula Vista, CA. It was only one watt on my end. The other guy had stacked 22 element beams. It was an over the water "ducting" connection. On another day, I enjoyed listening to the astronauts passing overhead in the space shuttle. Pretty cool.

As a Tech, you can play with packet radio over 2 meters. There are programs that use only your PC sound card and DSP code running on your PC to accomplish what once to specialized HDLC chips and special modem chips. PSK31 is fairly interesting as well. Check it out. It a whole new aspect of ham radio.