Shuttle Launch Delayed

U.S. space agency officials postponed a launch decision for space shuttle Atlantis until testing is completed on its hail-damaged external fuel tank.
The NASA teams expect to have the necessary data by April 10 to make a decision and to establish a target launch date.

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NOAA Weather Radio

With the increase of weather related damage like the tornado's in Florida, Alabama and Georgia the past couple of weeks. I thought it would be a good reminder for anyone who doesn't already have one, to go out and get a NOAA Weather Radio. It could help save your life.


What is a NOAA Weather Radio?
The NOAA Weather Radio is a nationwide network of radio stations broadcasting continuous weather information from a nearby National Weather Service office . The NWS broadcasts National Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day.

How Do I Listen?

The NOAA Weather Radio operates on the current frequencies:
162.400 MHz
162.425 MHz
162.450 MHz
162.475 MHz
162.500 MHz
162.525 MHz
162.550 MHz

They are located outside of the AM/FM and TV broadcast band. And will need a NOAA weather radio to receive the broadcast. But you can find some AM/FM radios that include the weather band.

What is SAME?

SAME technology: SAME, or Specific Alert Message Encoding allows you to specify the particular area for which you wish to receive alerts. Most warnings and watches broadcast over NOAA Weather Radio are county- or independent city-based (parish-based in Louisiana), although in a few areas of the country the alerts are issued for portions of counties. Since most NWR transmitters are broadcasting for a number of counties, SAME receivers will respond only to alerts issued for the area (or areas) you have selected. This minimizes the number of “false alarms” for events which might be a few counties away from where you live.

What is All Hazards?
NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts National Weather Service (NWS) warnings, watches, forecasts and other non-weather related hazard information 24 /7. During an emergency, the NWS forecasters interrupt routine broadcasts and send a special tone activating local weather radios. Weather radios equipped with a special alarm tone feature sound an alert to give you immediate information about a life-threatening situation.

The NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts warnings and post-event information for all types of hazards: weather (e.g., tornadoes, floods), natural (e.g., earthquakes, forest fires and volcanic activity), technological (e.g., chemical releases, oil spills, nuclear power plant emergencies, etc.), and national emergencies (e.g., terrorist attacks). Working with other Federal agencies and the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Emergency Alert System (EAS), NWR is an all-hazards radio network, making it the most comprehensive weather and emergency information available to the public.


More Info:
NOAA Weather Radio

USAF HF Global Command System (HFGCS)

USAF HF Global Command System

What you can hear:
Phone Patch, Message Relay, ALE

A String of Coded Characters also known as an EAM.
EAM stands for Emergency Action Message. These coded military
orders or bulletins have higher traffic priority than all other
traffic except in-flight emergencies.

HFGCS Freqs.
a must for Military Monitoring.

8992 Primary
11175 Primary
13200 Day Backup
15016 Day Backup
6739 Night Backup
4724 Night Backup

CallSign List

My Logs While Putting this together:

1949 utc 11175 Puerto Rico calling station, nothing heard
2022 utc 11175 REACH 2032 with Andrews on "Triple 1 75" standby for alternate op. neg contact on phone. safe flight Andrews out.
2032 utc 11175 REACH 597 Radio Check with Andrews.

PSK Logs 21.070.150

1817 utc LU1DA Jorge in Buenos Aires
1821 utc LU7EH Argentina
1836 utc HK3DRO Colombia, calling CQ
2107 utc HK3DRO Bogota Colombia, Kenwood TSe40s power 20W. in chat with W7AIT-no copy here