As we approach the next peak of solar activity expected in 2013, our Nation faces multiplying uncertainties from increasing reliance on space weather-affected technologies for communications, navigation, security, and other activities, many of which underpin our national infrastructure and economy. We also face increasing exposure to space weather-driven human health risks as trans-polar flights and space activities, including space tourism and space commercialization, increase.

On Monday, May 14, Jessica Rosenworcel, and Ajit Pai, were sworn in by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski as FCC Commissioners. For the first time in almost a year, the Commission is once again at full strength. Rosenworcel, a Democrat, fills the seat vacated by Michael Copps who retired from the Commission earlier this year; her term runs through June 30, 2015. Pai, a Republican, replaces Meredith Attwell Baker, who left the FCC in June 2011; his term runs through June 30, 2016.

Local governments marked National Emergency Preparedness Week (May 6-12) by introducing a new communications trailer. Customized with countless donations and volunteer hours for just $26,000, the District 69 Emergency Communications Team can tow it to any secure location, unlock the door, turn on the battery, generator or plug it in and be relaying life saving information back and forth to the world in minutes.

Crews over the weekend tore down a small piece of the Valley's technology history. The old Motorola radar tower at Elliot Road and Loop 101 was demolished to prepare the site for the Discovery Business Campus, a 136-acre mixed-use office park.

The trio speaks the language of supercapacitors and charges cycles, and they offer informed views on how circuit boards can shed excess heat. When David Jesberger, Kathleen Nicholas and Jacob Sherk graduated May 4 from Penn State Behrend, they left speaking the language of engineers. But they also left behind a finished senior project that could soon be headed into outer space.

BALLYMENA Amateur Radio Club has been transmitting since 1947 and last week they were officially recognised by Ballymena Borough Council for their 65 years of service to the community. Last Wednesday night members of the club were invited to the Mayor’s parlour to be presented with a plague for their achievement. Chairman Aubrey Kincaid gave a short speech to Mayor Hubert Nicholl explaining the club’s history.

...And it's not just Chinese fishermen who have been affected by Manila's growing interest in the region. Disputes over Huangyan Island first made global headlines in May 1997, when Philippine military jets and gunboats harassed and cut short an expedition to the shoal by a group of amateur radio enthusiasts from around the world. "They said it was in their EEZ. But we were carrying maps from the Philippines, that indicated that Huangyan is part of China," recalled Chen Ping, 63, a member of the ill-fated group. His older brother Chen Fang had also led a group of radio enthusiasts to the island on earlier expeditions in 1994 and 1995.

So what happens if all that fancy communications technology we depend on crashes when a major earthquake or some other catastrophe hits? Surrey's civic government, RCMP, firefighters and Emergency Health Services have that problem covered, with a cheap and relatively low-tech solution: amateur radio.

As I was researching a specific tidbit of radio history a few weeks back, I happened upon some intriguing stories about the early days of student radio at Georgia Tech. Today Georgia Tech is home to the 100,000 watt college radio station WREK at 91.1 FM; but back in the 1940s, plans were underway for its campus-only predecessor WTYJ.

A website claims correspondance between the Philippine Amateur Radio Association and the ARRL supports Beijing's territorial ambitions in Scarborough Reef. Scarborough Reef, also known as Panatag Shoal or Bajo de Masinloc is located between the Macclesfield Bank and Luzon Island of the Philippines. It has seen several major DXpeditions over the years.

He hadn't planned on being the club's guest speaker Monday, but then George Shields hadn't planned on being an amateur radio operator until his high school physics teacher suggested it. Sometimes, things just happen.

A group of St. Paul students got to speak to an astronaut at the International Space Station Monday. The kids from Farnsworth Aerospace Magnet Middle school used a HAM radio to talk to astronaut Don Pettit. To prepare for this, they've been tracking the ISS and learning about the people on board.

Local amateur radio operators participated Friday and Saturday in a simulated emergency drill involving emergency management offices and state emergency operations centers in Texas and five other states.

Fulton - The members of the Oswego Emergency Communicators/RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) provide much more than emergency communications on amateur radio bands to the local community, Patricia Egan, Director of the Oswego County Emergency Management Office, told the group recently.

Reynold L. Nitsch of Spartanburg was presented with the national George Hart Distinguished Service Award Saturday for a lifetime of service to amateur radio. The award is given annually by the Amateur Radio Relay League (ARRL) to an amateur radio licensee who best exemplifies the principles of amateur radio.

MY dad (god rest his soul) had three obsessions: rock 'n' roll, The Prisoner television series and amateur radio. Consequently, the soundtrack to my childhood was a heady mix of "C'mon Everybody" ( Eddie Cochran) "I am not a number, I am a free man" (Patrick McGoohan/Number Six and "Dit dit dah dah" (Morse code), all reverberating throughout the house.

BROKEN ARROW - A new digital radio system using "OpenSky" technology has cleared the way for a greatly improved ability for police and fire departments to communicate with other jurisdictions. But the public is excluded from hearing any dispatch scanner feeds because of its digital encryptions.

As we approach tornado season it is a good time to take a look at the National Weather Services’ (NWS) SKYWARN program. In DuPage County, the job is performed by trained volunteers with the DuPage Amateur Radio Club (DARC).

A group of Ridgeland middle schoolers are taking learning to new heights. Recently they conducted an experiment that is quickly gaining them attention, and almost a world record. On March 3, students in the science and the radio and technology club, and their teachers launched a giant weather balloon, with experiments and a digital camera, into the air in Gluckstadt.