[Hallicrafters] Sunday Halli 20 Meter Net

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

Hi All,

Now that the big worldwide Contest of last weekend has terminated, perhaps 
we can have a Hallicrafters Sunday 20 meter Net! That is provided the 
incoming CME leaves us any useable portion of said band to propagate! 
(Chuckle!)

The WX here in southeastern lower MI for the next seven days is being 
forecast with highs in the upper fifties to middle sixties. The lows are 
several degrees, or more, above the freezing point. Our yearly snowfall 
total is below half of what it should be. This WX departure from the norm is 
nationwide, anyones guess as to why.

Time: 12:30 - 2:00 PM EST/EDT or 1630 - 1800 UTC.

Frequency: 14.293 MHZ USB +/- for Key Clicks, Mike Splatter and stuttering 
sputtering sparks from electromagnetic disruption.

Here is something that I wrote for the HHI Web Site some years ago. Perhaps 
some of you may find it informative, maybe even useful.

         Short-Wave: The Unseen Roadway To The World

                   Volume one, Article one

                  Time: Pick A Zone Any Zone

                 By, Duane B. Fischer, W8DBF


     So who gives a rabid rat's tail about what time it is in
Pango Pango or Nepal? Thanks to digital watches, today's
children think the only place to find a second hand is on the
human body!  Well you lovers of electromagnetic propagation,
listen up! Short-wave broadcast schedules are based on
GMT/UTC time.  So before you get ticked off because you
missed hearing Quirks And Quarks or The World Of Radio,
smarten up and learn how to tell time!

     There are twenty-four time zones that divide the Earth
into fifteen degree segments. (360/15=24) The time in each
zone increases or decreases by one hour as you move east or
west from the prime meridian in Greenwich, England. The
geographical longitude is used to set the boundaries for each
of the zones, as in east longitude or west longitude.  As one
moves east from the zero meridian the time advances by one
hour per fifteen degrees. The converse is true when you move
west.  If you divide sixty minutes by the fifteen degrees,
then one degree is equal to four minutes of time.

     As an example, 75 degrees west longitude is the far
eastern boundary for EST, Eastern Standard Time. If you
divide the longitude, or 75, by the number of degrees in each
time zone, or 15, the result is the number of hours one is
from Greenwich. In this case, 75/15=5 hours. Hence, the EST
zone is considered to be five hours earlier than it is in
Greenwich, England. Had we been moving east, it would be five
hours later than the time in Greenwich, England. If we were
at the start of the CST zone, Central Standard Time, or 90
degrees west, 90/15=6 hours.

     If you want to convert your local time to GMT/UTC, and
are west of Greenwich, then add the time difference to your
local time.  Thus if it is 7:00 AM EST it becomes 12:00
GMT/UTC, or noon in Greenwich, England.  However, if you were
east longitude, you would subtract the time difference from
your local time. Hence, 5:00 PM would become 12:00 GMT/UTC or
noon.

     Because each time zone contains fifteen degrees, and
cities fall at different longitudes within this zone, the
true local time, TLT, of any given city in the time zone is
determined by breaking the degrees and minutes of longitude
down to hours and minutes. As an example, Flint, Michigan is
83d45m west longitude. How many times does 15 divide into 83
with no remainder? Answer: 5. This is 5 hours. Thus 5x15=75
and 83-75=8.  The 8 degrees are then multiplied by the four
minutes being equal to one degree as shown above. Hence,
8x4=32 minutes.  The TLT for Flint, MI is 5h32M less than the
time in Greenwich, England.

     Now if it is noon in Greenwich, what time is it in
Flint, MI? (11H60M-5H32M) Answer: 6:28 AM EST. Can you
imagine the confusion if everybody had their watch set to the
TLT?  Which is precisely why an entire time zone of fifteen
degrees is simply considered as one hour, regardless of the
True Local Time. Unless scientific reasons for exactness are
being employed, of course.

You can compute the seconds by using the 45 minutes of
longitude also, but we will skip that for the present time
and leave it for the Astronomers and Astrologers to do!
Knowing your TLT to the precise cosmic second won't improve
either your sex life or short-wave propagation.

     Now to further complicate the issue, GMT/UTC uses a
twenty-four hour clock. This is NOT the same as the twenty-
four hour clock used by the military! Midnight in Greenwich,
England is 0000 hours, then it counts by increments of one
hundred.  Hence, 0100 is 1:00 AM in Greenwich, 0200 is 2AM
etc. Noon there is 1200 hours. Midnight is 2400 hours.

     If you want to convert the GMT/UTC to your local time,
simply subtract or add the hours different from Greenwich
from it. For example, if you live in the CST zone, Central
Standard Time, the time difference is six hours. If it is
1200 GMT/UTC minus six hours, equals 6:00 AM CST. Do the
reverse to convert your local time of 6:00 AM CST to GMT/UTC,
that is, add six hours.

     Keep the following USA time zone boundaries in mind for
making conversions. Better yet, write them down some place
that you will not lose them. Maybe some area of your body
that you seldom wash? Just be sure to use indelible ink!
EST is from 75-90 degrees west or five hours
CST is from 90-105 degrees west or six hours
MST is from 105-120 degrees west or seven hours
PST is from 120-135 degrees west or eight hours

     Let's do some practice conversions.  The Saturday HCI 40
meter Net is at 1700 GMT/UTC. What time is this in the EST
zone? Subtract five hours from the GMT/UTC, or 1700-5=1200.
Which is noon. Notice this is EST and NOT EDT! When daylight
savings time is operating, the normal difference in time
between your location and Greenwich, England decreases by one
hour! Thus, in the EST zone if EDT is operating, the time
difference is four, not five hours. If you are in the CST
zone, the difference is five, not six hours etc. Hence, if
daylight savings time is operating, then 1700-4=1300, or 1:00
PM EDT.

     Are you following the blind man's math? Or are you
hopelessly lost in a time warp somewhere? Remember, the basic
difference between the old math and the new modern math, is
that people actually understood the old math and did not need
a calculator to add 2+2!  Try this.  The Sunday HCI 20 meter
Net begins with the pre-Net at 12:45 PM EDT.  What is that in
GMT/UTC?  Let's see said the blind man as he picked up his
hammer and 'saw'.  Add five hours to 12:45, or 1745 GMT/UTC.
Did you notice that was the EST conversion?  Stay awake here!
If it was 12:45 PM EDT, add only four hours, or 1645 GMT/UTC.

     How about in the PST zone? Well, the time difference
from Greenwich is eight hours. Thus 1700-8=0900, or 9:00 AM
PST. Remember, if it was PDT, subtract only seven hours, or
10:00 AM PDT.

     Now some of you are probably asking yourself, "Why does
he keep mentioning GMT and UTC together? Has the blind dude
dropped some grains of Sodium Cloride on his Braille notes,
accidentally added some extra dots and gotten himself
confused?" Entirely possible, but not this time! Pinch
yourself with a pair of needle nose pliers on an ear lobe and
stay alert here! I might actually say something of
importance. Hey, it could happen!

     There is not one trillionth of a mfd difference between
GMT and UTC time, other than in name. GMT, Greenwich Mean
Time, is the older term most of us over forty are familiar
with. Sort of like Centigrade and Celsius or Megacycle and
Kilocycle to Megahertz and Kilohertz. The UTC, Universal
Coordinated Time, is the new and more precise way to state
the same thing. Did you notice that the letters in the
acronym, UTC, do not get said as Universal Time Coordinated?
It is even said as Coordinated Universal Time! Blame the
French for this, as they are the ones responsible.  But why,
is another story.

     You can hear the time every minute, twenty-four hours a
day, every day of the year, by tuning in WWV in Boulder,
Colorado. It is on 2500, 5000, 10000, 15000 and 20000 Khz.
For those near Hawaii, listen to WWVB. Not only will you hear
the time on the minute, but also periodic reports on
navigational information, meteorological data and some
propagation advisories.

     If you are in Canada, try tuning in CHU in Ottawa,
Ontario. They are on 7335 Khz in French and English on the
minute, twenty-four hours each day, every day. There are
other time stations throughout the world too, some in a
spoken language and others in Morse Code only.

     I hope this explanation of time conversions has
simplified them for you and not over wound your main spring.
Just keep in mind that time is relative to your longitude and
whether you are east or west of Greenwich, England. Each time
zone is fifteen degrees, or one hour. Subtract going west and
add if headed east. Most of all, take time to enjoy the
marvelous hobbies of short-wave listening or Amateur Radio.
We all have just so much time, use it wisely!


Original: October 22, 2002.


Duane Fischer, W8DBF - WPE8CXO
E-Mail: dfischer at usol.com
Hallicrafters web site: www.w9wze.net
HHRP web site: hhrp.w9wze.net