Category: 2020 SPARC Trivia

A mystery signal heard on 4 frequencies in 2004, 3.7 mhz, 4.3, 6.5 mhz and 10.5 mhz ending on December 23rd and then beginning again on the 14th of January 2005 adding a new group of frequencies which just happened to be the international time frequencies of 10 – 15 & 20MHz. The audio contained in the short transmissions was that of Bugs Bunny speaking or Yosemite Sam
A. Bugs Bunny
B. Yosemite Sam
Answer B… Though signal strength here in South East England was poor, reception was possible and was best heard on 6500kHz. Monitors in the USA reported much stronger signals and were able to confirm that the speech was a clip featuring the voice of Yosemite Sam saying “…varmint – I’m a going to blow you to smithereenies”, which is an extract from the 1949 Bugs Bunny Cartoon “Bunker Hill Bunny”

The end of the story

The signals were particularly strong in New Mexico and on Wednesday 16 February 2005, and armed with a Potomac Field Intensity Meter, shielded loop antenna and a mobile rig the two hams set out West to track the signals.

At about 2.30pm local time the two Hams arrived at the Laguna Indian Reservation and approached a compound containing buildings, towers and antennas and were able to confirm that they had found the source of the transmissions, The MATIC Center.

For the whole story  and recorded audio follow this link to Mystery Signals

Is Cobra Mist a movie line or Magnetic Drum Radar
A. Movie Line
B. Magnetic Drum Radar

Answer B… Cobra Mist was the US Airforce code name for its over the horizon radar based on the Navy Research Labs magnetic drum radar equipment (aka “MADRE”). The US Airforce placed it in Orford Ness, Great Britain.

Key to the operation of any backscatter radar is the ability to filter out the huge return from the ground and sea and capture only the objects of interest. This is accomplished using the Doppler effect and gating out the vast majority of the signal. In the case of Cobra Mist, the signal was first gated for range by eliminating any signals lying outside a particular time window; thereby selecting targets within a particular area. Then it was fed into a series of frequency filters tuned to the expected frequency shifts from various sorts of common targets: lower speed for ships, high-speed for aircraft, and constant-acceleration for missiles.

 You can visit the location, Brochure is below

More at Wikipedia

orford-ness-visitor-map

The Russian Woodpecker was an over the horizon radar which was erected near Chernobyl and interfered with amateur radios, tvs, and regular radios. Did the amateur radio community try to jam the Woodpecker
A. Yes
B. No
Answer A…To combat this interference, amateur radio operators attempted to jam the signal by transmitting synchronized unmodulated continuous wave signals at the same pulse rate as the offending signal. They formed a club called “The Russian Woodpecker Hunting Club”. Core group members would frame the “Official Practice Target” in their radio shacks

More can be found at Mystery Signals as well as the “Official Practice Target”.  This website also has other Mystery Signals mentioned and one that they did track down….. Mystery Signals

The Saturn 6 was a 6” – 2 meter mobile Halo antenna produced by Hi-Par Products Company of Fitchburg Massachusetts

1. Yes
2. No

Answer 1… Hi-Par Products Company also had a 3” – 2 meter halo as well. They also manufactured Quads, “Hill Toppers”, Yagis, and Long John Beams…

Below is the Saturn 6 Manual

HI-Par_Saturn_6_user

When the Heath HW-101 transceiver came out in 1972 costing 250 dollars was it a kit

1. Yes
2. No

Answer is “1”… HW-101 Manual is below

HW-101_MANUAL

Which actress that was on this is your life in 1961 ran phone patches during the Vietnam War, her call sign was W6NAZ 

1. Donna Douglas
2. Maxine Bare 
3. Lenore Kingston Jensen 
4.  Arlene Francis

Answer 3… (Stage name Lenore Kingston) Lenore Jensen…… Star Performer: AMARS had its celebrity in actress Lenore Jensen, who completed tens of thousands of patches at her Los Angeles station. NBC’s “This is Your Life” featured her in 1961….. complete with a QSO on the air (you might say) with a regular HF scheduled partner. “I can remember having my heart broken a thousand times and more as I listened . . .” she told author Paul Scipione. “War is a terrible thing but we did our best.” In a web page he devoted to Jensen, ham radio historian Cliff Cheng Ph.D. (AC6C) wrote: “She was one of amateur radio’s most prominent operators; possibly the hobby’s most famous YL [woman operator] in its history. In 1939 she co-founded the YL Radio League. During WWII she founded a radio course for women through the American Women’s Voluntary Services and taught CW [Morse code] to the U.S. Navy. In the 1950s she ran phone patches for U.S. Air Force personnel stations at remote bases such as Antarctica and Greenland