Broadcast - 9 June 2024
Last Wednesday evening saw the NTARC club rooms opening for the usual fortnightly Technical Night at 6:30pm. This session also incorporating a live presentation on the REAST YouTube channel, entitled “Glitching Pulsars – the sequel”. A “dozen-or-so” members had arrived by 7:30, made a drink, scored a piece of cake or two and were seated ready for the start of the presentation.
The night proved to be yet another riveting presentation which covered many physical and electromagnetic radiation properties of pulsars.
One huge eye opener to me and others was that all time related pulsar measurements that are being conducted on Earth are referenced to Barycentric Coordinated Time or TCB. I assumed it would all be referenced to UTC. From what I have digested from researching since, Barycentric Coordinated Time is based on a dynamically moving point within our Sun that is the centre of mass of our solar system. This reference point allows all time calculations to take into account the gravitational time dilation caused by the Sun and the rest of our solar system! It is incredibly interesting but I hope my interpretation of Wikipedia and astronomical sites is reasonably accurate, either way Albert Einstein has a lot to answer for.
I am sure the actual ‘presentation will be covered in depth later in this broadcast, so I will leave it to REAST, the host club, to give the full “glitch free” in-depth run down of this excellent presentation. It is definitely worth a re-watch.
For the Technical Night Peter VK7KPC, did bring in a rather strange item that had just been donated to the club. Initially we thought it was just a large fiberglass bucket type container with a lid. It is about 600 mm high and 400mm diameter with a hefty rope attached and circumnavigating it. This bucket was in fact a protective container for a fairly dirty piece of electronic equipment. After some vigorous cleaning by Peter, it turned out to be bright yellow and came equipped with its very own crank handle.
The new arrival was somewhat overshadowed by the nights presentation and the limited time remaining to delve deeper. All going well it will be the centre of attention on the technical table at Friday’s morning tea. This object will be covered or rather un-covered in next week’s broadcast.
Mid-year Club get-together and meal – The venue has been booked, locking in the date and time. It is to be held on the 10th of July, which is a Wednesday night, with the venue being the Iron Horse Bar and Grill located at 468 Westbury Rd, Prospect Vale, Launceston. Those who wish to attend please register the number of places required by e-mailing the Secretary or filling in the registration sheet at the club rooms. Menu is a-la-carte. We will be arriving at 6pm for a 6:30 meal. A link to the Iron Horse location and menu information is available in the text version of this broadcast. Iron Horse Bar & Grill
Just for information, the main access to the restaurant is via a wheel chair and walking friendly gentle ramp.
UPCOMING EVENTS
TestNet and TechNet session - Every Wednesday, TestNet/CW course on 3.580MHz from 7 pm till 7.30 pm, then a TechNet on 3.567MHz from 7.30 pm till about 8.30 pm. Your host for the evening will be Nic VK7WW.
Coffee Morning - held every Friday in the NTARC Club rooms. Time is from 10 am to noon and we look forward to seeing you all there. So why not drop in and join us for a cuppa, there is endless tea and coffee along with biscuits available for a donation.
Club Room Technical night session - The next session will be on Wednesday the 19th June and will commence at the usual time of 6.30 pm at the Club Room Archer Street, Rocherlea.
Finally - A reminder to all members that if you have any items of news you would like added to our weekly
roundup, no matter how trivial, then please email them to the Secretary at the following address news@ntarc.net all items to be received no later than 5 pm on the Friday prior to the Broadcast.
That’s all folks,
73, Stefan VK7ZSB, Secretary NTARC Inc.
