Sunday 28 August 2016

A giant solar storm nearly triggered a nuclear war in 1967

We all know how important radio communications are and at a time before the internet and even digital communications, governments relied on RF communications that were susceptible to the suns solar storms, if you add that to the cold war nuclear tensions then we could all be living in holes now.

Cold War history is rife with close calls that nearly led to nuclear holocaust.

In September 1983, for example, sunlight reflecting off a patch of clouds fooled a Soviet missile-warning system into detecting the launch of five US intercontinental ballistic missiles that never were. A wary colonel in a bunker ignored the alarm on a 50/50 hunch.

Two months later, US forces staged "Able Archer 83" â€" a massive nuclear-strike drill on the doorstep of the USSR. Soviet commanders panicked at the show of force and nearly bathed America in thermonuclear energy. Once again, an act of human doubt saved the planet.

Now scientists have one more hair-raising event to add to the books: The "Great Storm" of May 1967.

"The storm made its initial mark with a colossal solar radio burst causing radio interference ... and near-simultaneous disruptions of dayside radio communication," a group of atmospheric scientists and military weather service personnel wrote in a new study, published August 9 in the journalSpace Weather.

Hours later, high frequency communications dropped out near US military installations in and near the Arctic â€" one of the closest places to station nuclear weapons and launch them at a Cold War-era Soviet Union.

"Such an intense, never-before-observed solar radio burst was interpreted as jamming," the study authors wrote. "Cold War military commanders viewed full scale jamming of surveillance sensors as a potential act of war."

A 'Great Storm'

Earth's magnetic field protects life on the planet by corralling the sun's high-energy particles toward the planet's polar regions.



If the sun happens to launch a cloud of solar particles directly toward Earth during a violent outburst, called a coronal mass ejection, it can trigger powerful geomagnetic storms.

This not only leads to beautiful auroras, but can also scramble wireless communications and disrupt radar systems.

While The Washington Post wrote up a story about the storm as "City Gets Rare Look at Northern Lights," top US military commanders sounded the alarms in secret.

The Air Weather Service (AWS) â€" a relatively new branch of the Air Force â€" had warned military leadership about the possibility of a solar storm, but US commanders believed the Soviet forces were jamming NORAD systems designed to detect threatening planes and missiles.

As the Strategic Air Command warmed up the engines of bombers and taxied toward the runway, the decision to go airborne may have been kicked all the way up to the "highest levels of government," possibly involving President Lyndon B. Johnson.

"Just in time, military space weather forecasters conveyed information about the solar storm's potential to disrupt radar and radio communications," according to a press release from the American Geophysical Union. "The planes remained on the ground and the U.S. avoided a potential nuclear weapon exchange with the Soviet Union."

And this all happened at the peak of nuclear armament â€" when a record 31,255 nuclear weapons were deployed around the world. (Today there are roughly 7,200 nuclear armaments at hand.)

"Had it not been for the fact that we had invested very early on in solar and geomagnetic storm observations and forecasting, the impact [of the storm] likely would have been much greater," study leader and UCAR atmospheric scientist Delores Knipp said in the release.

After the near miss, the researchers say the military learned to listen to its space weather forecasters, improve its abilities to see another looming "Great Storm," and avert the first and perhaps final global nuclear exchange.

 

Find the original source here

Monday 15 August 2016

Purchasing Two Way Radio Earpieces From Earpieceonline.Co.Uk

In the world today, walkie-talkies are very important tools. From security services, construction sites, camping sites to use during emergency rescue missions, they are a vital part of the communication industry. In the past, walkie-talkie users walked around talking and listening directly from the big phones’ but with the advancement of technology, walkie-talkie accessories have made it possible to seamlessly communicate using earpieces and headphones connected to the walkie-talkie while it remains strapped to the belt. At EarpieceOnline.co.uk we have a wide range of top quality walkie-talkie and radio accessories to help ease communication with workmates.

Using a radio earpiece for a walkie-talkie is very convenient and it simplifies the communication by a mile. Radio earpieces and headsets help in remaining discrete and offer clearer communications. This feature is important especially for police and security agents looking to conduct investigations and surveillance unnoticed. The push to talk features make it easy to walk around while communicating. Radio  earpieces help in noise cancellation enabling loud and clear communication. When looking to buy a good radio earpiece, other than considering your budget, it’s important to consider the comfort and ease of use of the earpiece. EarpieceOnline.co.uk, they have the best Radio Earpieces and Connectors together with many other Radio accessories. They have high quality Radio Earpiece Styles that guarantee to suit your working needs. Below are some of the top Earpiece Accessories, Connectors and Earpiece styles available in the Online store;

Earpieces

EarpieceOnline.co.uk, have the best earpieces both wireless and wired. These earpieces can be used together with all the leading 2 way Radio Brands like Motorola, Kenwood, Entel, Hytera and Icom. Their earpieces are very small, light and comfortable to wear. The small invisible earpieces will help provide clear and covert conversations. Your information is secure with these small masterpieces and no one will even realise that you are on radio communication.

They also have different styles of earpieces available in store. With D shaped earpieces, C shaped earpieces, acoustic tube (2 wire and 3wire) and bone conductors. It is upon the customer to make the choice for the most appropriate earpiece suited for his/her needs. Here are some of the available earpiece types in the store; High quality 3 wire covert earpieces, earpieces adaptors, in ear moulds and mushroom replacements for acoustic tube earpieces. The 3 wire covert earpiece kits available in our store include; The Covert Motorola Block connector earpiece, Covert Motorola 2 Pin connector earpieces, The Covert Kenwood 2 Pin connector earpiece and Icom Multipin connector earpiece. These earpieces can be used with most of the leading Radio brands in the market.

These acoustic tube earpieces are made from very durable materials with Kevlar cable reinforcement. The connecting wires to these connectors are long enough giving you freedom to walk around comfortably. They further have Noise reducing microphones, push to talk buttons and are all RoHS compliant. The features might slightly vary depending on the brand of earpiece you prefer.

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Connectors



Different radios have different connection ports. At EarpieceOnline, they have a range of earpiece radio connectors to connect earpieces/headsets to all the leading radio brands like Motorola, Kenwood and Icom. Whereas other connectors are tailored to specific brands, some are universal and will be used to connect more than one 2 way radios. Some of the available connectors at EarpieceOnlineinclude; interchangeable universal connectors- this connectors allow you to interchange between different radios like the Motorola GP340, GP344, GP360, DP3400, DP2400, all Icom, Hytera and Kenwood radios. We also have replacement connectors that are used to replace specific connectors. They include; DP2400 replacement connectors, Entel Multi-pin Connectors, GP340 Connectors and many other individual brands. Be sure to check with us for your desired connectors.

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Earpieceonline.co.uk have a large team of experienced professionals to help you with choosing and buying 2 way radios and accessories. We sell high quality products which meet the required standards to satisfy our customers. Our prices are very affordable considering the durable and the quality of the products that we offer. Our customers enjoy very fast responses to queries and we deliver the purchased items quickly. Visit our online store at EarpieceOnline.co.uktoday and get high quality products to suit your business. If you are looking for the best 2 way radios, earpieces, connectors, adaptors and many other communication accessories then EarpieceOnline is your perfect spot to shop.