InstructionsSkynet Stargazing Fall 2020This Stargazing activity is worth 2 stargazings and will be graded for up to 20 points. Each question will be graded for 2 points.Skynet ActivityEvery Saturday night since 2012 from 9:00 pm until 10:30 pm the Dallas area amateur radio and amateur astronomy folks get together on a special radio frequency to share information of daytime and nighttime astronomy, space exploration, and space and astronomy history. Usually only special amateur radios could be used to listen in on the live session. But there are multiple online links to listen and even see the live session located at:https://www.facebook.com/groups/306498286059167/https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCishlh8WmW7OXy9Q6sxsaagBackground informationSkynet has been a live weekly continuous amateur radio activity since January 2012. Some questions that students in the past have asked include:“What are all of these numbers and letters that are being used?”. All amateur radio operators must have a license from the, FCC, Federal Communications Commission, in order to transmit on these wavelengths. The call signs that are used is their license number, similar to a driver’s license number for vehicle operators. Chaz Hafey’s radio call sign is KF5JHA. Because some letters sound similar to each other the amateur radio operators will often times use phonetic words to represent each letter in their radio call sign to be clear. For example, the radio call sign of KF5JHA, using the phonetic words it is Kilo Foxtrot Five Juliet Hotel Alpha. As amateur radio operators the FCC requires them to use our radio call signs every few minutes. Now, if anyone is interested in amateur radio then visit the Dallas Amateur Radio Club website www.w5fc.org for more information. Another question that some Brookhaven folks have is that when the video portion is on air, there is this guy on the screen, who is he?. He isn’t talking most of the time just sitting there. Let me explain who this is. His name is Tom, radio call sign of KE5ICX, and he is sort of like our technical engineer. Tom helps connect the amateur radio broadcast to our video portion and then he broadcasts the video over the internet to YouTube and Facebook. Skynet is the brainchild of Tom’s. Tom was the experienced amateur radio operator and Chaz Hafey was the astronomer that started Skynet in January 2012. Some people call Tom the grandfather of Skynet.And one more question that is ask is “What is a net?” The easy answer is that a “net” is a meeting of amateur radio operators on the radio. To make sure that amateur radio operators don’t have everyone talking at the same time there is usually a “net control” or you could call them the radio traffic cop, just to make sure the net flows smoothly. The net control duties for Skynet is rotated between several different radio operators from week to week.What do you need to do?To get credit for 2 stargazing activities, worth up to 20 points, you must listen or watch the live video of the entire session and then go to eCampus and answer the questions. The assignment must be completed within 48 hours of the Skynet session. No late work is accepted. Spelling, grammar and plagiarism will be checked. Here are the questions you will need to answer online.

1) Using two or more sentences describe the featured topic, at the beginning of the net. This is done by the net control. The featured topic is after check-ins and after announcements.
2) Using two or more sentences, what are at least three objects of the events covered in the segment called Waz Up? 3) During the segment called “Space Exploration and Space History”, using two or more sentences, describe at least one item that fascinated you.

4) Using two or more sentences, what was Miss Carolyn’s constellation of the week? List at least three objects talked about in the constellation of the week.

5) Using two or more sentences, in the segment “Space Launches” done by Tom, describe at least two recent launches or two launches about to occur.

6) Using two or more sentences, in the segment “Recent Astronomical Discoveries” done by Brenda, WB5OZL, describe at least one astronomical discovery.

7) Using two or more sentences, describe one thing that you didn’t understand or that confused you. What steps will you take to understand it?

8) Using two or more sentences, what is one of the new things that you learned from this session of Skynet?

9) What is the first name of the person running the event? They are called “net control.” And what is their radio call sign?
10) How many amateur radio operators participated in the net?

After Skynet there is a movie review called the Afterglow movie. The Afterglow movie is NOT part of Skynet.