Lewis Thompson of University of Texas at Austin

High Frequency (HF) Radio propagation is dependent on Solar Weather.  Ultraviolet radiation from the sun creates and maintains the ionosphere.  Solar flares, coronal mass ejections and coronal holes, also from the sun can deteriorate or disrupt HF propagation.    This presentation will introduce the positive and negative effects of solar weather on HF propagation, and how a HF radio operator can detect and compensate for these effects and maintain HF communications.

Biography:

Lewis Thompson is a Senior Engineering Scientist (mostly retired) at Applied Research Laboratories, University of Texas at Austin.  He is a Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Texas and a member of IEEE and Sigma Xi.  During his 44 years of employment, he worked in the areas of underwater acoustics, and radio communications.  He has been a licensed amateur radio operator since 1961 and is now licensed Extra Class.  He held amateur radio positions including President of the Austin Amateur Radio Club, RACES (Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service) as District Radio Operator (DRO-62) and Assistant Emergency Coordinator for TCARES (Travis County Amateur Radio Emergency Service). He is presently the VP of Austin Amateur Radio Club.   He joined the Army MARS (Military Auxiliary Radio System) in 2006 and served as Texas State MARS Director from 2009 to 2011.   He is the Liaison to the Texas Military Forces for Region 6 Army MARS and teaches classes to the Texas Military Forces in HF (High Frequency) radio propagation and antenna theory.

Email:

Address:Austin, United States, 78705