Palpz's New Writeups

coed fraternity (person)

2008-12-19T17:40:40Z

A co-ed fraternity is, simply put, a fraternity that is co-educational, that is to say, it accepts membership from members of both sexes.

The majority of co-ed fraternities are either service or professional fraternities. Within the United States, all honour societies and service and professional organizations, whether they identify themselves as a member of "the Greek System" or not, are prohibited from discrimination upon the basis of sex. Social fraternities and sororities, which are the type that most people think of when they hear the word, are granted an exclusion from the act barring such discrimination.

Many of these organizations function differently from your typical fraternity or sorority. The entrance requirements may be different, such as Alpha Kappa Psi, who only accepts students majoring or minoring in business, with at least a 2.5 GPA, or Kappa Eta Kappa, whose membership is…

jamming (idea)

2008-12-01T19:03:32Z

Jamming is part of Electronic Warfare. One of the original parts, actually. Specifically, it is an Electronic Counter-Measure, and thus its purpose is to deny the enemy the ability to make use of the electromagnetic spectrum.

Jamming works by filling the receiver of the enemy's equipment with "noise." Generally the target of a jammer is the enemy's radar systems, although it is possible to jam other systems, such as communications and GPS navigation.

Now radars, and communications, and anything else that uses the electromagnetic spectrum to relay or divine information, relies upon the ability to distinguish the intended signal from the background noise. And yes, there is always background noise. This can be caused by the existence of actual background EM radiation hitting the receiver's antenna, or simply by the random vibration of electrons in the receiver, causing false…

Monopulse Antenna (thing)

2008-11-30T16:08:09Z

A monopulse antenna is a type of antenna used in track radars. Track radars are the radar systems that are used to precisely determine the location of a target, in order for you to be able to determine the fire control solution, and engage the target with your weapon system(s).

The point of a track radar is to pick up the target, and continue to track it, following the target as it moves. This is different from your typical search radar, which continually sweeps the horizon, and refreshes the position of the target on each sweep. When we are trying to fire a weapon at something, we really do not have the luxury of waiting the 0.25 – 3 seconds that it might take for a radar to sweep across and get a new fix on the target. We need to know, in very precise terms, exactly where it is, and how it is accelerating, changing course, etc. Keep in mind that we may be talking about a missile that is travelling at Mach 2, and manoeuvring…

Fire Control Solution (idea)

2008-11-28T15:45:23Z

To have a solution, you must have a problem. In a Naval context, the Fire Control Solution, is the answer to the question "How do you hit a moving target, through a moving medium, from a moving platform?"

It is a simple question that is often very difficult to answer. Imagine that you are standing in a field, and you are tossing a baseball back and forth with a friend. It is your job to throw the ball to him. It is quite simple when he is standing still. It becomes more complicated when he is running in a straight line. More complicated when you're running in a different direction. More complicated when he starts zig-zagging. More complicated when he runs behind a tree. More complicated when the ground starts shifting back and forth, and you still need to hit him.

Calculation of the fire control solution depends first and foremost upon knowledge of how the weapon system that you are using behaves. Tossing a baseball back…

Naval Combat Systems Engineering Officer (person)

2008-11-20T20:45:03Z

Naval Combat Systems Engineering Officer is one of the military occupations within the Canadian Forces. It is considered a "hard sea" trade, whose primary focus, especially early on in one's career, is supporting operations aboard a sea going unit. It is a challenging career, which I find very fulfilling.

Because the name is quite a mouthful, the officers who are in this trade are usually referred to as a CSE (See-ce or as in an acronym) or CSEO (as in an acronym). It is one of the trades that is the most "distressed" in the Canadian Forces, with a trained effective strength approximately three quarters of optimal manning levels. So those who we do have are kept busy, and they aren't very stingy with the promotions.

At Sea

Aboard a ship, it is one of these officers who is the head of the Combat Systems Engineering Department. In this role, he or she is responsible to the…

crossing the line (event)

2008-11-14T19:07:15Z

The crossing of the line is a ceremony undergone by sailors who are crossing the equator. Sailors who have not yet participated in the ceremony (Slimy Pollywogs) must do so in order to become Trusty Shellbacks. It generally entails a bunch of gross things done to the Pollywogs by the Shellbacks. And for the most part, it's all in good fun. Plus, once you've done it, the next time you get to be the one dishing it out.

This is to certify that:
A/SLt Palpz
having been initiated in good faith whilst serving on
Her Majesty's Canadian Ship Fredericton at latitude
00 ° 00 ' N and longitude 000 ° 00' W
is hereby declared a true and loyal member of the
Royal Order of the Polar Bear, to be shown due
respect by all creatures in my dominion. This so said
and decreed by myself, on this…