[CVRC] The ARRL Letter for February 18, 2010
ARRL Web site
memberlist at www.arrl.org
Thu Feb 18 16:52:17 EST 2010
If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at:
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2010-02-18>http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2010-02-18
February 18, 2010
Editor: <mailto:k1sfa at arrl.org>S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
<http://www.arrl.org/>ARRL Home
Page<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>ARRL
Letter<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>
Archive<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/>Audio
News<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2010-02-18&t=t>
* On-the-Air : Calling All Rookies -- and
Non-Rookies, Too! Get On the Air for the ARRL Rookie Roundup
* ARRL Leadership : Rod Blocksome, K0DAS,
Appointed Midwest Division Vice Director
* ARRL Leadership : Grant Hopper, KB7WSD,
Appointed Northwestern Division Vice Director
* Eye on Awards : More on the IARU Region 2 Award
* ARRL Publications : Check Out the March/April 2010 NCJ
* ARRL Publications : QEX -- the March/April 2010 Issue
* W1AW News : W1AW Announces New Schedule for
Digital Bulletin Transmissions
* Solar Update
* W1AW News : March W1AW/West Coast Qualifying Run Schedule
* This Week on the Radio
On-the-Air : Calling All Rookies -- and
Non-Rookies, Too! Get On the Air for the ARRL Rookie Roundup
The ARRL Rookie Roundup is designed to help newly
licensed amateurs build their operating skills on
HF. It is a contest specifically for those new to
Amateur Radio, similar to the ARRL Novice Roundup
that ran from 1952 until 1995. The Rookie Roundup
brings the fun and Elmering of the old Novice
Roundup into the 21st century. Three Rookie
Roundups will be held each calendar year: SSB in
April, RTTY in August and CW in December. Read
more <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/02/18/11349/?nc=1>here.
ARRL Leadership : Rod Blocksome, K0DAS, Appointed
Midwest Division Vice Director
ARRL Midwest Division Vice Director Rod Blocksome, K0DAS
ARRL President, Kay Craigie, N3KN, has appointed
Rod Blocksome, K0DAS, of Robins, Iowa, as the new
Vice Director in the Midwest Division. The
position became vacant when Midwest Division
Director Bruce Frahm, K0BJ, was elected ARRL Vice
President at the 2010 ARRL Board of Directors
Annual Meeting and Vice Director Cliff Ahrens,
K0CA, moved into the Director position. "I'm
honored to be selected as the Vice-Director of
the ARRL Midwest Division and am looking forward
to serving the division hams to the best of my
ability," Blocksome told the ARRL. "I grew up in
Kansas, lived in Iowa and have traveled to more
than 50 different countries, so I hope to bring
my Midwestern roots - as well as a
multi-cultural/international perspective - to
this position." Read more about Blocksome
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/02/16/11344/?nc=1>here.
ARRL Leadership : Grant Hopper, KB7WSD, Appointed
Northwestern Division Vice Director
ARRL Northwestern Division Vice Director Grant Hopper, KB7WSD
ARRL President, Kay Craigie, N3KN, has appointed
Grant Hopper, KB7WSD, of Everett, Washington, as
the new Northwestern Division Vice Director. The
position became vacant when no one submitted the
necessary election materials needed to run for
the Vice Director position. Hopper is an attorney
and serves as an ARRL Volunteer Counsel (VC).
"I'm excited to serve the Northwest Division,"
Hopper said. "We have a phenomenal number of
talented, innovative, committed, and generous
hams here in the Northwestern Division. I look
forward to not only doing what I can to support
their efforts and the activities within the
division, but also representing their interests
up at the national level. From my community and
volunteer activities -- as well as my law
practice -- I tend to think of myself as a
'behind the scenes' sort of person, bringing
people together, examining issues and solving
problems. I think those skills will serve me well
as a Vice Director and I'm glad I can share them
for the benefit of Amateur Radio." Read more
about Hopper
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/02/17/11346/?nc=1>here.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-02-18&p=0>
Eye on Awards : More on the IARU Region 2 Award
Since the
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/02/11/11335/?nc=1>announcement
on the ARRL Web site of the
<http://www.iaru-r2.org/wp-content/uploads/r2-award.pdf#pdf>IARU
Region 2 Award last week, Region 2 officials have
been busy answering question from amateurs all
over the world about this award, first introduced
in October 2007. According to IARU Region 2
Secretary Ramón Santoyo, XE1KK, officials have
analyzed the questions and have now clarified the
rules, making them easier to understand. You can
access the
<http://www.iaru-r2.org/wp-content/uploads/r2-award.pdf#pdf>newly
rewritten rules on the <http://www.iaru-r2.org/>IARU Region 2 Web site.
ARRL Publications: Check Out the March/April 2010 NCJ
The March/April issue of NCJ, The National
Contest Journal, is filled with the latest news
from the contesting world. Whether you are new to
contesting or are a seasoned pro -- or somewhere
in the middle -- you will find something in NCJ
just for you. In addition to all of the exciting
articles in the March/April issue, you will find
all of the regular columns and features that you
expect from NCJ: "Workshop Chronicles," by Don
Daso, K4ZA; "Contest Tips, Tricks and
Techniques," by Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT; "VHF-UHF
Contesting," by Jon Jones, N0JK; "RTTY
Contesting," by Don Hill, AA5AU; "Propagation,"
by Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA; "Contesting on a
Budget," by Ralph Bellas, K9ZO; "Software for
Contesters" by Pete Smith, N4ZR, and "Contesting
101," by Kirk Pickering, K4RO. NCJ is published
six times a year by the ARRL; it is edited by Al
Dewey, K0AD. NCJ is what every contester needs in
his or her shack --
<http://www.arrl.org/ncj/>subscribe today! Read
more <QEX%20--%20the%20March/April%202010%20Issue.htm>here.
ARRL Publications: QEX -- the March/April 2010 Issue
The March/April issue of
<http://www.arrl.org/qex>QEX is coming soon, and
it is full of theoretical and practical technical
articles that you won't want to miss. QEX is the
ARRL's "Forum for Communications Experimenters."
Published bimonthly, it features technical
articles, columns and other items of interest to
radio amateurs and communications professionals.
The mission of QEX is threefold: To provide a
medium for the exchange of ideas and information
among Amateur Radio experimenters; to document
advanced technical work in the Amateur Radio
field, and to support efforts to advance the
state of the Amateur Radio art. QEX is edited by
Larry Wolfgang, <mailto:lwolfgang at arrl.org>WR1B.
<http://www.arrl.org/qex>Subscribe to
QEX<http://www.arrl.org/qex> today. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/02/16/11345/?nc=1>here.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-02-18&p=1>
W1AW News: W1AW Announces New Schedule for Digital Bulletin Transmissions
Beginning Monday, March 15, W1AW, the Hiram Percy
Maxim Memorial Station, will alternate the
digital modes used for its digital bulletin
transmissions. While Baudot, PSK31 and MFSK16
still make up the digital mode complement, W1AW
Station Manager Joe Carcia, NJ1Q, says that the
schedule will be altered to give more exposure to
PSK31 and MFSK16. "Because of time constraints
and the varying lengths of digital bulletins,
there were many instances where only Baudot was
used," he said. "With the new schedule, amateurs
preferring either PSK31 or MFSK16 will no longer
find these modes secondary." Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/02/16/11343/?nc=1>here.
Solar Update
The Sun, as seen on Thursday, February 18, 2010
from
<http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/realtime-update.html>NASA's
SOHO Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. This
image was taken at 304 Angstrom; the bright
material is at 60,000 to 80,000 Kelvin.
Tad
"<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cat_in_the_Hat>The
Sun did not shine, it was too wet to play" Cook,
K7RA, reports: We have been seeing improved
conditions with moderate sunspot activity, and we
should keep seeing these good conditions this
weekend for the
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2010/intldx.html>ARRL
International DX Contest (CW). The average daily
sunspot number for the past week was 38.7, down
4.6 points from the prior week, but the average
daily solar flux rose 4 points to 90.6. The
predicted solar flux for February 18-22 is 88,
88, 86, 85 and 84. The planetary A index for the
same period is predicted at 10, 10, 5, 5 and 5.
Look for more information on the ARRL Web site on
Friday, February 19, including a look at some new
resources for grabbing up-to-the-minute data from
ionospheric sounders. These are very useful for
studying HF propagation paths and understanding
phenomena that we recently discussed on 75 meter
short-skip propagation. For more information
concerning radio propagation, visit the
<http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html>ARRL
Technical Information Service Propagation page.
This week's "Tad Cookism" brought to you by Dr
Seuss' <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cat_in_the_Hat>The Cat in the Hat.
ARRL Field Day : 2010 Field Day Packets Now Available
It's that time of year again -- time to start
gearing up for ARRL Field Day, June 26-27, 2010!
ARRL's flagship operating event -- always held
the fourth full weekend in June -- brings
together new and experienced hams for 24 hours of
operating fun. Field Day packets are now
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/fd-2010-packet.pdf>available
for download and include the complete rules
(including changes for 2010), as well as other
reference items such as forms, ARRL Section
abbreviation list, entry submission instructions,
a Frequently Asked Questions section, guidelines
for getting bonus points, instructions for GOTA
stations, a kit to publicize your event with the
local press and
more.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-02-18&p=2>
W1AW News: March W1AW/West Coast Qualifying Run Schedule
The March schedules for the W1AW and West Coast
Qualifying Runs were inadvertently left out of
the March issue of QST. The March schedules for
W1AW are as follows: Friday, March 5 at 10 PM EST
(Saturday, March 6 at 0300 UTC) for 10-25 WPM and
Tuesday, March 16 at 7 PM EDT (2300 UTC) for
10-40 WPM. The West Coast Qualifying run will be
transmitted by station K6KPH on Saturday, March
13 at 2 PM PDT (2200 UTC) for 10-35 WPM. The run
will be transmitted simultaneously on 3581.5,
7047.5, 14047.5, 18097.5 and 21067.5 kHz.
This Week on the Radio
This week, the
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2010/intldx.html>ARRL
International DX Contest (CW) is February 20-21.
There is another NCCC Sprint Ladder on February
19. The Feld Hell Sprint is February 20, the Run
for the Bacon QRP Contest is February 22 and the
SKCC Sprint is February 24. Next week, look for
an NCCC Sprint Ladder on February 26. The Russian
PSK WW Contest and the CQ 160 Meter Contest (SSB)
are on February 26-27. The REF Contest (SSB), the
EPC WW DX Contest, the UBA DX Contest (CW), the
Mississippi QSO Party and the North American QSO
Party (RTTY) are all on February 27-28. The High
Speed Club CW Contest is February 28. The North
Carolina QSO Party is February 28-March 1. The
ARS Spartan Sprint and the AGCW YL-CW Party are
both on March 2. All dates, unless otherwise
stated, are UTC. See the
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/>ARRL Contest
Branch page, the
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/>ARRL
Contest Update and the
<http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html>WA7BNM
Contest Calendar for more info. Looking for a
Special Event station? Be sure to check out the
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/spev.html>ARRL Special Event Station Web page.
New ARRL Web Site Coming Soon
After more than two years of planning, designing
and writing, we here at the ARRL are eagerly
anticipating the launch of the new ARRL Web site.
We've been able to make the online experience
easier for our members -- from the online store,
to registering for a class, to finding a club --
plus we've created a new, enhanced member profile
with many more options available. We've made
improvements with you in mind, making sure that
we've created the easiest, most enjoyable online
experience possible. The new Web site will be available at the end of February.
ARRL Continuing Education Course Registration
Registration remains open through Sunday,
February 21, 2010, for these
<http://www.arrl.org/cep/student/>online course
sessions beginning on Friday, March 5, 2010:
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1;
Antenna Modeling; Radio Frequency Interference;
Antenna Design and Construction; Ham Radio
(Technician) License Course; Propagation; Analog
Electronics, and Digital Electronics. To learn
more, visit the
<http://www.arrl.org/cep/student>CEP Course
Listing page or contact the
<mailto:cce at arrl.org>Continuing Education Program
Coordinator<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2010-02-18&t=r&p=0>.
----------
The ARRL Letter is published Thursdays, 50 times
each year. ARRL members may subscribe at no cost
or unsubscribe by editing their Member Data Page
as described at
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/.
Copyright © 2010 American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved
More information about the CVRC
mailing list