[CVRC] The ARRL Letter for January 7, 2010

Thu Jan 7 18:48:56 EST 2010

If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at:
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2010-01-07>http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2010-01-07

January 7, 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=2010-01-07&t=t>

    * + Hams in the News : White House Names Ham 
as New Cybersecurity Coordinator
    * + Spotlight on Amateur Radio : 2009 Sees 
Surge of New Amateur Radio Licensees
    * + Public Service : MARS Gets New Name As It Fine Tunes Mission
    * + Coming Up in QST : Look for the February Issue of QST to Arrive Soon
    * Hints & Kinks : A BNC Connector Tool
    * + Now You Know! : 4U1 Call Signs
    * Solar Update
    * This Week on the Radio
    * + Silent Key : Knut Magne Haugland, Last 
Surviving Crew Member of Kon-Tiki Expedition, Passes Away

+ Available on <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/>ARRL Audio News

+ Hams in the News: White House Names Ham as New Cybersecurity Coordinator

President Barack Obama greets his new White House 
Cyber Security Chief Howard A. Schmidt, W7HAS, in 
the Cross Hall of the White House. December 17, 
2009. [Lawrence Jackson, official White House photo]

On December 22, President Barack Obama named 
Howard A. Schmidt, W7HAS, as the new White House 
Cybersecurity Coordinator. According to the White 
House, Schmidt -- an ARRL member -- is one of the 
world's leading authorities on computer security, 
with some 40 years of experience in government, 
business and law enforcement and "will have 
regular access to the President and serve as a 
key member of his National Security Staff. He 
will also work closely with his economic team to 
ensure that our cybersecurity efforts keep the Nation secure and prosperous."

In an exclusive interview with the ARRL, Schmidt 
said that he credits Amateur Radio with getting 
him involved with technology: "In high school, 
one of my friends was a ham and he got me 
interested in shortwave radio, which in turn got 
me into building shortwave radios and equipment, 
many from Heathkit. As I got older, I took 
courses from NRI and Bell and Howell in 
electronics and built a number of projects, 
preparing me for my first ham radio ticket. I 
love technology, and it was Amateur Radio that 
caused me to build my first computer -- a 
Sinclair ZX-80 to use for EME calculations. I 
studied all about the OSCAR systems and would 
build equipment to monitor when they would pass 
within range of Arizona. Building these computers 
to support my ham radio hobby gave me the 
technical skills that I needed to start doing 
computer crime investigations and work on the 
early stages of computer forensics, in turn 
enabling me to start working on cybersecurity 
issues." Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/12/23/11264/?nc=1>here.
+ Spotlight on Amateur Radio: 2009 Sees Surge of New Amateur Radio Licensees

In 2009, the FCC issued more than 30,000 new 
Amateur Radio licences -- an almost 3 percent 
increase in the number of new licenses issued in 
2008. At the end of 2009, there were 17,084 
Novices, 334,245 Technicians, 150,970 Generals 
and 119,403 Amateur Extra class licensees.

This past year was a banner year for new Amateur 
Radio licensees. According to ARRL VEC Manager 
Maria Somma, AB1FM, the FCC issued more than 
30,000 new ham radio licenses. "In 2009, the 
demand for Amateur Radio exam sessions remained 
elevated and is still running at a higher rate 
than before the FCC's restructuring of the 
license requirements in 2007," Somma said. "This 
high level of exam session activity has produced 
an elevated influx of new applications, far 
outpacing recent years." A total of 30,144 new 
licenses were granted in 2009 -- an increase of 
almost 7.5 percent from 2008. In 2005, 16,368 new 
hams joined Amateur Radio's ranks; just five 
years later, that number had increased by almost 
14,000 -- a whopping 84 percent! Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/06/11278/?nc=1>here.
+ Public Service: MARS Gets New Name As It Fine Tunes Mission

On Wednesday, December 23, the Department of 
Defense (DoD) issued an Instruction concerning 
MARS, effective immediately. This Instruction 
gives the three MARS services -- Army, Air Force 
and Navy/Marine Corps -- a new focus on homeland 
security and a new name: Military Auxiliary Radio 
System. The Instruction is the first major 
revision to MARS since January 26, 1988 -- as 
such, the first revision since the 9/11 attacks 
and Hurricane Katrina, two major events that 
changed the way Amateur Radio dealt with 
emergency communications. In the past, MARS had 
focused primarily on emergency communications and 
health and welfare support. The DoD's Instruction 
now directs the three MARS services to provide 
"contingency radio communications" to support US 
government operations, DoD components and "civil 
authorities at all levels," providing for 
national security and emergency preparedness 
events. MARS units will still continue to provide 
health and welfare communications support "to 
military members, civilian employees and 
contractors of DoD Components, and civil agency 
employees and contractors, when in remote or 
isolated areas, in contingencies or whenever 
appropriate." MARS must also be capable of 
operation in "radio only" modes -- without 
landlines or the Internet -- and sustainable on 
emergency power (when public utility power has 
failed); some MARS stations must be transportable 
for timely deployment. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/12/24/11267/?nc=1>here.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-01-07&p=0>
+ Coming Up in QST: Look for the February Issue of QST to Arrive Soon

The February issue of 
<http://www.arrl.org/qst>QST is jam-packed with 
all sorts of news and information that today's 
Amateur Radio operator needs. From product 
reviews to experiments, from public service to 
on-the-air activities, the upcoming issue of QST 
has something for just about everyone. You'll 
find a plethora of technical and general interest 
articles, as well as monthly columns such as 
How's DX, Hamspeak, Vintage Radio and more. Click 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/05/11277/?nc=1>here 
to discover what's in store for you in the 
February issue of QST, the official journal of the ARRL.
Hints & Kinks : A BNC Connector Tool

The completed tool aids in inserting or removing 
BNC jacks from a chassis without damaging the connector.

Scott McCann, W3MEO, of Queenstown, Maryland, 
made this tool by soldering a BNC connector to 
the shaft of an old screwdriver (see photo): "I 
cut off the blade and tinned the shaft with 
ordinary solder and flux. I then removed the 
center pin and Teflon from a BNC plug and 
soldered the plug onto the screwdriver shaft. 
While it was hot, I 'locked up' the nut and 
collar with solder. Now I have a BNC driver, very 
handy for installing and removing BNC jacks 
without marring them, which can happen using 
pliers or other 'make do' tools." Do you have an 
idea or a simple project that has improved your 
operating? Maybe you've taken something commonly 
found around the home and developed a ham radio 
use for it? Why not share your hints with fellow 
hams in "Hints and Kinks," a monthly column in 
QST. If we publish your hint in QST, you will 
receive $20. Send your hints via 
<mailto:h&k at arrl.org>e-mail or to ARRL 
Headquarters, Attn: "Hints and Kinks," 225 Main 
Street, Newington, CT 06111. Please include your 
name, call sign, complete mailing address, 
daytime telephone number and e-mail address.
ARRL in Action: What Have We Been Up to Lately?

This feature -- including convenient Web links to 
useful information -- is a concise monthly update 
of some of the things ARRL is doing on behalf of 
its members, such as speaking with 
representatives of the FCC's five Commissioners 
concerning BPL, representing Amateur Radio at 
various meetings leading up to WRC-12, rolling 
out new platforms for the ARRL's Tech Q&A, 
processing certificates and endorsements for the 
Hiram Percy Maxim 140th Birthday Celebration and 
more. This installment covers the month of 
December. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2010/01/04/11274/?nc=1>here.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-01-07&p=1>
+ Now You Know!: 4U1 Call Signs

By ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA

This past weekend when I was working the 
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2010/rtty.html>ARRL 
RTTY Round-Up, I came across a call sign that I 
had never seen before. But that's not what 
confused me (as I become more active on the air, 
I run across all sorts of interesting call signs, 
such as 3V8ST). No, what confused me was that the 
<http://www.supercheckpartial.com/>supercheck 
database and my <http://www.n1mm.com/>logging 
program told me that the call sign was located in 
the US. We all know that AA-AL, K, N and W are 
all US prefixes. Then why was 4U1WB showing up as being located in the US, too?

I'm looking forward to getting one of these in my mailbox soon!

Upon assurances I was not going crazy -- and more 
importantly that the supercheck database and my 
logger were not broken -- I found out that 
<http://www.qrz.com/db/4U1WB>4U1WB is a United 
Nations call sign assigned to the World Bank 
Amateur Radio Club at the World Bank in 
Washington, DC. There are four 4U1 call signs 
around the globe: 4U1WB; 
<http://www.qrz.com/db/4u1un>4U1UN, assigned to 
the United Nations; 
<http://life.itu.ch/radioclub/>4U1ITU, assigned 
to the International Amateur Radio Club at the 
International Telecommunication Union, and 
<http://www.qsl.net/4u1vic/>4U1VIC, assigned to 
the Vienna International Radio Club at the Vienna International Centre.

In the past, the United Nations has issued 4U 
call signs to various entities, allowing its use 
in areas where the UN has had peacekeeping 
forces. In 1995, an operation from Western Sahara 
used 4U/KC0PA, while Burundi used 4U9U in 1994.

World Bank headquarters in Washington, DC.

While 4U1UN and 4U1ITU count for credit toward 
the ARRL's DXCC award, 4U1WB and 4U1VIC do not. 
The DXCC rules define 4U1WB and 4U1VIC as 
"ineligible areas." These areas are classified as 
"extraterritorial legal entit[ies] of any nature, 
including, but not limited to, embassies, 
consulates, monuments, offices of the United 
Nations agencies or related organizations, other 
inter-governmental organizations or diplomatic 
missions." This rule also clarifies that these 
two stations are considered part of their "host 
entity" for DXCC purposes. This makes 4U1WB part 
of the US and 4U1VIC part of Austria for DXCC purposes.

For more on 4U1UN, be sure to check out the 
February issue of QST. So now when you see or 
hear a call sign come across the ether to your 
radio with a 4U1 prefix, don't be alarmed when 
you find out that the call sign is based in the United States. Now you know!
Solar Update

The Sun, as seen on Thursday, January 7, 2010 
from NASA's SOHO Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging 
Telescope. This image was taken at 304 Angstrom; 
the bright material is at 60,000 to 80,000 degrees Kelvin.

Tad 
"<http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/odeonindolence.html>I 
yet have visions for the night" Cook, K7RA, 
reports: Looking at sunspot numbers for the past 
few years, we can identify three bottoms by using 
our 3 month moving average -- October 2007 at 3, 
August 2008 at 1.1 and 1.5 in March 2009. Between 
each of these months, sunspot numbers rose and 
declined. Now the 3-month average centered on 
November 2009 is 10.163, the highest since August 
2007's average at 10.17. Currently, the Sun is 
blank; this is one of only two days without 
sunspots since December 9, but look for more 
sunspot activity soon. Look for more information 
in the Solar Update, available on the ARRL Web 
site on Friday, January 8. 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 John 
Keats' 
<http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/odeonindolence.html>Ode on Indolence.
+ VEC News: NCVEC Releases New Technician Class Question Pool

The Question Pool Committee 
(<http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=333>QPC) of 
the National Conference of Volunteer Examiner 
Coordinators (<http://www.ncvec.org/>NCVEC) 
released the 
<http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=356>new 
Technician class (Element 2) question pool on 
Monday, January 4. This new question pool will 
become effective for all examinations 
administered on or after July 1, 2010; it will 
remain valid until June 30, 2014. The current 
Technician question pool that became effective 
July 1, 2006 will expire June 30, 2010. The new 
Technician pool contains approximately 400 
questions, from which 35 are selected for an 
Element 2 examination; it will contain graphics 
and diagrams, something new for this element. The 
current 
<http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=350>General 
class question pool was effective July 1, 2007 
and is valid through June 30, 2011. The current 
<http://www.ncvec.org/page.php?id=351>Amateur 
Extra class pool was effective July 1, 2008 and 
is valid until June 30, 
2012.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-01-07&p=2>
This Week on the Radio

Click 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pz6aBjmFRRU>here 
to watch ARRL Test Engineer Bob Allison, WB1GCM, 
present a preview of two Product Review items in 
the February 2010 issue of QST.

This week, there is a running of the NCCC Sprint 
on January 8. The Mongolian RTTY DX Contest and 
the Midwinter Contest (CW) are January 9. The 
Hunting Lions in the Air Contest, the Michigan 
QRP January CW Contest, the WW PMC Contest and 
the North American QSO Party (CW) are January 
9-10. The SKCC Weekend Sprint and the Midwinter 
Contest (Phone) are both on January 10. Next 
week, there is another running of the NCCC Sprint 
on January 15. The Hungarian DX Contest and the 
North American QSO Party (SSB) are January 16-17. 
The Feld Hell Sprint is January 17, the Run for 
the Bacon QRP Contest is January 18 and the NAQCC 
Straight Key/Bug Sprint is January 21. 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.
+ ARRL Recognizes: Robert H. Welsh, N3RW, Wins December QST Cover Plaque Award

The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for 
December is Robert H. Welsh, N3RW, for his 
article "How the Ionosphere Was Discovered." 
Congratulations, Robert! The winner of the QST 
Cover Plaque award -- given to the author or 
authors of the best article in each issue -- is 
determined by a vote of ARRL members on the 
<http://www.arrl.org/members-only/QSTvote.html>QST 
<http://www.arrl.org/members-only/QSTvote.html>Cover 
Plaque Poll Web page. Cast a ballot for your 
favorite article in the January issue by Sunday, January 31.
+ Silent Key: Knut Magne Haugland, Last Surviving 
Crew Member of Kon-Tiki Expedition, Passes Away

Knut Haugland and Torstein Raaby were the the two 
radio operators on board the Kon-Tiki. Both 
Haugland and Raaby were active in the Norwegian Resistance during WW II.

Knut Magne Haugland of Norway passed away on 
December 25. He was 92. Haugland was one of five 
men, who with Thor Heyerdahl in 1947, 
successfully crossed the Pacific Ocean in a 45 
foot raft made of balsa wood and bamboo -- named 
Kon-Tiki -- to prove that people from South 
America could have settled Polynesia in 
pre-Columbian times. Heyerdahl and his companions 
sailed the raft for 101 days more than 4300 miles 
across the Pacific Ocean before smashing into a 
reef in the Tuamotu Islands on August 7, 1947. 
The expedition used call sign LI2B and carried 
three watertight radio transmitters. The first 
operated on the 40 and 20 meters, the second on 
10 meters and the third on 6 meters. Each unit 
was made up entirely of 2E30 vacuum tubes 
providing 10 W of RF input. As an emergency 
backup, they also carried a German Mark V 
transceiver originally re-created by Britain's 
Special Operations Executive in 1942. Other 
equipment included a hand-cranked emergency set 
of the Gibson Girl type for use on the maritime 
bands, a special VHF set for contacting aircraft 
and two British Mark II transmitters. The 
Kon-Tiki also carried a National Radio Company 
NC-173 receiver. Dry batteries and a hand-cranked 
generator supplied the power. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/12/28/11269/?nc=1>here.
ARRL Continuing Education Course Registration

Registration remains open through Sunday, January 
24, 2010, for these 
<http://www.arrl.org/cep/student/>online course 
sessions beginning on Friday, February 10, 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=2010-01-07&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/.