[CVRC] The ARRL Letter for January 28, 2010
ARRL Web site
memberlist at www.arrl.org
Thu Jan 28 21:34:49 EST 2010
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<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2010-01-28>http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2010-01-28
January 28, 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=2010-01-28&t=t>
* + Public Service : Haitian Agency Announces
Contact Information for Amateurs Going to Haiti to Provide Disaster Relief
* + Public Service : ARRL Sends Ham Aid Equipment to Haiti
* + ARRL Leadership : Kent Olson, KA0LDG,
Appointed Dakota Division Vice Director
* FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making to
Revise and Clarify Vanity Call Sign Rules Open for Comments
* + The Doctor Is IN : Tubes and Tube Replacements
* + ARRL Audio News Temporarily Suspended
* + Now You Know! : Phil "Gil" Gildersleeve, W1CJD
* Solar Update
* This Week on the Radio
* ARRL Continuing Education Course Registration
+ Available on <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/>ARRL Audio News
+ Public Service: Haitian Agency Announces
Contact Information for Amateurs Going to Haiti to Provide Disaster Relief
The offices of CONATEL -- Haiti's national
telecommunications regulator -- were destroyed in
the January 12 earthquake that devastated the
island nation. This office, like the FCC in the
US, administers the Amateur Radio Service in
Haiti. Hams interested in traveling to Haiti to
help provide communications support have been at
a loss as to whom to contact. CONATEL has set up
temporary offices in a Port-au-Prince suburb and
has indicated that those volunteers who wish to
operate in Haiti to assist with disaster relief
need to contact the agency to get formal
reciprocal operating clearance. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/26/11310/?nc=1>here.
+ Public Service: ARRL Sends Ham Aid Equipment to Haiti
While the communications infrastructure in
earthquake-ravaged Haiti is being rebuilt, there
is need for Amateur Radio communications. To
assist in this effort, the ARRL's Ham Aid program
is providing equipment for local amateurs to use.
On Friday, January 22, the League sent a
programmed Yaesu VHF repeater with a microphone,
as well as ICOM handheld transceivers, Yaesu
mobile 2 meter rigs with power supplies and
Kenwood mobile 2 meter rigs. Comet antennas,
Larsen mobile antennas with magnet mounts, coax
and batteries were also included in the package.
Most items were donated by their manufacturers;
the repeater and power supplies were purchased by
the ARRL several years ago using post-Hurricane Katrina grant funds.
Doug Lapin, K1OY (in front with tie), presents
the 10 Kenwood handheld transceivers to the Radio
Club Dominicano, the Dominican Republic's IARU
Member Society. The radios were courtesy of the ARRL's Ham Aid program.
On January 25, Doug Lapin, K1OY, the Dominican
Republic's Ambassador Accredited to the Secretary
of State of Foreign Relations, stopped by ARRL
Headquarters on his way back home. When he left,
he carried with him 10 Kenwood handheld
receivers, courtesy of the League's Ham Aid
program. "We're making progress," Lapin told the
ARRL on January 27. "The [Ham Aid package you
sent] is stuck in customs. I'm working on getting
it out. Members of the Radio Club Dominicano were
much appreciative of the radios I brought and
found it funny that my hand-carried radios
arrived before the package. If we get it out, we
will go back to Haiti tomorrow with the equipment."
Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/22/11304/?nc=1>here,
including information on how you can help the Ham
Aid program in
Haiti.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-01-28&p=0>
+ ARRL Leadership: Kent Olson, KA0LDG, Appointed Dakota Division Vice Director
Dakota Division Vice Director Kent Olson, KA0LDG
In one of her first actions as ARRL President,
Kay Craigie, N3KN, has appointed Dakota Division
Assistant Director and former North Dakota
Section Manager Kent Olson, KA0LDG, as the new
Dakota Division Vice Director. The position
became vacant when Dakota Division Director Jay
Bellows, K0QB, was elected International Affairs
Vice President at the 2010 ARRL Board of
Directors Annual Meeting and Vice Director Greg
Widin, K0GW, moved into the Director position.
Read more <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/25/11307/?nc=1>here.
FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making to Revise and
Clarify Vanity Call Sign Rules Open for Comments
Late last year, the FCC
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/25/11220/?nc=1>issued
a
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/25/11220/?nc=1>Notice
of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) --
<http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-1262.pdf>WT
Docket 09-209 -- seeking to amend the
Commission's Amateur Radio Service rules to
clarify certain rules and codify existing
procedures governing the vanity call sign system,
as well as revise certain rules applicable to
club stations. Interested parties may make
comments on the NPRM in the following ways: via
the <http://www.regulations.gov>Federal
eRulemaking Portal or via the FCC's
<http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/>Web site. Comments
must be submitted by March 26, 2010; reply
comments are due no later than April 12,
2010.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-01-28&p=1>
+ The Doctor Is IN: Tubes and Tube Replacements
Rick Richardson, VE7WF, of New Westminster,
British Columbia, recently has acquired some
vintage vacuum tube-based equipment. He recalled
that years ago, there was a product on the market
-- Tubesters -- solid state replacements for
vacuum tubes. He asked the ARRL's Doctor if
anyone still manufactures such devices.
Here's what the Doctor had to say:
I do remember them, as well. If I recall, these
were popular in the 1970s. To my knowledge, they
are no longer available. You may find some on
Internet auction sites from time to time. But
before you go too far in that direction, I would
think about what problem you are trying to solve.
Old tube gear works very well with tubes,
probably with better performance than "force fit"
solid state replacements. In those days, many
solid state receivers were quite vulnerable to
overload and other problems, for example.
The nice thing is that most tubes are still
available, often unused in original boxes and
generally at similar prices to what they cost 50
years ago. An Internet search will turn up a
number of places that sell tubes. I've always had
good luck with
<http://www.tubesandmore.com/>Antique Electronic
Supply. If used within their ratings, tubes can
last many years. I have WW2 vintage equipment
that still works with some original tubes. I also
have Drake tube based equipment from the period still going strong.
ARRL Lab Engineer Bob Allison, WB1GCM -- an
amateur with years of dedicated experience with
vintage gear -- notes that if the equipment has
sat around for many years, the chances are the
tubes are gassy. The glass part of a tube is not
a perfect envelope. One molecule of air at a time
leaks into the tube and after a few years, the
performance degrades. If a tube hasn't been used
in 20 or 30 years, it can appear to be totally
dead. The trick to solve this to let the radio
run for a day or two. The filaments in the tubes
will eventually burn away whatever air is inside
and the tubes will often be back in good shape.
The only exception that I often make is to
replace power rectifiers with plug-in solid state
equivalents. I usually make my own, but they are
also commercially available. My rationale is that
rectifier tubes generate a lot of heat the old
gear doesn't need. In addition, the filaments can
draw 15 to 20 W and by removing that load from
the power transformer it should stay cool and
last longer. Unlike tubes, power transformers are
not so easy to find. If needed, the original
condition can be restored by unplugging the solid
state unit and putting the tube back.
Thanks Doctor! Do you have a question or a
problem? Send your questions via
<mailto:doctor at arrl.org>e-mail or to "The
Doctor," ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111
(no phone calls, please). Look for "The Doctor Is
IN" every month in <http://www.arrl.org/qst>QST ,
the official journal of the ARRL.
+ ARRL Audio News Temporarily Suspended
With the coming of the new ARRL Web site, we are
looking at ways to better bring you Amateur Radio
news. In order to do this properly, we will be
temporarily suspending the ARRL Audio News while
we look for solutions that will enable us to
provide the technical quality and distribution
channels that you expect from the ARRL. The last
edition of the ARRL Audio News (for now) will be
produced on Thursday, January
28.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-01-28&p=2>
+ Now You Know!: Phil "Gil" Gildersleeve, W1CJD
By ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
Longtime readers of QST will certainly remember
the cartoons of Phil Glidersleeve, W1CJD
(ex-1ANE). Known affectionately as "Gil," he drew
more than 1500 cartoons for the ARRL, many of
them appearing on the pages of QST.
Gil's QSL card.
Gil started cartooning for the ARRL back in June
1927. His characters -- such as Jeeves the Butler
and the gang at the Podunk Hollow Radio Club --
became old friends to readers of QST. Gil's first
Jeeves cartoon was published in February 1940:
From the other room comes his master's voice,
saying, "Jeeves, come here and help me look for
DX!" Jeeves, not really sure what exactly DX is,
comes on the run with a road map, a telescope,
binoculars, a lantern, a compass and a butterfly
net in hand! As a native of the great state of
Texas, my favorite Jeeves cartoon shows him
trying to push a giant QSL card (from Texas, of
course!) through the door -- the card can barely
get through. Of course, things are bigger in
Texas! If you ever tour ARRL Headquarters, you
can see a large version of this cartoon in the second floor hallway.
The mythical Podunk Hollow Radio Club depicted
the idiosyncrasies of a group of radio
enthusiasts getting together. The cover for the
June 1964 issue of QST shows the Podunkers --
hundreds of them -- happily camped out in a
forest setting. In the large tent in the rear,
several hams are operating their radios. In the
foreground, several more are chatting up a couple
of attractive girls in a convertible, little
cartoon hearts fluttering over one ham's head.
And off to the far right, the Department of
Conservation is beginning to set up their
blasting apparatus with its accompanying signs of
"Turn off all two-way radios!"
But Gil also used his cartoons to teach proper
on-the-air behavior. In March 1938, he drew an
eight panel cartoon of a man calling CQ on CW.
Each panel had the man getting older, where by
the seventh panel, he was old, bald and with a
long beard, spider webs all around. The last
panel showed a tombstone that read "Here lies C.
Q. McGall. He died without even signing his
call." The next month, Gil drew a single panel
cartoon with a line separating the panel into two
parts. In the first part, he showed a radio
amateur "all worn to a frazzle" from handling so
much traffic, as well as dealing with QRM. The
second half showed two amateurs handling traffic
as a team, "all full of vim and vigor." Gil's
point was spot-on: "Cooperative operating does a
better job with greater efficiency all around.
Instead of harassed, inefficient, overworked
operators, put key stations on a 6 or 8 hour
basis, with relief and second operators for
efficiency during intensive operation."
Gil's interests were not limited to ham radio. A
native of Portland, Connecticut, he began working
for the Middletown (CT) Press as the Portland
correspondent in 1940, became county editor in
1943 then city editor in 1945. Sometime later, he
was named news editor. His cartoons also
decorated the
Press<http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=0364> and
various trade journals. He served in the
volunteer fire company and was captain of Fire
Company No 2 for nine years, as a member of the
Portland Board of Education for eight years, and
as a vestryman in his local church.
<http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=0364>In 1966,
he was chairman of Portland's 125th anniversary
celebration. As part of the celebration, he drew
the town seal, depicting a number of elements of
historical Portland. Foremost is an old-time oxen
driver with his team, pulling a large brownstone
sling; the greater part of Portland's 19th
century wealth came from the brownstone industry.
To the left of the oxen is a small building like
those visible in old pictures of the quarries.
Its tall chimney is smoking, connoting industry.
To the right is another such building atop the
quarry wall with a pulley for lowering things into the quarry.
Gil passed away on November 4, 1966. "His work
became a tradition," wrote former QST Managing
Editor Laird Campbell, W1CUT (SK) in the foreword
of <http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=0364>Gil: A
Collection of Classic Cartoons from QST. "His
knack for expressing ideas, feelings or
situations unique to Amateur Radio was, and still
is, unexcelled. [He] could take a rudimentary
idea and turn it into a final masterpiece through
the uncanny strokes of his pen. Gil's creations
will never be forgotten...his conceptions remain
alive in the minds of both old-timers and
newcomers to Amateur Radio." Now you know!
Solar Update
The Sun, as seen on Thursday, January 28, 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 degrees Kelvin.
Tad
"<http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=172905>Who
countest the steps of the Sun" Cook, K7RA,
reports: We've seen average daily sunspot numbers
for this reporting week. Since last Thursday
through yesterday, the numbers rose more than 9
points to 28; the average solar flux slipped more
than 2 points to 81.9. Geomagnetic indices were a
tiny bit lower. We should be seeing sunspot
numbers decline over the next five days. The
predicted solar flux for January 28-31 is 78, 80
on February 1-2, 82 on February 3-4 and 88-89 for
the following six days. We don't see any
geomagnetic upset predicted until February 16,
with the planetary A index only rising to 10. On
the <http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/>STEREO image,
we can see sunspot 1041 in the Sun's southern
hemisphere, past the central meridian. We also
see a sunspot emerging from the unseen area of
the sun (currently around 12.5 percent, not
visible yet to the STEREO mission) that is
perhaps five days from emerging over the Sun's
eastern limb. Look for more information in the
Solar Update -- including some clarification,
correction and expansion of the info in
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/22/11302/?nc=1>last
week's bulletin concerning SID (Sudden
Ionospheric Disturbance) events from Dick Grubb,
W0QM of the Space Weather Prediction Center in
Boulder, Colorado -- available on the ARRL Web
site on Friday, January 29. 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
William Blake's
<http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=172905>Ah! Sunflower.
This Week on the Radio
This week, there is a running of the NCCC Sprint
on January 29. The CQ 160 Meter Contest (CW) is
January 29-31. The REF Contest (CW), the UBA DX
Contest (SSB) and the SPAR Winter Field Day are
January 30-31. The Classic Exchange (CW) is
January 31-February 1. Next week, there is
another running of the NCCC Sprint Ladder on
February 5. Look for the FYBO Winter QRP Sprint,
the Minnesota QSO Party and the AGCW Straight Key
Party on February 6. The Vermont QSO Party, the
YL-ISSB QSO Party (CW), the 10-10 International
Winter Contest (SSB), the British Columbia QSO
Party, the Delaware QSO Party and the Mexico RTTY
International Contest are February 6-7. On
February 7, check out the North American Sprint
(CW) and the ARCI Fireside SSB Sprint. The New
Mexico QSO Party is February 8. The
<http://www.arrl.org/SCR/>ARRL School Club
Roundup is February 8-12. The NAQCC Straight
Key/Bug Sprint is February 10 and the CWops
Mini-CWT Test is February 10-11. 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 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=2010-01-28&t=r&p=0>.
----------
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