[CVRC] The ARRL Letter for July 22, 2010

Thu Jul 22 17:43:33 EDT 2010

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July 22, 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=2010-07-22&t=t>

    * + Public Service : FCC Modifies Rules to 
Allow Limited Employee Participation in Disaster and Emergency Drills
    * + ARRL Board of Directors Holds Second 2010 Meeting
    * ARRL CEO Presented with "BPL Spoils" Award
    * + FCC : Vanity Call Sign Fees to Decrease August 17
    * + Spotlight on Scouting : Connect with the 
National Scout Jamboree via Amateur Radio
    * + Solar Update
    * This Week on the Radio

+ Available on <http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news>ARRL Audio News
+ Public Service: FCC Modifies Rules to Allow 
Limited Employee Participation in Disaster and Emergency Drills

In a Report and Order (R&O) released Wednesday, 
July 14, the FCC amended Part 97.113 to allow 
amateurs to participate without an FCC waiver in 
government-sponsored disaster preparedness drills 
on behalf of their employers participating in the 
exercise. The FCC also has amended the rules to 
allow employees to participate in non-government 
drills and exercises up to one hour per week and 
up to two 72 hour periods during the year. The 
effective date of the R&O is to be determined and 
will be 30 days after its publication in the 
Federal Register. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-modifies-amateur-rules-to-allow-participation-in-disaster-and-emergency-drills-on-behalf-of-an-e>here.
+ ARRL Board of Directors Holds Second 2010 Meeting

Kay Craigie, N3KN, calls her first Board meeting 
to order as ARRL President last week in Windsor, 
Connecticut. [Steve Ford, WB8IMY, Photo]

The ARRL Board of Directors held its Second 
Meeting of 2010 July 16-17 in Windsor, 
Connecticut, under the chairmanship of President 
Kay Craigie, N3KN. The Board considered and acted 
on a number of organizational, regulatory and 
operating issues, including the following: 
Approved a campaign to celebrate the 75th 
anniversary of ARESÂ® that is designed to promote 
and increase awareness of this valuable program; 
allowed candidates for Division Director and 
Division Vice Director to submit petitions via 
e-mail or facsimile; clarified the VHF rules to 
allow monochromatic sources (such as laser or 
LED) to count for contest credit, as long as the 
laser power is less than 5 mW; voted in favor of 
allowing the Montenegrin Amateur Radio Pool 
(MARP) to join the IARU as that country's 
Member-Society, and acknowledged those ARRL staff 
members who also serve as Volunteer Examiners. 
The Board also received reports from committees 
and individuals on a wide range of subjects, and 
conferred several awards on deserving nominees. A 
more in-depth report on the Board's actions, 
including the official Meeting Minutes, will be 
posted in the coming 
days.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-07-22&p=0>
ARRL CEO Presented with "BPL Spoils" Award

ARRL Chief Executive Officer Dave Sumner, K1ZZ 
(left), receives the AMRAD "BPL Spoils" award 
from ARRL Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price, 
N4QX, at the July 2010 ARRL Board meeting. [Steve Ford, WB8IMY, Photo]

During the Friday morning portion of the July 
2010 ARRL Board meeting, ARRL Chief Executive 
Officer Dave Sumner, K1ZZ, received a surprise 
plaque from the Amateur Radio Research and 
Development Corporation 
(<http://www.amrad.org/>AMRAD). Titled "BPL 
Spoils," the plaque featured a discarded 
<http://www.arrl.org/broadband-over-powerline-bpl>BPL 
modem that was rescued from surplus equipment 
belonging to a manufacturer that had decided to 
exit the BPL business. ARRL Chief Technology 
Officer Brennan Price, N4QX, presented the plaque 
to Sumner in recognition of his and the ARRL 
staff's tireless work against radio interference generated by BPL systems.
+ FCC: Vanity Call Sign Fees to Decrease August 17

On July 19, the FCC announced via the 
<http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-17331.pdf>Federal 
Register that the cost of a 10 year Amateur Radio 
vanity call sign will decrease 10 cents, from 
$13.40 to $13.30. The new fees take effect 30 
days after publication, making August 17, 2010, 
the first day the new fee is in effect. In 
FY2010, the FCC anticipates granting 14,800 
vanity call signs, bringing in $196,840 from the 
vanity call sign program. Earlier this year, the 
FCC 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-looks-to-lower-fees-for-vanity-call-signs>released 
a Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order 
(<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-10-51A1.pdf>NPRM), 
seeking to lower the fee for Amateur Radio vanity 
call signs. The notice in the July 19, 2010 
edition of the Federal Register -- entitled 
"Assessment and Collection of Regulatory Fees for 
Fiscal Year 2010; Final Rule" -- includes all FCC 
regulatory fees; these fees are expected to 
recover a total of $336,712,213 during FY2010, 
encompassing all the Services the FCC regulates. 
The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act 
of 1934, As Amended, to collect vanity call sign 
fees to recover the costs associated with that 
program. The vanity call sign regulatory fee is 
payable not only when applying for a new vanity 
call sign, but also upon renewing a vanity call 
sign for a new 10 year 
term.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-07-22&p=1>
+ Spotlight on Scouting: Connect with the 
National Scout Jamboree via Amateur Radio
<http://www.arrl.org/images/view/News/k2bsa-layout-ants.JPG>
The National Scout Jamboree takes place July 
26-August 4 at Fort AP Hill, Caroline County, 
Virginia. A myriad of exhibits and activities 
await the close to 40,000 Scouts, leaders and 
staff. Coming from all 50 states -- and even 
territories and foreign countries -- they will 
have the opportunity to live, work and play 
together in an atmosphere of Scouting fellowship. 
And just like the National Scout Jamborees in 
1973, 1981, 1985, 1989, 1993, 1997, 2001 and 
2005, the 2010 event will feature Amateur Radio.

An eagle-eye view of the K2BSA site and antennas. 
Click 
<http://www.arrl.org/images/view/News/k2bsa-layout-ants.JPG>here 
for a larger image. [Map courtesy of Bob Bruninga, WB4APR]

A team of 17 Scouters and two Scouts will 
activate K2BSA as a demonstration station at the 
Jamboree. According to K2BSA Staff Member Larry 
Wolfgang, WR1B, they will be demonstrating 
various operating modes to the visiting Scouts, 
with activity primarily on HF, around the 
published Scout frequencies. Wolfgang is the ARRL 
Liaison to the National Scout Jamboree. Another 
group of 17 Scouters and one Scout will assist 
other Scouts in earning the Radio merit badge, 
while seven Scouters will be offering classes and 
will help administer Amateur Radio licensing 
exams. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/connect-with-the-national-scout-jamboree-via-amateur-radio>here.
2010 Marks Ninth Year for ARRL Participation in Combined Federal Campaign

For the ninth year running, the US Office of 
Personnel Management has designated the ARRL to 
participate in the 2010 Combined Federal Campaign 
(CFC). In the past, this campaign for federal 
government civilian employees, US Postal Service 
workers and members of the military has generated 
almost $140,000 for ARRL programs since it first 
became an option for giving by federal employees 
to the League. The CFC provides an easy way to 
support ARRL's effort to represent its members 
and all radio amateurs. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/2010-marks-ninth-year-for-arrl-participation-in-combined-federal-campaign>here<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-07-22&p=2>.
+ QuickStats to Debut on Web and QST

Member polls have returned to the ARRL Web, but 
with a twist. Rather than a single weekly poll, 
the new QuickStats page at 
<http://www.arrl.org/quickstats>http://www.arrl.org/quickstats 
offers several polls at once with new questions 
every 30 days. The results will be published in 
QST beginning with the October issue. Start by 
visiting the 
<http://www.arrl.org/quickstats>QuickStats page 
now. Be sure to bookmark it in your browser! 
Watch for poll results in the special QST 
QuickStats page in the rear advertising section 
of the magazine. Along with monthly poll results, 
QST QuickStats offers colorful charts and graphs 
that highlight interesting Amateur Radio statistics.
+ Solar Update

The Sun, as seen on Thursday, July 22, 2010 from 
<http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/realtime-update.html>NASA's 
SOHO Extreme Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. This 
<http://soi.stanford.edu/>MDI (Michelson Doppler 
Imager) image was taken in the continuum near the 
Ni I 6768 Angstrom line. The most prominent 
features are the sunspots. This is very much how 
the Sun looks in the visible range of the spectrum.

Tad 
"<http://www.literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/chapter-04.html>The 
moon gazed on my midnight labours, while, with 
unrelaxed and breathless eagerness, I pursued 
nature to her hiding-places" Cook, K7RA, reports: 
Increasing sunspot activity has dominated the 
past few days. Sunspot group 1087 has been 
visible for 13 days, but the size has gradually 
decreased. Over the past seven days, in 
millionths of a solar hemisphere, it was 60, 50, 
20, 10, 10, 10 and 10. On July 19, new sunspot 
group 1089 appeared quite strongly over the 
eastern horizon, with an expanding relative size 
of 130, 150 and 310 for July 19-21. The predicted 
solar flux is 90 on each day from July 22-28, 
which is quite strong, considering that the 
average daily solar flux for each of the past 
four weeks was 73.9, 72.8, 79.2 and 80.6. There 
is a slight predicted rise in geomagnetic 
activity, with a predicted planetary A index of 
8, 10, 10, 8, 8, 10 and 10 from July 22-28. Look 
for more information -- including updated 
predictions, 6 and 10 meter news and an item from 
NASA about the collapsing thermosphere during 
this extended solar minimum -- on the ARRL Web 
site on Friday, July 23. For more information 
concerning radio propagation, visit the 
<http://www.arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals>ARRL 
Technical Information Service Propagation page. 
This week's "Tad Cookism" -- in honor of the 41st 
anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing -- is 
brought to you by Mary Shelley's 
<http://www.literature.org/authors/shelley-mary/frankenstein/index.html>Frankenstein 
(Chapter 4).
This Week on the Radio

This week, there is a running of the NCCC Sprint 
Ladder on July 23. The RSGB Islands on the Air 
(IOTA) Contest is July 24-25 and the SKCC Sprint 
July 28. Next week, there is another running of 
the NCCC Sprint Ladder on July 30. The SARL HF 
Phone Contest is August 1. The ARS Spartan Sprint 
is August 3 and the QRP Fox Hunt is August 4. All 
dates, unless otherwise stated, are UTC. See the 
<http://www.arrl.org/contests>ARRL Contest Branch 
page, the 
<http://www.arrl.org/The-ARRL-Contest-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/special-events>ARRL Special Events Station Web page.
ARRL Continuing Education Course Registration

Registration remains open through Sunday, July 
25, 2010, for this 
<http://www.arrl.org/online-course-registration>online 
course session beginning on Friday, August 6, 
2010: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications 
Level 1. To learn more, visit the 
<http://www.arrl.org/online-courses>CEP Course 
Listing page or contact the 
<mailto:cep at arrl.org>Continuing Education Program 
Coordinator<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2010-07-22&t=r&p=0>.

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