[CVRC] The ARRL Letter for June 3, 2010

Thu Jun 3 16:00:44 EDT 2010

If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at:
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2010-06-03>http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2010-06-03

June 3, 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=2010-06-03&t=t>

    * + 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins This Week
    * + On the Air : Join the Fun on VHF in the ARRL VHF QSO Party
    * + Amateur Radio in Space : Australia 
Students Celebrate WIA Centenary with ARISS QSO
    * ARRL in Action : What Have We Been Up to Lately?
    * + International Perspective : 2010 IARU Eyeball QSO Contest Results
    * + ARRL Recognizes : Mert Nellis, W0UFO, Wins May QST Cover Plaque Award
    * + Solar Update
    * This Week on the Radio

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

+ After installing some software updates, we are 
pleased to be able to once again offer the ARRL 
Audio News via telephone. By calling 
860-594-0384, you can listen to the latest edition of the Audio News.
+ 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins This Week

Forecasters are calling for a busy hurricane system this season/

The Atlantic hurricane season could be the 
busiest since 2005, when Katrina and Rita caused 
massive destruction along the same part of the 
Gulf Coast now struggling with the largest 
offshore oil spill in US history, government 
scientists with the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said last week. 
According to NOAA's predictions, the 2010 season 
may spawn as many as 23 named tropical storms, 
including up to seven major hurricanes. The 
Atlantic hurricane season began Tuesday, June 1 and runs through November 30.

"This year's hurricane season is forecasted to be 
a busy one, with a strong chance of a major 
hurricane making landfall in the US," said ARRL 
Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Mike 
Corey, W5MPC. "I would encourage all amateurs in 
hurricane-prone areas to take part in any 
planning, drills or exercises, have your go-kits 
in order, review your local plans, make sure your 
home and family are safe and be ready if called 
upon. We here at ARRL Headquarters are already 
making plans to assist amateurs in the field if 
and when needed this season." Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/2010-atlantic-hurricane-season-begins-today>here.
+ On the Air: Join the Fun on VHF in the ARRL VHF QSO Party

Malcolm Scrimger, VE7DAO, of Victoria, British 
Columbia, activated Special Event Station VE7IYOA 
from Mt Tolmie for the 2009 ARRL June VHF QSO 
Party. The station, to commemorate the 
International Year of Astronomy, intrigued many 
visitors to the park, giving Scrimger opportunity 
to explain not only how astronomy has evolved 
over 400 years, but the Amateur Radio Service.

Lots of RF will be generated on 6 meters and up 
the weekend of June 12-13 during the 
<http://www.arrl.org/june-vhf-qso-party>2010 ARRL 
VHF QSO Party. While many amateurs think of the 
VHF+ bands as a "local" band for public service, 
emergency communications or even a bit of fun on 
FM repeaters, weak-signal VHF+ enthusiasts know 
better. Even with a modest station, it's possible 
to work hundreds, or even thousands of miles, on 
the VHF bands during a good opening.

ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, is 
a big VHF enthusiast himself. "In more than 25 
years of Amateur Radio, weak-signal work on 6 and 
2 meters remains the most fun and intriguing 
activity I do. There is nothing like a good VHF 
opening; with interesting propagation 
characteristics like Sporadic-E, tropospheric 
ducting, aurora and even meteor scatter and 
moonbounce, VHF offers QSO opportunities that HF 
can never satisfy." The 
<http://www.arrl.org/june-vhf-qso-party>ARRL June 
VHF QSO Party runs from 1800 UTC Saturday, June 
12 through 0300 UTC Monday, June 14 (Saturday 
afternoon to Sunday evening for most of the US 
and Canada). Complete rules and entry forms may 
be found on the ARRL Web site. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/join-the-fun-on-vhf-in-the-arrl-vhf-qso-party>here.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-06-03&p=0>
+ Amateur Radio in Space: Australia Students 
Celebrate WIA Centenary with ARISS QSO

Students from the Trinity Christian School at 
Wanniassa in the Australian Capital Territory 
made history on May 29 with the first Amateur 
Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) 
contact to be held in Canberra. The event was 
part of the Wireless Institute of Australia (WIA) 
Centenary Dinner on May 29. More than 200 people 
attended the event, including international 
guests IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA, and 
ARRL International Vice President Jay Bellows, 
K0QB, as well as prominent Australians such as 
IARU Region 3 Chairman Michael Owen, VK3KI, 
Australian Communications and Media Authority 
Chairman Chris Chapman and WIA Centenary Patron 
Dick Smith, VK2DIK. The principal of Trinity 
Christian School is Carl Palmer, VK2TP/VK1TP. 
Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/australia-students-celebrate-wia-centenary-with-ariss-qso>here.
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, including bringing the ever-popular 
ARRL EXPO to the 2010 Dayton HamventionÂ®, 
awarding college scholarships, releasing new 
books, holding Section Manager elections and 
more. This installment covers the month of May. 
Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-in-action-what-have-we-been-up-to-lately-22>here<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-06-03&p=1>.
+ Texas Group to Host International Earth-Moon-Earth Conference in August

The North Texas Microwave Society 
(<http://www.ntms.org/>NTMS) will host the 
<http://www.ntms.org/eme/>14th International EME 
Conference in Dallas, Texas on August 12-14. This 
is the first time the conference has been held in 
the US since 2004. Whether you are an experienced 
EMEer or new to EME, the conference will offer a 
wide range of technical, social and sight-seeing 
activities. Gerald Youngblood, K5SDR, President 
and Chief Executive Officer of FlexRadio, will be 
the lunchtime speaker on Friday, August 13; Nobel 
laureate Joe Taylor, K1JT, will speak about 
April's 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/moonbounce-for-everyone-courtesy-of-the-arecibo-radio-telescope>432 
MHz EME event at Arecibo on Saturday, August 14. 
Presentations will include a noise figure 
workshop hosted by Al Ward, W5LUA, Tommy 
Henderson, WD5AGO, and Tony Emanuele, WA8RJF, as 
well as an EME demonstration by Paul Perryman, 
WA5WCP, and exhibits featuring a number of 
dealers. The event will also feature tours for 
both attendees and their spouses to various 
historic sites around the Dallas/Fort Worth area. 
Organizers are still soliciting people to speak 
or submit articles for the conference's Technical 
Proceedings. If interested, please contact Barry 
Malowanchuk, VE4MA, via 
<mailto:ve4ma at shaw.ca>e-mail. A 
<http://www.ntms.org/eme/hotel.php>block of rooms 
has been reserved at the Westin Hotel, a short 
shuttle ride from DFW Airport; rooms must be 
reserved by July 12 to take advantage of special rates.
+ International Perspective: 2010 IARU Eyeball QSO Contest Results

At the 2010 Dayton HamventionÂ®, the 
International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and the 
ARRL sponsored a game that involved searching for 
hams visiting from outside the USA. According to 
ARRL Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager 
Dave Patton, NN1N, the idea was to obtain calls 
and names from as many different DXCC entities 
(from outside the USA) as possible by making 
"eyeball QSOs" during the Hamvention.

"No one knew exactly what to expect," Patton 
said, "as there hadn't been a formal list of 
attendees from outside the USA in the recent 
past. But amazingly, there were at least 138 hams 
from 48 DXCC entities -- not including all the 
DXpeditioners who signed with their DXpedition 
calls -- appearing on the eyeball QSO cards that 
were turned in to IARU officials at the end of 
the event to the IARU staff." As for the winners, 
Patton said that "everyone was a winner through 
the interaction with all the international 
guests, and the Top 10 will receive gift certificates from the ARRL."

The Top 10 winners -- including a tie for first 
place --were (with number of international 
"eyeball QSOs" following their call sign): 
Margreet Blondeel Timmerman, K2XYL (24); Frank 
Butler, W4RH (24); Lewis Ankerbrand, W3GHU (19); 
Steve Gocala, KB8VAO (18); Allen Olender, WA8IWK 
(14); Stan Arnett, AC8W (14); Judy Attaya-Harris, 
KB1SRO (12); Coy Day, N5OK (12); Preben Mailand 
Christensen, OZ1HHH (10); Ed Moyer, AB3AH (9), 
and Ken Lowry, W8ND (6). For a list of the 138 
call signs representing almost 50 DXCC entities, 
click 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/2010-iaru-eyeball-qso-contest-results>here.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-06-03&p=2>
+ ARRL Recognizes: Mert Nellis, W0UFO, Wins May QST Cover Plaque Award

The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for May 
is Mert Nellis, W0UFO, for his article "Build an 
Ampere-Hour Meter for Portable Operations." 
Congratulations Mert! 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/cover-plaque-poll>QST<http://www.arrl.org/cover-plaque-poll> 
Cover Plaque Poll Web Page. Cast a ballot for 
your favorite article in the June issue by Wednesday, June 30.

+ Solar Update

The Sun, as seen on Thursday, June 3, 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.absoluteshakespeare.com/plays/cymbeline/a4s2.htm>Fear 
no more the heat o' the Sun," Cook, K7RA, 
reports: Sunspot group 1072 -- reported in last 
week's bulletin -- was visible for nine days, 
until May 28. When it disappeared on May 29, 
three new groups appeared: 1073, 1074 and 1075. 
On May 29-31, the sunspot number was 43, 40 and 
39, but geomagnetic indices were high as well, 
with the planetary A index at 33 on May 29 and 
the planetary K index up to 5. On the same day, 
the college A index (Alaska) was 53, with the 
college K index as high as 7. So we have had some 
increased sunspot activity, but the downside for 
HF operators has been geomagnetic storms. Look 
for more information, including a rare 2 meter 
sporadic-E opening, on the ARRL Web site on 
Friday, June 4. 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" brought to you by 
William Shakespeare's 
<http://www.absoluteshakespeare.com/plays/cymbeline/cymbeline.htm>Cymbeline 
(Act IV, Scene 2).
This Week on the Radio

This week, the Ten-Ten International Open Season 
Contest and the Alabama QSO Party are June 5-6. 
The CWOps Mini-CWT Test is June 9-10. Next week, 
the 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/join-the-fun-on-vhf-in-the-arrl-vhf-qso-party>ARRL 
June VHF QSO Party is June 12-14. Another running 
of the NCCC Sprint Ladder takes place June 11. On 
June 12, look for the BARTG Sprint, the Portugal 
Day Contest and the Bill Windle QSO Party. 
TheDRCG Long Distance Contest (RTTY) is June 
12-13 and the SKCC Weekend Sprint is June 13. 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 Event Station Web page.
ARRL Continuing Education Course Registration

Registration remains open through Sunday, June 
20, 2010, for these 
<http://www.arrl.org/online-course-registration>online 
course sessions beginning on Friday, July 2, 
2010: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications 
Level 1; Antenna Design and Construction; 
Propagation; Analog Electronics, and Digital 
Electronics. To learn more, visit the 
<http://www.arrl.org/online-courses>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=2010-06-03&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/.