[CVRC] The ARRL Letter for June 10, 2010
ARRL Web site
memberlist at www.arrl.org
Thu Jun 10 16:50:13 EDT 2010
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June 10, 2010
Editor: <mailto:k1sfa at arrl.org>S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
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* + Public Service : Amateur Radio Operators
Active during Severe Tornado Breakout in Northwestern Ohio
* + FCC News : In FCC Rule Making Proceeding,
ARRL Supports Employee Participation in Drills
* + ARRL Field Day : Field Day Station Locator Service Returns for 2010
* + Boy Scouts Revive Four Merit Badges for 100th Anniversary
* + On the Air : ARRL Using Twitter to Promote Field Day
* + Coming Up in QST : Take a Look at What's in Store for July
* + Solar Update
* This Week on the Radio
+ Available on <http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news>ARRL Audio News
+ Public Service: Amateur Radio Operators Active
during Severe Tornado Breakout in Northwestern Ohio
A family surveys their home, destroyed by a
tornado in Northwestern Ohio. [Tony Everhardt, N8WAC, Photo]
During the early overnight hours of Saturday,
June 5 through Sunday, June 6, severe weather and
tornadoes ripped across an area of Northwestern
Ohio, laying a large path of destruction. ARES
and SKYWARN groups in Erie, Huron, Sandusky and
Wood Counties activated nets as early as 10:30 PM
Saturday, with many not standing down until 4:30
AM the next day. According to ARRL Ohio Section
Manager Frank Piper, KI8GW, traffic on the nets
was filled with reports of severe weather damage,
flooding and downed power lines. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/amateur-radio-operators-active-during-severe-tornado-breakout-in-northwestern-ohio>here.
+ FCC News: In FCC Rule Making Proceeding, ARRL
Supports Employee Participation in Drills
In March 2010, the FCC released a Notice of
Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) (WT Docket No 10-72)
that proposed to amend the Part 97 rules --
specifically 97.113(a)(3) -- governing the
Amateur Radio Service. The new rules would
provide that, under certain limited conditions,
Amateur Radio operators may transmit
communications on behalf of their employers
during government-sponsored emergency and
disaster preparedness drills. While current rules
provide for Amateur Radio use during emergencies,
the rules prohibit communications where the
station licensee or control operator has a
pecuniary interest, including communications on
behalf of an employer, except for
government-sponsored drills for which a waiver
has been granted. The NPRM asked for comments
from interested parties. As such, on May 24, the
ARRL filed its initial comments and on June 7,
filed its reply comments. The ARRL's filings
reflect the position adopted by the Board of
Directors at its January 2010 meeting. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/in-fcc-rule-making-proceeding-arrl-supports-employee-participation-in-drills>here.
+ FCC News: FCC Dismisses California Ham's Petition to Amend Section 97.1
In September 2009, Gordon Schlesinger, W6LBV, of
San Diego, California, filed a Petition for Rule
Making with the FCC, seeking to amend Section
97.1 of the Commission's rules to account for
changes in technology and amateur practice since
the rule was adopted. On June 8, 2010, the FCC
dismissed Schlesinger's Petition. Schlesinger
proposed new text in his Petition that he claimed
"is equivalent to a total restatement of the
Basis and Purpose for the Amateur Radio Service,
to account for the numerous and significant
changes both in wireless technology and in the
practice of the Amateur Radio art over the
intervening decades since the present Basis and
Purpose was adopted. The current Basis and
Purpose, which consists of five goals for the
Amateur Radio Service, appears to have been
adopted more than 50 years ago. The dramatic
change in both telecommunications technology and
the practice of Amateur Radio over the past five
decades strongly suggests that a review and
reconstitution of the Basis and Purpose is in
order." Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-dismisses-california-ham-s-petition-to-amend-section-97-1>here.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-06-10&p=0>
+ ARRL Field Day: Field Day Station Locator Service Returns for 2010
ARRL Field Day is always the fourth full weekend
in June. This year, Field Day is on June 26-27.
First introduced in 2008, the ARRL's
<http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator>Field Day
Station Locator Service has proved a popular
addition to the Field Day toolbox. This service
-- an interactive map that helps amateurs or
those interested in Amateur Radio find a
<http://www.arrl.org/field-day>Field Day site
near them -- is free to clubs or individuals who
will be operating public Field Day stations.
Stations can also be listed by state or province.
So far, hams in all 50 states and Puerto Rico
have listed Field Day sites on the Field Day
Locator. If your group would like to be a part of
the Station Locator Service, it's easy to get
started -- just go to the Field Day Station
Locator
<http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator>Web site
and follow the instructions (this is a different
link than was printed in the Field Day packets).
ARRL Field Day is the most popular on-the-air
operating event in Amateur Radio. On June 26-27,
join tens of thousands of Amateur Radio operators
as they gather for a public demonstration of the Amateur Service.
+ Boy Scouts Revive Four Merit Badges for 100th Anniversary
In keeping with Boy Scouts of America's
centennial theme -- Celebrating the Adventure,
Continuing the Journey -- four retired badges
have been brought back for the group's 100th
anniversary. The effective date for earning these
new merit badges -- Carpentry (1911-1952),
Tracking (formerly Stalking, 1911-1952),
Pathfinding (1911-1952) and Signaling (formerly
Signaler, 1910-1992) -- is April 1, 2010;
requirements must be completed no later than
December 31, 2010. The contemporary merit badges
closely resemble the original designs of their
counterparts, but with a gold border, immediately
identifying it as a 2010 historic merit badge.
These four historical merit badges may be used
toward a Scout's rank advancement.
"The Signaling merit badge is a great way to
encourage hams who are already involved in
Scouting to mentor this limited-time badge in
their Troop and perhaps in other ways, such as
camps," said ARRL Rocky Mountain Division
Director Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT; Mileshosky is
the chairman of the ARRL's ad hoc Committee on
Scouting. "Hams -- and especially clubs, that
have more resources and volunteers -- who are not
involved in Scouting at the present time but want
to assist a Troop with earning the Signaling
merit badge -- should contact their local BSA
Council to inquire about Scoutmasters in their
area to contact and offer their assistance." The
requirements for the Signaling merit badge are
the original requirements as written in 1911.
Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/boy-scouts-of-america-revive-four-merit-badges-for-100th-anniversary-including-signaling>here.
+ On the Air: ARRL Using Twitter to Promote Field Day
This year, the ARRL will be using
<http://twitter.com/ARRL_FD>Twitter to promote
Field Day events. According to ARRL Media and
Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, more
and more people, both young and old, are using
social networking sites -- such as Twitter and
<http://www.facebook.com/story.php?id=1126126806&share_id=133156716701040&rc1a73746&r24746a04#%21/pages/ARRL-the-National-Association-for-Amateur-Radio/20069212407>Facebook
-- to keep their friends up-to-date with their
latest activities. The account for ARRL's Field
Day actions with Twitter is
<http://twitter.com/ARRL_FD>ARRL_FD. Sign up to
create your own Twitter account -- it's free --
and follow ARRL_FD. If you already have a Twitter account, just follow us.
Twitter is a social networking and microblogging
service that enables its users to send and read
messages known as
<http://support.twitter.com/articles/15367-how-to-post-a-twitter-update-or-tweet>tweets,
text-based posts of up to 140 characters
displayed on the author's profile page and
delivered to the author's subscribers (who are
known as followers). You can send these short
messages by computer or even via text with your
cell phone. When you receive a tweet, you can
also relay it on to your own followers (called a
<http://support.twitter.com/articles/77606-what-is-retweet-rt>retweet).
Your followers can in turn relay it even further,
getting your message spread around, growing and going.
Pitts explained that posts with #FIELDDAY (the #
sign must be included) in with the message,
Twitter will keep track of it: "If there is
enough traffic with #FIELDDAY in the text, then
major blogs and news outlets take note of it. So
by taking part in this experiment, tweeting and
using the #FIELDDAY insert in with your message
-- called a
<http://support.twitter.com/articles/49309-what-are-hashtags-symbols>hashtag<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-06-10&p=1>
-- will help bring all of Field Day to the
media's attention. Social networking is new to a
lot of us, but I found it is really not hard at
all to learn and do. The more people we get on,
the more tweeting we do, we have the wonderful
opportunity to expose Amateur Radio to a new audience."
Propagation: Space Weather and Solar Storms Topics at Forum in Nation's Capital
The National Space Weather Program Council held a
forum in Washington, DC earlier this week. On
Tuesday, June 8 at the National Press Club, the
Space Weather Enterprise Forum discussed how
solar storms affect today's technological
society. This is the fourth year in a row that
policymakers, researchers, legislators and
reporters have gathered in Washington to share
ideas about space weather. This year, forum
organizers sharpened the focus on critical
infrastructure protection, with the ultimate goal
to improve the nation's ability to prepare,
mitigate and respond to potentially devastating
space weather events in order to serve a broad and growing user community.
According to Richard Fisher, the Sun is "waking
up from a deep slumber, and in the next few years
we expect to see much higher levels of solar
activity. At the same time, our technological
society has developed an unprecedented
sensitivity to solar storms. The intersection of
these two issues is what we're getting together
to discuss. I believe we're on the threshold of a
new era in which space weather can be as
influential in our daily lives as ordinary
terrestrial weather. We take this very seriously
indeed." Fisher is the head of NASA's
Heliophysics Division. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/space-weather-and-solar-storms-to-be-topics-at-upcoming-forum-in-nation-s-capital>here.
+ Coming Up in QST: Take a Look at What's in Store for July
The July issue of QST is jam-packed with all
sorts of things today's Amateur Radio operator
needs. From product reviews to experiments to
contesting -- including a look at how Amateur
Radio fits into the Boy Scouts of America's 2010
National Scout Jamboree -- the upcoming issue of
QST has something for just about everyone.
If you've ever had a hankering to try your hand
at making some digital QSOs but you weren't sure
if you had the right equipment, look no further.
After reading an article in the January 2010
issue of QST about how to get on the air with
PSK31 in one weekend, Howard "Skip" Teller,
KH6TY, decided that he needed a low cost sound
interface card that could be built in a single
evening. Read all about it in his article "The
Classic Universal Sound Interface Card." Hams
know that just one lightning strike can take out
their whole shack. Jim Talens, N3JT, learned that
lesson the hard way -- even after he disconnected
all cables and lines that led into his shack from
the outside. Read about what he learned and how
he recovered in "A Simple and Effective Approach to Station Grounding."
Was it just a few weeks ago that close to 20,000
hams trekked to Ohio for the 2010 Dayton
Hamvention®<http://www.arrl.org/multimedia>? If
you were there -- or even if you weren't --
relive the experience with "The 2010 ARRL EXPO at
the Dayton Hamvention -- Everything Under the Sun
(or Rain, or Snow, or...)" by ARRL News Editor S.
Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA. With everything from soup
(tasty clam chowder) to (hot roasted cinnamon)
nuts, you can find just about anything at the
Dayton Hamvention. ARRL Technical Editor Joel
Hallas, W1ZR, takes a look at some of the new
products that were introduced at this year's Hamvention.
Click <http://www.arrl.org/multimedia>here to go
to the QST Multimedia page. Scroll down to the
Product Review video to watch a preview of what
is coming up in the July issue of QST magazine.
ARRL Membership and Volunteer Programs Assistant
Manager Norm Fusaro, W3IZ, takes a look at the
Yaesu FTdx9000MP HF and 6 meter transceiver in
this month's Product Review. "The full size
FTdx9000MP is Yaesu's flagship transceiver,
offering a 400 W transmitter and a full suite of
features and functions," he reports. "Hardware
and Firmware upgrades under the PEP9000 program
have made the radio even better." ARRL Senior
Assistant Technical Editor and QEX Editor Larry
Wolfgang, WR1B, checks out the Elecraft W2
HF/VHF/UHF wattmeter. "Elecraft's easy-to-build
W2 wattmeter kit results in an accurate
instrument that can be used over a wide range of
frequencies and power levels," recounts Wolfgang.
Of course, there are the usual columns you know
and expect in the July QST: Happenings, Hints &
Kinks, The Doctor Is IN, How's DX, Vintage Radio,
Hamspeak and more. Look for your July issue of
QST in your mailbox. QST is the official journal
of ARRL, the national association for Amateur
Radio. QST is just one of the many benefits of
ARRL membership. To join or renew your ARRL
membership, please see the
<https://www.arrl.org/join-arrl-renew-membership/>ARRL Web page.
On the Air: WX4NHC Reports 2010 On-the-Air Station Test Results
On Saturday, May 29, WX4NHC -- the Amateur Radio
station at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) In
Miami, Florida -- conducted its annual on-the-air
station test to promote awareness of the 2010
hurricane season, as well as to verify station
equipment performance on the many frequencies and
modes that are used to communicate with stations
in the affected area during hurricanes. The
station was on the air for 8 hours and made 142
contacts with stations in the US, as well as the
Caribbean, Central and South America.
As volunteers at the WX4NHC prepare for one of
the most active hurricane seasons predicted since
2005, WX4NHC Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll,
WD4R, said he is counting on help from amateurs
to relay hurricane advisories and weather data to
those affected by the storms. "The surface
reports that we receive from the affected areas
help the NHC Hurricane Specialists fill in gaps
in their meteorological data and help with their
forecasts," he said. "Relaying the hurricane
advisories to those who have lost the
conventional means of getting information can
help save lives." Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/wx4nhc-reports-2010-on-the-air-station-test-results>here.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-06-10&p=2>
+ Solar Update
The Sun, as seen on Thursday, June 10, 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://www.americanliterature.com/Twain/TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn/19.html>We
had the sky up there, all speckled with stars,
and we used to lay on our backs and look up at
them" Cook, K7RA, reports: This week, the
geomagnetic conditions quieted down, due to
calmer solar activity. The average daily sunspot
numbers were down 7.6 points to 17.7, and the
average daily solar flux dropped two points to
71. The average planetary A index declined 6.4
points to 7.9, and the mid-latitude A index
dropped 2.7 points to 6.4. Three new sunspot
groups emerged this week. Group 1077 made a brief
appearance on June 5, with group 1078 appearing
on June 8-9. The area of 1078 grew rapidly, from
80 millionths of a solar hemisphere to 180. On
June 9, sunspot group 1079 appeared, at 10
millionths of a solar hemisphere. Both sunspot
groups are in the far southwest of the solar disc
and should disappear soon. We are only 10 days
away from the summer solstice, after which the
days will shorten as we progress toward more
favorable HF conditions in the fall.
<http://www.arrl.org/field-day>ARRL Field Day is
on the sixth and seventh days of summer. Look for
more information on the ARRL Web site on Friday,
June 11. 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 Mark
Twain's
<http://www.americanliterature.com/Twain/TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn/TheAdventuresofHuckleberryFinn.html>The
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Chapter 19).
This Week on the Radio
This 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. A 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. The
DRCG Long Distance Contest (RTTY) is June 12-13
and the SKCC Weekend Sprint is June 13. Next
week, look for yet another running of the NCCC
Sprint Ladder on June 18. The Kids Day Contest
and the Feld Hell Sprint are both June 19. The
All Asian DX Contest (CW) and the West Virginia
QSO Party are June 19-20. The Run for the Bacon
QRP Contest is June 21 and the SKCC Sprint is
June 23. 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 Membership Newsletters, Bulletins and Notifications
Did you know the ARRL offers more newsletters
than just <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter>The
ARRL Letter? One of the many ARRL membership
benefits includes other newsletters, such as the
<http://www.arrl.org/contest-update-issues>ARRL
Contest Update (a bi-weekly contest newsletter),
the <http://www.arrl.org/ares-el>ARES E-Letter
(sent monthly, containing public service and
emergency communications news), the ARRL Club
News, the ARRL Instructor/Teacher E-Letter and
the VE Newsletter, just to name a few. You can
also elect to receive news and information from
your Division Director and Section Manager (keep
in mind that not all Divisions/Sections send
notices), as well as W1AW bulletins that relate
to DX, propagation, satellites and Keplerian
reports. The ARRL also offers a free notification
service to members, letting them know when their
membership and license are due to expire. ARRL
members can sign up for these newsletters,
bulletins and notifications on their
<http://www.arrl.org/myarrl-account-management#%21/edit-info-email_subscriptions>profile
page on the ARRL Web site.
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=2010-06-10&t=r&p=0>.
----------
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