[CVRC] The ARRL Letter for March 11, 2010

Thu Mar 11 15:59:36 EST 2010

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March 11, 2010
Editor: <mailto:k1sfa at arrl.org>S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
<http://www.arrl.org/>ARRL Home 
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    * Legislative Affairs : ARRL Requests Support for S 1755
    * FCC News : FCC Seeks Comments for Blanket 
Waiver to Allow Amateur Radio in Hospital Emergency Drills
    * ARRL Seeks Input for New IARU Region 2 Band Plan
    * Coming Up in QST : Look for Your April Issue to Arrive Soon!
    * FCC News : Administrative Law Judge Says 
Washington State Licensee Can Keep Ham License
    * FCC News : FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Correspondence Posted
    * Hints and Kinks : Painting Letters
    * Solar Update
    * This Week on the Radio
Legislative Affairs: ARRL Requests Support for S 1755

The ARRL needs your help to encourage the 
leadership of the House of Representatives' 
Energy and Commerce Committee to back the passage 
of Senate Bill 1755. Click 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/10/11385/?nc=1>here 
for information on how you can show your support 
for this very important piece of legislation.

Senate Bill 1755 -- The Amateur Radio Emergency 
Communications Enhancement Act of 2009 introduced 
in October 2009 by Senators Joe Lieberman (ID-CT) 
and Susan Collins (R-ME) -- has unanimously 
passed the US Senate and has been sent to the US 
House of Representatives for consideration and 
now sits in the House Committee on Energy and 
Commerce. The ARRL is asking its membership to 
contact the leadership of the Energy and Commerce 
committee, requesting support and action on 
moving S 1755 through the committee. S 1755 
accomplishes the same things as HR 2160; HR 2160 
was introduced in April 2009 by Rep Sheila 
Jackson Lee (D-TX-18). Since S 1755 has already 
been approved by the Senate, moving it forward in 
the House will simplify the process. Click 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/10/11385/?nc=1>here 
for more information, including instructions on 
how to encourage the committee's leadership to support S 1755.
FCC News: FCC Seeks Comments for Blanket Waiver 
to Allow Amateur Radio in Hospital Emergency Drills

In February 2010, the American Hospital 
Association (AHA) filed a request with the FCC 
for a blanket waiver of Section 97.113(a)(3) of 
the Commission's Rules "to permit hospitals 
seeking accreditation to use Amateur Radio 
operators who are hospital employees to transmit 
communications on behalf of the hospital as part 
of emergency preparedness drills." On March 3, 
the FCC issued a Public Notice -- WP Docket 10-54 
-- seeking comments if the Commission "should 
grant AHA's request for a blanket waiver of 
Section 97.113(a)(3) to permit amateur operators 
who are hospital employees to participate in 
emergency drills that are conducted by hospitals 
for accreditation purposes and that are not 
government-sponsored." Section 97.113(a)(3) 
specifically prohibits amateur stations from 
transmitting communications "in which the station 
licensee or control operator has a pecuniary 
interest, including communications on behalf of 
an employer." Instructions on how to paper file 
or file electronically are listed in the Public 
Notice. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/04/11375/?nc=1>here<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-03-11&p=0>.
ARRL Recognizes: Bob Schroeder, N2HX, Awarded 
2009 Bill Orr, W6SAI, Technical Writing Award

Bob Schoeder, N2HX, is the recipient of the 
ARRL's 2009 Bill Orr, W6SAI, Technical Writing 
Award for his article "Electromagnetic Pulse and 
Its Implications for EmComm" that appeared in 
November 2009 issue of QST. Click 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/files/Schroeder.pdf>here to read the article.

H. Robert "Bob" Schroeder, N2HX, of Ewing, New 
Jersey, has been named the winner of the ARRL 
Foundation's 2009 Bill Orr, W6SAI, Technical 
Writing Award for his article "Electromagnetic 
Pulse and Its Implications for EmComm" that 
appeared in November 2009 issue of QST. The 
editorial staff commented on Schroeder's article, 
saying that "the topic of nuclear EMP is somewhat 
esoteric by itself, let alone discussing its 
impact on Amateur Radio, yet the author did an 
outstanding job of making the subject matter 
understandable even to the relatively 
non-technical ham. His writing is clear and to 
the point, offering practical advice not only for 
EMP mitigation as it applies to the unlikely 
event of a nuclear burst, but also extending the 
same principles to mitigation for lightning 
damage." Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/08/11383/?nc=1>here.
ARRL Seeks Input for New IARU Region 2 Band Plan

The International Amateur Radio Region 2 
conference -- held later this year in El Salvador 
-- brings together delegations from the national 
Amateur Radio Societies in the Western 
Hemisphere. One of the topics on the agenda will 
be the Region 2 HF band plan. This band plan is 
"harmonized with" -- spectrum management-speak 
for "very similar to" -- the IARU Region 1 and 
Region 3 band plans. At this year's conference, 
the IARU Member-Societies will consider possible 
changes to the Region 2 band plan. The ARRL is 
cooperating with this procedure by inviting input 
to be sent to the ARRL Board of Directors' Band 
Planning Committee. The committee will review the 
existing Region 2 band plan, consider input from 
the amateur community and make recommendations to 
the ARRL Board for submission to IARU Region 2. 
Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/04/11374/?nc=1>here.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-03-11&p=1>
Coming Up in QST : Look for Your April Issue to Arrive Soon!

The April 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 the official ARRL Rookie 
Roundup announcement and a report on how hams 
responded to the crisis in Haiti -- the upcoming 
issue of QST has something for just about 
everyone. You'll find an abundance of technical 
and general interest articles, as well as monthly 
columns such as Happenings, How's DX, Hamspeak, 
Vintage Radio and more. Click 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/10/11387/?nc=1>here 
to discover what's in store for you in the April 
issue of QST, the official journal of the ARRL.
FCC News : Administrative Law Judge Says 
Washington State Licensee Can Keep Ham License

In January 2007, the 
<http://www.arrl.org/?artid=7170>FCC issued an 
<http://www.arrl.org/?artid=7170>Order to Show 
Cause to David L. Titus, KB7ILD, of Seattle, 
Washington, to justify why his General class 
Amateur Radio license should not be revoked and 
initiated a hearing process to determine whether 
Titus "is qualified to remain a Commission 
licensee" in light of a 1993 felony conviction at 
the age of 18 for "communicating with a minor for 
immoral purposes." According to the FCC order, 
Titus received a 25-month prison sentence for 
this act, and the Seattle Police Department has 
identified him as a registered sex offender. On 
March 9, Administrative Law Judge Richard L. 
Sippel issued his 
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/FCC-10D-01A1.pdf>Initial 
Decision -- saying that Titus " has been a 
law-abiding member of his community for many 
years" and ordered that Titus' license should not 
be revoked based on the evidence presented by the 
defendant and witnesses on his behalf, as well as 
the FCC's Enforcement Bureau failure to meet the 
burden of proof necessary for revocation. The FCC 
has said that 
<http://www.fcc.gov/Reports/1934new.pdf>The 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended provides 
that the Commission may revoke any license if 
conditions come to its attention that would 
warrant a denial of the licensee's original 
application. In the past, the Commission has said 
that felony convictions, "especially those 
involving sexual offenses involving children," 
raise questions regarding a licensee's character 
qualifications. Sippel's Initial Decision shall 
become effective "and this proceeding shall be 
terminated 50 days after its release if 
exceptions are not filed within 30 days 
thereafter, unless the Commission elects to 
review the case on its own 
motion."<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-03-11&p=2>
FCC News : FCC Amateur Radio Enforcement Correspondence Posted

The FCC has posted new Amateur Radio enforcement 
correspondence on its 
"<http://www.fcc.gov/eb/AmateurActions/Welcome.html>Amateur 
Radio Service Enforcement Actions" Web page. 
Laura Smith, Special Counsel in the FCC's 
Enforcement Bureau, sent a letters to the 
Sacramento (California) Municipal Utility 
District and to Northwestern Energy of Helena, 
Montana; Northwestern Energy also received 
letters voicing these same matters in March and 
September 2009. These letters concerned received 
complaints that equipment operated by these 
utilities may be causing harmful interference to 
Amateur Radio operators. Direct all questions 
about the Amateur Radio Service Enforcement 
Actions Web postings via 
<mailto:fccham at fcc.gov>e-mail only to the FCC Enforcement Bureau.
Hints and Kinks: Painting Letters

This idea comes to us from 
<mailto:daveprice at nc.rr.com>Dave Price, K4KDP, of Goldsboro, North Carolina.

<http://www.arrl.org/news/files/Price_Paint.pdf>As 
I get older, I find it is harder to read some of 
the smaller print on my radios. The ICOM 706 is a 
good example. The radio connectors are marked ANT 
1, ANT 2, MIC and DC 13.8V, just to name a few. 
These are marked by either raised letters or 
letters that are indented into the radio housing. 
I found that if I paint these letters white, they 
show up much better on the black metal case. 
There is a fairly easy way to paint the letters 
white using cotton swabs with wooded sticks.

Figure 1: This view shows two ICOM 706 radios, 
one with the painted letters (bottom) and one 
without (top). Click 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/files/Price_Paint.pdf>here for a larger image.

Break off the cotton tip on some of the swabs 
until you have about six of them with sharp 
points at the break area. Throw away the cotton 
tip and use only the wooden stick to paint with. 
Now spray a small puddle of white paint onto a 
piece of cardboard. The cardboard will absorb 
some of the moisture. Just as the paint starts to 
thicken dip the pointed end of the stick into the 
paint and then gently tap the paint into the 
indented area of the radio housing. On raised 
letters I use the blunt end of the stick, 
repeating the same process. It is best to use 
very little paint and repeat the process of 
dipping into the paint and tapping the paint onto 
the letters many times (see Figure 1).

You will find you have to replace the stick 
several times and spray a new puddle of paint 
when the old puddle gets too thick. You will also 
need to have some small paper towels and rubbing 
alcohol close by to quickly clean up any 
mistakes. I strongly recommend you practice this 
on some junk metal before attempting this on your 
expensive radios. I have also used this same 
trick on unpainted numbers for my Chevy truck 4 
wheel drive shift mounted on the truck floor and 
for my watch bezel to make the unpainted numbers easier to read.

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.
Solar Update

The Sun, as seen on Thursday, March 11, 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.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=juliuscaesar&Act=2&Scene=1&Scope=scene&LineHighlight=723>Here, 
as I point my sword, the Sun arises" Cook, K7RA, 
reports: We experienced a bit of a scare this 
week when four days went by with no sunspots. 
That's right -- for the first time in three 
months, we saw more than a single day with a 
sunspot number of zero. The previous period was 
back in 2009, November 23-December 8. Until March 
6, there were just three days since then with no 
sunspots, each a bit less than two weeks apart, 
December 25, January 6 and January 19. On 
Wednesday, sunspot 1054 emerged in the 
northeastern quadrant of the visible solar disc, 
and just south of the center of the field another 
sunspot is emerging. Observation via the STEREO 
mission reveals possibly a third spot that may 
appear over the eastern limb on Friday or 
Saturday. Currently STEREO can view a little more 
than 88 percent of the Sun. Sunspot numbers for 
March 4-10 were 40, 35, 0, 0, 0, 0 and 12, with a 
mean of 12.4. The 10.7 cm flux was 81.3, 79.5, 
78.3, 76.6, 76.3, 77.9 and 80.3, with a mean of 
78.6. Look for more information on the ARRL Web 
site on Friday, March 12, including more 
information on emerging spots, as well as some 
reported unseasonable sporadic-E propagation. 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 Shakespeare's 
<http://www.opensourceshakespeare.org/views/plays/play_view.php?WorkID=juliuscaesar&Act=2&Scene=1&Scope=scene&LineHighlight=723>Julius 
Caesar (Act II, Scene 1).
This Week on the Radio

Click 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ef23lvpmWro>here 
to watch ARRL Test Engineer Bob Allison, WB1GCM, 
present a preview of three Product Review items 
featured in the April 2010 issue of QST.

This week, the Feld Hell Sprint is March 13. The 
RSGB Commonwealth Contest, the Elecraft QSO Party 
and the Idaho QSO Party are March 13-14. The 
North American Sprint (RTTY) and the SKCC Weekend 
Sprint are March 14. The Wisconsin QSO Party is 
March 14-15 and the NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint 
is March 18. Next week, the 10-10 International 
Mobile Contest is March 20. The Russian DX 
Contest, the Oklahoma QSO Party and the North 
Dakota QSO Party are March 20-21. The Virginia 
QSO Party and the BARTG HF RTTY Contest are March 
20-22. The Run for the Bacon QRP Contest is March 
22 and the SKCC Sprint is March 24. 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, March 
21, 2010, for these 
<http://www.arrl.org/cep/student/>online course 
sessions beginning on Friday, April 2, 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=2010-03-11&t=r&p=0>.

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