[CVRC] The ARRL Letter for March 18, 2010

Sat Mar 20 22:35:06 EDT 2010

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March 18, 2010
Editor: <mailto:k1sfa at arrl.org>S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
<http://www.arrl.org/>ARRL Home 
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    * FCC News : FCC Releases National Broadband Plan
    * Legislative Affairs : ARRL Requests Support for S.1755
    * Legislative Affairs : Companion Bill 
Introduced in US House to Provide Technical Resources to FCC Commissioners
    * ARRL Seeks Input for New IARU Region 2 Band Plan
    * FCC News : FCC Proposes to Eliminate Spread 
Spectrum APC Requirement, Reduce Spread Spectrum 
Power Limit; Cleans Up Portions of Part 97
    * ARRL Publications : ARRL Introduces 
Understanding Basic Electronics, second edition
    * Solar Update
    * This Week on the Radio
    * Silent Key : Baby Blindness Pioneer Arnall Patz, ex-WA3EVC (SK)
FCC News: FCC Releases National Broadband Plan

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski introduces the 
National Broadband Plan. Click 
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYf2AVCdzZw>here to watch the video.

On Tuesday, March 16, the FCC held an Open 
Meeting to introduce its report Connecting 
America: The National Broadband Plan (NBP) that 
was delivered to Congress that afternoon. Calling 
it "an ambitious agenda for connecting all 
corners of the nation while transforming the 
economy and society with the communications 
network of the future -- robust, affordable 
Internet," the Commission found that nearly 100 
million Americans lack broadband at home today 
and 14 million Americans do not have access to 
broadband. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/16/11393/?nc=1>here.
Legislative Affairs: ARRL Requests Support for S.1755

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.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-03-18&p=0>
Legislative Affairs: Companion Bill Introduced in 
US House to Provide Technical Resources to FCC Commissioners

Following the Senate's lead, Representatives 
Jerry McNerny (D-CA-11) and Tom Petri (R-WI-6), 
introduced HR 4809 -- the FCC Commissioners' 
Technical Resource Enhancement Act -- in the 
House of Representatives on March 10. Copying the 
exact language from S 2881 (a bill with the same 
name) introduced by Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME) 
and Mark Warner (D-VA) in December 2009, the bill 
seeks to provide greater technical resources to 
FCC Commissioners. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/16/11392/?nc=1>here.
ARRL Seeks Input for New IARU Region 2 Band Plan

The International Amateur Radio Region 2 
conference -- to be 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=2010-03-18&p=1>
FCC News: FCC Proposes to Eliminate Spread 
Spectrum APC Requirement, Reduce Spread Spectrum 
Power Limit; Cleans Up Portions of Part 97

In response to a 2006 ARRL Petition regarding 
spread spectrum issues, the FCC released a Notice 
of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on March 16 (WT 
Docket No 10-62), proposing to amend Part 97 to 
facilitate the use of spread spectrum 
communications technologies by eliminating the 
requirement that amateur stations use automatic 
power control (APC) to reduce transmitter power 
when the station transmits a spread spectrum (SS) 
emission and reducing the maximum transmitter 
power output when transmitting a SS emission. 
Through an Order attached to the NPRM, the 
Commission also made "certain non-substantive 
revisions" to the Amateur Service rules. Read 
more <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/18/11396/?nc=1>here.
ARRL Publications: ARRL Introduces Understanding 
Basic Electronics, second edition

ARRL's 
<http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=0823>Understanding 
Basic Electronics, second edition -- your gateway 
into the exciting world of electricity and 
electronics -- is written in a friendly, 
easy-to-understand style that beginners and 
nontechnical readers will enjoy. This 
introductory guide is ideal for students with 
basic math skills, as well as radio amateurs and 
experimenters interested in gaining a more 
complete understanding of basic electronic 
principles -- anyone eager to unlock the mysteries of electronic circuits.

Authored by Walter Banzhaf, WB1ANE, this new 
edition features student-friendly math made easy 
-- an inexpensive calculator is all you need -- 
and now includes digital electronics. Even if you 
already have a foundation in basic electronics, 
you will enjoy the small module format of each 
chapter, allowing readers to digest "bite-sized" 
chunks of learning material. Real-world examples 
and clear illustrations make the study of 
electronics interesting and fun! A handful of 
small "kitchen table" projects are included to 
help bring abstract concepts to life.

Understanding Basic Electronics, second edition 
includes chapters on electronics, analog and 
digital electronic circuits, electrical terms, 
conductors, insulators and resistors, electricity 
and magnetism, capacitors and inductors, 
electrical circuits (both series and parallel), 
Ohm's law, techniques and tricks on how to solve 
circuit problems, energy and power, alternating 
current (ac), capacitors and inductors, 
transformers, impedance, resonant active device 
concepts, semiconductors, diodes, transistors and ICs -- and much more.

For a limited time, 
<http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=0823>ARRL 
members can purchase Understanding Basic 
Electronics, second 
edition<http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=0823> 
for only $29.95 -- that's $3 off the regular 
price of $32.95!<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-03-18&p=2>
Solar Update

The Sun, as seen on Thursday, March 18, 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=hamlet&Act=2&Scene=2&Scope=scene>Doubt 
that the Sun doth move, doubt truth to be a liar, 
but never doubt I love" Cook, K7RA, reports: 
Solar activity recovered nicely from the March 
6-9 frightening absence of sunspots, reminiscent 
of years prior to the end of November 2009. For 
our reporting week -- March 11-17 -- the average 
daily sunspot numbers increased relative to the 
prior week by 17 points to 29.4; the average 
daily solar flux was up by 9 points to 87.6. A 
new sunspot group -- 1055 -- appeared on March 
11, following the appearance of 1054 the day 
before. Group 1055 only lasted a couple of days 
and another new spot, 1056, emerged on March 17 
and is still visible and active. On March 11-12, 
a solar wind met a south-pointing interplanetary 
magnetic field (IMF) and pushed geomagnetic 
instability, especially pronounced at higher 
latitudes. Alaska's college K index at Fairbanks 
went to 5 during several 3-hour readings over 
both days. So far in March, the average daily 
sunspot number is 23.9. Every month of March 
since the end of the last century, the average 
(1999-2009) was 100.5, 203.6, 166.7, 154.3, 
119.7, 81, 41, 21.3, 9.8, 15.9 and 0.77. 
Sobering, isn't it? And no, that isn't an error 
for 2009. March of last year had sunspots on only 
two days -- March 6-7 -- pushing the average for 
the month to less than one. This Saturday, March 
20, is the vernal equinox, the first day of 
spring, which begins at 1732 UTC. Both the 
southern and northern hemispheres are bathed in 
an equal amount of sunlight; the time around the 
spring and fall equinox is great for HF 
propagation. Look for more information on the 
ARRL Web site on Friday, March 18. 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=hamlet&Act=2&Scene=2&Scope=scene>Hamlet 
(Act II, Scene 2).
This Week on the Radio

This 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. Next week, the CQ WW WPX Contest 
(SSB) is March 27- 28. 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.
Silent Key: Baby Blindness Pioneer Arnall Patz, ex-WA3EVC (SK)

Helen Keller (center) presents the prestigious 
Albert Lasker Medical Research Award for 1956 to 
Drs Arnall Patz, WA3EVC (right), and Everett 
Kinsey. Kinsey is the biochemist who organized a 
larger study that confirmed Patz's RLF oxygen 
findings that proved that treating premature 
babies with pure oxygen could destroy their 
eyesight. [Photo courtesy of the Wilmer Eye Institute]

Dr Arnall Patz, ex-WA3EVC -- an ophthalmologist 
who discovered and eliminated a major cause of 
blindness in premature infants -- passed away 
from heart disease on March 11. He was 89. In 
1954, Patz proved that treating premature babies 
with pure oxygen could destroy their eyesight. At 
the time, this was the most common cause of 
blindness in premature infants. Although the new 
understanding came too late for thousands of 
people who were made blind by oxygen -- including 
the singer Stevie Wonder, ARRL Connecticut 
Section Manager Betsey Doane, K1EIC, and her twin 
sister Barbara Lombardi, K1EIR -- it undoubtedly 
saved many more from a similar fate. "Barb and I 
are thrilled to learn that the doctor who 
discovered the effect of too much oxygen at birth 
was a ham. We only wish we had met him or worked 
him on the air. How exciting that would have 
been!" Doane told the ARRL. Patz operated a ham 
radio from his home on behalf of the Maryland Eye 
Bank. According to his nephew Sam, Patz erected 
an 80 foot tower at his home and became known to 
amateurs across the country for putting out the 
word on the airwaves whenever corneas were needed 
for transplant. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/17/11395/?nc=1>here.
ARRL Continuing Education Course Registration

Registration remains open through Sunday, April 
25, 2010, for these 
<http://www.arrl.org/cep/student/>online course 
sessions beginning on Friday, May 7, 2010: 
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1; 
Antenna Modeling; Radio Frequency Interference; 
Antenna Design and Construction; 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=2010-03-18&t=r&p=0>.

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