[CVRC] The ARRL Letter for November 24, 2010
ARRL Web site
memberlist at www.arrl.org
Mon Nov 29 23:38:40 EST 2010
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November 24, 2010
Editor: <mailto:k1sfa at arrl.org>S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
<http://www.arrl.org/>ARRL Home
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* ARRL Board of Directors : New Vice Director
for Southeastern Division; Southwestern, West Gulf Divisions Remain Unchanged
* ARRL Section Managers : 2010 Fall Section Manager Election Results
* On the Air : Warm Up Your Chilly December
with the 2010 ARRL 160 Meter Contest
* Amateur Radio in Space : ARISS Aiming to Raise Its Educational Profile
* Amateur Radio in Space : Hams Invited to Listen for New Satellites
* ARRL to Close in Observance of Thanksgiving Holiday
* Out and About : "Coming Home" to HamJam 2010
* Solar Update
* This Week on the Radio
ARRL Board of Directors: New Vice Director for
Southeastern Division; Southwestern, West Gulf Divisions Remain Unchanged
Newly elected Southeastern Division Vice Director Andrea Hartlage, KG4IUM
ARRL Southeastern Division members have chosen a
new Vice Director for the ARRL Board family.
Andrea Hartlage, KG4IUM, is already a familiar
face to many, but on January 1, she will become
the youngest serving ARRL Vice Director in modern
times -- and possibly in history. On November 19,
ballots were counted in the races for Director
and Vice Director in the Southeastern and West
Gulf Divisions and Director in the Southwestern
Division. Hartlage, 21, of Grayson, Georgia, was
declared the new Vice Director in the
Southeastern Division, defeating incumbent Jeff
Beals, WA4AW, of Loxahatchee, Florida.
Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, of Huntsville,
Alabama, won re-election as the Director in the
Southeastern Division. Dick Norton, N6AA, of
Topanga, California will stay as Southwestern
Division Director. In the West Gulf Division, Dr
David Woolweaver, K5RAV, of Harlingen, Texas and
John Robert Stratton, N5AUS, of Austin, Texas,
will continue as Director and Vice Director,
respectively. Terms for Directors and Vice
Directors begin at noon on January 1, 2011 and
run for three years. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/southeastern-division-gets-new-vice-director-southwestern-west-gulf-divisions-remain-unchanged>here.
ARRL Section Managers: 2010 Fall Section Manager Election Results
ARRL members in Western Pennsylvania, Missouri
and South Carolina have re-elected their Section
Managers -- John Rodgers, N3MSE, Dale Bagley,
K0KY, and Marc Tarplee, N4UFP, respectively --
for another two year term. Votes were counted on
Tuesday, November 23 at ARRL Headquarters. In
Eastern Massachusetts, the only nominee for
Section Manager was Phil Temples, K9HI, of
Watertown. Temples previously served as the
Eastern Massachusetts Section Manager for terms
from 1994-1996 and again from 2001-2004. The
following incumbent ARRL Section Managers did not
face opposition and were declared elected for
their upcoming terms of office: Art Zygielbaum,
K0AIZ, Nebraska; Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, New York
City-Long Island; Thomas Dick, KF2GC, Northern
New York; George Strayline, W2GSS, Southern New
Jersey, and Dee Turner, N4GD, West Central
Florida. New terms of office will begin on
January 1, 2011. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/2010-fall-section-manager-election-results>here.
On the Air: Warm Up Your Chilly December with the 2010 ARRL 160 Meter Contest
The <http://www.arrl.org/160-meter>ARRL 160 Meter
Contest -- an all-CW event -- is tremendous fun!
As the object of the contest is for DX stations
to contact American and Canadian stations (and
vice versa), everyone will be seeking you
(especially if you live in a rare section like
North Dakota, Nebraska or any of the rare
sections from November's Sweepstakes contests).
Gene Shea, K7BQ, of Bozeman, Montana, operated
the 2009 ARRL 160 Meter Contest from the QTH of
Todd Gahagan, WA7U, also in Bozeman. Shea clears
the snow away from the base of WA7U's
base-insulated 80 foot tower to make sure all 66
radials were still connected and ready to go.
[Photo courtesy of Gene Shea, K7BQ]
In this contest, Alaska (KL7) and Hawaii (KH6)
count as DX, as do the Caribbean US possessions
(KP1-KP5) and all of the Pacific Ocean
territories (KH0-KH9). According to ARRL Contest
Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, if you don't
have an antenna for 160, you should just load up
whatever you have through an antenna tuner and
give "top band" a try -- even a 40 meter dipole through a tuner will make QSOs.
Since ARRL and RAC Sections are worth 2 points
each and count as multipliers, the ARRL 160 Meter
Contest is a good way to begin working -- or
finishing up! -- your Worked All States
(<http://www.arrl.org/was>WAS) award. But don't
forget about those DX stations -- each DXCC
entity is a multiplier and is worth 5 points.
The ARRL 160 Meter Contest runs from 2200 UTC
Friday, December 3 through 1559 UTC Sunday,
December 5. Logs must be
<mailto:160meter at arrl.org>e-mailed or postmarked
no later than 1600 UTC Tuesday, January 4, 2011.
Paper logs should be sent to ARRL 160 Meter
Contest, 225 Main St, Newington, CT
06111.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-11-24&p=0>
Amateur Radio in Space: ARISS Aiming to Raise Its Educational Profile
NASA will assume more direct sponsorship of the
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) program as an educational project. Among
its activities, ARISS oversees the project that
enables schoolchildren to speak via ham radio
with astronauts aboard the International Space
Station. NASA also will embrace ARISSat as an
educational project for the ISS National Lab. A
reconfigured, yet-to-be-named education planning
group will pick up the mission of the ARISS
Communications Council. These changes were among
the outcomes of a meeting of NASA and ARISS
International officials who gathered November
12-13 at ARRL Headquarters. Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/ariss-aiming-to-raise-its-educational-profile>here.
Amateur Radio in Space: Hams Invited to Listen for New Satellites
Five research satellites were carried to orbit on
November 19 aboard a Minotaur V rocket from
Kodiak Island, Alaska. All the satellites use
Amateur Radio frequencies and hams have been
invited to participate in their missions by monitoring and collecting data.
An artist's conception of the FASTRAC satellites
separating after reaching orbit.
Two of the satellites are FASTRACs -- relatively
small "nanosatellites" -- built by students at
The University of Texas in Austin. They enter
orbit as a single spacecraft, but then separate
into FASTRAC 1 (known as "Sara Lily") and FASTRAC
2 (referred to as "Emma"). Both satellites use
1200 or 9600 baud AX.25 digital communication and
transmit at 1 W output, so they should be
receivable with omnidirectional VHF or UHF
antennas and decodable by ordinary packet radio
hardware and software. After their scientific
missions are complete, the satellites will be
reconfigured to function as digipeater relays for
Amateur Radio use, as part of the Automatic
Packet Reporting System (APRS). Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/hams-invited-to-listen-for-new-satellites>here.
ARRL to Close in Observance of Thanksgiving Holiday
ARRL Headquarters will be closed November 25 and
26 in observance of Thanksgiving. There will be
no
<http://www.arrl.org/w1aw-operating-schedule>W1AW
bulletins or code practice transmissions those
days. <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>The ARRL
Letter is being published a day early, but there
will be no
<http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news>ARRL Audio
News this week. ARRL Headquarters will reopen
Monday, November 29 at 8 AM Eastern Standard
Time. We wish everyone a safe and bountiful
Thanksgiving
holiday.<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-11-24&p=1>
Out and About: "Coming Home" to HamJam 2010
On November 13, Georgia hams and others enjoyed
HamJam 2010. According to HamJam organizer Mack
McCormick, WB4MAK, the event's goal is to
encourage members of Amateur Radio clubs in the
region to come together for a day of learning and
fellowship. Members of more than a dozen clubs
from Alabama, Florida, South Carolina, Tennessee
-- and of course, Georgia -- were on hand.
"HamJam is an example of how the traditional
hamfest is evolving to incorporate education and
social elements," said H. Ward Silver, N0AX, who
attended as a guest speaker. "Change hasn't left
behind the traditional raffle prizes, as high-end
manufacturers sponsored equipment donations,
allowing attendance to be free, with Georgia Tech
providing the meeting space." Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/coming-home-to-hamjam-2010>here.
Solar Update
The Sun, as seen on Thursday, November 24, 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.youtube.com/watch?v=70psCljGnXM>For
I have the warmth of the Sun" Cook, K7RA,
reports: Sunspot numbers declined this week, and
it looks like the average daily sunspot number
will be less than half the value
<http://www.arrl.org/news/the-k7ra-solar-update-139>reported
last week. Solar flux was in the 90s a week ago
and is now around 75. The predicted solar flux
from NOAA/USAF shows levels continuing around 75
through December 1, and then rising gradually and
returning to 90 around December 12-14; quiet
geomagnetic conditions are predicted for the near
term. This week's bulletin will be available as
usual on Friday from the ARRL Web site, but it
won't go out from W1AW or via e-mail until
Monday, November 29. Look for more information on
the ARRL Web site on Friday, November 26. 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" is brought to you by
The Beach Boys'
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Warmth_of_the_Sun>The Warmth of the Sun.
ARRL Recognizes: Deadline Closing Fast for Nominations for ARRL's Leonard Award
Television, radio, magazines, newspapers, blogs,
Webcasts -- Amateur Radio has been featured in
all of them in 2010. And now it is time to thank
the professional media people who made it happen
by nominating them for the Bill Leonard, W2SKE,
Professional Media Award. This national level
annual award sponsored by the ARRL, honors three
professional journalists whose outstanding
coverage in audio, video and print formats best
reflect the enjoyment, importance and public
service value of the Amateur Radio Service. The
deadline for nominations is December 10. Read
more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/deadline-approaching-for-nominations-for-arrl-s-leonard-award>here<http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-11-24&p=2>.
ARRL Recognizes: Nomination Deadline for 2010
ARRL International Humanitarian Award Approaching
The ARRL International Humanitarian Award
Nominations are open for the 2010 ARRL
International Humanitarian Award. The award is
conferred upon an amateur or amateurs who
demonstrate devotion to human welfare, peace and
international understanding through Amateur
Radio. The League established the annual prize to
recognize Amateur Radio operators who have used
ham radio to provide extraordinary service to
others in times of crisis or disaster. The
deadline for nominations is December 31, 2010.
Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/nominations-now-being-accepted-for-2010-arrl-humanitarian-award>here.
This Week on the Radio
This week:
* November 26 -- QRP Fox Hunt
* November 27-28 -- CQ Worldwide DX Contest (CW)
* December 1 -- QRP Fox Hunt
* December 2 -- ARCI Topband Sprint
Next week:
* December 3 -- NCCC Sprint
* December 3-5 -- <http://www.arrl.org/160-meter>ARRL 160 Meter Contest
* December 4 -- TARA RTTY Melee
* December 4-7 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
* December 8 -- CWops Mini-CWT Test
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-event-stations>ARRL
Special Event Stations Web page.
Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
* December 4-5, 2010 --
<http://www.fgcarc.org/>ARRL West Central Florida
Section Convention, Palmetto, Florida
* January 8, 2011 --
<http://www.selarc.org/selarchamfest.htm>ARRL
Delta Division Convention, Hammond, Louisiana
* January 9, 2011 --
<http://www.hamradiouniversity.org/>ARRL New
York-Long Island Section Convention, Bethpage, New York
* January 15, 2011 --
<http://fmarc.net/hamfest_2011.htm>ARRL Southern
Florida Section Convention, Fort Myers, Florida
* January 28-29, 2011 --
<http://www.msham.org/hamfest.php>ARRL
Mississippi State Convention, Jackson, Mississippi
To find a convention or hamfest near you, click
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>here.
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