[CVRC] The ARRL Letter for November 21, 2013

Thu Nov 21 16:37:39 EST 2013

********************************************
            The  ARRL Letter

Published by the American Radio Relay League
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November 21, 2013

Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME <ww1me at arrl.org>

ARRL Home Page <http://www.arrl.org/>ARRL Letter Archive
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>Audio News
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> IN THIS ISSUE

- Public Service: Amateur Radio Volunteers Supporting Emergency
Communication in Storms' Wake
- Hams Up Their Game in Philippines Typhoon Response
- Public Service: MARS 48 Hour Test Deemed "Unequivocal Success"
- Your League: ARRL Files "Symbol Rate" Petition with FCC
- Your League: ARRL Helps Manufacturer to Resolve Arc Fault Circuit
Interrupter RFI Problems
- Your League: ARRL Southeastern Division Gets New Director
- Your League: Tennessee Section Manager Elected to Second Term in Fall
Balloting
- Your League: The December Digital Edition of QST is Now Available!
- Your League: ARRL to Close November 28 and 29 for Thanksgiving
Holiday
- Ham Radio in Space: AMSAT-UK FUNcube-1 Satellite in Orbit
- Ham Radio in Space: First High School Satellite Among November Ham
Satellite Bonanza

Please note! There will be no editions of The ARRL Letter or ARRL Audio
News on Thursday, November 28. Both will resume December 5.

==> PUBLIC SERVICE: AMATEUR RADIO VOLUNTEERS SUPPORTING EMERGENCY
COMMUNICATION IN STORMS' WAKE

A late-season, multistate outbreak of tornadoes and high winds on
November 17 killed six people in Illinois and injured hundreds of
others, some seriously. ARRL Illinois Tom Ciciora, KA9QPN, reported
November 18 that Peoria County ARES Emergency Coordinator Fritz

   Bock, WD9FMB, has responded with a team of volunteers to a Central
Illinois Division Red Cross request for emergency communication support
between sites in Washington, Illinois -- a town of approximately 11,000
residents and hit hardest by the storm activity -- and the Red Cross
office in Peoria. Most of the injuries and one of the fatalities
occurred in Washington. Forecasters say the tornado that hit the town
was an EF-4 on the five-step Fujita scale.

"Fritz tells me that VHF and UHF FM systems are intact and operating,
which will cover the communications paths," Ciciora said.
"Communication support will be provided between the Washington
Methodist Church, the Tazewell County EOC, and the ARC office in
Peoria." Ciciora noted that Tazewell borders Peoria County.

Illinois Gov Pat Quinn told reporters this week that the storms
destroyed or badly damaged upward of 400 homes in Washington, Illinois,
displacing thousands of residents. The storms also affected Michigan,
Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin. Seven Illinois counties, including
Peoria and Tazewell, have been declared disaster areas. Many residents
remain without power.

==> HAMS UP THEIR GAME IN PHILIPPINES TYPHOON RESPONSE

Nearly 2 weeks after Typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) hit the Central
Philippines in one of the worst natural disasters in modern history,
survivors are slowly getting food, water, and medical attention and
supplies, along with shelter, communication, and electrical power. Now,
the Philippine Amateur Radio Association (PARA
<http://www.para.org.ph/>) is hoping that requests for emergency
communication gear will provide the means for PARA's Ham Emergency
Radio Operations (HERO) network to enhance its presence and efforts --
especially in less-populated and harder-to-reach areas. At the request
of communication authorities in the Philippines, PARA has begun
expanding locations and facilities. PARA Vice CEO Ramon Anquilan,
DU1UGZ, said PARA has been working with the National Telecommunications
Commission (NTC) and the National Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Council (NDRRMC).

   "The NTC has requested that the coverage from Borongan be expanded,
to the adjacent town and so on. The idea is to set up an HF station in
the farthest town that can be accessed," Anquilan said. "Given the new
task that NTC wants us to do, we will be needing stations that can be
deployed and dismantled at a moment's notice."

Anquilan said discussion at the meeting focused on putting assets on
the ground to fill the gaps. "It seems only PARA has a local station --
Lester, DV5PO -- in the capital town of Borongan, East of Samar," he
said. DV5PO is expected to be given more diesel fuel for his generator,
so he can continue supplying vital information -- a request agreed to
at the NTC meeting.

"This is going now into the difficult phase," Anquilan said. "The
operators that are needed should come from the outside, because our
locals will not budge from their locations as they have to fend for
themselves and their families -- they too are victims of this
disaster." He said other radio amateurs are willing but don't have the
necessary equipment.

In Tacloban, where 90 percent of the buildings were destroyed, the
Negros Oriental Radio Assistance Dumaguete (NORAD 7
<http://norad7-dx7nrd.ning.com/>) team is on its way to provide an
additional HF station. "The team is bringing much needed relief goods,
and Rey Boy Manaay, 4D7DSW, and Eric Mite, DW7DTR, who are trained in
rescue," Anquilan said. He's hoping to replace the old equipment
Nathan, DU5AOK, is using with gear provided from the outside.

He said Darwin Torres, 4F1FZE, an experienced operator, will join the
effort at Tacloban. PARA is hoping to improve VHF coverage of the area,
with HF remaining a critical component. Torres is embedded in a relief
team arriving from Manila.

   Anquilan said there are two repeaters in Tacloban with no power, "so
we need alternative energy -- batteries and solar power." He said a
team can be deployed to Samar, perhaps Guiuan or further west. "We need
equipment to link Samar to Tacloban. This will mean a VHF repeater
available to a large portion of the affected site of Samar."

The farthest affected place is Coron in Palawan, a famous tourist spot.
Clifford Certeza, DU1CC, is headed there to set up an HF station.
Anquilan said that there was no relay station from Palo down the
coastal municipalities on the eastern seaboard of Leyte. A HERO
station, part of the club ACCESS 5 in that area, has not been heard
from since the typhoon hit. Another station is needed to provide the
link, he said.

"PARA and its HERO network have a long task ahead, as it slowly gains
the necessary resources and recognition for the emergency
communications," Anquilan said.

Jojo, DU1VHY, NTS Chairman and CFO of the Philippine Amateur Radio
Association pointed out this week that the CQ World Wide DX CW contest
is coming up this weekend, and excitement is growing. "However, here in
the Philippines, our enthusiasm is a bit tempered," he said. "[H]ams in
the Philippines are using the frequencies 7.095, 7.119, and 7.151 MHz
for emergency operations." DU1VHY expressed the hope that contesters
and others will avoid these frequencies in deference to emergency
traffic. -- Thanks to Jim Linton, VK3PC, Chairman IARU Region 3
Disaster Communications Committee

==> PUBLIC SERVICE: MARS 48 HOUR TEST DEEMED "UNEQUIVOCAL SUCCESS"

Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS <http://www.usarmymars.org/>)
Army MARS Chief Stephen Klinefelter has declared the multifaceted
national communication exercise early this month "an unequivocal
success," and he thanked all three MARS branches and the other
participating military units and civilian entities for their "hard
work, long hours, and dedication to the mission."

The MARS station at ARRL's Maxim Memorial Station, AAN1ARL, took part
in the November 3-5 exercise, which Klinefelter said was "designed to
test and stress our networks and our members' ability to process and
respond to a variety of message traffic."

   In the drill scenario, a catastrophe had wiped out normal telephone
and Internet links. Communication was by voice and digital HF radio,
the bulk encrypted as it would be in a hostile contingency. From start
to finish, nets throughout 48 states operated without a break, with
military MARS stations overseas also connected -- more than 5500 hours
of operation by Army MARS participants alone.

Eastern Massachusetts Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) handled
exercise traffic as well. US Army MARS representatives met with ARRL
staff at League Headquarters in early October to discuss ways the two
organizations might collaborate in emergency response activities.

==> YOUR LEAGUE: ARRL FILES "SYMBOL RATE" PETITION WITH FCC

The ARRL has asked the FCC to delete the symbol rate limit in
§97.307(f) of its Amateur Service rules, replacing it with a maximum
bandwidth for data emissions of 2.8 kHz on amateur frequencies below
29.7 MHz. The ARRL Board of Directors adopted the policy underlying the
petition initiative at its July 2013 meeting. The petition
<http://www.arrl.org/admin/attachments/view/News/72517> was filed
November 15.

"The changes proposed would, in the aggregate, relieve the Amateur
Service of outdated, 1980s-era restrictions that presently hamper or
preclude Amateur Radio experimentation with modern high frequency (HF)
and other data transmission protocols," the League's petition asserted.
"The proposed rule changes would also permit greater flexibility in the
choice of data emissions." Symbol rate represents the number of times
per second that a change of state occurs, not to be confused with data
(or bit) rate.

Current FCC rules limit digital data emissions below 28 MHz to 300
baud, and between 28.0 and 28.3 MHz to 1200 baud. "Transmission
protocols are available and in active use in other radio services in
which the symbol rate exceeds the present limitations set forth in
§97.307(f) of the Commission's Rules, but the necessary bandwidths of
those protocols are within the bandwidth of a typical HF single
sideband channel (3 kHz)," the ARRL's petition pointed out.

   The League said that while bandwidth limitations are reasonable, the
symbol rate "speed limit" reflective of 1980s technology, prohibits
radio amateurs today from utilizing state-of-the-art technology.
Present symbol rate limits on HF "actually encourage spectrum
inefficiency," the League argued, "in that they allow data
transmissions of unlimited bandwidth as long as the symbol rate is
sufficiently slow." The League said eliminating symbol rate limits on
data emissions and substituting a "reasonable maximum authorized
bandwidth" would permit hams to use all HF data-transmission protocols
now legal in the Amateur Service as well as other currently available
protocols that fall within the authorized bandwidth but are off limits
to amateurs.

The League said it's been more than three decades -- when the
Commission okayed the use of ASCII on HF -- since the FCC has evaluated
symbol rate restrictions on radio amateurs as a regulatory matter. "The
symbol rate restrictions were created to suit digital modes that are no
longer in favor," the ARRL noted in its petition. Modern digital
emissions "are capable of much more accurate and reliable transmissions
at greater speeds with much less bandwidth than in 1980."

As an example, the League pointed to PACTOR 3, which is permitted under
current rules, and PACTOR 4, which is not. Despite PACTOR 4's greater
throughput, both protocols can operate within the bandwidth of a
typical SSB transmission.

"If the symbol rate is allowed to increase as technology develops and
the Amateur Service utilizes new data emission types, the efficiency of
amateur data communications will increase," the ARRL concluded.

ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, has emphasized that there is no
broader plan on the League's part to seek regulation by bandwidth. The
FCC has not yet assigned an RM number and put the petition on public
notice for comments, and there is no way to file comments until that
happens.

==> YOUR LEAGUE: ARRL HELPS MANUFACTURER TO RESOLVE ARC FAULT CIRCUIT
INTERRUPTER RFI PROBLEMS

The ARRL Lab has worked with a manufacturer of arc fault circuit
interrupter (AFCI) breakers to resolve complaints that Amateur Radio RF
was causing certain breaker models to trip unnecessarily. Like the more
common ground fault circuit interrupter (GFCI), the AFCI is a safety
device. Primarily designed to detect problems that could result in a
fire, AFCIs detect potentially hazardous arc faults that result from
often unseen damage or poor connections in wiring and in extension
cords and cord sets.

"Several months ago we started receiving reports from amateurs that
when they transmitted, their AFCI breakers were tripping," said Mike
Gruber, W1MG, the ARRL Lab's EMC specialist. He noted that the issue
has been a topic of online ham radio discussions as well as on
homeowner sites; it seems that stray RF is not the only thing that can
cause a "nuisance trip" of an AFCI. Gruber pointed out that the
National Electrical Code (NEC) already requires AFCIs in some household
circuits, but not all US jurisdictions have adopted the requirement.

   Gruber said that as AFCIs became more common in new construction in
the US, reports started coming in that AFCIs in the vicinity -- not
just in the radio amateur's home -- would trip in the presence of RF
from an Amateur Radio transmitter. While each manufacturer's design is
proprietary, most AFCIs detect arcs by monitoring the shape of the
alternating current waveform, changes in current levels, voltage
irregularities, and the presence of high frequency emissions or
"noise." The ARRL Lab dug into the problem.

"Last summer we built a test fixture in which we could test any type of
circuit breaker," Gruber said. It involved using W1AW as an RF source.
Gruber said he bought one of "every AFCI that I could get my hands on,"
but when the Lab began testing them during W1AW transmissions, none of
the devices tripped.

A ham in New Mexico who had reported AFCI problems sent some of his
breakers to the ARRL Lab, "and those tripped when we tested them,"
Gruber said. The problematic breakers were certain models made by Eaton
Corporation. "We already had an Eaton breaker, an older model, but it
did not trip," he noted, adding that the breaker had a yellow button.
The newer model, which had a white button, did trip in the presence of
RF, however, even at power levels down to about 50 W on 17 meters.

Gruber contacted Eaton, and two of the manufacturer's engineers visited
ARRL Headquarters in August. "Eaton was extremely cooperative and eager
to resolve this," Gruber recounted. "They spent the day with us, going
over our test methods and took some of the problematic breakers back
with them, eventually developing a modified version.

"We have just finished testing the new version of the breaker, and it
did not trip during W1AW transmissions and in other tests," Gruber
reported. He said the new breaker is still in the queue for UL
approval.

Eaton Engineering Director Andy Foerster said arc fault detection is
challenging, in part because so many common household devices -- such
as vacuum cleaners and power tools that use motors with brushes --
create arcing. In information provided to ARRL Eaton engineer Lanson
Relyea said that because AFCIs rely on HF emission detection to verify
arcing, "any signal that conducts or radiates a signal within the
detection band of the AFCI can cause interference and cause the device
to trip without the presence of a true arcing condition."

Eaton and ARRL agreed that when the manufacturer comes out with any new
models of breakers, it will ask the League to test them at W1AW. "It's
a win-win situation," Gruber said. Eaton also has agreed to work with
anyone having a problem with RF tripping its AFCIs.

Hams experiencing unwanted tripping problems with their or their
neighbors' AFCIs should first contact the manufacturer. In the case of
Eaton breakers, contact Bob Handick <RobertEHandick at Eaton.com>
(412-893-3746) or Joe Fello <JosephPFello at eaton.com> (412-893-3745).
Read more
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-helps-manufacturer-to-resolve-arc-fault-circuit-interrupter-rfi-problems>.

==> YOUR LEAGUE: ARRL SOUTHEASTERN DIVISION GETS NEW DIRECTOR

The ARRL Southeastern Division will have a new director on January 1.
Ballots were counted November 15, and challenger Doug Rehman,

   K4AC, of Mt Dora, Florida, narrowly defeated incumbent Southeastern
Division Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, of Huntsville, Alabama, 961 to
949 votes. Rehman was among challengers who ran against Sarratt in
2010. Sarratt had served as a director since 2007.

There was no change in the vice director position. Incumbent Vice
Director Jim Millsap, WB4NWS, outpolled challenger George Hawrysko,
K4AWA, 1429 to 467 votes. Millsap, of Acworth, Georgia, was appointed
in 2012 to complete the term of Andrea Hartlage, KG4IUM, who resigned
when she moved out of the Southeastern Division.

ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, informed the candidates of the
election results by telephone. ARRL International Affairs Vice
President Jay Bellows, K0QB, observed the balloting and reported the
results.

==> YOUR LEAGUE: TENNESSEE SECTION MANAGER ELECTED TO SECOND TERM IN
FALL BALLOTING

In the only contested Section Manager election this fall, ARRL members
in Tennessee have re-elected Keith E. Miller Sr, N9DGK. He received 690
votes, while challenger Randall Smith, KI4OAS, of Gadsden, received 352
votes. Smith is Tennessee's Section Emergency Coordinator. Miller, who
lives in Rockvale (near Murfreesboro), will begin his second term as
Tennessee Section Manager on January 1. Ballots were counted and
verified at ARRL Headquarters on Tuesday, November 19.

   These incumbent ARRL section managers faced no opposition and were
declared elected for new terms of office beginning January 1. David
Drummond, W4MD, Alabama; Jim Larsen, AL7FS, Alaska; Jim Latham, AF6AQ,
East Bay; Ron Cowan, KB0DTI, Kansas; Larry Camp, WB8R, Michigan; Bill
Kauffman, W5YEJ, New Mexico; Robert Griffin, K6YR, Santa Barbara, and
Ed Emco, W1KT, Western Massachusetts.

ARRL Delaware Section Manager Frank Filipkowski, AD3M, decided not to
run for another term, after serving since 2006. Nominations for the
position of ARRL Delaware SM are being re-solicited, since no
nominating petitions were received by the September deadline. To be
considered valid, a petition must contain the signatures of five or
more full ARRL members residing in Delaware. It is advisable to have a
few more than five signatures on each petition.

Details <http://www.arrl.org/section-terms-nomination-information> on
how to submit a petition and a sample nomination form are available on
the ARRL website. This information also will appear in the January 2014
issue of QST.

==> YOUR LEAGUE: THE DECEMBER DIGITAL EDITION OF QST IS NOW AVAILABLE!

The digital edition of the December issue of QST is now available
<http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/arrl/qst_201312/> to

   ARRL members. In this issue . . .

- Discover which modes offer the most mileage

- Replace bulbs with LEDs in vintage rigs

- Try a dual band HF ground plane antenna

- See the 2013 Field Day results

...and much more!

Enjoy content you won't see in the print edition. For example, watch a
video overview of the Icom ID-51A dual-band, hand-held transceiver with
D-STAR.

Every issue of QST is filled with the news and features you need to
keep active in Amateur Radio. Enjoy this issue!

==> YOUR LEAGUE: ARRL TO CLOSE NOVEMBER 28 AND 29 FOR THANKSGIVING
HOLIDAY

ARRL Headquarters will be closed Thursday, November 28, and Friday,
November 29, for the Thanksgiving holiday. There will be no editions of
The ARRL Letter or ARRL Audio News on November 28. Both will resume
December 5. There will be no W1AW bulletin or code practice
transmissions on November 28 and 29. ARRL Headquarters will reopen
Monday, December 2, at 8 AM EST. We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable
holiday!

==> HAM RADIO IN SPACE: AMSAT-UK FUNCUBE-1 SATELLITE IN ORBIT

A Russian Dnepr rocket carried AMSAT-UK's FUNcube-1
<http://funcube.org.uk/> -- now known officially as AMSAT-OSCAR 73 --
and 18 other satellites carrying Amateur Radio payloads to orbit at
0710 UTC on Thursday, November 21. Ground stations began receiving
telemetry from FUNcube-1 soon after deployment and the satellite
appears to be functioning normally.

One of the satellites on the launch, UniSat-5
<http://www.gaussteam.com/>, will deploy a number of additional
satellites. Among them should be the CubeSats PUCP-SAT-1, HumSat-D,
estar-2, Icube-1 <http://amsat-uk.org/2012/01/13/icube-1-cubesat/> and
the PocketQubes Wren
<http://amsat-uk.org/2013/10/24/wren-a-ham-radio-sstv-pocketqube/>,
Eagle-1 (BeakerSat), Eagle-2 ($50Sat)
<http://amsat-uk.org/2013/10/16/50dollarsat-pocketqube-satellite/>,
QB-Scout1. PUCP-SAT-1 intends to subsequently release a further
satellite Pocket-PUCP.

As well as UniSat-5 and its associated CubeSats and PocketQubes these
Amateur Radio satellites were also on the launch:
HinCube <http://hincube.cubesat.no/wp/>
FUNcube-1 <http://amsat-uk.org/funcube/funcube-cubesat/>
ZAcube-1
<http://amsat-uk.org/2012/08/25/14099-khz-cput-cubesat-to-launch-end-of-november/>
First-MOVE
<http://amsat-uk.org/2012/07/21/time-lapse-first-move-cubesat-integration/>
 UWE-3
 Velox-PII
 CubeBug-2
 Triton-1
Delfi-n3Xt
<http://amsat-uk.org/2011/12/13/delfi-n3xt-amateur-radio-satellite/>
 GOMX-1

For a frequency list, see
http://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/13/three-amateur-radio-satellite-deployments-in-november/.

The latest orbital elements for FUNcube-1 are available at
http://funcube.org.uk/working-documents/latest-two-line-elements/.

==> HAM RADIO IN SPACE: FIRST HIGH SCHOOL SATELLITE AMONG NOVEMBER HAM
SATELLITE BONANZA

The first high school satellite, TJ3Sat
<http://www.tjhsst.edu/students/activities/tj3sat/>, which launched
this week

   aboard a Minotaur I rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia, was among
several satellites
<http://amsat-uk.org/2013/11/13/three-amateur-radio-satellite-deployments-in-november/>
carrying Amateur Radio payloads -- two with ham radio transponders --
scheduled to be put into orbit during November. In addition to the
Minotaur I launch, other satellites
<http://www.arrl.org/news/massive-satellite-cluster-launch-set-for-november-21>
are set to go into space early November 21 (UTC) aboard a Dnepr rocket
from Russia, while still others were scheduled to be deployed from the
International Space Station. The Minotaur I carried 29 satellites in
all.

The TJ3Sat CubeSat is a joint project between the Thomas Jefferson High
School for Science and Technology in Alexandria, Virginia, and industry
partners to design and build a CubeSat to inspire interest in aerospace
technology as part of NASA's Educational Launch of NanoSatellites
(ELaNa <http://www.ne.jp/asahi/hamradio/je9pel/minotaur.htm>) program.
The school says the satellite's main mission is "to provide educational
resources to other K-12 education institutions to foster interest in
aerospace through the successful design and flight of a CubeSat."

Perhaps more to the point for high schoolers, the satellite's Text
Speak module will convert text messages into analog voice signals.
"Students and other users from around the world can submit text strings
to be uploaded to the TJ3Sat website. Approved text strings will be
transmitted to the satellite and the resulting voice interpretation
will be relayed back to Earth over an Amateur Radio frequency," the TJ3
website explains. The small satellite also will transmit telemetry.
Details <http://www.tjhsst.edu/students/activities/tj3sat/> are on the
TJ3Sat website. The school says the November 20 (UTC) launch culminated
7 years of work by more than four dozen students. According to a
Washington Post article
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/fairfax-county-students-build-first-satellite-sent-to-space/2013/11/19/015db0ea-508f-11e3-9fe0-fd2ca728e67c_story.html>,
the satellite will broadcast its first message to TJ alumni worldwide:
"Go Colonials!"

-- Thanks to AMSAT News Service, AMSAT-UK, and NASA

==> JUST AHEAD IN RADIOSPORT

- Nov 21 -- NAQCC Monthly QRP Sprint, CW

- Nov 23-24 -- CQ World Wide DX Contest, CW

- Nov 27 -- SKCC Straight Key Sprint

- Nov 28 -- Top Band Sprint, CW+SSB

- Nov 30 -- Full Day of Hell

- Dec 1 -- SARL Digital Contest

- Dec 3 -- ARS Spartan Sprint

- Dec 5 -- NRAU 10 Meter (all modes)

- Dec 6 -- NCCC Sprint, CW

- Dec 6-8 -- ARRL 160 Meter Contest, CW

- Dec 7 -- TARA RTTY Melee

- Dec 7 -- Wake-Up! QRP Sprint, CW

- Dec 7-8 -- SKCC Weekend Sprintathon, CW

- Dec 7-8 --TOPS Activity Contest, CW

- Dec 7-8 -- EPC Ukraine DX Contest, PSK

- Dec 7-8/14-15 -- AWA Bruce Kelley Memorial CW Contest

- Dec 8 -- Ten Meter RTTY Contest

==> UPCOMING ARRL SECTION, STATE AND DIVISION CONVENTIONS AND EVENTS

- December 6-7 -- West Central Florida Section Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/west-central-florida-section-convention-tampa-bay-hamfest-3>,
Plant City, Florida

- January 5 -- NYC/LI Section Convention
<http://hamradiouniversity.org/>, Bethpage, New York

- January 17-18 -- North Texas Section Convention
<http://www.cowtownhamfest.org/>, Fort Worth, Texas

- January 19-26 - Quartzfest Convention <http://www.quartzfest.org/>,
Quartzsite, Arizona

- January 24-25 -- Mississippi State Convention
<http://hamfest.msham.org/>, Jackson, Mississippi

- January 25-26 -- Puerto Rico State Convention
<http://www.arrlpr.org/>, Hatillo, Puerto Rico

- January 31-February 1 -- Southern Florida Section Convention
<http://hamboree.org/>, Miami, Florida

- Feb 7-9 -- Northern Florida Section Convention
<http://www.hamcation.com/> (Orlando HamCation® -- Regional ARRL
Centennial Event), Orlando, Florida

- Feb 14-15 -- Arizona Section Convention
<http://www.yumahamfest.org/>, Yuma, Arizona

- March 1-2 Alabama Section Convention <http://birminghamfest.org/>
(BirmingHAMfest 2014), Birmingham, Alabama

- March 7-8 North Carolina Section Convention
<http://www.charlottehamfest.org/> (Charlotte Hamfest), Concord, North
Carolina

- March 7-8 West Gulf Division Convention
<http://greencountryhamfest.org/>, Claremore, Oklahoma

- March 22-23 Communications Academy <http://www.commacademy.org/>,
Seattle, Washington

Find conventions and hamfests in your area
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>.

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