[FPARC] The ARRL Letter

[W4kkw at aol.com]

***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 24, No. 43
November 4,  2005
***************

IN THIS EDITION:

* +League pushes FCC for  "meaningful" entry-level privileges
* +Regulatory issues dominate ARRL  Executive Committee session
* +Amateur Radio marks five years aboard the  ISS
* +Australia introduces new entry-level Foundation license
* +Possible  intruder reported on 160 meters
* +Nominations due for ARRL International  Humanitarian Award
*  Solar Update
*  IN BRIEF: 
This weekend on the radio: The ARRL November Sweepstakes  (CW)!
ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course  registration
+Hurricane volunteers to be honored in  QST
ARRL "Public Service Stories" page debuts
+FCC further extends filing deadlines for Katrina-affected  licensees
ARRL Foundation approves more new  scholarships
+SSETI Express team "hopeful" as troubleshooting  continues
Dayton HamventionR past chairman  honored
Amateur Radio gets visibility at Telecom Americas  2005
Rescheduled power-line interference workshop  sessions set

+Available on ARRL Audio News  <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/>  

===========================================================
==>Delivery  problems (ARRL member direct delivery  only!):
letter-dlvy at arrl.org
==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick  Lindquist, N1RL,  n1rl at arrl.org
===========================================================

==>MEANINGFUL  ENTRY-LEVEL LICENSE PRIVILEGES ARE TOP PRIORITY, ARRL SAYS

The ARRL again  has urged the FCC to provide meaningful operating privileges
to entry-level  Amateur Radio licensees, including access to HF, even if the
Commission  doesn't want to create a new license class. Commenting in
response to the  FCC's July 9 Notice of Proposed Rule Making and Order
(NPRM&O) in WT  Docket 05-235, the League also stood by its stance that the
Commission retain  the 5 WPM Morse code requirement for Amateur Extra
applicants, but do away  with it for General applicants.

"Retaining Morse telegraphy as a  requirement for only the Amateur Extra
class license, in ARRL's view, places  Morse telegraphy in a proper, balanced
perspective," the League told the  Commission October 31, the deadline to
comment in the proceeding. Reply  comments are due November 14. 

The FCC's NPRM&O proposed eliminating  the 5 WPM Morse code requirement for
all Amateur Radio license classes but  denied requests to create a new
entry-level license class with limited HF  privileges. The League said the
FCC needs to finish the job of license  restructuring it began in 1998 by
reviewing operating privileges for all  classes--especially at the first rung
of the licensing ladder.

"The  elimination of Morse telegraphy, absent a more thorough review of
operating  privileges in the Amateur Service, will not address the
ascertained flaws in  the only entry-level license class," the ARRL asserted,
referring to the  Technician license. "That license class is not attracting
or keeping  newcomers in its present configuration, and it needs fixing  right
now."

The ARRL argued that if the FCC will not create a new  Novice class license
as the League had suggested in its earlier Petition for  Rule Making
(RM-10867) in the proceeding, it should modify Technician  operating
privileges instead. The present licensing regime limits Technicians  to VHF
bands and above, "leaving newcomers to the Amateur Service isolated  from
their peers holding higher class licenses," the ARRL said. "The  Technician
class is, for too many, a 'dead end' to what might otherwise be an  active,
progressive interest in Amateur Radio, technical self-training  and
incentive-based educational progress in the many facets of the  avocation." 

The ARRL reminded the FCC that its restructuring plan  enjoyed the support of
the two Amateur Radio licensees in Congress--Rep Greg  Walden, W7EQI (R-OR)
and Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR).

Eliminating the  Morse requirement for General class applicants "creates an
anomaly with  respect to the Technician class license," the ARRL noted. "If
the telegraphy  requirement for the General class license is eliminated, the
distinction  between the Technician class licensee and the Technician Plus
class licensee  will have disappeared completely." Therefore, the League
contends, there is a  logical basis for affording Technician licensees
entry-level HF privileges.  

Under the ARRL plan, Technicians would have telegraphy and data  privileges
on 3.55-3.7 MHz, 7.05-7.125 MHz and 21.05-21.20 MHz at 100 W  output and on
28.05-28.3 MHz at 50 W output. The League wants the FCC to  provide HF phone
and image privileges to Technicians on 3.9-4.0 MHz, 7.2-7.3  MHz and
21.35-21.45 MHz at 100 W output, and on 28.3-28.5 MHz at 50  W.

These recommended privileges take into account the FCC's proposal to  adopt
the ARRL's so-called "Novice refarming" plan in WT Docket 04-140. The  ARRL
had earlier proposed the same privileges for a reconstituted Novice  license.

The time is right to take a look at the operating privileges of  Amateur
Radio license classes, the ARRL said in its filing, "because the  entry-level
license class is demonstrably neither attractive to newcomers  nor
encouraging in terms of retaining the interest of license holders."  

To back up its assertions, the League pointed to surveys it conducted  in
1992 and 2003. Nearly half of the licensees responding in the latter  poll
indicated that they were not currently active in Amateur Radio--up  30
percent from the earlier survey. "The number of inactive Technician  class
licensees is 46 percent," the ARRL noted, adding that more than a  quarter of
Technicians responding in 2003 said they'd never even been on the  air.

The League pointed out that the FCC's proposed across-the-board  elimination
of the Morse requirement eliminates a simple mechanism for  current
Technician licensees to obtain HF operating privileges--passing the 5  WPM
code exam.

If the FCC does nothing other than eliminate the Morse  requirement for the
General license, the ARRL commented, it would make no  sense to continue to
deprive Technician licensees the HF operating privileges  that Tech Plus
licensees now enjoy. 

"To do otherwise is to draw a  distinction that is entirely arbitrary," the
League  concluded.

==>REGULATORY ITEMS DOMINATE ARRL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE  DISCUSSION

Regulatory and FCC-related topics topped the agenda as the  ARRL Executive
Committee (EC) met for its regular fall meeting October 22 in  Ft Worth,
Texas. ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, chaired the session. Among  other
matters the EC agreed unanimously that the League go forward with the  filing
of a Petition for Rule Making asking the FCC to regulate amateur  subbands by
maximum bandwidth rather than by emission mode.

At its  July meeting, the ARRL Board of Directors instructed the EC to
complete a  final review of the draft petition and file it at the Committee's
discretion.  In the interim, two ARRL directors and two vice directors
requested  postponing the petition's filing until the Board had the
opportunity to  revisit one issue. At issue was the possible provision of
subbands below 29  MHz in which digital emission bandwidths greater than 3.5
kHz would be  permitted.

After considering the procedural and substantive aspects of  the request as
well as the timing of the filing, the EC voted unanimously to  direct ARRL
General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, to file the petition as  drafted in
accordance with the Board's wishes, once the EC completes its  final review.
That appears likely to occur by year's end.

The EC also  discussed the timing of a petition for rulemaking that would
permit security  of data for computer-to-computer communications on domestic
transmissions  above 50 MHz. The issue relates to the requirement to maintain
privacy of  certain client information transmitted on behalf of served
agencies during  emergencies. The EC decided it wanted a chance to review
experience gained  from Hurricane Katrina before moving forward with the
petition, which the  ARRL Board requested at its July 2004 meeting.

Imlay also reviewed the  status of pending FCC items for the Committee. He
reported that:

* an  experimental license application the ARRL tendered on behalf of a group
of  amateurs who want to experiment near 500 kHz is awaiting clearance from
the  National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

* a  presentation to federal government spectrum managers regarding a
possible  expansion of amateur privileges in the vicinity of 5 MHz has been
prepared  and is being scheduled.

* an FCC proceeding investigating the effects of  communication towers on
migratory birds, WT Docket No. 03-187, is not likely  to have any effect on
the Amateur Radio Service.

* a new satellite  licensing requirement to file orbital debris mitigation
plans, detailed in IB  Docket 02-54, may prove problematic for the
Amateur-Satellite  service.

* the ARRL is still awaiting action on its request for an FCC  declaratory
ruling preempting a Florida statute dealing with unlicensed  radio
transmissions and interference to FCC-licensed broadcast  stations.

In other business, the EC discussed the underlying philosophy  of the
League's provisions defining the eligibility of officer or  director
candidates--Article 11 of the ARRL's Articles of Association--and  whether a
revision might be in order. The question arose after the League's  Election
and Ethics Committee determined that a nominee for an ARRL Board  of
Director's seat for the 2006-2008 term was ineligible to run because of  the
nature of his business connections. The EC reviewed and upheld the  decision
September 1 by teleconference. A proposal to amend Article 11 is  expected to
be offered by a Director at the Board's January  meeting.

The EC also voted unanimously to present the ARRL President's  Award to Mary
Ann Crider, WA3HUP, for her contributions to the cause of  international
goodwill through her long service as a QSL manager and as  manager of the
ARRL Third Call Area Incoming QSL Bureau.

In addition  to Haynie, Committee members present were ARRL First Vice
President Joel  Harrison, W5ZN; CEO and Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ;
Southeastern Division  Director Frank Butler, W4RH; Central Division Director
George R. "Dick"  Isely, W9GIG; Delta Division Director Rick Roderick, K5UR,
and Midwest  Division Director Wade Walstrom, W0EJ. Also attending in
addition to Imlay  were West Gulf Division Director Coy Day, N5OK; Great
Lakes Division Director  Jim Weaver, K8JE, and ARRL International Affairs
Vice President Rod Stafford,  W6ROD.

The minutes of the Executive Committee's October meeting are  available on
the ARRL Web site  <http://www.arrl.org/announce/ec_minutes_478.html>.

==>HAM RADIO  HAS ROLE IN FIVE YEARS OF CONTINUOUS ISS HUMAN HABITATION

Five years ago  this week, the International Space Station Expedition 1 crew
of US astronaut  and Expedition 1 Commander William "Shep" Shepherd, KD5GSL,
and Russian  cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR, became the
first humans  to inhabit the ISS on a long-term basis. Bill McArthur, KC5ACR,
who commands  Expedition 12, the current ISS crew increment, took note of the
occasion when  he spoke with reporters this week.

"We've done things that were just  inconceivable 50 years ago," McArthur
said. "I think that we have  demonstrated that human beings can live and work
in space, and, given the  will, we can return to the moon not just to visit
but to stay there  permanently and in not-too-distant future, send people to
Mars."

Bill  Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for space operations,
called the  five-year milestone the first leg of a much longer journey "The
experiences  we're having on station with crews on long-duration missions are
teaching us  what it will take to send astronauts on longer missions to the
moon and into  the solar system," he said.

It was on October 31, 2000, that a Russian  Soyuz transporter carrying the
ISS space pioneers blasted off from Baikonur  Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and
docked with the ISS November 2. At the time,  Shepherd was only the second US
astronaut to go into space aboard a Russian  launch vehicle. Krikalev went on
to serve as commander of the ISS Expedition  11 crew.

Each of the 12 crews that have lived on the ISS to conduct  assembly and
research activities has included at least one US radio amateur.  McArthur
just this week completed the 200th successful Amateur Radio on  the
International Space Station (ARISS) school group contact. Crews also  have
gone on the air to participate in such events as ARRL Field Day  and
scouting's Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) as well as to make casual QSOs.  The
Expedition 12 crew of McArthur and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev  will
remain on the ISS until next April.

The initial ARISS gear  already was aboard the space station by the time the
first crew arrived. The  Expedition 1 team installed and activated the VHF
gear on FM voice and packet  under the US call sign NA1SS and the Russian
call sign RS0ISS.

In late  2003, the ARISS program attained another milestone with the
installation and  checkout of the Phase 2 Amateur Radio gear. A Kenwood
TM-D700E transceiver is  at the heart of the Phase 2 station, located in the
ISS Zvezda Service  Module--the crew's living quarters. Crew members now
routinely use the Phase  2 station to conduct ARISS school group contacts.
ARISS is looking forward to  activation of a Yaesu FT-100 HF/VHF/UHF
transceiver and a slow-scan  television (SSTV) system in the near future.

NASA has been marking the  fifth anniversary of continuous ISS human
occupancy with special activities  and has set up a special Web  site
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/5_year_anniversary.html>.

The  largest and most complex spacecraft ever built, the ISS is the result of
a  16-nation partnership led by the US. More ISS information and photos are
on  NASA's Space Station page.

ARISS is an international educational outreach  with US participation by
ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.--some information from  NASA

==>NEW FOUNDATION LICENSE, AMATEUR REGULATORY CHANGES INTRODUCED  IN
AUSTRALIA

Australia has introduced an entry-level Foundation  Amateur Radio license and
established a new overall licensing and  certification structure. The
Australian Communications and Media Authority  (ACMA) put the new regulations
into effect October 19. Other rule changes  combined Novice and Novice
Limited licensees into a new Standard license  class, and all Limited,
Intermediate and Unrestricted licensees are now  Advanced licensees with full
amateur privileges. Wireless Institute of  Australia (WIA) President Michael
Owen, VK3KI, welcomed the "long-awaited"  changes--in particular the new
Foundation license--and expressed the hope  that they would encourage
newcomers.

"We also know that there will be  many amateurs operating on the 40 and
20-meter bands for the first time with  those bands available to Standard
licensees," he said. "We urge all amateurs  to make all these newcomers
welcome." Owen also praised ACMA for what he  called its "cooperative
approach" in establishing examination standards and  procedures.

The first Foundation license was issued October 21 to Amanda  Gray, who
requested the call sign VK4FRST before knowing that hers was,  indeed, the
first Australian Foundation license issued. ACMA has adopted the  distinctive
and unusual four-letter suffix starting with "F" for all VK  Foundation
licensees.

Foundation licensees will have limited access to  80, 40, 15 and 10 meters as
well as the entire 2 meter and 70 cm bands using  voice modes or "hand-keyed"
CW only (ie, no keyboard or computer-generated  code). Licensees will be
permitted to run up to 10 W on SSB and 3 W on AM, FM  and CW--although the
WIA wants ACMA to increase that limit to 10 W as well.  Foundation licensees
may only use commercially manufactured transmitters. The  new license is
similar to the Foundation class license that's been available  in Great
Britain since 2002. 

In addition to creation of the new  Foundation license, ACMA amended
Australia's Amateur Radio regulations to  regulate by necessary bandwidth
rather than by emission mode. The new rules  permit the use of any emission
mode with a bandwidth not exceeding 8  kHz.

Said Owen: "The WIA believes that these changes to the Australian  amateur
license structure will strengthen our hobby and encourage many more  people
to become licensed radio amateurs." More information is on the ACMA  Web  site
<http://www.acma.gov.au/ACMAINTER.65690:STANDARD::pc=PC_1256>.

==>"TOP  BAND DRAGON'S FIRE" SIGNAL BLANKETING 160 METERS IN ASIA

The IARU  Monitoring System (IARUMS) says radio amateurs in Japan and
elsewhere in Asia  and Oceania are reporting an unidentified intruder signal
on 160 meters. In  Japan, the wideband signal, which IARU Region 2 Monitoring
System Coordinator  Bill Zellers, WA4FKI, has dubbed "Top Band Dragon's
Fire," reportedly began  transmitting continuously about October 1,
blanketing 160 meters and  rendering it useless for Amateur Radio work in
some places.

"The  intruder is detectable from approximately 1700 kHz up to about 1930
kHz,"  said one report, likening the sound to "a diesel motor with a ticking
sound  at a constant rate which is evenly spread across the band." The signal
has  been heard in the US Northwest at about 1830 kHz on a  north-pointing
Beverage. Reports also have arrived from New  England.

First heard as long ago as December 2004, the signal turns up at  different
times at different locations, reports indicate. In some cases, it's  only
during so-called "gray line" propagation, while others hear the signal  24/7.
Near Perth, Australia, the intruder was heard slowly rising out the  noise
floor about a half-hour after sunset, increasing to around S7 and  remaining
long into the night. Amateurs in Singapore report that the signal  recently
shifted from wideband noise to a pulsed signal. 

Veteran Top  Band DXer Tom Rauch, W8JI, in Georgia says he can "just detect a
noise floor  increase some mornings," but was unable to identify an actual
signal.  

Forward reports, accompanied by sound recordings if available, to  Chuck
Skolaut, K0BOG <cskolaut at arrl.org>, at ARRL  Headquarters.

==>ARRL SOLICITING INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AWARD  NOMINATIONS

Nominations close December 31 for the 2005 ARRL International  Humanitarian
Award. The award is dedicated to an amateur or amateur group  devoted to
promoting 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 ARRL  International Humanitarian Award recognizes Amateur Radio's unique
role in  international communication and the assistance it regularly provides
to  people in need throughout the world. Amateur Radio is one of the  few
telecommunication services that allow people throughout the world from  all
walks of life to meet and talk with each other, thereby spreading  goodwill
across political boundaries.

A committee appointed by League  President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, will recommend
an award recipient to the ARRL  Board of Directors, which will make the final
selection. The committee is now  accepting nominations from Amateur Radio,
governmental or other organizations  that have benefited from extraordinary
service rendered by an Amateur Radio  operator or group. 

Nominations must include a summary of the nominee's  actions that qualify the
individual or group for this award plus verifying  statements from at least
two individuals having first-hand knowledge of the  events warranting the
nomination. These statements may be from an official of  a group (for
example, the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, a local or  state
emergency management official) that benefited from the nominee's  particular
Amateur Radio contribution. Nominations should include the names  and
addresses of all references. 

All nominations and supporting  materials for the 2005 ARRL International
Humanitarian Award must be  submitted in writing in English to ARRL
International Humanitarian Award, 225  Main St, Newington, CT 06111 USA. In
the event that no nominations are  received, the committee itself may
determine a recipient or decide to make no  award. The award recipient
receives an engraved plaque and is profiled in QST  and other ARRL venues.

Complete information on how to nominate is  available on the ARRL Web  site
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/awards/humanitarian.html>. The  2004 ARRL
Humanitarian Award winner was Dr Glenn Johnson, W0GJ, of  Bemidji,
Minnesota.--Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG 

==>SOLAR  UPDATE

Propagation guru Tad "Sunshine On My Shoulders" Cook, K7RA,  Seattle,
Washington, reports: Conditions have recovered from zero sunspots,  which
lasted for five days. Average sunspot numbers rose nearly 10 points to  17.6
this week. Average daily solar flux rose just 1.2 points to  75.4.

There has been some geomagnetic disturbance over the past couple of  days,
but conditions should settle down for the ARRL November Sweepstakes  (CW)
this weekend. Predicted planetary A index for Friday through  Monday,
November 4-7, is 20, 20, 12 and 8. Sunspot numbers and solar flux  should
rise slightly, reaching a peak around November 6-8.

If the  planetary A index is 20 or higher this weekend it may cause some
difficulty  reaching those Alaska or Northern Territories multipliers in
Sweepstakes, but  don't count on any major flare activity.

Sunspot numbers for October 27  through November 2 were 0, 0, 11, 14, 29, 33
and 36, with a mean of 17.6. The  10.7 cm flux was 71.6, 73.1, 74.1, 75.6,
77.8, 77.3, and 78, with a mean of  75.4. Estimated planetary A indices were
6, 5, 2, 5, 13, 8 and 6, with a mean  of 6.4. Estimated mid-latitude A
indices were 5, 4, 1, 3, 6, 7 and 5, with a  mean of 4.4.

__________________________________

==>IN  BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: The ARRL November Sweepstakes (CW),  the North
American Collegiate ARC Championship (CW), the IPARC Contest (CW  and Phone),
the Ukrainian DX Contest, High Speed Club CW Contest and the DARC  10-Meter
Digital Contest are the weekend of November 5-6. JUST AHEAD: The WAE  DX
Contest (RTTY), the JIDX Phone Contest, the SARL Field Day Contest,  the
OK/OM DX Contest (CW), the CQ-WE Contest are the weekend of November  12-13.
The ARRL November Sweepstakes (SSB) is the weekend of November 19-20.  See
the ARRL Contest Branch page <http://www.arrl.org/contests/> and  the WA7BNM
Contest Calendar  <http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html> for  more
info.

* ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course  registration:
Registration remains open through Sunday, November 6, for these  ARRL
Certification and Continuing Education (CCE) Program on-line  courses:
Emergency Communications Level 2 (EC-002), Emergency Communications  Level 3
(EC-003), Antenna Modeling (EC-004), VHF/UHF Beyond the Repeater  (EC-008),
and Propagation (EC-011), Digital Electronics (EC-013). Classes  begin
Friday, November 18. To learn more, visit the CCE Course Listing  page
<http://www.arrl.org/cce> or contact the CCE Department  <cce at arrl.org>.

* Hurricane volunteers to be honored in QST:  Amateurs who provided
communication support during recovery efforts for  hurricanes Katrina, Rita
and Wilma will be honored with a special listing,  including names and call
signs, in the February issue of QST. To be eligible  for the list, complete
the ARRL Hurricane Relief Volunteer Service Report on  the ARRL Web  site
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/agencies/vol-report.html>. The  reporting
deadline for the QST list is December 9. You do not have to be an  ARRL or
ARES member to be included in the list.

* ARRL "Public Service  Stories" page debuts: The ARRL's new "Public Service
Stories" page now is  open
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/PublicServiceStories/>. It's a  place where
Amateur Radio volunteers can tell the world about their public  service
contributions during recent events. Both text and photos can be  entered and
will appear on the Public Service Stories page for all to see.  The ARRL
currently is soliciting stories from those providing service in  the
aftermath of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Submissions from  ARRL
members who are logged onto the League's Web site will be  published
immediately. Others' submissions will be reviewed before  posting.

* FCC further extends filing deadlines for Katrina-affected  licensees: The
FCC has extended from October 31 until November 30 filing and  regulatory
deadlines for Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) licensees  directly
affected by Hurricane Katrina. The WTB said it was taking the  action
"because of the continued devastation and recovery efforts in parts of  the
affected states and to further alleviate any additional burden that may  be
caused by our filing requirements and regulatory deadlines." After  November
30, the WTB said, it will consider waiver requests related to  Hurricane
Katrina on a case-by-case basis. The WTB already has extended  filing and
regulatory deadlines for licensees affected by Hurricane Rita to  November 21
and by Hurricane Wilma to December 22, 2005. Because the deadline  extensions
affect the two-year renewal "grace period" for Amateur Radio  licensees, the
FCC also has suspended vanity call sign processing "until  further notice."

* ARRL Foundation approves more new scholarships: The  ARRL Foundation has
announced the addition of two new scholarships for the  2006-2007 academic
year, thanks to a generous endowment from the Dayton  Amateur Radio
Association. The ARRL Foundation Board recently approved  addition of the
$1000 scholarships to the 43 awards it now offers. "The  recent success of
the Dayton Hamvention prompted DARA to revitalize its  scholarship program,"
commented ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart,  K1MMH. "These
scholarships represent DARA's commitment to plow some of that  success back
into Amateur Radio and offer a brighter future to talented  Amateur Radio
operators." To be eligible, an applicant must be an Amateur  Radio licensee
attending or accepted at an accredited two or four-year  college or
university. Information on all ARRL Foundation-administered  scholarships is
available on the ARRL Foundation Web  site
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlf/scholgen.html>. The application period  for ARRL
Foundation scholarships closes February 1, 2006.

* SSETI  Express team "hopeful" as troubleshooting continues: Ground
controllers are  continuing efforts to get the Student Space Exploration and
Technology  Initiative (SSETI) Express satellite back in working order. The
spacecraft,  sent aloft from Russia October 27, went silent after about five
orbits.  Telemetry has indicated power problems. "Due to a failure in the
electrical  power system on board the spacecraft is inoperable and mission
control is on  standby," SSETI Express Project Manager Neil Melville said
this week. "There  is a small but significant possibility of recovery, the
likelihood of which  is being ascertained by ongoing testing." The European
Space Agency (ESA) and  the SSETI Association are asking radio amateurs
around the world to check for  signals on 437.250 MHz at appropriate pass
times. These signals may be short  bursts of 9k6 data every 18 seconds or
bursts of pulse telemetry every 30  seconds. E-mail details to SSETI Express
Mission Control  <missioncontrol at sseti.org>. Melville said the team remains
"hopeful and  vigilant."

* Dayton HamventionR past chairman honored: Dayton Hamvention  2004-2005
General Chairman Gary Des Combes, N8EMO, is among 10 individuals  the
Dayton/Montgomery County Convention & Visitors Bureau will honor this  month
as "community ambassadors." The bureau will recognize Des Combes and  the
other award winners at its 14th annual Community Ambassador Awards  breakfast
November 10 in Dayton. Each winner will receive a leather flight  jacket from
Dayton, the birthplace of aviation, "as a token of appreciation  for the
positive economic impact their events have on the Dayton/Montgomery  County
community," a bureau news release said. The 55th Dayton Hamvention  will take
place at Hara Arena in Trotwood, Ohio, on May 19-21, 2006. Jim  Nies, WX8F,
will be the general chairman. The Amateur Radio  exposition--considered the
world's largest--annually attracts upward of  25,000 visitors. The bureau has
estimated Hamvention's annual economic impact  at close to $4 million for
Montgomery County and nearly $10 million  regionally.

* Amateur Radio gets visibility at Telecom Americas 2005:  International
Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 2 and local radio amateurs  staffed an
exhibit at Telecom Americas 2005. The International  Telecommunication Union
(ITU)-sponsored exposition took place October 2-6 in  Salvador da Bahia,
Brazil. IARU Region 2 President (and ARRL International  Affairs Vice
President ) Rod Stafford, W6ROD, participated in a panel  discussion, "The
Changing Face of Spectrum Management" at the Telecom Forum.  The IARU Region
2 exhibit showcased Amateur Radio to regulators and  industry.

* Rescheduled power-line interference workshop sessions set:  Some seats
remain available for the rescheduled ARRL-sponsored power-line  interference
workshop sessions. Mike Martin, K3RFI, of RFI Services of  Maryland will
conduct the first session Tuesday and Wednesday, November  29-30, and the
second session Thursday and Friday, December 1-2. Both  sessions will take
place at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut. RFI  Services provides
classroom and on-site training for power-company personnel  on the techniques
used to identify and cure power-line interference and can  also troubleshoot
electrical noise problems in the field. Registration is  $995 per person. The
workshop is designed for utility professionals who are  responsible for
locating and dealing with power-line related interference  issues. For radio
amateurs who work in the utility industry, this course has  the added
benefits of being held at ARRL Headquarters where participants will  have a
chance to operate W1AW. For more information or a workshop  application,
contact Martin <mike at rfiservices.com>; 240-508-3760) or  visit the RFI
Services Web site  <http://www.rfiservices.com/>.