[FPARC] The ARRL Letter

[W4kkw at aol.com]

***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 24, No. 44
November 11,  2005
***************

IN THIS EDITION:

* +Indiana, Kentucky hams  respond to killer tornado
* +White House taps two for FCC seats
* +ISS  commander logs 200th ARISS school contact
* +ARRL Holiday Toy Drive TV  announcement available
* +Dedicated LFers ply the nether spectrum
* +It's  Frequency Measuring Test time again!
*  Solar Update
*  IN  BRIEF: 
This weekend on the radio
ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration
+ARRL "Public Service Stories" page proves popular
+Hurricane  volunteers to be honored in QST
Hurricane Wilma  ARES/RACES Southern Florida activation praised
Improved  search capability debuts on ARRL Web site
ARRL  represented at USA Freedom Corps briefing
Foundation for  Amateur Radio announces scholarships
SSETI Express is now  OSCAR 53
George Steber, WB9LVI, wins October QST Cover  Plaque Award
Darrell L. Thomas, N7KOR, SK
DXCC Desk accredits operations

+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
===========================================================

==>INDIANA  TORNADO "LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT," HAM RADIO VOLUNTEER SAYS

Amateur  Radio volunteers continue to assist relief and recovery efforts in
the wake  of a November 6 tornado that left 22 people dead and hundreds
injured. The  twister, with winds of up to 200 MPH, originated within a line
of  thunderstorms that struck during the early morning hours. It cut a more
than  40-mile swath through part of Kentucky and extreme southwestern
Indiana,  wiping out a section of a trailer park in Vanderburgh County where
18 of the  fatalities occurred.

"It was like a thief in the night, striking and  having no mercy for anyone
or anything in its path," said Amateur Radio  volunteer and police officer
Bob Pointer, N9XAW. For the first couple of days  after the tornado, Amateur
Radio assisted Red Cross emergency response  vehicles (ERVs) in the field to
communicate with their headquarters, a new  facility in Evansville where the
communication system was not yet up and  running.

At week's end, Pointer was expecting ham radio support for Red  Cross
recovery and feeding operations to pick up again. "We'll have to set  up
units at a warehouse and a couple of outlying cities," he told ARRL.  

During most of the week, Amateur Radio volunteers have been  supporting
relief activities of The Salvation Army. The need was to set  up
communication between mobile field and canteen units and The Salvation  Army
headquarters in Evansville.

"The Salvation Army is very, very  pleased with the ham radio service,"
Pointer said. "We have units in areas  where the cell phones cannot function
or they're so busy, it's hard to get a  line." Amateur Radio has been able to
get messages through when they  otherwise wouldn't, Pointer added, "and it's
helping make things go much more  smoothly."

Calls came from prospective volunteers as far away as New  York. "It was
truly a rewarding feeling," Pointer said. "Thanks to the ARRL  for putting
out the call so quickly." Local hams calling in on the repeater  to offer
assistance soon found themselves assigned to field stations. "This  was a
good exercise in trying out the grab-it-and-go kits," Pointer  said.

Pointer says that within hours of setting up, ARRL Section Manager  Jim
Sellers, K9ZBM, called to offer assistance and got the ball rolling.  ARRL
Indiana Section Emergency Coordinator David Pifer, N9YNF, contacted  ARRL
Headquarters to spread the word.

"ARRL Headquarters even called  to check on us," Pointer said. "You see, your
membership is more than a  magazine a month. It is hams from all over the
world ready to support you."  

Three Salvation Army mobile kitchens and three field units have  been
deployed in Vanderburgh and Warrick counties. The daily routine  involves
moving food from a warehouse to mobile kitchens to feed tornado  victims as
well as the hundreds of volunteers deployed in several locations  across a
wide area. Ham radio volunteers have been handling requests for  supplies,
messages to workers and notices to staff volunteers.

Pointer  said he expected the Amateur Radio tornado relief support operation
to  continue into early next week. "I am privileged to work with a great
bunch of  people down here," Pointer concluded.

Kentucky SEC Ron Dodson, KA4MAP,  says SKYWARN was active as the storms moved
in. "I had our Amateur Radio net  going with National Weather Service (NWS)
Louisville and monitored those in  the counties west of me as it approached,"
he told ARRL. SKYWARN nets were  active in Daviess and Hancock counties.
Breckinridge, Grayson and Meade  counties west of Louisville were active with
the linked Wide Area Repeaters  Net (WARN), Dodson said. NWS Louisville's
amateur station WX4NWS was on the  air for three hours as the storms moved
across counties on both sides of the  Ohio River.

==>WHITE HOUSE NOMINATES NEW FCC COMMISSIONER, COPPS  TAPPED FOR NEW TERM

President George W. Bush has nominated Deborah T.  Tate of Tennessee, a
Republican, to serve out the remainder of the term of  former FCC Chairman
Michael K. Powell, which expires June 30, 2007. Powell  announced his
resignation one day into President Bush's second term, and he  departed the
FCC last March. Under FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin, a Republican  who
succeeded Powell, the FCC has been operating with four members ever  since.
The White House this week also reappointed Commissioner Michael J.  Copps, a
Democrat, for a new five-year term, starting last July 1. Both  appointments
are subject to US Senate confirmation.

"If confirmed,  Debi Tate will be an excellent addition to the Commission,"
said Martin. "She  has a distinguished career in state government, and she
has worked closely  with the Commission in her role as Director of the
Tennessee Regulatory  Authority."

Martin said he also looked forward to continuing to work  closely with Copps,
who has served on the FCC the past four years. "I respect  his insight and
thoughtfulness on issues before the Commission," Martin  added.

Since Martin, a member during the Powell regime, took over the  chairmanship,
the political balance on the Commission has been split evenly  between two
Republicans and two Democrats. Members of a president's political  party hold
a majority on the FCC.

Another FCC opening is looming.  Republican Kathleen Q. Abernathy is obliged
to step down when the current  session of the US Senate expires, probably
later this year. She's been on the  FCC since 2001.

Copps said he was "deeply honored" to be reappointed. "I  look forward to
working with Congress, the Administration, the Chairman of  the FCC and my
fellow Commissioners to help bring the best, most accessible,  and
cost-effective communications system in the world to all of our  people,"
Copps said in a statement. Jonathan Adelstein is the other Democrat  on the
Commission.

==>NEARLY EVERY DAY IS "CASUAL FRIDAY" ABOARD  ISS, JAPAN YOUNGSTERS LEARN

ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur,  KC5ACR, completed the 200th
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station  (ARISS) school group QSO
November 3. ARISS arranged the direct VHF QSO  between 8J4ISS on behalf of
the Kawachi Citizen's Committee for Youths in  Japan and NA1SS onboard the
ISS. McArthur told the participating youngsters  that the climate aboard the
ISS permits the crew to dress lightly.

"It  is very, very comfortable," McArthur said. "Normally we just wear short
pants  and short-sleeve shirts and socks." And, when those clothes get dirty,
he  said in response to another youngster's question, the crew simply throws
them  out and puts on fresh clothing.

Some of the youngsters were curious about  how well the ISS crew could spot
landmarks on Earth from their perch 220  miles high in space. "We cannot see
the Tokyo Tower with just our eyes,"  McArthur responded to one questioner,
"but sometimes we can see such objects  through a telephoto lens on a camera
or with binoculars." He also told the  kids that he had not yet seen the
Great Wall of China from the ISS but "we  have taken pictures of the Great
Wall of China from space."

McArthur  and crewmate Valery Tokarev this week completed their mission's
first  spacewalk to install a new camera on the station's exterior. Onboard
the ISS  for a little more than a month, they'll return to Earth in April
after 182  days in space, McArthur told the youngsters.

McArthur was able to answer  19 of the youngsters' questions during the
nearly 10-minute contact. An  audience of more than 100 parents and relatives
and representatives from five  TV stations--including national network
NHK--and three newspapers was on hand  for the occasion.

ARISS <http://www.rac.ca/ariss> is an  international educational outreach
with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and  NASA.

==>HOLIDAY TOY DRIVE VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENTS NOW AVAILABLE

A  video public service announcement (PSA) now is available to promote  the
ARRL/The Salvation Army 2005 Holiday Toy Drive. Offered in three  formats,
these clips feature 2005 Holiday Toy Drive National Chairperson and  country
music artist Patty Loveless, KD4WUJ.

"Patty caught the feeling  of the Toy Drive perfectly in the video," said
ARRL Media and Public  Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, the ARRL
Headquarters point person for  the drive. "She expresses her concern,
compassion and a deep pride in being  an Amateur Radio operator." Pitts says
Loveless and producer Richard Lubash,  N1VXW, joined forces to produce the
high-quality public service video for the  drive.

PSA versions are available for television broadcasters as well as  for Web,
club and meeting presentations. There's a 3 MB MP4 file, a 9 MB .wmv  file
and a 480 MB .mov file (for TV broadcasters).  Visit
<http://www.hello-radio.org/> to download. 

The goal of  the ARRL/The Salvation Army 2005 Holiday Toy Drive is to
brighten the  holidays for youngsters displaced or left homeless by
hurricanes Katrina and  Rita. Between now and December 10, radio amateurs
from all across the US will  be collecting new unwrapped toys for boys and
girls aged 1 to 14 and sending  them with a QSL card (or a card bearing their
call sign) to: ARRL Toy  Drive/The Salvation Army, 1775 Moriah Woods
Blvd--Suite 12, Memphis, TN  38117-7125. Gifts already have begun to show up
in Memphis from all over the  US.

ARRL invites its members to send cash donations, if they prefer, to:  ARRL
Toy Drive, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. The League is asking all  radio
amateurs to make the holiday season a little bit brighter for kids  affected
by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 

"The hams who were in the  Gulf Coast returned with stories of devastated
families and children," Pitts  noted. "Perhaps we cannot save the whole
world, but as the holiday season  gets closer, we are showing the best traits
of a long history of service to  others when we remember those children.
Sending a new toy is a minor  inconvenience and expense to most of us, but to
the child on the other end it  can mean everything."

==>LF EXPERIMENTATION BY RADIO AMATEURS  CONTINUES QUIETLY

Experimentation by radio amateurs in the nether regions  of the radio
spectrum continues quietly and largely unnoticed outside of the  LF
community. Since the FCC turned down the ARRL's 1998 petition to create  an
Amateur Radio "sliver band" in the vicinity of 136 kHz, some US  amateur
licensees have obtained FCC Part 5 Experimental licenses to research  the
possibilities of LF, including transatlantic and transpacific  propagation. A
few hams in Canada have obtained special permission from  Industry Canada to
operate on LF using Amateur Radio call signs. The latest  noteworthy
accomplishment was a 137 kHz QSO  <http://www.w1tag.com/XDWQSO.htm> October
29 between US Experimental  licensees Laurence Howell, KL1X--operating as
WD2XDW--and John Andrews,  W1TAG--operating as WD2XES.

"This is the second two-way between US  Experimental licensees in that
frequency range, the first being a 25-mile CW  contact between K2ORS/WD2XGJ
and myself last year," said Andrews. The QSO  between Andrews, in
Massachusetts, and Howell, in Oklahoma, spanned some 1340  miles. 

In 2001, Larry Kayser, VA3LK (SK), and Laurie Mayhead, G3AQC,  received a
special Transatlantic Challenge plaque for completing the first  two-way
Amateur Radio LF contact between the UK and Canada earlier that  year.
Another plaque went to Dave Bowman, G0MRF, John Currie, VE1ZJ, and  Jack
Leahy, VE1ZZ, for completing a crossband (HF/LF) transatlantic QSO in  2000. 

A year ago, New Zealand LFer Mike McAlevey, ZL4OL, copied Howell's  WD2XDW
137 kHz carrier "bursts" over a path of more than 13,000 km (8000  miles),
while Jim Moritz, M0BMU, copied LF signals from WD2XDW, Andrews'  WD2XES and
Joe Craig, VO1NA, in Newfoundland. Craig and Alan Melia, G3NYK,  described
their LF exploits and experiences in "The Transatlantic on 2200  Meters," in
July 2005 QST  <http://www.arrl.org/qst/2005/07/craig.pdf>.

More recently, the  first confirmed transpacific reception of Canadian
Amateur Radio LF signals  occurred October 4 when the very slow speed (QRSS)
CW signals of VA7LF were  heard by ZM2E in New Zealand. "Signals from the
ZM2E club station were heard  in Canada as well, but propagation was not of
sufficient duration to enable a  QSO to be completed," said Steve McDonald,
VE7SL, one of the VA7LF operators.  ZM2E and UA0LE hold the current Amateur
Radio two-way LF world record at a  distance of 10,311 km (6393 mi). The
distance between VA7LF and ZM2E is  approximately 11,700 km (7254 mi).

LFers typically use very low data  rates and process the incoming sound-card
audio in real time using DSP  software like WOLF or ARGO.

During the October 29 contact, which took  more than two hours to complete,
Andrews was running 200 W output into a  large, tree-supported vertical loop.
Howell was running 1 kW into a  tree-supported vertical loop.

Experimentation under FCC Part 15 rules in  the vicinity of 160 to 190 kHz
has been going on for years by radio amateurs  and non-amateurs alike.
Amateur Radio licensees in Europe and elsewhere have  an allocation at 135.7
to 137.8 kHz, and most Amateur Radio experimentation  takes place in this
band.

==>ARRL 2005 FREQUENCY MEASURING TEST SET  FOR NOVEMBER 17 UTC

Returning to the airwaves November 17 at 0245 UTC  (Wednesday, November 16 in
US time zones), the 2005 ARRL Frequency Measuring  Test (FMT) once again will
call on participants to measure the frequency of  an audio tone modulating
the carrier.

"Measuring the tone frequency,  as opposed to that of the carrier, reinforces
the understanding of the  relationship between carrier frequency and the
actual components of a  transmitted signal," Engineer and ARRL Contributing
Editor Ward Silver, N0AX,  says in "Tune In the 2005 Frequency Measuring
Test," in November QST (p 54),  www.arrl.org/w1aw/fmt/2005/05fmtsilver.pdf.
"With the carrier largely  suppressed for SSB signals, only the sideband
components remain. A single  modulating tone results in a single transmitted
component." But, Silver  notes, the frequency of the absent carrier is what
the operator sees on the  radio's display.

The FMT signals will emanate from Maxim Memorial Station  W1AW this year on
160, 80 and 40 meters. The 20-meter transmission has been  dropped for 2005
because of the generally poor conditions during evening  hours on that band.
The frequencies will be 1855, 3990 and 7290 kHz, and all  transmissions will
be on lower sideband (LSB). The FMT will replace the W1AW  phone bulletin
normally transmitted at 0245 UTC on November 17 (November 16  in US time
zones).

Participants may utilize either direct or indirect  techniques to determine
the tone frequency. "Direct measurements assume a  carrier frequency and
measure the audio tone frequency directly," Silver  explains. "Indirect
measurements obtain the transmitted frequency of the tone  component at RF,
then compute the difference between the published carrier  frequency and
measured frequency."

Silver advises that since the W1AW  exciters are independent units and not
fed with a single local oscillator,  participants can expect the measured
tone frequency to differ slightly on  each band.

The test itself will consist of three 60-second tone  transmissions on each
band, followed by a station identification. The whole  test will run for
about 15 minutes and will end with a station  ID.

Submitted reports should include the participant's name, call sign  and
location plus the time of reception and the tone frequency. Those using  an
indirect measurement method should show how they calculated the  tone
frequency. Participants may submit separate reports for each band.  A
Certificate of Participation is available to all entrants. 

Those  coming closest to the measured frequency as determined by the ARRL
Laboratory  will be listed in the test report and will also receive special
recognition  on their certificate. Entries must be received via e-mail  <fmt@
arrl.org> or postmarked by December 16, 2005. Send hard-copy  entries to
W1AW/FMT, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.

==>SOLAR  UPDATE

Solar sage Tad "Tequila Sunrise" Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington,  reports:
We may be in another period of no sunspots. From October 24-28 there  was a
sunspot count of zero on each day. Three days at the beginning of the  month
were no-sunspot days, and four months ago there were five  days--July
18-22--with no spots. A year from now expect to see longer periods  of zero
sunspot readings--possibly up to several weeks--based on what the  periods
between previous sunspot cycles were like.

Geomagnetic  conditions should be fairly active today. Predicted planetary A
index for  Friday through Monday, November 11-14, is 15, 8, 5 and 5. The
Prague  Geophysical Institute predicts unsettled to active conditions on
November 11  and 12, unsettled conditions on November 13, quiet to unsettled
on November  14 and 15, and quiet conditions November 16-17. 

Sunspot numbers for  November 3 through 9 were 24, 22, 18, 34, 31, 38 and 13,
with a mean of 25.7.  10.7 cm flux was 76.8, 77.4, 79.3, 81.7, 79.4, 79.4,
and 78.1, with a mean of  78.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 24, 20,
10, 10, 6, 3 and 3, with a  mean of 10.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices
were 19, 16, 10, 12, 6, 2 and  1, with a mean of 9.4.

__________________________________

==>IN  BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: 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. JUST AHEAD: The ARRL  November
Sweepstakes (SSB), the NA Collegiate ARC Championship (SSB), the LZ  DX
Contest, the EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party, the All Austrian  160-Meter
Contest and the RSGB Second 1.8 MHz Contest (CW) are the weekend of  November
19-20. The CQ World Wide DX Contest (CW) is the weekend of November  26-27.
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 20, for  these ARRL
Certification and Continuing Education (CCE). Program on-line  courses:
Emergency Communication Level 1 (EC-001) Antenna Design and  Construction
(EC-009), Technician Licensing (EC-010), Radio Frequency  Interference
(EC-006), Digital Electronics (EC-013) and Analog Electronics  (EC-012).
Classes begin Friday, December 2. To learn more, visit the CCE  Course
Listing page <http://www.arrl.org/cce/courses.html> or contact  the CCE
Department <cce at arrl.org>.

* ARRL "Public Service  Stories" page proves popular: Amateur Radio
volunteers have posted dozens of  reports on the ARRL's new "Public Service
Stories" page  <http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/PublicServiceStories/>. The
League  thanks those who have taken the time to share their experiences.
Additional  stories are welcome! At present, the site is open to reports from
radio  amateurs who provided public service in the aftermath of hurricanes
Katrina,  Rita and Wilma and want to tell the world about their public
service  contributions. The Public Service Stories page accepts both text and
photos  for all to see. Submissions from ARRL members who are logged onto  the
League's Web site will be published immediately. Others' submissions will  be
reviewed before posting.

* 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.

* Hurricane Wilma  ARES/RACES Southern Florida activation praised: ARRL
Southern Florida Section  Emergency Coordinator Jeff Beals, WA4AW, reports
that all Amateur Radio  support in the Southern Florida Section in response
to Hurricane Wilma  secured Monday, October 31. All out-of-area operator
assistance was released  the next day. "Some shelters and feeding stations
were still in operation  through the week, and many affected areas are still
without power and  telephone service," he told ARRL November 4. Beals said
officials at the  Broward and Palm Beach county emergency operating centers
(EOCs) reported  that Amateur Radio assistance was invaluable in conducting
their tactical  operations. In addition to volunteering to supplement
communication at the  EOCs, ham radio volunteers also assisted at American
Red Cross shelters for  hurricane evacuees and at staging areas.

* Improved search capability  debuts on ARRL Web site: A new search engine
now is active on the ARRL Web  site, Webmaster Jon Bloom, KE3Z,
<jbloom at arrl.org> has announced. "The  ARRL Web site's search capability has
long been a weak spot of the site," he  allowed. "To address that problem,
we've replaced the site's search engine  with an entirely new search page
that uses a Google  <http://www.google.com> search appliance--a separate
computer running  Google's search system--that indexes and searches the ARRL
Web site." Bloom  says the change means that those using the "Search" box
atop any page on the  site not only will obtain more comprehensive and
accurate results but will  get them much faster than previously. "We hope our
site users enjoy the new  search capability, which was instituted largely at
the request of numerous  ARRL members," Bloom added.

* ARRL represented at USA Freedom Corps  briefing: ARRL Chief Development
Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, represented the  League October 14 at a USA
Freedom Corps post-Katrina briefing in Washington,  DC. She was among
representatives of some 120 representatives of nonprofit  organizations
attending the White House gathering. Deputy Assistant to the  President and
Director of USA Freedom Corps Desiree Sayle, Homeland Security  Secretary
Michael Chertoff, Housing and Urban Development Secretary Alphonso  Jackson,
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and Corporation for National  and
Community Service (CNCS) CEO David Eisner were among those who addressed  the
briefing, which focused on hurricane recovery and reconstruction.  CNCS
grants subsidized Amateur Radio emergency communications training for  some
5500 completed courses as well as the League's "Ham Aid" program to  assist
Amateur Radio Gulf Coast hurricane volunteers with out-of-pocket  expenses.
Hobart said the team of Bush Administration representatives  thanked
nonprofits for their contributions and detailed plans to continue the  Gulf
Coast recovery effort, in which Amateur Radio volunteer  involvement
continues. "The ARRL was able to talk with CNCS leadership about  future
funding for Amateur Radio," Hobart added.

* Foundation for  Amateur Radio announces scholarships: The Foundation for
Amateur Radio (FAR)  plans to administer 54 scholarships for the 2006-2007
academic year to assist  Amateur Radio licensees attending institutions of
higher education full-time.  A non-profit organization headquartered in
Washington, DC, FAR is composed of  more than 75 area Amateur Radio clubs.
FAR fully funds three of these  scholarships, 10 are funded with income from
grants and FAR administers the  remaining 41 without cost to the donors.
Radio amateurs may compete for these  awards if they plan to pursue a
full-time course of studies beyond high  school and are enrolled in or have
been accepted for enrollment at an  accredited university, college or
technical school. The awards range from  $500 to $2500 with preference given
in some cases to residents of specified  geographical areas or to those who
are pursuing certain courses of study.  Clubs, especially those in Delaware,
Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania,  Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin, are
encouraged to announce these  opportunities. For additional information and
an application form, send a  letter or QSL card postmarked prior to April 30,
2006, to FAR Scholarships,  PO Box 831, Riverdale, MD 20738. FAR is an exempt
organization under Section  501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1954.

* SSETI Express is now  OSCAR 53: AMSAT-NA has designated the now-problematic
SSETI Express satellite  as OSCAR 53--XO-53 for short. Launched October 27,
the satellite, which  carries an Amateur Radio package and deployed three ham
radio cubesats, went  silent after about five orbits. Based on telemetry
received during its short  period of operation, SSETI Express Project Manager
Neil Melville has cited an  apparent onboard power system anomaly. The
spacecraft went into a "safe mode"  due to an "undervoltage" condition caused
by battery charging problems,  Melville has said, adding that ground-based
hardware tests confirm the  possibility of a further failure mode of the
specific component that would  allow the batteries to charge and the
spacecraft to resume operation. In  thanking AMSAT's Bill Tynan, W3XO, and
the AMSAT Board for notifying the  project of the designation, Melville
remained upbeat. "As you are no doubt  aware XO-53, to use its new
designation, has some significant problems right  now," he said. "However, we
remain vigilant and hopeful, perhaps it can be  recovered." Graham Shirville,
G3VZV, says analysis of the actual cause of  SSETI Express's problems
continues, and a full review will take place later  this month. Shirville
says a number of automated ground stations have been  set up in Europe to
listen for SSETI Express on 437.250 MHz. He also invites  valid reception
reports via e-mail from the Amateur Radio community, "and if  you do hear it
first we can promise you a bigger prize than just a special  T-shirt!" he
added. "We believe that there is a small but finite chance of  recovery, so
your efforts could be very worthwhile."

* George Steber,  WB9LVI, wins October QST Cover Plaque Award: The winner of
the QST Cover  Plaque Award for October is George R. Steber, WB9LVI, for his
article "A Low  Cost Automatic Impedance Bridge." Congratulations, George!
The winner of the  QST Cover Plaque award--given to the author or authors of
the best article in  each issue--is determined by a vote of ARRL members on
the QST Cover Plaque  Poll Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/members-only/QSTvote.html>. Cast a  ballot for your
favorite article in the November issue by Wednesday, November  30.

* Darrell L. Thomas, N7KOR, SK: Former Montana ARRL Section Manager  Darrell
Thomas, N7KOR, died October 16. He was 69. Thomas served as SM for 10  years,
from 1993 until 2003, when he stepped down because of ill health.  "Darrell
was an effective SM and, despite his battle with cancer, was always  the
optimistic sort.," said ARRL Northwestern Division Director Greg  Milnes,
W7OZ. " He will be missed." Thomas was a member of the ARRL and of  the Great
Falls Area Amateur Radio Club. A retired fire chief for the Montana  Air
National Guard and the Great Falls International Airport, Thomas has  also
worked as a 911 dispatcher for the City of Great Falls. Survivors  include
his wife, Joanne, N7VTP, and a daughter and son. The family invites  memorial
donations to the Animal Foundation of Great Falls, PO Box 3426,  Great Falls,
MT 59403 or to the GFAARC Repeater Fund, PO Box 1763, Great  Falls, MT
59403.--some information from the Great Falls Tribune

* DXCC  Desk accredits operations: The ARRL DXCC Desk has approved these
operations  for DXCC credit: 6O0JT, Somalia, September 30, 2004 through April
30, 2005;  5X1W, Uganda, August 3-12, 2005; DX0K, Spratly Islands, February
1-April 30,  2005. For more information, visit the DXCC Web  page
<http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/>. "DXCC Frequently Asked  Questions" can
answer most questions about the DXCC program. ARRL DX  bulletins are
available on the W1AW DX Bulletins page  <http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/dx/>.