From W4kkw at aol.com  Fri Sep  2 22:36:06 2005
From: W4kkw at aol.com (W4kkw@aol.com)
Date: Fri Sep  2 22:40:59 2005
Subject: [FPARC] Help with communications
Message-ID: <141.4c7a6702.304a6616@aol.com>

A call is being made to any amateurs who may be able to help  with
communications in the Mississippi and Louisiana sections.  If you  can
help in any way please contact either
Jeff Beals SFL SEC at  wa4aw@arrl.net or phone 561 965 0419 or Sherri
Brower W4STB at w4stb@arrl.org  or phone 772 562 3240.Dee Turner N4GD
WCF Section Manager at n4gd@arrl.org or  phone 727 548 7474 or Neil
Lauritsen W4NHL at w4nhl@arrl.net or phone 727 339  1164.

This effort is being coordinated with North Florida Section  Manager
Rudy Hubbard, WA4PUP and Joe Bushel, W2DWR, NFL SEC and Dee Turner  N4GD
WCF Section Manager and Neil Lauritsen WCF SEC.

Anyone wishing to  help must contact Jeff or myself first as we are
compiling a list of  potential volunteers and approval is needed before
proceeding into the  area.

Thanks for any  assistance.

--------------------------------------------------------------------
ARRL  Southern Florida Section
Section Manager: Sharon T. Brower,  W4STB
w4stb@arrl.org
--------------------------------------------------------------------

From W4kkw at aol.com  Sun Sep  4 11:15:31 2005
From: W4kkw at aol.com (W4kkw@aol.com)
Date: Sun Sep  4 11:20:47 2005
Subject: [FPARC] Fwd: The ARRL Letter, Vol 24, No 34
Message-ID: <97.67007a36.304c6993@aol.com>


From W4kkw at aol.com  Sun Sep  4 11:18:09 2005
From: W4kkw at aol.com (W4kkw@aol.com)
Date: Sun Sep  4 11:23:27 2005
Subject: [FPARC] The ARRL Letter Vol. 24, No. 34 
Message-ID: <1c4.2fedf63e.304c6a31@aol.com>

***************
September 9, 2005
***************

IN THIS  EDITION:

* +Hams help in Katrina relief operations
* +"Ham Aid" grant  will support Katrina response
* +Junior ham club members in Japan enjoy space  QSO
* +BPL comes to ARRL Headquarters
*  Ham radio aids rooftop,  attic rescues
* +FCC sets comment deadlines in Morse code proceeding
*  +League enhances ARRL E-Mail Forwarding Service
*  Solar  Update
*  IN BRIEF: 
This weekend on the  radio
ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course  registration
+FCC extends license-renewal deadlines for  storm-devastated states
Radio amateurs among presenters  at FCC TAC session
ARRL included in 2005 Combined Federal  Campaign

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

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

NOTE:  ARRL HEADQUARTERS CLOSED FOR LABOR DAY, W1AW STAFFED OVER HOLIDAY
WEEKEND:  ARRL Headquarters will be closed Monday, September 5, in observance
of Labor  Day. There will be no W1AW code practice or bulletin transmissions
that day.  Because of the Hurricane Katrina disaster, ARRL staff members will
provide  coverage through the Labor Day holiday weekend from approximately
1200 UTC  until 0300 UTC each day at Maxim Memorial Station W1AW. Staff
members will be  on duty to handle questions or inquiries and to assist
served agencies and  Amateur Radio emergency communication volunteers in the
field. W1AW plans to  monitor the SATERN net on 14.265 MHz, the West Gulf
ARES Emergency Net on  7.285 MHz days/3.873 MHz nights and other emergency
and health-and-welfare  nets as resources permit. E-mail Katrina@arrl.org or
telephone 860-594-0200.  ARRL Headquarters will reopen for business Tuesday,
September 6, at 8 AM EDT.  We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable  holiday
weekend!

===========================================================

==>ARRL  PRESIDENT URGES ORDERLY AMATEUR RADIO RESPONSE TO KATRINA

ARRL President  Jim Haynie, W5JBP, this week called on the Amateur Radio
community to  exercise patience as the Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans
flooding relief  and recovery efforts move into high gear. 

"I know many people would like  to move now," Haynie said. "Please don't. I
know many of you want to enter  the fray, come to the coast and get involved.
Please, not yet." Haynie  instead advised hams eager to assist to make sure
they're prepared, refresh  their skills and knowledge of protocols and
procedures. 

The ARRL now  is seeking experienced Amateur Radio emergency volunteers to
help supplement  communication for American Red Cross feeding and sheltering
operations in  Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle. Special
consideration will be  given to operators who have successfully completed the
ARRL Amateur Radio  Emergency Communications course training (Level I
minimum) to serve as team  leaders. All interested should e-mail
<Katrina@arrl.org>, providing  name, call sign, contact information and any
equipment you can take along on  a field deployment for an indefinite period.
Volunteers may face hardship  conditions without the usual amenities and will
need to provide their own  transportation to the marshaling area.

Haynie says safety is of paramount  importance to all ARES volunteers. "For
now, the area is simply too  dangerous, and no one is being allowed in," he
pointed out. "Transportation  and logistics, including volunteer groups
coming in, must be done in an  orderly manner or we may only add to the chaos
and confusion." He requested  that ARES members and teams work through their
Section Emergency Coordinators  (SECs).

President Haynie's complete remarks are on the ARRL Web  site
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2005/09/01/1/>.

Amateur  Radio operators from Texas were deployed this week to New Orleans to
assist  in the trouble-plagued evacuation of flooding refugees from the
Louisiana  Superdome. Because of additional flooding, damage to the facility
and other  problems at the Superdome, authorities convoyed the 25,000 flood
evacuees in  the sports stadium to the Houston Astrodome and other locations
in  Texas.

Louisiana Section Emergency Coordinator Gary Stratton, K5GLS, says  ham radio
communication between Houston and the Baton Rouge, Louisiana,  emergency
operations center (EOC) September 1 was able to clarify some  logistical
issues involved with the refugee relocation effort.

While  Amateur Radio is providing support in Louisiana for various  relief
organizations, Stratton said most ham radio efforts to date have gone  toward
assisting with emergency management and search-and-rescue  operations.
Stratton says he has ARES members ready to roll once authorities  reopen the
hardest-hit parishes that have been closed off to  outsiders.

"We have people on standby from all over northern Louisiana  and from the
South Texas Section basically champing at the bit trying to find  out when
they can go," Stratton told ARRL. "It's a very tough wait."  Volunteers have
been or will be deployed into areas that are not cordoned  off, he said.

Mississippi Section Manager Malcolm Keown, W5XX, says ARES  members are
active in the three hardest-hit counties--Harrison, Hancock and  Jackson.
Amateurs there have been using HF, VHF and UHF resources to  support
emergency management as well as the Red Cross, The Salvation Army and  the
Baptist Men's Kitchen. They've also been handling  considerable
health-and-welfare traffic, Keown said.

In combination  with his role as an ARES member, Alabama SM Greg Sarratt,
W4OZK, this week  volunteered at a Southern Baptist Disaster Relief
Organization encampment in  Mobile on his state's hurricane-stricken Gulf
Coast--and he's using his  vacation time to do it. He supported communication
for the Red Cross, The  Salvation Army and Southern Baptist relief
organizations helping to feed  flood victims and supply them with
necessities.

"There's still a lot  of power outages, still a lot of damage--trees down,
roads blocked, a lot of  streets under water in the downtown Mobile area, and
a lot of people who  don't have food, electricity or phones here," Sarratt
told ARRL. "Until I got  down here, I didn't know the magnitude of the Mobile
situation." He said  Amateur Radio volunteers at the encampment are
coordinating on HF with  Alabama SEC Jay Isbell, KA4KUN, and providing
logistical communication  support for Red Cross emergency response vehicles
on VHF FM  simplex.

Sarratt will head to Mississippi and Louisiana's ravaged coastal  areas over
the holiday weekend to help out ARES volunteers already there.  "Those guys
down there have found massive devastation--no power, no cell  phones." 

The West Gulf ARES Emergency Net remains active on 7.285 MHz  days and 3.873
MHz nights, handling emergency and priority traffic only.  Health-and-welfare
traffic is being handled on 7.290 MHz days and 3.935 MHz  nights. The
Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) on 14.265  MHz has begun
concentrating on emergency and priority traffic and  shuttling
health-and-welfare requests to its Web site  <http://www.satern.org>. The
Salvation Army also is using Amateur Radio  for its tactical communications. 

Radio amateurs not involved in  emergency communication are being asked to
keep the West Gulf Emergency Net  and SATERN frequencies clear, plus or minus
5 kHz. ARRL advises that stations  not initiate any additional traffic into
the storm-affected areas at this  time.

The ARRL ARES E-Letter  <http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/ares-el/> has
posted a special  edition that contains additional details on Amateur Radio's
Katrina response  efforts. For more information, including links to report or
locate missing  individuals, visit the FirstGov.gov Hurricane Katrina
Recovery Web  page
<http://www.firstgov.gov/Citizen/Topics/PublicSafety/Hurricane_Katrina_Recov
ery.shtml>.

==>FEDERAL  GOVERNMENT GRANT TO "HAM AID" WILL SUPPORT KATRINA RESPONSE

The  Corporation for National and Community Service  (CNCS)
<http://www.nationalservice.org/> will provide a $100,000 grant  supplement
to ARRL to support Amateur Radio's emergency communication  operators in
states affected by Hurricane Katrina. The grant will help to  fund "Ham Aid,"
a new League program to support Amateur Radio volunteers  deployed in the
field in disaster-stricken areas. ARRL Chief Development  Officer Mary
Hobart, K1MMH, expressed gratitude to CNCS for its generous  response. Ham
Aid, she said, offers a unique opportunity to support  individual radio
amateurs helping to bridge the communication gap Hurricane  Katrina has
caused. 

"For the first time in ARRL history, we will be  able to reimburse some of
the expenses that hams incur in response to a  disaster," she said. "We only
wish that we could justify an expense  reimbursement program like this every
time Amateur Radio Emergency Service  volunteers are called upon to help in a
disaster or emergency, sometimes  placing themselves in harm's way."

Hobart said it's only due to the scope  of the unprecedented and tragic
Katrina disaster that CNCS agreed to help  support dedicated Amateur Radio
volunteers. "But," she added, "we'd like to  think of this grant as a token
of appreciation and a recognition of Amateur  Radio's value in past
emergencies and disasters, such as 9/11."

Hobart  says ARRL's Ham Aid program already has received some substantial
private  donations. Those and the CNCS grant, she said, provide a way for the
League  to "support our Field Organization as never before."

The CNCS Ham Aid  grant is effective for operations established and
documented as of September  1, 2005, and the aid is earmarked for Hurricane
Katrina deployments only at  this point. Guidelines are being established
that will permit volunteers who  have been involved in bona fide field
support operations on or after  September 1 to apply for a reimbursement
voucher on a per diem  basis.

Grant funds may also sustain the Ham Aid program and help to  rebuild the
emergency communications capabilities in Louisiana, Mississippi  and Alabama
to ensure that the Gulf Coast is prepared, should disaster strike  again.

The CNCS grant is an extension of ARRL's three year Homeland  Security
training grant, which has provided certification in emergency  communication
protocols to nearly 5500 Amateur Radio volunteer over the past  three years. 

"CNCS grants helped make it possible for the ARRL to train  America's hams
and make them the best all-volunteer emergency radio service  ever seen,"
Hobart said. "Now they are making it possible for the hams to use  that
training."

==>LIFE ABOARD ISS "VERY COMFORTABLE," ASTRONAUT  TELLS JAPANESE YOUNGSTERS

NASA ISS Science Officer John Phillips, KE5DRY,  told members of the Sapporo
Junior Amateur Radio Club in Japan that he's  enjoying his stay aboard the
International Space Station. The direct 2-meter  contact August 22 between
8J8X in Japan and NA1SS in space was arranged by  the Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) program.  Responding to one youngster's
question, Phillips said he finds it "very  comfortable" to be aboard the ISS,
and that it's "fun to float around." He  also shared his thoughts about the
importance of space  exploration.

"For me, the importance of spaceflight is we are pushing the  frontiers of
humanity every outward, discovering new things" Phillips said.  The US
astronaut and Expedition 11 crew commander Sergei Krikalev, U5MIR,  will
remain aboard the ISS until October.

One student wanted to know  if Phillips had experienced any difference in his
blood pressure during his  duty tour aboard the ISS. Phillips said he hasn't
noticed any big change. "I  think that maybe my blood pressure may be just a
little bit higher because  the fluids in my body are distributed differently
on the earth," he said.  "But the difference is very small." In fact, he
allowed, his blood pressure  was probably about normal.

Another ham club member asked Phillips what he  thinks about when he's
looking at Earth from the ISS. "I think that it's very  beautiful," Phillips
replied, "and that all peoples of Earth share a  responsibility for
safeguarding our planet and working together to keep the  earth beautiful for
many generations to come."

In all, 13  students--including control operator Jun Maeda, JL8AQH, a high
school  student--took part in the August 22 contact. They asked 19 questions.
In  addition to an audience of more than 40 people, two TV stations and  three
newspapers covered the event.

"This was my pleasure to talk to  the students of the Sapporo Junior Amateur
Radio Club," Phillips said in his  parting remarks. "I've been to Sapporo a
couple of times, and I have very  fond memories of that city."

Those assembled for the event broke out in  cheers and applause as the
contact concluded.

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

==>BPL AT HQ: ARRL  COOPERATING IN BPL SYSTEM EXPERIMENT

BPL has come to ARRL Headquarters,  and preliminary indications are that the
newly installed Motorola Powerline  LV system will prove Amateur
Radio-friendly. Motorola approached ARRL last  fall seeking input on a BPL
design that could avoid many or most of the  interference problems that have
plagued some other BPL systems. This past  May, Motorola introduced its
Powerline LV wireless-to-low voltage BPL  solution at the United Telecom
Council's "Telecom 2005." The ARRL said at the  time that it was "encouraged"
by Motorola's approach but reserved judgment  until it had the chance to see
a system up close. A Motorola Powerline LV  system was put into operation at
Maxim Memorial Station W1AW in late  August.

"Theory is great, but the final proof is in how things work out  in
practice," says ARRL Laboratory Manager Ed Hare, W1RFI, who's been  working
with Motorola Principal Staff Engineer Dick Illman,  AH6EZ.

Motorola says its Powerline LV system, which unites its Canopy  wireless
broadband Internet platform with enhanced ham band-notching  HomePlug
technology, drastically reduces the potential for widespread  BPL
interference. Illman says it does this by restricting the application  of
high-frequency RF to low-voltage (220 V ac) power lines instead of  to
medium-voltage wires that line many residential streets. 

In  addition, Motorola took the HomePlug modem concept to the next step by
adding  tunable hardware filters to deepen the notches and improve the
immunity of  the system to nearby ham transmitters.

At ARRL, a Motorola Canopy  wireless link was set up between ARRL
Headquarters and W1AW across the  parking lot. The system's connected into
the League's local area network on  the Headquarters side and into a 220 V ac
power drop on the W1AW end. Hare  and Illman then spent several days checking
whether the system affected  reception on the Amateur Radio bands at W1AW.

"Although more testing  needs to be done over the coming weeks, the initial
results for Amateur Radio  were positive," Hare said. "While it would be hard
to envision a BPL system  closer to more antennas and receivers, we found
only a few dB of BPL noise on  one ham band using the highest-gain antenna at
W1AW aimed right at the W1AW  building."

Hare and Illman also looked into the Powerline LV system's  immunity to the
interference from nearby transmitters. As they were testing  the system, Hare
recounts, W1AW fired up its bulletin transmissions, putting  out with more
than 1000 W simultaneously on seven bands.

"I could  hardly imagine a more difficult environment, with part of the
BPL-system  wiring 30 feet from W1AW's antennas," Hare remarked, "but the
system  continued as if the station wasn't even on the air." 

Hare says that  based on what he's seen so far, Amateur Radio operators
should be able to  operate fixed and mobile in close proximity to a Motorola
Powerline LV  installation. The Powerline LV system will remain at ARRL while
Hare  continues to test the system.

==>SATERN VOLUNTEERS HAVE PIVOTAL ROLES  IN ROOFTOP, ATTIC RESCUES

Amateur Radio was instrumental in saving  several stranded flood victims this
week in Louisiana and Mississippi. At  least one of the incidents received
national media attention. On August 29, a  call for help involving a
combination of cell telephone calls and Amateur  Radio led to the rescue of
15 people stranded by floodwaters on the roof of a  house in New Orleans.
Unable to get through an overloaded 911 system, one of  those stranded called
a relative in Baton Rouge. That person called another  relative, Sybil Hayes
in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, whose 81-year-old aunt Helen  Elzy was among those
clinging to the roof along with other family  members.

Hayes called the American Red Cross chapter, which contacted the  Tulsa
Repeater Organization. Using the Red Cross chapter's well-equipped  amateur
station, TRO member Ben Joplin, WB5VST, was able to relay a request  for help
on Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) net on  14.265 MHz
via Russ Fillinger, W7LXR, in Oregon, and Rick Cain, W7KB, in Utah  back to
Louisiana, where the ARES net contacted emergency personnel who  rescued the
15 people and got them to a Red Cross shelter.

"When all  else fails, Amateur Radio works is more than a catchy tag line,"
says TRO's  Mark Conklin, N7XYO. "It's a lifeline." National Public Radio
interviewed  Joplin about the experience for its "All Things Considered"
program on August  30. Fillinger and Cain got attention from regional media
for their role in  the rooftop rescue.

Cain passed along a similar piece of traffic a day  earlier after he got a
message that a police officer was stuck in the attic  of his house. Cain
relayed the information to others on the SATERN net, but  he still doesn't
know how the police officer's message reached him or if the  man was rescued.

SATERN National Net Director Jim Adams, WA0SLB, reports  he got a call on the
net August 29 from Bill Simpson, KE4WRH, seeking help in  locating two
elderly men trapped in their attic in Gulfport, Mississippi,  with the water
rising. The stranded men called Simpson because they  remembered that he was
a radio amateur. 

"After receiving the traffic,  I tried to get a station on frequency who
could deliver the message to  authorities, but no stations were on," Adams
recounted. He called Quentin  Nelson, WA4BZY, in Georgia, who's SATERN's
national health-and-welfare  director, and Nelson was able to contact
Salvation Army Capt John Robbins,  who, in turn, got in touch with
Mississippi State Patrol. Authorities were  able to rescue the two men.

Adams says the net handled at least two other  messages relating to
individuals trapped in attics with the water  rising.

Fillinger, a SATERN net controller, also was part of the mix  August 29 when
the net got word of a family of five trapped in an attic in  Diamond Head,
Louisiana. The family used a cell phone to call out, but it's  not known whom
they contacted initially. Bob Rathbone, AG4ZG, in Tampa, says  he checked the
address on a map and determined it was in an area struck by a  storm surge. 

Acting on a sudden inspiration, he called the US Coast  Guard
search-and-rescue station in Clearwater, explained the situation and  relayed
the information. Rathbone said he was rewarded an hour later by a  call from
the South Haven Sheriff's Department in Louisiana, which informed  him a
rescue operation was under way.

"Another search-and-rescue  operation I ran with involved three people stuck
on a roof, and one was a  child," he said. The person was able to send a text
message from a cell phone  to a family member in Michigan. Once again, the US
Coast Guard handled the  call.

"Ham radio works when all else doesn't," he  concluded.

==>COMMENT DEADLINES SET IN FCC "MORSE CODE"  PROCEEDING

The deadline to submit comments on the FCC Notice of Proposed  Rule Making
and Order (NPRM&O) in WT Docket 05-235, released July 19, is  October 31.
Reply comments are due November 14. The NPRM&O, which  proposes to do away
with the 5 WPM Morse code requirement for all license  classes, turned away
several other petition requests, including proposals to  create a new
entry-level license class. 

Comment deadlines are  established by the NPRM&O's publication in the Federal
Register, which  occurred August 31. 

To file on-line comments on the FCC NPRM&O in WT  Docket 05-235 or to view
others' comments in the proceeding, visit the FCC  Electronic Comment Filing
System (ECFS) <http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/>  and follow the instructions for
filing comments. 

Interested parties  also may submit comments via the Federal eRulemaking
Portal <http://  www.regulations.gov>. People with disabilities may contact
the FCC to  request reasonable accommodations (accessible format documents,
sign language  interpreters, CART, etc) by e-mail <FCC504@fcc.gov> or
telephone  202-418-0530 or TTY 202-418-0432. 

For additional information, contact  William T. Cross,
<William.Cross@fcc.gov>, Public Safety and Critical  Infrastructure Division,
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, 202-418-0680;  TTY 202-418-7233.
Alternative formats are available for people with  disabilities (Braille,
large print, electronic files, audio format), via  e-mail request
<FCC504@fcc.gov> or by calling the Consumer and  Government Affairs Bureau:
202-418-0530, TTY 202-418-0432. 

An FCC  Report and Order in this proceeding is not likely until late 2005 or
early  2006. 

==>ARRL E-MAIL FORWARDING SERVICE ADDS SPAM FILTERING, VIRUS  SCANNING

The popular and free ARRL E-Mail Forwarding Service has gotten  even better.
In response to users' requests, the ARRL E-mail Forwarding  Service has added
spam filtering and virus scanning on messages sent to  <call sign>@arrl.net
addresses for forwarding to League members'  established e-mail accounts.
Best of all, the service will continue to be  available to ARRL members at no
additional cost. The changes went into effect  September 1.

"Unfortunately, no single spam or virus filter is guaranteed  to catch 100
percent of undesirable e-mail traffic," cautions ARRL Chief  Financial
Officer Barry Shelley, N1VXY. "Everyone should always protect their  own
personal computer with appropriate security software, but these new  features
should help reduce the amount of spam and viruses our members  taking
advantage of this service have to deal with." 

The ARRL E-Mail  Forwarding Service provides members with a uniform e-mail
address that  remains the same even if they switch e-mail service providers.
A switch in  vendors has made it possible for ARRL to include these important
new  features. Shelley says the addition of the new features should help to
reduce  the amount of spam that arrives via ARRL E-Mail Forwarding Service
addresses  as well as provide members an additional layer of protection from
malicious,  virus-laden messages.

The enhancements are being made possible through a  switch to Interbridge,
the League's corporate Internet Service Provider. This  means members using
the ARRL E-Mail Forwarding Service now will get the same  spam filtering and
virus scanning League Headquarters receives from  Interbridge. 

To minimize the possibility that wanted mail will be  deleted as spam,
Shelley says ARRL has the ability to fine tune the filtering  program and, in
fact, has done just that over the months it's been in use for  ARRL
Headquarters e-mail. "While nothing is perfect, we have very, very  few
instances of false positives," he says.

More than 65,000 ARRL  members and clubs use the ARRL E-Mail Forwarding
Service. Members can learn  more or sign up for this service by visiting the
ARRL E-Mail Forwarding  Service Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/members-only/emailfwd.html>.  

==>SOLAR UPDATE

Solar swami Tad "Shooting Star" Cook, K7RA,  Seattle, Washington, reports:
Geomagnetic activity was down quite a bit from  last week, but solar wind and
a south-pointing Interplanetary Magnetic Field  late Wednesday left Earth
vulnerable. Mid-latitude K-index reached 4, and the  planetary K index rose
to 6. The IMF is from our sun, and the point where it  contacts Earth's
magnetic field is called the magnetopause. Earth's magnetic  field protects
us from solar wind, and the Earth's magnetic field at the  magnetosphere
usually points north. When the IMF points south, however, it is  opposite
Earth's magnetic field, and the two link up. This carries energy  from the
sun directly into the earth, and this can cause aurora and  geomagnetic
instability. This is generally bad for high-frequency radio  propagation.

The IMF was continuing to point south as of the evening of  September 1, and
this could leave Earth vulnerable to a coronal mass ejection  (CME) erupting
on the sun on Wednesday, August 31 at 2230 UTC. The wind from  this event is
traveling at about 3.36 million miles per hour, or 1500 km per  second. The
predicted planetary A index for Friday through Monday, September  2-5 is 30,
25, 10 and 10. Sunspot numbers and solar flux should rise slowly  over the
next week.

Sunspot numbers for August 25 through 31 were 76,  57, 91, 99, 88, 68 and 48,
with a mean of 75.3. The 10.7 cm flux was 92.4,  93.2, 92.1, 89.8, 89.2, 86,
and 84, with a mean of 89.5. Estimated planetary  A indices were 24, 11, 7,
7, 9, 4 and 36, with a mean of 14. Estimated  mid-latitude A indices were 18,
5, 4, 5, 5, 3 and 17, with a mean of  8.1.

__________________________________

==>IN BRIEF:

*  This weekend on the radio: The All Asian DX Contest (SSB), the Russian
RTTY  WW Contest, Wake-Up! QRP Sprint, AGCW Straight Key Party, IARU Region 1
Field  Day (SSB), RSGB SSB Field Day and the DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest
are the  weekend of September 3-4. The Michigan QRP Labor Day CW Sprint is
September  5-6. JUST AHEAD: The ARRL September VHF QSO Party, the North
American Sprint  (CW), the WAE DX Contest (SSB), the Swiss HTC QRP Sprint,
the Arkansas and  Tennessee QSO parties and the ARCI End of Summer PSK31
Sprint are the weekend  of September 10-11. 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.

* Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course registration:  Registration
for the remainder of the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency  Communications Level I
on-line course (EC-001) opens Monday, September 5, at  1201 AM EDT and will
remain open until all available seats have been filled.  Class begins Friday,
September 23 and October 14. Thanks to the United  Technologies Corporation
(UTC), the $45 registration fee paid upon enrollment  will be reimbursed to
students who complete the course requirements and are  upgraded by their
mentor to "Passed" within the 8-week course period. During  this registration
period, seats are being offered to ARRL members on a  first-come,
first-served basis. Mail in registrations may not qualify for  reimbursement.
To learn more, visit the ARRL Certification and Continuing  Education (CCE)
Web page <http://www.arrl.org/cce/>. For more  information, contact On-line
Course Coordinator Jean Wolfgang  <cce@arrl.org>; 860-594-0219.

* FCC extends license-renewal  deadlines for storm-devastated states: Because
President George W. Bush has  issued a major disaster declaration for
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama,  the FCC has announced it's extending
until October 31, 2005, certain filing  and regulatory deadlines for
licensees in those states. The extension does  not apply to licensees in
Florida, however. "We recognize that President Bush  also issued a Major
Disaster Declaration for the state of Florida on August  28, 2005," the FCC
said in a footnote to its public notice. "We do not extend  the relief
granted in this public notice to entities in the state of Florida,  because
Florida was apparently not subject to the same level of destruction  as were
parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama." The extension affects  Amateur
Radio license renewal deadlines falling between August 29 and October  30,
2005. For more information, contact Tracy Simmons  <Tracy.Simmons@fcc.gov> in
the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau,  717-338-2657.

* Radio amateurs among presenters at FCC Technology  Advisory Council
session: FCC Technology Advisory Council (TAC) members Greg  Lapin, N9GL, and
Dewayne Hendricks, WA8DZP, delivered presentations at the  TAC's July 29
meeting on the topic of shared spectrum. Lapin, who helped  organize the
gathering, discussed "Lessons Learned about Spectrum Sharing in  the Amateur
Radio Service." The TAC's purpose is to provide technical advice  to the FCC
and to make recommendations on issues and questions the Commission  presents
to the panel. Lapin says his talk "was very well received, and there  were
many comments of respect for Amateur Radio and hams' ability to  work
together to share frequencies." Hendricks focused on amateur  experimentation
on the air and discussed how hams once worked in concert with  the FCC to
study things that they wanted to know about. He also told the  story of the
growth of spread spectrum in Amateur Radio. Lapin says that when  TAC
Chairman Bob Lucky posed the question, "How do we organize amateurs to  do
all this work with no compensation?" he replied, "Excite them about the  new
technology." The entire TAC meeting is available for viewing on the  Web.
<http://www.fcc.gov/realaudio/mt072805.ram> (Lapin says his  presentation
starts at 1:50:00, and Hendricks' follows his). There's more  information
about the TAC on the FCC Web site  <http://www.fcc.gov/oet/tac/>.

* ARRL included in 2005 Combined  Federal Campaign: The Combined Federal
Campaign (CFC)  <http://www.opm.gov/cfc/> has informed ARRL that the League
has been  deemed eligible for inclusion in the 2005 CFC
National/International list.  This means federal government civilian
employees, postal and military donors  can designate their CFC pledges to the
ARRL during the campaign season,  September 1 to December 15. The League's
CFC donor code is 9872. Federal  employees who participate in the CFC can
donate all or part of their CFC  contribution to the League to support ARRL's
efforts on behalf of Amateur  Radio. Some private-sector employers also match
donations their employees  make to ARRL, while others will donate to the
League if you volunteer your  time--as an Amateur Radio Emergency Service
(ARES) volunteer, for example. To  learn how to donate to various ARRL funds,
visit the Support Amateur Radio  and ARRL Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/development/#top>. For more  information, contact ARRL
Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH,  mhobart@arrl.org;
860-594-0397; fax  860-594-0259.

===========================================================  
The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each year, by the  American
Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur Radio--225  Main St,
Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax  860-594-0259;
<http://www.arrl.org>. Jim Haynie, W5JBP,  President.

The ARRL Letter offers a weekly e-mail digest of essential  news of interest
to active amateurs. The ARRL Letter strives to be timely,  accurate, concise,
and readable. Visit ARRLWeb <http://www.arrl.org>  for the latest news,
updated as it happens. The ARRL Web site  <http://www.arrl.org/> offers
access to news, informative features and  columns. ARRL Audio News
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> is a  weekly "ham radio newscast"
compiled from The ARRL Letter. 

Material  from The ARRL Letter may be republished or reproduced in whole or
in part in  any form without additional permission. Credit must be given to
The ARRL  Letter and The American Radio Relay League.

==>Delivery problems (ARRL  member direct delivery only!):
letter-dlvy@arrl.org
==>Editorial  questions or comments: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, n1rl@arrl.org
==>ARRL News on  the Web: <http://www.arrl.org>
==>ARRL Audio News:  <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> or  call
860-594-0384

==>How to Get The ARRL Letter

The ARRL  Letter is available to ARRL members free of charge directly from
ARRL HQ. To  subscribe, unsubscribe or change your address for e-mail
delivery: 
ARRL  members first must register on the Members Only Web  Site
<http://www.arrl.org/members/>. You'll have an opportunity  during
registration to sign up for e-mail delivery of The ARRL Letter,  W1AW
bulletins, and other material. To change these  selections--including
delivery of The ARRL Letter--registered members should  click on the "Member
Data Page" link (in the Members Only box). Click on  "Modify membership
data," check or uncheck the appropriate boxes and/or  change your e-mail
address if necessary. (Check "Temporarily disable all  automatically sent
email" to temporarily stop all e-mail deliveries.) Then,  click on "Submit
modification" to make selections effective. (NOTE: HQ staff  members cannot
change your e-mail delivery address. You must do this yourself  via the
Members Only Web Site.)

The ARRL Letter also is available to  all, free of charge, from these
sources:

* ARRLWeb  <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>. (NOTE: The ARRL Letter will  be
posted each Friday when it is distributed via e-mail.)

* The  QTH.net listserver, thanks to volunteers from the Boston Amateur Radio
Club:  Visit Mailing  Lists@QTH.Net
<http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/letter-list>.  (NOTE: The ARRL
cannot assist subscribers who receive The ARRL Letter via  this listserver.) 


From w4zef at bellsouth.net  Thu Sep 15 08:35:00 2005
From: w4zef at bellsouth.net (Arthur Lindell)
Date: Thu Sep 15 08:42:15 2005
Subject: [FPARC] Fw: Greetings from Port Saint Lucie FL Hey this is the one
	you want sorry had to fix the stuff that wasn't right small
	oversight thanks pleas foward on everywhere!ETS
Message-ID: <43296A74.000001.03188@RADIOROOMSONY>

 
 
Thanks for reading this & have a great day!
73 Art W4ZEF
 
-------Original Message-------
 
From: Erin Simmons
Date: 09/15/05 00:17:02
To: ET; T&A; Stuart; ROY; Lance,Amy Hargrove; Joe Lenartiene; Jeff Beales;
Ernie; Arthur Lindell; ANGI; Andrew; Andrea St. James
Subject: Greetings from Port Saint Lucie FL Hey this is the one you want
sorry had to fix the stuff that wasn't right small oversight thanks pleas
foward on everywhere!ETS
 
Greetings from Port Saint Lucie FL, in EL-97 on the Grid Map, and you can
look to collect that call kg4yqk on 6m?s on the calling Freq. Some Saturday,
or some evening, you never know
. give me a call, I just might answer you
right back!
My name is Erin Simmons KG4YQK, or my friends just call me ?ET? and you most
serenely can to. I am the President of the P.S.L.A.R.A. here in PSL, FL. I?m
also a member of the Saint Lucie C.E.R.T. Team, along with A.R.E.S. /R.A.C.E
S. all bunched up into one. We got a good group of fellows in our clubs P.S
L.A.R.A., and the Fort Pierce Armature radio club (best field-day ever! if
you ever get a chance, come on down and let us show you what it means to
have some fun! Thanks Art, and the rest of the group!)
I?m also a trainer for F.E.M.A
well
I completed the train the trainer course
 LOL, good course
. take if offered the opportunity.
I?m coming to you today asking for help from the Ham-Community. We have a
Great bunch of boys over seas. And so it is that I come to you asking a very
small favor. I would ask that you get your clubs, co-workers etc. Behind you
in my call of ?BABY WIPES?
You see I was at work when I took a call, and on the other side of the phone
was a young solider, who after I got over my shock that I was on the phone
with one of our very own boys over there in ?the big sand-box? I remembered
where I work, You see I work for a good man, but I work for a collection Co.
Hey, it?s a job, and In my condition I?m lucky to have a job. So I?m very
thankful that I was hired, because I was injured on the job a few yrs back
when a kid hit me from behind, painfully changing my life forever, and I
live with that every day. So I am very thankful Phil took a chance on me.
Long story short this young man had a debt with our Co. That the boys got
board and made one of those phone calls that cost about $3.99 a min
OK? So
it was kind of high bill, and quite late, LOL. After talking to him for a
few minutes, understanding the fellas were just having a good laugh,
something to do I guess
I decided to let my boss know what was going on with
this guy, and his mates. Having a pretty big hart, (he is a Brit you know,
but we won?t hold that against him, some of my best friends are Brits) He
forgave the debt all together, just doing his part to make a difference in
some small way. Can?t do it for everybody or I wouldn?t be able to feed the
wife (KI4DUY) and my 6ft babies, all 3 of them! And our 3 dogs!
Towards the end of our conversation, after telling me about conditions over
there, and a 1st hand account of events, wishing him all of Gods blessings,
to keep him and his buddies safe from harm, and praying a speedy return home
for all of them. I asked him, is there anything else I can do for you? He
thought for a moment and then said ?BABY WIPES?? I said baby wipes? 
 He
said yea; see we don?t get to take showers that often here. We might get to
take one every so often. The power is only on for a few hrs a day, and we
don?t get that luxury to do something as simple as taken a shower, so yea
baby wipes! I quickly told him that I was a Ham Radio operator and I would
see what I could do knowing that Ham Radio operators are some of the best
people in the world! And we could easily pull that off! So my fellow hams
let?s get to it! This is easy, next time you go to the store pick up an
extra box of baby wipes! Got to eat anyway? What?s another $4.00, that?s
less than a pack of smokes, or a chili bravo in your local taverns. Get them
all together and you let me know and we will figure it out from there.
Either a drop off in your home town, or I?ll find some good people to gather
those up, and we will coordinate with your local Army Good Welfare packages
to our boys over seas, and I?m sure Not only the fellas in the 101st will be
thankful, but I know that you all will give from the heart, and I thank you
from the bottom of our hearts! God Bless! And 73
Erin Simmons (kg4yqk)
421 S.E. Gasparilla, Ave. 
Port Saint Lucie
FL.34983
1-772-344-6496
etasimmons@adelphia.net 
 
 
 

From w4zef at bellsouth.net  Thu Sep 22 11:30:28 2005
From: w4zef at bellsouth.net (Arthur Lindell)
Date: Thu Sep 22 11:38:52 2005
Subject: [FPARC] Dinner
Message-ID: <4332CE14.000003.02064@RADIOROOMSONY>

 This is just a reminder that we are having a club social (dinner) on this
Sat. 24,2005 at 5:00PM at  DOMINICK'S restaurant .
Fort Pierce Orange Ave. & Jenkins Rd. on the comer at the light.  Looking
forward to seeing everyone there.

 
Thanks for reading this & have a great day!
73 Art W4ZEF
 

From n4xeo at bellsouth.net  Thu Sep 22 23:40:34 2005
From: n4xeo at bellsouth.net (Bill Sinbine)
Date: Thu Sep 22 23:48:57 2005
Subject: [FPARC] Emergency communications.
Message-ID: <6.2.3.4.2.20050922233602.01dc19d0@mail.bellsouth.net>


I got this message from another list and wanted to share it with everyone...

Bottom line that you need to think about is are WE ready? Can we be ready??



http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2005/09/19/
fixing_government_after_katrina?mode=PF

Fixing government after Katrina
By Yossi Sheffi  |  September 19, 2005

THE RESPONSE of government to Hurricane Katrina is being dissected to
determine why the initial reaction was lackadaisical even though officials
knew the disaster was coming. One reason could be the culture of the
organizations involved. If this root cause is not addressed systematically
then all the special commissions, forecasting tools, special gear, and
training available will not fix the problem. And there are plenty of
examples in the corporate world to serve as a guide.

Over the last three years, a team of MIT researchers has been studying the
resilience of corporations in crisis situations. The team studied many
examples of organizations that ''made it" when disaster struck, as well as
those that faltered. And there are numerous examples of both kinds.
Following a fire in a Philips Chip plant in Albuquerque, N.M., in March
2000, Ericsson had to exit the cell phone market while Nokia increased its
market share, even though both depended on the chips from the struck plant.
After the 1999 Taiwan earthquake that disrupted the island's chip
manufacturing and 40 percent of the world's chip supplies, Apple Computers
stumbled while Dell kept increasing its market share. And Chiquita was able
to recover much faster than Dole from Mitch, the hurricane that devastated
Latin America in 1998.

The more resilient organizations were better prepared and had designed their
supply chains with greater flexibility in mind. Close examination, however,
also showed that such companies have something in their DNA that makes them
more resilient, a certain corporate culture that helped them survive and
even strive:

Empowerment of front-line employees. While it is well-known that production
line employees in Toyota factories have the authority and responsibility to
stop the line when they see a quality problem, it is less known that any
sailor on the deck of a US carrier has the right and responsibility to stop
flight operations when they detect a developing problem. Front-line
employees are close to the action and can assess what is needed; as a
disruption develops there is usually not enough time to go through the usual
chain of command.

Constant communications. Resilient enterprises communicate obsessively and
ensure that they can communicate in a disaster. Constant communication
allows employees to know the state of the system when disaster strikes and
emergency communications allow for the recovery efforts. Thus, Intel keeps
an emergency center in each region of the world where it is doing business
and each center is equipped with landline telephones, cell phones, SSB
communications, satellite phones, Internet connections, and even
globe-spanning ham radios. But resilient organizations not only have the
gear; they create the environment in which communications are important and
bad news travels fast.

The big picture. Employees in resilient enterprises are passionate about
their mission and care deeply about what they do. Don Schneider, chairman of
the largest truckload company in the US, Schneider National, explains to his
20,000 associates that they are not really in the trucking business. As
transportation enters the cost of every item sold, efficient, low-cost
trucking reduces the price and increases availability of products. Thus,
Schneider is really in the business of raising the living standards of US
consumers. At UPS, employees are keenly aware of how dependent their
customers are on timely deliveries and thus ''nobody goes home until all the
packages are delivered" regardless of disruptions.

The response to Katrina demonstrated how woefully unprepared the government
was at all levels. Instead of taking decisive actions, city, state and
federal officials argued with one another; communications broke down, and
too many civil servants, from New Orleans police officers to Louisiana state
officials to FEMA directors, did not have the urgency or the passion
required.

What has to be done is strikingly obvious -- instill a radical change in
organizational culture. Will this largely avoidable tragedy change the
culture of the organizations involved? We can only hope.

Yossi Sheffi is a professor of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, where he heads the Center for Transportation and Logistics.



Think about it .....
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on usenet and in e-mail?

73, Bill Sinbine
n4xeo@bellsouth.net 

From herbre at peoplepc.com  Fri Sep 23 09:47:20 2005
From: herbre at peoplepc.com (Herb Ellmers)
Date: Fri Sep 23 09:57:16 2005
Subject: [FPARC] Dinner
References: <4332CE14.000003.02064@RADIOROOMSONY>
Message-ID: <004e01c5c045$8a2d53f0$4c5aea04@S0028932931>

  We'll try to be there-

  Bobbie and Herb W1QPD
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: "Arthur Lindell" <w4zef@bellsouth.net>
  To: "FPARC Club" <fparc@mailman.qth.net>
  Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2005 11:30 AM
  Subject: [FPARC] Dinner


  > This is just a reminder that we are having a club social (dinner) on 
this
  > Sat. 24,2005 at 5:00PM at  DOMINICK'S restaurant .
  > Fort Pierce Orange Ave. & Jenkins Rd. on the comer at the light. 
Looking
  > forward to seeing everyone there.
  >
  >
  > Thanks for reading this & have a great day!
  > 73 Art W4ZEF
  >
  >
  > _______________________________________________
  > FPARC mailing list
  > FPARC@mailman.qth.net
  > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/fparc



