[FPARC] The ARRL Letter Vol. 24, No. 34
W4kkw at aol.com
W4kkw at aol.com
Sun Sep 4 11:18:09 EDT 2005
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September 9, 2005
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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/>
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==>Delivery problems (ARRL member direct delivery only!):
letter-dlvy at arrl.org
==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, n1rl at arrl.org
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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 at 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!
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==>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 at 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 at fcc.gov> or
telephone 202-418-0530 or TTY 202-418-0432.
For additional information, contact William T. Cross,
<William.Cross at 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 at 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 at 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 at 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 at arrl.org;
860-594-0397; fax 860-594-0259.
===========================================================
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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.
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