[FPARC] The ARRL Letter Vol. 25, No. 26 June 30, 2006

[W4kkw at aol.com]

***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 25, No. 26
June 30,  2006
***************

IN THIS EDITION:

* +Ham radio volunteers  ready as floods hit Eastern US
* +Montenegro becomes the 336th DXCC  entity
* +Space campers in Belgium query ISS crew member via ham radio
*  +FCC levies fine for marketing non-certificated CBs as ham radio gear
*  +Fires keeping Southwestern ham radio volunteers on alert
* +Contest Soapbox  ready for your Field Day writeups, photos
* +NCJ to offer WRTC-2006  blogs
*  Solar Update
*  IN BRIEF:
This  weekend on the radio
ARRL Certification and Continuing  Education course registration
+ARRL, IARU HQ mults will be on  the air for IARU HF World Championship
WRTC-2006 requests  IARU HF World Championship logs
ARRL "DXCC Dialog" blog  debuts
Field Day at W1AW slide show available
Educator astronaut gets on the air for Kids Day
New IRC available July 1
Correction  regarding Director/Vice Director eligibility

+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
===========================================================
NOTE:  ARRL Headquarters will be closed Tuesday, July 4, for the Independence
Day  holiday. There will be no W1AW code practice or bulletin transmissions
that  day. ARRL Headquarters will reopen Wednesday, July 5, at 8 AM EDT. We
wish  everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday  weekend!
===========================================================

==>ARES/RACES  TEAMS HANDLE FLOOD DUTY IN MIDDLE ATLANTIC STATES

Amateur Radio  volunteers this week supported communication or remained on
alert to assist  relief organizations and local emergency managers in
flood-stricken regions  of the Eastern US. Widespread flooding in several
states claimed at least a  dozen lives. ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania PIO Bob
Josuweit, WA3PZO, says ham  radio volunteers in 10 counties in his Section
actively aided local law  enforcement, emergency management agencies and the
Red Cross, which set up  about a dozen evacuation centers.

"Hams in some areas may be on duty for  several days as river levels slowly
drop below flood stage," Josuweit told  ARRL June 29. The Delaware River --
which separates New Jersey and  Pennsylvania -- crested June 29, and the
Susquehanna River a day  earlier.

A mandatory evacuation order affecting some 200,000 residents of  the Wilkes
Barre area in Luzerne County was lifted June 29. Josuweit reports  that the
Susquehanna crested at nearly 34 feet, 12 feet above flood stage for  that
area. "In areas where the water has already receded, many utilities  are
still out of service and local officials are advising residents to stay  away
from the their homes until at least Saturday [July 1]," Josuweit  said.

Despite flooding in the area, Josuweit says the Wilkes Barre  hamfest
<http://www.qsl.net/k3ytl> sponsored by the Murgas Amateur  Radio Club will
go on as scheduled Sunday, July 2, at the Luzerne County  Fairgrounds, Route
118, Lake Lehman.

ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania Section  Emergency Coordinator Al Rabenau, W3AHR,
reported the Schuylkill River  receding as of June 29. He said Bucks County
ARES had been on alert status  since June 28. Members established a VHF
repeater net and have been staffing  several EOCs and shelters. Bucks County
EC Harris Stein, NY3H, says  ARES/RACES was trimming down some operations at
week's end but will continue  Red Cross support through the holiday weekend.
He anticipates needing  operators to assist with damage assessment July 1 and
to replace shelter  operators.

Due to topography, flooding along the Delaware typically is  worst in Bucks
County and in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. ARRL Hunterdon  County District
Emergency Coordinator David Kanitra, WB2AZE, this week placed  Hunterdon ARES
on a Level 1 alert for possible deployment to assist  RACES.

In Mercer County, New Jersey, Emergency Coordinator Kip Burnett,  KB2EGI,
reported his ARES/RACES team was on standby and no longer staffing  the EOC,
which remains active. "We may be needed later to assist with  water
deployment or some other situation," he said. ARES/RACES personnel at  the
EOC this week monitored river levels.

Burnett called the flooding  "basically a repeat of the October 2004 and
April 2005 floods," and said  officials evacuated the same locations -- an
area called "The Island" -- in  Trenton as well as parts of Titusville.
Conventional communication systems  remained intact.

In Binghamton, New York, and surrounding Broome County  authorities ordered
the evacuation of some 15,000 residents as the  Susquehanna and Chenango
rivers overflowed their banks, putting some  neighborhoods under several feet
of water. Parts of Interstates 81 and 88 as  well as State Route 17 were
closed.

In Delaware last weekend, Justin  Kates, KB3JUV, says ARES volunteers
diverted their attention from Field Day  and prepared to support
communication in the wake of flooding in Sussex  County, which received 15
inches of rain in some areas. "Emergency management  had a difficult time
providing road and medical crews to the affected areas  due to the high
water," Kates told ARRL. The weather event also disrupted  conventional
communication systems.

While formal activation was  unnecessary, Amateur Radio volunteers remained
poised to supply any needed  communication assistance. A SKYWARN activated,
however, and volunteers  relayed rainfall reports as well as road and highway
reports.

==>UN  MAKES IT OFFICIAL: MONTENEGRO NOW NUMBER 336 ON THE CURRENT DXCC LIST

A  new ARRL DXCC entity came into being this week! As expected, the  United
Nations admitted the Republic of Montenegro as its 192nd member June  28, and
that action automatically makes the tiny Balkan nation the 336th  current
DXCC entity.

"According to the ARRL DXCC List criteria,  entities on the UN list of
member-states qualify as political entities," said  ARRL Membership Services
Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG. "Therefore, effective  June 28, 2006 (UTC), ARRL
has added The Republic of Montenegro to the DXCC  List. Claims for DXCC
credit will be accepted immediately."

The Daily  DX <http://www.dailydx.com> this week quoted Ranko Boca, YT6A,
that  current Montengrin radio amateurs may use their current
Serbia-Montenegro  call signs until the International Telecommunication Union
(ITU) designates a  call sign block for the new country.

In anticipation of Montengro's new  nation status, International DX Festival
Montenegro  <http://www.yu6scg.cg.yu/international-dx-festival.html> has been
set  for July 20 until August 12. That's when several international operators
—  with Boca as DXpedition leader and well-known DXer Martti Laine, OH2BH,  as
radio operations leader — will join forces with Montenegrin Amateur  Radio
operators from at least three different stations using a common call  sign in
an effort to meet the DX community's need to work the newest DXCC  Entity.
Festival organizers have set the ambitious goal of 200,000 contacts  for the
event, which will use all HF bands.

The event also will  include several basic courses on ham radio operating and
CEPT license  examinations aimed at new and less-experienced radio amateurs.
Another goal  is to establish an Amateur Radio Club of Montenegro

Others scheduled to  take part in the DX Festival include ARRL CEO David
Sumner, K1ZZ, and XYL  Linda, KA1ZD; 3Y0X team member Bob Grimmick, N6OX;
IARU Region 1 Executive  Committee member Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T;
Carsten Esch, DL6LAU, and  Vladan Kecman, YT3T/YU1AO.

Montenegro declared its independence on June 3  following a national
referendum May 21.--The Daily DX; ARRL DXCC  Desk

==>EUROPEAN SPACE CAMPERS QUIZ ASTRONAUT ON SPACE LIFE,  RESEARCH

A group of British space campers at the Euro Space Center (ESC)  in Belgium
went right to the source via ham radio and teleconference to get  answers to
their questions about life and work aboard the International Space  Station.
The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)  program
arranged the June 13 contact with US Astronaut Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ,  at
NA1SS. One camper wanted to know whether a human space flight to Mars  would
be possible by 2020, as has been projected.

"Oh, I think it's  realistic," Williams replied. "It depends upon the
countries that are  involved and how committed they are to the programs to
make them happen by  2020."

Answering another space camper, Williams outlined some potentially  practical
benefits of the scientific research occurring onboard the  ISS.

"You never know when you're doing research what the benefits are  going to be
until way off in the future," Williams qualified. "We are working  on
research to prevent kidney stones -- renal stones. That's very important  for
us in a weightless environment, and that will have direct application  to
those on the ground."

Williams said he and Expedition 13 Commander  Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, also
are conducting studies on bone density.  Experience has shown that the
weightless environment appears to affect bone  density of astronauts and
cosmonauts on long-term duty in space.

As  other ISS crew members before him have said, viewing Earth from the ISS
is  awe inspiring. "It definitely changes your vision of the world. It's a
very  humbling experience to see the earth from this vantage point,"  Williams
responded. "The earth is a beautiful planet from above, and it  definitely
makes you more aware of what we've been given in our world and  that we need
to be good stewards of it."

One questioner wanted to know  if Williams saw the flashes of light in his
eyes -- believed due to cosmic  rays -- that other space travelers have
reported. Williams said he does see  them, especially when he closes his eyes
to sleep, but they're not very  bothersome. "It's just a very quick flash out
of the corner of your eye," he  explained.

Serving as the Earth station for the contact with NA1SS was  W6SRJ at Santa
Rosa Junior College in California. Verizon Conferencing  donated a
teleconference link to handle two-way audio between the ESC and  California.
Contact audio was distributed worldwide via EchoLink and  IRLP.

Some 60 teenaged students and their teachers from Gillingham  School, Dorset,
England, were at the ESC Space Camp the week the contact took  place.
According to ARISS-Europe's Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, youngsters from  many
European countries visit the space camp, which includes a permanent  Space
Expo and an Amateur Radio club station, ON4ESC.

Twenty questions  were asked and answered, and there was time left over for
Bertels to express  thanks on behalf of the students, and the youngsters gave
a resounding  applause. Williams signed off by encouraging the students to
make the most of  their space camp experience and suggested that some of them
might contribute  to space exploration in the future.

Also visiting on the day of the event  were 50 French schoolchildren. A
teacher translated the questions and the  answers into French for their
benefit.

After the contact, an ARISS  member conducted a half-hour question-and-answer
session with the students.  Six of their questions focused on ARISS
activities.

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

==>FCC AFFIRMS FINE FOR MARKETING NON-CERTIFICATED CBs AS HAM  TRANSCEIVERS

The FCC has affirmed a $7000 fine it proposed to levy on  TravelCenters of
America in Troutdale, Oregon, for marketing uncertificated  Citizens Band
(CB) transceivers as 10-meter Amateur Radio transceivers. In a  Forfeiture
Order (NoF) released June  29
<http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1334A1.pdf>,  the
FCC turned away TravelCenters' argument that the transceivers in  question
were not CB transceivers, which require FCC certification, but  Amateur Radio
transceivers, which do not. The Commission says its Office of  Engineering
and Technology (OET) determined that the radios in question --  manufactured
by Galaxy -- could be easily modified to operate on CB  channels.

"TravelCenters provides no evidence to show that the Galaxy  models it
offered for sale were not easily modified," the FCC said in its  NoF.
"Therefore, we find that the subject Galaxy models were CB  transmitters
pursuant to Section 95.603(c), regardless of the signs  TravelCenters placed
near the point of purchase." The signs advised that the  units were Amateur
Radio transceivers, not CB radios, and a license was  required.

In May, an FCC Order concluded a similar case in which the  Commission had
imposed $125,000 in fines on Pilot Travel Centers LLC for  continuing to
market CB transceivers labeled as Amateur Radio gear but  intended for use on
both CB and amateur frequencies. Under the terms of a  consent decree, Pilot
agreed to make "a voluntary contribution" of $90,000 to  the US Treasury
"without further protest or recourse," but did not admit to  any wrongdoing.
Pilot further agreed to refrain from marketing as "Amateur  Radio" gear any
transmitting devices with built-in features to facilitate CB  operation.

The FCC required Pilot to remove from sale Galaxy transceiver  models
DX33HML, DX66V and DX99V. Those units also were among the radios the  FCC
cited in the TravelCenters proceeding. Some of the Galaxy transceivers  at
issue in the TravelCenters' case have only CB-like channel knobs  and
indicators for tuning, although the more expensive models sport a  digital
frequency readout. Most of the units transmit only in AM and FM  mode.

In affirming the $7000 fine, the FCC cited a 1999 letter from the  FCC's
Office of General Counsel (OGC) on the importation and marketing of  ham
radio transceivers. The OGC's letter clarified that transmitters having  "a
built-in capacity to operate on CB frequencies and can easily be altered  to
activate that capacity, such as by moving or removing a jumper plug  or
cutting a single wire" fall within the definition of a CB transmitter  and
must obtain FCC certification prior to importation or  marketing.

The FCC also turned away TravelCenters' argument that  Commission efforts 10
years ago to clarify the definition of a CB transceiver  in an OET Public
Notice violated the Administrative Procedures Act. The FCC  countered that it
had relied on the OGC's letter and its interpretation of  §95.603(c) as well
as the OET's recent determination regarding the specific  transceiver models
in question. The Commission further noted that §95.655(a)  of its rules
states that no transmitter will be certificated for CB use if  "equipped with
a frequency capability" not listed in Part 95 as CB  transmitter channel
frequencies.

The TravelCenters case dates back to  the fall of 2001, when an FCC agent
visited the TravelCenters' retail store  in Troutdale and observed six models
of "CB transceivers" that had not  received FCC certification. The FCC's
Portland, Oregon, Field Office issued a  Citation to TravelCenters' Troutdale
store later that fall for selling  non-certificated CB transceivers. It
warned TravelCenters that future  violations could lead to fines and seizure
of equipment.

In July 2005  the FCC's Enforcement Bureau issued a Notice of Apparent
Liability (NAL)  proposing the $7000 fine for "apparently willfully and
repeatedly" violating  §302(b) of the Communications Act and §2.803(a)(1) of
its rules "by offering  for sale a non-certified CB transceiver."

==>ARIZONA, NEW MEXICO ARES  TEAMS KEEP CLOSE EYE ON WILDFIRES

As firefighters gained the upper hand  with the Brins Fire near Sedona,
Arizona, and some evacuation orders have  been lifted, Amateur Radio
Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers were in a  holding pattern at week's end.
The fire burned more than 4300 acres and was  90 percent contained by
midweek.

"We are essentially just in a standby  mode if something should change," ARRL
Arizona SEC Rick Aldom, W7STS, told  ARRL Headquarters. Two Red Cross
evacuation centers closed over the June  24-25 weekend.

Evacuations for some Oak Creek Canyon residents remained  in effect at
midweek, impacting nearly 600 homes and 40 businesses. State Rte  89A
remained closed to the general public, but authorities reopened the  highway
to residents, business owners, service providers and emergency  vehicles June
27. Individuals entering the area must provide  identification.

Officials believe the Brins Fire, some two miles north of  Sedona in the
Coconino National Forest, resulted from an escaped campfire.  "The
firefighters who responded to this fire have done an incredible job  of
saving not only one of the more scenic areas of Arizona, but nearly  500
structures that were threatened," Aldom commented. "Had this fire jumped  the
fire lines, it would have become really ugly, really fast."

In New  Mexico, Sandoval County Amateur Radio Emergency Service (SCARES) was
well  into its Field Day exercise on Saturday, June 24, when Sandoval
County's  emergency manager notified District Emergency Coordinator Mike
Scales, K5SCA,  of a forest fire north of Cuba, near Gallina, in the Santa Fe
National  Forest. The SCARES Field Day ended abruptly, and members went on
standby  until Scales could assess the needs at the Bear Paw fire scene.

By 7 PM,  Scales and Vance Loen, WV5L, were in Sandoval County's  Emergency
Communication Vehicle — "Command 7" — en route to assist with  any
evacuations and to coordinate communication among Sandoval and Rio  Arriba
counties and the US Forest Service. Until then Command 7 had been used  for
Field Day.

By June 28, the Bear Paw Fire had consumed 3200 acres  in sage and ponderosa
and full containment was expected by June 29. A downed  power line apparently
caused the fire, but the circumstances remain under  investigation. At one
point, the fire threatened the communities of Gallina  Plaza and Bear Paw,
prompting a mandatory evacuation order for Gallina Plaza  and a voluntary
evacuation advisory for Bear Paw. State Road 96 was closed,  and an
evacuation shelter was set up in Cuba.

SCARES members remained  on stand-by at the scene in Command 7, while Bill
Kauffman, W5YEJ, and Marlin  Allison, K5MHA, kept an ear on the SCARES
repeater on Pajarito Peak from Rio  Rancho.

At week's end, no ARES/RACES personnel were on active fire duty  in New
Mexico. "Fire season is not over," New Mexico SEC Rick Sohl, K5RIC,  has
reminded all ARES members nonetheless. Although several of the  state's
forest and range fires have been doused with rains over the past  week, new
ones continue to break out.—Charlie Christman, K5CEC; National  Fire
Information Center

==>POST YOUR FIELD DAY 2006 PHOTOS AND  EXPERIENCES ON THE CONTEST SOAPBOX

ARRL invites participants in ARRL  Field Day 2006 to post photos and
narratives to its Contest Soapbox  <http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/>
for all to see. It's not only  fun and easy, but your photos and writeup
could become part of the annual  Field Day summary that appears in December
QST.

Several participants  have already taken the opportunity to tell their Field
Day tales on the ARRL  Contest Soapbox, which is open to ARRL members and
non-members alike.  Narratives should focus on your or your club's or group's
involvement in  Field Day.

The League reserves the right to edit or even to decline  postings it
considers inappropriate for this forum. The potential audience  for your post
is broad, so good taste is a must. Responsibility for all  posted material
rests solely with the author, and the ARRL staff assumes no  responsibility
for errors, omissions or accuracy of items appearing in the  Contest Soapbox.


Direct any questions and comments on to the author  of the post. If you have
questions or comments about using Contest Soapbox,  contact the ARRL Contest
Branch  <contests at arrl.org>.

==>FOLLOW WRTC-2006 VIA THE NCJ WEB SITE  BLOGS

The year's premier global contesting event, World Radiosport  Team
Championship 2006 (WRTC-2006)  <http://www.wrtc2006.com/site/home.asp>, takes
place July 8-9 in  conjunction with the IARU HF World  Championship
<http://www.iaru.org/contest.html>.

Via Web logs  (blogs), the National Contest Journal (NCJ) is giving you a
front-row seat as  top-notch contesters in two-person teams from around the
world compete on HF  from Brazil on as level a playing field as possible. The
contest period is  1200 UTC Saturday, July 8, until 1200 UTC Sunday, July 9.
Winners will be  announced Monday, July 10, at the awards dinner.

The NCJ WRTC-2006 blogs  will include the musings and general comments of
WRTC-2006 competitors,  referees and log checkers. We invite NCJ readers to
post their comments as  well.

Access the blogs from the NCJ home page  <http://www.ncjweb.com/> or from the
WRTC-2006 coverage section  <http://www.ncjweb.com/wrtc2006blogs.php>.
Postings have already begun  and will continue -- on a time-available basis,
since the contributors do  have WRTC-2006 responsibilities -- until WRTC-2006
wraps up.

Blog  contributors are: Doug Grant, K1DG; Randy Thompson, K5ZD; Jeff Briggs,
K1ZM;  Ann Santos, WA1S; Tim Duffy, K3LR; Eric Scace, K3NA; Glenn Johnson,
W0GJ;  Ward Silver, N0AX; Dean Straw, N6BV; Tree Tyree, N6TR; Rusty Epps,
W6OAT, and  Dale Green, VE7SV.

The National Contest Journal thanks these contributors  for being willing to
share their personal WRTC-2006 experiences with the  Amateur Radio community.
Also, thanks to Bruce Horn, WA7BNM, for suggesting  this blog and putting it
on the NCJ Web site, and to the ARRL for shipping  300 copies of the special
WRTC-2006 July/August NCJ issue to  Brazil.

==>SOLAR UPDATE

Solar swami "You Are My Sunshine" Tad  Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington,
reports: There were no sunspots for Field  Day weekend, but a big new sunspot
(897) rotated into view this week.  Followed by sunspot 898, it looks like a
moderately rising solar flux and  sunspot number will be with us through July
6.

A solar wind stream  caused elevated geomagnetic numbers on June 28 and 29,
and this may happen  again around July 3-5. Geophysical Institute Prague
predicts quiet conditions  over June 30 to July 3, quiet to unsettled on July
4, unsettled to active on  July 5, and unsettled on July 6.

For more information concerning  propagation and an explanation of the
numbers used in this bulletin see the  ARRL Technical Information Service
Propagation page  <http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html>.

Sunspot numbers  for June 22 through 28 were 0, 0, 0, 13, 14, 33 and 38, with
a mean of 14.  The 10.7 cm flux was 72.1, 71.8, 73.6, 74, 76.4, 78.5, and
83.5, with a mean  of 75.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 6, 2, 4, 5, 3,
6 and 18, with a  mean of 6.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 6, 1, 2,
3, 1, 7 and 12,  with a mean of 4.6.

__________________________________

==>IN  BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: The RAC Canada Day Contest is July 1.  The
Venezuelan Independence Day Contest, the DL-DX RTTY Contest, the  Original
QRP Contest, the DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest are the weekend of  July 1-2.
The RSGB 80-Meter Club Championship (CW) is July 3. The ARS Spartan  Sprint
is July 4. The MI QRP July 4th CW Sprint is July 4-5. JUST AHEAD:  The
VK/Trans-Tasman 160-Meter Contest (phone) is July 8. The IARU HF  World
Championship, the FISTS Summer Sprint, the Six Club Contest and the  ARCI
Summer Homebrew Sprint are the weekend of July 8-9. The RSGB 80-Meter  Club
Championship (SSB) is July 12. The Thursday NCCC Sprint Ladder is July  14.
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 Friday July 7, for these  ARRL
Certification and Continuing Education (CCE) program on-line  courses:
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 2 (EC-002) Amateur  Radio
Emergency Communications Level 3 (EC-003R2) Antenna Modeling (EC-004)  HF
Digital Communications (EC-005) VHF/UHF -- Life Beyond the Repeater  (EC-008)
and Radio Frequency Propagation (EC-011) Classes begin Friday, July  21. 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, IARU HQ mults will be on the  air for IARU HF World Championship:
During the International Amateur Radio  Union (IARU) HF World Championship
Contest July 8-9, W1AW/4 will provide the  ARRL Headquarters multiplier from
Tennessee, with the Tennessee Contest Group  hosting the operation. Supplying
the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)  HQ multiplier will be NU1AW/8,
operating from sites in Michigan and Ohio,  hosted by Dave Pruett, K8CC, and
friends from the Mad River Radio Club and  the North Coast Contesters. The
World Radiosport Team Championship 2006 (WRTC  2006) in Brazil takes place
concurrently with the IARU HF World Championship,  although WRTC rules differ
in some respects from those of the IARU event, and  scoring is separate. IARU
HF World Championship Contest rules are on the ARRL  Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/iaru.html>.

*  WRTC-2006 requests IARU HF World Championship logs: World Radiosport  Team
Championship 2006 (WRTC-2006) <http://www.wrtc2006.com/> officials  want as
many logs as possible from IARU HF World  Championship
<http://www.iaru.org/contest.html> participants within six  hours of the
event's end. The WRTC-2006 competition among 47 top contesting  teams from
around the globe takes place in Brazil July 8-9, coinciding with  the IARU HF
World Championship event. Because WRTC-2006 winners will be  announced on
July 10, event organizers want IARU contest logs enhance the  accuracy of
WRTC-2006 log checking. WRTC-2006 is especially interested in  logs from HQ
stations, since these serve as multipliers for both events.  E-mail complete
IARU HF World Championship logs in Cabrillo format by 1800  UTC Sunday, July
9, to <logs at wrtc2006.com>. WRTC-2006 has announced a  lottery and prizes for
early receipt of IARU contest logs  <http://www.wrtc2006.com/release52.html>.
Note that submission of IARU  contest logs does not constitute an official
entry for the IARU HF World  Championship. That is an entirely separate
entry, and the usual deadline and  submission requirements apply.
[WRTC-2006-logo.jpg]

* ARRL "DXCC  Dialog" blog debuts: The ARRL DXCC Desk has inaugurated the
"DXCC Dialog  Weblog" <http://www.arrl.org/blog/DXCC%20Dialog> — containing
news and  notes about the ARRL DXCC program. "This page will have  up-to-date
information about the DXCC program," says ARRL Membership Services  Manager
Wayne Mills, N7NG. "It does not provide for users to post responses,  but
authors and e-mail addresses are listed." The blog will be updated as  needed
to inform and update the DXing community regarding news of  interest.

* Field Day at W1AW slide show available: A slide show, "Field  Day at W1AW,"
now is available on the ARRL Web  site
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/FD2006-W1AW/>. Photographed and  produced
during Field Day 2006 by ARRL Web/Software Development Manager Jon  Bloom,
KE3Z, the 4-1/2 minute presentation "was created to give members a  feel for
what happens at W1AW on Field Day," he says. It also provides a peek  inside
W1AW for those who have never visited. "The slide show is presented  using
Adobe Flash format. Adobe Flash Player 7 or later and a compatible  Web
browser are needed to play the slide show," he notes, adding that  most
computers already have a copy of Flash Player installed. If not,  Flash
Player is a free for download from  Adobe
<http://www.adobe.com/go/gntray_dl_getflashplayer>. The show can  be played
directly from the Web site in either a large format — suitable for  broadband
Web users — or in a smaller format more attuned to dial-up  Internet
connections.

* Educator astronaut gets on the air for Kids  Day: NASA Educator Astronaut
Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, KE5DAT, spent an  hour or so on the air June 17
talking to youngsters around the US during ARRL  Kids Day. She spoke with
about a dozen kids and ham radio operators from  W5RRR at the Johnson Space
Center in Houston. Assisting her at the microphone  was Kent Castle, W5OJ,
who spent several hours on 20 meters before and after  KE5DAT's visit,
chatting with youngsters taking part in the twice-a-year  activity.
Metcalf-Lindenburger joined the NASA Astronaut Corps in  2004.--Kenneth
Ransom, N5VHO

* New IRC available July 1: The Universal  Postal Union (UPU) has announced
that a new International Reply Coupon (IRC)  design
<http://www.dailydx.com/2007irc.jpg> has been selected. Radio  amateurs often
enclose IRCs when QSLing DX stations directly to cover the  cost of return
postage. The new design, known as "Beijing Model No. 2," was  submitted by
Volodymyr Taran, a graphic artist from Ukraine. Chosen by a jury  of 40 UPU
member countries, the coupon design was inspired by Michelangelo's  painting
on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel -- two fingers about to touch  framed in
a postage stamp, representing the notions of communication and  exchange. The
new IRC will be valid until December 31, 2009. The current IRC  is valid
through December 31, 2006. For more information on IRCs, see the  June 1999
issue of QST (page 83).--The Daily DX  <http://www.dailydx.com>

Correction regarding Director/Vice  Director eligibility: The July QST "It
Seems to Us . . ." editorial misstates  the eligibility requirements to run
for ARRL Director and Vice Director. The  membership/licensing requirements
are four years of continuous full  membership and four years of continuous
holding of a valid authorization as a  radio amateur in accordance with the
applicable laws and regulations of the  United States immediately  preceding
nomination.

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