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average daily sunspot numbers were 193.5, 152.7, 120.3, 107.3, 110.2 and
99.2. Average daily solar flux for the same six quarters were 178.1,
164.2, 134.3, 124.2, 120.8 and 137.4.

Average daily sunspot numbers for 1997 through 2003 were 30.7, 88.7,
136.3, 173, 170.3, 176.6 and 109.2. Average daily solar flux for the same
seven years was 81, 117.9, 153.7, 179.6, 181.6, 179.5 and 129.2. By
averaging the daily numbers on an annual basis, we certainly can see a
decline in the solar cycle over the past few years.

Over the next week, expect solar flux numbers between 120 and 125. A
geomagnetic forecast for January 1 predicted planetary A index values for
January 2-8 of 20, 15, 35, 30, 35, 35 and 25. With the exception of this
Saturday, January 3, those numbers portend rough conditions with
geomagnetic storms--especially in those cases where the A index is above
30. This should be the result of a big blast of solar wind beginning on
Sunday, January 4.

Remember that the long winter nights are great for 160, 80, 60, 40 and 30
meters. The typically higher summertime noise is long gone, and long hours
of darkness are great for the lower frequencies--at least when there isn't
a major geomagnetic storm.

Sunspot numbers for December 25 through 31 were 58, 65, 47, 47, 56, 15 and
25, with a mean of 44.7. The 10.7 cm flux was 139.1, 137.2, 161.5, 119,
114.5, 107.7 and 105.6, with a mean of 126.4. Estimated planetary A
indices were 6, 9, 12, 12, 6, 8 and 17, with a mean of 10.

__________________________________

==>IN BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: The ARRL RTTY Roundup, the EUCW 160-Meter
Contest, and Kid's Day (Sunday, January 4--see below) are the weekend of
January 3-4. JUST AHEAD: The North American QSO Party (CW), the Hunting
Lions in the Air Contest, the East Asia 160/80 DX Contest, the UK DX
Contest (SSB), the Midwinter Contest (CW), the NRAU-Baltic Contest
(separate CW and SSB events), the Midwinter Contest (SSB) and the DARC
10-Meter Contest are the weekend of January 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.

* Reminder: Kid's Day is Sunday, January 4! The first 2004 running of this
popular operating event will be Sunday, January 4, 1800 to 2400 UTC, with
no limit on operating time. This marks the first time this event will take
place on a Sunday. Kid's Day offers a "mentoring opportunity" for
experienced amateurs while giving youngsters--licensed or not--some
firsthand hamming experience and perhaps sparking a lifelong interest.
"Kid's Day is an opportunity to introduce your own youngsters,
neighborhood kids and nieces and nephews to participate in the magic of
ham radio," suggests Jean Wolfgang, WB3IOS, of ARRL Field and Educational
Services. Now entering its tenth year, each running of Kid's Day typically
attracts more than 1000 participants. The suggested exchange is name, age,
location and favorite color. Stations may work the same station again if
an operator has changed. Call "CQ Kid's Day." Suggested frequencies are
14.270-14.300, 21.380-21.400 and 28.350-28.400 MHz plus 2 meter repeater
frequencies, with permission from the repeater's sponsor). Guidelines for
this event are available on the ARRL Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kd-rules.html>. All participants are
eligible to receive a colorful certificate. Visit the ARRL Kid's Day
Survey page <http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kids-day-survey.html> to
complete a short survey and post your comments. Kid's Day participants are
invited to post logs and comments on the Internet
<http://lists.contesting.com/pipermail/kids/>.

* ARRL Emergency Communications course registration: Registration opens
Monday, January 5, 12:01 AM Eastern Time (0501 UTC), for the on-line ARRL
Level I Emergency Communications course (EC-001). Registration remains
open through the January 10-11 weekend or until all available seats have
been filled--whichever comes first. Class begins Tuesday, January 20.
Thanks to our grant sponsors--the Corporation for National and Community
Service and the United Technologies Corporation--the $45 registration fee
paid upon enrollment will be reimbursed after successful completion of the
course. During this registration period, approximately 175 seats are being
offered to ARRL members on a first-come, first-served basis. Senior
amateurs are strongly encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity. To
learn more, visit the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/cce/> and the C-CE Links found there. For more
information, contact Emergency Communications Course Manager Dan Miller,
K3UFG, <dmiller at arrl.org>;; 860-594-0340. [ARECC logo]

* ARECC/ARES seminar set in New York City-Long Island Section: The ARRL
will offer a condensed version of its free Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications seminar Sunday, January 18, 8-10 AM, in conjunction with
the New York City-Long Island Section Convention (Ham Radio University
2004) at East Woods School in Oyster Bay, Long Island. The seminar does
not include the Level I course itself. This program is designed to explain
in greater detail the duties of all Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
Course participants and how their volunteer efforts are essential to the
ARES Field Organization. Senior Citizens are strongly encouraged to
participate. "This seminar will explain the importance of every team
player with emphasis on using lessons learned to effectively move Amateur
Radio emergency communications to the next level," said ARRL Emergency
Communications Course Manager Dan Miller, K3UFG. The seminar is open to
all interested hams. Field Organization leaders and course participants at
every ARECC level--mentors, certification instructors, certification
examiners and current students--are encouraged to attend and share their
experiences. The seminar will focus on coordination between ARECC
volunteers and students and their integration into the Field Organization.
Seating may be limited. If planning to attend, contact Dan Miller, K3UFG,
<k3ufg at arrl.org>;; 860-594-0340; FAX 860-594-0259. Seminar attendance does
not include admission to the convention. For convention information, visit
the New York City-Long Island Web site
<http://www.hudson.arrl.org/nli/hru2004.htm>.

* Amateur Radio assists in Iran earthquake relief: Turkey Amateur Radio
Club President Aziz Sasa,TA1E, reports that three Amateur Radio operators
joined the Turkish Relief Team that departed for the incident
location--the city of Bam, some 600 miles south of Tehran--from Istanbul
December 27 aboard a military aircraft. Local communications will be
carried out on 2-meter simplex with HF operation on 14.270 MHz during the
day and on 7092 kHz or 3777 kHz during hours of darkness. Soyhan Erim,
TA2IJ, will handle HF operations at the Turkish Incident Command Post. He
is part of the Ministry of Health team. Erdinç Sarimusaoglu, TA2RJ, is
part of the AKUT Search and Rescue Team, while Mustafa Yuceturk, TA1CAN,
is a member of the Istanbul Civil Defense Search-and-Rescue team. Also on
site is Serdar Demirel, TA2NO, a member of the Ankara Civil Defense SAR
team, who arrived earlier.

* Emanuel G. "Manny" Papandreas, W4SS, SK: Former long-time ARRL Southern
Florida Section Emergency Coordinator Manny Papandreas, W4SS, of Lake
Worth, died December 26. He was 80. Papandreas served as Southern
Florida's SEC for 20 years--longer than any of his predecessors. He also
was an ARRL Southeastern Division assistant director. During his tenure as
SEC, he oversaw the Amateur Radio emergency communications in the wake of
Hurricane Andrew in 1992. A life member of both the ARRL and the Quarter
Century Wireless Association, Papandreas was first licensed in 1941 as
W8VKS. After a career in appliance sales and service, he became operations
coordinator for the Palm Beach County Division of Emergency Management.
There he assisted in designing a new Emergency Operations Center.
Papandreas also founded and led the Palm Beach Amateur Radio Council,
which coordinated the county's ARES/RACES activities. Southern Florida
Assistant Section Manager Jeff Beals, WA4AW, called Papandreas a good
friend and mentor who was "a staunch supporter of the League and its
programs." A service was set for Saturday, January 3, 10 AM until noon, at
Dorsey Memorial Gardens, 10th Avenue N and Kirk Road, Lake
Worth.--information supplied by Jeff Beals, WA4AW

* Canadian hams may lose 220-222 MHz segment: After studying the spectrum
needs of various services over the past 18 months, the Radio Advisory
Board of Canada (RABC) plans to recommend to Industry Canada (IC) that the
220-222 MHz band segment be transferred from the Amateur Service to the
Mobile Service. The RABC recommended allocating 219-220 MHz to amateurs in
Canada on a secondary basis, in harmony with a similar allocation for US
amateurs, who lost the 220-222 MHz band segment in 1991. In addition, the
RABC asked that IC continue 222-225 MHz as a primary exclusive amateur
allocation. It also recommended grandfathering amateur repeaters in the
220-222 MHz segment, to continue operation for a period of time that the
IC would determine, and designating 150 kHz of spectrum for the Amateur
and Mobile services to share for certain public safety and disaster
communication applications. Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) has vigorously
opposed the proposed changes without success. The RAC has posted
additional information on its Web site
<http://www.rac.ca/news/canada.htm>.--RAC bulletin

* TO4E/TO4WW DXpedition racks up 34,000 Qs: TO4E/TO4WW Europa Island
DXpedition member Dany Prevostat, F5CW, reports the team arrived safely
back home December 24. "TO4E/TO4WW is over!" he declared in a message
posted on the DXpedition Web site <http://europa2003.free.fr/>. He
suggested that while the team's 34,000 QSO total was below expectations,
it was greater than sporadic operations to Europa over the years had been
able to generate. F5CW said the team was "very, very frustrated" by a lack
of power on the island. As a result, he said, many stations were left
waiting in vain for TO4E to show up on the low bands. The team also
endured some severe weather from Tropical Storm Cela that took TO4E off
the air and damaged equipment and antennas. "Even in such uncomfortable
conditions, we managed to be on air as much as possible, and few hours
were made barefoot on battery--an old battery found there--and a
candlelight upon the FT-100D." At one point, he said, team member Pascal
Roha, F5PTM, managed to work a pileup with the power output meter sitting
at zero--an estimated 100 mW! The team had diesel generators but, because
Europa is a wildlife preserve, available fuel supplies were limited.
On-line logs for TO4E and TO4WW <http://europa2003.free.fr/searchlog.php>
are available on the DXpedition's Web site.

* CQ names Floyd Gerald, N5FG, as Worked All Zones awards manager: CQ has
named Floyd Gerald, N5FG, as CQ Worked All Zones (WAZ) awards manager. He
succeeds Paul Blumhardt, K5RT, who is stepping down after four years due
to increased work and family commitments. Licensed since 1972, Gerald is
an accomplished DXer and the holder of many Amateur Radio operating
awards. An ARRL member, he also has served as a CQ awards and ARRL DXCC
card checker. After February 1, WAZ applications and cards go to Floyd
Gerald, N5FG, 17 Green Hollow Rd, Wiggins, MS 39577-8318.

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