[Letter-List] The ARRL Letter for November 25, 2009

Wed Nov 25 16:12:06 EST 2009

********************************************
            The  ARRL Letter

Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************

November 25, 2009

Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA <k1sfa at arrl.org>

ARRL Home Page <http://www.arrl.org/>ARRL Letter Archive
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>Audio News
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> IN THIS ISSUE

- ARRL Leadership: New Vice Directors in Central, Roanoke Divisions
- ARRL Field Organization: Incumbent Section Managers Win New Terms of
Office
- Regulatory: FCC Looks to Revise, Clarify Vanity Call Sign Rules
- Silent Key: ARRL Sweepstakes Manager Ken Adams, K5KA (SK)
- Now You Know!: The ARRL Lab
- Solar Update
- Amateur Radio in Space: New Antennas Installed on ISS
- This Week on the Radio

==> ARRL HEADQUARTERS CLOSED FOR THANKSGIVING HOLIDAYS

ARRL Headquarters will be closed November 26 and 27 in observance of
Thanksgiving. There will be no W1AW bulletins or code practice
transmissions those days <http://www.arrl.org/w1aw.html#w1awsked>. This
edition of The ARRL Letter is being published a day early on Wednesday,
November 25, but there will be no ARRL Audio News
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> on Thursday, November 26. ARRL
Headquarters will reopen Monday, November 30 at 8 AM Eastern Standard
Time. We wish everyone a safe and bountiful Thanksgiving holiday.

==> ARRL LEADERSHIP: NEW VICE DIRECTORS IN CENTRAL, ROANOKE DIVISIONS

   On Friday, November 20, ARRL staff members started opening ballots
for the Vice Director races in the Central and Roanoke Divisions. After
all the ballots were counted, both the Central and Roanoke Divisions
gained new Vice Directors, with their three-year terms beginning at
noon on January 1, 2010.

In the Central Division, challenger Kermit Carlson, W9XA, of Batavia,
Illinois, edged out incumbent Howard S. Huntington, K9KM, of Hawthorn
Woods, Illinois; Huntington has served as the Central Division's
second-in-command since 1983. Carlson received 1808 votes, while
Huntington received 1466 votes.

   Roanoke Division Vice Director Patricia Hensley, N4ROS, decided not
to seek another term. South Carolina Section Manager Jim Boehner, N2ZZ,
of Aiken, and former West Virginia Section Manager Hal Turley, W8HC, of
Huntington, were both nominated to succeed her. Boehner won the
election with 1692 votes; Turley received 1496 votes. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/20/11212/?nc=1>.

==> ARRL FIELD ORGANIZATION: INCUMBENT SECTION MANAGERS WIN NEW TERMS
OF OFFICE

Three incumbent Section Managers were re-elected in races that
concluded on Tuesday, November 24. In Alabama, Jay Isbell, KA4KUN,
received 513 votes; challenger Les Rayburn, N1LF, received 167 votes.
Isbell, of Bessemer, will begin his second term as Section Manager on
January 1, 2010. In the Alaska Section Manager election, Jim Larsen,
AL7FS, of Anchorage, won his second two-year term of office when he
received 176 votes; challenger David Stevens, KL7EB, received 65 votes.
Ron Cowan, KB0DTI, of LaCygne, Kansas, will continue as Section
Manager; he received 382 votes while challenger Joseph Plankinton,
WD0DMV, received 175 votes. Cowan has been the Kansas Section Manager
since 2003. The following incumbent ARRL Section Managers did not face
opposition and were declared elected for their next terms of office
beginning January 1, 2010: Jim Latham, AF6AQ (East Bay); Frank
Filipkowski, AD3M (Delaware); Dale Williams, WA8EFK (Michigan); Don
Wood, W5FHA (New Mexico); Glen Clayton, W4BDB (Tennessee); Robert
Griffin, K6YR (Santa Barbara), and Ed Emco, W1KT (Western
Massachusetts).

==> REGULATORY: FCC LOOKS TO REVISE, CLARIFY VANITY CALL SIGN RULES

   On Wednesday, November 25, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule
Making (NPRM) -- WT Docket No. 09-209 -- seeking to amend the
Commission's Amateur Radio Service rules to clarify certain rules and
codify existing procedures governing the vanity call sign system, as
well as revise certain rules applicable to club stations.

According to the FCC, almost 80,000 licensees have replaced their
sequentially issued Amateur Radio call signs with a vanity call sign
since the program began in 1996. When the program began, the Commission
established what they called "the broad outlines" of the vanity call
sign system, concluding that call signs generally should not be
available for reassignment for two years following the death of a
licensee, or expiration or termination of the license for that call
sign. In doing so, the Commission made exceptions for former holders of
the call sign, close relatives of a deceased former holder and club
stations of which a deceased former holder was a member.

The Commission did not, however, specify all of the procedures
governing the vanity call sign system, but indicated that the
procedures "would be set out in the Public Notices announcing 'starting
gates' for the groups receiving initial priority and that the
procedures would be adjusted from gate to gate as experience dictated."
The procedures announced in the Public Notices announcing the gates are
still in effect, but they are not set forth in the Commission's Rules.
The NPRM states that the FCC "now believe[s] that certain provisions
should be codified in our rules, and others added, so that the vanity
call sign system will be fair, equitable and transparent to all amateur
service licensees. The Commission also decided in the Vanity Report and
Order [issued in 1996] to resume issuing new club station licenses. We
believe that certain rule changes to the club station licensing rules
may be appropriate."

The comment period for WT Docket No. 09-209 will extend for 60 days
after it is published in the Federal Register. Historically, items
appear in the Federal Register approximately 7-10 days after they
appear on the FCC Web site. Reply comments can be made up to 75 days
after publication in the Federal Register. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/25/11220/?nc=1>.

==> SILENT KEY: ARRL SWEEPSTAKES MANAGER KEN ADAMS, K5KA (SK)

   Ken Adams, K5KA, succumbed to cancer and passed away on Sunday,
November 22. He was 64. Adams -- an ARRL Life Member -- served as the
first-ever Contest Manager for the ARRL Sweepstakes, coming on board in
2005. "Ken was a 'get it done' kinda guy," recalled ARRL Contest Branch
Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X. "He took on the task of Sweepstakes Manager
with great enthusiasm, rolled up his sleeves and championed the event
like nobody else I've ever seen." Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/23/11213/?nc=1>.

==>  AMATEUR RADIO AND TECHNOLOGY : ARRL, MCSNYDER SOFTWARE TEAM UP TO
PROVIDE ITUNES APPS

    ARRL is pleased to announce the availability of a new suite of
Amateur Radio mobile software -- designed specifically for use with the
Apple's iPhone and iPod Touch. The applications -- or "apps" -- are
named ARRL Technician
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=304482342&mt=8>,
ARRL General
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=306443425&mt=8>
and ARRL Extra
<http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=306931606&mt=8>
and function as an electronic version of practice exam flash cards.
Amateur Radio exam candidates can use the applications as a study
companion to the  ARRL license manuals
<http://www.arrl.org/catalog/lm/> and classroom instruction. The apps
include all the possible questions and answers that will be on each of
the license tests. Users can flag questions that need more review,
segment questions for study by sub-element, or even study the questions
in a random order. The ARRL apps are produced and sold by McSnyder
Software who has partnered with ARRL to provide the iPhone app series.
McSnyder has also produced study applications for other organizations
-- including exam preparation software for standardized educational
testing in Texas, as well as US Citizenship immigration testing. "We
are excited to introduce Amateur Radio and ARRL into the rapidly
expanding mobile and portable technology arena," said ARRL Marketing
Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R. "Not only do these applications
demonstrate ARRL's commitment to users of these popular devices, the
software helps promote Amateur Radio outside of our traditional
publication channels." The ARRL apps are available for $1.99 each on
Apple's iTunes "App Store."

==> NOW YOU KNOW!: THE ARRL LAB

By ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA

The hams who work in the ARRL Lab -- Ed Hare, W1RFI; Mike Gruber, W1MG;
Zack Lau, W1VT, and Bob Allison, WB1GCM -- receive more than 100 calls
each week, requesting assistance. I know that whenever I venture into
the Lab, rife with deep, dark secrets of the Amateur Radio world, one,
if not all four of these guys are either on the phone or on the
computer, answering questions posed to them by members.

   One afternoon, I wandered down to the Lab, and asked Zack, Mike and
Bob, "What is the most common question you guys receive from our
members?" Zack quickly answered: "They want to know what kind of radio
to buy." Now, no one here at League Headquarters can tell you which
radio to buy, but Zack explained to me how he walks through a question
set with the caller: What do you want to do with the radio? Do you want
to get on HF, or are you interested in emergency communications or just
ragchewing on your local repeater? How much room do you have to set up
a station? How much money is in your budget for a new rig? Once the
caller answers these questions, Zack guides them toward certain classes
of radios, giving the caller a narrower field to look at. He also
suggests that they take a look at the ARRL online publication, Choosing
a Ham Radio <http://www.arrl.org/members-only/choosingaradio/>, as well
as the Technical Information Service (TIS <http://www.arrl.org/tis/>)
section on the ARRL Web site.

The next most popular questions (in order) are:

- What kind of antenna should I get?
- When are the sunspots coming back?
- Why can't I get on HF?

So, even if you're an experienced ham who has seen just about
everything, or if you just got your Technician license in the mail (or,
like me, you're somewhere in between), and you have a technical
question that you just can't seem to figure out the answer to, try
calling on the ARRL Lab -- they just might be able to help you figure
it out. Now you know!

==> SOLAR UPDATE

   Tad "That its mild light creates to heal again
<http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/woman.htmlhttp:/englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/woman.html>"
Cook, K7RA, reports: This edition of the Solar Update will be brief.
Since ARRL Headquarters is closed on Thanksgiving Day and the day
after, I hope to have another bulletin out Monday morning to catch up
with the sunspot, solar flux and geomagnetic data information. In last
Friday's Solar Update
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/20/11208/?nc=1>, we reported
sunspot numbers for November 12-18 as 11, 0, 0, 11, 12, 0 and 29. Since
then, from November 19-24, they were 30, 31, 14, 13, 0 and 0 --
definitely nice conditions for the ARRL SSB Sweepstakes last weekend.
This weekend, November 28-29, is the CQ Worldwide CW DX Contest.
Although recent activity seems a good trend, we have no indications
when sunspots will return. Look for more information in the Solar
Update, available on the ARRL Web site on Monday, November 30. For more
information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical
Information Service Propagation page
<http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html>. This week's "Tad
Cookism" brought to you by John Keats' Woman! When I Behold Thee
Flippant, Vain... <http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/woman.html>

==> AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: NEW ANTENNAS INSTALLED ON ISS

 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjWqN3fVQ0w>	On Saturday, November
21, astronauts Mike Foreman and Randy Bresnik completed the second EVA
(extra-vehicular activity) -- NASA's term for a spacewalk -- of their
mission. While on the 6 hour, 8 minute EVA, Foreman installed the
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS
<http://www.rac.ca/ariss/oindex.htm>) antennas for 2 meters and 70 cm
on the Columbus module. NASA ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth
Ransom, N5VHO, told the ARRL that this new antenna -- along with
another VHF antenna -- was developed by ARISS in cooperation with the
European Space Agency (ESA <http://www.esa.int/esaCP/index.html>) to
support an experiment involving the maritime Automatic Identification
System (AIS
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_Identification_System>). "Both
antennas were installed on the Earth-facing starboard edge of the
Columbus module," he explained. "The AIS antenna is forward and the
ARISS antenna is aft. The ARISS team is planning to migrate some stowed
Amateur Radio gear to take advantage of the new antenna." Frequencies
available for transmission to and from Columbus will be 2 meters, 70
centimeters and 13 cm. To start, two radios for 2 meters and 70 cm that
don't see much use on the ISS will be moved and installed in Columbus .
The space shuttle Discovery is expected to return to Earth on Friday,
November 27 and will bring Nicole Stott, KE5GJN, back from her stay on
the ISS.

==> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO

This week, look for an NCCC Sprint on November 27. The CQ Worldwide DX
Contest (CW) is November 28-29. Next week, the ARRL 160 Meter Contest
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2009/160-meters.html> is December
4-6 and the ARRL International EME Competition
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2009/eme.html> is December 5-6. The
TARA RTTY Melee and the Wake-Up! QRP Sprint are December 5. The TOPS
Activity Contest is December 5-6, the ARS Spartan Sprint is December 8
and the NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint is December 9. All dates, unless
otherwise stated, are UTC. See the ARRL Contest Branch page
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/>, the ARRL Contest Update
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/> and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar
<http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html> for more info.
Looking for a Special Event station? Be sure to check out the ARRL
Special Event Station Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/spev.html>.

==> ARRL CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE REGISTRATION

Registration remains open through Sunday, December 27, 2009, for these
online course sessions <http://www.arrl.org/cep/student/> beginning on
Friday, January 8, 2010: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level
1; Antenna Modeling; Radio Frequency Interference; Antenna Design and
Construction; Ham Radio (Technician) License Course; Propagation;
Analog Electronics, and Digital Electronics. To learn more, visit the
CEP Course Listing page <http://www.arrl.org/cep/student> or contact
the Continuing Education Program Coordinator <cce at arrl.org>.

The ARRL Letter is published Thursdays, 50 times each year. ARRL
members may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing their Member
Data Page as described at http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/.

 <http://www.arrl.org/>