[Letter-List] The ARRL Letter for April 1, 2010

Thu Apr 1 14:58:09 EDT 2010

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            The  ARRL Letter

Published by the American Radio Relay League
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April 1, 2010

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

- Public Service: ARRL Signs Memorandum of Understanding with American
Red Cross
- Public Service: Amateur Radio Assists with Rescue in Great Smoky
Mountains
-  Amateur Radio in the Classroom : 2010 ARRL Teachers Institute Begins
with a Bang in Tucson
- ARRL in Action: What Have We Been Up to Lately?
- Solar Update
- This Week on the Radio
- ARRL Continuing Education Course Registration

==> PUBLIC SERVICE: ARRL SIGNS MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING WITH
AMERICAN RED CROSS

   On Thursday, March 25 ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, signed a new
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU
<http://www.arrl.org/news/files/ARRL-ARC_MoU.pdf>) with the American
Red Cross (ARC <http://www.redcross.org/>) at ARC National Headquarters
in Washington, DC. The MoU, which replaces an earlier Statement of
Understanding that expired in 2007, provides a "broad framework for
cooperation" between the ARRL and the ARC "in preparing for and
responding to disaster relief situations at all levels in rendering
assistance and service to victims of disaster, as well as other
services for which cooperation may be mutually beneficial." Read more
here <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/30/11412/?nc=1>.

==> PUBLIC SERVICE: AMATEUR RADIO ASSISTS WITH RESCUE IN GREAT SMOKY
MOUNTAINS

   On Sunday, March 28 -- a day with a lot of rain, wind, sleet and,
fog -- John Oakberg, NK4N, of Sevierville, Tennessee, went out hiking
in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Mt LeConte. When he was
about 1 mile up from Alum Cave Bluff, he came across Judy Potter, 57,
of Atlanta who had broken her ankle while on the trail. Oakberg reached
for his cell phone to call 911, but there was no coverage available. He
then reached for his handheld transceiver and put out a call to any
Amateur Radio operators who may be listening via some nearby VHF 2
meter repeaters. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/30/11411/?nc=1>.

==> NEW ARRL WEB SITE UNDERGOES FURTHER TESTING BEFORE LAUNCH

   According to ARRL Chief Operating Officer, Harold Kramer, WJ1B, we
are currently finishing the final pre-launch adjustments and testing
the new ARRL Web site and plan to launch it by April 12. "This launch
has been a longer than anticipated process for all of us," Kramer said,
"but we have learned a lot during the past two years as we conducted
research about what people want from the ARRL Web site. We created a
new architecture and navigation scheme to meet those needs and we
implemented a contemporary new design. After that, we updated our
current Web content and created lots of brand new content, including
multimedia. We then began integrating the incredibly complicated
functionality, e-commerce, advertising and database connections from
the current Web to the new Web site. It has been a lot of work, and
while it is disappointing that we are not out the door quite yet, we
are now in the home stretch. When the new ARRL Web site debuts, we just
want to be sure that it looks great, works well in meeting the needs of
our members and that it is something that we can all be proud of."

==>  AMATEUR RADIO IN THE CLASSROOM : 2010 ARRL TEACHERS INSTITUTE
BEGINS WITH A BANG IN TUCSON

   The ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology (TI) began its
2010 sessions in February with a TI course designed specifically for
teachers in the Tucson (Arizona) Unified School District (TUSD). Taught
at Jefferson Park Elementary School, 21 educators -- including the
school principal, school counselor and three resource personnel -- took
part in five Saturday sessions, working through an expanded 45 hour
Teachers Institute (TIs usually are done in about 32 hours). The
teachers completed homework assignments that included building the
clock kit, building a flashing LED Santa and reading the first two
chapters of What's a Microcontroller? In addition, five parents
attended the TI as observers. The course was taught by TI Instructor
Miguel Enriquez, KD7RPP, who teaches in the TUSD. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/31/11413/?nc=1>.

==> ARRL IN ACTION: WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO LATELY?

   This feature -- including convenient Web links to useful information
-- is a concise monthly update of some of the things ARRL is doing on
behalf of its members, including signing a new Memorandum of
Understanding with the American Red Cross, preparing for WRC-12,
legislative actions, holding workshops to help teachers introduce
wireless technology in their classrooms, promoting on-the-air events,
investigating power line noise and more. This installment covers the
month of March. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2010/04/01/11415/?nc=1>.

==> ARRL SEEKS INPUT FOR NEW IARU REGION 2 BAND PLAN

   The International Amateur Radio Region 2 conference -- to be held
later this year in El Salvador -- brings together delegations from the
national Amateur Radio Societies in the Western Hemisphere. One of the
topics on the agenda will be the Region 2 HF band plan. This band plan
is "harmonized with" -- spectrum management-speak for "very similar to"
-- the IARU Region 1 and Region 3 band plans. At this year's
conference, the IARU Member-Societies will consider possible changes to
the Region 2 band plan. The ARRL is cooperating with this procedure by
inviting input to be sent to the ARRL Board of Directors' Band Planning
Committee. The committee will review the existing Region 2 band plan,
consider input from the amateur community and make recommendations to
the ARRL Board for submission to IARU Region 2. Be sure to get your
comments in by Monday, April 5. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/04/11374/?nc=1>.

==> SOLAR UPDATE

   Tad "The uncertain glory of an April day, which now shows all the
beauty of the Sun
<http://shakespeare.mit.edu/two_gentlemen/two_gentlemen.1.3.html>"
Cook, K7RA, reports: Last week's bulletin
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/03/26/11408/?nc=1> said new
sunspot group 1057 appeared March 23, but it was actually short-lived
group 1056 according to summaries
<http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ftpmenu/forecasts/SRS.html>. Group 1057
emerged on March 24, and on March 25 1056 became a plage
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plage_29> without spots.
Sunspot group 1058 arrived March 26, but was gone two days later when
1059 emerged. Group 1059 has not become as large as 1057. From March
28-April 1, the size in millionths of the Sun's surface was 120, 100,
150, 130 and 70. But the size of 1057 from March 24-April 1 was 5, 240,
400, 320, 380, 410, 290, 260 and 250. Group 1059 is surely fading, but
1057 may be holding steady, even though it is down from peaks of 400
and 410 on March 26 and 29. The average daily sunspot numbers for the
week were up more than 4 points to 28.9, and the average daily solar
flux changed from 84.2 to 84.9. The renewed sunspot activity seems
constant and steady. We have new 3-month moving averages of daily
sunspot numbers through the end of March, which is centered on
February, and the number has increased a few points from last time. The
3-month moving average of daily sunspot numbers centered on July
2009-February 2010 was 4, 4, 4.6, 7.1, 10.2, 15.2, 22.4 and 25.7. The
rate of increase has slackened, but it steadily moves higher. Look for
more information on the ARRL Web site on Friday, April 2, where Tad
will have a bit more about the numbers, a visit to NWRA -- the home of
the Effective Sunspot Numbers -- and reports on recent conditions. For
more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical
Information Service Propagation page
<http://www.arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals>. This week's "Tad
Cookism" brought to you by William Shakespeare's Two Gentlemen of
Verona
<http://shakespeare.mit.edu/two_gentlemen/two_gentlemen.1.3.html> (Act
I, Scene 3).

==> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO

This week, the Lighthouse Spring Lites QSO Party is April 1-11. The QRP
ARCI Spring QSO Party, the SP DX Contest and the EA RTTY Contest are
April 3-4. The Missouri QSO Party is April 3-5 and the Low Power Spring
Sprint is April 5. Next week, look for the Montana QSO Party on April
9-11. The Japan International DX Contest, the QCWA Spring QSO and the
Georgia QSO Party are April 10-11. 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/The-ARRL-Contest-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/special-events>.

==> ARRL RECOGNIZES: RUDY SEVERNS, N6LF, WINS MARCH QST  COVER PLAQUE
AWARD

   The winner of the QST  Cover Plaque Award for March is Rudy Severns,
N6LF, for his article "An Experimental Look at Ground Systems for HF
Verticals." Congratulations Rudy! The winner of the QST Cover Plaque
award -- given to the author or authors of the best article in each
issue -- is determined by a vote of ARRL members on the QST Cover
Plaque Poll Web page <http://www.arrl.org/members-only/qstvote.html>.
Cast a ballot for your favorite article in the April issue by Friday,
April 30.

==> ARRL CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE REGISTRATION

   Registration remains open through Sunday, April 25, 2010, for these
online course sessions <http://www.arrl.org/courses-training> beginning
on Friday, May 7, 2010: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1;
Antenna Modeling; Radio Frequency Interference; Antenna Design and
Construction; Propagation; Analog Electronics, and Digital Electronics.
To learn more, visit the CEP Course Listing page
<http://www.arrl.org/online-courses> or contact the Continuing
Education Program Coordinator <cce at arrl.org>.

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