[Letter-List] The ARRL Letter for January 14, 2010

Thu Jan 14 15:32:07 EST 2010

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

Published by the American Radio Relay League
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January 14, 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: Haiti Earthquake: "It's Chaos, I'm Telling You --
It's Real Chaos"
- + ARRL Standing Committees Meet Prior to 2010 Annual Meeting
- + ARRL On-the-Air: Warm Up with the ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes!
- Amateur Radio in Space: ARISS Notes Record Number of ISS-to-School
Contacts
- + Now You Know!: Hurricane Names
- Solar Update
- + In the Workshop: Deadline for Second Homebrew Challenge Approaching
- This Week on the Radio
- ARRL Staff Vacancy

+ Available on ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/>

  Be on the lookout for the new ARRL Web site, coming soon to a
computer near you!

==> + PUBLIC SERVICE: HAITI EARTHQUAKE: "IT'S CHAOS, I'M TELLING YOU --
IT'S REAL CHAOS"

   On Tuesday, January 12 at 4:53 PM Haiti time (2153 UTC), a magnitude
7.0 earthquake hit 10 miles (15 kilometers) west of Port-au-Prince, the
island nation's capital. Communications in and out of Haiti have been
disrupted. The ARRL encourages US amateurs to be aware of the emergency
operations on the following frequencies: 7.045 and 3.720 MHz (IARU
Region 2 nets), 14.265, 7.265 and 3.977 MHz (SATERN nets), and 14.300
MHz (Intercontinental Assistance and Traffic Net); the International
Radio Emergency Support Coalition (IRESC) is also active on EchoLink
node 278173. There was no firm estimate on how many people were killed
by Tuesday's quake. Haitian President Rene Preval said the toll could
be in the thousands: "Let's say that it's too early to give a number."

On Wednesday afternoon, Fred Moore, W3ZU, assisted Jean-Robert
Gaillard, HH2JR, with a phone patch to his friend Ariel in Miami. "It's
bad, it literally is bad," Gaillard told Ariel. "We don't know how many
people are dead. We do not know what to expect. It's chaos, I'm telling
you -- it's real chaos. We are really in a disaster area. It's really a
war zone. Many, many buildings in the downtown area are stripped from
the ground with many people buried underneath them - you name it, it's
bad." Gaillard, who lives in Port-au-Prince, was using his neighbor's
generator to make the contact. "It's really chaotic. I've never been in
a war, but this is what a war zone would be like. Dead bodies all over
the place, dead bodies buried. All I can tell you is that I'm okay, my
house is okay. We've had 30 aftershocks, the main one yesterday. We are
expecting some more shocks, so I'm a bit nervous to be inside the
house."

   "The scope of the disaster clearly shows that the response to this
is going to be a long term effort," said ARRL Media and Public
Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP. "The ARRL has been in contact
with communications leaders of the American Red Cross and Salvation
Army, as well as other key Amateur Radio operators throughout the
region. As teams from the hundreds of responding agencies worldwide are
formed for deployment, many will have Amateur Radio components. ARRL is
committed to providing communications aid to our served agencies and
working with the international community in this time of crisis. At
this time there are no known requests from agencies for amateurs to
travel to Haiti, but this can change. If it develops that there are
ARESÂ® assignments for a deployment in Haiti, these will be vetted and
processed through each Section's Section Emergency Coordinators." Read
more here <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/14/11290/?nc=1>.

==> + ARRL STANDING COMMITTEES MEET PRIOR TO 2010 ANNUAL MEETING

   The ARRL Board of Directors holds its 2010 Annual Meeting this
weekend -- January 15-16 in Windsor, Connecticut. Directors, Vice
Directors and ARRL Board officers will be in attendance. The meeting
will be preceded on Thursday, January 14 with meetings of the
Administration and Finance Committee and the Programs and Services
Committee. The Administration and Finance (A&F) Committee is chaired by
Northwestern Division Director Jim Fenstermaker, K9JF. This committee
studies, advises and makes recommendations for all administration and
financial matters of the League, including recommending the annual
budget to the Board, making recommendations in regard to staff
management and monitoring investment of ARRL funds. The Programs and
Services Committee (PSC), headed by Midwest Division Director Bruce
Frahm, K0BJ, studies, advises and makes recommendations for all
programs and services provided by the League, including operating
activities and the Field Organization. Reports on the 2010 Annual
Meeting will be available next week. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/12/11284/?nc=1>.

==> + ARRL ON-THE-AIR: WARM UP WITH THE ARRL JANUARY VHF SWEEPSTAKES!

   VHF weak-signal operators will be on the bands in force the weekend
of January 23-25 as the ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes hits the airwaves.
This contest gives the VHFer in all of us a chance to do some
contesting during the winter months. ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean
Kutzko, KX9X said that January may not seem like the ideal time to hold
a VHF+ contest: "After all, sporadic-E propagation is most commonly
associated with summer months; however, the propagation gods like to
surprise and confound, and there have been plenty of QSOs made via
sporadic-E in the colder months through the years. Plenty of other
chances for enhancement exist as well, thanks to tropospheric ducting
and auroral propagation. Thanks to the advent of WSJT software, making
QSOs via meteor scatter in the wee hours of the morning on 6 and 2
meters has never been easier. You have plenty of opportunities to make
long-haul QSOs on the VHF+ bands in January!" Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/13/11282/?nc=1>.

==> AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: ARISS NOTES RECORD NUMBER OF ISS-TO-SCHOOL
CONTACTS

   When the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS)
program began coordinating ISS-to-school contacts in 2001, only one
school -- Luther Burbank Elementary School in Burbank, Illinois --
participated. Ten years later, more than 120 schools participated in
the ARISS program in 2009 alone. The number of ARISS-coordinated
ISS-to-school contacts has climbed dramatically since that first
contact in 2000. In 2001, there were 42 contacts, and in 2002, there
were 40 contacts. During the first five years of the program --
2000-2004 -- there was an average of 31.4 QSOs between the ISS and
schools. In 2004, ARISS only conducted 35 contacts -- the lowest in its
10 year history -- but in 2005, 55 schools had contacted the ISS
through the program. In 2006, there were 47 QSOs, 75 QSOs in 2007 and
62 in 2008. The 121 QSOs in 2009 show a jump of 95 percent over the
2008 numbers -- setting an ARISS record for the number of contacts.
Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/12/11285/?nc=1>.

==> + PUBLIC SERVICE: NHC TO PROVIDE GREATER LEAD TIME FOR WATCHES,
WARNINGS

   Beginning with the 2010 hurricane season, NOAA's National Hurricane
Center in Miami will issue watches and warnings for tropical storms and
hurricanes along threatened coastal areas 12 hours earlier than in
previous years. According to NHC experts, advancements in track
forecasts are making it possible for forecasters to provide greater
lead time. Tropical storm watches will be issued when tropical storm
conditions are possible along the coast within 48 hours. Tropical storm
warnings will be issued when those conditions are expected within 36
hours. This is an increase of 12 hours from those issued in previous
years. Hurricane season runs from May 15-November 30 in the Eastern
Pacific and on June 1-November 30 for the Atlantic Basin. Read more
here <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/14/11287/?nc=1>.

==> + FOCUS ON THE FCC: FCC SEEKS PUBLIC'S HELP IN REFORM EFFORT

   According to its chairman, the Federal Communications Commission
wants to change the way it is seen by the American public. In order to
further that effort, on January 7, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski
announced that the Commission had launched a new Web site --
Reboot.FCC.gov-- saying it is the first-ever Web site dedicated to
soliciting public input on ways to improve citizen interaction with the
FCC, "creating a forum where the public can participate in improving
the FCC." Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/08/11281/?nc=1>.

==>  ARRL PUBLICATIONS : TWO LEAGUE PUBLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE FOR
KINDLE

   In December 2009, the ARRL's Tech Q&A
<http://www.amazon.com/ARRLs-Tech-Q-A-ebook/dp/B002YNSBNE/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1259944328&sr=8-2-catcorr>
debuted on Amazon.com for use with Kindle wireless reading device. Now
we are pleased to announce that the ARRL's General Q&A
<http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=9957> and the ARRL's Extra Q&A
<http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=1379> are now available directly
from the online bookseller for use on the Kindle . Kindle is shaped
much like a book with a paper-like screen that displays text and
pictures. Those who have the Kindle application installed on their
Apple <http://www.apple.com/> iPhone <http://www.apple.com/iphone/> or
iPod touch <http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch/> -- or even on their
computer -- can download the book for use on these devices. When you
download the Tech Q&A, General Q&A and the Extra Q&A, you get access to
these study tools quickly and easily, smoothing the path to your first
-- or next! -- ham radio license. Studying on the Kindle is perfect for
today's busy lifestyle, whether you're at home, in the office,
traveling or just on the go. Each version of the Q&A lets you review
questions and answers from that element's entire question pool so you
can pass your exam. All three versions are available for purchase from
Amazon.com for $9.99 each.

==> + NOW YOU KNOW!: HURRICANE NAMES

By ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA

 <http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/056/mwr-056-09-0350.pdf>	 For
several hundred years, many hurricanes in the West Indies were named
after the particular saint's day on which the hurricane occurred: In
his 1938 book Hurricanes, Ivan R. Tannehill describes the major
tropical storms of recorded history and mentions many hurricanes that
were named after saints. On July 26, 1825, Hurricane Santa Ana
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1825_Santa_Ana_hurricane#1825_Atlantic_hurricane_season>
struck Puerto Rico with exceptional violence. Hurricane San Felipe (the
first)
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1870%E2%80%931879_Atlantic_hurricane_seasons#San_Felipe_Hurricane>
and Hurricane San Felipe (the second)
<http://docs.lib.noaa.gov/rescue/mwr/056/mwr-056-09-0350.pdf> also hit
Puerto Rico on September 13 in both 1876 and 1928.

During World War II, the practice of giving hurricanes women's names
became widespread in weather map discussions among forecasters,
especially Air Force and Navy meteorologists who plotted the movements
of storms over the wide expanses of the Pacific Ocean. In 1953, the
United States abandoned a confusing two year old plan to name storms by
the phonetic alphabet in use at the time (Able, Baker, Charlie and so
on) when a new, international phonetic alphabet was introduced. That
year, the United States began using female names for storms. The
practice of naming hurricanes solely after women came to an end in 1978
when men's and women's names were included in the Eastern North Pacific
storm lists. In 1979, male and female names were included in lists for
the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

   Since 1953, Atlantic tropical storms have been named from lists
originated by the National Hurricane Center (NHC
<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml>). They are now maintained and
updated by an international committee of the World Meteorological
Organization (WMO <http://www.wmo.int/pages/index_en.html>). There are
six lists of hurricane names <http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml>
and they are used in rotation. This means that the 2010 list will be
used again in 2016. According to the NHC, the only time that there is a
change in the list is if a storm is so deadly or costly that the future
use of its name on a different storm would be inappropriate for reasons
of sensitivity such as 2005's Hurricane Katrina). If that occurs, the
offending name is stricken from the list and another name is selected
to replace it at the WMO annual meeting. Check out the list of retired
names on the NHC Web site <http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/retirednames.shtml>.

Several names have been changed since the lists were created. For
example, on the 2007 list (which will be used again in 2013), Dorian
has replaced Dean, Fernand has replaced Felix and Nestor has replaced
Noel. For 2010, Colin replaced Charley, Fiona replaced by Frances, Igor
replaced by Ivan and Julia replaced by Jeanne. Before 1979 -- when the
first permanent six-year storm name list began -- some storm names were
simply not used anymore. For example, in 1966, "Fern" was substituted
for "Frieda," and no reason was cited. There are only 22 names on each
list since the WMO does not use names that begin with Q, U, Y or Z. The
names for 2010 are Alex, Bonnie, Colin, Danielle, Earl, Fiona, Gaston,
Hermine, Igor, Julia, Karl, Lisa, Matthew, Nicole, Otto, Paula,
Richard, Shary, Thomas, Virginie and Walter.

In the event that more than 21 named tropical cyclones occur in the
Atlantic basin in a season, additional storms will take names from the
Greek alphabet: Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta and so on. If a storm forms
in the off-season, it will take the next name in the list based on the
current calendar date. For example, if a tropical cyclone formed on
December 28, it would take the name from the previous season's list of
names. If a storm formed in February, it would be named from the
subsequent season's list of names.

You can find lists of names for storms on the NHC Web site for every
region of the globe <http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutnames.shtml>,
including the Eastern North, Central North and Western North regions of
the Pacific Ocean, Australia, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines
and the Northern and Southwest portions of the Indian Ocean. Now you
know!

==> SOLAR UPDATE

   Tad "Blinded alike from sunshine and from rain
<http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/eveofstagnes.html>" Cook, K7RA,
reports: Recent growing sunspot activity remains strong. Weekly
averages of daily sunspot numbers over the nine weeks from November
12-January 13 were 9, 12.6, 0, 1.9, 21.1, 31.4, 21.9, 14.6 and 26.4.
Sunspot region 1035 re-emerged as region 1040 on January 7 and his
grown steadily. For January 7-13, the total area of region 1040 -- as
expressed in millionths of a solar hemisphere -- was 80, 40, 70, 130,
300, 300 and 380. It has passed the 0 degree meridian (the imaginary
vertical line on the visible Sun that faces straight toward Earth), but
looks as if it has perhaps another 5 or 6 days before it crosses the
Sun's western horizon. Look for more information in the Solar Update,
available on the ARRL Web site on Friday, January 15. 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' The Eve of St Agnes
<http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/eveofstagnes.html>.

==> + IN THE WORKSHOP: DEADLINE FOR SECOND HOMEBREW CHALLENGE
APPROACHING

All entries for the Second ARRL Homebrew Challenge must be received in
the ARRL Lab no later than close of business on February 28, 2010.
Since that is a Sunday, the judges will accept entries arriving with
the first mail delivery on Monday, March 1, 2010. In 2006, the ARRL
sponsored a successful competition for a 5 W, 40 meter voice/CW
transceiver that could be built for $50. This second Homebrew Challenge
offers an opportunity to boost that power to 50 W with an amplifier
built from no more than $125 of parts. Rules, subsequent requests for
clarification and responses, as well as a list of prizes, can be found
on the ARRL Homebrew Challenge Web page <http://www.arrl.org/qst/hbc/>.

==> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO

 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuV-D37BQn0>	This week, there is a
running of the NCCC Sprint on January 15. The Hungarian DX Contest and
the North American QSO Party (SSB) are January 16-17. The Feld Hell
Sprint is January 17, the Run for the Bacon QRP Contest is January 18
and the NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint is January 21. Next week, be sure
to check out the ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes on January 23-25. On
January 22, there is another running of the NCCC Sprint. Look for the
YL-ISSB QSO Party (SSB), the MIE 33 Contest and the BARTG RTTY Sprint
on January 23-24. The SKCC Sprint is January 27. 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 STAFF VACANCY

   ARRL is soliciting applications to fill the HQ position of Emergency
Preparedness and Response Manager. The person in this position will
develop and maintain ARRL's Emergency Communications and Emergency
Preparedness functions, both internally and externally. Candidate
review by the hiring committee will begin in mid-January. Please see
ARRL Web site <http://www.arrl.org/announce/jobs/> for application
information and job requirements.

==> THE ARRL CONTEST UPDATE SEES CIRCULATION MILESTONE

   The December 23 and January 6 issues of the ARRL Contest Update
<http://www.arrl.org/contest/update> newsletter cracked another barrier
with more than 25,000 subscribers. Containing material that goes beyond
straight contest reporting, subscribers to the Contest Update find it
full of all types of useful material. The newsletter -- available free
to ARRL members and published every two weeks by e-mail or Web access
-- got its start as a modest text-only bulletin in March 2002. Having
expanded its coverage to topics of interest to any active ham, the
newsletter's byline and mission became "News and Techniques for the
Active Operator" in 2008 as it pioneered the ARRL's graphic newsletter
format. A typical newsletter contains news and human interest stories,
press releases about new products for hams, photos and links to
multimedia content, an editorial segment, a big section of technical
items that any ham can put to work -- and even a chuckle or two. You
will also find contest results from your state's QSO party, as well as
a calendar of upcoming contests and due dates for contest logs. Why not
give the newsletter a try? Back issues are available online
<http://www.arrl.org/contest/update>. To sign up for free delivery, log
in to the ARRL Web site with your call sign and password, then click
"Member Data page" and "Modify membership data." At the bottom of the
page, click the box next to "ARRL Contest Update (biweekly contest
newsletter)" and you're ready to read!

==> ARRL CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE REGISTRATION

   Registration remains open through Sunday, January 24, 2010, for
these online course sessions <http://www.arrl.org/cep/student/>
beginning on Friday, February 10, 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/.

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