[Letter-List] The ARRL Letter for January 28, 2010

Thu Jan 28 16:30:24 EST 2010

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            The  ARRL Letter

Published by the American Radio Relay League
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January 28, 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: Haitian Agency Announces Contact Information for
Amateurs Going to Haiti to Provide Disaster Relief
- + Public Service: ARRL Sends Ham Aid Equipment to Haiti
- + ARRL Leadership: Kent Olson, KA0LDG, Appointed Dakota Division Vice
Director
- FCC Notice of Proposed Rule Making to Revise and Clarify Vanity Call
Sign Rules Open for Comments
- + The Doctor Is IN: Tubes and Tube Replacements
- + ARRL Audio News Temporarily Suspended
- + Now You Know!: Phil "Gil" Gildersleeve, W1CJD
- Solar Update
- This Week on the Radio
- ARRL Continuing Education Course Registration

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

==> + PUBLIC SERVICE: HAITIAN AGENCY ANNOUNCES CONTACT INFORMATION FOR
AMATEURS GOING TO HAITI TO PROVIDE DISASTER RELIEF

   The offices of CONATEL -- Haiti's national telecommunications
regulator -- were destroyed in the January 12 earthquake that
devastated the island nation. This office, like the FCC in the US,
administers the Amateur Radio Service in Haiti. Hams interested in
traveling to Haiti to help provide communications support have been at
a loss as to whom to contact. CONATEL has set up temporary offices in a
Port-au-Prince suburb and has indicated that those volunteers who wish
to operate in Haiti to assist with disaster relief need to contact the
agency to get formal reciprocal operating clearance. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/26/11310/?nc=1>.

==> + PUBLIC SERVICE: ARRL SENDS HAM AID EQUIPMENT TO HAITI

   While the communications infrastructure in earthquake-ravaged Haiti
is being rebuilt, there is need for Amateur Radio communications. To
assist in this effort, the ARRL's Ham Aid program is providing
equipment for local amateurs to use. On Friday, January 22, the League
sent a programmed Yaesu VHF repeater with a microphone, as well as ICOM
handheld transceivers, Yaesu mobile 2 meter rigs with power supplies
and Kenwood mobile 2 meter rigs. Comet antennas, Larsen mobile antennas
with magnet mounts, coax and batteries were also included in the
package. Most items were donated by their manufacturers; the repeater
and power supplies were purchased by the ARRL several years ago using
post-Hurricane Katrina grant funds.

   On January 25, Doug Lapin, K1OY, the Dominican Republic's Ambassador
Accredited to the Secretary of State of Foreign Relations, stopped by
ARRL Headquarters on his way back home. When he left, he carried with
him 10 Kenwood handheld receivers, courtesy of the League's Ham Aid
program. "We're making progress," Lapin told the ARRL on January 27.
"The [Ham Aid package you sent] is stuck in customs. I'm working on
getting it out. Members of the Radio Club Dominicano were much
appreciative of the radios I brought and found it funny that my
hand-carried radios arrived before the package. If we get it out, we
will go back to Haiti tomorrow with the equipment."

Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/22/11304/?nc=1>, including
information on how you can help the Ham Aid program in Haiti.

==> + ARRL LEADERSHIP: KENT OLSON, KA0LDG, APPOINTED DAKOTA DIVISION
VICE DIRECTOR

   In one of her first actions as ARRL President, Kay Craigie, N3KN,
has appointed Dakota Division Assistant Director and former North
Dakota Section Manager Kent Olson, KA0LDG, as the new Dakota Division
Vice Director. The position became vacant when Dakota Division Director
Jay Bellows, K0QB, was elected International Affairs Vice President at
the 2010 ARRL Board of Directors Annual Meeting and Vice Director Greg
Widin, K0GW, moved into the Director position. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/25/11307/?nc=1>.

==> FCC NOTICE OF PROPOSED RULE MAKING TO REVISE AND CLARIFY VANITY
CALL SIGN RULES OPEN FOR COMMENTS

Late last year, the FCC issued a Notice of Proposed Rule Making
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/25/11220/?nc=1> (NPRM) -- WT
Docket 09-209 <http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/pdf/2010-1262.pdf> --
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. Interested parties may make comments on the NPRM in the
following ways: via the Federal eRulemaking Portal
<http://www.regulations.gov> or via the FCC's Web site
<http://www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/>. Comments must be submitted by March 26,
2010; reply comments are due no later than April 12, 2010.

==> + THE DOCTOR IS IN: TUBES AND TUBE REPLACEMENTS

Rick Richardson, VE7WF, of New Westminster, British Columbia, recently
has acquired some vintage vacuum tube-based equipment. He recalled that
years ago, there was a product on the market -- Tubesters -- solid
state replacements for vacuum tubes. He asked the ARRL's Doctor if
anyone still manufactures such devices.

Here's what the Doctor had to say:

I do remember them, as well. If I recall, these were popular in the
1970s. To my knowledge, they are no longer available. You may find some
on Internet auction sites from time to time. But before you go too far
in that direction, I would think about what problem you are trying to
solve. Old tube gear works very well with tubes, probably with better
performance than "force fit" solid state replacements. In those days,
many solid state receivers were quite vulnerable to overload and other
problems, for example.

   The nice thing is that most tubes are still available, often unused
in original boxes and generally at similar prices to what they cost 50
years ago. An Internet search will turn up a number of places that sell
tubes. I've always had good luck with Antique Electronic Supply
<http://www.tubesandmore.com/>. If used within their ratings, tubes can
last many years. I have WW2 vintage equipment that still works with
some original tubes. I also have Drake tube based equipment from the
period still going strong.

ARRL Lab Engineer Bob Allison, WB1GCM -- an amateur with years of
dedicated experience with vintage gear -- notes that if the equipment
has sat around for many years, the chances are the tubes are gassy. The
glass part of a tube is not a perfect envelope. One molecule of air at
a time leaks into the tube and after a few years, the performance
degrades. If a tube hasn't been used in 20 or 30 years, it can appear
to be totally dead. The trick to solve this to let the radio run for a
day or two. The filaments in the tubes will eventually burn away
whatever air is inside and the tubes will often be back in good shape.

The only exception that I often make is to replace power rectifiers
with plug-in solid state equivalents. I usually make my own, but they
are also commercially available. My rationale is that rectifier tubes
generate a lot of heat the old gear doesn't need. In addition, the
filaments can draw 15 to 20 W and by removing that load from the power
transformer it should stay cool and last longer. Unlike tubes, power
transformers are not so easy to find. If needed, the original condition
can be restored by unplugging the solid state unit and putting the tube
back.

 Thanks Doctor! Do you have a question or a problem? Send your
questions via  e-mail <doctor at arrl.org> or to "The Doctor," ARRL, 225
Main St, Newington, CT 06111 (no phone calls, please). Look for "The
Doctor Is IN" every month in  QST <http://www.arrl.org/qst> , the
official journal of the ARRL.

==> + ARRL AUDIO NEWS TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED

With the coming of the new ARRL Web site, we are looking at ways to
better bring you Amateur Radio news. In order to do this properly, we
will be temporarily suspending the ARRL Audio News while we look for
solutions that will enable us to provide the technical quality and
distribution channels that you expect from the ARRL. The last edition
of the ARRL Audio News (for now) will be produced on Thursday, January
28.

==> + NOW YOU KNOW!: PHIL "GIL" GILDERSLEEVE, W1CJD

By ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA

Longtime readers of QST will certainly remember the cartoons of Phil
Glidersleeve, W1CJD (ex-1ANE). Known affectionately as "Gil," he drew
more than 1500 cartoons for the ARRL, many of them appearing on the
pages of QST.

   Gil started cartooning for the ARRL back in June 1927. His
characters -- such as Jeeves the Butler and the gang at the Podunk
Hollow Radio Club -- became old friends to readers of QST. Gil's first
Jeeves cartoon was published in February 1940: From the other room
comes his master's voice, saying, "Jeeves, come here and help me look
for DX!" Jeeves, not really sure what exactly DX is, comes on the run
with a road map, a telescope, binoculars, a lantern, a compass and a
butterfly net in hand! As a native of the great state of Texas, my
favorite Jeeves cartoon shows him trying to push a giant QSL card (from
Texas, of course!) through the door -- the card can barely get through.
Of course, things are bigger in Texas! If you ever tour ARRL
Headquarters, you can see a large version of this cartoon in the second
floor hallway.

The mythical Podunk Hollow Radio Club depicted the idiosyncrasies of a
group of radio enthusiasts getting together. The cover for the June
1964 issue of QST shows the Podunkers -- hundreds of them -- happily
camped out in a forest setting. In the large tent in the rear, several
hams are operating their radios. In the foreground, several more are
chatting up a couple of attractive girls in a convertible, little
cartoon hearts fluttering over one ham's head. And off to the far
right, the Department of Conservation is beginning to set up their
blasting apparatus with its accompanying signs of "Turn off all two-way
radios!"

   But Gil also used his cartoons to teach proper on-the-air behavior.
In March 1938, he drew an eight panel cartoon of a man calling CQ on
CW. Each panel had the man getting older, where by the seventh panel,
he was old, bald and with a long beard, spider webs all around. The
last panel showed a tombstone that read "Here lies C. Q. McGall. He
died without even signing his call." The next month, Gil drew a single
panel cartoon with a line separating the panel into two parts. In the
first part, he showed a radio amateur "all worn to a frazzle" from
handling so much traffic, as well as dealing with QRM. The second half
showed two amateurs handling traffic as a team, "all full of vim and
vigor." Gil's point was spot-on: "Cooperative operating does a better
job with greater efficiency all around. Instead of harassed,
inefficient, overworked operators, put key stations on a 6 or 8 hour
basis, with relief and second operators for efficiency during intensive
operation."

Gil's interests were not limited to ham radio. A native of Portland,
Connecticut, he began working for the Middletown (CT) Press as the
Portland correspondent in 1940, became county editor in 1943 then city
editor in 1945. Sometime later, he was named news editor. His cartoons
also decorated the Press and various trade journals. He served in the
volunteer fire company and was captain of Fire Company No 2 for nine
years, as a member of the Portland Board of Education for eight years,
and as a vestryman in his local church.

   In 1966, he was chairman of Portland's 125th anniversary
celebration. As part of the celebration, he drew the town seal,
depicting a number of elements of historical Portland. Foremost is an
old-time oxen driver with his team, pulling a large brownstone sling;
the greater part of Portland's 19th century wealth came from the
brownstone industry. To the left of the oxen is a small building like
those visible in old pictures of the quarries. Its tall chimney is
smoking, connoting industry. To the right is another such building atop
the quarry wall with a pulley for lowering things into the quarry.

 <http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=0364>   Gil passed away on November
4, 1966. "His work became a tradition," wrote former QST Managing
Editor Laird Campbell, W1CUT (SK) in the foreword of Gil: A Collection
of Classic Cartoons from QST <http://www.arrl.org/catalog/?item=0364>.
"His knack for expressing ideas, feelings or situations unique to
Amateur Radio was, and still is, unexcelled. [He] could take a
rudimentary idea and turn it into a final masterpiece through the
uncanny strokes of his pen. Gil's creations will never be
forgotten...his conceptions remain alive in the minds of both
old-timers and newcomers to Amateur Radio." Now you know!

==> SOLAR UPDATE

   Tad "Who countest the steps of the Sun
<http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=172905>" Cook,
K7RA, reports: We've seen average daily sunspot numbers for this
reporting week. Since last Thursday through yesterday, the numbers rose
more than 9 points to 28; the average solar flux slipped more than 2
points to 81.9. Geomagnetic indices were a tiny bit lower. We should be
seeing sunspot numbers decline over the next five days. The predicted
solar flux for January 28-31 is 78, 80 on February 1-2, 82 on February
3-4 and 88-89 for the following six days. We don't see any geomagnetic
upset predicted until February 16, with the planetary A index only
rising to 10. On the STEREO image <http://stereo.gsfc.nasa.gov/>, we
can see sunspot 1041 in the Sun's southern hemisphere, past the central
meridian. We also see a sunspot emerging from the unseen area of the
sun (currently around 12.5 percent, not visible yet to the STEREO
mission) that is perhaps five days from emerging over the Sun's eastern
limb. Look for more information in the Solar Update -- including some
clarification, correction and expansion of the info in last week's
bulletin <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/01/22/11302/?nc=1>
concerning SID (Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance) events from Dick Grubb,
W0QM of the Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado --
available on the ARRL Web site on Friday, January 29. 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 William Blake's Ah! Sunflower
<http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=172905>.

==> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO

This week, there is a running of the NCCC Sprint on January 29. The CQ
160 Meter Contest (CW) is January 29-31. The REF Contest (CW), the UBA
DX Contest (SSB) and the SPAR Winter Field Day are January 30-31. The
Classic Exchange (CW) is January 31-February 1. Next week, there is
another running of the NCCC Sprint Ladder on February 5. Look for the
FYBO Winter QRP Sprint, the Minnesota QSO Party and the AGCW Straight
Key Party on February 6. The Vermont QSO Party, the YL-ISSB QSO Party
(CW), the 10-10 International Winter Contest (SSB), the British
Columbia QSO Party, the Delaware QSO Party and the Mexico RTTY
International Contest are February 6-7. On February 7, check out the
North American Sprint (CW) and the ARCI Fireside SSB Sprint. The New
Mexico QSO Party is February 8. The ARRL School Club Roundup
<http://www.arrl.org/SCR/> is February 8-12. The NAQCC Straight Key/Bug
Sprint is February 10 and the CWops Mini-CWT Test is February 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/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, February 21, 2010, for
these online course sessions <http://www.arrl.org/cep/student/>
beginning on Friday, March 5, 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
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