[Letter-List] The ARRL Letter for July 29, 2010

Thu Jul 29 19:37:56 EDT 2010

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            The  ARRL Letter

Published by the American Radio Relay League
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July 29, 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

- + ARRL in Action: ARRL Argues that Oklahoma Town's RFI Ordinance is
"Null and Void"
- + John Robert Stratton, KE5ISX, Appointed West Gulf Division Vice
Director
- + The Bands "Heat Up" for the 2010 ARRL UHF Contest
- ARDF Update: Radio Foxhunters Find Their Champions in Ohio
- + Government Agencies Introduce User-Friendly Federal Register
- + FCC Launches Consumer Help Center
- + Solar Update
- This Week on the Radio

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

==> + ARRL IN ACTION: ARRL ARGUES THAT OKLAHOMA TOWN'S RFI ORDINANCE IS
"NULL AND VOID"

   Saying that only the Federal Communications Commission is empowered
to regulate radio frequency interference (RFI), the ARRL has notified
Midwest City, Oklahoma, that its local ordinance 27-3(9), seeking to
regulate radio transmissions and RFI, is "null and void." Midwest City
is in the Oklahoma City metropolitan area. The ordinance reads: "In
addition to other public nuisances declared by other sections of this
Code or law, the following [is] hereby declared to be [a] public
nuisance: Operating or using any electrical apparatus or machine which
materially and unduly interferes with radio or television reception by
others."

On July 21, ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, wrote to Midwest
City Assistant City Manager Dave Ballew, City Attorney Katherine Bolles
and Director of Code Enforcement Mike Stroh, informing them that the
ARRL had been provided with a copy of the ordinance by amateurs in that
community. "We are also aware that a notice was sent by Mr Stroh on
behalf of the City to one of ARRL's members who resides in Midwest City
asserting that the FCC-licensed radio amateur to whom the letter was
addressed was in violation of the ordinance as the result of radio
frequency interference appearing in a neighbor/complainant's home
electronic equipment," the letter read. "The licensed radio amateur was
ordered to remedy the problem in one day, under penalty of a sanction
assessed against the real property of the radio amateur." Read more
here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-argues-that-oklahoma-town-s-rfi-ordinance-is-null-and-void>.

==> + JOHN ROBERT STRATTON, KE5ISX, APPOINTED WEST GULF DIVISION VICE
DIRECTOR

   After review of eligibility by the ARRL Ethics and Elections
Committee, President Kay Craigie, N3KN, has appointed John Robert
Stratton, KE5ISX, an attorney in Austin, Texas, to serve as Vice
Director of the ARRL West Gulf Division for the remainder of the
current term that expires January 1, 2011. Stratton, an attorney, fills
the vacancy created when John Thomason, WB5SYT, resigned the position
earlier this month
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-west-gulf-division-vice-director-john-thomason-wb5syt-resigns-position>.
"John Robert Stratton has the training, experience, time and motivation
to be a great Vice Director," said ARRL West Gulf Division Director Dr
David Woolweaver, K5RAV. "His addition to the West Gulf Division's team
will enhance its ability to provide the quality of service the
membership deserves."

A General class licensee, Stratton has been licensed and an ARRL member
since 2006. In February 2007, Stratton became active in League affairs
after learning about the new cell phone bills that were introduced in
the 2007 Texas Legislative Session, and he volunteered to help work
against the bills. He was put in touch with Dr Woolweaver, who was then
the West Gulf Division Vice Director and was leading the West Gulf
legislative efforts. "Initially just a volunteer, I was selected to
lead the West Gulf legislative team," Stratton said. "We were
successful in defeating the cell phone bills that would have made
mobile Amateur Radio operation illegal. With the help of some smart and
dedicated hams, we were also successful in obtaining passage of new
laws that protected those state employees who were hams [so they could
operate] when they deployed in emergencies." Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/john-robert-stratton-ke5isx-appointed-west-gulf-division-vice-director>.

==> COMING SOON: MORE ARRL 2010 FIELD DAY PINS

   After a higher than expected run on pins for Field Day this year,
the ARRL has ordered more and expects them to arrive next month. "The
pins were in stock until just before Field Day, but due to some
exceptionally high interest, we were unable to fulfill a few final
orders," said ARRL Product Marketing Specialist Jackie Ferreira,
KB1PWB. "We have reordered the pins, as many hams enjoy collecting
these annual pins; lots of ARRL-affiliated radio clubs also like to
hand these out to their members who participate in Field Day each
year." The 2010 Field Day pins may be ordered from the ARRL online
store <http://www.arrl.org/shop/Field-Day-2010-Pin/> or by telephoning
888-277-5289 in the US, Monday-Friday from 8 AM-5 PM Eastern Time
(outside the US, please call 860-594-0355). Pins will begin shipping in
mid-August.

==> + THE BANDS "HEAT UP" FOR THE 2010 ARRL UHF CONTEST

   VHF/UHF weak-signal operators across North America are making the
final tests on their stations in preparation for the ARRL UHF Contest,
coming up the weekend of August 7-8. Most VHF+ weak-signal operation
takes place on the two lowest-frequency bands of the VHF spectrum -- 6
and 2 meters; however, a lot of activity takes place above 144 MHz in
the UHF portion of the radio spectrum and beyond. This contest focuses
on 222 MHz and above; there will be lots of activity, and hopefully
lots of propagation, too! Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/the-bands-heat-up-for-the-2010-arrl-uhf-contest>.

==> ARDF UPDATE: RADIO FOXHUNTERS FIND THEIR CHAMPIONS IN OHIO

By ARRL ARDF Coordinator Joe Moell, K0OV

   They came from 15 states and four foreign countries. In their
suitcases were radio sets, antennas, sun block and running shoes, but
they left some room in hopes of taking home a medal or two. They were
the hams and future hams -- ranging from age 12 to older than 70 -- who
went to Southwest Ohio in the third week of May for the 10th Annual USA
Championships of Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF). ARDF is done
on 80 meter CW and 2 meter AM in separate events, each with five "fox"
transmitters. A course is typically three miles from start to each of
the five transmitters (in optimum order) and then to the finish. Your
mission is to find your assigned three, four or all five foxes,
depending on which of the 11 age/gender categories you are in. Each
transmitter is on for one minute at a time in a five-fox cycle that
repeats. You must find your way on foot with just your
direction-finding gear, the map you're given and your compass. GPS help
is not allowed. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/ardf-update-radio-foxhunters-find-their-champions-in-ohio>.

==> + GOVERNMENT AGENCIES INTRODUCE USER-FRIENDLY FEDERAL REGISTER

 <http://www.arrl.org/images/view/News/ARRL_FederalRegister.JPG>
While the Federal Register may be the ultimate record of the business
of the USA's Executive Branch, it can be difficult to navigate. The
Register publishes approximately 80,000 pages of documents each year in
the form of Notices, Proposed Rules, Rules and Official Documents; this
is where all new and amended rules to Part 97, the Amateur Radio
Service, must be published before they go into effect. On Monday, July
27 -- in an effort to make things a bit easier on the thousands of
people who access the Federal Register each day -- the US Government
Printing Office and the National Archives' Office of the Federal
Register launched a new and improved online Register. Named Federal
Register 2.0, it is an outgrowth of President Obama's first executive
order that mandated greater federal government transparency. The launch
of the new site coincided with the 75th anniversary of the Federal
Register Act, which became law on July 26, 1935. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/government-agencies-introduce-user-friendly-em-federal-register-em>.

==> + FCC LAUNCHES CONSUMER HELP CENTER

   Beginning July 28, those who have dealings with the FCC will have a
new tool that the FCC claims will put them "within one click of all the
information they want" from the Commission: a new "easy-to-use"
Consumer Help Center. "Our new Consumer Help Center makes it easy for
consumers to learn about our work and take action," said FCC Chief of
the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau Joel Gurin in a press
release. "Here, in one place, consumers can do a number of things, such
as read about consumer issues, get practical advice for avoiding
problems, file a complaint, comment on our rulemakings, or read what
our FCC experts are saying in our Consumer Blog." Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-launches-consumer-help-center>.

==> + SOLAR UPDATE

   Tad "Somewhere in this favored land the Sun is shining bright
<http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_case.shtml>" Cook, K7RA,
reports: We've seen increasing solar activity all this week, with
average the daily sunspot numbers rising nearly 14 points to 35.6, and
the average daily solar flux rising nearly 5 points to 85.3. Sunspot
group 1089 has grown, shrunk and is now growing again; as of Wednesday,
it has been visible a total of 10 days. Three more sunspot groups
appeared this week, with the latest -- group 1092 -- rapidly appearing
on Wednesday with a relative size of 180 millionths of a solar
hemisphere. The relative size of group 1089 for July 19-28 was 130,
150, 310, 240, 200, 160, 140, 100, 70 and 90. The predicted solar flux
(as of Wednesday) for July 29 is 85, 87 for July 30-August 1 and 85 for
August 2-4. The predicted planetary A index for those days is 15 for
July 29, 10 on July 30-31, 8 on August 1-2 and 6 on August 3-4. Along
with increased solar activity, we have seen higher geomagnetic
indicators, all due to a stiff solar wind. Both the planetary and
mid-latitude A indices nearly doubled for the week. Look for more
information -- including a look at sunspot activity and predictions, as
well as 6 meter activity now compared to the 2000-2001 sporadic-E
seasons -- on the ARRL Web site on Friday, July 30. 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" is brought to you by Ernest L. Thayer's  Casey at the Bat
<http://www.baseball-almanac.com/poetry/po_case.shtml>.

==> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO

This week:

- July 30 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- August 1 -- SARL HF Phone Contest
- August 3 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
- August 4 -- QRP Fox Hunt

Next week:

- August 6 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- August 7 -- TARA Grid Dip Shindig
- August 7-8 -- ARRL UHF Contest <http://www.arrl.org/august-uhf>;
North American QSO Party (CW); 10-10 International Summer Contest (SSB)
- August 8 -- SKCC Weekend Sprint
- August 11 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint; QRP Fox Hunt
- August 11-12 -- CWops Mini-CWT Tests

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
information. Looking for a Special Event Station? Be sure to check out
the ARRL Special Events Station Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/special-events>.

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