[Letter-List] The ARRL Letter for June 3, 2010

Thu Jun 3 17:22:41 EDT 2010

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            The  ARRL Letter

Published by the American Radio Relay League
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June 3, 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

- + 2010 Atlantic Hurricane Season Begins This Week
- + On the Air: Join the Fun on VHF in the ARRL VHF QSO Party
- + Amateur Radio in Space: Australia Students Celebrate WIA Centenary
with ARISS QSO
- ARRL in Action: What Have We Been Up to Lately?
- + International Perspective: 2010 IARU Eyeball QSO Contest Results
- + ARRL Recognizes: Mert Nellis, W0UFO, Wins May QST Cover Plaque
Award
- + Solar Update
- This Week on the Radio

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

+ After installing some software updates, we are pleased to be able to
once again offer the ARRL Audio News via telephone. By calling
860-594-0384, you can listen to the latest edition of the Audio News.

==> + 2010 ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON BEGINS THIS WEEK

   The Atlantic hurricane season could be the busiest since 2005, when
Katrina and Rita caused massive destruction along the same part of the
Gulf Coast now struggling with the largest offshore oil spill in US
history, government scientists with the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said last week. According to NOAA's
predictions, the 2010 season may spawn as many as 23 named tropical
storms, including up to seven major hurricanes. The Atlantic hurricane
season began Tuesday, June 1 and runs through November 30.

"This year's hurricane season is forecasted to be a busy one, with a
strong chance of a major hurricane making landfall in the US," said
ARRL Emergency Preparedness and Response Manager Mike Corey, W5MPC. "I
would encourage all amateurs in hurricane-prone areas to take part in
any planning, drills or exercises, have your go-kits in order, review
your local plans, make sure your home and family are safe and be ready
if called upon. We here at ARRL Headquarters are already making plans
to assist amateurs in the field if and when needed this season." Read
more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/2010-atlantic-hurricane-season-begins-today>.

==> + ON THE AIR: JOIN THE FUN ON VHF IN THE ARRL VHF QSO PARTY

   Lots of RF will be generated on 6 meters and up the weekend of June
12-13 during the 2010 ARRL VHF QSO Party
<http://www.arrl.org/june-vhf-qso-party>. While many amateurs think of
the VHF+ bands as a "local" band for public service, emergency
communications or even a bit of fun on FM repeaters, weak-signal VHF+
enthusiasts know better. Even with a modest station, it's possible to
work hundreds, or even thousands of miles, on the VHF bands during a
good opening.

ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, is a big VHF enthusiast
himself. "In more than 25 years of Amateur Radio, weak-signal work on 6
and 2 meters remains the most fun and intriguing activity I do. There
is nothing like a good VHF opening; with interesting propagation
characteristics like Sporadic-E, tropospheric ducting, aurora and even
meteor scatter and moonbounce, VHF offers QSO opportunities that HF can
never satisfy." The ARRL June VHF QSO Party
<http://www.arrl.org/june-vhf-qso-party> runs from 1800 UTC Saturday,
June 12 through 0300 UTC Monday, June 14 (Saturday afternoon to Sunday
evening for most of the US and Canada). Complete rules and entry forms
may be found on the ARRL Web site. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/join-the-fun-on-vhf-in-the-arrl-vhf-qso-party>.

==> + AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: AUSTRALIA STUDENTS CELEBRATE WIA
CENTENARY WITH ARISS QSO

   Students from the Trinity Christian School at Wanniassa in the
Australian Capital Territory made history on May 29 with the first
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) contact to be
held in Canberra. The event was part of the Wireless Institute of
Australia (WIA) Centenary Dinner on May 29. More than 200 people
attended the event, including international guests IARU President Tim
Ellam, VE6SH/G4HUA, and ARRL International Vice President Jay Bellows,
K0QB, as well as prominent Australians such as IARU Region 3 Chairman
Michael Owen, VK3KI, Australian Communications and Media Authority
Chairman Chris Chapman and WIA Centenary Patron Dick Smith, VK2DIK. The
principal of Trinity Christian School is Carl Palmer, VK2TP/VK1TP. Read
more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/australia-students-celebrate-wia-centenary-with-ariss-qso>.

==> 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 bringing the ever-popular ARRL EXPO to
the 2010 Dayton Hamvention®, awarding college scholarships, releasing
new books, holding Section Manager elections and more. This installment
covers the month of May. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-in-action-what-have-we-been-up-to-lately-22>.

==> + TEXAS GROUP TO HOST INTERNATIONAL EARTH-MOON-EARTH CONFERENCE IN
AUGUST

   The North Texas Microwave Society (NTMS <http://www.ntms.org/>) will
host the 14th International EME Conference <http://www.ntms.org/eme/>
in Dallas, Texas on August 12-14. This is the first time the conference
has been held in the US since 2004. Whether you are an experienced
EMEer or new to EME, the conference will offer a wide range of
technical, social and sight-seeing activities. Gerald Youngblood,
K5SDR, President and Chief Executive Officer of FlexRadio, will be the
lunchtime speaker on Friday, August 13; Nobel laureate Joe Taylor,
K1JT, will speak about April's 432 MHz EME event at Arecibo
<http://www.arrl.org/news/moonbounce-for-everyone-courtesy-of-the-arecibo-radio-telescope>
on Saturday, August 14. Presentations will include a noise figure
workshop hosted by Al Ward, W5LUA, Tommy Henderson, WD5AGO, and Tony
Emanuele, WA8RJF, as well as an EME demonstration by Paul Perryman,
WA5WCP, and exhibits featuring a number of dealers. The event will also
feature tours for both attendees and their spouses to various historic
sites around the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Organizers are still
soliciting people to speak or submit articles for the conference's
Technical Proceedings. If interested, please contact Barry Malowanchuk,
VE4MA, via e-mail <ve4ma at shaw.ca>. A block of rooms has been reserved
<http://www.ntms.org/eme/hotel.php> at the Westin Hotel, a short
shuttle ride from DFW Airport; rooms must be reserved by July 12 to
take advantage of special rates.

==> + INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE: 2010 IARU EYEBALL QSO CONTEST RESULTS

At the 2010 Dayton Hamvention®, the International Amateur Radio Union
(IARU) and the ARRL sponsored a game that involved searching for hams
visiting from outside the USA. According to ARRL Membership and
Volunteer Programs Manager Dave Patton, NN1N, the idea was to obtain
calls and names from as many different DXCC entities (from outside the
USA) as possible by making "eyeball QSOs" during the Hamvention.

   "No one knew exactly what to expect," Patton said, "as there hadn't
been a formal list of attendees from outside the USA in the recent
past. But amazingly, there were at least 138 hams from 48 DXCC entities
-- not including all the DXpeditioners who signed with their DXpedition
calls -- appearing on the eyeball QSO cards that were turned in to IARU
officials at the end of the event to the IARU staff." As for the
winners, Patton said that "everyone was a winner through the
interaction with all the international guests, and the Top 10 will
receive gift certificates from the ARRL."

The Top 10 winners -- including a tie for first place --were (with
number of international "eyeball QSOs" following their call sign):
Margreet Blondeel Timmerman, K2XYL (24); Frank Butler, W4RH (24); Lewis
Ankerbrand, W3GHU (19); Steve Gocala, KB8VAO (18); Allen Olender,
WA8IWK (14); Stan Arnett, AC8W (14); Judy Attaya-Harris, KB1SRO (12);
Coy Day, N5OK (12); Preben Mailand Christensen, OZ1HHH (10); Ed Moyer,
AB3AH (9), and Ken Lowry, W8ND (6). For a list of the 138 call signs
representing almost 50 DXCC entities, click here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/2010-iaru-eyeball-qso-contest-results>.

==> + ARRL RECOGNIZES: MERT NELLIS, W0UFO, WINS MAY QST COVER PLAQUE
AWARD

   The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for May is Mert Nellis,
W0UFO, for his article "Build an Ampere-Hour Meter for Portable
Operations." Congratulations Mert! 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/cover-plaque-poll>. Cast a
ballot for your favorite article in the June issue by Wednesday, June
30.

==> + SOLAR UPDATE

   Tad "Fear no more the heat o' the Sun
<http://www.absoluteshakespeare.com/plays/cymbeline/a4s2.htm>," Cook,
K7RA, reports: Sunspot group 1072 -- reported in last week's bulletin
-- was visible for nine days, until May 28. When it disappeared on May
29, three new groups appeared: 1073, 1074 and 1075. On May 29-31, the
sunspot number was 43, 40 and 39, but geomagnetic indices were high as
well, with the planetary A index at 33 on May 29 and the planetary K
index up to 5. On the same day, the college A index (Alaska) was 53,
with the college K index as high as 7. So we have had some increased
sunspot activity, but the downside for HF operators has been
geomagnetic storms. Look for more information, including a rare 2 meter
sporadic-E opening, on the ARRL Web site on Friday, June 4. 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 Cymbeline
<http://www.absoluteshakespeare.com/plays/cymbeline/cymbeline.htm> (Act
IV, Scene 2).

==> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO

This week, the Ten-Ten International Open Season Contest and the
Alabama QSO Party are June 5-6. The CWOps Mini-CWT Test is June 9-10.
Next week, the ARRL June VHF QSO Party
<http://www.arrl.org/news/join-the-fun-on-vhf-in-the-arrl-vhf-qso-party>
is June 12-14. Another running of the NCCC Sprint Ladder takes place
June 11. On June 12, look for the BARTG Sprint, the Portugal Day
Contest and the Bill Windle QSO Party. TheDRCG Long Distance Contest
(RTTY) is June 12-13 and the SKCC Weekend Sprint is June 13. 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 CONTINUING EDUCATION COURSE REGISTRATION

   Registration remains open through Sunday, June 20, 2010, for these
online course sessions <http://www.arrl.org/online-course-registration>
beginning on Friday, July 2, 2010: Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications Level 1; 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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