[PBARC] The ARRL Letter, Vol 22, No 44

[E. Glenn Wolf, Jr.]

***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 22, No. 44
November 7, 2003
***************

IN THIS EDITION:

* + November 7 last day to file comments with FCC on Morse testing petitions
* + Logbook of the World now works on Macintosh computers
* + IARU, ARRL support Amateur Radio course at Albanian University
* + NWS/ARRL SKYWARN Recognition Day set for December 6
* + Tim Lewallen, KD5ING, wins Philip J. McGan Memorial Silver Antenna Award
*   Solar Update
*  IN BRIEF:
       This weekend on the radio
     + Progress Energy reaches out to NC hams on BPL
       South Africans Launch Telescope Special Event Nov 21
     + Missouri Traffic Net Legend SK at 93


+Available on ARRL Audio News

===========================================================

==> NOVEMBER 7 LAST DAY TO FILE COMMENTS WITH FCC ON MORSE TESTING PETITIONS

The deadline to submit electronic comments on seven FCC Petitions for
Rulemaking regarding Morse code testing for US Amateur Radio operator is
midnight, November 7. As of 7 PM November 6, 1893 comments have been filed
by various interested individuals and parties, with a large plurality of
respondents commenting on a proposal by FISTS CW Club.

The FCC's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS) will accept filings in the
following formats: MS Word 6.0 and higher, MS Excel 4.0 and higher, Word
Perfect 5.1 and higher, ASCII Text, and Adobe Acrobat Portable Document
Format (PDF). Electronic comments must be filed before 12 AM EST; hardcopy
comments must reach the commission by 7 PM.

The 14-page petition filed on behalf of FISTS CW Club by Nancy A. Kott,
WZ8C, the executive director of FISTS' North American chapter, has drawn
almost half of the comments filed on the seven Morse-testing-related
petitions--a total of 877. The FISTS petition would delete the requirement
to pass Element 1 to obtain Technician plus Element 1 (ie, "Tech Plus") HF
privileges.

Designated RM-10811, it would merge Tech and Tech Plus into a single class,
emphasize technical content, including digital modes, on written
examinations and extend digital mode privileges within Novice/Tech Plus
subbands. It would not provide additional HF phone privileges for
Technicians, however. The FISTS petition would retain a 5 WPM Morse exam for
General applicants and raise the Morse exam to 12 WPM for Amateur Extra
applicants while increasing the technical level on written examinations for
both classes.

There are six other Morse-related petitions before the Commission, numbered
RM-10805 through RM-10810, taking various stands on testing, WPM and subband
segment allocation.

Interested parties may file comments on any or all of these petitions using
the ECFS Web site at www.fcc.gov/cgb/ecfs/, which also permits users to view
all comments on file. To file a comment, click on "Submit a Filing" under
"ECFS Main Links." In the "Proceeding" field, type the full RM number,
including the hyphen, and complete the required fields. "RM"
must be in capital letters, and you must include the hyphen between "RM"
and the five-digit number.

You may type your remarks into a form or attach a file. ECFS also accepts
comments in active proceedings via e-mail, per instructions on the ECFS
page. To view filed comments, click on "Search for Filed Comments" under
"ECFS Main Links" and type in the complete RM number.

==> LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD NOW WORKS ON MACINTOSH COMPUTERS

ARRL's Logbook of the World continues to grow and expand, and it's now
operational on the Macintosh OS X operating system. Mac enthusiast Steve
Palm, N9YTY, compiled a version of TrustedQSL to work with newer Macintosh
computers. The program was built using MacOS version 10.2--"Jaguar"--and was
tested on versions 10.2 and 10.3, the new "Panther" upgrade.

Palm, said he had a lot of fun porting the TQSL code to the Mac environment,
and was satisfied that he was able to help fill a real need for Mac users.
"There was a lot of discussion about this on the HamMac mailing list. It was
obvious that many Mac users were looking for something," he said. Palm, the
author of EchoMac, a Macintosh OS X EchoLink program, said it took about a
week of concentrated effort to complete the port to the Mac platform.

"The base code developed by the TrustedQSL team at ARRL didn't really have
any issues that prevented it from being ported to the Mac, so kudos go out
to them for doing a good job writing portable code," Palm said. He tackled a
few Windows-Mac translation issues and made the Macintosh program "more
Mac-like," with configuration and help files embedded in the program so it
can be installed in drag-and-drop fashion.

ARRL Web and Software Development Manager Jon Bloom, KE3Z, said he's also
working on integrating Palm's MacOS changes into the official source tree so
that other Mac developers will be able to easily build a library and their
applications from the source code. The TQSL software also runs on the
Windows platform, and Red Hat Linux versions 7.2 and 8.

Palm, a ham since 1994 and a programmer since the early 1980s, said that
with the new program development tools Apple has recently released, he
believes that more Macintosh Amateur Radio software authors will now get
involved with porting existing ham programs and creating new ones.

In the six weeks the system has been open to the public, Logbook of the
World has accepted logs from 4,000 users from 158 DXCC entities. These
users--all with secure digital certificates--have uploaded nearly 21 million
QSO records into the system, as of November 3. All of those contacts have so
far resulted in more than 350,000 records being generated, Bloom said.

ARRL Assistant to the CEO David Patton, NN1N, said Logbook continues to
evolve, with the ability to claim confirmed contacts for ARRL awards credit
being just around the corner. He said the cost per credit would be between
15 and 25 cents, making each credit far cheaper than the cost of mailing a
paper QSL card with a self-addressed, stamped envelope and possibly an
international reply coupon, as well.

For a complete overview on Logbook of the World, just head on over to the
LoTW Web page at www.arrl.org/lotw or check out the article by ARRL
Membership Services Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG, on page 46 of the October
2003 QST.

==> IARU, ARRL SUPPORT AMATEUR RADIO COURSE AT ALBANIAN UNIVERSITY

Beginning November 9, an International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1
supported course in Albania will commence under the sponsorship of Spartak
Poci, the Minister of Telecommunications, and in cooperation with the
Polytechnic University of Tirana.

Thirty-four third and fourth year students will begin a five-week course of
study, culminating in a CEPT license examination. A unique part of this
program is that Amateur Radio is being integrated into the regular
university course offerings using an advanced Radio Society of Great Britain
study package as a reference.

Each week of this program in Tirana will benefit from the efforts of invited
professional educators from the Amateur Radio community from Albania,
Finland, Germany, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Macedonia, Spain, Sweden
and the United States. In total, some 50 Amateur Radio operators, drawn
mainly the DX and contesting communities, will travel to Albania to teach.
The core organizing team consists of Joseph Obstfeld, 4X6KJ; Carsten Esch,
DL6LAU; Angel Padin, EA1QF; Roger Brown, G3LQP; Pietro Mario Ambrosi, I2MQP;
Warren Hill, K7WX; Pertti Simovaara, OH2PM; Marenglen Geni Mema, ZA1B, and
Martti Laine, OH2BH.

Professor Giorgio Goggi, I2KMG, and Professor John Share, G3OKA,
representing the University of Pavia and the Associazione Radioamatori
Italiani, and the University of Liverpool and RSGB, respectively, will teach
the first week. Share will serve as a lead teacher for the first three weeks
and be succeeded by Uli Weiss, DJ2YA.

The second week segment of the course will be lead by Hill and taught under
the supervision of Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA. Representing the ARRL, team
members Dan Brown, N7DB; Rich Chatelain, K7ZV; Robin Critchel, WA6CDR; Paul
Rubenfeld, WF5T, and Don Wilson, K6RKE, will demonstrate hands-on operating
practices and cover the topics of the Earth's magnetic field, the mysteries
of radio propagation, practical antennas, the role of Amateur Radio in
society, FCC/CEPT examinations, transmitter interference, QSL practices and
successful DXpeditioning.

During this five-week period, ZA1A--the station of the Albanian Amateur
Radio Association--will be active on many bands and in a variety of modes
while demonstrating Amateur Radio to local telecommunications and education
administrators, as well as to the students. Multiple locations will be used
and several stations may be active at the same time. All QSL request should
be sent via OH2BH.

After the course, all equipment used will be put to serving the Albanian
amateur community. The progress of the entire project can be followed on the
Internet at www.za1a.com. This educational program is supported by the
International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1 with additional support
from the ARI, ARRL, RSGB, IARC, URE, the Northern California DX Foundation,
Vertex Standard Co Ltd (Yaesu), Fluidmotion Inc (SteppIR beams), Malev
Airlines and Rogner Europark Hotel in Tirana. --Martti Laine, OH2BH

==> NWS/ARRL SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY SET FOR DECEMBER 6

The fifth annual SKYWARN Recognition Day will take place Saturday, December
6, 2003, 0000 UTC to 2400 UTC. During the special event, Amateur Radio
operators visit National Weather Service (NWS) offices and contact other
operators around the world. The purpose of the event is twofold: to
recognize Amateur Radio operators for the vital public service they perform
during times of severe weather and to strengthen the bond between radio
amateurs and their local NWS office. The event is cosponsored by the
American Radio Relay League and the National Weather Service.

Traditionally, hams have assisted the National Weather Service during times
of severe weather by providing real-time reports of severe events and storm
evolution. "You simply can't put a price tag on it," said Scott Mentzer,
N0QE, organizer of the event and Meteorologist-In-Charge at the NWS office
in Goodland, Kansas. "The assistance that radio amateurs provide to the NWS
throughout the year is invaluable."

This year, radio amateurs once again proved their worth. On May 4, after
tornadoes knocked out all communications in Stockton, Missouri, portable ham
radio stations were set up and staffed by volunteers, with licensed NWS
employees forwarding specific forecasts to hams at the Stockton Emergency
Operations Center (EOC). In August, an Amateur Radio storm spotter in Iowa
tracked a tornado until it lifted, providing the local NWS office in the
Quad Cities with "ground truth." This resulted in more specific information
and earlier warnings being disseminated to the public.

The story doesn't stop there. Deployed during a winter storm last March,
hams in Fairbanks, Alaska reported pinpoint locations of freezing rain and
snow. The information was relayed on 2 meters, which allowed the local NWS
office to sharply define the warning area and provide detailed statements of
ice accumulation. In Wisconsin, a volunteer operator reported to the NWS
office at early one spring morning and solicited snowfall reports from
amateurs across the region, allowing the NWS to produce a detailed snow
graphic and make a public statement summarizing the storm. Amateur Radio
success stories such as these occur every year, all across the country.

In 2002, participants logged nearly 23,000 QSOs during the 24 hour event.
Last year nearly 70 countries were contacted. To learn more, check out the
NOAA Web site. -- Thanks to David Floyd, N5DBZ, Warning Coordination
Meteorologist, NWS Goodland, Kansas

==> ARRL ANNOUNCES 2003 PHILIP J. MC GAN MEMORIAL SILVER ANTENNA AWARD
WINNER

Tim Lewallen, KD5ING, of Nacogdoches, Texas, is the winner of the 2003
Philip J. McGan Memorial Silver Antenna Award, the ARRL announced November
5. The award is given annually to an ARRL member who demonstrates
outstanding volunteer public relations success on behalf of Amateur Radio.

Lewallen has been licensed since 1999, and is an ARRL Public Information
Officer (PIO) for the League's North Texas Section. He also serves as a PIO
for the Nacogdoches Amateur Radio Club.

Not long after Lewallen took on his ARRL PIO position earlier this year, the
space shuttle Columbia disaster occurred. Hams in Texas immediately got
involved in the debris recovery effort, and Lewallen knew there was a story
to be told. Lewallen quickly sought out advice from fellow participants on
the League's public relations reflector and implemented a media plan that
garnered a lot of positive press for the ham radio emergency responders, and
Amateur Radio in general.

"Through his efforts and cooperation with the response agencies, Amateur
Radio was cast in a very positive light," said ARRL Public Relations
Committee Chairman Jeff Reinhardt, AA6JR.

Aside from his work during the shuttle disaster, Lewallen works regularly
with his local media, helps build positive awareness about Amateur Radio by
giving talks to community groups and is a regular contributor on the
League's public relations reflector. "Tim's resourcefulness and willingness
to tell the Amateur Radio story sets a fine example for all PIOs," says
Reinhardt. "The PR Committee was pleased to recommend Tim for this year's
honor."

Lewallen was nominated by Army Curtis, AE5P, and Lloyd Colston, KC5FM. He
will receive an engraved plaque, and ARRL officials in the League's North
Texas Section are planning an in-person presentation.

The McGan Award was created in 1993 in memory of Phil McGan, WA2MBQ (SK).
He was a journalist, the first chairman of the League's Public Relations
Committee and an enthusiastic supporter of volunteer PR efforts to benefit
ham radio.


==>SOLAR UPDATE

Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports:

Last week's events caused excitement, but this week was positively historic.
The largest explosion ever recorded in our solar system occurred Tuesday,
November 4, when an X28 class flare exploded from sunspot 486.  The flare
erupted as the giant sunspot was about to rotate from the visible disk.
This means the blast wasn't aimed at earth, but was in a great position for
taking images.  The eruption saturated X-ray detectors on NOAA's GOES
(Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites, and was so strong that
the X28 measurement had to be estimated, as did the solar flux for November
4.

The flare saturated observing satellites for about 13 minutes during the
peak of the event, according to Christopher Balch of NOAA SEC, who spoke
with Tomas Hood, NW7US.  The measurements stopped at X17.4.  The level of
the flare was estimated by analyzing data from HESSI, the High Energy Solar
Spectroscopic Imager.  The last time a huge flare saturated X-ray detectors
was in April, 2001, and that one was X-20, the biggest recorded at that
time.  Keep in mind that there aren't any accurate records of flare
intensity before about 30 years ago.

Sunspot numbers for October 30 through November 5 were 293, 266, 277, 174,
76, 79 and 32, with a mean of 171. 10.7 cm flux was 271.4, 248.9, 210.4,
190.4, 166.9, 168 and 114, with a mean of 195.7. Estimated planetary A
indices were 162, 93, 21, 18, 10, 31 and 9, with a mean of 49.1.


==>IN BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio:  The Worked All Europe (WAE) DX Contest (RTTY),
the Japan International DX Contest (Phone), the South African Radio League
Field Day Contest, the OK/OM DX Contest, the EA-QRP Club Contest, and the
Anatolia ATA PSK31 Contest are all on tap for this weekend.  The ARRL
November Sweepstakes (Phone) is a week away.  See the ARRL Contest Page
<http://www.arrl.org/contests> and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar
<http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html> for more info.

* Progress Energy reaches out to NC hams on BPL: North Carolina amateurs are
getting heard regarding broadband over power line Internet delivery by a
company whose infrastructure would carry such a system. Raleigh, North
Carolina-based Progress Energy has responded to many calls and e-mails this
fall from concerned hams by contacting several local Amateur leaders and
beginning a dialog that will include Amateur Radio in their BPL testing. In
October, Progress Energy network engineer Bill Godwin met separately with
Wake County ARES EC Tom Brown, N4TAB, and Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, Wake County
ARES PIO, and talked by phone with Technical Specialist Frank Lynch, W4FAL.
Godwin wanted to know more about Amateur Radio, what hams thought
problematic with BPL, and who in the amateur community he and Progress
Energy should work with. ARRL North Carolina Section Manager John Covington,
W4CC, and ARRL Lab Supervisor Ed Hare, W1RFI, were identified as primary
persons for Progress Energy to work with. Godwin set a positive tone by
promising that Amateur Radio operators would be part of the next phase of
testing, to begin early in 2004 in Wake County, NC. Godwin asked about notch
filters. It was explained that notching the ham spectrum might work in a
limited sense, but it wouldn't protect other services like shortwave
broadcast listeners, aviation, etc. Progress Energy completed their Phase I
test in the Wakefield area of north Raleigh early last summer. Phase I was
designed to give Progress Energy engineers experience with the hardware, and
let them know if it really worked. Amateur Radio was not involved in that
test, and no Amateur Radio interference monitoring was conducted. But they
have been hearing from hams steadily, and stridently, ever since. Phase II
is planned for the end of 2003 and early 2004. It will be a larger test and
focus more on marketing than technology, but hams will be invited to
participate, and their interest will be technical. Both Phase I and II tests
involve mostly underground wiring. ARRL Lab Supervisor Ed Hare's testing in
areas with underground wiring showed that substantial interference still
occurred, though above ground wiring was worse. Progress Energy is testing a
system manufactured by Amperion. More information about BPL and Amateur
Radio can be found at the ARRL Web site at www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/
--Thanks to Gary Pearce KN4AQ, Wake County, NC ARES PIO

* South Africans Launch Telescope Special Event Nov 21: A group from the
South African Boland Amateur Radio Club will operate a special event station
November 21-23 from the Sutherland Observatory in the Northern Cape Province
of South Africa. "The purpose is to make amateurs aware of the largest
Telescope in the Southern Hemisphere," noted Dennis Green, ZS4BS. Using the
call sign ZS1SALT ("South African Large Telescope"), the station will
operate from 1100 UTC November 21 until 1000 UTC November 23.
All HF frequencies will be used and the station can be worked on phone, CW
and digital modes. A special QSL card will be sent to all amateurs who make
contact and send direct QSL cards. Cards should be sent to Borland ARC, PO
Box 273, STRAND, 7140, Republic of South Africa. For additional information
on the project, please visit the Web site www.salt.ac.za, as well as the
Boland Amateur Radio Club website at www.qsl.net/zs1bak.


* Missouri Traffic Net Legend SK at 93: Letha A. Dangerfield, W0OUD, of
Joplin, Missouri died October 31. She was 93 years old. Dangerfield was an
active ham for many years, reported Jim Johannes, N0ZSQ. "She handled
traffic using CW, which she copied on her Braille typewriter. She was also a
net control operator for the Missouri Traffic Net. At one time, Letha won a
CW receiving contest at 49 wpm," he said. Dangerfield was born Dec.
4, 1909 in San Francisco, Calif. Although partially blind, she graduated
from Joplin High School, ranking 3rd in her class; soon after graduation her
eyesight failed completely. She was a member of the Joplin Amateur Radio
Club, the Joplin Service Club of the Blind and the board of directors for
the Joplin Association for the Blind, serving many years as secretary.
Dangerfield was also a published poet. A funeral mass was said November 4 at
St. Peter's Church in Joplin.



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