From bmarx at bellsouth.net Thu Jan 1 22:24:11 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Thu, 1 Jan 2015 22:24:11 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Plum Jan 2015 Specials, Discount US postage and Happy DX New Year 2015 DX specials References: Message-ID: <1180C2C8-233C-499B-B125-1E5E079637B8@bellsouth.net> From Tony N2MFT: > 3 Messages from William Plum > > 1. January 2015 DX News and Specials > 2. Discount US Postage Happy New Year 2015 Deal!! > 3. Happy DX New Year 2015 DX specials deal! > > > 1. From: WILLIAM PLUM > Sent: Monday, December 29, 2014 12:37 PM > Subject: January 2015 DX News and Specials > > Dear Customer, > > Thanks for your orders during 2014! Below are specials for January 2015. > > Discount postage: Domestic and International units still available. Stock up for your Holiday mailings. > The 49c domestic rate and $1.15 Global rate will not increase in January. > > If you need a current stamp list or supply list, I can email it to you. > > NEWS: Lithuania joins the Euro community Jan 1, 2015. Stamps denominated in national currency will be valid until Dec. 31, 2016! > > NEW RATES: > Belgium: Jan 1st 2015 rate increases to 1,42 euro. No problem, their "World 1" forever stamp covers it. > France: Jan. 1st 2015 rate increases to 1,20 euro up from 0,98 euro. No problem, their "Monde 20g" forever stamp covers it. > Monaco: Jan 1st 2015 rate increases to 1,20 euro, up from 0,98 euro. > Andorra: Jan 1st, 2015, rate increases to 1,20 euro, up from 0,98 euro. > Qatar rate now 4,50 up from 3,50 > > > NEW PRICES: > Belgium: now priced at $2.20 up from $2.00 > Bulgaria: now $3.00 up from $2.75 > France, Andorra, Monaco: now priced at $2.00 up from $1.70 > Netherlands: now priced at $2.00 up from $1.80 > Qatar now priced at $2.50 up from $2.00 > > > IN STOCK AGAIN: UAE > > STAMPS ON BACK ORDER: Morocco and Russia. > > BACK ORDERS will now be sent with your next stamp order, unless I have several to send you. Am losing money by sending out one at a time. Sorry. > > > U.S. DISCOUNT POSTAGE DEALS!! > > Save Big on your domestic mailings when you plaster > your envelope with colorful stamps. > 49c Units > > 2 stamps > > in 3 stamps > > in 4 stamps > > in 5 stamps > > x 100 > > $42.00 > > $41.00 > > $40.00 > > $39.00 > > x 200 > > $81.00 > > $80.00 > > $78.00 > > $76.00 > > x 400 > > $157.00 > > $154.00 > > $150.00 > > $145.00 > > (3 stamps mean 49c unit is made with 3 stamps: 22c, 22c and 5c for example) > > > $1.15 Units > > 3 stamps > > x 100 > > $95.00 > > x 200 > > $180.00 > > > > > MORE U.S. POSTAGE for SALE! > > 100 x 32c - $27 300 x 32c - $73 > > 100 x 33c - $28 300 x 33c - $75 > > $100 Grab Bags - $70 Values from 3c to 29c in envelopes of 100 ea. I'll send a good mix. > > Watch! a Special Email with More Savings on Discount Postage! > > > > For US postage deals, payment by > CREDIT CARD IS OK!! > > No charge for shipping US postage deals to US addresses. > ORDER NOW! > > > > JANUARY 2015 DX STAMP SPECIALS > 2 Switzerland-$4.00 3 Japan-$3.90 > 2 Spain-$3.20 3 UK-$5.10 > > > > JANUARY 2015 DX SUPPLY SPECIALS > 200/200 European Air Mailers and Air Returns -$40.00 > 200/200 Stateside Mailers and Returns - $19.00 > > Priority Mail Shipping Rates: Orders up to $16.00 add $6.50, orders from $16.01 to $40.00 add $9.00, orders from $41.00 to $100.00 add $15.00. orders from $101.00 to $150.00 add $20.00, orders over $150.00 add 15%. When ordering supplies and stamps, the stamps ride free, just use supply total to figure shipping costs. Shipments to Canada and overseas ship at a greater cost. (01/2014) > > Stamps Only Orders: Just add $1.00 P&H for posting to USA, add $2.00 for posting to Canada. > > 73, bill > William Plum > 12 Glenn Road > Flemington, NJ 08822 > 908 788 1020 > 908 782-2612 FAX > Email: plumdx at msn.com > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 2. From: WILLIAM PLUM > Sent: Monday, December 29, 2014 12:45 PM > Subject: Discount US Postage Happy New Year 2015 Deal!! > > Happy DX New Year 2015!! > U.S. Discount Postage > BONANZA!!! > (Offer expires Jan 31st, 2015) > Order TODAY! > >>>> See $$ Offer Below <<<< > > > U.S. DISCOUNT POSTAGE DEALS!! > > Save Big on your domestic mailings when you plaster > your envelope with colorful stamps. > 49c Units > > 2 stamps > > in 3 stamps > > in 4 stamps > > in 5 stamps > > x 100 > > $42.00 > > $41.00 > > $40.00 > > $39.00 > > x 200 > > $81.00 > > $80.00 > > $78.00 > > $76.00 > > x 400 > > $157.00 > > $154.00 > > $150.00 > > $145.00 > > (3 stamps mean 49c unit is made with 3 stamps: 22c, 22c and 5c for example) > > > $1.15 Units > > 3 stamps > > x 100 > > $95.00 > > x 200 > > $180.00 > > > > MORE U.S. POSTAGE for SALE! > > 100 x 32c - $27 300 x 32c - $73 > > 100 x 33c - $28 300 x 33c - $75 > > $100 Grab Bags - $70 Values from 3c to 29c in envelopes of 100 ea. I'll send a good mix. > > U.S. BOOKLET HOARD!! > > Mostly booklets containing 25c stamps > > $400 face value for $285. !! > > > > For US postage deals, payment by > > CREDIT CARD IS OK!! > > US postage deals to US addresses ONLY. > ORDER NOW! > > > Buy 2 Postage Offers > or.... > The Booklet Hoard > > DEDUCT > $5.00 > Don't delay, order today! > > > 73, bill > William Plum > 12 Glenn Road > Flemington, NJ 08822 > 908 788 1020 > 908 782-2612 FAX > Email: plumdx at msn.com > ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 3. From: WILLIAM PLUM > Sent: Monday, December 29, 2014 12:41 PM > Subject: Happy DX New Year 2015 DX specials deal! > HAPPY DX NEW YEAR!! > Special Offer!! > (Offer expires Jan 31st, 2015) > > Buy 2 DX Supply Specials > and > Shipping is Only $5.00! > Now that's a DEAL! > (US orders only) > > JANUARY 2015 DX SUPPLY SPECIALS > 200/200 European Air Mailers and Air Returns -$40.00 > 200/200 Stateside Mailers and Returns - $19.00 > > > 73, bill > William Plum > 12 Glenn Road > Flemington, NJ 08822 > 908 788 1020 > 908 782-2612 FAX > Email: plumdx at msn.com From bmarx at bellsouth.net Fri Jan 2 11:34:40 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Fri, 2 Jan 2015 11:34:40 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] 1st Meeting of 2015 January 7th. Message-ID: South Florida DX Association Meeting is next Wednesday January 7th 2015. We have a Fun and Informative Meeting planned so please Join us. Kai KE4PT will tell us all about operating from his Mini DXpedition from ZL. > The Meeting will feature a Presentation on RTTY DX Operating Tips. And also the Experiences of operating RTTY Pileups during the W1AW Centennial by Pete N8PR. > > The SFDXA Meeting is held at the Florida Medical Center on Oakland Park Blvd and the Fl Turnpike. There is no exit on the Turnpike at Oakland Park, So come west from I-95 on Oakland Park Blvd. past 441 to the Hospital, about 4 traffic lights west after 441 on the left before the Turnpike Bridge. Come through the front door and tell the Guard you are there for the Radio Club Meeting. For those using a GPS the hospital address is Florida Medical Center,5000 Oakland Park Blvd. > > Join us at 6:00 to 6:45, and have dinner in the cafeteria for a $7.00 Donation to the Club. Remember, only one entr?e. > > Walk across the hall with your tray to the auditorium and meet friends, and discuss and brag about your activities, new contacts recent QSLs you received and W1AW/p totals. > > Formal Meeting begins at 7:33 PM. Come and being a friend. Everyone is Welcome. > > Bill W2CQ From n8pr at bellsouth.net Sat Jan 3 12:27:23 2015 From: n8pr at bellsouth.net (Pete Rimmel N8PR) Date: Sat, 3 Jan 2015 12:27:23 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] LY5W Here Message-ID: <741EDB26E264415B9C42C6F5036E7D94@PeteRGateway> LY5W is here working the ARRL RTTY Roundup. Visitors welcome today and tomorrow. He ight ake the meeting Wed. as well 73, PeteR N8PR From bmarx at bellsouth.net Sun Jan 4 17:52:46 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Sun, 4 Jan 2015 17:52:46 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] A Message from Jeff References: <20150104224633.D905824181@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <3343D34A-A03E-441D-BF09-212B20F8B10C@bellsouth.net> > New Year greetings to all, > > Looking forward to a great 2015 in the SFL Section. With the holidays > behind us, we can get back in the swing of ham radio activity. Some New > Year resolutions for your consideration: > > 1. Get on the air on your favorite bands. > 2. Mentor a new ham > 3. Support your local club and ARES group > 4. Try your hand at some contesting and DXing > 5. Help out at your local VE exam session > 6. Participate in your club?s Field Day > 7. Try a new mode: CW, AM, Digital, Satellite, Weak signal, etc > 8. Check in on a net. > 9. Attend a hamfest or two. > 10. And most of all, have fun with ham radio. > > Hope to see you at one of these upcoming events around the SFL Section > and SE Division: > > 01/10/2015 Festivus Club Picnic > Villages of Hillsboro Park, Deerfield Beach > Gold Coast Amateur Radio Association > Info: www.w4bug.org > > 01/16/2015 | Southwest Florida Regional Hamfest > Location: Fort Myers, FL > Type: ARRL Hamfest > Sponsor: Fort Myers Amateur Radio Club > Website: http://www.fmarc.net > > 01/23/2015 | Puerto Rico State Convention > Location: Hatillo, PR > Type: ARRL Convention > Sponsor: Puerto Rico AR League, Caribbean AR Group & Hatillo > Municipality > Website: http://www.arrlpr.org > > 01/30/2015 | 2015 Miami Tropical Hamboree > Location: Miami, FL > Type: ARRL Hamfest > Sponsor: Dade Radio Club of Miami > Website: http://hamboree.org > > 02/13/2015 | Southeastern Division Convention (Orlando HamCation?) > Location: Orlando, FL > Type: ARRL Convention > Sponsor: Orlando Amateur Radio Club (OARC) > Website: http://hamcation.com > > The ARRL Centennial is now history. The year-long Centennial QSO > party, the nationwide W1AW portable stations, the regional conventions > and the National Centennial convention at Hartford, CT will be long > remembered as one of the most outstanding 12 months in Amateur Radio. I > hope you were a part of it. This new year celebrates another milestone > in ARRL history; the 100th anniversary of QST magazine. Happy Birthday > QST ! > > Happy New Year from your Public Information Coordinator staff! > > May 2015 be happy, healthy, and prosperous for all. > > While we think of our personal New Year's resolutions let's all make > some for Amateur Radio. > > We will try to recruit new hams. We'll make new hams, visitors, > reactivating hams, and the general public more aware of local Amateur > Radio. > > How can we easily do that? First ask yourself: If I was interested in > becoming a ham could I locate the local club easily? If I were a > visiting ham or a ham that recently located to the area could I find > the local club(s)? Second, take a look at ALL community calendar > listings and vow to have local ham activities (lunch, dinner, club > meetings, ARES meetings, and training sessions) listed where anyone can > find them. ALL calendar listings means the local daily newspaper, the > weeklies, the online listings, the ones you find at restaurants, the > local repeaters, the ARRL site, social media sites, even bulletin > boards at libraries and other places > Club officers, publicity chairs/PIOs, and any member can do this. > Split up the chore, chat with each other about your progress getting > the listings done, and make a new friend or two in the process. Let us > know how you are doing with the resolutions and contact us for any help > you may need. > > Very 73, > Sherri Brower, W4STB > Assistant Public Information Coordinator > w4stb at arrl.net > > Dan Fisher, AI4GK > Public Information Coordinator > ai4gk at arrl.net > > My congratulations to Darrell Davis, KT4WX who assumes the reins of the > West Central Florida Section as Section Manager. Retiring SM, Dee > Turner, N4GD, who led the section for the past 10 years, will assist > Darrell as an ASM. Looking forward to working with the WCF and NFL > Sections during the upcoming year. > > ?Amateur Radio Parity Act? Campaign Will Resume in New Congress > > Largely as the result of a grassroots campaign, ?The Amateur Radio > Parity Act of 2014? (H.R. 4969) attracted the support of 69 members > of the US House of Representatives in addition to that of its sponsor, > Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-IL). While the just-adjourned 113th Congress did > not enact the bill, the effort to gain passage of the legislation will > resume anew when the 114th Congress convenes in January. Introduced > with bipartisan support last June, H.R. 4969 called on the FCC to apply > the ?reasonable accommodation? three-part test of the PRB-1 federal > pre-emption policy to private land-use restrictions regarding antennas. > The limited PRB-1 pre-emption currently applies only to state and > municipal land-use ordinances. The FCC has indicated its reluctance to > provide the same legal protections from private land-use agreements ? > often called covenants, conditions, and restrictions or CC&Rs ? > without direction from Congress. ARRL Regulatory Information Manager > Dan Henderson, N1ND, this week stressed that the fight is not over. > ?While we are disappointed that the bill did not make it through the > process during the session, the effort was extremely energized by the > efforts of thousands of ARRL members who participated in our grassroots > lobbying effort,? Henderson said. ?In just 6 short months we gained > tremendous traction for the Amateur Radio Parity Act.? > > Henderson explained that sometime after the new Congress is called into > session in January, a new ?Amateur Radio Parity Act? bill with a new > number will be introduced into the US House. ?Once this happens, the > ARRL will gear up for a fresh effort to push this legislation > forward,? he added. > In a note to ARRL Section Managers this week, ARRL CEO David Sumner, > K1ZZ, thanked Section leaders and Field Organization volunteers on > behalf of the ARRL Board of Directors and Headquarters staff for their > help in garnering legislative support for H.R. 4969. ?We had hoped to > gain 30 co-sponsors for the bill and ultimately ended up with 69, plus > the sponsor,? Sumner noted. ?The overwhelming majority of these 70 > supporters are returning in January, which gives us a good base on > which to grow additional support.? > Sumner said the objective for 2015 is to continue the momentum, > gathering enough support to move the bill through the Energy and > Commerce Committee. ?We have received expressions of interest from > the Senate side and are hoping to have the bill introduced there as > well,? he added. > Henderson said the bill would not have attained its current level of > support in the US House without the thousands of letters and phone > calls made by ARRL members to their congressional representatives. > ?The success of this crucial issue relies on the efforts of all radio > amateurs and ARRL members,? he said. ?We know you will step forward > in the new year, when we renew our efforts on Capitol Hill.? > > Foundation for Amateur Radio (FAR) Invites Scholarship Applications > > The non-profit Foundation for Amateur Radio (FAR) invites applications > for the Amateur Radio-related scholarships it administers. These > academic awards are sponsored by individuals and by Amateur Radio clubs > across the US. The FAR scholarship application process is open to > Amateur Radio licensees worldwide. For 2015 FAR is administering 67 > scholarships worth an aggregate $125,500. The list includes 36 Quarter > Century Wireless Association scholarships worth a total of $77,000 for > 2015 (these require a recommendation from a QCWA member). Individual > awards range from $500 to $5000. Applications are due by March 30, > 2015. > > The preferred method to apply is to enter the required information into > the electronic form on the FAR website. Information entered on the form > goes directly into an encrypted, password-protected PDF file that is > available only to the review committee. Raw data are not stored online. > Applicants will have an opportunity to print their applications and to > edit them. > > The application cannot be downloaded and completed, however. Applicants > who are unable or unwilling to use the online application should contact > Dave Prestel, W8AJR. FAR may be able to provide an alternate form of the > application. > Official or unofficial transcripts may be submitted but are not > required; it is preferred that these documents be scanned into PDF > files, if they are to be submitted via e-mail. Schools that prefer to > mail paper copies should send them to FAR Scholarships, PO Box 911, > Columbia, MD 21044. > > Visit the FAR Scholarship Information page or contact FAR, if you have > questions about the 2015 scholarship application process. > FAR?s scholarship program is one of the largest for Amateur Radio > licensees in the US. The organization?s purpose is to further Amateur > Radio in all of its various facets. > > November ARES report from Larry, W4LWZ > > Total number of ARES members: 358 > > Change since last month (+, -, same): +2 > > Number of DECs/ECs reporting this month: 10 > > Number of ARES nets active: 10 > > Number of nets with NTS liaison: 5 > > Number of drills, tests and training sessions this month: 40 > > Person hours: 371 > > Number of public service events this month: 1 > > Person hours: 4 > > Number of emergency operations this month: 1 > > Person Hours: 15 > > Total number of ARES operations this month: 42 > > Total Person hours: 390 > > November traffic report from Mike, KM2V > > SAR - NOVEMBER 2014 > > CALL TOTAL WA4BAM 174 KE4CB 052 KM4DUA 010 NC3F 049 W9GPI 009 K9GZT 006 > KK4KAH 009 W4LWZ 010 KA3PYO 005 KD8SYP 002 NT4TS 005 KM2V 073 W4ZE 020 > > PSHR - NOVEMBER 2014 > > Callsign Total WA4BAM 100 KE4CB 160 NC3F 109 KM2V 120 > > NETS - NOVEMBER 2014 > > NET ABB. QNI QTC QND SESS MGR All Florida CW Traffic Net QFN 320 101 > 527 30 WA4BAM Florida Medium Speed Net FMSN 238 86 531 30 AG4RJ/AB4XK > Southeast Florida Traffic Net SEFTN 675 64 1142 30 KM2V Southwest > Florida Traffic Net SWFTN 485 105 1425 26 KE4CB/N9WS Broward County > Emer Prep Net BCEPN 37 4 146 4 K2MOL > > Silent Keys- It is with deep regret that we report the passing of the > following SFL members: > > Roy J. Durso, W2KTG of Cocoa. Roy was a member of the Indian River ARC > and QCWA Spaceport Chapter 66. > > Richard C. Hickey, KK4RCT of Cape Coral. Richard was a member of the > Ft. Myers ARC and Lee County ALERT ( ARES ) > > Well, I guess that?s about it for now. My thanks for all that you do > for Amateur Radio. Have a happy and healthy New Year and see you at a > club meeting, hamfest or on the air. > > > Vy 73, > > Jeff, WA4AW > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > ARRL Southern Florida Section > Section Manager: Jeff Beals, WA4AW > wa4aw at arrl.org From bmarx at bellsouth.net Mon Jan 5 10:20:14 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Mon, 5 Jan 2015 10:20:14 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Reminder - 1st Meeting of 2015 January 7th. References: Message-ID: <0BF89CF8-C662-453A-A388-A4B349A8768B@bellsouth.net> This is a reminder about this Wednesdays Meeting. The meeting will be presided over by Incoming SFDXA President Don Drennon N4TZH. Your Officers and Board of Directors have a few changes that will be announced by Don. > South Florida DX Association Meeting is next Wednesday January 7th 2015. > > We have a Fun and Informative Meeting planned so please Join us. > > Kai KE4PT will tell us all about operating from his Mini DXpedition from ZL. > >> The Meeting will feature a Presentation on RTTY DX Operating Tips. And also the Experiences of operating RTTY Pileups during the W1AW Centennial by Pete N8PR. >> >> The SFDXA Meeting is held at the Florida Medical Center on Oakland Park Blvd and the Fl Turnpike. There is no exit on the Turnpike at Oakland Park, So come west from I-95 on Oakland Park Blvd. past 441 to the Hospital, about 4 traffic lights west after 441 on the left before the Turnpike Bridge. Come through the front door and tell the Guard you are there for the Radio Club Meeting. For those using a GPS the hospital address is Florida Medical Center,5000 Oakland Park Blvd. >> >> Join us at 6:00 to 6:45, and have dinner in the cafeteria for a $7.00 Donation to the Club. Remember, only one entr?e. >> >> Walk across the hall with your tray to the auditorium and meet friends, and discuss and brag about your activities, new contacts recent QSLs you received and W1AW/p totals. >> >> Formal Meeting begins at 7:33 PM. Come and being a friend. Everyone is Welcome. >> >> Bill W2CQ From bmarx at bellsouth.net Fri Jan 9 16:19:49 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Fri, 9 Jan 2015 16:19:49 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] ARLP002 Propagation de K7RA References: <20150109202714.1E5D327D896@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <0C4DD290-7522-4F7E-A515-924AA72BC3EF@bellsouth.net> > SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP002 > ARLP002 Propagation de K7RA > > ZCZC AP02 > QST de W1AW > Propagation Forecast Bulletin 2 ARLP002 > From Tad Cook, K7RA > Seattle, WA January 9, 2015 > To all radio amateurs > > SB PROP ARL ARLP002 > ARLP002 Propagation de K7RA > > All solar activity indicators rose this week, sunspot numbers, solar > flux and geomagnetic indices. > > On January 7 the interplanetary magnetic field tipped south, opening > a crack to admit solar wind. This triggered the largest geomagnetic > storm since September 2014. That same day the planetary A index > jumped to 38, pushing the average for the week to 17.7. The previous > seven days (the final seven days of 2014) the average planetary A > index was 13.9. > > Average daily sunspot numbers on the first week of January were > 108.1, compared to 102.9 in the final seven days of 2014. Likewise, > average daily solar flux increased from 134.9 to 144.7. > > The latest prediction has solar flux at 160 on January 9, 165 on > January 10-11, 170 on January 12, 175 on January 13-14, 180 on > January 15, then 170, 165, 160, 155, 145, 140 and 135 January 16-22, > and reaching a minimum at 130 on January 23-27. Solar flux then > rises to a maximum of 175 on February 8-11. The January 15 flux at > 180 is the highest predicted solar flux for at least the next 45 > days. > > Predicted Planetary A index is 15 on January 9, 10 on January 10-12, > 8 on January 13, 5 on January 14-20, then 10, 15 and 5 on January > 21-23, then 10, 18 and 15 on January 24-26, then 8, 5, 10 and 12 on > January 27-30, 15 on January 31 and February 1, then 10, 8 and 18 on > February 2-4, 10 on February 5-7, 5 on February 8-16, then 10 and 15 > on February 17-18. > > F.K. Janda, OK1HH predicts quiet to unsettled geomagnetic conditions > January 9-10, quiet on January 11-17, quiet to active January 18, > mostly quiet January 19, active to disturbed January 20, quiet to > active January 21, active to disturbed January 22, quiet January 23, > quiet to active January 24, active to disturbed January 25, quiet to > active January 26, quiet to unsettled January 27, and mostly quiet > January 28. > > OK1HH also predicts an increase in solar wind on January 9-11 and > again on January 28. > > Mike Morris, WA6ILQ passed along a resource he heard about from Jeff > Kincaid, W6JK. This is part of the new Space Weather Forecast Center > web site, and the page is titled Radio Communication Dashboard: > > http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/radio-communications > > Each of the three prediction displays is animated. Just hit the > arrow button at the bottom, and the animation begins after a short > delay. > > The D Region absorption is important because the D Layer expands in > daylight, and absorbs and attenuates lower frequency radio waves. > This is why 160 meter signals don't propagate for long distances > during daytime. > > If 160 meters seems dead after dark, you might check the D Region > absorption to see if absorption is the culprit. > > Also on this page is a nice graphic showing aurora probability and > one showing solar X-ray activity. > > I ran across this page, which shows a display for Southern > Hemisphere aurora: > > http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/30-minute-aurora-forecast > > It's been some time now since we introduced > http://www.sunspotter.org/#/ via this bulletin, but here it is > again. We can help classify sunspots by choosing which of two images > is the most complex. > > Brad Miskimen, N5LUL of Amarillo, Texas sent a screen shot from > http://www.dxmaps.com/spots/map.php showing a 6 meter opening on > Friday, January 2 around 2100-2200 UTC. Most of the contacts shown > had their paths crossing at a midpoint near Vicksburg, Mississippi > with an estimated MUF of 61 MHz above EM42 at 2106 UTC. > > Scott Bidstrup, TI3/W7RI wrote from Costa Rica: "Propagation on the > upper HF bands has been lackluster at best, with only occasional > days of really good propagation, but the lower HF bands have > benefited noticeably. Daily, on 75 meters, the signals into the > States are very strong in the hours around sunrise and for up to an > hour afterward, and Jay, HP3AK has been having some useful results > for his daily early morning DX hunting in the DX window on 75 at his > gray line. Our morning Central American coffee klatch on 75 meters > has been interrupted occasionally of late by QRM from the States > that often is as strong as the locals. And the local signals just > this morning were as strong as I have ever seen them. I'm hearing > good signals on 60m as well. I really wish we could get back our 60 > meters privileges here in Costa Rica - that's a valued and needed > band for us. But the prospects aren't good. > > "6 meters is going into its usual Winter funk here, with ever fewer > openings each day. We've been blessed, though, with a lot of short > and erratic openings into the South Pacific, and Andy, YS1AG and > Phil, TI5/N5BEK have been working Bob, ZL1RS and several VK4s at > least once or twice a week. Other than a spectacular but short Es > opening into the States one day last week, and another into northern > Central America, there's been very little Es activity here in > Central America in recent weeks. > > "The almost-daily TEP openings from here into South America have > been getting fewer and the signals weaker and being heard for > shorter periods in the evening. Afternoon TEP has all but > disappeared and the evening TEP is getting weaker and less reliable. > That's the usual pattern here for this time of year; we expect > openings to be weak and erratic until March when things should begin > to improve. Time to do some antenna work - getting busy doing other > things ought to stimulate some openings." > > If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, > email the author at, k7ra at arrl.net. > > For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL > Technical Information Service web page at, > http://arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals. For an explanation of the > numbers used in this bulletin, see > http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere. An archive of past > propagation bulletins is at > http://arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive-propagation. More good > information and tutorials on propagation are at http://k9la.us/. > > Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve > overseas locations are at http://arrl.org/propagation. > > Instructions for starting or ending email distribution of ARRL > bulletins are at http://arrl.org/bulletins. > > Sunspot numbers for January 1 through 7 were 101, 113, 122, 124, 89, > 102, and 106, with a mean of 108.1. 10.7 cm flux was 137.5, 145.8, > 148.7, 149.7, 141.9, 141.9, and 147.2, with a mean of 144.7. > Estimated planetary A indices were 7, 12, 15, 21, 18, 13, and 38, > with a mean of 17.7. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 7, 8, 13, > 15, 10, 11, and 23, with a mean of 12.4. > NNNN > /EX From n8pr1 at bellsouth.net Sat Jan 10 19:12:08 2015 From: n8pr1 at bellsouth.net (Pete Rimmel N8PR) Date: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 19:12:08 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] FS: From K4PG Estate Message-ID: <5B7EDD1A4CD44469829D4710BF3FC105@PeteRGateway> >From the estate of Kevin Bunin, K4PG Manuals available for some items. Prefer not to ship if possible, especially larger items. Pickup or meet halfway (in Florida). Or can have items delivered at Orlando HamCation Feb 13/14/15 Contact Bob Patten, N4BP at "n4bp at bellsouth.net" or 954-338-1825 for questions, offers, etc. * Icom IC-720A Transceiver $250 * Ameritron ARB-70412 Universal Radio-Amplifier Interface with IC-706 Cable $55 (New price $75) * MFJ 941D Antenna Tuner $65 * Ten Tec 238 Antenna Tuner $295 * Icom IC-AT100 Automatic Antenna Tuner $175 * Vectronix VC300 Antenna Tuner (slight ding in front panel) $145 (new $180) * Radio Shack Digital SWR Meter $25 * Astron RS-12A Linear Power Supply $70 * Bencher Iambic Paddle (black base) $65 * Bencher HexKey Paddle $225 (new price $269.95) * Ham Keyer HK5A $40 * Telex Model 200 Headset $40 These are Hygain/Telex ProCom 200 dual muff headset w/ mouth mic. * MFJ-385B Station Speaker $25 * Little Tarheel II Screwdriver Mobile Antenna (no Controller) $250 (new price $399) * Digital Comm 2 Meter Bandpass Filter Model DCI-146-4H $110 * Cushcraft A4S Tri-band Yagi $275 (Pickup only) * Cushcraft A505S 6M 5el Yagi $150 (Less than a year old) * CDE CD-44 Rotator $150 (Just replaced terminal on rotator) * LMR-240 Bury Flex Coax Cable 95 feet $45 Rotator Cable -- 73, Bob Patten, N4BP Plantation, FL E-Mail : n4bp at arrl.net Website: http://www.qsl.net/n4bp From n8pr1 at bellsouth.net Mon Jan 12 08:10:29 2015 From: n8pr1 at bellsouth.net (Pete Rimmel N8PR) Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 08:10:29 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] FS: By W4OV Message-ID: Please respond directly to Bruce. Equipment Sale by W4OV at arrl.net Bruce Phegley 954-298-7528 1. Ten Tec Titan 425 HF Amp 160-10 m. Full Legal Limit Plus on all bands. Very clean and in very good condition with owners manual and shipping box for RF deck. $1600 OBO no shipping U pick up. 2. ICOM IC-756 Non Pro in Clean working condition. 2 narrow filters - 98% perfect but might need an optical encoder or similar. Make offer or take it for a test drive. with hand mic and owners manual. has worked 10 Band DXCC. 3. HAL R7 Red I RTTY audio display tuner. Make offer. 4. MFJ Differential T-Tuner 3KW Roller Induction. Works great with Titan, no problem $150 OBO 5. Win Keyer USB Like New condition. Make offer 6. DAIWA SWR & Power Meter NS-660A Cross Needle Meter K12031 Front perfect, scratch on top. $60 OBO 7. Heil Traveler Boomset (single ear piece) with control cable and adapter for IC 706 Works great mobile - very good condx - make offer... 8. Heil Sound Handi Mic.. HM-ic Black- with black clip on for boom attachement . Black screen with black body. Presently being used with my IC-756 non pro works Excellent, Perfect match. $50 9. Heil Sound Handi Mic. HM-1 for Icom with toggle switch between Narrow and Wide. Silver screen with black body - new in box. never used $50 10. MFJ Antenna Analyzer Model 259B with heavy duty AC pwr supply and manual. works perfect. (with Dip Meter Adapter if I can find it) $180.00 OBO 11. Black Widow paddle, brass with white finger tabs. like new $60 OBO 12. Ham-4 Rotor Not used since new Rebuild from Norm's Rotor Service @$200 including hy-gain Control Box good condx. $400 OBO 13. Boom headset TR-2000 with all the paperwork to make it work with any rig. $40.00 14. MFJ Econo Keyer II model MFJ-401B.. old econo ......$10.00 15. MFJ Versa tuner MFJ 901B nice portable low power tuner.. $50 OBO 16.B&W PROTAX coax switch model 37b 5 position rotory old.. $25.00 17. Ten Tec dummy load 50ohm 300W for 30 seconds. -------- $40 18. Orginial Heathkit CanTenna dummy load model HN-31 excellent condx with Heathkit manual -- make offer. 19. Heathkit hybrid phone patch model HD15 with manual perfect condx collectors item - make offer 20. Vanco SWR bridge & Field Strength indicator model swr-1 with book. $20.00 21. Alliance TV rotor & control box for loop antennas or UHF ---- make offer -- From bmarx at bellsouth.net Mon Jan 12 12:44:46 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 12:44:46 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] The "Worked All Neighbors" Award In-Reply-To: <1420047351.10488.YahooMailNeo@web181601.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> References: <1420047351.10488.YahooMailNeo@web181601.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Message-ID: <54B4080E.7020708@bellsouth.net> While this was more Popular in the 50's and 60's it may still be something to put on your wall. From Elliot KB2TZ: The "Worked All Neighbors" Award For those with _very_ broad signals! https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/14060776/WANaward.pdf From bmarx at bellsouth.net Mon Jan 12 14:29:59 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 14:29:59 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Realtime Band Conditions In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: <54B420B7.2020106@bellsouth.net> From Tony N2MFT: Realtime Band Conditions Web Site The purpose of this experimental Web site is to provide 24-7-365 actual (REALTIME) band condition information to CW QRPp, QRPe and CW/SSB for Contesters interested in increasing their scores. It can also be of benefit to other Radio Amateurs to determine band conditions for Nets and casual QSO?s. This information is NOT based on any software pre-dictions or any kind of satellite based readings. It is based on a new Ionospheric sounding method called ?HF Ionospheric Interferometry? which operates very similarly to the PolSAR system used by NASA. http://www.bandconditions.com DDDD From npalex at bellsouth.net Mon Jan 12 14:42:42 2015 From: npalex at bellsouth.net (Norm Alexander) Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 11:42:42 -0800 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] [SFDXA] Realtime Band Conditions In-Reply-To: <54B420B7.2020106@bellsouth.net> References: <54B420B7.2020106@bellsouth.net> Message-ID: <1421091762.72513.YahooMailNeo@web181505.mail.ne1.yahoo.com> Interesting and maybe useful but I could not see how to interpret it in a meaningful way. I find 'listening' to the band as one of the best prop. predictors, another source is the spot distribution for a station or area of interest. Not quite realtime, accept when postings are realtime the Clublog contacts per hour and band charts from the zone you are in are very good forecast info for time and band decisions. Finally I find Propagation forecast tools such as VoCap built into my logging program surprisingly good. Norm W4QN ________________________________ From: Bill To: "sf >> aSFDXA" ; qcWA Sent: Monday, January 12, 2015 2:29 PM Subject: [SFDXA] Realtime Band Conditions From Tony N2MFT: Realtime Band Conditions Web Site The purpose of this experimental Web site is to provide 24-7-365 actual (REALTIME) band condition information to CW QRPp, QRPe and CW/SSB for Contesters interested in increasing their scores. It can also be of benefit to other Radio Amateurs to determine band conditions for Nets and casual QSO?s. This information is NOT based on any software pre-dictions or any kind of satellite based readings. It is based on a new Ionospheric sounding method called ?HF Ionospheric Interferometry? which operates very similarly to the PolSAR system used by NASA. http://www.bandconditions.com DDDD ______________________________________________________________ South Florida DX Assoc. "SINCE 1974" "OUR 40th ANNIVERSARY!" SFDXA WebSite: http://www.SFDXA.com SFDXA Repeater 147.33+ 103.5 Tone To Post: mailto:SFDXA at mailman.qth.net To UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/sfdxa This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net From bmarx at bellsouth.net Mon Jan 12 19:15:33 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Mon, 12 Jan 2015 19:15:33 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] 2015 Tropical Hamboree is Almost Here In-Reply-To: <1119678479135.1119402136475.1574683739.0.321558JL.1002@scheduler.constantcontact.com> References: <1119678479135.1119402136475.1574683739.0.321558JL.1002@scheduler.constantcontact.com> Message-ID: <54B463A5.5050901@bellsouth.net> > > > *2015 Tropical Hamboree!* > > /* > Friday, January 30 and Saturday, January 31 > */ > > The Hamboree is Miami's own Hamfest! A Hamfest is a convention of > amateur radio enthusiasts, combining a trade show, flea market, and > various other activities of interest to amateur radio operators (hams). > > For more announcements and updates regarding the 2015 Hamboree, please > like "The 49th Annual South Florida Tropical Hamboree" on Facebook. > > Like us on Facebook > > > /**Hamboree Mini Maker Faire > **/ > > /* > Saturday, January 31st > */ > > The Hamboree Mini-Makerfaire will run in conjunction with a hamfest. > The Maker Faire is not just about electronics. A Maker Faire is an > event in which folks that are into showing off what they have built > and are willing to teach others the same skills. There will be folks > showing their woodworking, welding, ceramics, jewelry making, > mechanical skills, and of course, plenty of hacking! Makers are by > nature an inquisitive bunch so questions are not only expected but > encouraged. > > For more announcements and updates regarding the 2015 Mini Maker > Faire, please like "Hamboree Mini Maker Faire" on Facebook. > > Like us on Facebook > > > *A Message from our Chair* > > Well, it is here.. The 2015 Miami Tropical Hamboree is alive, on the > air and in service. Please check our website, hamboree.org > , > frequently for all the exciting new information, news, price details > and announcements. > > I want to thank my E-board for all their hard work and effort put > forth as we worked long hours and met many times to finalize the > initial details to make this great event a go. > > We want to thank the entire Ham community for their continued support > and look forward to seeing all of you there and know that this will be > one of the best Hamborees ever. 73's. > > Your Chairman.. Lloyd.. N4LJK > > > */ > Tickets to the Hamboree/* > */ > /* > *$10.00 - Adults* > * > * > *$8.00 - Children * > *(Ages 6-17)* > > Buy Now! > > > > > */When/* > > Friday, January 30 > 12 pm - 6 pm > Saturday, January 31 > 9 am - 6 pm > > */Where/* > > Miami-Dade Country Fair > 10901 SW 24th St > Miami, FL 33165 > > */What/* > > An awesome event that you won't want to miss out on! View More Info > > > */Quick Links/* > > Commercial Booths > > > Swap Tables > > > > Lodging > > > > Prizes > > > > Vendors > > > > Volunteer > > > > /**/Stay Connected with the/**/ > /**/Dade Radio Club /**/ > > Like us on Facebook > > Follow us on Twitter > > > > From n8pr at bellsouth.net Tue Jan 13 14:25:22 2015 From: n8pr at bellsouth.net (Pete Rimmel N8PR) Date: Tue, 13 Jan 2015 14:25:22 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] REVISED list for sale by W4OV Message-ID: <69592FF79BC2420F922DB060A8F768B5@PeteRGateway> Equipment Sale by W4OV at arrl.net Bruce Phegley 954-298-7528 1. ICOM IC-756 Non Pro in Clean working condition New Display ,1 narrow filter rtty/cw FL-232 - 98% perfect but might need an optical encoder or similar, with Icom Power supply ICP515. Non smoking clean good condx. make offer or take it for a test drive. with hand mic and owners manual. has worked 10Bdxcc. No box.$750.00 OBO 2. Rohn tower.. 3 straight 10? sections, 1 taper top 10? section, 1 partial section to be used for base. $120 OBO I will help you take it down. 4. MFJ Differential T-Tuner 3KW Roller Induction. Works great with Titan no problem $150 OBO 6. DAIWA SWR & Power Meter NS-660A Cross Needle Meter K12031 Front perfect, scratch on top. $60 OBO 7. Heil Traveler Boomset (single ear piece) with control cable and adapter for IC 706 Works great mobile - very good condx - $50 8. Heil Sound Handi Mic.. HM-ic Black- with black clip on for boom attachement . Black screen with black body. Presently being used with my IC-756 non pro works Excellent, Perfect match. $50 9. Heil Sound Handi Mic. HM-1 for Icom with toggle switch between Narrow and Wide. Silver screen with black body - new in box. never used $50 10. MFJ Antenna Analyzer Model 259B with heavy duty AC pwr supply and manual. works perfect. (with Dip Meter Adapter if I can find it) $180.00 OBO 11. Black Widow paddle, brass with white finger tabs. like new $60 OBO 12. Ham-4 Rotor Not used since new Rebuild from Norm's Rotor Service @$200 including hy-gain Control Box good condx. $400 OBO 13. Boom headset TR-2000 with all the paperwork to make it work with any rig. $40.00 14. MFJ Econo Keyer II model MFJ-401B.. old econo ......$10.00 15. MFJ Versa tuner MFJ 901B nice portable low power tuner.. $50 OBO 16.B&W PROTAX coax switch model 37b 5 position rotory old.. $25.00 17. Ten Tec dummy load 50ohm 300W for 30 seconds. -------- $40 18. Orginial Heathkit CanTenna dummy load model HN-31 excellent condx with Heathkit manual -- make offer. 19. Heathkit hybrid phone patch model HD15 with manual perfect condx collectors item - make offer 20. Vanco SWR bridge & Field Strength indicator model swr-1 with book. $20.00 From bmarx at bellsouth.net Wed Jan 14 18:20:13 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 18:20:13 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] The ARRL Contest Update for January 14, 2015 In-Reply-To: <20150114042337.E9F2626C598@bmail.arrl.org> References: <20150114042337.E9F2626C598@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <54B6F9AD.5030904@bellsouth.net> Preview If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/?issue=2015-01-14 The ARRL Contest Update January 14, 2015 Editor: Ward Silver, N?AX /Contest Update/ Archive Contest Calendar ARRL Home Page Ad IN THIS ISSUE * Top Band Takes Center Stage - CQ WW 160 CW <#Contests> * Winter At VHF and Beyond - ARRL January VHF <#Contests> * CQ Hall of Fame Nominations Open <#News> * VE3NEA Releases RTTY Skimmer <#Newsweek> * The Sounds of DX <#Sights> * WAG and ARI - Final Results <#Results> * Spaceweather Sm?rg?sbord <#Tech> * Comings and Goings In the Sky <#Techweek> * Come On In! <#Conversation> NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO Are you wondering what to do now that the ARRL's Centennial QSO Party is over? Try the NCJ's small-station-friendly North American QSO Party this coming Saturday. Operate on phone with 100 watts or less for 10 hours out of the 12-hour period starting at 1800Z, exchanging your name and state or country. It's big fun and you won't miss a single down of the football playoffs! BULLETINS If you are planning on operating in the ARRL January VHF Contest, be aware of the new Single-Op Unlimited categories that are available in ARRL VHF contests. For more information about the category, see the contest web page's Overview section "Unlimited Categories and Spotting Assistance FAQ". BUSTED QSOS The NS RTTY Sprint (Thursday evenings in the U.S.) was omitted from the contest listings in the previous issue. This short event precedes the usual NS Ladder sprints. (Thanks, Ken K6MR) CONTEST SUMMARY Complete information <#Contests> for all contests follows the Conversation <#Conversation> section *Jan 17-18* * */North American QSO Party--Phone/* * Linc Cundall Memorial CW Contest (Jan 14) * NAQCC Special 160M Sprint--CW (Jan 16) * YLISSB QSO Party--Phone * LZ Open Contest--CW * International United Teenager Contest * HA DX Contest * Feld-Hell Low-Down Sprint * Classic Exchange--CW * Run For the Bacon--CW (Jan 19) *Jan 24-25* * */ARRL January VHF Contest /* * Locust QSO Party--CW (Jan 21) * NAQCC Monthly QRP Sprint--CW (Jan 22) * CQ WW 160 Meter Contest--CW (Jan 23) * REF French Contest--CW * BARTG RTTY Sprint * Winter Field Day * WAB Top Band Phone Contest * QRP Winter Fireside SSB Sprint NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST Do you have any nominations for the CQ Hall of Fame? CQ WW Director, Randy K5ZD notes that nominations must be in by March 1 and be made by a contest or DX club or a national ham radio organization. The full procedure for all of the CQ Hall of Fame awards is online. Nominations from earlier years are not held for future consideration so renomination is required. Two people are inducted into each Hall of Fame every year. If you are interested in microphones, Shure has put together a nice history of the classic Shure 55 Unidyne. The microphone has been around for 75 years, used by countless hams, broadcasters, and musicians, as you can see in this pair of commemorative USPS postage stamps. (Thanks, Rick W5RH) The North Coast Contesters 23rd Annual Dayton Contest Dinner is now available for ticket sales via the website (no at-the-door sales) which has been provided by KA9FOX and QTH.com . The featured speaker this year is ARRL President, Kay Craigie N3KN. 2015 Contest Hall of Fame inductees will be announced and Icom America has donated an IC-7600 transceiver as the main door prize. The dinner is held on Saturday night of the Hamvention - May 16^th in 2015 - at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. While you're at the Crowne Plaza, take in the Contest SuperSuite and all the other contest-related goings-on! (Thanks, Tim K3LR) Four years ago, Bryce K7UA wrote a series of short articles for his local DX club called the "New DXer's Handbook." Bryce tells us "The original has become outdated and wasn't written for a broad audience in the first place" but a revised second edition is now available free of charge. (Thanks, Daily DX ) Simone M?BOX, new Contest Manager for the British Amateur Radio Teledata Group (BARTG), reports that an email robot log submission system has been put in place. "From the March HF Contest onwards, the entry window for all BARTG contests will be reduced from 30 days to 7 days. There will be a period of 21 days in which I will run the logs through adjudication and email entrants with any queries that are raised. Final adjudication will then take place after the expiration of the 21 days query window. Logs submitted after entries close may be accepted, but the entrant will need to email me to advise me of their late submission as I will not otherwise redownload logs from the robot after the 7 day period has elapsed." Bob N6TV has published a number of very interesting presentations on the use of SDR and other tools in your favorite radiosport events. This is a great way to get up to speed - thanks, Bob! * Using Waterfall Displays as a Contesting Advantage , presented at 2014 Dayton Contest University (CTU) * CW Skimmers, DX Clusters, and The Reverse Beacon Network , presented at 2014 Dayton CTU * CW Skimmers, DX Clusters, and The Reverse Beacon Network , presented at 2013 Dayton CTU * Using The Reverse Beacon Network as a Contesting Advantage , presented at 2012 Dayton Hamvention, Contest Forum * Using Waterfall Displays as a Contesting Advantage , presented at the 2011 Visalia DX Convention, NCCC Contest Academy * Adding a Software Defined Radio (SDR) to an SO2R station Japan has a new band plan , published by the Japanese Amateur Radio League (JARL). The JA allocations on 160 and 80/75 meters are somewhat fragmented so it is important for DX contesters to have the latest information! (Thanks, Daily DX ) The group sponsoring the non-NCJ SSB Sprint contest has their website up and running. The next edition of the contest will start at 0000Z on Feb 1^st . Rules for the 2015 NCJ NAQP and Sprint contests are now available online, as well. (Thanks, Mike W9RE and Kirk K4RO) Did you know that there were originally 20 of Maxwell's equations? True! Jim AJ3K has written a wonderful article in the December 2014 issue of /IEEE Spectrum/, "The Long Road to Maxwell's Equations " explaining how they came to be and then took their final form as the four we use today. Al K2UYH publishes a monthly EME newsletter, /432 and Above /, which is available online and free, including archived back copies. You can also subscribe to receive a copy by email each month. If you are interested in moonbounce at UHF and microwave, this is a must-read publication. Weak-signal VHF+ DXers and contesters will find a lot of useful material, too. The first big flare of the year came earlier this week. The Sun emitted a mid-level solar flare, peaking at 11:24 p.m. EST on Jan. 12, 2015. NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory, which watches the sun constantly, captured this image of the event. *Web Site of the Week* - If your computer is powerful enough and you have a QS1R SDR, you can now auto-spot both RTTY and CW stations on multiple bands using Alex VE3NEA's latest software creation, /RTTY Skimmer Server ./ (Thanks, Bob N6TV) WORD TO THE WISE Bob K2DRH, has written an excellent FAQ on VHF+ contesting with plenty to offer any VHF+ operator. It's published by the Society of Midwest Contesters along with lots of other useful how-to information, such as the FAQs for Getting Started in Contesting, Antennas, and RTTY, among others. (Thanks, Chad WE9V) Ad SIGHTS AND SOUNDS What does rare DX sound like? Tom K8CX has posted 152 MP3 sound clips of various rare DX stations at his Ohio station during the past year. Tom is also looking for pre-1998 sound clips to add to the site. If you have some old recordings of "the greats,", operators and expeditions alike, putting them online would be a great way to preserve these sounds for everyone to hear into the future. (From Daily DX ) Here's a short highlight of the great 10 Meter Contest from an Australian perspective! Peter VK2PV recorded this video from the VK2GGC station. When we're in the next solar minimum, it will be fun to pull this up and listen to what will then be the "good old days!" David WA1OUI found a video showing how the explosive splicing technique featured in the previous issue actually works. This takes the concept of "crimp connector" to an entirely new level! If it startles you to hear a mobile phone ringing like an old desk model from Ma Bell, you'll probably enjoy visiting the Museum of Endangered Sounds . There's a related thread on the Slashdot website, "Sounds We Don't Hear Any More " that is full of interesting comments, as well. RESULTS AND RECORDS The results of 2014 Worked All Germany Contest are final. Besides the scores there is a detailed web report with pictures and audio clips, along with activity overviews and band-by-band breakdowns. (Thanks, WAG Manager, Chris DL8MBS) DX results of the 2014 ARI International DX Contest have been published. Participants will also receive an email with a UBN file (log checking report) attached. (Thanks, ARI Manager, Bob I2WIJ) OPERATING TIP */Call CQ/* - They can't work you if they can't hear you! Classic and timeless advice from the Mt Airy VHF Club /Cheese Bits. / Ad TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION HO, HO, HO from OH, OH, OH! With Rami OH2BCI filling in for St Nicholas on the key, 23,000 QSOs were made from Santa's offices at the Finnish Arctic Circle. The OF9X effort included more than twenty OH operators and their families. High-tech remote was used to capture the Polar Path on 20 meters from Lapland. Santa was often the only signal audible on 20 meters from Europe as hundreds of children around the world were able to greet Santa directly thru video/audio streaming. (Thanks, Martti OH2BH) Have you been watching NOAA's new five-graph solar weather chart ? Mike W?BTU is a big fan, "I'm beginning to realize that chart was a real stroke of genius...you have to watch and study it for a few weeks and you'll see what I mean. When that "fuzz" (all those dots) turned into almost a straight line the other day, the conditions on 80 meters really improved! Same for 20 meters." Mike also recommends the Space Weather Enthusiasts page which includes radio blackout information. Victor US5WE notes that a similar site from Russia is available, too. We should tip our caps to pages by NW7US and CT1BOH which have supplied similar material to hams for quite some time. Just the right thing for your portable toolkit and a use for that finger-friendly old mechanical pencil, too - a solder-filled dispensing pen ! Note this important precaution from Roger K8RI about working on metal with rotating tools: When the shavings start peeling off never, ever try to brush them away by hand. They are sharp and if the bit (or whatever) grabs them at the same time you do, those shavings can remove finger(s) so quickly and cleanly you won't know it happened at the moment. Grant KZ1W provides a related warning: NEVER wear gloves! Glove material can catch on the drill bit, lathe chuck, mill chuck etc. The glove finger then grips the finger too tightly to get out of quickly and the resulting injury can be quite serious. The chips and swarf in drilling, milling, and turning operations should be managed with a chip hook about 12 to 18" long, coolant flushing, or air blast. Better yet, "peck drill" so that short chips are made. An interesting resolution for the New Year would be to cobble together a transmitter from a design published the year you were born. (Thanks to the QRP-L community for the idea) For many years a treadmill in Don WD8DSB's house caused strong interference on 160 meters when it was in use but he has been able to completely eliminate the RFI using a combination of two different filters (a commercial line filter that provides both common-mode and differential-mode filtering, and 14 turns of the power cord on a 2.4" OD Fair-Rite #31 mix toroid core. You can review his tests and filters for your own problem RFI solutions, too. A good source of practical information on how to select a station site can be found in NBS Technical Note 139, Siting Criteria for HF Communication Centers by William Utlat. Dating from 1962, it's still quite useful today. (Thanks, Sinisa, YT1NT/VE3EA) From the EDN "Design Ideas" column - the professional EE equivalent of /Hints and Kinks/ - comes this useful op-amp design for a notch filter . While you're looking at those miraculous triangles of gain, do you know how they achieve it? Similar to the kit showing how the 555 timer chip's internal electronics do what they do, the XL741 kit does the same for the venerable 741 op-amp. The NASA Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) satellite, launched in 2013, is starting to generate some amazing photographs as described in the February 2015 /Sky and Telescope/ article "IRIS Finds Solar Tornadoes, Bombs." IRIS is important to hams because it observes the Sun in ultra-violet which dominates ionospheric characteristics at radio frequencies. The screen capture at right is from a video showing NASA's Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph's (IRIS) view of an area of the Sun. Multiple images of this area were taken in different wavelengths. Each of the images carried information about how fast the solar material is moving, which has shown scientists that a series of loops are twisting in the sun's lower atmosphere, generating mini-tornadoes on the sun's surface. This result is from one of five papers in the Oct. 17, 2014, issue of /Science/ magazine based on IRIS data, highlighting different aspects of solar energy's journey from the Sun's surface through its atmosphere. (Thanks, NASA/IRIS/Pereira) *Technical Web Site of the Week* - This fascinating video shows the /SBSpectrum /software capturing the shifts in frequency for a signal propagating through the ionosphere. The time-lapse video compresses hours of recording time into a few minutes. You can see the ionosphere's individual layers come and go, rise and fall, and do all sorts of interesting things to the signal. This is a big part of why HF digital communication is so hard! (Thanks, Dennis N6KI and Bob W6VR) CONVERSATION Come On In! At this weekend's memorial gathering for Carl AI6V, a common theme among the memories and stories shared by friends was his ability to reach out and instantly make someone new to ham radio (or auto racing, his other avocation) feel a part of the tribe. I can count such an experience with Carl in my history and I can tell you that it had a positive impact on me. It doesn't matter whether we are talking about a contesting legend like Carl or a senior in a high-school club, having someone you respect make the effort to include you in a group is an important ingredient for success and enjoyment in ham radio. In an activity that by definition cannot be performed alone, being part of the team makes all the difference in the world. Training and mentoring has been around a long time. I mean a /very/ long time as this advertisement painted on an old building shows! (Thanks, Paul AI6BB and Doug K1DG) Professionals recognize that mentoring is critical to success and provide training in doing just that. The ham community can take many cues from these programs. It is not enough to help a person pass their test then expect them to sink or swim on their own. Very few of us took the solo route - there was an Elmer or a peer group or a club to make us part of the ham family. At your next club meeting or even a group hanging around a hamfest table, keep a watchful eye for the person who wants to join in but needs an invitation or might be waiting for the right moment. Take the initiative and extend that invitation or make that moment. That's /your/ job as someone in the group, to expand the group. What have you got to lose? Nothing - you'll gain a friend and maybe launch a lifetime ham. Numbers of hams are at all-time highs here in the United States but there are an awful lot of tickets that won't be renewed, even after all that effort was made to pass the test. Will we be able to hold on to our newest members? Not if they don't feel like part of the grand family of hams! Without a personal connection, we will lose them forever. The most powerful words you may ever say to another ham are probably not technical advice or some secret operating tip, they are "Come on in!" 73, Ward N?AX Ad CONTESTS *14 January through 27 January* An expanded, downloadable version of QST's Contest Corral in PDF format is available. Check the sponsor's Web site for information on operating time restrictions and other instructions. *HF CONTESTS* */North American QSO Party--/*Phone, from Jan 17, 1800Z to Jan 18, 0559Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: Name and S/P/C. Logs due: 7 days. Rules Linc Cundall Memorial CW Contest--CW, from Jan 14, 2300Z - See website. Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 1.8-7. Exchange: See website. Logs due: 30 days. Rules NAQCC Special 160M Sprint--CW, from Jan 16, 0130Z to Jan 16, 0330Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and NAQCC mbr nr or power. Logs due: 4 days. Rules YLISSB QSO Party--Phone, from Jan 17, 0000Z to Jan 18, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: Call sign, RS(T), ISSB number. Logs due: Mar 20. Rules LZ Open Contest--CW, from Jan 17, 0000Z to Jan 17, 0400Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5, 7. Exchange: 6-digit serial and serial from previous QSO. Logs due: 30 days. Rules International United Teenager Contest--Phone,CW, from Jan 17, 0600Z to Jan 17, 1400Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RS(T) and age or "RT". Logs due: 30 days. Rules HA DX Contest--Phone,CW, from Jan 17, 1200Z to Jan 18, 1200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS(T) and serial or HADXC member nr or HA county. Logs due: 30 days. Rules Feld-Hell Low-Down Sprint--Digital, from Jan 17, 2000Z - See website. Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 1.8-7. Time period depends on location - see website. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, Feld-Hell member nr. Logs due: 7 days. Rules Classic Exchange--CW, from Jan 18, 1400Z to Jan 19, 0800Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50, 144, CW 1.810, 3.545, 7.045, 14.045, 21.135, 28.050, 50.100, 144.100 MHz. Exchange: RST, QTH, model of rcvr and xmtr. Logs due: 30 days. Rules Run For the Bacon--CW, from Jan 19, 0200Z to Jan 19, 0400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Monthly on 3rd Sunday night (local). Exchange: RST, S/P/C, Flying Pig nr or power. Rules Locust QSO Party--CW, from Jan 21, 0200Z to Jan 21, 0256Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-7. 3.550, 7.050 MHz. Exchange: Name, state or province or 'DX'. Logs due: Jan 31. Rules NAQCC Monthly QRP Sprint--CW, from Jan 22, 0130Z to Jan 22, 0330Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-14. Monthly on 2nd Tuesday or 3rd Wednesday local time (alternating). Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and NAQCC mbr nr or power. Logs due: 4 days. Rules CQ WW 160 Meter Contest--CW, from Jan 23, 2200Z to Jan 25, 2200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8. Exchange: RST and S/P/C. Logs due: 5 days. Rules REF French Contest--CW, from Jan 24, 0600Z to Jan 25, 1800Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST and serial or department ID. Logs due: 15 days. Rules BARTG RTTY Sprint--Digital, from Jan 24, 1200Z to Jan 25, 1200Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: Serial. Logs due: Mar 1. Rules Winter Field Day--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jan 24, 1700Z to Jan 25, 1700Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: Category, ARRL section, local temp. Logs due: Feb 28. Rules WAB Top Band Phone Contest--Phone, from Jan 24, 1900Z to Jan 24, 2300Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8. Exchange: See website. Logs due: 21 days. Rules QRP Winter Fireside SSB Sprint--Phone, from Jan 25, 2000Z to Jan 25, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. QRP calling frequencies. Exchange: RS, S/P/C, QRP ARCI number or power. Logs due: 14 days. Rules *VHF+ CONTESTS* */ARRL January VHF Contest/*--Phone,CW, from Jan 24, 1900Z to Jan 26, 0359Z . Bands (MHz): 50+. Exchange: 4-char grid square. Logs due: Feb 25. Rules Classic Exchange--CW, from Jan 18, 1400Z to Jan 19, 0800Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50, 144, CW 1.810, 3.545, 7.045, 14.045, 21.135, 28.050, 50.100, 144.100 MHz. Exchange: RST, QTH, model of rcvr and xmtr. Logs due: 30 days. Rules Winter Field Day--Phone,CW,Digital, from Jan 24, 1700Z to Jan 25, 1700Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: Category, ARRL section, local temp. Logs due: Feb 28. Rules LOG DUE DATES *14 January through 27 January* * January 15 - AWA Bruce Kelley 1929 QSO Party * January 15 - NRAU 10m Activity Contest * January 15 - QRP Fox Hunt * January 16 - AGB-Party Contest * January 17 - PODXS 070 Club PSKFest * January 17 - QRP Fox Hunt * January 17 - CWops Mini-CWT Test * January 18 - NCCC Sprint Ladder * January 18 - NCCC RTTY Sprint * January 18 - NRAU-Baltic Contest * January 18 - SKCC Weekend Sprintathon * January 18 - UBA PSK63 Prefix Contest * January 18 - North American QSO Party, CW * January 19 - NAQCC CW Sprint * January 20 - Croatian CW Contest * January 21 - AGCW VHF/UHF Contest * January 22 - AGB New Year Snowball Contest * January 24 - Feld Hell Sprint * January 25 - Old New Year Contest * January 25 - Run for the Bacon QRP Contest * January 25 - North American QSO Party, SSB * January 26 - DARC 10-Meter Contest * January 27 - RAEM Contest * January 27 - LZ Open Contest ARRL Information Click here to advertise in this newsletter, space subject to availability. Your One-Stop Resource for Amateur Radio News and Information *Join or Renew Today!* ** ARRL membership includes /QST/ , Amateur Radio's most popular and informative journal, delivered to your mailbox each month. Subscribe to /NCJ/ - the National Contest Journal . Published bimonthly, features articles by top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint and QSO Parties. Subscribe to /QEX/ - A Forum for Communications Experimenters . Published bimonthly, features technical articles, construction projects, columns and other items of interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals. /Free of charge to ARRL members:/ Subscribe to The ARRL Letter (weekly digest of news and information), the ARES E-Letter (monthly public service and emergency communications news), Division and Section news -- and much more! /ARRL offers a wide array of //products/ //to enhance your enjoyment of Amateur Radio. Visit the site often for new publications, specials and sales. 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All Rights Reserved www.arrl.org From bmarx at bellsouth.net Fri Jan 16 15:32:21 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 15:32:21 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] ARLP003 Propagation de K7RA In-Reply-To: <20150116193123.63B5E27C56B@bmail.arrl.org> References: <20150116193123.63B5E27C56B@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <54B97555.2070505@bellsouth.net> SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP003 ARLP003 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP03 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 3 ARLP003 >From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA January 16, 2015 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP003 ARLP003 Propagation de K7RA Sunspot numbers and solar flux rose again this week, while geomagnetic indices were relatively quiet. Average daily sunspot numbers rose from 108.1 in the first week of 2015 to 112.6 in the following seven days. Average daily solar flux rose from 144.7 to 151.3. Predicted solar flux for the near term is 130 on January 16, 125 on January 17-18, 120 on January 19-20, 115 on January 21-22, 140 on January 23, 130 on January 24-26, 135 on January 27-28, 140 on January 29-30, and 145 on January 31 through February 7. Flux values then peak at 180 on February 11-12, and dip down to 130 on February 20-22. Predicted planetary A index is 12, 10, 15, 12 and 10 on January 16-20, 8 on January 21-22, then 5, 10 and 18 on January 23-25, and 15, 8, 5, 10 and 12 on January 26-30, 15 on January 31 through February 1, 12, 15 and 12 on February 2-4, 5 on February 5-6 and 10 on February 7-8. OK1HH sent his predictions for geomagnetic conditions, and believes there will be quiet to unsettled conditions January 16, mostly quiet January 17, quiet to active January 18, quiet January 19, active to disturbed January 20, quiet to active January 21, active to disturbed January 22, mostly quiet January 23, active to disturbed January 24, quiet to active January 25, disturbed January 26, mostly quiet January 27, quiet January 28, active to disturbed January 29 through February 1, quiet to active February 2-3, mostly quiet February 4, quiet February 5, quiet to active February 6-7, and quiet on February 8-11. NASA has a new assessment of sunspot Cycle 24, updated from November 14. You can read it here: http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/predict.shtml The changes are, on November 14, 2014 they said the smoothed sunspot number was 70 in late 2013, and now on January 14, 2015 that has been revised upward to 72. The new report says the smoothed sunspot number peaked at 81.9 in April 2014. This was the second peak for Cycle 24, the first being 66.9 in February 2012. They noted that double-peaked sunspot cycles are common, but the current cycle is the first in which the second peak was higher than the first. This is the smallest sunspot cycle since Cycle 14, which peaked at 64.2 in February 1906. The National Radio Quiet Zone in West Virginia is the setting for an interesting story involving radio astronomy and people who believe they are sensitive to low levels of RF energy. A few hams are mentioned in this piece (KD8KSG, KC0KTW and N8DBN), although not identified by call sign. http://www.washingtonian.com/articles/people/the-town-without-wi-fi/ Green Bank seems to have an unusually large population of amateur radio operators (over 20% of the town's residents, according to the FCC license database), especially for a place in which the FCC allows no radio transmitters. Of course, perhaps not all of the hams with mailing addresses in Green Bank live in town, but there are 30 amateur radio operators listed in Green Bank (plus one amateur radio club with a club call), and the article says the town's population is only 143. Most interesting to me is that Diane Schou, one of the first people in the article who moved to Green Bank just to get away from all forms of RF energy is also a licensed ham, KC0KTW. Her call sign from the zero call area suggests she was a ham (General Class) before she moved to Green Bank, which is in the W8 area. Perhaps she does a lot more listening than transmitting. Jon Jones, N0JK reports 6 meter E-skip: "With the geomagnetic field settling down, Es has returned to 6 meters. High geomagnetic activity tends to suppress mid-latitude sporadic-E. "Es was present in North America on 6 meters Saturday January 10/11 UTC 2200-0240 UTC and again on January 11 from 1300-1700 UTC. "Double hop Es spotted by WA4NJP EM84 to PJ4VHF at 0031 UTC January 11 and Florida stations worked CE and PY via TEP. "On Sunday morning WF0N (EM28) and I (EM28) both worked KI4DJG EM82 at 1455z January 11 on 50.135 MHz SSB with strong signals on Es." Bill Byrom, N5BB sent some resources for improving reception on those longwave 60 KHz WWVB clocks: http://ka7oei.blogspot.com/2013/03/getting-atomic-wwvb-clocks-to-work.html http://www.febo.com/time-freq/wwvb/antenna/index.html David Moore sent us this link to a video of aurora: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PnY8eElWic Be sure to set the HD option for this one, and expand the display to fill your screen. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, k7ra at arrl.net. For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service web page at, http://arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals. For an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://arrl.org/the-sun-the-earth-the-ionosphere. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive-propagation. More good information and tutorials on propagation are at http://k9la.us/. Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at http://arrl.org/propagation. Instructions for starting or ending email distribution of ARRL bulletins are at http://arrl.org/bulletins. Sunspot numbers for January 8 through 14 were 101, 125, 146, 133, 111, 93, and 89, with a mean of 112.6. 10.7 cm flux was 157.2, 151.2, 151.9, 153.7, 158.6, 145, and 141.8, with a mean of 151.3. Estimated planetary A indices were 16, 8, 10, 10, 8, 8, and 7, with a mean of 9.6. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 15, 7, 9, 8, 7, 5, and 5, with a mean of 8. NNNN /EX From bmarx at bellsouth.net Fri Jan 16 15:35:23 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2015 15:35:23 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] ARLB002 Michigan Passes, Governor Signs Antenna Accommodation Legislation In-Reply-To: <20150116195632.50AF626DC09@bmail.arrl.org> References: <20150116195632.50AF626DC09@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <54B9760B.3000609@bellsouth.net> SB QST @ ARL $ARLB002 ARLB002 Michigan Passes, Governor Signs Antenna Accommodation Legislation ZCZC AG02 QST de W1AW ARRL Bulletin 2 ARLB002 >From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT January 16, 2015 To all radio amateurs SB QST ARL ARLB002 ARLB002 Michigan Passes, Governor Signs Antenna Accommodation Legislation Ten years of work within the ARRL Michigan Section have culminated in an Amateur Radio antenna bill that mirrors the "reasonable accommodation" provisions of the PRB-1 federal pre-emption policy. Michigan Gov Rick Snyder signed the measure, Senate Bill 0493, into law on January 15, creating Public Act 556. Senator Rick Jones sponsored the bill. ARRL Michigan Section Manager Larry Camp, WB8R, said Michigan is the 31st state to have a PRB-1 bill on its books. "The current PRB-1 Team has been working for 3 years to get this accomplished," he said. "Our bill endured four votes on its way to becoming law - Senate and House committees and the Senate and House floors. Each vote was unanimous." The most pertinent language in the new Michigan law, which comes directly from Part 97.15 of the FCC Amateur Service rules, states: "An Amateur Radio Service station antenna structure may be erected at heights and dimensions sufficient to accommodate Amateur Radio Service communications. Regulation of an Amateur Radio Service station antenna structure by a local unit of government must not preclude Amateur Radio Service communications. Rather, it must reasonably accommodate those communications and must constitute the minimum practicable regulation to accomplish the local unit of government's legitimate purpose." The new law also provides for an advisory committee that may be established jointly by the Michigan Section and other state organizations, such as the Michigan Municipal League and the Michigan Township Association. Camp said the advisory board could become involved at the request of the amateur, the community, zoning board, or representative associations as required. "The purpose of having the Michigan Section and the ARRL named specifically," Camp said, "is to ensure that the technical information that the advisory committee receives is accurate and pertinent to the questions at hand." "The Michigan Section of the ARRL will be available to provide information and training as an ongoing educational effort for communities and their representative organizations," Camp added. Camp said the PRB-1 Team believes the advisory committee will be an important tool in situations when community officials know little or nothing about Amateur Radio. "We will be able to provide accurate information and support from the ARRL, as required," he said. "This committee will help explain the reasons why radio amateurs need to have antennas in the air in order to communicate in an emergency." The new law also echoes federal requirements that owners of certain Amateur Radio antenna structures extending more than 200 feet above ground level at the site or that are located near or at an airport must notify the Federal Aviation Administration and register with the FCC. In addition to Camp and ARRL Great Lakes Director Dale Williams, WA8EFK - who served as an advisor - Michigan PRB-1 Team members included State Government Liaison Ed Hude, WA8QJE; Local Government Liaisons Butch Hedges, KD8NKJ, and Hal Thomas, N8HAL; Webmaster Jay Nugent, WB8TKL; Legal Advisor Raoul Revord, W8RDR, and Public Information Officer Pat Mullet, KC8RTW. NNNN /EX From bmarx at bellsouth.net Sat Jan 17 18:18:45 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Sat, 17 Jan 2015 18:18:45 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] WA3HUP status In-Reply-To: <54BA9C1B.2040200@verizon.net> References: <54BA9C1B.2040200@verizon.net> Message-ID: <54BAEDD5.10608@bellsouth.net> From Bill NA2M: If you chased DX in the 70?s, 80?s and 90?s you likely got QSL cards from Mary Ann, WA3HUP, as she was the manager for many DX stations, plus she was the long time manager of the W3 QSL Bureau. She sort of slipped off the radar after she gave up the QSL Bureau activities.... Mary Ann will be 91 in May and lives in a care facility near her son in Duncannon, PA... She is starting to have problems getting around and her eye sight is starting to fail.... I think it would be fitting that those of us who benefited from her services send her a QSL card or greeting card wishing her well... Her mailing address is: Mary Ann Crider Kinkora Pythian Home 25 Cove Road Duncannon, PA 17020 73 de Glenn, K3SWZ From bmarx at bellsouth.net Sun Jan 18 09:26:02 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2015 09:26:02 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] =?utf-8?q?K1N_=E2=80=93_Navassa_Isl?= =?utf-8?q?and_DXpediton_-_From_DX-World?= Message-ID: <54BBC27A.1090201@bellsouth.net> K1N ? Navassa Island DXpediton Saturday Jan 17, 2015 (click here for full DX-World Site with Images) http://www.dx-world.net/k1n-navassa-island/ K1N Navassa Island Press Release Within two weeks the K1N Navassa DXpedition should be QRV with up to 7-8 stations. Our exact departure date will be decided at the last moment by USFWS and weather windows. The team will be arriving at our staging point a few days before the earliest possible window and will be ready for a rapid deployment. As soon as USFWS has landed on the island and declared it is safe to proceed, we will start the helicopter flights and commence operations. We hope to have a basic camp established by the end of the first day and if things go extremely well, we hope to have several stations on the air by nightfall on the second day. Helicopter deployment will continue for a total of three days before the camp is fully established. A boat landing is not possible this time of year and also helicopter sling loads off our standby vessel are impossible. . So, additional equipment and supplies will be moved ashore with manpower. This will not be an easy project! The K1N operation is your only opportunity in 32 years to work this #1 Most Wanted Entity. It has been 22 years since the last operation and USFWS will not permit another operation for at least ten years. For these reasons, and in the spirit of worldwide cooperation and good will, we ask that if you already have QSOs with Navassa on certain bands from a previous operation, DO NOT CALL US ON THAT BAND! ClubLog Leader Board will be turned off for obvious reasons. The latest details and pictures can be found at www.navassadx.com. This web page is now available in 44 languages, including, of course, Klingon! We are leaving no one out of this DXpedition because of its rarity. Our stations will be at ?the usual? DX frequencies, listening up, but in some cases, down, for certain parts of the world?s band plan. It is absolutely necessary to listen to the instructions of the DXpedition operator . We have a Facebook page to watch and a Twitter feed (@navassa2015) to follow for instant updates. We will be listening in the U.S. General/Advanced bands. Band modes will be somewhat limited in an all-out effort to work the bands down to the last little pistol (and Klingon) for this unique opportunity. At least one station will be on 20 meters 24 hours/day. 160M and 12M will be CW only and 10M will be SSB only. Other bands will in some pattern, alternating CW & SSB. At least one station will always be on RTTY, and we will operate RTTY on no more than three bands. N2OO Bob, is our chief pilot. HK1R Jorge, is our South American pilot, JA1ELY Toshi, (assisted by Yuki JH1NBN) for Asia, MM?NDX Col, for Europe, V51B Andre, for Africa and ZL2AL Lee, for Oceania. Nodir EY8MM is our deep Asia pilot where propagation will be weakest. Our U.S. pilots are K2SG Tony, and KF5NYQ Brandon, is our youth pilot. You can contact your pilot via email; each pilot?s address is on his team bio page on our website. Pilots are your way to provide important feedback to the team on the island. Be concise and make your comments pertinent. The worldwide feedback will be prioritized, summarized and forwarded to the Island. Pilots will attempt to answer questions if they are able to do so. Pilots will NOT have access to the logs so do not ask about busted calls, log entries, etc. Logs will be uploaded several times daily to ClubLog. As you can see in the following propagation prediction diagram for North America, we will have high grade communication on several bands 24 hours daily. The same is true for South America. W1 VU Contrast this to the predicted propagation to Japan and India JA SPEurope has some variability, but Poland shows an ?average? propagation for the European continent. There should be 24 hours of daily propagation to Europe?on some band! You should be grateful to have others standby while we work YOU for an All Time New One. It is only fair to ask that YOU stand by while work others for an All Time New One. As can be seen on the European diagram, we ask for patience in Europe while we work into deep Asia and other areas, as the band openings are nearly simultaneous. Please LISTEN to the operator?s instructions. We will not work stations from outside the area we are calling. With cooperation, everyone will get into our logs FASTER! Deliberate QRM has been a major hindrance on both ends of the pileups in recent years and is worsening. There is a tab on our website where you can help us identify QRMing stations. This tab will not be active until the DXpedition comes on the air. By entering the data requested, and if enough data is entered, even with crude or rough beam headings, a ?heat map? can be produced with mathematical analysis of the data. This was covertly tested during the recent FT4TA Tromelin DXpedition and even with limited data input; several deliberate QRMing stations could be identified within a very small area! Again, the more data that is provided the more accurate the ?heat? can be put on offending stations. The QRM problem is one reason we are not publishing our operating frequencies, but we will be on or near the ?usual? DXpedition frequencies. If we do experience QRM, we have planned tactics to minimize the malicious interference. Hint: Listen, LISTEN and LISTEN MORE for us?.we might try to ?wiggle? out of it! We will also try hard to keep our splits narrow as possible to avoid annoying non-DXers who have been known to ?bother? a pileup. K1N QSL information/manager: Bob Schenck, N2OO P.O. Box 345 Tuckerton, NJ 08087 USA U.S.A. Direct: Minimum S.A.S.E. (Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope) World Direct: S.A.E. (Self-Addressed Envelope) plus minimum $2 or 1 IRC OQRS Direct and bureau: via CLUBLOG Regular Bureau: via N2OO c/o the W2 QSL Bureau LOTW: Sooner rather than later. We greatly appreciate the generous contributions from individuals and DX clubs around the world! We are just shy of meeting our transportation obligations and have yet to meet the cost of ?the rest? of the DXpedition. As always, we encourage contributions to help meet the uncovered expenses. The team has contributed basically half of the entire cost and would appreciate any possible help. U.S. donations could be tax-deductible through NCDXF. (See instructions on website.) The next press release will be when the landing operations commence. After that, daily progress and pictures will be posted on the website. From the K1N Navassa Team: Bob K4UEE, Glenn W?GJ, Mike NA5U, George AA7JV, Ralph K?IR, John K6MM, Craig K9CT, Tomi KT4TTT, Lou N2TU, George N4GRN, Mike N6MZ, Jeff NM1Y, John W2GD, Gregg W6IZT & Jerry WB9Z ?.we hope to see you in the logs!!! It is now about 4 weeks before K1N goes on the air. The exact date of departure from the staging area will be dependent upon a combination of the date U.S. FWS transportation is available and upon weather windows. It is looking like K1N will be QRV the first two weeks of February. Most of the team have their bags packed and are ready to go. Because of the helicopter logistics, this will be a no-frills-minimum-comfort operation for the team. Meals will be MRE?s. The container has been organized for a quick camp setup and quick radio/antenna setup to take advantage of every moment. It is estimated there will be two full days of helicopter shuttles to get everything needed to start operations. A small team of FWS personnel will accompany us, including armed Federal Law Enforcement Officers. Efficiency is not just for the team, but also for the DX community. It has been over 22 years since Navassa was activated and USFWS will not allow another operation for at least 10 more years. This is a ONCE IN 32 YEARS opportunity to work Navassa! Everyone can make the most of this opportunity by LISTENING to the operator?s instructions and following the cadence of the operator. We will not be working all modes on all bands, but limiting most bands to a specific mode, so that we can work the pileups down to the last little pistol. Fund raising has been going well. The team has contributed about half of the total budget. For those in the U.S., it is possible to make a year-end tax-deductible donation, directed through the Northern California DX Foundation. See our website and follow the instructions on the DONATE tab. We have a Facebook page to watch and a Twitter feed (@navassa2015) to follow along. For the KP1-5 Project, Bob Allphin K4UEE Glenn Johnson W0GJ Mike Thomas NA5U From bmarx at bellsouth.net Sun Jan 18 19:48:38 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Sun, 18 Jan 2015 19:48:38 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] BILL MOORE, NC1L, UPDATE Message-ID: <54BC5466.8050005@bellsouth.net> From Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1198: BILL MOORE, NC1L, UPDATE. Bernie, W3UR, from "The Daily DX" put out on January 18th the following update on NC1L: "The following very important update on NC1L, Bill Moore, is from W1RM, Pete Chamalian. It?s sad news to DXers around the globe as Bill helped many of us through his carrier running the ARRL DXCC Desk. Let?s all shower Bill with words of encouragement at his email below and his callbook address. On a personal note I am sure this was a very difficult decision to make and we all need to support Bill as it wasn?t easy to do. Bill Thanks for all you did for the Amateur Radio DX Community!...... 73, Bernie" "After much consultation with my family and as a result of the life changing accident I suffered in July, 2014, I have decided to relinquish my position as Awards Manager at ARRL HQ and focus my full effort on physical therapy. I have enjoyed my years at ARRL and the countless friends I have made within the ham radio community. I hope to maintain contact as best I can via email and hope someday I will be able to get back on the bands. Email can be sent to me at and while I plan to read each and every one, I cannot promise to reply in a timely manner. With much gratitude and sincere thanks, Wilfred (Bill) Moore, NC1L" From bmarx at bellsouth.net Tue Jan 20 15:06:41 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Tue, 20 Jan 2015 15:06:41 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] 2015 Tropical Hamboree is Almost Here In-Reply-To: <54B463A5.5050901@bellsouth.net> References: <54B463A5.5050901@bellsouth.net> Message-ID: <54BEB551.7030300@bellsouth.net> The Miami Hamboree is coming up fast. Friday, January 30, 12 until 6 and Saturday, January 31st 9 AM to 6 PM. The SFDXA will have tables and all are welcome to come by and have a chat about your DX experiences. Membership applications will be at the table. Saturday at 1 PM is our DX Forum. Topics will be DXing with JT65 and tips on RTTY DXing. We are also working to possibly set up a JT65 demonstration. The Staff at the Dade Radio Club are doing their best to make it happen. They are also working with us to put an HF Radio on the air for demonstrating Ham Radio to everyone from the Maker Faire. The call sign will be W4B. All Club Members are welcome to operate. Bring a copy of your license. SFDXA Dinner after the show Saturday at the same restaurant as previous years which is close to the Hamboree location. More on that soon with address and time. Come to the Hamboree and join the activities. Bill W2CQ South Florida DX Association From bmarx at bellsouth.net Thu Jan 22 13:56:19 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 13:56:19 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] ARRL Board Okays Changes to DXCC Program, VHF and Above Contesting Rules Message-ID: <54C147D3.4060502@bellsouth.net> ARRL Board Okays Changes to DXCC Program, VHF and Above Contesting Rules 01/21/2015 The ARRL Board of Directors has tweaked the DX Century Club (*DXCC* ) rules to clarify and expand their recognition of remotely controlled station technology. It also has added a rule that puts greater ethical responsibility on operators with respect to remotely controlled operation. In addition, the Board adopted changes to the ARRL VHF/UHF contest rules that are aimed at encouraging greater participation. The Board took the actions during its annual meeting January 16-17 in Windsor, Connecticut. The *DXCC Rules* changes, which affect Section I, subsections 8 and 9, explain and extend how contacts with remotely controlled stations now may be applied toward the DXCC award. According to ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, the changes are subtle but significant. The modified rules make clear that contacts with legally licensed, land-based, remotely controlled stations count for DXCC, but the control point ? the operator?s location ? of a remotely controlled station no longer has to be land based; the operator can be literally anywhere. ?It has always been permitted for a QSO to count for both stations, if either station was operated remotely from a control point within the same DXCC entity,? Sumner explained. ?Now the location of the operator doesn?t matter; the operator could be on the far side of the Moon if he or she could figure out how to remotely control a station on land back on Earth from there.? Transmitter location continues to define a station?s location, and, for DXCC purposes, all transmitters and receivers must be located within a 500 meter diameter circle, excluding antennas. Under the old rules, if either station was operated from a control point in /another/ DXCC entity, the contact did not count for DXCC for /either/ station. ?This was unenforceable unless someone was transparent about what they were doing,? Sumner said. The Board further adopted a new rule, now Subsection 11 (subsequent rules will be renumbered accordingly), that acknowledges the reality of the technology enabling remote operation, and it puts greater responsibility on individuals when it comes to applying that technology ethically and responsibly. ?Issues concerning remotely controlled operating and DXCC are best dealt with by each individual carefully considering the ethical limits that he/she will accept for his/her DXCC and other operating awards,? the new rule states. It adds, in part, ?the owner of these achievements needs to be comfortable standing behind his/her award and numbers. Peer attention has always been a part of awards chasing, of course, but in these times with so many awards and so many players, it is more important than ever to ?play the game ethically.?? Subsection 11 acknowledges that technological advances ?add to the difficulty in defining rules for DXCC,? but stresses that the intent of the rules is what?s important. ?It will continue to be up to the operator to decide what types of legal remote control operating he/she will use (if any) to contribute to an operating award,? the new rule concludes. The Board also adopted amendments to the */General Rules for ARRL Contests Above 50 MHz /* to encourage greater participation and band utilization. The changes become effective with the *2015 June ARRL VHF Contest* . The revisions stemmed from recommendations offered by the Board?s Programs and Services Committee?s ad-hoc VHF and Above Revitalization subcommittee, composed of active VHF/UHF contesters, and they received strong support from the VHF/UHF community. The subcommittee was charged with developing recommendations to increase the level and breadth of ARRL VHF and above contest participation and encourage operation on lesser-used bands. As a start to the process, the Board approved three changes that will permit assistance for all operator categories, with no effect on entry category; permit self-spotting for all operator categories, and allow single operators to transmit on more than one band at a time. The changes will permit assistance in arranging contacts, but not in conducting contacts. They will, for example, allow a station to announce its location in a chat room, on a repeater, or even via e-mail. In other actions, the Board instructed the HF Band Planning Committee ? which soon will solicit members? comments on proposed changes to the ARRL HF Band Plans ? to include the possibility of requesting that the FCC add RTTY and data privileges for Novices and Technicians on 15 meters. From bmarx at bellsouth.net Thu Jan 22 15:38:06 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 15:38:06 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] The ARRL Letter for January 22, 2015 In-Reply-To: <20150122201410.F383A21A010D@bmail.arrl.org> References: <20150122201410.F383A21A010D@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <54C15FAE.6090304@bellsouth.net> Preview If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2015-01-22 The ARRL Letter January 22, 2015 Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME ARRL Home Page /ARRL Letter/ Archive Audio News Ad * ARRL Board Okays Changes to DXCC Program, VHF and Above Contesting Rules <#toc01> * ARRL Roanoke Division Director Dennis Bodson, W4PWF, Retires <#toc02> * ARRL Executive Committee Approves Education & Technology Program Grants <#toc03> * ARRL Submits Comments to FCC on WRC-15 Draft Recommendations <#toc04> * ARES Volunteers in Ohio Activate Following Loss of 911, Telephone Services <#toc05> * Michigan Passes, Governor Signs Antenna Accommodation Legislation <#toc06> * Navassa DXpedition Team Poised to Offer "Once in 32 Years" Opportunity <#toc07> * EP6T Team Pleads for "More Respect" from Operators <#toc08> * Fox-1A Satellite Launch Date Launch Set for August <#toc09> * Australian "Pico Balloon" Piques Ham Radio Interest <#toc10> * In Brief...** <#toc11> * The K7RA Solar Update <#toc12> * Just Ahead in Radiosport <#toc13> * Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions and Events <#toc14> ARRL Board Okays Changes to DXCC Program, VHF and Above Contesting Rules The ARRL Board of Directors has tweaked the DX Century Club (DXCC ) rules to clarify and expand their recognition of remotely controlled station technology. It has also added a rule that puts greater ethical responsibility on operators with respect to remotely controlled operation. In addition, the Board adopted changes to the ARRL VHF/UHF contest rules that are aimed at encouraging greater participation. The Board took the actions during its annual meeting January 16-17 in Windsor, Connecticut. *ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, prepares to gavel the 2015 Annual Meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors to order. [LJB Special Photography photo]* The DXCC Rules changes, which affect Section I, subsections 8 and 9, explain and extend how contacts with remotely controlled stations now may be applied toward the DXCC award. According to ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, the changes are subtle but significant. The modified rules make clear that contacts with legally licensed, land-based, remotely controlled stations count for DXCC, but the control point -- the operator's location -- of a remotely controlled station no longer has to be land based; the operator can be literally anywhere. "It has always been permitted for a QSO to count for both stations, if either station was operated remotely from a control point within the same DXCC entity," Sumner explained. "Now the location of the operator doesn't matter; the operator could be on the far side of the Moon, if he or she could figure out how to remotely control a station on land back on Earth from there." Transmitter location continues to define a station's location, and, for DXCC purposes, all transmitters and receivers must be located within a 500 meter diameter circle, excluding antennas. *The ARRL Board met January 16-17 in Windsor, Connecticut. [LJB Special Photography photo]* Under the old rules, if either station was operated from a control point in /another/ DXCC entity, the contact did not count for DXCC for /either/ station. "This was unenforceable unless someone was transparent about what they were doing," Sumner said. The Board further adopted a new rule, now Subsection 11 (subsequent rules have been renumbered accordingly), that acknowledges the reality of the technology enabling remote operation, and it puts greater responsibility on individuals when it comes to applying that technology ethically and responsibly. *Midwest Division Vice Director Art Zygielbaum, K0AIZ, attended his first Board meeting. [LJB Special Photography photo]* "Issues concerning remotely controlled operating and DXCC are best dealt with by each individual carefully considering the ethical limits that he/she will accept for his/her DXCC and other operating awards," the new rule states. It adds, in part, "the owner of these achievements needs to be comfortable standing behind his/her award and numbers. Peer attention has always been a part of awards chasing, of course, but in these times with so many awards and so many players, it is more important than ever to 'play the game ethically.'" Subsection 11 acknowledges that technological advances "add to the difficulty in defining rules for DXCC," but stresses that the intent of the rules is what's important. "It will continue to be up to the operator to decide what types of legal remote control operating he/she will use (if any) to contribute to an operating award," the new rule concludes. */VHF and Above Contest Rules Revised/* The Board also adopted amendments to the /General Rules for ARRL Contests Above 50 MHz / to encourage greater participation and band utilization. The changes become effective with the 2015 June ARRL VHF Contest . The revisions stemmed from recommendations offered by the Board's Programs and Services Committee's ad-hoc VHF and Above Revitalization subcommittee, composed of active VHF/UHF contesters, and they received strong support from the VHF/UHF community. *Board members welcomed new Atlantic Division Vice Director Bob Famiglio, K3RF. [LJB Special Photography photo]* The subcommittee was charged with developing recommendations to increase the level and breadth of ARRL VHF and Above contest participation and encourage operation on lesser-used bands. As a start to the process, the Board approved three changes that will permit the use of assistance for all operator categories, with no effect on entry category; permit self-spotting for all operator categories, and allow single operators to transmit on more than one band at a time. The changes will permit assistance in arranging contacts, but not in conducting contacts. They will, for example, allow a station to announce its location in a chat room, on a repeater, or even via e-mail. In other actions, the Board instructed the HF Band Planning Committee -- which will soon solicit members' comments on proposed changes to the ARRL HF Band Plans -- to include the possibility of requesting that the FCC add RTTY and data privileges for Novices and Technicians on 15 meters. */Other Business/* The Board also * Bestowed the 2014 George Hart Distinguished Service Award on David B. Colter, WA1ZCN. * Added "Assistant Section Traffic Manager" as a new field appointment. * Authorized ARRL Headquarters staff to implement guidelines to expand opportunities for field checking of 160 meter QSL cards for DXCC. * Honored several professional journalists with the ARRL Bill Leonard Award for their outstanding coverage of Amateur Radio in video, print, and audio media. ARRL Roanoke Division Director Dennis Bodson, W4PWF, Retires ARRL Roanoke Division Director Dennis Bodson, W4PWF, has stepped down, and Vice Director Dr Jim Boehner, N2ZZ, has succeeded him. Bodson announced his retirement on January 16 -- before the official end of his term next January 1 -- at the Board of Directors' Annual Meeting in Windsor, Connecticut. *Retiring ARRL Roanoke Division Director Dennis Bodson, W4PWF (right) and his successor as Director, Dr Jim Boehner, N2ZZ.* Fellow Board members gave Bodson a standing ovation in recognition of his years of service to the League. The Board elected Bodson as an Honorary Vice President. Bodson served as Roanoke Division Vice Director from 1993 through 2000 and as Director from 2001 until his retirement. Earlier in the meeting, ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, had presented Bodson with his 60-year ARRL membership certificate. An ARRL Life Member, Boehner served as ARRL South Carolina Section Manager from 2003 until 2009, when he was elected Roanoke Division Vice Director. He was re-elected in 2013. Boehner is an avid DXer and has achieved DXCC Honor Roll and 5-Band DXCC. Originally from New York, Boehner is in private medical practice in Aiken, South Carolina. ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, has appointed Bill Morine, N2COP, of Wilmington, North Carolina, to complete the remainder of Boehner's term as Roanoke Division Vice Director, effective immediately. An ARRL Life Member, Morine served as North Carolina Section Manager from 2010 until 2014, and is a past ARRL Public Relations Committee chairman. Morine was the 2001 recipient of the ARRL Philip J. McGan award for public relations. ARRL Executive Committee Approves Education & Technology Program Grants The ARRL Executive Committee has approved Education & Technology Program (ETP ) station and progress grants to five schools. Two schools received ETP station grants at an estimated total of $3600, while three others already enrolled in the program received progress grants totaling $800. Station grants will go to the Banning Lewis ranch Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and to Southport Elementary School in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Banning Lewis Academy wants to set up an Amateur Radio station at the school for a club formed within the past year. Eleven students already have become licensed and have participated in the ARRL School Club Roundup and other on-air activities using borrowed equipment. The school also offers a class in basic electronics and radio. Southport Elementary plans to set up an Amateur Radio station at the school, form a radio club, and integrate the ARRL wireless technology curriculum into the classroom. Receiving progress grants were Forest Knolls Elementary School in Silver Spring, Maryland; Ankeny Centennial High School in Ankeny, Iowa, and South Hopkins Middle School in Nortonville, Kentucky. Forest Knolls requested funds for an additional antenna for a second school club station. Ankeny Centennial High School asked for additional funds to purchase antenna supplies (wire and coaxial feed line) for a student project to build a portable antenna for Field Day and other activities. The school's Amateur Radio club boasts some 30 active student members. South Hopkins Middle School sought a progress grant to fund the purchase of fox hunt transmitters and handheld transceivers to conduct school Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) activities with the support of local ham radio clubs. The goal of the ARRL Education & Technology Program, directed by Mark Spencer, WA8SME, is to facilitate the integration of wireless technology into participating school curricula. The League provides curriculum development support, resource libraries, ham station equipment grants and progress grants, and ARRL Teachers Institute in-service training. The current -- and expanding -- count of ETP schools/teachers stands at 663. Ad ARRL Submits Comments to FCC on WRC-15 Draft Recommendations The ARRL has commented on two draft recommendations of the FCC's 2015 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-15 ) Advisory Committee (WAC) as well as on a draft proposal provided to the FCC by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA ). The ARRL expressed support for the status quo regarding an allocation to the Mobile Service for broadband applications at 3400-4200 MHz and 4500-4800 MHz, which is under consideration as part of Agenda Item 1.1 at WRC-15. The 3400-3500 MHz segment is allocated on a secondary basis to the Amateur Service in ITU Regions 2 and 3, with a secondary allocation by footnote in some countries in ITU Region 1. The League said advocates for the allocation have failed to account for the protection of existing services. "[The] failure to even superficially address the protection of all existing services -- including the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite services -- is glaring," the ARRL said. The WAC's so-called "View A" -- to make no change in the allocation -- in part said, "The secondary nature of the Amateur Service allocation requires flexibility in frequency selection to permit an Amateur Service licensee to use the allocation and fulfill his or her obligation not to cause harmful interference to the numerous primary services, including the FSS [Fixed-Satellite Service]." ITU-R Resolution 233, adopted at WRC-12, spelled out explicit requirements for the studies of the candidate bands, including sharing and compatibility studies with services already having allocations. As the League noted in its comments, a relevant ITU-R Recommendation stated that additional sharing with the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite services should not introduce high signal density services in the spectrum at issue, and that sharing studies should consider the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite services' needs for "weak-signal" reception. The ARRL supported the FCC WAC view on Agenda Item 1.12 that the US not be added to international footnote 5.480 -- basically an exception -- to the /Table of Allocations /that could make part of the 10.0-10.5 GHz segment vulnerable to additional allocation for Fixed Service applications. The Amateur and Amateur-Satellite services have a secondary allocation in the band, and the Federal Radiolocation Service is primary. The proposed "footnote amendment," the League argued, "plainly, clearly, and indisputably contradicts existing United States regulations." The League's comments accused Mimosa Networks, which has argued in favor of having the US sign on to the international footnote, of advancing an "illogical construction to obtain the result it desires." Mimosa Networks has petitioned the FCC to permit unlicensed Part 15 wireless broadband services in the 10.0-10.5 GHz band. In comments last year, the ARRL called Mimosa's /Petition/ "fatally flawed" and said it should be dismissed. Among other things, the League told the FCC last year that Mimosa's /Petition/ was inconsistent with a US footnote in the domestic /Table of Allocations/, and that alone was sufficient reason for the Commission to quash Mimosa's request. In its comments on WRC-15 Agenda Item 1.12, the League said that Mimosa did not raise an objection to the WAC's initially adopted position until months after the comment deadline. The ARRL said the FCC should use its original position -- and not a later one that includes Mimosa's arguments -- as the baseline for any discussions with federal agencies to reconcile the agenda item. The League also said the NTIA was correct in proposing that regulatory changes for nanosatellites and picosatellites be addressed under standing Agenda Item 7 at WRC-19. Read more . ARES Volunteers in Ohio Activate Following Loss of 911, Telephone Services ARES volunteers in northeast Ohio activated on January 13 after 911 and other telephone services went down in six counties due to a power failure at a major AT&T center in Akron. The outage was blamed on a burst steam pipe. Cell telephones and the 800-900 MHz digital Multi-Agency Radio Communication System (MARCS) remained functioning. The Medina County Emergency Management Agency requested ARES communication support with surrounding counties, with the Ohio Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in Columbus as a backup. At the same time, EMA Directors in Stark, Summit, Portage, Mahoning, and Columbiana counties alerted their ARES organizations. Ohio ARRL Section Emergency Coordinator Stan Broadway, N8BHL, also requested activation of RACES station W8SGT at the Ohio EOC. Communication was established on 75 meters with several county Emergency Coordinators. The EOC also was able to link up with the Stark County 2 meter repeater, some 135 miles away. The Amateur Radio activation terminated after 4 hours, once the 911 system was brought back online. "My thanks to all who were involved!" Broadway said. "Our response was quick and professional and was a great opportunity to show the value of Amateur Radio." Read more . Michigan Passes, Governor Signs Antenna Accommodation Legislation Ten years of work within the ARRL Michigan Section have culminated in an Amateur Radio antenna bill that mirrors the "reasonable accommodation" provisions of the PRB-1 federal pre-emption policy. Michigan Governor Rick Snyder signed the measure, Senate Bill 0493, into law on January 15, creating Public Act 556. Senator Rick Jones sponsored the bill. ARRL Michigan Section Manager Larry Camp, WB8R, said Michigan is the 31st state to have a PRB-1 bill on its books. "The current PRB-1 Team has been working for 3 years to get this accomplished," he said. "Our bill endured four votes on its way to becoming law -- Senate and House committees and the Senate and House floors. Each vote was unanimous." The most pertinent language in the new Michigan law, which comes directly from ?97.15 of the FCC Amateur Service rules, states: /An Amateur Radio Service station antenna structure may be erected at heights and dimensions sufficient to accommodate Amateur Radio Service communications. Regulation of an Amateur Radio Service station antenna structure by a local unit of government must not preclude Amateur Radio Service communications. Rather, it must reasonably accommodate those communications and must constitute the minimum practicable regulation to accomplish the local unit of government's legitimate purpose./ The new law also provides for an advisory committee that may be established jointly by the Michigan Section and other state organizations, such as the Michigan Municipal League and the Michigan Township Association. Camp said the PRB-1 Team believes the advisory committee will be an important tool in situations where community officials know little or nothing about Amateur Radio. Read more . Ad Find ARRL on Facebook . Follow us on Twitter ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Navassa DXpedition Team Poised to Offer "Once in 32 Years" Opportunity The K1N Navassa **DXpedition team hopes to be on the air with up to eight stations in less than 2 weeks, offering a "once in 32 years" opportunity to work the most-wanted DXCC entity. It's been 22 years since the last Navassa operation, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS ), which is responsible for the island, will not permit another operation for at least 10 more years. The team said its exact departure date will not be determined until the last minute and will depend on the USFWS and on weather conditions. The team will arrive at its staging point a few days before the earliest possible departure window and will be ready for rapid deployment to Navassa. "As soon as the USFWS has landed on the island and declared it is safe to proceed, we will start the helicopter flights and commence operations," the K1N team said this week in a media release. "We hope to have a basic camp established by the end of the first day, and, if things go extremely well, we hope to have several stations on the air by nightfall on the second day," the K1N media release said. The K1N team will take along a VHF/UHF transceiver and an Arrow antenna in the hope of making some satellite contacts via FO-29. AMSAT has provided the DXpedition with a Yaesu FT-817 transceiver and associated equipment, as well as pass predictions, an operational plan, and training. The K1N stations will always operate split frequency, listening up or down, depending upon the band plan. Stations should avoid transmitting on the DXpedition's frequency. Read more . EP6T Team Pleads for "More Respect" from Operators The EP6T DXpedition team now on Iran's Kish Island (IOTA AS-166) has implored operators hoping to work the rare DXCC entity to show more respect and exhibit better operating manners. The EP6T team said it's aware that the majority of contacts have been with Europe, North America, Oceania, and Asia, and the operators are doing their best to work other regions, but that 10 days may not be long enough to satisfy the surging demand, and "ham spirit" has been hard to find. *The EP6T DXpedition team. The Rockall DX Group is sponsoring the operation. [Photo courtesy of the Rockall DX Group]* "Jammers calling with fake calls and disrespecting the operators, sending disgraceful e-mails, and calling us names is sometimes too much for us," the EP6T team said. "Please, a little more respect is needed." The operators report that many stations from Japan have made it through on the low bands and some North American stations have gone into the log on 80 meters. So far, though, only KV4FZ and NP2X have been successful on 160, and even Europe has been hard to work at sunrise. The team has four receive antennas and has intended to focus on 160 meters, but, they said, "when conditions are bad, there's nothing we can do." The Rockall DX Group is sponsoring the DXpedition to Iran, which is #33 on ClubLog's DXCC Most Wanted List . /-- Thanks to /The Daily DX Ad Fox-1A Satellite Launch Date Launch Set for August AMSAT has announced that its Fox-1A satellite will launch on August 27 from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, on a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 National Reconnaissance Office flight. Fox-1A will include an FM transponder with an uplink frequency of 435.180 MHz, and a downlink frequency of 145.980 MHz. The first phase of the Fox series 1-Unit CubeSats will allow simple ground stations using hand-held transceivers and simple dual-band antennas to make contacts. The Fox-1 CubeSats also will be able to transmit continuous telemetry during normal transponder operation. The satellites will feature 200 bps telemetry in the audio spectrum below 300 Hz. AMSAT said other satellites in its Fox series will take advantage of additional launch opportunities this year and next. The Fox-1B satellite is scheduled to fly next year. Fox-1C will launch during the 3rd quarter of 2015. AMSAT has purchased the Fox-1C launch opportunity, which was not funded by the CSLI ELaNa program, and fundraising to cover the $125,000 cost is under way via the AMSAT-NA website and the FundRazr crowdsourcing website. Read more . /-- Thanks to AMSAT News Service via the Fox-1 Team/ Australian "Pico Balloon" Piques Ham Radio Interest A foil "party balloon" released in late December from Melbourne, Australia, carrying an HF Amateur Radio payload, ended its journey on January 16 off the east coast of Africa near Madagascar. Andy Nguyen, VK3YT, of Kensington, Victoria, Australia, released his PS-30 "pico balloon" on December 27, hoping that it might circle the globe. Its 13-gram Amateur Radio payload included a solar-powered 25 mW transmitter, sending telemetry on 30 and 20 meters using /WSPR/ and JT9 digital modes. Many radio amateurs tracked the balloon's progress during its 20-day flight. A map showing the track of the PS-30 pico balloon -- from Australia to Madagascar. "There was some bad weather in the region, but speculations also include the possibility it was brought down (attacked) by the naughty penguins on the Island," Nguyen quipped, referring to the 2014 animated movie comedy, "Penguins of Madagascar." Several radio amateurs in South Africa reported that PS-30 was down. Following its launch, the balloon had traveled east across the southern tip of New Zealand, across the Pacific Ocean to South American and then to southern Africa. To return home, PS-30 would have had to cross Madagascar, the Indian Ocean, and part of Australia. "The level of interest from all around the world has been amazing," Nguyen said. "The trip would not have been so successful without the collective effort of the like-minded community built up along the way." Transmissions from the balloon at times were plagued by poor propagation, and its progress was impeded by the fact that it circled on a few occasions along the way. Nguyen said the balloon looped for an entire day at one point while over the Pacific. "HF propagation has been different from previous flights," he commented during the flight, noting the lack of long-range WSPR spots. "Reception of JT9 packets so far generally requires some type of directional antenna with some gain," he said. Nguyen said planning for PS-31 is already under way. "See you at the next trip," he said. /-- Thanks to Jim Linton, VK3PC/ In Brief...** *VHF/UHF/Microwave Conference Seeks Speakers and Papers*: The 41st Eastern VHF/UHF/Microwave Conference has issued a call for speakers and papers at the gathering or for inclusion in the conference /Proceedings/. The conference, sponsored by the ARRL-affiliated North East Weak Signal Group , will take place April 17-19 in Manchester, Connecticut. The conference sponsors are looking for presentations, papers, and talks, both long and short. Topics can include, but are not limited to, operating, contesting, construction, homebrewing, and microwaves. Anyone considering a presentation or paper should contact Paul Wade , W1GHZ, as soon as possible but no later than March 18. Conference organizers are planning a Friday afternoon workshop and are seeking topic suggestions. Visit the conference website for details and a schedule./-- Thanks to AMSAT News Service via Paul Wade, W1GHZ/ *ITU Management Team Inaugurated:* The new management team of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU ), led by Secretary-General Houlin Zhao (photo), of China, was formally inaugurated on January 15, at ITU Headquarters in Geneva. Representatives of member states to the United Nations Office in Geneva and the heads of UN agencies attended. Zhao was elected Secretary-General at the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference last October in South Korea. He previously served as ITU Deputy Secretary-General and as director of the ITU Standardization Bureau. The incoming Deputy Secretary-General is Malcolm Johnson of the United Kingdom. Fran?ois Rancy and Brahima Sanou were re-elected as directors of the Radiocommunication Bureau and Telecommunication Development Bureau, respectively, while Chaesub Lee of South Korea was elected director of the ITU Standardization Bureau. 2015 marks the 150th anniversary of the International Telecommunication Union. */Amateur Radio Newsline/ Assumes Low Profile as Editor Recuperates:* The long-running /Amateur Radio Newsline/ -- a weekly audio report of ham radio news -- has scaled back temporarily while its editor, Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, recuperates from injuries sustained in a fall at home and undergoes additional testing and rehabilitation to address some chronic issues. Pasternak was hospitalized on December 19 and initially scheduled to stay for a couple of days. He told ARRL on January 22 that Tim Goodrich, N5ASH, now is serving as interim producer, and /Newsline/ could be back as early as this week. Don Wilbanks, AE5DW, has been producing a shortened audio/video report that's included in the weekly /Ham Nation/ webcast, posted on YouTube, and linked from the /Amateur Radio Newsline/ website and Facebook page. The roughly 30-minute weekly /Newsline/ audio report and the text script, posted weekly on QRZ.com, have been on hold. *Intrepid DX Group Announces Intrepid Spirit Award Recipient:* The Intrepid DX Group has announced that Dmitri Zhikharev, RA9USU, is the recipient of its 3rd annual Intrepid Spirit Award. "This award is to recognize Dmitri's outstanding efforts to activate Yemen from 2012 through 2014 as 7O6T and 7O2A," the announcement said. "Dmitri is largely responsible for fulfilling the need for 7O contacts since 2012. Yemen is a place of much uncertainty and danger. We recognize Dmitri's unselfish acts to activate this challenging and much-needed entity. We acknowledge Dmitri's pursuit of operating excellence and his quest to activate the rare and often dangerous entities." The Intrepid Spirit Award will be presented at the International DX Convention, in Visalia, California, on April 18. This Intrepid Spirit Award was made in memory of James McLaughlin, T6AF, who died in Afghanistan in 2011. /-- Thanks to Intrepid DX Group President Paul Ewing, N6PSE/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The K7RA Solar Update Average daily sunspot numbers for January 15-21 dropped by 50.7 points, relative to the previous 7 days, to 61.9. Average daily solar flux declined from 151.3 to 126.2. For the past 9 days sunspot numbers have been below 100. This benchmark has no special significance, but the last time there were this many consecutive days with double-digit sunspot numbers was October 5-20, 2014. Geomagnetic numbers indicated more stable conditions, with the average daily planetary A index declining from 9.6 to 6.4, and the average daily mid-latitude A index dropping from 8 to 4.7. The latest USAF/NOAA prediction has solar flux at 125, 130, and 135 for January 22-24, 130 for January 25-26, 135, and 140 for January 27-28, 135 for January 29-February 1, 130 for February 2-3, 125 for February 4-6, 130 for February 7-9, and 125 for February 10-11. Solar flux reaches a low of 115 for February 18, and peaks again at 135 for February 26-28. Predicted planetary A index is 15 for January 22-24, 18 for January 25-26, 8 for January 27-28, then 10 and 12 for January 29-30, 15 for January 31 through February 1, then 12, 15, 12, and 5 for February 2-5, 10 for February 6-7, 8 for February 8-9, 5 for February 10-12, then 8, 5 and 12 for February 13-15, and 10 for February 16-18. This weekly "Solar Update" in /The ARRL Letter/ is a preview of the "Propagation Bulletin" issued each Friday. The latest bulletin and an archive of past propagation bulletins is on the ARRL website. In the January 23 bulletin watch for a revised forecast, reports from readers, and more about the National Radio Quiet Zone. Send me /your/ reports and observations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just Ahead in Radiosport * January 23-25 -- CQ World Wide 160 Meter Contest (CW) * January 24-25 -- REF French Contest (CW) * January 24-25 -- Winter Field Day (SSB, CW, digital) * January 24-25 -- BARTG RTTY Sprint * *January 24-26 -- **ARRL January VHF Contest* * January 24 -- WAB Top Band Phone Contest * January 28 -- CWOps Weekly Mini-CWT Tests * January 31 -- Feld-Hell WAAAEO Sprint * January 31-February 1 -- UBA Contest (SSB) See the ARRL Contest Calendar for more information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions and Events * January 23-24 -- Mississippi State Convention , Jackson, Mississippi * January 23-25 -- Puerto Rico State Convention , Hatillo, Puerto Rico * January 24 -- Georgia ARES Convention , Forsyth, Georgia * February 7 -- South Carolina State Convention , North Charleston, South Carolina * February 7 -- Virginia State Convention , Richmond, Virginia * February 13-15 -- Southeastern Division Convention , Orlando, Florida * February 20-21 -- Arizona Section Convention , Yuma, Arizona * February 28 -- New Mexico Techfest Convention , Albuquerque, New Mexico * February 28 -- Vermont State Convention , S Burlington, Vermont * March 7 -- Santa Clara Valley Section Convention , Del Rey Oaks, California * March 13-14 -- North Carolina Section Convention , Concord, North Carolina * March 14 -- West Texas Section Convention , Midland, Texas * March 20-21 -- Louisiana State Convention , Rayne, Louisiana * March 21 -- MicroHAMS Digital Conference , Redmond, Washington * March 21 -- Nebraska State Convention , Lincoln, Nebraska * March 21 -- Southern Florida Section Convention , Stuart, Florida * March 28 -- Texas State Convention , Rosenberg, Texas Find conventions and hamfests in your area .* * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ** *ARRL *-- *Your One-Stop Resource for * *Amateur Radio News and Information * ** ** * Join or Renew Today! ARRL membership includes /QST/ , Amateur Radio's most popular and informative journal, delivered to your mailbox each month. * Listen to /ARRL Audio News/ , available every Friday. Subscribe to... * /NCJ / /-- National Contest Journal/ . Published bi-monthly, features articles by top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint and QSO Parties. * /QEX/ *//*/-- A Forum for Communications Experimenters/ . Published bi-monthly, features technical articles, construction projects, columns, and other items of interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals. Free of charge to ARRL members... * Subscribe to the /ARES E-Letter/ (monthly public service and emergency communications news), the /ARRL Contest Update/ (bi-weekly contest newsletter), Division and Section news alerts -- and much more! Find ARRL on Facebook ! Follow us on Twitter ! Ad Ad Ad Ad Ad ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The ARRL Letter is published Thursdays, 48 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/. Copyright ? 2015 American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.arrl.org From bmarx at bellsouth.net Thu Jan 22 18:01:47 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Thu, 22 Jan 2015 18:01:47 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] QRZ Now Accepts LoTW Confirmations in QRZ Logbook Message-ID: <54C1815B.6040709@bellsouth.net> For those who may be interested in this service or feature: QRZ Now Accepts LoTW Confirmations in QRZ Logbook Announcing QRZ Logbook Reciprocal Confirmation Credit & LoTW Download It is our absolute pleasure to announce that QRZ now recognizes confirmations from Logbook of the World in QRZ Logbook! ALL users now have the ability to download their QSOs from LoTW directly into their QRZ Logbook. The following apply: QSO Insertion: QSOs that exist in LoTW, but not in QRZ Logbook, will be added to your QRZ Logbook. Smart QSO-Logbook Sorting: LoTW supports previous callsign's QSOs in the same account. QRZ will automatically put QSOs into the associated logbook for the QSO callsign. QSO Updating: All QSOs that exist in LoTW, whether new to QRZ or not, will have their LoTW QSL Received Date, as well as the LoTW Sent (Y/N) flag set in the QRZ Logbook Confirmation credit: QSOs that are confirmed in LoTW, whether new to QRZ or not, will automatically be confirmed in your QRZ Logbook. Duplicate Checking: Because some HAMs log multiple QSOs with the same person in a short period of time, QRZ defines a duplicate as a QSO with matching dates, bands, modes, callsigns, and time (to the minute) -- If those criteria match an existing record in your QRZ Logbook, the matching record will be updated instead of a new record being created. NOTE: LoTW supports the "PHONE" mode, despite it being non-compliant with the ADIF specification. While processing your QSOs, those that have the PHONE mode will be automatically changed to an ADIF-compliant mode based on the band and frequency in question. When the process completes, any affected incoming QSOs will be listed in the report. Not only will this improve your confirmation rates because you are receiving credit for your confirmations on LoTW, but it will also import records that exist on LoTW and not QRZ Logbook. Those QSOs may match another record on QRZ resulting in even more confirmations. To begin downloading from LoTW, follow the simple instructions located: here. 73 from all of the QRZ Staff! From wa4aw at juno.com Sat Jan 24 11:15:46 2015 From: wa4aw at juno.com (wa4aw) Date: Sat, 24 Jan 2015 16:15:46 GMT Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] QCWA Chapter 111 LUNCHEON MEETING INVITATION Message-ID: <20150124.111546.25541.0@webmail13.vgs.untd.com> QCWA Palm Beach Chapter # 111 Hello, This is friendly reminder that our Palm Beach Chapter meeting is the last Tuesday of each month. We will be meeting at the Golden Corral Buffet, 10100 Fox Trail Rd., on the service road behind the SW corner of Okeechobee Blvd. and State Road 7 in Royal Palm Beach at 11:30 AM. This month our meeting date is Jan. 27th. Hope you can join us for fellowship, rag chews & information. I encourage everyone who has not been to the Golden Corral to call for info on either the Palms West repeater 147.045 or the AREC repeater on 146.670. Both repeaters have a 110.9 PL. Everyone is welcome to join us. We meet in the private dining room in the back of the restaurant. QCWA Chapter 111 webpage link: www.qcwa.org/chapter111.htm Chapter YahooGroup website: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/qcwa111 73, Jeff WA4AW, Secretary QCWAQuarter Century Wireless AssociationJeff Beals, WA4AWNational Director &QCWA Historian QCWA Palm Beach Chapter 111Secretary-TreasurerPO Box 1584Loxahatchee, FL 33470-1584561-252-6707 wa4aw at qcwa.org www.qcwa.org ____________________________________________________________ The #1 Worst Carb Ever? Click to Learn #1 Carb that Kills Your Blood Sugar (Don't Eat This!) http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/54c3c559b9c87455940b0st04vuc From bmarx at bellsouth.net Sun Jan 25 07:58:32 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 07:58:32 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] For Sale: Yaesu FT-1000 MK V In-Reply-To: <54C48DBA.9020001@ckradio.net> References: <54C48DBA.9020001@ckradio.net> Message-ID: <54C4E878.4060901@bellsouth.net> Radio comes with the matching PS, manual and Hand mike This is my personal rig and last year I sent it to the Yaesu MKV Guru for every conceivable update you can do, including a new display. It cost me $525. The rig is unbeatable and great for contesting. It has 200W output, and the receiver has had all the IF quieting mods done to it. Great Rig but it's my bedroom radio and rarely used. $1500.00 Chris VE3NGW 954 298 2666 > From bmarx at bellsouth.net Sun Jan 25 08:34:47 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 08:34:47 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Welcome In-Reply-To: <00ac01d038a2$13362f80$39a28e80$@com> References: <00ac01d038a2$13362f80$39a28e80$@com> Message-ID: <54C4F0F7.9000709@bellsouth.net> Hi Guys, Randy W8UF, is in the Keys with an RF question. Any answers? Bill W2CQ Thanks for the note. I have had a hard time contacting hams in the Keys although I did join the Florida Keys Amateur Radio Club. But what I have had the worst time with is the power line rfi that apparently is everywhere in the Keys. There is a high voltage power line that goes from Miami to Keys West and it carries ALL of the power for ALL of the Keys. If you know anyone who has a solution to this problem, let me know. Randy W8UF/4 From bmarx at bellsouth.net Sun Jan 25 13:08:48 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 13:08:48 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] KB6NU's January 2015 Column In-Reply-To: <17BD2AFD8BA447E089D7B5569D1DBDDC@danromanchik.com> References: <17BD2AFD8BA447E089D7B5569D1DBDDC@danromanchik.com> Message-ID: <54C53130.2080906@bellsouth.net> Hi, all: Here's my column for January. 73! Dan KB6NU ========= start column ========= With Just a WSPR By Dan Romanchik, KB6NU It's really amazing what you can do with computers in amateur radio, and there's been an explosion in the number of digital modes. One interesting mode that I've recently been introduced to is WSPR, which is short for Weak Signal Propagation Reporting. The protocol and the original WSPR program was written by Joe Taylor, K1JT, and is designed for sending and receiving low-power transmissions on the HF bands to test propagation paths. I won't try to cover all the technical details here. There are several sites that cover them pretty well: * Wikipedia: WSPR (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WSPR_%28amateur_radio_software%29) * G4ILO's Shack: WSPT - Distant Whispers (http://www.g4ilo.com/wspr.html) I was introduced to WSPR by my friend, Joe, AC8ES. He posted a message to our club mailing list asking if anyone had a toroid core that he could buy to make a QRP balun for 10 MHz. When I asked what he was going to use it for, he said that he was making a WSPR transmitter with a Raspberry Pi, and the balun was for the dipole he built for it. He said that he'd gotten roped into doing this because he'd attended a local Raspberry Pi users' group, and when he mentioned he was an amateur radio operator, they encouraged him to try this project. How could I refuse a request like that? I have a whole kit of ferrite cores, and after some back and forth, we found a small core that he could use. The software he chose is WsprryPi (https://github.com/JamesP6000/WsprryPi). It's described a "Raspberry Pi transmitter using NTP-based frequency calibration." It uses a GPIO port to generate WSPR signals anywhere from 0 to 250 MHz. Joe said that there are several Raspberry Pi programs that run WSPR, but that he chose this one because it seemed to have more features than the others. Figure 1 shows Joe's setup. Since the output generates a square wave, a low-pass filter is needed to filter out the high-frequency components. As you can see, the GPIO output is fed through a 0.1uF decoupling capacitor into a Mini-Circuits 10.7MHz low-pass filter, then to a 1:1 balun, which is connected directly to the dipole elements. Joe says, "The antenna is just a dipole taped up to the walls of my living room and hallway." As you can see he made the balun and dipole from 24 ga speaker wire. The performance of this setup has been kind of amazing. In one e-mail, Joe reported, "Your toroid seems to be working well. Got the balun and antenna finished and executed seven WSPR transmissions from the Raspberry Pi. The WSPR reporting website WSPRnet (http://wsprnet.org) came back with a couple dozen reception reports; typical distance is ~300+ miles, max was 593 miles." In a second e-mail, Joe writes, "Did a few more beacon transmissions and checked the WSPR signal reports again. Someone picked up my 5 mW signal from 1010 miles away in Canada." Joe's turned into quite a WSPR fan. He's even written an Android app - WSPRnet Viewer (https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.glandorf1.joe.wsprnetviewer.app) to retrieve and displays report from www.wsprnet.org. Tapping on a specific report displays more details about it, along with a world map that shows transmitter and receiver locations. Unfortunately, I don't have a Raspberry Pi, or I'd try this as well. I do have a BeageBone Black, but there doesn't seem to be software that I can download and install as easily as the Raspberry Pi software. That being the case, this might be a good excuse to purchase one of those new, cheaper RPis. -------------------------------------------------------------------- When he's not digging through his junk box or teaching amateur radio classes, KB6NU writes about amateur radio at KB6NU.Com. He has just released The CW Geek's Guide to Having Fun with Morse Code. The book is available on Amazon.Com or on KB6NU.Com. ========= end column ========= NOTE: YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE PHOTO FOR FIGURE 1 FROM http://www.kb6nu.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/IMG_3708-RPi_WSPR_low.png. From bmarx at bellsouth.net Sun Jan 25 13:27:09 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 13:27:09 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] 2015 Tropical Hamboree is Almost Here In-Reply-To: <54BEB56E.2080200@bellsouth.net> References: <54BEB56E.2080200@bellsouth.net> Message-ID: <54C5357D.5060701@bellsouth.net> South Florida DX Association The Miami Hamboree is this Friday, January 30, 12 until 6 and Saturday, January 31st 9 AM to 6 PM. **Miami Dade County Fair and Expo Center 10901 Coral Way Miami, FL 33101 http://hamboree.org/ *Talk-in:* 146.925 PL 94.8Hz*Phone:* 305-590-8523Map:http://hamboree.org/location/ The SFDXA will have tables and all are welcome to come by and have a chat about your DX experiences. Membership applications will be at the table. Ask for Mark K2AU, SFDXA Public Information Officer, but anyone there can help. DXCC Card Checking at the Table By Don W3AZD. 4th Area QSL Envelopes will be available. Saturday at 1 PM is our SFDXA DX Forum. Topics will be DXing with JT65. We are also working to possibly set up a JT65demonstration. The Staff at the Dade Radio Club are doing their best to make it happen. There will be Door Prizes provided by Mike's Electronics. 1069 Northwest 53rd Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 3330(954) 491-71109 They are also working with us to put an HF Radio Special Events Station on the air for demonstrating Ham Radio to everyone from the Maker Faire. The call sign will be W4B.Pete N8PR and Don N4TZH have worked out a plan to set up the HF station. All Club Members are welcome to operate. Bring a copy of your license. The SFDXA Dinner is after the show Saturday at the same restaurant as previous years The Las Vegas, which is close to the Hamboree location.www.*lasvegas*cubancuisine.com Thank You Sebastian W4AS for setting that up. The food has always been terrific. Come to our tables to sign up and get directions. Come to the Hamboree and join the SFDXA activities. http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/2015-miami-tropical-hamboree Bill W2CQ South Florida DX Association From bmarx at bellsouth.net Sun Jan 25 15:08:09 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 15:08:09 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] Mike's Electronics information. Message-ID: <54C54D29.5080300@bellsouth.net> Mike Phone had an extra number in it. Here is Mike's Electronics information. 1069 NW 53 STREET, FT. LAUDERDALE, FL. 33309 PH: 954-491-7110 FX:954-491-7011 TOLL FREE 800-427-3066 Email::: mspivak at bellsouth.net Store hours are Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, Wednesday and Saturday from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm for your shopping convenience. http://www.mikeselectronicsfl.com/ From n4tzhradio at gmail.com Mon Jan 5 14:58:54 2015 From: n4tzhradio at gmail.com (Donald Drennon) Date: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 19:58:54 -0000 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] [SFDXA] Reminder - 1st Meeting of 2015 January 7th. In-Reply-To: <0BF89CF8-C662-453A-A388-A4B349A8768B@bellsouth.net> References: <0BF89CF8-C662-453A-A388-A4B349A8768B@bellsouth.net> Message-ID: <332CC184-142B-412D-AC2C-FA0AA62FB7B7@gmail.com> Be sure to arrive early (7:20) PM for a special presentation - Dave, W4DN, will treat us to a pre-meeting video at 7:20 PM about the Northern California DX Foundation. Sent from my iPhone 6 Plus > On Jan 5, 2015, at 10:20, Bill wrote: > > This is a reminder about this Wednesdays Meeting. The meeting will be presided over by Incoming SFDXA President Don Drennon N4TZH. Your Officers and Board of Directors have a few changes that will be announced by Don. > >> South Florida DX Association Meeting is next Wednesday January 7th 2015. >> >> We have a Fun and Informative Meeting planned so please Join us. >> >> Kai KE4PT will tell us all about operating from his Mini DXpedition from ZL. >> >>> The Meeting will feature a Presentation on RTTY DX Operating Tips. And also the Experiences of operating RTTY Pileups during the W1AW Centennial by Pete N8PR. >>> >>> The SFDXA Meeting is held at the Florida Medical Center on Oakland Park Blvd and the Fl Turnpike. There is no exit on the Turnpike at Oakland Park, So come west from I-95 on Oakland Park Blvd. past 441 to the Hospital, about 4 traffic lights west after 441 on the left before the Turnpike Bridge. Come through the front door and tell the Guard you are there for the Radio Club Meeting. For those using a GPS the hospital address is Florida Medical Center,5000 Oakland Park Blvd. >>> >>> Join us at 6:00 to 6:45, and have dinner in the cafeteria for a $7.00 Donation to the Club. Remember, only one entr?e. >>> >>> Walk across the hall with your tray to the auditorium and meet friends, and discuss and brag about your activities, new contacts recent QSLs you received and W1AW/p totals. >>> >>> Formal Meeting begins at 7:33 PM. Come and being a friend. Everyone is Welcome. >>> >>> Bill W2CQ > ______________________________________________________________ > South Florida DX Assoc. "SINCE 1974" > "OUR 40th ANNIVERSARY!" > SFDXA WebSite: http://www.SFDXA.com > SFDXA Repeater 147.33+ 103.5 Tone > To Post: mailto:SFDXA at mailman.qth.net > To UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/sfdxa > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net From n4tzhradio at gmail.com Sun Jan 25 15:16:37 2015 From: n4tzhradio at gmail.com (Donald Drennon) Date: Sun, 25 Jan 2015 15:16:37 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] [SFDXA] Welcome In-Reply-To: <54C4F0F7.9000709@bellsouth.net> References: <00ac01d038a2$13362f80$39a28e80$@com> <54C4F0F7.9000709@bellsouth.net> Message-ID: Hello all, In addition to being the SFDXA president, I am also the ARRL South Florida Section Technical Coordinator. One of my duties is to follow up on and help resolve RFI issues. Now the high tension, high power transmission lines may be a tall order (pun intended),but there are some things that can be done. Bill, please forward my contact info to Randy W8UF, and I will see what we can do. Don Drennon N4TZH Sent from my iPad > On Jan 25, 2015, at 8:34 AM, Bill wrote: > > > Hi Guys, > Randy W8UF, is in the Keys with an RF question. Any answers? > Bill W2CQ > > Thanks for the note. I have had a hard time contacting hams in the Keys although I did join the Florida Keys Amateur Radio Club. But what I have had the worst time with is the power line rfi that apparently is everywhere in the Keys. There is a high voltage power line that goes from Miami to Keys West and it carries ALL of the power for ALL of the Keys. If you know anyone who has a solution to this problem, let me know. > Randy > W8UF/4 > > ______________________________________________________________ > South Florida DX Assoc. "SINCE 1974" > "OUR 40th ANNIVERSARY!" > SFDXA WebSite: http://www.SFDXA.com > SFDXA Repeater 147.33+ 103.5 Tone > To Post: mailto:SFDXA at mailman.qth.net > To UNSUBSCRIBE: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/sfdxa > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net From bmarx at bellsouth.net Wed Jan 28 07:32:59 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2015 07:32:59 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] The ARRL Contest Update for January 28, 2015 In-Reply-To: <20150128042330.6946B20BDA10@bmail.arrl.org> References: <20150128042330.6946B20BDA10@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <54C8D6FB.8030903@bellsouth.net> Preview If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/update/?issue=2015-01-28 The ARRL Contest Update January 28, 2015 Editor: Ward Silver, N?AX /Contest Update/ Archive Contest Calendar ARRL Home Page Ad IN THIS ISSUE * On Your Marks, Get Set, Sprint! <#Contests> * Northern Contests from VT, MN, BC, and FYBO <#Contests> * New Rules for DXCC and ARRL VHF+ Contests <#News> * HFTA Terrain Files - Automated at Last! <#Newsweek> * The Northern Lights Began to Glow <#Sights> * ARRL SS and IARU HF Results Online <#Results> * Protect that Front End <#Tech> * Receive Antennas for All <#Techweek> * Field Day - Ham Radio's Open House <#Conversation> NEW HF OPERATORS - THINGS TO DO Now it's your turn to be an on-the-air or in-the-shack Elmer! The School Club Roundup is a great opportunity to help students and other new hams successfully make contacts. Starting on February 9th, they'll probably be on mostly after school but listen for the teams any time! There are a couple of fast-paced sprint contests, too - the newly re-sponsored SSB Sprint is this weekend and the NCJ-sponsored CW Sprint follows on the next weekend. BULLETINS There are no bulletins in this issue BUSTED QSOS Errors in the previous issue were apparently hard to find! CONTEST SUMMARY Complete information <#Contests> for all contests follows the Conversation <#Conversation> section *January 31-February 1* * Feld-Hell WAAAEO Sprint * Worldwide EME Contest * UBA Contest--Phone * SSB Sprint * OK1WC Memorial Contest (Feb 2) * ARS Spartan Sprint--CW (Feb 3) * CWOps Weekly Mini-CWT Tests (Feb 4) *February 7-8* * */North American Sprint--CW/* * */School Club Roundup /*(Feb 9) * NS Weekly RTTY Sprint (Feb 6) * NS Weekly Sprint--CW (Feb 6) * YL-OM Contest (Feb 6) * Triathlon DX Contest * Vermont QSO Party * YLISSB QSO Party * Ten-Ten Winter Phone QSO Party * Black Sea Cup International * Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon * FYBO Winter QRP Field Day * Minnesota QSO Party * Straight Key Party * British Columbia QSO Party * XE Int'l RTTY Contest * AM QSO Party * Classic Exchange--Phone * Milwaukee FM Simplex Contest NEWS, PRESS RELEASES, AND GENERAL INTEREST At the ARRL Board meeting on January 16-17, changes were approved to the DXCC program rules regarding remote operation and to the VHF+ contest program rules. The DXCC changes aligned the awards's rules with those of the ARRL contest program which have been in effect for several years. The new rules for VHF+ contesting go into effect with the June VHF Contest and allow the use of spotting assistance, self-spotting, and multiple-band transmissions in all categories of operation. Updates to the online rules for both DXCC and contests will be published soon. On the left is a familiar contester - Felipe NP4Z. His companion is the ARRL Southeaster Division's Assistant Director, Otis NP4G, who was also very busy as chairman of the Puerto Rico State Convention in Hatillo, PR on the islands northwest coast. I had a great time - wonderful hospitality at a nice place to be in late January - highly recommended! (Photo by N?AX) Reverse Beacon Network (RBN) contributors (current or prospective) can now find everything they need online to be able to send /CW/ and /RTTY Skimmer Server/ spots to the RBN using a single /Aggregator/ and a single QS1R SDR receiver. The information, plus a new version of /Aggregator /is all on the RBN website in three relatively small downloads. (Thanks, Pete N4ZR) It's hard to remember the days before integrated circuits! Here's an interesting history, "25 Microchips That Shook The World " from /IEEE Spectrum/. One of my favorites is missing but it's hard to argue that the collection in the article weren't important. (Thanks, Dennis N6KI) Imagine a multi-dimensional hamfest and you have...a Maker Faire ! Here are four upcoming events that will have something fun for every ham including a combo with the South Florida Tropical Hamboree : * Hamboree Mini Maker Faire (FL): January 30-31 * Caguas Mini Maker Faire (Puerto Rico): January 31 * Boulder Mini Maker Faire (CO): January 31-February 1 * Kalispell Mini Maker Faire (MT): February 28 There are a lot of interesting protocols being devised for HF data. To test out their creations, inventors usually get an experimental license from the FCC. From the list of those licenses and the stated purpose behind them, we can get an idea of what technology might be headed our way! (Thanks, Tim K3LR) A updated prediction for future solar cycles has been released by NASA. I can't say 10 meter fans will be very happy but the low banders are probably celebrating in the streets! Summarizing the report, "Cycle 24 will be a low cycle very likely to be followed by several other low or even lower cycles - supported by the current and historical data. Make the most of the current band conditions and upcoming DXpeditions - it certainly looks as if we are heading toward a 'Propagation Winter.'" (From ARRL Propagation Bulletins ARLP003 and ARLP004) Maybe these fancy sunspot spectacles will help out with propagation and speaking of Gotham beams, they aren't /all/ off the air. The story "W3AU, VU2MV, VU2JN and the Gotham Beam! " tells the tale of one such monobander put to work once again. (Thanks, Tim K3LR) Could that gigantic radio burst detected from 5.5 billion light years away just be some alien amateur testing a new solar-system-sized amplifier? Or maybe it was just the start of a CQ Galaxy-Wide Contest! Maybe it was a very short DXpedition to a black hole - "This was our first view of the AHHHHHHHhhhhhh....! Look ma, no hams, er, hands! That's Chip K7JA (left) and Arecibo Observatory Head of Telescope Operations and RFI/Spectrum Manager, Angel WP3R doing "The Gentry" (after K9PG) on the catwalk of the suspended receiver structure. It's a long way down to the dish! (Photo by KL7MF) The Super Check Partial (SCP) databases used by most contest logging software is maintained by Stu K6TU. He is preparing an update to the database and requests that you send him recent contest logs. More info on the SCP database and contributing logs is available online . The Missouri QSO Party , coming up on April 4-5, has made some major changes to the exchange, bands, modes, and other rules this year. Be sure your logging software supports these changes. (Thanks, George AB?RX) Following up on the recent article about the National Radio Quiet Zone and the people who flock there, the ARRL relayed a note from Rob N3RW about getting permission to use the HF Bruce Array at the National Radio Observatory's entrance. On 17 meters, few stations were willing to believe he was running just 5 watts! The Bruce Array at the entrance to the Green Bank site is a rebuild of the antenna used by physicist Karl Jansky who in the 1930s studied radio noise for the Bell System's HF radio circuits. More about Jansky and the antennas can be found in ARRL Propagation Bulletin ARLP004 . *Web Site of the Week* - Stu K6TU has automated the process of generating terrain profiles for use with N6BV's /HF Terrain Analysis/ (/HFTA/) program. To support /HFTA/'s modeling, a user must first obtain a terrain profile which describes the height of terrain around the antenna location. This process is cumbersome and time consuming as the source of the data must be located, downloaded, then processed with /MicroDEM/. Terrain Profile Requests are available to any user with a registered account on K6TU.NET at no charge and no subscription to Stu's propagation prediction service is necessary. Stu's site maintains copies of both the USGS National Elevation Dataset (for the United States) and the NASA Shuttle Radar Topography Mission dataset enabling fast turnaround of requests. WORD TO THE WISE In line with this issue's Conversation <#Conversation>piece, what are all those Field Day class abbreviations, anyway? The Utah Amateur Radio Club figured them all out and posted an explanation on their website. Now all we have to do is pick one - hmmmm, 2B or not 2B, that must be the question! (Thanks, Tim N9PUZ) Ad SIGHTS AND SOUNDS No word on whether the geomagnetic storm which sparked this Alaskan aurora also created some VHF+ contest propagation but these sounding rockets certainly logged some great data! (Photo courtesy of NASA) A geomagnetic storm erupted during the early hours of January 26th, sparking a surprise display of bright auroras around the Arctic Circle. Scientists took the opportunity to launch four sounding rockets from Alaska's Poker Flat Research Range to study the effect of solar storms on the upper atmosphere. You can see a picture of the colorful launch at right and more information is available in the Spaceweather archives for that date. Here's a great review of the last 25 years of the Hubble Space Telescope, including some astonishing images (and some new ones). A ham radio note - Sandra Faber (married to Andy AE6Y) was the scientist who figured out what was wrong with Hubble's mirrors and how to fix it. She was recently awarded the National Medal of Science - well done! (Thanks, Bob N6TV) What really is the difference between a hard drive (HD) and a solid-state drive (SSD)? This video explains the two technologies and shows how they are constructed. What would have happened if Google had been invented in the 1960s ? Let's just say you'd be playing with a full deck! (If you get that joke, you're officially a computer science old-timer.) And you can play /Spacewar /on it, too, the game with the first-ever hyperspace button. RESULTS AND RECORDS The ARRL Contest Branch's Contest Results Page is a busy place these days as both sets of preliminary results for the November Sweepstakes by VE4XT (CW) and N2IC (Phone) have been posted. The complete 2014 IARU HF Championship package is about to be published as soon as staff can return to work after the snow, including the full results by Nate N4YDU which are already published, Line Scores in an expanded format developed by John K9JK; and Log Checking Reports. (The latest IARU results have changes in the Top Ten tables for CW QRP due to a disqualification.) Plus, PDF versions of the /QST /articles for the August UHF and 10 GHz and Up Contests are now available. (Thanks, ARRL Contest Branch Manager, Matt W1MSW) Two more fellows whose calls are probably in your log - Eric NP3A (left) and Tele KP4P - were spotted at the Contest University (CTU) sessions of the Puerto Rico State Convention. (Photo by N?AX) The June VHF Contest section records have been updated through 2014 and are now on the ARRL Contest Records web page. In addition, the CQ WW VHF Contest High Score Lists through 2014 have been posted. Please contact Curt K9AKS with additions or corrections. OPERATING TIP What happens if you enter "Cut Numbers " in QSO lines of a Cabrillo-formatted log? You'll be hearing lots of them in the upcoming ARRL DX CW Contest, so here's the straight scoop. First, the character string is read from the submitted log. Then... 1. Any instance of W or WATTS are removed from the string. 2. If the string is one character long containing K, it is transformed to 1000 3. Similarly, 1K and KILO become 1000 4. All characters are removed which are not a numeral (0-9), A, E, N, T, or O 5. Replacements are then made: 'A' with '1', 'E' with '5', 'N' with '9', 'T' with '0', and 'O' with '0' 6. If the result is 000, it is replaced with 1000 7. Finally, the resulting set of characters are converted to an integer value for checking against other logs. Ad TECHNICAL TOPICS AND INFORMATION Rather than learn about receiver front-end protection the hard way, Pete N4ZR developed his front-end protector <%3chttp:/www.pvrc.org/%7En4zr/Articles/Simple%20Protection%20for%20the%20Fledgling%20SO2R%20Station.pdf> with the help of George W2VJN. It costs less than $5 and is easy to build, too! The article "Satellite Anatomy 101 " in /EDN/ magazine is a great overview of commercial satellite technology. Amateur satellite users will also find a lot of useful information there. Frank KR1ZAN relays word of an Instructables project with some ideas on "dead bug prototyping" and creating some electronic conversation pieces. He also provides the hot tip that Dremel has released a new line of VersaFlame? and VersaTip? butane torches. Where do your KP4 QSL Bureau cards go? Bureau Manager, Luis KP4WI, makes sure they get to the right place! (Photo by N?AX) Here are a couple bargain-hunter tips from Evan K9SQG: Full-circumference fuel line clamps from an auto parts store can be used to hold shield braid on the connections of a vacuum relay. For restoring bases of microphones and other appliances, you'll find adhesive-backed felt in fabric stores. (Thanks, Evan K9SQG) Two recent articles in the January 2015 issue of /High Frequency Electronics / are of interest to amateurs: "Changing the Operating Frequency of an RF Power Amplifier" by Donna Vigneri KF7SJF and "Achieving First-Pass Success in PCB-Based Filter and Matching Circuit Designs" by Muir, Dunleavy, and Weller. The issue is available in the online archives. The day of not having to etch away copper to create a printed-circuit board seems to be here. Finally, the name "printed-circuit" is accurate! The new Voxel8 3D printer uses a new silver-based highly conductive ink instead of the carbon-based inks in previous printers. (Thanks, Dennis N6KI) Field emission devices are starting to get some attention again as described in the /IEEE Spectrum /article, "Introducing the Vacuum Transistor: A Device Made of Nothing ". (Thanks, Bill W8LV) *Technical Web Site of the Week* - Eric NO3M has developed quite a system for distributing the signals of receive antennas to a variety of receivers. He wrote it up as an article published in the May/June 2012 issue of the /National Contest Journal/. It can handle up to 128 physical antennas and four receivers, controlled via an RS-485 serial interface. CONVERSATION Field Day - Ham Radio's Open House With a blizzard blanketing our New England hams, isn't it a bit too early to be thinking about Field Day? (I hear all of you Field Day committees laughing out there!) Successful planning is already getting underway and may have been going on for some time. Having been on both sides of the fence, I can tell you that waiting until April to start the process is a good way to miss the boat! Knowing that my readers include leaders from across the amateur spectrum, I ask, "How can we make a difference?" Last year was a time of celebration and reflection on our first century but it's time to take off the party hats and look to the future. Our society is awash in wireless technology and users of it. Let's take our story to those users, awaken them to the presence of radio among them, and show them how they can participate, whether from a scientific interest, to provide a service to their fellow citizens, or simply to enjoy connecting with other peoples. Here are some sidewalk solar astronomers from the Sociedad de Astronomia del Caribe in front of the Puerto Rico State Convention last weekend. Note the interest of kids and teens! (Photo by N?AX) Instead of hiding our Field Day operations in some out of the way location, set up shop where the public can't possibly miss noticing your activity. After all, following a disaster, it's likely that you'll be providing public service from just such a location, so it's good practice. Imagine your group operating from a city park or the local sports field complex, attracting a steady stream of passers-by, kids between games, families out for a picnic, a bicycle club - anyone having some weekend fun. "What is this beehive of activity with the antennas and tents? It's a ham radio open house, and look, they have free coffee and cookies!" Ten minutes later, they're on their way with some information in their heads and a handout in their pocket, or better yet, they've stored your club's website address in their smartphone. They now know a lot more about Amateur Radio than they did at breakfast! Field Day is structured perfectly to act as our version of "open house." A typical group will be active on HF with voice, supported by CW and digital mode operation. Taking advantage of the "free" VHF station, an all-band rig will be making QSOs on 6 meters and up with some simple antennas on a temporary mast. Someone will have an FM rig monitoring the talk-in and simplex channels for a few more QSOs. Someone else will set up an alternative power source since the bonus points encourage innovation and experimentation. A Get On The Air (GOTA) station will allow visitors to try voice or PSK31 contacts. The ARES folks might bring their comm trailer or set up a portable station. That all-important radiogram to the Section Manager could be sent through the Winlink system. Here, take a look at this APRS map! And so forth. I assume that I have lots of experienced readers with a lifetime of operating and station construction experience. Let's put that to work showing our fellow citizens what we're about. While the late-night CW shift is important, become a ham radio ambassador for the weekend, as well. Instead of focusing exclusively on QSO totals, make your metric for success the number of flyers, business cards, and QR code scans you disburse to the visitors. We all know a friendly CQ will bring out the callers and so, too, will a welcoming layout encourage visitors to take a look. Instead of setting up what looks like a crime scene investigation or a defensive perimeter around Fort Wireless, make it easy for someone to overcome their natural hesitancy and visit our world. Even better, go out to where they are, invite them in, and ask them about their interests! Assign your group's chattier members to show them around. Create a Visitor's Logbook and record each Visitor QSO with just as much relish as working a new section. Get their contact information and follow up afterwards with more radio goodies and an invitation to a club function geared toward the non-ham. Be ready for the inevitable "Do you still do that?" question with "Not only do we still do that but look at this!" It's a pretty safe bet that most of the public is completely unaware of what radio can do. Set up a long-distance WiFi link using the 2.4 GHz amateur channels with a cool-looking Yagi or "barbeque-grill" dish. Will there be a visible ISS pass around sunset? If so, help people see it for the first time and while you're at it, digipeat through its on-board packet system. Got a telescope? Point it at the Moon and invite one of the local moonbouncers to fire up and bounce a signal off the lunar surface. Set up a workbench and use the time to build a kit, make cables, assemble an antenna, write a program...do stuff! The future of Amateur Radio depends on us. The ARRL can open doors, provide materials, suggest and share ideas, but individual hams have to close the sale, just as our Elmers did for us. We can't do it behind closed gates. After all, "The more you do anything that don't look like advertising the better advertising it is." said Will Rogers. Now it's open house, are we ready? 73, Ward N?AX Ad CONTESTS *28 January through 10 February* An expanded, downloadable version of QST's Contest Corral in PDF format is available. Check the sponsor's Web site for information on operating time restrictions and other instructions. *HF CONTESTS* */North American Sprint/*--CW, from Feb 8, 0000Z to Feb 8, 0359Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: Both call signs, serial, name, and S/P/C. Logs due: 7 days.Rules */School Club Roundup/*--Phone,CW,Digital, from Feb 9, 1300Z to Feb 13, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: RS(T), Class, S/P/C. Logs due: 15 days.Rules Feld-Hell WAAAEO Sprint--Digital, from Jan 31, 0000Z to Jan 31, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, Feld-Hell member nr. Logs due: 7 days.Rules UBA Contest--Phone, from Jan 31, 1300Z to Feb 1, 1300Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RS, serial, and ON province. Logs due: 2 weeks.Rules SSB Sprint--Phone, from Feb 1, 0000Z to Feb 1, 0400Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-14. Exchange: Both call signs, serial, name, and S/P/C. Logs due: 7 days.Rules OK1WC Memorial Contest--Phone,CW, from Feb 2, 1630Z to Feb 2, 1730Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5, 7. Weekly on Monday, see website for bands. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 5 days.Rules ARS Spartan Sprint--CW, from Feb 3, 0200Z to Feb 3, 0400Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Monthly on the first Monday evening local time. Exchange: RST, S/P/C, and power. Logs due: 2 days.Rules CWOps Weekly Mini-CWT Tests--CW, from Feb 4, 1300Z - See website. Multiple time periods. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Weekly on Wednesday, 28 to 38 kHz above band edge. Exchange: Name and member number or S/P/C. Logs due: 2 days.Rules NS Weekly RTTY Sprint--Digital, from Feb 6, 0145Z to Feb 6, 0215Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-14. Weekly on Thursday evenings local time. Exchange: Serial, name, and S/P/C. Logs due: 2 days.Rules NS Weekly Sprint--CW, from Feb 6, 0230Z to Feb 6, 0300Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-14. Weekly on Thursday evenings local time. Exchange: Serial, name, and S/P/C. Logs due: 2 days.Rules YL-OM Contest--Phone,CW,Digital, from Feb 6, 1400Z to Feb 8, 0200Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: Call sign, RST, serial and S/P/C. Logs due: 30 days.Rules Triathlon DX Contest--Phone,CW,Digital, from Feb 7, 0000Z to Feb 7, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RS(T) and serial. Logs due: 28 Feb.Rules Vermont QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Feb 7, 0000Z to Feb 8, 2400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144. Exchange: RS(T) and VT county or S/P/C. Logs due: 30 days.Rules YLISSB QSO Party--CW, from Feb 7, 0000Z to Feb 8, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: Call sign, RS(T), ISSB number. Logs due: Mar 21.Rules Ten-Ten Winter Phone QSO Party--Phone, from Feb 7, 0001Z to Feb 8, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 28. Exchange: Call sign, name, QTH, 10-10 number. Logs due: 15 days.Rules Black Sea Cup International--Phone,CW, from Feb 7, 1200Z to Feb 8, 1159Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS(T) and HQ ID, member nr or ITU zone. Logs due: 30 days.Rules Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon--CW, from Feb 7, 1200Z to Feb 7, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RST, QTH, name, member nr if member. Logs due: 5 days.Rules FYBO Winter QRP Field Day--Phone,CW, from Feb 7, 1400Z to Feb 7, 2400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. Exchange: RS(T), S/P/C, name, power, temp in deg F. Logs due: 30 days.Rules Minnesota QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Feb 7, 1400Z to Feb 7, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. CW 1.850, 3.550, 7.050, 14.050, 21.050, 28.050; SSB 1.870, 3.850, 7.250, 14.270, 21.350, 28.450 MHz. Exchange: Name and MN county or S/P/C. Logs due: Mar 15.Rules Straight Key Party--CW, from Feb 7, 1600Z to Feb 7, 1900Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5. Exchange: RST, serial, category, name, age. Logs due: Feb 28.Rules British Columbia QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Feb 7, 1600Z to Feb 8, 0400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28. CW 1.815, 3.535, 7.035, 14.035, 21.035, 28.305; SSB 1.845, 3.85, 7.23, 14.25, 21.3, 28.4 MHz; Digital per band plan. Exchange: RST and BC district or S/P/Territory or DX. Logs due: Mar 31.Rules XE Int'l RTTY Contest--Digital, from Feb 7, 1800Z to Feb 8, 1759Z. Bands (MHz): 3.5-28. Exchange: RST and XE state or serial. Logs due: 30 days.Rules AM QSO Party--Phone, from Feb 7, 2300Z to Feb 8, 2300Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-14. Exchange: RS, name, and S/P/C. Logs due: 4 weeks.Rules Classic Exchange--Phone, from Feb 8, 1400Z to Feb 9, 0800Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144, AM--1.890, 3.880, 7.160, 7.290, 14.286, 21.420, 29.000, 50.400, 144.300; SSB--1.885, 3.870, 7.280, 14.270, 21.370, 28.390, 50.125, 144.200 MHz. Exchange: RST, QTH, model of rcvr and xmtr. Logs due: 30 days.Rules *VHF+ CONTESTS* */School Club Roundup/*--Phone,CW,Digital, from Feb 9, 1300Z to Feb 13, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50+. Exchange: RS(T), Class, S/P/C. Logs due: 15 days.Rules Worldwide EME Contest--Phone,CW, from Jan 31, 0000Z to Feb 1, 2400Z. Bands (MHz): 144, 432. Exchange: TMO/RS(T) and "R". Logs due: Jun 15.Rules Vermont QSO Party--Phone,CW,Digital, from Feb 7, 0000Z to Feb 8, 2400Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144. Exchange: RS(T) and VT county or S/P/C. Logs due: 30 days.Rules Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon--CW, from Feb 7, 1200Z to Feb 7, 2359Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50. Exchange: RST, QTH, name, member nr if member. Logs due: 5 days.Rules Classic Exchange--Phone, from Feb 8, 1400Z to Feb 9, 0800Z. Bands (MHz): 1.8-28, 50,144, AM--1.890, 3.880, 7.160, 7.290, 14.286, 21.420, 29.000, 50.400, 144.300; SSB--1.885, 3.870, 7.280, 14.270, 21.370, 28.390, 50.125, 144.200 MHz. Exchange: RST, QTH, model of rcvr and xmtr. Logs due: 30 days.Rules Milwaukee FM Simplex Contest--Phone, from Feb 8, 1900Z to Feb 8, 2130Z. Bands (MHz): 50-440. Exchange: Call sign and 4-char grid square. Logs due: Mar 16.Rules LOG DUE DATES *January 28 through February 10* * January 29 - QRP Fox Hunt * January 30 - CQ 160-Meter Contest, CW * January 30 - SKCC Sprint * January 31 - Lighthouse Christmas Lights QSO Party * January 31 - Original QRP Contest * January 31 - RAC Winter Contest * January 31 - AGCW Happy New Year Contest * January 31 - SARTG New Year RTTY Contest * January 31 - QRP Fox Hunt * January 31 - CWops Mini-CWT Test * February 1 - NCCC Sprint Ladder * February 1 - International Naval Contest * February 1 - NCCC RTTY Sprint * February 1 - Locust QSO Party * February 3 - Kid's Day * February 3 - ARRL RTTY Roundup * February 5 - ARS Spartan Sprint * February 7 - Feld Hell Sprint * February 8 - EUCW 160m Contest * February 8 - QRP ARCI Fireside SSB Sprint * February 8 - North American SSB Sprint Contest * February 9 - REF Contest, CW ARRL Information Click here to advertise in this newsletter, space subject to availability. Your One-Stop Resource for Amateur Radio News and Information *Join or Renew Today!* ** ARRL membership includes /QST/ , Amateur Radio's most popular and informative journal, delivered to your mailbox each month. Subscribe to /NCJ/ - the National Contest Journal . Published bimonthly, features articles by top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint and QSO Parties. Subscribe to /QEX/ - A Forum for Communications Experimenters . Published bimonthly, features technical articles, construction projects, columns and other items of interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals. /Free of charge to ARRL members:/ Subscribe to The ARRL Letter (weekly digest of news and information), the ARES E-Letter (monthly public service and emergency communications news), Division and Section news -- and much more! /ARRL offers a wide array of //products/ //to enhance your enjoyment of Amateur Radio. Visit the site often for new publications, specials and sales. Donate to the fund of your choice -- /support programs not funded by member dues!/ Reprint permission can be obtained by sending email to permission at arrl.org with a description of the material and the reprint publication. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ARRL Contest Update wishes to acknowledge information from WA7BNM's Contest Calendar and SM3CER's Contest Calendar . Ad Ad Ad Ad Ad ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The ARRL Contest Update is published every other Wednesday (26 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/contests/update/. Copyright ? 2015 American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.arrl.org From bmarx at bellsouth.net Wed Jan 28 11:01:24 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Wed, 28 Jan 2015 11:01:24 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] January 2015 Board Meeting - K4AC, , Doug Rehman, Southeastern Division Director In-Reply-To: <20150128143826.8C1602173EA5@bmail.arrl.org> References: <20150128143826.8C1602173EA5@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <54C907D4.70304@bellsouth.net> I apologize for the delay in getting this update out. The weekend immediately following the Board Meeting was the Puerto Rico State Convention (an incredible celebration of the Puerto Rican culture and amateur radio in a beautiful, warm location with amazing hospitality); between travel and business, it's been quite busy! The January Board Meeting was a very productive one on many fronts and disappointing on others. I've already received questions about how I voted on various Motions and why I voted for or against them. I'll go through each of the Motions and explain my vote. Those members that have elected to receive Board Minutes within their profile have already been emailed a copy. (If you would like to receive future Board Meeting agendas and minutes, sign into your account on www.arrl.org, click on "Edit your Profile" at the top middle of the page, click on "Edit Email Subscriptions" and select the option.) If you did not receive the Minutes, but would like to see a copy, I've posted them on the Division's website at: http://arrlse.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2015_January_ARRL_Board_Minutes.pdf Minute 24: (Legislative Objectives for 114th Congress?Passed) I voted for this Motion as the objectives include the major initiatives we should be pursuing. This includes seeking relief from unreasonable antenna restrictions in CC&Rs. Minute 25: (Amendment of Article 7?Passed) This clarifies when a Vice Director is acting as the Director at a meeting of the Board where the Director is unable to attend. I voted in favor. Minute 26: (Amendment of Article 12?Passed) This clarifies the language of the Article. I voted in favor. Minute 27: (Amendment of Bylaw 41?Passed) This changes the body making a ruling on a conflict of interest from the Ethics and Elections Committee to the entire Board. It also gives the E&E Committee other duties pertaining to conflicts of interest. I voted in favor of the motion as a the handling of a possible conflict of interest in 2014 showed that Bylaw 41 and Bylaw 45 needed changes. Minute 28: (Rewrite of Bylaw 45?Passed) Bylaw 45 is the Conflicts of Interest Policy and was rewritten to clarify conflicts of interest. While I generally agreed with the rewrite, I voted against the motion because it states, "A Board Member or Vice Director may not disclose confidential information obtained by him or her relating to the League to any third person or entity", but fails to define what "confidential information" is; it is not defined elsewhere in the Bylaws or Articles either. When the Motion was proposed in advance of the Board Meeting, I unsuccessfully asked for the addition of a definition of "confidential information". I brought it up again in the Board Meeting, but didn't receive support. One of the platforms I ran on was more openness of the Board and its actions. Without a definition of "confidential information" it is impossible to know with certainty what is "confidential information" that cannot be revealed and what is allowable to disclose. Minute 29: (2014 George Hart Distinguished Service Award?Passed) I voted in favor of bestowing the award on WA1ZCN. Minute 30: (Volunteer Instructor Database?Passed) I voted in favor of this Motion that elevates its priority and directs staff to complete this database by the end of 2015. The database will be used to track VIs and the classes they teach. Minute 31: (2015-2016 Plan?Passed) I voted against the Motion to adopt the plan. While I believe the expenditures laid out in the plan are acceptable, I take issue with a lack of exploration of alternative means of generating additional revenues to offset the amount by which membership dues will need to be increased in the future. Minute 32: (Strategic Planning Working Group Creation?Passed) I voted against the creation of this committee because the Executive Committee is already charged with making changes to the Strategic Plan. I also voted against the creation of this committee as it results from my July 2014 Motion to create a Information Technology Strategic Planning Committee which was referred to the Administration and Finance Committee. A&F choose to propose a committee to look at everything rather than the committee that I proposed that would specifically concentrate on IT?an area that has become a bottleneck for progress in many areas. Minute 33: (Creation of Assistant Section Traffic Manager?Passed) I voted in favor of establishing the ASTM position in the Field Organization as a way to recognize the contribution of the individuals that are already doing that work. Minute 34: (Revising 160m Card Checking Rules?Passed) I voted in favor of having staff expand the program as there are not enough 160m card checkers. Minute 35: (Housekeeping Changes to DXCC Rules?Passed) I made the Motion and voted in favor of it. It clarifies language in two places and makes no change to the intent of the rules. Minute 36: (Remote Operation DXCC Rules?Passed) I made the Motion and voted in favor of it. The changes are: removing the restriction against a land based station being remote controlled from a vessel; removing the restriction that the control operator must be in the same entity as the transmitter; adding a restriction that the receiver and transmitter must be located within a 500 meter circle; adding a statement that contacts with legally licensed remote stations count for DXCC credit (they already counted previously if they met the control operator requirement of being in the same entity?this just makes it clear); and adding a section stressing ethical and legal operation. These changes came about after prolonged discussions by the Programs and Services Committee which I serve on. We took into consideration the report of the DX Advisory Committee as well as member input (I solicited input from our Division membership several months ago). The PSC explored a wide variety of options, including distance limitations and a separate DXCC award. In the end we came to the conclusions of what was passed by the Board. We felt that ethical remote operations are within the spirit of Amateur Radio, that the development of remote stations furthers the art and science of Amateur Radio, and the location of the operator and the length of the "wires" between the operator and the equipment makes no difference in the fact that radio communications occurred between the two stations. The DXCC program belongs to all of the membership. As such, it is my responsibility to consider the positions of all members. I heard very different things from the hardcore DX community where the members are in competition with each other than I did from the rank and file membership which includes Amateurs that have struggled or are struggling to reach 100 confirmed and see it as a very personal achievement. Amateurs located in CC&R restricted communities and amateurs that have been forced to give up competitive stations due to aging benefit immensely from the ability to operate using remotely controlled stations. Minute 37: (Changes to VHF and Above Contest Rules?Passed) I voted in favor of this Motion that adopts the recommendations of the VHF and Above Revitalization Subcommittee that I also serve on. The changes are primarily concerning the use of assistance such as self-spotting and simultaneous transmitting on multiple bands. (If you are interested in knowing the specifics, please read the Motion in the Bylaws as it is very detailed.) Minute 38: (Thanking the Second Century Campaign Committee and Others Helping the SCC?Passed) I voted in favor of this Motion. Minute 39: (Technician/Novice RTTY/Data Privileges?Passed) I made the Motion and voted in favor of it. At the July 2014 Board Meeting, I proposed that Technicians be given limited digital privileges in the 80, 40, and 15 meter bands; the proposal was referred to the Executive Committee for study. The EC recommended that input from the membership be solicited for adding digital privileges for Technicians and Novices in the 15 meter band. Interdependently, the HF Band Planning Committee was soliciting member input on the HF digital band plan; their recommendations include adding digital privileges for Technicians and Novices in the 80 meter band. This motion marries the EC and HF Band Planning Committee recommendations so that when HFBPC solicits member input on their recommendations, the solicitation will include Technician and Novice privileges in both the 80 and 15 meter bands. Technicians and Novices already have digital privileges on 10 meters. Providing privileges in other HF bands will encourage them to experiment with HF digital communications as they will have bands with propagation around the clock and the investment in HF equipment will allow for use on more than just 10 meters. Years ago, the limited CW privileges for Technicians and Novices allowed them to experience a taste of HF operations including DX. Once hooked on HF operations, a large number upgraded so that they could access a greater portion of the bands and voice. Giving digital privileges will recreate that possibility. Given the younger generations' affinity for text based communications, digital modes should be particularly attractive to them. Minutes 40 & 41: (Electing Past Roanoke Division Director Dennis Bodson an Honorary Vice President?Elected) I voted in favor of these Motions. Dr. Bodson served as the Vice director from 1993-2000 and the Director from 2001-2015. Minute 42: (Awarding the Bill Leonard Award?Passed) I voted in favor of bestowing the award which recognizes professional journalists whose outstanding coverage highlights the enjoyment, importance, and public service value of the Amateur Radio Service in three categories (Audio, Visual, and Print & Text). Minute 43: (Creation of the Information Technology Review Committee?Failed) I made the Motion and voted in favor of it. The committee would have examined both the existing Information Technology operations and network architecture. Using the information obtained, the committee would have created a plan in conjunction with staff that maximizes the IT services provided to League members and Headquarters staff, both currently and in the future. This was similar to my Motion at the July 2014 Board Meeting to create an IT Strategic Planning Committee (see Minute 32 above) which ultimately failed to create such a group. IT has become a bottleneck to most projects. Additionally the League suffered two network intrusions in the past 6 months, at least one of which could have been prevented if proper network monitoring protocols were in place. Several members of the Board are faculty members in the IT field at colleges, myself included. The committee could have leveraged this knowledge to improve the League's IT. I have already been asked by members why this Motion failed. It failed for a number of reasons, but the primary one is that it is seen by some as an intrusion into the turf of the Administration and Finance Committee. Bylaw 38 describes the A&F Committee's duties and states, "Monitor and review key infrastructure projects, including capital improvements and significant information technology changes". This has been misinterpreted to mean that anything dealing with IT is the sole purview of A&F. The requirements for the proposed IT committee include that the members have a high level of IT knowledge. This was done so that politics could be removed from the committee's considerations and instead attention could be paid to IT Best Practices. As such, the committee membership requirements would have excluded most Board members from consideration as members. ************************************************ As many members do not subscribe to Division emails, please share this email as widely as possible. (If you did not receive this directly and would like to receive future Division emails, sign into your account on www.arrl.org, click on "Edit your Profile" at the top middle of the page, click on "Edit Email Subscriptions" and select the option for receiving Section and Division emails.) 73 de K4AC Doug Rehman Southeastern Division Director -------------------------------------------------------------------- ARRL Southeastern Division Director: Doug Rehman, K4AC k4ac at arrl.org From bmarx at bellsouth.net Fri Jan 30 08:16:26 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2015 08:16:26 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] The ARRL Letter for January 29, 2015 In-Reply-To: <20150129214721.8088421A8EB0@bmail.arrl.org> References: <20150129214721.8088421A8EB0@bmail.arrl.org> Message-ID: <54CB842A.6080803@bellsouth.net> Preview If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at: http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2015-01-29 The ARRL Letter January 29, 2015 Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME ARRL Home Page /ARRL Letter/ Archive Audio News Ad * ARES, SKYWARN Volunteers Go On Alert for Massive East Coast Winter Storm <#toc01> * FCC "Paperless" Amateur Radio License Policy Goes into Effect on February 17 <#toc02> * ARRL Board Names Award Recipients <#toc03> * New Legislative Issues Advocacy Fund Gets Initial Boost from Hudson Division <#toc04> * ARRL Board Elects Executive Committee, Hears Reports, Welcomes Visitors <#toc05> * School Club Roundup is February 9-13! <#toc06> * Unlicensed Religious Broadcaster Who Used Amateur Frequencies Ordered Off the Air <#toc07> * QRZ Logbook Now Offering Reciprocal Confirmation Credit and LoTW Download <#toc08> * NASA Opens Application Window for Paid CubeSat, PICetSat Internships <#toc09> * March Issue of /The American Legion Magazine/ to Feature Amateur Radio <#toc10> * RSGB Welcomes Proposed Crackdown on Interference-Producing Power Line Data Devices <#toc11> * ARRL Assistant Roanoke Division Director Anthony R. "Tony" Curtis, K3RXK, SK <#toc12> * ARRL Technical Advisor, Author, AMRAD President Emeritus Andr? Kesteloot, N4ICK, SK <#toc13> * In Brief... <#toc14> * The K7RA Solar Update <#toc15> * Just Ahead in Radiosport <#toc16> * Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions and Events <#toc17> ARES, SKYWARN Volunteers Go On Alert for Massive East Coast Winter Storm Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) teams and SKYWARN weather observers along the US Eastern Seaboard went on alert Monday, January 26, as a winter storm began working its way into the Northeast. The storm, which brought blizzard conditions to some areas, shut down transportation and kept residents at home in several states. Eastern Massachusetts and the City of Boston may have been hardest hit, with record or near-record snowfall amounts and storm surge flooding in some coastal communities. ARES units on Cape Cod deployed to staff six shelters and the Multi-Agency Coordination Center, which serves Barnstable County. A shelter was opened on Nantucket Island, after the entire island lost electrical power as well as most telecommunication services, and ham radio volunteers helped to fill the gap. Amateur Radio volunteers relayed this information to the National Weather Service (NWS) Taunton Office, home to WX1BOX , where operations kicked into high gear on Monday evening and continued for 27 hours. Hurricane-force wind gusts were recorded on Nantucket Island and on the western edge of Martha's Vineyard. "Amateur Radio operators across Southern New England checked into regular SKYWARN Nets and/or with WX1BOX throughout the storm, even during the overnight hours, providing tremendous situational awareness and disaster intelligence information for the National Weather Service, state emergency management, nongovernmental organizations, and the media," Eastern Massachusetts Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator and SKYWARN Coordinator Rob Macedo, KD1CY, told ARRL. "Several hundred snowfall total and damage reports, including coastal flood reports, were fielded over a dozen SKYWARN nets across the NWS coverage area." Macedo said widespread snowfall totals of 15 to 30 inches -- and up to 3 feet in some areas -- occurred in Central and Eastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, while up to 2 feet of snow fell in Connecticut and Southwest Massachusetts. ARRL Headquarters announced on Monday that it would close on January 27 in anticipation of the severe weather. Massachusetts' South Shore experienced flooding, as a wind-driven tidal surge breached one seawall, flooding homes and businesses along the Brant Rock Esplanade. Flooding was also reported in Scituate, where streets filled with slushy seawater. Fierce winds caused some minor structural damage. A few residents had to be evacuated. ARES and SKYWARN volunteers elsewhere in the Northeast also relayed ground-level weather conditions to NWS offices as the severe storm continued its northeasterly trek. The winter storm may not have lived up to advance hype in some areas, leaving forecasters apologetic, but it was a significant weather event for Northern New England residents. While the worst of the storm missed New York City, extreme Long Island saw a couple of feet of snow. Eastern New York SEC David Galletly, KM2O, said ARES groups in his Section stood down at midday on January 27. "The storm track was apparently 50 to 100 miles east of the original forecast with a very sharp snow boundary," Galletly said. "This resulted in much less snow accumulation, especially in the Northern District counties." ARRL New York City-Long Island Section Manager Jim Mezey, W2KFV, said ARES teams in his Section spent Monday preparing for a storm that was anticipated to be of "historic proportions." By midday, he said, ARES members were awaiting marching orders. The American Red Cross had identified three possible shelter locations in Nassau and Suffolk counties, where ARES might have supported communication. "Winds were running at 25 MPH with higher gusts, creating whiteout conditions for most of the night and early morning," Mezey said. He reported snowfall accumulations of from 5 to 8 inches in New York City, 13 to 20 inches in Nassau County, and more than 24 inches in Eastern Suffolk County. By noon on January 27, ARES teams stood down but continued to monitor the situation a while longer. In Maine, where heavy snowfall and high winds battered eastern and coastal communities, ARES bumped up its alert status to Level 2 -- standby. Scattered power outages were reported, mostly in southern Maine. Temperatures remained in the teens. Maine ARES Section Emergency Coordinator Phil Duggan, N1EP, activated ARES Weather and SKYWARN Net sessions on HF, but no served agencies requested ARES communication support. More than 1 foot of snow fell along parts of the Maine coast, and stiff winds out of the northeast caused considerable blowing and drifting of snow. At times, visibility was less than one-quarter mile. More snow is forecast for January 30. FCC "Paperless" Amateur Radio License Policy Goes into Effect on February 17 Starting on February 17, the FCC no longer will routinely issue paper license documents to Amateur Radio applicants and licensees. The Commission has maintained for some time now that the official Amateur Radio license authorization is the electronic record that exists in its Universal Licensing System (ULS ), although the FCC has routinely continued to print and mail hard copy licenses. That will stop next month. In mid-December, the FCC adopted final procedures to provide access to official electronic authorizations, as it had proposed in WT Docket 14-161 as part of its "process reform" initiatives. Under the new procedures, licensees will access their current official authorization ("Active" status only) via the ULS License Manager. The FCC will continue to provide paper license documents to all licensees who notify the Commission that they prefer to receive one. Licensees will also be able to print out an official authorization -- as well as an unofficial "reference copy" -- from the ULS License Manager. "We find this electronic process will improve efficiency by simplifying access to official authorizations in ULS, shortening the time period between grant of an application and access to the official authorization, and reducing regulatory costs," the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) said. According to the WTB, the new procedures will save at least $304,000 a year, including the cost of staff resources. In comments filed November 5, the ARRL had strongly recommended that the FCC "give serious consideration to continuing a default provision for sending an initial paper license document to new licensees in the Amateur Radio Service, along with detailed, simple instructions for how to make the elections set forth in the notice relative to future modified or renewed licenses." Under the new procedures, a new license applicant who already has an FRN and provides a valid e-mail address under "Applicant Information" in the ULS will receive an official ULS-generated electronic authorization via e-mail. New license applicants lacking an FCC Registration Number will receive in the mail an FRN and a temporary password to access the Commission Registration System (CORES), but will no longer automatically receive a license document; they must request one by changing their "Paper Authorization Preference" in the ULS License Manager. The ARRL and other Amateur Radio commenters also worried that unless a license document is printed on distinctive paper stock, its authenticity could be questioned in such situations as obtaining vanity call sign license plates. To address this, the FCC said the watermark "Official Copy" will be printed on each page of an official authorization that a licensee prints out from the ULS. The WTB recently stopped using distinctive paper stock to produce hard copy licenses and has been printing these on "standard, white recycled paper." The Bureau noted that the distinctive paper stock it had been using was six times more expensive than the plain recycled paper it now uses. The ULS License Manager (left) now includes settings that allow licensees to notify the WTB that they prefer to receive official authorizations on paper. Once final procedures go into effect designating electronic access as the default, licensees can change the ULS License Manager setting so that the Bureau will print and mail a license document. Licensees also may contact FCC Support via the web, telephone, or mail to request paper licenses. The FCC rejected as "outside the scope of this proceeding" an ARRL argument that Section 97.23 of the Amateur Service rules be amended to replace "licensee mailing address" with other alternatives, including e-mail, for use in Commission correspondence. The rule, which requires that any licensee mailing address be in an area where the licensee has US Postal Service access, has precluded FCC issuance of location-specific call signs in such areas as Navassa Island (KP1) and some Pacific islands. ARRL Board Names Award Recipients The ARRL Board of Directors has bestowed the 2014 George Hart Distinguished Service Award on David B. Colter, WA1ZCN, of New London, New Hampshire. The Board may grant the award to an ARRL member whose service to the ARRL Field Organization has been of the most exemplary nature. The award's namesake is George Hart, W1NJM, long-time Communications Manager at ARRL Headquarters and chief developer of the National Traffic System. Colter, a member of the Twin State Amateur Radio Club, was recognized for nearly 4 decades of service to the Amateur Radio community, including such leadership positions as Section Emergency Coordinator and Assistant Section Emergency Coordinator. Colter designed training and development courses for the New Hampshire ARES community and was the prime mover behind the New Hampshire ARES Academy -- a day-long springtime event that provides courses and training in various aspects of public service communication. He also served as editor of the ARRL Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Course (ARECC) series and as New England Division representative on the League's Emergency Communications Advisory Committee. The Board also honored three professional journalists with the ARRL Bill Leonard Award for their outstanding coverage of Amateur Radio in video, print, and aural media. The award honors journalists for excellence in reporting that highlights the enjoyment, importance, and public service value of Amateur Radio. The award is a tribute to the late CBS News President Bill Leonard, W2SKE, an avid Amateur Radio operator and advocate. * The video award went to Christine Kim of KSNV-TV in Las Vegas, for her "Local Heroes" profile of the Nevada Amateur Radio Emergency Service. * The print award went to Marti Attoun of /American Profile/ magazine, for her "Radio Active" article that profiled Amateur Radio. * The aural media award went to Steve Kraske and Beth Lipoff of KCUR-FM in Kansas City, for their "Exploring Ham Radio in a Digital World" interview of Brian Short, KC?BS; Carolyn Wells, N?CJ, and Matt May, KC4WCG. The Board announced the award recipients at its 2015 Annual Meeting, January 16-17, in Windsor, Connecticut. New Legislative Issues Advocacy Fund Gets Initial Boost from Hudson Division ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB -- acting on behalf of the members of his Division -- has presented ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, with an inaugural donation of $4500 to the new ARRL Legislative Issues Advocacy Fund. President Craigie received the contribution during the ARRL Board's Annual Meeting January 16-17 in Windsor, Connecticut. The check, from the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club, represented contributions from members at the 2014 Hudson Division Awards Luncheon on November 8. President Craigie generously matched the donation. The Board's Administration and Finance Committee established the Legislative Issues Advocacy Fund -- proposed by Lisenco -- to educate and inform members of Congress of the importance of issues that impact the Amateur Radio Service. *ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, receives a donation from Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, for the Legislative Issues Advocacy Fund. President Craigie matched the $4500 contribution. [Harold Kramer, WJ1B, photo]* "There is an urgent need to raise money to help offset the cost of sending our voice to Washington for legislative advocacy, and we need to continue these expenditures into the future to achieve our goals -- including and going beyond the current CC&R legislative effort -- as there will always be issues that require a continuing presence on Capitol Hill," Lisenco said after the meeting. Lisenco added that potential issues down the road could include spectrum allocation -- and especially conflicts stemming from broadband allocations -- revisions to the Communications Act, the adequacy and efficiency of FCC enforcement and the use of Amateur Radio volunteers, increased privatization of Amateur Radio administration, FCC oversight, and radio frequency interference concerns, "to name a few." "We must establish a brand for Amateur Radio /now/, so that we no longer have to be reactive when it comes to the relationship between the federal government and Amateur Radio," Lisenco stressed after the meeting. The ARRL is a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) entity. All donations to the fund are tax deductable within the limits of the law. For information on how to donate to the ARRL Legislative Issues Advocacy Fund, contact Development Manager Lauren Clarke , KB1YDD (tel 860-594-0348). /Legislative Objectives Outlined/ At its Annual Meeting, the ARRL Board adopted several legislative objectives for the 114th US Congress. Accordingly, the ARRL will continue to secure passage of legislation instructing the FCC to extend the requirement for "reasonable accommodation" of Amateur Radio station antennas -- a requirement that now applies to state and local governing bodies -- to all forms of land use regulation. The League also will continue to oppose legislation leading to the reallocation of amateur spectrum or to sharing arrangements that reduce the utility of existing allocations, as well as legislation that diminishes the rights of federal licensees in favor of unlicensed emitters or that encourages the deployment of spectrum-polluting technologies. Read more . Ad ARRL Board Elects Executive Committee, Hears Reports, Welcomes Visitors The ARRL Board of Directors has elected members of the Executive Committee. Chosen during the Board's 2015 Annual Meeting were New England Division Director Tom Frenaye, K1KI; Hudson Division Director Lisenco; West Gulf Division Director Dr David Woolweaver, K5RAV; Pacific Division Director Bob Vallio, W6RGG, and Great Lakes Division Director Dale Williams, WA8EFK. *International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Secretary Rod Stafford, W6ROD, addressed the ARRL Board of Directors meeting [LJB Special Photography photo]* The Board also chose members of the ARRL Foundation Board. Northwestern Division Director Jim Pace, K7CEX, was elected to fill the unexpired term of past ARRL Midwest Division Director Cliff Ahrens, K0CA, who stepped down from the Foundation Board. For full 3-year terms on the Foundation Board, the Board elected Director Frenaye, Rocky Mountain Division Director Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, and Martin Green, K2PLF. Frenaye, as ARRL Foundation President, reported that the Foundation funded some 80 scholarships in 2014, and that two new scholarships are in the process of being established. // /Other Business/ The ARRL Board heard reports from officers during its Annual Meeting. * Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price, N4QX, told the Board that efforts are in full swing to build support for Amateur Radio-related issues, in preparation for World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 in November. * General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, pointed out in his report that spectrum auctions continue to pose a potential threat to Amateur Radio spectrum. He also told the Board that inadequate FCC attention to Amateur Radio enforcement issues continues to be a concern. Also present for the Annual Meeting were International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Secretary Rod Stafford, W6ROD, and Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC) Vice President Glenn MacDonell, VE3XRA. Stafford brought greetings from IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, and Vice President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, and noted that 2015 is the 90th anniversary of the IARU. The IARU is preparing for the International Telecommunication Union World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 this November in Geneva. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Find ARRL on Facebook . Follow us on Twitter ! ------------------------------------------------------------------------ School Club Roundup is February 9-13! School clubs are busily prepping their stations for The "Winter/Spring Term" School Club Roundup , which gets under way Monday, February 9 at 1300 UTC, and continues through Friday, February 13, at 2359 UTC. Stations may operate no more than 6 hours in any 24 hour period (up to a maximum of 24 hours). *Senior Jacob Yarnell, KF5UVN, and freshman Mirah Gordon operate in the October 2014 School Club Roundup from K5LBJ at LASA High School in Austin, Texas. * The twice-yearly event is an opportunity for school club stations -- from elementary school to college -- to get on the air for a friendly radio activity. Non-school clubs and individuals are encouraged to participate too. Sponsored by the ARRL, the ARRL Hudson Division Education Task Force, and the Long Island Mobile Amateur Radio Club (LIMARC ), the contest aims to foster contacts with and among school radio clubs. Stations exchange signal reports, class ("*I*ndividual," "*C*lub," or "*S*chool"), and US state, Canadian province/territory, or DXCC entity. Stations may operate on all amateur bands except 60, 30, 17, and 12 meters (no repeater contacts and VHF/UHF contacts must be on recognized simplex frequencies, except calling frequencies). Stations may operate phone, CW, and digital modes, or a combination. The most popular time for younger students is during after-school hours, but older students may be on the air anytime. All groups are limited to one transmitter on the air. If you'd just like to get on the air and hand out contacts, enter in the Individual category. Tune around in any mode and listen for SCR stations calling CQ, or call CQ yourself and see who answers (call "CQ School Clubs," if you are not a club station). Logs are due no more than 15 days after the operating period has ended and can be submitted online via the WA7BNM website. The top three entries in each category -- Elementary, Middle/Intermediate/Junior High School, Senior High School College/University -- will receive an Award Certificate. Non-school clubs or multiop groups and individuals are also eligible for certificates. See "Getting Organized for School Club Roundup " for some helpful tips! Stay up to date on SCR by subscribing to the School Club Roundup reflector. Unlicensed Religious Broadcaster Who Used Amateur Frequencies Ordered Off the Air The FCC has ordered an unlicensed California religious broadcaster, who sometimes broadcast on a frequency in the 40 meter phone band, to shut down his station. On December 31, the FCC's Los Angeles District Office issued a /Notice of Unlicensed Operation / to Martin K. Elliott of Inyokern, California. The FCC said it issued the /Notice/ in response to a complaint of unlicensed operation on multiple HF frequencies, including some allocated to aeronautical stations. The FCC said its agents used radio direction-finding techniques to confirm that signals on 6280 kHz and 11,595 kHz were emanating from a residence located near Inyokern, and property records indicated that Elliott was the current owner and resident. "The Commission's records show that no license was issued for operation of a station on either the frequencies of 6280 kHz or 11,595 kHz at this location," the FCC wrote. "Unlicensed operation of this radio station must be discontinued immediately." The pirate station, which identified itself as "YHWH," was not cited for operating on Amateur Radio frequencies, although ARRL Official Observers had monitored the station in the past on 7185 kHz LSB. One short-wave listener said the operator of YHWH changed frequencies regularly. The FCC warned Elliott that operation of radio transmitting equipment without valid authorization violates federal law and could subject the operator to severe penalties including, but not limited to, substantial monetary forfeitures, equipment seizure, and criminal sanctions. The Commission gave him 10 days to respond. The FCC said its /Notice/ "does not preclude this office from pursuing additional sanctions based upon our investigation of this incident." Ad QRZ Logbook Now Offering Reciprocal Confirmation Credit and LoTW Download QRZ Logbook now recognizes contact confirmations from ARRL's Logbook of The World (LoTW ). QRZ Logbook users now can download their contacts from LoTW directly into their QRZ Logbook. Contacts that exist in LoTW but not in QRZ Logbook will be added to your QRZ Logbook. LoTW automatically puts contacts made under a previous call sign into a user's current call sign account. QRZ will automatically put contacts into the logbook associated with the call sign used when the contact was logged. "Not only will this improve your confirmation rates, because you are receiving credit for your confirmations on LoTW, but it will also import records that exist on LoTW and not QRZ Logbook," QRZ.com said in announcing the new service. "Those QSOs may match another record on QRZ, resulting in even more confirmations." In addition, all contact data in your LoTW database -- whether or not the contact is new to your QRZ account -- will include the LoTW QSL Received Date, as well as the LoTW Sent (Y/N) flag set in the QRZ Logbook. Contacts confirmed in LoTW, whether or not they are new to QRZ, will automatically be confirmed in your QRZ Logbook. Read more . /-- Thanks to QRZ.com/ NASA Opens Application Window for Paid CubeSat, PICetSat Internships The NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) seeks applicants to fill paid CubeSat and PICetSat-related internships for the Summer 2015 semester. These positions may be of interest to Amateur Radio licensees pursuing degrees in electrical or computer engineering and now in their junior or senior years. Applications are being taken on the NASA One Stop Shopping Initiative (OSSI) recruiting website. The openings are CubeSat Simulator Upgrade Plus -- advertised previously but now reopened -- as well as CubeSat Ground Station Development , and PICetSat Module and PCB Development . Other internship opportunities are available at each of the other 10 NASA field center locations as well, said Pat Kilroy, N8PK, of GSFC. The official application deadline is March 1, but Kilroy is hoping applications will be submitted sooner. "The word to the wise student is to get one's application in ASAP -- and certainly within the next 3 weeks," Kilroy said. Applications from Amateur Radio licensees should include a call sign. Details on each internship are available through the OSSI page. Contact Pat Kilroy for more information. Applications /must/ be submitted via the OSSI web page. March Issue of /The American Legion Magazine/ to Feature Amateur Radio Amateur Radio will be featured in the March 2015 issue of /The American Legion Magazine /. The article, by best-selling author Don Keith , N4KC, will explain how ham radio remains exciting, important, and relevant, even after more than a century in existence and changes in technology. The article will also talk about the American Legion *Author Don Keith, N4KC.* Amateur Radio Club (TALARC ) -- home to club station K9TAL at American Legion Headquarters in Indianapolis, which sponsors regular operating events. It also will explain how the American Legion is integrating Amateur Radio into its organization and for its members, how members can become licensed, and perhaps establish a club station at an American Legion post. The Legion has an agreement with the Department of Homeland Security to provide assistance during emergencies, and Keith's article will discuss how Amateur Radio meshes with that effort. Keith has written more than 2 dozen books, including /Riding the Shortwaves: Exploring The Magic of Amateur Radio/, /Firing Point/ -- a submarine thriller -- and /Wizard of the Wind/, which includes a ham as a key character. He has also written extensively about World War II history. RSGB Welcomes Proposed Crackdown on Interference-Producing Power Line Data Devices The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) has said it welcomes a recent initiative by telecommunications regulator Ofcom to combat interference from home power line data transmission (PLT) devices. The Ofcom "consultation" -- similar to an FCC /Notice of Proposed Rule Making/ -- has invited responses by February 16. The RSGB Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC ) Committee has lobbied Ofcom to assume greater authority in cases involving violations of EMC rules. "These proposals make the regulations more resilient to evolving technology, when it causes undue interference to wireless telegraphy apparatus," the RSGB said. "The proposed changes aim to catch apparatus that exceeds the permissible levels in service," The RSGB said. A recent news article reported that Ofcom was proposing that individuals using power line networking equipment could face prosecution if it interferes with radio communications. The article, in /The Telegraph/,//also said that GCHQ -- a security and intelligence organization similar to the US Department of Homeland Security -- has become increasingly concerned about PLT in recent years. The RSGB said the Ofcom proposals would provide additional enforcement authority with respect to a particular piece of equipment, not just a range of devices. "These changes are essential to prevent compromising important communication systems, particularly those that ensure public safety," the RSGB said. Ad ARRL Assistant Roanoke Division Director Anthony R. "Tony" Curtis, K3RXK, SK ARRL Assistant Roanoke Division Director Anthony R. "Tony" Curtis, K3RXK, of Laurinburg, North Carolina, died on January 23. He was 74. Curtis served twice as an Assistant Director -- from 1986 until 1997 and again from 2002 until his death. Known as "Dr Tony" to his mass communication students at the University of North Carolina at *Tony Curtis, K3RXK.* Pembroke, Curtis -- who was licensed at 14 -- was a space and Amateur Radio satellite enthusiast and occasional guest speaker. He also contributed to /QST/. An ARRL Life Member, Curtis was involved in emergency preparedness and held ARRL Field Organization appointments as Official Emergency Station and Volunteer Examiner. "The department lost a valued colleague and a good friend, and he'll be deeply missed," Dr Jason Hutchens, chair of the Mass Communication department, said. At UNCP, he received an Outstanding Teaching Award in 2012 and was named the Most Valuable Professor in 2012 and 2013. He had served as chair of the faculty senate and as president of the Friends of the Library Board. Read more . ARRL Technical Advisor, Author, AMRAD President Emeritus Andr? Kesteloot, N4ICK, SK ARRL Technical Advisor, author, and Amateur Radio Research and Development Corporation (AMRAD ) President Emeritus Andr? V. Kesteloot, N4ICK, of McLean, Virginia, died on January 4. He was 77. Kesteloot was the author of /Spread Spectrum Sourcebook/, published in 1991, and he contributed to /QST/ and /QEX/. A native of *Andr? Kesteloot, N4ICK.* Belgium, Kesteloot was an electrical engineer and spent a decade in the Middle East installing TV and radio transmitters in the 1950s and 1960s. He subsequently signed on with the Central Intelligence Agency and spent 25 years as a CIA operative. Kesteloot was a recipient of a CIA Intelligence Star for Valor, and he served as executive vice president of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers. After retiring in 1994, Kesteloot joined the faculty of Phoenix Consulting, and trained Iraq-bound Special Forces units and intelligence agencies. An active AMRAD member, he was a frequent contributor to the organization's newsletter and papers. He also assisted in taking field measurements of Broadband over Power Line (BPL) systems in Virginia and Maryland. Kesteloot was an ARRL member and life senior member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. In Brief... *DXpedition Goings and Comings*: As of January 26, the three-person "boat team" heading to Navassa Island for the K1N DXpedition had made it to Great Inagua in the Bahamas. There was no official word yet from the Navassa Island DXpedition team as to when the other operators, now in Jamaica with the equipment containers, would depart. The DXpedition to one of the most-wanted DXCC entities is expected to get under way in the next few days. "We plan to sail from Great Inagua the afternoon of January 30," the K1N team announced January 27. The DXpeditioners hope to start offloading their gear on January 31 and February 1. Meanwhile, on Kish Island, Iran, the Belgian EP6T DXpedition team finished up operations on January 27 (UTC). The EP6T operators logged more than 68,000 contacts during 9 days on the air -- nearly 70 percent of them with stations in Europe. Just under 10 percent of the EP6T contacts were with North American stations, although the operators reported persistent noise issues that prevented them from hearing many callers. /-- Thanks to /The Daily DX *Ralph Fedor, K0IR, to be Dayton RTTY Contest Dinner Speaker*: DXpeditioner Ralph Fedor, K0IR (photo), will be the keynote speaker at the 2015 RTTY Contest Dinner, Thursday, May 14, at 7:15 PM, at the Crowne Plaza in downtown Dayton. Tickets will be on sale until May 1. No tickets will be sold at the door. The NAQP RTTY plaques will be presented at the event./-- Thanks to Fred Dennin, WW4LL/// *SSTV Transmissions Scheduled from the International Space Station*: The Russian Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS ) team plans to activate slow-scan television (SSTV) from the ISS on Saturday January 31, and on Sunday, February 1. The anticipated SSTV mode will be PD180 on 145.800 MHz with 3-minute off periods between transmissions. Twelve different images will be transmitted during the operational period. This is the second series of pictures to be transmitted. The SSTV transmission are scheduled to begin around 1000 UTC on January 31 and around 0900 UTC on February 1. Transmissions should terminate around 2130 UTC each day. /-- Thanks to ARISS-EU Chair Gaston Bertels, ON4WF/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The K7RA Solar Update Average daily sunspot numbers for the January 22-28 period rose from 61.9 on the previous 7 days to 89.1. Average daily solar flux climbed from 126.2 to 136.8 over the same period. There were two new sunspot regions on February 22, another one on February 23 and again on February 25, four more on February 26, and another two on February 28. The average daily solar flux for January 29 through February 4 is predicted to be 165.7 -- nearly 29 points higher than the previous week. Predicted solar flux is 165 on January 29, 170 for January 30 through February 2, then 160, 155, 145 and 125 for February 3-6, 130 for February 7-9, 125 for February 10-11, 120 for February 12-13, and 125 for February 14-16. Flux values will reach of low of 115 on February 18, then a high of 135 during the period February 26-28. Predicted planetary A index is 12 on January 29, 15 for January 30 through February 1, 12 on February 2, 10 for February 3-4, 5 on February 5, 10 for February 6-7, 8 for February 8-9, 5 for February 10-14, 12 on February 15, and 10 for February 16-18. This weekly "Solar Update" in /The ARRL Letter/ is a preview of the "Propagation Bulletin" issued each Friday. The latest bulletin and an archive of past propagation bulletins is on the ARRL website. In the Friday, January 30, bulletin expect an updated forecast for the near term and reports from readers. Send me /your/ reports and observations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Just Ahead in Radiosport * January 31 -- Feld-Hell WAAAEO Sprint * January 31-February 1 -- UBA Contest (SSB) * January 31-February 1 -- Worldwide EME Contest * February 2 -- OK1WC Memorial Contest (SSB, CW) * February 3 -- ARS Spartan Sprint (CW) * February 3 -- CWOps Weekly Mini-CWT Tests (CW) * February 6 -- NS Weekly Sprint (CW) * February 6 -- YL-OM Contest (SSB, CW, Digital) * February 6-8 -- Triathlon DX Contest (SSB, CW, Digital) * February 7 -- Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon * February 7 -- FYBO Winter QRP Field Day (SSB, CW) * February 7 -- Minnesota QSO Party (SSB, CW, Digital) * February 7 -- Straight Key Party * February 7-8 -- Vermont QSO Party (SSB, CW, Digital) * February 7-8 -- YLISSB QSO Party * February 7-8 -- Ten-Ten Winter Phone QSO Party * February 7-8 -- Black Sea Cup International (SSB, CW) * February 7-8 -- British Columbia QSO Party (SSB, CW, Digital) * February 7-8 -- XE International RTTY Contest * February 7-8 -- AM QSO Party * *February 8 -- **North American Sprint (CW)* * February 8-9 -- Classic Exchange (Phone) * February 8 -- Milwaukee FM Simplex Contest * *February 9-13 -- **School Club Roundup* *(SSB, FM, CW)* See the ARRL Contest Calendar for more information. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions and Events * February 7 -- Virginia State Convention , Richmond, Virginia * February 13-15 -- Southeastern Division Convention , Orlando, Florida * February 20-21 -- Arizona Section Convention , Yuma, Arizona * February 28 -- New Mexico Techfest Convention , Albuquerque, New Mexico * February 28 -- Vermont State Convention , S Burlington, Vermont * March 7 -- Santa Clara Valley Section Convention , Del Rey Oaks, California * March 13-14 -- North Carolina Section Convention , Concord, North Carolina * March 14 -- West Texas Section Convention , Midland, Texas * March 20-21 -- Louisiana State Convention , Rayne, Louisiana * March 21 -- MicroHAMS Digital Conference , Redmond, Washington * March 21 -- Nebraska State Convention , Lincoln, Nebraska * March 21 -- Southern Florida Section Convention , Stuart, Florida * March 28 -- Texas State Convention , Rosenberg, Texas Find conventions and hamfests in your area .* * ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ** *ARRL *-- *Your One-Stop Resource for * *Amateur Radio News and Information * ** ** ** * Join or Renew Today! ARRL membership includes /QST/ , Amateur Radio's most popular and informative journal, delivered to your mailbox each month. * Listen to /ARRL Audio News/ , available every Friday. Subscribe to... * /NCJ / /-- National Contest Journal/ . Published bi-monthly, features articles by top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint and QSO Parties. * /QEX/ *//*/-- A Forum for Communications Experimenters/ . Published bi-monthly, features technical articles, construction projects, columns, and other items of interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals. Free of charge to ARRL members... * Subscribe to the /ARES E-Letter/ (monthly public service and emergency communications news), the /ARRL Contest Update/ (bi-weekly contest newsletter), Division and Section news alerts -- and much more! Find ARRL on Facebook ! Follow us on Twitter ! Ad Ad Ad Ad Ad ------------------------------------------------------------------------ The ARRL Letter is published Thursdays, 48 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/. Copyright ? 2015 American Radio Relay League, Inc. All Rights Reserved www.arrl.org From bmarx at bellsouth.net Fri Jan 30 08:29:52 2015 From: bmarx at bellsouth.net (Bill) Date: Fri, 30 Jan 2015 08:29:52 -0500 Subject: [QCWA Everglades Chapter #69] 2015 Tropical Hamboree is Here! Today and Tomorrow In-Reply-To: <54C5357D.5060701@bellsouth.net> References: <54C5357D.5060701@bellsouth.net> Message-ID: <54CB8750.1070008@bellsouth.net> W4B HF station is up and running... Bill W2CQ South Florida DX Association The Miami Hamboree is this Friday, January 30, 12 until 6 and Saturday, January 31st 9 AM to 6 PM. **Miami Dade County Fair and Expo Center 10901 Coral Way Miami, FL 33101 http://hamboree.org/ *Talk-in:* 146.925 PL 94.8Hz*Phone:* 305-590-8523Map:http://hamboree.org/location/ The SFDXA will have tables and all are welcome to come by and have a chat about your DX experiences. Membership applications will be at the table. Ask for Mark K2AU, SFDXA Public Information Officer, but anyone there can help. DXCC Card Checking at the Table By Don W3AZD. 4th Area QSL Envelopes will be available. Saturday at 1 PM is our SFDXA DX Forum. Topics will be DXing with JT65. We are also working to possibly set up a JT65demonstration. The Staff at the Dade Radio Club are doing their best to make it happen. There will be Door Prizes provided by Mike's Electronics. 1069 Northwest 53rd Street, Fort Lauderdale, FL 3330(954) 491-71109 They are also working with us to put an HF Radio Special Events Station on the air for demonstrating Ham Radio to everyone from the Maker Faire. The call sign will be W4B.Pete N8PR and Don N4TZH have worked out a plan to set up the HF station. All Club Members are welcome to operate. Bring a copy of your license. The SFDXA Dinner is after the show Saturday at the same restaurant as previous years The Las Vegas, which is close to the Hamboree location.www.*lasvegas*cubancuisine.com Thank You Sebastian W4AS for setting that up. The food has always been terrific. Come to our tables to sign up and get directions. Come to the Hamboree and join the SFDXA activities. http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/2015-miami-tropical-hamboree Bill W2CQ South Florida DX Association