[South Florida DX Association] he ARRL Letter, Vol 23, No 15

[bmarx@bellsouth.net]

 ***************
> The ARRL Letter
> Vol. 23, No. 14
> April 9, 2004
> ***************
>
> IN THIS EDITION:
>
> * +ARRL cites interference in BPL trial site
> * +"Interference temperature" concept not ready for prime time, ARRL says
> * +ISS commander wraps up series of ARISS school group contacts
> * +Mississippi hams muster after fatal train wreck
> * +Two-meter long-range telephone nets big fine for restaurant
> * +Bill Fisher, W4AN, SK
> *  Solar Update
> *  IN BRIEF:
>      This weekend on the radio
>      ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration
>      ARRL Emergency Communications Course registration
>      ARRL to sponsor ARES/RACES/EmComm seminar in California
>      ARRL Technology Task Force forum set for Hamvention 2004
>      Young Ham of the Year nominations due by June 30
>
> +Available on ARRL Audio News
>
> ===========================================================
> ARRL HEADQUARTERS CLOSED APRIL 9: Because ARRL Headquarters is closed
> Friday, April 9, this week's editions of The ARRL Letter and ARRL Audio
> News are being distributed a day early. There will be no W1AW code
> practice or bulletin transmissions on April 9. ARRL Headquarters will
> reopen Monday, April 12, at 8 AM EDT. We wish everyone a safe and
> enjoyable holiday weekend.
> ===========================================================
>
> ==>ARRL CALLS INTERFERENCE TO ATTENTION OF BPL TRIAL COMMUNITY'S MAYOR
>
> ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, has written Penn Yan, New York, Mayor Doug
> Marchionda Jr to call the mayor's attention to documented radio
> interference from the town's small BPL field trial. He accompanied his
> April 1 e-mail with a report from ARRL member Dave Hallidy, K2DH, who
> visited Penn Yan after a recent Wall Street Journal article suggested that
> BPL interference issues in Penn Yan had been resolved.
>
> "I understand that your village is considering entering into a long-term
> agreement with a firm to offer BPL service," Sumner wrote Marchionda.
> "Please be aware that a large-scale deployment of BPL is bound to cause
> harmful interference to radio communications across a wide area."
>
> According to news accounts, the Western New York community of about 5200
> residents will consider approval of a 10-year agreement with Data Ventures
> (DVI) to offer BPL service in Penn Yan. The village reportedly would get
> 10 percent of the generated revenue.
>
> In his March 23 article "In This Power Play, High-Wire Act Riles Ham-Radio
> Fans," Wall Street Journal reporter Ken Brown described a "firestorm" of
> protest from amateurs when Penn Yan approved the BPL test plan.
>
> Hallidy said he found during his visit that BPL noise "appears to start in
> earnest around the bottom of the 17 meter band (18 MHz) and continues
> upwards." He said that once he tuned above 18 MHz, there were no
> frequencies where the BPL noise was not observed. "The signals were pretty
> uniform from 18 to 30 MHz," he said.
>
> Sumner told Marchionda that DVI cannot guarantee reliable service delivery
> via BPL because FCC Part 15 rules stipulate that its operation "is subject
> to the conditions that no harmful interference is caused and that
> interference must be accepted that may be caused by the operation of an
> authorized radio station." Sumner noted that newly proposed FCC rules
> would impose additional requirements on BPL systems to better address
> interference problems that arise.
>
> The sort of interference Hallidy described in his report suggests "severe
> interference on a broad range of radio frequencies" in violation of FCC
> rules--specifically �15.5(b)--and a complaint has been filed with the FCC,
> Sumner noted.
>
> Sumner offered to demonstrate to Marchionda the extent of the BPL
> interference in Penn Yan before the community proceeds any further with
> its BPL plans and "to explain why a full-scale deployment is not possible
> within the FCC rules." Such a demonstration, Sumner concluded, would
> provide Penn Yan with "a factual basis" to make its decision on BPL.
>
> ==>ARRL SAYS "INTERFERENCE TEMPERATURE" CONCEPT "HIGHLY PREMATURE"
>
> The ARRL says the FCC's proposed "interference temperature" concept is
> "highly premature and should not go forward" at this time. In a Notice of
> Inquiry and Notice of Proposed Rule Making in ET Docket 03-237 last
> November, the FCC sought comment on the interference temperature
> metric--or model--"for quantifying and managing interference." The FCC
> initially wants to implement the concept in two microwave bands. It
> asserts that the new metric "could represent a fundamental paradigm shift"
> in its spectrum management approach by using a standard that takes into
> account "the cumulative effects of all undesired RF energy" at a given
> instant. The FCC suggests the interference temperature limit for a band
> "would serve as an upper bound or 'cap' on the potential RF energy that
> could be introduced into the band." The ARRL contends, however, that the
> FCC doesn't have enough information to put such a model into place, and it
> should not try to take a shortcut.
>
> "It is now rushing to judgment on a proposal to permit broadband over
> unshielded power line systems in the high frequency and low-band VHF
> spectrum," ARRL commented, "without first carefully studying the ability
> of sensitive and geographically proximate fixed and especially mobile
> radio systems to tolerate such interference." Instead of determining what
> a proper post-BPL RF environment should be, the League noted, the FCC has
> suggested that amateurs orient their antennas away from the interference
> source.
>
> "There can be no shortcuts in a conceptual shift to management of the RF
> environment without disenfranchising incumbent licensees, which themselves
> provide valuable and sometimes indispensable services," the ARRL said.
> "Whether by overlay or underlay of additional users, the Commission has
> stumbled repeatedly by attempting shortcuts in the process."
>
> The ARRL said the FCC should preserve the interference temperature concept
> as a "holistic method" of dynamic RF spectrum management--the
> determination of compatibility in sharing of allocations. "However, the
> concept is not yet mature, and there are no shortcuts in the preparations
> necessary to implement it."
>
> The ARRL says localized noise studies in various bands are a prerequisite
> to putting an interference temperature metric into place, along with a
> "comprehensive evaluation of the differences in receiver sensitivities and
> emission modes" across various services and bands. The League has been
> conducting noise studies in different geographic environments, and it
> proposed objective, formal studies to provide a basis for an interference
> temperature metric in the future.
>
> The ARRL says it's also necessary to create a new management paradigm for
> unlicensed services, accompanied by "substantial change" in their
> regulation. Otherwise, the League said, management of the RF environment
> will be impossible.
>
> An interference temperature metric also would not be appropriate for the
> HF spectrum as well as certain other bands, including those used for radio
> astronomy, the ARRL commented. The variability of HF skywave propagation
> and the extreme sensitivity of certain amateur and all radio astronomy
> receivers coupled with very small signal levels make calculating an
> interference temperature metric "impractical for these bands," the League
> added.
>
> For the short term, the League said, other methods of improving spectrum
> efficiency, such as dynamic frequency selection by cognitive radios in
> certain bands, might have greater potential than adopting an interference
> temperature metric.
>
> ==>ASTRONAUT LOOKING FORWARD TO RETURNING TO EARTH, BUT NOT TO GRAVITY
>
> Astronaut Mike Foale, KB5UAC, told a group of students in France April 1
> that he's looking forward to returning to Earth at the end of the month.
> But he was not especially enthusiastic about the prospect of having to
> reacclimate himself to Earth's gravitational pull. Foale made the comment
> during an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) school
> group contact with youngsters at two schools in Saint Mard, France.
> Speaking via NA1SS aboard the space outpost, Foale--who's the ISS
> Expedition 8 commander and NASA ISS science officer--said coming back to
> Earth is difficult for the first two or three days.
>
> "It feels like I am carrying suitcases all the time," he said. "My body
> hurts and all the muscles hurt in my body as if I've had influenza." Foale
> has been living in zero gravity conditions for the past five months.
>
> Participating in the contact were students at the College George Brassens
> of Saint Mard and the Ecole Jacques Prevert, both located some 28 miles
> northeast of Paris. Teacher Jocelyn Raffray, F5CAR, posed the questions
> students prepared.
>
> Foale also told the pupils that the ISS does sometimes get struck by small
> meteorite particles. "We can see one or two small holes in the large,
> large solar arrays that generate our electricity aboard the International
> Space Station," Foale explained. "We also have one or two small little
> pits or marks on the windows of the Service Module in the Russian
> Segment."
>
> Youngsters at an Arizona elementary school that focuses on the theme of
> flight also enjoyed chatting with Foale on April 5. The contact with
> KA7SKY at Sonoran Sky Elementary School
> <http://epage.pvusd.k12.az.us/sonoransky/> in Scottsdale marked the final
> school group contact for the Expedition 8 crew. The school has been
> following the ISS mission and daily events. As a part of Sonoran Sky's
> standard curriculum, third graders learn about space exploration beginning
> with the Apollo missions through the building of the ISS, and sixth
> graders attend Astrocamp every year.
>
> Among other things, Foale told the Arizona students that being launched
> from Earth is a surprise and a shock. "The Soyuz provides a smoother ride
> as compared to the shuttle," he said, "but you are pressed down in your
> chair."
>
> During the approximately 10-minute contact, teacher Carrie Cunningham,
> N7NFX, handled control operator duties at the kindergarten through
> sixth-grade school of some 500 students. The contact was broadcast live
> through the school as reporters from three TV stations and two newspapers
> looked on.
>
> Another youngster at Sonoran Sky wanted to know what Foale liked best
> about being an astronaut.
>
> "I think the best thing about being an astronaut is that you're taking
> part in an adventure--a human adventure," Foale replied. On the plus side
> of being in space, he said in response to another question, is that he
> gets to do something very few other people get to do. On the minus side,
> he noted, is "being away from my family and missing my children."
>
> Foale won't be in space too much longer now. The Expedition 9 crew of Mike
> Fincke, KE5AIT, and Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, will launch from Kazakhstan
> April 19 aboard a Soyuz vehicle to relieve Foale and crewmate Sasha
> Kaleri, U8MIR. Accompanying Fincke and Padalka will be European Space
> Agency astronaut Andr� Kuipers of the Netherlands, who is scheduled to
> handle two ARISS contacts with school groups in his home country during
> his week or so aboard the ISS.
>
> Foale, Kaleri and Kuipers will return to Earth at the end of the month
> aboard the Soyuz vehicle now attached to the ISS. Fincke and Padalka will
> spend approximately six months aboard the ISS. Regular school group
> contacts will resume sometime in late May.
>
> ARISS <http://www.rac.ca/ariss/> is an international educational outreach
> program with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
>
> ==>MISSISSIPPI AMATEURS RESPOND FOLLOWING AMTRAK ACCIDENT
>
> Members of Metro-Jackson, Mississippi, Amateur Radio Emergency Service
> (MJARES) and the Jackson Amateur Radio Club (JARC) responded Tuesday,
> April 6, after Amtrak's "City of New Orleans" passenger train bound from
> New Orleans to Chicago derailed. One person died and dozens were injured
> in the mishap, which occurred at 7 PM near the Madison-Yazoo county line
> after the train had departed from Jackson with 80 passengers and crew
> members aboard.
>
> "Fortunately, rescue operations quickly turned into a cleanup effort as
> passengers were transported to area hospitals and overnight
> accommodations," said MJARES member and ARES Emergency Coordinator Ben
> Jones, AC5SU.
>
> The accident's swampy location made access difficult for rescue workers
> and other emergency personnel and also complicated communication and
> logistics. Jeff Sykes, K5VU, and other JARC members responded to a request
> from the Central Mississippi Chapter of the American Red Cross to provide
> emergency communication. Greg King, KD5HDZ, accompanied the Red Cross
> Emergency Response Vehicle as it brought water and snacks to emergency
> workers at the incident command post and the Madison County Sheriff's
> Office respite center in Flora.
>
> Club members Bill White, KC5WYY, and Terry Drake, KD5JPB, staffed the JARC
> radio station at the Red Cross Chapter, utilizing HF as well as the
> KA5SBK, W5PPB, W5PFR and N5WDG repeaters. John Jenkins, KD5QQF, and Guy
> Harrell, KD5QQG, also responded to assist in the relief effort.
>
> MJARES Assistant Emergency Coordinator Ed Jones, W5GEJ, and Central
> Mississippi DEC Ron Brown, AB5WF, activated the Radio Amateur Civil
> Emergency Service on behalf of the Mississippi Emergency Management
> Agency. Official Relay Station Lew King, W5LEW, stood ready to service NTS
> traffic and disaster wellness inquiries.
>
> MJARES members worked well into the early morning hours of April 7 to
> support Red Cross relief operations, passing vital messages relating to
> logistics and essential on-the-scene information. Jones managed the
> amateurs' volunteer efforts in conjunction with Red Cross staff and
> volunteers.
>
> Less than an hour before the train wreck, SKYWARN Coordinator and MJARES
> AEC Billy Bob Sekul, N5XXX, had put members on alert for severe weather at
> the request of the National Weather Service.
>
> ==>FCC FINES RESTAURANT FOR LONG-RANGE TELEPHONE USE
>
> A New Jersey restaurant is facing a $10,000 fine from the FCC for
> operating transmitting equipment on 2 meters without a license. The case
> involves Best Wok in Westville, which apparently had been using a
> so-called "long-range cordless telephone" to communicate with its delivery
> vehicle. The FCC says the telephone in question--said to have been
> obtained outside the US and not FCC certificated--operated within the
> 2-meter satellite subband at 145.8376 MHz. Acting on a tip, the FCC
> conducted an investigation that resulted in the February 26 issuance of a
> Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) to Best Wok. While the
> case dates back to 2001, the FCC asserted in its NAL that the restaurant
> had violated the Communications Act as recently as early last year.
>
> "On February 28, 2003, Best Wok operated radio transmitting equipment on
> the Two-Meter Amateur Radio Service frequency 145.8376 MHz," the FCC said.
> "Neither Best Wok nor any of its employees held a license to operate a
> station in the Amateur Radio Service Band." In 2001, following numerous
> complaints from the amateur community, the ARRL asked the FCC to
> investigate and "take appropriate action" against several companies it
> alleged were marketing similar telephone devices via the Internet.
>
> After issuing a couple of warning notices, an FCC agent from the
> Commission's Philadelphia office visited Westville in February 2003 "to
> determine if Best Wok was operating radio transmitting equipment" on 2
> meters. Using direction-finding techniques, the agent pinned down the
> source of the transmissions to Best Wok.
>
> According to the FCC, the agent visited the establishment and inspected
> the radio transmitting equipment in the presence of restaurant manager Sae
> C. Hauwo. "The agent found that Best Wok was operating a long-distance
> cordless telephone system," the FCC said. The Commission says Hauwo told
> the agent he installed the long-range cordless telephone system so that
> his employees could answer customers' telephone calls while making
> deliveries.
>
> Hauwo said that after the restaurant got the second written warning, it
> stopped using the long-range telephone and purchased a set of Multi-Use
> Radio Service (MURS) radios that operated on 154.600 MHz. But the MURS
> units failed to provide sufficient coverage, the FCC says Hauwo told the
> agent, so Best Wok resumed using the long-distance cordless telephone
> system.
>
> In its NAL, the FCC said that based on the evidence it had, it determined
> that Best Wok "willfully violated" Section 301 of the Communications Act.
> Applying its forfeiture policies and the statutory factors, the FCC said
> the $10,000 fine was warranted. Best Wok was given 30 days to pay the fine
> or to seek a reduction or cancellation.
>
> In unrelated enforcement actions, the FCC has downgraded one licensee and
> canceled four license grants in California pursuant to an audit of a
> W5YI-VEC examination session on September 1, 2001, in Yucaipa and an
> ARRL-VEC examination session on March 30, 2002, in Los Angeles. All
> participating volunteer examiners have been removed from VE service by the
> VECs.
>
> ==>WELL-KNOWN CONTESTER BILL FISHER, W4AN, SK
>
> Bill J. Fisher, W4AN (ex-KM9P), of Alpharetta, Georgia, died unexpectedly
> April 4. He was 41. An ARRL Life Member, Fisher was an enthusiastic radio
> amateur whose call sign often graced the upper echelons of the contest
> results. Fisher and fellow Georgian John Laney, K4BAI, took the silver
> medal at World Radiosport Team Championship '96 in the San Francisco Bay
> area. The pair also competed in WRTC-02 in Finland. Fisher's death comes
> as the contesting community is still recovering from the untimely death of
> Jim White, K4OJ, in February.
>
> "I knew of nobody as generous with his time and with as unique a personal
> touch as Bill," said Dave Pascoe, KM3T, whose friendship with Fisher
> extends back more than 20 years. "Many will never know nor comprehend the
> amount of time and resources he poured into this hobby of ours."
>
> Fisher was the founder of the Contesting.com <http://www.contesting.com>
> Web site. He also helped to establish the popular eHam.net
> <http://www.eham.net> Amateur Radio site in 1999. In addition, he
> personally supported contesting reflectors via his own servers.
>
> The eHam Site Manager Mike Gilmer, N2MG, said he would miss Fisher's
> leadership. "Bill had a way of low-pass filtering the noise from both the
> users of eHam and the site team and trying to maintain focus," he said.
>
> Fisher had established a top-flight contesting station on a hilltop in the
> mountains of north Georgia near Dahlonega. When not contesting, he
> operated the station from his home via a telephone link, since antenna
> restrictions prevented him from putting up outdoor antennas. More recently
> he was said to be dismantling his contest station as part of a plan to
> combine forces with his good friend Tom Rauch, W8JI, and establish a
> contest superstation.
>
> Fisher was a member of the South East Contest Club, the South East DX
> Club, the First-Class CW Operators' Club (FOC) and the A-1 Operator Club.
> In addition to being a ham radio contester, he was an avid bicycle racer.
>
> Fisher was founder and Vice President of Concentric Systems Inc--a
> supplier of custom-built PCs. He also established and was president of
> Akorn Access Inc--an Internet service provider and consulting company.
>
> Survivors include his wife, Dana, and their young sons Graeme and Erik.
>
> A memorial service was held Thursday, April 8, in Fisher's hometown of
> Moline, Illinois. Fisher's family has requested memorial contributions to
> the Victor C. Clark Youth Incentive Program, c/o ARRL, 225 Main St,
> Newington, CT 06111.
>
> Friends and family also are invited to gather Saturday, April 10, 10 AM,
> at L. W. McDonald & Son Funeral Home & Crematory, 150 Sawnee Drive,
> Cumming, Georgia. A memorial service will begin at 11 AM.
>
> The W4AN Memorial Fund for Graeme and Erik Fisher has been established to
> benefit Fisher's children. Donations are welcome to North Atlanta National
> Bank, 10500 Old Alabama Rd Connector, Alpharetta, GA 30022; 678-277-8400.
> Make checks payable to "W4AN Memorial Account" and include the account
> number, 20005913, on the check "memo" line.--ARRL thanks Tom Rauch, W8JI,
> for providing information for this report
>
> ==>SOLAR UPDATE
>
> Heliophile Tad "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine (Anymore)" Cook, K7RA, Seattle,
> Washington, reports: Solar flux values and sunspot numbers both dropped
> this week. Average daily sunspot numbers declined more than 46 points, and
> solar flux was down nearly 20.
>
> Solar flux is expected to rise over the next couple of days. Predicted
> solar flux for Thursday through Monday, April 8-12, is 105 for Thursday
> and Friday and 100 for Saturday through Monday. Flux values and sunspots
> should rise again for a few days next week.
>
> A coronal mass ejection near Sunspot 588 spewed toward Earth April 6.
> Currently that sunspot is squarely in the center of the solar disk, aimed
> straight at us. The ejection should hit Earth today, April 8. The
> predicted planetary A index for Thursday through Monday, April 8-12, is
> 30, 20, 15, 12 and 8.
>
> A solar wind caused geomagnetic instability late on April 5 and through
> most of April 6. Another solar wind on April 3 caused similar conditions.
>
> Sunspot numbers for April 1 through 7 were 100, 99, 68, 69, 85, 66 and 57,
> with a mean of 77.7. The 10.7 cm flux was 112.8, 108.1, 107.4, 108.9,
> 108.7, 101.4 and 98.1, with a mean of 106.5. Estimated planetary A indices
> were 3, 3, 23, 12, 14, 21 and 10, with a mean of 12.3.
>
> __________________________________
>
> ==>IN BRIEF:
>
> * This weekend on the radio: The ARCI Spring QSO Party, the EU Spring
> Sprint (SSB), the Georgia QSO Party, the Japan International DX Contest
> (CW), the CIS DX Contest (SSB), the UBA Spring Contest (SSB) and the SARL
> Hamnet 40-Meter Simulated Emergency Contest are the weekend of April
> 10-11. The Low Power Spring Sprint is April 12, the 222 MHz Spring Sprint
> is April 13, the RSGB 80-Meter Club Championship (SSB) is April 14 and the
> DX YL to North American YL Contest (SSB) is April 14-16. JUST AHEAD: The
> Holyland DX Contest, the TARA Skirmish Digital Prefix Contest, the ES Open
> HF Championship, the YU DX Contest, the GACW "Mr Samuel Morse Party" CW DX
> Contest, the EU Spring Sprint (CW), the Michigan and Ontario QSO parties
> and the EA QRP CW Contest are the weekend of April 17-18. The World
> Amateur Radio Day Party is April 18. The 432 MHz Spring Sprint is April
> 21, the RSGB 80-Meter Club Championship (Data) is April 22 and the Harry
> Angel Memorial Sprint is April 23. See the ARRL Contest Branch page
> <http://www.arrl.org/contests/> and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar
> <http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html> for more info.
>
> * ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration:
> Registration for the ARRL Antenna Modeling (EC-004) on-line course remains
> open through Sunday, April 11. Classes begin Tuesday April 20. This course
> is a excellent way learn the ins and outs and the nitty-gritty details of
> modeling antennas. Computer-modeling expert and noted author L.B. Cebik,
> W4RNL, has combined the expertise of his long career as a college
> professor with his love and antennas and antenna modeling to offer a
> comprehensive, yet practical, course of study. Registration for the
> Technician Licensing course (EC-010) also remains open through Sunday,
> April 11. Classes begin Tuesday, April 20. With the assistance of a
> mentor, EC-010 students learn everything they need to know to pass the FCC
> Technician license class test. To learn more, visit the ARRL Certification
> and Continuing Education (C-CE) <http://www.arrl.org/cce/> Web page or
> contact the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Program Department
> <cce@arrl.org>.
>
> * ARRL Emergency Communications Course registration: Registration opens
> Monday, April 12, 12:01 AM Eastern Daylight Time (0401 UTC), for the Level
> II Emergency Communications on-line course (EC-002). Registration remains
> open through the April 17-18 weekend or until all seats are
> filled--whichever occurs first. Class begins Tuesday, April 27. Thanks to
> our grant sponsors--the Corporation for National and Community Service and
> the United Technologies Corporation--the $45 registration fee paid upon
> enrollment will be reimbursed after successful completion of the course.
> During this registration period, approximately 60 seats are being offered
> to ARRL members on a first-come, first-served basis. To learn more, visit
> the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education (C-CE)
> <http://www.arrl.org/cce/> Web page and the C-CE Links found there. For
> more information, contact Emergency Communications Course Manager Dan
> Miller, K3UFG, dmiller@arrl.org, 860-594-0340.
>
> * ARRL to sponsor ARES/RACES/EmComm seminar in California: The ARRL will
> offer a free Amateur Radio emergency communications seminar Friday, April
> 30, 1-5 PM, at the Ramada Inn, (Shaw/Fwy 41), in Fresno, California, in
> conjunction with the San Joaquin Valley Section Convention. The seminar
> will not include the Level I course itself. This program will explain in
> greater detail the duties of all Amateur Radio Emergency Communications
> Course (ARECC) participants and how their volunteer efforts are essential
> to the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES). Senior citizens are
> strongly encouraged to participate. "This seminar will explain the
> importance of every team player with emphasis on using lessons learned to
> effectively move Amateur Radio emergency communications to the next
> level," said ARRL Emergency Communications Course Manager Dan Miller,
> K3UFG. All ARES/RACES volunteers, ARECC course participants, and Field
> Organization leadership are invited. Course participants at every ARECC
> level--Mentors, Certification Instructors, Certification Examiners and
> current students--are encouraged to share their ARECC experiences. Field
> Organization leaders are invited to brainstorm ideas to motivate
> volunteers and coordinate activities. The focus will be on coordination
> between ARECC volunteers and students, and their integration into the
> Field Organization. This session is open to all interested hams, but
> seating may be limited. Those planning to attend should contact Dan
> Miller, K3UFG, <k3ufg@arrl.org>; 860-594-0340; FAX 860-594-0259. For more
> information on the SJV Section Convention, visit the Fresno Amateur Radio
> Club Hamfest 2004 Web site <http://www.qsl.net/w6to/ota.html>.
>
> * ARRL Technology Task Force forum set for Hamvention 2004: The ARRL's
> Technology Task Force (TTF) will hold its third annual forum at Hamvention
> 2004, Sunday, May 16, 10:15 AM until noon in Hara Arena. All Hamvention
> attendees are welcome. TTF Chair and ARRL Central Division Vice Director
> Howard Huntington, K9KM, will moderate. All three TTF working groups will
> be represented. At 10:30 AM, Mark Williams, AB8LN, of the High-Speed
> Multimedia (HSMM) Working Group will update progress on merging Amateur
> Radio and networking technology via Radio Metropolitan Area Networks
> (RMANs) using various node-connection methods. At 11 AM, Yoshikazu
> Nishimura, JA6UHL, AOR Japan and Matt Yellen, KB7TSE, of ICOM America,
> will address the Digital Voice (DV) Working Group: Nishimura will discuss
> ARD-9800 DV technical development and operating, while Yellen will talk
> about Icom's D-STAR DV development. At 11:30 AM, Gerald Youngblood, AC5OG,
> and Bob McGwier, N4HY, will be featured during the Software-Defined Radio
> (SDR) Working Group session. They will detail SDR advancements through
> open-source software development on the Flex Radio Systems SDR-1000. Learn
> about the latest in leading-edge Amateur Radio technology and what the
> League is planning for the future. Audience interaction is
> encouraged.--Doug Smith, KF6DX
>
> * Young Ham of the Year nominations due by June 30: Amateur Radio Newsline
> says the deadline is June 30 to nominate a deserving young amateur for the
> 2004 Young Ham of the Year Award. A nomination form is available on the
> Newsline Web site <http://www.arnewsline.org/yhoty/yhfrm204.doc>. The
> YHOTY Award goes to an amateur licensee aged 18 or younger and living in
> the contiguous 48 states who has made a significant contribution to the
> community or the nation through Amateur Radio. More information is
> available on the Newsline Web site <http://www.arnewsline.org>.
>
> ===========================================================
> The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each year, by the American
> Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur Radio--225 Main
> St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259;
> <http://www.arrl.org>. Jim Haynie, W5JBP, President.
>
> The ARRL Letter offers a weekly e-mail digest of essential news of
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>
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>
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> ==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, n1rl@arrl.org
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