[South Florida DX Association] The ARRL Letter, Vol 24, No 45

[Bill Marx]

 ***************
> The ARRL Letter
> Vol. 24, No. 45
> November 18, 2005
> ***************
>
> IN THIS EDITION:
>
> * +League asks FCC to regulate by bandwidth instead of mode
> * +String of tornadoes prompts Amateur Radio response
> * +ISS commander entertains, educates, inspires via ham radio
> * +ARRL announces director, vice direction election results
> * +Toys pouring in for 2005 Holiday Toy Drive
> *  Solar Update
> *  IN BRIEF:
>      This weekend on the radio: Get on for the ARRL NOVEMBER SWEEPSTAKES
> (SSB)!
>      ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration
>     +"Ham Aid" funds available to help replace storm-damaged emcomm
systems
>     +Revised restrictions on 70 cm bear repeating
>      UK radio amateurs don't want lifetime licenses, poll indicates
>      Deadline is December 31 for WRTC 2006 applicants
>      TAPR announces election results
>
> +Available on ARRL Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/>
>
> ===========================================================
> ==>Delivery problems (ARRL member direct delivery only!):
> letter-dlvy at arrl.org
> ==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, n1rl at arrl.org
> ===========================================================
> + NOTE: ARRL Headquarters will be closed Thursday and Friday, November 24
> and 25, for the Thanksgiving holiday. There will be no W1AW bulletin or
code
> practice transmissions on those days. Next week's editions of The ARRL
> Letter, ARRL Audio News and the DX and propagation bulletins will be
> distributed Wednesday, November 23. ARRL Headquarters will reopen Monday,
> November 28, at 8 AM Eastern Time. We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable
> Thanksgiving holiday!
> ===========================================================
>
> ==>ARRL FILES REGULATION-BY-BANDWIDTH PETITION WITH FCC
>
> The ARRL has formally asked the FCC to adopt the League's plan to segment
> the Amateur Radio bands solely by emission bandwidth rather than by mode.
> The Petition for Rule Making, filed November 14, recommends what the ARRL
> called "a shift in regulatory philosophy" that would encourage and
> facilitate the development and refinement of digital techniques and
advanced
> technologies. At the same time, the League said, accommodating new
> technologies would not come at the expense of current operating modes,
> including double-sideband AM phone.
>
> "This petition seeks for the Amateur Radio Service the flexibility to
> experiment with new digital transmission methods and types to be developed
> in the future," the League's petition said, "while permitting present
> operating modes to continue to be used for as long as there are radio
> amateurs who wish to use them." The ARRL said the changes it suggests will
> also update the FCC's rules and eliminate the need for "cumbersome
> procedures" to determine whether a new digital mode is legal under Part
97.
>
> The ARRL's regulation-by-bandwidth plan is far from a done deal. In order
> for it to be adopted, the FCC first must put the League's Petition for
Rule
> Making on public notice and invite formal public comments. A subsequent
> Notice of Proposed Rule Making would kick off a further round of formal
> comments. Ultimately, the FCC would have to issue a Report and Order
putting
> the changes into place and setting an effective date.
>
> The League conceded that its regulation-by-bandwidth regime would place
> increased responsibility on the amateur community to establish workable,
> accepted band plans, but it expressed confidence that such an effort would
> be successful.
>
> The petition filed this week has been in the works for some time now. The
> ARRL Board of Directors adopted the petition's guiding principle in 2002
and
> invited comments from the Amateur Radio community in the summer of 2004.
The
> proposal reflects expert input from the ARRL Ad Hoc HF Digital Committee
as
> well as from ARRL staff. Comments from League members and an ARRL
Executive
> Committee review led to further fine tuning.
>
> The ARRL wants the FCC to replace the table at §97.305(c) with a new one
> that segment bands by bandwidths ranging from 200 Hz to 100 kHz.
Unaffected
> by the ARRL's recommendations, if they're adopted, would be 160 and 60
> meters. Subbands in other bands below 29 MHz would accommodate maximum
> emission bandwidths of 200, 500 or 3.5 kHz, with an exception of 9 kHz for
> AM phone.
>
> The League's petition "seeks to facilitate and encourage the development,
> refinement and use of new digital technologies without the regulatory
> remnants developed at a time when the principal emissions used in the
> Amateur Radio Service were Morse telegraphy and single- or double-sideband
> amplitude-modulated telephony." Part 97 rules need to permit higher data
> rates between 1.8 and 450 MHz to encourage development of digital
multimedia
> technology, "which has great promise for improving and fostering more
> effective emergency and disaster relief communications," the petition
> asserted.
>
> "This petition does not favor one mode at the expense of another," the
ARRL
> concluded in urging FCC adoption. "It merely allows expansion of the
> repertoire of options that amateurs may pursue compatibly."
>
> ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, discussed the subject of regulating by
> bandwidth in three "It Seems to Us . . ." QST editorials: "Regulation by
> Bandwidth" in September 2004, "Narrowing the Bandwidth Issues" in April
2005
> and "Self Regulation" in October 2005.
>
> The text of the ARRL's Petition for Rule Making is on the ARRL Web site
>
<http://www.arrl.org/announce/regulatory/bandwidth/Bandwidth-Minute-64-Petit
> ion-FINAL.pdf>.
>
> ==>AMATEUR RADIO RESPONDS AS STORMS SPAWN RASH OF TORNADOES
>
> Just weeks after assisting in hurricane relief efforts along the Gulf
Coast
> and in Florida, Amateur Radio volunteers responded in the wake of yet
> another weather emergency. Strong thunderstorms resulting from a clash of
> cold and warm fronts in the nation's midsection spawned tornadoes in
several
> states. The nearly three dozen twisters reported November 15 in Kentucky,
> Indiana, Tennessee, Illinois and Missouri came a little more than a week
> after tornadoes killed more than 20 people in Indiana and days after
another
> string hit Iowa, resulting in one death. Some 8000 customers were left
> without electricity in the affected states, but Kentucky appears to have
> been the hardest hit.
>
> "Nets for SKYWARN were activated all across the affected areas," Kentucky
> Section Emergency Coordinator Ron Dodson, KA4MAP, reported November 16.
"We
> also had the state EOC [emergency operations center] on the air on 3.993
MHz
> last night as we were trying to get emergency information into and out of
> the affected areas." Dodson told ARRL Headquarters that WX4NWS at the
> Louisville National Weather Service (NWS) office was active during the
> afternoon and evening of November 15 as forecasters tried to keep up with
> the rapidly developing weather.
>
> One person died in the Marshall County town of Benton, where a tornado
> severely damaged a mobile home park. Upward of two dozen other people were
> hurt, Dodson added.
>
> Kentucky Area 2 District Emergency Coordinator Nick Bailey, KG4URI, said a
> tornado ripped through the southern end of Madisonville. He estimated that
> up to 30 ARES and RACES volunteers deployed throughout Hopkins County.
Baily
> reported "a lot of damage" but no deaths.
>
> On November 16, three ARES teams equipped with APRS and GPS accompanied
> search-and-rescue (SAR) teams going door-to-door. "Amateur radio provided
> mostly SAR communications as the police repeaters were still up," Bailey
> added.
>
> According to Bailey, preliminary estimates had 35 to 40 homes severely
> damaged or destroyed in the Madisonville area and possibly 10 in
Earlington.
> At least two dozen people were reported injured in Hopkins County, and the
> count was expected to rise. A confirmed touchdown also occurred in Sharps.
>
> Steve Morgan, W4NHO, an ARRL Great Lakes Division assistant director,
> reported a tornado was tracked from Dawson Spring through Owensboro and
into
> southeastern Indiana. "I spoke with the deputy EMA director in Hopkins
> County, Frank Wright, KA4IGR," he said at mid-week. "Amateur Radio is the
> only reliable communications they have at the moment due to power
outages."
> Telephone service also was reported out in parts of Kentucky.
>
> Indiana's latest encounter with tornadoes was not nearly as severe as that
> of November 6. In the November 15 outbreak, one person was reported killed
> in Hancock County when a car went out of control after running into water
on
> the pavement. Indiana SEC Dave Pifer, N9YNF, said property damage this
time
> was largely "hit and miss" across the state.
>
> "I know the SKYWARN programs were hopping yesterday as we tracked the
storms
> through the area," he said. "At one point they would only take
> tornado/funnel reports and significant damage reports because there was so
> much going on."
>
> Illinois SM Shari Harlan, N9SH, says her section seems to have largely
> escaped the tornado outbreak. "It appears that while some straight line
> winds toppled some structures in the Wabash, Edwards and Lawrence county
> area, they escaped the afternoon round of storms," she said. She did note
> one report of definite rotational echoes, however.
>
> Iowa SEC Jim Snapp, NA0R, said Amateur Radio volunteers responded after a
> series of eight tornadoes within a few hours hit central Iowa November 12.
> The twisters hit parts of eight counties, he said, and one person was
> killed.
>
> "Homes, business and farmsteads were damaged or destroyed as the tornadoes
> rampaged through the Iowa countryside and in some small communities," he
> said. According to Snapp, K0DMX at the NWS Des Moines office started
getting
> reports of hail and tornado activity around 3:45 PM CDT. "Amateur reports
as
> well as other sources of storm information enabled the NWS staff to send
out
> updates to the storms activity and its path to the public," he said,
adding
> that a dozen hams contributed reports to the SKYWARN net.
>
> ==>STUDENTS IN ITALY, ENGLAND ENTERTAINED, EDUCATED VIA HAM RADIO
>
> Students in Italy and England spoke via Amateur Radio November 9 with
> International Space Station Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR. The Amateur
> Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program arranged the QSOs
> with the Francesco Negri Comprehensive Institute in Casale Monferrato,
> Italy, and with Furtherwick Park School on Canvey Island in Essex,
England.
> Speaking via the space station's NA1SS, McArthur shared with the students
in
> Italy how it feels to be living in space.
>
> "I feel very humble, I feel like I'm a very small person from a planet
with
> many billions of people and that I'm very fortunate to represent human
> beings--mankind--in space," McArthur said. He and crewmate Valery Tokarev
> will be aboard the ISS until next April.
>
> McArthur said he and Tokarev have been conducting experiments focused
> primarily on how people can live and work during long periods in space. He
> also said microgravity was "very, very comfortable," and meant the crew
> never had to sit down. In all McArthur managed to answer 20 questions
during
> the nearly eight-minute contact.
>
> The contact took place over a teleconferencing circuit via Nancy
Rocheleau,
> WH6PN, in Honolulu, because Italian radio regulations do not permit
> unlicensed individuals to speak over Amateur Radio.
>
> A little more than seven hours later, McArthur was back at NA1SS, this
time
> for a direct contact between NA1SS and GB2FPS at Furtherwick Park School,
> where 16 students took part in the event. In answer to one student's
> question, McArthur said the Amateur Radio station was one of the systems
> available to keep in contact with Earth if the primary and back-up
> communication systems ever went down.
>
> The ISS commander also allowed that he enjoyed a broad and eclectic range
of
> music, from classical to country.
>
> "I like classical--Mozart, Beethoven, Bach. I like contemporary
music--Jet,
> Dispatch. I like country-and-western music--Garth Brooks, Robert Earl Keen
> are my favorite singers there. I like older music--I'm a big Beatles fan,"
> McArthur said.
>
> "As a matter of fact," McArthur continued, "we're going to have live music
> aboard the station Sunday morning from one of Sir Paul McCartney's
concerts
> out in California." Indeed, on November 13, McCartney provided a live
wakeup
> call from Earth to the ISS crew during a first-ever concert linkup.
>
> Several of the Furtherwick Park students' questions were more
scientifically
> oriented than those typically put to ISS crew members during ARISS school
> group contacts. Replying to a question on whether microgravity affects the
> distribution of bodily fluids, McArthur answered in the affirmative.
>
> "The fluid tends to shift down from our legs, our feet, lower extremities
to
> the upper part of your body," McArthur explained. He said there's not much
> astronauts can do to prepare for this occurrence, and the body responds by
> reducing the amount of fluid in the body.
>
> He told another student that it would be difficult to maintain a candle's
> flame in microgravity because the convection needed to supply oxygen to
the
> flame requires gravity. Convection keeps a candle's flame generally
vertical
> on Earth, McArthur explained. Microgravity also influences how substances
> mix, he said.
>
> ARISS is an international educational outreach with US participation by
> ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.
>
> ==>WINNERS ANNOUNCED IN CONTESTED ARRL DIRECTOR, VICE DIRECTOR RACES
>
> A new face will occupy the Atlantic Division Director's chair on the ARRL
> Board of Directors starting January 1, but it will be a familiar one.
> Incumbent directors won new three-year terms in two other divisions. One
new
> and one not-so-new Vice Director candidate also emerged victorious.
Ballots
> in contested elections for ARRL Director and Vice Director seats in the
> three divisions were counted November 18 at ARRL Headquarters. Incumbent
> directors and vice directors in two additional divisions ran unopposed and
> have been declared elected.
>
> IN THE ATLANTIC DIVISION: Current Atlantic Division Vice Director William
C.
> "Bill" Edgar, N3LLR, will be moving into the Director's spot. He overcame
a
> challenge from ARRL Western New York Section Manager Scott J. Bauer, W2LC,
> by a vote of 2404 to 1527. Edgar takes over from Bernie Fuller, N3EFN, who
> did not seek reelection. During the campaign, Edgar stressed his five
years
> as Vice Director and pledged to continue Fuller's leadership example. He
> previously served as Western Pennsylvania Section Manager.
>
> Elected to succeed Edgar as Vice Director was ARRL Maryland-DC Section
> Manager Thomas J. "Tom" Abernethy, W3TOM, who outpolled Thomas G. Valosin,
> WB2KLD, 2335 to 1579. An SM since 2001, Abernethy, cited his section's
> leadership role in providing Amateur Radio's response to the 2001
terrorist
> attack on the Pentagon as well as to two devastating tornadoes and several
> successful BPL and antenna regulation challenges. Abernethy and Edgar ran
a
> joint campaign for their respective positions and had Fuller's
endorsement.
>
> IN THE GREAT LAKES DIVISION: Incumbent Director James E. "Jim" Weaver,
K8JE,
> was elected to a second term. By a vote of 3505 to 883, he held off a
> challenge from Neil Sablatzky, K8IT. Weaver focused his campaign on having
> kept promises he made when he ran three years ago and on acting in accord
> with the wishes of his constituents. Among his accomplishments, Weaver
> introduced the motion before the ARRL Board of Directors to establish the
> ARRL Grassroots Legislative Action Program.
>
> Returning to the back bench will be former Great Lakes Division Director
and
> Vice Director Gary L. Johnston, KI4LA, whom Weaver defeated in a three-way
> race for Director in 2002. He outpolled Daniel M. Romanchik, KB6NU, 3033
to
> 1263. Johnston had served for about six months in the division's top spot
> following the 2002 resignation of former Director George Race, WB8BGY.
> Current Great Lakes Vice Director Richard "Dick" Mondro, W8FQT, did not
run
> for another term.
>
> IN THE MIDWEST DIVISION: Incumbent Director Wade Walstrom, W0EJ, topped
> challenger Harry S. Nordman, AB0SX, 1806 to 364, to gain a third term.
> During his tenure, Walstrom--an electrical engineer and a radio amateur
for
> 45 years--has chaired the Volunteer Resources and Programs and Services
> committees and served on the ARRL Executive Committee. He also describes
> himself as a "crusader against BPL."
>
> Veteran Midwest Division Vice Director Bruce Frahm, K0BJ, was unopposed
for
> another term.
>
> Elsewhere, Dakota Division Director Jay Bellows, K0QB, and Vice Director
> Twila Greenheck, N0JPH, were unchallenged for new terms as were Delta
> Division Director Delta Division Director Rick Roderick, K5UR, and Vice
> Director Henry Leggette, WD4Q.
>
> ==>ARRL 2005 HOLIDAY TOY DRIVE SHIFTS INTO HIGH GEAR
>
> Toys are rolling in as generous radio amateurs and others across the
country
> respond to the ARRL/The Salvation Army 2005 Holiday Toy Drive
> <http://www.arrl.org/pio/toy>. The League has partnered with The Salvation
> Army for this year's effort to bring some holiday cheer to children left
> homeless or displaced in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
> Things got very busy this week at the Memphis, Tennessee, collection site,
> where ARRL Delta Division Vice Director Henry Leggette, WD4Q, and more
than
> a dozen volunteers are struggling to keep up with the influx of toys. One
of
> the volunteer coordinators, Joe Lowenthal, WA4OVO, says November 16 was
the
> busiest day yet.
>
> "We received 24 boxes with 319 toys from 12 individuals and 5 clubs," he
> reported. "One individual sent 192 small toys." Shipments arriving the
next
> day brought the toy total in the Memphis warehouse to more than 800.
>
> ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, says the toy donations will go a long
way
> to brighten the holidays for youngsters still reeling from the devastating
> Gulf Coast storms. "I know we can't do everything, but it's something we
can
> do as a small token of what Amateur Radio's all about and in appreciation
of
> the troubles that people are going to be facing during the holiday
season,"
> Haynie said. "Our hearts go out to everyone displaced."
>
> Lowenthal says Cascades Amateur Radio Society in Jackson, Michigan,
> participating in the Holiday Toy Drive for the first time, sent more than
> three dozen holiday gifts. Four boxes arrived recently from the volunteers
> at WX4NHC, the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center.
> Youngsters at Swanson Elementary School in Palmer, Alaska, sent a
selection
> of stuffed animals, many with personal notes or drawing for the recipients
> attached.
>
> Hams in Louisiana, which took the brunt of Hurricane Katrina, have stepped
> up to the plate too, with a special toy collection at a recent hamfest.
"We
> are certainly glad to help with this and hope we get a good turnout," said
> Louisiana Section Public Information Coordinator Dave Gore, W5DSG. "After
> seeing and working with the hurricane victims, this project really hits
> home."
>
> Anticipating that activity will be even more hectic over the next few
weeks,
> Leggette estimates he'll need 30 or more volunteers before the December 10
> collection deadline. As for more toys, Leggette says to bring 'em on.
>
> Send new unwrapped toys for boys and girls aged 1 to 14 to: ARRL Toy
> Drive/The Salvation Army, 1775 Moriah Woods Blvd--Suite 12, Memphis, TN
> 38117-7125. Include a QSL card or a card bearing your call sign.
>
> Through its Jackson, Mississippi, facility, The Salvation Army will handle
> distribution of the toys in hurricane-affected coastal communities of
> Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana where the need is greatest. Said Maj
> Sandra L. Defibaugh, general secretary of The Salvation Army's Gulf Area
> divisional headquarters: "We are thankful for the selfless spirit of
giving
> and sharing demonstrated by the ham operators across the nation."
>
> ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts, W1AGP, says the
Holiday
> Toy Drive provides an opportunity for those who wanted to help out in the
> response for hurricanes Katrina and Rita but were not able to. "Now
there's
> a way for hams all over the country to fulfill that desire though the ARRL
> Toy Drive," he said.
>
> Holiday Toy Drive national chairperson and country music artist Patty
> Loveless, KD4WUJ, joined forces with producer Richard Lubash, N1VXW, to
> develop radio and television public service announcements (PSAs) to
promote
> the drive. These are available on the ARRL Web site
> <http://www.arl.org/pio>.
>
> ARRL invites its members to send cash donations, if they prefer, to: ARRL
> Toy Drive, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.
>
> ==>SOLAR UPDATE
>
> Ra the Sun god Tad "Sunshine of Your Love" Cook, K7RA, Seattle,
Washington,
> reports: Just last week we saw no sunspots. Then on November 13 we saw
> Sunspot 822 peek around the eastern side of the visible solar disk. By
> November 15 we could tell it was a big one and should be squarely facing
> Earth by the weekend. Since the interplanetary magnetic field is pointing
> south, Earth is vulnerable to any solar flares from Sunspot 822.
>
> The daily sunspot number rose from 26 on November 14 to 32, 58 and 62 on
> November 17. This weekend is the ARRL November Sweepstakes (SSB) contest
> <http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2005/novss.html>. Sunspot numbers and
> solar flux both are expected to remain relatively high, with solar flux
> remaining around 100 for the next week.
>
> Geomagnetic activity is expected to remain low over the weekend, with the
> planetary A index for November 18-21 at 5, 5, 7 and 12. Geophysical
> Institute Prague predicts quiet conditions on November 24, quiet to
> unsettled November 20, 22 and 23, and unsettled November 18, 19 and 21.
>
> Sunspot numbers for November 10 through 16 were 0, 0, 11, 16, 26, 32 and
58,
> with a mean of 20.4. The 10.7 cm flux was 77.9, 78.6, 83.1, 87.8, 92.4,
100,
> and 94, with a mean of 87.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 2, 5, 10,
> 14, 10, 4 and 3, with a mean of 6.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were
> 1, 3, 7, 12, 7, 5 and 1, with a mean of 5.1.
>
> ==>IN BRIEF:
>
> * This weekend on the radio: The BIG event is the ARRL November
Sweepstakes
> (SSB) <http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2005/novss.html>. Also on tap:
the
> NA Collegiate ARC Championship (SSB) that runs in conjunction with SS, the
> LZ DX Contest, the EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party, the All Austrian
> 160-Meter Contest, and the RSGB Second 1.8 MHz Contest (CW) are the
weekend
> of November 19-20. JUST AHEAD: The CQ World Wide DX Contest (CW) is the
> weekend of November 26-27. 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 remains open through Sunday, November 20, for these ARRL
> Certification and Continuing Education (CCE). Program on-line courses:
> Emergency Communication Level 1 (EC-001) Antenna Design and Construction
> (EC-009), Technician Licensing (EC-010), Radio Frequency Interference
> (EC-006), Digital Electronics (EC-013) and Analog Electronics (EC-012).
> Classes begin Friday, December 2. To learn more, visit the CCE Course
> Listing page <http://www.arrl.org/cce/courses.html> or contact the CCE
> Department <cce at arrl.org>.
>
> * "Ham Aid" funds available to help replace storm-damaged emcomm systems:
> Thanks to a Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) grant
> extension, limited ARRL Ham Aid funds are available to help cover the cost
> of replacing hurricane-damaged Amateur Radio emergency communication
> systems. This assistance applies to ARES group or club-owned open-access
> repeaters, critical Amateur Radio infrastructure or other essential
> communication backbone equipment damaged by hurricanes Katrina, Rita or
> Wilma. The goal is to restore critical Amateur Radio emergency
communication
> systems in hurricane-prone areas, and especially in cases where equipment
> damage has compromised Amateur Radio's disaster-response capability. Funds
> will be dispersed on a first-come, first-served basis, and interested
groups
> or organizations should be prepared to document the loss and provide a
> replacement budget. Contact ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart,
> K1MMH <mhobart at arrl.org>; 860-594-0397 for complete application details
and
> requirements. Hobart says Ham Aid funds also remain available to cover
> limited out-of-pocket expenses for Amateur Radio volunteers who deployed
to
> the field during hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. Application
guidelines
> are on the ARRL Web site <http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/forms/cncs/>.
> Time is of the essence! The grant extension expires December 31, 2005!
>
> * Revised restrictions on 70 cm bear repeating: In 2004, a revised
Footnote
> US7 in Part 2.106 of the Code of Federal Regulations went into effect,
> further expanding the 50 W maximum output power restriction in place for
the
> 420-450 MHz band in the US Southwest. (The applicable Part 97 Amateur
> Service rule is §97.303, which incorporates §2.106 by reference.) "In
> talking to people at hamfests and other Amateur Radio meetings, I've found
> that very few people are aware of this rule," says Bill Kauffman, W5YEJ,
of
> the New Mexico Frequency Coordinating Committee. While the previous
version
> of §2.106(a), essentially covered the White Sands Missile Range area of
New
> Mexico, language effective as of January 2004 expanded it to include all
of
> New Mexico and Texas lying west of 104° W. The 70 cm band is a shared
> allocation in the US, and federal government users are primary. Amateur
> Radio, as a secondary occupant, may not cause interference to primary
> government stations and must tolerate any interference from government
> stations. The 50 W restriction continues to apply to all of Arizona and
> Florida as well as parts of several other states, including California,
> Nevada, Massachusetts, Alaska, North Dakota, Alabama, Georgia and South
> Carolina. Exceptions to the power limit must be expressly authorized by
the
> FCC after mutual agreement, on a case-by-case basis, between the FCC
> District Director in the applicable district and the Military Area
Frequency
> Coordinator at the applicable military base.
>
> * UK radio amateurs don't want lifetime licenses, poll indicates: The
> majority of the United Kingdom's radio amateurs want to keep the existing
> Amateur Radio licensing structure or have longer license terms rather than
> switch to a license that's good for life. That's one conclusion of a MORI
> poll commissioned by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which regulates
> Amateur Radio in the UK. The survey of 1572 hams also revealed that
> two-thirds of the respondents believe the current licensing structure to
be
> "about right." The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) points out that
the
> poll does not represent the conclusions of Ofcom's still-pending
> consultation into the future of Amateur Radio but "just one small part" of
> the overall process. "Ofcom is keen to issue Amateur Radio licenses for
> life," the RSGB said. "But 52 percent of respondents to the survey said
they
> prefer either the existing arrangement or an extended renewal period." The
> RSGB said the lifetime license proposal was even less popular among its
> members, with around two-thirds favoring the current arrangement or longer
> terms. Of those who wanted longer license terms, 60 percent preferred a
> five-year renewal period, the Society reported. Only 1 percent of the
those
> surveyed said they wanted to abolish the licensing arrangement altogether.
> The full survey report is on the Ofcom Web site
>
<http://www.ofcom.org.uk/radiocomms/ifi/licensing/classes/amateur/morireport
> />.
>
> * Deadline is December 31 for WRTC 2006 applicants: The application
deadline
> for those desiring to participate in World Radiosport Team Championship
2006
> (WRTC 2006) is December 31, 2005. The competition of two-person teams from
> around the globe will take place next July in the Florianópolis, Brazil,
> area in conjunction with the IARU HF World Championship event.
Coordinating
> WRTC 2006 will be IARU member-society LABRE (Liga de Amadores Brasileiros
de
> Radio Emissão) and the Araucaria DX Group. Download more information and
> applications from the WRTC 2006 General Rules Web page
> <http://www.wrtc2006.com/html/web/en/regras.htm>. WRTC 2006 organizers
> invited ARRL to name two teams to compete in the event. Because the
> invitation came as a result of two previous WRTCs having been organized in
> the Seattle and San Francisco areas, the ARRL Executive Committee recently
> approved a staff recommendation to invite the Western Washington DX Club
and
> the Northern California Contest Club to name teams.
>
> * TAPR announces election results: Dr David Toth, VE3GYQ, is the new
> president of TAPR <http://www.tapr.org/>. He succeeds John Ackermann,
N8UR.
> "Dave will bring new energy and ideas to TAPR, and I look forward to
working
> with him in his new role," said Ackermann, who will continue as a member
of
> TAPR's Board of Directors. Re-elected at the TAPR Board of Director's
> meeting held September 23-25 during the Digital Communications Conference
> were: Steve Bible, N7HPR, vice president; Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU, secretary,
> and Tom Holmes, N8ZM, treasurer. Bible, Horzepa and Darryl Smith, VK2TDS,
> were also re-elected to new three year terms as directors. Toth, a
> physician, said he'd be looking to the membership for suggestions on we
TAPR
> be going and how to get there. "We want to create a fertile playing field
> where folks can interact and exchange ideas," he said, and encouraged TAPR
> members to contact him directly <ve3gyq at tapr.org>.
>
> ===========================================================
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