[South Florida DX Association]
The ARRL Letter, Vol 25, No 23 (Jun 9, 2006)
Bill Marx
bmarx at bellsouth.net
Fri Jun 9 19:50:34 EDT 2006
***************
> The ARRL Letter
> Vol. 25, No. 23
> June 9, 2006
> ***************
>
> IN THIS EDITION:
>
> * +House-passed telecoms bill keeps BPL study requirement
> * +FCC Citation issued in ham radio power line interference case
> * +June 28 set as launch date for 13 CubeSats
> * +Vermont becomes the 23rd PRB-1 state
> * +ARRL to be represented at international EmComm conference
> * +Newest DXCC entity is waiting in the wings
> * +AMSAT-UK cites potential threat from wireless broadband
> * Solar Update
> * IN BRIEF:
> This weekend on the radio: The ARRL June VHF QSO Party!
> ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course registration
> Spratly Islands operation reported imminent
> +Dayton Hamvention 2006 attendance nearly even with last year's
> +Ebbing sunspots fail to stanch flood of QSL cards
> W1AW/0 special event set for Rocky Mountain Division Convention
> K6KPH to transmit West Coast Qualifying Run June 17, Field Day message
> Marv Loftness, KB7KK, wins May QST Cover Plaque Award
> New Air Force MARS chief announced
> DXCC Desk approves operation for DXCC credit
> Correction
>
> +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
> ===========================================================
>
> ==>US HOUSE OKAYS TELECOMS BILL WITH BPL STUDY LANGUAGE INTACT
>
> On a 321 to 101 vote, the US House of Representatives on June 8 passed the
> Communications Opportunity, Promotion and Enhancement (COPE) Act of 2006.
> The House-passed bill, HR 5252, leaves intact language that would require
> the FCC to study the interference potential of BPL systems. US Rep Mike
> Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), one of two radio amateurs in Congress, sponsored the
> BPL study requirement, "Study of Interference Potential of Broadband over
> Power Line Systems," contained in Title V, Section 502 of the complex
> bill.
> HR 5252 now goes to the US Senate, where a separate--and very
> different--telecoms bill, the Communications, Consumer's Choice, and
> Broadband Deployment Act of 2006 (S 2686) is still in committee.
>
> "We were concerned that a representative might be persuaded by BPL
> interests
> to introduce an amendment to delete or dilute Section 502," said ARRL CEO
> David Sumner, K1ZZ. "As it turns out that didn't happen, although we had
> taken steps to counter it if it had. So for now our focus returns to the
> Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee." Sumner says that
> if
> similar language were introduced on the Senate side, it would be more
> likely
> to remain when and if the House and Senate versions go to a conference
> committee.
>
> Section 502 calls on the FCC to "conduct, and submit to the Committee on
> Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on
> Commerce, Science, and Transportation of the Senate, a study of the
> interference potential of broadband over power line systems," within 90
> days
> of the bill's enactment.
>
> Ross proposed including the study wording while the bill was still in the
> Energy and Commerce Committee. With the support of Committee Chairman Joe
> Barton (R-TX), the panel agreed by voice vote to include it when it
> reported
> the bill out.
>
> The BPL study requirement reportedly has received significant opposition
> from electric utilities. The United Telecom Council (UTC), a bulwark of
> BPL
> support and administrator of the Interference Resolution Web site, last
> month referred to the study requirement as a threat and urged its members
> to
> contact their members of Congress regarding its inclusion in the House
> measure.
>
> A year ago, Ross sponsored House Resolution 230 (H Res 230), which calls
> on
> the FCC to "reconsider and revise rules governing broadband over power
> line
> systems based on a comprehensive evaluation of the interference potential
> of
> those systems to public safety services and other licensed radio
> services."
> That non-binding resolution has eight cosponsors.
>
> In an April 27 statement, Ross said including the FCC study requirement in
> the House bill "would guarantee that valuable public safety communications
> and Amateur Radio operators are not subject to interference." He said
> infrastructure-free Amateur Radio, "often overlooked in favor of flashier
> means of communication," can maintain communication in disasters that
> bring
> more vulnerable technology to its knees. Ham radio operators "are often
> the
> only means of communication attainable in a devastated area," Ross said.
>
> "I believe it is imperative that the interference potential [of BPL] is
> thoroughly examined and comprehensively evaluated to ensure that
> deployment
> of BPL, which I do support, does not cause radio interference for Amateur
> Radio operators and first responders who serve our communities," Ross
> added.
>
>
> The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee will consider S
> 2686 in a markup session later this month. The ARRL has e-mailed members
> in
> the 22 states with Senators on the committee, urging them to write seeking
> support to include similar BPL study language in the Senate bill.
>
> ==>FCC CITES FLORIDA UTILITY FOR INTERFERENCE TO RADIO AMATEUR
>
> The FCC has issued a Citation to Lakeland Electric, a municipally owned
> utility in Lakeland, Florida, for violating Part 15 rules by interfering
> with a local radio amateur. §15.5(c) of the FCC rules requires that the
> operator of an "incidental radiator" must cease operating the device after
> an FCC representative notifies the operator that the device is causing
> harmful interference. The "incidental radiator" in this case is overhead
> power lines. Under an agreement, the ARRL and the FCC cooperate in
> resolving
> cases of line noise interference to Amateur Radio licensees.
>
> "Power line noise continues to generate the bulk of interference
> complaints
> that ARRL receives," says ARRL Electromagnetic Compatibility Engineer Mike
> Gruber, W1MG, who says the League reviews hundreds of such complaints each
> year. About half of them are resolved promptly by the utilities, in some
> instances with assistance from the ARRL Laboratory. Gruber says he
> believes
> this is the first time the FCC has issued a Citation to a utility in a
> case
> involving power line interference to ham radio.
>
> The radio amateur involved, J. C. Flynn, W4FGC, told ARRL that Lakeland
> Electric has been good about fixing routine problems, but he doesn't think
> the utility personnel know how to resolve cases of power line noise. "I
> have
> been 10 years trying to get something done," he said, adding that the
> noise
> affects all HF bands. "It is terrible!"
>
> Flynn first noticed the power line noise around 1995. Subsequent
> complaints,
> assurances from the utility that it was addressing the problem--or that it
> couldn't find one--and even some FCC warnings followed before the FCC
> issued
> its Citation to Lakeland Electric on May 16. Flynn, who's now 84, told the
> League that as of June 7, nothing had been done to fix the severe line
> noise
> at his location, which he demonstrated over the telephone on several
> bands.
> He said he especially enjoys getting on 40 meter SSB with a large
> roundtable
> of friends.
>
> Commented Gruber: "There has been no activity by the utility in resolving
> this problem in over a year, and Mr Flynn's noise case now appears to be
> at
> a standstill." The League's involvement in the case goes back to January
> 2001, when Flynn requested the League's assistance. Gruber says the
> League's
> role is to provide technical information and guidance to utilities "to
> keep
> a complaint from reaching the point of a Citation."
>
> In late 2005, Gruber had a chance to check the line noise at Flynn's QTH
> firsthand. He had taken RFI gear to a Florida ham radio convention for a
> talk and demonstration. Afterward, on his own time, Gruber--with help from
> ARRL West Central Florida Section Manager Dee Turner, N4GD--took some
> noise
> measurements of his own.
>
> Gruber submitted the results of his on-site inspection to the FCC.
> Personnel
> from the Commission's Tampa field office followed up with their own
> inspection before issuing the Citation, which lays the groundwork for a
> possible Notice of Apparent Liability proposing to fine the utility if the
> interference problem is not resolved.
>
> "I hope this case serves as a precedent for FCC enforcement, where
> appropriate, in power line noise cases," said Gruber, who's compiled
> various
> reports and correspondence relating to the Lakeland Electric power line
> interference case into a booklet of approximately 60 pages. "While the
> League will work with amateurs in such cases for as long as it takes," he
> added, "we hope the FCC Citation will serve as a warning to electric
> utilities that it's not acceptable to take months or years to fix the
> problem causing the interference."
>
> ==>HUGE CUBESAT LAUNCH SET FOR JUNE 28
>
> In what AMSAT-NA is calling the largest deployment ever of Amateur Radio
> satellites, 13 "CubeSats" carrying ham radio payloads are set for launch
> June 28. If all goes according to plan, a Dnepr-1LV rocket will carry the
> CubeSats into space from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. A
> fourteenth
> satellite in the package will not carry an Amateur Radio payload.
>
> The CubeSat project is a collaboration between California Polytechnic
> State
> University-San Luis Obispo and Stanford University's Space Systems
> Development Laboratory. All of the CubeSats set to launch this month were
> designed and built by students at various universities in the US and
> elsewhere in the world.
>
> Cornell University, Cal Poly, and the University of Arizona each will send
> two CubeSats into space. Other US schools participating in the mass
> CubeSat
> launch are the University of Illinois, the University of Kansas, Montana
> State University and the University of Hawaii. In addition, schools in
> Norway, S Korea and Japan have built CubeSats for this month's launch.
>
> One of the CubeSats, known as SEEDS, was built by students at the Nihon
> University in Japan. It contains a CW beacon, Digi-Talker and other
> experiments. The CW beacon will be on 437.485 MHz and use the call sign
> JQ1YGU. The Digi-Talker experiment will be activated later. All 13
> CubeSats
> will identify using Amateur Radio call signs.
>
> According to AMSAT-NA, the satellites will be put into a 500-by-566 km
> (310
> by 351 miles) orbit with a 97-degree inclination. Each tiny satellite is a
> 10 cm (4 inch) cube weighing just 1 kg (2.2 lbs) into which the battery,
> transmitter and various experiments are packed.
>
> Twelve of the satellites have downlinks in the Amateur Radio satellite
> allocation between 435 and 438 MHz, and one will operate on 145.980 MHz,
> so
> there will be lots of signals to listen out for after launch. None of the
> spacecraft will carry a transponder. Transmitter power outputs range from
> 10
> mW to 2 W.
>
> Handling the complex job of frequency coordination was International
> Amateur
> Radio Union (IARU) Amateur Satellite Advisor Hans van de Groenendaal,
> ZS6AKV, and a panel of experts who assist in frequency coordination and
> advise satellite builders.
>
> Ralph Wallio, W0RPK, maintains a Web page
> <http://showcase.netins.net/web/wallio/CubeSat.htm> with up-to-date
> CubeSat
> status (scroll down).--AMSAT News Service
>
> ==>VERMONT GOVERNOR SIGNS AMATEUR RADIO ANTENNA BILL
>
> Vermont Gov Jim Douglas has signed Amateur Radio antenna legislation that
> puts the language of the limited federal preemption known as PRB-1 into
> the
> Green Mountain State's statutes. Vermont is the 23rd state to adopt an
> Amateur Radio antenna law.
>
> "Today we reached a milestone in Vermont Amateur Radio history," exulted
> David Cain, W1DEC, on May 30. "PRB-1 is now officially codified into
> Vermont's statutes." Cain chaired the PRB-1 Committee and serves as
> Vermont
> ARRL State Government Liaison. "To all of you who worked so hard on this a
> hearty 'thank you' and 'well done!'"
>
> ARRL New England Division Vice Director Mike Raisbeck, K1TWF, offered his
> congratulations to all involved in seeing the bill through. "This is a
> major
> achievement for Vermont, the New England Division and the hobby," he said.
> The legislation, H.12, cleared Vermont's General Assembly on May 10.
>
> The new law requires local ordinances to comply with §97.15(b) "by
> allowing
> for the erection of an Amateur Radio antenna or an Amateur Radio antenna
> support structure at a height and dimension sufficient to accommodate
> Amateur Radio Service communications."
>
> Cain notes that a PRB-1 bill has been in the General Assembly hopper in
> Vermont for more than three years. "Hard work and persistence paid off,"
> he
> said, noting that lawmakers "recognized the value of ham radio and the
> need
> for reasonable accommodation."
>
> Section 1 of the bill declares it Vermont policy "that Amateur Radio use
> and
> Amateur Radio antennas and support structures protect and promote the
> public
> interest by providing important communications support to both government
> and the public during times of emergency when other communications
> infrastructure is disabled or overburdened and by presenting the public
> with
> an opportunity for public service, self-training, communications and
> technical investigation."
>
> Language in the original Vermont antenna bill outlined a schedule of
> minimum
> regulatory heights, below which localities could not impose restrictions.
> That language did not survive the legislative process, however.
>
> The legislation that did pass also provides for the Department of Housing
> and Community Affairs (DHCA) to report to the House and Senate committees
> on
> government operations "concerning municipal permitting and siting of
> Amateur
> Radio antennas and Amateur Radio antenna structures and municipal
> compliance
> with state statutes."
>
> In developing its report, DHCA "shall consult with representatives" of
> Vermont's Amateur Radio community and include their recommendations and
> input in its report to the General Assembly.
>
> ==>SECOND GLOBAL AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE SET
>
> ARRL First Vice President Kay Craigie, N3KN, will represent the League at
> the second Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (GAREC)
> Conference.
> GAREC 2006 will take place June 19-20 in Tampere, Finland, in parallel
> with
> the International Conference on Emergency Communications (ICEC 2006).
>
> "Many new experiences resulted from dramatic events over the past 12
> months,
> new lessons have been learned, and new concepts have been developed," said
> IARU International Coordinator for Emergency Communications Hans
> Zimmermann,
> F5VKP/HB9AQS.
>
> Continuing the work begun during GAREC 2005, this year's conference will
> consider the latest developments in the application of Amateur Radio to
> emergency communication and cooperation with institutional partners in
> emergency response and disaster relief, Zimmerman said. It will also
> review
> progress made on concepts developed during last year's conference and
> formulate additional proposals.
>
> Zimmerman noted that the concurrent ICEC 2006 will review the application
> and implementation of the Tampere Convention on the Provision of
> Telecommunication Resources for Disaster Mitigation and Relief Operations.
> "Holding the two events at the same time in the same location allows us to
> give high visibility to the important role of Amateur Radio in emergency
> communications," he said.
>
> ==>MONTENEGRO POISED TO BECOME NEWEST DXCC ENTITY
>
> The Republic of Montenegro, which declared its independence June 3, has
> applied for United Nations membership, according to The Daily DX
> <http://www.dailydx.com>. The move paves the way for the tiny Balkan
> nation
> to join the ARRL DXCC list.
>
> "Once Montenegro is accepted into the UN or obtains a call sign prefix
> block, DXers will have a new DXCC entity," says ARRL Membership Services
> Manager Wayne Mills, N7NG.
>
> The division of Serbia and Montenegro eliminates what remained of
> Yugoslavia. Serbia's parliament this week declared Serbia a sovereign
> nation
> as heir to the former Serbia-Montenegro union. Assuming that Serbia
> continues to hold its current seat in the UN, it will remain on the DXCC
> list as a pre-existing and continuing DXCC entity, Mills explained.
>
> A decision on whether to admit Montenegro into the UN must go before the
> UN
> Security Council and then to the UN General Assembly. A UN spokesperson
> could not say how long the process might take, The Daily DX said.
>
> ==>POTENTIAL THREAT TO AMATEUR BANDS IN UK CITED
>
> AMSAT-UK warns that proposals under consideration in the UK to provide
> wireless broadband in rural areas could pose a threat to Amateur Radio and
> Amateur-Satellite services there. A recently published report from
> telecoms
> regulator Ofcom
> <http://www.ofcom.org.uk/research/technology/overview/ese/exempt/>
> explores
> various options to bring broadband to countryside communities. One option
> calls for the use of wireless broadband. The systems would require high
> power to cover the large geographical areas involved, however. The Ofcom
> report proposes power levels of up to 80 W EIRP in the 2.4 GHz band and
> 200
> W EIRP in the 5 GHz band.
>
> "It is hard to see how amateurs would be able to continue using these
> frequencies when faced by the high levels of interference from the high
> power applications envisaged by this report," an AMSAT-UK spokesperson
> said.
>
> Ofcom notes that unlicensed broadband operators now may run 100 mW on 2.4
> GHz and 2 W EIRP on 5.8 GHz. Both bands have Amateur Radio allocations,
> and
> AMSAT-UK worries that the high power levels outlined in the report could
> cause serious interference to radio amateurs operating in those bands. The
> problem could be particularly severe on the 2400 to 2450 MHz band, used by
> "weak-signal" amateur satellites and amateur TV repeaters. The report
> makes
> no mention of Amateur Radio operation on the 2.4 GHz band.
>
> AMSAT-UK notes that four amateur satellites currently under construction
> will use 2.4 GHz to provide worldwide communications. The Amateur Radio
> P5-A
> Mars orbiter, due to launch in 2009, will rely on 2.4 GHz as well. Also
> under threat would be a planned 2.4 GHz Amateur Radio video link from the
> International Space Station to schools as part of the Amateur Radio on the
> International Space Station (ARISS) educational outreach.--RSGB
>
> ==>SOLAR UPDATE
>
> Propagation prognosticator Tad "Sun King" Cook, K7RA, Seattle, Washington,
> reports: Sunspot counts were lower this week, but it's surprising what has
> been happening on the ham bands. Operators are still having fun, and still
> working long distances, even on VHF, during this low part of the sunspot
> cycle. Most of this is due to seasonal sporadic E propagation. There were
> also reports of great HF conditions during the CQ WPX contest over the
> Memorial Day weekend.
>
> Average sunspot numbers dropped by 35 points to 19.3 between the last week
> of May and the first week of June. Geomagnetic indexes were a little
> higher.
>
> For more information concerning propagation and an explanation of the
> numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service
> Propagation page <http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html>.
>
> Sunspot numbers for June 1 through 7 were 11, 0, 0, 17, 23, 36 and 48,
> with
> a mean of 19.3. 10.7 cm flux was 77.2, 75.3, 75.9, 75.6, 77.9, 78, and
> 82.7,
> with a mean of 77.5. Estimated planetary A indices were 13, 8, 4, 2, 4, 23
> and 24, with a mean of 11.1. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 10, 5,
> 2,
> 1, 2, 15 and 18, with a mean of 7.6.
>
> __________________________________
>
> ==>IN BRIEF:
>
> * This weekend on the radio: The ARRL June VHF QSO Party, the ANARTS World
> Wide RTTY Contest, the Portugal Day Contest, the Asia-Pacific Sprint
> (SSB),
> the GACW WWSA CW DX Contest and the REF DDFM 6-Meter Contest are the
> weekend
> of June 10-11. The NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint and the RSGB 80-Meter
> Club
> Championship (CW) are June 14. The Thursday NCCC Sprint Ladder and SARL
> Youth Day are June 16. JUST AHEAD: ARRL Kids Day, Council of Europe RC
> 20th
> Anniversary Challenge 0800Z, Jun 16 to 1000Z, Jun 18, All Asian DX
> Contest,
> CW 0000Z, Jun 17 to 2400Z, Jun 18, SMIRK Contest 0000Z, Jun 17 to 2400Z,
> Jun
> 18, West Virginia QSO Party 1600Z, Jun 17 to 0200Z, Jun 18, AGCW VHF/UHF
> Contest 1600Z-1900Z, Jun 17 (144), 1900Z-2100Z, Jun 17 (432), Quebec QSO
> Party 1700Z, Jun 17 to 0300Z, Jun 18, Kid's Day Contest 1800Z-2400Z, Jun
> 17,
> DIE Contest 0600Z-1200Z, Jun 18, Run for the Bacon QRP Contest
> 0100Z-0300Z,
> Jun 19, RSGB 80m Club Championship, SSB 1900Z-2030Z, Jun 22, Thursday NCCC
> Sprint Ladder 0230Z-0300Z, Jun 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 remains open through Sunday, June 25, for these ARRL
> Certification and Continuing Education (CCE). Program on-line courses:
> Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1 (EC-001), Radio Frequency
> Interference (EC-006), Antenna Design and Construction (EC-009), Analog
> Electronics (EC-012) and Digital Electronics (EC-013). Classes begin
> Friday,
> July7. 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>.
>
> * Spratly Islands operation reported imminent: The Daily DX
> <http://www.dailydx.com> quotes Toshi Kusano, JA1ELY, who provides details
> of an imminent--and brief--operation from the Spratly Islands. According
> to
> the report, Tex Izumo, 9M2TO, will commence operation from Layang Layang
> Island, Spratly Islands (AS-051) starting at about 1200 UTC, Friday, June
> 9,
> through 2200 UTC on Monday, June 12. He is said to have all necessary
> documentation in order and will be on the air as 9M0/9M2TO on CW only. The
> one-person operation will cover all bands from 80 through 6 meters at 100
> W.
> QSL via JA0DMV, via the bureau (JARL) or direct to Tex Izumo, 2C-10-03
> Mutiara Apt, Jalan Sungai Emas, 11100 Batu Ferringhi, Penang Is, Malaysia.
>
> * Dayton Hamvention 2006 attendance nearly even with last year's: Dayton
> Hamvention? 2006 General Chairman Jim Nies, WX8F, reports that the
> estimated
> attendance for the May 19-21 event was very nearly the same as last
> year's.
> "Our best estimates for attendance at 2006 Hamvention put the number at
> 20,324, a slight drop from 2005, but still within the ballpark for the
> three
> latest all-volunteer Hamvention years," Nies told ARRL. In 2005, an ARRL
> Convention year, 20,411 visitors attended Hamvention. The number of
> attendees in 2004 was calculated at 19,869. Nies said the Dayton Amateur
> Radio Association's Hamvention Committee will conduct a critique meeting
> June 13 to identify areas of Hamvention that need improvement and to
> discuss
> possible solutions, although Nies says that process already has begun
> informally. "Some committee chairmen have begun planning their timelines
> and
> their recruiting for next year," he adds.
>
> * Ebbing sunspots fail to stanch flood of QSL cards: Despite the fact that
> the current sunspot cycle is nearing its low point, the ARRL Outgoing QSL
> Service is doing a brisk business. "We are seeing bigger numbers this year
> as compared to last year," says ARRL Outgoing QSL Service Manager Sharon
> Taratula. "It's amazing, considering where we are in the sunspot cycle."
> By
> late May, the Outgoing QSL Service had received 66,150 QSL cards, she
> says.
> That compares with 54,850 cards received during the entire month of May
> 2005--a difference of 11,200 QSLs. "In 2006 so far, we have received
> 60,025
> more cards than we had by this time in 2005," Taratula said. The volume of
> outgoing QSL cards reflects the trend, although not all cards
> received--especially those destined for rarer DXCC entities--go out right
> away in the bi-monthly mailings to foreign bureaus. "This year so far, we
> have shipped 530,250 cards," she says. "That's 5400 more cards than we'd
> shipped by this time last year." The 2005 total was 1,137,550 cards. In
> the
> current solar cycle, the number of cards shipped via the ARRL Outgoing QSL
> Service topped 1.9 million cards in the 2001-2002 period. The Outgoing QSL
> Service sorts and forwards QSLs received from US radio amateurs to bureaus
> in 225 countries.
>
> * W1AW/0 special event set for Rocky Mountain Division Convention: ARRL
> Maxim Memorial Station W1AW will be on the air as special event station
> W1AW/0 June 9-11 during HAMCON Colorado--the ARRL Rocky Mountain Division
> Convention. HAMCON will be held at the Holiday Inn-Rocky Mountain Park
> Convention Center in Estes Park, Colorado. Two HF stations will be
> available
> for conventioneers to operate throughout the event. Look for W1AW/0 on
> SSB,
> 3.875, 7.255, 14.245 and 21.320 MHz. QSL W1AW/0, 225 Main St, Newington,
> CT
> 06111.--Wes Wilson, K0HBZ
>
> * K6KPH to transmit West Coast Qualifying Run June 17, Field Day message:
> The Maritime Radio Historical Society's K6KPH will transmit the "W1AW"
> West
> Coast Qualifying Run session Saturday, June 17, 2100 UTC (1400 PDT). K6KPH
> will use the normal W1AW CW frequencies of 3.5815, 7.0475, 14.0475 and
> 21.0675 MHz. This information was inadvertently omitted from the W1AW
> schedule appearing in June's QST. The following weekend, K6KPH will
> complement W1AW's Field Day 2006 message on CW and digital modes for the
> benefit of West Coast stations. K6KPH frequencies for the Field Day
> transmissions: CW, 3.5815, 7.0475, 14.0475 and 21.0675 MHz; Teleprinter
> (RTTY and FEC AMTOR), 7.095 and 14.095 MHz. The K6KPH schedules are
> subject
> to change. The W1AW and K6KPH Field Day schedules are on the ARRL Web site
> <http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/06-fd-w1aw-sked.html>.
>
> * Marv Loftness, KB7KK, wins May QST Cover Plaque Award: The winner of the
> QST Cover Plaque Award for May is Marv Loftness, KB7KK, for his article
> "That Noise--When to Call the Power Company." Congratulations, Marv! The
> winner of the QST Cover Plaque award--given to the author or authors of
> the
> best article in each issue--is determined by a vote of ARRL members on the
> QST Cover Plaque Poll Web page
> <http://www.arrl.org/members-only/QSTvote.html>. Cast a ballot for your
> favorite article in the June issue by Friday, June 30.
>
> * New Air Force MARS chief announced: The Air Force Communications Agency
> (AFCA) has announced the appointment of MSgt Donald Poquette as Chief of
> Air
> Force Military Affiliate Radio System (AF MARS). Poquette, who holds the
> Amateur Radio call sign KE9XB, will assume his duties and the AF MARS
> chief's call sign AGA3C immediately. He succeeds AF MARS Chief Ray
> Collins,
> AGA3C, who announced his retirement earlier this year. Poquette has more
> than 20 years of radio communications experience. He has maintained
> high-power HF global stations, managed several radio work centers, and
> served as quality assurance inspector and frequency manager. Additionally,
> he has gained valuable experience as installation MARS director and with
> assisting the previous AF MARS chief with associated responsibilities. The
> Air Force MARS office is located at AFCA Headquarters, Scott Air Force
> Base,
> Illinois.
>
> * Three radio amateurs on next ISS crew: NASA astronauts Michael
> Lopez-Alegria, KE5GTK, and Sunita Williams, KD5PLB, and Russian cosmonaut
> Mikhail Tyurin, RZ3FT, have been named as the 14th crew of the
> International
> Space Station. Expedition 14 is scheduled to begin this fall.
> Lopez-Alegria
> will serve as Expedition 14 commander and as NASA ISS science officer for
> the six-month mission. Lopez-Alegria and Tyurin--who was on the ISS
> Expedition 3 crew--are now training to launch aboard a Russian Soyuz
> spacecraft in September. Williams' arrival on the ISS depends on NASA's
> shuttle fleet being back in operation. She's scheduled to travel to the
> ISS
> via shuttle--her first space flight--and join Expedition 14 in progress.
> If
> all goes according to current plans, Williams will replace European Space
> Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, DF4TR, whose duty tour is scheduled to
> bridge part of expeditions 13 and 14--the first time that's happened in
> the
> history of the ISS. Unclear at this point is whether Reiter will return on
> the shuttle or aboard a Soyuz, so there could be some additional crew
> overlap. Plans call for Reiter to go into space when the NASA space
> shuttle
> returns to flight in July, and he'll join Expedition 13's Pavel
> Vinogradov,
> RV3BS, and Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, whose mission began in April.
>
> * DXCC Desk approves operation for DXCC credit: The ARRL DXCC Desk has
> approved this operation for DXCC credit: T61AA, Afghanistan, current
> operation effective May 23, 2006. For more information, visit the DXCC Web
> page <http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/>. "DXCC Frequently Asked Questions"
> can answer most questions about the DXCC program.
>
> * Correction: In the story "2006 NORTH ATLANTIC HURRICANE SEASON
> OFFICIALLY
> UNDER WAY" in The ARRL Letter, Vol 25, No 22 (Jun 2, 2006), we should have
> said: "The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) <http://www.hwn.org> activates on
> 14.325 MHz when a hurricane is forecast within 300 miles of landfall in
> the
> Atlantic, Caribbean and Gulf Coast regions."
> ===========================================================
> 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>. Joel Harrison, W5ZN, President.
>
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