[South Florida DX Association] The ARRL Letter for April 8, 2010

Thu Apr 8 18:51:53 EDT 2010

If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at:
http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2010-04-08

The ARRL Letter

April 8, 2010
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA <mailto:k1sfa at arrl.org>
ARRL Home Page <http://www.arrl.org/> 	
	/ARRL Letter/ Archive <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/> 	
	Audio News <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/>

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2010-04-08&t=t>
/BPL/: City of Manassas to End BPL Service

After almost eight years, the City of Manassas has voted to discontinue 
BPL service.

Once touted as "the most successful BPL deployment in the nation," the 
City of Manassas has decided to get out of the BPL business, once and 
for all. At a Special Meeting on Monday, April 5, the Manassas City 
Council -- acting on a recommendation from the Manassas Utilities 
Commission -- unanimously voted to discontinue Broadband over Powerline 
(BPL <http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/HTML/plc/>) Internet service as of 
July 1, 2010 to the approximately 520 residents and businesses who 
currently subscribe to the service; these customers were told that they 
have three months to find a new Internet service provider.

According to Manassas City Clerk Andrea Madden, there was no discussion 
on the resolution to discontinue service and the motion was passed 
"without incident."

With the motion made by Councilman Jonathan Way and seconded by Mark 
Wolfe, the City Council cited three reasons for discontinuing BPL 
service: a declining customer base, an annual income deficit of almost 
$166,000 from providing Internet service, and a determination that AMI 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Metering_Infrastructure> 
[Advanced Metering Infrastructure] platforms don't require BPL. Way and 
Wolfe favored shutting down the BPL system in November 2009 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/11/19/11206/?nc=1>, the last time 
this matter was brought to the Council's attention. "The City needs to 
get out of BPL forthwith," Way said back in 2009. "It's not a good 
product. The whole business is not financially sound and it never has been."

Manassas residents pay $24.95 each month to receive Internet service via 
BPL. In November 2009, the Utility Commission showed the Council that 
little more than 500 residents and 46 businesses currently subscribed to 
the service, which since 2008, has been run by the City 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2008/10/16/10391/>. "It's costing a 
little more to maintain the system than we projected in the budget," 
Manassas Director of Utilities Michael Moon told the Council. "The 
original projections were that the customer base would be double this." 
In September 2008, the Manassas City Council voted to assume control of 
the BPL service from COMTek <http://www.comtekbroadband.com/>, the 
private company that served (back then) approximately 675 residents.

In January 2009, there were 637 residential and 51 commercial BPL 
subscribers in Manassas. In February 2010, those numbers had shrunk to 
457 residential and 50 commercial subscribers. The Utilities Commission 
said that the total revenue brought in by BPL for FY2010 was almost 
$186,000, but the expense of keeping up the City-owned system was 
costing the ratepayers a little more than $351,000, resulting in a net 
loss of almost $166,000.

"In October 2003, the Manassas City Council was told that it could 
expect as much as $4.5 million in revenue from awarding a 10 year BPL 
franchise," said ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ. 
"Instead, six months later, BPL had turned into a money pit for the City 
of Manassas. Anyone thinking of investing in BPL would do well to learn 
from the Manassas experience."

BPL technology uses the electricity grid in a city and the wiring in 
individual homes to provide direct "plug in" broadband access through 
electricity sockets, rather than over phone or cable TV lines.

In November 2009, Manassas' Assistant Utilities Director (Electric) 
Gregg Paulson told the ARRL that they had "every intention of putting 
BPL Internet service in the budget and the Council can decide its fate 
as they work through the budget process." Paulson also said that while 
Internet service to consumers would "probably" be the only thing that 
would be cut if the Council decided to forego BPL, he left the door open 
as to using the BPL infrastructure for other purposes: "We still own the 
BPL network, but we may or may not use this network for utility 
monitoring or other AMI purposes."

But according to the resolution passed by the Council, the Manassas 
Utilities Department will not be using BPL for AMI, but instead will use 
"a combination of fiber and wireless technology exclusive of the BPL." 
According to the Agenda Statement for the Special Meeting, the BPL 
equipment will be removed from the system and "inquiries will be made 
regarding the salvage value."

Sumner said that the ARRL's concern was not with the business plan -- 
that he termed "obviously flawed" -- but with "the interference to 
licensed radio services -- and in particular the Amateur Radio Service 
-- inevitably caused by putting radio frequency energy on unshielded, 
unbalanced conductors. Manassas was touted as 'the most successful BPL 
deployment in the nation' when FCC Chairman Michael Powell visited the 
site with much fanfare -- and, the ARRL maintains, in violation of the 
FCC's own rules -- on the eve of the FCC's vote to adopt inadequate 
protection for licensed radio services against interference from BPL 
systems. The taxpayers and ratepayers of Manassas are not the only ones 
who benefit from the end of this ill-considered foray into BPL. Radio 
amateurs in the Manassas area have good reason to celebrate, for they 
have spent countless hours documenting the widespread interference 
caused by the system."

BPL technology uses the electricity grid in a city and the wiring in 
individual homes to provide direct "plug in" broadband access through 
electricity sockets, rather than over phone or cable TV lines. Because 
BPL wiring is physically large, is often overhead and extends across 
entire communities, these systems pose a significant interference 
potential to over-the-air radio services, including Amateur Radio.

/FCC News/: ARRL Responds to FCC's /NPRM/ Calling for New Rules on 
Vanity and Club Call Signs

In November 2009, the FCC issued a /Notice of Proposed Rule Making/ 
(/NPRM/) -- WT Docket No 09-209 -- seeking to amend the Commission's 
Amateur Radio Service rules in an attempt to clarify certain rules and 
codify existing procedures governing the vanity call sign system, as 
well as revise certain rules applicable to club stations. In March, the 
ARRL submitted comments and additional proposals to the FCC to update 
the Amateur Service's call sign assignment system and provide for 
continued growth of the Amateur Radio Service, as well as enhance the 
pride and satisfaction of licensees in their personal achievements in 
the radio art. The ARRL's positions were developed by the Executive 
Committee at its March 13 meeting. Read more here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/04/07/11423/?nc=1>.

/FCC News/: ARRL Files Comments in Response to Hospital Association 
Seeking Blanket Waiver Request for Amateur Radio Drills

In February 2010, the American Hospital Association (AHA) filed a 
request with the FCC for a blanket waiver of Section 97.113(a)(3) of the 
Commission's Rules "to permit hospitals seeking accreditation to use 
Amateur Radio operators who are hospital employees to transmit 
communications on behalf of the hospital as part of emergency 
preparedness drills." On March 3, the FCC issued a /Public Notice/ -- WP 
Docket 10-54 -- asking whether the Commission "should grant AHA's 
request for a blanket waiver of Section 97.113(a)(3) to permit amateur 
operators who are hospital employees to participate in emergency drills 
that are conducted by hospitals for accreditation purposes and that are 
not government-sponsored."

Section 97.113(a)(3) specifically prohibits amateur stations from 
transmitting communications "in which the station licensee or control 
operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of 
an employer." On April 2, the ARRL filed comments regarding the blanket 
waiver request. Read more here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/04/07/11425/?nc=1>.

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-04-08&p=0>
/FCC News/: ARRL Files /Petition for Reconsideration/ over Waiver for 
Non-Amateur Device in 70 cm Band

The Recon Scout -- manufactured and marketed by ReconRobotics -- is a 
remote-controlled, maneuverable surveillance robot designed for use in 
areas that may be too hazardous for human entry. ReconRobotics was 
recently granted a waiver by the FCC for the device to operate between 
430-448 MHz.

In January 2008, a company called ReconRobotics filed a request with the 
FCC for a waiver of Part 90 of the Commission's Rules with respect to 
the Recon Scout -- a remote-controlled, maneuverable surveillance robot 
designed for use in areas that may be too hazardous for human entry. A 
waiver is required to permit licensing of the Recon Scout because the 
device operates in the 430-448 MHz band, which is allocated to the 
Federal Government Radiolocation service on a primary basis, as well as 
the Amateur Radio Service and certain non-federal radiolocation systems 
on a secondary basis. More than two years later, the FCC granted the 
waiver request in the form of an /Order/ (WP Docket No 08-63), subject 
to certain conditions. The ARRL had opposed the waiver on the grounds 
that the device has a significant potential to interfere with amateur 
stations and that the company is simply trying to avoid redesigning for 
the domestic market a device that was designed for military use 
overseas, and as such, filed a /Petition of Reconsideration/ with the 
FCC in late March. Read more here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/04/06/11422/?nc=1>.

/Public Service/: Telephone Outage in Nebraska Was No April Fool's Joke

Early on the morning of April 1, almost 40,000 people in Southeastern 
Nebraska -- including the City of Lincoln's government, business and 
emergency centers -- found that they had no landline telephone service, 
as well as spotty cell phone coverage, thanks to an equipment 
malfunction at a Lincoln switching facility owned by Windstream 
Communications. According to news reports, residents of 12 counties were 
unable to contact 911 and dispatch centers had rely on other 
communications services -- including Amateur Radio. Read more here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/04/05/11421/?nc=1>.

/On the Air/: The First Rookie Roundup -- Coming April 18!

The ARRL's newest contest -- the Rookie Roundup -- is getting a lot of 
buzz among newly-licensed amateurs. Designed as a modern equivalent to 
the ARRL Novice Roundup from a few decades ago, this new incarnation 
combines a competitive event with some on-the-air training. The first 
Rookie Roundup is scheduled for April 18 and will be an SSB contest. The 
Rookie Roundup is six hours of fun on a Sunday afternoon that is 
designed to give new hams a chance to get their feet wet on HF and 6 
meters. Old-timers are encouraged to get on the air and work the 
Rookies, just as in they did in the Novice Roundups. The six hour event 
-- from 1800 UTC-2359 UTC -- will be held on the third Sunday of April, 
August, and December. SSB, RTTY, and CW will be featured in the 
different months. Read more here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/04/08/11426/?nc=1>.

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-04-08&p=1>
/ Coming Up in QST/ : Check Out What's in the May Issue

The May issue of /QST/ is jam-packed with all sorts of things today's 
Amateur Radio operator needs. From product reviews to experiments to 
contesting -- including a breakdown of the Second ARRL Homebrew 
Challenge -- the upcoming issue of /QST/ has something for just about 
everyone. You'll find an abundance of technical and general interest 
articles, as well as monthly columns such as Happenings, How's DX, 
Hamspeak, Vintage Radio and more. Click here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/04/07/11424/?nc=1> to discover 
what's in store for you in the May issue of /QST/, the official journal 
of the ARRL.

/On the Air/: Moonbounce for Everyone -- Courtesy of the Arecibo Radio 
Telescope!

Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico will be the site of some major 
moonbounce activity later this month. [Photo courtesy of the 
NAIC-Arecibo Observatory, a facility of the National Science Foundation]

Sending Amateur Radio signals to the Moon and back has never been easy. 
After roundtrip journeys of nearly half a million miles, even the most 
powerful signals generated by hams are exquisitely weak on arrival. 
Because of the equipment and expertise necessary for successful 
"moonbounce" operating, this facet of Amateur Radio generally has been 
confined to a small audience. But for three days in April even hams with 
very modest stations will have the opportunity to experience the thrill 
of moonbounce, thanks to the giant radio telescope at the Arecibo 
Observatory in Puerto Rico. Read more here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/04/07/11420/?nc=1>.

Solar Update

The Sun, as seen on Thursday, April 8, 2010 from NASA's SOHO Extreme 
Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope 
<http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/realtime-update.html>. 
This image was taken at 304 Angstrom; the bright material is at 60,000 
to 80,000 Kelvin.

Tad "Pay no worship to the garish Sun 
<http://shakespeare.mit.edu/romeo_juliet/romeo_juliet.3.2.html>" Cook, 
K7RA, reports: A strong solar wind blasted us on Monday and Tuesday, 
causing the biggest geomagnetic storm since 2006. On those days, the 
mid-latitude A index was 28 and 22 and the planetary A index was 49 and 
46. A search for similar numbers over the past few years yields nothing. 
In 2009, the highest planetary A index was 19 on August 30, and in 2008 
it was 37 on October 11. This is indicative of how quiet space weather 
has become in the past few years. In 2007, the planetary A index reached 
30 on April 1, and we have to go back to 2006 to find any geomagnetic 
activity as strong, when the planetary A index reached 63 and 104 on 
December 14-15. It seems counter-intuitive, but average daily sunspot 
numbers rose by 3.5 points this week to 32.4, while the average daily 
solar flux dropped more than 7 points to 77.8. NOAA and USAF predict 
solar flux at 76 for April 8-9, 75 on April 10-14 and a jump to 80 on 
April 15. The same forecast predicts planetary A index settling down to 
15, 8, and 5 for April 8-10. For some reason, despite the high 
geomagnetic activity, no reports have come in from 6 meter operators 
about auroral propagation. Perhaps we will hear from them before Friday 
when this week's bulletin is released. Look for more information on the 
ARRL Web site on Friday, April 9. For more information concerning radio 
propagation, visit the ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation 
page <http://www.arrl.org/propagation-of-rf-signals>. This week's "Tad 
Cookism" brought to you by William Shakespeare's /Romeo and Juliet 
<http://shakespeare.mit.edu/romeo_juliet/romeo_juliet.3.2.html> /(Act 
III, Scene 2)/./

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-04-08&p=2>
/ARRL Publications/: New Editions of the /ARRL Ham Radio License 
Manual/, /Tech Q&A/ Now Available

Caption goes here

Discover all the excitement of Amateur Radio when you get your 
Technician license -- your ticket to the unique mix of fun, public 
service, technology and experimenting with electronics. /The ARRL Ham 
Radio License Manual/ and /ARRL's Tech Q&A/ will guide you as you get 
started in Amateur Radio, helping you select your equipment, set up your 
first station and make your first (of many!) contacts. These manuals -- 
designed for Technician exams given /after/ July 1, 2010 -- contain all 
of the information you need to study for and pass the 35 exam questions 
derived from the new

Technician class (Element 2) question pool. The questions in the pool 
provide for the new Technician licensee to be able to establish his or 
her station and operate it legally, courteously and safely. The new 
Technician pool contains approximately 400 questions, from which 35 are 
selected for an Element 2 examination; the exam will contain graphics 
and diagrams. When you use /The ARRL Ham Radio License Manual/ and the 
/ARRL's Tech Q&A/ to study for your first license exam, you'll be on the 
air in no time! Every page presents information you will need to pass 
the exam and become an effective operator, such as radio and electronics 
fundamentals, operating station equipment, communicating with other 
hams, licensing regulations, operating regulations and radio safety. 
Read more here <http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2010/04/05/11419/?nc=1>.

This Week on the Radio
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LsUNXPtObs>

Click here <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LsUNXPtObs> to watch ARRL 
Test Engineer Bob Allison, WB1GCM, present a preview of the Product 
Review items -- including the Heil Quiet Phone Pro (with MB-1 boom mic) 
-- featured in the May 2010 issue of /QST/.

This week, the Montana QSO Party is April 9-11. The Japan International 
DX Contest, the QCWA Spring QSO and the Georgia QSO Party are April 
10-11. Next week, the TARA Skirmish Digital Prefix Contest, the Holyland 
DX Contest and the EU Spring Sprint are April 17. The Michigan QSO 
Party, the Ontario QSO Party and the YU DX Contest are April 17-18. The 
Run for the Bacon QRP Contest is April 19. All dates, unless otherwise 
stated, are UTC. See the ARRL Contest Branch page 
<http://www.arrl.org/contests>, the /ARRL Contest Update 
<http://www.arrl.org/The-ARRL-Contest-Update>/ and the WA7BNM Contest 
Calendar <http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html> for more 
info. Looking for a Special Event station? Be sure to check out the ARRL 
Special Event Station Web page <http://www.arrl.org/special-events>.

ARRL Continuing Education Course Registration

Registration remains open through *Sunday, April 25, 2010*, for these 
online course sessions <http://www.arrl.org/courses-training> beginning 
on *Friday, May 7, 2010*: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 
1; Antenna Modeling; Radio Frequency Interference; Antenna Design and 
Construction; Propagation; Analog Electronics, and Digital Electronics. 
To learn more, visit the CEP Course Listing page 
<http://www.arrl.org/online-courses> or contact the Continuing Education 
Program Coordinator <mailto:cce at arrl.org>.

	Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2010-04-08&t=r&p=0>
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2010-04-08&t=r&p=1>
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2010-04-08&t=r&p=2>
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2010-04-08&t=r&p=3>
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2010-04-08&t=r&p=4>
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ARRL Letter is published Thursdays, 50 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/.

www.arrl.org <http://www.arrl.org/>