[South Florida DX Association] The ARRL Letter for June 24, 2010
Bill
bmarx at bellsouth.net
Fri Jun 25 17:55:17 EDT 2010
If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at:
http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2010-06-24
The ARRL Letter
June 24, 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=2010-06-24&t=t>
* + /ARRL Field Day/ : Have a Frolicking, Rollicking Time in the
"Playground" <#toc01>
* /ARRL Field Day/ : W1AW Announces 2010 Field Day Bulletin Schedule
<#toc02>
* + 2009 ARRL Annual Report Now Available <#toc03>
* + /ARRL Publications/ : Lots in Store in the July/August /NCJ/
<#toc04>
* + /ARRL Publications/ : /QEX/ -- The July/August Issue <#toc05>
* + /Public Service/ : WX4NHC and Amateur Radio Featured on NHC's
New Hurricane Preparedness Web Site <#toc06>
* + Solar Update <#toc07>
* + E-mails Asking for Personal Information Are /Not /from ARRL <#toc08>
* This Week on the Radio <#toc09>
+ Available on /ARRL Audio News/ <http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news>
+ /ARRL Field Day/: Have a Frolicking, Rollicking Time in the "Playground"
Part 97 -- the portion of the FCC rules that covers the Amateur Service
-- states in Section 97.1
<http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2002/octqtr/pdf/47cfr97.1.pdf> that
one of the goals of our Service is "the continuation and extension of
the amateur's unique ability to enhance international goodwill." But
according to ARRL Field Day Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, we are more
than casual observers or bystanders on this global stage: "We are
participants in that magical playground. And I am proud to say that I'm
a ham -- my playground is the world!" This year, ARRL Field Day
<http://www.arrl.org/field-day> is June 26-27.
Henderson explains that even though at times the focus of the Amateur
Radio community is rightfully on how we can work with our towns and
communities by providing public service and emergency communications,
"Deep down anyone who has picked up a microphone, tapped out a call sign
on a brass key or descrambled a digital Baudot or PSK-31 signal
understands there is fun here. That fun knows no borders. The thrill of
the chase of adding new states, countries or grid squares to our Worked
All States <http://www.arrl.org/was>, DXCC <http://www.arrl.org/dxcc>
and VUCC <http://www.arrl.org/vucc> totals underscores that when we
'play radio' -- as some friends of mine used to say -- we are there in
large part to enjoy our hobby."
This is just one of the messages you can find in ARRL Field Day. Each
year tens of thousands of participants bring an element of fun with them
as they combine the public service aspects of the Amateur Service with
the experimental nature our hobby. As they build relationships with
served agencies and local officials at Field Day sites across the US and
Canada -- and beyond <http://www.arrl.org/field-day-locator> -- they
learn new skills as they make or renew friendships both on and off the air.
Henderson advises that as you prepare for what many consider the best
"total Amateur Radio" experience of the year, "keep in mind the old
adage -- 'All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.' Let your 'inner
child' out as you embrace ARRL Field Day 2010. Do something new this
year: Build a different antenna, try one of the newer digital modes,
operate on a band that you rarely utilize, serve as a get-on-the-air
coach for your club, show some neighbors what this 'radio thing' is all
about, organize a Scout or youth group visit to your club's set-up --
you are only limited by the borders of your mind. But then again, is
there a limit? After all -- our playground /is/ the world!"
/ARRL Field Day/: W1AW Announces 2010 Field Day Bulletin Schedule
Stations active during ARRL Field Day -- June 26-27 -- are eligible to
receive 100 bonus points for copying the special Field Day bulletin
transmitted by W1AW (or K6KPH on the West Coast) according to the
schedule below. You must include an accurate copy of the message in your
Field Day submission. The Field Day bulletin must be copied via Amateur
Radio; it will not be included in Internet bulletins sent out from
Headquarters and will not be posted to Internet BBS sites. Read more
here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/w1aw-announces-2010-field-day-bulletin-schedule>.
+ 2009 ARRL Annual Report Now Available
<http://www.arrl.org/news/2009-em-arrl-annual-report-em-now-available>
The /ARRL Annual Report for 2009/ -- now available online and in print
-- reviews the major events of the year and documents the renewed growth
of both the ARRL and the activities of the Amateur Radio Service. In
2009, the ARRL experienced a growth in membership, ending the year with
156,125 members, an increase of nearly 1 percent from 2008. ARRL
President Joel Harrison, W5ZN, called it "obvious, contrary to the soap
box of the doom and gloom crowd" that interest in Amateur Radio is still
in great shape: "2009 was a year where we exceeded our goal of 30,000
new Amateur Radio licensees and the ARRL membership grew right at 1500
members. Even in a year of national economic turmoil, our publication
and advertising sales were strong for the year and provided a solid
financial result that will allow us to continue to fund a number of
initiatives that support and defend the Amateur Radio Service." Read
more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/2009-em-arrl-annual-report-em-now-available>.
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-06-24&p=0>
+ /ARRL Publications/: Lots in Store in the July/August /NCJ/
The July/August issue of /NCJ/, /The National Contest Journal/, is
filled with the latest news from the contesting world. Whether you are
new to contesting or are a seasoned pro -- or somewhere in the middle --
you will find something in /NCJ/ just for you. In addition to the
contest-related articles, the results from the January North American
Sprint (CW) and the February North American Sprint (SSB) are in the
July/August issue of /NCJ/, as well as the results from January's CW and
SSB North American QSO Parties and February's RTTY North American QSO
Party. Of course, there are all the regular columns and features you
expect from /NCJ/: "Workshop Chronicles" by Don Daso, K4ZA; "Contest
Tips, Tricks and Techniques" by Gary Sutcliffe, W9XT; "VHF-UHF
Contesting" by Jon Jones, N0JK; "RTTY Contesting" by Ed Muns, W0YK;
"Propagation" by Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA; "Contesting on a Budget" by
Ralph Bellas, K9ZO; "Software for Contesters" by Pete Smith, N4ZR, and
"Contesting 101" by Kirk Pickering, K4RO. /NCJ/ is published six times a
year by the ARRL; it is edited by Al Dewey, K0AD. /NCJ/ is what every
contester needs in their shack -- subscribe today! Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/lots-in-store-in-the-july-august-ncj>.
+ /ARRL Publications/: /QEX/ -- The July/August Issue
The July/August issue of /QEX/ is coming soon, and it is full of
theoretical and practical technical articles that you won't want to
miss. /QEX/ is the ARRL's "Forum for Communications Experimenters."
Published bimonthly, it features technical articles, columns and other
items of interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals.
The mission of /QEX/ is threefold: To provide a medium for the exchange
of ideas and information among Amateur Radio experimenters, to document
advanced technical work in the Amateur Radio field, and to support
efforts to advance the state of the Amateur Radio art. /QEX/ is edited
by Larry Wolfgang, WR1B. Subscribe to /QEX/ today. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/em-qex-em-the-july-august-issue>.
+ /Public Service/: WX4NHC and Amateur Radio Featured on NHC's New
Hurricane Preparedness Web Site
In April, the National Hurricane Center (NHC
<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/index.shtml>) debuted a new Web site
<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/intro.shtml> dedicated to
hurricane preparedness. The site explains that a lack of hurricane
awareness and preparation are common threads among all major hurricane
disasters, and that by knowing your vulnerability and what actions you
should take, you can reduce the effects of a hurricane disaster. One of
the tools that the NHC mentions on its Web site
<http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/HAW2/english/forecast/observations.shtml> is
WX4NHC <http://www.wx4nhc.org/>, the Amateur Radio station located at
NHC Headquarters in Miami, Florida. In speaking about the WX4NHC
volunteer ham radio operators, the NHC notes that "formal Amateur Radio
activity at the National Hurricane Center was initiated in 1980 and has
been an important source of real-time weather observations before,
during and after hurricane landfalls. Dedicated ham radio volunteers
work at NHC during storm events to help provide NHC meteorologists with
very important data that is used in the hurricane warning process.
Please visit *www.wx4nhc.org <http://www.wx4nhc.org/>* for a more
detailed history of the WX4NHC ham radio service." WX4NHC Assistant
Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, said he hopes that this updated NHC Web
page "will help promote public awareness about Amateur Radio and more
activity from the Amateur Radio community during this hurricane season."
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-06-24&p=1>
+ /Amateur Radio in Space/: AMSAT Announces 2010 Conference, Calls for
Papers
The 2010 AMSAT Space Symposium and Annual Meeting
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2010/index.php> will be held
Friday, October 8 through Sunday, October 10 at the Chicago/Elk Grove
Holiday Inn located near O'Hare Airport (the same hotel that recently
hosted the Central States VHF Conference, Digital Communications
Conference and NIDXCC events). Amateur Radio operators interested in
space communications are invited to participate in the Symposium
offerings, including a space symposium with amateur satellite
presentations, as well as a chance to learn about operating techniques,
news and plans from the amateur satellite world. Attendees will be able
to meet AMSAT board members and officers and attend the annual
membership meeting, the annual banquet, the President's Club receptions
and the Area Coordinators' breakfast. Room rate and reservation
information will be announced shortly on the Symposium's Web site
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/symposium/2010/index.php>.
The AMSAT Symposium Committee is also inviting proposals for papers for
publication in the Symposium's proceedings, as well as poster
presentations and equipment and operating demonstrations. Any topic is
welcome, as long as it is of interest to the amateur satellite
community. Those interested in presenting must submit the tentative
title of their presentation as soon as possible, with a final copy
submitted by September 1, 2010 in order to be included in the printed
proceedings. Abstracts and papers should be submitted via e-mail
<mailto:k9jkm at comcast.net> to JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM. For more
information, please consult the Symposium Author's Guide
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/images/fck_images/AuthorGuide201029.txt>.
+ Solar Update
The Sun, as seen on Thursday, June 24, 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 "Dreams are the bright creatures of poem and legend, who sport on
Earth in the night season, and melt away in the first beam of the Sun,
which lights grim care and stern reality on their daily pilgrimage
through the world
<http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/dickens/charles/d54nn/>" Cook, K7RA,
reports: Despite the fact that the previous week had two days with no
sunspots, this past week had a lower average daily sunspot number,
falling nearly 11 points from 26.9 to 16.1; geomagnetic conditions were
quieter as well. In tomorrow's bulletin, we will have an updated
propagation forecast for Field Day weekend. The latest forecast shows a
slowly rising solar flux, but possibly with unsettled geomagnetic
conditions. Predicted solar flux for June 24-27 -- today through Sunday
-- is 74, 75, 75 and 76, with the planetary A index at 5, 8, 15 and 12.
The unsettled conditions on Saturday would be from a solar wind stream
spewing out a coronal hole, which may be delayed by a day or two. A two
day delay would be better for Field Day operations. Look for more
information on the ARRL Web site on Friday, June 25. 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 Charles Dickens' /The Life and Adventures of/
/Nicholas Nickleby/
<http://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/d/dickens/charles/d54nn/> (Chapter 13).
+ E-mails Asking for Personal Information Are /Not /from ARRL
We have received several reports from ARRL members with arrl.net e-mail
accounts who have recently been contacted via e-mail asking for personal
information, such as user names and passwords. Please be assured that
these e-mails are fraudulent attempts at phishing
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phishing> and did not originate from ARRL.
"This is a very crude attempt at phishing, using an easily determined
spoof of the originating/return address," said ARRL Chief Financial
Officer Barry Shelley, N1VXY. "There is never a time when we would ask
via mass e-mail for user names and passwords of arrl.net users. There is
simply no need to ever do so." If you receive an e-mail asking for
personal information and it looks like it originated from ARRL, please
do not respond, just delete it.
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2010-06-24&p=2>
This Week on the Radio
This week, everyone is on the air for ARRL Field Day on June 26-27. Look
for the His Majesty King of Spain Contest (SSB) and the Marconi Memorial
HF Contest, also on June 26-27. The SARL Digital Contest is June 27 and
the RAC Canada Day Contest is July 1. Next week, there is another
running of the NCCC Sprint Ladder on July 2. The DL-DX RTTY Contest and
the Venezuelan Independence Day Contest are July 3-4. The Michigan QRP
July 4th CW Sprint is July 4-5. 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>.
/On the Air/: /RMS Express/ with WINMOR Now Available for /Winlink 2000/
<http://www.arrl.org/images/view/News/Winmor.jpg>
The new WINMOR component of /RMS Express/ allows users to access the
/Winlink/ 2000 network on HF with virtually no external hardware -- just
a transceiver and a sound-card-equipped computer.
The Amateur Radio Safety Foundation (ARSFI) has announced the
availability of /RMS Express// /user software with WINMOR, a new
radio-email application for use with the /Winlink 2000/ network. The
WINMOR protocol was introduced at the 2008 ARRL/TAPR Digital
Communications Conference in Chicago. The goal of the WINMOR development
effort was to create a soundcard digital mode that would provide an
alternative to PACTOR for accessing the /Winlink 2000/ network. After
two years of beta testing, WINMOR TNC, a software-based "helper
application," is now available as part of the new /Winlink/ /RMS
Express/ user software suite. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/rms-express-with-winmor-now-available-for-winlink-2000>.
ARRL Continuing Education Course Registration
Registration remains open through *Sunday, July 25, 2010*, for these
online course sessions <http://www.arrl.org/online-course-registration>
beginning on *Friday, August 6, 2010*: Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications Level 1. To learn more, visit the CEP Course Listing page
<http://www.arrl.org/online-courses> or contact the Continuing Education
Program Coordinator <mailto:cep at arrl.org>.
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2010-06-24&t=r&p=0>
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