[SFDXA] The ARRL Letter for November 3, 2011

Thu Nov 3 18:25:12 EDT 2011

If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at:
http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2011-11-03

The ARRL Letter

November 3, 2011
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=2011-11-03&t=t>

  * /Public Service/: Amateurs Assist with Communications in Aftermath
    of Rare October Nor'easter <#toc01>
  * /FCC News/: President Obama Names Two Nominees for FCC Commissioner
    <#toc02>
  * /FCC News/: FCC Terminates Proceedings Affecting the Amateur Radio
    Service <#toc03>
  * Mark Your Calendars: It's Time for the November FMT <#toc04>
  * /ARRL in Action/: What Have We Been Up to Lately? <#toc05>
  * /Enforcement News/: FCC Issues /Notice of Apparent Liability for
    Forfeiture//and/ /Order/ to Florida Man for Using Unauthorized
    Equipment <#toc06>
  * Solar Update <#toc07>
  * /On the Air/: Logbook of The World Experiencing Delays <#toc08>
  * /ARRL Congratulates/: Joe Ostrowski, KI5FJ , Wins October /QST
    /Cover Plaque Award <#toc09>
  * This Week on the Radio <#toc10>
  * Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
    <#toc11>

/There will be no /ARRL Audio News 
<http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news>/this week. The /ARRL Audio 
News/will return on Thursday, November 10, 2011./

/Don't forget! The ARRL November CW Sweepstakes is this weekend. Click 
here <http://www.arrl.org/news/2011-arrl-cw-sweepstakes-are-you-ready> 
for more information./

/Public Service/: Amateurs Assist with Communications in Aftermath of 
Rare October Nor'easter

A rare nor'easter brought historic snowfall and widespread damage and 
power outages from the Mid-Atlantic into the Northeast United States on 
the last weekend of October. Up and down the Atlantic seaboard, radio 
amateurs provided various critical services to the National Weather 
Service through the SKYWARN weather spotter program, and provided 
communications support to local, state and federal emergency management 
and non-governmental organizations.

Carl Aveni, N1FY, works at the WX1BOX desk at the National Weather 
Service office in Taunton, Massachusetts. [Rob Macedo, KD1CY, Photo]

"Amateur Radio operations at the National Weather Service office in 
Taunton, Massachusetts were active on WX1BOX, the office's Amateur Radio 
station," Rob Macedo, KD1CY, told the ARRL. Macedo serves as the Eastern 
Massachusetts ARES^® Section Emergency Coordinator and SKYWARN 
Coordinator for the NWS Taunton office. "Hams in Taunton were active for 
21 hours supporting meteorological and damage data that was shared not 
only with the NWS, but also with the media and local, state and federal 
emergency management. This brought critical situational awareness and 
disaster intelligence information in near-real time with many agencies."

In the ARRL Connecticut Section, Section leaders were conducting their 
Simulated Emergency Test (SET) when the storm hit. "Because of the 
storm, we truncated the SET operational period and braced for the 
unseasonable October snow," explained ARRL Connecticut Section Emergency 
Coordinator Wayne Gronland, N1CLV. "The planned hurricane/earthquake SET 
scenario was quickly displaced by a /real/ nor'easter! SKYWARN operators 
across the Section were activated on Saturday afternoon, and nets went 
late into the evening gathering snow, rain and wind data for the 
National Weather Service." Read more here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/amateurs-assist-with-communications-in-aftermath-of-rare-october-nor-easter>.

/FCC News/: President Obama Names Two Nominees for FCC Commissioner

President Barack Obama has nominated two new FCC Commissioners: Jessica 
Rosenworcel and Ajit Varadaraj Pai. Rosenworcel has been nominated to 
replace retiring Commissioner Michael Copps. President Obama selected 
Pai to fill the seat vacated by Meredith Attwell Baker, who left the FCC 
in June 2010. If Rosenworcel and Pai are confirmed by the Senate, the 
FCC would be at its full complement of five Commissioners.***
*

The FCC has been down one commissioner since Baker's departure, and 
Copps' departure at the end of the year would leave the agency with only 
three commissioners: two Democrats and one Republican. Only three 
sitting Commissioners may be members of the same political party. At 
present, Chairman Julius Genachowski, Copps and Mignon Clyburn are 
Democrats. If confirmed, Pai will join Commissioner Robert McDowell as 
one of the two Republicans on the Commission. Read more here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/president-obama-names-two-nominees-for-fcc-commissioner>. 

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2011-11-03&p=0>
/FCC News/: FCC Terminates Proceedings Affecting the Amateur Radio Service

The FCC issued an /Order/ on November 1 that terminated hundreds of 
proceedings, including six proceedings that members of the public, 
including the ARRL, had asked not to be terminated. Two of these six 
proceedings involved the Amateur Radio Service. This follows a June 2011 
/Public Notice/ that sought comments on whether or not it should 
terminate approximately 800 docketed proceedings.

On July 20, 2011, the ARRL filed comments with the FCC on this matter, 
explaining that it had no objection to the termination of the 
proceedings in the /Public Notice/, save for one item: The ARRL's 
/Petition for Rulemaking/ (RM-10165) /Amendment of Parts 2 and 97 of the 
Commission's Rules Regarding the 2300-2305 MHz Band/. In this 
/Petition/, the ARRL requested that the FCC change the Amateur Radio 
Service's allocation in that band from Secondary to Primary. This 
Petition was one of the six items to be terminated. Read more here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-terminates-proceedings-affecting-the-amateur-radio-service>.

Mark Your Calendars: It's Time for the November FMT

The Frequency Measuring Test (FMT)returns to the airwaves on Wednesday, 
November 9. As in April, the format will simulate a roundtable QSO in 
which all of the stations are close to the same frequency, but not 
exactly on the same frequency. This time, there will be more time -- 
about five minutes -- between the transmissions from each station. There 
will be three test signal stations: Connie Marshall, K5CM, in Oklahoma, 
Charles Collins, W6OQI, in California, and members of the Midwest 
VHF/UHF Society, W8KSE, in Ohio. If you have not participated in an FMT 
before, it doesn't take a room full of test equipment to have fun and 
make surprisingly accurate measurements. You can read all of the /QST/ 
articles about the exercises on the ARRL FMT web page. Read more here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/mark-your-calendars-it-s-time-for-the-november-fmt>.

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2011-11-03&p=1>
/ARRL in Action/: What Have We Been Up to Lately?

This feature is a concise monthly update of some of the things that the 
ARRL is doing on behalf of its members. This installment -- which covers 
the month of October -- takes a look the ARRL's reaction to the FCC's 
new BPL regulations, how the ARRL is preparing for WRC-12, ARISS 
activities, new publications, the upswing in the number of licensed 
amateurs in the US, reports from the Official Observer Desk and more. 
Read more here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/arrl-in-action-what-have-we-been-up-to-lately-39>.

/Enforcement News/: FCC Issues /Notice of Apparent Liability for 
Forfeiture//and/ /Order/ to Florida Man for Using Unauthorized Equipment

Michael Perry, of Cross City, Florida, was issued a /Notice of Apparent 
Liability for Forfeiture/ on November 1 in the amount of $10,000 for 
operating a radio transmitter without the requisite FCC authorization. 
The FCC found that Perry "willfully violated section 301 of the 
Communications Act of 1934, as amended and Sections 95.409 and 95.411 of 
the Commission's rules."

In response to a complaint of interference, agents from the Enforcement 
Bureau's Tampa Office used direction-finding techniques on March 31, 
2011 to locate the source of the interference to a signal on Citizens 
Band channel 28 (27.2850 MHz) that was coming from Perry's residence. 
The same day, agents from the Tampa Office inspected Perry's CB station, 
which he admitted to using earlier that day. The agents observed a 
non-certificated CB transmitter and three linear amplifiers as part of 
Perry's CB station. Perry admitted to the agents that two of the three 
linear amplifiers were capable of generating a power output of 200 W and 
1500 W respectively, and that he had never tested the third. The agents 
observed that the transmitter and two of the amplifiers were warm to the 
touch, indicating that the devices had been recently operated. Read more 
here 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-issues-em-notice-of-apparent-liability-for-forfeiture-and-order-em-to-florida-man-for-using-unau>.

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2011-11-03&p=2>
Solar Update

The Sun, as seen on Thursday, November 3, 2011 from NASA's SOHO Extreme 
Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope 
<http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/realtime-update.html>. 
This MDI <http://soi.stanford.edu/> (Michelson Doppler Imager) image was 
taken in the continuum near the Ni I 6768 Angstrom line. The most 
prominent features are the sunspots. This is very much how the Sun looks 
in the visible range of the spectrum.

Tad "Good day sunshine <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxYdFY94Jek>" 
Cook, K7RA, reports: We have more good solar cycle news in this week's 
bulletin, with NASA revising the estimated smoothed sunspot number for 
the peak of Solar Cycle 24 for the third consecutive month. The 
estimated value has risen nearly 30 percent since September. In 
addition, the monthly average of daily sunspot numbers has risen 87 
percent in the past two months. The latest prediction for the near term 
has solar flux at 160 on November 3, 165 on November 4-9, 155 on 
November 10, 150 on November 11-15, and peaking again at 165 on November 
17-18. For November 3-7, the predicted planetary A index is 8, 10, 12, 
10 and 8, then 5 on November 8-10, 8 on November 11-13, and 5 again on 
November 14-23. Look for more information on the ARRL website on Friday, 
November 4. 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" is brought to you by The Beatles' /Good Day Sunshine 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Good_Day_Sunshine>/.

/On the Air/: Logbook of The World Experiencing Delays

Due to a large number of radio amateurs uploading their logs to Logbook 
of The World (LoTW <http://www.arrl.org/logbook-of-the-world>) after 
last weekend's CQ Worldwide SSB Contest, the ARRL's online QSL 
verification service is experiencing delays. According to ARRL IT 
Manager Michael Keane, K1MK, there is about a 60 hour wait for the more 
than 10,000 logs in the queue to be processed. "Logs are processed in 
the order in which they were received," he explained. "If you have 
uploaded your log to LoTW, your log is currently queued for processing. 
It has not been lost in the system. Uploading your log multiple times 
will only further delay your log and those of others to be processed."

/ARRL Congratulates/: Joe Ostrowski, KI5FJ , Wins October /QST /Cover 
Plaque Award

The winner of the /QST / Cover Plaque Award for October is Joe 
Ostrowski, KI5FJ , for his article "A Simple Remote Impedance Matching 
Network. " /Congratulations Joe!/ 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 /QSTCover Plaque Poll Web 
page <http://www.arrl.org/cover-plaque-poll>/ . Cast a ballot for your 
favorite article in the November issue today.

This Week on the Radio

/This week:/

  * November 5-6 -- Ukrainian DX Contest
  * November 5-7 -- ARRL Sweepstakes Contest (CW)
    <http://www.arrl.org/news/2011-arrl-cw-sweepstakes-are-you-ready>
  * November 6 -- High Speed Club CW Contest; DARC 10 Meter Digital Contest
  * November 9-10 -- CWops Mini-CWT Test

/Next week:/

  * November 12-13 -- Kentucky QSO Party; WAE DX Contest (RTTY); 10-10
    International Fall Contest (Digital); JIDX Phone Contest; OK/OM DX
    Contest (CW); CWops Mini-CWT Test
  * November 12-14 -- CQ-WE Contest
  * November 13 -- SKCC Weekend Sprint
  * November 14 -- NAQCC-EU Monthly Sprint
  * November 17 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint

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 
information. Looking for a Special Event station? Be sure to check out 
the ARRL Special Event Stations Web page 
<http://www.arrl.org/special-event-stations>.

Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events

  * November 6, 2011 -- ARRL Iowa Section Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/iowa-section-convention>, Davenport, Iowa
  * November 19-20, 2011 -- ARRL Indiana State Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/indiana-state-convention-fort-wayne-hamfest-and-computer-expo>,
    Fort Wayne, Indiana
  * December 3-4, 2011 -- ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/west-central-florida-section-convention-tampa-bay-hamfest-1>,
    Palmetto, Florida
  * January 8, 2012 -- ARRL New York/Long Island Section Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/new-york-long-island-section-convention-ham-radio-university-2012>,
    Bethpage, New York
  * January 27-28, 2012 -- ARRL Mississippi State Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/mississippi-state-convention-capitol-city-hamfest-1>,
    Jackson, Mississippi
  * February 4, 2012 -- ARRL Virginia State Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/virginia-state-convention-frostfest-2012>,
    Richmond, Virginia; ARRL South Carolina State Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/south-carolina-state-convention-1>,
    Ladson, South Carolina
  * February 10-12, 2012 -- ARRL Northern Florida Section Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/northern-florida-section-convention-orlando-hamcation-1>,
    Orlando, Florida
  * February 17-18, 2012 -- ARRL Southwestern Division Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/southwestern-division-convention-1>,
    Yuma, Arizona
  * February 18, 2012 -- ARRL Arkansas Section Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/arkansas-section-convention-1>, Hoxie,
    Arkansas
  * February 25, 2012 -- ARRL Vermont State Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/vermont-state-convention-ham-con-2>,
    South Burlington, Vermont

To find a convention or hamfest near you, click here 
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>.

*ARRL -- Your One-Stop Resource for Amateur Radio News and Information *

Join or Renew Today! <http://www.arrl.org/join> ARRL membership includes 
/QST <http://www.arrl.org/qst>/, Amateur Radio's most popular and 
informative journal, delivered to your mailbox each month.

Subscribe to /NCJ -- the National Contest Journal 
<http://www.arrl.org/ncj>/. Published bi-monthly, features articles by 
top contesters, letters, hints, statistics, scores, NA Sprint and QSO 
Parties.

Subscribe to /QEX -- A Forum for Communications Experimenters 
<http://www.arrl.org/qex>/. Published bi-monthly, features technical 
articles, construction projects, columns and other items of interest to 
radio amateurs and communications professionals.

Free of charge to ARRL members: Subscribe 
<http://www.arrl.org/myarrl-account-management#%21/edit-info-email_subscriptions> 
to the /ARES E-Letter/ (monthly public service and emergency 
communications news), the /ARRL Contest Update/ (bi-weekly contest 
newsletter), Division and Section news alerts -- and much more!

Find us on Facebook <http://www.facebook.com/ARRL.org>. Follow us on 
Twitter <http://twitter.com/arrl>.

ARRL offers a wide array of products <http://www.arrl.org/arrl-store> to 
enhance your enjoyment of Amateur Radio

Donate <https://www.arrl.org/arrl-donation-form> to the fund of your 
choice -- support programs not funded by member dues!

Click here <mailto:ads at arrl.org> to advertise in this newsletter.

	Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2011-11-03&t=r&p=0>
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2011-11-03&t=r&p=1>
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2011-11-03&t=r&p=2>
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2011-11-03&t=r&p=3>
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&i=2011-11-03&t=r&p=4>
------------------------------------------------------------------------

The ARRL Letter is published Thursdays, 50 times each year. ARRL members 
and registered guests may subscribe at no cost or unsubscribe by editing 
their profile 
<http://www.arrl.org/Users/edit#%21/edit-info-email_subscriptions>.

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