[SFDXA] The ARRL Letter for May 31, 2012
Bill
bmarx at bellsouth.net
Thu May 31 17:57:57 EDT 2012
If you are having trouble reading this message, you can see the original at:
http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2012-05-31
The ARRL Letter
May 31, 2012
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=2012-05-31&t=t>
* /FCC News/: FCC Expands Part 95 MedRadio Rules to Allow Devices in
2360-2400 MHz Band <#toc01>
* /MARS/: House Armed Services Committee "Urges" MARS Coordination
<#toc02>
* /On the Air/: Have Some Fun in the 2012 ARRL June VHF QSO Party <#toc03>
* /Amateur Radio Fun/: Announcing the Winners of the 2012 /QST/ Video
Contest <#toc04>
* Solar Update <#toc05>
* This Week in Radiosport <#toc06>
* Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
<#toc07>
/There will be no /ARRL Audio News
<http://www.arrl.org/arrl-audio-news>/on Thursday, May 31. The /Audio
News/will return on Thursday, June 7./
/FCC News/: FCC Expands Part 95 MedRadio Rules to Allow Devices in
2360-2400 MHz Band
In a /First Report and Order/ and a /Further Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking/ (ET 08-59) released on May 24, the FCC decided to expand the
Part 95 Personal Radio Service rules to allow medical devices to operate
on a secondary basis in the 2360-2400 MHz band. These devices -- called
Medical Body Area Networks (MBAN) -- provide a way for health care
facilities to monitor their patients via wireless networks. Because use
of these frequencies will be on a secondary basis, MBAN stations will
not be allowed to cause interference to -- and must accept interference
from -- primary services, including radio amateurs who operate on a
primary basis in the 2390-2395 MHz and 2395-2400 MHz bands. Read more
here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/fcc-expands-part-95-medradio-rules-to-allow-devices-in-2360-2400-mhz-band>.
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2012-05-31&p=0>
/MARS/: House Armed Services Committee "Urges" MARS Coordination
On May 18, the US House of Representatives approved HR 4310, /The
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013/. This bill
authorizes appropriations for military activities and prescribes
military personnel strengths for Fiscal Year 2013. When the House Armed
Services Committee sent the bill to the House, it included language in
support of the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) and called for the
three MARS branches -- Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps -- to be
brought under one umbrella. Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/house-armed-services-committee-urges-mars-coordination>.
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2012-05-31&p=1>
/On the Air/: Have Some Fun in the 2012 ARRL June VHF QSO Party
Carrie Tai, W6TAI, of Yucca Valley, California, operated in the 2011
ARRL June VHF QSO Party as a rover, working "10 grid squares, 873 miles
and lots of multipliers." Read her Soapbox entry at
www.arrl.org/soapbox/view/7739 <http://www.arrl.org/soapbox/view/7739>.
[Photo courtesy of Carrie Tai, W6TAI]
There will be lots of RF generated on 6 meters and up the weekend of
June 9-11 during the 2012 ARRL June VHF QSO Party. While many amateurs
think of the VHF+ bands as a "local" band for public service, emergency
communications or even a bit of fun on FM repeaters, weak-signal VHF+
enthusiasts know better. Even with a modest station, it's possible to
work hundreds -- or even thousands -- of miles on the VHF bands during a
good opening.
ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, is a big VHF enthusiast.
"In more than 25 years of Amateur Radio, weak-signal work on 6 and 2
meters remains the most fun and intriguing activity I do," he said.
"There is nothing like a good VHF opening -- with interesting
propagation characteristics like Sporadic-E, tropospheric ducting,
aurora and even meteor scatter and moonbounce -- VHF offers QSO
opportunities that HF can never satisfy." Read more here
<http://www.arrl.org/news/have-some-fun-in-the-2012-arrl-june-vhf-qso-party>.
Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2012-05-31&p=2>
/Amateur Radio Fun/: Announcing the Winners of the 2012 /QST/ Video Contest
The votes have been tallied for the 2012 /QST/ video contest and the
winners chosen!
Erin King, AK4JG, of Columbus, Georgia, sent her MIT acceptance letter
up into space via a weather balloon. Her video of the event won first
place in the 2012 /QST /Video Contest. Watch all the winning videos here
<http://www.arrl.org/winners>.
* //*/First Place, Amateur: Erin King, AK4JG/*: Erin -- along with her
mentor and members of the Columbus (Georgia) Amateur Radio Club
(CARC <http://www.w4cvy.org/>) -- sent a weather balloon and a
high-definition video camera to an altitude of over 90,000 feet.
They tracked the balloon across the Georgia countryside using APRS
and managed to recover the payload from the branches of a towering
pine tree. The resulting video is nothing short of spectacular. //
* //*/Second Place, Amateur: Jim Wright, N2GXJ/*: Jim's video
/Discovering the Fun/ does an outstanding job of capturing the
thrill of obtaining an Amateur Radio license and then discovering
the pleasures of HF digital operating with PSK31. When Jim unfurls
his ARRL DX Century Club certificate at the end of the video, you
can't help but smile.
* */Third Place, Amateur: Jared Gohlke, N4JMG/*: Jared chronicles a
Rowan Amateur Radio Society (RARS <http://www.rowanars.org/>)
transmitter hunt among the woods and cotton fields of North
Carolina. The result is both informative and humorous. After
watching this video you may want to try a "foxhunt" of your own!
* */Professional: Gary Pearce, KN4AQ/*: Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, is a
professional videographer and the creative force behind Amateur
Radio Video News (ARVN <http://arvideonews.com/>). Gary took his
equipment and crew to the 2012 Orlando Hamcation for a glimpse of
one of the most popular Amateur Radio gatherings in the southeastern
United States.
You can watch the winning videos in the digital edition of the July
issue of /QST/ when it becomes available in a few weeks. If you can't
wait, enjoy the videos right now on the web <http://www.arrl.org/winners>.
Solar Update
The Sun, as seen on Thursday, May 31, 2012, from NASA's SOHO Extreme
Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope. This image was taken at 304 Angstrom; the
bright material is at 60,000 to 80,000 Kelvin.
Tad "All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, Suns, moons, planets
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aK6k6tt1Z4>" Cook, K7RA, reports: The
average daily sunspot numbers sank more than 28 points this week (nearly
26 percent) to 81.9, while the average daily solar flux declined more
than 16 points to 111.6. No new sunspots appeared since May 25. The
short term outlook is for lower solar activity, with the solar flux
peaking around 120 on June 5-15 and July 1-12. The latest prediction has
solar flux at 110 on May 31-June 2, 115 on June 3-4, 120 on June 5-15,
then 115 on June 16-18, 110 on June 19-26 and 105 on June 27-28. The
predicted planetary A index is 5 on May 31-June 2, then 10, 15, 18, 15
and 8 on June 3-7, 5 on June 8-11, 8 on June 12-13, 5 on June 14-17, and
15, 12 and 8 on June 18-20, and then back down to 5 on June 21-25. Look
for more on the ARRL website on Friday, June 1. 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 Ralph Vaughan Williams' /A Sea Symphony
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Symphony> (II On the Beach at Night
Alone)/, taken from Walt Whitman's /Leaves of Grass
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass> (Book XIX
<http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass/Book_XIX#On_the_Beach_at_Night_Alone>,
verse 8)/.
This Week in Radiosport
/This week:/
* June 1 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder; HA3NS Sprint Memorial Contest
* June 2 -- Wake-Up! QRP Sprint
* June 2-3 -- Alabama QSO Party; Maritime QSO Party; 10-10
International Open Season PSK Contest; SEANET Contest
* June 5 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
/Next week:/
* June 8 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
* June 9 -- Portugal Day Contest; Asia-Pacific Sprint (SSB)
* June 9-10 -- DRCG Long Distance Contest (RTTY); VK Shires Contest;
GACW WWSA CW DX Contest; REF DDFM 6 Meter Contest
* June 9-11 -- ARRL June VHF QSO Party
<http://www.arrl.org/june-vhf-qso-party>
* June 13 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint; NAQCC-EU Monthly Sprint
* June 13-14 -- CWops Mini-CWT Test
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
* June 1-3 -- ARRL Northwestern Division Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/northwestern-division-convention-seapac-3>,
Seaside, Oregon
* June 2 -- ARRL Georgia Section Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/georgia-section-convention-atlanta-hamfest-1>,
Marietta, Georgia
* June 8-9 -- ARRL West Gulf Division Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/west-gulf-division-convention-ham-com-1>,
Plano, Texas
* June 9 -- ARRL Arkansas State Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/arkansas-state-convention>, Rogers,
Arkansas; ARRL Tennessee State Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/tennessee-state-convention-2>,
Knoxville, Tennessee
* June 30 -- ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania Section Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/eastern-pennsylvania-section-convention-electronics-expo-firecracker-hamfest>,
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
* July 20-22 -- ARRL Montana State Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/montana-state-convention-78th-glacier-waterton-international-hamfest>,
East Glacier, Montana
* July 26-28 -- Central States VHF Society Conference
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/central-states-vhf-society-conference-1>,
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
* July 27-28 -- ARRL Oklahoma Section Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/oklahoma-section-convention-ham-holiday-2012>,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
* July 27-29 -- ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/rocky-mountain-division-convention-2>,
Bryce Canyon, Utah
* August 3-4 -- ARRL Texas State Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/texas-state-convention-austin-summerfest-2>,
Austin, Texas
* August 3-5 -- Pacific Northwest DX Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/pacific-northwest-dx-convention-1>,
Portland, Oregon
* August 4 -- ARRL Ohio State Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/ohio-state-convention>, Columbus, Ohio
* August 10-12 -- RAC National Convention 2012
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/rac-convention-2012>, Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada
* August 18 -- ARRL West Virginia State Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/west-virginia-state-convention-2>,
Weston, West Virginia
* August 18-19 -- ARRL Southeastern Division Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/southeastern-division-convention-huntsville-hamfest>,
Huntsville, Alabama
* August 19 -- ARRL Kansas State Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/kansas-state-convention-2>, Salina, Kansas
* August 24-26 -- ARRL New England Division Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/new-england-division-convention-1>,
Boxboro, Massachusetts
* August 26 -- ARRL Western Pennsylvania Section Convention
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/western-pennsylvania-section-convention-2>,
New Kensington, Pennsylvania
To find a convention or hamfest near you, click here
<http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>.
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