[SFDXA] The ARRL Letter for February 6, 2014

[WILLIAM MARX]

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February 6, 2014Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME
ARRL Home
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	* Recognitions: Dayton Hamvention® Announces 2014 Award
Winners
	* Your League: ARRL Offering Three Teachers
Institute Sessions in 2014
	* Public Service: Slovenian Radio Amateurs
Fill Communication Gap in Wake of Severe Weather
	* Ham Radio in Space: Radio Amateurs Receive
Rosetta Spacecraft Signals from Deep Space
	* On the Air: School Club Roundup is February
10-14!
	* On the Air: ARRL Field Day Information
Packet Now Available
	* ARRL Centennial: ARRL Centennial Convention
Registration is Open!
	* ARRL Centennial: W1AW Centennial Operations
Now in Georgia and Hawaii
	* ARRL Centennial: A Century of Amateur Radio
and the ARRL
	* Tower Tragedy: Fatal West Virginia Tower
Collapse Takes Out Ham Radio Repeaters
	* Milestones: Past ARRL Foundation Directors
Conferred with Emeritus Status
	* Milestones: Indianapolis Entrepreneur,
Politician, Publisher Beurt SerVaas, W9WVO, SK
	* In Brief 
	* The K7RA Solar Update
	* Just Ahead in Radiosport
	* Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division
Conventions and Events
Recognitions:
Dayton Hamvention® Announces 2014 Award Winners
Dayton Hamvention is May 16-18,
2014. 
Two radio amateurs with close
ARRL ties are among the winners of Dayton Hamvention 2014 awards.
Hamvention will honor three Amateur Radio operators and one ham radio club for
their "significant contributions to the Amateur Radio Service" when the annual,
3 day gathering gets underway May 16. Named Amateur of the Year is Larry
E. Price, W4RA, President Emeritus of the ARRL and of the International
Amateur Radio Union (IARU). ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, will receive the Special Achievement
Award. The Technical Excellence Award winner is David Freese Jr, W1HKJ, and the
Club of the Year is the Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society (W4GR) of Georgia.
"We believe the winners have all made excellent
contributions to the ham radio community," said Hamvention Awards Chairman David
Crawford, KF4KWW, adding that the number of worthy nominees presented the
Awards Committee with a tough task. "We were impressed with the quality of the
nominations," he noted.
Hamvention Chairman Charles
Kaiser, KD8JZR, praised the winners. "On behalf of the Dayton Amateur Radio
Association (DARA)
and Hamvention 2014, it is my pleasure to congratulate this year's award
winners," he said. "Please join me in recognizing the outstanding contributions
and the many years of devotion the winners have given to the Amateur Radio
Service."
Larry Price,
W4RA. 
Price served as president
of the IARU from 1999 to 2009, and as ARRL president from 1984 to 1992.
Hamvention's Awards Committee said Price's leadership "had significant and
direct impact on the development of Amateur Radio throughout the world." Among
his noteworthy achievements, the panel cited the protection of frequency
allocations; the adoption of ITU Recommendation ITU-R M.1544 -- minimum
qualifications of radio amateurs; the expansion of the 40 meter band in ITU
Regions 1 and 3, and the allocation of new LF bands for ham radio.
David Sumner, K1ZZ 
As Special Achievement Award winner, Sumner was cited for his
contributions to the international Amateur Radio community through the IARU and
for his leadership in the fight against Broadband over Power Line (BPL) interference to radio amateurs.
A Technical
Excellence Award winner, Freese was recognized for his development and
distribution of the Fast Light Digital Modem Application (fldigi) family of
programs for use in amateur and emergency communications. Fldigi is an easy-to-use,
free, and open-source, multi-platform digital computer soundcard modem
program for Amateur Radio.
The Club of the Year Award
winner, the Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society, serves Gwinnett County, Georgia.
The Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society offers several, well-rounded training
programs for all ages. The club regularly hosts and supports Amateur Radio
programs and participates in a multitude of public service events, the Awards
Committee said. "Their last effort for Field Day was a massive effort that
included eight stations," Hamvention said in announcing the awards. "Their
TechFest is an opportunity for the community to become aware of the many
modes of operation of radio amateurs and view some of the preparations taking
place by public service volunteers in the ham radio community." The club
also maintains a wide-area repeater system that is home to several nets.
Dayton Hamvention 2014 will take place May 16-18 at Hara Arena near
Dayton, Ohio.
Your League:
ARRL Offering Three Teachers Institute Sessions in 2014 
The
ARRL Education & Technology Program (ETP) will offer three Teachers Institute
(TI) sessions this year. The ETP is aimed at preparing teachers to meet the
"STEM Challenge" -- introducing science, technology, engineering, and
mathematics in their classrooms. Two sessions of the basic program (TI-1),
which will provide an introduction to wireless technology, and one session of
the advanced program (TI-2), which will focus on remote sensing and data
gathering are planned for this summer. Educators must complete the basic
program before taking the advanced session.
"The ARRL
Teachers Institute is an intensive, expenses-paid, 4 day in-service teacher
training opportunity," explained Debra Johnson, K1DMJ, ARRL's education services
manager. "It is designed to help participating teachers develop a deeper
understanding of basic electronics, the science of radio, space technology,
microcontroller programming, and basic robotics." Johnson said the
objective of the basic seminar is to guide teachers in making connections between
science and math concepts, as well as to demonstrate the engineering and
technical application of those concepts and to offer some hands-on
exploration. Sessions are open to active teachers of grade levels 4-16 at a school,
college, or professional educational organization, and to leaders of
school-affiliated enrichment programs.
"We look for teachers
with a vision for how to apply the training they will receive at the Teachers
Institute in their classrooms," Johnson said. An Amateur Radio license is
required for advanced session participants; basic session participants do
not need to hold an Amateur Radio license. The basic sessions are limited to
12 people, while the advanced session is limited to 10 participants.
Participants at a TI-1 course in Rocklin, California, learn fundamental wireless
technology concepts via ham radio. [Gordon Romney, AG2G, photo] 
The introductory sessions will address
fundamental concepts of wireless technology, microcontroller essentials, and
the teaching of basic robotics. The advanced session on remote sensing and
data gathering will concentrate on basic sensor electronics, the
microcontroller programming involved in accessing the sensors, and the use of radio to
communicate sensor output data to users.
Johnson
points out that Amateur Radio has long been fertile ground for gaining knowledge
with electronics and for hands-on experimentation and application of
technology. "Drawing upon this," she said, "the ARRL Education & Technology
Program provides an opportunity for educators to learn how basic electronics
and radio science are applied, and how to convey these concepts to their
students."
The two TI-1 sessions -- Introduction to
Wireless Technology -- will take place June 23-26 at the Dayton Amateur Radio
Association, Dayton, Ohio, and July 22-25 at ARRL Headquarters in Newington,
Connecticut. The TI-2 session -- Remote Sensing and Data Gathering -- will
take place July 8-11 at ARRL Headquarters.
More details and a downloadable
application are available on the Teachers Institute web page. An enrollment
fee of $100 is required with applications, although this will be refunded
if the applicant is not admitted. The application deadline is May 1. For
additional information, e-mail or call the ARRL Education & Technology Program at 860-594-0296.
The ARRL ETP and the Teachers Institute are funded
entirely by contributions.
Public Service: Slovenian Radio Amateurs Fill Communication Gap
in Wake of Severe Weather
Amateur Radio operators
in Slovenia are helping to support communication after the Eastern European
nation was hit by extreme winter weather that has included heavy snow and
sleet, and accompanying ice damage to power and telecommunications lines --
not to mention to Amateur Radio antennas. Accumulated ice and snow took
down power lines and even toppled support towers, cutting the electrical
supply to a reported 25 percent of households, according to the European Union.
Continued bad weather has complicated repairs to the power grid, prompting
Slovenia to ask the European Union to help by providing mobile
generators.
Antenna damage at
S57NEA. [Courtesy of Stefan Lampret, S51LU] 
"What is happening since Thursday last week is something
unseen in this region," Miha Habic, S51FB, in Ljubljana, told ARRL. "Even
the oldest persons can't remember such [a] natural disaster, especially while
almost [the] whole country is suffering." Habic, the IARU liaison to ZRS, Slovenia's IARU Amateur Radio
society, said only the northeastern part of Slovenia has been spared. Serbia and
Croatia also have been affected.
"The risks associated
with winter weather continue across Europe," said Kristalina Georgieva, the
European Union Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid
and Crisis Response. "[T]he European Commission's experts in crisis
response will remain vigilant, keeping their national counterparts informed on
any developments and ready to coordinate further assistance if needed."
While there has been no national callout of Amateur Radio
emergency operators, some radio amateurs are reported to be helping out on a
local level, and others are prepared to respond if needed. Weather-related
damage has disrupted the cellular telephone network and public service
radio communication.
Austria was one of the countries
responding to the request to provide emergency generators. Because of Slovenia's
uncertain communication infrastructure, the Austrian responders asked
Austrian ham radio emergency operators to provide a link between the two
countries using Pactor and Winlink. Austria's Emergency Communications
Coordinator Gregor Vehzely, OE1VGC, has asked radio amateurs in Europe to keep clear
of frequencies supporting the links. These include 3.644 MHz (S51SLO),
3.608 and 3.617 MHz (OE3XEC), and 3.601 MHz (OE6XPD). Germany and the Czech
Republic also responded to the EU request.
Habic confirmed
that there has been no huge demand for Amateur Radio support, although
repeaters were reported out in some communities. He said February 4 that the
situation was "a bit more stable," but that snow and rain predicted for some
regions could mean more trouble. He said he's already heard reports of
weather-related damage to Amateur Radio, including S57DX in Vrhnika, which he
said was "completely destroyed." S50K in Logatec, and Radioclub Moravce's
S50G as well as S58M in Moravce suffered severe damage, he said.
He predicted, in contests coming up, the amateur community will
notice when it hears "no big competitors from Slovenia." Read more.
Ham Radio in Space: Radio Amateurs Receive
Rosetta Spacecraft Signals from Deep Space
The Rosetta spacecraft. [ESA image] 
James Miller, G3RUH, was among a handful of
Amateur Radio operators to receive the X band signal January 21 from the European
Space Agency's Rosetta spacecraft, some 500 million miles
from Earth. Miller used the 20 meter dish at the Bochum Amateur Radio
facility in Germany, run by AMSAT-DL and IUZ Bochum Observatory. In an AMSAT-BB
post, Miller noted the frequency at the spacecraft was 8421.786900 MHz, and
the signal was "about 14 dB" below that of the STEREO A/B spacecraft. Perhaps more
astonishing, Bertrand Pinel, F5PL, was able to track Rosetta 65 kilometers from Toulouse using his "home-rigged" 3.5
meter dish and receiver. And Viljo Allik, ES5PC, a member of Estonian Student
Satellite Program team reported his group was able to detect the satellite's
signal using a slightly smaller dish.
"We have recently
established our own small ground station for mostly educational purposes to get
more interested students into space technology," Allik said in a reply to
Pinel's European Space Agency blog post. The Estonians used a 3 meter dish.
Allik said the signal-to-noise ratio was in the range of 3 to 5 dB in a 1
Hz bandwidth. "So it was really exciting to see the signal from such large
distance with our very simple receiving station. The elevation of the
Rosetta spacecraft at our location was only about 4° during the
reception."
The equipment used was "a kind of amateur design," he
said. "We detected signals from other spacecraft like Gaia and
STEREO A/B too, but the signal from Rosetta is the most-distant signal we
have detected so far."
Launched in 2004, Rosetta will
both orbit and land on a comet, which it will reach this August, and send
data back to Earth. The spacecraft consists of the Rosetta space probe and the Philae robotic lander.
On the Air: School Club Roundup is February
10-14!
The "Winter/Spring Term" School Club Roundup
gets underway Monday, February 10 at 1300 UTC, and continues through Friday,
February 14, at 2359 UTC. Stations may operate no more than 6 hours in any
24 hour period (up to a maximum of 24 hours). The twice-yearly event is an
opportunity for school club stations -- from elementary school to college --
to get on the air for a friendly radio activity. Non-school clubs and
individuals are encouraged to participate too.
School Club Roundup has become one of the highlights of the
academic year for students in the Bloomington High School Amateur Radio Club,
K9SOU, in Bloomington, Indiana. 
Sponsored by the ARRL, the ARRL Hudson Division Education Task Force, and the Long Island
Mobile Amateur Radio Club (LIMARC), the contest aims to foster contacts with and among school
radio clubs.
Stations exchange signal reports, class
("Individual", "Club," or "School"), and US state,
Canadian province/territory, or DXCC entity. Stations may operate on all
amateur bands except 60, 30, 17 and 12 meters (no repeater contacts, and VHF/UHF
contacts must be on recognized simplex frequencies, except calling
frequencies). Stations may operate phone, CW, or digital modes. The top three
entries in each category will receive an Award Certificate. Entry categories are
Elementary, Middle/Intermediate/Junior High School, Senior High School
College/University. Non-school clubs or multiop groups and individuals are
also eligible for certificates.
See "Getting Organized for School Club Roundup" for
some helpful tips! Stay up to date on SCR by subscribing to the School Club
Roundup reflector.
On the
Air: ARRL Field Day Information Packet Now Available
The 2014 Field Day packet is now
available. ARRL Field Day is the most popular on-the-air event. It takes place each year
in the US and Canada on the fourth weekend in June, when thousands of radio
amateurs gather with their clubs, in groups, with friends, or by
themselves to operate "in the field" to simulate an emergency communication
situation.
Part of the Ellsworth (Maine)
Field Day 2013 operation. [Rick Lindquist, WW1ME, photo] 
In 2013, the ARRL received more than 2500
Field Day entries, representing participation by more than 36,000 radio
amateurs who completed in excess of 1.2 million individual contacts on CW,
phone, and digital modes.
Field Day 2014 is June 28-29, and
it's not too early to start planning. The Field Day Locator will help you find
a Field Day site near you. Rules in Spanish also are available. E-mail ARRL Headquarters for more information, or call 860-594-0236.
ARRL Centennial: ARRL
Centennial Convention Registration is Open!
Registration now is open for
the ARRL National Centennial Convention, Thursday, July 17, through Saturday July 19,
at the Connecticut Convention Center, to celebrate 100 years of the ARRL.
Thousands of League members and friends will gather in Hartford -- the
ARRL's birthplace -- to celebrate the first century of ARRL members' "Advancing
the Art and Science of Radio." 
The three days are
packed with activities. The first day, Thursday, includes training workshops.
Among these are Contest University, DX University, RFI 101, and a Public Service
Communications Academy. The Exhibit Hall, open Friday and Saturday, will feature ARRL
program representatives, Amateur Radio manufacturers, equipment sellers, and
an indoor flea market. The Friday evening ARRL Centennial Banquet
will be followed by a Wouff Hong ceremony. A Presidents Breakfast will be
held on Saturday. On all three days there will be opportunities to tour ARRL
Headquarters and W1AW.
A 3 day adult ticket is $75;
youth (21 or younger) is $50, which includes a training workshop on Thursday
andaccess to the exhibit hall and indoor flea market on Friday and
Saturday, plus all forums and a coach bus trip to ARRL Headquarters and W1AW.
A 2 day (Friday/Saturday) adult ticket is $25; youth are free. Other
ticket options are available, including spouse/companion tickets that include
alternative non-ham activities.
Advance registration is
recommended. Join us in celebrating 100 years! (Visit http://arrl2014.org!)
ARRL Centennial: W1AW Centennial
Operations Now in Georgia and Hawaii
The ARRL Centennial
"W1AW WAS" operations that are taking place
throughout 2014 from each of the 50 states are in Georgia (W1AW/4) and Hawaii
(W1AW/KH6) until February 12 (UTC), when they will shift to California (W1AW/6)
and Wisconsin (W1AW/9).
During 2014 W1AW will be on the
air from every state (at least twice) and from most US territories, and it
will be easy to work all states solely by contacting W1AW portable
operations.
C 
In conjunction with the 100th
anniversary of the ARRL, the ARRL Centennial QSO Party kicked off January 1 for a
year-long operating event in which participants can accumulate points and win
awards. The event is open to all, although only ARRL members and
appointees, elected officials, HQ staff and W1AW are worth ARRL Centennial QSO Party points. Working W1AW/x from each state is worth 5 points per
contact.
To earn the "Worked all States with W1AW Award," work
W1AW operating portable from all 50 states. (Working W1AW or W100AW in
Connecticut does not count for Connecticut, however. For award credit,
participants must work W1AW/1 in Connecticut.) A W1AW WAS certificate and
plaque will be available.
ARRL Centennial: A Century of Amateur Radio and the
ARRL
The "European War" began on July 28, 1914, and the
United States entered the renamed "World War" on April 5, 1917. The three
American military services -- the Navy, the Army, and the Army Air Service
-- quickly realized how ill prepared they were in the area of communication,
having neither enough operators nor enough equipment to wage a modern
war. 
The Navy soon called on
President H. P. Maxim and the ARRL for help. At that time, the ARRL
boasted some 6000 hams, who were experienced radio builders, repairmen, and
highly trained operators -- some with as many as 15 years of experience. The
Navy asked Maxim to help it find 500 operators immediately, which was
accomplished! Later, the Navy issued a second call, this time for 2000 more
volunteer radio operators; again, that requirement was quickly met. Another 1000
hams went into Navy service later in the war. The Army and the Army Air
Service raised comparable numbers of operators from among the ranks of American
radio amateurs.
When these hams provided their
services to the military, their station equipment often went with them. The
military branches were as equipment poor as they were operator poor.
The amateurs who went into the various branches of the military did
fine work. The quality of American communication links often made a great
difference in the outcome of battles. The performance of American hams
garnered accolades from many people, including Commendattore Guglielmo Marconi,
the chief signaling officer of the Italian Army.
Soon
after the war ended on November 11, 1918, the US Secretary of Commerce
said, "The officers in charge of the wireless operations of our armies in
France commend highly the skill, ingenuity and versatility of the licensed
amateur radio operators who volunteered in large numbers for military service
and served in dangerous and responsible positions."
However, things quickly took a turn for the worse for the amateur radio
community. We'll look at that unexpected and dangerous development next week.--
Al Brogdon, W1AB
Tower Tragedy: Fatal West Virginia Tower Collapse Takes Out Ham Radio
Repeaters
The collapse of two radio towers in
North-Central West Virginia on February 1 resulted in three deaths and injuries to
two individuals. The tragedy also resulted in the loss of three Amateur
Radio repeaters belonging to the Stonewall Jackson Amateur Radio Association
(SJARA) and forming
part of the HamTalk linked repeater system, which were available to assist with emergency
and disaster communication. Richard Wilt, K8TPH, reported that one tower went
down, killing two workers on the 300 foot structure and taking down a
second, shorter tower. An emergency responder died after being struck by
falling debris. Two other tower workers suffered minor injuries. 
"The towers are an important link in maintaining cell
service and repeaters for several commercial companies locally," Wilt said. "The
towers also were in use by the Amateur Radio community with three
repeaters located on the towers. These Amateur repeaters are a major part of the
North-Central West Virginia emergency communications to assist the Office of
Emergency Management of Harrison County, FEMA, and the American Red
Cross."
The Stonewall Jackson ARA has a memorandum of
understanding with the Harrison County Commission and the cities of Clarksburg and
Bridgeport to assist during emergencies that require communication support.
SJARA Vice President David Anderson, N8YPE, is the Harrison County
Emergency Coordinator. Wilt said the club has moved its weekly emergency net to
another repeater, but he said it's not known when the towers will be
replaced. He said the SJARA spent a substantial amount last year on repeater
maintenance, and he expressed concerns about the cost of replacing the
repeaters.
According to news accounts, West Virginia State Police
said three workers approximately 70 feet above the ground and a fourth man
about 20 feet above the ground were on the tower. They were said to be
repairing structural supports.
Milestones: Past ARRL Foundation Directors Conferred with Emeritus
Status
Two past members of the ARRL Foundation Board
of Directors have been honored with emeritus status. Named as a Director
Emeritus were Thomas W. Comstock, N5TC, who served on the ARRL 
Foundation Board from 1991 until 2012 and chaired the Scholarship
Committee, and Eugene H. Hastings, W1VRK, who served on the ARRL Foundation
Board from 1993 until 2014 and was a member of the Scholarship and Proposals
Committees. The honors were unanimously approved by the ARRL Foundation
Board of Directors at its Annual Meeting on January 21. The Board expressed its
appreciation to both for their "many years of dedicated service to the
ARRL Foundation."
Established in 1973 by the ARRL as an
independent and separate IRS 501(c)(3) organization, the ARRL Foundation
administers programs to support the Amateur Radio community. It is funded
entirely through the contributions of radio amateurs and friends.
Milestones: Indianapolis
Entrepreneur, Politician, Publisher Beurt SerVaas, W9WVO, SK
Beurt SerVaas, W9WVO [WISH-TV] 
Beurt SerVaas, W9WVO, of Indianapolis, Indiana,
died February 2. He was 94. Known in his home city as the politician who
revamped Indianapolis and Marion County politics, he presided over the
City-County Council for three decades. Outside of Indianapolis politics, though,
he may be best remembered as the person whose publishing company rescued The Saturday Evening Post magazine in the 1970s and moved it to
Indianapolis.
"Indianapolis has lost one of its greatest
champions and chief architect of its success," Mayor Greg Ballard said a
statement. "Beurt set a gold standard for public service in this city that all
current and future leaders should emulate."
A World War
II US Navy veteran, SerVaas served as an OSS intelligence officer during the
war and later worked for the Central Intelligence Agency. According to his obituary in The Indianapolis Star, The Saturday Evening
Post was one of an eclectic variety of businesses that SerVaas owned or
started. His first was an electroplating business he bought in the 1950s.
He entered politics in the early 1960s, winning election to the
Indianapolis City Council. He retired from politics in 2002 and, then in his 80s, sold
off most of his businesses at around the same time.
SerVaas also was an ARRL member and staunch supporter of the League during
his active years.
"Beurt was a generous and gracious
donor," said ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH. "On a visit to
Indianapolis he gave me a tour of the city and shared his fascinating
experiences with the OSS. He was truly a remarkable man!"
Elsewhere in the Amateur Radio arena, SerVaas played an integral role in
establishing popular special event station W9IMS at the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway. Read more. -- Thanks to Brian D. Smith, W9IND
In Brief  Cuba's 5 MHz
Band Comes with Strings Attached: Cuba's Ministry of Communications
(ACS) recently granted radio amateurs on the
island nation a 12 kHz wide band at 5 MHz, -- 5418 to 5430 kHz -- rather than a
channelized system. Now the ham who provided the initial information, Pavel
Milanes Costa, CO7WT, has reported that the ACS clarified during an FRC
(Federación de Radioaficionados de Cuba) gathering that hams in Cuba may not make contacts with hams outside of Cuba on the new band. "The
ACS made it clear, the band is for emergencies and experimentation [within]
the national territory, and only with Cuban hams," Milanes Costa said. "No
contact is allowed with other countries until further notice." The ACS also
said that developing procedures to handle the license updates required to
use the new band "will take a while," Milanes said. -- Pavel Milanes
Costa, CO7WT; Southgate ARC  
Amsterdam
Island DXpedition to End February 12: According to FT5ZM DXpedition team
leader Ralph Fedor, K0IR, the FT5ZM team will start taking down the
Antonelli site on the morning of February 12 local time (UTC + 5 hours). The
Mataf site will continue to operate for part of February 12 but will be off the
air by the end of the day. FT5ZM logs are available online. US West
Coast operators reported working FT5ZM on 160 meters February 4 between 1400
and 1530 UTC. W1YY/7 in Washington reported FT5ZM was "hitting S-9" on his
half-sloper antenna. The DXpedition recently topped 100,000 contacts --
Thanks to The Daily
DX; FT5ZM 
W9RAN Wins
January QST Cover Plaque Award: The winner of the January QST Cover Plaque award is Robert Nickels, W9RAN, for his article "Virtual Radar from a Digital TV Dongle." The QST Cover Plaque Award -- given to the author or authors of the most popular
article in each issue -- is determined by a vote of ARRL members on the QSTCover Plaque Poll webpage. Cast a ballot for your favorite article in the
February issue today.
CYØP Operation Approved for
DXCC Credit: The ARRL DXCC Desk has approved the 2013 operation of
CYØP -- Sable Island -- for DX Century Club credit. If a DXCC credit
request for  
this operation has been rejected in a prior application, contact
ARRL Awards Branch Manager Bill Moore, NC1L, to be placed on the record update list. Note the
submission date and/or application reference number. DXCC is Amateur
Radio's premier award. Hams can earn it by confirming on-the-air contacts with
100 DXCC "entities," most of which are countries in the traditional sense.
Learn more. -- ARRL Awards Branch Manager Bill Moore, NC1L
ARRL/TAPR Digital
Communications Conference Dates Set: The 33rd annual ARRL/TAPR Digital
Communications  
Conference (DCC) will take place in Austin, Texas,
September 5-7, at the Marriott South Hotel. More information will be posted
to the TAPR DCC web page. The ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference is an
international forum for radio amateurs to meet, publish their work, and
present new ideas and techniques. -- TAPR
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook,
K7RA, Seattle, Washington, reports: Solar activity surged this week, with
average daily sunspot numbers increasing by nearly 55 points, from 101.4 to
156.3. Average daily solar flux rose by nearly 38 points, from 142.9 to
180.4. Geomagnetic indices remained quiet -- so quiet, in fact, that on
February 4 the high-latitude college A index near Fairbanks, Alaska, was zero,
because each of the 3 hour K index readings that day were zero. The same
thing happened on January 19. 
Geomagnetic numbers
will increase over the next few days, with planetary A index predicted to
be 5, 8, 12, 10, and 8 on February 6-10, followed by 5 on February 11-16, 8
on February 17-18, 5 on February 19-24, then 8 on February 25, and 5
through the end of the month.
Solar flux should be strong,
with values of 198, 195, 190, 185, and 180 on February 6-10, 170 on February
11-12, followed by 140, 135, 130, and 140 on February 13-16, and 145 on
February 17-22. Solar flux is expected to hit 200 on March 1, drop slightly,
then peak at 210 on March 5, followed by a low of 130 on March 14.
Last Friday's bulletin reported that something seemed amiss with
the predicted solar flux and A indices from the USAF/NOAA prediction, which became apparent on the spreadsheet that we use to archive the
forecasts. Sure enough, we uncovered an error that NOAA is fixing. We'll
have more about that in the Friday bulletin, as well as an update to our 3
month moving average, which looks quite strong. We'll also have details
about a rare find at a rural library in the Western Washington Division.
Send your reports and observations, and tell about all the fun you've had on the
air this week.
Just Ahead in
Radiosport
	* Feb 7-9 -- YL-OM Contest
	* Feb 8 -- Asia-Pacific Sprint
	* Feb
8 -- FISTS CW Winter Sprint
	* Feb 8-9 -- YLISSB QSO
Party
	* Feb 8-9 -- CQ World Wide WPX, RTTY
	* Feb 8-9 -- Worldwide EME Contest
	* Feb
8-9 -- Dutch PACC Contest
	* Feb 8-9 -- Straight Key
Weekend Sprintathon
	* Feb 8-9 -- OMISS QSO Party
	* Feb 8-9 -- New Hampshire QSO Party
	* Feb 8-9 -- RSGB - First 1.8 MHz Contest
	* Feb 8-9
-- AM QSO Party
	* Feb 9 -- Milwaukee FM Simplex
Contest
	* Feb 9 -- AWA Amplitude Modulation QSO
Party
	* Feb 9-10 -- Classic Exchange, phone
	* Feb 10-14 -- ARRL School Club Roundup
	* Feb 12
-- NAQCC Monthly QRP Sprint
	* Feb 12 -- CWops Monthly
Mini-CWT Test
	* Feb 12 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug
Sprint
	* Feb 12 -- QRP Fox Hunt
	* Feb 12-13 -- CWops Mini-CWT Test
	* Feb 14 -- QRP Fox
Hunt
	* Feb 14 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
	* Feb 14-15 -- PODXS 070 Club Valentine Sprint
	* Feb 14-15 -- Russian World Wide PSK Contest
	* Feb
15-16 -- ARRL Int'l DX Contest, CW 
Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and
Events
	* February 7-9 -- Northern Florida Section Convention (Orlando HamCation® -- Regional ARRL Centennial Event), Orlando,
Florida
	* February 14-15 -- Arizona Section Convention, Yuma, Arizona
	* February 22 -- Vermont State Convention, South Burlington, Vermont
	* March 1-2 -- Alabama Section Convention (BirmingHAMfest 2014), Birmingham,
Alabama
	* March 7-8 -- North Carolina Section Convention (Charlotte Hamfest), Concord, North Carolina
	* March 7-8
-- West Gulf
Division Convention, Claremore, Oklahoma
	* March
14-15 -- Delta Division
Convention, Rayne, Louisiana
	* March 15 -- Nebraska State
Convention, Lincoln, Nebraska
	* March 15 -- West Texas Section
Convention, Midland, Texas
	* March 22 -- South Texas Section Convention (Greater Houston Hamfest), Rosenberg, Texas
	* March
22-23 -- Communications Academy, Seattle, Washington
	* March 28-29
-- Maine State
Convention, Lewiston, Maine
	* March 29 -- Microhams Digital
Conference, Redmond, Washington
	* April 4-6 -- International DX
Convention, Visalia, California
	* April 19 -- Roanoke Division Convention,
Raleigh, North Carolina
	* April 25-27 -- Idaho State
Convention, Boise, Idaho
	* April 26 -- Aurora '14 Conference, White Bear
Lake, Minnesota
	* May 3 -- South Carolina Section Convention, Spartanburg,
South Carolina
	* May 16-18 -- Dayton Hamvention -- Regional ARRL
Centennial Event, Dayton, Ohio
Find conventions and
hamfests in your
area.
________________________________

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