[SFDXA] The ARRL Letter for June 26, 2014

Fri Jun 27 07:33:59 EDT 2014

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The ARRL Letter

June 26, 2014
Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME <mailto:ww1me 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=2014-06-26&t=t>

  * House Bill Would Require FCC to Extend PRB-1 Coverage to Restrictive
    Covenants <#toc01>
  * Changes to Amateur Service Part 97 Rules Go Into Effect on July 21
    <#toc02>
  * Full Schedule of Youth Activities Featured at ARRL National
    Centennial Convention <#toc03>
  * Newly Minted Ham Hopes His Celestial Concert is Not HAARP'S Final
    Opus <#toc04>
  * June 19 Launch Puts Several New Amateur Radio Payloads into Orbit
    <#toc05>
  * W1AW Centennial Operations Now in Illinois and Maryland <#toc06>
  * SAQ "Alexanderson Day" Transmissions Set for June 29 and July 2 <#toc07>
  * /Amateur Radio Newsline/: No Young Ham of the Year in 2014 <#toc08>
  * SKYWARN Pioneer Alan R. Moller, N5ZCB, SK <#toc09>
  * Past IARU Region 1 PZK Liaison Officer Wieslaw "Wes" Wysocki, SP2DX,
    SK <#toc10>
  * A Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRL <#toc11>
  * The K7RA Solar Update <#toc12>
  * Just Ahead in Radiosport <#toc13>
  * Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
    <#toc14>

------------------------------------------------------------------------

*NOTICE:* Effective July 1, the ARRL is upgrading its website's Secure 
Socket Layer (SSL) certificate to keep abreat of industry standards. 
This upgrade only affects HTTPS (secure) pages on the ARRL website, 
including the e-store checkout pages, any pages that accept donations, 
or pages that allow amateurs to join the ARRL or renew their 
memberships. As a result of this upgrade, users running /Windows XP/ 
Service Pack 2 or earlier /Windows /operating systems will /not/ be able 
to access these pages.

To ensure uninterrupted service, /Windows XP/ Service Pack 2 users are 
encouraged to upgrade to Service Pack 3 or to /Windows 7/ or /Windows 
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Contact your computer professional or service center, if you have 
questions or encounter problems updating your system.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
House Bill Would Require FCC to Extend PRB-1 Coverage to Restrictive 
Covenants

A bill with bipartisan support has been introduced in the US House of 
Representatives that calls on the FCC to apply the "reasonable 
accommodation" three-part test of the PRB-1 <http://www.arrl.org/prb-1> 
federal pre-emption policy to private land-use restrictions. HR.4969, 
the "Amateur Radio Parity Act of 2014" was introduced on June 25 at the 
request of the ARRL, which worked with House staffers to draft the 
proposed legislation. The bill's sponsor is Rep Adam Kinzinger 
<http://kinzinger.house.gov/> (R-IL). It has initial co-sponsorship from 
Rep Joe Courtney <http://courtney.house.gov/> (D-CT). If the measure 
passes the 113th Congress, it would require the FCC, within 120 days of 
the Bill's passage, to amend the Part 97 Amateur Service rules to apply 
PRB-1 coverage to include homeowners' association regulations and deed 
restrictions, often referred to as "covenants, conditions, and 
restrictions" (CC&Rs). Presently, PRB-1 only applies to state and local 
zoning laws and ordinances.

"There is a strong federal interest in the effective performance of 
Amateur Radio stations established at the residences of licensees," the 
bill states. "Such stations have been shown to be frequently and 
increasingly precluded by unreasonable private land-use restrictions, 
including restrictive covenants."

The 11-page PRB-1 FCC /Memorandum Opinion and Order/ is codified at § 
97.15(b) <http://www.arrl.org/part-97-amateur-radio> in the FCC Amateur 
Service rules, giving the regulation the same effect as a federal 
statute. In short, PRB-1 states that local governments cannot preclude 
Amateur Radio communications; they must "reasonably accommodate" amateur 
operations, and the state and local regulations must be the minimum 
practicable regulation to accomplish a legitimate governmental interest. 
Subject to those guidelines, municipalities may still establish 
regulations with respect to height, safety, and aesthetic concerns.

For 28 years, FCC regulations have "prohibited the application to 
Amateur Radio stations of state and local regulations that preclude or 
fail to reasonably accommodate Amateur Service communications," the bill 
points out, "or that do not constitute the minimum practicable 
regulation to accomplish a legitimate state or local purpose." Since 
PRB-1 was enacted, the FCC has said several times that it would prefer 
to have some guidance from Congress before extending the policy to 
private land-use regulations.

HR.4969 has been referred to the House Energy and Commerce Committee. 
Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR), chairs that panel's Communications and 
Technology Subcommittee, which will consider the measure.

ARRL Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, is a principal 
advocate for the current legislative initiative to gain PRB-1 
recognition for CC&Rs. Lisenco said the most urgent task now is to get 
additional co-sponsors to sign onto HR.4969.

Changes to Amateur Service Part 97 Rules Go Into Effect on July 21

The FCC's recently announced revisions to the Part 97 Amateur Radio 
rules governing exam credit to former licensees, test administration, 
and emission types will go into effect on Monday, July 21. The new rules 
were published 
<http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2014-06-20/pdf/2014-14414.pdf> in /The 
Federal Register/ on June 20. Earlier this month, the Commission 
announced that it would grant examination credit for written elements 3 
(General) and 4 (Amateur Extra) to holders of "expired licenses that 
required passage of those elements." The FCC will require former 
licensees falling outside the 2-year grace period to pass Element 2 
(Technician) in order to be relicensed. The Commission declined to give 
exam credit to holders of expired /Certificates of Successful Completion 
of Examination/ (/CSCEs/) or to extend lifetime validity to /CSCE/s.

The FCC also embraced the use of remote testing methods, allowing 
volunteer examiners and volunteer examiner coordinators "the option of 
administering examinations at locations remote from the VEs." The 
National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) in 2002 
endorsed experimental use of videoconferencing technology to conduct 
Amateur Radio testing in remote areas of Alaska. The Commission dropped 
its earlier proposal to permit two VEs to administer exams; the 
requirement remains at three VEs. The Commission did not spell out the 
"mechanics" of remote testing, however, which, it said, would "vary from 
location to location and session to session." VEs administering 
examinations remotely must grade such examinations "at the earliest 
practical opportunity," rather than "immediately," as the current rule 
for conventional exam sessions requires.

In addition, the FCC adopted an ARRL proposal to authorize certain Time 
Division Multiple Access (TDMA) emissions in the Amateur Service. The 
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau in 2013 granted an ARRL request for a 
temporary blanket waiver to permit radio amateurs to transmit emissions 
with designators FXD, FXE, and F7E, pending resolution of the rulemaking 
petition. That waiver becomes permanent on July 21.

The Commission also made "certain minor, non-substantive amendments" and 
corrections to the Amateur Service rules.

Full Schedule of Youth Activities Featured at ARRL National Centennial 
Convention

The ARRL National Centennial Convention <http://ARRL2014.org/> July 
17-19 in Hartford, Connecticut, will feature a wide-ranging slate of 
youth activities <http://ARRL2014.org/#youth> aimed at younger hams and 
prospective hams. Scheduled on Friday and Saturday, the youth activities 
include two youth forums, a hidden transmitter hunt, a scavenger hunt, 
and the Youth Radio Lab. The ARRL Discovery Station in the ARRL exhibit 
area in the Exhibition Hall Friday and Saturday will highlight programs 
of interest to visitors of all ages, with an emphasis on younger 
visitors. A separate forum will expand on some of the Discovery Station 
presentations and activities.

ARRL Discovery Station team leader Tommy Gober, N5DUX, takes W1AW for a 
spin during a visit to ARRL Headquarters.

"The Discovery Station will have a range of hands-on exhibits to help 
visitors to understand the basics of radio waves, and projects that 
young operators can explore in the world of exciting world of Amateur 
Radio," said Tommy Gober, N5DUX, who will head up the ARRL Discovery 
Station team. "Stop by the Discovery Station to discover the different 
parts of what makes up a radio wave, try out some of the electronic kits 
available through the Education & Technology Program (ETP 
<http://www.arrl.org/education-technology-program>), and get inspired to 
create something of your own."

<http://arrl2014.org>Gober said the Discovery Station will feature some 
of the robots developed by ARRL Teachers Institute participants, as well 
as a CubeSat simulator, and an audio-frequency oscillator with an 
oscilloscope display and speakers -- to demonstrate the relationship 
between amplitude and frequency. Visitors will be able to change these 
relationships by moving their hands over a sensor. "We'll also have two 
different-sized coils to stretch or shrink to demonstrate the 
relationship of coil size and spacing on inductance," Gober added. 
"Essentially, [we'll offer] stimulating, hands-on things for visitors to 
do."

Visitors do not need to be Amateur Radio licensees to attend the 
convention, but registration is required for all attendees, including 
youth. Two-day tickets (Friday and Saturday) are free for those who are 
age 21 or younger. Advance registration <http://ARRL2014.org/> is 
recommended.

/*Youth Forum Schedule*/

  * On Friday at 1 PM, Tommy Gober, N5DUX, invites all comers to a Youth
    Fox Hunt. Young radio amateurs are invited to explore the basics of
    radio direction finding in a hidden-transmitter hunt -- or fox hunt.
    The activity will involved the use of directional antennas to hunt
    down two secret transmitters.
  * On Friday at 2 PM, presenters Carole Perry, WB2MGP, and Kyle Watt,
    KD2DWC, will host Youth Forum #1. This is an opportunity for younger
    and older radio amateurs to see a demonstration, "Rapid Deployment
    of Antennas for Portable Operations," developed by KD2DWC.
  * On Friday at 3 PM, Tommy Gober, N5DUX, invites young convention
    attendees to learn some of the hows and whys behind the activities
    and demonstrations at the ARRL Discovery Station. It's an
    opportunity to learn the basics of frequency, amplitude and
    interacting with simple circuits.
  * On Saturday at 9 AM, the Youth Scavenger Hunt gets underway. Tommy
    Gober, N5DUX, invites young radio amateurs to join the search for
    various items in and around the Centennial Convention. Prizes will
    be offered to those who are the first to find certain individual
    items as well as to those who are first to complete the entire list.
  * On Saturday at 10 AM, Carole Perry, WB2MGP, Devlin Murray, KC2PIX,
    and Chris Blackwood, KD2CXC, will host Youth Forum #2. This forum
    will offer a youthful perspective on robotics, Amateur Radio, and
    public service. It will include a demonstration of the robotic
    device that the young people have built.
  * On Saturday at 11 AM, the Youth Radio Lab with Tommy Gober, N5DUX,
    will feature an exciting, hands-on activity. Those attending will
    build a simple crystal radio receiver, which they can take home. --
    Read more
    <http://www.arrl.org/news/full-schedule-of-youth-activities-featured-at-arrl-national-centennial-convention>.

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2014-06-26&p=0>
Newly Minted Ham Hopes His Celestial Concert is Not HAARP'S Final Opus

Not long before the US Air Force notified Congress in May that it 
planned to dismantle the High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program 
-- better known as HAARP -- a researcher at the unique and

Part of HAARP's 180-antenna field, bisected by a row of transmitter 
shelters. [Courtesy of Chris Fallen, KL3WX]

controversial facility near Gakona, Alaska, briefly turned its 
ultra-high power HF transmitter into a celestial musical instrument. 
That "music of the spheres" could turn out to be HAARP's swan song. The 
Air Force has told lawmakers that keeping HAARP in operation would not 
be a good use of its research funds. In April, when he orchestrated 
HAARP's turn on the musical stage, Chris Fallen, now KL3WX -- he got his 
Technician ticket on May 5 -- was training as a HAARP operator on the 
outside chance that his alma mater, the University of Alaska Fairbanks 
(UAF <http://www.uaf.edu/>), might take over the sprawling plant. As a 
UAF grad student, Fallen wrote his thesis on HAARP, inspired by a 2005 
visit to a HAARP open house. Now a UAF assistant professor of space 
engineering, Fallen is distressed that he might not be able to continue 
his investigations. But don't look for Maestro Fallen to take the HAARP 
Farewell Tour on the road just yet.

As NPR's "All Things Considered" news magazine reported 
<http://www.npr.org/2014/06/10/319539712/bye-bye-to-the-home-of-a-favorite-internet-conspiracy-theory> 
on June 10, Fallen used HAARP's 3 GW transmitter and 30-acre antenna 
farm in April to create music that literally came from above. Employing 
what is known as the Luxembourg Effect, in which the ionosphere serves 
as a heavenly mixing device for radio signals on different frequencies, 
Fallen transmitted separate pieces of music directly skyward from

A HAARP control position. [Courtesy of Chris Fallen, KL3WX]

HAARP. In his report, "Bye-Bye To The Home Of A Favorite Internet 
Conspiracy Theory," NPR's Geoff Brumfield said the Luxembourg Effect 
blended the different pieces together. As Fallen explained, "These two 
different musical performances were essentially mixed in space."

The result was an otherworldly "New Age" type concerto reminiscent of a 
glass harp composition, no pun intended. Students visiting UAF composed 
two "complementary pieces" of music for the experiment, according to a 
report 
<http://www.anchoragepress.com/news/haarp-plays-one-last-song/article_f438c63e-ec38-11e3-a534-0019bb2963f4.html> 
in /The Anchorage Press/. Fallen explained on NPR that he transmitted 
one of the pieces at 3.25 MHz, the other at 4.25 MHz. The ionosphere 
reflected the resulting "mix tape" of sorts back to Earth for the 
listening pleasure of Fallen and his, uhhh, co-conspirators.

The Air Force told Congress that it intended to call in the wrecking 
ball as early as this summer, but things now are in limbo. Built in 1990 
at a cost of nearly $300 million, HAARP's immediate trajectory toward 
the scrap heap has been paused, while the Air Force and UAF attempt to 
work out a deal to have the university take over HAARP -- lock, stock, 
and conspiracy theories.

One of the massive diesel generators that help to power the HAARP site. 
[Courtesy of Chris Fallen, KL3WX]

Fallen said a couple of the scientists with him on site in April were 
hams, and conversations during lulls in their research turned toward 
vintage radio gear. "News about the future of HAARP from AFRL was 
increasingly grim, and, as I have been working with the instruments 
there for several years, I started to pursue a ham license to continue 
working with radio in some capacity, particularly the HF bands, where 
the ionosphere plays an important role." He is already preparing to 
upgrade to General.

Fallen told ARRL that he remains optimistic that HAARP will support 
additional research campaigns in the short term, but "nothing would 
surprise me at this point." As he sees it, HAARP's future will in part 
depend on "the creativity of the atmospheric science and radio 
communities for developing new operational and funding models." -- Read 
more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/newly-minted-ham-hopes-his-celestial-concert-is-not-haarp-s-final-opus>.

June 19 Launch Puts Several New Amateur Radio Payloads into Orbit

A /Dnepr/ launch vehicle carried several Amateur Radio payloads aloft 
from Russia on June 19. The 37 spacecraft for research and commercial 
applications, about one-third of them carrying Amateur Radio packages, 
marked a new record for the most spacecraft launched by a single rocket 
. Among the Amateur Radio payloads now

A /Dnepr/ launcher blasts off on June 19 from Russia.

in orbit is FUNcube-3, a transponder-only payload on the QB50 
<http://www.isispace.nl/HAM/qb50p.html> precursor CubeSat, QB50p1 
<http://www.isispace.nl/HAM/qb50p.html>. FUNcube-3 carries an inverting 
400 mW SSB/CW transponder, with an uplink passband of 435.035-435.065 
MHz (LSB) and a downlink passband of 145.935-145.965 MHz (USB).

The otherwise nearly identical QB50p2 package carries an Amateur Radio 
435/145 MHz FM voice transponder as well as packet on 145.880 MHz, 
1200bps BPSK and 145.840 MHz, 9600 bps FSK. The QB50 satellites will 
become available to radio amateurs after 6 months of testing. The QB50 
program plans to launch a constellation of 50 small science research 
satellites.

The QB50p1 and QB50p2 satellites. [ISIS photo, courtesy of AMSAT-UK]

TabletSat-Aurora <http://tinyurl.com/TabletSat-Aurora-Description>, 
built in Russia, carries a experimental D-STAR parrot 
(store-and-forward) repeater running 0.8 W (GMSK) on 437.050 MHz (±10 
kHz). It can store a voice message of up to 8 seconds. Two other 
transceivers on the satellite operate on 435.550 MHz and 436.100 MHz. 
Their power can be varied by ground-station command from between 0.8 and 
2.0 W. They will be used for command and control and transmit GMSK 
telemetry data.Unofficial reports indicate that the D-STAR repeater 
could become operational in early July and that when the D-STAR repeater 
is active telemetry will be turned off.

In the hours immediately following the launch, signals were reported 
from FUNcube-3, POPSAT, QB50p1, QB50p2, UniSat-6, BugSat-1 -- the first 
satellite to be deployed after launch -- NanosatC-BR1, Duchifat-1, 
TabletSat-Aurora, and DTUsat-2. BugSat-1 contains an Amateur Radio 
digipeater, which will be activated after the satellite's primary 
mission has been completed.

UniSat-6 <http://www.gaussteam.com/category/unisat-6/>, which transmits 
on 437.425 MHz (9600 bps GFSK at 2 W) with the call sign II0US, carried 
Tigrisat, Lemur 1, ANTELSat 
<http://integra.antel.com.uy/category/sociedad/sociedad-antelsat/>, and 
AeroCube 6. ANTELSat is the first Uruguayan satellite. It carries a 
telemetry downlink and a command uplink (437.575 MHz 1200 bps AFSK) with 
a 2403.000 MHz (1 Mbit GFSK/MSK) downlink for payload data, and a 
437.280 MHz CW beacon.

W1AW Centennial Operations Now in Illinois and Maryland

The ARRL Centennial W1AW WAS 
<http://www.arrl.org/files/file/On%20the%20Air/W1AW_2014_sked.pdf> 
operations taking place throughout 2014 from each of the 50 states are 
now in Illinois and Maryland. They will relocate at 0000 UTC on 
Wednesday, July 2 (the evening of July 1 in US time zones), to Wisconsin 
(W1AW/9) and Utah (W1AW/7). During 2014 W1AW will be on the air from 
every state (at least twice) and most US territories, and it will be 
easy to work all states solely by contacting W1AW portable operations. 
Some schedule changes have been made, and the W1AW WAS list has been 
updated to reflect these.

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ARRL, the ARRL Centennial QSO 
Party <http://www.arrl.org/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 
<http://www.arrl.org/centennial-qso-party#Table>.

Working W1AW/x from each state is worth 5 points per mode/contact, even 
when working the same state during its second week of activity.

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.

The ARRL has posted an ARRL Centennial QSO Party leader board 
<https://centennial-qp.arrl.org> that participants can use to determine 
how many points they have accumulated in the Centennial QSO Party and in 
the W1AW WAS operations. Log in using your Logbook of The World (LoTW 
<http://www.arrl.org/logbook-of-the-world>) user name and password, and 
your position will appear at the top of the leader boards. Results are 
updated daily, based on contacts entered into LoTW.

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2014-06-26&p=1>
SAQ "Alexanderson Day" Transmissions Set for June 29 and July 2

The annual "Alexanderson Day" transmission from the World Heritage 
Grimeton <http://grimeton.org> site in Sweden, using the vintage 
Alexanderson alternator on 17.2 kHz, will take place Sunday, June 29 at 
0900 UTC (SAQ will start tuning at about 0830 UTC) and again at 1200 UTC 
(SAQ will start tuning at about 1130 UTC). Another SAQ transmission will 
take place on July 2 at 1430 UTC (SAQ will start tuning at about 1400 
UTC), to mark 10 years since SAQ was designated as a World Heritage site.

"Alexanderson Day" Amateur Radio activity from SAQ Grimeton club station 
SK6SAQ will get underway at about 0800 and continue until about 1400 
UTC, except during SAQ transmissions. Listen for SK6SAQ on 14.035 MHz 
(CW), 14.215 MHz (SSB), and 3.535 MHz (CW) QSL via the bureau.

QSL reports for SAQ are welcome via e-mail or via the bureau, or QSL

An SAQ operator sends CW during a public demonstration of the historic 
facility. [Grimeton Heritage photo]

direct to Alexander-Grimeton Veteranradios Vaenner, Radiostationen, 
Grimeton 72 SE-432 98 GRIMETON, Sweden.

In January, SAQ reported that nearly 300 listeners -- most of them in 
Europe -- reported <http://www.alexander.n.se/> hearing the 17.2 kHz CW 
transmission from SAQ on Christmas Eve 2013. The reports included three 
from the US.

Dating from the 1920s, the Alexanderson alternator 
<http://alexander.n.se/in-english/the-high-frequence-generator/> -- 
essentially an ac alternator run at extremely high speed -- can put out 
200 kW but typically is operated at less than one-half that power level. 
Once providing reliable transatlantic communication, it is now a museum 
piece and only put on the air on special occasions.

The transmitter was developed by Swedish engineer and radio pioneer 
Ernst Alexanderson, who was employed at General Electric in Schenectady, 
New York, and was chief engineer at the Radio Corporation of America.

Six 400+ foot towers with 150 foot crossarms support a multi-wire 
antenna for SAQ. The actual signal radiates from vertical wires, one 
from each tower. Amateur Radio station SK6SAQ operates from the 
Alexanderson alternator site.

/Amateur Radio Newsline/: No Young Ham of the Year in 2014

/Amateur Radio Newsline <http://www.arnewsline.org/>/ has announced that 
it will not name a 2014 Young Ham of the Year (YHOTY 
<http://www.arnewsline.org/yhoty/>). /Newsline/ Editor Bill Pasternak, 
WA6ITF, told ARRL that not enough nominations were received by the May 
30 deadline."We initiated the award in 1986, so this would have been the 
28th year it would have been presented," Pasternak said.

Young Ham of the Year Award Judging Committee Chair Mark Abramowicz, 
NT3V, said the committee's decision to defer this award this year due to 
the low number of nominees "does not in any way reflect on the quality 
of the nominees we did receive or on their nominators. It's simply the 
decision of the judges that more nominations and documentation would be 
needed to make a fair determination of the Young Ham of the Year." 
/Newsline/ said it plans to open nominations for the 2015 YHOTY in February.

SKYWARN Pioneer Alan R. Moller, N5ZCB, SK

National Weather Service forecaster, storm chaser, and SKYWARN 
<http://www.skywarn.org/> pioneer Alan "Al" Moller, N5ZCB, of Benbrook, 
Texas, died 
<http://www.dallasnews.com/obituary-headlines/20140620-national-weather-service-forecaster-and-storm-chaser-alan-moller-dies-at-64.ece> 
June 19. He was 64. Moller and Chuck Doswell were the primary 
contributors to the development of the national SKYWARN program.

Al Moller, N5ZCB.

Moller was a Senior Forecaster (retired) at the National Weather Service 
Fort Worth, Texas, Office, where, the NWS said, he "tirelessly worked to 
better understand thunderstorms and tornadoes, while at the same time 
teaching others to responsibly observe and report storm information from 
the field. He was a voice and a bridge between operational and research 
meteorology, and thus, was respected by both of these meteorological 
disciplines."

He also was a writer and cinematographer, known for StormWatch 
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0989714/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk1> (1995), 
Tornadoes: A Spotter's Guide 
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1883381/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk2> (1977), and 
Chasing the Wind 
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1941483/?ref_=nm_ov_bio_lk3> (1991). In 
addition, Moller enjoyed nature and landscape photography.

Moller held bachelor's and master's degrees in meteorology from The 
University of Oklahoma. Doswell, a friend and colleague Moller met at 
the University of Oklahoma, described Moller as passionate about public 
service as well as about forecasting and severe storms.

According to his /Dallas Morning News/ obituary 
<http://www.dallasnews.com/obituary-headlines/20140620-national-weather-service-forecaster-and-storm-chaser-alan-moller-dies-at-64.ece>, 
Doswell and Moller started a storm-chaser program in 1972, theorizing 
that weather observations from the field could help forecasters. This 
established the groundwork for SKYWARN, a volunteer program with nearly 
290,000 trained severe-weather spotters, many of them Amateur Radio 
licensees, who work with NWS forecasters by providing real-time 
observations.

Memorials may be made to the Humane Society of North Texas, 1840 E 
Lancaster Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76103. Read more 
<http://www.arrl.org/news/skywarn-pioneer-alan-r-moller-n5zcb-sk>./-- 
Thanks to Sam Barricklow, K5KJ/

Ad <http://www.arrl.org/nladclick.php?n=al&t=i&i=2014-06-26&p=2>
Past IARU Region 1 PZK Liaison Officer Wieslaw "Wes" Wysocki, SP2DX, SK

Wieslaw "Wes" Wysocki, SP2DX, of Sopot, Poland, died unexpectedly on 
June 15. He was 82. Wysocki was an honorary member of the PZK, Poland's 
International Amateur Radio Union (IARU <http://www.iaru.org/>) 
member-society. For 10 years he served as IARU Region 1 Liaison Officer 
for the PZK, attending many Region 1 meetings and conferences. He also 
was the oldest living founder of the Old Timers Club of the PZK and 
served for many years as vice president.

Wes Wysocki, SP2DX.

Wysocki got into Amateur Radio in the mid-1940s. "He was very involved 
in the growth and development of Amateur Radio in Poland," said OTC 
President Ryszard Czerwinski, SP2IW, who called Wysocki "a seasoned CW 
operator" and avid contester. He said Wysocki helped to revive the PZK 
in 1956, after years of inactivity during the Stalin era.

According to Czerwinski, Wysocki had 330 DXCC entities confirmed, 
operating with 100 W and wire antennas. "We remember him as a 
knowledgeable and friendly colleague," Czerwinski said. "Wes was an icon 
and an example to follow for future generations of Amateur Radio 
enthusiasts."

------------------------------------------------------------------------
A Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRL

On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began, with a surprise invasion by 
North Korea. In the days following, Amateur Radio played a valuable and 
unexpected role. When the invasion began, military personnel who were 
hams -- mostly in South Korea, Japan, and the US -- were the first 
bearers of the bad news, even before military communication links got 
word back to Washington. Until United Nations military personnel became 
organized with their own communication, hams continued to provide early 
radio communication.

Throughout the Korean War, the Military Affiliate (now Auxiliary) Radio 
Service (MARS) and amateur operators devoted tens of thousands of hours 
to handling phone patch traffic between military personnel and their 
families back home.

In 1952, W2ZXM/mm, Captain Kurt Carlsen, brought the world's attention 
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t2IKwZJgFRI> to Amateur Radio in a huge 
way. His command, the passenger/freighter /Flying Enterprise/, was 
damaged mid-sea by hurricane-force winds and high seas. "Captain 
Stay-Put" -- as the news media dubbed him -- ordered crew and passengers 
to abandon ship when the vessel started taking on water and listing 
heavily. Using his ham know-how, he managed to stay on the air using 
improvised equipment, antennas, and power, even after the radio room was 
flooded. He remained in radio contact from the ship until just before it 
sank. He was the star of an New York City ticker-tape parade and was 
knighted by the King of Denmark for his heroism.

Sixty years ago: The June 1954 cover of /QST/ featured this fanciful 
Field Day on the moon cartoon by Gil, W1CJD.

The 15 meter band opened for US hams on May 1, 1952 -- at first, for CW 
only. At the same time, the 40 meter voice sub-band was opened to US hams.

On August 15, 1952, the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) 
came into being. /QST/ continued to publish article on mobile/portable 
Civil Defense equipment for 10 and 6 meters. In addition to RACES 
operation on 10 meters, many hams were becoming quite interested in the 
band for its DX potential.

Two interesting articles appeared in /QST/ describing extreme 10 meter 
antennas. One was a 3 element vertical beam for mobile use. A 
quarter-wave director and reflector were added to the typical mobile 
whip for portable (/not/ mobile) use on a rear bumper-mounted boom. The 
driver would position the car to "rotate" the antenna. The second 
extreme antenna was a full-sized Yagi featuring rack-and-pinion gearing 
to adjust the lengths of each element from the shack, so the antenna 
could be tuned exactly.

A third extreme antenna -- not reported in /QST -- /was built by a 
Midwestern ham who commuted daily in his VW Beetle. Much of his commute 
involved about 40 minutes of driving on a long stretch of highway with 
no overpasses. He built a quarter-wave mobile antenna that could be 
assembled and disassembled quickly. When he reached the start of his 
unobstructed drive, he would put up his antenna and put out a /big/ 
signal on 40 phone.

Lots of things were happening in Amateur Radio in the early 1950s, so 
next week we will look at that period a bit more. /-- Al Brogdon, W1AB/

------------------------------------------------------------------------
The K7RA Solar Update

Solar activity continues to weaken, with average daily sunspot numbers 
dropping nearly 69 points to 72.3, and average daily solar flux down by 
nearly 36 points to 98.8.

Predicted solar flux for Field Day weekend, Friday through Sunday, June 
27-29, is 105, 110, and 115. Predicted planetary A index for those dates 
is 8, 12 and 8.

The predicted solar flux for the next 7-day reporting period, June 
26-July 2, is 111.4 -- about the same as the forecast for this weekend, 
but a little above the 98.8 from the previous reporting period, June 19-25.

If we look at bulletins for 2014, 98.8 was the lowest average reported 
flux value. The highest average was 201.6 in the January 2-8 reporting 
period, and the second was 180.4 in the January 30-February 5 reporting 
period. The weekly solar flux averages reported in bulletins covering 
May 8 through June 25 were 157.5, 128.5, 110.3, 104.1, 146.4, 134.7, and 
98.8, respectively.

How will this weekend compare with Field Day 2013? Average solar flux 
reported for the equivalent period last year, June 20-26, was 122 -- not 
much higher than this year's numbers.

The latest predicted solar flux for the near term is 100, 105, and 110 
for June 26-28, 115 for June 29-30, 120, 115, and 135 for July 1-3, 130 
for July 4-5, 135, 140, and 135 for July 6-8, 130 for July 9-10, and 125 
on July 11. Solar flux continues to drift downward reaching a short term 
minimum of 95 on July 21, then a high of 140 on August 3.

Predicted planetary A index is 5, 8, 12, and 8 for June 26-29, 5 for 
June 30-July 1, 8 on July 2, then 5 for July 3-10, 8 for July 11, 5 for 
July 12-13, then 8, 12, 8, and 8 for July 14-17, and 5 after that, 
returning to 8 for July 22-23.

This weekly "Solar Update" in /The ARRL Letter/ is a preview of the 
"Propagation Bulletin" issued each Friday. The latest bulletin and an 
archive <http://arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive-propagation> of past 
propagation bulletins is on the ARRL website.

In this week's Friday bulletin look for an updated forecast and reports 
from readers. Send <mailto:k7ra at arrl.net> me /your/ reports and 
observations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Just Ahead in Radiosport

  *

    June 26-30 -- SARL Top Band QSO Party (SSB, CW)

  *

    June 28 -- His Majesty King of Spain Contest (SSB)

  *

    June 28-29 -- ARRL Field Day (SSB, CW, digital)
    <http://www.arrl.org/field-day>

  *

    June 28-30 -- Marconi Memorial HF Contest (CW)

  *

    June 30 -- Ten-Ten Spirit of 76 QSO Party (SSB, CW, digital)

  *

    July 1 -- Canada Day Contest (SSB, CW)

  *

    July 3 -- CWops Weekly Mini-CWT Tests

  *

    July 4-5 -- MI QRP July 4th Sprint (CW)

  *

    July 5-6 -- 070 Club 40 Meter Firecracker PSK31 Sprint

  *

    July 5-6 -- DL DX RTTY Contest

  *

    July 6 -- DARC 10 Meter Digital Corona

  *

    July 6 -- OK1WC Memorial Contest (SSB, CW)

  *

    July 6 -- QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew (CW)

  *

    July 8 -- ARS Spartan Sprint (CW)

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events

  *

    July 5 -- Eastern Pennsylvania Section Convention
    <http://www.w3uu.org>, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania

  *

    July 9-12 -- Mobile Amateur Radio Awards National Convention
    <http://marac.org/2014registration.pdf>, Visalia, California

  *

    *July 17-19 --****ARRL National Centennial Convention*
    <http://arrl2014.org>*, Hartford, Connecticut*

  *

    July 18-19 -- Arizona State Convention <http://www.arca-az.org>,
    Williams, Arizona

  *

    July 18-20 -- Montana State Convention <http://www.gwhamfest.org/>,
    East Glacier, Montana

  *

    July 24-27 -- Central States VHF Society Conference
    <http://www.csvhfs.org/2014conference/>, Austin, Texas

  *

    July 25-26 -- Oklahoma State Convention <http://www.hamholiday.org>,
    Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

  *

    August 1-2 --Texas State Convention
    <http://www.austinsummerfest.org/>, Austin, Texas

  *

    August 7-9 -- Young Ladies Radio League Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/ylrl-2014-convention>, Vancouver,
    Washington

  *

    August 8-10 -- Rocky Mountain Division Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/rocky-mountain-division-convention-duke-city-hamfest>,
    Albuquerque, New Mexico

  *

    *August 16-17 -- **Southeastern Division Convention,*
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/southeastern-division-convention-huntsville-hamfest-regional-arrl-centennial-event>*Regional
    ARRL Centennial Event, Huntsville, Alabama*

  *

    August 17 -- Kansas State Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/kansas-state-convention-4>, Salina, Kansas

  *

    August 23 -- West Virginia State Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/west-virginia-state-convention-4>,
    Weston, West Virginia

  *

    August 23-24 -- JARL Ham Fair
    <https://www.jarl.org/English/4_Library/A-4-6_ham-fair/ham-fair.htm>, Tokyo,
    Japan

  *

    August 24 -- Western Pennsylvania Section Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/western-pennsylvania-section-convention-4>,
    New Kensington, Pennsylvania

  *

    August 30-31 -- North Carolina State Convention
    <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests/north-carolina-state-convention-shelby-hamfest>
    (Shelby Hamfest), Shelby, North Carolina

Find conventions and hamfests in your area <http://www.arrl.org/hamfests>.

*
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*

****

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