[TCARC-NTX] ARRL letter

[David Johnson KB5YLG]

***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 24, No. 50
December 23, 2005
***************

IN THIS EDITION:

* +Response to BPL complaints an "illusion," League
charges
* +Two down, one to go in filling FCC vacancies
* +Astronauts don't spend much time in space, ISS
commander says
* +The toys have landed! Holiday Toy Drive is a wrap
for 2005
* +Get ready for Kids Day on January 8
* +Vanity call sign processing set to resume January 4
* +ARRL Northwestern Division Director Greg Milnes,
W7OZ, SK
*  Solar Update
*  IN BRIEF:
     On the radio: ARRL RTTY Roundup, January 7-8;
ARRL Kid's Day, 
January
8!
     ARRL Certification and Continuing Education
course registration
     New Maryland Section Manager named
     ISS crew sends holiday greetings from space
     ARISS-Russia "Space Patrol" holiday operating
event set
     Leap second to be introduced as new year arrives

+Available on ARRL Audio News
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/>

===========================================================
==>Delivery problems (ARRL member direct delivery
only!):
letter-dlvy at arrl.org
==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist,
N1RL, n1rl at arrl.org
===========================================================
+ NOTE: ARRL Headquarters will be closed Monday,
December 26, for the
Christmas holiday, and Monday, January 2, for New
Year's Day. There 
will be
no W1AW bulletin or code practice transmissions on
those days. ARRL
Headquarters will reopen after Christmas on Tuesday,
December 27, and 
after
New Year's Day on Tuesday, January 3, at 8 AM Eastern
Time. THERE WILL 
BE NO
EDITIONS OF THE ARRL LETTER OR ARRL AUDIO NEWS ON
DECEMBER 30. The next
editions will be January 6, 2006. We wish everyone a
safe and enjoyable
holiday!
===========================================================

==>RESPONSE TO BPL COMPLAINTS AN "ILLUSION" OF
RESOLUTION, ARRL SAYS

In a strongly worded letter to the FCC, the League has
once again asked 
the
Commission to shut down the Manassas, Virginia, BPL
system because it's
still causing harmful interference to Amateur Radio
and otherwise does 
not
comply with FCC Part 15 rules. The December 19 letter
from ARRL General
Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, was in response to a
November 30 letter from
Spectrum Enforcement Division Chief Joseph Casey, who
suggested further
cooperation between the complaining radio amateurs and
the city-owned 
BPL
system. Imlay said more meetings and discussions about
ongoing 
interference
are no longer productive while "this hopelessly flawed
BPL system" is
allowed to continue operating.

"These meetings have not produced any solution to the
interference 
problem
but have, instead, created the illusion that the
problem is being
addressed," Imlay wrote. Ham radio complaints of
interference from the 
BPL
system date back to early 2004. "This system should
have been taken off 
the
air long ago, pending reconfiguration or
re-engineering of it," he 
added,
"and the only operating that it should be doing is for
purposes of
interference testing."

Communication Technologies (COMTek) operates the BPL
system over the
municipally owned electric power grid using Main.net
equipment on
frequencies between 4 MHz and 30 MHz. The League said
the FCC has not
discharged its "most fundamental obligation" to
prevent or resolve
interference issues involving the Manassas system,
which, the League
charged, only remains operating "because the
Commission, for political
reasons, has consistently refused to enforce its rules
with respect to 
BPL."

The League told Casey that the only solution at this
point is to order 
the
Manassas BPL system--an unlicensed RF emitter
permitted to operate only 
on a
non-interference basis--to cease operation except to
test for 
interference.

The Part 15 BPL rules the FCC adopted in October 2004
require a BPL 
operator
informed of harmful interference to "investigate the
reported 
interference
and resolve confirmed harmful interference . . .
within a reasonable
period," Imlay pointed out. "No reasoned examination
of this case could
produce a finding that this rule has been complied
with in Manassas," 
he
added.

Imlay says that at a December 13 meeting, COMTek and
the City of 
Manassas
"openly acknowledged the interference to amateur
stations" but claimed 
that
until a month or so earlier, they had been unable to
"notch" amateur
allocations because they didn't yet have the equipment
to do so. "By 
the
admission of COMTek, the capability of reducing
interference in this 
system
does not exist," Imlay noted.

Previous meetings between the complaining radio
amateurs and the BPL
operator "produced no measurable results," Imlay
contended, referring 
to the
response of Donald Blasdell, W4HJL, to Casey on
December 9. At one 
point in
the system, interference was reported at S9 plus 40 dB
on typical ham 
gear.
"That level precludes virtually all Amateur Radio
communications," he
asserted.

Imlay took the opportunity to again point out that the
Manassas BPL 
system
is out of compliance with §15.615(a) because its
operator failed to 
provide
full information to the public BPL database by the
November 19 
deadline.

"ARRL again requests that the BPL facility at
Manassas, Virginia, be
instructed to shut down immediately," the League's
letter concluded, 
"and
that it not resume operation unless the entire
facility is shown to be 
in
full compliance with Commission rules regarding
radiated emissions; 
with the
non-interference requirement of Section 15.5 of the
Commission's rules; 
and
not in any case until thirty days subsequent to full
compliance with 
Section
15.615(a) of the rules."

Field tests conducted by Manassas radio amateurs
established that the 
city's
BPL system "was an interference generator at distances
of hundreds of 
feet
from the modems on overhead power lines," the ARRL
told the FCC October 
13.
"It was also, incidentally, determined that the system
was susceptible 
to
interference from nearby radio transmitters operating
between 4 and 20 
MHz,"
the League added.

==>SENATE CONFIRMS FCC APPOINTEES

The US Senate this week confirmed the White House
nomination of 
Republican
Deborah T. Tate and the reappointment of Democrat
Michael J. Copps to 
the
FCC. News reports say the Senate approved the
nominations of Tate and 
Copps
by voice vote December 21 during a late-night session.

Tate, 49, most recently served as director of the
Tennessee Regulatory
Authority. She will fill out the remainder of the term
of former FCC
Chairman Michael K. Powell, which expires June 30,
2007. Powell 
departed the
FCC last March.

A former Senate staffer, Copps, 65, has been on the
Commission since 
2001.
His new term will expire in 2010.

Under Powell's successor, Chairman Kevin J. Martin, a
Republican, the 
FCC
has been operating with four members for most of 2005
and with just 
three
members since the December 9 departure of Republican
Kathleen Q. 
Abernathy.

President George W. Bush still must fill the remaining
opening on the
five-member FCC with a Republican nominee to succeed
Abernathy, who 
never
was appointed to a full term.

During confirmation hearings before the Senate
Commerce Committee 
earlier
this month, Tate reportedly offered few specifics on
key issues facing 
the
FCC but touted herself as a mediator. Copps said his
objective would be 
to
"help bring the best, most accessible, and
cost-effective 
communications
system in the world to all of our people" wherever
they live and 
whatever
their status.--media reports; FCC

==>ASTRONAUTS DON'T SPEND MUCH TIME IN SPACE, ISS
COMMANDER TELLS 
STUDENTS

International Space Station Expedition 12 Commander
Bill McArthur, 
KC5ACR,
really enjoys being an astronaut. But he told students
at Sanderson 
High
School in Texas December 8 that, although he's been an
astronaut for a 
while
now and really enjoys it, he really hasn't spent all
that much of his 
career
in space.

"I've been an astronaut for 15 years now, and this is
only the fourth 
time
I've flown in space," McArthur told the students via
the space 
station's
NA1SS. "So it's a great job, but there's much more to
it than just 
being in
space."

But being in space and navigating by floating around
in microgravity is
"just really neat" he told another questioner. Still,
being part of a
two-person crew for six months aboard the ISS does put
astronauts on 
the
spot, McArthur explained in another reply.

"We're under a lot of pressure to be able to complete
our work up 
here,"
McArthur said. "It's so expensive to send people into
space that we 
want to
be successful at everything we do." He went on to say
that being away 
from
their families for so long also is a source of stress
for the ISS crew,
although he noted that the crew members can stay in
daily touch with 
their
families via telephone and e-mail.

Down the road, he said--perhaps as soon as next
year--ISS crews may 
again
consist of three people and perhaps, eventually, as
many as six. The 
ISS has
been limited to two-person crews while the shuttle
fleet remains 
grounded.

Despite the downsides of long-term space travel,
McArthur made it clear 
that
he loves being aboard the ISS. "I love it in space, if
it wasn't for 
the
fact that my family was on the ground I would never
want to leave," he 
said.


Ten high schoolers took part in the event, and
Sanderson math teacher 
Amy
Carman, KD5HYB, served as the control operator for the
nearly 10-minute
direct VHF contact. In all, McArthur answered 18 of
the students' 
questions.
Before the contact, the students got to see a
videotape of a recent 
space
walk and discussed it in their science classes.

Four members of the Big Bend Amateur Radio Club
provided and set up all 
the
equipment needed to make the contact a reality. An
audience of 
approximately
25 students, teachers, parents, local dignitaries and
others looked on, 
and
reporters from four newspapers covered the ARISS
contact.

On December 15, students at Mt Carmel High School in
San Diego, 
California,
had the opportunity to interview McArthur via Amateur
Radio. Replying 
to one
question, McArthur said most movie portrayals about
life in space have 
not
been very accurate because they don't capture what
it's like to work in
microgravity. He also said the astronauts and
cosmonauts themselves are 
the
most important research subjects. "We ourselves are
the experiments," 
he
said.

McArthur told the California high schoolers that the
danger of 
meteorite
damage to the ISS is low, although he said the ISS has
encountered 
them.
"They have, fortunately, been very, very small and
never penetrated the 
skin
of the vehicle," he pointed out. "There is a certain
amount of 'space 
dust,'
so we see it more in erosion or in delicate equipment
like our solar
panels."

Students yelled "Thank you!" to McArthur as the ISS
went out of radio 
range.

The direct VHF contact between KG6EQU and NA1SS ran
about six and 
one-half
minutes. Both school group contacts were arranged by
the Amateur Radio 
on
the International Space Station (ARISS) program. ARISS
is an 
educational
outreach, with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and
NASA.

==>THE TOYS HAVE LANDED! 2005 HOLIDAY TOY DRIVE GIFTS
GET TO GULF COAST

"Mission accomplished!" That was the word on the 2005
Holiday Toy Drive 
from
ARRL Delta Division Vice Director Henry Leggette,
WD4Q, and assistant
warehouse volunteer coordinator Joe Lowenthal, WA4OVO,
on the US Gulf 
Coast
after they'd completed unloading some 5000 toys
contributed by generous
Amateur Radio clubs and individual radio amateurs from
all over. In
addition, the second ARRL Holiday Toy Drive benefited
from more than 
$8000
in cash donations, which permitted the purchase of
gifts for older
recipients and helped defray the costs of transporting
the toys.

"The 2005 ARRL/Salvation Holiday Toy Drive is about
completed with the
exception of the cleanup," Leggette reported this
week. The toys headed 
to
Mississippi following a December 15 sendoff ceremony
in Memphis.

ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts,
W1AGP--who 
spearheaded
the drive from the League Headquarters side--says
Lowenthal, a former 
FedEx
employee, did such a professional packing job that he
only needed one
truck--instead of the anticipated three--to transport
the toys to 
coastal
Mississippi from Memphis, saving even more money to
purchase additional
toys. "The overwhelming response of hams around the
country was clear 
as
thousands of toys, games, bikes and stuffed animals
headed south," he 
added.

The ARRL Toy Drive partnered with The Salvation Army,
whose 
distribution
network throughout the Gulf Coast remains intact. "The
Salvation Army 
has
the ability to screen recipients and will assure that
the toys are used
where they are truly needed most," Pitts explained. A
big rental moving 
van
took the full load directly to Gulfport and Biloxi,
Mississippi.

Representatives of The Salvation Army and the League
were on hand in 
Memphis
December 15 to see the truckload of toys southward.
Holiday Toy Drive
national chairperson and country music singer Patty
Loveless, KD4WUJ, 
joined
Amateur Radio volunteers, the news media, dignitaries
and, of course, 
Santa
Claus for the occasion.

"For those who couldn't be here, I'm sure they're here
in spirit and 
giving
from their hearts, and I just want to thank them--from
all around--for
collecting," Loveless told ARRL.

Bill Feist, WB8BZH, The Salvation Army's disaster
services director for 
the
Alabama-Louisiana-Mississippi division, represented
his organization 
for the
occasion. "We are certainly very appreciative of what
all the Amateur 
Radio
operators around the country and the ARRL have done
for the people of
Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi," he said.

ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, summed it up simply in
thanking Pitts for 
his
role: "It was a great, great project."

==>KIDS' TURN AT THE RADIO: FIRST KIDS DAY OF 2006 IS
SUNDAY, JANUARY 8

The second Sunday in January is the day to turn your
shack over to the 
kids
for some ham radio fun with a purpose. The first
running of Kids Day 
2006
begins Sunday, January 8, at 1800 UTC and continues
until 2400 UTC with 
no
limit on operating time (the second Kids Day will be
Saturday, June 
17).
Kids Day provides a terrific opportunity to show
youngsters what 
Amateur
Radio is all about--and that includes its role in
emergency 
communication.
ARRL Education and Technology Program ("The Big
Project") Coordinator 
Mark
Spencer, WA8SME, says Kids Day can be a great
opportunity spark change 
and
get kids and families thinking about emergency
preparedness.

"While you are coaching the youngsters who visit your
shack--and their
parents too--on how to make contacts and new friends
via ham radio 
during
Kids Day, why not take a few moments to ask them about
their family's 
plans
to deal with emergency challenges?" he says in
December 2005 QST (see 
"Kids
Day 2006" on p 45). "Why not use the opportunities
offered by Kids Day 
to
show the youth in your neighborhood that ham radio can
be loads of fun, 
and
that ham radio is a way that they can contribute
something very 
valuable to
their communities?"

Call "CQ Kids Day." The suggested exchange for Kids
Day contacts is 
first
name, age, location and favorite color. It's okay to
work the same 
station
more than once if the operator has changed. Suggested
frequencies are
14.270-14.300, 21.380-21.400 and 28.350-28.400 MHz.
Contacts via VHF
repeaters are okay too, with permission from the
repeater owner. 
Observe
third-party traffic restrictions when making DX QSOs
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/regulations/io/3rdparty.html>.

All participants are eligible to receive a colorful
certificate, which
becomes the youngster's personalized "sales brochure"
for ham radio, 
Spencer
says. The League asks everyone taking part in Kids Day
to complete a 
short
survey and post comments afterward
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kids-day-survey.html>.
Doing this 
provides
access to download the certificate page, or
participants can send a 
9x12
self-addressed, stamped envelope to Boring Amateur
Radio Club, PO Box 
1357,
Boring, OR 97009.

Spencer notes that this year's hurricane season
highlighted one of the 
real
values that ham radio brings to the community--a
spirit of resilience. 
"By
their very nature, ham radio operators are interested
in personal
preparedness and community service
this is
resilience," he says. 
Spencer
suggests that Kids Day sponsors take advantage of the
opportunity to 
show
how ham radio offers a way for participants to
contribute something 
very
valuable to their communities.

"A very effective advertising strategy is to get kids
hooked on an 
idea," he
says. "The kids in turn go home and 'bug' their
parents about the idea. 
You
plant the seed in a young mind, and they will take
care of the rest!"

Spencer believes Kids Day activities can result in a
family emergency 
plan
campaign that could save lives, and future community
planners who know
communication and how to communicate.

"Make that personal connection that may result in a
new licensee and,
perhaps, more resilient individuals by opening your
station and 
inviting
kids and neighbors to share in your hobby," Spencer
urges. "You just 
might
find yourself re-infected with that enthusiasm that
you once had."

Visit the ARRL Web site for full information on Kids
Day
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kd-rules.html>.

==>AMATEUR RADIO VANITY CALL SIGN PROCESSING WILL
RESUME JANUARY 4

The FCC has announced that routine processing of
Amateur Radio vanity 
call
sign applications will resume Wednesday, January 4,
2006. The Wireless
Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) suspended vanity
processing in 
September as
an indirect result of its hurricane-related extensions
of certain 
regulatory
and filing deadlines. The Commission said licensees or
applicants 
needing
relief beyond the initial extension periods should
follow the process 
for
submitting waiver requests provided in §1.925 of the
Commission's 
rules.

"The Bureau will consider additional relief related to
the hurricanes 
on a
case-by-case basis," the FCC said December 19 in a
public notice.

Earlier this year, the FCC announced it would extend
filing and 
regulatory
deadlines for licensees in parts of Louisiana,
Mississippi, Alabama, 
Texas
and Florida directly affected by hurricanes Katrina,
Rita and Wilma. 
During
the extension periods, the WTB temporarily suspended
certain automated
licensing functions. These included dismissing
applications that are
returned and not amended on a timely basis, changing
the status of a 
call
sign from active to expired if a license is not
renewed within the 
two-year
grace period for Amateur Radio licensees, and issuing
vanity call 
signs.

In September, the FCC said it had to suspend routine
vanity call sign
processing because the extensions included the
two-year grace period 
and
could conceivably affect the vanity program.

==>ARRL NORTHWESTERN DIVISION DIRECTOR GREG MILNES,
W7OZ, SK

ARRL Northwestern Division Director Greg E. Milnes,
W7OZ (ex-W7AGQ), of
Hillsboro, Oregon, died December 17 as a result of a
heart attack he'd
suffered earlier while returning from a trip. He was
66.

"It's a great sadness that we all feel here at the
League at the 
passing of
Greg Milnes, our Northwestern Division Director," ARRL
President Jim 
Haynie,
W5JBP, said. "I've worked with Greg for a number of
years, and I know 
he was
conscientious and tried to do the best for Amateur
Radio, and it's 
going to
be a real loss on our Board of Directors."

Northwestern Division Vice Director Jim Fenstermaker,
K9JF, of 
Vancouver,
Washington, has assumed the position of Director and
will fill the 
remainder
of Milnes' term, which runs through 2006. Haynie is
expected to appoint
someone to fill the vacant Vice Director's chair prior
to the ARRL 
Board of
Directors meeting January 20-21.

An ARRL Life Member and a retired Oregon Circuit Court
judge, Milnes 
had
served as Northwestern Division Director for seven
years. He acceded to 
the
post in December 1998 after then-Director Mary Lou
Brown, NM7N, died
unexpectedly, and he had since been re-elected to new
terms.

Milnes was known to many in his Division as the
long-time master of
ceremonies for the SeaPac Northwestern Division
Convention banquet. 
During
the past year, he had served on the ARRL Board's
Administrative and 
Finance
and Elections and Ethics committees, and he previously
chaired and was 
a
member of the Volunteer Resources Committee. Milnes
also was a member 
of the
ARRL Foundation Board of Directors. A member of DXCC,
he belonged to 
the
Western Washington and Willamette Valley DX clubs. He
also was a member 
of
the Quarter Century Wireless Association and the
International 
Friendship
Amateur Radio Society.

Survivors include Milnes' wife, Loretta. A memorial
service will be 
held
December 30 in Hillsboro, Oregon. The family has
invited memorial
contributions to the ARRL Foundation, 225 Main St,
Newington, CT 06111.

==>SOLAR UPDATE

Heliophile Tad "Mr Nutcracker Suite" Cook, K7RA,
Seattle, Washington,
reports: Average daily sunspot numbers dropped about
five points, and
average solar flux was down about three points
compared to the previous
week. Geomagnetic indexes also were down.

Sunspot 838 currently looks to be the most interesting
as it is 
expanding
rapidly and not quite in the center of the visible
solar disk--the area
where it would have the most effect on Earth. The
predicted solar flux 
for
the next few days is around 90--slightly higher than
it has been 
recently,
but only by a few points. Sunspot 838 is growing
rapidly, but it 
probably
will not emit any solar flares. Planetary A index for
December 23-26 is
predicted at 7, 7, 10 and 7.

Sunspot numbers for December 15 through 21 were 47,
47, 45, 45, 63, 53 
and
45, with a mean of 49.3. The 10.7 cm flux was 87,
85.8, 85.2, 85.6, 
89.5,
87.8, and 86.5, with a mean of 86.8. Estimated
planetary A indices were 
2,
5, 5, 3, 8, 16 and 8, with a mean of 6.7. Estimated
mid-latitude A 
indices
were 2, 3, 2, 2, 6, 11 and 5, with a mean of 4.4.

__________________________________

==>IN BRIEF:

* On the radio: The RAEM Contest is December 25 and
the DARC Christmas
Contest is December 26. ARRL Straight Key Night (SKN)
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/skn.html> is
January 1 (UTC). 
Also,
the SARTG New Year RTTY Contest and the AGCW Happy New
Year Contest are
January 1. The AGCW VHF/UHF Contest is January 1-3.
The WQF QRP Party 
is
January 6. The ARRL RTTY Roundup, the Midwinter
Contest (CW), the 
Original
QRP Contest, the EUCW 160-Meter Contest, the Midwinter
Contest (SSB), 
the
DARC 10-Meter Contest are the weekend of January 7-8.
ARRL Kid's Day is
Sunday, January 8
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/ead/kd-rules.html>. JUST
AHEAD: The North American QSO Party (CW), Hunting
Lions in the Air, the 
070
Club PSKFest, the Michigan QRP January CW Contest and
the NRAU-Baltic
Contest (CW and SSB are separate events) are the
weekend of January 
14-15.
The Run for the Bacon QRP Contest is January 16. The
NAQCC 80-Meter 
Straight
Key/Bug Sprint is January 19. See the ARRL Contest
Branch page
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/> and the WA7BNM Contest
Calendar
<http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html> for
more info.

* ARRL Certification and Continuing Education course
registration:
Registration remains open through Sunday, January 8,
for these ARRL
Certification and Continuing Education (CCE) Program
on-line courses:
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 2
(EC-002), Amateur Radio
Emergency Communications Level 3 (EC-003), Antenna
Modeling (EC-004),
VHF/UHF Beyond the Repeater (EC-008), Radio Frequency
Propagation 
(EC-011)
and HF Digital Communications (EC-005) Classes begin
Friday, January 
20. To
learn more, visit the CCE Course Listing page
<http://www.arrl.org/cce/courses.html> or contact the
CCE Department
<cce at arrl.org>.

* New Maryland Section Manager named: ARRL Field and
Educational 
Services
Manager Dave Patton, NN1N, has announced the
appointment of Jim Cross, 
WI3N,
of Laurel, Maryland, to succeed Tom Abernethy, W3TOM,
as ARRL 
Maryland-DC
Section Manager. Abernethy was elected ARRL Atlantic
Division Vice 
Director
in November. Both Abernethy and Cross will assume
their new offices 
January
1. Patton consulted with outgoing ARRL Atlantic
Division Director 
Bernie
Fuller, N3EFN, and incoming Director Bill Edgar,
N3LLR, in making the
appointment. Cross, who's been serving as the
Maryland-DC Section 
Emergency
Coordinator, will complete the remainder of
Abernethy's term as SM, 
which
ends in July 2007. A member and a past president of
the Laurel Amateur 
Radio
Club, Cross has served as Prince Georges County ARES
Emergency 
Coordinator
and RACES Radio Officer.

* ISS crew sends holiday greetings from space: "What a
wonderful place 
to
spend Christmas!" That was the word this week from
Expedition 12 
Commander
Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, and his crewmate and Flight
Engineer Valery 
Tokarev
on the International Space Station. Wearing Santa
hats, the astronaut 
and
the cosmonaut extend Christmas and new year's
greetings to everyone on 
Earth
in a video clip available from NASA TV during which
they take turns at 
the
microphone
<http://anon.nasa-global.speedera.net/anon.nasa-global/ccvideos/jsc/windows/
holiday05_iss.asx>. In it, McArthur says that this is
his favorite time 
of
year, and he regrets not being able to spend it with
his family this 
year.
"As we look down on the earth, especially during this
timeof year, it 
really
strikes us how fortunate mankind is to live on such a
wonderful, 
beautiful
planet," McArthur goes on to say during the greeting,
which runs about
almost four minutes. "And also we realize we have
great 
responsibilities as
stewards of this planet." McArthur and Tokarev will
return to Earth in
April.

* ARISS-Russia "Space Patrol" holiday operating event
set: 
ARISS-Russia's
Sergey Samburov, RV3DR, has announced that his team
and Russian Space 
Agency
Roscosmos/Energia will sponsor "Space Patrol," a
space-related 
operating
event, December 25 and 26. The activity will be both
space-based and
ground-based and on HF as well as VHF. International
Space Station 
Flight
Engineer Valery Tokarev will take part from space via
RS0ISS. Special 
pass
times are December 25 at 2056 UTC, and December 26 at
1947 UTC. Western
Europeans should listen 10 minutes prior. RS0ISS will
use 145.99 MHz FM
simplex (145.55 MHz FM simplex will be a back-up
frequency). 
ARISS-Russia
has asked to put NA1SS into crossband repeater mode
beginning some time 
on
December 27 and continuing through 0912 UTC on
December 31, when 
Expedition
12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, will be speaking
via NA1SS to Boy 
Scouts
in Thailand. The repeater will be available worldwide,
and the crew may 
join
in at anytime. The worldwide repeater downlink is
145.80 MHz, and the 
uplink
is 437.80 MHz. All frequencies are subject to Doppler
shift. Worldwide
earthbound ham radio operations on HF will begin
December 25 at 1200 
UTC and
continue through the following day. Frequencies are on
or about 
7.080-7.090
MHz (transmit) listening on 7.290 MHz, 14.180-14.290
MHz and 
21.280-21.390
MHz. Hams and cosmonauts will be on the air from
Energia's R3K in 
Korolev
and from RK3DZB at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training
Center in Star 
City.
Participating cosmonauts include Sergei Krikalev,
U5MIR; Yuri Usachev,
RW3FU; and Alexander Kaleri, U8MIR. The event
commemorates the first
anniversary of the death of cosmonaut Gennady
Strekalev, U6MIR. "Space
Patrol" participants are eligible for a certificate
and a commemorative 
QSL
card. Details on obtaining these will be announced.

* Leap second to be introduced as new year arrives:
The International 
Earth
Rotation and Reference Systems Service (IERS) has
announced the 
introduction
of a "time step" at the end of December to add a "leap
second" as 2006
arrives. Leap seconds are needed to keep clocks in
step with Earth's
rotation, which varies by several thousandths of a
second per day. 
Slowing
down the clocks every year or two keeps them in sync.
As 2005 
transitions to
2006, Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) will be
retarded by 1.0 second. 
This
essentially means that the last minute in 2005 will be
61 seconds long:
December 31, 2005, 23:59:59; December 31, 2005,
23:59:60; January 1, 
2006,
00:00:00. This adjustment will affect UTC and all time
scales based on 
UTC.
Loran-C and GPS will not be adjusted physically,
however. Times of
Coincidence for LORAN-C are available on the Time
Service Web Page. For 
GPS,
the leap second correction, contained within the UTC
data of the 
navigation
message transmitted by satellites, will change. After
the leap second 
GPS
will be ahead of UTC by 14 seconds.

===========================================================
The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each
year, by the 
American
Radio Relay League--The National Association For
Amateur Radio--225 
Main St,
Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax
860-594-0259;
<http://www.arrl.org>. Jim Haynie, W5JBP, President.

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--- automatic signature follows...

David Johnson
MCP,MCSE,MCSD,MCDBA,CWS
david at justcalldavid.com
kb5ylg at yahoo.com

---

Emergency and public service communications,
a hobby of myriad facets, an enhancement to any
other hobby:  The Amateur Radio Service.

Find out more at http://www.arrl.org


		
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