[TCARC-NTX] ARRL Letter

[David Johnson KB5YLG]

***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 24, No. 43
November 4, 2005
***************

IN THIS EDITION:

* +League pushes FCC for "meaningful" entry-level
privileges
* +Regulatory issues dominate ARRL Executive Committee
session
* +Amateur Radio marks five years aboard the ISS
* +Australia introduces new entry-level Foundation
license
* +Possible intruder reported on 160 meters
* +Nominations due for ARRL International Humanitarian
Award
*  Solar Update
*  IN BRIEF: 
     This weekend on the radio: The ARRL November
Sweepstakes (CW)!
     ARRL Certification and Continuing Education
course registration
    +Hurricane volunteers to be honored in QST
     ARRL "Public Service Stories" page debuts
    +FCC further extends filing deadlines for
Katrina-affected 
licensees
     ARRL Foundation approves more new scholarships
    +SSETI Express team "hopeful" as troubleshooting
continues
     Dayton HamventionR past chairman honored
     Amateur Radio gets visibility at Telecom Americas
2005
     Rescheduled power-line interference workshop
sessions set

+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
===========================================================

==>MEANINGFUL ENTRY-LEVEL LICENSE PRIVILEGES ARE TOP
PRIORITY, ARRL 
SAYS

The ARRL again has urged the FCC to provide meaningful
operating 
privileges
to entry-level Amateur Radio licensees, including
access to HF, even if 
the
Commission doesn't want to create a new license class.
Commenting in
response to the FCC's July 9 Notice of Proposed Rule
Making and Order
(NPRM&O) in WT Docket 05-235, the League also stood by
its stance that 
the
Commission retain the 5 WPM Morse code requirement for
Amateur Extra
applicants, but do away with it for General
applicants.

"Retaining Morse telegraphy as a requirement for only
the Amateur Extra
class license, in ARRL's view, places Morse telegraphy
in a proper, 
balanced
perspective," the League told the Commission October
31, the deadline 
to
comment in the proceeding. Reply comments are due
November 14. 

The FCC's NPRM&O proposed eliminating the 5 WPM Morse
code requirement 
for
all Amateur Radio license classes but denied requests
to create a new
entry-level license class with limited HF privileges.
The League said 
the
FCC needs to finish the job of license restructuring
it began in 1998 
by
reviewing operating privileges for all
classes--especially at the first 
rung
of the licensing ladder.

"The elimination of Morse telegraphy, absent a more
thorough review of
operating privileges in the Amateur Service, will not
address the
ascertained flaws in the only entry-level license
class," the ARRL 
asserted,
referring to the Technician license. "That license
class is not 
attracting
or keeping newcomers in its present configuration, and
it needs fixing 
right
now."

The ARRL argued that if the FCC will not create a new
Novice class 
license
as the League had suggested in its earlier Petition
for Rule Making
(RM-10867) in the proceeding, it should modify
Technician operating
privileges instead. The present licensing regime
limits Technicians to 
VHF
bands and above, "leaving newcomers to the Amateur
Service isolated 
from
their peers holding higher class licenses," the ARRL
said. "The 
Technician
class is, for too many, a 'dead end' to what might
otherwise be an 
active,
progressive interest in Amateur Radio, technical
self-training and
incentive-based educational progress in the many
facets of the 
avocation." 

The ARRL reminded the FCC that its restructuring plan
enjoyed the 
support of
the two Amateur Radio licensees in Congress--Rep Greg
Walden, W7EQI 
(R-OR)
and Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR).

Eliminating the Morse requirement for General class
applicants "creates 
an
anomaly with respect to the Technician class license,"
the ARRL noted. 
"If
the telegraphy requirement for the General class
license is eliminated, 
the
distinction between the Technician class licensee and
the Technician 
Plus
class licensee will have disappeared completely."
Therefore, the League
contends, there is a logical basis for affording
Technician licensees
entry-level HF privileges. 

Under the ARRL plan, Technicians would have telegraphy
and data 
privileges
on 3.55-3.7 MHz, 7.05-7.125 MHz and 21.05-21.20 MHz at
100 W output and 
on
28.05-28.3 MHz at 50 W output. The League wants the
FCC to provide HF 
phone
and image privileges to Technicians on 3.9-4.0 MHz,
7.2-7.3 MHz and
21.35-21.45 MHz at 100 W output, and on 28.3-28.5 MHz
at 50 W.

These recommended privileges take into account the
FCC's proposal to 
adopt
the ARRL's so-called "Novice refarming" plan in WT
Docket 04-140. The 
ARRL
had earlier proposed the same privileges for a
reconstituted Novice 
license.

The time is right to take a look at the operating
privileges of Amateur
Radio license classes, the ARRL said in its filing,
"because the 
entry-level
license class is demonstrably neither attractive to
newcomers nor
encouraging in terms of retaining the interest of
license holders." 

To back up its assertions, the League pointed to
surveys it conducted 
in
1992 and 2003. Nearly half of the licensees responding
in the latter 
poll
indicated that they were not currently active in
Amateur Radio--up 30
percent from the earlier survey. "The number of
inactive Technician 
class
licensees is 46 percent," the ARRL noted, adding that
more than a 
quarter of
Technicians responding in 2003 said they'd never even
been on the air.

The League pointed out that the FCC's proposed
across-the-board 
elimination
of the Morse requirement eliminates a simple mechanism
for current
Technician licensees to obtain HF operating
privileges--passing the 5 
WPM
code exam.

If the FCC does nothing other than eliminate the Morse
requirement for 
the
General license, the ARRL commented, it would make no
sense to continue 
to
deprive Technician licensees the HF operating
privileges that Tech Plus
licensees now enjoy. 

"To do otherwise is to draw a distinction that is
entirely arbitrary," 
the
League concluded.

==>REGULATORY ITEMS DOMINATE ARRL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
DISCUSSION

Regulatory and FCC-related topics topped the agenda as
the ARRL 
Executive
Committee (EC) met for its regular fall meeting
October 22 in Ft Worth,
Texas. ARRL President Jim Haynie, W5JBP, chaired the
session. Among 
other
matters the EC agreed unanimously that the League go
forward with the 
filing
of a Petition for Rule Making asking the FCC to
regulate amateur 
subbands by
maximum bandwidth rather than by emission mode.

At its July meeting, the ARRL Board of Directors
instructed the EC to
complete a final review of the draft petition and file
it at the 
Committee's
discretion. In the interim, two ARRL directors and two
vice directors
requested postponing the petition's filing until the
Board had the
opportunity to revisit one issue. At issue was the
possible provision 
of
subbands below 29 MHz in which digital emission
bandwidths greater than 
3.5
kHz would be permitted.

After considering the procedural and substantive
aspects of the request 
as
well as the timing of the filing, the EC voted
unanimously to direct 
ARRL
General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, to file the
petition as drafted in
accordance with the Board's wishes, once the EC
completes its final 
review.
That appears likely to occur by year's end.

The EC also discussed the timing of a petition for
rulemaking that 
would
permit security of data for computer-to-computer
communications on 
domestic
transmissions above 50 MHz. The issue relates to the
requirement to 
maintain
privacy of certain client information transmitted on
behalf of served
agencies during emergencies. The EC decided it wanted
a chance to 
review
experience gained from Hurricane Katrina before moving
forward with the
petition, which the ARRL Board requested at its July
2004 meeting.

Imlay also reviewed the status of pending FCC items
for the Committee. 
He
reported that:

* an experimental license application the ARRL
tendered on behalf of a 
group
of amateurs who want to experiment near 500 kHz is
awaiting clearance 
from
the National Telecommunications and Information
Administration (NTIA).

* a presentation to federal government spectrum
managers regarding a
possible expansion of amateur privileges in the
vicinity of 5 MHz has 
been
prepared and is being scheduled.

* an FCC proceeding investigating the effects of
communication towers 
on
migratory birds, WT Docket No. 03-187, is not likely
to have any effect 
on
the Amateur Radio Service.

* a new satellite licensing requirement to file
orbital debris 
mitigation
plans, detailed in IB Docket 02-54, may prove
problematic for the
Amateur-Satellite service.

* the ARRL is still awaiting action on its request for
an FCC 
declaratory
ruling preempting a Florida statute dealing with
unlicensed radio
transmissions and interference to FCC-licensed
broadcast stations.

In other business, the EC discussed the underlying
philosophy of the
League's provisions defining the eligibility of
officer or director
candidates--Article 11 of the ARRL's Articles of
Association--and 
whether a
revision might be in order. The question arose after
the League's 
Election
and Ethics Committee determined that a nominee for an
ARRL Board of
Director's seat for the 2006-2008 term was ineligible
to run because of 
the
nature of his business connections. The EC reviewed
and upheld the 
decision
September 1 by teleconference. A proposal to amend
Article 11 is 
expected to
be offered by a Director at the Board's January
meeting.

The EC also voted unanimously to present the ARRL
President's Award to 
Mary
Ann Crider, WA3HUP, for her contributions to the cause
of international
goodwill through her long service as a QSL manager and
as manager of 
the
ARRL Third Call Area Incoming QSL Bureau.

In addition to Haynie, Committee members present were
ARRL First Vice
President Joel Harrison, W5ZN; CEO and Secretary David
Sumner, K1ZZ;
Southeastern Division Director Frank Butler, W4RH;
Central Division 
Director
George R. "Dick" Isely, W9GIG; Delta Division Director
Rick Roderick, 
K5UR,
and Midwest Division Director Wade Walstrom, W0EJ.
Also attending in
addition to Imlay were West Gulf Division Director Coy
Day, N5OK; Great
Lakes Division Director Jim Weaver, K8JE, and ARRL
International 
Affairs
Vice President Rod Stafford, W6ROD.

The minutes of the Executive Committee's October
meeting are available 
on
the ARRL Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/announce/ec_minutes_478.html>.

==>HAM RADIO HAS ROLE IN FIVE YEARS OF CONTINUOUS ISS
HUMAN HABITATION

Five years ago this week, the International Space
Station Expedition 1 
crew
of US astronaut and Expedition 1 Commander William
"Shep" Shepherd, 
KD5GSL,
and Russian cosmonauts Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei
Krikalev, U5MIR, became 
the
first humans to inhabit the ISS on a long-term basis.
Bill McArthur, 
KC5ACR,
who commands Expedition 12, the current ISS crew
increment, took note 
of the
occasion when he spoke with reporters this week.

"We've done things that were just inconceivable 50
years ago," McArthur
said. "I think that we have demonstrated that human
beings can live and 
work
in space, and, given the will, we can return to the
moon not just to 
visit
but to stay there permanently and in not-too-distant
future, send 
people to
Mars."

Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for
space operations,
called the five-year milestone the first leg of a much
longer journey 
"The
experiences we're having on station with crews on
long-duration 
missions are
teaching us what it will take to send astronauts on
longer missions to 
the
moon and into the solar system," he said.

It was on October 31, 2000, that a Russian Soyuz
transporter carrying 
the
ISS space pioneers blasted off from Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan 
and
docked with the ISS November 2. At the time, Shepherd
was only the 
second US
astronaut to go into space aboard a Russian launch
vehicle. Krikalev 
went on
to serve as commander of the ISS Expedition 11 crew.

Each of the 12 crews that have lived on the ISS to
conduct assembly and
research activities has included at least one US radio
amateur. 
McArthur
just this week completed the 200th successful Amateur
Radio on the
International Space Station (ARISS) school group
contact. Crews also 
have
gone on the air to participate in such events as ARRL
Field Day and
scouting's Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) as well as to
make casual QSOs. 
The
Expedition 12 crew of McArthur and Russian cosmonaut
Valery Tokarev 
will
remain on the ISS until next April.

The initial ARISS gear already was aboard the space
station by the time 
the
first crew arrived. The Expedition 1 team installed
and activated the 
VHF
gear on FM voice and packet under the US call sign
NA1SS and the 
Russian
call sign RS0ISS.

In late 2003, the ARISS program attained another
milestone with the
installation and checkout of the Phase 2 Amateur Radio
gear. A Kenwood
TM-D700E transceiver is at the heart of the Phase 2
station, located in 
the
ISS Zvezda Service Module--the crew's living quarters.
Crew members now
routinely use the Phase 2 station to conduct ARISS
school group 
contacts.
ARISS is looking forward to activation of a Yaesu
FT-100 HF/VHF/UHF
transceiver and a slow-scan television (SSTV) system
in the near 
future.

NASA has been marking the fifth anniversary of
continuous ISS human
occupancy with special activities and has set up a
special Web site
<http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/5_year_anniversary.html>.

The largest and most complex spacecraft ever built,
the ISS is the 
result of
a 16-nation partnership led by the US. More ISS
information and photos 
are
on NASA's Space Station page.

ARISS is an international educational outreach with US
participation by
ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.--some information from NASA

==>NEW FOUNDATION LICENSE, AMATEUR REGULATORY CHANGES
INTRODUCED IN
AUSTRALIA

Australia has introduced an entry-level Foundation
Amateur Radio 
license and
established a new overall licensing and certification
structure. The
Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA)
put the new 
regulations
into effect October 19. Other rule changes combined
Novice and Novice
Limited licensees into a new Standard license class,
and all Limited,
Intermediate and Unrestricted licensees are now
Advanced licensees with 
full
amateur privileges. Wireless Institute of Australia
(WIA) President 
Michael
Owen, VK3KI, welcomed the "long-awaited" changes--in
particular the new
Foundation license--and expressed the hope that they
would encourage
newcomers.

"We also know that there will be many amateurs
operating on the 40 and
20-meter bands for the first time with those bands
available to 
Standard
licensees," he said. "We urge all amateurs to make all
these newcomers
welcome." Owen also praised ACMA for what he called
its "cooperative
approach" in establishing examination standards and
procedures.

The first Foundation license was issued October 21 to
Amanda Gray, who
requested the call sign VK4FRST before knowing that
hers was, indeed, 
the
first Australian Foundation license issued. ACMA has
adopted the 
distinctive
and unusual four-letter suffix starting with "F" for
all VK Foundation
licensees.

Foundation licensees will have limited access to 80,
40, 15 and 10 
meters as
well as the entire 2 meter and 70 cm bands using voice
modes or 
"hand-keyed"
CW only (ie, no keyboard or computer-generated code).
Licensees will be
permitted to run up to 10 W on SSB and 3 W on AM, FM
and CW--although 
the
WIA wants ACMA to increase that limit to 10 W as well.
Foundation 
licensees
may only use commercially manufactured transmitters.
The new license is
similar to the Foundation class license that's been
available in Great
Britain since 2002. 

In addition to creation of the new Foundation license,
ACMA amended
Australia's Amateur Radio regulations to regulate by
necessary 
bandwidth
rather than by emission mode. The new rules permit the
use of any 
emission
mode with a bandwidth not exceeding 8 kHz.

Said Owen: "The WIA believes that these changes to the
Australian 
amateur
license structure will strengthen our hobby and
encourage many more 
people
to become licensed radio amateurs." More information
is on the ACMA Web 
site
<http://www.acma.gov.au/ACMAINTER.65690:STANDARD::pc=PC_1256>.

==>"TOP BAND DRAGON'S FIRE" SIGNAL BLANKETING 160
METERS IN ASIA

The IARU Monitoring System (IARUMS) says radio
amateurs in Japan and
elsewhere in Asia and Oceania are reporting an
unidentified intruder 
signal
on 160 meters. In Japan, the wideband signal, which
IARU Region 2 
Monitoring
System Coordinator Bill Zellers, WA4FKI, has dubbed
"Top Band Dragon's
Fire," reportedly began transmitting continuously
about October 1,
blanketing 160 meters and rendering it useless for
Amateur Radio work 
in
some places.

"The intruder is detectable from approximately 1700
kHz up to about 
1930
kHz," said one report, likening the sound to "a diesel
motor with a 
ticking
sound at a constant rate which is evenly spread across
the band." The 
signal
has been heard in the US Northwest at about 1830 kHz
on a 
north-pointing
Beverage. Reports also have arrived from New England.

First heard as long ago as December 2004, the signal
turns up at 
different
times at different locations, reports indicate. In
some cases, it's 
only
during so-called "gray line" propagation, while others
hear the signal 
24/7.
Near Perth, Australia, the intruder was heard slowly
rising out the 
noise
floor about a half-hour after sunset, increasing to
around S7 and 
remaining
long into the night. Amateurs in Singapore report that
the signal 
recently
shifted from wideband noise to a pulsed signal. 

Veteran Top Band DXer Tom Rauch, W8JI, in Georgia says
he can "just 
detect a
noise floor increase some mornings," but was unable to
identify an 
actual
signal. 

Forward reports, accompanied by sound recordings if
available, to Chuck
Skolaut, K0BOG <cskolaut at arrl.org>, at ARRL
Headquarters.

==>ARRL SOLICITING INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AWARD
NOMINATIONS

Nominations close December 31 for the 2005 ARRL
International 
Humanitarian
Award. The award is dedicated to an amateur or amateur
group devoted to
promoting human welfare, peace and international
understanding through
Amateur Radio. The League established the annual prize
to recognize 
Amateur
Radio operators who have used ham radio to provide
extraordinary 
service to
others in times of crisis or disaster.

The ARRL International Humanitarian Award recognizes
Amateur Radio's 
unique
role in international communication and the assistance
it regularly 
provides
to people in need throughout the world. Amateur Radio
is one of the few
telecommunication services that allow people
throughout the world from 
all
walks of life to meet and talk with each other,
thereby spreading 
goodwill
across political boundaries.

A committee appointed by League President Jim Haynie,
W5JBP, will 
recommend
an award recipient to the ARRL Board of Directors,
which will make the 
final
selection. The committee is now accepting nominations
from Amateur 
Radio,
governmental or other organizations that have
benefited from 
extraordinary
service rendered by an Amateur Radio operator or
group. 

Nominations must include a summary of the nominee's
actions that 
qualify the
individual or group for this award plus verifying
statements from at 
least
two individuals having first-hand knowledge of the
events warranting 
the
nomination. These statements may be from an official
of a group (for
example, the American Red Cross, The Salvation Army, a
local or state
emergency management official) that benefited from the
nominee's 
particular
Amateur Radio contribution. Nominations should include
the names and
addresses of all references. 

All nominations and supporting materials for the 2005
ARRL 
International
Humanitarian Award must be submitted in writing in
English to ARRL
International Humanitarian Award, 225 Main St,
Newington, CT 06111 USA. 
In
the event that no nominations are received, the
committee itself may
determine a recipient or decide to make no award. The
award recipient
receives an engraved plaque and is profiled in QST and
other ARRL 
venues.

Complete information on how to nominate is available
on the ARRL Web 
site
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/awards/humanitarian.html>.
The 2004 
ARRL
Humanitarian Award winner was Dr Glenn Johnson, W0GJ,
of Bemidji,
Minnesota.--Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG 

==>SOLAR UPDATE

Propagation guru Tad "Sunshine On My Shoulders" Cook,
K7RA, Seattle,
Washington, reports: Conditions have recovered from
zero sunspots, 
which
lasted for five days. Average sunspot numbers rose
nearly 10 points to 
17.6
this week. Average daily solar flux rose just 1.2
points to 75.4.

There has been some geomagnetic disturbance over the
past couple of 
days,
but conditions should settle down for the ARRL
November Sweepstakes 
(CW)
this weekend. Predicted planetary A index for Friday
through Monday,
November 4-7, is 20, 20, 12 and 8. Sunspot numbers and
solar flux 
should
rise slightly, reaching a peak around November 6-8.

If the planetary A index is 20 or higher this weekend
it may cause some
difficulty reaching those Alaska or Northern
Territories multipliers in
Sweepstakes, but don't count on any major flare
activity.

Sunspot numbers for October 27 through November 2 were
0, 0, 11, 14, 
29, 33
and 36, with a mean of 17.6. The 10.7 cm flux was
71.6, 73.1, 74.1, 
75.6,
77.8, 77.3, and 78, with a mean of 75.4. Estimated
planetary A indices 
were
6, 5, 2, 5, 13, 8 and 6, with a mean of 6.4. Estimated
mid-latitude A
indices were 5, 4, 1, 3, 6, 7 and 5, with a mean of
4.4.

__________________________________

==>IN BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: The ARRL November
Sweepstakes (CW), the 
North
American Collegiate ARC Championship (CW), the IPARC
Contest (CW and 
Phone),
the Ukrainian DX Contest, High Speed Club CW Contest
and the DARC 
10-Meter
Digital Contest are the weekend of November 5-6. JUST
AHEAD: The WAE DX
Contest (RTTY), the JIDX Phone Contest, the SARL Field
Day Contest, the
OK/OM DX Contest (CW), the CQ-WE Contest are the
weekend of November 
12-13.
The ARRL November Sweepstakes (SSB) is the weekend of
November 19-20. 
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, November 6,
for these ARRL
Certification and Continuing Education (CCE) Program
on-line courses:
Emergency Communications Level 2 (EC-002), Emergency
Communications 
Level 3
(EC-003), Antenna Modeling (EC-004), VHF/UHF Beyond
the Repeater 
(EC-008),
and Propagation (EC-011), Digital Electronics
(EC-013). Classes begin
Friday, November 18. To learn more, visit the CCE
Course Listing page
<http://www.arrl.org/cce> or contact the CCE
Department <cce at arrl.org>.

* Hurricane volunteers to be honored in QST: Amateurs
who provided
communication support during recovery efforts for
hurricanes Katrina, 
Rita
and Wilma will be honored with a special listing,
including names and 
call
signs, in the February issue of QST. To be eligible
for the list, 
complete
the ARRL Hurricane Relief Volunteer Service Report on
the ARRL Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/agencies/vol-report.html>.
The 
reporting
deadline for the QST list is December 9. You do not
have to be an ARRL 
or
ARES member to be included in the list.

* ARRL "Public Service Stories" page debuts: The
ARRL's new "Public 
Service
Stories" page now is open
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/PublicServiceStories/>.
It's a place 
where
Amateur Radio volunteers can tell the world about
their public service
contributions during recent events. Both text and
photos can be entered 
and
will appear on the Public Service Stories page for all
to see. The ARRL
currently is soliciting stories from those providing
service in the
aftermath of hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma.
Submissions from ARRL
members who are logged onto the League's Web site will
be published
immediately. Others' submissions will be reviewed
before posting.

* FCC further extends filing deadlines for
Katrina-affected licensees: 
The
FCC has extended from October 31 until November 30
filing and 
regulatory
deadlines for Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB)
licensees 
directly
affected by Hurricane Katrina. The WTB said it was
taking the action
"because of the continued devastation and recovery
efforts in parts of 
the
affected states and to further alleviate any
additional burden that may 
be
caused by our filing requirements and regulatory
deadlines." After 
November
30, the WTB said, it will consider waiver requests
related to Hurricane
Katrina on a case-by-case basis. The WTB already has
extended filing 
and
regulatory deadlines for licensees affected by
Hurricane Rita to 
November 21
and by Hurricane Wilma to December 22, 2005. Because
the deadline 
extensions
affect the two-year renewal "grace period" for Amateur
Radio licensees, 
the
FCC also has suspended vanity call sign processing
"until further 
notice."

* ARRL Foundation approves more new scholarships: The
ARRL Foundation 
has
announced the addition of two new scholarships for the
2006-2007 
academic
year, thanks to a generous endowment from the Dayton
Amateur Radio
Association. The ARRL Foundation Board recently
approved addition of 
the
$1000 scholarships to the 43 awards it now offers.
"The recent success 
of
the Dayton Hamvention prompted DARA to revitalize its
scholarship 
program,"
commented ARRL Chief Development Officer Mary Hobart,
K1MMH. "These
scholarships represent DARA's commitment to plow some
of that success 
back
into Amateur Radio and offer a brighter future to
talented Amateur 
Radio
operators." To be eligible, an applicant must be an
Amateur Radio 
licensee
attending or accepted at an accredited two or
four-year college or
university. Information on all ARRL
Foundation-administered 
scholarships is
available on the ARRL Foundation Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlf/scholgen.html>. The
application period for 
ARRL
Foundation scholarships closes February 1, 2006.

* SSETI Express team "hopeful" as troubleshooting
continues: Ground
controllers are continuing efforts to get the Student
Space Exploration 
and
Technology Initiative (SSETI) Express satellite back
in working order. 
The
spacecraft, sent aloft from Russia October 27, went
silent after about 
five
orbits. Telemetry has indicated power problems. "Due
to a failure in 
the
electrical power system on board the spacecraft is
inoperable and 
mission
control is on standby," SSETI Express Project Manager
Neil Melville 
said
this week. "There is a small but significant
possibility of recovery, 
the
likelihood of which is being ascertained by ongoing
testing." The 
European
Space Agency (ESA) and the SSETI Association are
asking radio amateurs
around the world to check for signals on 437.250 MHz
at appropriate 
pass
times. These signals may be short bursts of 9k6 data
every 18 seconds 
or
bursts of pulse telemetry every 30 seconds. E-mail
details to SSETI 
Express
Mission Control <missioncontrol at sseti.org>. Melville
said the team 
remains
"hopeful and vigilant."

* Dayton HamventionR past chairman honored: Dayton
Hamvention 2004-2005
General Chairman Gary Des Combes, N8EMO, is among 10
individuals the
Dayton/Montgomery County Convention & Visitors Bureau
will honor this 
month
as "community ambassadors." The bureau will recognize
Des Combes and 
the
other award winners at its 14th annual Community
Ambassador Awards 
breakfast
November 10 in Dayton. Each winner will receive a
leather flight jacket 
from
Dayton, the birthplace of aviation, "as a token of
appreciation for the
positive economic impact their events have on the
Dayton/Montgomery 
County
community," a bureau news release said. The 55th
Dayton Hamvention will 
take
place at Hara Arena in Trotwood, Ohio, on May 19-21,
2006. Jim Nies, 
WX8F,
will be the general chairman. The Amateur Radio
exposition--considered 
the
world's largest--annually attracts upward of 25,000
visitors. The 
bureau has
estimated Hamvention's annual economic impact at close
to $4 million 
for
Montgomery County and nearly $10 million regionally.

* Amateur Radio gets visibility at Telecom Americas
2005: International
Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 2 and local radio
amateurs staffed an
exhibit at Telecom Americas 2005. The International
Telecommunication 
Union
(ITU)-sponsored exposition took place October 2-6 in
Salvador da Bahia,
Brazil. IARU Region 2 President (and ARRL
International Affairs Vice
President ) Rod Stafford, W6ROD, participated in a
panel discussion, 
"The
Changing Face of Spectrum Management" at the Telecom
Forum. The IARU 
Region
2 exhibit showcased Amateur Radio to regulators and
industry.

* Rescheduled power-line interference workshop
sessions set: Some seats
remain available for the rescheduled ARRL-sponsored
power-line 
interference
workshop sessions. Mike Martin, K3RFI, of RFI Services
of Maryland will
conduct the first session Tuesday and Wednesday,
November 29-30, and 
the
second session Thursday and Friday, December 1-2. Both
sessions will 
take
place at ARRL Headquarters in Newington, Connecticut.
RFI Services 
provides
classroom and on-site training for power-company
personnel on the 
techniques
used to identify and cure power-line interference and
can also 
troubleshoot
electrical noise problems in the field. Registration
is $995 per 
person. The
workshop is designed for utility professionals who are
responsible for
locating and dealing with power-line related
interference issues. For 
radio
amateurs who work in the utility industry, this course
has the added
benefits of being held at ARRL Headquarters where
participants will 
have a
chance to operate W1AW. For more information or a
workshop application,
contact Martin <mike at rfiservices.com>; 240-508-3760)
or visit the RFI
Services Web site <http://www.rfiservices.com/>.

===========================================================

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Amateur Radio--225 
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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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