[TCARC-NTX] ARRL Letter

[David Johnson KB5YLG]

***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 24, No. 44
November 11, 2005
***************

IN THIS EDITION:

* +Indiana, Kentucky hams respond to killer tornado
* +White House taps two for FCC seats
* +ISS commander logs 200th ARISS school contact
* +ARRL Holiday Toy Drive TV announcement available
* +Dedicated LFers ply the nether spectrum
* +It's Frequency Measuring Test time again!
*  Solar Update
*  IN BRIEF: 
     This weekend on the radio
     ARRL Certification and Continuing Education
course registration
    +ARRL "Public Service Stories" page proves popular
    +Hurricane volunteers to be honored in QST
     Hurricane Wilma ARES/RACES Southern Florida
activation praised
     Improved search capability debuts on ARRL Web
site
     ARRL represented at USA Freedom Corps briefing
     Foundation for Amateur Radio announces
scholarships
     SSETI Express is now OSCAR 53
     George Steber, WB9LVI, wins October QST Cover
Plaque Award
     Darrell L. Thomas, N7KOR, SK
     DXCC Desk accredits operations

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

==>INDIANA TORNADO "LIKE A THIEF IN THE NIGHT," HAM
RADIO VOLUNTEER 
SAYS

Amateur Radio volunteers continue to assist relief and
recovery efforts 
in
the wake of a November 6 tornado that left 22 people
dead and hundreds
injured. The twister, with winds of up to 200 MPH,
originated within a 
line
of thunderstorms that struck during the early morning
hours. It cut a 
more
than 40-mile swath through part of Kentucky and
extreme southwestern
Indiana, wiping out a section of a trailer park in
Vanderburgh County 
where
18 of the fatalities occurred.

"It was like a thief in the night, striking and having
no mercy for 
anyone
or anything in its path," said Amateur Radio volunteer
and police 
officer
Bob Pointer, N9XAW. For the first couple of days after
the tornado, 
Amateur
Radio assisted Red Cross emergency response vehicles
(ERVs) in the 
field to
communicate with their headquarters, a new facility in
Evansville where 
the
communication system was not yet up and running.

At week's end, Pointer was expecting ham radio support
for Red Cross
recovery and feeding operations to pick up again.
"We'll have to set up
units at a warehouse and a couple of outlying cities,"
he told ARRL. 

During most of the week, Amateur Radio volunteers have
been supporting
relief activities of The Salvation Army. The need was
to set up
communication between mobile field and canteen units
and The Salvation 
Army
headquarters in Evansville.

"The Salvation Army is very, very pleased with the ham
radio service,"
Pointer said. "We have units in areas where the cell
phones cannot 
function
or they're so busy, it's hard to get a line." Amateur
Radio has been 
able to
get messages through when they otherwise wouldn't,
Pointer added, "and 
it's
helping make things go much more smoothly."

Calls came from prospective volunteers as far away as
New York. "It was
truly a rewarding feeling," Pointer said. "Thanks to
the ARRL for 
putting
out the call so quickly." Local hams calling in on the
repeater to 
offer
assistance soon found themselves assigned to field
stations. "This was 
a
good exercise in trying out the grab-it-and-go kits,"
Pointer said.

Pointer says that within hours of setting up, ARRL
Section Manager Jim
Sellers, K9ZBM, called to offer assistance and got the
ball rolling. 
ARRL
Indiana Section Emergency Coordinator David Pifer,
N9YNF, contacted 
ARRL
Headquarters to spread the word.

"ARRL Headquarters even called to check on us,"
Pointer said. "You see, 
your
membership is more than a magazine a month. It is hams
from all over 
the
world ready to support you." 

Three Salvation Army mobile kitchens and three field
units have been
deployed in Vanderburgh and Warrick counties. The
daily routine 
involves
moving food from a warehouse to mobile kitchens to
feed tornado victims 
as
well as the hundreds of volunteers deployed in several
locations across 
a
wide area. Ham radio volunteers have been handling
requests for 
supplies,
messages to workers and notices to staff volunteers.

Pointer said he expected the Amateur Radio tornado
relief support 
operation
to continue into early next week. "I am privileged to
work with a great
bunch of people down here," Pointer concluded.

Kentucky SEC Ron Dodson, KA4MAP, says SKYWARN was
active as the storms 
moved
in. "I had our Amateur Radio net going with National
Weather Service 
(NWS)
Louisville and monitored those in the counties west of
me as it 
approached,"
he told ARRL. SKYWARN nets were active in Daviess and
Hancock counties.
Breckinridge, Grayson and Meade counties west of
Louisville were active 
with
the linked Wide Area Repeaters Net (WARN), Dodson
said. NWS 
Louisville's
amateur station WX4NWS was on the air for three hours
as the storms 
moved
across counties on both sides of the Ohio River.

==>WHITE HOUSE NOMINATES NEW FCC COMMISSIONER, COPPS
TAPPED FOR NEW 
TERM

President George W. Bush has nominated Deborah T. Tate
of Tennessee, a
Republican, to serve out the remainder of the term of
former FCC 
Chairman
Michael K. Powell, which expires June 30, 2007. Powell
announced his
resignation one day into President Bush's second term,
and he departed 
the
FCC last March. Under FCC Chairman Kevin J. Martin, a
Republican who
succeeded Powell, the FCC has been operating with four
members ever 
since.
The White House this week also reappointed
Commissioner Michael J. 
Copps, a
Democrat, for a new five-year term, starting last July
1. Both 
appointments
are subject to US Senate confirmation.

"If confirmed, Debi Tate will be an excellent addition
to the 
Commission,"
said Martin. "She has a distinguished career in state
government, and 
she
has worked closely with the Commission in her role as
Director of the
Tennessee Regulatory Authority."

Martin said he also looked forward to continuing to
work closely with 
Copps,
who has served on the FCC the past four years. "I
respect his insight 
and
thoughtfulness on issues before the Commission,"
Martin added.

Since Martin, a member during the Powell regime, took
over the 
chairmanship,
the political balance on the Commission has been split
evenly between 
two
Republicans and two Democrats. Members of a
president's political party 
hold
a majority on the FCC.

Another FCC opening is looming. Republican Kathleen Q.
Abernathy is 
obliged
to step down when the current session of the US Senate
expires, 
probably
later this year. She's been on the FCC since 2001.

Copps said he was "deeply honored" to be reappointed.
"I look forward 
to
working with Congress, the Administration, the
Chairman of the FCC and 
my
fellow Commissioners to help bring the best, most
accessible, and
cost-effective communications system in the world to
all of our 
people,"
Copps said in a statement. Jonathan Adelstein is the
other Democrat on 
the
Commission.

==>NEARLY EVERY DAY IS "CASUAL FRIDAY" ABOARD ISS,
JAPAN YOUNGSTERS 
LEARN

ISS Expedition 12 Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR,
completed the 200th
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) school group 
QSO
November 3. ARISS arranged the direct VHF QSO between
8J4ISS on behalf 
of
the Kawachi Citizen's Committee for Youths in Japan
and NA1SS onboard 
the
ISS. McArthur told the participating youngsters that
the climate aboard 
the
ISS permits the crew to dress lightly.

"It is very, very comfortable," McArthur said.
"Normally we just wear 
short
pants and short-sleeve shirts and socks." And, when
those clothes get 
dirty,
he said in response to another youngster's question,
the crew simply 
throws
them out and puts on fresh clothing.

Some of the youngsters were curious about how well the
ISS crew could 
spot
landmarks on Earth from their perch 220 miles high in
space. "We cannot 
see
the Tokyo Tower with just our eyes," McArthur
responded to one 
questioner,
"but sometimes we can see such objects through a
telephoto lens on a 
camera
or with binoculars." He also told the kids that he had
not yet seen the
Great Wall of China from the ISS but "we have taken
pictures of the 
Great
Wall of China from space."

McArthur and crewmate Valery Tokarev this week
completed their 
mission's
first spacewalk to install a new camera on the
station's exterior. 
Onboard
the ISS for a little more than a month, they'll return
to Earth in 
April
after 182 days in space, McArthur told the youngsters.

McArthur was able to answer 19 of the youngsters'
questions during the
nearly 10-minute contact. An audience of more than 100
parents and 
relatives
and representatives from five TV stations--including
national network
NHK--and three newspapers was on hand for the
occasion.

ARISS <http://www.rac.ca/ariss> is an international
educational 
outreach
with US participation by ARRL, AMSAT and NASA.

==>HOLIDAY TOY DRIVE VIDEO ANNOUNCEMENTS NOW AVAILABLE

A video public service announcement (PSA) now is
available to promote 
the
ARRL/The Salvation Army 2005 Holiday Toy Drive.
Offered in three 
formats,
these clips feature 2005 Holiday Toy Drive National
Chairperson and 
country
music artist Patty Loveless, KD4WUJ.

"Patty caught the feeling of the Toy Drive perfectly
in the video," 
said
ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Allen Pitts,
W1AGP, the ARRL
Headquarters point person for the drive. "She
expresses her concern,
compassion and a deep pride in being an Amateur Radio
operator." Pitts 
says
Loveless and producer Richard Lubash, N1VXW, joined
forces to produce 
the
high-quality public service video for the drive.

PSA versions are available for television broadcasters
as well as for 
Web,
club and meeting presentations. There's a 3 MB MP4
file, a 9 MB .wmv 
file
and a 480 MB .mov file (for TV broadcasters). Visit
<http://www.hello-radio.org/> to download. 

The goal of the ARRL/The Salvation Army 2005 Holiday
Toy Drive is to
brighten the holidays for youngsters displaced or left
homeless by
hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Between now and December
10, radio 
amateurs
from all across the US will be collecting new
unwrapped toys for boys 
and
girls aged 1 to 14 and sending them with a QSL card
(or a card bearing 
their
call sign) to: ARRL Toy Drive/The Salvation Army, 1775
Moriah Woods
Blvd--Suite 12, Memphis, TN 38117-7125. Gifts already
have begun to 
show up
in Memphis from all over the US.

ARRL invites its members to send cash donations, if
they prefer, to: 
ARRL
Toy Drive, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. The
League is asking all 
radio
amateurs to make the holiday season a little bit
brighter for kids 
affected
by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. 

"The hams who were in the Gulf Coast returned with
stories of 
devastated
families and children," Pitts noted. "Perhaps we
cannot save the whole
world, but as the holiday season gets closer, we are
showing the best 
traits
of a long history of service to others when we
remember those children.
Sending a new toy is a minor inconvenience and expense
to most of us, 
but to
the child on the other end it can mean everything."

==>LF EXPERIMENTATION BY RADIO AMATEURS CONTINUES
QUIETLY

Experimentation by radio amateurs in the nether
regions of the radio
spectrum continues quietly and largely unnoticed
outside of the LF
community. Since the FCC turned down the ARRL's 1998
petition to create 
an
Amateur Radio "sliver band" in the vicinity of 136
kHz, some US amateur
licensees have obtained FCC Part 5 Experimental
licenses to research 
the
possibilities of LF, including transatlantic and
transpacific 
propagation. A
few hams in Canada have obtained special permission
from Industry 
Canada to
operate on LF using Amateur Radio call signs. The
latest noteworthy
accomplishment was a 137 kHz QSO
<http://www.w1tag.com/XDWQSO.htm> 
October
29 between US Experimental licensees Laurence Howell,
KL1X--operating 
as
WD2XDW--and John Andrews, W1TAG--operating as WD2XES.

"This is the second two-way between US Experimental
licensees in that
frequency range, the first being a 25-mile CW contact
between 
K2ORS/WD2XGJ
and myself last year," said Andrews. The QSO between
Andrews, in
Massachusetts, and Howell, in Oklahoma, spanned some
1340 miles. 

In 2001, Larry Kayser, VA3LK (SK), and Laurie Mayhead,
G3AQC, received 
a
special Transatlantic Challenge plaque for completing
the first two-way
Amateur Radio LF contact between the UK and Canada
earlier that year.
Another plaque went to Dave Bowman, G0MRF, John
Currie, VE1ZJ, and Jack
Leahy, VE1ZZ, for completing a crossband (HF/LF)
transatlantic QSO in 
2000. 

A year ago, New Zealand LFer Mike McAlevey, ZL4OL,
copied Howell's 
WD2XDW
137 kHz carrier "bursts" over a path of more than
13,000 km (8000 
miles),
while Jim Moritz, M0BMU, copied LF signals from
WD2XDW, Andrews' WD2XES 
and
Joe Craig, VO1NA, in Newfoundland. Craig and Alan
Melia, G3NYK, 
described
their LF exploits and experiences in "The
Transatlantic on 2200 
Meters," in
July 2005 QST
<http://www.arrl.org/qst/2005/07/craig.pdf>.

More recently, the first confirmed transpacific
reception of Canadian
Amateur Radio LF signals occurred October 4 when the
very slow speed 
(QRSS)
CW signals of VA7LF were heard by ZM2E in New Zealand.
"Signals from 
the
ZM2E club station were heard in Canada as well, but
propagation was not 
of
sufficient duration to enable a QSO to be completed,"
said Steve 
McDonald,
VE7SL, one of the VA7LF operators. ZM2E and UA0LE hold
the current 
Amateur
Radio two-way LF world record at a distance of 10,311
km (6393 mi). The
distance between VA7LF and ZM2E is approximately
11,700 km (7254 mi).

LFers typically use very low data rates and process
the incoming 
sound-card
audio in real time using DSP software like WOLF or
ARGO.

During the October 29 contact, which took more than
two hours to 
complete,
Andrews was running 200 W output into a large,
tree-supported vertical 
loop.
Howell was running 1 kW into a tree-supported vertical
loop.

Experimentation under FCC Part 15 rules in the
vicinity of 160 to 190 
kHz
has been going on for years by radio amateurs and
non-amateurs alike.
Amateur Radio licensees in Europe and elsewhere have
an allocation at 
135.7
to 137.8 kHz, and most Amateur Radio experimentation
takes place in 
this
band.

==>ARRL 2005 FREQUENCY MEASURING TEST SET FOR NOVEMBER
17 UTC

Returning to the airwaves November 17 at 0245 UTC
(Wednesday, November 
16 in
US time zones), the 2005 ARRL Frequency Measuring Test
(FMT) once again 
will
call on participants to measure the frequency of an
audio tone 
modulating
the carrier.

"Measuring the tone frequency, as opposed to that of
the carrier, 
reinforces
the understanding of the relationship between carrier
frequency and the
actual components of a transmitted signal," Engineer
and ARRL 
Contributing
Editor Ward Silver, N0AX, says in "Tune In the 2005
Frequency Measuring
Test," in November QST (p 54), 
www.arrl.org/w1aw/fmt/2005/05fmtsilver.pdf.
"With the carrier largely suppressed for SSB signals,
only the sideband
components remain. A single modulating tone results in
a single 
transmitted
component." But, Silver notes, the frequency of the
absent carrier is 
what
the operator sees on the radio's display.

The FMT signals will emanate from Maxim Memorial
Station W1AW this year 
on
160, 80 and 40 meters. The 20-meter transmission has
been dropped for 
2005
because of the generally poor conditions during
evening hours on that 
band.
The frequencies will be 1855, 3990 and 7290 kHz, and
all transmissions 
will
be on lower sideband (LSB). The FMT will replace the
W1AW phone 
bulletin
normally transmitted at 0245 UTC on November 17
(November 16 in US time
zones).

Participants may utilize either direct or indirect
techniques to 
determine
the tone frequency. "Direct measurements assume a
carrier frequency and
measure the audio tone frequency directly," Silver
explains. "Indirect
measurements obtain the transmitted frequency of the
tone component at 
RF,
then compute the difference between the published
carrier frequency and
measured frequency."

Silver advises that since the W1AW exciters are
independent units and 
not
fed with a single local oscillator, participants can
expect the 
measured
tone frequency to differ slightly on each band.

The test itself will consist of three 60-second tone
transmissions on 
each
band, followed by a station identification. The whole
test will run for
about 15 minutes and will end with a station ID.

Submitted reports should include the participant's
name, call sign and
location plus the time of reception and the tone
frequency. Those using 
an
indirect measurement method should show how they
calculated the tone
frequency. Participants may submit separate reports
for each band. A
Certificate of Participation is available to all
entrants. 

Those coming closest to the measured frequency as
determined by the 
ARRL
Laboratory will be listed in the test report and will
also receive 
special
recognition on their certificate. Entries must be
received via e-mail 
<fmt@
arrl.org> or postmarked by December 16, 2005. Send
hard-copy entries to
W1AW/FMT, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.

==>SOLAR UPDATE

Solar sage Tad "Tequila Sunrise" Cook, K7RA, Seattle,
Washington, 
reports:
We may be in another period of no sunspots. From
October 24-28 there 
was a
sunspot count of zero on each day. Three days at the
beginning of the 
month
were no-sunspot days, and four months ago there were
five days--July
18-22--with no spots. A year from now expect to see
longer periods of 
zero
sunspot readings--possibly up to several weeks--based
on what the 
periods
between previous sunspot cycles were like.

Geomagnetic conditions should be fairly active today.
Predicted 
planetary A
index for Friday through Monday, November 11-14, is
15, 8, 5 and 5. The
Prague Geophysical Institute predicts unsettled to
active conditions on
November 11 and 12, unsettled conditions on November
13, quiet to 
unsettled
on November 14 and 15, and quiet conditions November
16-17. 

Sunspot numbers for November 3 through 9 were 24, 22,
18, 34, 31, 38 
and 13,
with a mean of 25.7. 10.7 cm flux was 76.8, 77.4,
79.3, 81.7, 79.4, 
79.4,
and 78.1, with a mean of 78.9. Estimated planetary A
indices were 24, 
20,
10, 10, 6, 3 and 3, with a mean of 10.9. Estimated
mid-latitude A 
indices
were 19, 16, 10, 12, 6, 2 and 1, with a mean of 9.4.

__________________________________

==>IN BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: 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. JUST AHEAD:
The ARRL 
November
Sweepstakes (SSB), the NA Collegiate ARC Championship
(SSB), the LZ DX
Contest, the EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party, the All
Austrian 160-Meter
Contest and the RSGB Second 1.8 MHz Contest (CW) are
the weekend of 
November
19-20. The CQ World Wide DX Contest (CW) is the
weekend of November 
26-27.
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 20,
for these ARRL
Certification and Continuing Education (CCE). Program
on-line courses:
Emergency Communication Level 1 (EC-001) Antenna
Design and 
Construction
(EC-009), Technician Licensing (EC-010), Radio
Frequency Interference
(EC-006), Digital Electronics (EC-013) and Analog
Electronics (EC-012).
Classes begin Friday, December 2. 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>.

* ARRL "Public Service Stories" page proves popular:
Amateur Radio
volunteers have posted dozens of reports on the ARRL's
new "Public 
Service
Stories" page
<http://www.arrl.org/FandES/field/PublicServiceStories/>.

The
League thanks those who have taken the time to share
their experiences.
Additional stories are welcome! At present, the site
is open to reports 
from
radio amateurs who provided public service in the
aftermath of 
hurricanes
Katrina, Rita and Wilma and want to tell the world
about their public
service contributions. The Public Service Stories page
accepts both 
text and
photos for all to see. Submissions from ARRL members
who are logged 
onto the
League's Web site will be published immediately.
Others' submissions 
will be
reviewed before posting.

* 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.

* Hurricane Wilma ARES/RACES Southern Florida
activation praised: ARRL
Southern Florida Section Emergency Coordinator Jeff
Beals, WA4AW, 
reports
that all Amateur Radio support in the Southern Florida
Section in 
response
to Hurricane Wilma secured Monday, October 31. All
out-of-area operator
assistance was released the next day. "Some shelters
and feeding 
stations
were still in operation through the week, and many
affected areas are 
still
without power and telephone service," he told ARRL
November 4. Beals 
said
officials at the Broward and Palm Beach county
emergency operating 
centers
(EOCs) reported that Amateur Radio assistance was
invaluable in 
conducting
their tactical operations. In addition to volunteering
to supplement
communication at the EOCs, ham radio volunteers also
assisted at 
American
Red Cross shelters for hurricane evacuees and at
staging areas.

* Improved search capability debuts on ARRL Web site:
A new search 
engine
now is active on the ARRL Web site, Webmaster Jon
Bloom, KE3Z,
<jbloom at arrl.org> has announced. "The ARRL Web site's
search capability 
has
long been a weak spot of the site," he allowed. "To
address that 
problem,
we've replaced the site's search engine with an
entirely new search 
page
that uses a Google <http://www.google.com> search
appliance--a separate
computer running Google's search system--that indexes
and searches the 
ARRL
Web site." Bloom says the change means that those
using the "Search" 
box
atop any page on the site not only will obtain more
comprehensive and
accurate results but will get them much faster than
previously. "We 
hope our
site users enjoy the new search capability, which was
instituted 
largely at
the request of numerous ARRL members," Bloom added.

* ARRL represented at USA Freedom Corps briefing: ARRL
Chief 
Development
Officer Mary Hobart, K1MMH, represented the League
October 14 at a USA
Freedom Corps post-Katrina briefing in Washington, DC.
She was among
representatives of some 120 representatives of
nonprofit organizations
attending the White House gathering. Deputy Assistant
to the President 
and
Director of USA Freedom Corps Desiree Sayle, Homeland
Security 
Secretary
Michael Chertoff, Housing and Urban Development
Secretary Alphonso 
Jackson,
White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card and Corporation
for National and
Community Service (CNCS) CEO David Eisner were among
those who 
addressed the
briefing, which focused on hurricane recovery and
reconstruction. CNCS
grants subsidized Amateur Radio emergency
communications training for 
some
5500 completed courses as well as the League's "Ham
Aid" program to 
assist
Amateur Radio Gulf Coast hurricane volunteers with
out-of-pocket 
expenses.
Hobart said the team of Bush Administration
representatives thanked
nonprofits for their contributions and detailed plans
to continue the 
Gulf
Coast recovery effort, in which Amateur Radio
volunteer involvement
continues. "The ARRL was able to talk with CNCS
leadership about future
funding for Amateur Radio," Hobart added.

* Foundation for Amateur Radio announces scholarships:
The Foundation 
for
Amateur Radio (FAR) plans to administer 54
scholarships for the 
2006-2007
academic year to assist Amateur Radio licensees
attending institutions 
of
higher education full-time. A non-profit organization
headquartered in
Washington, DC, FAR is composed of more than 75 area
Amateur Radio 
clubs.
FAR fully funds three of these scholarships, 10 are
funded with income 
from
grants and FAR administers the remaining 41 without
cost to the donors.
Radio amateurs may compete for these awards if they
plan to pursue a
full-time course of studies beyond high school and are
enrolled in or 
have
been accepted for enrollment at an accredited
university, college or
technical school. The awards range from $500 to $2500
with preference 
given
in some cases to residents of specified geographical
areas or to those 
who
are pursuing certain courses of study. Clubs,
especially those in 
Delaware,
Florida, Maryland, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia
and Wisconsin, 
are
encouraged to announce these opportunities. For
additional information 
and
an application form, send a letter or QSL card
postmarked prior to 
April 30,
2006, to FAR Scholarships, PO Box 831, Riverdale, MD
20738. FAR is an 
exempt
organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal
Revenue Code of 
1954.

* SSETI Express is now OSCAR 53: AMSAT-NA has
designated the 
now-problematic
SSETI Express satellite as OSCAR 53--XO-53 for short.
Launched October 
27,
the satellite, which carries an Amateur Radio package
and deployed 
three ham
radio cubesats, went silent after about five orbits.
Based on telemetry
received during its short period of operation, SSETI
Express Project 
Manager
Neil Melville has cited an apparent onboard power
system anomaly. The
spacecraft went into a "safe mode" due to an
"undervoltage" condition 
caused
by battery charging problems, Melville has said,
adding that 
ground-based
hardware tests confirm the possibility of a further
failure mode of the
specific component that would allow the batteries to
charge and the
spacecraft to resume operation. In thanking AMSAT's
Bill Tynan, W3XO, 
and
the AMSAT Board for notifying the project of the
designation, Melville
remained upbeat. "As you are no doubt aware XO-53, to
use its new
designation, has some significant problems right now,"
he said. 
"However, we
remain vigilant and hopeful, perhaps it can be
recovered." Graham 
Shirville,
G3VZV, says analysis of the actual cause of SSETI
Express's problems
continues, and a full review will take place later
this month. 
Shirville
says a number of automated ground stations have been
set up in Europe 
to
listen for SSETI Express on 437.250 MHz. He also
invites valid 
reception
reports via e-mail from the Amateur Radio community,
"and if you do 
hear it
first we can promise you a bigger prize than just a
special T-shirt!" 
he
added. "We believe that there is a small but finite
chance of recovery, 
so
your efforts could be very worthwhile."

* George Steber, WB9LVI, wins October QST Cover Plaque
Award: The 
winner of
the QST Cover Plaque Award for October is George R.
Steber, WB9LVI, for 
his
article "A Low Cost Automatic Impedance Bridge."
Congratulations, 
George!
The winner of the QST Cover Plaque award--given to the
author or 
authors of
the best article in each issue--is determined by a
vote of ARRL members 
on
the QST Cover Plaque Poll Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/members-only/QSTvote.html>. Cast
a ballot for your
favorite article in the November issue by Wednesday,
November 30.

* Darrell L. Thomas, N7KOR, SK: Former Montana ARRL
Section Manager 
Darrell
Thomas, N7KOR, died October 16. He was 69. Thomas
served as SM for 10 
years,
from 1993 until 2003, when he stepped down because of
ill health. 
"Darrell
was an effective SM and, despite his battle with
cancer, was always the
optimistic sort.," said ARRL Northwestern Division
Director Greg 
Milnes,
W7OZ. " He will be missed." Thomas was a member of the
ARRL and of the 
Great
Falls Area Amateur Radio Club. A retired fire chief
for the Montana Air
National Guard and the Great Falls International
Airport, Thomas has 
also
worked as a 911 dispatcher for the City of Great
Falls. Survivors 
include
his wife, Joanne, N7VTP, and a daughter and son. The
family invites 
memorial
donations to the Animal Foundation of Great Falls, PO
Box 3426, Great 
Falls,
MT 59403 or to the GFAARC Repeater Fund, PO Box 1763,
Great Falls, MT
59403.--some information from the Great Falls Tribune

* DXCC Desk accredits operations: The ARRL DXCC Desk
has approved these
operations for DXCC credit: 6O0JT, Somalia, September
30, 2004 through 
April
30, 2005; 5X1W, Uganda, August 3-12, 2005; DX0K,
Spratly Islands, 
February
1-April 30, 2005. For more information, visit the DXCC
Web page
<http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/>. "DXCC Frequently
Asked Questions" 
can
answer most questions about the DXCC program. ARRL DX
bulletins are
available on the W1AW DX Bulletins page
<http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/dx/>.

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

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.

The ARRL Letter offers a weekly e-mail digest of
essential news of 
interest
to active amateurs. The ARRL Letter strives to be
timely, accurate, 
concise,
and readable. Visit ARRLWeb <http://www.arrl.org> for
the latest news,
updated as it happens. The ARRL Web site
<http://www.arrl.org/> offers
access to news, informative features and columns. ARRL
Audio News
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> is a weekly
"ham radio 
newscast"
compiled from The ARRL Letter. 

Material from The ARRL Letter may be republished or
reproduced in whole 
or
in part in any form without additional permission.
Credit must be given 
to
The ARRL Letter and The American Radio Relay League.

==>Delivery problems (ARRL member direct delivery
only!):
letter-dlvy at arrl.org
==>Editorial questions or comments: Rick Lindquist,
N1RL, n1rl at arrl.org
==>ARRL News on the Web: <http://www.arrl.org>
==>ARRL Audio News:
<http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/> or call
860-594-0384

==>How to Get The ARRL Letter

The ARRL Letter is available to ARRL members free of
charge directly 
from
ARRL HQ. To subscribe, unsubscribe or change your
address for e-mail
delivery: 
ARRL members first must register on the Members Only
Web Site
<http://www.arrl.org/members/>. You'll have an
opportunity during
registration to sign up for e-mail delivery of The
ARRL Letter, W1AW
bulletins, and other material. To change these
selections--including
delivery of The ARRL Letter--registered members should
click on the 
"Member
Data Page" link (in the Members Only box). Click on
"Modify membership
data," check or uncheck the appropriate boxes and/or
change your e-mail
address if necessary. (Check "Temporarily disable all
automatically 
sent
email" to temporarily stop all e-mail deliveries.)
Then, click on 
"Submit
modification" to make selections effective. (NOTE: HQ
staff members 
cannot
change your e-mail delivery address. You must do this
yourself via the
Members Only Web Site.)

The ARRL Letter also is available to all, free of
charge, from these
sources:

* ARRLWeb <http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/>. (NOTE:
The ARRL Letter 
will be
posted each Friday when it is distributed via e-mail.)

* The QTH.net listserver, thanks to volunteers from
the Boston Amateur 
Radio
Club: Visit Mailing Lists at QTH.Net
<http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/letter-list>.
(NOTE: The ARRL
cannot assist subscribers who receive The ARRL Letter
via this 
listserver.) 


--- 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


		
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
http://farechase.yahoo.com