[TCARC-NTX] Fwd: The ARRL Letter, Vol 25, No 06

[David Johnson KB5YLG]

***************
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 25, No. 06
February 10, 2006
***************

IN THIS EDITION:

* +SuitSat-1 a success, ARISS says
* +Radio amateurs hailed as "true heroes" on US House
floor
* +USMA cadets, Florida high schoolers enjoy
successful QSOs with NA1SS
* +Telecoms attorney poised to be fifth FCC member
* +ARRL EXPO will return at Dayton Hamvention 2006
* +ARRL Field Day 2006 info now available
* +AD5X captures Bill Orr Award
*  Solar Update
*  IN BRIEF:
     This weekend on the radio: The North American
Sprint (CW)!
     ARRL Certification and Continuing Education
course registration
     3Y0X Peter I Island DXpedition is on the air!
    +ARRL announces DeSoto Cup winners, DXCC Challenge
Top 10
     ARRL advisory committees to consider contesting,
DXCC changes
     ARRL teams named for WRTC-2006
     DXCC Desk approves operation for DXCC credit
     Correction

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

==>"SUITSAT-1" DESIGNATED AO-54, SPONSORS CALL IT
"TREMENDOUSLY 
SUCCESSFUL"

Released into Earth orbit February 3, the novel
SuitSat-1 Amateur Radio
transmit-only spacesuit turned satellite has been
heard around the 
globe,
but those hoping to hear it using a hand-held
transceiver or scanner 
have
been disappointed. From the start, SuitSat-1 has been
quite weak, and
reports this week indicate its already-puny 145.99 MHz
FM signal may be
getting even weaker. Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station
(ARISS), the project's sponsor, remains very
interested in obtaining 
any
valid voice telemetry reports (post to
SAREX at amsat.org).

"The telemetry is transmitted about 30 seconds after
the SSTV image 
stops,"
explains ARISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth
Ransom, N5VHO. Ransom 
says
the transmission order is SSTV image, 30 seconds of
silence, voice
identification, mission time, temperature and battery
voltage. "The 
battery
voltage is of most importance," he added.

At week's end, SuitSat-1 was reporting a battery
voltage of 26.7 V. 
Based on
that figure, Lou McFadin, W5DID, of ARISS and AMSAT,
has calculated 
that
SuitSat-1 is likely to last a little more than nine
days total. That 
means
it could stop transmitting as early as February 12.
ARISS Secretary 
Rosalie
White, K1STO, says the ARISS team is especially
interested in telemetry
reports "near what we think may be the end, to help us
track battery 
power
and how the suit will finish up life."

Consisting of a discarded Russian Orlan spacesuit
equipped with ham 
radio
gear, SuitSat-1 was released by International Space
Station (ISS) 
Expedition
12 Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev as he and Expedition
12 Commander 
Bill
McArthur, KC5ACR, began a spacewalk. The crew had
stuffed some of its
laundry into the spacesuit to help it to keep its form
as it orbits 
Earth.
AMSAT-NA has designated SuitSat-1 as AMSAT OSCAR 54
(AO-54).

"Seldom has an Amateur Radio event captured the
public's imagination 
and
evoked so much positive news media coverage as SuitSat
has," said 
AMSAT-NA's
Bill Tynan in announcing the AO-54 designation.

Several reception reports on the SuitSat Web site 
<http://www.suitsat.org/>
indicate SuitSat-1 audio has been retransmitted via
the NA1SS crossband
repeater aboard the ISS. While the NA1SS Phase 2
station has been 
configured
to retransmit SuitSat's 145.99 MHz signal on 437.800
MHz, Ransom says 
he
tends to discount the validity of the signals heard
via the UHF 
repeater.
"Since it hears everything, people are reporting every
little squeak 
and
whistle," he said, adding that any reports posted are
"very hard to 
verify"
at this stage. Several reports mention hearing packet
signals, but 
SuitSat-1
carries no packet gear. All telemetry transmissions
are by digital 
voice.

Ransom urged all Earth stations not to transmit on
SuitSat-1's 145.99 
MHz
frequency--which is also the normal packet uplink
channel--until the
SuitSat-1 experiment ends.

ISS Commander McArthur remained upbeat about a future
SuitSat mission.
"Where there's a will there's a way," he philosophized
during a
post-spacewalk contact recorded by Scott Avery,
WA6LIE. "We've got more
suits that need to be jettisoned."

ARISS International Chairman Frank Bauer, KA3HDO,
proclaimed SuitSat-1
"tremendously successful," its weak signal
notwithstanding. "We have
captured the imagination of students and the general
public worldwide
through this unique experiment," he said, adding that
the media 
attention
alone has been some of the best ever for Amateur
Radio.

Bauer further notes that SuitSat-1 has successfully
carried student 
artwork,
signatures and voices into space, and "the students
are now space 
travelers
as the suit rotates and orbits the earth." SuitSat-1
also has shown 
that a
spacesuit could be deployed and orbited from the ISS,
"demonstrating to 
the
space agencies that this can be safely done," Bauer
noted.

"Pioneering efforts are challenging. Risk is high. But
the future 
payoff is
tremendous," Bauer concluded. He was able to hear one
overhead pass 
that
included at least part of the English-language ID,
recorded by his 
daughter,
Michelle. "Keep your spirits up, and let's continue to
be optimistic," 
he
urged later in an official SuitSat-1 status report.
"And please keep
monitoring!"

More information on the SuitSat-1 project, including
QSL information, 
is
available on the AMSAT Web site 
<http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/index.php>.

==>HAM RADIO OPERATORS "TRUE HEROES," REP MIKE ROSS,
WD5DVR, SAYS IN
"SALUTE"

US Rep Mike Ross, WD5DVR (D-AR), this week offered "A
Salute to Ham 
Radio
Operators" on the floor of the US House. Ross, one of
two Amateur Radio
licensees in the House of Representatives (the other
is Rep Greg 
Walden,
W7EQI, R-OR), addressed his colleagues February 8 to
recognize the
contributions of the Amateur Radio community in the
wake of last year's
devastating hurricane season.

"Citizens throughout America dedicated to this
hobby--a hobby that some
people consider old fashioned or obsolete--were true
heroes in the 
aftermath
of Hurricane Katrina as they were often the only line
of communication
available into the storm ravaged areas," Ross said.

He noted that while ham radio is often overlooked "in
favor of flashier
means of communication," Gulf Coast communities
learned after the 2005
hurricanes that technology can be "highly vulnerable"
to storm damage. 
"Ham
radios, entirely self- contained transmitters, require
no cell towers 
or
satellites, simply a battery and a strip of wire as an
antenna," Ross
explained.

Because of the "critical intervention" of radio
amateurs across the US, 
Ross
said, many lives were saved following Hurricane
Katrina.

"The dedication displayed by ham radio operators in
the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina sets a tremendous example for us
all," Ross 
concluded,
noting that "now more than ever" he's proud to be an
Amateur Radio 
operator.
"The people whose lives were rescued as a result of
the tireless 
dedication
of ham radio operators will forever be grateful to
these selfless 
public
servants."

==>VERY FULL SCHEDULE KEEPS SPACE STATION CREW
HOPPING, CADETS TOLD

International Space Station Expedition 12 Commander
Bill McArthur, 
KC5ACR,
spoke recently via ham radio with cadets at his alma
mater, the US 
Military
Academy at West Point, New York, and with high
schoolers in Orlando,
Florida. The Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station (ARISS)
program arranged both on-the-air events. During a
January 26 direct VHF
contact between NA1SS and W2KGY at West Point, one
cadet asked 
McArthur's
opinion regarding the most important design factors
for a future lunar 
base.
McArthur responded by expressing his frustration with
the ISS crew's 
lack of
control over its work schedule.

"We have a daily list of tasks that we're scheduled
out for," McArthur 
told
the cadets. "The bottom line is the schedule is very
full, and you 
really
need to maintain the timeline." Unfortunately, he went
on, various 
factors
come into play that cause the crew to under-schedule
the time needed 
for
each task.

"So, I think the most important thing to do," McArthur
concluded, "is 
to
give a crew on the lunar base more time to actually
plan out their own
activities, and give them adequate time to execute
them."

Answering another question, McArthur told the West
Pointers that the 
crew
sometimes finds itself wasting time on non-productive
activities.

"The things that waste most of our time on orbit are
all related to
stowage," he said. "We have limited stowage volume up
here. Over time 
things
migrate from place to place, and even though we have a
fairly 
sophisticated
inventory-management system, it's very frustrating--it
takes a lot of
time--to find the tools and supplies that you need."

On a more mundane subject, McArthur discussed the art
of shaving in 
space.
He said he uses a safety razor and shaving gel, but
since he cannot 
rinse
off the razor, blades have to be replaced more
frequently. He said he
sometimes uses an electric razor but doesn't believe
he gets as smooth 
a
shave.

Audio of the approximately six and one-half minute
contact between 
NA1SS and
W2KGY was fed via closed circuit to the academy's 4000
cadets could 
listen
in. Seven cadets participated in the event. ARISS
mentor Steve 
McFarlane,
VE3BTD, provided equipment and antennas for the club
station to 
undertake
the contact, which McArthur had requested.

On February 2, McArthur took questions via ham radio
from students 
attending
Timber Creek High School, located some 30 miles from
Cape 
Canaveral--close
enough to see shuttle launches. A number of the
students have parents 
who
work in the space industry. On hand for the occasion
was Florida's
Commissioner of Education John Winn.

During the direct VHF contact between NA1SS and
KC4IYO, McArthur told 
the
students that crew members "launch healthy" as part of
an overall 
effort to
avoid problems with illness in space. He pointed out
that bones need
physical stress to maintain their density. Because
there is hardly any
physical stress in the microgravity environment of the
ISS, the crew 
must
exercise vigorously every day and take vitamins to
fend off the risk of 
bone
loss.

Most of the students taking part in the interview were
sophomores 
taking
advanced placement biology, and many of their
questions had to do with
biology, physiology and botany. Some students from
other classes also
participated.

McArthur said that since living and working in space
is considered
stressful, the body needs more energy to deal with it.
So, crew members 
are
provided with a high-calorie diet, whether they'll
consume it or not.

"We are provided more calories on orbit," McArthur
explained. "At some
point, though, I've found that I simply can't eat all
the food that is
provided for me. I just get too full."

Fielding a question about getting ready for a space
walk--something the 
crew
was doing the week of the contact--McArthur said the
crew spends the 
better
part of a week preparing their spacesuits and
equipment. "The thing we 
have
to do is gather all the equipment, which may be stored
in different
locations of the space station," McArthur explained,
"then actually 
install
things such as the carbon dioxide scrubbing canisters,
humidity
separators--things like that in a spacesuit because
they can't be 
installed
for a long period of time."

In terms of science aboard the ISS, McArthur said the
crew is trying to
learn how to do research in space. "We're actually
maybe two 
generations
away from things that have direct application," he
added.

As the Timber Creek contact got under way, McArthur
took the 
opportunity to
greet Coordinating Teacher Sarah Longino. "It's a
delight to hear your
voice," McArthur said, noting that he and Longino have
been friends for 
more
than four decades.

John Rothert, KC4IYO, served as the Earth station
control op for the 
contact
between the ISS and the suburban high school, which
boasts a student
population of approximately 4000. Coordinating the
radio contact was 
Joe
Singer, N4IPV, and members of the Lake Monroe Amateur
Radio Society 
assisted
in setting up equipment for the contact. The ARISS
mentor was Keith 
Pugh,
W5IU.

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

==>WHITE HOUSE TO TAP VIRGINIAN AS FIFTH FCC MEMBER

President George W. Bush has announced his intention
to nominate 
Republican
Robert M. McDowell of Virginia to serve on the FCC for
the remainder of 
a
five-year term expiring June 30, 2009. If confirmed by
the US Senate,
McDowell--a telecommunications attorney--would bring
the Commission 
back to
its statutory five-member complement. FCC Chairman
Kevin J. Martin 
applauded
the president's announcement.

"If confirmed, Rob McDowell will be a great asset to
the Commission," 
Martin
said. "He has a wealth of knowledge in the
communications arena, and we 
will
rely on his insight when evaluating the issues before
us."

When Martin took over as FCC chairman last year, the
political balance 
on
the Commission was split evenly between two
Republicans and two 
Democrats.
Republican Kathleen Abernathy departed in December,
while Republican 
Deborah
T. Tate officially came aboard January 3. Democrat
Michael J. Copps was
sworn in for another term the same day. The other
Democrat is Jonathan
Adelstein.

McDowell currently serves as senior vice president and
assistant 
general
counsel for the Competitive Telecommunications
Association (CompTel). 
Prior
to that he served as executive vice president and
general counsel for 
the
America's Carriers Telecommunications Association. A
cum laude graduate 
of
Duke University, McDowell received his law degree from
the College of
William and Mary's Marshall-Wythe School of Law.

==>ARRL EXPO RETURNS AT DAYTON HAMVENTION 2006!

With thanks to Dayton Hamvention and owing to its
popularity among 2005
Hamventioneers, ARRL EXPO will return to Dayton this
year. Hamvention 
takes
place Friday through Sunday, May 19-21, at Hara Arena
near Dayton, 
Ohio.

"Dayton Hamvention has generously agreed to partner
again with ARRL to
accommodate ARRL EXPO 2006," ARRL Marketing Manager
Bob Inderbitzen, 
NQ1R,
announced. "As we did during last year's National
Convention, ARRL will
organize its primary Hamvention exhibit in the
Ballarena, which allows
plenty of room to showcase a broad variety of ARRL
programs and 
services.
Our hope is to reprise the best elements of last
year's very successful
event."

Inderbitzen notes that while some details remain in
the development 
stages,
current plans call for ARRL EXPO 2006 to feature a
huge--and readily
accessible--ARRL bookstore and retail products center.
Those renewing 
their
League memberships or joining for the first time will
receive a gift.

Individual exhibits and booths will highlight the
League's various
activities or focus on more specialized Amateur Radio
interests. Also 
held
over from last year's ARRL National Convention EXPO
will be live, 
on-stage
presentations and mini-forums by ARRL staff members
and volunteers. 
DXCC
card checking will be available on site.

So will the Internet Café, which last year provided
not only free 
access to
Internet-ready computers to catch up on e-mail or surf
the Web, but an
open-access Wi-Fi "hot spot" for the laptop/notebook
crowd.

Also back this year: "ARRL Passport," the ultimate
scavenger hunt. 
Collect
ARRL Passport numbers at booths and concessions
throughout Dayton 
Hamvention
2006 and win terrific prizes.

Of course, ARRL EXPO will offer an opportunity for
Hamvention visitors 
to
meet ARRL staff members and authors and to learn more
about the 
League's
various activities and initiatives--from advocacy and
development to
technical and regulatory support and operating
activities.

Inderbitzen says various ARRL forums will be
coordinated with the 
Dayton
Hamvention program. Hamvention sponsor, the Dayton
Amateur Radio
Association, will sponsor Amateur Radio license
examinations.

Dayton Hamvention itself will offer some 500 indoor
exhibit/concession
spaces throughout Hara Arena, where visitors can feast
their eyes on 
the
latest Amateur Radio gear or touch bases with their
favorite ham radio
organizations and activity groups.

The outdoor flea market--a huge favorite--will again
have more than 
2500
spaces available. It's the largest of its kind and a
great place to 
meet old
friends or make new ones. And remember: "If you can't
find it at 
Dayton,
you'll never find it!"

Watch this space
<http://www.arrl.org/announce/nc/2006/> for ARRL EXPO 
2006
updates!

==>ARRL FIELD DAY 2006 PACKAGES, RULES NOW AVAILABLE

The 2006 ARRL Field Day package
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/06-fd-packet.pdf>
and rules (HTML
version
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/rules-fd-2006.html>)

(PDF
version
<http://www.arrl.org/contests/forms/06-fd-rules.pdf>)
now are
available on the ARRL Web site.

"The only rule change in 2006 involves the GOTA ('Get
On The Air') 
station
bonus-point structure," says ARRL Contest Branch
Manager Dan Henderson,
N1ND. "An individual operator may earn a 50-point
bonus for completing 
50
QSOs at the GOTA station. They may earn an additional
50 bonus points 
when
they reach 100 QSOs."

Henderson notes there's a 100-QSO cap for bonus points
per individual 
GOTA
operator, but additional GOTA operators may earn the
bonuses for the 
club,
up to a maximum of 500 GOTA bonus points.

"Additionally, Field Day operations can double their
GOTA bonus points 
by
having a designated GOTA Coach/Mentor supervise the
station whenever 
it's on
the air," Henderson notes. "The GOTA Coach/Mentor may
talk the 
participants
through the QSOs and serve as control operator, but
GOTA participants 
must
make and log all QSOs themselves."

This means that if a Field Day group has a GOTA
Coach/Mentor, the 50 
and
100-point bonuses GOTA operators earn will double to
100 and 200 points
respectively, while the maximum GOTA bonus increases
to 1000 points.

ARRL Field Day 2006 will be Saturday and Sunday, June
24-25.

==>PHIL SALAS, AD5X, NAMED 2005 ORR AWARD WINNER

Acting on a recommendation from the QST editorial
staff, the ARRL 
Foundation
Board of Directors has voted unanimously to give the
2005 Bill Orr, 
W6SAI,
Technical Writing Award to Phil Salas, AD5X. An ARRL
Life Member from
Richardson, Texas, Salas was recognized for "his
excellence at making
technical concepts understandable," said QST Editor
Steve Ford, WB8IMY. 
The
award is based on articles published in QST during
2005.

"I've admired Bill Orr's technical writings over the
years, so I am 
very
pleased and honored to receive this award," said
Salas. "I've enjoyed
sharing my ideas with the ham community through my
articles and plan on
continuing to do so."

Salas' oeuvre in QST during 2005 included "A Compact
Battery Pack for 
the
SG-2020" in the March "Workbench" section, "Input
Voltage 
Conditioner--and
More--for the FT-817" in the June "Workbench," and
"Tuning Switch with 
Limit
Indication for Screwdriver Antennas" in the December
"Workbench." Salas 
also
authored the article "The Ultimate Portable HF
Vertical Antenna" in the 
July
issue, and he contributed to "Hints & Kinks" and
"Technical 
Correspondence."

Salas is a past winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award,
given to the 
author or
authors of the best article in each issue as
determined by a vote of 
ARRL
members on the QST Cover Plaque Poll Web page. He
captured a cover 
plaque in
2000 for his article "A Simple HF-Portable Antenna,"
which appeared in 
that
year's December issue.

The Orr Award pays tribute to the winning author's
ability to explain
technical topics in a manner that is easy for
relatively non-technical
people to understand. Bill Orr, W6SAI, the award's
namesake, was best 
known
for his voluminous publications for radio amateurs.
>From the 1940s 
through
the 1980s, Orr was a frequent contributor to QST. In
addition, he
constructed some of the amplifiers once used at ARRL
Maxim Memorial 
Station
W1AW. Orr died in 2001.

ARRL West Gulf Division Director Coy Day, N5OK, will
present Salas with 
the
2005 Bill Orr Award plaque at HamCom this June in
Dallas, Texas.

==>SOLAR UPDATE

Propagation prognosticator Tad "When I Needed
Sunspots, I Got None" 
Cook,
K7RA, Seattle, Washington, reports: Our sun is very
quiet. The daily 
sunspot
reading was zero each day from January 29 through
February 7! The last 
time
we saw 10 consecutive days with a sunspot number of
zero was way back 
on the
other side of the solar cycle, from December 24, 1996
to January 3, 
1997.
Prior to that, from September 13, 1996 through October
20 1996 were 38 
days
with a sunspot number of zero. Perhaps a year from now
we'll again see 
a
whole month with no sunspots.

Compared with last week, the average sunspot number
declined by more 
than 7
points to 1.7. Average daily solar flux was down more
than 4 points to 
76.

Sunspot numbers and solar flux should rise over the
next few days, but 
not
by much. Geomagnetic conditions also look quiet, with
the next period 
of
high geomagnetic activity set for February 22. This is
based upon the
previous rotation of the sun.

Sunspot numbers for February 2 through 8 were 0, 0, 0,
0, 0, 0 and 12, 
with
a mean of 1.7. The 10.7 cm flux was 77.3, 78.7, 77,
76.3, 74.9, 74, and 
74,
with a mean of 76. Estimated planetary A indices were
3, 4, 4, 3, 12, 4 
and
3, with a mean of 4.7. Estimated mid-latitude A
indices were 1, 3, 3, 
3, 11,
4 and 2, with a mean of 3.9.

__________________________________

==>IN BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: The North American Sprint
(CW), the YLRL 
YL-OM
Contest (SSB), the CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest, the
Louisiana and New 
Hampshire
QSO parties, the SARL Field Day Contest, the
Asia-Pacific Spring Sprint
(CW), the Dutch PACC Contest, the OMISS QSO Party
1500Z, the FISTS 
Winter
Sprint, the British Columbia QSO Challenge and the
RSGB First 1.8 MHz
Contest (CW) are the weekend of February 11-12. The
ARRL School Club 
Roundup
runs from February 13 to February 17, and the AGCW
Semi-Automatic Key
Evening is February 15. JUST AHEAD: The ARRL
International DX Contest 
(CW)
is the weekend of February 18-19. The Run for the
Bacon QRP Contest is
February 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, February 20,
for these ARRL
Certification and Continuing Education (CCE) Program
on-line courses:
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1
(EC-001), Radio 
Frequency
Interference (EC-006), Antenna Design and Construction
(EC-009), 
Technician
License Course (EC-010), Analog Electronics (EC-012)
and Digital 
Electronics
(EC-013). Classes begin Friday, March 3. 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>.

* 3Y0X Peter I Island DXpedition is on the air! The
Peter I Island 3Y0X
DXpedition took to the air this week, despite a delay
due to persistent
heavy fog. Most, if not all, of the 22-member
DXpedition team now are 
on the
tiny island in the Bellinghausen Sea near Antarctica.
On most bands, 
the
operators will be listening up, but pay attention to
the operator's
instructions, and do NOT transmit on the DXpedition's
frequency! The
DXpedition expects to update its on-line log search
once or twice a 
day.
After waiting on the ship for fog to lift, the first
helicopter load 
landed
on Peter I Island February 7. As of February 10, the
3Y0X team was 
active on
all bands from 160 through 15 meters. The Peter I
Island DXpedition was 
the
recipient of a $7500 ARRL Colvin Award grant to help
finance the team's
visit. The Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF)
has been a premier
contributor to the major undertaking, estimated to
cost upward of 
$500,000,
making it the most costly DXpedition ever undertaken.
Bob Allphin, 
K4UEE,
and Ralph Fedor, K0IR, are the co-leaders of the 3Y0X
effort. More
information is on the 3Y0X Web site
<http://www.peterone.com/>.

* ARRL announces DeSoto Cup winners, DXCC Challenge
Top 10: For the 
sixth
straight year, Bob Eshleman, W4DR, has won the Clinton
B. DeSoto Cup 
gold
medal with 3095 points. The ARRL DXCC Desk announced
the winners of the 
2005
DeSoto Cup/DXCC Challenge competition this week, with
top honors once 
again
going to Eshleman, an ARRL Life Member from
Midlothian, Virginia. 
Capturing
the silver and bronze medals for second and third
place respectively 
are Ken
Bolin, W1NG, (3082) and Fausto Minardi, I4EAT (3077).
Rounding out the 
Top
Ten: (4) Ryszard Tymkiewicz, SP5EWY, 3072; (5) Leif
Ottosen, OZ1LO, 
3070;
(6) Rick Roderick, K5UR, 3066; (7) Randy Schaaf, W9ZR,
3053; (8) Klaus
Heintzenberg, DJ6RX, 3042; (9) Donald Karvonen, K8MFO,
3041; (10) 
Joseph
Reisert Jr, W1JR, 3041. This list details the DXCC
Challenge Top Ten as 
of
September 30, 2005. Current DXCC Challenge standings
are available on 
the
ARRL DXCC page <http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/>.
Starting this year, 
the
DeSoto Cup winners will be based on DXCC Challenge
standings at the end 
of
the calendar year. The DeSoto Cup honors the memory of
Clinton B. 
DeSoto,
W1CBD, who wrote the definitive 1935 QST article that
inspired the 
original
DXCC program.

* ARRL advisory committees to consider contesting,
DXCC changes: The 
ARRL
Programs and Services Committee (PSC) has asked its
Contest Advisory
Committee (CAC) to consider whether the current method
of scoring ARRL
Affiliated Club competition is adequate or whether is
should be revised 
to
better "reward a combination of activity, effort and
achievement." The 
PSC
also wants the CAC to determine whether a return to
the policy of 
assessing
a three QSO per error penalty for electronic logs--as
is currently 
assessed
for hard-copy logs--is in the best interest of the
ARRL contesting 
program.
Both CAC assignments followed presentations to the PSC
on both topics 
by
ARRL Southwestern Division Director Dick Norton, N6AA.
The PSC also has
asked the DX Advisory Committee (DXAC) to study the
impact of amending 
the
DXCC "political entities" rule. The change under
consideration would 
revise
Section II, "DXCC List Criteria," under "1. Political
Entities," to add 
a
Paragraph c) reading, "The Entity contains a permanent
population, is
administered by a local government and is located at
least 800 km from 
its
parent." The CAC will seek public input in completing
work on its 
tasks, and
a progress report is due June 19. The PSC has asked
the DXAC to report 
back
by March 15.

* ARRL teams named for WRTC-2006: Members have been
named to the 
two-person
teams that will represent ARRL in World Radiosport
Team Championship 
2006
(WRTC-2006) this summer in Brazil. To honor the
organizing committees 
of
previous WRTCs, the WRTC-2006 selection criteria call
on the organizing
committees of the five WRTC events to select five team
leaders, with 
teams
chosen by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU)
member-societies 
in
the host countries. Since two WRTCs have been held in
the US, the ARRL 
was
asked to select two teams. The League, in turn, asked
the organizers of 
the
first and second WRTCs to chose team captains and
teammates. The 
Western
Washington DX Club, sponsor of the first WRTC, held in
1990 in Seattle, 
has
announced the selection of ARRL Contributing Editor
Ward Silver, N0AX, 
as
team captain. Silver has picked Chris Hurlbut, KL9A,
as his teammate. 
The
host of WRTC-96 in the San Francisco Bay area, the
Northern California
Contest Club, has selected ARRL Senior Assistant
Technical Editor Dean
Straw, N6BV, as team captain. His teammate will be
Mark Obermann, AG9A.
"Congratulations to these fine contesters," said ARRL
CEO David Sumner,
K1ZZ. "We look forward to a strong competition!" Held
in conjunction 
with
the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) HF World
Championship,
WRTC-2006 takes place July 7-10 in and around
Florianopolis, Brazil. 
There's
more information on the WRTC-2006 Web site
<http://www.wrtc2006.com/html/web/>.

* DXCC Desk approves operation for DXCC credit: The
ARRL DXCC Desk has
approved this operation for DXCC credit: K7C (Kure
Island), September
25-October 5, 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/>.

* Correction: In The ARRL Letter, Vol 25, No 05, Feb
3, 2006, the story
"NASA, International Partners Tap Two Hams as Next
Space Station Crew"
contained an incorrect call sign for Expedition 13
back-up crew member 
Mike
Fincke, KE5AIT.--noted by Hans Schwarz, AA0RM/DK5JI

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