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   http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/?issue=2014-03-06   
      
   The ARRL Letter   
      
   March 6, 2014   
   Editor: Rick Lindquist, WW1ME   
      
    *  Your League: ARRL Board Requests Member Comments about Digital Modes   
    *  ARRL Centennial: W1AW Centennial Operations Now in Idaho and Kentucky   
    *  Science and Technology: Ham Radio Will Play a Role in "HI-SEAS"   
       Simulated Mars Mission   
    *  Ham Radio in Space: More Amateur Radio CubeSats Released into Orbit from   
       ISS, Launched from Japan   
    *  Ham Radio in Space: "Ham Video" Set for Installation, Commissioning   
    *  Business: CQ Names New Ad Manager as Publisher Shifts Gears   
    *  Business: RadioShack Announces 1100 Store Closings   
    *  Radio History: New Website Offers Treasure Trove of Vintage Ham Radio   
       Photos, QSL Cards   
    *  Milestones: UC Berkeley Amateur Radio Club Celebrates its Centennial   
    *  Milestones: Past ARRL General Manager, QST Editor John Huntoon, W1RW, SK   
    *  Milestones: Former WorldRadio Editor, CW Activist Nancy Anne Kott, WZ8C,   
       SK   
    *  Feature: A Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRL   
    *  In Brief   
    *  The K7RA Solar Update   
    *  Just Ahead in Radiosport   
    *  Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events   
      
   Your League: ARRL Board Requests Member Comments about Digital Modes   
      
   At the January 2014 ARRL Board of Directors meeting, a resolution (see   
   below) was passed which asked for member feedback and input pertaining to   
   the increasing popularity of data modes. The information gathered by this   
   investigation is to be used by the HF Band Planning Committee of the Board   
   as a means to suggest ways to use our spectrum efficiently, so that these   
   data modes may "compatibly coexist with each other."   
      
   As per the resolution, the ARRL Board of Directors is now reaching out to   
   the membership and requesting cogent input and thoughtful feedback on   
   matters specific to digital mode operation on the HF bands. The feedback may   
   include, but is not limited to, the recent proposal the ARRL made to the   
   FCC, RM-11708, regarding the elimination of the symbol rate restrictions   
   currently in effect.   
      
   The Board of Directors believes that member input in the decision-making   
   process is both valuable and important as well as fostering a more   
   transparent organization. It is to this end that we open this dialogue.   
      
   Comments must be received no later than March 31, 2014, to be included in   
   the Committee's report to the Board at the July 2014 ARRL Board of Directors   
   meeting. Please e-mail your comments to HF-Digital-Bandplanning@arrl.org   
   Concerned members may also contact their Division Director by mail,   
   telephone or in person with any relevant information.   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
      
   WHEREAS the Board of Directors has received member input regarding the   
   coexistence of various modes in the HF Data/RTTY subbands; and WHEREAS it is   
   important that all member voices be heard; and WHEREAS in the opinion of the   
   Board these issues are best addressed by education and prudent use of   
   spectrum; BE IT RESOLVED that the ARRL Board of Directors instructs the HF   
   Band Planning Committee to reach out to membership regarding concerns   
   pertaining to the increasing popularity of data modes, and furthermore   
   investigate and suggest ways to use spectrum so that these data modes may   
   compatibly coexist with each other; and FURTHER to report their findings no   
   later than the July 2014 ARRL Board meeting.   
      
   ____________________________________________________________________________   
   ARRL Centennial: W1AW Centennial Operations Now in Idaho and Kentucky   
      
   The ARRL Centennial "W1AW WAS" operations that are taking place throughout   
   2014 from each of the 50 states now are in Idaho and Kentucky. W1AW/7 will   
   be on the air during the 2014 Idaho QSO Party March 8. The W1AW portable   
   operations will relocate at 0000 UTC on March 12 (the evening of March 11 in   
   US time zones), to Arizona (W1AW/7) and Ohio (W1AW/8). During 2014 W1AW will   
   be on the air from every state (at least twice) and most US territories, and   
   it will be easy to work all states solely by contacting W1AW portable   
   operations.   
      
   In conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the ARRL, the ARRL Centennial   
   QSO Party kicked off January 1 for a year-long operating event in which   
   participants can accumulate points and win awards. The event is open to all,   
   although only ARRL members and appointees, elected officials, HQ staff and   
   W1AW are worth ARRL Centennial QSO Party points. Working W1AW/x from each   
   state is worth 5 points per contact.   
      
   To earn the "Worked all States with W1AW Award," work W1AW operating   
   portable from all 50 states. (For award credit, participants must work   
   W1AW/1 in Connecticut.) A W1AW WAS certificate and plaque will be available   
   (pricing not yet available).   
      
   The ARRL has posted an ARRL Centennial QSO Party leader board that   
   participants can use to determine how many points they have accumulated in   
   the Centennial QSO Party and in the W1AW WAS operations. Log in using your   
   Logbook of The World (LoTW) user name and password, and your position will   
   appear at the top of the leader boards. Results are updated daily, based on   
   contacts entered into LoTW.   
      
   Science and Technology: Ham Radio Will Play a Role in "HI-SEAS" Simulated   
   Mars Mission   
      
   When Ron Williams, N9UIK, and his fellow "astronauts" head to "Mars" this   
   spring, they'll have Amateur Radio along, just as NASA space travelers do.   
   Williams is part of Mission 2 (of four) in the Hawaii Space Exploration   
   Analog and Simulation or HI-SEAS, in which participants will simulate living   
   and working for 4 months within a Martian outpost -- actually a   
   solar-powered dome at a remote site some 8000 feet up on the slopes of Mauna   
   Loa. Conducted by the University of Hawaii and Cornell University, the   
   project has partial funding from NASA.   
      
   "I am confident that when we eventually go to Mars, there will be some type   
   of involvement with the Amateur Radio community," Williams said, noting   
   Amateur Radio's long-standing role in space missions, including aboard the   
   International Space Station. "We would like to simulate this on this   
   mission." Part of that will mean integrating a 20 minute signal delay into   
   all communications, whether via Amateur Radio or the Internet.   
      
   "This will simulate the distance, when greatest, between Earth and Mars,"   
   explained Williams, a clinical neuropsychologist from Indiana. At 60, he's   
   the oldest member of the team; the youngest is 26. Williams is one of two   
   hams on this crew increment. The other is Ross Lockwood, VA6RLW, of Alberta,   
   Canada.   
      
   "Our proposed outreach simulation to the Amateur Radio community will also   
   involve this signal delay," Williams continued. "To the best of our   
   knowledge, this will be unique to any Amateur Radio special event ever   
   conducted." HI-SEAS also was able to obtain the special event call sign K6B   
   for the project for nearly the entire length of the mission, instead of the   
   typical 15 days.   
      
   "Learning how to deal with signal delay is something that NASA is very   
   interested in as a part of our project," Williams told ARRL. "This is a   
   chance to experiment with this unique little barrier to communication. When   
   we humans finally get our 'stuff' together again and resume space   
   exploration, we will need to deal with this." Read more.   
      
   Ham Radio in Space: More Amateur Radio CubeSats Released into Orbit from   
   ISS, Launched from Japan   
      
   Several Amateur Radio CubeSats, including LituanicaSAT-1 and Litsat-1, have   
   been deployed into orbit from the International Space Station.   
   LithuanicaSAT-1 and LitSat-1 are Lithuania's first satellites. NASA reported   
   that the nanosat deployments took place February 26, 27, and 28, as the   
   onboard Expedition 38 crew prepared for the arrival of a US commercial cargo   
   craft and the departure of three crew members. The ISS crew also released   
   ArduSat-2 (Arduino Satellite 2, an improved 2 unit version of the   
   single-unit ArduSat-1), UAPSat-1, and, possibly, Chasqui-1, along with the   
   nonamateur 915 MHz SkyCube. More CubeSats are scheduled to be delivered to   
   the station on the second Orbital Sciences commercial resupply mission in   
   May; it's not known at this time if any Amateur Radio satellites will be   
   aboard.   
      
   Both Lithuanian CubeSats are functioning. A Brazilian station was among the   
   first to report hearing Litsat-1's beacon on 145.850 MHz (call sign LY1LS).   
   LithanicaSAT-1's builders at Vilnius University have requested reports for   
   that CubeSat's FM beacon on 437.275 MHz (call sign LY5N) and submit data   
   including audio files online. Litsat-1 was developed by the Lithuanian Space   
   Association.   
      
   In addition to this week's CubeSat deployments from the ISS, seven Japanese   
   Amateur Radio satellites launched successfully from Earth February 27. They   
   include the ARTSAT: INVADER CubeSat (call sign JQ1ZKK) and six other Amateur   
   Radio satellites. The ARTSAT: INVADER CubeSat team has announced that QSL   
   cards will be available for reception reports. The CW beacon is on 437.325   
   MHz. The satellite also has a digipeater (AX.25 1200 bps) and a digitalker.   
      
   The other Amateur Radio satellites are OPUSat, STARS-II (comprises mother   
   and daughter satellites), TelkyoSat-3, ITF-1, and ShindaiSat-1. The launch   
   took place from the Yoshinobu Launch Complex at the Tanegashima Space   
   Center. Downlink signals have been received from all seven satellites. More   
   information and frequencies for these satellites are on the AMSAT-UK   
   website. Read more.   
      
   Ham Radio in Space: "Ham Video" Set for Installation, Commissioning   
      
   The "Ham Video" transmitter aboard the International Space Station is   
   scheduled to be installed on March 6, with commissioning to follow. The   
   European Space Agency (ESA) postponed the installation and commissioning of   
   the Ham Video system last month because NASA Astronaut Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG   
   -- scheduled to handle the installation and commissioning -- had other   
   priorities. Amateur Radio on the International Space Station-Europe   
   (ARISS-EU) Chairman Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, said that a couple of the   
   commissioning steps now may be combined, to condense the process. Hopkins,   
   who heads back to Earth March 10, will also install the camera and support   
   arm. Following installation the transmitter will be powered on just long   
   enough to check cable and antenna connections.   
      
   The first commissioning step is planned for March 8, when Hopkins will power   
   up the Ham Video transmitter in "Configuration 1" -- using ARISS antenna 41   
   on the ISS Columbus module at a frequency 2.422 GHz and a symbol rate of 1.3   
   Ms/s. Transmission will start shortly before the ISS passes over the Matera   
   ground station in Southern Italy (at approximately 1329 UTC). The ground   
   station will stream the video over the BATC server (select "Member Streams"   
   and "ISS").   
      
   During the pass, various configurations will be tested, and following the   
   pass, the Ham Video transmitter will remain powered up and in Configuration   
   1 until the next commissioning step, planned for March 9 (approximately 1240   
   UTC). For about 24 hours, the digital Amateur Radio TV signal will be   
   transmitted continuously, but with the camera powered down. Blank   
   transmissions may occur between commissioning step 2 and step 3, which is   
   yet to be planned.   
      
   Once commissioning is complete, the Ham Video system will be used for ARISS   
   contacts with schools in Europe. Read more. -- Thanks to Gaston Bertels,   
   ON4WF; AMSAT News Service; ARISS   
      
   Business: CQ Names New Ad Manager as Publisher Shifts Gears   
      
   CQ Communications President Richard Ross, K2MGA, has announced the   
   appointment of David Chartock to head the company's advertising department,   
   effective immediately. Chartock, who is not a ham, arrives "as the magazine   
   charts new ground as a part-print, part-digital 'hybrid' publication   
   covering the entire communications hobby," the CQ announcement said. As   
   Editorial Director Rich Moseson, W2VU, explained, "The main print and   
   digital edition of CQ continues to focus on Amateur Radio, while the   
   online-only CQ Plus supplement to the digital edition of CQ covers the full   
   spectrum of hobby radio communications, from shortwave listening and   
   scanning to broadcast band DXing and more."   
      
   Chartock succeeds Jon Kummer, WA2OJK, CQ's advertising chief since last   
   fall. Kummer, who left in mid-February, faced a similar recalibration as the   
   publisher of Antique Radio Classified.   
      
   Chartock has more than 25 years' experience in publishing, both in editorial   
   and sales. For 12 years he was editor of the trade magazine New York   
   Construction News. Since 2002, he's been an independent sales   
   representative, working with start-up publications and the annual journal of   
   New York's Concrete Industry Board.   
      
   CQ announced recently that it's still experiencing delays with its January   
   and February print editions, but that mail delivery of both issues was   
   scheduled for mid-March. CQ has told its advertisers that a combined   
   March/April issue of the magazine will follow "shortly thereafter," before   
   it resumes single-issue publication. Online editions of the January and   
   February issues of CQ are available for downloading and viewing.   
      
   In CQ's February "Zero Bias" editorial, Moseson cited CQ readership numbers   
   that were "not keeping pace" with growth in the number of ham radio   
   licensees, and "the glacial pace of the overall economic recovery" among the   
   reasons behind the CQ magazine's delivery difficulties. CQ has been in   
   publication for more than 65 years.   
      
   Word of the publications realignment came in December. Effective with the   
   February 2014 issue of CQ, content from CQ's three sister publications --   
   Popular Communications, CQ VHF and WorldRadio Online -- has been   
   incorporated into CQ Plus. The print editions of Popular Communications and   
   CQ VHF have been phased out, and WorldRadio Online no longer exists as a   
   separate online publication.   
      
   Business: RadioShack Announces 1100 Store Closings   
      
   Once a staple of electronics retailing and a ready source of small parts for   
   ham radio homebrewers and electronics enthusiasts, RadioShack has fallen on   
   tough times. In the wake of a substantial drop in holiday sales and a big   
   fourth-quarter loss, the Fort Worth, Texas-based retailer has announced that   
   it is closing 1100 of its outlets, leaving it with some 4000 stores,   
   including more than 900 dealer franchises. RadioShack's stock has fallen by   
   nearly 28 percent on the news.   
      
   Reported weak customer traffic at electronics retailers in general over the   
   holiday season was reflected in a 19 percent drop in sales at RadioShack.   
   Now market analysts have begun sounding the death knell for RadioShack, with   
   some comparing the retailer's numbers to those of Circuit City before it   
   went under in 2008.   
      
   RadioShack once offered entry-level short-wave receivers, Citizens Band   
   gear, and a wide array of discrete components -- including transistors,   
   resistors, and capacitors. For a time, RadioShack marketed a fairly popular   
   2 meter hand-held transceiver, as well as two different models of 10 meter   
   single-band transceivers. It failed, however, in its effort to market a   
   dualband VHF/UHF hand-held radio. Over the years, RadioShack has offered   
   fewer discrete components in its brick-and-mortar stores, moving that stock   
   and other products to its online outlet, as it shifted its marketing focus   
   to cell phones, consumer electronics, and various battery-operated gadgets.   
   -- Thanks to Reuters, Yahoo! Finance   
      
   Radio History: New Website Offers Treasure Trove of Vintage Ham Radio   
   Photos, QSL Cards   
      
   The grandson of Thomas "Tom" Russell Gentry, W5RG (SK), has developed a   
   website that is certain to be of interest to vintage radio enthusiasts. Don   
   Retzlaff, who is not a ham, said his grandfather was among the earliest   
   Amateur Radio operators, getting his license in the early 1920s -- at one   
   point identifying as NU5RG -- and remaining active until he died in 1979.   
   The W5RG call sign has since been reissued.   
      
   "He collected QSL cards from other amateur operators all through his life,"   
   Retzlaff said of his grandfather. "In recent years I became interested in   
   those cards and my grandfather's hobby."   
      
   With the help of his father Donald Retzlaff, W5MIY, Retzlaff located all of   
   the QSLs -- some 5700 in all -- as well as other memorabilia documenting his   
   grandfather's ham radio activities and his time in the Army Air Corps   
   shortly after World War I. He painstakingly scanned both sides of each card   
   along with dozens of photos of now-vintage stations -- many with operators   
   -- that his grandfather had collected and posted them all on a website   
   dedicated to his grandfather and his life as an Amateur Radio operator.   
      
   Among other features, the site offers an opportunity to leave comments.   
   "This has definitely been a labor of love," said Retzlaff, who retired this   
   year as a Principal Lecturer in the Computer Science Department at the   
   University of North Texas.   
      
   Milestones: UC Berkeley Amateur Radio Club Celebrates its Centennial   
      
   The Amateur Radio club at the University of California, Berkeley (W6BB) is   
   joining ARRL in celebrating its centennial this year. For those who are   
   members of the club today, the magic of Amateur Radio has not worn off.   
      
   "I'm still fascinated by the profundity that an electrical signal can leave   
   the radio in front of me, travel up a wire to an antenna outside, and   
   someone halfway around the world with an antenna outside connected to their   
   radio can hear my voice and talk with me," club member Bill Mitchell, AG6RB,   
   a chemistry graduate student, told UC Berkeley NewsCenter reporter Steve   
   Hockensmith for his article, "Century-old ham radio club making waves in   
   Richmond."   
      
   As part of its celebratory activities, W6BB will take to the air with a   
   special event station March 21-28, using the centennial-appropriate call   
   sign W6C. Operation will be on 40, 20, and 15 meters -- and 10 meters, if   
   it's open -- on SSB and CW. A commemorative QSL card will be available. The   
   club also will use W6BB/100 during its centennial year.   
      
   The club's call sign went through some changes in the early years, starting   
   out as 6XB, then 6XM, before the Federal Radio Commission granted W6BB in   
   1929. Although the original 1914 station is long gone, a new one was   
   established last year at Berkeley's Richmond Field Station, on the   
   northeastern shore of San Francisco Bay in Richmond. Yet another is being   
   set up in Cory Hall on the university's main campus; it should be up and   
   running this spring.   
      
   The W6BB club currently has 25 members, including undergraduate and graduate   
   students as well as some staff and faculty members. Read more. -- Our thanks   
   to Sarah H. Maxim, great-granddaughter of ARRL Co-Founder Hiram Percy Maxim,   
   W1AW, for calling this news to our attention! (She is the Vice Chair for   
   Southeast Asian Studies at UC Berkeley)   
      
   Milestones: Past ARRL General Manager, QST Editor John Huntoon, W1RW, SK   
      
   John Huntoon, W1RW (ex-W1LVQ), of East Hartford, Connecticut, died February   
   23. He was 97. Huntoon served as ARRL Secretary and General Manager from   
   1961 until 1975. A Full Charter Life Member of ARRL, he also was the   
   Secretary of the International Amateur Radio Union and Editor of QST. His   
   oldest daughter, Susan Shipman, recalled that the League was an important   
   part of her father's life.   
      
   "As a child in the 40s and 50s I remember visiting the office at LaSalle   
   Road [in West Hartford] several times and then seeing the new office in   
   Newington later on, of which he was very proud," she said "His radio room at   
   home was in my bedroom closet, and I spent many a night as a child listening   
   to him talking with fellow operators all over the world."   
      
   Following his tenure as ARRL General Manager, Huntoon served from 1976 until   
   1980 as ARRL Treasurer. He also was active in the Quarter Century Wireless   
   Association (QCWA) and was on its board of directors. His daughter said he   
   remained active in the QCWA until recently.   
      
   An Illinois native, Huntoon got interested in radio and electronics as a   
   youngster, and he obtained W9KJY in 1932, while he was still in high school.   
   Soon he was deeply involved in traffic handling and becoming very proficient   
   in radiotelegraphy. In 1936 he was elected Illinois Section Communications   
   Manager -- the forerunner of the Section Manager. He also served as   
   Secretary of the Chicago Area Radio Club Council.   
      
   After he helped run the 1938 ARRL National Convention in Chicago, his   
   organizational talents caught the attention of ARRL staffers. This resulted   
   in his becoming an Assistant Secretary of the ARRL in 1939. Huntoon   
   developed the basic material for Learning the Radiotelegraph Code and became   
   acting Communications Manager at the League after F.E. Handy, W1BDI, entered   
   World War II service. In 1942, he took his own leave of absence from   
   Headquarters for World War II service in the US Coast Guard, where he was a   
   chief radioman.   
      
   Upon his return to Headquarters following the war, Huntoon was introduced to   
   the international ham radio scene, attending the 1949 Inter-American Radio   
   Conference and the 1959 Administrative Radio Conference in Geneva. In 1956   
   he became ARRL Assistant General Manager. Read more.   
      
   Milestones: Former WorldRadio Editor, CW Activist Nancy Anne Kott, WZ8C, SK   
      
   CW promoter Nancy A. Kott, WZ8C, of Metamora, Michigan, died March 2. She   
   was 58. Kott was the former editor of WorldRadio and WorldRadio Online   
   magazines. She was an enthusiastic member of the FISTS CW Club -- the   
   International Morse Preservation Society and a regular presence at the   
   organization's booth at Dayton Hamventionr.   
      
   "There is something magical about being able to put two wires together and   
   start going dit-dit-dit dit-dit," Kott told The New York Times in 2006,   
   after the FCC had proposed dropping the Morse code requirement to acquire HF   
   amateur privileges. "We are just going to have to get on the air and do what   
   we do and hope for the best."   
      
   Kott was an honorary member of the Texas DX Society and took part in the   
   TDXS DXpedition to Belize in 2006, recalled Steve Smothers, W9DX, who called   
   Kott "an accomplished brass pounder and one of FISTS' most active members   
   and promoters." She also operated as VP2V/WZ8C in 2007.   
      
   Kott was a member of the ARRL's A-1 Operator Club. Professionally she was a   
   field representative for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention   
   (CDC). Survivors include her husband, Tim Lange. A service will be held at a   
   later date. -- Thanks to The Daily DX   
      
   Feature: A Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRL   
      
   World War II began in September 1939 as a European war, just as World War I   
   had. Suddenly 121 of the 250 countries on the DXCC list were off the air. At   
   that point, the US was pursuing a course of neutrality, so American hams   
   were allowed to remain on the air. The ARRL soon issued its own code of   
   neutrality, which resulted in the federal government's appreciative support   
   of Amateur Radio.   
      
   Canada, along with Britain and most of the British Commonwealth, immediately   
   shut down ham radio, however. This created an odd situation: The US (and the   
   ARRL), following their policies of neutrality, had to treat Canada as a   
   belligerent; no mention of Canadian Amateur Radio appeared in QST until May   
   1941, when QST began publishing the column "The Month in Canada." It is   
   noteworthy that, of the 3380 Canadian hams then licensed, half were in   
   uniform by 1941, some 900 as officers.   
      
   In those early war years, before the US entered the fray, some interesting   
   things happened. The state of the radio art had reached the point that   
   long-haul DX could be worked even with modest, low-cost stations. The Byrd   
   Antarctic expeditions put KC4USA, KC4USB, and KC4USC on the air.   
   Experimenters began to tinker with wideband FM at the upper end of 5 meters   
   (58.5 to 60 MHz). The FCC revamped its amateur exams, eliminating essay   
   questions (and the requirement that applicants draw schematic diagrams) and   
   replacing them with a multiple-choice test. Exams could then be graded   
   immediately at the examination point, sparing the applicant weeks of   
   anxiety.   
      
   At the 1940 meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors, George Bailey, W1KH, was   
   elected League president.   
      
   In June 1940, World War II hit American hams harder, when the federal   
   government prohibited US hams from contacting hams outside the country. The   
   FCC also prohibited all mobile and portable operation below 56 MHz, with the   
   notable exception of Field Day! At the League's request, this policy was   
   soon modified to allow Amateur Radio Emergency Corps drills during daylight   
   hours on weekends, and to allow true emergency communication at any time.   
      
   To be continued next week.   
      
   Ad   
   In Brief   
      
   FCC Chairman Names New Acting Enforcement Bureau Chief: FCC Chairman Tom   
   Wheeler has announced that he plans to appoint Travis LeBlanc as acting   
   Chief of the Enforcement Bureau. The Enforcement Bureau is the FCC's largest   
   bureau and the primary organizational unit responsible for enforcement of   
   provisions of the Communications Act, FCC rules, commission orders, and   
   terms and conditions of station authorizations. -- FCC   
      
   German ATV Repeaters Shut Down after Interfering with Galileo GPS System:   
   German telecommunication authorities have shut down the DB0QI 23 centimeter   
   analog and digital Amateur TV repeaters in Munich after they interfered with   
   a nearby control center for the Galileo GPS navigation system. The repeaters   
   transmitted on 1276 MHz and 1291 MHz. The order did not affect the repeater   
   input frequencies. The Deutscher Amateur Radio Club (DARC) said the specific   
   issue involved interference to a Galileo channel on 1278.5 MHz. Amateur   
   Radio is a secondary user of the 23 centimeter band in Germany, while the   
   GPS system is a primary user. -- Thanks to DARC; DB0QI   
      
   ISS Crew Increment to Return Home: Three members of the International Space   
   Station (ISS) Expedition 38 crew will return to Earth aboard a Soyuz lander   
   on March 10. They include NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG, and Russian   
   cosmonauts Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy. Expedition 39 crew members,   
   cosmonauts Alexander Skvortsov and Oleg Artemyev, and NASA astronaut Steve   
   Swanson, will replace them later this month.   
      
   The K7RA Solar Update   
      
   Tad Cook, K7RA, in Seattle, reports: Average daily sunspot numbers were up   
   for the February 27 through March 5 reporting period, and average daily   
   solar flux decreased slightly, compared to the previous 7 days. Average   
   daily sunspot numbers increased nearly 29 points to 202.4, and average daily   
   solar flux was off a little more than 4 points to 162.9.   
      
   The latest prediction for solar flux over the near term has declined over   
   the past few days. The predicted average solar flux for the next reporting   
   period, March 7-13, was 158.6 in the March 1 forecast, but on March 5 that   
   average declined to 137.1.   
      
   Predicted solar flux is 145 on March 6, 140 on March 7-8, 135 on March 9-11,   
   140 on March 12, 135 on March 13-14, 130 on March 15-17, 135 on March 18-20,   
   145 on March 21, 155 on March 22-24, and peaking at just 160 on March 25-27.   
   It then declines to a low of 120 on April 11-13.   
      
   Predicted planetary A index is 5 on March 6-7, 12 on March 8, 10 on March   
   9-10, 8 on March 11, and 5 on March 12 through April 4.   
      
   Your reports and observations are welcome.   
      
   Just Ahead in Radiosport   
    *  Mar 7 -- NS Weekly Sprint (CW)   
    *  Mar 7-8 -- Worldwide EME Contest   
    *  Mar 7-8 -- RSGB Commonwealth Contest (CW)   
    *  Mar 7-8 -- Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon   
    *  Mar 7-8 -- AGCW QRP Contest (CW)   
    *  Mar 7-8 -- QRP ARCI HF Grid Square Sprint (CW)   
    *  Mar 7-8 -- EA PSK63 Contest   
    *  Mar 7-8 -- Idaho QSO Party   
    *  Mar 9 -- North American Sprint (RTTY)   
    *  Mar 9 -- Wisconsin QSO Party   
    *  Mar 12 -- CWops Monthly Mini-CWT Test   
    *  Mar 15 -- Feld-Hell Leprechaun Sprint   
    *  Mar 15-17 -- BARTG HF RTTY Contest   
    *  Mar 15-16 -- Russian DX Contest   
    *  Mar 15 -- Virginia QSO Party   
    *  Mar 16 -- North American Sprint (SSB)   
      
   Visit the Contest Corral for details.   
      
   Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events   
    *  March 7-8 -- North Carolina Section Convention (Charlotte Hamfest),   
       Concord, North Carolina   
    *  March 7-8 -- West Gulf Division Convention, Claremore, Oklahoma   
    *  March 14-15 -- Delta Division Convention, Rayne, Louisiana   
    *  March 15 -- Nebraska State Convention, Lincoln, Nebraska   
    *  March 15 -- West Texas Section Convention, Midland, Texas   
    *  March 22 -- South Texas Section Convention (Greater Houston Hamfest),   
       Rosenberg, Texas   
    *  March 22-23 -- Communications Academy, Seattle, Washington   
    *  March 28-29 -- Maine State Convention, Lewiston, Maine   
    *  March 29 -- Microhams Digital Conference, Redmond, Washington   
    *  April 4-6 -- International DX Convention, Visalia, California   
    *  April 11-13 -- Eastern VHF/UHF Conference, Manchester, Connecticut   
    *  April 19 -- Roanoke Division Convention, Raleigh, North Carolina   
    *  April 25-27 -- Idaho State Convention, Boise, Idaho   
    *  April 26 -- Aurora '14 Conference, White Bear Lake, Minnesota   
    *  May 3 -- South Carolina Section Convention, Spartanburg, South Carolina   
    *  May 16-18 -- Dayton Hamvention -- Regional ARRL Centennial Event,   
       Dayton, Ohio   
      
   Find conventions and hamfests in your area.   
      
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   )\/(ark   
      
   One of the great tragedies of life is the murder of a beautiful theory by a   
   gang of brutal facts. --Benjamin Franklin   
      
   --- FMail/Win32 1.60   
    * Origin:  (1:3634/12.71)