The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
March 31, 2011
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Public Service: Hams Help When Phones Fail at Southern California
Hospital
- Public Service : Western Pennsylvania Hams Respond as Tornado Sweeps
Through Area
- + Amateur Radio in Space: Two Astronauts Get Their Ham Ticket
- + NCVEC Deletes Question from Amateur Extra Question Pool
- + ARRL Nebraska Section Introduces "Elmer Squad"
- + New Mars Rover to Feature Morse Code
- On the Air : NIST to Conduct Time and Frequency User Survey
- Solar Update
- + Silent Key: Internet Pioneer Paul Baran, W3KAS (SK)
- + Silent Key: Owner of Industrial Communication Engineers Mike Koss,
W9SU (SK)
- This Week on the Radio
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: HAMS HELP WHEN PHONES FAIL AT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
HOSPITAL
When nurses and other caregivers picked up their phones at
Children's Hospital of Orange County in California in the early morning
on March 21, there was no dial tone. A power surge caused the central
processor in the hospital's phone switch to fail. Following established
procedures, the lead operator at the hospital switchboard immediately
activated the Hospital Disaster Support Communications System, using an
off-switch tie-line to reach April Moell, WA6OPS, head of this ARESŪ
group that specializes in helping hospitals when their communications
fail. Read more here
.
> PUBLIC SERVICE : WESTERN PENNSYLVANIA HAMS RESPOND AS TORNADO
SWEEPS THROUGH AREA
At approximately 4:30 on the afternoon of Wednesday, March 23,
severe thunderstorms started to roll into Westmoreland County,
Pennsylvania, producing golf ball-sized hail and heavy winds. Members
of the Westmoreland County Public Service/ARESŪ group began to meet on
the W3CRC repeater in Derry, Pennsylvania, which serves as the main
ARESŪ/SKYWARN repeater in Westmoreland County. Soon after, the National
Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the area and the Public
Service Net was opened formally at 5 PM. Walter Bashaw, W3ZEH, began
taking check-ins and reports of severe weather, relaying them to the
NWS in Pittsburgh. Read more here
.
> + AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: TWO ASTRONAUTS GET THEIR HAM TICKET
Even though they aren't scheduled to go to the International Space
Station until 2013, two astronauts -- Chris Cassidy and Luca Parmitano
-- are now licensed amateurs. Cassidy, who received the call sign
KF5KDR, is scheduled to head to the ISS in March 2013 as part of
Expedition 35. Parmitano -- an Italian from the European Space Agency
-- is KF5KDP; he goes to the ISS three months later in May, as part of
Expedition 36.
"Our aim is to have at least one crew member licensed and trained in
on-air protocol, who is somewhat excited about ham radio and the
Amateur Radio on the International Space Station program, per
expedition," explained ARRL ARISS Program Manager Rosalie White, K1STO.
NASA ISS Ham Radio Project Engineer Kenneth Ransom, N5VHO, told the
ARRL that both Cassidy and Parmitano are "excited and interested in the
educational aspects of Amateur Radio on board the ISS." Read more here
.
> + NCVEC DELETES QUESTION FROM AMATEUR EXTRA QUESTION POOL
Due to the FCC revising the rules concerning Spread Spectrum, the
Question Pool Committee of the National Council of Volunteer Examiner
Coordinator ( NCVEC) has decided to delete a question from the Amateur
Extra class question pool. According to QPC Chairman Rol Anders, K3RA,
as of April 29 when the new Spread Spectrum rule change goes into
effect, the answer to question E1F13 in the Amateur Extra class
question pool will no longer be correct . Read more here
.
> + ARRL NEBRASKA SECTION INTRODUCES "ELMER SQUAD"
The Nebraska Elmer Squad made its first official appearance earlier
this month at the ARRL Nebraska State Convention in Lincoln. Darwin
Piatt, W9HZC, and Darrel Swenson, K0AWB, were on hand to answer
questions about the Squad's mission and plans. According to ARRL
Nebraska Section Manager Art Zygielbaum, K0AIZ, the Squad is gathering
a list of volunteer Elmers throughout the state who are willing to
assist not only new Amateur Radio operators, but current operators who
need some technical assistance.
"Mentoring of new or prospective hams will be an ongoing part of the
mission," Zygielbaum told the ARRL. "The intent is to have Elmers
participate in their local area radio clubs and give presentations on
various subjects relating to Amateur Radio." Nearly a dozen hams signed
up at the State Convention to be a part of the Elmer Squad.
Piatt and Swenson said that they believe that people should remember
that Amateur Radio is a hobby -- and it should be fun. Both men are QRP
operators and builders; part of their enjoyment comes from passing on
the fun of building to others.
The Elmer Squad will be traveling around Nebraska this summer and fall,
giving presentations and signing up more Elmers. In addition, Piatt and
Swenson are working on a Nebraska Elmer Squad website. Zygielbaum said
that this will provide a central contact point to match Elmers with
those who would like assistance. Once the site is up and running, the
URL will be posted on the ARRL Nebraska Section website
.
"Our motto is 'Hey, this is a hobby -- it is supposed to be fun!'"
Zygielbaum explained. "We're looking for good people to help us keep it
that way."
> + NEW MARS ROVER TO FEATURE MORSE CODE
As the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL
) builds the next Mars rover --
this one is named Curiosity -- to deploy to the red planet in the fall
of 2011, they're having a little fun with it. Back in 2007 when the
Curiosity team was putting together the rover, its wheel cleats had a
raised pattern with the letters "JPL," leaving a little stamp of the
rover's birthplace everywhere it rolled. "At the time, I asked whether
the real rover would have those wheels, and they said, no, they weren't
going to get to advertise JPL with each turn of each of the rover's six
wheels; the real rover would have some other pattern," said Emily
Lakdawalla of The Planetary Society in her
blog . Lakdawalla is
the organization's Science and Technology Coordinator.
Lakdawalla said that there is nothing special about the shapes of
the markers in Opportunity's wheels; they are just square holes through
the wheels through which the wheels were bolted to the lander during
cruise and landing." Opportunity is the name of the rover that went to
Mars back in 2003. "But Curiosity didn't need holes in its wheels for
attaching to any lander -- there isn't one. So the engineers got to
make the markers in any shape they wanted to."
But in March 2011, she saw a video
of the rover as it is
today: "I had to chuckle at those 'visual odometry markers' [on its
tires]. Before I explain why, I'll point out that they really are
useful things to have in rover wheels. The repeating pattern of the
'visual odometry markers'...makes it fairly easy for both the rover and
human operators to determine visually how far the rover has roved using
rear-view imagery."
So what pattern did JPL choose to put on Curiosity's wheels? One
that Lakdawalla called "very amusing. The holes are in a pattern of
short squares and longer rectangles -- almost like dots and dashes.
Morse code." And what does it spell out in Morse code? JPL.
According to JPL, Curiosity is about the size of a small SUV -- 10 feet
long (not including the arm), 9 feet wide and 7 feet tall -- or about
the height of a basketball player -- and weighs 2000 pounds. It
features a geology lab, rocker-bogie suspension, a rock-vaporizing
laser and lots of cameras. Curiosity will search areas of Mars for past
or present conditions favorable for life and for conditions capable of
preserving a record of life. It is set to launch between November
25-December 18, 2011 from Cape Canaveral, Florida and will arrive on
Mars between August 6-20, 2012. The prime mission will last one Mars
year, or about 23 Earth months
> ON THE AIR : NIST TO CONDUCT TIME AND FREQUENCY USER SURVEY
The National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Time and
Frequency Division is conducting a survey to learn more about its
users, seeking to determine how the agency can make its services more
useful in the future. NIST services include WWV, WWVH and WWVB, which
provide reference time and frequency signals via radio. The NIST also
provides the Internet Time Service -- which provides accurate time
synchronization to computer systems -- and several other services to
offer accurate time information via telephone or web pages. Radio
amateurs are encouraged to complete the survey. Read more here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "The Sun is shining, it's a lovely day
" Cook, K7RA, reports: The
activity we could see recently on our Sun's far side -- thanks to the
STEREO mission -- has been rotating into
view, producing some nice sunspot activity, resulting in improved
upper-HF propagation. Compared to the previous week (March 17-23), the
past week (March 24-30) showed average daily sunspot numbers up more
than 61 points to 102.1, while the average daily solar flux was up
nearly 20 points to 114.7. Geomagnetic conditions were quieter as well,
and reports from readers show greatly improved propagation on 20, 15
and 10 meters. This table
shows a new sunspot
group on March 23, two more groups appeared March 24, two more on March
25 and another two more on March 27. The latest prediction from
USAF/NOAA sees improving conditions, with the projected solar flux for
March 31-April 1 at 125 and 130, then 135 on April 2-7. The predicted
planetary A index is 10 and 8 on March 31 and April 1, followed by 5 on
April 2-7 and 8 on April 8. Conditions should be very good for the next
week, especially when compared to this time last year. Look for more
information on the ARRL website -- including an updated forecast and
reports from readers, as well as the latest 3-month moving average of
sunspot numbers -- on Friday, April 1. For more information concerning
radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical Information Service
Propagation page . This
week's "Tad Cookism" is brought to you by the song Avenue Q Theme
from the musical Avenue Q
.
> + SILENT KEY: INTERNET PIONEER PAUL BARAN, W3KAS (SK)
Paul Baran, W3KAS -- an engineer who helped create the technical
underpinnings for the ARPANET, the government-sponsored precursor to
today's Internet -- died March 27 at his home in Palo Alto, California.
He was 84. According to his son David, the cause of death was related
to complications from lung cancer. Baran was one of the three inventors
of packet-switched networks.
In the early 1960s, Baran was working on a "survivable" communications
system when he thought up one of its core concepts: Breaking up a
single message into smaller pieces, having them travel different,
unpredictable paths to their destination and only then putting them
back together. It's called packet switching and it's how everything
still gets to your e-mail inbox. Read more here
.
> + SILENT KEY: OWNER OF INDUSTRIAL COMMUNICATION ENGINEERS MIKE
KOSS, W9SU (SK)
Mike Koss, W9SU, of Indianapolis, Indiana, passed away Monday, March
28. He was 57. According to his friend Brian Smith, W9IND, Koss was
found on his workshop floor and paramedics were unable to revive him.
Industrial Communications Engineers (ICE) is well known in the amateur
community for surge protectors, line filters, RF switches and more.
On March 31, ICE released the following statement concerning the
company: "Industrial Communication Engineers (ICE), Ltd, its employees
and the Indianapolis Amateur Radio community mourn the passing of
company founder Mike Koss, W9SU, on March 28, 2011. Due to Mike's
sudden and unexpected death, ICE has temporarily suspended accepting
new orders. We are in the process of reorganizing the company, as well
as identifying and fulfilling current open orders and products returned
for repair. Read more here
.
> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO
This week:
- April 2-3 -- Missouri QSO Party; QCWA Spring QSO Party; ARCI Spring
QSO Party; SP DX Contest; EA RTTY Contest
- April 5 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
Next week:
- April 9 -- PODXS 070 Club PSK 31 Flavors Contest (local time); EU
Spring Sprint (CW)
- April 9-10 -- Montana QSO Party; New Mexico QSO Party; Georgia QSO
Party; JIDX CW Contest
- April 10 -- SKCC Weekend Sprint; UBA Spring Contest (SSB)
- April 11 -- 144 MHz Spring Sprint (local time)
- April 13 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint
- April 13-14 -- CWops Mini-CWT Test
All dates, unless otherwise stated, are UTC. See the ARRL Contest
Branch page , the ARRL Contest Update
and the WA7BNM Contest
Calendar for more
info. Looking for a Special Event station? Be sure to check out the
ARRL Special Event Stations Web page
.
> UPCOMING ARRL SECTION, STATE AND DIVISION CONVENTIONS AND EVENTS
- April 2-3 -- ARRL New Jersey State Convention
, Ewing,
New Jersey
- April 22-24 -- ARRL Idaho State Convention
, Boise, Idaho
- April 23 -- ARRL Louisiana State Convention
,
Monroe, Louisiana; ARRL North Carolina State Convention
,
Raleigh, North Carolina
- May 7 -- ARRL South Carolina State Convention
,
Spartanburg, South Carolina
- June 3-5 -- ARRL Northwestern Division Convention (SeaPac)
,
Seaside, Oregon; ARRL Wyoming State Convention
,
Cheyenne, Wyoming
- June 4 -- ARRL Atlantic Division Convention
,
Rochester, New York; ARRL East Bay Section Convention
, Berkeley,
California; ARRL Georgia State Convention
,
Marietta, Georgia
- June 10-11 -- ARRL National Convention
,
Plano, Texas
- June 11 -- ARRL Tennessee State Convention
, Knoxville,
Tennessee
To find a convention or hamfest near you, click here
.
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