The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
April 14, 2011
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Public Service: Hams Provide Communications Support During West
Texas Wildfires
- + On the Air: World Amateur Radio Day Set for Monday, April 18
- + On the Air: Ofcom to Issue Special Temporary Call Signs for Royal
Wedding
- + From the Hearts: Providing a Way for Others to Communicate with the
ISS
- + ARRL West Gulf Division to Host Webinar on Antenna Zoning
- ARRL to Change Insurance Company for Equipment Protection, Club
Liability Services
- Solar Update
- Amateur Radio Fun: New QuickStats Poll Now Available on ARRL Website
- ARRL Seeks Book Editor
- + Silent Key: Legendary Recording Engineer Roger Nichols, KE4BDA (SK)
- This Week on the Radio
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: HAMS PROVIDE COMMUNICATIONS SUPPORT DURING WEST
TEXAS WILDFIRES
On April 9 at 4:15 PM (CDT), ARRL West Texas District 5 Emergency
Coordinator Bob Ward, WA5ROE, received a call from Jeff Davis County
(Texas) Fire Marshal Stewart Billingsley, N5HXZ. Billingsley informed
Ward that a fire had begun in the West Texas town of Marfa and was
rapidly approaching Fort Davis, 22 miles to the northeast.
"Stewart asked me to call the National Weather Service to get it on the
alert system, as well as the AM and FM radio stations in Alpine," Ward
told the ARRL. "He wanted it broadcast over the radio stations that he
needed the Mano Prieto and Fort Davis Estates sub-divisions evacuated.
People in the area know that when an emergency happens, they need to
tune into these stations for the latest information. This was the Rock
House Fire. At the same time, another fire, the Roper Fire, had started
on the eastern edge of Alpine." Read more here
.
> + ON THE AIR: WORLD AMATEUR RADIO DAY SET FOR MONDAY, APRIL 18
The International Amateur Radio Union and its more than 160
Member-Societies that represent countries around the world will
celebrate World Amateur Radio Day on April 18. The theme for this
year's celebration is Amateur Radio: The First Technology-Based Social
Network. Long before the Internet and smart phones, Amateur Radio
operators have been talking, texting and sharing for decades. But
unlike those commercial services, Amateur Radio continues to attract
people worldwide by providing international communications for free.
And because it does not need pre-established supporting infrastructure,
these radio-savvy "amateurs" can reach out to friends in every corner
of the world, as well as into space. Read more here
.
> + ON THE AIR: OFCOM TO ISSUE SPECIAL TEMPORARY CALL SIGNS FOR ROYAL
WEDDING
If you are a prefix hunter -- or you just get caught up in the
pageantry that a Royal Wedding
can bring -- then take note:
Ofcom, at the request of the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB
), will issue special temporary call signs that
British amateurs may use from April 29 through May 9, 2011,
commemorating the marriage of HRH Prince William of Wales and Miss
Catherine Middleton. Amateurs in the United Kingdom who choose to apply
for these special call signs will be using GR, MR and 2R prefixes
during this time to commemorate the wedding.
> + FROM THE HEARTS: PROVIDING A WAY FOR OTHERS TO COMMUNICATE WITH
THE ISS
In America and around the world, students use Amateur Radio to talk
to astronauts on the International Space Station, orbiting high above
the Earth -- and it's the students at an all-girls school in Honolulu,
Hawaii who help make the connection. Sacred Hearts Academy is a
telebridge station for the Amateur Radio on the International Space
Station program (ARISS). ARISS is a NASA-sponsored education activity
where astronauts and cosmonauts use Amateur Radio equipment aboard the
ISS to talk with students around the world. Telebridge stations, like
the one at Sacred Hearts, connect schools, museums and others without
their own Amateur Radio equipment to astronauts in space. Read more
here
.
> + ARRL WEST GULF DIVISION TO HOST WEBINAR ON ANTENNA ZONING
Periodically, ARRL Divisions will host a "webinar" -- an interactive
Web-based seminar, designed to facilitate communication between a small
number of presenters and a large remote audience using the Internet --
for interested amateurs. On Wednesday, April 27 at 9 PM (EDT), ARRL
West Gulf Division Director David Woolweaver, K5RAV -- along with ARRL
General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, and noted antenna zoning lawyer Fred
Hopengarten, K1VR -- will present Antenna Ordinances, You and the ARRL.
Read more here
.
> ARRL TO CHANGE INSURANCE COMPANY FOR EQUIPMENT PROTECTION, CLUB
LIABILITY SERVICES
On May 1, 2011, the ARRL will begin a new partnership to provide its
ARRL-sponsored Equipment Insurance and Club Liability Insurance plans.
The League has signed an agreement with Hays Affinity Group to serve as
the program administrator to provide equipment insurance to its members
who choose to elect coverage. In addition, Hays will also provide club
liability insurance to ARRL Affiliated Clubs for those clubs that wish
to take advantage of that program. Hays will be replacing Marsh
Affinity Group Services as the program's administrator and will be
introducing new policies for both plans, underwritten by the Hanover
Insurance Company. Read more here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "She has burst like the music of angels, the light of the Sun
" Cook, K7RA, reports: On
Wednesday, April 13, we saw a new high in the daily sunspot numbers for
Solar Cycle 24 when it hit 153. Seven new sunspot groups emerged over
the past week, and sunspot activity (in terms of daily sunspot numbers)
hasn't been this high since the declining side of Solar Cycle 23 in
mid-2005. The average daily sunspot numbers rose 21.6 points this week
to 89.9. The predicted solar flux values from NOAA/USAF for the near
term are 120 on April 14-16, 125 on April 17-20, 120 on April 21 and
115 on April 22-23. The planetary A index for the same period is
predicted to be 5 on April 14-17, 7 and 10 on April 18-19 and 5 on
April 20-23. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts quiet geomagnetic
conditions April 15-17, quiet to unsettled April 18, active conditions
April 19 and unsettled conditions April 20-21. Considering that the
predicted solar flux for today of 125 is higher than yesterday's
reported value of 117.8, it is possible that the sunspot number will
also be higher, although these numbers don't always move in tandem.
Look for more information on the ARRL website on Friday, April 8. For
more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical
Information Service Propagation page
. This week's "Tad
Cookism" is brought to you by In My Life/Heart Full of Love
from the musical Les
Misérables
.
> AMATEUR RADIO FUN: NEW QUICKSTATS POLL NOW AVAILABLE ON ARRL
WEBSITE
Four new poll questions have just been published on the QuickStats page
on the ARRL website. Let your voice be
heard!
Questions in this month's QuickStats poll:
- Do you operate HF portable while camping or hiking?
- Have you earned an ARRL Worked All States award?
- How old is your oldest transceiver?
- Do you monitor W1AW transmissions?
Visit the QuickStats page and be sure
to bookmark it in your browser. Results from this QuickStats poll will
be published in the July 2011 issue of QST on the QuickStats page,
located in the rear advertising section of the magazine. Along with
monthly poll results, QST QuickStats offers colorful charts and graphs
that highlight interesting Amateur Radio statistics.
> ARRL SEEKS BOOK EDITOR
The ARRL is seeking a Book Editor to manage the production of ARRL
books and other publications, ensuring that they meet ARRL standards.
The successful applicant will be responsible for managing the progress
of all book materials through the production process, tracking current
book inventory and scheduling reprints or new editions as needed,
authoring new books and other materials, and editing and formatting
manuscript materials provided by authors to ensure correct grammar,
punctuation and style. Applicants must hold an Amateur Radio license, a
Bachelor of Arts degree in English, Journalism or equivalent, and 5 to
10 years of experience as a professional newspaper, book or magazine
editor, or corporate technical writer. For more information, including
a complete job description and application details, please see the
Employment Opportunities page
on the ARRL website.
> + SILENT KEY: LEGENDARY RECORDING ENGINEER ROGER NICHOLS, KE4BDA
(SK)
Roger Nichols, KE4BDA, of Jupiter, Florida, passed away on April 9
due to complications from pancreatic cancer. He was 66. Nichols was
best known for his work with Steely Dan, whose albums were noted for
their pristine sonic clarity. He collected three Grammy Awards --
including one for Album of the Year -- for his work on the duo's 2000
album Two Against Nature. He also received the Grammy for Best
Engineered Recording for Steely Dan's albums Aja in 1977, Gaucho in
1981 and their film theme FM (No Static at All) in 1978. Nichols
collected another Grammy for his board work on John Denver's All
Aboard!, named Best Children's Album for 1997. Read more here
.
> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO
This week:
- April 15 -- NCCC Sprint
- April 15-16 -- Holyland DX Contest
- April 16 -- Feld Hell Sprint; TARA Skirmish Digital Prefix Contest;
ES Open HF Championship; EU Spring Sprint (SSB)
- April 16-17 -- Michigan QSO Party; Ontario QSO Party; YU DX Contest;
CQ Manchester Mineira DX Contest; EA-QRP CW Contest
- April 16-24 -- ARLHS Annual Spring Lites QSO Party
- April 17 -- ARRL Rookie Roundup (SSB)
- April 18 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest
- April 19 -- 222 MHz Spring Sprint (local time)
Next week:
- April 22 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder 0230Z-0300Z, Apr 22
- April 23-24 -- South Dakota QSO Party; 10-10 International Spring
Contest (Digital); SP DX RTTY Contest; Helvetia Contest
- April 25 -- Low Power Spring Sprint
- April 27 -- SKCC Sprint; 432 MHz Spring Sprint (local time)
- April 27-28 -- 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 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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