The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
April 28, 2011
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Public Service: Tornadoes and Thunderstorms Keep Radio Amateurs
Busy in Midwest, Southeast
- + Counting Down to Dayton -- Where Global Friendship Takes Center
Stage
- + Silent Key: James McLaughlin, WA2EWE/T6AF, Killed By Afghan Pilot
- + FCC News: Anchorage VEC Asks FCC to Grant Lifetime Credit for
Expired Licenses
- + On the Air: Find an ARRL Field Day Station Near You
- WX4NHC Assistant Coordinator Honored at National Hurricane Conference
- + On the Air: Space Weather Prediction Center to Discontinue
Broadcasts on WWV and WWVH
- Solar Update
- Voting Now Open for May QST Cover Plaque Award
- This Week on the Radio
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: TORNADOES AND THUNDERSTORMS KEEP RADIO AMATEURS
BUSY IN MIDWEST, SOUTHEAST
As violent storms swept through Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas and
North Carolina, served agencies called upon Amateur Radio operators to
help provide communications support and real-time weather observations.
The storms and flooding were the latest in the severe weather that has
pummeled much of the mid-South this month. Just a week ago, storms tore
a wide path from Oklahoma all the way to North Carolina. Read more here
.
> + COUNTING DOWN TO DAYTON -- WHERE GLOBAL FRIENDSHIP TAKES CENTER
STAGE
The ARRL is making all the final plans and preparations to bring its
"show and tell" exposition -- known as ARRL EXPO -- to the Dayton
Hamvention® next month. Hamvention, sponsored by Dayton Amateur Radio
Association since 1952, will be held May 20-22 at the Hara Arena
Conference and Exhibition Center in Trotwood, Ohio. Read more here
.
> + SILENT KEY: JAMES MCLAUGHLIN, WA2EWE/T6AF, KILLED BY AFGHAN PILOT
James McLaughlin, WA2EWE/T6AF, was killed in Kabul, Afghanistan on
Wednesday, April 27. News sources say that eight American troops and a
US contractor died Wednesday after an Afghan military pilot opened fire
during a meeting in an operations room of the Afghan Air Corps at the
Kabul airport -- the deadliest episode to date of an Afghan turning
against his coalition partners, officials with the NATO-led
International Security Assistance Force (ISF
) in Afghanistan said. McLaughlin -- a
retired US Army Lieutenant Colonel -- was a contractor serving as a
flight instructor for Afghan pilots.
Licensed since 1972, McLaughlin was a career US military officer.
Bob Magnani, K6QXY, told the ARRL that McLaughlin was just in the US a
week ago, visiting his family: "His son Adam, KD6POE, works for me. He
told me that his dad had been in Afghanistan and Iraq many times over
the past few years, most currently serving as a flight instructor."
McLaughlin posted on his qrz.com page that "almost every day, I operate
at around 1230 - 1430 UTC. Sometimes I am QRV until around 1500 UTC."
Steve Herman, W7VOA/T6AD/HL9OA -- currently in Seoul, South Korea --
remembers meeting McLaughlin for the first time. "I first met Jim in
August 2009 when we were the only two hams operating in Kabul," he
wrote in an e-mail. "We exchanged tips on operating in our unusual
environment. Jim had put together a fine radio shack in his quarters
and was especially enthusiastic about his RTTY and PSK capabilities, as
well as the ladder line-fed wire dipole he had managed to string up at
a height of 50 feet through some trees.
"Less than 24 hours after our initial discussion, a suicide bomb
went off in Kabul near the spot where we had arranged to meet. The
blast killed seven people and injured nearly 100. The explosion site
was also close to Jim's QTH and it blew out windows in his residence
adjacent to the US Embassy. It was obvious from spending time with Jim
that ham radio was an important morale-boosting pastime and he usually
spent a couple of hours per day QRV, logging thousands of QSOs." As of
March 26, 2011, McLaughlin had logged 4359 QSOs, most of them on RTTY
and PSK.
McLaughlin was also an active MARS
operator. "He was one of our most dedicated MARS members in Army MARS
Region 11," Dan Wolff, KA7AGN/DL4VCW/AEM1WF/AEA1RD, told the ARRL.
Wolff is the MARS Region 11 Director. "He relayed and delivered
literally hundreds of MARSgrams every year for our region. I've known
him for many years and he was always devoted to supporting our deployed
service members. He will be deeply missed on MARS circuits and the ham
bands as well." -- Thanks to Russ Bentson, K6KLY, CNN
and Fox News
for the information
> + FCC NEWS: ANCHORAGE VEC ASKS FCC TO GRANT LIFETIME CREDIT FOR
EXPIRED LICENSES
In a Petition for Rulemaking filed with the FCC on April 15, the
Anchorage VEC -- one of 14 Volunteer Examiner Coordinators in the US --
asked the Commission to give permanent credit to radio amateurs for
examination elements they have successfully passed. This would, in
effect, create a license exam credit that would be valid throughout an
amateur's lifetime, never expiring. Read more here
.
> + ON THE AIR: FIND AN ARRL FIELD DAY STATION NEAR YOU
First introduced in 2008, the ARRL's Field Day Station Locator
Service has proved a popular
addition to the Field Day toolbox. This service -- an interactive map
that helps amateurs or those interested in Amateur Radio find a Field
Day site near them -- is free to clubs
or individuals who will be operating public Field Day stations.
Stations can also be listed by state or province. So far, hams in all
50 states and Puerto Rico have listed Field Day sites on the Field Day
Locator. If your group would like to be a part of the Station Locator
Service, it's easy to get started -- just go to the Field Day Station
Locator website and follow the
instructions. ARRL Field Day is the most popular on-the-air operating
event in Amateur Radio. On June 25-26, join tens of thousands of
Amateur Radio operators as they gather for a public demonstration of
the Amateur Radio Service.
> WX4NHC ASSISTANT COORDINATOR HONORED AT NATIONAL HURRICANE
CONFERENCE
W4NXC Assistant Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R, was awarded the
Distinguished Service Award at the National Hurricane Conference --
held April 18-22 in Atlanta, Georgia -- for "exceptional service in
providing emergency communication during hurricane events over three
decades while leading [the] WX4NHC Amateur Radio station at the
National Hurricane Center."
Ripoll not only serves WX4NHC as its Assistant Coordinator and an
operator, he co-founded the station with then-NHC Director Dr Neil
Frank in 1980. WX4NHC collects ground weather reports for areas that
are -- or are about to be -- affected by approaching hurricanes,
gathering thousands of these reports that are passed on to the
forecasters. The station also broadcasts the advisories to ships at sea
and to those coastal areas that do not have any other means of
receiving them, saving many lives over the years. Read more here
.
> + ON THE AIR: SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER TO DISCONTINUE
BROADCASTS ON WWV AND WWVH
Beginning Tuesday, September 6, the Space Weather Prediction Center
(SWPC ) will cease broadcasting
its geophysical alert message
on WWV
and WWVH
. These messages inform listeners
of the solar flux, the mid-latitude A and K indices and space weather
storms, both current and predicted. Currently, the message is heard on
minute 18 from WWV and minute 45 from WWVH. The information
will still be
available on the SWPC website. If you care to comment on this, or if
you have any questions, the SPWC -- part of the National Weather
Service (NWS ) -- would like to hear from you
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "The Sun is swimmin' on the rim of a hill
" Cook, K7RA, reports:
Geomagnetic conditions are quiet this week, but they may become
slightly unsettled over this weekend. The average daily sunspot numbers
were down more than 18 points to 74.9, while average daily solar flux
was off less than four points to 113.4. The predicted solar flux values
for April 28-30 are 105, May 1-2 is 100, May 3-4 at 105 and 110 on May
5. The next peak in solar flux is May 11-13, with a value of 120. This
is actually higher than the flux values over the last month, except for
one day -- April 15 -- at 129. Over the last eight days, we have seen
seven new sunspots emerge, but the daily sunspot numbers have fallen
since April 22. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts quiet conditions
on April 29, unsettled to active on April 30, unsettled May 1-2, quiet
to unsettled May 3 and quiet May 4-5. Look for more information --
including a report from the Caribbean on 20 meter propagation and
information on a new online propagation tool -- on the ARRL website on
Friday, April 29. 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 Surrey with the Fringe on Top
from the musical Oklahoma!
> VOTING NOW OPEN FOR MAY QST COVER PLAQUE AWARD
Now that you've thumbed through and read the May 2011 issue of QST
cover-to-cover, we're sure that an article sticks in your mind. So go
ahead and cast your vote for
your favorite article in the issue. The article with the most votes
will receive the QST Cover Plaque Award.
- Supporting Portable Antennas Without Guy Wires by Dave Fisher,
KG0D/7
- A Transmitter for Fox Hunting by Mark Spencer, WA8SME
- An Emergency Backup Solar Power System by Jim Talens, N3JT
- A Junk Box Power Line Frequency Monitor by Arthur Glazar, W2NN
- 3B8EME -- Moonbounce from the Indian Ocean by Eltje Veen, PA3CEE,
Johan Meezen, PE9DX, and Rene Hasper, PE1L
- Youth DX Adventure #1 by Don DuBon, N6JRL, and Dave Kalter, KB8OCP
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
. Headquarters staff members who
write articles are not eligible to receive votes.
> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO
This week:
- April 29 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- April 30 -- BARTG Sprint 75
- April 30 - May 1 -- Nebraska QSO Party; Florida QSO Party; SBMS 2 GHz
and Up WW Club Contest (local time); QRP to the Field
- May 1 -- AGCW QRP/QRP Party
- May 3 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
- May 4-5 -- MIE 33 Contest
Next week:
- May 6 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- May 7-8 -- New England QSO Party; 7th Call Area QSO Party; Indiana
QSO Party; 10-10 International Spring Contest (CW); ARI International
DX Contest
- May 8 -- Araucaria VHF Contest; Microwave Spring Sprint (local time)
- May 8 -- SKCC Weekend Sprint
- May 11-12 -- 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
- 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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