The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
May 12, 2011
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Public Service: As Weather Clears in Southeast, Hams Continue to
Provide Support
- FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker to Leave FCC in June
- + ARRL EXPO at the Dayton Hamvention®: Where the DX Comes to You!
- + Amateur Radio in Space: Celebrating 50 Years of OSCAR I and Amateur
Radio Satellites
- + Honoring Amateur Radio: Maine Honors Hams on World Amateur Radio
Day
- + On the Air: Annual Armed Forces Day Crossband Test Scheduled for
May 14
- Amateur Radio in the Classroom: High School Radio Club to Offer Free
Foxhunting Transmitter Kits
- Amateur Radio in the Classroom: RIT Students Successfully Launch High
Altitude Balloon
- 2011 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference Call for Papers
- Solar Update
- + Silent Key: Noted DXer Ben Stevenson, W2BXA (SK)
- This Week on the Radio
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: AS WEATHER CLEARS IN SOUTHEAST, HAMS CONTINUE TO
PROVIDE SUPPORT
Even though the storms that raged through the Southeast have long gone,
the damage and heartache they left in their wake are still present. In
Alabama, the state that felt the biggest brunt of the storms, hams made
their way to fire stations, emergency operations centers and shelters
-- anywhere they were told that they were needed.
Calling it his first experience with an EF-5 tornado, ARRL
Southeastern Division Director Greg Sarratt, W4OZK, said that the
devastation is "mind-boggling! ARES® successfully provided a massive
amount of critical communications, got repeaters back on the air, with
no utility power. It took five days before significant utility power
was restored; my power was restored on the evening of Day Six. ARES®
has gone above and beyond in supporting multiple government and
not-government organizations and conducting many other tasks, all at
once. ARES® works!" Read more here
.
> FCC COMMISSIONER MEREDITH ATTWELL BAKER TO LEAVE FCC IN JUNE
On May 12, FCC Commissioner Meredith Attwell Baker announced that
she would be leaving her post on June 3 -- just 27 days before her term
expires -- creating a Republican vacancy on the Commission. Chairman
Julius Genachowski, along with Commissioners Michael Copps and Mignon
Clyburn, are Democrats, while Commissioner Robert McDowell is a
Republican. Only three sitting Commissioners may be of the same
political party.
Baker was nominated by President Barack Obama on June 25, 2009 and
sworn in just five weeks later. She filled the unexpired term of fellow
Republican and former Chairman Kevin J. Martin, who resigned in January
2009; her term is set to expire June 30, 2011.
Baker will join Comcast as its Senior Vice President of Government
Affairs, NBCUniversal. "I've been privileged to serve in government for
the past seven years under President Obama at the FCC and President
[George W.] Bush at NTIA," she said in a statement released by Comcast.
"I'm excited to embark on a new phase of my career with Comcast and
NBCUniversal." Read more here
.
> + ARRL EXPO AT THE DAYTON HAMVENTION®: WHERE THE DX COMES TO YOU!
ARRL Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager Dave Patton, NN1N,
reports that plans for a plethora of DX activities at the ARRL EXPO --
part of the 2011 Dayton Hamvention® -- are wrapping up. "We are excited
about the activities that will be taking place," he said. "Visitors to
the EXPO will see a lot of activities relating to DX, including DXCC
card checking, a chance to drop off QSL cards for the ARRL Outgoing QSL
Bureau and even an expanded International Amateur Radio Union area."
The Dayton Hamvention will take place May 20-22 at Hara Arena, located
near Dayton, Ohio. Read more here
.
> + AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF OSCAR I AND
AMATEUR RADIO SATELLITES
By ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
1961. It was the middle of the Cold War. John F. Kennedy is inaugurated
as the 35th President of the United States. The Bay of Pigs invasion
fails in Cuba. The Beatles perform for the first time at the Cavern
Club in Liverpool. Freedom Riders are arrested in Jackson, Mississippi
for "disturbing the peace" after disembarking from their bus.
Construction of the Berlin Wall begins. Roger Maris of the New York
Yankees hits his 61st home run in the last game of the season, beating
the 34 year old record held by Babe Ruth. Barbie gets a boyfriend when
Mattel introduces the Ken doll.
Just four years earlier, the Soviet Union had launched Sputnik I,
the first human-made object to orbit the Earth, ushering in the Space
Age. For the next 30 years, the Cold War rivalry between the US and the
former Soviet Union focused on attaining firsts in space exploration.
These were seen as necessary for national security and symbolic of
technological and ideological superiority. The "space race" involved
pioneering efforts to launch artificial satellites, sub-orbital and
orbital human spaceflight around the Earth, as well as piloted voyages
to the Moon.
1961. Mercury-Redstone 2 launches into space carrying Ham the Chimp.
Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first human in space. Alan
Shepard becomes the first American in space aboard Mercury-Redstone 3.
Gus Grissom, piloting the Mercury-Redstone 4 capsule Liberty Bell 7,
becomes the second American to go into space. OSCAR I -- Orbiting
Satellite Carrying Amateur Radio -- the very first Amateur Radio
satellite, is launched into space.
Barely four months after the successful launch of Sputnik I, the
United States launches the unmanned Explorer I on January 31, 1958. At
about that same time, a group of hams on the West Coast -- Lance
Ginner, K6GSJ; Chuck Smallhouse, W6MGZ; Ed Beck, K6ZX; Al Diem; Chuck
Townes, K6LFH (SK), and Nick Marshall, W6OLO (SK) -- begin toying with
the idea of launching an Amateur Radio satellite into orbit and
organized themselves into Project OSCAR. After a series of high level
exchanges among Project OSCAR members, the ARRL and the US Air Force, a
launch opportunity on a Thor DM-21 Agena-B rocket from Vandenberg Air
Force Base in California was secured for the very first Amateur Radio
satellite: OSCAR I. It was successfully launched into a low Earth orbit
on the morning of December 12, 1961 -- four years after the launch of
Sputnik I. The satellite was also the world's first non-government
bird.
Fifty years -- 1961 to 2011 -- is a long time -- and an important
milestone, thought ARRL Lab Test Engineer Bob Allison, WB1GCM. And then
he had a lightbulb moment: Why not take the back-up OSCAR I on display
at ARRL Headquarters and make it work again? So W1AW Station Manager
Joe Carcia, NJ1Q and Allison began tinkering with the satellite, one of
three made by Project OSCAR. One of the satellites went up into space
in 1961, one is on display at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in
Washington, DC and the other was until recently sitting in a display
case on the first floor of the HQ building in Newington.
After much trial and error, Carcia finally got OSCAR I to transmit a
signal on 145 MHz, just as the original satellite did. "Since specific
technical literature on the satellite was unavailable, information
taken from 1962 QST and CQ articles assisted in the reconstruction of
the transmitter in the ARRL unit," Carcia explained. "Much care was
given to salvage the original components, although time had taken its
toll on most of the circuitry. As such, although the transmitter
functions, the actual keying of the transmitter is performed using a
PIC beacon keyer. Power is supplied using a standard wall-cube
providing 12 V dc."
In honor of OSCAR I's 50th anniversary, the rebuilt satellite will be
on display at the ARRL EXPO area at the Dayton Hamvention, May 20-22 at
Hara Arena in Trotwood, Ohio. "We have hooked OSCAR I up to a dummy
load running very low power, and as you walk by, you will hear it
transmit "HI HI," just as it did 50 years ago," Allison said. Since the
transmission does not identify, you won't be able to pick it up on your
handheld transceiver while at Hara. Read more here
.
> + HONORING AMATEUR RADIO: MAINE HONORS HAMS ON WORLD AMATEUR RADIO
DAY
In a joint resolution released on April 14, the Maine House and
Senate recognized the nearly 5000 licensed ham radio operators in Maine
and their service to the state. The resolution proclaimed April 18
Amateur Radio Day in the state. April 18 was also World Amateur Radio
Day, marking the 86th anniversary of the founding of International
Amateur Radio Union. Read more here
.
> + ON THE AIR: ANNUAL ARMED FORCES DAY CROSSBAND TEST SCHEDULED FOR
MAY 14
The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard are
co-sponsoring the annual Military/Amateur Radio Crossband
Communications Test in celebration of the 61st anniversary of Armed
Forces Day ( AFD). Although the actual Armed Forces Day is celebrated
on the third Saturday in May -- May 21 in 2011 -- the AFD
Military/Amateur Crossband Communications Test will be conducted on May
14 to prevent conflict with the Dayton Hamvention®, scheduled for May
20-22. Read more here
.
> AMATEUR RADIO IN THE CLASSROOM: HIGH SCHOOL RADIO CLUB TO OFFER
FREE FOXHUNTING TRANSMITTER KITS
Miguel Enriquez, KD7RPP, is an Instructor with the ARRL's Teachers
Institute on Wireless Technology, as well as a math and electronics
teacher at Pueblo High School in Tucson, Arizona. One of his
responsibilities at Pueblo is advising the school's Amateur Radio club.
"Our radio club has discovered how much fun ham radio can be as a way
to improve the math, science, technology and communications skills of
the students," he told the ARRL. "We are also fortunate that the ARRL
has been generous in providing us with equipment, materials, supplies
and curricula. Without their support, we would not currently be
involved in building QRP transceivers, ATV downconverters for our
Amateur Television station (W7ATN), underwater robots for mapping lakes
recently discovered in caves in the Southwest -- and fox hunt
transmitters." Read more here
.
> AMATEUR RADIO IN THE CLASSROOM: RIT STUDENTS SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCH
HIGH ALTITUDE BALLOON
The Rochester Institute of Technology Amateur Radio Club, K2GXT, had
a successful launch of RITCHIE-1 -- a custom high altitude balloon
designed by members of K2GXT -- at the Imagine RIT Festival on May 7.
According to RITARC Vice President Bryce Salmi, KB1LQC, the goal of the
launch was not to reach high altitudes to take images, but to engineer
a reliable, modular and reusable payload with good engineering
practice. "Saturday's launch went perfect," Salmi told the ARRL. "The
launch was streamed live to the Internet and a local television station
even produced a segment for their newscast on it." The club won the
Academic Award for the balloon at the festival. Read more here
.
> 2011 ARRL/TAPR DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE CALL FOR PAPERS
Technical papers are solicited for presentation at the 30th Annual
ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference, to be held September 16-18
in Baltimore, Maryland. Papers will also be published in the Conference
Proceedings. Authors do not need to attend the conference to have their
papers included in the Proceedings. The submission deadline is July 31,
2011. Read more here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad " The Sun ain't gonna shine anymore
" Cook, K7RA, reports:
Currently, we can see six sunspot groups. A new one appeared May 5,
then two more on May 8, another two on May 9 and another new one on May
11. The average sunspot number for this week rose nearly 7 points to
74.6 and geomagnetic conditions were quiet all week. But the latest
forecast shows unsettled geomagnetic conditions on Thursday (today)
with a planetary A index of 15, then 10, 5, 8, 8 and 10 on May 13-17,
then 5 on May 18-25. Solar flux values of 95 are predicted for May
12-17, 100 and 105 on May 18-19 and 110 on May 20-30. NASA had an
updated prediction for the peak of Solar Cycle 24 on May 9, and it is 7
points higher -- and one month earlier -- than the April 4 prediction.
On April 4, NASA predicted the smallest cycle in 200 years, with a peak
smoothed sunspot number of 62 in July 2013. This month, that estimate
has been raised to 69, and the peak moved forward one month to June
2013. NASA now says this will likely be the smallest cycle in 100
years, instead of 200. Look for more information on the ARRL website on
Friday, May 13. 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 Walker Brothers' The Sun Ain't Gonna
Shine Anymore
.
> + SILENT KEY: NOTED DXER BEN STEVENSON, W2BXA (SK)
Ben Stevenson, W2BXA, of Colonia, New Jersey, passed away on May 5,
2011. He was 97. An ARRL member since 1934, Stevenson was also a
charter member of the North Jersey DX Association (NJDXA) since 1957,
serving as its first president. Stevenson held Satellite DXCC #1, Mixed
DXCC #6 (390 countries confirmed) and Phone DXCC #6 (388 countries
confirmed). Read more here
.
> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO
This week:
- May 14 -- FISTS Spring Sprint; FOC QSO Party
- May 14-15 -- Nevada Mustang Roundup; EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party;
CQ-M International DX Contest; VOLTA WW RTTY Contest; 50 MHz Spring
Sprint
- May 16 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest
- May 19 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint
Next week:
- May 20 -- Feld Hell Sprint
- May 21-22 -- UN DX Contest; Aegean RTTY Contest; His Majesty King of
Spain Contest (CW); EU PSK DX Contest; Baltic Contest
- May 25 -- SKCC Sprint
- May 25-26 -- 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
- 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
- July 2 -- ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania Section Convention
,
Marysville, Pennsylvania
- July 15-17 -- ARRL Montana State Convention
,
Essex, Montana
- July 29-30 -- ARRL Oklahoma State Convention
,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
To find a convention or hamfest near you, click here
.
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