The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
May 19, 2011
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- Dayton Hamvention: 2011 Dayton Hamvention® Coverage Starts Friday,
May 20
- + Friends Use Ham Radio to Summon Help when Alaska Amateur Is Mauled
by Bear
- + FCC News: FCC Upholds $4000 Fine to Pennsylvania Amateur
- + Honoring Amateur Radio: Puerto Rican Amateurs Recognized on Día del
Radioaficionado de Puerto Rico
- On the Air: Live Webcam from the Dayton Crowne Plaza Continues
through Saturday Night
- + On the Air: Bob Heil, K9EID, to Headline New Internet Show
- + On the Air: WRTC 2014 Announces Advisory Council Members
- + 2011 ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference Call for Papers
- Solar Update
- Voting Now Open for June QST Cover Plaque Award
- + DXCC News: DXCC Desk Approves 2011 Andaman and Nicobar Island
DXpedition
- This Week on the Radio
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News
> DAYTON HAMVENTION: 2011 DAYTON HAMVENTION® COVERAGE STARTS FRIDAY,
MAY 20
Beginning Friday, May 20, check the ARRL website for daily summaries
of Dayton Hamvention activity, complete with news and photos from the
show. Videos may also appear on the ARRL HQ YouTube channel
. If you are a member
of Facebook, you can also follow the action on the ARRL's Facebook page
. Watch for photos and comments in
the 2011 Dayton Hamvention Facebook album
.
> + FRIENDS USE HAM RADIO TO SUMMON HELP WHEN ALASKA AMATEUR IS
MAULED BY BEAR
Wes Perkins, KL0FM, of Nome, Alaska, was seriously mauled by a
grizzly bear during a hunting trip on Sunday, May 14. According to the
Alaska State Troopers, Perkins and two friends had been tracking the
bear east of Nome -- located on the Seward Peninsula -- when the big
grizzly charged the group. Perkins' companions shot and killed the
animal during the attack. Perkins was badly hurt, including severe
injuries to his face. The hunters called for help using an Amateur
Radio handheld transceiver. Read more here
.
> + FCC NEWS: FCC UPHOLDS $4000 FINE TO PENNSYLVANIA AMATEUR
The FCC announced that on May 16, it issued a Forfeiture Order of
$4000 to Jose Torres, N3TX, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, "for
willfully and repeatedly operating his amateur station on an
unauthorized frequency at his residence, in violation of Section
1.903(a) of the Commission's Rules." This action follows a 2009 Notice
of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (NAL) against Torres. In 2009, the
FCC issued the NAL against Torres, after receiving a complaint of
interference in 2008. Agents in the Enforcement Bureau's Philadelphia
Office used mobile direction finding equipment in April and June of
that year to determine the source of interference. Both times, they
found that the source coming from Torres' residence and that the
interference consisted of unauthorized radio transmissions on 26.71
MHz. Read more here
.
> + HONORING AMATEUR RADIO: PUERTO RICAN AMATEURS RECOGNIZED ON DíA
DEL RADIOAFICIONADO DE PUERTO RICO
Radio amateurs in Puerto Rico celebrated Puerto Rico Amateur Radio
Operator Day (Día del Radioaficionado de Puerto Rico) on May 10, as
provided by Law No. 50 of June 7, 1996. The law establishes the second
Tuesday of May for this recognition.
That same day -- at a ceremony recognizing a number of voluntary
organizations in the headquarters of the Puerto Rico Emergency
Management Agency (AEMEAD ) --
AEMEAD Executive Director Heriberto Saurí presented the proclamation
celebrating Puerto Rico Amateur Radio Operator Day, signed by the
Governor of Puerto Rico Luis G. Fortuño. Carlos Rosado, KP4CAR,
accepted the proclamation on behalf of all radio amateurs in Puerto
Rico, and especially on behalf of the Amateur Radio Volunteer Corps of
Puerto Rico (CVRPR ), who work closely with the
agency in both drills and emergency situations.
"With this proclamation, we have the opportunity to promote and
publicize Amateur Radio as a tool of vital importance when maintaining
active communications in the event of a breakdown in traditional
communications systems due to an emergency and to maintain the flow of
information, whether internal or external, as well if necessary," Saurí
said at the ceremony. Click here
to
read the proclamation.
> ON THE AIR: LIVE WEBCAM FROM THE DAYTON CROWNE PLAZA CONTINUES
THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT
Thanks to the hard work of Ben Townsend, AK2X, and support from ICOM
America, the North Coast Contesters are proud to host the Dayton
Contest Cam -- live from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Downtown Dayton.
"Live camming began Wednesday evening and will continue through
Saturday night," said Contest University Chairman Tim Duffy, K3LR. "The
cam has an interactive text chat, so you can text the folks that you
see on the cam and they can 'talk' back to you via the audio feature on
the Dayton end."
Duffy said that while the cam is running, attendees will come up to it
and tell viewers what is going on at Contest University on Thursday,
the TopBand Dinner on Friday night and even the Super Suite each night
through Saturday. "We'll also try and cover the Contest Dinner on
Saturday night," he said. "With noted contester and DXer Scott Redd,
K0DQ, giving the keynote speech, this is something that you don't want
to miss. We're going to try and move the cam around to give viewers a
feel of what is going on here. This is our first time trying this out
and it might be a little clunky, so please bear with us."
You can reach the cam by going to anyone of the four contesting website
front pages -- www.contestsupersuite.com
, www.contestuniversity.com
, www.contestdinner.com
and www.topbanddinner.com
-- and clicking on the "Click to Watch
Live Dayton Contest Cam" link.
"We hope this new cam helps bring some of the Dayton Contest experience
to all of those that cannot be here this weekend," Duffy said.
> + ON THE AIR: BOB HEIL, K9EID, TO HEADLINE NEW INTERNET SHOW
On Tuesday, May 24, Bob Heil, K9EID -- owner of Heil Sound -- will
premier a new netcast show on Leo Laporte's TwiT.tv website. Called
HamNation, the show will focus on equipment, applications, tips and
general information for the Amateur Radio operator. Heil's first guest
will be rock star, friend and fellow radio amateur Joe Walsh, WB6ACU.
Walsh also wrote the theme music for the show. The show will be
broadcast each week over the Internet at TWiT.tv at no cost. Read more
here
.
> + ON THE AIR: WRTC 2014 ANNOUNCES ADVISORY COUNCIL MEMBERS
Three radio amateurs have been selected to be on the Advisory
Council for the 2014 World Radiosport Team Championships (WRTC): Tim
Duffy, K3LR, of Edmond, Oklahoma, Craig Thompson, K9CT, of Trivoli,
Illinois, and George DeMontrond III, NR5M, of Houston Texas. The WRTC
Advisory Council consists of individuals who have not only have
experience in the execution of major events, but can provide
significant financial resources to the project. 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 "If I look hard enough into the setting Sun
" Cook, K7RA, reports: We
saw a decline in sunspot activity this week with a 23 point drop in the
average daily sunspot numbers and a nearly 9 point decline in the
average daily solar flux. These compare, of course, to the numbers for
the previous reporting week, which always runs from Thursday through
Wednesday. But with this decline in activity, there were three new
sunspot groups on May 14 and then one new sunspot group each day
following, through May 18. Enhanced geomagnetic activity occurred from
May 15-17, with the planetary A index in the low double-digits. The
latest prediction from NOAA/USAF is for solar flux readings of 95 on
May 19, then 92 on May 20-26 and jumping to 110 on May 27-30. The
predicted planetary A index is 5 on May 19-26, then 22, 18, 15, 15 and
8 on May 27-31. Look for more information on the ARRL website on
Friday, May 20. 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 Rolling Stones' Paint It Black
.
> VOTING NOW OPEN FOR JUNE QST COVER PLAQUE AWARD
Now that you've thumbed through and read the June 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.
- A One Person, Safe, Portable and Easy to Erect Antenna Mast, by
Bob Dixon, W8ERD
- Is There an Optimum Height for an HF Antenna? by Kazimierz "Kai"
Siwiak, KE4PT
- Direct Digital Synthesis for Those Classic Rigs, by Joe Lunsford,
N4YG
- A Single Element Vertical "Beam," by David Robbins, K7BKI
- Two Small Helical Antennas for 2 Meters, by John E. Portune, W6NBC
- Get Up and Get-on-the-Air, by Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, and Dick Orander,
KD4ISC
- DXpedition to Ponza Island, by Ruth L. Vano, KB0USC
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 . Only non-Headquarters
staff authors are eligible to receive votes.
> + DXCC NEWS: DXCC DESK APPROVES 2011 ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLAND
DXPEDITION
ARRL DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L, reports that the 2011 VU4PB
DXpedition to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands
has been approved for
DXCC credit. If you have any questions about this operation, please
send an e-mail to the ARRL DXCC Desk.
> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO
This 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
Next week:
- May 27 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- May 28-29 -- CQ WW WPX Contest (CW)
- May 29 -- ARCI Hootowl Sprint (local time)
- May 29-30 -- Michigan QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint
- June 2 -- QRP Minimal Art Session
All dates, unless otherwise stated, are UTC. See the ARRL Contest
Branch page , the ARRL Contest Update
and the WA7BNM Contest
Calendar for more
informatin. 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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