The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
October 7, 2010
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + International Spotlight: IARU Administrative Council Updates WRC-12
Plans
- + Amateur Radio in the Classroom: ARRL Teachers Institute Expands to
Include Space, Electronics in the Classroom
- Amateur Radio in the Classroom: ARRL Executive Committee Approves
Grant Funding for Seven Schools
- + At the Workbench: Get Ready for the ARRL Homebrew Challenge III
- ARRL in Action: What Have We Been Up to Lately?
- DX News: PJ Pandemonium -- Opening October 10 on an HF Band Near You
- + Public Service: Nominations Now Being Accepted for the 2010 ARRL
International Humanitarian Award
- + Solar Update
- This Week on the Radio
+ Available on ARRL Audio News
> + INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: IARU ADMINISTRATIVE COUNCIL UPDATES
WRC-12 PLANS
The Administrative Council (AC) of the International Amateur Radio
Union held its annual meeting on October 1-2 in Salinitas, El Salvador.
The AC is responsible for the policy and management of the IARU and
consists of the three IARU international officers and two
representatives from each of the three IARU regional organizations. The
IARU Region 2 General Assembly -- held October 4-8 -- also in
Salinitas, immediately follows the AC meeting. Read more here
.
> + AMATEUR RADIO IN THE CLASSROOM: ARRL TEACHERS INSTITUTE EXPANDS
TO INCLUDE SPACE, ELECTRONICS IN THE CLASSROOM
This summer, the ARRL offered two advanced ARRL Teachers Institutes
on Wireless Technology (TI-2) sessions. One session focused on how to
integrate space into the classroom, while the other concentrated on
basic and more advanced electronics concepts and ham radio operations.
"As we gain experience as to what content is need to help teachers to
better integrate basic electronics, the science of radio,
microcontrollers and robotics into their curriculum, the TI program
continues to be refined and expanded," said ARRL Education and
Technology Program Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME. "The TI-2 program
is an offshoot of that effort and provides a 'graduate level'
opportunity for graduates of the regular Teachers Institute sessions."
Read more here
.
> AMATEUR RADIO IN THE CLASSROOM: ARRL EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE APPROVES
GRANT FUNDING FOR SEVEN SCHOOLS
In May 2010, the ARRL Executive Committee reviewed grant
applications for the ARRL's Education & Technology Program, awarding
nearly $6400 to seven schools. More than 475 schools across the country
have received support from the ETP in the form of grants for equipment,
curriculum and resources, as well as teacher in-service training
through the Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology. The Executive
Committee reviews applications for equipment and resource grants twice
each year, in December and May. Read more here
.
> + AT THE WORKBENCH: GET READY FOR THE ARRL HOMEBREW CHALLENGE III
The ARRL has sponsored two Homebrew Challenges in the past, designed
to test our members' design and construction skills by making useful
amateur gear at low cost -- and sharing their results with our members.
Our first ARRL Homebrew Challenge, announced in QST for August 2006,
required the construction of a 40 meter, 5 W voice and CW transceiver
built for less than $50 of new parts. The Second Homebrew Challenge,
announced in February 2009, resulted in a number of creative designs of
low cost 50 W linear amplifiers to follow the transceiver -- two for
about $30, as well as a multiband amplifier with many features for
somewhat more.
This time, we announce a challenge to build a transceiver in
celebration of the (slow) return of sunspots. This challenge will be in
two parts and readers can enter into either or both:
- A single band 25 W SSB and CW transceiver for 10 or 6 meters (Option
1), with a prize of $200.
- A 25 W SSB and CW transceiver that can be switched between 10 and 6
meters, using one or two switches (Option 2), with a prize of $300.
Read more here
.
> ARRL IN ACTION: WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO LATELY?
Compiled by ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
This feature is a concise monthly update of some of the things ARRL is
doing on behalf of its members. This installment -- which covers the
month of September -- includes seeking protection of amateur
frequencies with the FCC, representing the ARRL at the local, regional
and national level, training Field Organization leaders, administering
ARRL awards programs and more. Read more here
.
> AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: SUMBANDILA OSCAR 67 SATELLITE ACTIVE OVER
THE AMERICAS
The FM repeater aboard the South African Sumbandila OSCAR 67 (SO-67
)
satellite will be activated over North and South America until Sunday,
October 10. According to the announcement from AMSAT-NA Vice President
of Operations Drew Glasbrenner, KO4MA, the repeater will be available
for 15 minutes beginning at the following times (UTC):
- October 7: 11:55, 14:51 and 17:57
- October 8: 13:04, 16:06, and 19:10
- October 9: 11:18, 14:14 and 17:20
- October 10: 10:58, 13:56 and 17:02
The SO-67 repeater receives at 145.875 MHz FM (233.6 CTCSS) and
re-transmits at 435.345 MHz FM. Local pass predictions are available
from AMSAT-NA's online calculator
. -- Activity periods
calculated by Ed Clayo, N8BBQ
> DX NEWS: PJ PANDEMONIUM -- OPENING OCTOBER 10 ON AN HF BAND NEAR
YOU
By H. Ward Silver, N0AX
No, it's not a colorized re-release of a 1960s B-grade beach movie
. On Sunday, October 10, five
islands in the Caribbean are all changing their governmental status at
the same time: Saba, St Eustatius, Bonaire, St Maarten and Curacao.
Known collectively as the Netherlands Antilles, these islands have up
to now been an autonomous part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Some
will remain within the Netherlands as "special municipalities" and some
will become independent nations within the Kingdom of the Netherlands,
just as the island nation of Aruba did back in 1986. What this means
for the HF bands is a lot of interference as the new DXCC entities are
born: Two DXCC entities (the island pair of Bonaire & Curacao and the
three-island group of St Maarten, Saba and St Eustatius) will be
deleted from the DXCC list of active entities and be replaced by up to
five new entities! Read more here
.
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: NOMINATIONS NOW BEING ACCEPTED FOR THE 2010 ARRL
INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Nominations are open for the 2010 ARRL International Humanitarian
Award. The award is conferred upon an amateur or amateurs who
demonstrate devotion to human welfare, peace and international
understanding through Amateur Radio. The League established the annual
prize to recognize Amateur Radio operators who have used ham radio to
provide extraordinary service to others in times of crisis or disaster.
Read more here
.
> + ON THE AIR: AMATEURS ARE ON THE AIR IN CELEBRATION OF NATIONAL
WILDLIFE REFUGE WEEK
Amateur Radio operators will be on the air in observance of the 2010
National Wildlife Refuge Week
, scheduled for October
9-17. This event will coincide with festivals and special events at
refuges that help connect people with nature at the country's more than
500 National Wildlife Refuges. Combining Amateur Radio's communication
capabilities with enjoyment of the outdoors to help others learn about
the National Wildlife Refuge System (NWRS) is the goal of the amateur
stations participating in the nine-day event. Hams begin operating from
a number of wildlife refuges this week under guidelines established in
cooperation with the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). Only those
stations that have authorized, responsible access to refuges are
sanctioned by this event. For the first time, the US Senate has passed
a resolution officially recognizing National Wildlife Refuge Week. The
resolution "recognizes the importance of national wildlife refuges to
wildlife conservation and the protection of imperiled species and
ecosystems" and "reaffirms the support of the Senate for wildlife
conservation and the National Wildlife Refuge System." Visit the
National Wildlife Refuge Week Ham Radio Web site
for more information and a list of
participating ham radio stations.
> + SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "Here comes the Sun King; everybody's laughing, everbody's happy
" Cook, K7RA, reports:
Solar activity quieted over the past week. There were no sunspots on
Wednesday, October 6, and the average daily sunspot number declined
nearly 18 points to 27.6, compared to the previous week. The average
daily solar flux values were off more than 3 points to 81. The
predicted solar flux for the next 10 days -- October 7-16 -- is 75, 76,
78, 78, 80, 79, 80, 80, 82 and 81. Looking at the STEREO image early
Thursday morning shows an active region
in our Sun's southern hemisphere, just over the eastern horizon.
Perhaps this will bring more sunspots. Look for more information --
including an updated solar forecast and reports on 15 meter activity --
on the ARRL Web site on Friday, October 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 John Lennon's Here comes the Sun King
.
> ON THE WEB: HOW TO SUBMIT A NEWS STORY
Visit the News Tips page on the ARRL
Web site to submit a news story to our Editorial team. Your Amateur
Radio-related news tip could end up in QST, online or in The ARRL
Letter.
Here are a few hints from QST Managing Editor Joel Kleinman, N1BKE:
- Include contact information: If the person sending the tip isn't the
main point of contact, be sure to include that person's contact
information.
- Photos: When a story has a photo or two included, attach it to an
e-mail message addressed to news@arrl.org and include caption
information, as well as the name and call sign of the photographer.
For those submitting a complete item rather than just a tip, it's best
to include the usual suspects:
- Who? Who was involved?
- What? What happened (what's the story)?
- When? When did it take place?
- Where? Where did it take place?
- Why? Why did it happen?
- How? How did it happen?
> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO
This week:
- October 8-10 -- YLRL DX/NA YL Anniversary Contest
- October 9 -- FISTS Fall Sprint; EU Autumn Sprint (CW)
- October 9-10 -- Arizona QSO Party; Pennsylvania QSO Party; CQ SA SSB
Contest; Makrothen RTTY Contest; Oceania DX Contest (CW); Scandinavian
Activity Contest (SSB); WAB HF Phone Contest
- October 10 -- SKCC Weekend Sprint; North American Sprint (RTTY);
10-10 International 10-10 Day Sprint; UBA ON Contest (CW)
- October 13 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint
- October 13-14 -- CWops Mini-CWT Test
Next week:
- October 16 -- Iowa QSO Party; Feld Hell Sprint; Microwave Fall
Sprint (local time)
- October 16-17 -- New York QSO Party; JARTS WW RTTY Contest; ARCI
Fall QSO Party; Worked All Germany Contest; PODXS 070 Club 160 Meter
Great Pumpkin Sprint (local time)
- October 17 -- Asia-Pacific Fall Sprint (CW)
- October 17-18 -- Illinois QSO Party; Run for the Bacon QRP Contest
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 Events Station Web page
.
> UPCOMING ARRL DIVISION CONVENTIONS AND EVENTS
- October 15-17, 2010 -- ARRL Pacific Division Convention
, San Ramon, California
- May 20-22, 2011 -- Dayton Hamvention ®
featuring ARRL EXPO, Trotwood, Ohio
- June 10-11, 2011 -- ARRL National Convention and ARRL EXPO at the
ARRL West Gulf Division Convention , Plano,
Texas
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