The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
October 14, 2010
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
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IN THIS ISSUE
- + Public Service: Amateur Radio Operators Provide Communications
Support During Chilean Mine Rescue
- + DXCC News: Four New Entities Placed on DXCC List
- + International Spotlight: ARRL Marks 27th Year of Hosting USTTI
Amateur Radio Administration Course
- International Spotlight: Dr Hamadoun Touré, HB9EHT, Re-elected ITU
Secretary-General
- + ARRL VEC Links Up with South Pole to Administer Technician Exams
- Fifth Annual ARRL On-Line Auction Begins Next Week
- + On the Air: Jamboree on the Air
- + On the Air: ARRL's Logbook of The World: 300 Million QSOs -- And
Counting!
- + Club News: IRS Offers Tools for Small Organizations in Danger of
Losing Tax Exempt Status
- + Solar Update
- This Week on the Radio
+ Available on ARRL Audio News
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS PROVIDE COMMUNICATIONS
SUPPORT DURING CHILEAN MINE RESCUE
As the last of the 33 miners who were trapped 2300 feet deep inside
the San José Mine -- located about 27 miles from the Chilean town of
Copiapó in the Atacama Desert -- rose to the surface at 0055 UTC on
October 14, the world cheered in unison. The miners, who were
underground for 69 days -- the longest time ever for miners to be
trapped and survive -- all emerged relatively healthy. Amateurs with
the Radio Club Copiapó, CE1CPI, provided communication support between
the authorities and emergency equipment operators inside the San Jose
Mine complex, as well as with family of the trapped miners in the
complex and authorities in Copiapó. Read more here
.
> + DXCC NEWS: FOUR NEW ENTITIES PLACED ON DXCC LIST
With the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on October 10, two
now-deleted DXCC entities are now four new DXCC entities, effective
October 10, 2010. The island pair of Bonaire and Curaçao (PJ2 and PJ4,
the Leeward Islands) and the three-island group of Sint Maarten, Saba
and St Eustatius (PJ5, PJ6 and PJ7, the Windward Islands) have been
deleted from the DXCC list of active entities and replaced with four
new entities. Not since the aftermath of World War II -- with so many
new European entities -- and the break-up of the French colonies in
Africa in the early 1960s -- have so many new DXCC entities come into
existence all at once.
On October 10, the US Department of State recognized the dissolution of
the Netherlands Antilles, placing the new entities on its Dependencies
and Areas of Special Sovereignty List, saying that "Curaçao and Sint
Maarten (the Dutch two-fifths of the island of Saint Martin) became
autonomous territories of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Bonaire,
Saba, and St Eustatius now fall under the direct administration of the
Netherlands."
According to the DXCC rules
, entities may be
added or removed from the DXCC List
as a result of political
or geographic change. These new entities qualified to be listed on the
DXCC List under Section 2, Rule 1(b) of the DXCC rules: "The entity
contains a permanent population, is administered by a local government
and is located at least 800 km from its parent. To satisfy the
'permanent population' and 'administered by a local government'
criteria of this sub-section, an Entity must be listed on either (a)
the US Department of State's list of 'Dependencies and Areas of Special
Sovereignty' as having a local 'Administrative Center,' or (b) the
United Nations list of 'Non-Self-Governing Territories.'"
With so many DXCC entities all coming into being at the same time,
many amateurs made their way to Curaçao (PJ2T, PJ2/OH1VR, PJ2/PB2T,
PJ2A and PJ2MI), Sint Maarten (PJ7E, PJ7MF), Bonaire (PJ4B, PJ4D, PJ4I,
PJ4LS and PJ4W), Saba (PJ6A) and St Eustatius (PJ5/AA4NC, PJ5/AH6HY and
PJ5/K1XM) to put these new ones on the air. Beginning at 0400 UTC on
October 10, the airwaves were filled with those looking to snag these
new entities; just days after the entities became "live," stations on
the islands had made more than 15,000 QSOs on SSB and CW.
Per the ARRL DXCC Desk, no confirmations for these new entities will be
accepted until after January 1, 2011; other administrative changes will
be announced as they are finalized. Look for more information on the
ARRL Web site, in upcoming editions of The ARRL Letter and in the
December 2010 issue of QST.
> + INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: ARRL MARKS 27TH YEAR OF HOSTING USTTI
AMATEUR RADIO ADMINISTRATION COURSE
Students from the Philippines, Ethiopia, Ghana, Brazil and Nigeria
attended the United States Telecommunications Training Institute
(USTTI) Amateur Radio Administration Course at ARRL Headquarters
September 27-October 1. ARRL Chief Technology Officer Brennan Price,
N4QX, coordinated the session and led the course. ARRL Assistant to the
Chief Executive Officer and Meeting Planner Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ,
coordinated ARRL's participation with USTTI. Read more here
.
> INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: DR HAMADOUN TOURé, HB9EHT, RE-ELECTED ITU
SECRETARY-GENERAL
On October 7 during the morning session of the 18th ITU
Plenipotentiary Conference -- held in Guadalajara, Mexico -- Member
States of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) re-elected Dr
Hamadoun Touré, HB9EHT, of Mali, as ITU Secretary-General. This will be
his second four-year term. Dr Touré, who ran unopposed, won the
position with 151 votes, with 157 countries present and voting.
The next day, François Rancy of France was elected as Director of the
ITU's Radiocommunication Bureau
(BR), capturing 90 of 157 votes. The BR plays a key role in global
communications, managing the distribution of international frequency
spectrum and the allocation of satellite orbits. According to the ITU,
Rancy will face several challenges, including WRC-12. The conference
will tackle issues that include a review of the international framework
for radiocommunication (including Amateur Radio), the identification of
appropriate mechanisms to address what the ITU called "the so-called
digital dividend of radio spectrum" freed up by the switch to digital
TV and the identification of spectrum resources for maritime,
aeronautical, meteorological and climatology. Read more here
.
> + ARRL VEC LINKS UP WITH SOUTH POLE TO ADMINISTER TECHNICIAN EXAMS
While much of the United States was enjoying a beautiful autumn day
on October 8, those who winter over at the Amundsen-Scott South Pole
Station were experiencing a typical day for their clime, a day in the
-70s (yes, you read that right -- 70 below 0 degrees Fahrenheit). But
though the day was indeed frigid, six men and two women at
Amundsen-Scott didn't feel the cold as they were too excited (and maybe
just a touch nervous), knowing they were going to be part of the first
Amateur Radio license exam session ever held at the South Pole. Read
more here
.
> FIFTH ANNUAL ARRL ON-LINE AUCTION BEGINS NEXT WEEK
The Fifth Annual ARRL On-Line Auction
will be open for preview beginning at 10:15 AM (EDT) on Friday, October
15, and will open for bidding at 10 AM (EDT) on Wednesday, October 20.
According to Business Services Manager and Auction Coordinator Deb
Jahnke, K1DAJ, there is a large assortment of ARRL Product Review
items, donated new and vintage equipment, rare books, one-of-a-kind
items and more. "If readers are interested in some great bargains and
some great fun, you really need to check this out," she said. Jahnke
also encouraged visitors to visit the site to preregister and scope out
those "must-have" items. She expressed gratitude to the ARRL Business
Partners and individual donors who have contributed items to this
event. The 2010 ARRL On-Line Auction runs through 11:59 PM (EDT)
October 25, 2010.
> + ON THE AIR: JAMBOREE ON THE AIR
The 53rd Annual Jamboree on the Air (JOTA) will once agian provide
an opportunity for Scouts to get on the air and get a taste of the fun
and magic of radio. JOTA is an international scouting event organized
by the World Scouting Bureau. While JOTA officially starts at 12
midnight local time Friday night/Saturday morning and goes until
midnight Sunday local time, there will be plenty of stations on the air
Friday evening. The official Scouting frequencies will be the center of
operations. A listing of those frequencies, information about third
party traffic restrictions and other details can be found on the ARRL
Web site or on the World Scouting site. Each JOTA event provides an
opportunity for a local club or Scout troop to get something started
that can result in the beginning of a tradition of fun-filled
activities. JOTA takes place starting Saturday at midnight local time,
Saturday, October 16 and goes to 11.59 PM local time on Sunday, October
17. Some activity continues over from Friday to Monday to take
advantage of long distance (DX) time differences Read more here
.
> + ON THE AIR: ARRL'S LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD: 300 MILLION QSOS -- AND
COUNTING!
Congratulations to Victor Morozov, RD3PQ, for submitting QSO number
300 million to the ARRL Logbook of The World (LoTW)! His QSO with Ivan
Gombos, SV2/OM3CGN, on October 5, 2010 did the trick. To date, Morozov
has submitted nearly 6300 contacts to LoTW and will receive free DXCC
and Worked All States awards for his well-placed log.
"We're very pleased with the high level of use and acceptance of LoTW
from operators around the world," said ARRL Membership and Volunteer
Programs Manager Dave Patton, NN1N. "January 2011 marks the 10 year
anniversary of the ARRL's announcement of the LoTW system. While it has
taken longer than anyone expected to return to building-out the system,
progress is being made. ARRL's programmers are working hard to improve
usability and to add support for the VUCC award, and we have received
valuable assistance from volunteers in the development of the system
and software." Read more here
.
> + CLUB NEWS: IRS OFFERS TOOLS FOR SMALL ORGANIZATIONS IN DANGER OF
LOSING TAX EXEMPT STATUS
Back in May, we told you that the IRS could revoke the non-profit
status
of small organizations -- including Amateur Radio clubs -- that have
failed to file annual returns or reports for three years. According to
ARRL Southwestern Division Director Marty Woll, N6VI, many clubs have,
at some time in the past, applied for tax-exempt status as charitable
organizations under Section 501(c)(3)
,
as civic leagues under Section 501(c)(4)
or as recreational clubs using Section 501(c)(7)
:
"Years ago, any club with gross receipts averaging less than $25,000
per year was not required to file annual returns with the IRS; however,
after 2006, such clubs had to file a Form 990-N
, a simple
'electronic postcard' with minimal information, by the 15th day of the
fifth month after the close of each fiscal year. Some clubs may not
have been aware of this new requirement or didn't bother to comply.
Even those that filed in a prior year may have neglected to keep up
with the required filings as officers changed from year to year." Now
the IRS is making several tools available to these organizations to
help them maintain their tax-exempt status. Check out this page on the
IRS Web site
for links
to a series of resources that clubs may find useful.
> + SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "For tomorrow may rain, so I'll follow the Sun
" Cook, K7RA, reports:
Solar activity was down this week, although it is now gradually
strengthening. The average daily sunspot numbers dropped nearly 16
points to 11.7, and the average daily solar flux declined more than 5
points to 75.8. Over the next two weeks, the solar flux is expected to
gradually increase to 80 on October 14-16, 82 on October 17-21, 80 on
October 22-25 and 85 on October 26-29. The increase is expected from
sunspot group 1112 -- emerging on October 9 -- and group 1113 that
appeared on October 13, rotating over the Sun's eastern limb. The
STEREO mission shows a series of
magnetically active areas on our Sun's far side, which should rotate
into view. Geomagnetic activity is expected to be stable, with the
planetary A index moving between 5 and 8. The predicted planetary A
index is 5 on October 14-15, 8 on October 16-17, 5 on October 18-20, 8
on October 21-22, 5 on October 23, 8 on October 24-25 and 5 on October
26-29. Over the past week, the geomagnetically active day was Monday,
October 11, when the planetary A index was 20 and the planetary K index
went as high as 5. Alaska's College A index was 49, based on a College
K index as high as 7. This activity was pushed by a strong solar wind.
Look for more information -- including a look at some methods for
taking these numbers and predicting propagation for yourself from your
location to any other worldwide location of interest, on any day or
band -- on the ARRL Web site on Friday, October 15. For more
information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical
Information Service Propagation page
. This week's "Tad
Cookism" is brought to you by Paul McCartney's I'll Follow the Sun
.
> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO
This 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
Next week:
- October 23 -- FOC QSO Party
- October 23-24 -- Stew Perry Topband Challenge; 10-10 International
Fall
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