The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
March 22, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + New ARRL Membership Benefits Coming in June
- + ARRL Announces New DXCC Fee Structure
- + 2012 National Hurricane Conference to Feature Amateur Radio
Activities
- + On the Air: Special Event Stations Planned for London 2012 Olympic
and Paralympic Games
- + Executive Committee to Meet this Weekend in Missouri
- Solar Update
- + TAPR Opens "Interest List" for Hermes SDR
- This Week in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News .
> + NEW ARRL MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS COMING IN JUNE
The ARRL is excited to announce two new membership benefits that
will be introduced in June 2012. In addition to the print copy of QST,
all members will have access to an online digital edition of QST -- at
no extra cost. You will be able to access QST from anywhere -- on
nearly any computer, laptop, mobile device, smartphone and tablet
(including Apple iPad, iPhone, iTouch and devices using the Android
operating system). Members will also gain access to archived issues of
QST from December 1915 to the present; previously, only issues through
2007 were available to members. If you are familiar with the current
periodicals archive, that platform will be expanded to include all of
QST from December 1915 through December 2011. A second, new archive
will be introduced for issues beginning January 2012, featuring
enhanced functionality including full-text search. Read more here
.
> + ARRL ANNOUNCES NEW DXCC FEE STRUCTURE
The DX Century Club (DXCC) is the premier Amateur Radio operating
award. Available to hams around the world, tens of thousands of awards
have been issued since 1945 under the modern award program. In 2012,
the DXCC program is not only still thriving, but it is growing, both in
participation and in numbers of award options. The addition of Logbook
of the World and soon, the addition of an Online DXCC Application
utility, will continue to help the program grow. Effective Monday,
April 2, the way DXCC fees are assessed will change. These changes will
include both rate increases and rate decreases. Read more here
.
> + 2012 NATIONAL HURRICANE CONFERENCE TO FEATURE AMATEUR RADIO
ACTIVITIES
The National Hurricane Conference -- scheduled for March 26-29 in
Orlando, Florida -- will feature several Amateur Radio activities. The
National Hurricane Conference leadership continues to recognize the
valuable contributions of Amateur Radio and has invited several radio
amateurs to participate in two sessions. Read more here
.
> + ON THE AIR: SPECIAL EVENT STATIONS PLANNED FOR LONDON 2012
OLYMPIC AND PARALYMPIC GAMES
Some special event call signs will be activated to celebrate the
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games: 2O12L from London, England
and 2O12W from Barry, Wales. The London 2012 Inspire program has
granted the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) -- Great Britain's
IARU Member-Society -- use of the "Inspire mark" for these stations.
Both stations will be on-the-air for the duration of the Games, July
27-August 12. Read more here
.
> + EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE TO MEET THIS WEEKEND IN MISSOURI
The ARRL Executive Committee will meet Saturday, March 24 in St
Louis, Missouri. Agenda items include a review of the ARRL policy on
repeater coordination, a look at how the mandated study on Amateur
Radio -- as outlined in Section 6414 in the just-passed payroll tax
legislation -- will be implemented, the first periodic review of the
National Broadband Plan Committee report, discussion of the proposed
changes to the FCC's rules as set forth in report from the ARRL
Electromagnetic Compatibility Committee and more . ARRL President Kay
Craigie, N3KN, serves as chairman of the Executive Committee. Click
here
for more information, including a link to the meeting's agenda.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "The Sun has long been set
" Cook, K7RA, reports:
Solar activity declined this week - the average daily sunspot numbers
were off by more than 13 points to 75.1, while the average daily solar
flux dropped more than 32 points to 102.1. Solar flux values have also
dropped below 100 for the past two days; they are expected to remain
there until March 28. The next short-term peak in solar flux is
expected at the 135 level for April 3-6. The predicted solar flux for
March 22 is 95. On March 23-26, expect 90, then 95, 100 and 100 on
March 27-29, 130 on March 30-April 2, then 135 on April 3-6, and 130,
120, 115 and 105 on April 7-10, and 100 on April 11-15. The predicted
planetary A index is 7 on March 22, 5 on March 23-27, 10 on March 28, 8
on March 29-31, 5 on April 1-2, 8 on April 3-4, 5 on April 5-9, then
12, 5, 5, 15 and 10 on April 10-14, and 5 again on April 15-23. Look
for more information on the ARRL website on Friday, March 23. For more
information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical
Information Service Propagation page
. This week's "Tad
Cookism" is brought to you by William Wordsworth's The Sun Has Long
Been Set .
> + TAPR OPENS "INTEREST LIST" FOR HERMES SDR
Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR) announces the opening of the
"interest list" for the openHPSDR Hermes single-board Software Defined
Radio. The Hermes interest list is used by TAPR to determine the number
of Hermes boards to manufacture in the pending initial production run
this spring. Hermes is a long-awaited addition to the openHPSDR project
lineup, advancing through four prototypes while evolving from a
USB-based to an Ethernet-based transceiver in about two years. Hermes
is a Direct-Down-Conversion receiver, a Direct-Up-Conversion 500 mW
transmitter and a gigabit Ethernet interface all on one board. Also on
board is an RF-quiet switch-mode power supply, which allows Hermes to
run from a single 13.8 V dc source. Read more here
.
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This week:
- March 24-25 -- CQ WW WPX Contest (SSB)
- March 26 -- QRP Homebrewer Sprint
- March 28 -- SKCC Sprint
- March 28-29 -- CWops Mini-CWT Test
Next week:
- March 31-April 1 -- Missouri QSO Party
- April 1 -- UBA Spring Contest (SSB)
- April 3 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
All dates, unless otherwise stated, are UTC. See the ARRL Contest
Branch page , the ARRL Contest Update
and the WA7BNM Contest
Calendar for more
information. 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
- March 23-24 -- ARRL Maine State Convention
, Lewiston,
Maine
- April 7 -- ARRL North Carolina State Convention
,
Raleigh, North Carolina
- April 14 -- ARRL Delta Division Convention
, Bartlett,
Tennessee
- April 14-15 -- Communications Academy 2012
, Seattle,
Washington
- April 20-22 -- ARRL Idaho State Convention
, Boise, Idaho;
63rd International DX Convention
,
Visalia, California
- April 21 -- ARRL Delaware State Convention
,
Georgetown, Delaware; ARRL Louisiana Section Convention
, Monroe,
Louisiana
- May 4-6 -- EMCOMMWEST
, Reno, Nevada
- May 18-20 -- Dayton Hamvention
, Dayton, Ohio
- June 1-3 -- ARRL Northwestern Division Convention
,
Seaside, Oregon
- June 2 -- ARRL Georgia Section Convention
,
Marietta, Georgia
- June 8-9 -- ARRL West Gulf Division Convention
,
Plano, Texas
- June 9 -- ARRL Arkansas State Convention
, Rogers,
Arkansas; ARRL Tennessee State Convention
, Knoxville,
Tennessee
To find a convention or hamfest near you, click here
.
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