The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
April 26, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Dayton Hamvention: ARRL EXPO -- Where the DX Comes to You!
- + On the Air: WPX Awards via LoTW Enters Beta Testing
- + ARRL Thanks Radio Amateurs Who Filed Comments
- + Amateur Radio in the Classroom: Apply to Host a Real-Time
Conversation with ISS Crewmembers
- + Field Day: Register Your ARRL Field Day Site on the Field Day
Locator
- Support ARRL: Attention Federal Employees: ARRL Approved for 2012
Combined Federal Campaign!
- + International News: ITU Telecom World 2012 Conference Seeking
Participants for Young Innovators Program
- Solar Update
- + ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference Set for Atlanta
- This Week in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News .
> + DAYTON HAMVENTION: ARRL EXPO -- WHERE THE DX COMES TO YOU!
As part of the ARRL EXPO -- part of the 2012 Dayton Hamvention® --
the ARRL is pleased to present a plethora of DX activities. Visitors to
the ARRL EXPO will see a lot of DX activities, including DXCC card
checking and a chance to drop off QSL cards for the ARRL Outgoing QSL
Bureau, as well as representatives from the International Amateur Radio
Union (IARU) and IARU Member-Societies. The Dayton Hamvention will take
place May 18-20 at Hara Arena, located near Dayton, Ohio. Read more
here
.
> + ON THE AIR: WPX AWARDS VIA LOTW ENTERS BETA TESTING
Earlier this year, the ARRL and CQ Communications announced that the
ARRL will provide support for CQ-sponsored operating awards by the
ARRL's Logbook of the World (LoTW) electronic confirmation system. The
WPX Award is the first of the CQ-sponsored awards that LoTW will
support. "We had originally planned to introduce this new program in
early April, but due to the introduction of the new DXCC fee structure
and our new Online DXCC application, we had to push the date back,"
explained ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B. "We are now
beta testing the program with a select group of hams and are looking
forward to launching to LoTW-WPX partnership in the first part of May."
Read more here
.
> + ARRL THANKS RADIO AMATEURS WHO FILED COMMENTS
In April, the FCC put out a Public Notice
,
requesting comments regarding a Congress-mandated study to assess
Amateur Radio's role in emergency and disaster communications and the
impact of private land use regulations on the amateur community's
ability to provide such communications. The ARRL asked that the amateur
community forward comments directly to the ARRL so that it could use
them to develop its comments -- more than 1200 radio amateurs
responded! These comments will be reviewed in the next few weeks and
used to help bolster the ARRL's formal response by the FCC's May 17
deadline. Thanks to everyone who took the time to send their comments!
> + AMATEUR RADIO IN THE CLASSROOM: APPLY TO HOST A REAL-TIME
CONVERSATION WITH ISS CREWMEMBERS
NASA is now accepting proposals from US schools, museums, science
centers and community youth organizations to host an Amateur Radio on
the International Space Station (ARISS
)
contact between November 1, 2012 and May 1, 2013. To maximize these
radio contact opportunities, NASA is looking for organizations that
will draw large numbers of participants and integrate the contact into
a well-developed education plan. Proposals are due July 2, 2012.
Using Amateur Radio, students can ask astronauts questions about
life in space and other space-related topics. Students fully engage in
the ARISS contact by helping set up an Amateur Radio ground station at
the school and then using that station to talk directly with a crew
member on the International Space Station for approximately 10 minutes.
ARISS has a network of mentors to help organizations obtain the
technology required to host this exciting opportunity for your
students.
Interested parties should contact NASA's Teaching From Space office via
e-mail to obtain complete information,
the proposal/application form. You can find more information here
.
> + FIELD DAY: REGISTER YOUR ARRL FIELD DAY SITE ON THE FIELD DAY
LOCATOR
First introduced in 2008, the ARRL's Field Day Station Locator
Service has proved a popular
addition to the Field Day toolbox. This service -- an interactive map
that helps amateurs or those interested in Amateur Radio find a Field
Day site near them -- is free
to clubs or individuals who will be operating public Field Day
stations. Stations can also be listed by state or province. So far,
hams in 49 states, Puerto Rico and eight Canadian provinces, as well as
a station located just outside Bogotá, Colombia, have listed Field Day
sites on the Field Day Locator. If your group would like to be a part
of the Station Locator Service, it's easy to get started -- just go to
the Field Day Station Locator website
and follow the instructions.
ARRL Field Day is the most popular on-the-air operating event in
Amateur Radio. On June 23-24, join tens of thousands of radio amateurs
as they gather for a public demonstration of the Amateur Service.
> SUPPORT ARRL: ATTENTION FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: ARRL APPROVED FOR 2012
COMBINED FEDERAL CAMPAIGN!
For the past 11 years, the US Office of Personnel Management has
designated the ARRL to participate in the Combined Federal Campaign
(CFC), the annual giving campaign for federal employees. In that time,
this campaign for federal government civilian employees, US Postal
Service workers and members of the military has generated almost
$192,000 for ARRL programs. The CFC provides an easy way to support the
ARRL's effort to represent its members and all radio amateurs. Similar
to the United Way, the CFC encourages individuals employed in all
branches of the federal government to pledge by payroll deduction to
non-profit organizations of their choice. The ARRL encourages eligible
radio amateurs to consider the League when designating campaign
recipients. Payroll deduction through the CFC is an easy way for
participants to support ARRL over and above their annual membership.
Such contributions support programs that are not funded by member dues,
enriching ARRL's ability to serve its members and all of Amateur Radio.
Read more here
.
> + INTERNATIONAL NEWS: ITU TELECOM WORLD 2012 CONFERENCE SEEKING
PARTICIPANTS FOR YOUNG INNOVATORS PROGRAM
As part of ITU Telecom World 2012 -- scheduled for October 14-18 in
Dubai -- the conference will present the Young Innovators Program. With
its theme of Youth Innovation for Development, the Young Innovators
Competition is a chance for the next generation of young visionaries to
demonstrate their ideas and innovations on this global stage and show
how their fresh digital thinking can change the world for the better.
The program seeks to attract dynamic, engaged young people and identify
projects with a genuine potential to succeed. The goal of the program
is to build a cohesive international community of highly talented of
social entrepreneurs from age 18-25 who are working on ICT-based
initiatives from the conceptual stage through to projects in areas of
critical relevance to the burning issues facing the world today. Read
more here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "When the Sun gives way to April showers
" Cook, K7RA, reports:
Solar activity revived over the past week, with a big increase in
sunspot numbers. On Friday, April 20, the daily sunspot number reached
162; four days later on April 24, the number reached 169. This level of
activity has not been seen since last fall, when the daily sunspot
number reached 173 on September 16, 184 on October 21 and 208 on
November 9. The average daily sunspot numbers more than doubled over
the previous week's average, rising 73 points to 144.7, while the
average daily solar flux was 133.9, an increase of nearly 29 points.
Associated with all this was a rise in geomagnetic activity, peaking
with a planetary A index of 35 on Tuesday, April 24. The geomagnetic
activity increase was due to several solar flares launched from new
sunspots. The latest forecast shows the solar flux at 125 on April 26,
120 on April 27-29, 115 on April 30, 110 on May 1-2, 105 on May 3-4,
110 on May 5-6, 115 on May 7-8, 120 on May 9, 130 on May 10-12, 135 on
May 13, 140 on May 14-17, and down to 135 on May 18-21. Predictions for
the planetary A index are 25, 15, 6, 5, 5, 8 and 6 on April 26-May 2, 5
on May 3-7, rising to 8, 12, 15 and 10 on May 8-11, and back down to 5
on May 12-19. Look for more on the ARRL website on Friday, April 27.
For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL
Technical Information Service Propagation page
. This week's "Tad
Cookism" is brought to you by Al Jolson's April Showers
.
> + ARRL/TAPR DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE SET FOR ATLANTA
The dates have been set -- September 21-23 -- for the 31st Annual
ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC
) in Atlanta at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel.
The DCC schedule includes forums, demonstrations, a Saturday evening
banquet and an in-depth Sunday seminar. This conference is for everyone
with an interest in digital communications -- from beginner to expert.
Technical papers are also being solicited for the conference
proceedings. You do not have to attend the conference to have your
paper included. The submission deadline is July 31. Please send papers
to Maty Weinberg, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111, or you can
make your submission via e-mail . Papers will be
published exactly as submitted and authors will retain all rights. For
more information, please see the DCC website
or call TAPR at 972-671-8277.
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This week:
- April 27 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- April 28-29 -- Florida QSO Party; Nebraska QSO Party; 10-10
International Spring Contest (Digital); SP DX RTTY Contest; Helvetia
Contest; QRP to the Field
- April 29 -- BARTG Sprint 75
- May 1 -- AGCW QRP/QRP Party
Next week:
- May 4 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- May 5 -- Microwave Spring Sprint (local time)
- May 5-6 -- New England QSO Party; Indiana QSO Party; 7th Call Area
QSO Party; 10-10 International Spring Contest (CW); ARI International
DX Contest; Araucaria VHF Contest
- May 8 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
- May 9-10 -- 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
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
- 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
- June 30 -- ARRL Eastern Pennsylvania Section Convention
,
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
- July 20-22 -- ARRL Montana State Convention
,
East Glacier, Montana
- July 26-28 -- Central States VHF Society Conference
,
Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- July 27-28 -- ARRL Oklahoma Section Convention
,
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
- July 27-29 -- ARRL Rocky Mountain Division Convention
,
Bryce Canyon, Utah
- August 3-4 -- ARRL Texas State Convention
,
Austin, Texas
- August 3-5 -- Pacific Northwest DX Convention
,
Portland, Oregon
- August 4 -- ARRL Ohio State Convention
, Columbus, Ohio
- August 10-12 -- RAC National Convention 2012
, Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada
- August 18 -- ARRL West Virginia State Convention
,
Weston, West Virginia
- August 18-19 -- ARRL Southeastern Division Convention
,
Huntsville, Alabama
- August 19 -- ARRL Kansas State Convention
, Salina,
Kansas
- August 24-26 -- ARRL New England Division Convention
,
Boxboro, Massachusetts
- August 26 -- ARRL Western Pennsylvania Section Convention
,
New Kensington, Pennsylvania
To find a convention or hamfest near you, click here
.
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