The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
May 10, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Dayton Hamvention: ARRL EXPO Offers Activities for the DIYer
- + FCC News: FCC Seeks Higher Vanity Call Sign Fee
- + FCC News: Senate Approves Two New FCC Commissioners, Commission to
Be at Full Strength
- + End of an Era: Heathkit Educational Systems Closes Up Shop
- + Amateur Radio in Space: Three Hams Venture to ISS Next Week
- + BSA to Offer Morse Code Interpreter Strip
- On the Air: Coast Guard to Join Armed Forces Crossband Communications
Test
- Solar Update
- DXCC News: DXCC Desk Approves DXpeditions to Yemen and Somalia
- This Week in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News .
Please note: There will be no ARRL Audio News
on Thursday, May 17. The ARRL
Letter will be sent out on its regular
schedule that day.
> + DAYTON HAMVENTION: ARRL EXPO OFFERS ACTIVITIES FOR THE DIYER
When the ARRL EXPO comes to the Dayton Hamvention® May 18-20, it
will bring activities for almost every Amateur Radio activity under the
Sun. From radiosport to card checking to scouting to the Youth Lounge,
every radio amateur will definitely find something to suit his or her
interests. This year -- in addition to our popular kit building station
-- watch how "makers" and "hackers" are using Amateur Radio in "Do It
Yourself" projects on the DIY Stage in the ARRL EXPO, and hear from
hams who are doing-it-themselves. Today's Amateur Radio innovators will
demonstrate a variety of creative projects and cool technology right
before your eyes! Read more here
.
> + FCC NEWS: FCC SEEKS HIGHER VANITY CALL SIGN FEE
The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on May 4, seeking
to raise the fee for Amateur Radio vanity call signs. Currently, a
vanity call sign costs $14.20 and is good for 10 years; the new fee, if
the FCC plan goes through, will go up to $15 for 10 years, an increase
of 80 cents. The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934
(as amended) to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs
associated with that program. Read more here
.
> + FCC NEWS: SENATE APPROVES TWO NEW FCC COMMISSIONERS, COMMISSION
TO BE AT FULL STRENGTH
Six months after President Barack Obama nominated Jessica
Rosenworcel and Ajit Varadaraj Pai to the Federal Communications
Commission, the Senate confirmed their appointments on Monday, May 7.
Rosenworcel, a Democrat, fills the seat vacated by Michael Copps who
retired from the Commission earlier this year; her term runs through
June 30, 2015. Pai, a Republican, replaces Meredith Attwell Baker, who
left the FCC in June 2010; his term runs through June 30, 2016. Once
Rosenworcel and Pai are sworn in, the FCC will be at its full
complement of five Commissioners.
According to various reports, the two will be sworn in by the end of
this week. Their nominations had been held up since December in an
unrelated dispute between the FCC and Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa)
over agency approval of LightSquared's wireless application. When
Grassley received the sought-after documents two weeks ago, he lifted a
hold on the nominations. Read more here
.
> + END OF AN ERA: HEATHKIT EDUCATIONAL SYSTEMS CLOSES UP SHOP
For the second time since 1992, Heathkit Educational Services has
shuttered its doors. Rumors of the legendary kit-building company's
demise were posted on QRZ.com, with several readers bringing the news
to the attention of the ARRL. In August 2011, Heathkit announced it was
returning to the kit building business, and in September, that it would
once again be manufacturing Amateur Radio kits. The ARRL tried to reach
Heathkit to confirm that the company is still in business, but their
phone and fax numbers have a continuous busy signal, and e-mails to the
company have gone unanswered. Read more here
.
> + AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: THREE HAMS VENTURE TO ISS NEXT WEEK
NASA will televise the launch and docking
of the next mission to the International Space Station (ISS
), scheduled for May 14. NASA Flight
Engineer Joseph Acaba, KE5DAR, and his two Russian crewmates, Soyuz
Commander Gennady Padalka, RN3DT, and Flight Engineer Sergei Revin,
RN3BS, are completing their training as they undergo Soyuz spacecraft
fit. Live NASA TV coverage of the Soyuz
TMA-04M spacecraft launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan
begins at 9 PM CDT on Monday, May 14 (0200 UTC May 15), with the launch
scheduled for 10:01 PM CDT (0301 UTC).
The trio will arrive at the station May 16, joining Expedition 31
Commander Oleg Kononenko, RN3DX, of the Russian Federal Space Agency,
Flight Engineer Don Pettit, KD5MDT, of NASA and Flight Engineer Andrei
Kuipers, PI9ISS, of the European Space Agency, who have been aboard the
ISS since December 2011. Padalka, Acaba and Revin will transition to
the Expedition 32 crew in July and return to Earth in mid-September.
You can watch live online
on the NASA TV
Public and Media channels, or on your television set. Contact your
local provider for the NASA TV channel in your area. Click here
for a
complete schedule of televised events.
> + BSA TO OFFER MORSE CODE INTERPRETER STRIP
For many years, Boy Scouts and Scouters have been able to earn an
interpreter strip to wear on their uniforms. This strip -- worn on the
uniform above the right pocket -- denotes proficiency in a foreign
language or sign language. Each language has its own strip (with the
name of the language embroidered in that language), and some Scouts and
Scouters wear more than one strip. Now those hams involved with the Boy
Scouts can show their proficiency in Morse code with a Morse code
interpreter strip (with M-O-R-S-E spelled out in Morse code). Read more
here
.
> ON THE AIR: COAST GUARD TO JOIN ARMED FORCES CROSSBAND
COMMUNICATIONS TEST
The US Coast Guard will be joining the Army, Air Force, Navy and
Marines in the 2012 Armed Forces Crossband Test, scheduled for May 12.
In addition to the Coast Guard station, five Army stations, three Air
Force stations and six Navy/Marine Corps stations will be on the air to
celebrate the 62nd anniversary of Armed Forces Day. Read more here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "Flashing and frolicsome under the Sun
" Cook, K7RA, reports: The
average daily solar flux for the past week rose slightly, 116.2 to 119,
but the average daily sunspot numbers declined more than 14 points --
about 13 percent -- to 92.6. The predicted solar flux for the near term
is quite a bit higher than the average for the past week: Solar flux on
May 10-13 is 130, then 135 on May 14-17, and then it drops sharply to
110 on May 18-22, 115 on May 23-25, 110 on May 26, and then down to 105
on May 27-31. The predicted planetary A index is 22, 15, 10, 8 and 5 on
May 10-14, 8 on May 15-16, 5 on May 17-18, 8 and 10 on May 19-20, 15 on
May 21-23, 8 on May 24, and 5 on May 25-June 4. The predicted planetary
A index of 22 on May 10 looks like a continuation of activity from May
9, which resulted in a planetary A index of 24 and a mid-latitude A
index of 19. This was triggered by a pair of coronal mass ejections and
solar wind stream, all from sunspot group 1476, which is now swinging
into prime geo-effective position. This means it is very close to the
center of the visible solar disk, pointing emissions straight toward
Earth. It could be the source for more geomagnetic upset. Look for more
on the ARRL website on Friday, May 11. For more information concerning
radio propagation, visit the ARRL Technical Information Service
Propagation page . This
week's "Tad Cookism" is brought to you by Ralph Vaughan Williams' Sea
Symphony (III Scherzo The
Waves), taken from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass
(Book XIX
, After the
Sea-Ship
).
> DXCC NEWS: DXCC DESK APPROVES DXPEDITIONS TO YEMEN AND SOMALIA
ARRL DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L, reports that the current 7O6T
DXpedition to Yemen and the February 2012 6O3A DXpedition to Somalia
have been approved for DXCC credit. "If you had cards that were
recently rejected for the 6O3A operation, please send an e-mail
to the ARRL DXCC Desk," Moore said. "Please note that
due to extremely heavy e-mail, DXCC staff may not respond to your
message. Once your record is updated, results will appear in Logbook of
The World (LoTW ) accounts or in
the live, daily DX standings . Due to a
backup on DXCC e-mail, DXCC staff will make the corrections to
accounts, but may not respond directly to messages about this."
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This week:
- May 11 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- May 12 -- FISTS Spring Sprint
- May 12-13 -- Nevada Mustang Roundup; EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party;
VOLTA WW RTTY Contest; CQ-M International DX Contest; 50 MHz Spring
Sprint
- May 13 -- SKCC Weekend Sprintathon; WAB LF Phone Contest
- May 14 -- NAQCC-EU Monthly Sprint
- May 17 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint
Next week:
- May 19 -- Feld Hell Sprint
- May 19-20 -- His Majesty King of Spain Contest (CW); EU PSK DX
Contest; Baltic Contest
- May 21 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest
- May 21-22 -- Aegean RTTY Contest
- May 23-24 -- 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 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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