The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
October 28, 2010
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Amateur Radio in Space: ARISSat-1 "Suits Up" for February 2011
Launch
- + On the Air: No "Maybes" About It -- ARRL Sweepstakes is Fun!
- + Public Service: The 2010 Global Amateur Radio Emergency
Communications Conference
- In the Shack: Two New ARRL Kits Coming Soon
- + International Spotlight: ARRL Visits British Hams, RSGB at National
Hamfest
- Solar Update
- + DX News: ARRL DXCC Desk Approves Six 2010 Operations
- This Week on the Radio
+ Available on ARRL Audio News
> + AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: ARISSAT-1 "SUITS UP" FOR FEBRUARY 2011
LAUNCH
Earlier this year, astronauts living on the International Space
Station had to discard two surplus Orlan space suits. With the loss of
the suits, those involved with AMSAT and Amateur Radio on the
International Space Station were at a loss. One of these suits was to
be used to house the electronics for the upcoming SuitSat-2 mission:
the batteries were to be mounted inside the suit, solar panels attached
to the extremities with the electronics, with video cameras and an
antenna mounted on the helmet. But even though the removal of the space
suits took away the "Suit" component of the deployment, AMSAT and ARISS
forged ahead, changing the configuration of the satellite and Amateur
Radio experiment and giving it a new name: ARISSat-1/RadioSkaf-V. Read
more here
.
> + ON THE AIR: NO "MAYBES" ABOUT IT -- ARRL SWEEPSTAKES IS FUN!
ARRL Sweepstakes has been part of Amateur Radio in the US and Canada
for more than 75 years. In 2010, the tradition continues with the 77th
running of the best domestic contest in all of Amateur Radio: CW will
be the weekend of November 6, while the Phone portion of the contest
runs the weekend of November 20. The 2010 ARRL November CW Sweepstakes
runs from 2100 UTC Saturday, November 6 through 0300 UTC Monday,
November 8. The SSB portion of Sweepstakes runs from 2100 UTC Saturday,
November 20 through 0300 UTC Monday, November 22. Why not make plans
now to join thousands of other radio amateurs across the continent and
get in on this year's fun in the ARRL November Sweepstakes! Read more
here
.
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: THE 2010 GLOBAL AMATEUR RADIO EMERGENCY
COMMUNICATIONS CONFERENCE
The 2010 Global Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (GAREC)
Conference was held October 10-12 in Curaçao (PJ2). At the time most
conference attendees arrived in Curaçao, it was a part of the
Netherlands Antilles along with Bonaire, St Maarten, Saba, and St
Eustatius. By the time the attendees headed home, independence had been
declared and Curaçao was its own nation within the Kingdom of the
Netherlands. Read more here
.
> IN THE SHACK: TWO NEW ARRL KITS COMING SOON
Two new ARRL kits are in the final throes of production. The first is a
Morse code oscillator, produced for ARRL by MFJ Enterprises. The
project is a good "beginners" electronics kit. We expect the kit will
be popular with members, particularly newcomers, and with clubs,
instructors and teachers seeking a classroom kit-building experience. A
supplementary resource guide for students and educators will be made
available by the ARRL Education and Technology Program. The guide helps
cover the fundamentals of the working circuit and its components.
A second
kit is a PIC programming lab and project, produced for ARRL by Cana Kit
(Canada). This more substantial kit is intended to be used with ARRL's
PIC Programming for Beginners
book
(revised first edition). The kit includes all the necessary components,
parts and boards, and follows the book's step-by-step exercises and
tutorial. The kit also includes all the necessary parts to build a
microprocessor-controlled CW keyer, which is the book's culminating
project.
"We're excited about these new projects, which help emphasize kit
construction, basic electronics, and the extraordinary potential of
microcontrollers," said ARRL Marketing Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R.
"There's no better way to advance the radio art than by introducing
more hams to project building and homebrewing." Order your ARRL Morse
Code Oscillator
and ARRL PIC
Programming Kit
today in the ARRL Online Store .
> + INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT: ARRL VISITS BRITISH HAMS, RSGB AT
NATIONAL HAMFEST
Earlier this month, ARRL Marketing Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R,
represented the League at the National Hamfest in the United Kingdom.
Billed as the biggest convention in the UK, the National Hamfest
"kicked off" Ham Week UK, October 1-10. Now in its second year, the
hamfest is sponsored by both the Lincoln Short Wave Club and the Radio
Society of Great Britain. Ham Week concluded with the RSGB Convention
-- formerly the HF Convention -- held October 8-10. According to
Inderbitzen, the RSGB Convention is a smaller event than the National
Hamfest, and includes lectures and presentations for HF and VHF
interests, but no exhibits. Read more here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "The rain exploded with a mighty crash as we fell into the Sun
" Cook, K7RA, reports:
Although this week saw a high daily sunspot number of 74 on October 26,
the average sunspot number for the week dropped more than five points
to 50.3. One new sunspot group, numbered 1119, emerged this week, but
1117 -- which has been visible since October 19 -- has become huge. On
Wednesday, October 27, it measured 450 millionths of a solar
hemisphere, larger than any single sunspot group this year. Look for
more information -- including some information from Stu Phillips, K6TU,
on how to calculate signal strengths for SSB and CW signals over the
same paths shown in WSPR data -- on the ARRL Web site on Friday,
October 29. 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 Band on the Run
.
> + DX NEWS: ARRL DXCC DESK APPROVES SIX 2010 OPERATIONS
ARRL DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L, reports that six 2010 operations
-- Afghanistan (T6MB), Bhutan (A51A) and Burundi (9U1RSI, 9U4T, 9U1KI
and 9U1VO) have been approved for DXCC credit. "If you had cards that
were recently rejected for this operation, please send an e-mail
to the ARRL DXCC Desk," Moore said. "Results will
appear in Logbook of The World (LoTW
) accounts, as well as online on
the daily listings ."
> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO
This week:
- October 30-31 -- ARRL EME Contest ;
CQ Worldwide DX Contest (SSB); 10-10 International Fall Contest
(Digital); 50 MHz Fall Sprint
- November 2 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
Next week:
- November 5 -- QRP Fox Hunt
- November 6-7 -- Ukrainian DX Contest
- November 6-8 -- ARRL CW Sweepstakes
- November 7 -- High Speed Club CW Contest
- November 10 -- QRP Fox Hunt
- November 10-11 -- 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
info. Looking for a Special Event station? Be sure to check out the
ARRL Special Events Station Web page
.
Click here to advertise in this newsletter.
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