The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
May 31, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- FCC News: FCC Expands Part 95 MedRadio Rules to Allow Devices in
2360-2400 MHz Band
- MARS: House Armed Services Committee "Urges" MARS Coordination
- On the Air: Have Some Fun in the 2012 ARRL June VHF QSO Party
- Amateur Radio Fun: Announcing the Winners of the 2012 QST Video
Contest
- Solar Update
- This Week in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
There will be no ARRL Audio News
on Thursday, May 31. The Audio News will return on Thursday, June 7.
> FCC NEWS: FCC EXPANDS PART 95 MEDRADIO RULES TO ALLOW DEVICES IN
2360-2400 MHZ BAND
In a First Report and Order and a Further Notice of Proposed
Rulemaking (ET 08-59) released on May 24, the FCC decided to expand the
Part 95 Personal Radio Service rules to allow medical devices to
operate on a secondary basis in the 2360-2400 MHz band. These devices
-- called Medical Body Area Networks (MBAN) -- provide a way for health
care facilities to monitor their patients via wireless networks.
Because use of these frequencies will be on a secondary basis, MBAN
stations will not be allowed to cause interference to -- and must
accept interference from -- primary services, including radio amateurs
who operate on a primary basis in the 2390-2395 MHz and 2395-2400 MHz
bands. Read more here
.
> MARS: HOUSE ARMED SERVICES COMMITTEE "URGES" MARS COORDINATION
On May 18, the US House of Representatives approved HR 4310, The
National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2013. This bill
authorizes appropriations for military activities and prescribes
military personnel strengths for Fiscal Year 2013. When the House Armed
Services Committee sent the bill to the House, it included language in
support of the Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) and called for
the three MARS branches -- Army, Air Force and Navy/Marine Corps -- to
be brought under one umbrella. Read more here
.
> ON THE AIR: HAVE SOME FUN IN THE 2012 ARRL JUNE VHF QSO PARTY
There will be lots of RF generated on 6 meters and up the weekend of
June 9-11 during the 2012 ARRL June VHF QSO Party. While many amateurs
think of the VHF+ bands as a "local" band for public service, emergency
communications or even a bit of fun on FM repeaters, weak-signal VHF+
enthusiasts know better. Even with a modest station, it's possible to
work hundreds -- or even thousands -- of miles on the VHF bands during
a good opening.
ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, is a big VHF enthusiast.
"In more than 25 years of Amateur Radio, weak-signal work on 6 and 2
meters remains the most fun and intriguing activity I do," he said.
"There is nothing like a good VHF opening -- with interesting
propagation characteristics like Sporadic-E, tropospheric ducting,
aurora and even meteor scatter and moonbounce -- VHF offers QSO
opportunities that HF can never satisfy." Read more here
.
> AMATEUR RADIO FUN: ANNOUNCING THE WINNERS OF THE 2012 QST VIDEO
CONTEST
The votes have been tallied for the 2012 QST video contest and the
winners chosen!
- First Place, Amateur: Erin King, AK4JG: Erin -- along with her
mentor and members of the Columbus (Georgia) Amateur Radio Club (CARC
) -- sent a weather balloon and a
high-definition video camera to an altitude of over 90,000 feet. They
tracked the balloon across the Georgia countryside using APRS and
managed to recover the payload from the branches of a towering pine
tree. The resulting video is nothing short of spectacular.
- Second Place, Amateur: Jim Wright, N2GXJ: Jim's video Discovering
the Fun does an outstanding job of capturing the thrill of obtaining an
Amateur Radio license and then discovering the pleasures of HF digital
operating with PSK31. When Jim unfurls his ARRL DX Century Club
certificate at the end of the video, you can't help but smile.
- Third Place, Amateur: Jared Gohlke, N4JMG: Jared chronicles a Rowan
Amateur Radio Society (RARS ) transmitter
hunt among the woods and cotton fields of North Carolina. The result is
both informative and humorous. After watching this video you may want
to try a "foxhunt" of your own!
- Professional: Gary Pearce, KN4AQ: Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, is a
professional videographer and the creative force behind Amateur Radio
Video News (ARVN ). Gary took his equipment
and crew to the 2012 Orlando Hamcation for a glimpse of one of the most
popular Amateur Radio gatherings in the southeastern United States.
You can watch the winning videos in the digital edition of the July
issue of QST when it becomes available in a few weeks. If you can't
wait, enjoy the videos right now on the web
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, Suns, moons, planets
" Cook, K7RA, reports: The
average daily sunspot numbers sank more than 28 points this week
(nearly 26 percent) to 81.9, while the average daily solar flux
declined more than 16 points to 111.6. No new sunspots appeared since
May 25. The short term outlook is for lower solar activity, with the
solar flux peaking around 120 on June 5-15 and July 1-12. The latest
prediction has solar flux at 110 on May 31-June 2, 115 on June 3-4, 120
on June 5-15, then 115 on June 16-18, 110 on June 19-26 and 105 on June
27-28. The predicted planetary A index is 5 on May 31-June 2, then 10,
15, 18, 15 and 8 on June 3-7, 5 on June 8-11, 8 on June 12-13, 5 on
June 14-17, and 15, 12 and 8 on June 18-20, and then back down to 5 on
June 21-25. Look for more on the ARRL website on Friday, June 1. 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' A Sea Symphony
(II On the Beach at Night
Alone), taken from Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass
(Book XIX
,
verse 8).
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This week:
- June 1 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder; HA3NS Sprint Memorial Contest
- June 2 -- Wake-Up! QRP Sprint
- June 2-3 -- Alabama QSO Party; Maritime QSO Party; 10-10
International Open Season PSK Contest; SEANET Contest
- June 5 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
Next week:
- June 8 -- NCCC Sprint Ladder
- June 9 -- Portugal Day Contest; Asia-Pacific Sprint (SSB)
- June 9-10 -- DRCG Long Distance Contest (RTTY); VK Shires Contest;
GACW WWSA CW DX Contest; REF DDFM 6 Meter Contest
- June 9-11 -- ARRL June VHF QSO Party
- June 13 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint; NAQCC-EU Monthly Sprint
- June 13-14 -- 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
- 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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