The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
June 28, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Silent Key: Former ARRL General Manager and IARU President Richard
Baldwin, W1RU (SK)
- + Public Service: ARRL Offers Online Public Service Training
- + Notes from the ARRL VEC Desk
- New Volunteer Examiner Apparel and Supply Items Now Available
- + International News: ARRL Attends HAM RADIO 2012 in Germany
- On the Air: ARRL UHF/Microwave Band Plan Committee Seeks Comments on
Proposed 23 cm Band Plan
- Solar Update
- + DXCC Desk Approves Seven Operations for Credit
- This Week in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News .
Please note: Due to the Fourth of July holiday next week, there will be
no ARRL Audio News on Thursday, July 5. The ARRL Letter will be sent
out on its regular schedule.
> + SILENT KEY: FORMER ARRL GENERAL MANAGER AND IARU PRESIDENT
RICHARD BALDWIN, W1RU (SK)
Richard "Dick" Baldwin, W1RU, of Damariscotta, Maine, passed away on
Thursday, June 21, after a long struggle with Parkinson's Disease. He
was 92. An ARRL Charter Life Member, Baldwin capped a long career on
the ARRL staff with service as General Manager from 1975 until his
retirement in 1982. He served as Secretary of the International Amateur
Radio Union (IARU) from 1976-1982. After retirement, he continued his
involvement as a volunteer, serving as IARU President from 1982-1999
and as ARRL International Affairs Vice President from 1982-1986.
Baldwin began his career at ARRL Headquarters in 1948 as an Assistant
Secretary. After a brief hiatus to work in the private sector in the
early 1950s, he returned in 1956 as Managing Editor of QST, where he
was responsible for production of the monthly member journal and all
ARRL publications. In 1963, Baldwin became Assistant General Manager
and almost immediately got involved with international matters. He
organized the Intruder Watch one year later, and served as the ARRL
Liaison between the amateurs who monitored the bands and the FCC.
Baldwin was named by the ARRL Board to succeed John Huntoon, W1RW, on
Huntoon's retirement as General Manager, the position now titled Chief
Executive Officer, in 1975. In total, Baldwin wrote 234 articles and
columns for QST.
ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, who succeeded
Baldwin as General Manager in 1982, observed that Baldwin is
responsible for much of Amateur Radio's success in retaining and
expanding its international frequency allocations: "Beginning in 1964,
strengthening our position at the International Telecommunication Union
in preparation for what ultimately became the 1979 World Administrative
Radio Conference, was a major preoccupation in Dick's life. He played a
key role in developing and implementing the strategy that led to
success. Sitting at Dick's elbow in the years leading up to WARC-79 was
an extraordinary learning experience for which I will always be
grateful."
As IARU President, Baldwin led the development and adoption of a new
IARU Constitution and oversaw the continued strengthening of the IARU
as the spokesman for Amateur Radio at the ITU and in regional
telecommunications organizations. In 1999, he was named IARU President
Emeritus for his service to the IARU and the Amateur Radio Service.
Read more here
.
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: ARRL OFFERS ONLINE PUBLIC SERVICE TRAINING
The former Amateur Radio Emergency Communications (AREC) series of
three levels of emergency communications courses has been reconfigured
into two new courses: An introductory course for radio amateurs who
want to volunteer to provide services for public service and emergency
communications, and a course for leaders and managers who are
responsible for training and coordinating response efforts. The course
descriptions for both of these courses that make up the ARRL's ARESŪ
training program can be found in the ARRL Online Course Catalog. Links
to register for each course are included in the course descriptions.
Read more here
.
> + NOTES FROM THE ARRL VEC DESK
The ARRL Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) is one of 14 VECs in
the US that coordinate the efforts of Volunteer Examiners (VEs) who
administer Amateur Radio operator license examinations. More than
11,000 active ARRL VEs throughout the country give back to Amateur
Radio by administering approximately 40,000 Technician, General and
Amateur Extra exam elements each year. Read more here
.
> NEW VOLUNTEER EXAMINER APPAREL AND SUPPLY ITEMS NOW AVAILABLE
If you're an ARRL Volunteer Examiner, take note: The ARRL has
recently introduced new apparel and supply items
just for you. Choose
between a new black polo-style shirt
(sizes S-4XL)
or a white long-sleeved button down shirt
(sizes
S-3XL), each embroidered with the ARRL diamond logo and "Volunteer
Examiner" on left chest. Wear your VE badge on the new ARRL VE lanyard
. This
stylish white lanyard is imprinted with "ARRL Volunteer Examiner" and
"Amateur Radio" in black. It includes a bulldog clip for your call sign
badges or your ARRL VEC credentials. Carry your VE exam supplies in
style with the ARRL VE Portfolio
. This
black portfolio features a zipper closure and is imprinted with the
ARRL diamond logo and words "ARRL VEC Exams." There's lots more
available in the ARRL VEC Online Store
, including the ARRL
VEC Volunteer Examiner Manual
, ARRL
VE patches , challenge
coins and pins
.
> + INTERNATIONAL NEWS: ARRL ATTENDS HAM RADIO 2012 IN GERMANY
HAM RADIO 2012 in Friedrichshafen, Germany -- held June 22-24 -- is
billed as Europe's biggest Amateur Radio exhibition. Held annually in
the Lake Constance region, this is the 37th international Amateur Radio
exhibition and the 63nd Lake Constance Convention of Radio Amateurs,
sponsored by the German Amateur Radio Club (DARC), which gave rise to
the fair. Each year, a contingent from ARRL attends HAM RADIO. In 2012,
this group included ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, along with ARRL
Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, ARRL Chief Operating
Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B, ARRL Marketing Manager Bob Inderbitzen,
NQ1R, and ARRL Field Correspondent Chuck Skolaut, K0BOG. Read more here
.
> ON THE AIR: ARRL UHF/MICROWAVE BAND PLAN COMMITTEE SEEKS COMMENTS
ON PROPOSED 23 CM BAND PLAN
Last winter, the ARRL UHF/Microwave Band Plan Committee asked the
Amateur Radio community about current, planned and projected uses of
the amateur bands between 902 MHz and 3.5 GHz. The excellent level of
response provided us with the basis to complete drafts of the 9 cm, 13
cm and 33 cm revised band plans for ARRL Board approval. The Committee
has now prepared for your consideration a draft band plan for 23 cm
(1240-1300 MHz), the final band on its assigned list. Please look over
the accompanying draft and let us know if you have any major concerns.
Read more here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "The Sun came up this morning like a burning red balloon
" Cook, K7RA, reports:
Sunspot activity continued to drop until early this week: The average
daily sunspot numbers were 26.3, down more than 58 points from last
week's numbers, while the average daily solar flux declined to 92.8,
down over 33 points from last week's average. The weekly sunspot number
average has declined since the May 31-June 6 period, when it was 130.4,
followed by 116.1 the next week, 84.6 the next and 26.3 this week. In
last week's ARRL Letter
, we reported
the average daily sunspot number as 87, but it was really 84.6. This is
because we reported what may have been a preliminary sunspot number of
46 for June 20, but the sunspot number for that date was 29.
Geomagnetic conditions over the past week were quiet. The average
planetary A index was 5.7, down from 12.6 last week, 9 the week before
and 13.4 the week before that. The quiet planetary A index for this
week was exactly as it was on the week of May 24-30 -- 5.7 -- which
also happened to be the mid-latitude A index for that period. The
latest prediction from USAF/NOAA shows geomagnetic activity peaking on
June 29-July 4, probably from a coronal hole spewing solar wind. The
predicted planetary A index for June 28-30 is 7, 10 and 18, followed by
15 on July 1-3, 10 and 8 on July 4-5, 5 on July 6-7, 8 on July 8-9, 5
on July 10-25, and then 10, 18, 15, 15, 15 and 8 on July 26-31. This is
an echo of the activity this week, based on the 27.5 day rotation of
our Sun, relative to Earth. The predicted solar flux is 110, 115 and
115 on June 28-30, 120 and 125 on July 1-2, 130 on July 3-5, 135 and
140 on July 6-7, 135 on July 8-9, 130 on July 10-11, 125 on July 12-13,
then 120, 115, 110 and 105 on July 14-17. Solar flux may dip below 100
around July 19-28. Look for more on the ARRL website on Friday, June
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 Eurythmics' You Hurt Me
.
> + DXCC DESK APPROVES SEVEN OPERATIONS FOR CREDIT
In June, the DXCC approved seven operations for DXCC credit. On June
21, the 2012 TT8ES (Chad) operation, the XX9E (Macao) operation and the
2011 TL9EL (Central African Republic) were approved. On June 25, the
2012 XW4XR (Laos) operation was approved. On June 26, the 2010 J28RO
(Djibouti) operation, the 2011 J25DXA (Djibouti) operation and the 2012
5X1RO (Uganda) operation have been approved. "If you had cards that
were recently rejected for these operations, 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 DXCC 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." Moore
noted that the J28RO and 5X1RO logs have been uploaded to LoTW.
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This week:
- July 1 -- RAC Canada Day Contest; WAB 144 MHz Low Power Contest
(Phone)
- July 2-8 -- 10-10 International Spirit of '76 QSO Party
- July 3 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
- July 4-5 -- Michigan QRP July 4th CW Sprint
Next week:
- July 6 -- NCCC Sprint
- July 7-8 -- Venezuelan Independence Day Contest; DL-DX RTTY Contest;
Original QRP Contest; PODXS 070 Club 40 Meter Firecracker Sprint (local
time)
- July 8 -- SKCC Weekend Sprintathon; DARC 10 Meter Digital Contest;
QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint
- July 9 -- NAQCC-EU Monthly Sprint
- July 11-12 -- 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 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 10-12 -- RAC National Convention 2012
, Edmonton, Alberta,
Canada
- August 11 -- ARRL Ohio State Convention
, Columbus, Ohio
- 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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