The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
July 12, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Executive Order Poses No Threat to the Amateur Radio Service
- + Legislative News: State-Level PRB-1 Law Now on the Books in
Illinois
- Amateur Radio in Space: Three Hams Scheduled to Head to ISS This
Weekend
- + Public Service: ARRL to Host Webinar on Amateur Radio Response to
2012 Hurricane Season
- On the Air: Additional Diamond DXCC Tools and Reports Now Available
- + QST: Check Your Mailbox for the August 2012 Issue of QST
- QEX: The July/August 2012 Issue
- + W1AW: W1AW's EchoLink and IRLP Nodes Temporarily Suspended
- Solar Update
- + Silent Key: Walt Maxwell, W2DU (SK)
- Two Operations Approved for DXCC Credit
- This Week in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News .
> + EXECUTIVE ORDER POSES NO THREAT TO THE AMATEUR RADIO SERVICE
On July 6, 2012, the White House released an Executive Order
that addresses National Security and Emergency Preparedness (NS/EP)
communications functions of the federal government. Contrary to some
concerns raised in a few Amateur Radio circles, the Order does not
appear to contain any threat to the Amateur Service or its ability to
continue support communications during times of emergency or disaster.
It also poses no threat to amateur spectrum.
"The purpose of the new entity, which would be created by this Order
within the Executive Branch, appears to be to plan for future NS/EP
communications and to ensure survivability, hardness and
interoperability, as well as to develop a long-term strategic plan for
NS/EP communications," said ARRL Regulatory Information Manager Dan
Henderson, N1ND. "Based on the Amateur Service's ongoing, positive
working relationship with officials at the Department of Homeland
Security's Office of Emergency Communications, it is hard to envision
that any new management plan would not include Amateur Radio. Nothing
in this Order directly affects Amateur Radio's daily operations." A
good summary of the content of the Order can be found here
.
> + LEGISLATIVE NEWS: STATE-LEVEL PRB-1 LAW NOW ON THE BOOKS IN
ILLINOIS
Following in the footsteps of various other states, Illinois
Governor Pat Quinn signed HB 1390 -- a state-level PRB-1 law -- on June
30, effective immediately. PRB-1 (as codified in Section 97.15(b)) was
released by the FCC in 1985 and states that "[s]tate and local
regulation of a station antenna structure must not preclude amateur
service communications. Rather, it must reasonably accommodate such
communications and must constitute the minimum practicable regulation
to accomplish the state or local authority's legitimate purpose." Read
more here
.
> AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: THREE HAMS SCHEDULED TO HEAD TO ISS THIS
WEEKEND
NASA will televise the launch and docking of the next mission to the
International Space Station (ISS), scheduled for 8:40 PM (CDT)
Saturday, July 14 (0140 UTC Sunday, July 15). NASA Flight Engineer
Sunita Williams, KD5PLB, along with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko,
RK3DUP, and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Akihiko
Hoshide, KE5DNI, are completing preparations as they undergo their
final Soyuz spacecraft fit. Live NASA TV coverage of the Soyuz TMA-05M
spacecraft launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan begins at
8:30 PM CDT on Saturday, July 14 (0130 UTC July 15). Read more here
.
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: ARRL TO HOST WEBINAR ON AMATEUR RADIO RESPONSE TO
2012 HURRICANE SEASON
The ARRL will host a webinar from 8-9:30 PM EDT Tuesday, July 17
(0000-0130 UTC Wednesday, July 18) to present information about the
2012 hurricane season and the Amateur Radio response. The program will
offer presentations from representatives from the National Hurricane
Center (NHC) and WX4NHC (the Amateur Radio station at the NHC), the
VoIP Hurricane Net, the Hurricane Watch Net and the ARRL. Webinar
registration is open to all, but this informative web session will be
of particular interest to those amateurs in hurricane-prone areas. If
you are interested in emergency communications and hurricane
preparedness and response, you are invited to attend this online
presentation. Read more here
.
> ON THE AIR: ADDITIONAL DIAMOND DXCC TOOLS AND REPORTS NOW AVAILABLE
Recently, the ARRL has been able to add some additional tools and
reports to the Diamond DXCC system, including an online form that is
similar to the Online DXCC application and a listing of operators who
qualified for the basic award and how many entities they have credited.
Read more here
.
> + QST: CHECK YOUR MAILBOX FOR THE AUGUST 2012 ISSUE OF QST
This cover of the August issue of QST spotlights the ARRL International
Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) Contest. With the advent of very sensitive
receiving preamplifiers and commercially available high-gain Yagi
antennas, many VHF operators are enjoying successful weak signal
contacts. With a total path length of about 500,000 miles, EME is the
ultimate DX! So why not set aside a couple of hours and explore the
August issue of QST.
Avid kit-builder and homebrewer Jim Veatch, WA2EUJ, is no stranger to
the ARRL Hombrew Challenge. As the winner of the First Homebrew
Challenge and the Second Homebrew Challenge (advanced category)
,
Veatch once again won the Homebrew Challenge III
with his compact competent transceiver that covers 12 meters, as well
as 10 and 6 in a professional looking package that offers features well
beyond the requirements -- for a total parts cost of $198.30. This
remarkable radio is a dual conversion, downconverting superhet design
that uses the latest digital signal processing technology from the
second IF on. Read about it -- and find out how to build it yourself --
in Veatch's article "The DSP-610 Transceiver."
If your rig is set up for sound card modes, you can run your radio
from afar. In "Remote Control Made Easy," John Raydo, K0IZ, shows how
to set up your station to operate via remote control. Operating this
way, Raydo says, can help avoid antenna restrictions, as well as allow
hams to operate while traveling and can even minimize local RFI
problems. If Murphy has ever visited your antenna tuner, you will
definitely want to read "My Tuner Tuned My Antenna -- But Now It
Doesn't!" by QST Technical Editor Joel Hallas, W1ZR. Hallas shows ways
to get your antenna tuner back to doing what it should -- tuning your
antenna each and every time.
August 17, 2012 marks the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Radio
Act of 1912. It was this piece of legislation that introduced the first
rules for Amateur Radio and changed the way we, as radio amateurs,
operate. Join ARRL News Editor S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, as she looks
at how Congress, in the wake of the RMS Titanic disaster, took swift
action to try and tame the chaos of the airwaves. David Palmer, KB5WIA,
made an overland trek to activate a rare grid square for satellite ops.
In his article "Backpacking with Satellites," Palmer explains how he
was able to work hams using AO-57, VO-52, AO-27, FO-29, AO-51 and SO-50
from CM-79, a grid square that has no roads, houses, electricity or
trails.
ARRL Contributing Editor Phil Salas, AD5X, takes a look at the
MFJ-994BRT and MFJ-998RT remote automatic antenna tuners in this
month's Product Review. He says these antenna tuners "provide
reasonably priced remote auto tuner solutions for stations with high
power amplifiers." QST Editor Steve Ford, WB8IMY, checked out the ICOM
ID-31A 70 cm handheld transceiver with D-STAR, saying that it "may be
the most user-friendly D-STAR transceiver available. It is also a high
feature analog FM transceiver, includes a GPS receiver and works with a
host of available options -- a very flexible and useful package."
Of course, there are the usual columns you know and expect in the
August QST: Happenings, Hints & Kinks, The Doctor Is In, Short Takes,
How's DX and more. Look for your August issue in your mailbox. QST is
the official journal of the ARRL, the national association for Amateur
Radio. QST is just one of the many benefits of ARRL membership. To join
or renew your ARRL membership, please see the ARRL Web page
.
> QEX: THE JULY/AUGUST 2012 ISSUE
The July/August issue of QEX -- the ARRL's "Forum for Communications
Experimenters" -- is coming soon, and it is full of theoretical and
practical technical articles that you won't want to miss. Published
bimonthly, QEX features technical articles, columns and other items of
interest to radio amateurs and communications professionals. The
mission of QEX is threefold: To provide a medium for the exchange of
ideas and information among Amateur Radio experimenters; to document
advanced technical work in the Amateur Radio field, and to support
efforts to advance the state of the Amateur Radio art. Read more here
.
> + W1AW: W1AW'S ECHOLINK AND IRLP NODES TEMPORARILY SUSPENDED
Recent upgrades
to the ARRL's Internet system has caused access to both the W1AW
EchoLink Conference Server W1AWBDCT and W1AW's IRLP Node 4292
to be temporarily suspended. Access
to both W1AW systems can be expected by month's end. We apologize for
the inconvenience.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "Don't let the Sun catch you crying
" Cook, K7RA, reports:
Solar activity rose moderately this week: the average daily sunspot
numbers were up nearly 3 points to 120.9, while the average daily solar
flux rose more than 28 points to 166.8. There was quite a bit of
geomagnetic activity -- the most happening on July 9 -- when the
mid-latitude A index reached 29, planetary A index was 30 and Alaska's
college A index was 60. The latest prediction shows quiet geomagnetic
conditions with the planetary A index at 5 on July 12-26, then 20 on
July 27-29, 10 on July 30-31, 15 on August 1-2, 10 on August 3-4, and 8
on August 5. The predicted solar flux is 160 on July 12-13, 155, 145,
140, 130, 120, and 115 on July 14-19, 105 on July 20-21, then rising to
165 on July 28-August 2. Look for more on the ARRL website on Friday,
July 13. For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the
ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation page
. This week's "Tad
Cookism" is brought to you by Gerry and the Pacemakers' Don't Let the
Sun Catch You Crying
.
> + SILENT KEY: WALT MAXWELL, W2DU (SK)
M. Walter Maxwell, W2DU, died July 3 at his home in DeLand, Florida,
of natural causes. He was 93. Maxwell was best known in the Amateur
Radio realm for his ground-breaking series of articles, "Another Look
at Reflections." Published in QST in seven parts from 1973-1976, the
series explained in plain English concepts such as line loss, SWR,
baluns and antenna tuners. The articles were later compiled into a
book, Reflections: Transmission Lines and Antennas, which included
additional material on matching networks, antennas and the Smith Chart.
It was first published by the ARRL in 1990 and went through several
editions. Later editions were published by CQ Communications. Read more
here .
> TWO OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT
ARRL DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L, reports that two operations --
the 9X0PY (Rwanda) operation (December 24, 2011-January 7, 2012) and
the S21YD (Bangladesh) operation (1994, 1995, 1998 and 1999) -- have
been approved for DXCC credit. "If you have had these operations
rejected in a recent application, please send an e-mail
to the ARRL DXCC Desk," Moore said. "When responding,
please include the reference number on your credit slip (found in the
upper right hand portion) to help expedite retrieval. Please note that
due to heavy e-mail volume, you may not receive a reply. Once updated,
results will appear in Logbook of The World (LoTW
) accounts, as well as online in
the daily listings ."
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This week:
- July 14 -- FISTS Summer Sprint
- July 14-15 -- IARU HF World Championship
- July 15 -- CQC Great Colorado Gold Rush
- July 19 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint
Next week:
- July 20 -- NCCC Sprint
- July 21 -- Russian Radio Team Championship; Feld Hell Sprint
- July 21-22 -- North American QSO Party ( RTTY); DMC RTTY Contest; CQ
Worldwide VHF Contest
- July 22 -- RSGB Low Power Contest
- July 25 -- SKCC Sprint
- July 25-26 -- 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
- 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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