The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
July 19, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + 2012 Second Meeting of the ARRL Board of Directors Set for July
20-21, Agenda Announced
- + Amateur Radio in Space: Astronaut Don Pettit, KD5MDT, Chats with
ARRL
- + Digital Edition of August QST Now Available
- + FCC News: FCC Denies Arizona Ham's Petition to Extend PRB-1 to
Private Contracts, Such as CC&Rs
- + FCC News: FCC Fines Alaska Man for Interfering with Air Traffic
Using CB Radio
- + W1AW: W1AW's EchoLink and IRLP Nodes Temporarily Suspended
- Solar Update
- TAPR Accepting Orders for Hermes SDR Transceiver
- This Week in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News .
> + 2012 SECOND MEETING OF THE ARRL BOARD OF DIRECTORS SET FOR JULY
20-21, AGENDA ANNOUNCED
ARRL policy is made by its Board of Directors. The 15 voting members
of the Board are the Directors who are elected by the ARRL members in
their respective divisions. The Board meets in January and July,
usually in the Hartford area. ARRL members also elect Vice Directors
who may attend the meetings. ARRL Directors and Vice Directors are
volunteers who work hard to represent the ARRL in their divisions, to
represent the members who elect them on policy issues and to conduct
the committee work that is so important to good decision-making. The
Board will be meeting for its 2012 Second Meeting July 20-21; the
meeting will be preceded by meetings of the Administration and Finance
Committee and the Programs and Services Committee. Read more here
.
> + AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: ASTRONAUT DON PETTIT, KD5MDT, CHATS WITH
ARRL
NASA Astronaut Don Pettit, KD5MDT, sat down with ARRL News Editor S.
Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, on Thursday, July 12, for a one-on-one
interview about ham radio and life on the International Space Station
(ISS). Pettit returned from the ISS on July 1 where he served as part
of Expedition 31, spending 193 days in space. He first ventured into
space in 2002 on the space shuttle Endeavour as part of Expedition 6,
logging more than 161 days in space. In 2008, he was a part of the crew
on STS-126, also on Endeavour. Pettit holds the distinction of spending
370 days in space, placing him fourth among US space fliers for the
longest time in space. Read more here
.
> + DIGITAL EDITION OF AUGUST QST NOW AVAILABLE
The digital version of the August QST is now available
to ARRL members. The
digital version includes many features not available in the print
version, such as:
- The complete 2011 edition of The DXCC Yearboook
- Video overviews of two MFJ automatic antenna tuners and the ICOM
ID-31A transceiver
- An expanded version of "Remote Radio Control Made Easy," by John
Raydo, K0IZ
Every issue of QST is filled with the news and features you need to
keep active in Amateur Radio. After you read through it, visit the
Digital QST Feedback Form
and tell us what you
enjoyed! 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 .
> + FCC NEWS: FCC DENIES ARIZONA HAM'S PETITION TO EXTEND PRB-1 TO
PRIVATE CONTRACTS, SUCH AS CC&RS
In January 2012, Leonard Umina, W7CCE, of Gilbert, Arizona, filed a
Petition for Rulemaking, asking the FCC to "expand its policy of
limited preemption of state and local regulations governing amateur
station facilities to preempt private land use regulations such as
covenants, conditions, and restrictions (CC&Rs) and rental agreements
that limit amateur licensees' ability to deploy antennas." On July 16,
the FCC notified Umina that it had denied his Petition. Read more here
.
> + FCC NEWS: FCC FINES ALASKA MAN FOR INTERFERING WITH AIR TRAFFIC
USING CB RADIO
On July 17, the FCC announced that it had issued a Notice of
Apparent Liability for Forfeiture and Order in the amount of $12,500 to
Glenn S. Yamada, of Kenai, Alaska. Yamada is accused of "apparently
willfully and repeatedly violat[ing] Section 301 of the Communications
Act of 1934, as amended, and Sections 95.409(a) and 95.411(a)(1) and
(b) of the FCC Rules by operating his CB radio without requisite
Commission authorization." In January 2012, the FCC received a
complaint regarding interference to an authorized user in the
aeronautical band -- a safety of life service -- on 21.964 MHz.
According to the FCC, the complaint "Concerned a male subject talking
and interfering with the control and monitoring of air traffic over the
North Atlantic." The FCC's High Frequency Direction Finding Center
(HFDFC) monitored the frequency over the next few days, and on January
31, "observed a subject matching the details of the compliant
transmitting on the frequency 21.965 MHz." The HFDFC noted that the
subject was using the call "1600 Alaska," that the actual operating
frequency was 27.025 (CB channel 6) and that the transmissions were
coming from Kenai. 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 "The total eclipse of the Sun
" Cook, K7RA, reports: In
last week's Solar Update
, I reported a
blast of energy from a solar flare headed our way, with a predicted
arrival of Saturday, July 14. The CME hit at 1800 UTC, and had a huge
effect on propagation and geomagnetic indices. The next day, the
planetary A index was 60, the mid latitude A index was 39 and the high
latitude college A index was 88. Conditions haven't been this disturbed
since March 9, 2012, when the mid-latitude A index was 57, planetary A
index was 67 and the college A index was 107. All other indices were
lower, with the weekly average of daily sunspot numbers down more than
16 points to 104.7, while the average daily solar flux was down 25
points to 141.8. The latest prediction from NOAA/USAF has solar flux at
100 on July 19, 95 on July 18-22, back to 100 on July 23, 105 on July
24-25, then 125 and 150 on July 26-27, and 165 on July 28-August 2. The
predicted planetary A index is 5 on July 19-21, then 12 and 8 on July
22-23, 5 on July 24-26, then 25 on July 27, 20 on July 28-29, 10 on
July 30-31, 15 on August 1-2, 10 on August 3-4, 8 on August 5, and back
down to 5 on August 6-22. Look for more on the ARRL website on Friday,
July 20. For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the
ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation page
. This week's "Tad
Cookism" is brought to you by Carly Simon's You're So Vain
.
> TAPR ACCEPTING ORDERS FOR HERMES SDR TRANSCEIVER
Tucson Amateur Packet Radio (TAPR ) is now
accepting orders for the Hermes software-defined transceiver. Hermes is
part of the non-profit openHPSDR project. Spanning 50 kHz-55 MHz, the
Hermes transceiver
includes a direct down-conversion receiver, a direct up-conversion
500-mW transmitter and a gigabit Ethernet interface -- all on one
board. Also on board is an RF-quiet switch-mode power supply, allowing
Hermes to run from a single 13.8 V dc source. The transceiver is
completely assembled and tested. The price of the Hermes transceiver is
$895 for TAPR members; the price for non-members is $940. The order
page will close Wednesday July 25.
TAPR states that there will be only one production run of Hermes boards
and that they will build only the number necessary to fulfill orders
received on or before the July 25 cutoff. Estimated delivery is October
15.
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This 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
Next week:
- July 27 -- NCCC Sprint
- July 28-29 -- New Jersey QSO Party; RSGB IOTA Contest
- July 29 -- ARS Flight of the Bumblebees
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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