The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
September 6, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + ARRL Second Century: ARRL Plans Centennial Celebration in Hartford
in 2014
- + Public Service: VoIP Hurricane Net Provides Support During
Hurricane Isaac
- + Check out the October 2012 Issue of QST
- + ARRL in Action: What Have We Been Up to Lately
- Solar Update
- + ARRL Recognizes: Bob Bruninga, WB4APR, Wins August QST Cover
Plaque Award
- + Amateur Radio Fun: New QuickStats Poll Now Available on ARRL
Website
- This Week in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News .
> + ARRL SECOND CENTURY: ARRL PLANS CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION IN
HARTFORD IN 2014
The ARRL has announced plans to hold its National Centennial Convention
in Hartford, Connecticut on July 17-20, 2014. The Convention will mark
100 years of the ARRL's founding in Hartford. ARRL President Kay
Craigie, N3KN, has also announced a theme for ARRL's Centennial year:
Advancing the Art and Science of Radio -- Since 1914.
In May 1914, Hiram Percy Maxim, W1AW -- a leading inventor and
industrialist in Hartford, Connecticut -- founded the American Radio
Relay League, together with Clarence Tuska, 1WD, the secretary of The
Radio Club of Hartford. Today, the ARRL serves almost 160,000 members,
mostly licensed radio amateurs, in the US and around the world.
The decision to hold the ARRL Centennial Convention in Hartford was
made by the ARRL Board of Directors at its July 2012 meeting. The
organization's headquarters has been maintained in the Hartford area
since its founding. ARRL's present headquarters is located on Main
Street in Newington, Connecticut, a suburb of Hartford, and is visited
by nearly 2000 groups and individuals each year. The site has been home
to The Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, W1AW, since 1938. Read more
here
.
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: VOIP HURRICANE NET PROVIDES SUPPORT DURING
HURRICANE ISAAC
The VoIP Hurricane Net -- running on the *WX_TALK* EchoLink
conference node 7203/IRLP 9219 -- was active over a two day period from
August 28-29 as Hurricane Isaac pounded the Northern Gulf Coast with
high winds, extremely heavy rainfall, significant storm surge and river
and stream flooding. The VoIP Hurricane Net operated for more than 25
hours continuously during the US coast landfall. Read more here
.
> + CHECK OUT THE OCTOBER 2012 ISSUE OF QST
Have you ever wanted to go on a DXpedition, but lacked the time -- or
resources -- to make it happen? Never fear, because you can go on four
DXpeditions from the comfort of your armchair, thanks to the October
edition of QST! In our annual DXing issue, discover DXpeditions of lore
and legend as we take you to Malpelo, Rotuma, Navassa and the Mountains
of the Moon. So sit back and enjoy all the fun and challenges that come
with being in a remote part of the world, connected to civilization
only by radio waves racing through the ether.
The cover of the October issue of QST features the 2012 HK0NA
DXpedition to Malpelo, an island located about 235 miles of the coast
of Colombia. In his article "Malpelo Island DXpedition 2012 -- HK0NA,"
Bob Allphin, K4UEE, recounts how 20 hams from six countries came
together to activate the #12 most-wanted DXCC entity earlier this year.
Travel with Paul S. Ewing, N6PSE, to Rotuma in his article "DXpedition
to the Future," and with J. Robert Eshleman, W4DR, to Navassa in "DX
Determination." Lots of hams depend on spotting networks to work DX.
Murray Green, K3BEQ, tells how DX spotting networks have advanced from
voice over 2 meter simplex to the Reverse Beacon Network in his article
"The Evolution of DX Spotting."
As many hams know, tubes can be expensive and hard to find. To overcome
this, James Klitzing, W6PQL, developed a compact linear amplifier. In
his article "Solid State 1 kW Linear Amplifier for 2 Meters," he shows
readers exactly what they need to build the amplifier. Arch Doty,
W7ACD, knows that there's more to cosmic and atmospheric noise than
meets the ear. In his article "Those Mysterious Signals," he explains
that while these signals may just sound like noise to us, they mean a
lot more to radio astronomers. ARRL Education and Technology Program
Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME, shows how to control your VHF SSB
transceiver to simulate full duplex operation in his article "Satellite
CAT Interface for Working the Analog Birds."
ARRL Test Engineer Bob Allison, WB1GCM, takes a look at the Alinco
DJ-V57T handheld dual-band transceiver in this month's Product Review.
He says the rig "offers a nice selection of basic features and good
transmit and receive performance at a reasonable price. The standard
battery pack is fine for casual use, but consider one of the optional
high capacity packs if you expect to transmit frequently." ARRL
Contributing Editor Rick Palm, K1CE, checked out the Kenwood TH-K20A
handheld 2 meter FM transceiver, saying that it "is solidly built and
easy to operate; it has a long battery life and great receiver
performance."
Of course, there are the usual columns you know and expect in the
October QST: Happenings, Hints & Kinks, The Doctor Is In, Short Takes,
Vintage Radio, How's DX and more. Look for your October 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 to renew your ARRL membership, please see
the ARRL web page .
> + ARRL IN ACTION: WHAT HAVE WE BEEN UP TO LATELY
This feature is a concise monthly update of some of the things that
the ARRL is doing on behalf of its members. This installment -- which
covers the month of August -- takes a look at the upcoming Director and
Vice Director elections, the 2012 sessions of the ARRL's Teachers
Institute on Wireless Technology, the ARRL's perspective on the FCC's
Congressionally mandated study on Amateur Radio, Field Day logs,
changes for the upcoming November Sweepstakes, reports from the
Official Observer Desk and more. Read more here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end
" Cook, K7RA, reports:
There was a surprising jump in solar activity occurred this week: The
average daily sunspot numbers rose nearly 55 points (that's almost 74
percent) to 128.7, while the average daily solar flux values were up
more than 28 points to 136.9. A pair of coronal mass ejections (CMEs)
on September 3 and 4 excited Earth's geomagnetic field, causing A index
values to jump. The middle latitude A index on September 2-5 was 14,
23, 14 and 24, and the planetary A index on those dates was 12, 32, 13
and 28, while high-latitude college A index (Fairbanks, Alaska) was 48,
52, 39 and 49. Solar flux predictions show the flux values peaking on
September 6-7 at 130, then on September 8-12 the solar flux lowers to
125, 120, 115, 110 and 105. Solar flux on September 13-16 is predicted
at 100, then 95 on September 17-22, then 100, 110, 115, 120 and 125 on
September 23-27, and then peaking at 130 on September 28. The planetary
A index is predicted to be 10 and 8 on September 6-7, then 7 on
September 8-10, 5 on September 11-13, 10 on September 14-16, 5 on
September 17-19, 10 on September 20, 8 on September 21-23, and back
down to 5 on September 24-28. Look for more on the ARRL website on
Friday, September 7. For more information concerning radio propagation,
visit the ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation page
. This week's "Tad
Cookism" is brought to you by James Taylor's Fire and Rain
.
> + ARRL RECOGNIZES: BOB BRUNINGA, WB4APR, WINS AUGUST QST COVER
PLAQUE AWARD
The winner of the August QST Cover Plaque award is Bob Bruninga,
WB4APR, for his article "Rethinking Electrical Power for the Ham."
Congratulations Bob! The QST Cover Plaque award -- given to the author
or authors of the best article in each issue -- is determined by a vote
of ARRL members on the QST Cover Plaque Poll web page
. Cast a ballot for your
favorite article in the September issue today.
> + AMATEUR RADIO FUN: NEW QUICKSTATS POLL NOW AVAILABLE ON ARRL
WEBSITE
Four new poll questions have just been published on the QuickStats page
on the ARRL website. Let your voice be
heard!
Questions in this month's QuickStats poll:
- Will you be participating in the CW or Phone Sweepstakes contests
in November?
- Are you "fluent" in any computer programming languages?
- Does your HF transceiver have a DSP noise reduction feature?
- Have you taken the new Amateur Extra (Element 4) exam that went into
effect on July 1?
Visit the QuickStats page and be sure
to bookmark it in your browser. Results from this QuickStats poll will
be published in the December 2012 issue of QST on the QuickStats page,
located in the rear advertising section of the magazine. Along with
monthly poll results, QST QuickStats offers colorful charts and graphs
that highlight interesting Amateur Radio statistics.
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This week:
- September 7-8 -- PODXS 070 Club Jay Hudak Memorial 80 Meter Sprint
(local time)
- September 8-9 -- Arkansas QSO Party; WAE DX Contest (SSB)
- September 8-10 -- ARRL September VHF QSO Party
- September 9 -- North American Sprint (CW); SKCC Weekend Sprintathon;
Swiss HTC QRP Sprint
- September 10 -- NAQCC-EU Monthly Sprint
- September 12-13 -- CWops Mini-CWT Test
Next week:
- September 14 -- NCC Sprint Ladder
- September 14-16 -- FISTS Get Your Feet Wet Weekend
- September 15 -- Feld Hell Sprint
- September 15-16 -- ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest (local time)
;
South Carolina QSO Party; Washington State Salmon Run; Scandinavian
Activity Contest (CW); SRT HF Contest (SSB); QRP Afield
- September 16 -- North American Sprint (SSB); WAB 144 MHz QRO Phone
Contest
- September 17 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest; 144 MHz Fall Sprint
(local time)
- September 20 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint
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
- September 14-15 -- W9DXCC Convention
, Elk Grove Village,
Illinois
- September 15 -- ARRL Virginia Section Convention
,
Virginia Beach, Virginia
- September 22 -- ARRL Washington State Convention
,
Spokane Valley, Washington
- September 22-23 -- ARRL Illinois State Convention
,
Peoria, Illinois
- September 28-29 -- SEDCO/W4DXCC VIII Convention
, Pigeon
Forge, Tennessee
- October 12-14 -- ARRL National Convention
,
Santa Clara, California
- October 13 -- ARRL Iowa State Convention
,
Sergeant Bluff, Iowa
- October 13-14 -- ARRL Florida State Convention
,
Melbourne, Florida
- November 3-4 -- ARRL Georgia State Convention
,
Lawrenceville, Georgia
- November 4 -- ARRL Iowa Section Convention
,
Davenport, Iowa
- November 10 -- ARRL Alabama State Convention
, Montgomery,
Alabama
- November 17-18 -- ARRL Indiana State Convention
,
Fort Wayne, Indiana
- December 1-2 -- ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention
,
Palmetto, Florida
- January 18-19 -- ARRL North Texas Section Convention
,
Fort Worth, Texas
- January 19 -- ARRL Southern Florida Section Convention
,
Fort Myers, Florida
- January 25-26 -- ARRL Mississippi State Convention
,
Jackson, Mississippi
- January 26-27 -- ARRL Puerto Rico State Convention
, Hatillo,
Puerto Rico
- February 2 -- ARRL South Carolina State Convention
, North
Charleston, South Carolina
- February 8-10 -- ARRL Southeastern Division Convention
,
Orlando, Florida
- February 15-16 -- ARRL Arizona State Convention
,
Yuma, Arizona
To find a convention or hamfest near you, click here
.
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