The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
November 29, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Public Service: The 14th Annual SKYWARN Recognition Day Set for
December 1
- + Amateur Radio in Space: Mikhail Kornienko, RN3BF, and Scott Kelly
to Spend One Year on International Space Station
- + ARRL's Logbook of The World: Bug Fix Is in Place
- + Ham Radio in Hollywood: Morse Code Plays Role in New Spielberg
Movie
- + On the Air: The ARRL 10 Meter Contest: The Band Is Hot!
- + On the Air: ARRL UHF/Microwave Band Plan Committee Seeks Input 6
and 3 Centimeter Bands
- Solar Update
- This Week in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News
.
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: THE 14TH ANNUAL SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY SET FOR
DECEMBER 1
The 14th Annual SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) Special Event will
take place Saturday, December 1, 2012. SRD is co-sponsored by the ARRL
and the National Weather Service (NWS) as a way to recognize the
commitment made by Amateur Radio operators in helping to keep their
communities safe. According to SRD Coordinator David Floyd, N5DBZ,
Amateur Radio operators can visit their local participating NWS office,
working as a team to contact other hams across the world throughout the
24-hour event on 80, 40, 20, 15, 10, 6 and 2 meters, as well as 70
centimeters. Read more here
.
> + AMATEUR RADIO IN SPACE: MIKHAIL KORNIENKO, RN3BF, AND SCOTT KELLY
TO SPEND ONE YEAR ON INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, RN3BF, of the Russian Federal
Space Agency and NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly have been selected for a
one-year mission aboard the International Space Station in 2015.
According to NASA, the mission will include collecting scientific data
important to future human exploration of our solar system and to
understand better how the human body reacts and adapts to the harsh
environment of space as NASA plans for missions around the Moon, an
asteroid and ultimately Mars. Read more here
.
> + ARRL'S LOGBOOK OF THE WORLD: BUG FIX IS IN PLACE
ARRL Chief Executive Officer David Sumner, K1ZZ, reports on a bug fix
for Logbook of The World.
The fix for the Logbook of The World (LoTW
) bug was implemented at 2103
UTC on November 28. Full credit goes to ARRL Information Technology
Manager Michael Keane, K1MK, for figuring out what was happening and
how to correct it.
There are two ways of uploading logs: via the LoTW website and by
e-mail. LoTW users should note that e-mailed logs were not affected by
the bug, so no e-mailed logs will need to be resubmitted.
At the time the fix was implemented, LoTW processing was running almost
exactly three days behind. If a user's most recent upload was made
before 2100 UTC on November 25 and it has not yet been processed the
file should be resubmitted. There should be no need to resubmit logs
uploaded since 2100 UTC on November 25, which would include all CQWW CW
DX Contest logs submitted after the end of the contest.
There is, however, a very slight chance that logs uploaded after this
date might have been overwritten. If you find that your logs that were
uploaded after November 25 are not appearing in your LoTW account,
please wait until after December 3 to upload them again.
Thanks to everyone who has been patient while we grappled with this
bug. The issue of slow processing speed is also being addressed, but it
requires a hardware upgrade that will take several weeks to implement.
Your continued patience and understanding will be appreciated.
> + HAM RADIO IN HOLLYWOOD: MORSE CODE PLAYS ROLE IN NEW SPIELBERG
MOVIE
Producer Steven Spielberg has used Amateur Radio or Morse code in
three of his last four movies: Super 8 (2011), The Adventures of Tin
Tin (2011) and Lincoln (2012). Members of the Morse Telegraph Club --
an association of retired railroad and commercial telegraphers,
historians, radio amateurs and others with an interest in the history
and traditions of telegraphy and the telegraph industry -- played an
integral part in the production of Lincoln.
"Nine of the 16 telegraph stations depicted in the War Department were
fully operational," explained Morse Telegraph Club International
President James Wade, WB8SIW. "These instruments could be operated in
any combination through the use of a specialized computer program and
custom-built terminal units for the process. When necessary, a hand key
could be inserted in the individual telegraph loops so messages could
be improvised." Read more here
.
> + ON THE AIR: THE ARRL 10 METER CONTEST: THE BAND IS HOT!
Will it be possible to
beat the 2011 running of the ARRL 10 Meter Contest? With more than 5300
logs received and worldwide openings last year, that may be a tall
order. This past weekend during the CQ WW CW Contest, 10 meters was in
great shape, despite a coronal mass ejection that hit on Friday
evening. But according to ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko,
KX9X, one thing's for certain: There's going to be a ton of activity,
as hams from all around the world look to work some DX on the band!
Read more here
.
> + ON THE AIR: ARRL UHF/MICROWAVE BAND PLAN COMMITTEE SEEKS INPUT 6
AND 3 CENTIMETER BANDS
Last year, in recognition of the need to update the published band
plans for our UHF and microwave bands, the ARRL Board of Directors
formed the UHF/Microwave Band Plan Committee to develop revised
national plans for the amateur bands between 902 MHz and 3.5 GHz. After
receiving extensive user input, the committee completed its task and
the resulting band plans were approved by the Board in July 2012. The
committee has now received an additional assignment to conduct a
similar update to the 6 and 3 centimeter bands. In order to do this
effectively, the committee needs to know how various segments of these
bands are now being utilized around the country. You can help them by
sharing what you know about local usage in your area and by asking
other users -- both individuals and groups -- to do the same. Read more
here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad Cook, K7RA, reports: The average daily sunspot number for the
week was down nearly 38 percent to 78.9, compared to last week's
average. The average daily solar flux dropped nearly 13 percent, to
121. The seven-day reporting period for these data ran from November
22-28. The predicted solar flux for the near term is 110 on November
29, 105 on November 30-December 1, 100 on December 2-4, 105 and 115 on
December 5-6, 130 on December 7-11, 135 on December 12-15, 140 on
December 16-17, 135 on December 18-19, 130 on December 20-22, 120 on
December 23-24, 115 on December 25, 110 on December 26-28, and rising
again to 115 on December 29-30. The predicted planetary A index is 11,
15 and 8 on November 29-December 1, 5 on December 2-5, 10 on December
6-8, then 5 and 8 on December 9-10, 5 on December 11-15, 8 on December
16, and back down to 5 on December 17-31. The new year is expected to
begin with slightly unsettled conditions, with a predicted planetary A
index at 10 on January 1-4. Look for more on the ARRL website on
Friday, November 30. For more information concerning radio propagation,
visit the ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation page
.
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This week:
- November 30 -- NCCC Sprint
- November 30-December 2 -- ARRL 160 Meter Contest
- December 1 -- TARA RTTY Melee; Wake-Up! QRP Sprint; TOPS Activity
Contest
- December 1-2 -- ARRL EME Contest
- December 2 -- 10 Meter RTTY Contest; SARL Digital Contest
- December 4 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
Next week:
- December 7 -- NCCC Sprint
- December 8-9 -- ARRL 10 Meter Contest ;
International Naval Contest
- December 9 -- SKCC Weekend Sprintathon; CQC Great Colorado Snowshoe
Run
- December 12 -- NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint; NAQCC-EU Monthly Sprint
- December 12-13 -- 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
- 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
- March 8-9 -- ARRL Oklahoma Section Convention
,
Claremore, Oklahoma
- March 30 -- ARRL North Carolina State Convention
,
Raleigh, North Carolina
- April 20 -- ARRL Louisiana State Convention
,
Monroe, Louisiana
- April 26-28 -- ARRL Idaho State Convention
, Boise, Idaho
To find a convention or hamfest near you, click here
.
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