The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
November 18, 2010
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Public Service: SKYWARN Recognition Day Set for December 4
- + ARRL Recognizes: Deadline Approaching for Nominations for ARRL's
Leonard Award
- + Dayton Hamvention®: Nominations Sought for 2011 Dayton Hamvention
Awards
- On the Air: ARRL Phone Sweepstakes This Weekend
- Hints & Kinks: Sealing PL-259 UHF Plugs and SO-239 UHF Connectors
- + New QuickStats Poll Now Available on ARRL Web Site
- + ARRL to Close in Observance of Thanksgiving Holiday
- Solar Update
- + Silent Key: John Champa, K8OCL (SK)
- This Week on the Radio
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: SKYWARN RECOGNITION DAY SET FOR DECEMBER 4
The 12th Annual SKYWARN Recognition Day (SRD) Special Event will
take place Saturday, December 4, 2010. SRD is co-sponsored by the ARRL
and the National Weather Service 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.
Floyd said that as SKYWARN Recognition Day has grown throughout the
years, he has seen a greater use of digital communications in addition
to SSB, CW, RTTY and packet radio: "Each year, more and more contacts
are being made using EchoLink, Winlink and the use of e-mail
reflectors." In keeping with the NWS setting, stations are asked to
include a weather report for their location in their exchange. The 2010
SKYWARN Recognition Day will be held on December 4 from 0000 UTC-2400
UTC. Read more here
.
> + ARRL RECOGNIZES: DEADLINE APPROACHING FOR NOMINATIONS FOR ARRL'S
LEONARD AWARD
Television, radio, magazines, newspapers, blogs, Webcasts -- Amateur
Radio has been featured in all of them in 2010. And now it is time to
thank the professional media people who made it happen by nominating
them for the Bill Leonard, W2SKE, Professional Media Award. This
national level annual award is sponsored by the ARRL and honors three
professional journalists whose outstanding coverage in audio, video and
print formats best reflect the enjoyment, importance and public service
value of the Amateur Radio Service. The deadline for nominations is
December 10. Read more here
.
> + DAYTON HAMVENTION®: NOMINATIONS SOUGHT FOR 2011 DAYTON HAMVENTION
AWARDS
The Dayton Hamvention® is accepting nominations for its 2011 awards.
Do you know an outstanding amateur in your club, community or from
on-the-air contacts? Does this person excel in some phase of Amateur
Radio? Do you feel this person deserves worldwide recognition? Is there
an Amateur Radio club that you know of that has an outstanding record
of public service? All radio amateurs and Amateur Radio clubs are
eligible. The deadline for nominations is January 15, 2011. The winners
will be recognized at the 2011 Hamvention, May 20-22. Read more here
.
> ON THE AIR: ARRL PHONE SWEEPSTAKES THIS WEEKEND
ARRL Sweepstakes has been part of
Amateur Radio in the US and Canada for more than 75 years. In 2010, the
tradition continues with the 77th running of the best domestic contest
in all of Amateur Radio: the Phone portion of the contest runs this
weekend, from 2100 UTC Saturday, November 20 through 0300 UTC Monday,
November 22. Read more here
.
> HINTS & KINKS: SEALING PL-259 UHF PLUGS AND SO-239 UHF CONNECTORS
Don Dorward, VA3DDN, of Pickering, Ontario, sent us this idea for seals
for PL-259/SO-239 connectors . Contact Don via e-mail
for more information.
The popular and low-cost PL-259 UHF plug and its mating SO-239 UHF
connector were never designed to be waterproof. In spite of this, many
of us find ourselves having to use these connectors out-of-doors for an
antenna or cable connection and then have the experience of trying to
apply some form of weatherproofing.
If this is not done, and done well, then intermittent connections soon
result, especially with wet freezing and thawing conditions, resulting
in moisture and corrosion getting into the connectors and even into the
coax itself.
One well-known solution is to use a bondable rubber tape wrapping.
That often seems to work using one of the soft, moldable, stretchable
tapes that are available for the purpose. In practice, I have found
that the hardest area to seal effectively using this method is the area
from the rim of the male PL-259 shell to the mating SO-239 socket face.
This is especially true when the SO-239 socket is located partially
inside the cowl of the antenna mount (such as the Solarcon/Antron
vertical or other similar types) and it is impossible to get sealing
tape up into this tight location.
To overcome this problem, simply slip as many tight fitting O-ring(s)
over the SO-239 barrel (see Figure) as needed to fill the space between
the base of the SO-239 and the coupling ring. Lubricate the O-rings
with a generous amount of silicone grease, often sold in the automotive
part stores as "dielectric tune-up grease."
Important: Check that when the mating PL-259 plug is installed and
tightened down, the outer rim of the PL-259 shell butts up against and
slightly compresses the "O"-ring(s). The "O"-rings I used were ones I
had on hand, about 9/16 inch ID × 0.10 inch thick. I am sure anything
that's a snug fit will work. Of course, you will still need to wrap the
lower half of the PL-259 shell and the spot where the coax exits the
connector with tape to seal that part.
Do you have an idea or a simple project that has improved your
operating? Maybe you've taken something commonly found around the home
and developed a ham radio use for it? Why not share your hints with
fellow hams in "Hints and Kinks," a monthly column in QST. If we
publish your hint, you will receive $20. Send your hints via e-mail to
h&k(at)arrl(dot)org or to ARRL Headquarters, Attn: "Hints and Kinks,"
225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Please include your name, call sign,
complete mailing address, daytime telephone number and e-mail address.
> ARRL PUBLICATIONS: ARRL INTRODUCES EXAM REVIEW SOFTWARE FOR HAM
RADIO LICENSING
ARRL announced today that it will begin including practice
examination software with all of its popular license manuals. "The
first book to include the new bundled-in software is The ARRL Ham Radio
License Manual -- used by tens of thousands of prospective hams as
their first introduction to Amateur Radio," said ARRL Marketing Manager
Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R. "The book includes everything to prepare for a
'first' ham radio license -- the Technician class license. A CD-ROM
tucked into the back of the book contains the new software, which we've
named ARRL Exam Review. The software includes the complete examination
question pool, plus short explanations of every question to help make
sure you understand the answer." Read more here
.
> + NEW QUICKSTATS POLL NOW AVAILABLE ON ARRL WEB SITE
Three new poll questions have just been published on the QuickStats
page on the ARRL Web site. Let your
voice be heard!
Questions in this month's QuickStats poll include:
- From an operator's point of view, have modern Amateur Radio
transceivers become too complex?
- Looking back over the last several years, do you think the amount of
time you spend on the air has increased or decreased?
- Which social media platforms do you use most often?
Visit the QuickStats page and be sure
to bookmark it in your browser. Results from this QuickStats poll will
be published in the February QST QuickStats page, located in the rear
advertising section. Along with monthly poll results, QST QuickStats
offers colorful charts and graphs that highlight interesting Amateur
Radio statistics.
> + ARRL TO CLOSE IN OBSERVANCE OF THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY
ARRL Headquarters will be closed November 25 and 26 in observance of
Thanksgiving. There will be no W1AW bulletins or code practice
transmissions those days .
The ARRL Letter will be published a
day early on Wednesday, November 24, but there will be no ARRL Audio
News next week. ARRL Headquarters
will reopen Monday, November 29 at 8 AM Eastern Standard Time. We wish
everyone a safe and bountiful Thanksgiving holiday.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad "The sky won't snow and the Sun won't shine
" Cook,
K7RA, reports: Five new sunspot groups appeared in the past eight days,
and the average daily sunspot number for the November 11-17 period rose
nearly 28 points to 60.9, compared to the week before. The average
daily solar flux was up nearly four points to 87.9. The current
forecast from NOAA/USAF shows a planetary A index of 5 on every day
through the end of November, and the predicted solar flux on November
18-27 at 91, 90, 88, 86, 84, 84, 84, 84, 80 and 80. Conditions should
be good during the ARRL Phone Sweepstakes this weekend. The latest
predictions show continued solar activity with low geomagnetic activity
levels. Look for more information on the ARRL Web site on Friday,
November 19. For more information concerning radio propagation, visit
the ARRL Technical Information Service Propagation page
. This week's "Tad
Cookism" is brought to you by The Eagles' Desperado
.
> + SILENT KEY: JOHN CHAMPA, K8OCL (SK)
John Champa, K8OCL, of Richardson, Texas, passed away from
complications of cancer on Friday, November 12. He was 66. An ARRL Life
Member, Champa was the former Chairman of the ARRL HSMM (High Speed
Multimedia) Working Group and Executive Vice President of AMSAT-NA. He
was also the High Speed Multi-Media Radio Contributing Editor for CQ
VHF Magazine. Champa did early work in Amateur Television (ATV) and
later Amateur Digital Video (ADV). His recent focus was on PropNET,
Automatic Packet Reporting (APRS) and GPS navigation systems, HSMM
radio and HF digital modes. Read more here
.
> THIS WEEK ON THE RADIO
This week:
- November 19 -- YO International PSK31 Contest; QRP Fox Hunt
- November 20 -- Feld Hell Sprint
- November 20-21 -- LZ DX Contest; All Austrian 160 Meter Contest; RSGB
Second 1.8 MHz Contest (CW)
- November 20-22 -- ARRL Sweepstakes Contest (SSB)
; North American Collegiate ARC
Championship (SSB)
- November 21 -- EU PSK63 QSO Party; Homebrew and Oldtime Equipment
Party
- November 22 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest
- November 24 -- SKCC Sprint; QRP Fox Hunt
Next week:
- November 26 -- QRP Fox Hunt
- November 27-28 -- CQ Worldwide DX Contest (CW)
- December 1 -- QRP Fox Hunt
- December 2 -- ARCI Topband 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
info. 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 4-5, 2010 -- ARRL West Central Florida Section Convention
, Palmetto, Florida
- January 8, 2011 -- ARRL Delta Division Convention
, Hammond, Louisiana
- January 9, 2011 -- ARRL New York-Long Island Section Convention
, Bethpage, New York
- January 15, 2011 -- ARRL Southern Florida Section Convention
, Fort Myers, Florida
- January 28-29, 2011 -- ARRL Mississippi State Convention
, Jackson, Mississippi
To find a hamfest or convention near you, click here
.
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