The ARRL Letter
Published by the American Radio Relay League
********************************************
November 1, 2012
Editor: S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL Home Page ARRL Letter Archive
Audio News
IN THIS ISSUE
- + Public Service: As Hurricane Sandy Wreaks Havoc on East Coast, Hams
Heed the Call to Help
- + Public Service: Hawaii Hams Activate for Tsunami Warning
- + Robin Walbridge, KD4OHZ, Missing at Sea after Sinking of Tall Ship
Bounty; Ship's Electrician Doug Faunt, N6TQS, Rescued
- Nominations Now Open for the George Hart Distinguished Service Award
- ARRL Invites Nominations for 2012 International Humanitarian Award
- Solar Update
- + ARRL Recognizes: James Klitzing, W6PQL, Wins October QST Cover
Plaque Award
- + 2012 ARRL Field Day Results Now Online
- This Week in Radiosport
- Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
+ Available on ARRL Audio News .
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: AS HURRICANE SANDY WREAKS HAVOC ON EAST COAST,
HAMS HEED THE CALL TO HELP
Even though Hurricane Sandy was declared a post-tropical cyclone by
the time it made its final landfall -- just 5 miles southwest of
Atlantic City, New Jersey at about 8 PM EDT on Monday, October 29 --
the storm still had winds in excess of 80 miles per hour. Hams across
the region, from the Carolinas to Maine, responded to requests for
assistance and activated local nets, supported the Hurricane Watch
Net's and the VoIP Hurricane Net's operations, assisted their local and
state Emergency Operations Centers and provided assistance at shelters
and wherever needed. Read more here
.
> + PUBLIC SERVICE: HAWAII HAMS ACTIVATE FOR TSUNAMI WARNING
On Saturday, October 27, radio amateurs in Hawaii responded to a
tsunami warning, providing valuable and timely information to emergency
management officials. The tsunami was triggered by a magnitude 7.7
earthquake which struck at struck at 5:04 PM HST (0304 UTC on Sunday,
October 28) in the Queen Charlotte Islands, located off the coast of
British Columbia, Canada.
At 7:14 PM HST, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center sent out a tsunami
warning and said that the tsunami had an estimated wave arrival time of
10:28 PM. After being notified, Hawaii State Civil Defense RACES
Coordinator Ron Hashiro, AH6RH, began notifying Oahu leaders via cell
phone while ARRL Hawaii Section Emergency Coordinator Kevin Bogan,
AH6QO, began activating the ARES Emergency Coordinators on each island.
Read more here
.
> + ROBIN WALBRIDGE, KD4OHZ, MISSING AT SEA AFTER SINKING OF TALL
SHIP BOUNTY; SHIP'S ELECTRICIAN DOUG FAUNT, N6TQS, RESCUED
Every DXer knows the story of the HMS Bounty and Pitcairn Island, VP6:
In 1789, the HMS Bounty -- a small three-masted sailing vessel sent by
Britain's Royal Navy to the Pacific on a supply expedition -- was
roiled by tension between its crew and its captain, William Bligh.
After landing in Tahiti and taking on a cargo of breadfruit, the Bounty
set sail for the West Indies; it never reached that destination.
Instead, Master's Mate Fletcher Christian led the men in a mutiny,
eventually allowing Bligh and his loyalists to sail off in a longboat.
After an arduous journey, they reached safety at the Dutch-owned port
of Kupang. Christian and his followers ended up on Pitcairn Island
where they burned the Bounty and settled on the island. Passing ships
did not discover the enclave until after the turn of the century.
On Monday, October 29, a replica of the Bounty
-- built in 1960 for a remake of the
1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty -- sank off the coast of North Carolina
as Hurricane Sandy made its way toward New Jersey. Of its 16 crew
members, 14 were rescued by the US Coast Guard. Bounty Captain Robin
Walbridge, KD4OHZ, never made it to one of the two deployed life rafts
and is presumed dead. Claudene Christian, who claimed to be a direct
descendent of Fletcher Christian, was unresponsive and passed away at a
North Carolina hospital on Monday evening.
Doug Faunt, N6TQS, of Oakland, California, was one of the 14 who was
rescued by the Coast Guard; Faunt served as a deckhand and was also the
ship's electrician. A noted DXer and ARRL Life Member, he was part of
the FO0AAA DXpedition crew in 2000 to Clipperton Island. He was also a
member of the VP6DIA DXpedition to Ducie Island, and in 2007, he was
part of the DXpedition to Lakshadweep. According to Spud Roscoe, VE1BC,
Faunt had satellite communications equipment and Winlink capabilities
on board the Bounty, but he was not the ship's radio officer. "Sailing
on replica ships was a hobby of Doug's," Roscoe told the ARRL. "He had
previously sailed across the Great Australian Bight on a replica of the
HMB Endeavour , Captain
Cook's ship. He was an able seaman of the watch." Roscoe was the radio
officer on the replica Bounty for its original voyage to France in
1962.
Faunt told the ARRL that the Bounty crew tried various methods,
including a satellite phone, to call for help, "but we got nothing when
tried calling out on HF. We tried calling the Maritime Mobile Net, but
nothing was out there. We had Winlink on the ship that we used for
e-mail and accessing the Internet to post to blogs and to Facebook, and
we finally found an e-mail address for the Coast Guard. As a last-ditch
effort, we used Winlink to e-mail the Coast Guard for help. Within an
hour, we heard a C-130 plane, and later, a helicopter overhead."
According to Faunt, it was Walbridge, as master of the ship, who sent
out the distress messages.
"I don't know how I made it off the ship," Faunt recalled. "I had
finished serving a long watch, and then we started going down. I was
exhausted. I had to swim to get to the life raft. The water was full of
rigging, and here I am, in my Gumby suit, trying to swim. It was so
difficult. While swimming to the raft, I came up for air and a spar was
coming at me. I finally found a raft and tried to climb into it, but I
almost didn't make it, tired as I was. Through the help of my shipmates
who were already aboard the raft, I got on." The two life rafts were
out about 100 miles from shore when they were rescued.
The vessel left Connecticut on Thursday, October 25 with a crew of 11
men and five women, ranging in age from 20-66. After being treated at a
hospital in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, Faunt arrived back home in
California on Wednesday, October 31. "I'm looking for a new boat to
sail and a DXpedition to go on," Faunt told the ARRL. "Ham radio got me
into my position on the Bounty, and ham radio got me out alive!"
> NOMINATIONS NOW OPEN FOR THE GEORGE HART DISTINGUISHED SERVICE
AWARD
Each year at its Annual Meeting in January, the ARRL Board of Directors
bestows the George Hart Distinguished Service Award to a League member
whose service to the ARRL's Field Organization is of the most exemplary
nature. This award is named in honor of George Hart, W1NJM, long-time
Communications Manager at ARRL Headquarters and chief developer of the
National Traffic System.
Selection criteria for the George Hart Distinguished Service Award
include:
- Operating record with the National Traffic System, or
- Participation within the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES), or
- Station appointments and/or leadership positions held within the
Field Organization.
Nominations for the George Hart Distinguished Service Award shall be
accepted from anyone and shall be submitted to the Membership and
Volunteer Programs Manager at ARRL Headquarters by November 1.
Nominations should document as thoroughly as possible the nominee's
lifetime activities and achievements within the ARRL Field
Organization. It is expected that nominated candidates will have 15 or
more years of distinguished service. The Programs and Services
Committee will serve as the Review Committee, with the Board of
Directors making the final determination at its Annual Meeting in
January. Recipients will be given an engraved plaque and cover letter,
and will be profiled in QST .
Nominations for the 2013 George Hart Distinguished Service Award,
including any related supporting material and letters of
recommendation, may be e-mailed to ARRL Headquarters to the attention
of ARRL Membership and Volunteer Programs Manager Dave Patton, NN1N
, or to ARRL Field and Public Service Team Supervisor
Steve Ewald, WV1X . Nominations and supporting materials
must be received no later than November 1, 2012 to be considered.
> ARRL INVITES NOMINATIONS FOR 2012 INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN AWARD
Nominations are open for the 2012 ARRL International Humanitarian
Award. This award is conferred upon an amateur or amateurs who
demonstrate devotion to human welfare, peace and international
understanding through Amateur Radio. The League established the annual
prize to recognize those radio amateurs who have used ham radio to
provide extraordinary service to others in times of crisis or disaster.
As one of the few telecommunication services that allow people
throughout the world from all walks of life to meet and talk with each
other, Amateur Radio spreads goodwill across political boundaries. The
ARRL International Humanitarian Award recognizes the Amateur Radio
Service's unique role in international communication and the assistance
amateurs regularly provide to people in need. Read more here
.
> SOLAR UPDATE
Tad Cook, K7RA, reports: Solar activity quieted this week, with the
average daily sunspot numbers down nearly 37 points to 58.4 and the
average daily solar flux declining 27 points to 116.9. The predicted
solar flux values are 105 and 100 for November 1-2, 95 on November 3-4,
100 on November 5-6, 105 on November 7, 120 on November 8-11, 125 on
November 12-13, 130 on November 14 and peaking at 135 on November
15-20. It then drops to a minimum of 100 on November 29-December 1,
then back to a high of 135 by mid-December. The predicted planetary A
index is 20, 10 and 8 on November 1-3, 5 on November 4-5, 7 on November
6-7, then 10, 20 and 15 on November 8-10, back down to 5 on November
11-December 4, and 10, 20 and 15 again on December 5-7. A coronal mass
ejection (CMA) hit the Earth's magnetic field at 1530 UTC on October
31. This contributes to the prediction of a planetary A index of 20 on
November 1. Look for more on the ARRL website on Friday, November 2.
For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the ARRL
Technical Information Service Propagation page
.
> + ARRL RECOGNIZES: JAMES KLITZING, W6PQL, WINS OCTOBER QST COVER
PLAQUE AWARD
The winner of the October QST Cover Plaque award is James Klitzing,
W6PQL, for his article "Solid State 1 kW Linear Amplifier for 2
Meters." Congratulations James! 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 November issue today.
> + 2012 ARRL FIELD DAY RESULTS NOW ONLINE
If you can't wait for your December issue of QST
to arrive in the mail to see how you did in
the 2012 ARRL Field Day, don't worry! The results -- including a copy
of the QST article
(with line scores) and a results database
-- are now
available on the ARRL website. Be sure to also check out the 101
comments in the Field Day Soapbox
. It's not too soon to start
making plans for next year -- the 2013 ARRL Field Day is scheduled for
June 22-23, 2013. Just a note: The results from Wyoming are missing in
print edition of QST; they will appear in the digital edition of QST,
as well as online.
> THIS WEEK IN RADIOSPORT
This week:
- November 2 -- NCCC Sprint
- November 3 -- IPARC Contest (CW)
- November 3-4 -- ARRL EME Contest ;
Ukrainian DX Contest
- November 3-5 -- ARRL November Sweepstakes (CW)
- November 4 -- IPARC Contest (SSB); High Speed Club CW Contest; DARC
10 Meter Digital Contest
- November 6 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
Next week:
- November 9 -- NCCC Sprint
- November 10-11 -- Kentucky QSO Party; WAE DX Contest (RTTY); 10-10
International Fall Contest (Digital); JIDX Phone Contest; OK/OM DX
Contest (CW)
- November 10-11 -- CQ-WE Contest
- November 11 -- SKCC Weekend Sprintathon
- November 12 -- NAQCC-EU Monthly Sprint
- November 14-15 -- CWops Mini-CWT Test
- November 15 -- 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
- 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
- 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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