ARRL NEWS
Friday, 3rd September 2010
Massachusetts ARES Prepares as a Now-Weakened Hurricane Earl Approaches
Robert Macedo, KD1CY, ARES SKYWARN Coordinator and Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator, provided this report on the afternoon of Friday, September 3:
The following is a situation report from the Eastern Massachusetts ARRL Section on Hurricane Earl. The good news is that Earl has weakened to a Category-1 hurricane. The other good news is that its track remains on target with ...
New Interim Chief Takes Over Air Force MARS
The Air Force Military Auxiliary Radio System (MARS) organization has a new “interim” Chief. Outgoing USAF MARS Chief Allen Eiermann, K3LSR, retired at the end of May and was replaced by TSgt Jason E. Sandifer. Sandifer is a systems manager stationed at the Air Force Network Integration Center (AFNIC) at Scott AFB, Illinois. AFNIC is the headquarters of the national Air Force MARS organization...
The K7RA Solar Update
Over this past week, four new sunspot groups appeared. Group 1101 was already in place since August 24, and 1102 emerged on August 29. On September 1, two new sunspot groups -- 1103 and 1104 -- appeared, and on September 2, sunspot group 1105 arrived. Through August 26-September 2, the daily sunspot numbers were 23, 11, 11, 25, 28, 27, 51 and 52 and these same eight days saw the relative total ...
Surfin’: Hurricane Hamming
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
This week, Surfin’ makes plans for emergency communications of the hurricane variety.
As I write this, Connecticut and the Northeast are looking down the barrel of Hurricane Earl. It looks like my neck of the woods will only receive a glancing, but powerful blow, but points south and east of us will not be so lucky.
Having lived through direct hits fro...
Thursday, 2nd September 2010
Hurricane Earl Heading for North Carolina, Hurricane Warnings Issued for New England
Hurricane Earl -- once again a Category 4 storm -- is currently aiming for North Carolina’s Outer Banks. At 11 AM (EDT), Earl is located about 300 miles south of Cape Hatteras and 765 mles south of Nantucket Island, just off the coast of Massachusetts. Earl is now moving north at a speed near 18 MPH, and is expected to turn north-northeast with an increase in forward speed on Friday. The center...
New D-STAR Repeater Now in Place in ARRL Laboratory
The ARRL Lab has installed a D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) repeater in the Lab at the ARRL Headquarters building. Operating with an output of 147.390 MHz, positive offset, the W1HQ D-STAR repeater is a local repeater with a modest footprint covering the Hartford-New Britain, Connecticut area. The antenna is on the roof of the Headquarters building with the repeater locat...
Wednesday, 1st September 2010
Earl Possibly to Upgrade to Category 4 Storm, US Atlantic Coast on Alert
On August 30, Hurricane Earl intensified into a Category 4 hurricane -- sustained winds 131-155 MPH -- before leveling out back into a Category 3 storm. But even as a Category 3 hurricane, Earl is still a major storm with hurricane-force winds extending outward up to 90 miles from the center, and tropical storm force winds extending outward up to 200 miles. According to the National Hurricane C...
ARRL to Close in Observance of Labor Day
ARRL Headquarters will be closed in observance of Labor Day on Monday, September 6. There will be no W1AW bulletin or code practice transmissions that day. ARRL Headquarters will reopen Tuesday, September 7 at 8 AM Eastern Daylight Time. We wish everyone a safe and festive holiday weekend.
ARRL in Action: What Have We Been Up to Lately?
Compiled by S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL News Editor
news@arrl.org
This feature -- including convenient Web links to useful information -- is a concise monthly update of some of the things ARRL is doing on behalf of its members. This installment covers the month of August.
ARRL Sections along the Atlantic Coast are watching and monitoring the progress of Hurricane Earl, with many assisting WX4NHC...
James Garland, W8ZR, Wins August QST Cover Plaque Award
The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for August is James Garland, W8ZR, for his article “The StationPro Master Station Controller.” Congratulations, James! The winner of 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...
Wednesday, 1st September 2010
Discover the Fun of 6 Meters (and Up!) in the ARRL September VHF QSO Party
September is here, and according to ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, that means the VHF bands are getting a workout: “If you’ve never experienced the fun of VHF+ operating, the ARRL September VHF QSO Party is a great place to start. With many HF radios now offering at least 6 meter SSB/CW capabilities -- and some offering 2 meters and 70 cm as well -- any amateur with a Technician...
Tuesday, 31st August 2010
QST Columnist Recognized for Documenting Radio’s Past
John Dilks, K2TQN -- who pens the “Vintage Radio” column in QST every month -- was awarded the AWA Houck Award for Documentation by the Antique Wireless Association (AWA) at their 2010 World Convention, held August 17-21 in Rochester, New York. This award is presented each year to an AWA member who has written original articles on radio development or history in the AWA Journal, AWA Review or o...
QST Columnist Recognized for Documenting Radio’s Past
John Dilks, K2TQN -- who pens the “Vintage Radio” column in QST every month -- was awarded the AWA Houck Award for Documentation by the American Wireless Association (AWA) at their 2010 World Convention, held August 17-21 in Rochester, New York. This award is presented each year to an AWA member who has written original articles on radio development or history in the AWA Journal, AWA Review or ...
Monday, 30th August 2010
Hurricane Earl Continues to Strengthen, Watch Nets Activated
With Hurricane Earl now a category 2 storm -- and expected to become a major hurricane -- WX4NHC and the Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) -- activated at 8 AM EDT on Monday, August 30; WX4NHC is the Amateur Radio station at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in Miami, Florida. As of 8 AM (EDT) on Monday, August 30, Earl’s center is approximately 25 miles east north-northeast of St Martin in the north...
Youth@HamRadio.Fun: A 2010 Youth DX Adventure
By Duncan MacLachlan, KU0DM
ARRL Youth Editor
ku0dm@arrl.net
I desperately wanted to go on a DXpedition before I turned 18. I know not many kids my age have had the opportunity to travel abroad, let alone travel abroad for the sole purpose of doing something you love. So when Don DuBon, N6JRL, first contacted me, informing me that there was a possibility that I could accompany a group of young ope...
Friday, 27th August 2010
The K7RA Solar Update
This week, we saw three days -- August 21-23 -- with no sunspots, and the average daily sunspot numbers for the week -- August 19-25 -- declined over 28 points to 8, compared to the previous week. The average daily solar flux was down more than 8 points to 75.3. The last period of three days or more without sunspots ended on May 20, 2010, about 100 days ago. Sunspot numbers for August 19-25 wer...
ARRL Members Nominate Candidates for Director, Vice Director
The policies of the ARRL are established by 15 Directors who are elected to the Board on a geographical basis, with elections for three-year terms held in five divisions each year. At the same time, Vice Directors are elected on the same basis. Responding to solicitations in the July and August issues of QST, ARRL members in the Pacific, Rocky Mountain, Southeastern, Southwestern and West Gulf ...
Surfin’: Hamming on the Cutting Edge
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
This week, Surfin’ visits the plans for the upcoming Digital Communications Conference (DCC).
Next month, the folks on the cutting edge of ham radio hold their annual meet to show-and-tell what they are doing out there on that edge. The 29th annual ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC) occurs on September 24-26, 2010 neear Portland, Oregon...
Thursday, 26th August 2010
ARRL VEC Volunteer Examiner Session Participation Web Page Returns
If you’re an ARRL Volunteer Examiner (VE) who is interested in seeing how many ARRL exam sessions you’ve taken part in, you can find the answer on the VE Session counts Web page.
On this page, you’ll be able to access a list that shows the total number exam sessions that each ARRL VE has conducted. The listings are listed first by state and then in alpha-numeric call sign order (call area numbe...
Monday, 16th August 2010
Expanded Results for ARRL International DX SSB Contest Now Online
Expended results for the ARRL International DX SSB Contest are now available on the ARRL Web site. Find close to 100 pages packed with results from around the world and your ARRL Division, including line scores and lots of photos, graphs and charts. You can also read all of the interesting Soapbox comments from the participants and review the Top 10 in every category, tracked since the top of S...
ARRL/TAPR Announce 29th Annual Digital Communications Conference
Aficionados of digital communications are gearing up for the 29th annual ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC), September 24-26 near Portland, Oregon. The ARRL/TAPR DCC is an international forum for radio amateurs to meet, publish their work and present new ideas and techniques. Presenters and attendees will have the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about recent hardware and ...
2010 Field Day Logs Posted
The 2010 Field Day logs received list has been posted. It includes all logs received -- applet, non-applet e-mail and paper. Any changes/corrections/missing inquires should be sent to ARRL Field Day Manager Dan Henderson, N1ND, via e-mail.
Saturday, 14th August 2010
Amateur Radio Quiz: Amateur Archaeology
Times change and so does terminology. Some of the old terms were quite colorful and convey a sense of hands-on adventure in those early days of experimentation. You may not consider today’s language as evocative, but just wait a few decades to see what future generations think!
1) Which type of component was referred to as a “grid leak”?
a. Capacitor
b. Resistor
c. Inductor
d. This referred to a gas...
Friday, 13th August 2010
The K7RA Solar Update
This week’s bulletin is written by Tomas Hood, NW7US, who is filling in for Tad Cook, K7RA.
Sunspot numbers and solar flux increased this week, with the average daily sunspot numbers up more than 32 points to 53, and the average daily 10.7-cm solar flux up more than 3 points to 84.5. These are the numbers from last Thursday through this Wednesday, August 5 through August 11. The sunspot count on...
Surfin’: The 500 Club
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
This week, Surfin’ considers the previous 499 installments of Surfin’.
When I was a kid, I remember The Kid hitting his 500th home run. That was a real big deal back then, because Theodore Samuel Williams was only the fourth player to become a member of the exclusive 500 club, joining Babe Ruth (with 714 home runs), Jimmie Foxx (521) and Mel Ott (511)....
Thursday, 12th August 2010
Charles Wright, W4PED (SK)
ARRL Roanoke Division Assistant Director Charles Wright, W4PED, of North Augusta, South Carolina, passed away June 21. He was 84. An ARRL Life Member, Wright was a founding member of the North Augusta-Belvedere Radio Club (founded in 1955). A US Army Air Corps veteran, he served in the India-Burma theater during World War II. Wright was a graduate of Lynchburg College with a degree in chemistry...
I Got By With a Little Help from My Friends
Little did I know how ham radio would enrich my life by introducing me to new experiences and wonderful friends. Perhaps the most valuable contribution ham radio made to my life was to teach me, at a very early age, that I could achieve anything if I were willing to work at it.
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Wednesday, 11th August 2010
Authorities Believe Gary Haas, N5VGH, and Wife Killed by Escaped Convicts
The burned skeletal remains of Gary Haas, N5VGH, and his wife Linda were found in a charred camper on a remote ranch in eastern New Mexico on the morning of Wednesday, August 4. Authorities believe they were killed by escaped convicts, along with an accomplice, who had escaped from an Arizona prison on July 30. Authorities said that the Haas’ bodies and camper were found by a rancher on his pro...
FCC Denies Petitions on Call Sign Usage, Expanded Privileges
On August 9, the FCC denied two Petitions for Rule Making: one to prohibit what the petitioner called “the false or unauthorized use of an Amateur Radio call sign,” and one to wishing to expand privileges on the 15 meter phone band for General and Amateur Extra class licensees.
Eric R. Hilding, K6VVA
Eric R. Hilding, K6VVA, of Morgan Hill, California, filed a Petition for Rule Making in November ...