Feed aggregator

This week, Surfin' gets geographical with new online mapping features and applications.

ARRL Audio News--OPEN--In this edition . . .; Changes in Store for the 2009 November Sweepstakes; FCC Issues First Waiver for Government-Sponsored Disaster Drill; ARRL Audio News ID--Satellite Update--BREAK; The Doctor Is IN: Antennas for Domestic Contests; Did You Know?: From "The January Contest" to "ARRL Sweepstakes": A Proud History; Santa Cruz County Hams Called to Assist During Wildfires; ARRL Audio News--News Briefs--CLOSE

The 2009 ARRL On-Line Auction closes for bidding tonight -- October 29 -- at 11 PM EDT. “There has been plenty of bidding action on some wonderful items and there’s still room for more,” said ARRL Auction Coordinator Deb Jahnke, K1DAJ. “Bidders can browse the site and still register to bid on some spectacular items.” Jahnke reminded bidders that even though the Auction closes at 11 PM, each item has its own separate closing time: “In order not to slow the system at the very end of the Auction, each item is timed to close 6 seconds apart up to 11 PM EDT. The exact closing time is stated on the description page for each item.”

Almost 20 years to the day since the Loma Prieta Earthquake shook California's Bay Area, a wildfire was burning through Santa Cruz County (approximately 75 miles south of San Francisco) just miles from the epicenter of the quake that delayed the 1989 World Series. Just as Amateur Radio operators responded to calls for assistance for the earthquake, 20 years later on October 25, they responded when needed for a 485 acre wildfire.

Registration remains open through Sunday, November 22, 2009, for these online course sessions beginning on Friday, December 4, 2009: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1; Antenna Modeling; Radio Frequency Interference; Antenna Design and Construction; Ham Radio (Technician) License Course; Propagation; Analog Electronics, and Digital Electronics.

Next month, amateurs throughout the US and Canada will take part in the longest-running domestic contest, the 76th ARRL November Sweepstakes. Since 1930, this tradition in Amateur Radio has brought out all kinds of amateurs -- from seasoned contest veterans to neophytes, from long-time traffic handlers to operators new to HF. The CW running of Sweepstakes takes place next weekend, November 7-9, while the SSB weekend is November 21-23. Each event runs from 2100 UTC Saturday until 0300 UTC Monday. All entrants may operate 24 out of the 30 hours.

On Tuesday October 27, the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB) granted the first waiver that allows amateurs who participate in a government-sponsored emergency preparedness and disaster drill to communicate on behalf of their employers during the drill. The waiver request was made on behalf of the Commonwealth of Kentucky. That state will be conducting a full-scale exercise on Wednesday, October 28, 2009 from 8 AM-5 PM (EDT) to test their emergency response to the possible release of chemical agents at Blue Grass Army Depot, located near Richmond, Kentucky.

Solar cells -- can't top 'em. Ultracapacitors -- can't top 'em. They produce an unstoppable electromotive force! Powering everything from power amplifiers to personal phones, no other practical product packs the punch of electrochemical cells, the first true electrical device. Ubiquitous though they may be, our knowledge of their inner workings is often weak. Discharge your memory banks into this quiz to see how you measure up!

Paul Vydareny, WB2VUK, of Tarrytown, New York, passed away Thursday, October 22, from a brain aneurism. He was 65. An ARRL Life Member and member of the ARRL's A-1 Operator Club, Vydareny served as Director of the ARRL’s Hudson Division from January-September 1996. Vydareny had a long record of volunteer service with the ARRL: Prior to becoming Director, he served as Section Manager of the Eastern New York Section from 1980-1996 and as Vice Director from 1987-1996 (Vice Directors were once allowed to serve simultaneously as Section Managers). Vydareny -- who was elevated from Vice Director to Director when then-Director Steve Mendelsohn, W2ML (ex-WA2DHF), was elected ARRL First Vice President -- resigned as Director in 1996, citing job and church obligations as preventing him from doing what he considered “a proper job of fulfilling his duties as Director.”

A tiny Solar Cycle 24 sunspot group -- numbered 1028 -- emerged briefly on Tuesday, October 20, and then was gone. This is another brief phantom sunspot, teasing us with hints of the expected increase in activity that never seems to manifest. Of course, the silver lining in the low solar activity is low geomagnetic activity. While folks in Alaska miss dramatic aurora, HF hams in the northern latitudes can enjoy the bands without all the disruption that comes with geomagnetic storms.

This week, Surfin' recalls a formidable ham radio nemesis from the 20th century.

The South African Amateur Radio satellite SumbandilaSat has been officially designated SumbandilaSat-OSCAR 67, or simply OSCAR 67. Last weekend, the satellite was successfully activated and tested with a number of contacts made through its transponder, but it is not yet open for routine use. The satellite was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on September 17. The main payload is a multi-spectral imager, but the satellite also carries an Amateur Radio component consisting of a 2 meter/70 cm FM repeater. After SumbandilaSat is fully commissioned, the repeater will be activated with an uplink at 145.880 MHz and a downlink at 435.350 MHz; there will also be a voice beacon at 435.300 MHz. The transponder mode will be controlled by a CTCSS tone on the uplink frequency. SumbandilaSat was sponsored by the Department of Science and Technology and was built at SunSpace in cooperation with the Stellenbosch University. In addition to the SA-AMSAT amateur module, the satellite carries Stellenbosch University's radiation experiment and software defined radio (SDR) project, an experiment from Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University and a VLF radio module from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

ARRL Audio News--OPEN--In this edition . . .; FCC Issues Public Notice on Amateur Service Communication During Government Disaster Drills; Four Radio Amateurs Killed in Plane Crash En Route to CQWW Phone Contest; ARRL Audio News ID--Satellite Update--BREAK:; IARU Administrative Council Adopts Preliminary WRC-12 Positions; ARRL HQ Hosts Amateur Radio Course for USTTI Participants; University Researchers Need Your Help as they Study Early Amateur Station Logs; ARRL Audio News--News Briefs--CLOSE

As of October 14, five more Congressional Representatives -- Tom Latham (R-IA-4), Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA-46), Scott Garrett (R-NJ-5), Candice Miller (R-MI-10) and John Olver (D-MA-1) -- pledged their support for HR 2160, The Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Enhancement Act of 2009, bringing the total number of cosponsors to 30, including original sponsor Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX-18). HR 2160 is also sponsored by W. Todd Akin (R-MO-2), Michael Arcuri (D-NY-24), Roscoe Bartlett (R-MD-6), John Boozman (R-AR-3), Madeleine Bordallo (D-Guam), Geoff Davis (R-KY-4), Bob Filner (D-CA-51), Bart Gordon (D-TN-6), Brett Guthrie (R-KY-02), Maurice Hinchey (D-NY-22), Michael Honda (D-CA-15), Mary Jo Kilroy (D-OH-15), Zoe Lofgren (D-CA-16), Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO-9), Thaddeus McCotter (R-MI-11), Charlie Melancon (D-LA-3), Dennis Moore (D-KS-3), Bill Posey (R-FL-15), Bennie Thompson (D-MS-2), Michael Turner (R-OH-3), Peter Welch (D-VT), David Wu (D-OR-1) and Don Young (R-AK). Click here for information on how to encourage your Congressional representative to sponsor HR 2160.

Our ARES® group's Field Station Demonstration and Simulated Emergency Test (FSD&SET?) was supposed to start at 8AM, but I was still sitting at home, staring out the window at the fog. I'd hoped that some of the pea soup would have dissipated by then, but it seemed as thick as it had been when I'd first struggled out of bed. Fearing that I'd miss the whole event if I waited any longer, I got into my car and crept down the driveway and into the murk.

Students from Ghana, Mauritius, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Zambia attended the United States Telecommunications Training Institute (USTTI) Amateur Radio Administration Course (ARAC) at ARRL Headquarters October 12-16. ARRL Technical Relations Manager Brennan Price, N4QX, coordinated the session and led the course. ARRL Assistant to the Chief Executive Officer and Meeting Planner Lisa Kustosik, KA1UFZ, coordinated ARRL's participation with USTTI.

Just after take-off -- around 6:30 AM on Wednesday, October 21 -- a twin-engine plane carrying four Amateur Radio operators crashed into the woods, only 250 yards off the end of the runway in Jedburg, South Carolina, about 20 miles northwest of Charleston. The plane -- piloted and owned by Peter Radding, W2GJ -- carried Ed Steeble, K3IXD, Dallas Carter, W3PP, and Randy Hargenrader, K4QO. The four men were on their way to the Bahamas to operate in this weekend's CQ World Wide Phone Contest as C6APR, competing in the Multi/2 category.

Registration remains open through Sunday, October 25, 2009, for these online course sessions beginning on Friday, November 6, 2009: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1; Antenna Modeling; Radio Frequency Interference; Antenna Design and Construction; Ham Radio (Technician) License Course; Propagation; Analog Electronics, and Digital Electronics.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin and Miami University of Ohio are seeking copies of amateur station logs from 1913-1927 in hopes they may offer insights into the relationship between individuals' work and leisure activities, technology, and their social networks.

For the eighth year running, the US Office of Personnel Management has designated the ARRL to participate in the 2009 Combined Federal Campaign (CFC). In the past, this campaign for federal government civilian employees, US Postal Service workers and members of the military has generated more than $160,000 for ARRL programs since it first became an option for giving by federal employees to the League. The CFC provides an easy way to support ARRL’s effort to represent its members and all radio amateurs. Similar to the United Way, the CFC encourages individuals to pledge by payroll deduction to non-profit organizations of their choice. The ARRL encourages eligible radio amateurs to consider the League when designating campaign recipients. Payroll deduction through the CFC is an easy way for participants to support ARRL over and above their annual membership. Such contributions support programs that are not funded by member dues, enriching ARRL's ability to serve its members and all of Amateur Radio. Those wishing to select the ARRL to receive all or part of their payroll deductions should designate organization 10099 when completing their CFC donor forms. Donations to ARRL can be designated for Diamond Club contributions, the ARRL Spectrum Defense Fund or the ARRL Education & Technology Program. Donors may also make unrestricted contributions to the League. One important note: Since the CFC does not provide the ARRL with the names of individual donors, the ARRL Development Office would appreciate a copy of the donor form to ensure that each contribution is applied according to the donor's wishes and the contribution or pledge can be properly acknowledged. The 2009 CFC ends December 15.