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Skriven 2019-09-13 09:05:14 av Sean Dennis (1:18/200.0)
Ärende: The Weekly ARRL Letter
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The ARRL Letter
September 12, 2019
* ARRL and IARU President Emeritus Larry Price, W4RA, SK
* FCC Proposes to Make All Universal Licensing System Filings
Electronic
* Unraveling the Mystery of 1 * 1 Call Signs
* The Doctor Will See You Now!
* Hurricane Watch Net Sets New Activation Record during Dorian
* The K7RA Solar Update
* Just Ahead in Radiosport
* Dayton Hamvention Signs 5-Year Contract with Greene County Expo
Center
* UN Headquarters' 4U1UN Making Slow but Steady Progress in Returning
to Air
* YOTA 2019 Summer Camp in Bulgaria Spawns Subregional Camps
* In Brief...
* Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
ARRL and IARU President Emeritus Larry Price, W4RA, SK
ARRL and International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) President Emeritus
Larry E. Price, W4RA, of Statesboro, Georgia, died on September 10. An
ARRL Life Member, he was 85. Price was licensed in 1951 at age 16 as
WN5TIA, one of the first Novice licenses issued in the US. A US Army
veteran, Price held BSEE, MBA, and doctoral degrees. He spent most of
his career as a professor of finance and economics at Georgia Southern
University.
Elected as ARRL Southeastern Division Vice Director in 1973, Price
became Director later that year and was elected as an ARRL Vice
President by the Board of Directors in 1980. In 1983 he became First
Vice President following the death of ARRL President Vic Clark, W4KFC,
and was elected President by the Board the following year.
He served as ARRL President for 8 years, serving simultaneously as IARU
Secretary from 1989 until 1992, and continuing as IARU Secretary and
ARRL International Affairs Vice President until his election as IARU
President in 1999, a post he held for 10 years. The IARU ministrative
Council named him President Emeritus upon his retirement in 2009. The
ARRL Board named him ARRL President Emeritus in 2011.
"His accomplishments as President of ARRL and the IARU are too many to
list, but neither organization would be what it is today without his
vision, dedication, and hard work," said former ARRL CEO David Sumner,
K1ZZ, who now serves as IARU Secretary. "We all owe a great debt to
Larry and his family for their many sacrifices on our behalf."
IARU President Tim Ellam, VE6SH, recalled his many years of association
with Price. "Amateur Radio...has lost a valued colleague today," Ellam
said. "Larry Price was the dean of the IARU, and under his leadership
the organization not only achieved great success for the Amateur Radio
services but the respect of those we work with in the International
Telecommunication Union (ITU). His work and tenacity on a number of
issues gave the IARU the admiration of many administrations and senior
leadership at the ITU, which we continue to enjoy today."
In 2014, Dayton Hamvention^(R) honored Price as Amateur of the Year. At
the ARRL Centennial Convention that same year, Price was awarded the
ARRL Medal of Honor. Read more. -- Thanks to David Sumner, K1ZZ
FCC Proposes to Make All Universal Licensing System Filings Electronic
The FCC is seeking comment on a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM)
that is part of an overall plan to transition completely to electronic
filing, licenses, authorizations, and correspondence. The notice
proposes to make all filings to the Universal Licensing System (ULS)
electronic, expand electronic filing and correspondence elements for
related systems, and require applicants to provide an email address on
the FCC forms related to these systems. Although much of the FCC's ULS
filings are already electronic, the changes suggested in the NPRM (in
WT Docket No. 19-212) would require all Amateur Radio Service
applications to be filed electronically. Under current rules, Amateur
Radio applications may still be filed manually, except those filed by
Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (VECs).
"Given the drastic changes that have occurred with regard to the
ubiquity of the internet and increased personal computer access, we
find it unlikely that electronic filing remains infeasible or
cost-prohibitive for the previously exempted types of filers, or that
they lack resources to file electronically," the FCC said in the NPRM,
released on September 6. "We therefore propose to eliminate Section
1.913's exemptions to mandatory electronic filing."
The FCC said that while the vast majority of ULS applications today are
submitted electronically, some are still manually filed, largely from
exempted filers, such as radio amateurs. Last year, the FCC received
some 5,000 manually filed applications out of a total of some 425,000.
The FCC is seeking comment on whether its underlying assumptions about
the ease of electronic filing for previously exempted filers are valid.
This NPRM also seeks comment on additional rule changes that would
further expand the use of electronic filing and electronic service. The
FCC stopped providing printed Amateur Radio license documents in 2015.
"Together, these proposals will facilitate the remaining steps to
transition these systems from paper to electronic, reducing regulatory
burdens and environmental waste, and making interaction with these
systems more accessible and efficient for those who rely on them," the
FCC said.
Comments are due within 30 days of the NPRM's release.
Unraveling the Mystery of 1 * 1 Call Signs
The 1 * 1 Special Event Call Signs system offers a way for clubs,
groups, or even individuals to use a short call sign of special
significance to the amateur community. These 1 * 1 call signs are
reserved in advance for use in conjunction with short-term special
events and commemorative operations. The FCC does not assign 1 * 1 call
signs, so they are not "official."
On the matter of special event call signs, the FCC says, in Section
97.3(a)(11)(iii) of the Amateur Service rules: "The call sign is
selected by the station licensee from a list of call signs shown on a
common database coordinated, maintained and disseminated by the amateur
station special event call sign data base coordinators. The call sign
must have the single letter prefix K, N, or W, followed by a single
numeral 0 through 9, followed by a single letter A through W or Y or Z
(for example K1A). The special event call sign is substituted for the
call sign shown on the station license grant while the station is
transmitting."
The FCC also says in Section 97.119 (d): "ditionally, the station
must transmit its assigned call sign at least once per hour during such
transmissions." This requirement tends to be widely flouted, however.
A 1 * 1 Special Event Call Sign aids other radio amateurs by calling
attention to the special event or other occasion. 1 * 1 call signs may
be used for a variety of purposes, such as conventions, festivals,
dedications, anniversaries, commemorations, and ARRL Field Day. Even
local events qualify.
There are 750 1 * 1 Special Event Call Sign possibilities, and radio
amateurs of any license class may reserve one as far as a year in
advance to use for up to 15 days. Of course, 1 * 1 Special Event Call
Signs are recycled. It's first come, first served. See the Frequently
Asked Questions page for more information.
The FCC has selected coordinators to approve and post 1 * 1 Special
Event Call Sign reservations to a searchable database. -- Thanks to The
Radiogram (Portage County Amateur Radio Society newsletter)
The Doctor Will See You Now!
"Coaxial Cable Connectors" is the topic of the new (September 12)
episode of the ARRL The Doctor is In podcast. Listen...and learn!
Sponsored by DX Engineering, ARRL The Doctor is In is an informative
discussion of all things technical. Listen on your computer, tablet, or
smartphone -- whenever and wherever you like!
Every 2 weeks, your host, QST Editor-in-Chief Steve Ford, WB8IMY, and
the Doctor himself, Joel Hallas, W1ZR, will discuss a broad range of
technical topics. You can also email your questions to doctor@arrl.org,
and the Doctor may answer them in a future podcast.
Enjoy ARRL The Doctor is In on Apple iTunes, or by using your iPhone or
iPad podcast app (just search for ARRL The Doctor is In). You can also
listen online at Blubrry, or at Stitcher (free registration required,
or browse the site as a guest) and through the free Stitcher app for
iOS, Kindle, or Android devices. If you've never listened to a podcast
before, download our beginner's guide.
Hurricane Watch Net Sets New Activation Record during Dorian
Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) volunteers set a new record for total hours
activated during a single storm. The net was active for 157 hours --
139 hours of which were continuous. HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV,
said the continuous activation record stands at 151 hours for Hurricane
Matthew in 2018.
"During this marathon activation, members of the Hurricane Watch Net
collected and forwarded countless surface reports to the National
Hurricane Center in Miami," Graves noted.
After devastating Abaco and Grand Bahama islands with winds clocked at
200 MPH or more, Dorian made its way slowly toward Florida, before
sliding up the southeastern US coast and making a second landfall on
Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It wasn't over, however. Dorian veered
out into the Atlantic, affecting New England before hitting Maritime
Canada, where it knocked out power and downed trees.
During its lengthy initial activation, the HWN attempted on numerous
occasions to raise stations in the Bahamas but was unable to contact
anyone in the most-affected area.
The HWN activated for the last time during Hurricane Dorian last
Saturday, as the storm was, by then, speeding up the east coast of the
US as a Category 1 storm. Poor propagation plagued net operations
throughout the activation, even right up to the end. At one point,
propagation was lost between net members and Nova Scotia on 40 meters,
although the net continued for a while longer on 20 meters.
Early on, Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES^(R)) volunteers went on
alert along the US east coast, preparing for the worst. The major
problem was storm surge-related flooding. Evacuations were ordered
ahead of the storm.
The ARRL Headquarters Emergency Response Team convened early on to
monitor the situation closely. ARRL officials were in regular
communication with partner agencies, particularly FEMA and the
Department of Homeland Security. W1AW, which had already planned to be
in operation for the Hiram Percy Maxim 150th birthday special event,
remained ready to assist with emergency communications.
The VoIP Hurricane Net activated over the weekend in conjunction with
WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center to keep on top of ground-truth
weather information.
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: No sunspots this week. The average
daily sunspot numbers declined from 3.4 to 0. At the same time, the
average daily solar flux rose from 67.4 to 69.4.
Geomagnetic activity quieted, with the average daily planetary A index
declining from 19.9 to 8.9, while the average daily mid-latitude A
index went from 16.7 to 7.7.
Predicted solar flux is 68 on September 12 - 22; 69 on September 23 -
October 5; 68 on October 6 - 19; 69 on October 20 - 24; 68 on October
25, and 69 on October 26.
Predicted planetary A index is 5 on September 12 - 22; 8 on September
23; 5 on September 24 - 25; 10, 35, 45, 20, and 10 on September 26 -
30; 8, 10, and 8 on October 1 - 3; 5 on October 4 - 19; 8 on October
20; 5 on October 21 - 22; 8, 25, 30, and 18 on October 23 - 26.
Sunspot numbers for September 5 - 11, 2019 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, and
0, with a mean of 0. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 68.3, 68.9, 73.9,
67.5, 68.8, 70, and 68.1, with a mean of 69.4. Estimated planetary A
indices were 14, 8, 7, 10, 14, 4, and 5, with a mean of 8.9. Middle
latitude A index was 11, 9, 6, 9, 11, 4, and 4, with a mean of 7.7.
A comprehensive K7RA Solar Update is posted Fridays on the ARRL
website. For more information concerning radio propagation, visit the
ARRL Technical Information Service, read "What the Numbers Mean...,"
and check out K9LA's Propagation Page.
A propagation bulletin archive is available. Monthly charts offer
propagation projections between the US and a dozen DX locations.
Share your reports and observations.
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Just Ahead in Radiosport
* September 14 -- FOC QSO Party (CW)
* September 14 - 15 -- Worked All Europe DX Contest (SSB)
* September 14 - 15 -- SARL Field Day Contest (CW, phone, digital)
* September 14 - 15 -- All Texas QSO Party (CW, phone, digital)
* September 14 - 15 -- Alabama QSO Party (CW, phone)
* September 14 - 15 -- Russian Cup Digital Contest
* September 14 - 16 -- ARRL September VHF Contest (CW, phone,
digital)
* September 15 -- North American Sprint (RTTY)
* September 15 - 18 -- Classic Exchange (CW)
* September 15 -- BARTG Sprint 75 (Digital)
* September 16 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)
* September 18 -- RSGB 80-Meter Autumn Series (CW)
* September 19 -- NAQCC CW Sprint
* September 20 -- AGB NEMIGA Contest (CW, phone, digital)
* See the ARRL Contest Calendar for more information. For in-depth
reporting on Amateur Radio contesting, subscribe to The ARRL
Contest Update via your ARRL member profile email preferences.
Dayton Hamvention Signs 5-Year Contract with Greene County Expo Center
The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) has signed a 5-year
agreement to keep Dayton Hamvention^(R) at the Greene County Expo
Center. The agreement was announced on September 9 by Hamvention
General Chairman Jack Gerbs, WB8SCT.
"It has been a wonderful experience working with the Expo Center team
in the development of this agreement," Gerbs said. "With the 5-year
agreement signed, the Expo Center and Hamvention can move forward with
additional enhancements to the facilities."
Dayton Amateur Radio Association President Ron Cramer, KD8ENJ, said the
DARA Board, in approving the contract, noted that the relationship with
the Expo Center and Greene County, the City of Xenia, and Xenia
Township "has proven especially rewarding." Cramer said, "They all have
worked hard to make Hamvention a success over the last 3 years. We look
forward to a great relationship over the next 5 years and beyond."
Hamvention's 2019 attendance was 32,472 -- the highest recorded since
the move to the Exposition Center in Xenia in 2017, which was
coordinated by Cramer, the Hamvention General Chairman in 2017 and
2018.
The largest Amateur Radio show in the US, Dayton Hamvention is held the
third full weekend in May. The dates for 2020 are May 15 - 17.
UN Headquarters' 4U1UN Making Slow but Steady Progress in Returning to
Air
Responding to inquiries noting the lack of 4U1UN activity, the United
Nations Amateur Radio Club (UNARC) indicated on its Facebook page this
week that it's making slow but steady progress in its efforts to get a
station back on the air from UN Headquarters. The main difficulties in
getting 4U1UN up and running again following its displacement by
renovations at UN Headquarters have been administrative and
organizational, the UNARC team said. The club explained that as a
result of UN Headquarters renovation, the room on the 41st floor
housing the 4U1UN radio equipment was reallocated to the UN Broadcast
and Conference Support Section (BCSS) and is now off limits.
"After the successful activity of 4U70UN back in 2015, with the support
of the UN ministration, we were able to secure a tiny 20-square-foot
room for the club's needs on the ground floor of the building," the
club said in its post. With no opportunity to run a feed line from the
ground floor to the top of the building and the tenuous hold even on
the tiny, bottom-floor shack space, the club is in the process of
installing a remotely controlled station on the 41st floor.
Over a recent weekend, several UNARC members, representatives of UN
services, and guests had an opportunity to continue equipment
configuration. An assembled 19-inch rack and part of the equipment were
disconnected during delivery to the 41st floor so that BCSS personnel
could hand-carry the equipment up several flights of stairs to the top
floor. "After 4 hours of work, the connections of the SteppIR BigIR
vertical antennas were restored, a new SDA-100 controller was
installed, and a RemoteRig 1216H was connected for easy remote access,"
the club post said. "The antenna was tested and configured."
UNARC says remote access from the 1st floor now works, thanks to a
separate Ethernet cable run up the entire height of the building for
UNARC's use. Operation of the ACOM-2000A amplifier also was tested with
an antenna.
"We really hope that in the very near future, after debugging and
setting up all the equipment, we will finally be able to proudly look
at the work done and begin to appear steadily on the bands," the club
said.
YOTA 2019 Summer Camp in Bulgaria Spawns Subregional Camps
Most of those attending the recent Youngsters on the Air (YOTA) summer
camp in Bulgaria were first-timers, observed Monty Schebesta, OE3VVU, a
participant this year. Some 80 young radio amateurs from 27 countries
convened near Sofia August 11 - 17 to, as he put it, "connect and learn
from each other." Monty said the successful 2019 summer camp
demonstrated that YOTA is growing quickly, noting too that 40% of the
YOTA Summer Camp attendees were young women.
During the week, campers engaged in a variety of workshops that
included such activities as building VHF and HF antennas and assembling
electronic kits, which, for many, meant learning how to solder. Monty
said the focus of the activities and presentations involved learning
from each other.
"YOTA is shifting more and more towards a 'youngsters for youngsters'
approach, where youngsters teach each other, rather than relying on
older generations for input," he said. "The main goal of the YOTA
summer camp is to give youngsters the ideas, knowledge, and experiences
they require to go back to their home country at the end of the week
and start their own youth activities."
Monty said the practical workshops are the mostly easily reproducible,
so that young radio amateurs could use them to introduce new young
people into the hobby. "For example," he said, "youngsters might do a
kit building workshop at a local school or use the antenna built at the
camp to do a [Summits On The Air] activation together with some new
youngsters."
Subregional camps such as those held in Finland, Italy, and Germany in
recent years are becoming more common in Region 1, with the next set
for late September in the Czech Republic (OL19CAMP), followed closely
by a camp in the Netherlands in December.
He anticipates many other youth teams will want to stage subregional
YOTA camps of their own. "What the participants learned at the YOTA
summer camp will be an invaluable resource for organizing subregional
camps and youth activities on any scale," he concluded.
Bulgaria's International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) member-society,
BFRA, sponsored the 2019 YOTA Summer Camp.
In Brief...
The IARU recently attended an ITU Inter-Regional Workshop. As part of
its strategy to support topics related to Amateur Radio at World
Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19), the International Amateur
Radio Union (IARU) was on hand at the third inter-regional workshop in
Geneva, Switzerland, this past week. The workshop, attended by member
states and other International Telecommunication Union (ITU) sector
members, considered and discussed the positions of the six Regional
Telecommunication Organizations (RTO) on the main WRC-19 agenda items.
Attendees also considered how differing regional positions might be
reconciled during WRC to arrive at consensus. The ITU said the meeting
would "provide participants with the opportunity to exchange views and
have a better understanding of the common views, positions and/or
proposals of the concerned entities." The third ITU Inter-regional
Workshop on WRC-19 Preparation took place September 4 - 6. Documents
can be downloaded from the ITU website.
The roster of presentations and speakers for the 2019 ARRL-TAPR Digital
Communications Conference (DCC) is now posted on the TAPR website. The
DCC takes place September 20 - 22 at the Detroit Metro Airport Marriott
Hotel. Bill Brown, WB8ELK, father of Amateur Radio ballooning and noted
experimenter and engineer, will be the DCC Saturday evening banquet
speaker. The Sunday Seminar topic will be "Learn to build and operate
your own SatNOGS ground station," presented by Dan White, AD0CQ, and
Corey Shields, KB9JHU. The seminar will be a hands-on, progressive
tutorial, starting with the basics of a SatNOGS (Satellite Networked
Open Ground Station) and ending with the development of telemetry
decoders. Participants should gain an understanding of how SatNOGS
applications work, how to use them, and a basic familiarity with the
technologies behind the scenes, should they wish to contribute to the
development of the project. Participants should bring a laptop and sign
up for a free account. A room will be set aside for demonstrations,
experiments, and show-and-tell projects. Tables and power strips will
be provided.
Former ARRL Iowa Section Manager Bob McCaffrey, K0CY, of Boone, Iowa,
died on September 2. An ARRL Life Member, he was 77. McCaffrey served
twice as Iowa Section Manager -- first, from 1980 until 1986, and again
from 2013 until 2019, after he declined to run for another term. He
served in other Iowa ARRL Field Organization positions as well.
McCaffrey was licensed in 1955 as KN0EJZ. He taught entry-level Amateur
Radio classes within adult education and served as a Volunteer
Examiner. He was an AMSAT and Quarter Century Wireless Association
member and an enthusiastic ARRL Field Day participant. McCaffrey was a
past president of the Des Moines Radio Amateur Association and of the
Boone Amateur Radio Club.
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Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
* September 13 - 14 -- W9DXCC 2019, St. Charles, Illinois
* September 21 - 22 -- New Mexico State Convention, Albuquerque, New
Mexico
* September 27 - 28 -- Central Division Convention, Milwaukee,
Wisconsin
* September 28 -- Dakota Division Convention, West Fargo, North
Dakota
* September 28 -- Washington State Convention, Spokane Valley,
Washington
* October 6 -- Iowa State Convention, West Liberty, Iowa
* October 11 - 12 -- PNWVHFS Conference and Meeting, Issaquah,
Washington
* October 11 - 12 -- Florida State Convention, Melbourne, Florida
* October 13 -- Connecticut State Convention, Meriden, Connecticut
* October 18 - 19 -- Delta Division Convention, East Ridge, Tennessee
* October 18 - 20 -- Pacific Division Convention, San Ramon,
California
* October 19 -- 21st Wisconsin ARES/RACES Conference, Wisconsin
Rapids, Wisconsin
* October 26 -- South Carolina Section Convention, Conway, South
Carolina
* November 2 - 3 -- Georgia State Convention, Lawrenceville, Georgia
* November 16 -- Indiana Section Convention, Fort Wayne, Indiana
Find conventions and hamfests in your area.
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