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Skriven 2019-11-29 09:05:16 av Sean Dennis (1:18/200.0)
Ärende: The Weekly ARRL Letter
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The ARRL Letter
November 21, 2019
* ARRL Legislative vocacy Committee Drafting New Bill dressing
Antenna Restrictions
* WRC-19 Delegates Reach Agreement on 6-Meter Band in ITU Region 1
* Radio Amateur's "Tribute to a Century of Broadcasting" Video Debuts
on YouTube
* The Doctor Will See You Now!
* Melissa Stemmer Joins ARRL Headquarters Staff as Development
Manager
* Youth on the Air Camp Coming to the Americas
* Southern California Hams Support Major Terrorist Attacks Response
Drill
* Dayton Hamvention^(R) Invites 2020 Award Nominations
* The K7RA Solar Update
* Just Ahead in Radiosport
* Alaska and Tennessee Getting New Section Managers
* Why Propagation Repeats About Every 27 Days
* In Brief...
* Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
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ARRL Headquarters will be closed Thursday and Friday, November 28 and
29, for Thanksgiving. The ARRL Letter and ARRL Audio News will not be
available on those days. The next editions will be on December 5 and 6,
respectively. We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving.
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ARRL Legislative vocacy Committee Drafting New Bill dressing
Antenna Restrictions
The ARRL Board of Directors Legislative vocacy Committee is in the
process of drafting a new bill to address the issue of private land-use
restrictions on amateur radio antennas. The proposed legislation would
be the successor to the Amateur Radio Parity Act. The Legislative
vocacy Committee, chaired by Pacific Division Director Jim Tiemstra,
K6JAT, will report to the Board soon, once plans are fleshed out.
Tiemstra told the ARRL Executive Committee (EC) on October 12 in
Aurora, Colorado, that vocacy Committee members have traveled to
Washington to meet on multiple occasions with members of Congress and
their staffs to inform them of the committee's plans.
ARRL Washington Counsel Dave Siddall, K3ZJ, told the EC last month that
he understands the conditional exemption of amateur radio licensees
from the RF exposure measurement requirements in the FCC's Part 97
Amateur Service rules is proposed to be removed. A Report and Order in
FCC Docket WT 13-84 is making the rounds that, if adopted, would make
amateur licensees subject to the same requirements as all other FCC
licensees. The Report and Order is expected to be released before
year's end.
Siddall also reported to the EC that the FCC is poised to address the
60-meter band amateur allocation adopted at World Radiocommunication
Conference 2015 (WRC-15). The National Telecommunications and
Information ministration (NTIA), on behalf of US government primary
users of the band, has insisted that the maximum permitted power for
radio amateurs must not exceed that agreed to at WRC-15 -- 15 W
effective isotropic radiated power (EIRP) or 9.1 W ERP -- despite the
fact that Canada has authorized its amateur licensees to use 100 W, and
eliminate the current discrete channels, which ARRL's petition proposed
to retain. NTIA oversees federal government frequency allocations and
users.
Minutes of the October 12 Executive Committee meeting were posted this
week on the ARRL website.
WRC-19 Delegates Reach Agreement on 6-Meter Band in ITU Region 1
World Radiocommunication Conference 2019 (WRC-19) has approved a
6-meter allocation for International Telecommunication Region 1
(Europe, Africa, the Middle East). The decision came after more than 2
weeks of strenuous negotiations to reconcile widely disparate views of
Region 1 administrations.
"The result is a dramatic improvement in the international Radio
Regulations for amateurs in Region 1," the International Amateur Radio
Union (IARU) said in announcing the agreement.
When the Final Acts take effect, 44 countries in Region 1 will have a
primary allocation of at least 500 kHz, including 26 countries with a
primary allocation of the 50 - 54 MHz. The entire region will have an
amateur secondary allocation of 50 - 52 MHz, except in Russia, whose
administration opted for only 50.080 - 50.280 MHz on a secondary basis.
Provisions will be in place to protect other existing services using
the band in Region 1 and in neighboring countries in Region 3. The
existing primary allocation of 50 - 54 MHz in Regions 2 and 3 is
unaffected.
The decision on WRC-19 agenda item 1.1 is the culmination of years of
effort by the IARU and its member-societies.
Delegates this week faced a daunting workload as they tried to reach
consensus on several remaining issues, including the agenda for the
next WRC. The final session of the conference plenary to approve texts
for inclusion in the Final Acts of the conference was set to wrap up on
November 21.
As of the end of last week, no choices had been made as to which of
more than three dozen proposed topics will end up on the agenda for
World Radiocommunication Conference 2023. Each proposed agenda item
would require studies to be conducted between 2020 and 2023, but
International Telecommunication Union (ITU) resources will not
accommodate more than about half of the proposals. Some face strong
opposition, while others remain ill-defined even at this late stage of
the conference.
* Short Duration Satellites: No agreement has been reached on how to
protect existing services and uses of the uplink frequency band
proposed for telemetry, tracking, and command of these "simple"
satellites.
* 5725 - 5850 MHz: This part of the amateur secondary allocation,
which includes an amateur-satellite downlink at 5830 - 5850 MHz, is
the subject of an unresolved conflict over parameters for wireless
access systems, including radio local area networks.
* Frequencies above 275 GHz: This upper frequency range is not
allocated, but several bands are identified for passive
(receive-only) use, and administrations are encouraged to protect
them from harmful interference. With that in mind, WRC-19 has
identified other bands above 275 GHz for the implementation of land
mobile and fixed service applications. The use of these bands for
applications in other services, including amateur experimentation,
is not precluded.
With the 50 MHz issue settled, the IARU team devoted most of its energy
to explaining why the proposed Radionavigation Satellite Service (RNSS)
agenda item for 1240 - 1300 MHz is unnecessary and undesirable. At
issue is compatibility between radio amateurs, who are secondary on
1240 - 1300 MHz, with Galileo RNSS (GPS) system receivers. The amateur
community has advocated that this matter be dealt with through existing
ITU processes rather than the 4 years of study that an agenda item
would entail. Read more.
Radio Amateur's "Tribute to a Century of Broadcasting" Video Debuts on
YouTube
Art Donahue, W1AWX, of Franklin, Massachusetts, has posted his "Tribute
to a Century of Broadcasting" video in recognition of the centennial of
formal radio broadcasts. The video features a complete scan of the AM
broadcast band (530 - 1700 kHz), with station IDs for all 118 AM radio
channels.
Donahue told ARRL he recorded these off the air using two long-wire
antennas in the trees. Each slide highlights one station on each
frequency with call sign, location, power, day/night/gray-line
reception, distance, and year of first broadcast, accompanied by audio
of an actual station identification.
"If you ever spent evenings when you were a kid trying to hear
long-distance radio stations on your AM radio, this video has what they
all sound like today," Donahue said. "I wanted to do something in honor
of the KDKA broadcasting centennial next year and thought I'd try to
get every single channel recorded. It took a lot of time, patience, and
good luck. You'll hear a lot of surprises on the video."
Donhaue added, "It was a fun project to work on."
The Doctor Will See You Now!
"Big Wire Antennas" is the topic of the new (November 21) 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.
Melissa Stemmer Joins ARRL Headquarters Staff as Development Manager
Connecticut native Melissa Stemmer has joined the ARRL Headquarters
staff as Development Manager. Born and raised in Waterbury, Stemmer
earned a bachelor's degree in pharmacy from the University of
Connecticut in 1998, and she worked in that field for more than 15
years. After deciding that a career change was in order, Stemmer went
back to school, earning a master's in organizational leadership in 2015
from Quinnipiac University.
"I am so excited to be on this journey at ARRL, and I am looking
forward to getting to know everyone," Stemmer said.
Before coming to ARRL, she was the development director at Seven Angels
Theatre in Waterbury. In September 2015, Stemmer signed on as
coordinator of the theatre's annual High School Halo Awards -- the
largest high school theatre award program in Connecticut.
During her tenure at Seven Angels Theatre, Stemmer was an active member
of the Waterbury Regional Chamber and the Waterbury Exchange Club. She
served on the executive committee and governing council of the Arts and
Culture Collaborative of the Waterbury Region and was a member of the
Young Professionals Task Force of the Waterbury Region.
Youth on the Air Camp Coming to the Americas
The Electronic Applications Radio Service (EARS) has announced that the
first Youth On The Air (YOTA) camp in the US is set to take place in
June. Sponsors hope the camp will become an annual event.
The inaugural summer camp will take place June 21 - 26 at the National
Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting in West Chester Township, Ohio.
The West Chester Amateur Radio Association (WC8VOA) will host the
event. EARS is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization dedicated to
wireless technologies and activities.
According to the announcement, the camp will focus on building peer and
mentor relationships and taking amateur radio "to the next level."
Campers will learn and exercise on-the-air skills at special event
station W8Y.
For more information, email Camp Director Neil Rapp, WB9VPG, or call
(812) 327-0749. (Read more.)
Southern California Hams Support Major Terrorist Attacks Response Drill
Seventy southern California amateur radio volunteers deployed to 30
local hospitals, clinics, and city emergency operations centers on
November 6 to support public safety and emergency medical functions
during a mock terrorist response drill that tested law enforcement and
medical treatment facilities in San Diego County.
The scenario was a coordinated attack at two locations 50 miles apart
that resulted in mass casualties and inundated local emergency
departments with 1,000 volunteer actors suffering from simulated
injuries and frantic families (also actors) trying to locate loved
ones. One simulated attack occurred at California's LEGOLAND theme
park, which closed for a half day to support the exercise. The other
simulated attack occurred at a 20,000-seat amphitheater. During the
5-hour exercise, hams relayed hundreds of formal ICS 213 messages via
Winlink and voice nets from hospital to hospital and from hospitals to
the County Medical Operations Center.
Participants included hams aboard the 1,000-bed US Navy Hospital Ship
USNS Mercy and those who checked in via HF from across the southwestern
US.
Hospitals used this full-scale exercise to fulfill their annual
accreditation training requirement. Recent changes in California
hospital regulations require smaller medical clinics to conduct annual
certification drills, and that expansion of clinic participation has
led to a flood of requests for trained radio operators at hundreds of
day surgery clinics and group homes not covered previously by ARES.
Because demand far exceeds the availability of ARES operators for
mid-week daytime drills, ARRL San Diego Section Manager Dave
Kaltenborn, N8KBC, has encouraged smaller clinics and medical networks
to consider developing their own internal amateur radio capabilities.
Several people involved at the smaller clinics have taken classes and
training provided by ARES.
The exercise included cross-border participation by members of Club de
Radio Experimentadores de Baja California (CREBC) at Tijuana General
Hospital in Tijuana, Mexico. CREBC hams maintain an extensive Winlink
and repeater network used by amateurs on both sides of the border. --
Thanks to ARRL San Diego Section Manager Dave Kaltenborn, N8KBC
Dayton Hamvention^(R) Invites 2020 Award Nominations
Dayton Hamvention^(R) is inviting nominations for its 2020 awards.
Nominations are due by February 15, 2020. Awards will be granted for
Amateur of the Year, Club of the Year, Technical Achievement, and
Special Achievement.
* The Amateur of the Year Award is given to a radio amateur who has
made a long-term commitment to the advancement of amateur radio.
This individual will have a history of ham radio contributions and
demonstrated dedication to service, professionalism, and the
advancement of the avocation of amateur radio.
* [IMG]The Club of the Year will be honored for clearly demonstrating
its involvement in varied aspects of amateur radio for the greater
good of their community and/or nation.
* The Technical Achievement Award recognizes a radio amateur who has
achieved technical excellence in the world of amateur radio.
Examples are inventions, processes, discoveries, experiments, and
other technical accomplishments or achievements that contributed to
amateur radio.
* The Special Achievement Award recognizes a radio amateur who has
made an outstanding contribution to the advancement of the radio
art and/or science. This award is usually given to a respected
amateur who spearheaded a single significant project.
Nomination forms are specific to the award. At a minimum, each form
should be completed with the information indicated. Provide contact
information for the person making the nomination. Submit forms via
email or via USPS to Hamvention, Attention: Awards Committee, Box 964,
Dayton, Ohio 45401-0964.
The Awards Committee will make its selections and announce the
recipients along with details on their accomplishments. An honors
convocation and award presentation will be held on the Saturday evening
of Hamvention. Award presentations will also take place at Hamvention
on Sunday afternoon, prior to the prize award activity.
For more information, contact the Dayton Hamvention Awards Committee.
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Still no sunspots since November 2.
Average daily solar flux during the reporting week dipped slightly from
70.3 to 69.9. Geomagnetic conditions were quiet, with the average daily
planetary A index dipping from 4 to 3.6, and the average mid-latitude A
index going from 3 to 2.3.
Predicted solar flux is 70 on November 21 - 22; 68 on November 23; 67
on November 24 - 27; 69 on November 28 - December 8; 70 on December 9 -
22, and 69 on December 23 - January 4.
The predicted planetary A index is 20, 16, and 10 on November 21 - 23;
8 on November 24 - 25; 5 on November 26 - December 12; 6 on December
13; 5 on December 14 - 15; 8, 15, 20, 18, and 10 on December 16 - 20; 8
on December 21 - 23, and 5 on December 24 - January 4.
Sunspot numbers for November 14 - 20 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, and 0, with
a mean of 0. The 10.7-centimeter flux was 69.9, 70, 69.7, 70.1, 70.4,
69.2, and 70.2, with a mean of 69.9. Estimated planetary A indices were
4, 4, 6, 5, 2, 2, and 2, with a mean of 3.6. The mid-latitude A index
was 3, 2, 5, 3, 1, 1, and 1, with a mean of 2.3.
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
* November 23 - 24 -- CQ Worldwide DX Contest (CW)
* November 27 -- SKCC Sprint (CW)
* November 27 -- UKEICC 80-Meter Contest (CW)
* November 28 -- 3.5 RSGB 80-Meter Autumn Series (CW)
* December 1 -- Russian WW MultiMode Contest (CW, phone, digital)
* December 3 -- ARS Spartan Sprint (CW)
* December 5 -- 1.8 QRP ARCI Topband Sprint (CW)
* December 5 -- NRAU 10-Meter Activity Contest (CW, phone, digital)
* December 5 -- SKCC Sprint Europe (CW)
* December 6 - 8 -- ARRL 160-Meter Contest (CW)
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.
Alaska and Tennessee Getting New Section Managers
Two new Section Managers (SMs) have been declared elected in the
just-concluded fall election cycle. Ballots for the Alaska and
Tennessee Section Manager elections were counted on November 19 at ARRL
Headquarters. Eight incumbent Section Managers ran without opposition
during this election cycle. All terms of office start on January 1.
In a very close race in Alaska, David Stevens, KL7EB, received 98
votes, and his opponent, Lara Baker, AL2R, received 88 votes. Both are
from Anchorage. Stevens served previously as Alaska's SM, from 1984
until 1985; from 1998 until 1999, and from 2002 through 2007. Stevens
takes over as Section Manager from Ray Hollenbeck, KL1IL, of Wasilla,
who has led the Alaska Section for the past 4 years.
In Tennessee, David Thomas, KM4NYI, of Knoxville, outpolled Charles
Talley, KJ4KVC, of Lyles, 557 to 417. An active member of the Radio
Amateur Club of Knoxville, Thomas serves on the club's Repeater
Committee as a hands-on technician for the club's repeater suite. He
enjoys restoring tube-type ham gear, operating HF, 6 meters, and
digital modes.
Thomas will be taking the reins of the Tennessee Field Organization
from Keith Miller, N9DGK, of Rockvale, who decided not to run for a new
term. Miller has served as Section Manager since 2012.
These incumbent Section Managers were the only candidates in their
respective sections and have been declared elected. JVann Martin, W4JVM
(Alabama); Bill Duveneck, KB3KYH (Delaware); Jim Siemons, W6LK (East
Bay); Ron Cowan, KB0DTI (Kansas); Jim Kvochick, K8JK (Michigan); Bill
Mader, K8TE (New Mexico); John Kitchens, NS6X (Santa Barbara), and Ray
Lajoie, KB1LRL (Western Massachusetts).
Why Propagation Repeats About Every 27 Days
The sun rotates in about 27 days, but different solar latitudes rotate
with different periods. This is why propagation repeats roughly every
27 days, as NASA explains.
The sun's rotation was first detected by observing the motion of
sunspots. The sun's rotation axis is tilted by about 7.25ø from the
axis of Earth's orbit, so we see more of the sun's north pole in
September and more of its south pole in March. Because the sun is a
ball of gas/plasma, it does not have to rotate rigidly, as solid
planets and moons do. In fact, the sun's equatorial regions rotate
faster -- taking only about 24 days -- than the polar regions, which
rotate once every 30+ days.
The source of this "differential rotation" is an area of current
research in solar astronomy. -- Thanks to The ARRL Contest Update and
NASA
In Brief...
OH2BH to Be On the Air from Myanmar The government in Myanmar has given
limited amateur operating privileges to Martti Laine, OH2BH. He will
use XZ2D. Laine reports that authorities in the Southeast Asian nation
have only permitted him to operate on 15 meters and higher, but he is
hoping to obtain permission to operate on a spot frequency on 20
meters. "Getting 14.065 kHz temporarily for the duration of 48 hours
would be magic," Laine said. Members of the world-wide amateur
community wrote the Myanmar government to support Laine. "As Radio
Arcala, OH8X remains at their Climate Park with more than 110,000
mangroves planted," he continued. "[O]ur dream remains to activate the
Union of Myanmar from our own site from the noise-free Ayeyarwady
Region of Myanmar." The XZ2D license is valid until April 17. Laine
said he has been setting up his station and should be on the air on
November 21. According to Club Log's DXCC Most Wanted list, Myanmar is
#48.
Happy 45th Birthday, AMSAT-OSCAR 7! The world's longest-lived
satellite, AO-7, turned 45 years old this month. It was launched on
November 15, 1974, from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. After
nearly 7 years of service, AO-7 was thought to have reached the end of
its life in June 1981 due to battery failure, and a premature obituary
appeared in the AMSAT Satellite Report. In an interesting footnote,
although AO-7 was thought to be nonfunctional after 1981, it's been
reported that the Polish Solidarity movement used AO-7 to pass messages
in 1982, while Poland was under martial law. Twenty years later, on
June 21, 2002, G3IOR reported hearing "an old-style CW beacon" from an
unknown OSCAR near 145.970 MHz. It didn't take long to identify the
satellite as AO-7, which remains operational and well-used while it's
in sunlight. To celebrate AO-7's 45th birthday, AMSAT plans to auction
a set of gold-plated AO-7 cufflinks and a 50th Anniversary AMSAT lab
coat (size 42R). The auctions are now live on eBay and will conclude
shortly after 0200 UTC on November 26, 2019. AMSAT reports that 100% of
the proceeds will go toward Keeping Amateur Radio in Space. -- Thanks
to AMSAT News Service
ARRL Self-Guided Emergency Communication Course EC-001-S is Now
Available On Demand ARRL's EC-001-S online "Introduction to Emergency
Communication" course is now available to students in an on-demand
format, allowing students to register for the course and begin work at
any time. This course is designed to provide basic knowledge and tools
for any emergency communications volunteer. In response to the great
course demand and to expand access to EC-001, ARRL developed a
self-guided version of the course, EC-001-S, which launched in June.
This version of the course is designed for those who prefer to work
independently and who do not need guidance from an online mentor.
EC-001-S was previously offered only during specific sessions along
with the traditional mentored version. The course opened for general
enrollment on November 6. Visit the ARRL Online Course Registration
page for more information and to register.
Florida and Georgia Amateur Radio Volunteers Support the Spaghetti 100
Bicycle Ride Two dozen amateur radio volunteers from the Tallahassee
Amateur Radio Society (TARS) in Florida and the Thomasville Amateur
Radio Club (TARC) in Georgia provided communication support for the
Capital City Cyclists' 35th annual Spaghetti 100 Bicycle Ride on
November 9. The Spaghetti 100 funds the Kids on Bikes program, which
teaches hundreds of elementary schoolers how to ride a bicycle safely
and helps to support the Trips for Kids chapter, which takes
disadvantaged youth on bike rides on local trails. The hams used one of
the TARS VHF repeaters to provide communication for safety and
logistics, as well as for the medical and mechanical teams. Cell phone
coverage is very sparse along the 100-mile route on back-country roads
in northern Florida and southern Georgia. Communications Coordinator
Stan Zawrotny, K4SBZ, said the importance of ham radio's traditional
role in filling communication gaps was brought home to him when the
land line at the ride's headquarters was out for several hours, leaving
amateur radio as the only communication for some areas. "In addition to
the thanks given by most of the bicyclists as they passed by, event
sponsors expressed their appreciation for the work of the ham radio
volunteers and were impressed with the capabilities of amateur radio,"
Zawrotny said.
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Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
* December 13 - 14 -- West Central Florida Section Convention, Plant
City, Florida
* January 4 -- New York City-Long Island Section Convention,
Brookville, New York
* January 17 - 18 -- North Texas Section Convention, Forest Hill,
Texas
* January 19 - 25 -- Quartzfest, Quartzsite, Arizona
* January 24 - 26 -- Puerto Rico State Convention, Hatillo, Puerto
Rico
* January 25 -- ARRL Midwest Conference
Find conventions and hamfests in your area.
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* Origin: Outpost BBS * Limestone, TN, USA (1:18/200)
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