QRZ Forums - Amateur Radio News
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Experimental 30 Meter Mobile Beacon
Posted: 08 May 2014 12:03 PM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...n&goto=newpost
Starting on May 15th at 1400 GMT (8:00 CDST) the first 30 Meter Mobile
Beacon will be on the air at 10.129 MHz on our way to the Dayton
Hamvention. We are using a quarter wave trailing wire for the antenna that
will be floating behind the vehicle. The beacon will be mounted on the
passenger side dashboard and Al Gallo, W0ERE will be the Chief Operator of
the Beacon providing up to date grid locations during our travel. “SAP”
N0SAP/M, will monitor 18.113 MHz for any live reports heard from the beacon
during our travel to and from the Dayton Hamvention. Our return date is
May 20th.
We take Ham Radio in the true sense of being an experimental hobby. We
are asking for signal reports by email and/or audio files sent to
.
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The ARRL Letter, May 8, 2014
Posted: 08 May 2014 10:56 AM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...4&goto=newpost
The ARRL Letter
May 8, 2014
Rick Lindquist, WW1ME, Editor
[Note: Clicking on the story links below will take you to the news article
as it appears in The ARRL Letter on the ARRL website.]
Public Service: Ham Volunteers Shift Gears to Handle Mountain Bike Event
EmergencyPublic Service: Hurricane Watch Net Seeks Net Control
OperatorsRegulatory: ARRL Opposes FCC Proposal to Leave Licensed Service
Users Open to Unlicensed InterferenceRegulatory: Canadian Radio Amateurs
Gain New 472-479 kHz BandCentennial: ARRL Centennial Convention Attracting
Growing List of Vendors and ExhibitorsCentennial: ARRL to Celebrate its
100th Birthday at Dayton!Centennial: W1AW Centennial Operations Shift
States on May 14 (UTC)Events: Massachusetts to Host USA ARDF Championships
June 5-8Ham Radio in Space: Tiny KickSat "Sprite" Satellites May Not
DeployMilestones: Past SCM, DXer, Propagation Forecaster Lee Wical, KH6BZF,
SKFeature: A Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRLThe K7RA Solar UpdateJust
Ahead in RadiosportUpcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions
and Events
Public Service: Ham Volunteers Shift Gears to Handle Mountain Bike Event
Emergency
The 2014 Whiskey Off-Road Mountain Bike Event on April 26 in the Prescott,
Arizona, area quickly developed into a real emergency exercise for Yavapai
Amateur Radio Club volunteers, who were supporting communication for the
11th annual race. Some 2000 amateur and professional mountain bike riders
took part in the 50-mile event. About an hour after it began, however,
temperatures dropped, and riders were confronted with a mixture of rain,
high winds, sleet, and snow. As the weather worsened, some riders dropped
out at the second checkpoint, returning to Prescott via a connecting road.
Other riders, however, soldiered on through two more checkpoints, at which
time another 50 participants quit, due to the worsening weather. Some
exhibited symptoms of possible hypothermia. Event communications quickly
switched into evacuation mode, and the net control station contacted all
checkpoints to determine how many riders needed transportation back to
Prescott.
"Net control worked with race, search-and-rescue, and other emergency
personnel to coordinate transportation to evacuate these riders," Yavapai
County Arizona ARES District Emergency Coordinator Lloyd Halgunseth,
WA6ZZJ, explained. "Personal vehicles and a bus were used in the
evacuation."
With evacuation transportation on its way, Amateur Radio volunteers and
race personnel staffing checkpoints provided warm refuge in their own
vehicles for those riders who were suffering the most. The race continued,
and Amateur Radio and event communications were used to locate some missing
riders. Once things settled down, the net shifted back into its accustomed
role of gathering race updates from the checkpoints. Everyone was brought
in safely, albeit a bit cold. Abandoned bikes were retrieved and returned
to the event center.
Despite the challenging conditions, more than 300 cyclists completed the
entire course. The weather front broke later in the morning, and the second
race began around noon. Race officials shortened the second ride from a
planned 25 miles to 15 miles, and it finished with no major incidents.
"During this emergency communications exercise, Amateur Radio enabled a
quick response by race officials, which kept a bad situation from getting
worse," Halgunseth said. "This response contributed to the overall success
of this 3-day event."
The Yavapai Amateur Radio Club is an ARRL-affiliated Special Service Club.
-- Thanks to Frank Bender, K8FB
Public Service: Hurricane Watch Net Seeks Net Control Operators
The Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) needs additional net control operators.
Hurricane Season in the Atlantic begins June 1 and ends November 30; in the
Eastern Pacific, it runs from May 15 until November 30. The Hurricane Watch
Net activates on 14.325 MHz when an Atlantic Basin hurricane is within 300
miles of landfall, or at the request of the National Hurricane Center (NHC)
in Miami. HWN Manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, said the net has been getting
everything in place for its 50th straight season, and that includes
recruiting well-qualified, experienced net control operators who can
effectively communicate with the hurricane-prone areas of Eastern Canada,
the US East Coast, the Gulf of Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean.
"We are especially looking for bilingual operators, as we recognize that
some Latin American operators hesitate to check in and send reports to us,
if they aren't fluent in English," Graves said. "The Hurricane Watch Net
relies on volunteer operators -- our members -- who serve as our net
control stations. These volunteers are hams who have above-average stations
and are willing to commit their time to operating in support of the HWN's
mission during net activations."
Graves conceded that net sessions can be "long, and, at times, very
stressful." He noted that while the HWN primarily operates on 14.325 MHz,
it is also looking for volunteers who can handle net control duties on the
low end of the 40 meter phone band. "When 20 meters fades away in the
evening," he said, "we lose the ability to effectively communicate with our
reporting stations or the National Hurricane Center."
Net control operators must be HWN members, but radio amateurs do not need
to be HWN members to participate in the net as reporting stations. HWN
participants provide observed or measured weather reports, or relay
assistance as required by the net control station.
Radio amateurs interested in becoming HWN members or volunteering as net
control stations should visit the net's Membership Information page. Read
more
Regulatory: ARRL Opposes FCC Proposal to Leave Licensed Service Users Open
to Unlicensed Interference
Asserting "a substantial stake" in the outcome of the proceeding, the ARRL
has commented in opposition to an FCC proposal that would leave licensed
radio service users vulnerable to interference from unlicensed devices. In
a docket unrelated to Amateur Radio spectrum, the Commission has indicated
that it's willing to consider adding licensed Globalstar terrestrial users
to the 2473-2483.5 MHz band -- already shared by licensed and unlicensed
services -- with the condition that customer handset users in the new
allocation accept interference from unlicensed radio services now legally
operating there. The League's comments were in response to a Notice of
Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) in IB Docket 13-213 and RM-11685.
"This plan would for the first time create a multiple-use, radio frequency
environment in which Part 15 unlicensed devices do not have to protect a
licensed, allocated radio service from harmful interference," the ARRL
stressed. "This is untenable as a precedent, and it makes the entirety of
the [NPRM] likewise untenable."
The League said allowing Globalstar to deploy Ancillary Terrestrial
Component (ATC) users of its Mobile-Satellite Service (MSS) system under
technical rules that apply to unlicensed users would depart from
long-standing rules protecting licensed radio services from interference
resulting from the use of unlicensed Part 15 or Part 18 ISM devices.
The League said the proposal "represents an unprecedented withdrawal of the
assurances that licensed users have been given by the Commission and relied
upon in dozens of allocation proceedings." The League said many Commission
orders "consistently embody" the principle that Part 15 device operators
must cease operations that cause harmful interference.
"The Commission cannot, consistent with the entire regulatory underpinning
for allowing Part 15 devices, premise an allocation decision in this case
on the unique provision that a component of a licensed radio service will
not be entitled to interference protection from Part 15 devices, whether
those unlicensed devices are incumbent or deployed in the future in the
band at issue," the League concluded.
The ARRL suggested that the FCC "do some bona fide technical evaluation" of
compatibility between and among services in and below the band at question
and of ATC systems before deciding whether or not the proposed overlay is
compatible.
"The price of making the wrong assumptions is too high in this and similar
allocations proceedings," the ARRL said, "and the damage from the wrong
assumptions will be, practically speaking, impossible to reverse." Read
more.
Regulatory: Canadian Radio Amateurs Gain New 472-479 kHz Band
As of May 1, radio amateurs in Canada have a new allocation at 472-479 kHz.
The 7 kilohertz sliver of spectrum is available to hams there on a
secondary basis. Delegates attending the 2012 World Radiocommunication
Conference (WRC-12) approved a secondary allocation between 472-479 kHz for
the Amateur Radio Service, and telecommunications regulator Industry Canada
subsequently proposed numerous revisions to its Table of Frequency
Allocations, including the new MF band. Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC)
announced the band's "official implementation" on May 3.
"Canadian amateur operators have recently secured two new segments of
spectrum, thanks to the very hard work of RAC volunteers," the announcement
said. "The 60 meter band allocation was made official a few month ago as
well."
MF and LF experimenter Joe Craig, VO1NA, "discovered" last week that the
long-awaited new 630 meter band had become available, after he checked the
Table of Frequency Allocations. Craig said it didn't take long for him and
his wife Michelle, VO1RL, "to get our feet wet" on the new allocation. She
stayed at home, while Joe tossed some gear into the car and drove to a park
for their first contact on the new band (at 473 kHz on CW).
Last fall Industry Canada issued an experimental radio license to Craig's
club, the Marconi Radio Club of Newfoundland (VO1MRC), endorsing
experimental station VX9MRC to conduct transmissions on 472-479 kHz on
December 14 and 15, to call attention to the potential new Amateur Radio
band there and to the role ham radio plays in emergency communication.
The ARRL in 2012 petitioned the FCC to carve out the same band for US hams,
but the Commission has not yet acted on the League's request. The
ARRL-sponsored WD2XSH experimental operation in that region of the spectrum
continues, with Fritz Raab, W1FR, as the coordinator. Other experimenters
also operate there from time to time.
By international agreement, the maximum equivalent isotropically radiated
power (EIRP) of amateur stations using 472-479 kHz may not exceed 5 W (or 1
W EIRP in some locations).
Craig believes the new band will appeal to a broader group of hams than do
more-demanding LF allocations. He has predicted that transatlantic
contacts, while challenging, "should be fairly common using conventional CW
and digital modes." Read more.
Centennial: ARRL Centennial Convention Attracting Growing List of Vendors
and Exhibitors
Upward of 7 dozen vendors and exhibitors already are planning to be on hand
for the ARRL National Centennial Convention in mid-July.
Convention activities begin on Thursday, July 17. The 60,000 square feet
exhibit hall will be open all day Friday and Saturday, July 18 and 19, at
the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford, for what promises to be the
largest gathering of its kind in the Northeast.
"We're very excited that so many of our QST advertisers, business partners,
fellow societies, and radio clubs from around the country and the world
will be coming to Connecticut for the Centennial Convention and to help the
League celebrate its 100th birthday," said ARRL Business Services Manager
Deb Jahnke, K1DAJ. "It's going to be quite a show!"
It's anticipated that some vendors may offer "show specials" during the 2
days the spacious exhibit hall is open. In addition, there will be two
major prize drawings. The ARRL and R&L Electronics will co-sponsor a
drawing for a $5000 grand prize gift certificate, and ARRL and FlexRadio
will co-sponsor a drawing for a $2500 gift certificate. "The certificates
will be redeemable at the co-sponsors' respective establishments," Jahnke
explained.
Winners will be drawn from eligible registrants at the end of the
convention on Saturday, July 19. The winners do not need to present during
the drawings.
The exhibit hall also will be the place to network with other ARRL members
and friends. Conventioneers from all 50 states and more than a dozen
countries have already registered. Those attending the convention also will
want to visit the large ARRL exhibit area, featuring program
representatives, officials, and a store full of the latest ARRL
publications and membership gear.
Thousands of League members and friends are expected to gather in Hartford,
ARRL's birthplace, to celebrate the organization's first 100 years of
members "Advancing the Art and Science of Radio." Register now to be among
them!
Centennial: ARRL to Celebrate its 100th Birthday at Dayton!
Owing perhaps to grand coincidence, the 100th birthday of the ARRL -- the
actual day -- will fall on Sunday, May 18, the final day of Dayton
Hamvention® 2014. On that date a century earlier, Amateur Radio pioneers
Hiram Percy Maxim and Clarence Tuska, founded the American Radio Relay
League. On Sunday, May 18, at 9:15 AM in Room 1 of Hara Arena, ARRL
President Kay Craigie, N3KN, and Chief Executive Officer David Sumner,
K1ZZ, will host a party, complete with a cake, to wish the ARRL a happy
100th birthday.
Dayton Hamvention is a Regional ARRL Centennial Event. W100AW/8 will be on
the air from Hamvention as a special event station.
ARRL EXPO in the Ballarena will be the nerve center of the League's
Hamvention presence, which will include booths highlighting various League
activities. Visitors can pick up a free Centennial Coin, while supplies
last. The ARRL Store will offer for sale various ARRL publications and all
manner of gear -- don't forget ARRL Field Day supplies (T shirts, hats,
mugs, posters)! Visitors who join ARRL or renew their League memberships at
ARRL EXPO will receive a free gift. Join or renew for 3 years and take home
a free ARRL Centennial Edition Handbook. ARRL Dayton 2014 buttons also will
be available for free.
ARRL EXPO exhibits will include the ARRL Laboratory's "Get Your Handheld
Radio Tested!" as well as the Youth Lounge and activities aimed especially
at younger visitors. Representatives from ARRL Headquarters and many
volunteers will be on hand for DXCC card checking and to answer questions
about ARRL contests and awards, the Centennial QSO Party, the QSL Service,
Logbook of The World, the ARRL Second Century Campaign, ham radio and
Scouting, and more.
ARRL EXPO also is the place to meet and network with ARRL Field
Organization volunteers from around the country. The ARRL Ohio Section will
serve as the host for visitors.
The League will sponsor several forums throughout Hamvention weekend. On
Friday, May 16, at 2:30 PM in Room 5, the League will present the
video "ARRL at 100 -- A Century of Ham Radio." A discussion will follow
about the ARRL Centennial celebration and ways hams can help to promote
Amateur Radio in their communities. Attendees will receive a complimentary
ARRL historical timeline. A repeat presentation will take place Saturday at
10:30 AM in Room 3.
The popular ARRL Member Forum will take place on Saturday at 1:15 PM in
Room 3. ARRL Great Lakes Division Director Jim Weaver, K8JE, will moderate.
National and local League officials will be on hand to discuss key areas of
member interest. At more than 163,000 members, the League is the world's
largest national Amateur Radio association.
The League also will sponsor two antenna-related forums on Saturday at
Dayton. Starting at 9:15 AM in Room 5, The ARRL Handbook and The ARRL
Antenna Book Editor Ward Silver, N0AX, will host "Getting Started with
Antenna Modeling." The discussion will focus on how to use antenna modeling
software to design simple antennas, based on the EZNEC antenna modeling
program. Saturday afternoon at 2:30 in Room 3, Silver will
present "Impedance Matching 101," an overview of impedance matching for
amateur applications -- what it is, and why it's necessary.
The ARRL will be marking its Centennial throughout Hamvention weekend, too.
It's a good time to learn more about the ARRL National Centennial
Convention, July 17-19 in Hartford, Connecticut.
Centennial: W1AW Centennial Operations Shift States on May 14 (UTC)
The ARRL Centennial W1AW WAS operations taking place throughout 2014 from
each of the 50 states will relocate at 0000 UTC on Wednesday, May 14 (the
evening of May 13 in US time zones), from Nebraska (W1AW/0) to South Dakota
(W1AW/0). Nebraska was the first state to repeat as a W1AW Centennial host.
There will be just one state the week of May 14-20. Utah, initially
scheduled to repeat that week, will instead host W1AW the week of July 2-8.
Additional schedule changes have been made, and the schedule has been
updated to reflect these. During 2014 W1AW will be on the air from every
state (at least twice) and most US territories.
In conjunction with the 100th anniversary of the ARRL, the ARRL Centennial
QSO Party kicked off January 1 for a year-long operating event in which
participants can accumulate points and win awards. The event is open to
all, although only ARRL members and appointees, elected officials, HQ staff
and W1AW are worth ARRL Centennial QSO Party points.
Working W1AW/x from each state is worth 5 points per mode/contact, even
when working the same state during its second week of activity. To earn
the "Worked all States with W1AW Award," work W1AW operating portable from
all 50 states. (For award credit, participants must work W1AW/1 in
Connecticut.) A W1AW WAS certificate and plaque will be available.
The ARRL has posted an ARRL Centennial QSO Party leader board that
participants can use to determine how many points they have accumulated in
the Centennial QSO Party and in the W1AW WAS operations. Log in using your
Logbook of The World (LoTW) user name and password, and your position will
appear at the top of the leader boards. Results are updated daily, based on
contacts entered into LoTW.
Events: Massachusetts to Host USA ARDF Championships June 5-8
The USA ARDF (Amateur Radio Direction Finding) Championships return to the
Northeast this year. ARRL ARDF Coordinator Joe Moell, K0OV, said on-foot
foxhunting fans of all skill levels will gather near Boston in early June
for 4 days of intense competition. Registration to participate in the event
has been extended to June 1.
Activities begin on Thursday, June 5 with a 10-transmitter short-course
sprint competition on 80 meters. The following day is the foxoring event, a
combination of RDF and classic orienteering on 80 meters in which
participants navigate to marked locations on their maps where very
low-power transmitters can be found nearby. Saturday morning will be the
classic full-course 2 meter main event, with five transmitters in a very
large forest. The banquet and awards presentation follow that evening. A
similar full-course 80 meter main event takes place Sunday morning, with
awards presented afterward.
National ARDF championships typically take place in late summer or early
fall. This year, though, the ARDF World Championships will take place
during early September, however. To provide plenty of time for selecting
Team USA members and planning overseas travel, the 2014 USA ARDF
Championships must take place 3 months before.
ARDF championship rules are set by the International Amateur Radio Union
(IARU). For scoring and awards, participants are divided into 11 age/gender
categories. In classic ARDF championships, competitors start in small
groups comprised of different categories.
The USA ARDF Championships are open to anyone who can safely navigate the
woods solo. A ham radio license is not required. Each participant competes
as an individual.
Stateside winners will be considered for membership in ARDF Team USA, which
will travel to Kazakhstan for the 17th ARDF World Championships.
An online entry form and more information are available on the Boston ARDF
website. Read more. -- Thanks to Joe Moell, K0OV, ARRL Amateur Radio
Direction Finding Coordinator
Ham Radio in Space: Tiny KickSat "Sprite" Satellites May Not Deploy
Because of a technical glitch, the KickSat CubeSat may not be able to
deploy its cargo of tiny "Sprite" satellites after all, Project Manager Zac
Manchester, KD2BHC, announced on May 3. The Sprites, each about
A Hacksat "Sprite" development board.
[https://flux.org.uk/projects/hacksat/hardware.html]
the size of a small cracker, would be the smallest satellites ever to orbit
Earth. Manchester said an unexpected reset of KickSat's master clock may
mean that the 3U CubeSat won't be able to release the 104 Sprite satellites
before it deorbits and burns up in the atmosphere. He further explained
that ground controllers can't command the Sprites to release, because the
uplink radio used to trigger deployment is unable to power up until the
spacecraft's batteries reach 8 V. The batteries have been "holding steady"
at 6.5 V, Manchester said, and he doesn't anticipate that the voltage will
increase to the required level before the satellite drops out of orbit.
"As those who've been keeping up with the telemetry data coming in from
KickSat may have noticed, the packets we've been receiving have changed in
the last couple of days," Manchester said. "This was due to a hard reset of
the 'watchdog' microcontroller on KickSat -- the sort of 'reptile brain' of
the satellite that manages turning on and off the rest of the subsystems
and keeps the master clock."
Manchester, a Cornell graduate student in aerospace engineering, believes
the culprit is radiation, rather than power issues. The reset restarted the
Sprite deployment countdown at 16 days, pushing it out to May 16.
Manchester said it looks like KickSat will lose orbit before then, although
he held out a slim possibility that it could stay up that long.
"We've spent the last couple of days here at Cornell trying to think of
every possible contingency, but it seems there aren't very many options
right now," he said. "While the situation looks a little bleak, there is
still some hope that the batteries may recharge sufficiently to command the
satellite. There is also a small chance that KickSat could remain in orbit
until May 16, at which point the timer would set off the deployment as
originally planned."
Manchester said the KickSat team will continue tracking the satellite over
the next few days -- "with the help of the ham community" -- tracking its
battery voltage and the Sprite deployment status. "Thank you again for your
support," he added. "I promise that this won't be the end of the KickSat
project." Read more.
Milestones: Past SCM, DXer, Propagation Forecaster Lee Wical, KH6BZF, SK
Lee C. Wical, KH6BZF, of Kaneohe, Hawaii, died May 2 after a period of
declining health. He was 79 and had not been active on the air in recent
years. Growing up in Ohio, Wical became interested in radio after getting
an old A****er Kent from his grandfather in 1938, becoming a BCL and,
later, an SWL. His uncle and a cousin both were hams. Early on he aspired
to become a minor league baseball player, but he opted eventually for a
career in electrical engineering.
Wical said on his QRZ.com page that he learned Morse code while in the Boy
Scouts, and that his knowledge of the code attracted the interest of the US
Army Signal Corps when he was in the service during the Korean Conflict. He
got his Novice ticket in 1955 while in Hawaii and almost immediately became
interested into DXing.
While attending college on the GI Bill, he got his first class FCC
Radiotelephone License and went to work for broadcast stations in Ohio.
After graduation he moved to Hawaii and was employed in various engineering
positions before signing on with the federal government for 36 years.
Following that, he resumed his career at AT&T and Lucent Technologies,
working around the world before finally retiring in 1997.
From1962 until 1972, Wical served as ARRL Section Communications Manager
(now SM) for Hawaii. He also was a state MARS director. Wical was an ARRL
VEC and W5YI volunteer examiner "to put something back into radio, which
gave me a great vocation and a great hobby," as he explained. He was an
ARRL Charter Life Member as well as a life member of the QCWA and of AMSAT.
He was a charter member and co-founder of the Honolulu DX Club and on the
club's Board of Directors.
Wical had attained the ARRL DXCC Honor Roll with 358 entities confirmed. He
belonged to the A-1 Operators Club and ARRL's Old Timer's Club. He edited
and published the "KH6BZF Reports" HF propagation forecast and occasionally
prepared the ARRL Propagation Bulletin for W1AW.
An ARRL Diamond Club member, Wical also belonged to the ARRL Legacy Circle
and had included the ARRL in his estate. -- Thanks to Rich Gelber, K2WR,
Ron Hashiro, AH6RH, and Tetsuo Tanaka, AH7C
Feature: A Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRL
I've always enjoyed reading about the history of Amateur Radio, ever since
I was first licensed as a Novice in 1952. Up to this point in this series,
I've recounted events I'd only read or heard about from the old timers of
my youth. From now on, I'll be reporting about the exciting times I lived
through as a young ham and, later, as an old timer.
During World War II, manufacturing processes were developed to
inexpensively manufacture flexible coaxial cable. Thousands of miles of
coaxial cable showed up on the military surplus market after the war, and
hams fell into the then-new habit of using coax to feed their antennas.
With the advent of TV, inexpensive 300 W "twin lead" became common, and
hams also used that for feed line. But TV's arrival certainly had a darker
side for Amateur Radio -- television interference (TVI)!
Much early TV broadcasting was on the lower VHF channels -- low enough in
frequency to be affected by harmonics (and other radiation) from HF ham
transmitters, in addition to fundamental overload of the TV's front end by
a strong ham signal. The 15 meter amateur band opened in May 1952, and some
early TV receivers used a 21 MHz IF!
Although most TVI problems were a result of poor interference rejection of
the TV receivers, all the neighbor knew was that we hams were ruining his
newfound, precious entertainment medium, for which he had paid big bucks.
Phil Rand, W1DBM, worked with the ARRL to develop TVI-reduction techniques
and methods, and he authored many QST articles on the subject during the
1950s. As part of the League's efforts to help hams reduce TVI, ARRL staff
member Lew McCoy, W1ICP, took his "TVI show" on the road to ham clubs and
community meetings around the country, explaining and demonstrating the
problem and showing how hams could reduce their neighbors' -- and perhaps
their own -- TVI. It was a long time before this problem was under control,
but the League's efforts were a major factor in turning the tide.
Next week: What is this thing called "single sideband?" -- Al Brogdon, W1AB
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: We saw an uptick in solar indices this
week (May 1-7) compared to the previous 7 days, with average daily sunspot
number rising from 73.4 to 118.4, and average daily solar flux up 13 to
135.6. The most active geomagnetic days were May 4-5, with planetary A
index at a moderate 16 and 10, mid-latitude A indices of 15 and 11, and the
high latitude college A index (measured at Fairbanks, Alaska) at 25 and 10.
Predicted solar flux for the near term is 145 for May 8-9, 150 for May
10-12, 145 for May 13-15, 140 for May 16-17, 135 onr May 18, 130 for May
19-20, 125 on May 21, and 120 for May 22-26.
The near-term peak of 184 on June 9 disappeared from the daily 45-day
outlook on May 5. The predicted solar flux for that date was 155 in the
April 25-27 forecasts, jumped to 184 from April 28 through May 4, and was
down to 131 in the May 5-7 forecasts.
Predicted planetary A index is 8 for May 8-9, then 12, 10, 8, and 5 for May
10-13, 8 for May 14-15, 5 for May 16-20, then 10 and 8 for May 21-22, 5 for
May 23-30, then 8 for May 31 through June 1, 12 on June 2, 8 for June 3-4,
and 12 on June 5-6.
At 0538 UTC on May 8 the Australian Space Forecast Centre issued a
geomagnetic warning. Increased geomagnetic activity is expected for the
rest of May 8 due to a coronal mass ejection.
Currently a spate of new sunspot groups are appearing around our Sun's
eastern horizon. This is good news for HF propagation. You can track the
progress of emerging sunspots via the STEREO satellites.
HF conditions are good right now, especially when compared to earlier
points in this weak current solar cycle. We appear to be at a second or
third peak in Cycle 24 activity, with no certainty as to how long this will
last.
This weekly "Solar Update" in The ARRL Letter is a preview of
the "Propagation Bulletin" issued each Friday. The latest bulletin and an
archive of past propagation bulletins is on the ARRL website.
In tomorrow's bulletin look for an updated forecast and reports from
readers, as well as a new tool recommended by Jim Henderson, KF7E.
Send me your reports and observations.
Just Ahead in Radiosport
May 10 -- Alessandro Volta RTTY DX Contest
May 10 -- Armed Forces Communications Test
May 10 -- FISTS Spring Sprint
May 10-11 -- CQ-M International DX Contest
May 10-11 -- Portuguese Navy Day
May 10-11 -- Nevada Mustang Roundup
May 10-11 -- 50 MHz Spring Sprint
May 11-12 -- Straight Key Weekend Sprintathon
May 14 -- CWops Monthly Mini-CWT Tests
May 17 -- Portuguese Navy Day
May 17 -- Feld-Hell Hamvention Sprint
May 17-18 -- His Majesty, the King of Spain Contest
May 17-18 -- Baltic Contest
May 18 -- Worked All Britain (7 MHz Phone)
May 19 -- Run For the Bacon
Visit the Contest Calendar for details.
Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
May 16-18 -- Dayton Hamvention -- Regional ARRL Centennial Event, Dayton,
Ohio
May 30 ---Jun 1 Nevada State Convention, Virginia City, Nevada
June 6-8 -- Northwestern Division Convention (SeaPac) -- Regional ARRL
Centennial Event, Seaside, Oregon
June 7 -- Georgia Section Convention (Atlanta Hamfest), Marietta, Georgia
June 13-14 -- Ham-Com -- Regional ARRL Centennial Event, Plano, Texas
June 14 -- Western Pennsylvania ARES Emcomm Conference, Johnstown,
Pennsylvania
June 14 -- Tennessee State Convention (Knoxville Hamfest), Knoxville,
Tennessee
June 27-29 -- HAM RADIO International Exhibition for Radio Amateurs,
Friedrichshafen, Germany
July 5 -- Eastern Pennsylvania Section Convention, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
July 9-12 -- Mobile Amateur Radio Awards National Convention, Visalia,
California
July 17-19 -- ARRL National Centennial Convention, Hartford, Connecticut
July 18-19 -- Arizona State Convention, Williams, Arizona
July 18-20 -- Montana State Convention, East Glacier, Montana
July 24-27 -- Central States VHF Society Conference, Austin, Texas
July 25-26 -- Oklahoma State Convention, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Find conventions and hamfests in your area.
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The Briefing Room is still dedicated to those Hams and PC buffs with
minimal time!
Posted: 08 May 2014 09:16 AM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...!&goto=newpost
The Briefing Room is now going on two years old. EVERY DAY news is posted
that may be useful or interesting to other Hams, PC users and Science
Buffs. The goal is to provide readers with quick snappy reviews, advice and
updates of trending news and information they can read and digest in
minutes around a busy schedule. Check it out http://arc.tzo.com/ham/tbr.php
///////////////////////////////////////////
HamRadioNow: Meet Joe Ham.... m
Posted: 07 May 2014 09:37 AM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...m&goto=newpost
HAMRADIONOW.tv
Episode 143
Meet Joe Ham(m)
Miss us? In this show I'll take a few minutes to talk about what I've been
doing instead of making shows. Well, some of it is making shows... just not
finishing them yet. Then we'll meet Joe Ham...m. Yeah, Ham Nation has Joe
Walsh, but we've got Joe Ham... m. And he'll explain the extra m.
There are a couple of episodes on-line that I didn't post here on QRZ.com,
so come on over to the web site and see what you might have missed.
Watch this episode on our web page:
HAMRADIONOW.tv
HamRadioNow is supported by viewer contributions
If you enjoy the programs, visit www.HamRadioNow.tv and "click the pig"
THANK YOU to all our contributors!