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The ARRL Letter, May 22, 2014
Posted: 22 May 2014 12:51 PM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...4&goto=newpost
The ARRL Letter
May 22, 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.]
ARRL Celebrates its Centennial at Dayton Hamvention® 2014Amateur Radio
Volunteers Assist Rescue Operations in Balkans Flooding"Red Badges on the
Air" Centennial QSO Party Activity Set for June 1W1AW Centennial Operations
Now in New York and ColoradoARRL Responds to Ukrainian Amateur Radio League
Regarding DXCC Status of CrimeaWX4NHC National Hurricane Center Annual
Station Test Set for May 31ARISS International Partners Regroup at First
In-Person Meeting since 2011KickSat Re-Enters Atmosphere Without
Deploying "Sprite" SatellitesARRL Offers New Amateur Radio Public Service
Announcements New ARRL Section Managers ElectedCQ Announces 2014 Hall of
Fame InducteesA Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRLThe K7RA Solar
UpdateJust Ahead in Radiosport Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division
Conventions and Events
NOTE: ARRL Headquarters Will Be Closed on Memorial Day, Monday, May 26 ARRL
Headquarters will be closed Monday, May 26 in observance of Memorial Day.
There will be no W1AW code practice or bulletin transmissions that day.
ARRL Headquarters will reopen Tuesday, May 27 at 8 AM (EDT). We wish
everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend!ARRL Celebrates its
Centennial at Dayton Hamvention® 2014
Dayton Hamvention 2014 already was a Regional ARRL Centennial Event, but
May 18 -- Hamvention's last day -- was the 100th anniversary of the
League's founding. A birthday party and free cake helped to draw a
room-filling crowd of 200 or more for the Sunday morning occasion. ARRL
President Kay Craigie, N3KN, told the gathering, "The Second Century is up
to us," and expressed the hope that in another 100 years, the Amateur Radio
community would reflect on the League's first century with respect and
admiration.
"The weather was not so hot, but the atmosphere at Hamvention was as warm
as ever," Craigie observed post-Dayton. "People were in a buying mood, both
at the ARRL Expo and at the Hamvention in general. I talked to several
vendors who were quite pleased."
Hara Arena was shrouded in fog as Hamvention opened on Friday, and cool,
rainy weather -- including some hail -- prevailed initially, but by
Saturday afternoon, the weather turned clear and brisk. While attendance
numbers won't be available for a few weeks, some observers said the crowd
seemed to be about the same size as last year's -- which was about 24,500.
Others said the crowd seemed to thin more rapidly than in past years.
"People were thrilled to be there," said QST Managing Editor Becky
Schoenfeld, W1BXY. "Happy to be seeing old friends and making new ones,
excited about seeing new gear, and, of course, seeing what kinds of free
goodies they could pick up."
Crowd estimates notwithstanding, opening-day traffic was excellent at the
ARRL Expo. Centennial coins remained a popular item, and some visitors
expressed their appreciation to the ARRL when they stopped by. "The coins
were bestowed with a warm handshake and a message of thanks for supporting
the League for the past 100 years, and into the Second Century," Schoenfeld
said. The ARRL contingent brought 10,000 of the coins to Dayton and gave
all of them away.
This year, the League Store switched to checkout via iPad. The top seller
was the 2014 ARRL Field Day shirt. Other hot items were Travel Plus and the
softcover edition of the ARRL's 2014 Handbook. The League received more
than 1000 applications for memberships and renewals at the show, including
eight Life Member applicants.
Gino Mollica, KA8YPZ, of Mansfield, Ohio, won an ARRL drawing for $200
worth of ARRL Publications.
Equipment dealers did well, by most accounts. Several major manufacturers
remarked that sales were going very well, for both in-stock and on-order
items. One smaller vendor reported that sales were four times greater than
last year's.
On Friday afternoon, the ARRL presented the 2013 Bill Orr, W6SAI, Technical
Writing Award to Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA. The ARRL Foundation selected
Luetzelschwab for his article "The Sun and the Ionosphere," which appeared
in the March 2013 issue of QST.
New products seen at Hamvention included the TEN-TEC Patriot, Model 507, a
dual-band (20 and 40 meters) SSB/CW QRP transceiver that modifies easily
for custom applications. It runs on an Uno32 microprocessor, and uses
Arduino-compatible software. Yaesu's new offering, the DR-1X repeater, a
follow-up to the DR-1 that was beta-tested last year. FlexRadio debuted its
Flex-6300, a software-defined radio for 160 through 6 meters.
Other new products included the TeleSense remote site monitoring system
from Sierra Radio Systems; it offers station, repeater, and site monitoring
via a web or cell phone interface. Hendricks QRP Kits had its new MBDC
multiband CW transceiver on display.
Two Saturday ARRL forums -- "Getting Started With Antenna Modeling," with
Ward Silver, N0AX, and a second showing of "ARRL at 100: A Century of Ham
Radio" -- were standing room only. The Hamvention Youth Forum attracted
some 70 attendees and featured presentations by young hams.
Silver returned to the speaker's podium Saturday afternoon for "Impedance
Matching 101," which drew a capacity crowd. The popular ARRL Member Forum
began with the awarding of the 2014 William R. Goldfarb Memorial
scholarship to Padraig Lysandrou, KC9UUS. After that, attorney Fred
Hopengarten, K1VR, spoke on "Amateur Radio and the Law," followed by
remarks from President Craigie.
Craigie said this week that visitors were especially enthusiastic about the
ARRL Centennial operating events -- the W1AW/x portable operations and the
associated Centennial QSO Party. As for Hamvention?
"I'm ready to go back and do it all again next year," she said.
Hamvention Awards
Saturday evening, Hamvention's sponsor, the Dayton Amateur Radio
Association (DARA), held its annual awards dinner at Dayton's beautiful
Carillon Historical Park.
This year's four honorees were Georgia's Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society for
Club of the Year; Fldigi creator David Freese Jr, W1HKJ, winner of the
Technical Excellence Award; ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, winner of the
Special Achievement Award; and ARRL President Emeritus Larry E. Price,
W4RA, who was honored as Amateur of the Year.
For more photos, see the Dayton Hamvention 2014 photo album on the ARRL's
Facebook page. Read more.
Amateur Radio Volunteers Assist Rescue Operations in Balkans Flooding
Amateur Radio volunteers in Serbia put in long hours this week, supporting
rescue operations in the wake of unprecedented flooding in the Balkans that
has affected Serbia, Croatia, and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Meteorologists have
called the flooding the worst that
Serbia has experienced in more than 100 years. The death toll stands at
more than three dozen. CNN reported that 13 bodies had been recovered in
the town of Obrenovac, Serbia, where radio amateurs have been coordinating
communication to boat crews that are rescuing stranded residents. Alliance
of Serbian Radio Amateurs (SRS) member Nenad Supurovic, YU1TTL, deployed to
Obrenovac, after registering with the Crisis Center, to support
communication between rescuers and emergency managers keeping track of
those needing to be evacuated.
"We showed our radio transmitters, and [the police] immediately let us
through, as if we were ministers of state," Supurovic told Al Jazeera in an
interview. "We went and reported to the radio amateur just finishing his
shift. There were four of us." He said the hams have been able to
provide "an alternative link" to the rescue crews. The crisis center sends
addresses of people who need to be evacuated, and the Amateur Radio
volunteers tell the rescue boat crews where to go next. Each boat has a
local resident aboard, who knows the town and can direct the vessel to the
right location -- in some cases, even though flood waters already have
obscured street names and house numbers.
Supurovic said that by and large the people who were evacuated appeared to
be in good condition. "At the beginning it looked like they were just
really tired," he told Al Jazeera, "like they'd spent the whole day on
public transport."
Marijan Miletic, S56A/N1YU, who has been monitoring the flood situation
from Slovenia, told ARRL that radio amateurs in Serbia and Bosnia have
activated emergency networks, and Tilen Cestnik, S56CT, was dispatched to
the affected region to assist. He said there has been a lot of mutual aid
among the former republics of Yugoslavia. Miletic said Zoran Mladenovic,
YU1EW, was heading up the headquarters operation in the Serbian capital of
Belgrade, with the help of a wide-coverage 2 meter repeater. Belgrade is at
the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and could see flooding later
this week.
SRS member Dragan Antonic, YU1UO, has been working at an emergency
operations center in Belgrade. He estimated that hams already have handled
some 25,000 pieces of traffic.
"Our equipment, our people, and our knowledge are used to
pass...information to the rescue people," he explained in an interview with
Kristina Kukolja of SBS World News. He said the radio communication helps
the crews in the field to be more efficient in locating and evacuating
those in danger. The ham radio volunteers, he told Kukolja, will be on the
scene "for as long as it takes."
An estimated 24,000 people have had to be evacuated to safety in Serbia,
while another 30,000 people were displaced in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
CNN quoted a May 18 statement from the Serbian Embassy in Washington, which
said that many towns and cities in western Serbia were "completely
underwater" and describing the situation as an "unimaginable catastrophe."
"Red Badges on the Air" Centennial QSO Party Activity Set for June 1
To further boost enthusiasm for the ARRL Centennial QSO Party, the League
will sponsor a "Red Badges on the Air" activity on June 1 (UTC). The object
is to provide an opportunity for Centennial QSO Party participants to work
more ARRL officers, elected officials -- such as Director or Section
Manager -- and Headquarters staffers and volunteers, which offer higher
point value in the year-long event.
"The badges they wear at hamfests, conventions, and other formal occasions
are red, hence the term 'Red Badges on the Air,'" explained ARRL Media and
Public Relations Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X.
"ARRL members around the world are excited about the Centennial QSO Party,"
he added. "Activity on the bands is noticeably improved, and more contacts
are being made than ever." QSOs with "Red Badges" are worth a lot of points
-- as much as 300 points per contact for working ARRL President Kay
Craigie, N3KN -- so participants can increase their Centennial QSO Party
tally very quickly.
Kutzko stressed that the event is "an activity day, not a contest." There
is no required amount of operating time. Participants can call "CQ ARRL
Centennial QSO Party" on phone or "CQ CENT" on CW or digital modes. While
the event is focused on encouraging those with ARRL red badges to hand out
Centennial QSO Party points, all activity is welcome, regardless of point
value; every ARRL member is worth at least one point in the Centennial QSO
Party. Participants get credit for each band/mode contact, regardless of
point value. ARRL Centennial QSO Party participants can use the leader
board to determine how many points they have accumulated.
Other high-point contacts include: President Emeritus (PE) or Past
President (PP), 275 points; Honorary Vice president (HVP) or ARRL Vice
President (VP), 250 points; Director (DIR), Director Emeritus (DE), or Past
Vice President (PVP), 225 points; Vice Director (VD), 200 points; Section
Manager (SM), 175 points; ARRL Officer (OFF) or Past Director (PD), 150
points, and Past Vice Director (PV), 125 points.
W100AW, Charter Life Member (CLM), or Past Section Manager (PSM), 100
points.
ARRL Headquarters department managers (DM), 75 points; ARRL Headquarters
staffers/volunteers (HQ), 50 points; Assistant Director (AD), 40 points,
and NCJ editor (NCJ) and QST columnist (QST), 30 points.
W1AW Centennial Operations Now in New York and Colorado
The ARRL Centennial W1AW WAS operations taking place throughout 2014 from
each of the 50 states are now in New York (W1AW/2) and Colorado (W1AW/0).
They will relocate at 0000 UTC on Wednesday, May 28 (the evening of May 27
in US time zones), to Missouri (W1AW/0) and Wyoming (W1AW/7). During 2014
W1AW will be on the air from every state (at least twice) and most US
territories, and it will be easy to work all states solely by contacting
W1AW portable operations. Some schedule changes have been made, and the
W1AW WAS list has been updated to reflect these.
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of the ARRL, the ARRL Centennial QSO
Party kicked off January 1 for a year-long operating event in hich
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. (Working W1AW or W100AW in Connecticut does
not count for Connecticut, however. 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.
ARRL Responds to Ukrainian Amateur Radio League Regarding DXCC Status of
Crimea
The ARRL has responded to an appeal from the Ukrainian Amateur Radio League
(UARL) to "consider the information regarding the status of Crimea as
temporarily occupied territory." UARL President Vladimir Grishchenko,
UT0FT, told the ARRL on May 3, that Russia's "illegal annexation" of
Crimea "does not change the status of this territory, which legally belongs
to Ukraine." ARRL CEO David Sumner, K1ZZ, on May 21 acknowledged the UARL's
position and reiterated the ARRL Awards Committee's determination that the
annexation did not lend Crimea status as a new DXCC entity.
"We appreciate the high regard you have expressed for the DXCC program,"
Sumner wrote. "However, the list of DXCC entities is simply for the purpose
of giving radio amateurs a consistent way to compare their DX achievements.
It is not intended to express a position with respect to sovereignty and
should not be regarded as such."
The Awards Committee has concluded that a QSL with a call sign issued by
Ukraine and showing the entity name as Ukraine counts as Ukraine, while a
QSL with a call sign issued by Russia and showing the entity name as Russia
counts as Russia. "A QSL that satisfies neither condition does not count
for either entity," the committee said.
Grishchenko had pointed out that the UN does not recognize Crimea's
annexation, and that the US government is "currently working actively to
preserve the territorial integrity of Ukraine." He further asserted that,
according to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Ukraine is
responsible for spectrum usage in Crimea, and that only Ukraine can issue
licenses, despite what he called Crimea's "temporary" status as an occupied
territory.
Grishchenko had asked the ARRL to consider this information when
determining "the conditions of meeting award requirements, as well as in
determining the winners of competitions held."
Sumner told Grishchenko that the ARRL Awards Committee's determination "is
consistent with the treatment, for DXCC purposes, of other territory that
may be described as either 'temporarily occupied' or disputed."
"We join the world community in the hope that the difficulties and
uncertainties currently being faced by the people of Ukraine will be
resolved peacefully and with full regard for human rights," Sumner
concluded.
WX4NHC National Hurricane Center Annual Station Test Set for May 31
Now in its 34th year, WX4NHC at the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in
Miami, will be on the air Saturday, May 31, for the annual NHC Station
Test. The event will begin at 1300 UTC and wrap up at 2200 UTC.
"The purpose of this event is to test Amateur Radio Station equipment,
antennas and computers prior to this year's Hurricane Season, which starts
June 1 and runs through November 30," said WX4NHC Amateur Radio Assistant
Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4R.The annual Station Test is not a contest or
simulated hurricane exercise. "This event is will be good practice for ham
radio operators worldwide as well as for NWS staff to become familiar with
Amateur Radio communications available during times of severe weather," he
added.
WX4NHC will make brief contacts with participating station on various bands
and modes, exchanging signal reports and basic weather data. For example,
stations may report "sunny" or "rain" or "cloudy" in describing the
conditions at their locations. Ripoll said WX4NHC will operate on HF, VHF,
UHF, 2 meter 30 meter APRS, and be available via Winlink (subject line must
contain "//WL2K").
"We will try to stay on the recognized Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) frequency
of 14.325 MHz most of the time and announce when we QSY," Ripoll said.
WX4NHC also plans to be on the VoIP Hurricane Net from 2000 until 2200 UTC
(IRLP node 9219; EchoLink WX-TALK Conference node 7203). In addition, the
station will be active on South Florida VHF and UHF repeaters.
QSL cards are available to participating stations via WD4R; include a
self-addressed stamped envelope. Do not send cards to the National
Hurricane Center. Read more.
ARISS International Partners Regroup at First In-Person Meeting since 2011
Representatives of the Amateur Radio on the International Space Station
(ARISS) International partners met in person last month for the first time
in 2-1/2 years to reassess the program's direction and to consider new
objectives. The European Space Agency (ESA) hosted the April 3-5 gathering
at its European Space Research and Technology Centre (ESTEC) in The
Netherlands. ARISS International Secretary-Treasurer Rosalie White, K1STO,
represented the ARRL at the sessions. ARISS International Chair and
AMSAT-NA Vice President for Human Spaceflight Programs Frank Bauer, KA3HDO,
presided.
Former ESA astronaut Gerhard Thiele, DG1KIL, welcomed the representatives.
Thiele, who heads ESA's Human Spaceflight and Operations Strategic Planning
and Outreach office, told the gathering that ESA recognizes the benefit to
students of being able to communicate with the ISS crew directly via
Amateur Radio, and that students learn a lot as a result of these ARISS
contacts.
The meeting offered an opportunity to sort out where things stand for ARISS
and to enhance collaboration among the ARISS partners. Bauer expressed his
desire for a committee to review all charters that ARISS has with space
agencies around the world and to develop a plan for establishing future
agreements.
In a wide-ranging presentation, ARISS International Project Selection & Use
Committee representative Lou McFadin, W5DID, addressed long-term equipment
possibilities. Among other requirements, McFadin said, ARISS should have
the ability to control its equipment from Earth, and he said that
developing software-defined equipment would permit this. He also spoke of
the need for an "override power switch," as the astronauts need to shut
down ARISS equipment during safety-critical events, such as spacecraft
dockings or spacewalks. Given the paucity of space aboard the ISS, ARISS
also must minimize the amount of real estate its equipment occupies,
McFadin said. He also noted that there is "little or no" ISS crew time
available to address ISS ham gear issues.
McFadin further discussed the advantages of installing a higher-power
mobile VHF/UHF transceiver in the Columbus module, similar to the Kenwood
D-700 located in the Service Module. In recent months crew members have
been using a 5 W Ericsson hand-held transceiver for school contacts, and
signal levels have been lower than the team would prefer. McFadin suggested
that a portable mobile system with a power output of 15 W or greater might
improve this situation.
ARISS-Europe Chair Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, addressed considerations for
using the "Ham Video" Amateur Radio digital TV system in conjunction with
school contacts. He suggested a presentation that shows what Ham Video can
do, in order to stimulate thinking about ways to make the best use of the
system -- such as, for example, uploading a school's science project that
could be viewed by many students.
ARISS is an international educational outreach with participation from
ARRL, NASA, ESA, the Russian Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS), CNES, JAXA, CSA, and
AMSAT. Read more. -- ARISS
KickSat Re-Enters Atmosphere Without Deploying "Sprite" Satellites
KickSat Project Manager Zac Manchester, KD2BHC, has announced that the
KickSat CubeSat reentered the atmosphere on May 14 (UTC) and burned without
deploying its cargo of tiny "Sprite" satellites.
"Unfortunately, we were not able to command the Sprite deployment in time,"
said Manchester, a Cornell University aerospace engineering graduate
student. "While we are certainly disappointed that things did not go as
planned, I think we still have a lot to be proud of."
Manchester said that more than 300 people from around the world cooperated
to make KickSat a reality. "We built a spacecraft, tested it, and launched
it," he said. "Hundreds of people had their names flown in space, more than
a dozen radio amateurs were able to receive signals from KickSat's beacon
radio, and volunteers collected and processed telemetry data and predicted
KickSat's orbit and reentry. This kind of participation is exactly what
KickSat is all about and I'm glad we all got to share in this experience."
Manchester said he plans to take the lessons learned to build an even
better KickSat-2. "This is only the beginning!" he said.
The Sprites, PC boards each about an inch or so square, would have been the
smallest satellites ever to orbit Earth. Manchester said an unexpected
reset of KickSat's master clock caused the failure, preventing the CubeSat
from releasing its cargo of some 100 Sprite satellites before it deorbited.
The satellite launched successfully April 18, and the ground control team
at Cornell as well as several Amateur Radio operators around the world made
contact with the spacecraft.
ARRL Offers New Amateur Radio Public Service Announcements
ARRL Media and Public Relations Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, has added new
30-second radio/audio public service announcements (PSAs) to promote
Amateur Radio and the 2014 ARRL Field Day.
The spot named "Amateur" talks about the meaning of the word "amateur" and
how the Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) helps during disasters. It
includes an 8-second "bed" at the end for local clubs to provide contact
information. "Careers" tells how Amateur Radio skills can lead to a career
path, and it references the ARRL website. "What Is Ham Radio" is a generic
spot to promote how much fun Amateur Radio offers. It includes an 8-second
bed at the end for a local club billboard.
Two PSAs for 2014 Field Day are available. One includes 8 seconds at the
end for local clubs, one does not.
The PSAs for Promotions web page includes tips on how to get airplay for
Amateur Radio PSAs.
New ARRL Section Managers Elected
Four new ARRL Section Managers will take office on July 1. Ballots were
counted May 20 at ARRL Headquarters for contested races in the spring SM
election cycle.
In Indiana, Joseph Lawrence, K9RFZ, of Fort Wayne, received 652 votes to
top incumbent Section Manager Lou Everett Sr, WA5LOU, of Cumberland, who
polled 482 votes. Everett has been SM for the past 2 years.
In Maine, Bill Crowley, K1NIT, received 258 votes, to defeat veteran
incumbent Section Manager Bill Woodhead, N1KAT, who got 156 votes. Woodhead
has served as Maine's SM since 1998.
In Northern Florida, Stephen Szabo, WB4OMM, of Port Orange, polled 833
votes, while Gary Alberstadt, KA3FZO, of Monticello garnered 296 votes.
Current Northern Florida SM Paul Eakin, KJ4G, decided not to run for a new
term of office after serving since 2008.
In Delaware, Bill Duveneck, KB3KYH, of Milton, received 142 votes to defeat
Jerome Palmer, N3KRX, of Houston, who got 122 votes. Outgoing SM Frank
Filipkowski, AD3M, of Wilmington, who has served as SM in Delaware since
2006, did not run for a new term.
Because candidates in Delaware had to be resolicited for this
nomination/election cycle, Duveneck's term of office will be 18 months
instead of 24.
Five incumbent ARRL Section Managers ran unopposed and were declared
elected for new 2-year terms beginning on July 1: Tom Ciciora, KA9QPN
(Illinois); Everett Curry, W6ABM (Oregon); Brandon Bianchi, NI6C (Santa
Clara Valley); Paul Gayet, AA1SU (Vermont), and Gary Sorensen, W9ULK
(Wisconsin). Read more.
CQ Announces 2014 Hall of Fame Inductees
CQ Magazine has announced its 2014 Hall of Fame inductees. The Class of
2014 adds two members each to the CQ DX Hall of Fame and the CQ Contest
Hall of Fame, as well as eight members to the CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame.
The 2014 CQ Amateur Radio Hall of Fame inductees are Clifford Berry, W9TIJ
(SK); Warren Bruene, W5OLY (SK); John Huntoon, W1RW (SK); Mike Koss, W9SU
(SK); Nancy Kott, WZ8C (SK); Paul Laughton, AC6B (ex-N6BVH); Ralph Showers,
ex-W3GEU (SK), and Steve Wozniak, ex-WV6VLY and ex-WA6BND.
The 2014 inductees to the CQ DX Hall of Fame are Joe Reisert, W1JR, and
David Collingham, K3LP.
The 2014 inductees to the CQ Contest Hall of Fame are J. Scott Redd, K0DQ,
and Ed Muns, W0YK.
Formal inductions to the CQ Contest and DX Halls of Fame took place at
Dayton Hamvention®. Read more.
A Century of Amateur Radio and the ARRL
Continuing our look at amateur SSB during its early years, there was one
major human obstacle: Teaching phone operators how to operate their
receivers for SSB reception. For AM reception, operators were in the habit
of setting RF gain to maximum and adjusted the audio gain to control the
speaker level. It was difficult to convince operators that, for SSB
reception, they needed to turn up the audio gain and back off the RF gain,
so the incoming SSB signal level would be at the level the receiver needed
for the BFO to insert a "carrier" signal. Operators soon learned how to
tune in SSB signals.
Also, back in those days of analog frequency control, receiver frequency
drift was a problem, and the frequency (or the BFO frequency) would have to
be tweaked occasionally to keep the SSB signal properly tuned. That problem
disappeared, as the oscillators in newer receivers became more stable.
In July 1948, QST began publishing the monthly column, "On the Air with
Single Sideband," by By Goodman, W1DX, which continued until March 1954. By
the early 1950s, some AM operators still looked at "that Donald Duck talk"
with disdain, but most hams realized the value of SSB, and the changeover
to SSB proceeded. By April 1953, there were at least 300 active SSB
stations in the US. The first SSB DXCC was awarded in 1955, and the first
WAS and WAC awards were made in 1956.
One very interesting SSB-related happening took place 1956. Air Force
General Curtis LeMay had been assigned in 1948 to head the Strategic Air
Command in. LeMay was well known on the ham bands as Curt, W6EZV. By virtue
of SAC's mission, extremely reliable, long-haul communication was
necessary. Separate radio operators were being eliminated from bomber
crews, and the first thought was that SAC would communicate using HF AM
radios. Because of his Amateur Radio background, LeMay had become aware of
the value of SSB. So, he had Amateur Radio SSB gear installed in a SAC test
aircraft that made two flights from SAC HQ in Offutt AFB, Nebraska -- one
to Greenland and one to Okinawa -- while making SSB contacts all along the
way on the ham bands! In addition to LeMay as an operator, two civilian
operators were on board -- Art Collins, W0CXX (Collins Radio), and Leo I.
Myerson, W0GFQ (World Radio Labs). A lot of hams around the world received
treasured QSL cards from contacts made with that rare aeronautical mobile.
Soon thereafter, SAC announced its decision to install HF SSB equipment on
its bombers and other aircraft. As you can see, Amateur Radio lent a
helping hand to SAC and our nation's defense posture, back in the day when
the Cold War was getting very chilly.
Next week we'll leave early SSB and move on to another subject.
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, in Seattle, reports: Over the past week we saw a decline in
solar activity, and the 45-day outlook showed weaker numbers as well.
Average daily sunspot numbers for May 15-21 were 129.4, while the previous
average was 142.4. Average daily solar flux declined from 157.5 to 128.5.
The daily sunspot number on Wednesday dropped down to 100.
Last week the solar flux prediction for Friday through Sunday on Field Day
(June 28-29) was 125 on Friday and 135 for Saturday and Sunday. But the
daily forecast changed on May 19, with predicted solar flux at 120 for all
three days. Prior to May 19 solar flux was predicted to peak at 165 for
June 10-11, but that forecast now has been revised downward to 135 and 130,
respectively.
The latest prediction has solar flux at 115 on May 22, 110 for May 21-28,
115 on May 29, 120 for May 30-June 3, 125 for June 4-5, 130 for June 6-7,
135 for June 8-10, and 130 for June 11-12. Flux values then drop down to
105 for June 22-24.
Predicted planetary A index is 8 for May 22-23, 5 for May 24-25, 7 on May
26, 5 for May 27-June 3, 12 on June 4, 8 for June 5-8, and 5 for June 9-16.
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. Send me your reports and observations.
Just Ahead in Radiosport
May 24-25 -- Worldwide EME Contest
May 24-25 -- CQ World Wide WPX Contest (CW)
May 25 -- QRP ARCI Hoot Owl Sprint
May 26-27 -- MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint
May 31 -- Full Day of Hell Feld-Hell Contest
May 31-June 1 -- Worldwide EME Contest
June 3 -- ARS Spartan Sprint
June 5 -- NRAU 10 Meter Activity Contest (CW/SSB/Dig)
June 14-16 -- ARRL June VHF Contest
June 21 -- Kids Day
June 28-29 -- ARRL Field Day
Visit the Contest Calendar for details.
Upcoming ARRL Section, State and Division Conventions and Events
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,
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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
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August 7-9 -- Young Ladies Radio League Convention, Vancouver, Washington
August 8-10 -- Rocky Mountain Division Convention, Albuquerque, New Mexico
August 16-17 -- Southeastern Division Convention, Regional ARRL Centennial
Event, Huntsville, Alabama
August 17 -- Kansas State Convention, Salina, Kansas
August 23 -- West Virginia State Convention, Weston, West Virginia
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August 24 -- Western Pennsylvania Section Convention, New Kensington,
Pennsylvania
August 30-31 -- North Carolina State Convention (Shelby Hamfest), Shelby,
North Carolina
Find conventions and hamfests in your area.
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///////////////////////////////////////////
Introducing SmartMic Ham Radio Digital Voice
Posted: 22 May 2014 12:45 PM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...e&goto=newpost
Introducing SmartMic Ham Radio Digital Voice
David Rowe VK5DGR and Rick Barnich
KA8BMA have been working on SmartMic, an embedded hardware product that
allows you to run FreeDV without a PC. Just plug it into your SSB or FM
radio, and you now have Digital Voice (DV)
The whole design is open hardware (TAPR license). It
will run an embedded version of FreeDV which is also 100% open source.
Based on a STM32F4 micro-controller, SmartMic has a
built in microphone, speaker amplifier, and transformer isolated
interfaces to your radio. ItÂ’s just 80 x 100mm, and can be held in you
hand and used like a regular PTT microphone, or sit near your radio in a
small box form factor. SmartMic will be in production later in 2014 and
will retail for US$195.
Read about SmartMic at
http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?p=3125
Codec 2 http://www.rowetel.com/blog/?page_id=452
FreeDV: Digital Voice for HF
http://freedv.org/tiki-index.php
Join the FreeDV Codec2 email list at
https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/...freetel-codec2
http://www.southgatearc.org/news/201...ital_voice.htm
Follow Southgate News on Twitter
Become a Facebook fan
///////////////////////////////////////////
Raffle winners take home new DMR radios from Dayton Hamvention 2014
Posted: 22 May 2014 08:00 AM PDT
http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php...4&goto=newpost
Saturday May 18th was a joyous day for several hams that visited the
DMR-MARC booth at Dayton Hamvention 2014, as they each walked away with a
brand new DMR radio.
Continue reading...