The Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) program is hoping its “Ham Video” digital television transmitter, now stowed onboard the International Space Station (ISS), will be installed and commissioned this fall. US Astronaut Mike Hopkins, KF5LJG, who heads into space September 25, is scheduled to handle the tasks involved with getting the S Band Ham Video DATV setup on the ai…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Radio amateurs in the United Kingdom have set a new 76 GHz distance record of 102 kilometers (approximately 63.24 miles). The September 14 contact between the team of Chris Towns, G8BKE, and John Hazell, G8ACE, at Batcombe Hill, Dorset (IO80rt59) and Ian Lamb, GW8KQW, in Eglwysilan Mountain, Gwent (IO81io36). This is also believed to be the first 76 GHz contact between England and Wales.
The par…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, September 17-19, US Army MARS national leadership approved a study of HF transmission methods for use in extreme propagation failures, and it invited nominations for an IT specialist to coordinate such a project. Program Officer Paul English, WD8DBY, who presided, addressed the need for an HF mode capable of high penetration through adverse conditions, such as an ex…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Fred Laun, K3ZO, who manages the NCDXA/ARRL Third Call Area Incoming QSL Bureau, advises operators who routinely send cards “via the bureau” to first check the DX station’s QRZ.com or personal websites first to find out if the DX station replies to cards sent via the bureau.
“Each month our bureau receives hundreds of cards for rare DX stations and DXpeditions who…state that they will not answer…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Jay Oka, JA1TRC, reports that XZ1Z returned to the air a day earlier than expected from Naypyidaw, Myanmar (Burma), the nation’s capital. Two stations are on the air, with Zorro, JH1AJT; Champ, E21EIC; and Ted, JJ1LIB, as operators.
Operation is primarily on CW and focused to the Americas. Wire antennas are in place for 160, 80, 40, 30 and 17, as well as a triband Yagi. Oka says he plans to upda…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The FCC has dismissed a Petition for Rulemaking (RM-11699) from a Massachusetts ham, that sought to amend the Part 97 Amateur Service rules to permit the encryption of certain amateur communications during emergency operations or related training exercises. The FCC put the petition filed by Don Rolph, AB1PH, of East Walpole on public notice in June. Rolph requested an additional exception to §9…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Palomar Engineers President John E. “Jack” Althouse, K6NY, of San Diego, California, died September 15 after suffering a massive stroke. He was 90. With his death, his alter ego “Kurt N. Sterba,” who penned the “Aerials” columns from 1999 until 2012 and authored books on antennas for WorldRadio, also passes into Amateur Radio history.
Palomar Engineers, the Escondido company he operated, may bec…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Well-known DXer Martti Laine, OH2BH, reports that the first Amateur Radio licensing course in the Republic of Kosovo is nearing its end; passing the license exam will pave the way for Technical University of Pristina students to join the hobby ranks. The course was supported by the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Region 1, and it used both Croatian and UK course material. Radio equipme…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The votes have been tallied, and Barry Baines, WD4ASW; Tony Monteiro, AA2TX; Alan Biddle, WA4SCA, and Mark Hammond, N8MH, have been elected to the AMSAT-NA Board of Directors. The first alternate is JoAnne Maenpaa, K9JKM, and the second alternate is Steve Coy, K8UD. Frank Griffin, K4FEG, and Bryan Klofas, KF6ZEO, did not attract sufficient votes to become a Board member or alternate. Baines is …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Friday the 13th came early for cluster balloonist and radio amateur Jonathan Trappe, KJ4GQV, of Raleigh, North Carolina. Trappe’s attempt to cross the Atlantic in a cluster balloon ended the evening of September 12, when he “Landed safe, at an alternate location,” as he put it in a Facebook post. That “alternate location” was in Newfoundland, where he remained for the night.
His lighter-than-ai…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
US Astronaut Chris Cassidy, KF5KDR, and Russian Cosmonaut and Expedition 36 Commander Pavel Vinogradov, RV3BS, came safely back to Earth from the International Space Station September 11 aboard a Soyuz capsule. Cosmonaut and Flight Engineer Alexander Misurkin rounded out the trio that landed in Kazakhstan after 166 days in space.
A day earlier, Vinogradov handed over command of the ISS to anothe…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Wayne S. Green II, W2NSD (“Never Say Die”), of Hancock, New Hampshire, died September 13. He was 91. A well-known and often outspoken figure during what some consider Amateur Radio’s golden years in the 1950s and 1960s, Green helmed CQ Magazine for 5 years before becoming the self-proclaimed “El Supremo and Founder” in 1960 of 73 magazine, which he published until 2003.
“The purpose of [73] at t…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
[Updated Sep 14, 23:15] Hurricane Watch Net (HWN) manager Bobby Graves, KB5HAV, has announced that the net plans to activate Sunday, September 15, at 1500 UTC on 14.325 MHz in response to the approach of Hurricane Ingrid, only the second hurricane of the 2013 season.
A hurricane warning has been issued from Cabo Rojo to La Pesca, Mexico. A tropical storm warning has been issued from north of La…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
If a quick conversation with someone far away (similar to a contest contact) while running minimal power to a limited antenna is your type of fun, JT9 is worth a try. I’ve always thought that bouncing signals off the ionosphere is next to miraculous in and of itself but JT9 seems to go one better. In the following piece I will explain how you can use JT9 to do an unbelievable job of working ver…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
About five dozen Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) volunteers have deployed in and around flood-stricken counties of Colorado, providing critical communication for Red Cross shelters and state and local emergency operation centers. Recent heavy rains have caused veritable mountainside tsunamis that have caused rivers and streams to overflow their banks, ravaged roads and property and displ…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Solar activity was very, very quiet over the past week. For the reporting period September 5-11, the average daily sunspot number was only 37.7. Average daily sunspot numbers as reported in this bulletin have not been nearly this low since June 6-12 of this year, when it was 39.6. The last time it was lower was June 21-27 of last year, when it was 26.3.
Australia’s IPS Radio and Space Services i…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Radio amateur Jonathan Trappe, KJ4GQV, of Raleigh, North Carolina is trying to cross the Atlantic in a cluster balloon. He took off September 12 at 1200 UTC from Caribou, Maine. According to a reporton AMSAT-UK, Trappe is carrying Amateur Radio beacons on 14.0956 MHz and 144.390 MHz APRS.
The 14.0956 MHz beacon is just above the WSPR frequency (approximately 1880 Hz in the waterfall display), ru…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) went on standby alert, and the Red Cross and the Salvation Army Team Emergency Radio Network (SATERN) were called out earlier this week in the wake of the so-called Morgan Incident Fire, in chaparral southeast of Clayton, California. The blaze, on the eastern flank of the north peak of Mount Diablo, put at least four Mount Diablo Amateur Radio C…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
World Radiosport Team Championship 2014 (WRTC-2014) organizers remind prospective competitors that all team leader applications are due by Friday, September 13. So far, more than 100 applications have been received for the international competition set for July 8-14, 2014, in New England.
Not everyone who qualifies will submit an application to compete in WRTC-2014, so if a top qualifier does no…
Special event station ZM9ØDX will be on the air from New Zealand during the full month of October to mark the 90th anniversary of that country’s first DX activities on the amateur bands and to commemorate the DX pioneers who made them happen.
The first New Zealand-to-Australia contact took place in April 1923, followed by then-world record contacts between New Zealand and Argentina the following…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The Society of Amateur Radio Astronomers (SARA) is seeking papers for its 2014 Western Regional Conference. The event takes place March 22-23, 2014, in Bishop, California, and at the Owens Valley Radio Observatory.
The first day of the conference will be spent at Cal Tech’s Owens Valley Radio Observatory, with presentations by OVRO staff and SARA members and supporters followed by a tour of the …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Jagjeet Singh Virdee, 5Z4GB, died August 29 after he and his 70-year-old mother were shot and killed outside their residence in Kericho County, Kenya, by five men armed with automatic weapons. He was 50. The attackers got away with a wallet and a pistol, according to one local news account. Singh Virdee, who also held the call sign 5H3JS in Tanzania, was reported to be a prominent Asian busines…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The so-called Morgan Incident Fire, in chaparral southeast of Clayton, California, on the eastern flank of the north peak of Mount Diablo put at least four Amateur Radio repeaters off the air September 8. These include the K6MDD D-Star repeater, the W6UUU MotoTRBO repeater, the recently relocated W6CX APRS digipeater and the W6CX ATV repeater. Mount Diablo Amateur Radio Club President Jim Siemo…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
A familiar DX and contesting call sign has gone quiet. Steve Hodgson, ZC4LI, of Cyprus died August 31 of cancer. He was 69. Hodgson also was on the air over the years as 5B4AHA, C4C, GØLII, G6G and ZD8LII, and was active until a few weeks ago. Adrian, 5B4AIY, called him “an enthusiastic contest operator [who] had won many awards. I’m sure his call will be sorely missed.” Mark, N2QT, said ZC4LI …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
On the occasion of the EuroBasket 2013 basketball competition 2013 in Slovenia September 4-22, ZRS, the Association of Radio Amateurs of Slovenia) is offering an award to all radio amateurs and SWLs for contacting/monitoring S5 special event stations with three-digit prefix and EB suffices (eg S513EB, S541EB) and stations from the 24 countries fielding EuroBasket teams, between August 1 and Sep…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Conditions were quieter again this week. Average daily sunspot numbers declined from 77 to 69, and average daily solar flux was off by 9.5 points to 106.9, when compared to the previous seven days, August 22-28.
Predicted solar flux for the near term is 105 on September 6-10, 100 on September 11-12, 110 on September 13, 120 on September 14-15, 115 on September 16-17, 110 on September 18, 105 on …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Adobe has restored access to downloaded issues of digital QST using the latest Adobe® AIR™ ver 3.8 on Windows operating systems. To download the latest Adobe® AIR™ version, visit the Adobe Air web page.
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The Uwharrie Mountains of North Carolina will provide the locale for the 13th USA Amateur Radio Direction Finding (ARDF) Championships of on-foot hidden transmitter hunting. Fans of this international sport, also known as “foxtailing” or “radio-orienteering,” are making travels plans now. Backwoods Orienteering Klub (BOK) will host the event, which will be held October 8-13. This year’s USA Cha…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Amateur Radio volunteers supporting the Red Cross and local government in the wake of the gigantic Rim Fire, in and near California’s Yosemite National Park and the Stanislaus National Forest, have stood down after 16 days on duty. The initial callout on August 19 responded to a request to assist the Red Cross in setting up an evacuation center in Groveland, California. Shelter operations reloc…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
NASA’s Juno spacecraft will fly past Earth on October 9 to receive a gravity assist, putting it on course for Jupiter. To celebrate, the Juno mission is inviting Amateur Radio operators around the world to say “HI” to Juno in a coordinated Morse code message. If enough operators participate, Juno’s “Waves” radio and plasma wave experiment should be able to detect the message. The Say “HI” to Ju…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Everything about the MARS “Pacific Endeavor-13” exercise was simulated, except the power failure in “Pacifica,” the fictitious disaster-battered Asian nation that a small band of amateurs was seeking to assist. The Pentagon and US Pacific Command set up the drill as a test of Amateur Radio emergency support in Asia in the aftermath of Japan’s tsunami catastrophe. MARS, military stations and ama…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
A preliminary schedule has been posted for the 32nd annual TAPR/ARRL Digital Communications Conference in Seattle later this month. Among the forum topics: “Raspberry Pi Applications in Digital Communications: A Mobile Xastir-Based APRS Station,” “High Performance BPSK31: Ideas for a New Generation,” “Narrowband IP over Amateur Radio Networks (NIPARnets): Next-Generation Networking for Amateur …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has ended an 18-month trial that allowed participating Advanced licensees in that country to run up to 1 kW on the HF bands. Advanced licensees Down Under are limited to 400 W PEP. ACMA reached its decision earlier this month following a detailed assessment begun last March.
“After taking into consideration all the data obtained as part of…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Solar activity slipped this week, with the average daily sunspot number declining nearly 50 points to 77 and average daily solar flux down nearly 10 points to 116.4. In fact, those “nearly” numbers were 49.9 and 9.9.
The latest solar flux predictions from NOAA/USAF (Thursday, August 29, 2013):
August 30-September 1: 108, 105 and 108
September 2-3: 110
September 4-5: 112
September 6-7: 115 and 120
Se…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
ARES-RACES volunteers in Central California now have been on duty for more than 10 days as part of the response to the gigantic Rim Fire in and near Yosemite National Park and the Stanislaus National Forest. The initial callout on August 19 responded to a request to assist the Red Cross in setting up an evacuation center at Tioga High School in Groveland, California, for residents leaving the f…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
ARRL Headquarters will be closed on Labor Day, Monday, September 2, and there will be no W1AW bulletin or code practice transmissions that day. Headquarters will be open for business Tuesday, September 3. We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday!
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
After serving the US Amateur Radio community for 14 years Mike Carroll, N4MC, has shut down his Vanity HQ website.
“Vanity HQ is closed,” now greets visitors to the site. “It’s been a good 14 years. Thank you everyone for participating, sending bug reports and comments, and I especially thank all the Elmer volunteers who have helped me over the years. It is time for me to move on. Regards to all…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The Daily DX reports that two Pacific Island DXpeditions are preparing to activate in October and November. The much-anticipated K9W Wake Island DXpedition has announced its tentative operating schedule, with times based on Wake Island times and dates (Wake is 12 hours ahead of UTC). According to its website, the team expects to kick off operations on or about October 7 and operate until Octobe…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) volunteers are continuing to fill communication gaps for local emergency managers and responding agencies, as part of the response to the gigantic Rim Fire.
Tuolumne County RACES Radio Officer Phil Fish, WB6GGY, told ARRL that with telephone circuits overloaded and cell service spotty, ham radio is keeping …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
DATV enthusiasts around the world will take part in the annual World Digital ATV QSO Party August 30 and 31 through dedicated US repeaters, some direct transmissions and even via Skype. The clearing house for all transmissions will be the VK3RTV digital repeater in the Melbourne, Australia, area, with Peter Cossins, VK3BFG, as anchor. All transmissions will be streamed live via the British Amat…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
David J. Stapchuk is the new chief of Air Force MARS. He assumed command August 23 from outgoing chief Richard S. Jenson, who has taken on a new assignment. Stapchuk is the director of operations at the 92nd Information Operations Squadron Detachment 1 at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. In that role he oversees cyber operations in support of the detachment’s communications security mission.
“…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Through its Teachers Institutes the ARRL’s Education & Technology Program (ETP) has been working for more than 10 years to promote the teaching of technology. In a new teach-the-teachers twist, the program recently sponsored a Teachers Institute on remote sensing and data gathering. At the inaugural four-day session held in late July in Dayton, Ohio, 12 teachers explored the use of remote senso…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Officials in Tuolumne County, California, have tapped Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) and Radio Amateur Civil Emergency Service (RACES) volunteers to help fill communication gaps as part of the response to the gigantic Rim Fire.
Tuolumne County RACES Radio Officer Phil Fish, WB6GGY, told ARRL that with telephone circuits overloaded and cell service spotty, ham radio is keeping open the l…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The 2013 AMSAT Space Symposium will take place in Houston, Texas, November 1-3 at the Marriott Hobby Airport Hotel. Hosted by the Johnson Space Center Amateur Radio Club, this year’s Symposium will feature presentations on satellite construction and operation as well as on other space-related subjects. The AMSAT Annual Meeting, held in conjunction with the Space Symposium, provides AMSAT member…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Speaking in late July at the 28th annual National Conference of Volunteer Examiner Coordinators (NCVEC) meeting, Bill Cross, W3TN, of the FCC’s Mobility Division within the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), assured attendees that pending proposals to modify the Amateur Service Part 97 rules are not on the back burner but still under review. FCC personnel addressing the teleconference we…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Solar activity picked up this week, with average daily sunspot numbers for August 15-21 up nearly 42 points (forty-nine percent) to 126.9, when compared to the previous seven days. Likewise, average daily solar flux increased from 111.7 to 126.3.
The latest prediction from USAF/NOAA has solar flux at 130, 125, 120, and 115 on August 23-26, 110 on August 27-29, 105 on August 30, 95 on August 31 t…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The ARRL has issued a call for papers and programs to include in its planned extensive slate of ARRL Centennial Convention forums and presentations. The convention will take place July 17-20, 2014, in Hartford, Connecticut. Dan Henderson, N1ND, is the Centennial Convention Programs and Forums Coordinator.
“Since this is a once-in-a-lifetime event, we are looking for programs with a ‘Wow!’ factor…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
A Japanese cargo spacecraft has delivered an Amateur Radio on the International Space Station (ARISS) digital TV transmitter to the ISS. The equipment arrived August 9 and is being stored in the space station’s Columbus module. Gear includes the transmitter, power supply, NASA-provided Canon XF-305 camera, and antenna cables, reports ARISS-Europe Chair Gaston Bertels, ON4WF, who says the DATV t…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The new FCC regulatory fee of $ 16.10 to apply for an Amateur Radio vanity call sign will go into effect Friday, August 23, when the new regulatory fee schedule will appear in the Federal Register. Earlier this year the FCC had proposed upping the vanity call sign fee from its current $ 15 to $ 15.20, but in the Report and Order in MD Docket 13-140, released August 12, the Commission offered no ex…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B, a Boston Marathon finish-line volunteer when the bombs exploded, will discuss his experience at EmComm East, an ARRL-sanctioned Amateur Radio emergency communication conference, September 29 in Rochester, New York.
The conference is aimed at radio amateurs involved in emergency, disaster response and recovery communications can attend training se…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Nominations are open for the 2013 George Hart Distinguished Service Award. The ARRL Board of Directors established the award in 2009, to be given to an ARRL member whose service to the League’s Field Organization is of the most exemplary nature.
The Award’s namesake, George Hart, W1NJM (SK), was a long-time Communications Manager at ARRL Headquarters and chief developer of the National Traffic S…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The winner of the August QST Cover plaque award is Eric Nichols, KL7AJ, for his article “Don’t Blame the Sun!” The QST Cover Plaque Award — given to the author or authors of the most popular article in each issue — is determined by a vote of ARRL members on the QST Cover Plaque Poll web page. Cast a ballot for your favorite article in the September issue today.
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Yuki, JH1NBN, is on the air from Dhaka, Bangladesh, while on a short business trip. In his spare time he’ll operate as S21ZBA on 20, 17 and 15 meters on SSB until about 1200 UTC August 22, running 100 W into a mobile whip. Rana, S21R, is back in Dhaka, Bangladesh for a one-month stay. He was on the air August 19 just after 1500 UTC on 14.167 MHz, running 100 W into an inverted V. QSL manager is…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources