Compiled by S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL News Editor
news@arrl.org
This feature — including convenient web links to useful information — is a concise monthly update of some of the things the ARRL is doing on behalf of its members. This installment covers the month of January.
The ARRL Board of Directors held its 2013 Annual Meeting January 18-19, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana, under the chair…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) is offering an electronic version of the 2012 International Radio Regulations at no charge. These regulations incorporate the decisions of the World Radiocommunication Conferences of 1995 (WRC-95), 1997 (WRC-97), 2000 (WRC-2000), 2003 (WRC-03), 2007 (WRC-07) and 2012 (WRC-12), including all Appendices, Resolutions, Recommendations and ITU-R Recomm…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Grab your cameras! You only have until March 1 to send your entry for the 2013 QST Video Contest.
Your video can be up to 5 minutes in length and the topic can be anything that illustrates the excitement of Amateur Radio. The first place winner will receive $ 500; the second place prize is $ 250 and the third place prize is $ 100. (Winners of the 2012 competition are ineligible.) The winning videos…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The winner of the January QST Cover Plaque award is Robert Nickels, W9RAN, for his article “Cheap and Easy SDR.” Congratulations Robert! The QST Cover Plaque Award — given to the author or authors of the best 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 February issue today.
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
On January 28, the FCC denied a Petition for Reconsideration (PFR) filed by James E. Whedbee, N0ECN, of Gladstone, Missouri. Whedbee filed the PFR in May 2012 in response to the FCC denying his Petition for Declaratory Ruling (PDR) filed in April 2012 that urged the FCC to address covenants, conditions and restrictions (CC&Rs).
In his PDR, Whedbee argued that CC&Rs restrict Amateur Radio facili…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The ARRL Board of Directors held its 2013 Annual Meeting January 18-19, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana, under the chairmanship of President Kay Craigie, N3KN. The Board welcomed two newly elected members to the Board family: Hudson Division Director Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, and Northwestern Division Vice Director James Pace, K7CEX; Lisenco and Pace were elected in November 2012. At its meeting, the…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
On Friday, February 1 — the 10th anniversary of the Columbia accident — NASA will pay tribute to the crews of Apollo 1 and space shuttles Challenger and Columbia with a Day of Remembrance. Flags across the agency will be flown at half-staff in their memory.
On January 27, 1967, Virgil “Gus” Grissom, Edward White and Roger Chaffee were killed in the Apollo 1 fire during a launch pad test. On Ja…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By H. Ward Silver, N0AX
n0ax@arrl.net
If there is a single unit of measurement beyond volts and amps that can be considered nearly ubiquitous in ham radio, it would have to be our friend, the dee-bee or dB. Key to computing values in dB is the logarithm, so this quiz also combines the two — are you ready? If dBs aren’t your cup of tea, the ARRL website contains a tutorial on decibels that may he…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
John “Sully” Sullivan, W1HHR, of Columbia, Connecticut, passed away November 12, 2012. He was 83. An ARRL Life Member, Sullivan served as ARRL New England Division Director from 1975-1985. He was a veteran of the US Navy. A private service was held November 16 in Willimantic, Connecticut.
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By Gary Hoffman, KB0H
Contributing Editor
Kerchunk, kerchunk. You know what that noise means, right? That was the sound of me “testing my radio” when I first got my license. Bet you did it, too. Oh? You claim you never did anything so impertinent as to key up and unkey, just to convince yourself that you were transmitting? Okay, if you say so.
That first instance of me beaming radio waves to myse…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
This week, Surfin’ visits the ARRL’s Evolution of Amateur Radio Exhibit — virtually and in person.
I visited ARRL Headquarters this week and my intrepid editor, Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA, gave me a tour of the facilities. Although I live less than 20 miles away, I don’t get over to Newington that often, so a tour to see what is new was in order. I joked w…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The average daily sunspot numbers this past week dropped nearly 73 points to 56.4, while the average daily solar flux declined nearly 47 points to 110.7. The average geomagnetic indices were up about 50 percent, but it was still very quiet. The difference was mostly due to events on January 17 when the planetary A index was 13 — higher than in recent weeks, but still moderate. The cause of the…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The application period for ARRL Foundation Scholarships is fast approaching. The deadline for applications is February 1, 2013. According to ARRL Foundation Secretary Mary Hobart, K1MMH, the 2013 collection of scholarship awards is bigger than ever, with eight new scholarships added in 2012. “The annual awards range from $ 500 to $ 2500, with the estimated total dollar amount of all awards in exc…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Beginning Sunday, January 27, it will cost more to mail first class letters, postcards and packages within the US. The cost to mail a first class letter will be 46 cents, while the cost to mail a postcard will be 33 cents, an increase of 1 cent for each; this is the third increase for postcard postage in less than two years. This month, the USPS will also introduce a First Class Mail Global For…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The digital version of the February QST is now available to ARRL members. The digital version includes many features not available in the print version, such as:
Every issue of QST is filled with the ne…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
With the coming of more sunspots comes more DX. And when more amateurs work DX, the ARRL’s Membership and Volunteer Programs Department — especially the DXCC Desk and the ARRL Incoming and Outgoing QSL Bureaus — goes into high gear.
“In 2012, we saw an increase in the number of cards received from ARRL members that were sent to foreign QSL bureaus, as well as the number of cards we sent out to…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
ARRL policy is made by its Board of Directors. The 15 voting members of the Board are the Directors who are elected by the ARRL members in their respective divisions. The Board meets in January and July, usually in the Hartford area; however, this year, the meeting will take place in New Orleans, Louisiana. ARRL members also elect Vice Directors who may attend the meetings. ARRL Directors and V…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
This week, Surfin’ adds an antenna “booster” and an iPhone to the AM DXing tool kit.
I received two tech gifts during the holidays: a C. Crane Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna Signal Booster and an iPhone 5. I am very pleased with both gifts and thank my family (you know who you are) for their generosity.
The C. Crane Twin Coil Ferrite AM Antenna Signal Boos…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
On Monday, January 7, John Dack, W7KH, of Seattle, Washington, passed away. He was 91. An ARRL Life Member, Dack sat at the top of the DXCC mixed standings with 398 entities, including all 340 current entities and 58 deleted entities. He worked every DXCC entity except Daman and Diu (CR8), French Indochina (FI8) and Manchuria (C9). South Sudan (ST0) was the last new DX entity in Dack’s log; he …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
After last week’s somewhat downbeat look at sunspot cycles — current, past and future — we sure have some great activity to report this week: The average daily sunspot number more than doubled in the past week, rising nearly 93 points to 163.3, while the average daily solar flux was up more than 37 points to 147.7. On top of that, the geomagnetic conditions were very quiet, which is a wonderf…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The Logbook of The World (LoTW) queue has been shrinking steadily since Monday, January 7, when the system was brought back online after the completion of previously announced maintenance involving the installation of a new database server equipped with solid state drives (SSDs).
Since then, the system has been stable and, as expected, the SSDs are proving to be much faster. Currently, the dela…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Ring in the new year with new publications from the ARRL! Radios to Go! Getting the Most from Your Handheld Transceiver by QST Editor Steve Ford, WB8IMY, and the 2012 Periodicals DVD are now available and ready for shipping.
Radios to Go! Getting the Most from Your Handheld Transceiver
If you recently received a handheld transceiver — or are contemplating purchasing one — Radios to Go! Getting …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
In December, the ARRL Executive Committee reviewed grant applications for the ARRL’s Education & Technology Program (ETP), awarding equipment and resources valued at nearly $ 7000 to five schools. Two types of grants are awarded: ETP Grants and Progress Grants.
ETP School Station Grants
Grants for school radio stations are awarded to schools that provide a plan to use Amateur Radio as part of an …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Contacting faraway places with strange-sounding names has always been a top interest among hams. As DXers we may spend hours trying to make a 1 minute contact to add to our DXCC total. Occasionally, we’ll go to a world atlas to locate the place we have just worked, then return to combing the bands for the next rare DX contact. When conditions are poor, we might spend a bit more time researching…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Four new poll questions have just been published on the QuickStats page on the ARRL website. Let your voice be heard!
Questions in this month’s QuickStats poll:
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
As previously reported, the FCC has proposed to amend its rules to implement the allocation decisions of the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) and to make certain other changes. Notice appeared in the December 27, 2012 issue of the Federal Register, which started the clock on a 60-day window for the submission of comments. Thus, comments are due no later than February 25, 2013, …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Compiled by S. Khrystyne Keane, K1SFA
ARRL News Editor
news@arrl.org
This feature — including convenient web links to useful information — is a concise monthly update of some of the things the ARRL is doing on behalf of its members. This installment covers the month of December.
The ARRL filed a Petition for Rulemaking with the FCC, asking it to amend Sections 2 and 97 of its rules and create a …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
In June 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Mignon Clyburn to serve a second term as FCC Commissioner. On January 1, 2013, the Senate confirmed her nomination, paving the way to Clyburn’s first full term as one of five FCC Commissioners.
“I am so pleased that the Senate has approved Commissioner Clyburn’s re-nomination to the FCC,” said FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in a written statement. …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The winner of the December QST Cover Plaque award is James K. Boomer, W9UJ, for his article “Delta Loop Collinear Antennas.” Congratulations James! The QST Cover Plaque Award — given to the author or authors of the best 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 January issue today.
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
This week, Surfin’ revisits RigReference, RigPix, and Flickr and finds more radio photos (but none of Cosmophone).
Elmer Torensma, PH5E, is the ham behind RigReference.com, which I wrote about here two weeks ago. Elmer e-mailed me to mention something I missed in my write-up about RigReference: a nifty little feature of the website called “collections.”…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By Gary Hoffman, KB0H
ARRL Contributing Editor
Got an Amateur Radio item on the list you wrote to Santa this year? Of course you have. But if you’re like me, you don’t really expect to get it. First, what we want (well, what I want, anyway) is way too expensive. Second, it’s probably too heavy for Santa’s sleigh (or for Mrs Santa to carry out to the SUV). And third, Santa can’t just go to the ma…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By Sterling Coffey, N0SSC
ARRL Youth Editor
November plays host to my favorite contest — the ARRL November Sweepstakes. “Sweeps” is divided into two separate contests, CW and Phone. Ironically, the first contest I ever participated in was the 2007 CW Sweeps, using a decoder and an automatic CW keyer with my lack of CW skill. I then participated in Phone sweeps later in the month. I had a much be…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
This week, the end of Surfin’ is the least of your worries.
After 622 installments of Surfin’, this may be the last.
In case you have not heard, a Mayan calendar predicted that today — December 21 — is doomsday. To mark that final event, N0D, a special event station “celebrating the end of the world” will be on the air until the bitter end.
The N0D webs…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
It is Friday, and the world did not end. To herald this non-event, NASA even produced a wonderful video that explained how the whole thing was a misconception. The Mayan calendar is like an odometer, and when it gets to 999,999, it just roles over to 0 and begins anew. As expected, Phil Plait of Bad Astronomy also provided a nonsense-free assessment, where he referred to the non-event as the “M…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
In September 2010, Paul Isaacs, W2JGQ, of New York City, obtained a building permit for his Amateur Radio antenna support structure, comprised of a 40 foot tower topped by a Yagi antenna. Isaacs installed his antenna system on the roof of his four story brownstone — 58 feet above ground — in lower Manhattan.
Almost four months later — months after the erection of the system — the New York Ci…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
ARRL Headquarters will be closed Monday, December 24 and Tuesday, December 25, 2012 in observance of Christmas, and Tuesday, January 1, 2013 in observance of New Year’s Day. There will be no W1AW bulletins or code practice transmissions those days. There will be no ARRL Letter or ARRL Audio News on Thursday, December 20 and 27, 2012 and January 3, 2013; both the Letter and Audio News will retur…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The satellite computer-aided tuning interface described in the October 2012 QST (pp. 40-43) for use with SatPC32 software and the Yaesu FT-817 transceiver is now available for sale by the ARRL Education & Technology Program (ETP). The interface was created by Mark Spencer, WA8SME, as part of resource development for the ARRL ETP.
You can order the board and the programmed PIC at a cost of $ 20; t…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The average daily sunspot numbers fell 13.5 points this week, from 61.1 to 47.6, while the average daily solar flux was about the same this week as last, rising 1.1 points to 102.7. Geomagnetic indices were even quieter this week than last. Sunspot numbers for December 6-12 were 49, 23, 35, 40, 49, 55 and 82, with a mean of 47.6. The 10.7 centimeter flux was 97.4, 97.1, 101.1, 103.7, 104, 103.7…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
This week, Surfin’ recalls old radios with new clarity.
Recently, I tried to build a list of all the radios I have owned, but I got stuck. I could picture radios in my mind that I had long ago, but the pictures were a little fuzzy and I could not make out the model numbers (if you are a certain age, I think you know what I mean).
Searching the Internet, …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Earlier this year, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) notified its Member Societies that two new national Amateur Radio organizations wished to join the IARU and would need to be voted in: the Federation of Radio Sport of Azerbaijan (FRSA) and the St Vincent and the Grenadines Amateur Radio Club (SVGARC). Ballots from all the Member Societies that responded were counted on November 1….
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The annual Geminids meteor shower, scheduled to reach its peak on December 13 and 14, is slated to be the most intense shower of the entire year. This is also prime time for amateurs who enjoy bouncing their VHF signals off the ionized trails of these space rocks as they streak into our atmosphere. Known as meteor scatter, this communication technique takes advantage of temporary radio pathways…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
On December 12 and 13 the FITSAT-1 CubeSat will be sending Morse code by flashing its array of super-bright LEDs. Depending on local conditions, the light may be visible to the naked eye and will be easily visible through binoculars. The LEDs will send “HI DE NIWAKA JAPAN.”
The satellite will be visible over the eastern half of the United States on the morning of December 12. The LEDs will flash…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
This week, Surfin’ explores the Internet world of online tools for Amateur Radio.
My maternal grandfather was a toolmaker. When he died, my father inherited my grandfather’s tool collection and added it to his own tool collection. When my father died, I inherited my father’s tool collection and my grandfather’s tool collection and added it to my own too…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Solar activity declined again this week, with the average daily sunspot numbers dropping 17.8 points, from 78.9 to 61.1, while the average daily solar flux declined 19.4 points, from 121 to 101.6. Sunspot numbers for November 29-December 5 were 89, 67, 49, 43, 44, 58 and 78, with a mean of 61.1. The 10.7 centimeter flux was 113.1, 110.6, 101.7, 97.7, 96.6, 96.2 and 95.5, with a mean of 101.6. T…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Nominations are open until December 31, 2012 for the 2012 ARRL International Humanitarian Award. This award is conferred upon an amateur or amateurs who demonstrate devotion to human welfare, peace and international understanding through Amateur Radio. The League established the annual prize to recognize those radio amateurs who have used ham radio to provide extraordinary service to others in …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Four new poll questions have just been published on the QuickStats page on the ARRL website. Let your voice be heard!
Questions in this month’s QuickStats poll:
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
This week, Surfin’ urges readers to share their ham radio adventures by blogging.
Do you blog?
According to www.dictionary.com, a blog is “a website containing the writer’s or group of writers’ own experiences, observations, opinions, etc, and often having images and links to other websites.”
Many members of the ham radio community blog about what they a…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The average daily sunspot number for the week was down nearly 38 percent to 78.9, compared to last week’s average of 126.9. The average daily solar flux dropped nearly 13 percent, to 121 from 138.9. The seven-day reporting period for these data ran from November 22-28. Sunspot numbers for November 22-28 were 93, 85, 87, 64, 81, 76 and 66, with a mean of 78.9. The 10.7 centimeter flux was 127.7,…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Will it be possible to beat the 2011 running of the ARRL 10 Meter Contest? With more than 5300 logs received and worldwide openings last year, that may be a tall order. This past weekend during the CQ WW CW Contest, 10 meters was in great shape, despite a coronal mass ejection that hit on Friday evening. But according to ARRL Contest Branch Manager Sean Kutzko, KX9X, one thing’s for certain: Th…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The fix for the Logbook of The World (LoTW) bug was implemented at 2103 UTC today, November 28. Full credit goes to ARRL Information Technology Manager Michael Keane, K1MK, for figuring out what was happening and how to correct it.
There are two ways of uploading logs: via the LoTW website and by e-mail. LoTW users should note that e-mailed logs were not affected by the bug, so no e-mailed logs…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
The past few weeks have been a frustrating time for many users of the ARRL’s Logbook of The World (LoTW) QSO confirmation system. The problems began with a 3-1/2 day outage during the first week of November — a particularly busy time of the year for log uploads. When the system was brought back on line, a large queue of logs awaiting processing developed and processing times lengthened well pa…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Producer Steven Spielberg has used Amateur Radio or Morse code in three of his last four movies: Super 8 (2011), The Adventures of Tin Tin (2011) and Lincoln (2012). Members of the Morse Telegraph Club (MTC) — an association of retired railroad and commercial telegraphers, historians, radio amateurs and others with an interest in the history and traditions of telegraphy and the telegraph indus…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, RN3BF, of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and NASA Astronaut Scott Kelly have been selected for a one-year mission aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in 2015. According to NASA, the mission will include collecting scientific data important to future human exploration of our solar system and to understand better how the human body react…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
In November 16 edition of the Solar Update, we reported that the average daily sunspot number on November 8-14 was 104.9. In the next seven day reporting period — November 15-21 — the average was 126.9, making for a nice increase; with solar flux, the average over the previous period was 129.5. In the most recent period, the average daily sunspot number increased to 138.9. In the four days si…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, ex-KE4IQB, has named NASA Astronaut Ellen Ochoa, KB5TZZ, as the next Director of the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston, Texas. She will take over from Michael L. Coats when he retires at the end of the year.
Ochoa — who was the first Hispanic woman to go into space — has served as JSC Deputy Director since September 2007. She has served as Deput…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
By Stan Horzepa, WA1LOU
Contributing Editor
This week, Surfin’ considers high-altitude ballooning with Amateur Radio payloads.
Some things never change.
When I was a kid, I watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade to see the big balloons float down Sixth Avenue. As an adult (also known as a “big kid”), I still watch the parade to see the big balloons float down Sixth Avenue.
I also watch hot air …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
On Tuesday, November 20, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ET Docket No. 12-338) that proposes to amend Parts 1, 2, 74, 78, 87, 90 and 97 of the Commission’s rules. Part 97 governs the Amateur Radio Service. These changes will implement allocation decisions from the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC-07) that concern those portions of the radio frequency spectrum betw…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
On November 14, the FCC issued an Order on Reconsideration dismissing a March 2010 Petition for Reconsideration filed by the ARRL that asked the Commission to deny pending Public Safety Pool license applications associated with the ReconRobotics Video and Audio Surveillance System; however, in doing so, the FCC made it clear that the devices may not exceed 100 kHz of bandwidth. The Recon Scout …
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources
Throughout its 62 years, the Dayton Hamvention® has showcased the best that Amateur Radio has to offer. Each year, a specific theme — such as Amateur Radio clubs, global friendship or the advent of digital modes — spotlights one of the many facets of the Amateur Radio Service. And when Hamvention opens on May 17, 2013, at Hara Arena, the 2013 theme DX Hamvention will reflect an important part…
American Radio Relay League | Ham Radio Association and Resources