 
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 17, No. 6
February 6, 1998
__________________________________
=>Address Changes: Kathy Capodicasa, N1GZO, e-mail kcapodicasa@arrl.org
=>Editorial: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, e-mail elindquist@arrl.org
=>ARRL Audio News is available at http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/
    or by telephone at 860-594-0384.
__________________________________

IN THIS EDITION:

* +Three hams now on Mir
* +SAREX mission date slips
* +Tower law success story
* +Virginia hams eye tower bill
*  FCC sequential call sign update
* +1998 McGan Award nominations open
* +Former ARRL president to relive first DXpedition
*  Noel Eaton memorial club station to debut
*  Solar Update
*  Philip M. Catona, W2JAV, SK
*  IN BRIEF: This weekend on the radio;
   SW Virginia snowstorm update;
   YLRL Web site moves; New batteries
   now possible for space power; Announcement
   in QST reunites high school chums;
   ACE mission starts

+Available on ARRL Audio News
__________________________________

ASTRO-SWAP COMPLETED; THREE HAMS ON MIR

Three hams--two Russians and one American--now are aboard the 12-year old
Mir. US astronaut Andy Thomas, KD5CHF/VK5MIR, last week swapped spots on the
Russian space station with Dave Wolf, KC5VPF. Wolf returned to Earth--and a
pepperoni pizza he'd called ahead for--on January 31 aboard the shuttle
Endeavour. For its next mission, in July, Endeavour will carry the US Node
Module to support construction of the International Space Station.

At about the same time the Endeavour was departing Mir, a Russian
replacement crew and a French astronaut on his first ride into space were
blasting off from Baikonur. The new Russian crew, Talgat Musabayev, RO3FT,
and Nikolai Budarin, RV3FB (ex-RV3DB/R4MIR), and French researcher Leopold
Eyharts, arrived February 1. Eyharts will stay for three weeks.

The Australian-born Thomas, 41, is an engineer and the seventh US astronaut
to serve a tour aboard the Russian space station. He will spend the next
four months aboard Mir.

It had been announced that Thomas would be the last US astronaut to be
posted to Mir. But last week, NASA and Russian authorities left open the
door to the possibility that additional US astronauts might also serve
aboard Mir as the International Space Station construction lags behind
schedule.

DATE SLIPS FOR NEXT SAREX MISSION

The launch date for the next Shuttle Amateur Radio EXperiment (SAREX)
payload, aboard STS-93, has slipped until late this year. STS-93 originally
was scheduled to go up in August, but its primary payload will not be ready
by then. The five-day mission is the only SAREX mission scheduled during
1998. But another flight, STS-95 in October--the flight that will carry once
and future astronaut and US Sen John Glenn into space--has been under
consideration for several months as a possible SAREX flight, according to
AMSAT Vice President for Manned Space Programs Frank Bauer, KA3HDO. Nothing
has been confirmed yet, however.

While the shuttle will be involved in construction of the International
Space Station (ISS), it's unlikely that SAREX will be aboard shuttle
construction missions or shuttle/Mir docking flights because of the heavy
astronaut workload involved on these missions and the need to swap antennas
during Mir docking flights. The silver lining here is that the shuttle
activity on behalf of the ISS lays the groundwork for a permanent Amateur
Radio presence aboard the International Space Station when it is completed
and occupied in a few years. But one ISS construction mission that's
expected to be less busy than the others is under consideration to carry
SAREX.

As ISS construction begins late this year or early next year, a
transportable ham radio station will go into space that will support voice
and 1200-baud packet on 2 meters and 70 cm.

Further news regarding future SAREX missions will be posted in The ARRL
Letter and on the ARRLWeb as it becomes available.

TOWER LAW SUCCESS: CHALK ONE UP FOR AMATEUR RADIO

Hams in Mason County, Washington, won't be encumbered by a
telecommunications ordinance that would have restricted the height of ham
radio towers to 70 feet and imposed other regulations. Andrew Forsberg,
WV7M, of Grapeview, reports that several hams in the largely rural Western
Washington county (population approximately 30,000) cited federal preemption
over local regulation of Amateur Radio activities as well as the hobby's
public service dimension to get the County Board of Commissioners to exclude
ham radio from the new law last month.

Forsberg says that, as originally drafted, not only would tower heights have
been limited to 70 feet, but building-mounted towers could not have been
more than 20 feet tall. It also would have held the height of vertical
antennas (called "whips" in the proposed regulations) to 15 feet. In
addition, the proposed law would have required landscaping to hide a tower
and lot setbacks equal to a tower's height--something often impossible on a
small, residential lot.

Forsberg said that, at first, the drafters of the new ordinance "seemed to
be unmoved by Amateur Radio considerations." In addition to federal
preemption, the county hams pointed out the connection between a good
antenna system and ham radio's public service contributions--in an area
subject to floods, earthquakes, power outages during winter storms, and even
volcanic activity). Commissioners "began to soften their position," Forsberg
said.

"By the time the vote was taken, the commissioners were well-informed of our
position and were commending Amateur Radio for its outstanding contributions
to the community," he said.

VIRGINIA HAMS ASKED TO RALLY BEHIND TOWER BILL

Hams in Virginia are being asked to rally behind a statewide bill to
regulate the placement of Amateur Radio antennas. The measure, Senate Bill
480 (SB 480) was introduced January 26 by State Sen John Edwards of Roanoke.


The bill would amend the Code of Virginia to include the essence of the
PRB-1 federal preemption. It would require local ordinances involving the
placement, screening, or height of antennas to "reasonably accommodate
Amateur Radio antennas" and "impose the minimum regulation necessary."

The bill--if approved by the Virginia General Assembly--would prohibit
localities from restricting ham antennas to less than 200 feet above ground,
restricting the number of support structures, or requiring restrictive
variances "beyond reasonable and customary engineering practices" unless the
antenna "clearly represents an unreasonable risk to human health or life."

Bob Ham, KK4IY, says hams can track the progress of the bill at
http://leg1.state.va.us/981/bil.htm (enter "sb480" at the prompt). Hams can
voice an opinion on the bill by calling 800-889-0229 and leaving a message
for their Delegate or Senator.--thanks to Frank Mackey, K4EC, Bob Cecil,
WB3S, and Bob Ham, KK4IY

FCC SEQUENTIAL CALL SIGN UPDATE (View using nonproportional font)

The following is a list of FCC sequentially assigned call signs issued as of
February 2, 1998.

District       Group A     Group B     Group C    Group D
               Extra       Advanced    Tech/Gen   Novice

   0           AB0HF       KI0LO        ++        KC0CRE
   1           AA1TE       KE1JE        ++        KB1CIT
   2           AB2EX       KG2NO        ++        KC2CYG
   3           AA3QT       KF3AW        ++        KB3CBT
   4           AF4HV       KU4OF        ++        KF4VRS
   5           AC5OX       KM5OU        ++        KD5DFM
   6           AD6EJ       KQ6UM        ++        KF6PIL
   7           AB7XF       KK7LT        ++        KD7AKT
   8           AB8BV       KI8FA        ++        KC8JFJ
   9           AA9VK       KG9MI        ++        KB9SAO
N. Mariana Is  NH0B        AH0AY       KH0GV      WH0ABI
Guam            ++         AH2DF       KH2TA      WH2ANV
Hawaii         NH7F        AH6PF       KH7IN      WH6DEN
American Samoa AH8P        AH8AH       KH8DL      WH8ABF
Alaska         AL0H        AL7QY       KL0LN      WL7CUQ
Virgin Islands  ++         KP2CM       NP2JX      WP2AIJ
Puerto Rico    NP3S        KP3BE       NP3TS      WP4NNP

++All call signs in this group have been issued in this district.

1998 McGAN AWARD NOMINATIONS OPEN

Nominees are welcome for the seventh annual Philip J. McGan Memorial Silver
Antenna Award, a chance to honor the ham who did the most to promote Amateur
Radio in 1997. The McGan award was named for journalist Philip J. McGan,
WA2MGQ (SK), the first chairman of the ARRL Public Relations Committee. It
goes to the ARRL member who demonstrates volunteer public relations success
on behalf of ham radio at the local, state or national level, and who best
exemplifies the volunteer spirit of the award's namesake.

Public relations (as opposed to public service) activities are those
specifically directed at bringing Amateur Radio to the public's attention in
a positive light--typically through the media (newspapers, TV, radio).

Nominations for the seventh annual award are due May 29, 1998 at ARRL
Headquarters, Newington, Connecticut, by 5 PM Eastern Time.

A committee screens eligible nominations and forwards its recommendations to
the ARRL Board of Directors, which makes the final determination at its July
meeting.

Entry forms for the Philip J. McGan Memorial Silver Antenna Award are
available from Jennifer Gagne, N1TDY, e-mail jgagne@arrl.org or call
860-594-0328. Send completed forms and supporting materials to Philip J.
McGan Memorial Silver Antenna Award, care of Jennifer Gagne, N1TDY, ARRL,
225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111.

W0DX/VP2VI TO RELIVE THRILL OF FIRST DXPEDITION

The man called "the father of the modern DXpedition"--former ARRL President
Bob Denniston, W0DX/VP2VI--will mark the 50th anniversary of his first-ever
DXpedition March 14-15 by resurrecting the same radio gear he used as VP7NG
back in 1948 and putting it back on the air from the Caribbean. "We're
trying to do everything exactly the way it was the first time," Denniston
said. He's even attempting to round up the same operators to lend a hand,
but several others have been invited as well.

Late in 1947, Denniston, then W4NNN, thought it would be fun to be DX. He
also discovered that the Bahamian government would be willing to issue him
its first post-World War II license. Denniston's non-DXer friends thought he
was quite mad, so the DXpedition was dubbed "Gon-Waki"--a reference to Thor
Heyerdahl's famous Kon-Tiki/LI2B expedition earlier that same year.

Denniston gathered together some gear and two more operators--Charley Orr,
W4NND, Buddy Buttizoni, W3GRP--and put VP7NG on the air the weekend of March
14-15, 1948--the second CW weekend of the ARRL International DX Contest. The
crew used a Meissner Signal Shifter to drive a 100 W transmitter, plus
Hallicrafters SX-28A and Hammarlund HQ-129X receivers. Antennas included a
138-foot wire for transmitting and a separate 66-footer for receiving (for
the full "Gon-Waki" story, see QST, Jul 1948, page 80).

DXpedition members will bring the SX-28A from Denniston's Newton, Iowa,
shack. Modern equipment will be available to back up the original gear, but
original bands, hand keys (the original crew used a Vibroplex bug), and wire
antennas will be the order of the day. The major difference will be the QTH.
The 1998 event will be from the British Virgin Islands, where Denniston now
lives during part of the year. The group will operate March 14, 0000 UTC
until 2400 UTC March 15, 1998, using VP2VI/50 on 160, 80, 40, 20, 15, and 10
meters. The "Gon-Waki II" group will operate 24 kHz up from the band edges
and listen up. A commemorative QSL card will be available. QSL via AB1U.

Noted DXpeditioner Martii Laine, OH2BH, credits Denniston as being the
originator of the modern DXpedition. As Denniston put it, "I didn't realize
it at the time, but I was inventing DXpeditions." Denniston, in turn,
credits CM9AA with coining the expression "DXpedition." Denniston's other
firsts include Clipperton Island (FO8AJ) in 1954) and Malpelo. His strategy
of visits to rare prefixes helped earn him a world record ARRL International
DX Contest score in 1960 from VP1JH (now Belize). Denniston, who turned 79
in February, served as the League's president from 1966 until 1972 and
continues to contribute his time and talent to the hobby.--thanks to Jim
Livengood, W0NB

NOEL EATON MEMORIAL AMATEUR RADIO STATION TO DEBUT

Hams at the home club of the late IARU President Emeritus Noel Eaton, VE3CJ,
will celebrate the opening of the Noel Eaton Memorial Amateur Radio Station
later this month. Eaton served as International Amateur Radio Union
President from 1974 until 1982. He headed the IARU team at the 1979 World
Administrative Radio Conference. Eaton also was ARRL Canadian Director from
1960 until 1974 and was inducted into the Canadian Amateur Radio Hall of
Fame in 1997.

Eaton died in 1996 and left all of his equipment (including a TH7-DX beam
and a 56-foot tower) to the Burlington (Ontario) Amateur Radio Club. Club
members obtained space to build a club station and got Industry Canada to
reissue Eaton's call sign for the station. The VE3CJ call sign returned to
the air last July 1 during the RAC's Canada Day Contest.

The grand opening of the club station, coupled with a banquet and a ham
radio flea market, will be held February 21 in Burlington. Visitors are
welcome to operate the VE3CJ club station. The list of those planning to
attend includes IARU President Dick Baldwin, W1RU, ARRL Vice President Hugh
Turnbull, W3ABC, RAC President J. Farrell "Hoppy" Hopwood, VE7RD, and IARU
Region 2 President Tom Atkins, VE3CDM. For more information, contact Hugh
McCully, VE3AYR, e-mail janus@bigwave.ca. Additional details are available
at http://www.bigwave.ca/jefdavis/eaton/index.htm.--The Canadian Amateur

SOLAR UPDATE: NEW CYCLE RETREATING

Solar seer Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: This solar cycle
seems to be in the doldrums. The average sunspot number last week was less
than half what it was the week before, and average solar flux was down about
nine points. The 90-day average for solar flux drifted down from 97 to 96,
and flux values were below that level on every day, indicating a general
downward trend over the short term.

Even more disturbing is the regression in solar activity over the past few
months. The average solar flux was 99.5 in November, 98.7 in December, and
93.4 in January. This new cycle was already showing progress slower and
later than expected, and now it seems to be gradually retreating rather than
progressing. The NOAA prediction for those three months was for a smoothed
solar flux of 102, 109, and 116. The prediction for this month was 122.

Last week, geomagnetic activity was running a bit higher. The worst day was
Friday, January 30, when Planetary A index was 19 and the K index went as
high as five.

For the short term the solar flux is expected to gradually increase to
around the mid-90s by February 10, then drift back around 90 after
mid-month, then possibly mid-90s or above by February 22, then back to 90 by
month's end. No geomagnetic disturbances are predicted, although unsettled
conditions could return around February 26-28. The predicted solar flux for
February 6-8 is 86 for each day.

W6PYK wrote to ask if we take into account the sun's rotational period in
forecasting conditions. The paragraph above is based upon projections by
NOAA which use the solar rotation to try to predict when active regions may
come into view again.

N0EG wrote to point out an interesting Web site at http://www.dxlc.com
operated by the DX Listener's Club of Norway. This site has some nice graphs
of sunspot numbers, solar flux and planetary A indices, as well as daily
solar data, all selectable in either English or Norwegian. N0EG wanted to
know what the references such as "K indices: 3322 3211" meant. Each digit is
a single K index value for each three-hour period in a 24-hour day. The
grouping in four digits has no significance, except that each group
represents 12 hours out of a day.

Sunspot numbers for January 29 through February 4 were 71, 41, 37, 25, 23,
39, and 26 with a mean of 37.4. The 10.7-cm flux was 93.6, 91, 89.4, 90.7,
89.1, 88.8, and 89.1, with a mean of 90.2, and estimated planetary A indices
were 8, 19, 9, 7, 3, 3, and 8, with a mean of 8.1.

PHILLIP M. CATONA, W2JAV, SK

RTTY pioneer Phil Catona, W2JAV, of Pitman, New Jersey, died suddenly on
January 27 after a period of ill health. He was 79. Catona held RTTY WAS #2,
for which he qualified in 1961. Based on a design by W2PAT, he also
developed the W2JAV RTTY demodulator (see "An Improved Radioteletype
Converter," CQ, April 1958), which remained a standard for a decade or more
in the 1950s and 1960s and was included by Byron Kretzman, W2JTP, in The New
RTTY Handbook.

Catona also built equipment for and operated on the UHF and microwave bands
in the days when they were largely uncharted territory for hams. His close
friend, E. M. "Brownie" Brown, W2PAU, recalled how Catona "gave freely of
his expertise" to help others with ham radio projects and solve their
problems. "He was always ready to participate in operating events," he
added, and he was "a master of practical jokes."

Catona also belonged to the Antique Wireless Association and collected and
meticulously restored vintage radios and radio paraphernalia. He also was an
amateur aviator.

A World War II veteran, Catona was retired from RCA. He was a member of the
ARRL and a member and past president the South Jersey Radio Association; in
1952, he was SJRA's Amateur of the Year. He also was a member of the
Cumberland Radio Club and trustee of the CRC club station, W2BX. His wife,
Pearl, WA2AVA, is among his survivors.--thanks to Brownie Brown, W2PAU, and
Dennis Gazak, N3DG

__________________________________

IN BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: This weekend, be on the lookout for the
Delaware QSO Party, the Kansas QSO Party, the Vermont QSO Party, the New
Hampshire QSO Party, the North American Sprint (CW), the FYBO Winter QRP
Field Day, the NW QRP Club Digital Contest, and the Ten-Ten International
Net Winter Phone QSO Party. Details are on page 94 of February QST. A
reminder: The 12th Annual School Club Roundup begins February 9 and
continues until February 14 (dates in the February issue of QST are
incorrect). For information on the New Hampshire QSO Party, see
http://homepages.together.net/~bhabooks/nhqso.html. For details on other
events, see page 114 in January QST.

* SW Virginia snowstorm update: Scott County, Virginia, EC Jim Flanary,
K4LMP, provides additional information on ARES activity during a surprise
snowstorm that hit the Appalachian region January 27 (see "Hams active after
surprise storm," The ARRL Letter, Vol 17, No 5). ARES was activated as Scott
County--on the Kentucky border--declared a state of emergency because of a
heavy snowfall. The storm knocked out power to nearly 164,000 customers in
Virginia, West Virginia, and Kentucky. With power outages throughout the
county and telephone service disrupted, ARES provided communication for the
local Department of Emergency Services to areas inaccessible via telephone
or regular radio channels. Via repeater contact with other ARES stations who
still had phone service, Flanary was able to alert area radio and TV
stations so they could tell listeners and viewers what to do and whom to
call if they needed help. "The calls for assistance were overwhelming," he
said. "Central dispatch was swamped with calls, and all available law
enforcement and fire and rescue personnel were on the road rendering
assistance." Flanary says fallen trees made the situation worse by blocking
roads. Local ARES handled a call from one Amateur Radio operator in a
semi-tractor trailer who'd been involved in an accident that blocked a
highway for several hours. "We let him to talk direct to central dispatch
via the autopatch," he said. The trucker-ham also reported that someone was
breaking into cars abandoned on the highway, and Flanary was able to relay
the information to authorities. ARES members in two states (Virginia and
Tennessee) and several counties assisted in this emergency. "It was a prime
example of ARES members working together across county and state lines,"
Flanary said. "I am proud to be a member of ARES."

* YLRL Web site moves: The Young Ladies' Radio League Web site has moved to
http://home.earthlink.net/~tenmtryl/ylrl/. The pages will be redesigned and
new ones will be added, including information on the upcoming convention,
how to join YLRL, and links to other sites. For more information, contact
YLRL Editor Margaret Dunn, KC7LXS, at her new e-mail address,
tenmtryl@earthlink.net.

* New batteries now possible for space power: Space power engineers at the
Air Force Research Laboratory's Space Vehicles Directorate are reported to
be very excited about their successful sodium-sulfur battery tests performed
on a November space shuttle mission, according to a press release from the
Air Force Material Command at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico. The new battery
cell weighs half as much and generates nearly three times the specific power
of nickel-hydrogen technology, or 150 watt hours per kilogram of battery
weight. The sodium-sulfur costs half as much as nickel-hydrogen and is more
reliable due to simpler design.--International Space Report (ISIR) Newsline
Digest

* Announcement in QST reunites high school chums: A QST announcement helped
to reunite two high school friends who had lost touch with one another since
graduating in 1957 from Shelby High School in Northern Ohio. Eric Morse,
KC0ARM, now living in Rolla, Missouri, wasn't sure if the 1997 co-winner of
the McGan Award--L. James Biddle, WB3DCL--was the "guy who was always
soldering something" during their high school days. Biddle's picture, as the
award winner, appeared in February QST. Morse made a quick phone call to
League HQ, and the assistance of Jennifer Gagne, N1TDY, resulted in an
unexpected e-mail message when Biddle checked his e-mail that day. A phone
call helped complete the circuit and, with the proper propagation, the two
are already thinking skeds. Biddle was licensed in 1956 as KN8DIT. Morse,
who recently retired, is a relatively new ham.--L. James Biddle, WB3DCL

* ACE mission starts: The official start of NASA's Advanced Composition
Explorer (ACE) was February 1. ACE has been in orbit for about 150 days, and
all instruments completed their high voltage ramp ups with "some minor
glitches," but were said to be working well. ACE may provide as much as an
hour's warning of major solar events that can cause geomagnetic storms here
on earth, according to project scientists.--International Space Report
(ISIR) Newsline Digest

===========================================================
The ARRL Letter is published by the American Radio Relay League, 225 Main
St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259. Rodney J.
Stafford, W6ROD, President; David Sumner, K1ZZ, Executive Vice President.

Circulation, Kathy Capodicasa, N1GZO, e-mail kcapodicasa@arrl.org.
Editorial, Rick Lindquist, N1RL, e-mail elindquist@arrl.org.

Visit the ARRLWeb page at http://www.arrl.org.

The purpose of The ARRL Letter is to provide the essential news of interest
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