 
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 16, No. 50
December 19, 1997
__________________________________
Address Changes: Kathy Capodicasa, N1GZO, e-mail kcapodicasa@arrl.org
Editorial: Rick Lindquist, N1RL, e-mail elindquist@arrl.org
ARRL Audio News now is available at http://www.arrl.org/arrlletter/audio/
__________________________________

[NOTE: Because of the holidays, The ARRL Letter will not be published December
26, 1997. This will be the last edition in 1997, Volume 16. The
ARRL Letter will return January 2, 1998. Season's greetings!--Rick
Lindquist, N1RL]

IN THIS EDITION:
* +Hams help in typhoon's wake
* +Ham radio rescue
* +FCC has new Form 610
* +Ohio VOA antennas come down
* +QEX to go bimonthly
* +North Pole Net
*  Ham radio history
*  Solar update
*  Harry Bradshaw, W4TPB, SK
*  Dena Morgan, W5DRI, SK
*  IN BRIEF: This weekend on the radio;
   Correction/clarification; Vanity update;
   Mir update; Accessing the ULS; ARNS
   Publication Contest; Navy HF fax broadcast
   ended; WD4FAB recovering from surgery;
   RAC announces 1998-99 officers

+Available on ARRL Audio News
__________________________________

HAMS HELP IN WAKE OF GUAM TYPHOON

Ham radio operators helped relay damage assessments and continue to keep
open lines of communication between Guam and the Pacific islands of Saipan,
Tinian, and Rota in the Northern Marianas in the wake of Typhoon Paka. The
storm Tuesday caused heavy damage on Guam, but telephone service remains
intact, according to Jim Kehler, KH2D, president of the Mariana Islands DX
Association. Kehler says the islanders are taking the situation in stride
for the most part. "Typhoons in this part of the Pacific are something that
everyone knows about and has a respect for, since we have all seen the results
previously."

While damage estimates are in the $200 million range, no one was killed or
seriously injured when the storm passed over Guam, "Everybody is just happy to
be alive, and nobody is sitting on the curb crying cuz the house got flooded
and the car got crushed," Kehler relates. "That's Guam." Kehler says there's a
great sense of community on the island, with everyone pitching in to help
others get their lives and homes back together in the disaster's wake.

Kehler reports the storm wiped out commercial power and water as well as
most of the trees on the island. He estimated that it could be "two or three
months" before commercial power is fully restored on Guam.

Kehler said 7.085 MHz is being used for inter-island communication. He said
that during the storm's approach, hams on Guam also used 7.085 while
tracking its path. During the storm, Kehler's and five other MIDXA stations
were operational on 40 meters. The others included WH0AAV on Saipan, KH0CE, on
Tinian, and N4UQM/KH2, KH2JU, and K9AW/KH2 on Guam. Kehler said that his ham
radio station was not damaged in the storm, but he reports conditions have not
been favorable for reliable communication with the mainland with
his modest setup. Several other hams on Guam were not as fortunate and
suffered heavy wind and water damage from Typhoon Paka, he said.

Kehler said Paka marked the first storm where he was "really scared." The
typhoon is said to have packed record-shattering winds in excess of 200 mph.

The only VHF repeater on Guam survived the storm, but Kehler says it's not
being used for emergency communication at this point. Commercial radio
stations were put off the air, however.

Kehler said the MIDXA was formed in November after Typhoon Keith struck the
Northern Marianas. "One of the reasons was that Rota lost all commercial
communications in that storm, and the ham community here was totally
unprepared to help," he explained. MIDXA members continue to monitor 7.085,
"at least those with a radio, antenna, and a house left," Kehler said, but
with commercial power and water out of commission, "Guam is a mess."

In the storm's wake, Red Cross National Headquarters had activated Virginia
ARES to coordinate damage assessment recovery information from ham radio
sources in the Pacific--primarily Hawaii and Guam. Red Cross National
Headquarters is located in Fairfax County, Virginia, and relies heavily on
ARES support during disaster responses when normal lines of communication
are not available. Information summaries and updates were posted on the
Virginia ARES Web site, http://www.aresva.org. The Red Cross now has a
contingent on Guam and has terminated the Virginia ARES activation "with
thanks to everyone who participated in this response."--thanks to Jim
Kehler, KH2D, and Don Mahan, KD4WGV and Frank Mackey, K4EC/Virginia ARES

HAM RADIO TO THE RESCUE--AGAIN!

Three Franklin Pierce College students may owe their lives to ham radio. The
three found themselves stranded on New Hampshire's Mount Monadnock in late
November after becoming disoriented and lost in the snow and darkness.
Fortunately, one of the students was Michael Sensabaugh, KB2SSA, of New
York. He radioed for help with his small hand-held transceiver via the K1TQY
repeater in Keene.

Repeater trustee Dawn Cummings, K1TQY, and Roberta Bennett, N1WTY,
responded. Cummings took charge of communication. Bennett called in the
alarm to Monadnock State Park Manager Michael Walsh. Then, she bundled her
young son and her own H-T in the family car and drove to Walsh's office.

Throughout the next four hours, Bennett provided a radio link between the lost
students and the search party via "Henry, the Keene Machine," as the K1TQY
repeater is known. Walsh was thus aware of the students' current predicament
and was able to instruct and encourage them accordingly. The students were
found late that evening and brought to safety as bad weather continued to move
in.--thanks to Richard Seifert, KB2FF

FCC FORMS CONTRACTOR NOW HAS NEW FORM 610

With just days to spare, the new FCC Form 610 now is available from the
FCC's forms contractor. The FCC has ordered the destruction of all previous
versions of the form. As of January 1, 1998, the FCC will accept only the
new Form 610 for all filings. Forms 610A and 610B also have been amended.  The
major change in the new Form 610 is a certification that says the applicant
has read and will comply with the new RF radiation safety rules that begin
phasing in on January 1, 1998.

The FCC Forms Distribution Center accepts orders at 800-418-3676.

That's not to say the new Form 610 simply has not been available until now.
ARRL VEC Manager Bart Jahnke, W9JJ, says the ARRL/VEC sent out 43,000 copies
of the revised 610 last week to VE teams across the country. The ARRL had
copies printed earlier this fall and has been supplying the new forms to those
who have requested them for the past six weeks. In addition, the ARRL now
supplies a new handout, Additional Information for Amateurs Completing the New
FCC Form 610, that contains a condensed version of how to comply
with the new RF safety regulations.

The new Forms 610 also have been available from the FCC's Web site at
http://www.fcc.gov/formpage.html, at ftp://ftp.fcc.gov/pub/Forms, or by fax at
202-418-0177 (request index).

To order a new Form 610 from the ARRL, send a self-addressed, stamped envelope
to ARRL/VEC, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Include one unit of first-class
postage for each Form you order.

OHIO VOA ANTENNAS COME DOWN

Ham visitors to Ohio--perhaps on their way to the Dayton
Hamvention--sometimes found it hard to keep their eyes on the highway when
passing the Voice of America's Bethany Relay Station. The vast antenna farm
off I-75 north of Cincinnati consisting of 14 rhombics and a huge Sterba
curtain easily distracted most hams.

At one time among the most powerful shortwave stations in the world, the
Bethany Relay Station was shut down a couple of years ago. Earlier this month,
the towers supporting the majestic Sterba curtain and other wire arrays came
crashing down--to make way for commercial and recreational development and a
university campus on the 625-acre site. Among those on
hand to watch the spectacle was Tom Rupp, W8TCR, a VOA engineer for 26 years
who retired in 1993.

Work will continue to remove the other towers and structures. Most of the
towers will be pulled from the ground with a crane. Forty towers, ranging from
90 to 150 feet tall, will be salvaged. Crews will finish clearing the towers
by February.

A report in the Cincinnati Enquirer quoted ham radio operator Joe Goforth,
WB8NFJ, who lived less than a mile from the VOA site for two decades. "I
used to talk to the engineers all the time," he told the paper, noting that
VOA broadcasts sometimes interfered with his ham gear. "But I guess I'm a
little disappointed to see it go," he added.

For a look at one of the Sterba curtain support towers coming down, see
http://www.palmtop.net/img/voa.jpg. For more info on the Bethany Relay
Station, visit the Jim Hawkins' (WA2WHV) Radio Room,
http://www.exit109.com/~jimh/voaohio.html.--thanks to Mitch Hamm, N8XS, and
Jim Hawkins, WA2WHV

QEX TO GO BIMONTHLY

QEX, the ARRL Forum for Communications Experimenters, will become a
bimonthly publication starting in January, and the magazine will expand in
size to compensate for the new publication schedule. "Two months is not so
long that you forget we are here, and the amount of material is not so great
that you can't take the time to read through it," said new QEX Editor Rudy
Severns, N6LF. Severns said the total amount of material subscribers get
each year would not decrease. "Issues will be either 48 or 64 pages, depending
on the available material," he said.

Several interesting articles are set to appear in the January/February
issue. Among them is "The Car--As a Contoured Ground-Plane," a discussion by
Peter Madie, KE6RBV, that will appeal to mobile operators trying to
determine the best place to locate their antennas. In the same issue are
"Parabolic Dish Feeds--Performance Analysis," by Paul Wade, N1BWT, plans for a
2.4 GHz Phase 3D receiver by John Reed, W6IOJ, and a tutorial, "RF Phase
Shifters for Phasing-Type SSB Rigs," by Byron E. Blanchard, N1EKV. Also, Randy
Henderson, WI5W, explains how to build an economical high-voltage
power supply. The regular "RF" column by Zack Lau, W1VT, and subscribers'
letters round out this issue.

The basic QEX subscription rate will increase slightly. Effective January 1,
ARRL members will pay $18 per year (six issues); nonmembers will pay $30.
"These two changes will help ensure QEX's long-term financial health," Severns
said. For more information, or to subscribe to QEX, visit the
ARRLWeb site, http://www.arrl.org/ or call toll-free 888-277-5289.

NORTH POLE NET

Thanks to ham radio, several hospitalized kids in the Omaha area got a
chance to visit with Santa Claus earlier this month. Sixteen members of the
Ak-Sar-Ben Amateur Radio Club were called into action by Santa to activate the
North Pole Network on December 13. This marked the fourth consecutive year
that net coordinator Pat Joseph, N0HPP, has organized the event that uses ATV
and Amateur Radio to allow Santa Claus to visit area hospitals.

Working with Santa and the nurses and technical staff of area hospitals, the
children could see and hear Santa on their hospital room TVs and talk to him
via Amateur Radio. This year, three hospitals had children who wanted to
talk to Santa, and 24 kids had a chance to have a visit from Santa and discuss
their Christmas lists. The hams used the K0USA 2-meter repeater, which is
owned and operated by the Ak-Sar-Ben ARC, and the WB0CMC ATV repeater which is
sponsored by WOWT Television. Both repeaters are located
on the WOWT broadcast tower.--Pat Joseph, N0HPP

HAM RADIO HISTORY

In a whimsical mood, here's a lighthearted look at ham radio history. The
original version of this was posted on the Contest Reflector a few months
back.

* 4 Billion BC--Earth is a swirling ball of flames. Propagation is extremely
poor.

* 1 Billion BC--First dry land appears. It is divided up into grid squares.

* 500 Million BC--Second patch of dry land appears. First DXpedition; DXCC
credit disallowed because of questionable licensing agreement.

* 400 Million BC--Flowering plants and grasses evolve. Rotary beam invented,
but sales stall for lack of suitable mounting structures.

* 300 Million BC--First tree appears and is immediately cut down, stripped
of branches, placed in a concrete base and called a telephone pole. Beam sales
pick up.

* 200 Million BC--More beams sold. Installer falls from top of pole. Safety
belt is invented.

* 100 Million BC--First mountain appears. The repeater is invented.

* 50 Million BC--CQ is adopted.

* 4 Million BC--Humans replace swine as dominant species. The name ham
operator hangs on, however.

* 3 Million BC--Dugout canoe invented. Maritime Mobile Net formed on 14.313
MHz.

* 2 Million BC to 800 AD--Nothing much happens for a long time.

* 900 AD--Chinese invent gunpowder. BY1AA is first "Big Gun" DXer.

* 1790 AD--Ben Franklin invents long wire receiving antenna. Ground switch
invented.

* 1961 AD--Second repeater erected. First repeater group refuses to change
frequency. First repeater coordinator appointed.

* 1997 AD--Amateur Radio humor sinks to a new low.

SOLAR UPDATE

Solar scholar Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: Solar activity
was down last week. Not only was the solar flux below the average for the
previous 90 days on six out of seven days, but the 90-day average actually
dropped one point. Average solar flux last week dropped nearly 12 points
when compared to the previous week. Solar flux was also lower than expected
for the 10 meter contest last week.

Solar flux is expected to stay below 90 until December 22, then rise above 100
around December 27, and drop below 100 again around January 1. A recurring
coronal hole is expected to increase geomagnetic instability resulting in
higher K and A indices around December 21 and 22.

Sunspot numbers for December 11 through 17 were 99, 64, 70, 66, 56, 43 and
42 with a mean of 62.9. The 10.7-cm flux was 96.4, 92.5, 89.3, 90, 89.1,
84.7 and 85.6, with a mean of 89.7, and estimated planetary A indices were 13,
2, 2, 2, 3, 3, and 3, with a mean of 4.

HARRY BRADSHAW, W4TPB, SK

Kentucky PIO Harry Bradshaw, W4TPB, of Lexington, died December 10. He was 82.
Bradshaw, a member of the Bluegrass Amateur Radio Society and its former PR
chairman, had been in ill health for some time.--Steve McCallum, W2ZBY

DENA MORGAN, W5DRI, SK

Contester and DXer Dena Morgan, W5DRI, of Brookhaven, Mississippi, died
November 30. She was 73 and had been inactive in ham radio for a few years.
Dena Morgan and her husband Shelton, W5DQK, were active contest and DX ops
in the 1950s and 60s. During that period, Dena Morgan won several YL-OM
Contests with her B&W 5100 and Collins 75A-3 on AM. She also was a regular
in the ARRL Sweepstakes and DX contests. "Old timers will remember her
potent YL signal and the rare Mississippi YL multiplier she passed out,"
said Dave Thompson, K4JRB (ex-K5MDX). She also got other YLs involved with ham
radio. Her oldest son, Larry, AG5Z, is among her survivors.--Larry Morgan,
AG5Z; Dave Thompson, K4JRB

__________________________________

IN BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: The Croatian CW Contest is this weekend. On
December 27-28, get ready for the Stew Perry Topband Distance Challenge and
the RAC Winter Contest. And don't forget ARRL Straight Key Night on New Year's
Eve, December 31. See December QST, page 98, for details.

* Correction/clarification: Our report on new fees for DXCC and other awards
(see The ARRL Letter, Vol 16, No 49) contained an error. There is no change in
the fee for VUCC certificates. The initial, replacement, or additional VUCC
certificate remains $10. While other fees will change, the Web sites
for these awards on the ARRLWeb will not be updated until the changes actually
go into effect January 1, 1998.

* Vanity update: The FCC in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, reports it processed all
vanity call sign applications received between November 15 and November 21
inclusive. There were 54 new call signs issued. Another 65 applications ended
up in the WIPs (work in process) stack. All WIPs have been
processed.--FCC

* Mir update: MIREX chief Dave Larsen, N6CO, reports that an announced
crossband "experiment" involving Mir has been abandoned for now because of
interference on 145.800 and 145.550. US astronaut Dave Wolf, KC5VPF, aboard
Mir has been on 145.985 MHz FM simplex, but only occasionally. A space walk at
the end of this month will check and--if necessary--repair the
2-meter/70-cm antenna that might have been damaged. The Kenwood TM-733
aboard Mir has been connected to the spacecraft's SAFEX repeater antenna. A
new KAM dual mode packet radio terminal node controller (TNC) that was
recently sent to Mir from the MIREX team was tested onboard Mir last week.
The new TNC supports both 1200 and 9600 baud connections, and has a message
buffer size of 100 kilobytes--substantially larger than that of the TNC
previously in use. Until a suitable cable can be wired up and installed,
9600 baud communications will not be available.--thanks to Dave Larsen, N6CO

* Accessing the ULS: The FCC has upped the browser requirements to access
the Universal Licensing System (ULS) registration screen. According to
Steven Reed of the FCC's Auctions Technical Support Staff: "For the newest
version of the ULS, you will need Netscape 4.0 or higher to use the mapping
system. If you are not going to use the mapping system, you can use a Netscape
version higher than 3.01." Those wishing to register on the ULS may also
complete a paper FCC Form 606 and mail it to the FCC.

* ARNS Publication Contest: The deadline is December 31, 1997, to enter the
Amateur Radio News Service Publication Contest. The annual competition is to
identify and recognize superior performance in Amateur Radio journalism and
evaluate club newsletters with suggestions for improvement. To enter, clubs
should submit one copy of any issue of their newsletter from between July 1996
and December 1997, accompanied by an application form (contained in the last
two issues of ARNS Bulletin. Entries go to Lee Knirko, W9MOL, 11 S LaSalle St,
Suite 2100, Chicago, IL 60603-1302.

* Navy HF fax broadcast ended: The Navy HF facsimile broadcast, designed to
support US Naval operations in the Atlantic, will cease at year's end since
fleet units have migrated to other communication systems. The Navy HF Fleet
Broadcast will end 24-hour continuous operation beginning January 1, 1998.
This system will be placed in a back-up mode for on-demand service to be
activated by fleet units upon request.--Patrick A. Dixon

* WD4FAB recovering from surgery: Craig Mellinger, N2MNA, reports former AMSAT
Vice President/Engineering Dick Jansson, WD4FAB, is doing well after
undergoing back surgery earlier this month. Jansson has been heavily
involved in getting Phase 3D readied for launch. Cards and letters are welcome
to Dick Jansson, 1130 Willow Brook Trail, Maitland FL 32751.

* RAC announces 1998-99 officers: J. Farrell "Hoppy" Hopwood, VE7RD, will
continue for another term as president of Radio Amateurs of Canada (RAC).  The
RAC Board of Directors announced the election of Hopwood and other Executive
Officers for the 1998-99 term in late November. They include First Vice
President, Douglas E. Leach, VE3XK; Vice President Government Affairs, James
G. Dean, VE3IQ; Vice President International Affairs, J. Kenneth Pulfer,
VE3PU; Vice President & General Counsel, Timothy S. Ellam, VE6SH; Secretary
Joseph MacPherson, VE1CH; and Treasurer Gerald Tilley, VO1TIL.  MacPherson and
Tilley are new members of the RAC's National Executive. The RAC announcement
said the addition of a position focusing on international affairs "reflects
the Board's recognition of the important role RAC must
play in advancing and defending Amateur Radio in the world arena." VE3IQ was a
member of Canada's delegation to WRC-97.--RAC

===========================================================
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, KB6ZV, 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 to
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