
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 17, No. 13
March 27, 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:

* +FCC proposes rules changes
* +Great Lakes Director resigns
* +Georgia hams rally to help in tornado's wake
* +North Carolina hams make SKYWARN count
* +WB2FXN is Dayton Hamvention's Ham of the Year
* +Andy Thomas thrills Florida kids
*  Final Phase 3D work under way
*  Solar update
*  IN BRIEF: This weekend on the radio;
   February QST Cover Plaque Award; DXCC
   List price change; Vanity update; Attorney
   named to head Public Safety and Private
   Wireless Division; Ham gets Carnegie Medal;
   Herzliche Gluckwuensche!

+Available on ARRL Audio News
__________________________________

FCC PROPOSES RULES CHANGES AFFECTING HAMS

In a sweeping Notice of Proposed Rulemaking the FCC has suggested several 
rules changes that could affect Amateur Radio, including replacement of the 
venerable FCC Form 610. NPRM Docket WT 98-20, "To Facilitate the Development 
and Use of the Universal Licensing System in the Wireless Telecommunications 
Services," seeks comments on proposals to replace Form 610 with FCC Form 
605; to permit automatic reciprocal licensing of foreign hams wishing to 
operate in the US; to privatize the issuance of club station licenses; and 
to require applicants and licensees to supply a taxpayer identification 
number (TIN) and to file electronically. The FCC also plans to consolidate 
the application procedures for all Wireless Telecommunications Services into 
a single set of rules. All of these proposals are part of the FCC's efforts 
to implement the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau's Universal Licensing 
System (ULS).

The new Form 605 would apply for Amateur Radio and other services "not 
presently required to submit extensive technical data to receive a license." 
The Wireless Telecommunications Bureau is trying to drastically cut down the 
number of forms for the various services it administers, and to include all 
of its services under the ULS. The FCC last November began initial 
collection of licensee data to populate the ULS. Using the ULS, applicants 
and licensees will be able to file, modify, and renew electronically. 
Ultimately, the FCC intends to require all applicants, as appropriate, to 
file all applications and notifications electronically.

The FCC says it's tentatively concluded that there is "little or no need to 
continue issuing the reciprocal permit" (FCC Form 610-AL) for alien amateur 
licensees because the license from any foreign country with which the US has 
a reciprocal agreement would "stand as the proof that the foreign operator 
is qualified for the reciprocal operating authority." Reciprocal operation 
under the new regime would be "by rule," which means no special action is 
necessary on the applicant's part, and the elimination of Form 610-A.

For club station licenses, the FCC proposes to accept the services of 
VEC-like organizations as volunteer club station call sign administrators. 
Prospective organizations would have to complete a pilot autogrant batch 
filing project before being authorized as call sign administrators.

Under the ULS, applicants or licensees would have to supply a TIN, usually a 
Social Security number, or "its functional equivalent." The FCC says this is 
"consistent with the requirements of the Debt Collection Improvement Act of 
1996." To allay fears of misuse of TINs, the FCC says the ULS would be 
designed so that TINs will not be available to the public and "only a small 
number of Commission employees would have access to TIN information in 
conjunction with their work." The FCC says a Privacy Act submission would be 
published in the Federal Register "to obtain the requisite public and 
Congressional comment and Office of Management and Budget approval prior to 
implementation of the ULS."

A text version of the entire rulemaking proposal is at 
http://www.fcc.gov/Bureaus/Wireless/Notices/1998/fcc98025.txt (or see the 
link from the FCC home page). The ARRL plans to file comments on the 
proposal, released March 20. Comments are due to the FCC 30 days after 
publication in the Federal Register. Reference WT Docket 98-20. The FCC will 
not accept e-mail comments on Docket WT 98-20.

GREAT LAKES DIRECTOR RESIGNS

ARRL Great Lakes Division Director Joe Falcone, N8TI, has resigned, 
effective March 23. He offered no reason for his unexpected decision to step 
down.

An attorney from Livonia, Michigan, Falcone became a director January 1, 
1998, after defeating incumbent Director George Race, WB8BGY, in balloting 
last November. Falcone was a member of the ARRL's Enforcement Task Force.

Great Lakes Vice Director Dave Coons, WT8W, automatically has succeeded to 
the office of Director, creating a vacancy in the Vice Director's position.

GEORGIA HAMS RALLY TO HELP TORNADO VICTIMS

Hams in the Gainesville, Georgia, area responded quickly March 20 after a 
tornado ripped a ten-mile swath through northeastern Georgia. The storm left 
a dozen dead and more than 100 injured. Members of LARC--the Lanierland 
Amateur Radio Club--and Hall County's ARES organization promptly set up a 
net on LARC's VHF repeater and set to work handling what Hall County 
Assistant EC and LARC President Terry Jones, K4FB, called "a massive amount 
of radio traffic." An Amateur Radio communications trailer--owned and 
sponsored by the Chattahoochee Baptist Association of Gainesville--also was 
deployed and set up operations next to the Hall County Emergency Management 
Agency command post. "The unit was set up and operating on emergency power 
in a matter of minutes," Jones said. Jones also is unit director of the 
Baptist group's communications unit.

Jones said the tornado knocked out power, and cellular telephone systems 
soon became overloaded and unusable. No telephone service was available in 
the affected area, so the LARC UHF repeater's autopatch was pressed into 
service to make emergency phone calls until normal telephone service was 
restored. ARES members from Lumpkin, Gwinnett, White, Jackson, and Clark 
counties also pitched in to help, Jones said. He estimated that 
approximately 100 hams volunteered.

Ham radio operators continue to provide logistical support for the American 
Red Cross in the affected area. The Red Cross dispatched Communications 
Officer Chet Hallberg, K0TCB, to Georgia (see "Kansas Ham Cited for Helping 
Blind Become Hams," The ARRL Letter, Vol 17, No 4). Jones said hams will 
remain on the scene to assist with what he termed a "massive volunteer 
effort" this weekend to help with cleanup activities.

Overall, Jones observed, ham radio's main contribution was to help make 
sense of the confusion by pulling together the activities of the various 
responding agencies--in effect, keeping everyone on the same wavelength.

"My hat is off to all hams who responded to this disaster," Jones said. "Ham 
operators are indeed the Amateur Radio Service."

NORTH CAROLINA HAMS MAKE SKYWARN COUNT

Hams in North Carolina activated a SKYWARN net March 20 to track severe 
storms that crossed the state and provide up-to-the-second reports to the 
National Weather Service. ARRL PIO Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, says that early on 
the evening of March 20, hams reported several funnel clouds and tornado 
touchdowns across southern and eastern Wake County. Another tornado was 
spotted later near Raleigh-Durham Airport, and a funnel cloud was seen in 
Granville County.

Tornadoes caused considerable damage in Rockingham County and knocked out 
communication there. North Carolina Emergency Management called on hams to 
bridge the gap by linking the county with the state Emergency Operations 
Center in Raleigh.

Pearce says that the Amateur Radio station at the National Weather Service 
office in Raleigh sits right next to the Doppler radar operator. The SKYWARN 
reports verify radar information and provide details on the ground that 
radar can't see. "For example, Doppler radar can see hail in clouds, but 
can't measure the size or detect if the hail is reaching the ground," he 
said. "Large hail is a good indication that a thunderstorm has the potential 
to form a tornado," he explained.

In Georgia--where the same line of storms caused several deaths and severe 
damage in the Gainesville area--ARRL Section Manager Sandy Donahue, W4RU, 
urged expansion of storm-spotting networks. Donahue blamed NWS budget 
cutbacks for the fact that residents were caught totally off guard by the 
storms. He says the NEXRAD and conventional radar at the NWS Headquarters in 
Peachtree City--some 100 miles northwest of the stricken area--simply cannot 
see a tornado until it's too late because the radar beam is too high above 
ground.

"Budget cuts caused NWS to close a radar site at Athens, 30 miles away, 
which would have had a lower beam and would have seen the storm and provided 
some warning," Donahue asserts.

He says the tragic experience points up the necessity for Georgia hams to 
expand the successful storm-spotter program, "so that more trained eyes can 
be out there, watching and reporting when heavy weather hits." Donahue says 
Amateur Radio's storm-spotter relationship with the Weather Service has been 
"very close and productive," and Georgia will expand its storm-spotter 
training in the near future. "I hope the rest of the country will also," he 
added. "The experience of the residents of Hall, White, Dawson, Habersham 
and Rabun County Georgia should be lesson enough of the consequences of 
excessive budget cutting of vital services like the NWS."

The tornadoes in Georgia were the second disaster in the Peach State this 
month. ARES members in southern Georgia were active in recovery efforts from 
flooding in the area around Albany. "Tragedy struck twice this month in 
Georgia," Donahue said.--thanks to Gary Pearce, KN4AQ, and Sandy Donahue, 
W4RU

ANDY FELDMAN, WB2FXN, IS DAYTON'S HAM OF THE YEAR

"Excited, still numb, shocked," were the words Andrew J. "Andy" Feldman, 
WB2FXN, used to describe his reaction to being named the Dayton Hamvention's 
1998 Amateur of the Year. Feldman, of Coram, New York, is being recognized 
for his lifelong dedication to public service through his activities in ARES 
and RACES. Feldman has been active in public service since he was first 
licensed in 1962. He's served as Suffolk County (NY) ARES District Emergency 
Coordinator and as Suffolk County's American Red Cross chapter disaster 
communications chairman. Recently, he became Director of Communications for 
the New York Wing, Civil Air Patrol. He's also an active SKYWARN member. 
Feldman was in the forefront of ham radio support activity following the TWA 
Flight 800 disaster in July 1996, and during an outbreak of fires on Long 
Island in the summer of 1995. He works at Brookhaven National Lab as a 
technical contract specialist. In his spare time, Feldman says he enjoys 
OSCAR and packet.

The Dayton Hamvention Technical Excellence Award winner is Bob Bruninga, 
WB4APR, the "father of APRS." In making the announcement, the Hamvention 
called APRS "an internationally recognized achievement." Bruninga, who lives 
in Glen Burnie, Maryland, is being honored for creating and developing the 
Automatic Packet Reporting System, which became available in 1993. "I should 
thank the other authors--the Sproul brothers, WU2Z and KB2ICI; Steve Dimse, 
K4HG; and Brent Hildebrand, KH2Z--for making it possible on all computers," 
he said. Bruninga says he was surprised to learn he'd been named to receive 
the award, which he views as a tribute to the thousands of APRS users. "APRS 
wouldn't be anything without them," he said. Bruninga points out that "330 
APRS digipeaters have sprung up all over the country."

Bruninga is a contract engineer at the US Naval Academy in Annapolis where 
he's engineer in charge of the Satellite Lab, operates the satellite system, 
and is active in integrating space communication into the curriculum. He's 
also the ARRL Technical Coordinator for Maryland-DC. For Bruninga, APRS is 
"a 24-hour-a-day job." He says he gets around 200 e-mail messages a day 
relating to APRS, often with questions from users. "APRS has consumed me," 
he concedes.

This year's Dayton Hamvention Special Achievement Award goes to ARRL Dakota 
Division Vice Director John B. "Jay" Bellows Jr, K0QB, who said the award 
was completely unexpected. Bellows, of St Paul, Minnesota, is being honored 
for his work promoting the limited federal preemption, PRB-1, which requires 
municipalities to reasonably accommodate Amateur Radio antenna requirements. 
In particular, Bellows gained exposure through his pro bono legal work in 
the Pentel v Mendota Heights, Minnesota, case (see QST Mar 1994, p 91), 
which reaffirmed the original intent of PRB-1 and imposed an affirmative 
obligation on the city to accommodate ham radio with the "minimum necessary 
regulation to accomplish its legitimate purposes."

All three awards are made annually by the Dayton Amateur Radio Association, 
which sponsors the Hamvention. They will be presented May 16 at the Dayton 
Hamvention banquet.

ANDY THOMAS THRILLS FLORIDA KIDS

Earlier disappointment turned into delight this week as youngsters at 
Westchester Elementary School in Coral Springs, Florida, finally got to 
speak with US astronaut Andy Thomas, KD5CHF, aboard Mir. The contact was the 
latest in a series of successful Mir-school QSOs that resumed in February 
after a lengthy hiatus. The first attempt, on March 12, to link Westchester 
Elementary with Mir via ham radio failed when the W5RRR ground station at 
Johnson Space Center was unable to make contact with Thomas, apparently a 
result of a radio problem.

There were no problems early on March 23, however, as W5RRR op Matt Bordelon 
quickly made contact with Thomas as Mir came into range and patched in the 
school via a telebridge link. Kai Siwiak, KE4PT, whose wife teaches at 
Westchester Elementary, says audio was loud and clear and 11 questions were 
asked and answered during the contact.

On hand for the occasion were other students, parents, news media, members 
of the Motorola Amateur Radio Club, and a Coral Springs City Commissioner. 
The contact was transmitted live over the Motorola ARC's 146.79 MHz 
repeater.

Siwiak's two junior ops, Westchester alumni Diana, KE4QXL, and Joseph, 
KF4JAS, served as the on-site ham op and backup respectively.

Other contacts with Thomas aboard the Russian space station are set to occur 
in the coming weeks with schools in New Mexico, Connecticut, Delaware, New 
Jersey, and Massachusetts. To date, all Mir-school contacts this year have 
been carried out on 70 cm. Thomas will remain aboard Mir until June.

FINAL PHASE 3D INTEGRATION UNDER WAY

Final integration work continues at AMSAT's Phase 3D Integration Lab in 
Orlando, Florida, as AMSAT remains optimistic for a launch opportunity 
sometime this year. Serious negotiations with the European Space Agency for 
a ride to place the next-generation Amateur Radio satellite into orbit 
continue.

AMSAT teams from several countries recently converged on the Phase 3D 
Integration Lab earlier this month to install remaining electronic and 
communications modules into Phase 3D and get it flight ready.

In a joint statement March 18, AMSAT-DL President and Phase 3D Project 
Leader Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, and AMSAT-NA President Bill Tynan, W3XO, 
outlined recent progress made on the satellite. "After successfully 
recovering from the setbacks caused by the major structural reworks of last 
summer and fall, the spacecraft is now once again rapidly nearing flight 
readiness," Meinzer said. He expressed his gratitude to AMSAT-NA Vice 
President of Engineering Stan Wood, WA4NFY, Integration Laboratory Manager 
Lou McFadin, W5DID, and to other members of the Orlando Lab team, including 
Dick Jansson, WD4FAB, Rick Leon, KA1RHL, and Bob Davis, KF4KSS, for their 
hard work in preparing the satellite for the final integration phase.

At the Integration Lab, AMSAT-DL's Digital Integration Manager Peter 
Guelzow, DB2OS, performed checks and measurements on the spacecraft's 
Internal Housekeeping Unit (IHU)--Phase 3D's main computer. He also sent and 
received commands from the spacecraft via radio uplink. Phase 3D North 
American Command Station Stacey Mills, W4SM, also was in Orlando to put 
finishing touches on software needed to format and decode the satellite's 
telemetry stream. "Needless to say, there were big smiles all around when, 
once again, P3D team members heard the familiar 'growl' of 400 baud PSK 
telemetry coming from the new bird," said AMSAT Executive Vice President 
Keith Baker, KB1SF.

Aside from being AMSAT-DL's Vice President, Werner Haas, DJ5KQ, is 
responsible for coordinating the entire communications suite for Phase 3D. 
In Orlando, Haas performed yet another bench test on each of the flight 
electronic modules just prior to their re-installation into the satellite. 
Then, he directed other members of the communications team in successfully 
powering up each of the onboard flight electronic modules. Michael Fletcher, 
OH2AUE, and Harri Leskinen, OH2JMS, also were on hand to reinstall the 10 
GHz transmitter. In addition, Stefaan Burger, ON4FG, connected and powered 
up the 24 GHz transmitter, which performed "as advertised," delivering its 
designed 1 W output into its 26db gain feed-horn antenna.

The RUDAK team thoroughly checked out the RUDAK digital experiment module 
and declared it electrically flight-ready. Gerd Schrick, WB8IFM, helped the 
team to put the final touches on the satellite's all-important Earth and Sun 
sensors. These instruments will help ground controllers determine Phase 
3-D's physical orientation in orbit for tracking and motor burn 
considerations.

Meanwhile, Konrad Mueller, DG7FDQ, AMSAT-DL's Structural Specialist, and his 
team prepared the second Specific Bearing Structure (SBS) for flight. The 
SBS is the large cylindrical structure that will ultimately carry the Phase 
3D spacecraft to orbit.  In addition, Phase 3D Documentation Manager, 
AMSAT-DL's Wilfred Gladisch, was on hand to insure that all the spacecraft's 
documentation--including each drawing and photograph--match the "as built" 
spacecraft.--AMSAT News Service

SOLAR UPDATE

Solar savant Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: Solar activity 
remained high last week. Average solar flux for the previous 90 days rose 
two points from 97 to 99. Solar flux was well above these values on each 
day, indicating a good trend upward.

Looking at a graph of both solar flux and sunspot numbers over the past two 
months, a general upward trend becomes apparent. HF radio users can hope 
that the March 15 solar flux of 133 establishes a new level of activity for 
the current cycle that will be sustained. A glance at the chart at 
http://www.dxlc.com/solar gives a graphic illustration of this.

March 21 saw a geomagnetic storm, with planetary A indices jumping to 33. 
This was caused by a solar flare, and within a couple of days conditions had 
quieted back down.

Conditions over the next few days should be fair for the CQ Worldwide WPX 
Phone Contest. The solar flux on Friday through Sunday is forecast to be 
111, 111 and 110. Flux levels are expected to drop below 100 after April 1, 
then above 100 after April 5 and above 110 by April 7, peaking near 120 
around April 10 and 11. Active to minor storm geomagnetic conditions are 
expected over April 6 and 7.

Over the next few weeks good propagation between northern and southern 
hemispheres associated with spring conditions should continue. During 
daylight look for the best worldwide conditions on 15, 17 and 20 meters, and 
30 and 40 meters after dark.

Sunspot numbers for March 19 through 25 were 80, 100, 95, 114, 72, 83, and 
79 with a mean of 89. The 10.7-cm flux was 124.8, 126.5, 125.8, 127.6, 122, 
120.6, and 115, with a mean of 123.2. Estimated planetary A indices were 4, 
7, 33, 11, 5, 7, and 16, with a mean of 11.9.

__________________________________

IN BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: The CQ WW WPX Contest (SSB) is on tap for this 
weekend. See March QST, page 101, for details.

* February QST Cover Plaque Award: Charles Kitchin, N1TEV, has been voted 
winner of the February QST Cover Plaque Award for his article "A Simple 
Transmitter for 80 and 40 Meters." Congratulations, Charles!

* DXCC List price change: The DXCC List has increased in price effective 
April 1, 1998 from $2 to $3. The new DXCC List incorporates the recent 
changes in DXCC rules and criteria developed by the DXCC 2000 Committee and 
approved by the ARRL Board of Directors. The price increase also reflects 
higher paper and production cost, and is necessary to maintain the 
production of the hard copy version of the DXCC List. For those with 
Internet capabilities, the DXCC List and DXCC forms are available at 
http://www.arrl.org.

* Vanity update: As of March 23, the FCC in Gettysburg had run all vanity 
applications through February 23. In the last run, 61 new grants were 
issued. No applications remained in the work in process (WIPs) stack.

* Attorney named to head Public Safety and Private Wireless Division: D'wana 
R. Terry has been named Chief of the Public Safety and Private Wireless 
Division of the FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), which 
oversees the Amateur Service. She has been acting chief since January. Terry 
earlier served as chief counsel to the WTB chief after serving as a legal 
advisor. Prior to joining the FCC, Terry was an associate in a 
communications law practice specializing in mass media regulation.--FCC

* Ham gets Carnegie Medal: Elton Twork, KC8BZD, of Wyoming, Michigan, has 
been honored by the Carnegie Hero Fund Commission. Nearly 18 months ago, 
Twork pulled two men from a car just moments before it was demolished by an 
oncoming train. Twork, 24 and a security guard, was one of 17 people across 
the country similarly honored. He was on duty when he witnessed the 
car--piloted by an intoxicated driver--as it crashed a barrier and landed on 
the tracks with a train bearing down on it. John Wittman, WK8X, of Grand 
Rapids, says the local sheriff hauled what was left of the smashed car to 
Twork's award ceremony. Twork received a medal and a $3000 check, which he 
plans to put toward his pursuit of an MA in public administration.--thanks 
to John Wittmann, WK8X

* Herzliche Gluckwuensche! The Deutscher Amateur Radio Club magazine CQ DL 
this month celebrates 50 years of publication. The magazine was begun in 
1948 in the wake of World War II--a time when ham radio operation had not 
yet been reauthorized for hams in Germany (although illegal transmitting was 
rather widespread). CQ DL boasts 60,000 readers. The current issue of CQ DL 
includes a reprint of the March 1948 issue.

===========================================================
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 
to active, organizationally minded radio amateurs faster than it can be 
disseminated by our official journal, QST. We strive to be fast, accurate 
and readable in our reporting.

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