 
The ARRL Letter
Vol. 17, No. 10
March 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:

* +Praise for hams' response in Florida
* +Ham radio makes the Times
* +Mir-school QSO postponed
* +Mir packet system back on line
* +Amateur Radio Outlook Committee seeks comments
* +RAC Board lashes out at government decision
*  Georgia club holds "Tech Fest"
*  1998 YHOTY nominations open
*  Solar update
*  IN BRIEF: This weekend on the radio;
   New Mississippi SM; ICOM DSP board
   for IC-706MkII and PCR1000; NN0DJ
   tapped to be AMSAT News Service Editor;
   N3OFZ is new SkyWarn TC head; FCC jumps
   the gun on call sign reissue; InstantTrack FAQs
   available; You can't beat the price; Winter SWL
   Festival set; antenneX adds modeling column

+Available on ARRL Audio News
__________________________________

EMERGENCY OFFICIAL PRAISES FLORIDA HAM RESPONSE

Osceola County, Florida, Emergency Management Coordinator Steve Proctor says
hams bridged the gap when tornadoes and heavy thunderstorms wreaked havoc on
central Florida February 23. "We had a great response," Proctor said this
week. He estimated that as many as 30 hams--some of them from Brevard,
Indian River and Polk counties--were directly involved in providing disaster
communication and in damage assessment activities in his area. "We had ARES,
RACES, and REACT in here working," Proctor said. "Emergency Management was
certainly grateful for the assistance." Proctor said he hopes to have his
own ham ticket soon.

In the hours right after the surprise disaster, the Red Cross did not have
any communication from its four emergency shelters, Proctor said. Telephone
service was disrupted when a main telephone trunking station was badly
damaged by the storms. Proctor said Osceola County had to move to its
secondary EOC in Kissimmee as a result.

As the bad weather moved in, Central Florida hams activated a SkyWarn net on
advice of the National Weather Service in anticipation of severe storms.
Storm-spotting hams stayed on duty during the evening of February 22--when
the first tornado was reported in Volusia County--and into the early morning
hours of February 23. At one point, SkyWarn newcomer Paul Catineau, KF4UTN,
announced to the net, "The sky is boiling!"

Emergency Coordinators Bernie Farthing, NP2CB, in Orange County, Dick Fess,
K4FUY, in Seminole County, and Bill Crandall, KM4AE, in Volusia County
activated their EOC positions and ARES and RACES teams early on February 23.
The Red Cross was among the first agencies requesting amateur support.
Dozens of other hams participated at EOCs and shelters or in damage
assessment and communication support.

Army and Air Force MARS stations also assisted during the storm assessment
and recovery. Army MARS Public Relations Coordinator Lorraine Matthews,
N4CZF/AAA9PR, said the experience that Florida Army MARS members gained from
Hurricane Andrew and subsequent storms "served well to get Florida Army MARS
activated for this emergency as well." Matthews said MARS stations supplied
essential information reports to Army MARS management and the Directorate of
Military Support. These reports are shared "with the appropriate federal
agencies who might be requested to assist," she said. Army MARS utilized
existing nets, and stations remained on the air throughout the day in the
storm's aftermath.--thanks to Steve Proctor, Lorraine Matthews, N4CZF, Mike
Welch, KF4HFC, Norm Lauterette, WA4HYJ, and Dave Flagg, N4BGH

ALL THE NEWS THAT'S FIT TO PRINT--AND HAM RADIO TOO

Ham radio got some highly visible ink March 5 in one of the nation's most
prestigious newspapers--the New York Times. The article, "Ham Radio, Version
2.0, for the Silicon Era," by John Verity, appears in The Times' new
"Circuits" section, on page G9. Among those prominently mentioned in the
article was AMSAT-NA Executive Vice President Keith Baker, KB1SF, who's also
pictured in his shack. Baker says photographer Chris Kasson showed up at his
Xenia, Ohio, home a few weeks ago and spent several hours snapping pictures
of his gear, his shack, his antennas, and him. Also quoted was ARRL
Advertising Manager Brad Thomas, KC1EX. ARRL Media Relations Manager
Jennifer Gagne, N1TDY, worked with Verity in developing the article.

Verity's premise: "A new, digitally hip generation is sweeping into ham
radio and virtually reinventing it from the inside out." He talks about how
much of the hobby has become computer-oriented, reliant as much on
"microchips and software" and links to the Internet as on the more
traditional hardware associated with hams. The article focuses on some of
the more futuristic types of amateur activities such as satellites, although
the pending Phase 3D is not mentioned. The article included both the ARRL
and AMSAT Web sites. Also mentioned were moonbounce, ATV, and SSTV. Even the
Heathkit Virtual Museum (http://www.cyberventure.com/heath.html) got a plug.

Baker says the article was great publicity for Amateur Radio and for AMSAT.
"Mr Verity and I spent a few hours on the telephone talking about the
continuing magic of Amateur Radio and what AMSAT has done to spark new ways
of telecommunication over the years," he said. Baker said Verity "was quite
impressed with the ease with which we regularly communicate through our
fleet of AMSAT satellites," and especially that hams can hit some satellites
using an H-T. "If it sparks enough interest in just one youngster to become
a ham, then it was well worth the effort!"

Hams may raise their eyebrows when they come to the part where Verity cites
4000 W as "the legal maximum" for amateurs. Even though "it says so in the
newspaper," the legal limit remains 1500 W PEP.

Seeing the article sparked renewed interest for at least one inactive ham.
Leonard Spear, WA1LBC, of West Palm Beach, Florida, and Branford,
Connecticut, called HQ to say he's now excited about getting back into ham
radio, and especially finding out more about satellites and packet radio.

Those who can't get a hard copy of The New York Times can view the article
at
http://www.nytimes.com/library/tech/98/03/circuits/articles/05ham-radio.html.

MIR-SCHOOL QSO POSTPONED

Students at Carey Junior High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming, hope to get
another chance to make contact later this month with US astronaut Andy
Thomas, KD5CHF, aboard Mir. Originally scheduled for March 3, the contact
with the Wyoming school had to be postponed when the Mir crew was called
upon to conduct a spacewalk that day. Technical problems aborted even that
excursion, however, after the crew was unable to open a hatch.

School-Mir contacts resumed in late February after a year-long dry spell.
Thomas already has enjoyed successful and spirited contacts with youngsters
at schools in California, Colorado, and South Carolina. The tentative
schedule calls for additional school contacts later this month. Dates and
times will be worked in around Thomas' schedule aboard Mir.

Thomas has also been making himself available for routine contacts with
Earthbound hams on 70 cm. Mike Seguin, N1JEZ, reports he had the pleasure of
briefly speaking with Thomas on February 15, 1998. Thomas was using the
RR0DL 70 cm QSO frequencies at the time. As already reported, Al Emer,
N2YAC, also spoke with Thomas on 70 cm. Both operators said Thomas was in
good spirits and looking forward to more on-the-air time in the future. Tony
Hutchison, VK5ZAI, reports that he had a six-minute chat with Thomas on
February 22 on 145.985 MHz. Thomas used his Australian-issued VK5MIR call
sign during that contact.

The initial Mir QSO mode frequencies are 435.725 MHz up (with a CTCSS tone
of 151.4 Hz) and 437.925 MHz down. Earth stations must correct for Doppler
shift (just as when using the SAFEX repeater). Many stations program shifts
into a set of 10 or so memory channels.--thanks to the SAREX Working Group
and to AMSAT News Service

MIR PACKET SYSTEM BACK UP; APRS EXPERIMENT SET

The Mir International Amateur Radio Experiment (MIREX) team reports the
2-meter packet (PMS) system aboard the Russian spacecraft is back in
operation. A new TNC (a Kantronics KPC-9612 Plus, Rev 8.1) has been
installed. MIREX notes the command set for this TNC differs from the
previous TNC. The new system is set to time out after two minutes (120
seconds) of idle connect time. It still has a single-user mailbox. Only one
station can connect to the R0MIR-1 mailbox at a time. The new modem has 100
kB of message memory, however. At present, only 1200 baud packet is
available.

MIREX has announced an Automatic Packet/Positioning Reporting System (APRS )
test on the R0MIR digital repeater aboard Mir. The approximately two-hour
experiment on March 10 will run from 1455 UTC to 1651 UTC. During that time
period only, APRS stations will be allowed to use the R0MIR repeater. The
two orbits involved will cover most of the continental US.

MIREX says it hopes that schools and others will be able to log into the
APRS Web site at http://www.aprs.net to track APRS beaconing stations all
across the US. Steve Dimse, K4HG, who runs the site at the Miami Museum of
Science, says the system runs his APRServe program. So those browsing the
site to view the experiment will not be overwhelmed by the thousand or more
stations typically visible, Dimse has set up the special page for the
experiment at http://www.aprs.net/mirex.html to filter out all packets that
are not transmitted via R0MIR. The page also will show Mir's position, and
Dimse says it will provide an excellent way to view the event. MIREX CEO
Dave Larsen, N6CO, says the experiment "has been a long time in the
planning, and I hope it will serve as a step for other experiments along the
same line." The Mir PMS frequency is 145.985 FM simplex. APRS should not be
used on Mir after 1651 UTC on March 10.--MIREX

AMATEUR RADIO OUTLOOK COMMITTEE WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU!

The Amateur Radio Outlook Committee wants to hear from you! The
committee--appointed last fall during the International Amateur Radio Union
Administrative Council meeting in Beijing, China--seeks comments from hams
on their views concerning the future of Amateur Radio in the age of the
Internet. The comment deadline is June 30, 1998.

IARU President Richard Baldwin, W1RU, appointed the Amateur Radio Outlook
Committee. Its members are Chairman Thomas Atkins, VE3CDM; Lou van de
Nadort, PA0LOU; and Yoshiji Sekido, JJ1OEY. The idea to solicit comments
stemmed from a "lively discussion" at the September Council session about
the Internet and its impact on the Amateur Radio Service. This prompted the
Council to consider addressing concerns about the future growth and
development of ham radio. In addition to reviewing the current and future
state of the art in the Amateur and Amateur Satellite Services "in the light
of the changing technology and the Internet," the Outlook Committee also
will focus on technology, techniques, and future developments, and make
general recommendations on the future growth and development of Amateur
Radio.

IARU member societies already have begun to discuss the issue. Input from
all amateurs is welcome. Address comments to Amateur Radio Outlook
Committee, c/o IARU, PO Box 310905, Newington, CT 06131-0905; e-mail
aroc@iaru.org; http://www.iaru.org/outlook1.html;
http://www.iaru.org/outlook2.html.--IARU

RAC BOARD LASHES OUT AT INDUSTRY CANADA DECISION

The Radio Amateurs of Canada Board of Directors has issued a stinging rebuke
to Industry Canada for canceling a project that would have delegated some
responsibility for Amateur Radio licensing to a nongovernment service
company affiliated with RAC. In a letter February 17 to Industry
Canada--that country's equivalent of our FCC--RAC President Farrell "Hoppy"
Hopwood, VE7RD, called Industry Canada's cancellation of the Amateur
Delegation Project "unprofessional and shortsighted." After four years of
cooperation, the IC called off the project late last November without
warning. Hopwood has asked for a meeting with John Manley, PC Minister of
Industry, possibly in a last-ditch effort to revive the project.

In his letter, Hopwood said, "RAC's Regional Directors were appalled at the
lack of consultation over this premeditated action" and "shocked" at how IC
officials handled the situation. The Amateur Radio Administrative
Services/Services Administratifs Radio Amateurs (ARAS-SARA) would have
assumed some ham radio administrative responsibilities for Canada's 47,000
hams.

In his letter, Hopwood said IC's action "has severely damaged the faith,
confidence and trust we once enjoyed with members of the department."
Hopwood said Canada's hams "were shocked, dismayed, and outraged" by the
November announcement that came as many thought the project would become a
reality.--Radio Amateurs of Canada

GEORGIA CLUB HOLDS "TECH FEST"

The Gwinnett Amateur Radio Society in Georgia wanted a way for club members
to share their collective wealth of knowledge and experience in Amateur
Radio. Their answer? The club's first Tech Fest in mid-January. Tech Fest
included an operational HF station staffed by Karl Phillips, K4GZZ, a
2-meter packet setup with John Farr, KD6CLO, at the helm, an SSTV
demonstration by Mike Swiderski, K4HBI, and an APRS setup as part of the
ARES display presented by Lowry Rouse, KM4Z.

Howie Gould, W4NVF, set up a workbench that included demonstrations on
soldering and how to use a multimeter for some hams, plus radio testing and
alignment for club members. Jud Whatley, W4NJZ, hauled in lots of vintage
Heathkit and Collins gear for his QCWA display.

Other presentations focused on portable generators, how to raid the junk box
to build inexpensive antennas for 2 meters, a talk on ARES and SkyWarn,
computerized logging, contesting, and coaxial cable characteristics and
loss,

Georgia Section Manager Sandy Donahue, W4RU, represented the League. GARS is
a Special Service Club.

For lunch, the club's culinary artists prepared a selection chili recipes
that ranged from "QRP" (flavorful, but not too spicy) to "full legal
limit"--also described as "Hotter 'n a black dawg in the July sun!" Event
coordinator Kevin Berry, KF4RMA, says the club already is planning next
year's event.--GARS

1998 YOUNG HAM OF THE YEAR NOMINATIONS OPEN

Nominations are open for the Amateur Radio Newsline 1998 Young Ham of the
Year (YHOTY). Now in its second decade, the YHOTY award goes each year to a
US amateur 18 or younger who has used Amateur Radio to significantly
contribute to the benefit of the hobby, to the state of the communications
art, to the community or to the nation.

Nominations are due by June 30, 1998, on an official application. To obtain
an application, send an SASE to 1998 Young Ham of the Year Award, Newsline,
28197 Robin Ave, Saugus CA 91350. Nomination applications also are available
at http://www.arnewsline.org.

The award presentation is scheduled take place at the 1998 Huntsville
Hamfest in August. The 1998 Young Ham of the Year will also spend a week at
Spacecamp in Huntsville.

Newsline editor Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF, says the purpose of the YHOTY Award
is "to highlight the accomplishments of the nation's many young radio
hobbyists, and to encourage the entry of more young people into the exciting
and rewarding hobby of Amateur Radio." Corporate sponsors include Yaesu USA
and CQ magazine. The 1997 YHOTY was Brian Mileshosky, N5ZGT, of Albuquerque,
New Mexico.--Bill Pasternak, WA6ITF

SOLAR UPDATE

Solar scholar Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: Average sunspot
numbers were slightly higher, and average solar flux was only a little lower
last week. The average solar flux for the previous 90 days declined one
point to 95, and flux values were above that level for three days out of the
week.

Jim, KC7ZMV wrote with an interesting observation about the comparison of
the previous two solar cycles with the current cycle on the web at
http://www.dxlc.com/solar/cyclcomp.html, as mentioned in my last report. He
noted that the Web site claims that the current cycle began in May 1996, but
he had read elsewhere that October 1996 was a more accurate date. If one
accepts the latter date, then perhaps the current cycle isn't really lagging
the other cycles.

NOAA has the announcement about the revised date at
http://sec.noaa.gov/info/SumSept.html. Looking at the charts at the cycle
comparison site, it isn't clear whether the graphs are really drawn from the
beginning of each cycle or from the minimum. Since they are moving averages,
the trend line lags behind the current data about six months. If one looks
out beyond the trend line on the current cycle it appears that the data have
leveled out, and this is born out in the current monthly average just
calculated. The monthly average solar flux values for November through
January were 99.5, 98.7 and 93.4, and in February the average flux was 93.4,
precisely what it was in January. We can hope for better, but it still looks
like solar activity is lagging.

Conditions should be fairly good for the ARRL International DX SSB Contest
this weekend, with predicted solar flux for Friday through Sunday at 94, 92
and 90. No geomagnetic disturbances are foreseen. Solar flux should increase
after the weekend, rising above 100 around March 13 and dipping back into
the high 90s after March 17.

Sunspot numbers for February 26 through March 4 were 69, 78, 60, 93, 105,
56, and 55 with a mean of 73.7. The 10.7-cm flux was 92.7, 90.3, 94, 98.3,
91.5, 96.6, and 101.7, with a mean of 95, and estimated planetary A indices
were 3, 4, 12, 12, 14, 4, and 8, with a mean of 8.1.

__________________________________

IN BRIEF:

* This weekend on the radio: The ARRL International DX Contest (SSB) is the
event of the weekend. See December QST, page 102, for details. Just ahead:
The QCWA, Wisconsin, and Missouri QSO parties all are next weekend.

* New Mississippi SM: Mississippi has a new Section Manager. He's Malcolm
Keown, W5XX, of Vicksburg. Keown was appointed to replace Ernest Orman,
W5OXA, of Biloxi, who has stepped down. Orman had been SM since 1995.

* ICOM DSP board for IC-706MkII and PCR1000: ICOM now offers an add-on DSP
board for the popular IC-706MkII transceiver and the PCR1000 "black box"
PC-controlled receiver (sorry, this does not work with the original IC-706).
This AF DSP circuit provides automatic notch filter and noise reduction
functions. When you plug it in, the unit activates icons on the display or
screen. The UT-106 DSP unit should be available from retailers very soon. It
carries a manufacturer's suggested price of $166.

* NN0DJ tapped to be AMSAT News Service Editor: In the wake of the sudden
and untimely death of BJ Arts, WT0N, AMSAT has announced that Dan James,
NN0DJ,
will assume the ANS Editor duties. Dan already had been assisting BJ Arts
for several months and was listed as an Assistant Editor on some postings.
James was first licensed in 1969 as WN7LSF. A Montana native, he now lives
in Warroad, Minnesota, and is a facility instructor for a major window
manufacturer. NN0DJ has an extensive background in broadcast journalism and
is very active on many of the current amateur satellites.--AMSAT News
Service

* N3OFZ is new SkyWarn TC head: Robert Hill, N3OFZ, of Pocono Hill,
Pennsylvania, has been named chairman of the SkyWarn Technical Committee for
the National Weather Service. He succeeds Paul Toth, K2SEC. Hill and other
members of the Tech Committee also received a Special Service Award from the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in recognition of their help
in reorganizing the SkyWarn Amateur Radio network, the development of APRS
and the SkyWarn paging system, and for SkyWarn spotter education through
organizing training programs.--The Hudson Loop

* FCC jumps the gun on call sign reissue: Ron Toller, N1RT, has learned that
the FCC reissued his former call sign, WO4L, to a Florida man, less than 12
months after he gave it up in 1996. The FCC's vanity rules say call signs
will be held out of the pool for two years before being reissued. Toller
didn't find out until recently that the call sign had been reissued. He said
a spokesman at the FCC's Gettysburg office blamed the premature release on
"a computer glitch." The same individual told the ARRL that by the time the
FCC discovered its error, it decided not to rescind the grant because of the
number of licenses that had been granted by then and the amount of time that
had passed before the problem was discovered. Toller's take on the turn of
events? "If all the hams must obey the rules so should the FCC." He says
he's petitioning to have the FCC vacate WO4L until the two-year period is up
in November.

* InstantTrack FAQs available: AMSAT Vice President for Electronic
Communications, Paul Williamson, KB5MU reports that he has just completed
and published a set of frequently asked questions (FAQs) for the satellite-
tracking program InstantTrack. This program is widely used by many satellite
operators around the world. You can find the FAQs at
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/intro/itfaq.html. This information also is
available as a downloadable document from the AMSAT FTP site. The file is
about 40 kB.--AMSAT News Service

* You can't beat the price: The latest upgrade of HAMCALC (Ver 31) now is
available from George Murphy, VE3ERP, 77 McKenzie St, Orillia, ON L3V 6A6
Canada, for just US$5 (check or money order). HAMCALC contains more than 200
"painless" math and design programs for hams and electronics professionals.
Murphy will send it out airmail to anywhere in the world. The program runs
under DOS. Murphy says it's being upgraded all the time. Among the many
programs on the disk are an antenna field strength calculator, a coil tap
calculator, and a decibel calculator.

* Winter SWL Festival set: The 1998 Winter SWL Festival will be held March
13-14, 1998, at Kulpsville, Pennsylvania (near Philadelphia). Forum topics
include sessions for beginners, "The Year in Pirate Radio," new equipment,
longwave DXing, and antennas. For more information, see
http://www.trsc.com/swl_fest.html or contact Thomas Sundstrom, W2XQ, e-mail
trs@trsc.com; tel 609-859-2447; fax 609-859-3226.--Thomas Sundstrom, W2XQ

* antenneX adds modeling column: The on-line monthly magazine antenneX has
added a regular column focusing on antenna modeling, edited by renowned
antenna guru LB Cebik, W4RNL, of Knoxville, Tennessee. In his premier
outing, "Converging Toward Excellence," Cebik discusses the value of
convergence testing when using antenna modeling programs. Now nearly a year
old, antenneX, is edited by Richard Morrow, K5CNF. It's a subscription
publication (a six-month sub is $19.97 in the US or $21.52 for Texas
residents--including state sales tax), but several areas offer free access.
The publication has recorded more than 62,000 reader visits since it began
"publishing" in May 1997. Visit antenneX at http://www.antennex.com/. For
more information, contact Jack Stone, 512-855-0250; e-mail
jack@antennex.com; snail Box 72022, Corpus Christi, TX 78472.

===========================================================
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.

Material from The ARRL Letter may be reproduced in whole or in part, in any
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