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+ Available on ARRL Audio News
Hams in South Texas have activated HF emergency nets on 40 and 75 meters as Tropical Storm Frances hit the Texas coast from the Gulf of Mexico early Friday. The storm, which is not expected to become a hurricane, is packing 65 mph winds. Torrential rain and high tides caused flooding in coastal areas and damaged beachfront homes. Residents of some coastal areas had to evacuate.
ARES has activated 7.285 and 3.873 MHz for daytime and nighttime emergency traffic, respectively, and 7.290 and 3.935 MHz for daytime and nighttime health-and-welfare traffic, respectively. South Texas Section Manager Ray Taylor, N5NAV, has asked the FCC to declare a communications emergency to keep the net frequencies clear for the next few days.
Taylor reports one person has died as a result of the storm.
Within a couple of hours of the Swissair Flight 111 crash September 2, Amateur Radio operators had set up a communication link between the disaster site at Peggy's Cove and downtown Halifax. At the request of local government officials, RAC ARES Halifax Area Coordinator Dave George, VE1AJP, relayed word to activate the Halifax Regional Municipality Emergency Measures Organization Amateur Radio Group. In addition, the Director of the Nova Scotia Region Canadian Red Cross, John Byrne, activated the Disaster Response Team, including Telecoms Officer Joe MacPherson, VE1CH. The Red Cross team was directed to report to the site and join the emergency response vehicle, on its maiden journey. MacPherson said new UHF hand-helds were used in simplex to keep in touch with key Red Cross officials and to link with the command bus--as a backup to Amateur Radio. Hams also were deployed to several other staging areas. MacPherson said the hams' emergency ID cards and vehicle identification cards were imperative to gain access.
MacPherson called in members of the Senior Amateur Radio Association to activate the communications center at the Canadian Red Cross Headquarters in downtown Halifax and also set up telecommunications links--amateur and other--between the on-site emergency response vehicle, the command post, Red Cross HQ, and the net control station.
MacPherson said some 20 hams volunteered in all. A shift roster was set up for 24-hour operation by the net control station. Two repeaters were used, one for traffic handling, the other for personnel coordination and assignment.
Amateur operators established emergency HF links to the military and to naval ships engaged in the search. They also were asked to establish communication on marine emergency channel 16 (156.8 MHz).
"The response was both fast and efficient considering the hour and the number of people needed," MacPherson said. "The extensive training over the past year really paid off. Radio procedures were excellent, and I heard many reports from senior officials at the site about how well the amateurs performed."--thanks to RAC and Joe MacPherson, VE1CH
There was no Labor Day holiday for hams in upstate New York, who activated SKYWARN nets in the face of severe weather that struck several counties. In the wee hours of September 7, straight-line winds ranging from 70 to 115 MPH tore across 11 of the 30 counties that make up the Western New York section--from Niagara County in the west to Herkimer, Otsego and Delaware Counties in the east. Some 270,000 customers still were without power by mid-week. Gov. George Pataki declared nine counties as disaster areas. Four deaths and nearly two dozen injuries are blamed on the storms. Oneida County SEC Bud Hippisley, K2KIR, reported a lightning strike the day after Labor Day at his home damaged several pieces of ham radio and computer gear.
Shortly after midnight on Labor Day, the National Weather Service began issuing severe thunderstorm and tornado warnings. One of the more severely damaged areas was the New York State Fair Grounds, where the annual fair was scheduled to wind up on Labor Day. The storm hit there at 1:20 AM, killing two State Fair vendors and injuring several campers. The State Fair was closed on Monday.
Western New York SM Bill Thompson, W2MTA, reports that initial severe weather alerts by the Binghamton NWS center came at 12:52 AM. SKYWARN activations followed in Cayuga, Onondaga, Seneca and Yates counties. Tornado warnings were posted from Onondaga County eastward to Madison and Oneida counties at 1:05 AM. Additional SKYWARN nets activated at 1:30 AM with WB2UEC as SKYWARN net control on the Oneida County 2-meter repeater.
Red Cross shelters remained open at mid-week in four counties. Damage assessment and debris removal was expected to continue for several more days. Army and Air National Guard personnel have been activated to help.--thanks to Bill Thompson, W2MTA
ARRL Contest Advisory Committee Chairman Tim Duffy, K3LR, reports the CAC is looking at four possible contesting rules changes. The committee plans to vote on the topics in October and make its recommendations to the Membership Services Committee, and is seeking input on the issues from the contesting community.
Among the items the CAC is a pondering is whether to suggest increasing the time period (at the end) for the 10 GHz and Up Cumulative Contest.
The CAC also is considering whether to suggest that ARRL contests with single band categories allow multiple single-operator (ie, multiple operators) unassisted single band operations from the same location and using the same call sign. The individual operators would submit separate log entries.
The CAC is also considering some questions regarding CW contacts for mixed-mode entries in the ARRL 10 Meter Contest: Should contacts be required to be made below a specific frequency and/or should operators be required to stay on a mode for a specified time before switching to the other mode?
The CAC also wants to know if it should recommend establishing a low-power category (200 W output) for VHF and UHF operating events.
Comments on the proposals are welcome to the Contest Advisory Committee; e-mail .
All contesters know the toughest ARRL/RAC sections to snag during the ARRL November Sweepstakes--or at least they think they do. But accountant Doug Richardson, VE5CMA, "could not resist playing with the numbers" and has ranked the hard-to-get sections in both the CW and phone events--from 1 to 78.
Most people who've ever attempted a clean sweep during Sweepstakes would probably guess Yukon/Northwest Territories (VE8/VY1) as the most elusive section. The real surprise from Richardson's data is that VE8/VY1 came in third place--behind Wyoming and Newfoundland-Maritime--on CW and second behind Puerto Rico on SSB. His analysis and rankings are detailed in the article ARRL Sweepstakes "Need List" on page 20 of the September/October issue of National Contest Journal (NCJ).
Working from 1996 and 1997 Sweepstakes results, Richardson teased out a combined ranking for all 78 ARRL/RAC sections. The results will be of interest to anyone who's ever tried to put those final few mults into the log in a quest to work all 78.
On CW, the top five hardest sections were: Wyoming, Newfoundland-Maritime (split in 1997), Yukon/NWT, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. On SSB, the toughest five sections to get were Puerto Rico, Yukon/NWT, Alaska, Newfoundland-Maritime, and Quebec.
What was the easiest section to snag? On CW, it was South Texas. On phone, it was Michigan, according to Richardson's statistics.
See you in the Sweeps!
Starting in 1999, the ARRL Outgoing QSL Service will increase its fees from $4 to $6 a pound. ARRL Membership Services Manager Bill Kennamer, K5FUV, says the move is necessary to absorb the effects of a proposed postal rate increase and to bring the money-losing service a bit closer to a break-even basis. The rate for quantities of 10 cards will remain at $1.
Kennamer said the rate increase represents a cost of 4 cents per card (based on 150 cards per pound) to sort, package and mail QSL cards to the bureaus of the other IARU member societies. "Even with the increase, this still represents one of the better bargains in services to ARRL members," he said.
Inaugurated in 1976, the Outgoing QSL Service provides an economical way for ARRL members to send their QSL cards to amateurs in other countries. Today, two fulltime employees handle the more than 2 million cards that show up most years.
"The ARRL has subsidized the Outgoing QSL Service since the beginning, and continues to do so today," Kennamer explained. He said the League's handling and mailing costs now run more than $9 a pound, leaving a shortfall of more than $5 per pound at the current rates.
The last rate increase, to $4 a pound, was three years ago.
During his stay in the US for medical treatment, King Hussein of Jordan, JY1, has been active on HF, and AMSAT Area Coordinator Bruce Paige, KK5DO, in Houston, is among those with a QSL to prove it. And what a QSL it is!
Hussein, who suffers from lymphoma, has been in the US for treatment of the disease earlier this summer at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. While still in the US, he also made time to get on the radio. Paige worked JY1 on August 22 around 2200 UTC on 20-meter SSB "for about 10 minutes until the pileup got to be too much."
Paige said Hussein had been working a US op who had just undergone the same cancer treatment that the King was starting, but then signed off. He showed up on frequency later when his QSL manager, WA3HUP, came on the air, and Paige eventually got to work him. "I have worked astronauts aboard the shuttle, cosmonauts aboard the Mir, DX stations on rare islands," Paige said. "None of then gave me the rush that talking to the King has done. That was a very exciting moment for me."
Hussein also was on the air Sunday, August 30. Paige said he got his QSL about a week later via WA3HUP. It's very likely the only QSL card decorated with gold leaf. You can see it at http://www.amsatnet.com/jy1.html.
King Hussein was due to return to the Mayo Clinic earlier this month.
The League now has another volume of videos available for your club program. Check out Volume 12--Amateur Radio Far Away. It includes programs that focus on Amateur Radio in space.
Volume 12--Amateur Radio Far Away, is $12 from the ARRL. To order, contact Margie Bourgoin, KC1DCO, in the ARRL Educational Activities Department; tel 860-594-0267; e-mail mbourgoin@arrl.org. Order item No 6974.
The following is a list of FCC sequentially assigned call signs issued as of September 1, 1998. For more information about the sequential call sign system, see Fact Sheet PR5000 #206S or contact the FCC, 1270 Fairfield Rd, Gettysburg, PA 17325-7245; e-mail fccitd@fcc.gov.
| District | Group A Extra | Group B Advanced | Group C Tech/Gen | Group D Novice |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | AB0HW | KI0NZ | ++ | KC0ECE |
| 1 | AA1TZ | KE1KG | ++ | KB1DEZ |
| 2 | AB2FN | KG2OY | ++ | KC2EAH |
| 3 | AA3RP | KF3CB | ++ | KB3CZM |
| 4 | AF4LR | KU4UM | ++ | KF4ZYN |
| 5 | AC5RF | KM5SM | ++ | KD5FDC |
| 6 | AD6GN | KQ6XM | ++ | KF6SQT |
| 7 | AB7YX | KK7PN | ++ | KD7CRE |
| 8 | AB8DD | KI8GS | ++ | KC8KWK |
| 9 | AA9WL | KG9OH | ++ | KB9TIM |
| N. Mariana Island | NH0F | AH0BA | KH0HE | WH0ABJ |
| Guam | ++ | AH2DH | KH2TR | WH2ANX |
| Hawaii | NH7L | AH6PN | KH7JZ | WH6DEU |
| American Samoa | AH8R | AH8AH | KH8DM | WH8ABF |
| Alaska | AL0M | AL7RG | KL0QD | WL7CUW |
| Virgin Islands | ++ | KP2CN | NP2KE | WP2AIJ |
| Puerto Rico | NP3Y | KP3BK | NP3YG | WP4NNX |
++ All call signs in this group have been issued in this district.
Sun watcher Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: Solar activity still remains fairly high. The average solar flux for the past week declined a little over 8 points, but the daily value actually peaked again on Sunday at 164.6. The average solar flux for the previous 90 days went up another two points to 124, and the solar flux on every day last week was above this level, indicating a continued general upward trend. Geomagnetic conditions were stable, so HF operators enjoyed good propagation.
Solar flux is expected to decline September 11-13 from 140 to 135 to 130. It should then bottom out below 130 early in the week, then rise above 145 after September 18, above 155 after September 23, and peak below 170 from September 25 until the end of the month. Look for unsettled geomagnetic conditions around September 18 and 19, caused by a solar wind stream from a coronal hole. These predictions are based on the previously observable regions now rotated off the visible surface of the sun, so a burst of new activity could raise these values.
VE2FLE sends along an interesting resource for current geomagnetic conditions. It is an ftp site, which can be accessed using a Web browser, and the downloaded file can be read with the same. Check ftp://suntwo.geolab.NRCan.gc.ca/pub/forecast/forecast.gif to see current geomagnetic activity in the sub-auroral, auroral, and polar zones. In addition to current and recent activity, it also provides forecasts.
Sunspot numbers for September 3 through 9 were 117, 73, 101, 142, 138, 164, and 156, with a mean of 127.3. The 10.7-cm flux was 162.7, 154.7, 154.3, 164.6, 151.2, 153.5, and 145.3, with a mean of 155.2. The estimated planetary A indices were 9, 7, 6, 6, 7, 11, and 8, with a mean of 7.7.
The ARRL Letter is published Fridays, 50 times each year, by the American Radio Relay League--The National Association For Amateur Radio--225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111; tel 860-594-0200; fax 860-594-0259. Jim Haynie, W5JBP, President; David Sumner, K1ZZ, Executive Vice President.
The ARRL Letter offers a weekly summary of essential news of interest to active amateurs that's available in advance of publication in QST, our official journal. The ARRL Letter strives to be timely, accurate, concise, and readable. The ARRLWeb Extra at http://www.arrl.org/members-only/extra offers ARRL members access to late-breaking news and informative features, updated regularly.
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