ARRL RF Safety Committee Chairman and newly appointed FCC TAC member Greg Lapin, N9GL [ARRL Photo]
June 13, 2001
(In alphabetical order: )
ARRL RF Safety Committee chair named to FCC Technological Advisory Council; ·
ARRL RF Safety Committee Chairman and newly appointed FCC TAC member Greg Lapin, N9GL [ARRL Photo] |
ARRL RF Safety Committee chair named to FCC Technological Advisory Council: The FCC has re-established its Technological Advisory Council, and several Amateur Radio operators have been asked to serve as members. Among those appointed was ARRL RF Safety Committee Chairman Greg Lapin, N9GL. Technology guru Dewayne Hendricks, WA8DZP, a charter member of the TAC, was appointed to another two-year term. Also reappointed was former FCC Office of Engineering and Technology Chief Dale Hatfield, W0IFO. Hatfield, now with the University of Colorado, started the TAC while he was still with the FCC. The list of amateurs on the TAC also includes Telegen CEO Jessica L. Stevens, KF6WMY. The TAC is comprised of a broad array of well-known technologists and chaired by Robert Lucky of Telcordia. The TAC helps provide technological insights that the FCC needs to stay abreast of innovations in technology. Additional information about the Technological Advisory Council is available via the FCC's Web site.
Battleship New Jersey debuts new amateur call sign: May 26 was a very special day for the battleship New Jersey. It marked the 58th anniversary of the commissioning of the the vessel and the first time that the call sign NJ2BB was signed from the ship.
 |  | Bob Westcott, W2MAS, talking with Janice Brege, KC8HMG, the first station to be contacted from the BNJARS HF station. [BNJARS Photo] | BNJARS President Pete Greene, N2LVI, at the mike, working Joe Duffin, W2ORA, for contact number three. [BNJARS Photo] |
As his family and members of Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station looked on, Bob Westcott, W2MAS--a radioman in the first crew of BB62 (the battleship's designation)--made the first HF call. Another call, on 2 meters, was to Joe Duffin, W2ORA, also a battleship radio officer serving in WWII. Club members have been working on board since February, tracing cables and logging them into a database, to make the special event possible. A ham in Massachusetts made his first, nervous contact with NJ2BB. His uncle had been an officer aboard "The Big J" and was his Elmer. Operators made more than 550 contacts. "There are still antennas to install and other work to make the station what we would like it to be," said Joseph Cramer, N2XYZ. For more information, visit the Battleship New Jersey Amateur Radio Station Web site.
Call issued to help with New York antenna bill: ARRL Hudson Division Director Frank Fallon, N2FF, and Atlantic Division Director Bernie Fuller, N3EFN, are asking New York amateurs in their respective divisions to express support for the Amateur Radio antenna bills pending in The Empire State. "The New York State Legislature will wrap up the 2001 legislative session next week. We need your help now to get our antenna bills passed," the two directors said in a statement. Fallon and Fuller are urging telephone calls or e-mails to three key decision-makers: Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno of the Senate Rules Committee (518-455-3191; bruno@senate.state.ny.us); Assembly Ways and Means Chairman Herman D. Farrell Jr (518-455-5491; farrelh@assembly.state.ny.us); and Assembly Speaker and Rules Committee Chairman Sheldon Silver (518-455-3791; speaker@assembly.state.ny.us). "Even if you have contacted them before, please do so again. We must act quickly and flood them with calls. Please encourage others to do the same," Fallon and Fuller said. Their suggested message: "Please bring these bills to the floor for a vote so New York State Amateur Radio operators can continue to serve their communities, at no cost to the state, in times of communication emergencies like those now taking place during the Texas and Louisiana floods." Senate Bill S.2893B is currently in the Rules Committee and can immediately be brought to the floor for a vote. Assembly Bill A.1565B is in the Ways and Means Committee and must be reported out or moved to the Rules Committee before it can be brought to the floor for a vote before the session ends. For additional information, visit the ARRL Hudson Division Web site.
Connecticut, Michigan and Nevada issue Amateur Radio proclamations: Connecticut, Michigan and Nevada have joined a growing list of states issuing proclamations this month to recognize the contributions of Amateur Radio. Connecticut Gov John Rowland acknowledged that ARRL, headquartered in Connecticut, represents radio amateurs and their interests throughout the world. Gov Rowland designated June 17-24 as Amateur Radio Week in the State of Connecticut. In Michigan, Gov John Engler noted that Michigan amateur operators had set up communication links between astronauts in space and Michigan students in their classrooms. Gov Engler declared June 18-24 as Amateur Radio Awareness Week in Michigan. In Nevada, Gov Kenny Guinn, has proclaimed June 2001 as Amateur Radio Awareness Month. The governor acknowledged that hams built the first civilian communication satellite and pioneered in various modes of signal processing and circuitry. Gov Guinn also noted that hams have demonstrated their value in public assistance by providing emergency radio communications networks. Traditionally, Amateur Radio Week is the week leading up to ARRL Field Day--the annual emergency preparedness exercise--which is the weekend of June 23-24 this year. Similar proclamations have been issued in North Carolina, Mississippi and Pennsylvania.
Electronic paper on wireless developments offered: A PDF document, "Recent Developments in Short-Range Wireless Communications" by Alan Bensky, is now available for free download from the Short-Range Wireless Web site. Among the topics covered in this e-paper are the Bluetooth, HIPERLAN, and HomeRF standards, conflict/compatibility considerations of different systems, and ultrawideband technology.--thanks to Harry Helms, AK6C
Field Day shirts sold out! Due to last minute demand, our supply of ARRL Field Day T-shirts has sold out. "We're delighted the shirts were so popular," said ARRL Marketing Coordinator Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R. "We promise to have more next year. Clubs, plan your orders early." ARRL Field Day is June 23-24. For more information, visit the ARRL Web site
FM satellite contacts limited to one per customer for AMSAT Field Day: AMSAT promotes its own version of Field Day for operation via the Amateur Radio satellites. It's held concurrently with the ARRL event--this year June 23-24 weekend. AMSAT says that if you are considering only the FM-voice satellites like UO-14 or AO-27 for your HAMSAT Field Day focus, don't--unless you are simply hoping to make one contact for ARRL Field Day bonus points. Congestion last year on UO-14 and AO-27 was so intense that some stations couldn't make a single contact. "A few extremely-well-equipped stations dominated the field and made it virtually impossible for those with small antennas and reasonable power levels to get through," AMSAT said in a statement. The new AMSAT Field Day rules will allow just one contact per each FM, single-channel satellite to give more modest stations a better chance of making a contact. Stations that have completed their single contact via a particular FM satellite are encouraged not to make any further contacts via that satellite during the Field Day period--even if they are not participating in the AMSAT event. AMSAT says a lot of contacts can be made on some of the less-populated, low-earth-orbit satellites like FO-20, FO-29 and RS-12/13, whose transponders support multiple simultaneous contacts. AMSAT's Field Day rules are on the Web.--AMSAT News Service
 A Nebraska Stratospheric Amateur Radio balloon flight (01-B) in May. |
Ham radio-carrying balloon launch set from Kansas: Four high-altitude balloons carrying Amateur Radio gear will be launched from Manhattan, Kansas, the weekend of June 30-July 1. Participants in "Great Plains Super Launch 2001" are preparing payloads supporting 2-meter APRS navigation and telemetry via packet radio, a 70-cm simplex voice repeater, 70-cm and 13-cm ATV, 2-meter SSTV, science experiments and film cameras. Amateur Radio operators within 350 miles of northeastern Kansas are encouraged to participate in all communications modes. More information is available at the Great Plains High Altitude Balloons site.--Ralph Wallio, W0RPK
Hurricane Center hams honored: Amateur Radio operators at National Hurricane Center station W4EHW received the Volunteer of the Year award June 1 at the South Florida Hurricane Conference. The amateurs were recognized for 22 years of dedicated service at the National Hurricane Center, collecting weather and damage data for the NHC forecasters when tropical storms or hurricanes are within 300 miles of any land mass.
 |  | (L-R) Julio Ripoll, WD4JR; John McHugh, KU4GY, and Joel Kandel, KI4T. |
Accepting the award on behalf of the many amateur volunteers were Amateur Radio Coordinator John Mc Hugh, KU4GY; Assistant Amateur Radio Coordinator Julio Ripoll, WD4JR, and volunteer operator and former Miami-Dade County RACES Officer Joel Kandel, KI4T. WD4JR and KI4T are founding members of the station. The conference, held for the seventh year at the Broward County Convention Center in Ft Lauderdale, is sponsored by the emergency management and public safety agencies of Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Collier, and Lee Counties. It addresses many hurricane preparedness and response issues of particular concern to South Florida. More than 600 attended the conference luncheon and award ceremony, held propitiously on the first day of the Atlantic hurricane season.
Kid's Day is Saturday! Kid's Day is Saturday, June 16, 1800 to 2400 UTC. There's no limit on operating time. The suggested exchange is name, age, location and favorite color. Invite a youngster to operate from your shack. Participants are encouraged to work the same station again if an operator has changed. Operating details are on the ARRL Web site. Observe third-party traffic restrictions when making DX QSOs. Logs and comments may be posted to kids@contesting.com and reviewed at http://www.contesting.com/kids/. All participants are eligible to receive a colorful certificate.You can download the certificate or send a 9x12 SASE to Boring Amateur Radio Club, PO Box 1357; Boring, OR 97009. More details may be obtained at the Web site.
Paper-thin batteries on the way: The New York Times reports that a small Israeli company, Power Paper, has devised a new type of caseless battery that is printed directly onto paper, plastic or other surfaces. The thin, flexible batteries may begin showing up on cardboard or plastic surfaces as early as the end of this year. The paper battery or similar products may eventually be used in the new field of "paper electronics," helping to produce electronic books or newspapers on thin, flexible pages that can be thumbed through nearly as easily as printed pages. The battery makes electricity in the conventional manner, with two electrodes separated by a zinc-manganese dioxide electrolyte. The company says the chemistry of the ink used to "print" the electrolyte is a secret. In the paper battery, the electrolyte, like the anode, cathode and conductors, are printed in layers directly on the paper or plastic surface.
Special event prefixes announced for Canada: Special event prefixes have been authorized for use by radio amateurs in the province of Quebec from June 15 to July 15 to mark the 50th anniversary of Radio Amateur du Quebec Inc. Amateurs in Quebec may sign CG2 for VE2 and CF2 for VA2 during the authorized period. Special event prefixes have been authorized from July 15 until August 15 for use by all Canadian Radio Amateurs to commemorate the 25th anniversary of 1976 Montreal Olympics Games. This special event prefix is sponsored by the West Island Amateur Radio Club based in Pointe-Claire, Montreal, Quebec. During the authorized period, amateurs in Canada may sign XM for VE; XL for VA; XN for VO; and XO for VY.--RAC
 Doug Smith, KF6DX, at Dayton Hamvention 2000. [ARRL Photo] |
Ten-Tec Inc adds Doug Smith, KF6DX, to staff: Amateur Radio manufacturer Ten-Tec Inc of Sevierville, Tennessee, has announced that Doug Smith, KF6DX, will be joining the Ten-Tec engineering staff. Smith will start in his new position July 1. Previously employed by Kachina , Smith was lead designer for the Kachina 505DSP computer-controlled HF Amateur Radio transceiver. A respected author and editor, he serves as editor for the ARRL publication QEX/Communications Quarterly. He is also chairman of the ARRL Digital Voice Committee. "The addition of Doug to our engineering team will certainly be an asset," said Ten-Tec Amateur Radio Product Manager Scott Robbins, W4PA. "Doug brings a great deal of experience to Ten-Tec. We're looking forward to having him with us."--Ten-Tec news release
 Tom Clark, W3IWI, at Dayton Hamvention 2000. [ARRL Photo] |
Tom Clark, W3IWI, retires from NASA: AMSAT News Service reports that well-known satellite and digital pioneer and past AMSAT-NA President Tom Clark, W3IWI, has retired from the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center after 40 years of service. His immediate plans are to pursue his many technical interests in the coming years. Clark holds a PhD in astro-geophysics from the University of Colorado. From 1966-68, he served as chief of the Astronomy Branch at the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and as project scientist on the Spacelab Coronagraph. During his years at NASA, he received numerous awards for his pioneering work on Radio Astronomy Explorer 1 and 2 and several generations of Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) systems. In recent years he developed the Totally Accurate Clock, an inexpensive GPS timing receiver that has found widespread use in a number of global networks. Clark is a fellow of the American Geophysical Union and of the International Association of Geodesy.--ANS
Weather can be a two-way street: Joe Schmidt, W4NKJ, the Internet coordinator for W4EHW at the National Hurricane Center says that if you have a weather station and Internet access, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration needs your observations. Your real-time data will be used in NOAA weather-prediction models. You will be able to see your observations on their new Web page. Making your data available is simple and free. To obtain your personal Citizen Weather number and to download free Internet communication software, visit the W4EHW Amateur Radio Station at the National Hurricane Center Web site. The easy-to-use software will allow you to send data to NOAA, provide a weather display and synchronize your computer's clock with time from the Naval Observatory. Radio amateurs with an active APRS weather station do not need to obtain Citizen Weather numbers, however. Complete Information on participating in the program will be found on the W4EHW web site. Approximately two weeks after completing registration your data will be processed and appear on the NOAA surface observation map. The Citizen Weather Observer Program is a joint effort of radio amateur volunteers at the National Hurricane Center and NOAA. For more information, e-mail w4ehw@fiu.edu .
 Rasa Lazarevic, YU1RL (right), with Jeff Steinman, N5TJ, one-half of the WRTC-2000 winning team. [SKY Contest Journal Photo] |
YU1RL takes up duties as Yugoslav ambassador to Brazil: Well-known contester and DXpeditioner Radivoje "Rasa" Lazarevic, YU1RL, has taken up his post as Yugoslav ambassador to Brazil. He arrived in Brasilia June 1. The 39-year-old Lazarevic has operated many times from Brazil and Fernando de Noronha. He had been scheduled to participate in WRTC 2000 in Slovenia but had to cancel as it conflicted with his political party's congress (he is a founding member and vice president of New Democracy, a pro-European party). He says he likes Brasilia very much and hopes to be there for a long time.
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