Sep 27, 2001
(In alphabetical order: )
Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Class Level II openings remain: A few seats remain for the September on-line class Level II (Intermediate) Emergency Communications Course (EC-002). This class begins the week of October 1. Taking the Level I course first is not mandatory. If you want to learn more about emergency communications and net procedures, Level II offers new tools for your local use. Visit the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Registration Page to take advantage of this continuing education opportunity. Answers to most questions are on the ARRL Certification and Continuing Education home page and the C-CE links at the right, including the CCE Syllabus, FAQs, Classroom Courses, and much more. To learn more--or if you have problems registering--contact ARRL Certification and Continuing Education Coordinator Dan Miller, K3UFG, cce@arrl.org.
Bahamas raises annual license fee: The annual (calendar year) fee for those holding a Bahamian Amateur Radio license has increased to $25 for 2001. The new fee applies for licenses renewed after August 1. The cost to "catch up" on past renewal fees prior to 2002 is $6 per year. Some US amateurs with Bahamian tickets were surprised to get letters requesting the back renewal fees and threatening fines and revocation. According to Dick Long, W4AKE/C6AKE, the Bahamian Public Utilities Commission--which handles licensing there--collects $6 a year for the years your license has been expired--this has always been its policy, he says. If you don't plan to use your license anytime soon, Long advises returning it to the PUC or sending a letter stating that you won't be using it again. "If, at some future time, you want to return to the Bahamas, you can always apply for a new license," he added. The PUC e-mail address is puc@batelnet.bs.
Continuing Legal Education Seminar set for Pacificon 2001: ARRL Volunteer Counsel Harry Styron, K6HS, and Phil Kane, K2ASP, will conduct Pacificon's annual Continuing Legal Education Seminar on October 19 in Concord, California. The session will be held at the Sheraton Concord (Airport) Hotel from 9 AM until noon. The $75 cost of the seminar for includes a copy of Antenna Zoning for the Radio Amateur by Fred Hopengarten, K1VR, a $49.95 value. The seminar covers in-depth state and local antenna regulation with the focus on amateur issues and other legal topics affecting Amateur Radio. Registration is exclusively at site, and three hours of MCLE credit is available to California attorneys. More information on Pacificon 2001 is available on the Pacificon Web site.
First satellite radio hits US airwaves: Radio XM Satellite Radio launched September 25 in San Diego, California, and Dallas, Texas, marking one of the first innovations in radio since the advent of FM. XM Satellite Radio offers 100 channels of music and talk with limited advertising for approximately $10 per month. The company plans to go nationwide in the coming months. Competitor Sirius Satellite Radio plans to inaugurate its service later this year. Some automanufacturers say they will include satellite radio capability as an option in future models.--CNet news
Floyd Colyar, W7ME, SK: Well-known DXer Floyd Colyar, W7ME, of Glendale, Arizona, died September 16. He was 79. An ARRL member, Colyar preferred to operate QRP. Colyar was a veteran of World War II and the Korean Conflict. Until his retirement in 1987, he was an engineer for Mountain Bell Telephone Company. Colyar served as a Boy Scout leader and was a member of the International Aerobatics Club. "He was one of the beloved OMs in the amateur community in Arizona and other states, and he supported many of the amateur organizations throughout the Southwest," said his friend, Frank Smith, AH0W. Survivors include Colyar's wife and six children. Services were held September 21.
 [John Snider Photo] |
Ham-Congressman praises Amateur Radio's response to terrorist attacks: "Amateur radio operators perform an invaluable service to our country, especially during times of crisis," said Oregon Congressman Greg Walden, WB7OCE (left), shown here meeting with Johnny Jones, WA6RHK, Communications Chair of the Rogue Valley, Oregon, Chapter of the Red Cross. Jones was named his chapter's volunteer of the year. Walden, the only Amateur Radio operator serving in Congress, is a cosponsor of the Amateur Radio Spectrum Protection Bill, HR 817. The measure would require equivalent replacement spectrum if any Amateur Radio spectrum were to be relocated.
Ham-sailor pins down arrival in US: David Clark, KB6TAM, who's trying to be the oldest person to sail solo around the world, has set Pearl Harbor Day, December 7, as his new "confirmed" date of arrival in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Clark currently is in Trinidad, sitting out the Atlantic hurricane season. Clark told his wife, Lynda, that he was saddened by the September 11 terrorist attacks. "He has been following the news in Trinidad via TV," she said. "It makes him homesick to be back in the USA where he can be close to his family, and he is very anxious to get under,way again." Clark will leave Trinidad the first week in November. He plans to complete his trip at the Marriott Marina on 17th Street Causeway, Fort Lauderdale. A gala celebration will ensue.
Henry D. Clark, W2IQ, SK: Henry D. "Hank" Clark, W2IQ, of Dandridge, Tennessee, died September 18. He was 81. Clark succumbed to the injuries suffered in a fall. Although not an employee of Ten-Tec, Clark had done extensive on-air beta testing of Ten-Tec products during the engineering process. "Hank was a dear friend of many of us at Ten-Tec," said Amateur Radio Product Manager Scott Robbins, W4PA. "He was the only person who wasn't a former employee who had free reign in the Ten-Tec offices. Most recently he had helped us with the Centaur and Titan II linear amplifiers and the Jupiter HF transceiver." Robins called Clark "a really great guy" and an asset to Ten-Tec and to Amateur Radio. "We will miss him," he said.
Hollingsworth, Heil plan YCCC visit: FCC Special Counsel for Amateur Radio Enforcement Riley Hollingsworth and Heil Sound President Bob Heil will be featured guests at an open meeting of the Yankee Clipper Contest Club, 12 noon-5 PM, Saturday, October 6, Worcester State College Student Union, Worcester, Massachusetts. YCCC members and guests are welcome at this general business meeting. Founded in April 1977 the YCCC boasts more than 400 members from New York City to Maine. For more information, visit the YCCC Web site.
ISS crew talks about its reaction to terrorist attacks: Two weeks after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the crew of the International Space Station for the first time talked publicly about their emotional reactions from their perch 240 miles above Earth. The crew held a TV interview September 25. "I think our reactions were the same as everybody around the world," said Expedition 3 Crew Commander Frank Culbertson, KD5OPQ. "That was a very tragic and awful event, and we hope it's never repeated." Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Dezhurov said the crew could see the results of the attacks from space, "and it was a very, very bad day." Culbertson and his Russian crewmates were on the radio with flight surgeons when the September 11 attacks began. Culbertson said a doctor interrupted the conference to tell the crew what was happening. Later, when the ISS passed above the northeastern US, the crew took pictures above New York City that showed a large plume of smoke and dust arising from Lower Manhattan. "It was quite a disturbing sight," Culbertson said, "and very heartbreaking." The Expedition 3 crew arrived in August and is scheduled to return to Earth December 10.
Louis V Tristao, KG6VY, SK: The "father of crank-up towers," Lou Tristao, KG6VY, of Visalia, California, has died. Tristao, a past ARRL member, was 86. According to Steve Morris, K7LXC, of Tower Tech, Tristao started Tristao Expanding Masts, which became Tri-Ex; Tristao Towers, which became US Towers, and the Wilson line of crank-ups.
Maryland tornado prompts RACES activation: Prince George's County Maryland Emergency Coordinator and RACES Radio Officer Jim Cross, WI3N, reports that the Prince George's County Emergency Operations Center was activated September 24 in response to an F3 to F4 tornado in the northern part of the county. The tornado, which arrived at the height of rush hour, damaged buildings and vehicles on the campus of the University of Maryland and caused two deaths. In addition utility poles and trees were knocked down on Route 1 in Beltsville, and the storm damaged Laurel High School and approximately 50 homes in the Laurel area. Traffic was halted in several areas. The EOC activated RACES, and a net was established at 6:35 PM Eastern Time on the Green Mountain Repeater Association 146.61 MHz repeater. The GMRA's 146.88 repeater also was used. Members checked in to the 146.61 repeater and stood by. "Some of the membership was stuck in traffic and linked up with emergency personnel," Cross said. "Having their ID badges with them was very helpful." Other RACES members were able to drive through neighborhoods and report damage to net control at the EOC. "Fortunately the GMRA installed battery backup for its repeaters about a year ago. The power was out to about 11,000 homes including the 146.61 repeater," Cross said, adding that the battery backup performed flawlessly. The 147.225 repeater was activated subsequently, and trustee (and Montgomery County Deputy RACES Radio Officer) John Creel, WB3GXW, stood by as it was used to relay traffic between the EOC and a Red Cross shelter in Laurel. Operations were secured at 11:35 PM Eastern Time. Deputy RACES Radio Officer HD Scott, K3HDM, handled net control duties during the crisis.
Pacific Northwest VHF Society formed: VHF, UHF and microwave weak-signal enthusiasts in the Pacific Northwest have formed a new society to promote weak-signal activity. The new organization will focus on VHF-and-up weak-signal activity in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and British Columbia. Lynn Burlingame, N7CFO, will serve as president, and Jim Aguirre, W7DHC, as secretary-treasurer. Charter memberships in the new organization will be available through October 31. There is a one-time membership fee of $10. A membership application form and details are available on a temporary Web site. For additional information, contact Jim Aguirre, w7dhc@arrl.net .
Southeastern Vice Director wins 2001 CHAMP Award: ARRL Southeastern Division Vice Director Evelyn Gauzens, W4WYR, is the recipient of the 2001 Citizens' Ham Mobile-Marine Patrol (CHAMP) Award. Gauzens is cofounder of the Tropical Hamboree and a prominent community activist. The annual award is presented to an Amateur Radio operator for an exemplary act of service to the community community during the preceding year, or to an amateur who has demonstrated years of distinguished service to both Amateur Radio and the community. The South Florida FM Association, Citizens' Crime Watch, and the Miami-Dade Police Department established CHAMP in 1994. Its mission is to assist police in the prevention and reduction of crime by reporting sightings of emergency and/or criminal activities. The 2000 Award recipient was Jim Hirschman, K4TCV, who provided exemplary service as both a physician and a ham in the aftermath of the piracy and wounding of a family sailing in the Caribbean. The CHAMP Award will be presented October 5. CHAMP will also honor members of the police organizations of Miami-Dade County and its cities.
Transpacific LF "insurance test" is a success: A second claim has been made of Amateur Radio LF reception across the Pacific. Organizer of the transpacific tests Bob Vernall, ZL2CA, reports that on September 22, ZL6QH, ZL3PN, ZL3JE, ZL4OL, ZL4MD and AX2TAR (VK7ZAL) transmitted test signals in the 165-190 kHz band. "Various DX listeners had prior knowledge of the schedule of individual test frequency and coding used by each station," Vernall reports.
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The ARGO screen showing the second successful amateur transpacific reception at around 184 kHz. The ZL6QH signal is in the lower half of the screen. The transmitted signal used dual frequency keying, with 0.4-Hz frequency shift. The ARGO graphic of the VE7SL reception shows inverted audio FSK , but otherwise agrees with the dot length, sequence and frequency shift of the ZL6QH transmission. The explanation for the inversion is that the ICOM IC-R75 receiver used by VE7SL gives inverted FSK in the audio output when used in the normal CW mode. VE7SL used an RF signal generator to subsequently verify that an ARGO trace (showing receiver audio output) went lower in frequency when the RF frequency went higher. Note that the parallel vertical red lines in the centre of the ARGO graphic are a software option for selecting either short or long "ticks." Once selected, a tick stays on the screen. The left side of the long tick is close to 40 minutes before the 1401 UTC sunrise at VE7SL's QTH. |
As happened in the initial successful listening test on June 30, Steve McDonald, VE7SL, of British Columbia, Canada, managed to receive signals from ZL6QH sometime before dawn. "This time VE7SL obtained an ARGO capture of both frequencies of the DFCW [dual-frequency CW] transmission," Vernall said. "The path length is estimated to be 11,709 km." The uniquely coded transmission consisted of repetitive sending of the letter "Q" sent using dual-frequency CW, with all elements being of 120 seconds duration. "This means sending a single 'Q' took 10 minutes," Vernall said. The signal faded rapidly about three minutes after sunrise, although it was still dark in New Zealand. The ZL6QH LF signal was generated using a modified TS-850S/AT in SSB mode, fed with audio from a laptop PC using soundcard software developed by Steve, VK2ZTO. TS-850 frequency control was by means of a high performance TCXO master oscillator. A low level LF signal from the TS-850 transverter port was fed to an external LF power amplifier, and the output power was around 500 W. The radiated power was estimated at 5 W. The antenna was a long wire at the Wellington Amateur Radio Club's Quartz Hill station. The ZL6QH operators were Andrew, ZL2BBJ, and Bob, ZL2CA. ZL6QH is seeking permission to transmit in the 136 kHz band, which could widen the scope of testing beyond transpacific and give European listeners a better chance at receiving amateur LF DX from Down Under, Vernall said.
Two more amateurs reported lost at World Trade Center: ARRL has learned that two more amateurs were lost and presumed dead in the World Trade Center attack September 11. Gerard J. "Rod" Coppola, KA2KET, was a transmitter engineer for WNET, channel 13. He was 46 and lived in New York City. Winston A. Grant, KA2DRF, was a computer technician with Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield. He was 59 and lived in West Hempstead, New York. A fund has been established to assist the families of broadcast engineers. Send checks made out to "Ennes Educational Foundation Trust" to The Society of Broadcast Engineers Inc, 9247 N Meridian St, Suite 305, Indianapolis, IN 46260, ATTN: Broadcast Engineer Relief Fund.--some information courtesy of Paul Sanchez/Emmis Broadcasting
University of Texas Amateur Radio Club to mark 80 years with special event: The University of Texas Amateur Radio Club, N5XU, will operate special event station K5T from September 29 to October 7, to celebrate its 80th year as an Amateur Radio club. Experimental/Amateur station 5XU was first licensed in 1921 and made its first transmissions from the university on October 1 of that year. Club members will be operating SSB and CW on the HF bands and the VHF/UHF weak-signal bands, and plan to operate RTTY and PSK31 on HF bands as well. A special K5T QSL card will be available. K5T will also be active as a multi-operator station in the Texas QSO Party, September 29-30. County hunters, note that UTARC is in Travis County. For club and QSL information, visit the N5XU web site. Follow this link for information on the Texas QSO Party.
VHF radio designer Ed Clegg, W8LOY, SK: Edward T "Ed" Clegg, W8LOY, of Lancaster, Ohio, died September 7. He was 80. He was an ARRL member. A New Jersey native, Clegg was founder of Clegg Communications Corporation, one of the early and popular amateur VHF radio manufacturers. Among his designs were the Clegg Zeuss transmitter and companion Interceptor receiver, the FM 27-28 transceivers, the Clegg 99er 6-meter rig and the AV-44 All Bander receiving converter. In 1964, Clegg authored an article on speech clipping for QST. Clegg retired to Ohio in the early 1990s. His wife, Marvis, is among his survivors.
Vietnam War veteran Bill Ruth, W3HRD, among those lost in Pentagon attack: The terrorists' attack on the US has claimed another ham and ARRL member. Vietnam and Gulf War veteran and retired Chief Warrant Officer William Ruth, W3HRD, of Mount Airy, Maryland, is among several hams known to have died as a result of the terrorist attacks. The Army announced September 19 that Ruth, who worked at the Pentagon, was among the 30 people confirmed dead. He was 58.
Vote on QST Cover Plaque Award: The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for September was Frank Gentges, K0BRA, for his article "The AMRAD Active LF Antenna." Congratulations, Frank! The winner of the QST Cover Plaque award--given to the author of the best article in each issue--is determined by a vote of ARRL members. Voting takes place each month on the Cover Plaque Poll Web page. As soon as your copy arrives, cast a ballot for your favorite article in the October issue of QST. Voting ends October 15.
 Becky Ormonde, K6EY (left), on 15-meter CW and Vi Barrett, W6CBA, on 20-meter SSB operate two of the six W1AW/6 special event stations set up during the recent Southwestern Division Convention. W1AW/6 logged more than 1350 QSOs on CW, SSB, ATV, SSTV and PSK31. [Fred Roberts, W6TKV] |
W1AW/6 is a big hit in California: Special event station W1AW/6 was hyperactive during the recent ARRL Southwestern Division Convention, as 89 operators ended up making 1350 QSOs. Six stations operated on six different bands--2, 10, 15, 20, 40 and 80 meters--and modes--SSB, CW, FM, ATV, SSTV and PSK31. Many stations contacted reported that it was their first QSO with the Hiram Percy Maxim Memorial Station, and for one station it was his very first HF QSO! W1AW/6 was open for business for approximately 39 of the 48 hours the convention was in session.--Fred Roberts, W6TKV
Wireless Telecommunications Bureau reschedules ULS demos: The FCC's Wireless Telecommunications Bureau has rescheduled its Universal Licensing System interactive demonstrations in Washington, DC, to Friday, September 28, 2001. The sessions originally were set for Monday, September 24, 2001. The demonstrations will take place in the ITC Training Room on the 12th Street level (main entrance level) of the Portals II building, 445 12th Street SW. The morning session will cover ULS application search and license search; the afternoon session will cover ULS Microwave and Land Mobile filing. For more information, contact Drew Eisenhauer, deisenha@fcc.gov; 202-418-0584.
Wisconsin PRB-1 bill clears committee: Wisconsin's Amateur Radio antenna (PRB-1) bill AB-368 this week was voted out of committee for Assembly floor action. AB-368 will be taken up in full session on October 2, according to Cari Lee, aide to Rep Luther Olsen, who has taken charge of AB-368 in the Assembly following the resignation of Rep Joan Wade, the bill's original sponsor.--Jim Romelfanger, K9ZZ
WRC-03 Advisory Committee cancels meeting: The fifth meeting of the Advisory Committee for World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 (WRC-03) scheduled for September 28, 2001, has been canceled. For further information, contact Donald Weiland of the International Bureau's Planning and Negotiation Division, 202-418-2220.--FCC
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