Denna Lambert, KD5PWS, with her guide dog, Denver.
Jul 9, 2003
(In alphabetical order: )
Denna Lambert, KD5PWS, with her guide dog, Denver. |
Arkansas student-ham addresses national
conference: University of Arkansas management major
Denna Lambert, KD5PWS, recently delivered a presentation at the national Career
Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD) conference. The gathering
was held in mid-May at Microsoft headquarters near Seattle, Washington. Lambert
spoke to a group of 200 human resource personnel and diversity coordinators
representing corporations, universities, community colleges and technical
institutes from all over the US. Not allowing her visual disability to deter her
educational advancement or career planning, Lambert wants to educate others
about the importance of maintaining high standards and attaining independence
as a person with a visual disability. Her COSD presentation focused on
identifying misconceptions some recruiters have about what to expect when
interviewing people with visual or other disabilities and outlining how the job
application and interviewing process can be unnecessarily tedious or even
completely unworkable for candidates who happen to have disabilities.--contributed
by Dan Puckett, K5FXB
Astronaut works dozens of stations from ISS
during Field Day: US astronaut Ed Lu, KC5WKJ, worked
more than three dozen stations from NA1SS aboard the International Space
Station during Field Day 2003 June 28-29. The contacts appear to have been made
during at least two ISS passes over North America. Operating the Amateur Radio
on the International Space Station equipment, Lu managed to contact 39 stations
in the US, Canada and Mexico on 2-meter FM simplex. For more information on
ARISS, visit the ARISS Web site. US
stations QSL to Margie Bourgoin, KB1DCO, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT
06111-1494. Canadian stations QSL to Radio Amateurs of Canada, ARISS QSL, 720
Belfast Rd, Suite 217, Ottawa ON K1G 0Z5. European stations QSL to ARISS-Europe
QSL Bureau, c/o AMSAT-France, 16, rue de la Vallée, 91360 Epinay Sur Orge,
FRANCE.
DXCC Desk approves operations for DXCC
credit: The ARRL DXCC Desk has approved these
Timor-Leste operations for DXCC credit: 4W1BK (effective May 22, 2003), 4W3AN
(effective May 19, 2003), 4W3CW (effective May 16, 2003) and 4W3DX (effective
May 22, 2003). For more information, contact DXCC Manager Bill Moore, NC1L.
FAA commissions safety study of in-air cell phone use: Financial Times reports that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Air Transport Association have commissioned a study intended to resolve whether wireless telecommunication devices interfere with an airliner's navigational equipment. The nonprofit group RTCA will carry out the investigation of the effects of high-altitude communications from handheld computers, laptops and cellular telephones. Airline passengers generally are prohibited from using cellular telephones and other wireless technology from the moment a plane's door is closed before takeoff until the plane arrives at the gate. Financial Times says the study group is made up of executives from airlines, aircraft manufacturers and makers of wireless devices and wireless service providers.
FCC attempting to rectify call sign goof: The FCC has issued a Memorandum Opinion and Order (MO&O) in an effort to rescind a vanity call sign it issued in error to a Virginia amateur. Last August, the FCC's Licensing and Technical Analysis Branch of the Public Safety and Private Wireless Division (within the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau) erroneously granted the request of Richard L. Smith of Chesapeake, Virginia, to have the call sign KC4USH. The Branch is responsible for issuing all amateur license and call sign grants. The Commission says that since the KC4USA through KC4USZ call sign block has been made available to the US Navy for the use of amateur stations in Antarctica, the KC4USH call sign should not have been issued to Smith, a General-class licensee who used to be KG4UKV. The FCC now wants Smith to take back his former call sign (along with a refund of his vanity application fee, of course). The MO&O was released July 3 and signed by D'wana Terry, Chief of the Public Safety and Private Wireless Division. It says that according to §97.27(b) of its rules, the FCC will not issue a modification order until Smith has received notice of the proposed action and has a chance to protest. He must do that in writing within 30 days.
 Jim Andera K0NK looks on as two fourth graders communicate with WB4MIO/m in Alabama on 17 meters. |
Ham club resonates with elementary school: For the second year, members of the Crown Amateur Radio Association (CARA) in Olathe, Kansas, earlier this year used ham radio to help students at Meadow Lane Elementary School gain insight into topics ranging from science to geography. Three CARA members demonstrated the concepts of sound waves, resonant frequency, time zones, Morse code and radio communications to some 50 attentive fifth graders. Following the presentation to the fifth grade, four students in the sixth grade's QUEST (advanced learning) program were given an up-close, hands-on look at Amateur Radio. By setting up a Kenwood TS-50 HF transceiver in the school's library and a Cushcraft R5 vertical outside, CARA members Jim Andera, K0NK, Charlie Hett, K0THN, and George Yantis, K0GY, let students see Amateur Radio in action. Students also were able to talk to radio operators elsewhere in the US and to monitor a short-wave broadcast in German (as a student who spoke German offered comments). DX QSL cards offered another glimpse into the cultures of other countries, and each student got to keep one. A speaker and an audio signal generator were used to demonstrate the audio frequency range of the human ear as well as the concept of resonance. CARA is a small Amateur Radio club within Honeywell International's Olathe facility.
Hams would share with feds at 2 GHz in proposed relocation plan: Amateur Radio users would share some spectrum with federal government users in the vicinity of 2 GHz under a proposal released by the FCC this week in ET Docket 00-258. The Fourth Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) would relocate certain federal radio facilities displaced from 1710-1850 MHz in order to accommodate so-called "third-generation" (3G) Advanced Wireless Systems to the 2390 to 2400 MHz band, among others. Amateurs will retain the primary allocation they gained in the 1990s but will have to share with federal users. This was previously the case, but under the current proposal, federal users could include aeronautical mobile stations. "Federal and non-Federal Government use of the band 2390-2395 MHz is expected to occur at only a limited number of aeronautical telemetry ranges in remote areas," the FCC said in the NPRM. Unlicensed Personal Communication Services no longer would be allowed in the 2390-2400 MHz band under the proposal, although none are now operating there. The FCC also has proposed to undo its recent allocation of 2385-2390 MHz to Wireless Communications Services (WCS). The proposed changes are not expected to substantially reduce the utility of 2390-2400 MHz for the Amateur Service, although some dislocated WCS users might now need to reaccommodated elsewhere.
 Pond Island Lighthouse in Maine. |
International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend set: International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend will be the weekend of August 16-17 this year. Last year's event saw 385 Amateur Radio stations active at lighthouses and lightships around world. Details and an entry form are available on the International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend Web site. The site includes a list of stations that already have confirmed their participation.--Mike Dalrymple, GM4SUC
Iraqi call signs being issued: Fred Matos, W3ICM/YI3DX, reports that he has issued 25 YI calls since he has been at the Ministry of Transportation and Communications in Baghdad. Matos, of Annapolis, Maryland, is on assignment in Baghdad and tasked with setting up an Iraqi telecommunication authority. Matos has a 100 W rig with him and is trying to gain access to antenna space on the roof of a former Republican Guard palace. QSL via W3ICM.--The Daily DX
 Mark Garland, K4SDI (left), volunteered some 90 hours in supporting the effort to locate the downed aircraft in mid-June. [Don Snodgrass, K4QKY, Photo] |
Kentucky ARES assists in search for missing aircraft: Amateur Radio Emergency Service (ARES) members from Kentucky ARES districts 1 and 2 assisted in efforts to locate a private aircraft that was reported missing June 14 with two men aboard. Responding to a request from the emergency manager in Calloway County to Assistant ARES Coordinator Bill Call, KJ4W, ARES members set up the county's mobile communication trailer at the Murray Airport to support the search. Amateurs supported the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) in the search. Attempts to locate the missing plane continued for several days and eventually involved responders from four states. Calloway County ARES Coordinator Mark Garland, K4SDI, and ARES District 1 Coordinator Bill Slayman, KY4NU, headed up the ham radio support and recruited additional amateurs for duty. "We had a full activation in communications support of the CAP mission and a total of 22 ARES members participated in various roles," Slayman said. CAP flew some 280 missions. Watercraft also were involved after debris from the plane was found June 23 in a lake in Tennessee. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency took over the incident at that point, and the ARES activation ceased. Calloway County's Office of Emergency Management extended "heartfelt appreciation" to ARES members from Calloway and Hopkins County, Garland said. "Their support filled a gap that otherwise would have delayed operations and cost in excess of $70,000."--Pat Spencer, KD4PWL/Kentucky Amateur Radio News
Masao "Mike" Matsumoto, JA1AYC, SK: Japan Amateur Radio League (JARL) Director Masao "Mike" Matsumoto, JA1AYC, died June 27. He was 65. First licensed in 1955, Matsumoto is credited with providing many years of leadership in various positions in the Japanese amateur radio community. He also represented JARL internationally and attended a number of IARU events over the years. "Amateurs in Japan have lost a very important leader," JARL said in a statement. "His attitude with high spirits about Amateur Radio will be sorely missed by radio amateurs throughout Japan, and by his ham friends around the world." Survivors include his wife and two daughters. A service was held June 29 in Yokosuka. Messages of sympathy may be sent via JARL.
 The destroyer USS Cassin Young in Boston Harbor will be on the air during the Museum Ships Special Event as WW2DD. |
Museum Ships Special Event set: The USS Cassin Young Radio Club will sponsor the annual Museum Ships Special Event July 19-20 (UTC). Seventy museum vessels--including everything from aircraft carriers and battleships to submarines and tugboats--are expected to participate in the event. While most vessels are in the US, several are in Europe. Stations set up onboard participating vessels will use SSB and CW (as well as other modes, including AM, PSK31 and IRLP) on various HF amateur frequencies. All of these museum ships are open to the public. More information, including suggested frequencies and a list of participating vessels, is available on the USS Cassin Young Radio Club Web site, which will be updated as new information is available.
 Laurel Clark, KC5ZSU (right) with Kalpana "KC" Chawla, KD5ESI. Both astronauts died in the Columbia disaster. [NASA Photo] |
Navy recognizes Columbia astronaut: The National Naval Medical Center (NNMC) is dedicating and naming the organization's redesigned auditorium to honor NASA astronaut Laurel B. Clark, KC5ZSU, a crewmember on the ill-fated shuttle Columbia. Clark, a captain and flight surgeon in the US Navy medical corps, perished February 1 along with six other astronaut crew members when the Columbia broke up over Texas. The dedication ceremony is July 11. NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe, Associate Administrator for Space Flight Bill Readdy and several astronauts will represent the agency at the dedication ceremony. The Navy said the dedication in Clark's memory was aimed at saluting and celebrating her "courage, commitment, and dedication to Navy medicine and NASA's human space flight program."
 WF6L's excursion to W1AW yielded some European contacts--a treat for a Californian. (Front to rear): PJ Leonelli, KG6JCV, Phil Leonelli, WF6L, and Tim Leonelli visit W1AW. |
School's "Big Project" activities inspire cultural exchanges: Phil Leonelli, WF6L, from the Iowa Street School in Fallbrook, California--a Big Project school--recently visited ARRL Headquarters with his sons PJ, KG6JCV, and Tim. The Iowa Street School is not a traditional schoolhouse but an educational resource center for home-schooled students. Thanks to The Big Project (the ARRL Amateur Radio Education and Technology Program), ham radio is providing an important avenue for the students of Iowa Street to experience first hand cultures and societies not just across the street, city, county or state, but also across the globe. During a Headquarters tour and before heading to W1AW, Leonelli related some interesting experiences that his students have had over the past school year while participating in the school's ham radio enrichment activities. He says his students got far more than the expected casual QSO during a contact with Japan: They found a new friend. The students exchanged e-mail addresses and extended the conversation via the Internet to allow their non-licensed fellow students to join in. As a result, Leonelli reports, several students now are learning Japanese via the Internet and ham radio. In another cultural exchange, Leonelli's students recently hosted the visit of a ham from Belarus. The visitor was definitely impressed not only with the student's curiosity about his culture, but also with the level of their technical questions regarding ham radio in the US compared to ham radio in Belarus. The experience left the visitor from Belarus favorably impressed.
Special prefixes permitted in Canada: Industry Canada has authorized special prefixes through August 30 to mark the 100th anniversary of military communications in Canada. XM=VE; XL=VA; XN=VO; XO=VY.--The Daily DX
Tennessee club celebrates 50 years at Section Convention: The Tennessee Section Convention and Knoxville Hamfest June 13-14 was tinged with gold this year, as the Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville (RACK) celebrated its 50th year as a club. Along with honors from the community, ARRL representatives and US Rep John Duncan on hand to help celebrate the golden anniversary, RACK announced plans to set up a permanent ham radio station at the American Red Cross Knoxville Area Chapter headquarters.
 US Rep John Duncan speaks at the Tennessee Section Convention ceremony honoring the 50th anniversary of the Radio Amateur Club of Knoxville. |  Founding club members Jean Giesler, W4TYU, and Dick Ingram, W4PHW, receive a number of mementos and souvenirs from the evening's master of ceremonies Tom Badgett, K4NOX (right). |
Aided by funds from IEEE to set up the station, RACK members will operate and maintain the amateur equipment in the interest of community service. ARRL Field and Public Service Team Supervisor Steve Ewald, WV1X, who moderated a League forum at the convention, also presented RACK with an ARRL Certificate of Merit. Other local dignitaries on hand included representatives of the American Red Cross, Knoxville City Council, Knoxville mayor Victor Ashe's office, Tennesee Gov Phil Bredesen's office, and Knoxville Fire Chief Ed Curetin.
 Lee County Emergency Management Agency Director Bill Meadows (right) thanks Tom Moore, WX4TM, for a job well done. |
Tom Moore, WX4TM, named Volunteer of the Year: The Alabama Association of Emergency Managers (AAEM) has named former ARRL Alabama Section Manager Tom Moore, WX4TM, as Volunteer of the Year for 2003. The award to Moore, an East Alabama Amateur Radio Club member who served as Alabama's SM from 1995 until 1997, was announced last month during the annual AAEM conference in Gulf Shores. Moore also serves as emergency management agency liaison and EMWIN coordinator for the EAARC. The club holds its monthly meetings and Field Day at the Lee County Emergency Operations Center, which furnished a Kenwood HF and VHF station for club use.--Cheryl K. Whitlock, AA4YL/East Alabama ARC
UK's 73 kHz band withdrawn: The lowest frequency UK amateur band, 73 kHz, was withdrawn June 30 at 2359 UTC. Operation on the band required a Notice of Variation. UK hams now have access to an LF allocation in the vicinity of 136 kHz.
 Andy Schiller, AB1BA, operates from W1AW during Kid’s Day on June 21. |
W1AW on the air for Kid's Day: ARRL Maxim Memorial Station W1AW was on the air for Kids' Day activities on June 21. ARRL Amateur Radio Education and Technology Program ("The Big Project") Coordinator Mark Spencer, WA8SME, and Andy Schiller, AB1BA, a young ham from Newington, joined forces to make more than 85 contacts with stations in 25 states and four countries. "Over 50 youth were contacted around the United States, and they shared a little about themselves as the world listened in to the conversations," Spencer said. "The level of activity was a pleasant surprise considering the marginal band conditions." Spencer added that even stations not directly involved with Kid's Day provided insights into their interests in helping young people to get involved in science and ham radio. "Overall, I considered the event and our participation a success!" Spencer concluded.
West Virginia "Big Project" school teacher
wins award for using ham radio in school: Big Project school teacher Bob Johnson, KF8I, of Bunker
Hill, West Virginia, was the recipient of an Exemplary Teaching Techniques
Awards Program prize sponsored by the Regional
Education Service Agency VIII and the County Boards of Education of Region
VIII (eight counties in eastern West Virginia). A Charleston native and West
Virginia University graduate, Johnson was nominated to represent his school,
Musselman Middle School in Berkeley County, in the region-wide competition.
Entries are submitted on tape. "My presentation was 'Using Amateur Radio as a
Tool in Education,'" said Johnson, who picked the vocational category for his
entry. His recording features six minutes of instruction and a tour of the
school's radio shack plus another nine minutes of students actually on the air.
Johnson says his presentation was the only one that drew applause. His
videotape will be distributed statewide to all schools in the Mountain State.
Johnson also received a cash award. Congratulations, Bob!
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