Amateur Radio

H. Robert "Bob" Schroeder, N2HX, of Ewing, New Jersey, has been named the winner of the ARRL's 2009 Bill Orr, W6SAI, Technical Writing Award for his article "Electromagnetic Pulse and Its Implications for EmComm" that appeared in November 2009 issue of QST. The editorial staff commented on Schroeder's article, saying that "the topic of nuclear EMP is somewhat esoteric by itself, let alone discussing its impact on Amateur Radio, yet the author did an outstanding job of making the subject matter understandable even to the relatively non-technical ham. His writing is clear and to the point, offering practical advice not only for EMP mitigation as it applies to the unlikely event of a nuclear burst, but also extending the same principles to mitigation for lightning damage."

There are only a few days left to nominate individuals and clubs for the 2010 Dayton Hamvention® awards. While the Special Achievement Award, Technical Excellence Award and Amateur of the Year Award have been given for many years, Hamvention Awards Chairman Frank Beafore, WS8B, told the ARRL that in 2010, the Hamvention Awards Committee will also present a special award to the Amateur Radio Club of the Year. That award is tied to this year’s Hamvention theme, Amateur Radio Clubs Worldwide: The Lifeline. March 15 is the deadline for nominations for all four awards; winners will be notified in April and publicly honored at the 2010 Dayton Hamvention in May. Information on how to nominate a person or club for these awards is available at on the Dayton Hamvention Web site. Take this opportunity to recognize a special individual or club for their efforts on behalf of Amateur Radio.

We had a good response to the Second ARRL Homebrew Challenge -- here's a quick summary.

I will be putting on a one day class for the Technician Class Amateur Radio License. The class will be in Elk River, Minnesota on Saturday, April 24 from 8 to 4 followed by the VE testing session. This class has been very successful.

If anyone knows anyone who is interested in getting their ham radio license in one day, they can contact me at K0MJS@ARRL.net for more information.

Thanks,

Mike

K0MJS

Radio Club de Chile (RCCH) President Dr Galdino Besomi, CE3PG, reports that the situation in Chile is “very complex” as the country suffers aftershocks registering 6.0 or higher after the 8.8 magnitude earthquake that hit Chile on February 27. “Red Chilena Nor Austral de Servicio (RECNA) and RCCH networks are working in coordination whit the Army of Chile, handling information about people localization, condition of roads and support for the emergency administration,” IARU Region 2 (Area G) Emergency Coordinator Jorge Sierra, LU1AS, told he ARRL. He has asked the amateur community to keep the following frequencies free from non-essential, emergency traffic: 14.200, 7.050, 7.095 and 3.738 MHz. “Other frequencies could be in use, especially on 40 meters. Before using any frequency it is very important to make sure it’s free,” he advised. The RCCH has set up an e-mail address where people can request information concerning people affected by the earthquakes.

Two new sunspot groups appeared on March 1, numbered 1052 and 1053. The total number of sunspot groups appearing over the last month is 11. Looking at our 3-month moving average of daily sunspot numbers, the latest for December-January-February is 22.4, for the period centered on January. The average daily sunspot number for the month of February was 31. The fact that this is higher than the latest 3-month average is a welcome trend. The current 3-month average centered on January 2010 is very close to the 3-month average centered on January 2007, which was 22.7. That moving average has not been as high since. In fact, the closest it has been was February 2007, at 18.5. It was all downhill from there, and that average was below 10 from September 2007-October 2009. It now looks like we saw three minimums, which is why it was so easy to err when trying to locate the bottom. Several times we hit some low number, decided that things were improving, and then a few months later hit it again.

This week, Surfin' discovers yet another use for the Internet in the RF world.

The International Amateur Radio Region 2 conference -- held later this year in El Salvador -- brings together delegations from the national Amateur Radio Societies in the Western Hemisphere. One of the topics on the agenda will be the Region 2 HF band plan. This band plan is "harmonized with" -- spectrum management-speak for "very similar to" -- the IARU Region 1 and Region 3 band plans.

In mid-February, European amateurs first used a new, experimental digital mode known as ROS. On February 23, 2010 -- after FCC review of the original documents provided from the developer's Web site -- the FCC made the following statements on ROS:

Even though you might be an inveterate tinkerer and builder, it's occasionally a good idea to put down those hot irons, sweep off the workbench and turn off the test equipment. This quiz is for you!

In February 2010, the American Hospital Association (AHA) filed a request with the FCC for a blanket waiver of Section 97.113(a)(3) of the Commission's Rules "to permit hospitals seeking accreditation to use Amateur Radio operators who are hospital employees to transmit communications on behalf of the hospital as part of emergency preparedness drills." On March 3, the FCC issued a Public Notice -- WP Docket 10-54 -- seeking comments if the Commission "should grant AHA's request for a blanket waiver of Section 97.113(a)(3) to permit amateur operators who are hospital employees to participate in emergency drills that are conducted by hospitals for accreditation purposes and that are not government-sponsored."Section 97.113(a)(3) specifically prohibits amateur stations from transmitting communications "in which the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer."

While many in North America were fast asleep Monday morning, March 1, the AMSAT-OSCAR 51 satellite had a potentially dangerous encounter with another spacecraft known as Formosat 3D. OSCAR 51 is a popular Amateur Radio satellite that often functions as a crossband FM repeater, relaying brief conversations over hundreds of miles. Formosat 3D is part of a constellation of six remote sensing microsatellites that collect atmospheric data for weather prediction and for ionosphere, climate and gravity research. Both orbit at an altitude of approximately 500 miles.

At its January 2010 meeting, the ARRL Board of Directors decided to make the agendas of Board and Executive Committee meetings available on the ARRL Web site. The first opportunity to do so is for the Executive Committee meeting to be held March 13. The agenda is available here.

Registration remains open through Sunday, March 21, 2010, for these online course sessions beginning on Friday, April 2, 2010: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1; Antenna Modeling; Radio Frequency Interference; Antenna Design and Construction; Ham Radio (Technician) License Course; Propagation; Analog Electronics, and Digital Electronics.

Courage Center Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for the week of Wednesday, 03 March 2010

This is a free weekly news & information update from Courage Center Handiham System. Please do not reply to this message. Use the contact information at the end, or simply email handiham@couragecenter.org.

You can also listen to the content online:

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Welcome to Handiham World!

As we head into the longer daylight hours here in the Northern Hemisphere, band conditions will begin to favor the higher frequencies of the High-frequency (HF) spectrum and thunderstorm static and absorption will get worse with more hours of solar energy hitting the "D" layer of the ionosphere. HF radio waves are not reflected by the D layer but do lose energy as they pass through. 

As explained by Wikipedia, "This is the main reason for absorption of HF radio waves, particularly at 10 MHz and below, with progressively smaller absorption as the frequency gets higher. The absorption is small at night and greatest about midday. The layer reduces greatly after sunset,

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After the 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck the island nation of Haiti on January 12, many Amateur Radio operators asked how they could volunteer their time and service to assist with communications support. When Project Medishare -- a partnership between the University of Miami Medical School (UM) and physicians and health officials in Haiti -- needed help with their communications, Amateur Radio operators were quick to respond.

Tonight's TIPStopic a Presidential Award. One of our newest net members Matt, KA0PQW has received a great honor and we'll discuss it with him. 7:30pm EST 0030z - 0130z on *HANDIHAM* node and participating repeaters.

Matt volunteers with the Handiham system and is instrumental in many of their goings on.

Pat Tice, WA0TDA, inserted an article written about the award in last weeks Hamdiham World e-Letter 2/25/2010 ---

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The emergency communications support provided by Amateur Radio and MARS operators to the University of Miami Medical Center's Project MEDISHARE in Haiti has concluded, as normal communications links are re-established after a 7.0 earthquake struck Haiti on January 12, killing thousands and wiped out the island nation's communication infrastructure.

March Events

Well, I don’t know about you – however, I am definitely ready for Spring to arrive. Since moving from New England several years ago, I don’t remember a winter that I have worn my sweaters so often! And, here in North Carolina, we certainly have had a milder winter compared to several parts of the country.

As I have said before, on a cold winter’s night, turn on your radio and operate. Your radio will provide (a little) heat, and you’ll have a great time while you are distracted from the weather. May Spring arrive soon for all of us!

Until next month….

Regards,

Laurie Meier, N1YXU
n1yxu@arrl.net

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Earthquake in Chile

Due to the earthquake this morning in Chile, Jorge Sierra LU1AS Area Emergency Coordinator Area G, IARU R2 reports that “There is now traffic at frequencies of 40 meters of people seeking information from people in Chile and appreciate leave free the frequencies used by the Network Service Nor Austral (RECNA), besides the usual IARU R2, in 20.40, and 80 meters”. (IARU Region 2 website)

A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck Chile on Saturday, 27 February 2010. There have been deaths and building and infrastructure damage. A tsunami alert is out across the Pacific.

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In 2005, the ARRL requested a declaratory ruling to assure that amateur radio operators would not be caught up by a Florida criminal statute related to pirate radio broadcasts. The FCC denied the League's request, but left the door open for another request, should circumstances change.

The text of the FCC response follows:

Federal Communications Commission
Washington, D.C. 20554
February 26, 2010
DA 10-342
Christopher D. Imlay
Booth, Freret, Imlay & Tepper, P.C.
14356 Cape May Road
Silver Spring, MD 20904-6011

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It's worth a drive to Stillwater!

SARA is sponsoring the following:

Technician License Class - FREE!!
March 4, Thursday - That's NEXT Thursday!
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Stillwater Public Library (224 Third Street North, Stillwater)
:: There are 9 weekly sessions.
:: A licensing exam will be held May 6.

Washington, D.C. -- Today, as a step toward comprehensive reform of Video Relay Service
(VRS), the Commission’s Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau issued a Declaratory
Ruling to reaffirm the FCC’s rules and policies concerning VRS reimbursement and calling
practices, and maximize efficiency and effectiveness of this program to ensure that the
communications needs of deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers are met.

Bureau Chief Joel Gurin said: “Today’s action is a first step in fixing a system that is

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How about a live broadcast of Hamvention(R)?

As in past years, www.W5KUB.com will be broadcasting the Dayton Hamvention via live streaming on the internet this year.

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Courage Center Handiham World Weekly E-Letter for the week of Wednesday, 24 February 2010

This is a free weekly news & information update from Courage Center Handiham System. Please do not reply to this message. Use the contact information at the end, or simply email handiham@couragecenter.org.

You can also listen to the content online:

MP3 audio stream:

http://www.handiham.org/audio/handiham.m3u

Download the 64 kbs MP3 audio to your portable player:

http://www.handiham.org/audio/handiham.mp3

Get this issue as an audio podcast:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/handiham

---

Welcome to Handiham World!

If there is any theme that runs through publicity about amateur radio these days, it is generally one about the reliability of our communications in an emergency situation. In story after story that I see ferreted out by Google News, ham radio operators tell the press and the public about the way amateur radio operators can stay on the air to provide vital communications when cellular phones are overloaded or down altogether and

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