AmateurRadio.com

The winner of the QST Cover Plaque Award for March is Rudy Severns, N6LF, for his article "An Experimental Look at Ground Systems for HF Verticals." Congratulations, Rudy! The winner of the QST Cover Plaque award -- given to the author or authors of the best article in each issue -- is determined by a vote of ARRL members on the QST Cover Plaque Poll Web page. Cast a ballot for your favorite article in the April issue by Friday, April 30.

The ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology (TI) began its 2010 sessions in February with a Teachers Institute course designed specifically for teachers in the Tucson (Arizona) Unified School District (TUSD). Taught at Jefferson Park Elementary School, 21 educators -- including the school principal, school counselor and three resource personnel -- took part in five Saturday sessions, working through an expanded 45 hour Teachers Institute (TIs usually are done in about 32 hours). The teachers completed homework assignments that included building the clock kit, building a flashing LED Santa and reading the first two chapters of What's a Microcontroller? In addition, five parents attended the TI as observers. The course was taught by TI Instructor Miguel Enriquez, KD7RPP, who teaches in the TUSD.

Registration remains open through Sunday, April 25, 2010, for these online course sessions beginning on Friday, May 7, 2010: Amateur Radio Emergency Communications Level 1; Antenna Modeling; Radio Frequency Interference; Antenna Design and Construction; Propagation; Analog Electronics, and Digital Electronics.

On Thursday, March 25, ARRL President Kay Craigie, N3KN, signed a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the American Red Cross (ARC) at ARC National Headquarters in Washington, DC. The MoU, which replaces an earlier Statement of Understanding that expired in 2007, provides a "broad framework for cooperation" between the ARRL and the ARC "in preparing for and responding to disaster relief situations at all levels in rendering assistance and service to victims of disaster, as well as other services for which cooperation may be mutually beneficial."

On Sunday, March 28 -- a day with a lot of rain, wind, sleet and, fog -- John Oakberg, NK4N, of Sevierville, Tennessee, went out hiking in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park near Mt LeConte. When he was about 1 mile up from Alum Cave Bluff, he came across Judy Potter, 57, of Atlanta who had broken her ankle while on the trail. Oakberg reached for his cell phone to call 911, but there was no coverage available. He then reached for his handheld transceiver and put out a call to any Amateur Radio operators who may be listening via some nearby VHF 2 meter repeaters.

I have always been interested in CW especially when as a boy the best I could afford was a Heathkit DX-20, a CW-only transmitter and a military six metal-tube Command Set 40 meter receiver. With this rig I was forced to use CW exclusively and I learned to love telegraphy and became fairly good at it. In those days all I had was a J-38 straight key and I pined after a Vibroplex bug (bug is another name for semiautomatic keys). The best CW men always had a gleaming bug whenever you saw them pictured in QST or CQ. In later years, I found I could hardly pass up a bug for sale at a hamfest.

ARRL Headquarters will be closed in observance of Good Friday on Friday, April 2. There will be no W1AW bulletin or code practice transmissions that day. ARRL Headquarters will reopen Monday, April 5 at 8 AM Eastern Daylight Time. We wish everyone a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.

I am one of several people who acts as the net controller for the weekly St Louis County ARES® phone net. The last time I had run the net had been a disaster. I had blithely read a chunk of the net script unaware that I was sending out a carrier but with no modulation. Everyone -- and I mean everyone -- let me know as soon as I stopped transmitting.

New sunspot group 1057 appeared on March 23; by March 24, it was 38 times its original size. It covered 10 one-millionths of the solar hemisphere on Tuesday, and on Wednesday, it grew to 380 one-millionths. On Thursday, new sunspot group 1058 appeared, and the total area for both groups expanded to 401 millionths of the solar hemisphere. The total sunspot area has not been this large since February 8 when the total was 460 one-millionths (the numbers given for Wednesday are a revision of the numbers for the same day given in yesterday's ARRL Letter).

This week, the denizens of the Surfin' visit blogs intended for ham radio hackers and makers.

On March 24, the FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) proposing to amend the Commission's Amateur Radio Service rules "with respect to Amateur Radio operations during government-sponsored emergency preparedness and disaster readiness drills and tests." While current rules provide for Amateur Radio use during emergencies, the rules prohibit communications where the station licensee or control operator has a pecuniary interest, including communications on behalf of an employer. In October 2009, the FCC released a Public Notice clarifying the Commission's rules relating to the use of Amateur Radio by licensed amateurs participating in drills and exercises on behalf of their employers. To date, the FCC has granted several dozen waivers under this new policy.

The ARRL Executive Committee (EC) held its first 2010 meeting Saturday, March 13 in Denver. The EC worked through a lengthy agenda that for the first time had been shared in advance with ARRL members -- the result of an ARRL Board action at its January meeting intended to increase transparency in the governance of the organization.

Three Amateur Radio operators -- and for the first time, an Amateur Radio club -- who have made significant contributions to the Amateur Radio Service will be honored guests when the 2010 Dayton Hamvention® opens in Hara Arena on May 14. In addition, Hamvention organizers will recognize a Club of the Year in keeping with the 2010 Hamvention theme: Amateur Radio Clubs Worldwide: The Lifeline. "Choosing the finalists was a difficult process due to the number of fine nominations," said Hamvention Awards Committee Chairman Frank Beafore, WS8B.

Full-scale load testing of the new Web site is now complete and we have a much better picture of the problems that caused the site crash earlier this week. Thank you for your patience during this activity. These tests have been very helpful in assuring that the site will operate smoothly when it is formally launched. In the meantime, we will continue to use the old Web site.

The ARRL’s launch of a new Web site has been delayed following problems that appeared as the huge computer programs were being transferred to their main Web server. Normally the Web site connects ham radio operators around the world, dynamically presenting the services that ARRL offers the ham radio community at www.arrl.org. "When we tried to switch over to the new Web site today, we encountered unanticipated technical issues during the process of transferring to the new Web site," said ARRL Chief Operating Officer Harold Kramer, WJ1B. "It appears that with all of the new technology and vast simultaneous hits to the site, the code had problems keeping up. We are working to fix the issues and should be online very soon. We have temporarily switched back to the old Web site until these issues are resolved. Obviously, we are trying to complete this transfer as quickly as possible and we will keep you informed of our progress."