Volume 17, Number 11 (March 13, 1998)

The ARRL Letter Index
ARRL Audio News

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IN THIS EDITION:

+Available on ARRL Audio News

A SUCCESSFUL MIR-SCHOOL CONTACT; OTHERS SCHEDULED

US astronaut Andy Thomas, KD5CHF, aboard Mir made some more new friends on Earth this week when he spoke by ham radio with youngsters at a junior high school in Wyoming. On March 10, Thomas--using the R0MIR call sign--answered a dozen questions from the students at Carey Junior High School in Cheyenne, as another 60 or so fellow students, teachers, parents, and news media looked on and listened in. During the very solid contact via a telebridge connection with W5RRR at Johnson Space Center, Thomas was asked a couple of questions about sleeping aboard Mir. Another student asked about a phenomenon caused by intense geomagnetic activity that sometimes results in the space station occupants' experiencing occasional flashes of light even while sleeping or with their eyes closed. "I've seen a few since I've been up here," Thomas responded.

He told another student that sleeping in Mir's weightless environment was quite comfortable and that he had no problems falling asleep. Thomas said he has books, CDs, tapes, computer games, and videos for entertainment aboard Mir. "There's even a guitar up here which I've attempted to play a couple of times, without a whole lot of success, I'm afraid," he said. Thomas said he was eating well and exercising regularly. He also said he's gained an inch or so in height in the six weeks or so he's spent aboard Mir--a common phenomenon in the weightlessness of space.

The honor of asking the first question went to 17-year-old Beth Harris, KJ7FC, the 1995 winner of the Hiram Percy Maxim Award (see QST Feb 1996, p 87). Harris, a Carey JHS alumna, now is a student at Cheyenne East High School. Carey Junior High School has a very active Amateur Radio program and has a club station, KC7OEK.

An apparent radio malfunction aboard Mir meant no joy March 12 for pupils at Westchester Elementary School in Coral Springs, Florida. Thomas was scheduled to speak with the youngsters, also via a telebridge connection with W5RRR, but, the W5RRR op was unable to raise Thomas. The contact will be attempted again later. Other Mir-school contacts are scheduled later through mid-April with schools in New Mexico, Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, and Massachusetts. Mir-school contacts resumed last month after a year-long dry spell caused by technical problems aboard Mir and crew schedules. All current contacts are being carried out on 70 cm. Thomas will be aboard Mir until June.

MORE NEW SECTION MANAGERS

Four ARRL sections will have new section managers beginning July 1, 1998. In Alaska, David Stevens, KL7EB, of Anchorage, will replace Russell Ely, WL7LP; in Maine, William Woodhead, N1KAT, of Auburn, will replace Michelle Mann, W1GU; in Oregon, William Sawders, K7ZM, of Bend will succeed Randy Stimson, KZ7T; and in Santa Clara Valley, Geoffrey Ellis, KD6MFM, of Santa Cruz will succeed Kit Blanke, WA6PWW. In all four sections, the incumbents declined to run for another term, and the successful candidates ran unopposed.

In seven other ARRL sections, incumbents ran unopposed for re-election. They include Scott Johnson, N4YYQ, in Alabama; Bruce Boston, KD9UL, in Illinois; Peggy Coulter, W9JUJ, in Indiana; Orlan Cook, W0OYH, in Kansas; Rudy Hubbard, WA4PUP, in Northern Florida; Bernie Capron, N1NDN, in Vermont; and Roy Pedersen, K9FHI, in Wisconsin.

TEXAS HAMS AID RED CROSS AFTER EVACUATION

Hams in Bexar County, Texas, scrambled to support the American Red Cross after the 1400 residents of Natalia, Texas, had to be evacuated in the wake of a fire February 19 at a foam manufacturing plant there. Bexar County EC Neil Martin, WA5FSR, reports The Red Cross requested ARES to activate a communications support net to link the Red Cross chapter in San Antonio--approximately 25 miles away--and Devine, where shelters were available for the evacuees. An emergency net continued in operation for the next 24 hours.

Comal County EC Todd Covington, N5IJR, got a request from South Texas Section Manager Ray Taylor, N5NAV, to respond to the scene with an emergency communication van. Although the unit was still being outfitted, Covington borrowed it back and headed for the "hot zone" with radio gear and a generator aboard. Covington set up operation in Natalia next to a Red Cross van that was supporting emergency crews. N5IJR established communication with an emergency net on VHF and with the Red Cross disaster headquarters in Devine on UHF simplex. Rick Trevino, N5HJP, arrived later to relieve Covington. Working from the van, the hams gathered and relayed information and assisted Red Cross personnel in communicating with the agency's other operations when they experienced difficulty with their own radios. At one point, Red Cross requested help for a firefighter who had developed respiratory problems.

In all, some three dozen hams took part in the emergency effort, including members of the Medina Valley and San Antonio Radio clubs, the San Antonio Repeater Organization, and PrimeCo Communications, which sponsors the emergency communication unit used at the site.--thanks to Ray Taylor, N5NAV

KENNAMER TAPPED AS MEMBERSHIP SERVICES MANAGER

Current ARRL DXCC Manager Bill Kennamer, K5FUV, will replace Chuck Hutchinson, K8CH, as Membership Services Manager at ARRL Headquarters, effective April 20. Hutchinson is stepping down and into a part-time role for medical reasons.

Hutchinson took over the Membership Services Department in January 1991 after more than nine years in the Technical Department--six of them as department manager. As Membership Services Manager, he completed the computerization of the DXCC records--with more than six million contacts now in the database--and improved DXCC service. Among his other accomplishments, he increased the use of computers to improve service and boost productivity, expanded W1AW's mission to improve bulletin dissemination, rejuvenated the A-1 Operator's Club, and made it easier for overseas amateurs to receive IARU Worked All Continents and DXCC certificates.

Fluent in Spanish, Hutchinson was credited by ARRL Executive Vice President David Sumner, K1ZZ, with having contributed to a "greatly strengthened relationship" between the ARRL and the URE, the League's sister society in Spain. Sumner also said Hutchinson's efforts at personnel development resulted in "a strengthened staff."

Kennamer is a 1968 graduate of the University of Arkansas. He joined the HQ staff in June 1992 after a career in the insurance and securities industries and as manager of AGL Electronics in Dallas. He has extensive contesting and QSL Bureau experience in addition to DX.

Sumner expressed his regrets at Hutchinson's departure as MSD manager. "I will miss Chuck's valuable assistance and counsel in that role," he said. "I am pleased that he will be able to continue serving the League in a part-time, technical editorial position."

ASTEROID NAMED AFTER NEW MEXICO HAM

In addition to his interest in ham radio, Warren Offutt, AF9Q, of Cloudcroft, New Mexico, has a deep interest in astronomy and gained considerable renown as an amateur stargazer. Now, his name is up in lights--in a manner of speaking--in the form of an asteroid some 350-million miles from Earth. After retiring from an engineering career, Offutt and his wife, Beverly, N9JVN, moved from Illinois and set up a research observatory in the Sacramento Mountains of south-central New Mexico. They specialize in precision astrometry of faint solar system objects.

Offutt says he learned just a few days before his 70th birthday (on February 13, 1998) that the International Astronomical Union was naming Minor Planet (7639) in honor of his scientific contributions. The asteroid now will be known formally as Minor Planet (7639) Offutt. Estimated to be several miles in diameter, it orbits the sun in the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

"I've thought about setting up a repeater on (7639) Offutt, but the technical challenges seem formidable," Offutt joked.

Bestowing the honor of naming the asteroid in Offutt's honor was the IAU's Brian Marsden, who first spotted the asteroid in 1985 at Harvard. Over the past year, Offutt has helped in three major discoveries from his home observatory. He reports that his and his wife's confirming observations of one of the newly discovered moons of Uranus will appear in the British journal Nature "probably in late March."

Offutt--an ARRL member and licensed in 1943--says his 55 years of hamming "have been a wonderful experience. I still get a thrill out of each new contact." He and his wife have ten children. Three of them, plus one son-in-law, also are hams.

ARRL'S "LEARN ABOUT AMATEUR RADIO" PAGE UPDATED

The ARRL Educational Activities Department has unveiled a newly updated "Learn About Amateur Radio" page on the ARRLWeb at http://www.arrl.org/hamradio.html.

In addition to several color photos, the overhauled site has added sound, and encourages visitors to learn more about the hobby. Right now, the page--still a bit of a work in progress--includes the sounds of a SAREX contact between space shuttle astronauts and schoolchildren on Earth, a CW transmission, and hams talking on an FM repeater. Other sounds are in the works and will be added in the near future, according to Educational Activities Coordinator Glenn Swanson, KB1GW. In addition to a sound card in your PC, you'll need RealPlayer 5.0, downloadable free of charge from RealAudio, http://www.real.com/.

Swanson suggests that clubs, school groups, or individuals demonstrating Amateur Radio might want to use this new page as a starting point for their presentations.

FCC SEQUENTIAL CALL SIGN UPDATE

The following is a list of FCC sequentially assigned call signs issued as of March 3, 1998.

DistrictGroup A
Extra		Group B
Advanced		Group C
Tech/Gen		Group D
Novice
0AB0HHKI0LX++KC0CVG
1AA1TIKE1JH++KB1CLA
2AB2EZKG2NS++KC2DBT
3AA3QVKF3AZ++KB3CEJ
4AF4INKU4PG++KF4VZK
5AC5PBKM5PI++KD5DLN
6AD6EPKQ6UU++KF6PQR
7AB7XMKK7MK++KD7ATP
8AB8BZKI8FE++KC8JJU
9AA9VNKG9MS++KB9SFL
N Mariana IsNH0CAH0AYKH0GVWH0ABI
Guam++AH2DFKH2TGWH2ANV
HawaiiNH7GAH6PFKH7IQWH6DEN
American SamoaAH8PAH8AHKH8DLWH8ABF
AlaskaAL0JAL7RAKL0NMWL7CUR
Virgin Islands++KP2CNNP2JZWP2AIJ
Puerto RicoNP3TKP3BENP3UKWP4NNQ

++All call signs in this group have been issued in this district.

SOUTHERN SUDAN, ST0, DELETED

The ARRL DXAC and Awards Committee have voted to delete Southern Sudan, ST0, from the DXCC list. That word this week from the ARRL Membership Services Committee.

While the status in Southern Sudan changed in 1983, QSOs made before January 1, 1995, will count for the deleted entity. There are two reasons for this. First, there have been accredited operations since 1983, thus raising a fairness issue. Second, the DXCC Desk has processed cards from those operations--many of them onto paper records. The DXCC Desk says that, because each ST0 credit would have to be individually checked, it would be very costly and time-consuming to search and remove post-1983 ST0 QSOs from the records, and a complete and accurate job might not be possible.

The DXAC and Awards committees have agreed to make no change in the status of Fernando de Noronha, PY0F, and Kure Island, KH7K.--DXCC Desk

SOLAR UPDATE

Solar scribe Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: Average solar flux was down less than one point last week compared to the previous week. Average sunspot numbers dropped from 73.7 to 59.1 Solar flux has risen in the past few days, however. It was 101.6 on March 12, and the flux values forecast for this weekend are 105, 105 and 110 on Friday through Sunday.

Solar flux is expected to decline below 100 after Sunday, then drop to the mid-90s by next Thursday, and up around 100 again by March 27. Unsettled geomagnetic conditions could return around March 17, 29 and April 6.

The most active solar region is number 8176, first observed six days ago with 25 sunspots. The geomagnetic field has been active recently, with the worst days on March 10 and 11, with planetary K indices as high as six.

We are still moving toward the spring equinox, but solar flux has been two low for much excitement on higher frequencies. Most 10-meter paths have been disappointing, and fans of the 28-MHz band will probably have to wait until this fall to see much action there.

Sunspot numbers for March 5 through 11 were 42, 54, 54, 57, 49, 75, and 83, with a mean of 59.1. The 10.7-cm flux was 96.7, 91.7, 91.9, 91.2, 90, 96.3. and 100.7, with a mean of 94.1, and estimated planetary A indices were 9, 6, 5, 2, 3, 25, and 28, with a mean of 11.1.

JAMES McCAULEY SR, AB6EU, SK

San Francisco Section Traffic Manager Jim McCauley, AB6EU, of Glen Ellen, California, died March 10. He was a dedicated CW traffic handler in the National Traffic System and had served as STM for six years. McCauley also was an active Volunteer Examiner, instructor, and Elmer to new hams. McCauley also was a past recipient of the ARRL Herb S. Brier Instructor of the Year Award. He was a member of the ARRL and of the Valley of the Moon Amateur Radio Club. His wife, Betty, survives. A memorial service will be held at date to be announced.--John Wallack, W6TLK

In Brief:

  • This weekend on the radio: The QCWA QSO Party, the Wisconsin QSO Party, and the Missouri QSO Party all are on tap this weekend. Enjoy!

  • Correction: In The ARRL Letter, Vol 17, No 10, we provided dated subscription rates for the Web magazine antenneX. Jack Stone advises that the correct subscription options are $14.97 for a six-month new issues subscription; $23.97 for a 12-month new issues subscription; and $11.07 for a 30-day subscription to the magazine's archive of 100+ articles. For more information, visit antenneX at http://www.antennex.com/.

  • Hams help in Florida flooding: Just a couple of weeks after a series of tornadoes devastated Central Florida, hams in Northern Florida responded when heavy rain and strong winds resulted in flooding in recent days. Many rivers and creeks overflowed their banks, and flooding and structural damage were reported. In Florida’s West Panhandle, ARES personnel manned the Walton County EOC and a Red Cross shelter on March 8. A mandatory evacuation began March 11 in Gulf County along the Apalachicola River, and additional ARES help was expected to be called in. At week’s end, an amateur was stationed at a shelter at Bonifay in Holmes County. Northern Florida SEC Nils Millergren, WA4NDA, has been keeping an eye on river and stream levels and filing regular situation reports with the Florida State EOC. ARES members in the East Panhandle District are tracking the Chipola River. --Nils Millergren, WA4NDA

  • Vanity update: The FCC in Gettysburg reports it has processed vanity applications received through February 10. The FCC received 733 vanity applications during February, more than 80% of them filed electronically via the Internet.--FCC

  • KC5YNE honored: Arkansas 4-H President Marc Harrison, KC5YNE, is one of 12 people selected to join the 1998 National 4-H Technology Corps. Corps members receive two days of intensive training and provide tech support to the 4-H National Conference by serving as e-mail group managers, webmasters and instructors. Harrison, 18, heads to Washington for training later this month. He's the son of ARRL Vice President Joel Harrison, W5ZN. His picture appeared in QST Nov 1997, p 19. For more information about the Technology Corps, see http://www.4-h.org/4htech; e-mail 4htech@extension.umn.edu.

  • Another premature reissue: After reading about how the FCC reissued WO4L, the former call sign of Ron Toller, N1RT, just 11 months after he vacated it, Byron W. Engen, W0EBA, wrote to report that the FCC reissued his old call sign, WV8B, just 4-1/2 months after he gave it up in June 1996. "I have wondered how many QSLs [the new holder] has gotten as result--I had a lot outstanding," Engen said.

  • Andy Thomas to appear at concert: Mir Astronaut Andy Thomas, KD5CHF/VK5MIR, will appear March 19 and 20 in his home town of Adelaide, Australia, in connection with a concert by the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra. Ian, VK5QX, was approached by the ASO's education coordinator to arrange for Thomas to appear--on videotape--for concerts with the theme "Space--The Final Frontier." A large video screen mounted on the stage behind the orchestra will display planets, meteors, nebulae, comets and other heavenly phenomena. The idea is to have Thomas appear as a special guest. Thomas will tape his appearance via a TV downlink with Moscow. The tapes then will be forwarded to Australia for the event. The Australian Communications Agency issued Thomas the VK5MIR call sign specifically for his tour aboard Mir. It's the first Aussie call sign ever used from space.--QNews

  • The great APRS shift under way: Paul Knupke, KR4YL, of Pinellas County, Florida reports that the Tampa Bay and Sarasota County areas of Florida have completed the switch to 144.390 MHz for APRS operations as of March 1. A number of other areas of the Florida peninsula are expected to switch this spring, but there is no word yet on the Jacksonville and panhandle regions. The Greater Boston area, New Hampshire, and southern Vermont are set to make the switch on May 3, and Connecticut and Rhode Island are expected to join them. Hams in northern Arkansas also have announced plans to move in the next 60 days, but no coordinated effort has been announced. In Branson, Missouri, a new APRS digipeater is set to hit the air in early May on the new 144.39 MHz frequency.--This Week in Amateur Radio

  • Call for papers: A call for papers for presentation at the 16th Space Symposium and AMSAT Annual Meeting has been issued. The conference will be held October 16-18, 1998, at the Park Inn International, Vicksburg, Mississippi. This is the first call to authors who wish to present papers at the symposium and that will be printed in the Proceedings. Subject matter should cover topics of interest to the Amateur Radio satellite service. One-page abstracts are due by June 1, 1998, and authors will be advised shortly after June 15, 1998, whether their papers have been accepted. Camera-ready copy of accepted papers is due by August 15, 1998. Papers generally will be printed as submitted. Send abstracts to Malcolm Keown, W5XX, 14 Lake Circle Dr, Vicksburg, MS 39180; e-mail w5xx@magnolia.net. If sending an abstract by e-mail, please follow up with a postal mail copy. Authors may submit files in any version of Word or WordPerfect. Proceedings of the Symposium will be printed by the ARRL and made available at and after the meeting. For more conference information, see http://pages.prodigy.com/DXHF93A. --Eddie Pettis, N5JGK

  • Shack Attack out of business: Shack Attack of Orem, Utah, has gone out of business, according to an announcement February 23 from proprietor Blaine Watkins, KB7VRD. Shack Attack products had included call sign license display plaques, a wooden HT desktop radio holder with call sign, and a wooden desktop call sign display.

  • G3AAJ honored: Ron Broadbent, G3AAJ, has been honored by the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) with the Louis Varney Cup (Varney's call sign, G5RV, will be familiar to many). The cup, a gift of the RSGB's VHF Committee, is presented annually for "advances in space communication." Broadbent received the award February 22 from RSGB President Ian Kyle, GI8AYZ. AMSAT-UK Communications Officer Richard Limebear, G3RWL, said, "Broadbent's 20 years of service as Secretary of AMSAT-UK made him a fitting recipient of this honor, based on his tireless work for the good of amateur satellites and the amateur radio fraternity worldwide." G3AAJ retired from his AMSAT-UK position last December.--AMSAT News Service