IN THIS EDITION:

• +ARRL directors, vice directors face competition
• +Hams respond to weather emergencies
• +Optimism reigns in Phase 3D camp
• +ARRL to debut Web magazine, members-only site
• Solar update
• Arnold R. Brilhart, K6GF, SK
• Roy H. Gregson, W6EMT, SK
• L. T. Jones, W8RLW, SK
• In Brief: This weekend on the radio; Alexanderson alternator on the air; ARRL local club category rule change; Vanity update; Temotu added to DXCC list; VK4HA remembered; Kenwood manuals on the Web; SAFEX is semi-operational

+ Available on ARRL Audio News

DIRECTORS, VICE DIRECTORS FACE COMPETITION

Two ARRL directors and five ARRL vice directors face competition this fall for their seats on the ARRL Board of Directors. The contests are in the Central, New England, Northwestern, Rocky Mountain, and West Gulf divisions.

• In the Central Division, for two-year terms: The candidates for director are incumbent Edmond A. Metzger, W9PRN, of Springfield, Illinois; Richard David Klatzco Jr, N9TQA, of Lincolnwood, Illinois; and Henry B. Ruh, KB9FO, of Crown Point, Indiana. Running for vice director are incumbent Howard S. Huntington, K9KM, of Hawthorn Woods, Illinois; and Mike Hoshiko, W9CJW, of Edwardsville, Illinois.

• In the New England Division, for a two-year term: The candidates for vice director are incumbent Michael Raisbeck, K1TWF, of Chelmsford, Massachusetts; and Andrea T. Parker, K1WLX, of Jeffersonville, Vermont.

• In the Northwestern Division, for a two-year term: Running for vice director are incumbent Greg Milnes, W7AGQ, of Hillsboro, Oregon; and Mary E. Lewis, W7QGP, of Seattle, Washington.

• In the Rocky Mountain Division, for a three-year term: The candidates for vice director are current Director Marshall Quiat, AG0X, of Denver, Colorado; and Marvin C. Zitting, W7MR, of Salt Lake City, Utah.

• In the West Gulf Division, for three-year terms: The candidates for director are incumbent Jim Haynie, W5JBP, of Dallas, Texas; and Lawrence S. Higgins, W5UQ, of San Antonio, Texas. Running for vice director are incumbent Barney J. Boone, KJ5AE, of Dallas, Texas; and current Oklahoma Section Manager Coy C. Day, N5OK, of Union City, Oklahoma.

Ballots will be distributed no later than October 1, 1998, to ARRL full members in the affected divisions on record as of September 10, 1998. Ballots must be returned by November 20, 1998.

Several candidates for director and vice director faced no opposition, and the Election Committee has declared them elected:

• In the Hudson Division, reelected for two-year terms: Director Frank Fallon, N2FF, of East Williston, New York, and Vice Director J. P. Kleinhaus, W2XX, of Cortlandt Manor, New York.

• In the New England Division, reelected for a two-year term: Director Tom Frenaye, K1KI, of West Suffield, Connecticut.

• In the Northwestern Division, reelected for a two-year term: Director Mary Lou Brown, NM7N, of Anacortes, Washington.

• In the Roanoke Division, reelected for two-year terms: Director John Kanode, N4MM, of Boyce, Virginia, and Vice Director Dennis Bodson, W4PWF, of Arlington, Virginia.

• In the Rocky Mountain Division, elected for a three-year term: Director Walt Stinson, W0CP, of Denver, Colorado (Stinson is the current Vice Director).

• In the Southwestern Division, reelected for three-year terms: Director Fried Heyn, WA6WZO, and Vice Director Art Goddard, W6XD, both of Costa Mesa, California.

Terms of office for successful candidates begin January 1, 1999.

HAMS RESPOND TO WEATHER EMERGENCIES

It was a busy weather week for Amateur Radio. The first major storm of the Atlantic hurricane season, Hurricane Bonnie, hit the North Carolina coast on August 26, knocking out power to thousands of homes and causing structural damage and widespread flooding from torrential rain. The New Hanover County EOC wound up having to operate from emergency power. Schools in the county were damaged. A hospital in Brunswick County lost its roof.

As the storm approached, more than a half million residents and visitors in the Carolinas were ordered to move inland. Mobile home owners in 44 North Carolina counties were asked to evacuate. Officials opened more than 100 shelters in North Carolina to accommodate those who were temporarily displaced. "Our goal is to have at least one ham in every shelter," North Carolina Section Manager Reed Whitten, AB4W, said.

Amateur Radio Emergency Service teams deployed in coastal Carolina regions as the massive hurricane approached. Hams at shelters provided communication support and backup, handled outgoing health-and-welfare traffic, and reassured shelter residents that they were not totally out of touch with the outside world. For that reason alone, Whitten said, hams working in the shelters were advised to maintain a high profile.

Hams also staffed emergency operations centers in the wake of ARES activations.

The Hurricane Watch Net was activated on 14.325 MHz. Hurricane Watch Net members provide ground-level meteorological reports to the National Hurricane Center in Miami, which houses W4EHW.

ARRL PIO Frank Ebbinghouser, N2EMR, in Wilmington, North Carolina, says a local TV station interviewed one ham at a shelter. "We are all fine," Ebbinghouser said in an e-mail message to ARRL Headquarters. He said damage from Bonnie did not appear to be as serious as in past storms.

By Friday, August 28, Whitten reported that many shelters and EOCs had released their Amateur Radio operators, although one relief operator was diverted to Carteret County after shelters in Sampson County closed.

The HF stations in Kinston and the state EOC went into standby. A few EOCs and shelters remained active, and the Tar Heel Emergency Net (3.923/7.232 MHz) was monitoring for them. The net remained in continuous operation for more than two days, providing communication for Emergency Management and relief agencies.

As Bonnie churned slowly away from North Carolina, hams in Virginia awaited their turn. On August 26, Virginia ARES/RACES had activated in anticipation of the storm. Virginia State RACES Officer and ARES SEC Frank Mackey, K4EC, said that many local emergency operation centers were staffed with hams, and many shelters opened in anticipation of evacuations. ARES station W4ZA at the state EOC was activated. As the storm appeared to be losing strength, Mackey reported that ham radio operations were standing down and shelters closing. Then, Bonnie changed her mind.

Hurricane Bonnie was downgraded to a tropical storm Thursday, August 27, but picked up steam again as it headed north and regained hurricane status, catching hams and emergency officials off guard. Hardest hit was the Tidewater area of Virginia, which experienced heavy rain and damaging winds--clocked unofficially at more than 100 MPH. At least one death has been reported in Virginia.

The home of District 9 Emergency Coordinator Cynthia Rohrer, AE4EF, in Chesapeake suffered extensive structural damage, and outbuildings were totally demolished. "It was impossible for her to get out of their residence due to extensive debris," Mackey said. "Damage from fallen trees and downed power poles appears to be very extensive." He said emergency managers and police were asking people to stay off the streets unless absolutely necessary.

Virginia Electric Power reported more than 250,000 customers without power. Officials closed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel due to the strong winds. A roof was reported blown off an apartment building in the Oceanview section of Norfolk.

"The Norfolk area was still reeling under continued battering, higher-than-expected tidal surges coupled with local high tides, and strong winds," Mackey said Friday.

SKYWARN and emergency nets remained active in the region.

The storm was sitting off the North Carolina/Virginia Border and was expected to hug the coast on its way to New England during the weekend.

Damage in North Carolina alone is estimated at up to $2 billion. Meanwhile, hams in the Southeast were keeping close watch on Hurricane Danielle, which could arrive August 31.

In Texas, meanwhile, the remnants of Tropical Storm Charley flooded parts of South Texas, leaving much of the town of Del Rio near the Rio Grande underwater. At least 15 deaths in Texas and Mexico were blamed on the floods. Del Rio remained under a flash flood warning on August 28, and President Clinton declared Val Verde County a disaster area.

Among the hams known to be passing message traffic with the Del Rio area was Loyd Overcash, KM5OE, in Houston. In New Braunfels, South Texas Section Manager Ray Taylor, N5NAV, worked with the American Red Cross and the Texas Department of Public Safety to coordinate communication. He also helped pass health-and-welfare traffic for those with family and friends in the flooded areas.

Hams in South Texas were asked August 24 to cooperate by recognizing a voluntary communications emergency and relinquishing frequencies on 40 and 75 meters for emergency and health-and-welfare traffic. The communications emergency was canceled August 27.

OPTIMISM REIGNS IN PHASE 3D CAMP

Despite numerous setbacks, optimism rules in the Phase 3D camp. AMSAT officials again express tentative confidence that Phase 3D will some day ride aboard an Ariane 5 series vehicle--or another compatible launcher--perhaps next year.

That's a change from the glum mood of last June, when the European Space Agency dropped the Phase 3D payload from the third and final Ariane 5 proveout series, replacing it with a dummy Eutelsat payload. This week, AMSAT-NA Executive Vice President Keith Baker, KB1SF, said that AMSAT still considers the Ariane 503 test important, even though Phase 3D won't be aboard

Baker said a successful Ariane 503 launch increases AMSAT's chances of hitching a ride aboard a subsequent commercial Ariane 5 launch. Discussions between Phase 3D officials in Europe, the European Space Agency, and ArianeSpace continue, but no action in that arena is expected until after a successful Ariane 503 launch. Baker said AMSAT continues to be optimistic that Phase 3D will be a standby passenger for the European Space Agency program.

However, AMSAT has not ruled out "other launch agencies" in hopes of finding a safe and affordable launch for Phase 3D. The more "trucks headed our way" to space the better for Phase 3D, Baker said.

Meanwhile, Baker said that, aside from a few minor modifications, the Phase 3D satellite is "all but complete" at the Orlando, Florida, integration lab. The next major phase involves testing the satellites ability to withstand the harsh environment of space.

Phase 3D Project Manager and AMSAT-DL President Karl Meinzer, DJ4ZC, recently gave his final approval to the Phase 3D transponder frequencies. The complete table of uplink, downlink and telemetry beacon frequencies is available at http://www.aball.de/~pg/amsat/p3dqrg.html.

ARRL TO DEBUT WEB MAGAZINE SEPTEMBER 1

The ARRLWeb Extra, the new ARRLWeb publication, debuts September 1 on the League's new Members Only Web Site, http://www.arrl.org/members/. The ARRLWeb Extra will offer news and features, photos and sounds from the world of Amateur Radio and the ever-changing communication scene.

A totally new online publication, The ARRLWeb Extra, will publish Amateur Radio news and features--including insider news, technical and how-to topics, additional information on Product Review items, "First Looks" at upcoming products that will be reviewed in QST, and occasional offbeat items, a "Foto Gallery," and information about--and links to--interesting Web sites. From time to time, The ARRLWeb Extra will explore subjects only indirectly related to Amateur Radio.

Web publication also will make it possible for Product Review and New Products items to include sound and more pictures that we might not have room for in QST.

Members now get a chance to actually hear what a new transceiver sounds like, for example. The first edition of The ARRLWeb Extra takes a closer look at the new SGC SG-2020 transceiver, providing sound clips of CW and SSB reception (in RealAudio format) plus interior photographs not included in QST. The full-blown SG-2020 Product Review will appear elsewhere on the Members Only Web Site as well as in October's QST.

The Members Only Web Site will make current and past QST Product Review columns available in a searchable archive as Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The QST Product Review Columns page lists all Product Reviews from 1990 to the present.

The premier edition of The ARRLWeb Extra will feature several general-interest articles. There's an exciting narrative by Ed Petzolt, K1LNC, of how he used ham radio to help save the lives of a missionary family, caught up in a hostage situation in a remote section of Guatemala. Sound clips of actual transmissions are included. Ralph Katz, KB8ZOY, tells the uplifting tale of how "Two Honest Hams"--who also happened to be pretty good detectives--retrieved his H-T, lost at the Dayton Hamvention.

News items for the Extra will be updated as soon as possible, which means that breaking stories sometimes will be available before they're published in The ARRL Letter or issued as W1AW bulletins. Whenever available, pictures and sound cuts will augment our news coverage. The ARRLWeb Extra is free of advertising and other "commercial clutter." News and article submittals are welcome via e-mail to awextra@arrl.org.

In a related move, The ARRL Letter now will become more available to League members. ARRL members may subscribe to The ARRL Letter and receive it via e-mail directly from ARRL Headquarters free-of-charge and without having to go through the third-party listserver. Members can choose to receive The ARRL Letter via e-mail when they register to use the Members Only Web Site. They'll also be able to start or stop their Letter subscription at any time from the Membership Data page on the Members Only site.

Current and back issues of The ARRL Letter will continue to be available on the public ARRLWeb as well. In addition, ARRL Audio News, the weekly RealAudio news broadcast that's compiled and edited from The ARRL Letter, will continue to be available via the public ARRLWeb site. ARRL Audio News also is available by telephone at 860-594-0384.

ARRL Senior Assistant Technical Editor Rick Lindquist, N1RL, will edit The ARRLWeb Extra. He will continue to edit The ARRL Letter and edit and voice ARRL Audio News.

To access the ARRL Members Only Web Site welcome page, League members need only point their browsers to http://www.arrl.org/members/. Register by providing your call sign and your ARRL membership number--found on your QST mailing label. You'll also be prompted to select a password. If you're not a member, you can join the ARRL online via the ARRLWeb site at http://www.arrl.org.

SOLAR UPDATE

Solar scholar Tad Cook, K7VVV, Seattle, Washington, reports: Feel the solar wind? This has been a very active week for the geomagnetic field, with solar flares and resulting geomagnetic storms creating lots of excitement. As this is being written, the planetary A index--which recently has typically been below 10--was at 112. It was 39 the day before. Currently, a major geomagnetic storm is raging, but conditions are expected to settle down the weekend of August 29-30.

Solar flux was down slightly from last week and the week before, while the average solar flux for the previous 90 days rose from 115 to 117. Solar flux was above these values on every day this week, indicating a general upward trend. A year ago the average solar flux for the week was 78.9, almost 50 points lower than the current level. Average sunspot numbers were about 100 points lower.

On August 24 there was a major proton flare. This caused a major HF fadeout, plus continuing geomagnetic disturbances. The flare was big enough to merit reporting in the news wire services. Reuters reported that the aurora may be strong enough to be visible across the United States, not just in the northern latitudes.

Conditions such as this are very bad for HF propagation but create many interesting VHF contacts via the aurora. K2SMN in New Jersey reported working VE2BKL and VE2PEP in Quebec, WA4HEI in Michigan, and W9JN in Wisconsin, all on 2 meters.

Look for conditions to calm down this weekend. Solar flux for August 28-30 is forecast at 135 for all days, and the planetary A index is predicted to be 30, 15 and 10 over the same period. Solar flux is expected to drop down near 115 for September 1 and 2, then peak around 145 around a week later. There is a strong possibility of recurrent coronal holes causing geomagnetic disturbances around September 18 and 19.

Contact me via e-mail at tad@ssc.com or via packet at K7VVV@N7FSP.WA.USA.NOAM.

Sunspot numbers for August 20 through 26 were 120, 138, 102, 121, 99, 109, and 146, with a mean of 119.3. The 10.7-cm flux was 138.6, 132.1, 132.9, 126.4, 121.2, 122.1, and 126.9, with a mean of 128.6. The estimated planetary A indices were 18, 6, 23, 23, 11, 11, and 39, with a mean of 18.7.

ARNOLD R. BRILHART, K6GF, SK

The ARRL has learned that ham radio pioneer Arnold R. Brilhart, K6GF, of Vista, California, died May 17. He was 93. Brilhart was first licensed as 2DN in Yonkers, New York, sometime prior to 1920. The spark signal from 2DN was heard calling 8AYN on December 11, 1921, by Paul Godley in Scotland, and the call sign is among those on the cover of the January 1922 edition of QST. Brilhart was an ARRL member. His fame extended into the area of music. He was a well-known jazz musician and had designed mouthpieces for woodwinds.

ROY H. GREGSON, W6EMT, SK

EMTECH owner Roy Gregson, W6EMT, of Bremerton, Washington, died August 21,1998. He was 70. Gregson was an ARRL member. His family has indicated that existing orders will be filled, but no decision has been made about the future of EMTECH.

L. T. JONES, W8RLW, SK

The chairman of license exams at the Dayton Hamvention, L. T. Jones, W8RLW, of Trotwood, Ohio, died August 17. He was 78. Jones was an ARRL member and an ARRL Volunteer Examiner. He was the volunteer exam chairman for the Dayton Amateur Radio Club and the Dayton Hamvention for several years and an ARES Assistant Emergency Coordinator in Trotwood.--thanks to Gary Des Combes, N8EMO, Sue Stacy, KG8X, and Ernie Hudson, KI8O

In Brief:

• This weekend on the radio: The SCC RTTY Championship, the Hawaii QSO Party, the BUBBA Summer QRP Spring, and the South Dakota QSO Party are this weekend. Just ahead: The Labor Day CW Sprint is September 1-2. The All-Asian DX Contest (SSB) and the LZ DX Contest are is September 5-6.

• Alexanderson alternator on the air: The world's only working Alexanderson alternator will be on the air August 27-30 during the European DX Council (EDXC) 1998 Conference in Gothenburg, Sweden. Conference participants will visit the station, SAQ, and will make a Morse code transmission on 17.2 kHz at 0930 UTC on August 29 with a message from the EDXC Conference. Reception reports go to radiomuseet@swipnet.se. The SAQ site, complete with six antenna towers and the 200 kW transmitter, are under the care and management of Telia Mobitel, a Swedish mobile telephone company, and the radio museum of the Radio Historical Society of West Sweden, which operates club station SK6RM. Krister Eriksson, SM6KRI, Ulf Sjoden, SM6CVE, and Lars Wieden of the Volvo DX-club helped to organize the event.--Krister Eriksson, SM6KRI

• ARRL local club category rule change: The ARRL Awards Committee has increased the distance measurement for local clubs in club competition from 20 to 35 miles in ARRL-sponsored contests. The action was taken on a recommendation from the ARRL Contest Advisory Committee. The new change affects Section 8.4.3.3. It will now read: "All members must reside and operate within 35 miles of the club center." The change goes into effect January 1, 1999, for all ARRL-sponsored contests featuring club competition.

• Vanity update: The FCC in Gettysburg reports it has processed vanity call sign applications received through August 5. In the last processing run, the FCC granted 68 call signs. Another 45 applications hit the work in process (WIPs) stack for further processing. The FCC has formally announced that the vanity call sign application fee will be $13 beginning with applications received on or after September 14, 1998.--FCC

• Temotu added to DXCC list: The ARRL Awards Committee has accepted a recommendation of the ARRL DX Advisory Committee to add the Temotu Province (H40) of the Solomon Islands to the DXCC List. The addition will be effective with contacts made on or after March 31, 1998, 23:59 UTC. The DXCC Desk will accept QSL cards for Temotu Province (H40) beginning October 1, 1998. QSL cards received before that time will be returned without action. Temotu Province includes the Santa Cruz, Reef, Duff and Vanikolo Island groups. They are located more than 356 kilometers from the main grouping of the Solomon Islands.--DXCC Desk

• VK4HA remembered: John Warren, NT5C, posted to the dx-list (http://www.findmail.com/list/dx-list) this reminiscence of Australia's (and perhaps the world's) oldest ham, Harry Angel, VK4HA, who passed away August 16 at the age of 106: "I have a unique memory of Harry. Back in December 1988, I operated for the Austin (Texas) Amateur Radio Club with the special call W200KA. On 10 meters, I worked both Harry, then aged 97, and David, KC4GTN, then aged 9. That spread of 88 years must surely be a record for one weekend. Not many hobbies can be shared by 9 year olds and 97 year olds. I treasure both QSLs--which is another story. Harry's shows a gorgeous YL on a Queensland beach. David's was only extracted after one last pleading phone call. How many of you had to call an operator's mother to get your card?--John Warren, NT5C

• Kenwood manuals on the Web: Kenwood operating manuals for all of its currently available Amateur Radio equipment now are downloadable via the Kenwood Web site (http://www.kenwood.net). From the main page, click on FTP Site. The files are available as Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) files. The Kenwood FTP Site does not include manuals for older Kenwood gear, but current on-site manuals will remain in archive, even after an item ceases production. The service is free.

• SAFEX is semi-operational: The SAFEX II 70 cm repeater aboard the Mir space station remains semioperational in both repeater and QSO mode and is reported to be active, although it is not available on every orbit. The repeater uplink is 435.750 MHz FM (with CTCSS tone of 141.3 Hz). The downlink is 437.950 MHz. The SAFEX II 70 cm QSO Mode uplink is 435.725 MHz FM (with CTCSS tone of 151.4 Hz). The downlink is 437.925 MHz FM. The SAFEX team is interested in hearing from anyone who has recently used the SAFEX repeater. Send reports to Joerg Hahn, DL3LUM, e-mail jh.hahn@gmx.net, or Thomas Kieselbach, DL2MDE, e-mail tom.kieselbach@t-online.de. Mike Sequin, N1JEZ, can provide copies of a how-to-operate article from The AMSAT Journal. For an e-mail copy, send a request to N1JEZ at Mike73@aol.com.--AMSAT News Service