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N9PMO > LETTER 15.07.16 03:46l 565 Lines 25332 Bytes #999 (0) @ ARRL
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Amateur Radio Parity Act Receives Favorable House Energy and Commerce
Committee Report
FCC Finds a Fix for Amateur Radio Application Batch Processing Problem
Ham Radio Outlet to Acquire Some AES Employees, Re-Open Milwaukee
Location as HRO Branch
ARRL CEO, Emergency Preparedness Manager Visit FEMA Headquarters
ARRL Board of Directors to Meet in Connecticut
The Doctor Will See You Now!
National Parks on the Air Update
Attendance at Dayton Hamvention® Tops 25,000 for Second Year in a Row
ARRL Training Webinar, "Contesting as Training for Public Service,"
Set for July 24
International Tribunal Rules Against China's Claims Regarding South
China Sea Reefs
New ISS Crew Increment with Two Radio Amateurs Arrives on Station
CQ Contest Hall of Famer, WRTC Competitor, DXer Walter Skudlarek,
DJ6QT, SK
In Brief...
The K7RA Solar Update
This Week in Radiosport
Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
Amateur Radio Parity Act Receives Favorable House Energy and Commerce
Committee Report
An amended version of the Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301,
received a unanimous favorable report on July 13 from members of the
US House Energy and Commerce Committee. The bill now will go to the
full House for consideration. Before reporting the bill out of
committee, the panel first voted to accept the amended language, "in
the nature of a substitute." Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR), who chairs
the Energy and Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Communications and
Technology, said the substitute bill represented "a good balance" that
came in the wake of months of meetings, hard work, and compromise, and
he recommended the measure to his colleagues.
"The amendment guarantees that even in deed-restricted communities,
Amateur Radio operators are able to use an effective outdoor antenna,"
Walden said. "Without an effective antenna Amateur Radio operators are
severely limited, so this amendment ensures that amateurs are free to
pursue their passion wherever they live."
At the same time, he continued, the measure protects the rights of
those "who have chosen to live in deed-restricted communities and to
set their own aesthetic and other rules."
In early June, the ARRL and the Community Associations Institute (CAI)
-- the national association of homeowners associations (HOAs) --
announced that they had reached consensus on substitute language for
HR 1301 in an effort to move it through committee and to overcome
objections to the companion US Senate bill, S 1685. The offices of US
Representatives Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), the bill's sponsor, Anna Eshoo
(D-CA), and Walden mediated and offered assistance.
Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI (R-OR), speaks in favor of HR 1301 during a
House Energy and Commerce Committee markup.
"While it's rare to have two groups with opposing viewpoints walk away
from legislation happy, by golly, I think we've done it here," Walden
concluded. He said the substitute bill represented "the best of what
our committee can do when we work together in bipartisan compromise
that meets the needs of all parties involved."
In her remarks, Eshoo said she was glad that an agreement had been
reached on the bill's language, which she initially feared would
violate the rights of homeowners associations. "We found a balance
that works for all stakeholders," she said, calling the ARRL and CAI
"the bookends of the effort."
Kinzinger called the amended bill "a good amendment that strikes the
right balance."
FCC Finds a Fix for Amateur Radio Application Batch Processing Problem
It's taken a couple of weeks, but the FCC has resolved a computer
programming problem that had affected its ability to accept and
process batch-filed Amateur Radio applications, resulting in a backlog
for the Volunteer Examiner Coordinator (VEC) and others taking
advantage of automated processing. The FCC information technology
staff had been attempting to fix the glitch that had affected the
Universal Licensing System (ULS) Electronic Batch Filing (EBF) system
since it first cropped up on June 28. At first the problem had
affected the processing of all Amateur Radio and commercial license
applications, said ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, who alerted
the FCC IT Department.
By June 30, it appeared that the FCC had corrected the broader
problem, but the EBF remained unable to process ARRL VEC's automated,
batch-filed applications and exam sessions. VECs that were manually
logging in to upload their files were unaffected. ARRL and FCC IT
staffers put their heads together to solve the problem of the
blockage.
"The FCC IT staff was astutely attentive to the problem every step of
the way, as they worked with our IT department to find a solution,"
Somma said. "We appreciate the specialized service we received."
ARRL's IT Department and the ARRL VEC confirmed on July 14 that the
problem had been fixed, the backlog of more than 1200 applications and
300 exam sessions cleared, and the flow of automated, batch-filed
applications and exam sessions able to resume.
Ham Radio Outlet to Acquire Some AES Employees, Re-Open Milwaukee
Location as HRO Branch
Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) has announced plans to hire an unspecified
number of Amateur Electronic Supply (AES) employees when AES shuts
down its four locations in late July. In addition, the current AES
Headquarters store in Milwaukee will become HRO's newest location
later this summer, following renovation. On July 1, AES announced that
it was going out of business and ending retail operations at its
Milwaukee, Las Vegas, Cleveland, and Orlando locations. With the
approval of AES management, HRO senior managers visited each AES
location to interview staffers in hopes of "acquiring some of the
Amateur Radio retail employee talent in each of the current AES
locations," an HRO news release said.
"Together with this interview process, HRO examined what it would take
to perhaps acquire one or more of the AES store locations. At the time
of these interviews, many opportunities were explored with current AES
senior management," the release continued. "We are very excited to
announce that HRO was successful in providing offers of employment to
a number of soon-to-be-former AES employees, and that to some, we have
offered positions that involve HRO-sponsored and funded relocation."
HRO announced that once AES shutters its Milwaukee location at 5710 W
Good Hope Road on July 28, Ham Radio Outlet will undertake an
extensive remodeling project to create a new HRO Milwaukee store at
the same site, which will open at the end of August.
The AES Milwaukee Headquarters store.
"It is with great pleasure that we are able to continue Terry
Sterman's and Phil Majerus' legacy of providing a fantastic Amateur
Radio store in Milwaukee, Wisconsin," said HRO President Robert
Ferrero, W6KR. "It is our immediate goal to have the largest, most
well-stocked Amateur Radio retail store in North America and perhaps
even the world."
After AES closes on July 28, all former AES locations' direct and
toll-free telephone numbers will be redirected to the closest HRO
location, and the AES website will be directed to HRO's website.
A family-owned business, HRO is the world's largest Amateur Radio
dealership, with locations from New England to the West Coast.
ARRL CEO, Emergency Preparedness Manager Visit FEMA Headquarters
ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, and Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike
Corey, KI1U, recently visited Federal Emergency Management Agency
(FEMA) headquarters in Washington, DC, to further explore areas of
cooperation and partnership, in line with the Memorandum of Agreement
that ARRL and FEMA signed in 2014.
From left to right, FEMA Chief Technology Officer Ted Okada, K4HNL;
ARRL Emergency Preparedness Manager Mike Corey, KI1U; FEMA
Administrator Craig Fugate, KK4INZ, and ARRL CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF.
During the June 29 visit, Gallagher and Corey met with FEMA
Administrator Craig Fugate, KK4INZ. FEMA Chief Technology Officer Ted
Okada, K4HNL, also attended the meeting.
"Administrator Fugate's detailed knowledge of Amateur Radio is
impressive, and his support for the amateur community is very
encouraging," Gallagher said afterward. He went on to say that he was
most impressed by Fugate's observation that "any mode of RF that will
connect across the continent is valuable; we don't have enough backups
to the public switched network."
ARRL Board of Directors to Meet in Connecticut
The ARRL Board of Directors will meet July 15-16 in Windsor,
Connecticut, for its second meeting of 2016. The session will mark
The ARRL Board of Directors will meet July 15-16. [Rick Lindquist,
WW1ME, photo]
the first Board meeting for ARRL's new CEO Tom Gallagher, NY2RF, who
joined the Headquarters staff on February 29 and became CEO on April
18 upon the retirement of David Sumner, K1ZZ. Gallagher also serves as
secretary to the Board.
Among other business, the Board will hear reports from League
officers, including a status report on regulatory, legal, and
legislative issues. Reports from various committees, including the
standing Executive, Administrative and Finance, and Programs and
Services committees, also will be aired.
ARRL President Rick Roderick, K5UR, who was elected at the January
meeting of the Board, will preside.
The Doctor Will See You Now!
"Propagation" is the topic of the latest (July 14) episode of the
"ARRL The Doctor is In" podcast. Listen...and learn!
Sponsored by DX Engineering, "ARRL The Doctor is In" is an informative
discussion of all things technical. Listen on your computer, tablet,
or smartphone -- whenever and wherever you like!
Every 2 weeks, your host, QST Editor in Chief Steve Ford, WB8IMY, and
the Doctor himself, Joel Hallas, W1ZR, will discuss a broad range of
technical topics. You can also e-mail your questions to
doctor@arrl.org, and the Doctor may answer them in a future podcast.
Enjoy "ARRL The Doctor is In" on Apple iTunes, or by using your iPhone
or iPad podcast app (just search for "ARRL The Doctor is In"). You can
also listen online at Blubrry, or at Stitcher (free registration
required, or browse the site as a guest) and through the free Stitcher
app for iOS, Kindle, or Android devices.
If you've never listened to a podcast before, download our beginner's
guide.
Just ahead on July 28, the subject will be "Magnetic Loops."
National Parks on the Air Update
July represents the halfway mark for the ARRL National Parks on the
Air (NPOTA) program. With just under 6 months to go, slightly more
than 490,000 contacts have been made from 431 of the 485 eligible NPS
units, in 8250 separate activations.
There's plenty of time left to get involved! With the summer vacation
season in full swing, many NPS units would enjoy seeing a new NPOTA
face. You can start collecting NPOTA units any time; Activators are
always looking for new stations to log. With band conditions being
less than spectacular lately, NPOTA offers a way to enjoy Amateur
Radio as either Chaser or Activator, with plenty of domestic QSO
opportunities and portable operating adventures free for the taking.
Help NPOTA reach more than 1 million QSOs in 2016!
A record 68 activations are scheduled for the week of July 13-20,
including Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah, and the Nez Perce
National Historical Park in Idaho.
Details about these and other upcoming activations can be found on the
NPOTA Activations calendar.
Keep up with the latest NPOTA news on Facebook. Follow NPOTA on
Twitter (@ARRL_NPOTA).
Attendance at Dayton Hamvention® Tops 25,000 for Second Year in a Row
Given the level of enthusiasm at the 2016 running of Dayton
Hamvention® in mid-May, attendance may have seemed up, but for all
intents and purposes, it held steady at 25,364 visitors. That figure
was down only slightly from the 25,621 attendees reported for 2015,
but above the 25,000 mark for the second year in a row. For those
keeping track, in 2014 the official count was 24,873 visitors, and
attendance in 2013 was 24,542.
Hamvention attendance peaked in 1993 at 33,669, before the 1996 change
in date from April to May. While attendance has fluctuated over the
years, Hamvention has grown to international proportions, attracting
members of the worldwide Amateur Radio community each spring.
The Dayton Amateur Radio Association (DARA) has sponsored Hamvention
since 1952. Originally called the Southwestern Ohio Ham-vention, the
inaugural event, held in March in downtown Dayton, attracted 600
attendees -- twice as many as had been predicted. Today it is the
world's largest Amateur Radio gathering.
DARA now is counting down the days to the next Hamvention on May
19-21, 2017. Hamvention's new General Chairman is Ron Cramer, KD8ENJ,
whoh refused to take part
in the arbitration, said it would not be bound by the tribunal's
ruling. China claims almost all of the South China Sea, including
reefs and islands also claimed by other countries, but the tribunal
made clear that its ruling did not address issues of territorial
sovereignty.
This map shows some of the conflicting claims in the South China Sea.
"This arbitration concerned the role of historic rights and the source
of maritime entitlements in the South China Sea, the status of certain
maritime features and the maritime entitlements they are capable of
generating, and the lawfulness of certain actions by China that were
alleged by the Philippines to violate the Convention," the Permanent
Court of Arbitration explained in a lengthy news release on July 12.
"In light of limitations on compulsory dispute settlement under the
Convention [on the Law of the Sea], the Tribunal has emphasized that
it does not rule on any question of sovereignty over land territory
and does not delimit any boundary between the parties." Scarborough
Reef is claimed by China, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
In recent years, China has been actively expanding the land area of
the unpopulated reefs such as Scarborough and establishing a
burgeoning military presence, which it has deployed to keep away any
visitors on land or by sea. The tribunal said this activity, since the
arbitration began, has unlawfully aggravated and extended the dispute.
Read more.
New ISS Crew Increment with Two Radio Amateurs Arrives on Station
NASA astronaut Kate Rubins, KG5FYJ, astronaut Takuya Onishi, KF5LKS,
of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), and cosmonaut
Anatoly Ivanishin of Roscosmos officially joined their Expedition 48
International Space Station (ISS) crew members on July 9, when the
hatches opened between their Soyuz MS-01 and the space station. Four
radio amateurs now are on board the ISS.
Front row: Expedition 48/49 crew members Kate Rubins, KG5FYJ; Anatoly
Ivanishin, and Takuya Onishi, KF5LKS. Back row: Oleg Skripochka,
RN3FU; Alexey Ovchinin, and Commander Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ. [NASA TV
image]
Expedition 48 Commander Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, of NASA, and Flight
Engineers Oleg Skripochka, RN3FU, and Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos
greeted the newcomers. Rubins, Onishi, and cosmonaut Ivanishin
replaced Expedition 47 Commander Tim Kopra, KE5UDN; Flight Engineer
Tim Peake, KG5BVI/GB1SS, and Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, who returned to
Earth in mid-June after a little more than 6 months in space.
Later this summer, Williams and Rubins are scheduled to install the
first of two international docking adapters, soon to launch to the
ISS. The adapters will allow commercial spacecraft to dock to the
station in the near future when transporting astronauts as part of
NASA's Commercial Crew Program.
Rubins, Ivanishin, and Onishi are scheduled to remain on station until
late October. The trio launched early on July 7 from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome, traveling to the ISS onboard an upgraded Soyuz MS-01
spacecraft on its maiden voyage. Williams, Skripochka, and Ovchinin
will return to Earth in September.
CQ Contest Hall of Famer, WRTC Competitor, DXer Walter Skudlarek,
DJ6QT, SK
Well-known contester and World Radiosport Team Championship (WRTC)
competitor, official, and supporter Walter Skudlarek, DJ6QT, of
Hirzenhain, Germany, died on July 5. He was 77 and had been a radio
amateur since 1958.
Walter Skudlarek,DJ6QT.
Skudlarek was a member of the CQ Contest Hall of Fame as well as a
founding member of the Rhein-Ruhr DX Association and active member for
more than 50 years, serving at various times as president. He was a
member of the RRDXA Hall of Fame.
Skudlarek was a competitor at the very first WRTC in 1990 in Seattle,
as well as in 1996 in San Francisco, and 2002 in Helsinki. He served
as a referee at the WRTCs in 2000 (Slovenia) and in 2006 (Brazil) and
was looking forward to WRTC 2018 in Germany.
His history of DXpedition operations dates from 1979, and he operated
frequently from Madeira. He was one of the first single-op
DXpeditioners to include RTTY as an operating mode. A frequent Dayton
Hamvention® visitor, Skudlarek also was an honorary member of the
Frankfort Radio Club, the North Jersey DX Association, and the
Araucaria DX Group.
In Brief...
Solar Car Challenge W1N Traveling Special Event Operation Set: Special
event station W1N will travel from the Texas Motor Speedway to
Minneapolis between July 15 and July 24 to highlight the 2016 Solar
Car Challenge®. Several teams include students and adult advisors who
are radio amateurs who wanted to operate a special event station
during the Solar Car Challenge. Activity will be limited on July 15-16
but will ramp up July 16-24, 0500 to 2359 UTC. W1N will be on the air
with a portable operation from the Texas Motor Speedway before the
vehicles set off on the road. During the on-the-road event, W1N will
have a mobile station and portable stations active as the cars move
north toward Minneapolis. Mobile activity will be on 20 meters,
centering around 14.343 MHz. Operation from portable sites will take
place on 6, 10, and 15 meters. The calendar provides the event
schedule and itinerary. QSL to Steve McDermott, KF5RVR. For more
information, contact Fred Varian, WD5ERD.
Special Event Stations to Mark Pope's Visit to Poland: Several special
event stations are poised to mark the visit of Pope Francis to Poland.
The Pope will be in Poland July 27-31 to once again take part in World
Youth Days in Kraków. This is Pope Francis' first visit to Poland,
where he will also make stops at the national shrine in Czestochowa to
honor 1050 years of Christianity in Poland and pay respects to the
victims of the former Auschwitz Nazi concentration camp. World Youth
Days is a biannual event initiated by Pope John Paul II, the first
Polish Pope (Karol Wojtyla). Some 2 million young Catholics are
expected. Special event call signs will include HF0F in Kraków, as
well as HF31WYD, HF2SDM, and HF7SDM.
Decades of Satellite Contacts Net Satellite WAS for Ohio Radio
Amateur: It took Bob Liddy, K8BL, of Mentor, Ohio, nearly 4 decades to
achieve Worked All States via satellite and earn WAS Satellite Award
#341, although he wasn't really gunning for the award for all that
time. The contacts spanned 38 years, and he submitted QSL cards to
claim the award. His oldest satellite QSL card was from W7LSV in
Oregon, for an Oscar 8 Mode A CW contact in 1978. Liddy did not
realize until he started going through his QSL cards to submit for
awards at Dayton Hamvention® that he might have completed WAS on
satellite. An AMSAT member since 1979, Liddy said he was "not in the
hunt very seriously," but he determined that had, indeed, worked all
50 states and was only lacking a card from Vermont. "Happily, it was
Nick, KB1RVT, who I knew was always good for a confirmation, which he
quickly returned, confirming our contact via SO-50 FM on January 4,
2016," he said. -- Thanks to AMSAT News Service
Fox-1C and Fox-1D Launch Window Shifted: AMSAT reports that the launch
period for Fox-1C (Cliff) and Fox-1D has been moved. The new launch
window will be between September 1 and November 30. Fox-1Cliff and
Fox-1D will be integrated onto the Spaceflight SHERPA platform for its
maiden flight aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 launching into a
sun-synchronous orbit from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Fox-1Cliff and
Fox-1D carry university experiments from Pennsylvania State-Erie,
Vanderbilt, University of Iowa, cameras provided by Virginia Tech, as
well as Amateur Radio voice repeaters capable of U/V or L/V operation.
The Nayif-1 CubeSat, developed by Emirati students from the American
University of Sharjah, is expected to be put into orbit on the same
launch. Nayif-1 carries an inverting 435/145 MHz transponder
(FUNcube-5) for SSB/CW. -- Thanks to AMSAT News Service, Southgate
Amateur Radio News
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: As this solar cycle declines, we
will occasionally see periods, such as this past week, when activity
perks up, and it seems that happy days are here again. Enjoy them
while they last. Any recovery is unpredictable and temporary.
Over the reporting week of July 7-13, the average daily sunspot number
was 52.6, up 47.7 points from 4.9 in the previous week. Dominating the
previous week's activity were 5 out of 7 days with no sunspots. Over
the same periods, the average daily solar flux rose from 73.1 to 91.6,
a healthy advance.
Geomagnetic indices were also active, with planetary A index advancing
by 9 points, from 6.7 to 15.7 and the mid-latitude A index rising from
8.3 to 14.1 over the same 2 weeks.
Predicted solar flux is 94 on July 14-15; 92 on July 16-18; 87, 84,
and 80 on July 19-21; 77 on July 22-23; 75, 73, 74, 73, and 72 on July
24-28; 71, 72, 74, 72, and 77 on July 29-August 2; then 83, 87, 92,
94, and 92 on August 3-7; 90 on August 8-13; 85 on August 14, and 78
on August 14-15.
Predicted planetary A index is 15, 10, and 8 on July 14-16; 5 on July
17-20; 10, 7, 11, 10, and 6 on July 21-25; 4, 6, 7, 9, 8, and 7 on
July 26-31; 4 and 5 on August 1-2; 23 on August 3-4; 14, 10, 20, 12,
8, 15, and 10 on August 5-11, and 5 on August 12-13.
Sunspot numbers for July 7 through 13 were 25, 55, 63, 46, 62, 63, and
54, with a mean of 52.6. The 10.7 centimeter flux was 83.3, 87.1,
92.2, 94.4, 94.7, 92.4, and 96.8, with a mean of 91.6. Estimated
planetary A indices were 23, 23, 14, 10, 11, 21, and 8, with a mean of
15.7. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 19, 18, 15, 11, 11, 18,
and 7 with a mean of 14.1.
Send me your reports and observations.
This Week in Radiosport
July 16 -- Russian Radio Team Championship (CW, phone
July 16 -- Trans-Tasman Low-Bands Challenge (CW, phone, digital)
July 16 -- Feld Hell Sprint
July 16-17 -- North American QSO Party (RTTY)
July 16-17 -- CQ World Wide VHF Contest (CW, phone, digital)
July 16-17 -- DMC RTTY Contest
July 17 -- RSGB Low Power Contest (CW)
July 18 -- Run for the Bacon QRP Contest (CW)
July 21 -- NAQCC CW Sprint
July 21 -- RSGB 80 Meter Club Championship (Digital)
See the ARRL Contest Calendar for more information. For in-depth
reporting on Amateur Radio contesting, subscribe to The ARRL Contest
Update via your ARRL member profile e-mail preferences.
Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions
July 15-17 -- Montana State Convention, East Glacier, Montana
July 22-23 -- Oklahoma Section Convention, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
July 29-31 -- Central States VHF Conference, Rochester, Minnesota
August 5-6 -- Texas State Convention, Austin, Texas
August 5-7 -- Pacific Northwest DX Convention, Portland, Oregon
August 12-14 -- New Mexico State Convention, Albuquerque, New Mexico
August 19-21 -- West Virginia State Convention, Weston, West Virginia
August 20-21 -- Southeastern Division Convention, Huntsville, Alabama
August 21 -- Kansas State Convention, Salina, Kansas
September 3-4 -- North Carolina State Convention, Shelby, North
Carolina
September 9-11 -- New England Division Convention, Boxborough,
Massachusetts
September 10 -- Kentucky State Convention, Shepherdsville, Kentucky
September 10 -- Virginia Section Convention, Virginia Beach, Virginia
September 16-17 -- W9DXCC Convention, Schaumburg, Illinois
September 16-18 -- ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference, St
Petersburg, Florida
September 17-18 -- Illinois State Convention, Peoria, Illinois
September 24 -- North Dakota State Convention, West Fargo, North
Dakota
September 24 -- Washington State Convention, Spokane Valley,
Washington
Find conventions and hamfests in your area.
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