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AE5ME > ARL 05.03.16 19:03l 62 Lines 7997 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
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Subj: //WL2K ARRL Letter March 3rd Part 4 of 4
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"Frequency" TV Series Now Planned for The CW Network
The buzz from Hollywood is that a TV series based on the 2000 movie "Frequency" is in development and -- appropriately enough for a show featuring ham radio -- on The CW network. Amateur Radio served as a plot device in the movie and will play the same role in the TV series.
Actor Jim Caviezel in the 2000 movie, "Frequency." [Courtesy of New Line Cinema]
In November 2014, The Hollywood Reporter indicated that NBC had committed to a "Frequency" series, but those plans apparently fell by the wayside. Now, The CW has ordered a pilot episode of "Frequency," and, if the network does go forward with the project, the modern-day version of "Frequency," the TV series, would feature a young female police detective named Raimy, who uses ham radio to communicate through time with her deceased father.
Actress Peyton List is said to have landed to role of Raimy, reprising Jim Caviezel's movie character. Riley Smith would play her father.
When the original "Frequency" movie debuted, the ham radio theme and the chance to see vintage ham gear and real, glowing vacuum tubes on the big screen generated considerable interest within the community of "boatanchor" enthusiasts. ARRL worked with the film's producers.
First Solid-State Transmitter to Span the Atlantic Now Part of ARRL Historical Collection
A flea-powered transistor ham transmitter built in the 1950s and later used to make a transatlantic contact has become part of the ARRL Historical Collection. The noteworthy historical artifact was donated by Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, on behalf of the estate of Gus Fallgren, W1OG (SK), the ham who was at the key for the momentous event. Fallgren --
Gus Fallgren, W1OGU, and his transistor transmitter were featured on the cover of the February 1957 issue of Radio & Television News.
then W1OGU -- and two other Raytheon engineers, Al "Hank" Hankinson, W1OSF, and Dick Wright, W1UBC, built the little transmitter in the summer of 1956 on a lark, to see if they could achieve Worked All Continents (WAC) with it. The 20 meter, 78 mW transmitter was designed around a pair of Raytheon 2N113 transistors -- one as a 7 MHz oscillator, the other as a frequency-doubling power amplifier. On September 18, 1956, Fallgren, in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, running the transistor transmitter into a three-element wide-spaced Yagi, worked OZ7BO in Copenhagen, Denmark. His signal report was 339.
The transmitter was the first to run Raytheon transistors on 20 meters. Hams had previously constructed low-power, solid-state transmitters for 40 meters and made contacts spanning up to 800 miles. Fallgren's 3800-mile contact worked out to approximately 47,500 miles per watt.
Assistant ARRL Laboratory Manager Bob Allison, WB1GCM (L), holds the transistor transmitter and semi-automatic key, while donor Andy Stewart, KB1OIQ, holds the 1957 issue of Radio & Television News that featured W1OGU on the cover.
Raytheon documented the historic contact in the February 1957 edition of Radio and Television News -- with a feature banner and cover photo of W1OGU in his shack with the battery-powered transistor transmitter -- and it was reported in other publications as well, including Raytheon's own publication and the Boston Globe. A November 1956 QST "Stray" reported that Fallgren had "worked KP4, TI2, OZ7, and G3, and has reportedly been heard in VK" with the little rig, and included a photo.
Assistant ARRL Laboratory Manager Bob Allison, WB1GCM, staff liaison to the ARRL Historical Committee, accepted the donation and thanked Stewart for arranging it. Read more.
Getting It Right!
Getting It Right! In "Article Profiles First African-American Radio Amateur, Rufus Turner, W3LF," which appeared in the February 25 edition of The ARRL Letter, we inadvertently -- and incorrectly -- added an "A" to the designation of the diode Mr Turner helped to develop. The diode the article refers to is the 1N34, not the later 1N34A, which typically had a hermetically sealed glass envelope. Thanks to Frank Donovan, W3LPL, for spotting this error.
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In Brief...
List of US House Amateur Radio Parity Act Cosponsors Continues to Grow: Three more members of the US House of Representatives have stepped forward to cosponsor The Amateur Radio Parity Act, H.R. 1301. That brings the total to 123. The latest to sign on are Reps Evan Jenkins (R-WV), Stephen Knight (R-CA), and Charles Boustany Jr (R-LA). In a voice vote on February 11, the US House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology, chaired by Rep Greg Walden, W7EQI, sent H.R. 1301 to the full House Energy and Commerce Committee with a favorable report for further consideration. More information on The Amateur Radio Parity Act is on the ARRL website.
Winter 2016 Edition of Radio Waves Now Available: The winter 2016 edition of ARRL's Radio Waves newsletter for Amateur Radio license instructors and radio science educators is now available. Some of the articles in this issue include, "In-Depth Licensing Class Probes Electronics;" "Exploring Complex Concepts through Electronic Kit Building;" "Two Schools Experience ARISS Impact;" "West Chester Amateur Radio Association on Hand for Pi Day," and "Youth Nets." In addition, the Instructor Corner offers resources for classroom and licensing instruction, and there's news of the ARRL Education & Technology Program, a calendar of upcoming events, and more.
ARRL VEC Applications, Session Scheduling Getting Back on Track: A computer program issue that was preventing the ARRL VEC from managing and posting its schedule of future examination sessions and transmitting application data from completed sessions to the FCC has been resolved, and the backlog is being cleared. "The ARRL IT Department has our system is back up and running," ARRL VEC Manager Maria Somma, AB1FM, said on March 2. "ARRL VEC has begun to transmit into FCC Electronic Batch Filing system the approximately 200 exam sessions that were waiting in the queue. It may take a few days to get through the entire backlog." Since the problem surfaced on February 22, the system had worked "sporadically," Somma said, allowing a few test sessions to make it to the FCC for processing.
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: Average daily sunspot numbers were marginally higher over our reporting week (February 25-March 2) than during the previous 7 days -- rising from 37.9 to 41.4. Average daily solar flux was down by just one point, to 92.9. The average planetary A index dipped from 10.1 to 5.9, and the average mid-latitude A index declined from 12.6 to 5.3.
Predicted solar flux for the near term is 100 on March 3; 105 on March 4-5; 110 on March 6-10; 105 on March 11-13; 100 on March 14-15; 95 on March 16-20, and bottoming out at 90 on March 21-26. Flux values then peak at 115 on March 30-31.
The planetary A index prediction shows 8 on March 3-4; 12, 20, 15, 10, and 5 on March 5-9; 8 on March 10-11; 5 on March 12, and 12 on March 13. The predicted A index then makes a huge jump to 30 on March 14-16. This is perhaps the result of a recurring coronal hole, because on April 10-12 the A index again goes to 30. Note that there were similar numbers -- 38, 34 and 29 -- for February 17, 18 and 19.
Sunspot numbers for February 25 through March 2 were 26, 41, 37, 38, 44, 39, and 65, with a mean of 41.4. The 10.7 centimeter flux was 91.7, 89, 90.4, 93.2, 90.9, 96.8, and 98.2, with a mean of 92.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 5, 7, 4, 4, 5, 9, and 7, with a mean of 5.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 6, 5, 3, 4, 4, 8, and 7, with a mean of 5.3.
This week's bulletin will look at changes in our 3-month moving averages of sunspot numbers, which should indicate the further decline in the current solar cycle. We'll also have a quantitative report from NP3A on band-by-band changes in CW Skimmer logs between the ARRL International DX Contest 2015 and 2016 numbers.
Send me your reports and observations.
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