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AE5ME > ARL 02.04.16 16:16l 62 Lines 7871 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 9HMDET49JM86
Read: GUEST
Subj: ARRL Letter April 1 Part 4 of 4
Path: IW8PGT<IV3ONZ<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ<AE5ME
Sent: 160402/1357Z 34694@AE5ME.#NEOK.OK.USA.NOAM BPQ1.4.64
"Elmer" Inspiration, Elmer "Bud" Frohardt Jr, W9DY, SK
The ham radio mentor who inspired the term "Elmer" -- Elmer P. "Bud" Frohardt Jr, W9DY (ex-W9GFF), of Madison, Wisconsin -- died on March 22. He was 93. A friend and co-worker of the late Rod Newkirk, W9BRD (later VA3ZBB), who edited QST's "How's DX?" column, Frohardt was the "Elmer" that Newkirk had in mind when he used the name in his March 1971 column, referring to someone who helped to mentor new Amateur Radio licensees.
"Too frequently one hears a sad story in this little nutshell: 'Oh, I almost got a ticket, too, but Elmer, W9XYZ, moved away and I kind of lost interest,'" Newkirk had written. "We need those Elmers. All the Elmers, including the ham who took the most time and trouble to give you a push toward your license, are the birds who keep this great game young and fresh."
On AC6V's "Origin of Ham Speak" web page, John Becker, K9MM, is quoted as saying, "Bud was very well known locally for his involvement with the RAMS (Radio Amateur Megacycle Society) radio club, and he was always helping newcomers to the hobby."
Frohardt was an ARRL Life Member. Read more. -- Thanks to The Daily DX
Comedian, Actor, TV Writer and Personality Garry Shandling, ex-KD6OY, SK
Comedian, actor, and TV personality Garry Shandling, ex-KD6OY, died March 24 after suffering an apparent heart attack in Los Angeles. He was 66. Shandling became a ham as a teenager in the 1960s, long before he entered show business.
Garry Shandling, ex-KD6OY.
"When I was 13 I had a ham radio set (true!), so I could sit in my room and talk to people the world-over. Geeky? Or just ahead of my time!!?" Shandling tweeted in May 2011.
Shandling grew up in Arizona and majored in electrical engineering at the University of Arizona, but he went on to earn a degree in marketing and complete some post-graduate work in creative writing. He worked in marketing for a time, until a script he wrote for "Sanford and Son" turned into his first big break into entertainment.
His most-recent Amateur Radio license -- issued to him under a pseudonym, Dave Waddell -- expired in August 2009. The call sign was KQ6KA. Shandling obtained the call sign under an assumed name, apparently so that he could get on the air without being recognized as a celebrity. Prior to KQ6KA, he held KD6OY under his real name, as well as WA7BKG in his early years as a ham.
He had an alter ego on television as well. On "It's Garry Shandling's Show," he played a comedian much like himself. "The Larry Sanders Show" followed, and in that popular HBO series, he played a late-night talk show host. Read more.
In Brief...
ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference Issues 2016 Call for Papers: Technical Papers are being solicited for presentation at the 35th Annual ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference (DCC), to be held September 16-18 in St Petersburg, Florida. Papers will also be published in the Conference Proceedings. Authors do not need to attend the conference to have their papers included in the Proceedings. The submission deadline is July 31, 2016. The ARRL/TAPR Digital Communications Conference is an international forum for technically minded radio amateurs to meet and present new ideas and techniques. Submit papers via e-mail or mail to Maty Weinberg, KB1EIB, ARRL, 225 Main St, Newington, CT 06111. Papers will be published exactly as submitted, and authors will retain all rights.
Isolated North Carolina Ham Uses Ham Radio to Get Help in House Fire Incident: A ham living on remote Cedar Island off the coast of North Carolina recently used Amateur Radio to summon help after a fire broke out in his house. "A station came on the [Pamlico Amateur Radio Society] repeater asking if anyone could contact the local fire department," said Bill Michne, WM3X, who lives in Oriental, North Carolina. "The signal was broken up but readable after repeats. What I learned was that the station was in Stacy, the operator's house was filling with smoke, and that he had no telephone to use to call for help." Michne said he got the other ham's address and contacted 911, which called out the Stacy Fire Department. "The fire apparatus arrived within a very short time," he added. The fire was said to have been contained to the attic, and damage was not severe. The grateful ham was Mike Clutter, KM4COD, an occasional check-in to a local ARES net, who lives part-time on Cedar Island. -- Thanks to Bill Michne, WM3X, and to Jamie King, KJ4JK
ARRL HQ staffer Margie Bourgoin, KB1DCO, and other members of the Headquarters team stuff envelopes with replacement QSTs. [Sean Kutzko, KX9X, photo]
ARRL Scrambles to Replace QSTs Lost En Route to Members: When a recent train collision and derailment in Wyoming destroyed precisely 1086 copies of the April edition of QST on its way to some members living in the ARRL Southwestern Division, it was all hands on deck to quickly replace the issues, which are being sent via First Class mail. ARRL contacted the affected members by e-mail to let them know. Local reports indicated that there were no fatalities or serious injuries from the train collision. If your QST ever should be lost or late -- whether due to a train wreck or other postal mishap -- contact Circulation/Member Services Manager Yvette Vinci, KC1AIM, telephone (860) 594-0257. -- Thanks to Sean Kutzko, KX9X
CQ World Wide DX Contest Rate Records Posted: The CQ World Wide SSB and CW Contest rate records have been updated with details from the 2015 CW logs. It's possible to query the database by year, continent, call sign, and country. "It is interesting to see how many high-rate records were set in 2015," said Randy Thompson, K5ZD, past CQ WW Contests Manager. That includes the current CW and SSB records in the high-power category. The top CW rate was 371 contacts per hour, set by N6MJ, operating as ZF2MJ. The top SSB rate was 407, set by W2SC at 8P5A. Rates listed are the best 60-minute tallies. Tables also have been posted for Low Power and QRP, as well as for multioperator categories. The rates listed were calculated from publicly available logs before log checking and may include duplicate contacts. The Cabrillo logs and the top-rate segments are available.
The K7RA Solar Update
Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, reports: This week solar indices again crept lower. Average daily sunspot numbers declined by 8 points to 20.4, and average daily solar flux went down by 2.4 points to 86.4. Geomagnetic indices softened, with planetary A index down by 3 points to 8.9, and the mid-latitude A index down by 1.2 points to 7.4.
Just one new sunspot appeared since March 17, and that was on March 24.
Predicted solar flux values from USAF and NOAA saw a major downward shift on March 28. Overnight, the predicted average daily solar flux for the 38 days from April 4 through May 11 dropped from 91.6 to 82.2. You can see this by downloading the spreadsheet.
Predicted solar flux is 85 on March 31 through April 5; 80 on April 6-9; 85 on April 10-11; 80 on April 12-17; 85 on April 18-24; 80 on April 25-28, and 85 on April 29 through May 2.
Predicted planetary A index is 8, 10, 26, and 16 on March 31 through April 3; 8, 12, 10, 5, and 10 on April 4-8; 5, 15, 24, 22, and 20 on April 9-13; 8 on April 14-15; 5 on April 16-22; 12 on April 23-24; 8 on April 25; 5 on April 26-28, and 25 on April 29-30.
Sunspot numbers for March 24 through 30 were 25, 24, 23, 23, 23, 13, and 12, with a mean of 28.4. The 10.7 centimeter flux was 86.5, 85.5, 85.5, 88.2, 87.7, 87.8, and 83.8, with a mean of 88.8. Estimated planetary A indices were 7, 6, 3, 13, 10, 11, and 12, with a mean of 11.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 7, 6, 2, 10, 9, 8, and 10, with a mean of 8.6.
In this week's bulletin look for an updated 3-month moving average of sunspot numbers.
Send me your reports and observations.
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