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AE5ME > ARL 19.04.16 05:12l 74 Lines 7984 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : ZPRP2ZZNWSOE
Read: GUEST
Subj: ARRL Letter April 14 Part 1 of 4
Path: IW8PGT<CX2SA<N0KFQ<AE5ME
Sent: 160419/0106Z 35987@AE5ME.#NEOK.OK.USA.NOAM BPQ1.4.64
Youth Rally Will Be a Highlight of ARRL's Hamvention 2016 Activities
•ARRL VHF Contest Revitalization Committee Calls for Comments on Proposed UHF and Up Event
•First-Ever D-STAR Satellite to Launch
•Countdown to Jamboree on the Air Under Way, 2016 JOTA Patch Design Introduced
•"ARRL The Doctor is In" Podcast Guide Now Available
•National Parks on the Air Update
•ARRL Teachers Institute on Wireless Technology Application Deadline is May 1
•ARRL Rookie Roundup Returns with SSB Event on Sunday, April 17!
•ARRL School Club Roundup Results Posted
•World ARDF Championships Participation Expected to Break Record
•Hans Blondeel Timmerman, PB2T, Named as IARU Satellite Advisor
•In Brief...
•The K7RA Solar Update
•This Week in Radiosport
•Upcoming ARRL Section, State, and Division Conventions and Events
Youth Rally Will Be a Highlight of ARRL's Hamvention 2016 Activities
The first-ever ARRL Youth Rally will be a feature of the League's menu of activities at Hamvention® 2016. The event is set for Saturday, May 21, and requires advance online registration. Hamvention takes place May 20-22, and the centerpiece of ARRL Hamvention exhibits and activities is ARRL EXPO, a huge exhibit area in one of the main exhibit halls in Hara Arena. The ARRL Youth Rally is open to youth and young adults aged 11 to 26. Participants will enjoy a full program of hands-on ham radio activities, discovery, sharing, and fun!
"ARRL is especially excited to introduce a way for young hams and soon-to-be hams to meet each other and experience some cool activities," said ARRL EXPO Manager Bob Inderbitzen, NQ1R. "The model for the ARRL Youth Rally is based on a full-day camp program, and our goal is to encourage young radio amateurs to get active, get involved, and get on the air." Preliminary Youth Rally agenda and registration instructions are on the ARRL website. The ARRL Youth Rally is $20 for ages 11-17, and free for young adults ages 18-26. The fee covers the cost of lunch, a T-shirt, and all Youth Rally materials.
Rally day begins with the annual Dayton Youth Forum -- open to all Hamvention attendees -- moderated by well-known Amateur Radio educator Carole Perry, WB2MGP. The forum includes presentations from young hams covering a variety of Amateur Radio activities, topics, and technology. Following the forum, Youth Rally registrants will enjoy lunch together, followed by a full afternoon of activities and hands-on demonstrations. Youth Rally Leaders Tommy Gober, N5DUX, and Jennifer Gober, KE5LNK, both education professionals, will guide the program. (Tommy Gober also is an ARRL Education & Technology Program Instructor.)
The official ARRL Exhibit & Activities Guide for Hamvention 2016 is available now. ARRL has also announced its lineup of Dayton Hamvention® forums. A list of all Hamvention forums is on the Hamvention website. Read more.
ARRL VHF Contest Revitalization Committee Calls for Comments on Proposed UHF and Up Event
The ARRL VHF Contest Revitalization (VCR) Committee has drafted rules for a proposed new UHF and Up Contest and now is seeking input from the contesting community. The invitation follows the Committee's review of "considerable input from the amateur community."
"In proposing the new rules, the Committee sought to respond to some of the most frequently received comments and to provide a 'test bed' for changes that might be considered for other non-HF contests in the future," ARRL Central Division Vice Director and VCR Chair Kermit Carlson, W9XA, explained. "At this time, everything is a proposal -- open for comment, and definitely in flux."
Carlson said several common themes stood out among the comments and suggestions the Committee has already received. These included:
•Use distance-based scoring rather than a geographic multiplier system.
•The August timing is too close to other VHF+ contests, and/or it's too hot for roving.
•More incentive is needed to invest time and effort in making higher-band contacts.
•Existing rover rules are too complicated and too restrictive.
•Current VHF+ contests have too many entry categories.
•Scoring potential varies widely from one geographic region to another.
The draft contest proposal uses distance scoring, with point multipliers for contacts made on higher bands. To encourage roving, it simplifies rover rules to include those who do not travel great distances, and mobile stations. It includes just three entry categories and features regional, rather than national, competition. It adds team competition for small groups of operators who may not be part of a contest club.
ARRL Central Division Vice Director and VCR Chair Kermit Carlson, W9XA.
The event would be held in the spring, between the January and June VHF contests.
Nothing is final yet -- not even the name of the contest, Carlson stressed. The Committee would like to hear from veteran and prospective VHF+ contest participants before it moves ahead with any additional changes. Submit comments by e-mail by June 15.
The Committee also encourages more local outreach -- articles, announcements, seminars, and mentoring -- to draw new participants into this and all radiosporting activities. Expanding the pool of potential contacts will make these contests more enjoyable for everyone, and Carlson said he hopes that commenters will share their outreach ideas with the Committee too.
First-Ever D-STAR Satellite to Launch
The first-ever satellite to carry a D-STAR (Digital Smart Technologies for Amateur Radio) Amateur Radio payload into space is expected to launch on April 22 from Guiana. The OUFTI-1 (Orbital Utility For Telecommunication Innovations) CubeSat is one of three CubeSats developed by student teams under the European Space Agency (ESA) Education Office "Fly Your Satellite!" program, which is aimed at training the next generation of aerospace professionals. The satellites arrived in South America on March 25, followed by the student teams a few days later.
The OUFTI-1 laboratory "twin."
On March 30 the students pulled the "Remove Before Flight" pins and successfully verified that their CubeSats were ready for launch before replacing the access ports on the P-POD, which will secure the CubeSats prior to and during launch and then will release them into orbit. The next time the students will have contact with their respective CubeSats will be through their spacecraft's communication link, after the CubeSats have been deployed into orbit. Once thermal-optical tape has been applied to the P-POD to shield the CubeSats from extreme thermal radiation during the launch phase, the P-POD will be integrated with the Soyuz launch vehicle.
Constructed by students at the University of Liege in Belgium (ULg), OUFTI-1 will be the first satellite to carry an Amateur Radio D-STAR transponder. Developed by the Japan Amateur Radio League, D-STAR enables the simultaneous transmission of voice and digital data as well as call sign-based roaming via the Internet.
Artist's depiction of the AAUSAT4 from Aalborg University. [Aalborg University graphic]
"The OUFTI-1 D-STAR repeater will be available either as a direct communication repeater between two users, and as an extension of the ULg D-STAR repeater," explains the article "D-STAR digital amateur communications in space with OUFTI-1 CubeSat" by Jonathan Pisane, ON7JPD; Amandine Denis, ON4EYA, and Jacques Verly, ON9CWD, all of ULg. The CubeSat's frequencies are 145.950 MHz (FSK AX.25), and D-STAR down, with an uplink at 435.045 MHz. OUFTI-1 will carry a CW beacon transmitting on 145.980 MHz.
The other two CubeSats are from Italy and Denmark. The CubeSat e-st@r-II from the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy, will demonstrate an attitude control system using measurements of Earth's magnetic field. It will transmit CW and 1.2 k AFSK on 437.485 MHz. AAUSAT4 from the University of Aalborg, Denmark, will operate an automated ocean vessel identification system. It will transmit on 437.425 MHz.
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