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 9 May 2008 at 10:16am
"As the song says, 'All our bags are packed and we're ready to go' -- well, almost," said ARRL Hamvention Coordinator Katie Breen, W1KRB. "The ARRL EXPO area is packed up into seven shipping skids and they are in a truck on their way to Dayton. We here at headquarters are not only breathing a huge sigh of relief, but many of us are still wrapping up our individual final details." The Dayton Hamvention® will run from May 16-18 at Hara Arena, just outside Dayton, Ohio.
9 May 2008 at 10:08am
Again this week, we saw a new, but brief sunspot, sunspot 993. Judging from the polarity of the spot, it looks to be from new Solar Cycle 24; this spot was south of the solar equator, so it has the same polarity as any Cycle 23 spot that was north of the equator. After two days it was gone, not from drifting over the edge of the visible solar disk -- it just disappeared.
9 May 2008 at 5:00am
This week, discover how you can attend the Dayton Hamvention without trekking to the Gem City.
8 May 2008 at 1:00pm
The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (NPRM) on May 8 seeking to raise fees for Amateur Radio vanity call signs. Currently, a vanity call sign costs $11.70 and is good for 10 years; the new fee, if the FCC plan goes through, will go up to $12.30 for 10 years, an increase of $.60. The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934 (as amended) to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs associated with that program. The vanity call sign regulatory fee is payable not only when applying for a new vanity call sign, but also upon renewing a vanity call sign for a new term. Instructions on how to comment on this NPRM are available on the FCC Web site.
8 May 2008 at 5:18am
The Colorado Council of Amateur Radio Clubs (CCARC) recently teamed up with Ham Radio Outlet (HRO) in Denver to donate a 2 meter, 70 cm and 23 cm D-STAR system stack. According to ARRL Colorado Section Manager and CCARC Board Member Jeff Ryan, K0RM, the two groups hit upon the idea of issuing a Request for Proposal (RFP) to Colorado radio amateurs. "The RFP required the D-STAR systems to be installed and maintained on-the-air for five years, after which the winning group would retain ownership of the equipment," Ryan said. "We received three excellent proposals, and on March 21, CCARC and HRO awarded the D-STAR system to the Colorado D-STAR Association, a consortium of Denver area individuals, clubs and ARES groups."
7 May 2008 at 1:13pm
In two separate decisions released today, the Federal Communications Commission denied two Petitions for Rulemaking (PRM) having to do with Amateur Radio. These two PRMs, one filed by Mark Miller, N5RFX, of Arlington, Texas, concerning digital spectrum issues, and the other filed jointly by Ken Chafin, W6CPA, of La Crescenta, California, and Leon Brown, KC6JAR, of Los Angeles, California, concerning additional spectrum for more repeaters, including digital systems. Miller's PRM was assigned RM-11392, while the Chafin and Brown petition was not afforded an RM number by the FCC. According to ARRL General Counsel Chris Imlay, W3KD, the ARRL filed no comments on either petition in accordance with the League's standard policy on bare petitions for rule making that do not deal with spectrum allocations.
7 May 2008 at 9:13am
The Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard are co-sponsoring the annual Military/Amateur Radio Crossband Communications Test in celebration of the 58th anniversary of Armed Forces Day (AFD). Although the actual Armed Forces Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in May -- May 17 in 2008 -- the AFD Military/Amateur Crossband Communications Test will be conducted on May 10 to prevent conflict with the Dayton Hamvention®, scheduled for May 16-18.
7 May 2008 at 5:15am
Last week at the Space Weather Workshop in Boulder, Colorado, NASA released a 4D live model of the Earth's ionosphere. Without leaving home, anyone can fly through the layer of ionized gas that encircles Earth at the edge of space itself. All that is required is an Internet connection and a free copy of Google Earth. NASA calls the ionosphere the "last wisp of Earth's atmosphere that astronauts leave behind when they enter space. The realm of the ionosphere stretches from 50 to 500 miles above Earth's surface where the atmosphere thins to near-vacuum and exposes itself to the fury of the sun. Solar ultraviolet radiation breaks apart molecules and atoms creating a globe-straddling haze of electrons and ions."
7 May 2008 at 5:00am
Modern Marvels, a series on The History Channel, will feature electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla in an episode scheduled to air May 14. Helping out with the program was Bob "Loby" Lobenstein, WA2AXZ; Lobenstein is General Superintendent, Power Operations for New York City's subway system. "We did 8 hours of taping interviews at my 1904 power substation," Lobenstein said. "In addition to the action scenes of me throwing the 100 year old switches and demonstrating the use of power, I did a 'Mr Wizard' talk, showing the various things that 'Mr T' envisioned and invented. Of course, radio had a part and I just had to put the D-104 mic with our club's K2IRT shield into view!" According to The History Channel, Tesla's "...bizarre vision of the future brought him failure, but his genius electrified the world. Travel to Niagara Falls, where in 1893, Tesla installed his new system of Alternating Electrical Current known as AC -- the same power we use today. Uncover the forgotten ruins of Tesla's dream experiment -- a huge tower on Long Island Sound he hoped would wirelessly power the world. Radar, death rays, invisibility devices and earthquake machines: Tesla claimed to have created them all. More than 100 years ago Tesla foresaw the need for alternative energies like geothermal and solar." Check the The History Channel Web site for show times.
6 May 2008 at 8:13am
A high altitude location for a low power operation.
2 May 2008 at 1:26pm
ARRL Audio News--OPEN--In this edition . . .; FCC Denies Utah Motorsport Park Use of Amateur Radio Frequencies; Newspaper Reports "BPL plan is dead in Dallas"; ARRL Audio News ID--Satellite Update--BREAK; Eight Tornadoes Ravage Eastern Virginia; Spring 2008 W1AW Frequency Measuring Test Scheduled for May; ARRL Card Checking at Dayton Hamvention; ARRL Audio News--News Briefs--CLOSE
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